CHAPTER TWO

Two days had gone by since Brian and Justin had slept together, but to anyone looking in from the outside, it was as if nothing had happened between them. There was no change in their relationship, just an increased level of politeness.

The strain of having to keep up the pretence was beginning to show though.

Brian thought he was going crazy. He was fighting to control his emotions everyday. Being in such close proximity to the blond made it difficult for him to do much else, but think about how good it had felt having Justin in his arms. It annoyed him that Justin was able to be so calm and collected all the time, his eyes never betraying what he was feeling, which led Brian to believe what could only be true ­ it was just a fuck and nothing more to Justin.

Justin, on the other hand, was constantly amazed with himself. He had been able to keep a permanent smile on his face for the past couple of days and not show how much his heart was breaking. Brian didn’t care about him, at least, not the way he wanted him to. He was fine with that… or he would be, eventually.

He was strong. He would deal.

Strolling into the office after his lunch, his smile was, for the first time in the past two days, natural. He'd just spent his lunch hour having some of the best Thai food ever.

“What are you so cheerful about?” Michael asked from behind the file cabinet.

“I just ate,” Justin replied with a grin.

Michael laughed. “It’s amazing what food does to you.”

“It’s almost as good as a fuck.”

Michael grimaced. “Somehow I can’t think of Ma’s lasagna as better than sex.”

Justin laughed.

“Have you and Brian got anything planned tonight?”

Justin raised a brow in confusion. He and Brian? Michael didn’t… he didn’t KNOW about what had happened, did he? No, no, he couldn’t know. Brian wasn’t one to kiss and tell and neither was Justin. Then Justin realized how stupid he was being. Michael's question was a typical one as the secretary knew they sometimes worked on cases late at night.

Sighing, Justin realized he was becoming fucking paranoid.

“I don’t know what he’s doing,” Justin was quick to point out. “But I’m meeting a friend for dinner.”

Michael cocked a brow. “A date?”

Justin shook his head. “No, I… I only just met this guy, but…”

“But what? Is he cute?”

“Gorgeous.”

“So what’s the problem?”

Brian. Brian was the problem. Justin couldn’t get thoughts of Brian out of his head. Brian touching him… kissing him… sinking deep inside him.

Michael changed the topic, not noticing the varying emotions that crossed the blond's face. “Did you read the paper today?”

Justin sat on the edge of the reception desk, shook his head, no. “Anything of interest?”

“They found one of those boys,” Michael said quietly. “The ones that have gone missing from the Church and Wellesley area.”

Justin sighed, relieved. “That’s great! Is he ok? Do we know what happened?”

Michael swallowed. “He was dead. The killer dumped his body in the garbage bin at the back of a diner on Wellesley.”

Justin heard the cry escape from his lips before he could stop it.

“Oh, God,” he said softly.

“He’d been raped a couple times it says,” Michael went on, oblivious to the pain and horror Justin was experiencing on the other side of the desk. “And beaten. It says something about internal injuries and broken bones, too. Oh, and that he was 18, I think. Isn’t it… Justin? Justin, are you ok?”

Justin felt the urge to throw up. “Fine,” he said weakly.

He walked away and into the office he shared with Brian. His partner was on the computer typing away on the keyboard.

“That was quite an extended lunch,” Brian said without looking up. “Got lost, did you?”

Justin didn’t say anything, but, “Hmmm.”

He poured himself a glass of water and gulped the cool drink down in one go. He wondered if there was anything he could take to help calm his stomach.

“What did you have?” Brian asked, trying to make conversation.

Justin couldn’t remember. All of his thoughts were revolving around the boy. How he must have suffered.

Brian finally looked up and saw the far away look in the blue eyes. Pressing his lips together, he wondered if the boy was remembering the night they’d shared. The image consistently flooded Brian’s thoughts. Then he noticed Justin looked even paler than usual.

“Justin?” Brian called. “Are you feeling ok?”

Justin came back to the present. “Sure.”

“Did something happen?” Brian pressed. Not wanting it to appear that he was concerned about Justin, he continued, “You didn’t have any trouble with the assignment I gave you, did you?”

Justin glared at the brunet. “No, Brian, everything went according to plan.”

Brian nodded. “Ok.”

Taking a deep breath, Justin walked towards his partner’s desk, plopping himself into the leather chair facing Brian.

“They found one of the missing boys,” Justin told him softly.

Brian nodded. “I know.”

Justin swallowed. “It’s so fucking sick, Brian! How… how…” He took a deep breath and tried to control his emotions. “How could someone do that to him?”

Brian leaned back in his chair and watched the innocent young man in front of him.

“The things he… they… did to him,” Justin continued, his voice taking on a angry edge. “And then they left him there! In a fucking dumpster as if… as if…”

“Don’t think about it,” Brian said.

Justin closed his eyes. “I’m so fucking disgusted by the whole thing.” When he reopened them, he found hazel ones staring back at him. “We have to do something.”

Brian heard bells going off in his head. “WE?” he asked with a laugh, leaning forward again to start getting back to his work.

“Brian,” Justin started. “Don’t tell me you don’t care.”

“I don’t,” Brian snapped. “It has nothing to do with either of us.”

Justin glared. “How can you say that?” he argued. “These boys are being stolen from a community that we’re a part of.”

“I’m not a part of any goddamn community,” Brian said meanly. “Just because I fuck men doesn’t mean I have to suddenly join some fucking community.”

“I can’t believe you feel that way.”

“Believe it, Brat.”

Justin scoffed at the name Brian insisted on calling him.

“I won’t be like you, Brian,” Justin said decisively. “I won’t stand back and let someone take advantage of us. Do you know how old the boy was?” He didn’t wait for Brian to respond, but continued, “Eighteen. I was that age a few years ago. That boy could have been me, Brian.”

That thought annoyed Brian in more ways than he could imagine. “No, he could not have!” Brian snapped. “Because you aren’t stupid enough to fall for the garbage these sickos spew at you to get into your pants. You don’t think about your cock 24/7 like some of these young boys today. And you wouldn’t be moronic enough to get into a fucking car with someone you’d only just met.” Pausing to glare at the blond, Brian added. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

Justin wondered why that statement gave him goose bumps. Maybe it was the intense way Brian said it?

“Now I want you to drop it,” Brian told him. “We have work to do.”

Justin nodded, deciding to give in for now. He knew what he had to do. He’d take care of things later.

I watch as he leaves the office. His smile is bright and he's smirking. I wonder what he thinks is so funny? If he only knew what I have planned for him - he wouldn't be fucking smiling!

He gets into his car... sits there for a little while talking on his cell phone. Then, he's driving away.

I start my car and begin to follow.

I want to know what he's up to.

I want to wipe that fucking smirk off his face.

Ted was pleased to see the familiar face of Justin Taylor walking into his office that afternoon, but when he found out the reason behind the visit, he couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“Justin,” he began slowly. “You know I can’t discuss this with you.”

“I just want to know what’s going on Ted,” Justin defended. “It’s not like I’m going to run to the dailies and spit out information at them.”

“I’m not saying that you would. Hell, that thought never even crossed my mind.”

“Then what’s the problem? Can’t we just pretend we’re old friends chatting?”

Ted gave the blond a wary look. “I don’t CHAT with anyone about the stuff I’m working on.”

Justin sighed, exasperated. “Ted, I just want to help. I can’t just sit back and watch as the bodies start surfacing.”

“It’s MY job to put a stop to it,” Ted reminded him. “Not yours.”

“I’m getting good at investigating,” Justin persisted. “Ask Brian.”

Fuck. Bad idea. Asking Brian would entail telling Brian what he was up to and Justin figured the brunet would not be impressed.

“Does Brian want to help?” Ted asked quickly. A little too quickly.

Justin realized the other man would be willing to share with Brian, IF the brunet was receptive to the idea. But not with HIM.

Fuck!

“He will help,” Justin said, crossing his fingers behind his back.

Ted saw the uncertainty etched in the blond brows and shook his head. “No, he won’t. You don’t know Brian. And with no money being involved...”

“Money isn't everything to him!" Justin defended. Sighing, he added, "He’ll change his mind.”

“Justin.”

“Please, Ted.”

There was no giving way.

Justin changed tactics. “Ok, ok. I won’t involve myself.”

Ted sighed, relieved. “Good.”

“But at least tell me if you have any suspects. Leads. What about the evidence?”

Ted snorted.

A knock interrupted their session and Emmett walked in.

“Your mother is outside,” he told Ted. “She says it’s important, but she can’t come in. I think she has a new bingo group with her. They’re being frisky outside.”

“Oh, God,” Ted grumbled, getting up and walking towards the door. “I’ll be right back, Justin. Em, come help make sure they’re not stealing anything.”

The minute Justin heard the door close, he moved. With amazing speed, he was on the other side of the desk, opening drawers and flipping through notepads. He wasn’t sure what the hell he was looking for, but he thought he’d know when he found it.

He felt guilty about the way he was breaking Ted’s trust, but he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. Cases involving the gay community constantly got swept under the carpet. Or they pinned the rap on someone… anyone they could find, when the going got tough and the front pages got bigger.

He refused to see it happen here.

And then his eyes landed on a photo-copied picture attached to a sheet of paper with a few scribbles.

John Doe, eighteen.

Aka Dumpster boy.

Ted had written the extent of the boy’s injuries, something Justin couldn’t bear to read. Everything was as it had been printed in the newspaper and Justin felt disappointment rush through him.

That’s when his eyes caught onto something.

‘Hair bleach used ­ colour ­ blonde.’

Justin quickly printed off a copy of the photo and replaced the material where he had found it and walked away from the desk. He wasn’t sure why that particular piece of information disturbed him, but it did.

Opening the door, he walked outside. Ted was waving goodbye to a carload of women.

“I just remembered something I had to do. I’ve got to go,” Justin said.

“Already?” Ted asked. “What are you doing later? Let’s go have a couple of drinks.”

Justin shook his head as he slipped his coat on. “Can’t, I’m meeting someone.”

Ted grinned. “Anyone we should worry about?”

Justin snorted.

“Well, have fun. We can have lunch soon.”

Justin nodded and waved goodbye to them both. His mind should have been on his date with Dave, but it wasn’t.

“Why would a killer go to the extreme of dying his victim’s hair?” Justin muttered to himself. He sighed. “Unless the boy did it himself?” Fuck. This detective shit was hard. “I need to find out who he was,” he thought to himself. “But… how?”

The answer was not as easy as he had hoped.

“Nope, never seen him before.”

Justin sighed. Rolling the photo back into his coat, he walked away from yet another young hustler. All night, he’d been showing Dumpster Boy’s photo to the lesser souls that made up The Village, hoping that one of them would know the boy… remember him.

But no such luck.

Tired, Justin looked at his watch. 12.15. Time to go home.

His thoughts were dreary as he pulled into his driveway. Had he wasted an entire night of his life? He could have been with Dave, having dinner…

Turning the key to his front door, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Jumping around, ready to attack, Justin came face to face with Brian. As much as he wanted to scream at the other man, Justin didn’t. Instead, he slumped against the brunet, his arms wrapping themselves around the slim waist.

Brian hugged the blond to him. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Justin breathed in the familiar scent. “Like hell you didn’t.”

Pulling away, he pushed the door open and walked inside, leaving it for Brian to lock up, which he did.

In the kitchen, Justin put the kettle on.

“Have you been waiting long?” he asked Brian.

“No,” Brian responded.

“Are you hungry?”

“No.”

Justin sighed. “Is something wrong?”

“No.”

“Brian, stop that. It’s annoying.”

Brian grinned. “No.”

Justin glared and poured out two cups of coffee, placing one in front of Brian.

“So what are you doing here?” Justin finally found the courage to ask.

Brian sipped on the hot liquid. “I was in the neighbourhood.”

Justin snorted. “Try again.”

“I thought you might be interested in playing a game of scrabble?” he joked.

Justin laughed. “Again.”

“I stopped by to see Ted today.”

Justin nearly spilled the contents of his cup on himself. With shaky fingers, he put his coffee cup on the table as carefully as he could.

“Oh?” he asked, trying to act unconcerned. He wondered if Ted had mentioned Justin’s interest in the case and his persistence in wanting to help.

“Yeah,” Brian said softly. “He um… he told me about your… date.”

Justin cocked a brow. “He did?”

Brian sighed. This was difficult for him. When Ted had casually mentioned Justin’s seeing someone later, Brian had felt as though someone had slapped him. He couldn’t remember ever feeling as jealous as he did then. He didn’t want Justin dating anyone. Not if that man wasn’t him.

Raising his eyes to meet the baby blues, Brian casually asked, “So you’re seeing someone?”

Justin wanted to laugh. Was it possible? Could it be? Brian Kinney jealous?

“No,” he said. “I’m not seeing anyone.”

Brian’s eyes narrowed. “So you didn’t have a date tonight?”

“I did,” Justin confessed. “But I cancelled.”

Brian didn’t believe him. That fact was as clear as day in the hazel orbs.

“Something came up,” Justin explained.

“Oh.”

“Is that why you’re here?” Justin heard himself ask. “To check up on me?”

Brian immediately became defensive. “I told you ­ I was in the neighbourhood.”

Justin bit his bottom lip. “Wanting to play scrabble. Right, I forgot.”

“Yeah.” Brian got off the stool, his embarrassment increasing by the minute. He never should have come here. “I better go, it’s late.”

Justin sighed. He couldn’t play this game with Brian ­ they weren’t in high school anymore!

“Brian,” he called out softly to the other man. “If you don’t want me seeing other men, just tell me.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell the blond he didn’t care who he saw, but… something stopped him. Maybe it was the vulnerability he heard in the husky voice. Whatever it was, it had Brian reacting.

Walking to stand in front of Justin, Brian cupped a soft cheek into the palm of his hand and said, “I don’t want you seeing other men.”

Justin smiled. “Consider it done.”

Brian returned the smile.

Leaning down, his mouth met Justin's to seal the deal with a kiss.

JULY - 2003

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