Hey everyone. I know you all thought I died. But I just lost my muse. I think it went on vacation and died at sea. But she came back. I'm not making any promises for the next chapter, but I do know where the story is headed, so we'll see. I apologize for the HUGE delay ... but I'm hoping you guys enjoy this chapter. =) Thanks to my beta, Jess, and my new plotting buddy, Amber. =) I lurve you both, even though you're both hoebags. =p On with the story!
Chapter Nine Over the next few weeks, Justin continued trying to get information out of Mason. But Mason was embarrassed and went the other way in the halls when he saw Justin. And he wouldn't take his phone calls or return his messages. Justin was getting annoyed. This was why he didn't miss high school at all. The pettiness of everything. Shaking his head, he continued putting his books into his locket. Picking up his backpack, he closed his locker and headed out to his car. He threw his backpack into the backseat and got into the front seat, starting it up. As he was about to back out, he saw Mason standing against his car alone. Turning off his car, he got out and headed over to him. "Mason!" he called. Mason's head snapped p and he satarted moving away, but Justin was faster than him at that second and grabbed his arm. "Why do you keep running away from me?" he asked. Mason shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just embarrassed, I guess," he said. Justin frowned, but nodded. "You don't have to be, Mason. It's okay," he insisted. "I'm sorry that I kissed you … I just … I'm sorry," Mason apologized. Justin shook his head. "It's forgotten, okay?" he saw Mason nod and then let go of his arm. "Okay. So. Do you wanna hang out tonight? Maybe get a pizza or something?" he asked. Mason bit his lip. "That sounds great, and I'd love to, but I'm going out with someone tonight," he said. Justin smiled. "Oh yeah? That's great! Who is he? Is he cute?" he asked, genuinely happy that Mason was able to find somebody. He was a really nice kid who was just scared and confused. Justin remembered what that felt like. Mason smiled and nodded. "Yeah, he's cute. I've been seeing him for awhile, but it's supposed to be a secret," he said. Justin nodded, he remembered closeted relationships. He had a few of them in high school. "Come on, Mason. I won't tell anyone, I promise," he urged, smiling. Mason laughed and shook his head. "I can't tell you. He made me promise," he said. He glanced around and then leaned closer to Justin. "He made me promise because he's a teacher," he said. Justin raised a brow. A teacher, eh? "Oh, I see," he said, a small smile on his face. "You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Mason's eyes got big with worry. Justin shook his head. "No, no. Of course not," he said. He wasn't going to betray the kid's trust like that. He needed this kid. This kid might know what happened to Jason Kemp. Mason looked relieved. "Good. Because he doesn't want anyone knowing. Anyway, I'm meeting him tonight," he said. Justin smiled. "Well good for you," he said. "Have fun, but be careful," he said. He gave Mason's shoulder a quick squeeze and then headed back toward his car. As he was going, he ran into Brian. "Watch where you're going, brat," Brian teased. Justin smirked, saluting him. "Sir, yes sir," he said. Brian shook his head but couldn't hide the smile across his face. "Smartass," he accused under his breath. Justin smirked. "That's me," he said. He glanced around to make sure nobody was listening and then turned his attention back to Brian. "What are you up to tonight?" "Um … I'm hanging out with my friend Mikey. He says that I've been neglecting him lately," he said, rolling his eyes. Justin laughed. "Well, you have fun with that, and call me if you change your mind," he said. Brian smirked and nodded. "You got it," he said. Justin got into his car and started it, driving away. He waved at Brian as he passed him on the way out of the parking lot. ----- Justin sat in front of his television with Daphne, they were watching some strange movie on Encore Love called Tiptoes. They weren't really paying attention, they were too busy gossiping. "I still can't believe you're having sex with your boss, Daph," Justin said, shaking his head. Daphne laughed. "Oh, please! You're having sex with your 'teacher'!" she accused, holding her fingers up to do the finger quotations. Justin snickered and threw a handful of popcorn at her. "Shut up. That's old news. Yours is newer, therefore we're ripping on you tonight," he said. "Whatever," Daphne rolled her eyes. Justin's phone rang, interrupting them. "Hang on, let me answer that," he said. He reached over to the coffee table and picked up his phone, smiling when he saw the ID. "It's Brian," he said. Daphne rolled her eyes. "Of course it is," she said. Justin threw more popcorn at her and opened his phone. "So you changed tour mind, eh?" he asked, smirking. "Justin!" the voice on the other end cried out. Justin frowned, scrunching up his forehead in confusion. "Yes, this is Justin. Who's this?" he asked. "It's Mason! You have to help me!" Mason sounded frantic. "Mason? What are you doing with this phone?" Justin asked. "He left it … in the hotel room … you have to help me!" Mason repeated. "You have to calm down. Tell me what's going on," Justin urged. "I met him in the hotel, like we planned, like we've done before," Mason started. Justin frowned. Why would Brian be meeting Mason in a hotel? "Okay, go on," he said. "And he was different today. I think he knew that I told you. I don't know how, but he knows!" "Okay, Mason, take a deep breath and tell me where you are. And who you're with," Justin encouraged. He heard Mason take a few deep breaths and waited for him to speak. "I'm in the Motel Six on Pinegrove. He went to get something in the lobby and told me that if I left, he'd kill me. And then he knocked me into the wall! Justin, you have to help me! He'll be back any second! He took my cell phone, but this one fell out of his pocket as he was leaving," Mason explained. "Why didn't you call 911?" Justin asked, jumping off of the couch and pulling his shoes on. He muttered a quick apology to Daphne, who nodded, and then grabbed his keys, running out the door. "No police! They'll tell my parents! My parents can't know!" Mason cried. Justin sighed and climbed into his car, speeding towards that hotel. He kept his sirens off just incase Mason's attacker heard them. "Mason, you have to tell me who it is. What room are you in?" Justin asked. "I can't! If I do, he'll kill me! Shit! He's coming back!" Mason cried out. Justin heard rustling and then a door slam shut. "Mason! What's going on?" Justin asked. He heard banging in the background. "I'm in the bathroom … he's banging on the door … please, hurry! I'm in room 207," Mason begged, his voice a low whisper. "Please, tell me who's doing this to you," Justin asked. The other end was quiet for a few moments, except for the pounding on the bathroom door. "Mason? Please." "Okay … it's-" Mason was cut off and Justin heard a door swing open loudly and bang against the wall. "Shit! Justin! It's Mr.-" the line went dead. Justin stared at his phone, then closed it and threw it into his passenger seat. Was it really Brian? If not, then why would the attacker have Brian's cell phone? Justin pressed the gas pedal to the ground. ----- When Justin arrived at the motel, he drove straight back to room 207. He pulled out his gun and headed to the door, holding out his gun. He pounded on the door. "Police! Open up!" he called. No answer. He banged again. "Police! Open up right now!" Still no answer. Justin stood back and kicked open the door. He definitely should have called for back-up, but he didn't think that far in advance. Glancing around the room, he saw that it was empty. He opened the bathroom door and covered his mouth. Mason was laying in the bathtub with his throat slit, surrounded by his own blood. The thing that frightened Justin the most … Brian's cell phone was laying open next to the tub. ----- Brian laughed as Mikey managed to sink the cue ball again. They were at Woody's playing pool, he had been running late because he was grading papers and lost track of time. "Mikey, the point of this game is to sink either the striped balls or the solid balls. NOT the cue ball," he laughed, shaking his head. Mikey glared at Brian and then moved away from the table. He picked up his beer and took a sip. "Why were you so late? I kept calling you and you didn't answer," he said. "I almost left, thinking you found something … or someone … else to do," Mikey said, leaning against the wall, holding his pool stick in one hand and his beer in the other. Brian rolled his eyes. "I can't find my cell phone," he said, shrugging. Mikey raised a brow. "You can't find your cell phone?" he asked. "Yeah, I can't find it. I had it when I went into work this morning, and when I left, I couldn't find it," he said, shrugging. "Some punkass kid probably took it as a joke," he said. "I'll have it turned off tomorrow and get a new one." Brian leaned over the table and lined up his shot, sinking one of the striped balls that he was supposed to. He smirked over at Mikey, who rolled his eyes and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket since it was ringing. "Hello?" Mikey answered. "Babe, it's me. Are you with Brian?" came the voice of Mikey's partner Ben Bruckner. "Yeah, I told you that, didn't I? Or did I forget?" Mikey asked, a little confused. "No, you told me. I just wanted to make sure. Where are you?" Ben asked. "We're playing pool at Woody's. Brian's kicking my ass because I suck at this game," Mikey smirked. "Apparently I keep hitting the wrong balls in. Because yours are the only balls I'm interested in," he joked. "Right. Thanks, bye," Ben said, hanging up. Mikey furrowed his brow and glanced at his phone as the connection was cut. "That was really strange," he said, shaking his head and slipping his phone back into his pocket. ----- Ben hung up his phone and turned to the police officers standing in his kitchen. He was just enjoying the night, being able to write his lecture for his next class. All of the sudden there was banging on his door and as he opened it, he was being by a blonde detective that they were looking for Brian Kinney. And since he wasn't there, and neither was Michael, they expected his full cooperation in helping them find Brian Kinney. So, Ben had called Michael, he didn't know what else to do. "They're at Woody's," he told the police officers. "May I ask what this is about?" he asked, crossing his arms across his chest. "Brian Kinney is wanted for the murder of a teenage boy," the blonde said, with absolutely no emotion whatsoever on his face. Ben's eyes widened. "No, that's not possible. Not Brian!" Ben said. He knew Brian to be capable of quite a few things, but murder was definitely not one of them. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Bruckner," the police officer said and then turned around, leaving the house. The other officers followed him. Ben waited for a few moments before he got back on the phone to call Michael again. It rang, and rang, and rang. And then: "Hi, you've reached Michael Novotny, I can't get to my phone right now…" Ben cursed, closing his phone and calling again, hoping to get ahold of them to at least warn them. ----- Brian and Mikey both sat at the bar, nursing beers as they just talked. Brian was smoking a cigarette, laughing at something Mikey said. They hadn't just hung out and had fun like this in such a long time. The door at Woody's opened and Brian instinctively glanced over at it, surprised to see Justin walking in. He smiled. He saw Justin's eyes search the room, finally landing on him. Justin wasn't smiling. Brian's smile faltered, raising a brow. Justin walked right up to Brian, and it was then that Brian noticed the three police officers behind him. "What's going on?" Mikey asked, looking from Justin and the police officers to Brian, and then back at the officers. "Justin?" Brian asked, confused. Justin shook his head, pulling out both his hands. In one hand were a pair of handcuffs, and in the other was Brian's cell phone. "Brian Kinney, you are under arrest for the murder of Mason Smith," Justin said, his eyes completely lifeless. Michael's eyes widened and he stood up. "No way! No fucking way!" he cried out. Brian glanced up at Justin trying to get him to look at him. "Justin, you know that I didn't do this," Brian said. He wouldn't fight Justin, though. "I don't know anything, Mr. Kinney. The evidence is all there," Justin said, turning Brian around and cuffing him. "Take him to the car," Justin ordered the other officers. They did as he asked, dragging a protesting Brian to the cop car to be taken to the jail. "Justin! You know better than this! You know me! I didn't do anything!" Brian called out to him. Justin closed his eyes, trying to block out Brian's words. He turned to Brian's friend Michael. "Maybe you should go home. Your partner has no doubt been trying to get ahold of you since we left your house," Justin said. Michael reached into his pocket and sure enough he had missed fifteen calls from Ben. "Shit," he said, putting his beer down and leaving the bar. Justin sighed, running his hands over his face and moving outside to the car. He instructed the on-duty police officers to take Brian to the jail and to hold him there. He was going home. He ignored Brian's yells from inside the police car as he passed it, going to his car instead. He had plans to spend the night with his friend Jim Beam. ----- He stood in the corner at Woody's watching the whole scene go down. Thank god for the jacket in his car, otherwise people would have seen the blood on his shirt. He didn't expect that little shit to put up such a fight. He had dropped Brian's phone on purpose, he knew the kid would try to use it to save himself. He didn't go anywhere, just stood outside the hotel room. He had to do something when the kid almost told that undercover cop who he was. So he took the phone, hanging it up and throwing it into the other room, wrestling the kid into the bathtub. He put up one hell of a fight. The little shit. Scratching up his arm. When he finally got around to slitting his throat, the blood squirt out, so his shirt was just covered in it. Maybe he'd just ditch the shirt, he wasn't sure. He'd figure something out. Pushing himself off the wall, he walked outside with everyone else, watching as Brian Kinney was taken away in a police car for a crime that he didn't commit. It made him feel a little giddy. The cop was next. End Chapter Nine 7/21/06