Plenty Of Time
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“Justin’s here. What do
you mean Ethan’s not is custody. How did he get bailed out? He’s
charged with attempted murder, right?”
“I’ll explain when I get there. Just stay put. I’m about two
blocks from you.”
“We’ll be here. I want to know what’s going
on.”
Brian hung up just as Justin was coming out of the bedroom. “Who was that?” he said casually as he buttoned his jeans. When he looked up, Brian was standing in front of him, the smile from just a short while ago gone. ”Brian? Did something happen?”
“Carl’s
on way here. Should be here in a few minutes,
actually. He told me not to take you out anywhere. It seems Ethan’s
not in jail.” Brian put his arms around Justin,
and felt him tremble.
They stood that way until the door buzzer sounded. Brian told Justin to stay
there, and walked over to the intercom.
“Yes.” He heard Carl’s voice and buzzed him in.
When
he heard the elevator
stop, he unlocked the door and let Carl in.
“Brian.
Justin, how are you doing?”
Justin was about to answer when Brian cut in. “Enough small talk, Carl.
I want to know what’s going on, and why is Ethan out of jail?”
“Let’s
sit down.” Carl sat on one on the chairs and Brian sat on the
sofa, pulling Justin down close to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
“First of all, Melanie
was supposed to be on her way
here almost an hour ago. When I didn’t hear from you or her, I called
here. You still haven’t heard from her?” Brian shook his head,
a look of worry on his face.
“Ok, maybe she stopped at the courthouse or something.”
“Carl.” Justin could tell
that Brian was getting very angry and put his hand against Brian’s chest
to calm him. “I’m sorry. What is going on?”
“Ethan
walked out of
“What
do you mean, walked out and what the hell was he doing there to begin
with?”
The detective stood and walked around the chair, placing his hands on the
back and leaning against it. “Early this morning he started complaining
of stomach pains. Officers took him to County per protocol. He was
in x-ray. They wouldn’t let the officers in the room during the procedure.
The x-ray tech left to process the film without telling the officers. Ethan
walked out the workroom door. When the tech came back to repeat one of the
shots, he was gone. He asked the officers where he was. They immediately
started a search, but all they found was a hospital gown in one of the bathrooms.
Nobody could remember seeing him in the hall or outside the ER. He was just
gone”
“Fuck,” Brian said angrily. “What kind of incompetent people do you have on your so called police force, Carl? That man tried to kill Justin, now he’s out walking around?”
Justin got up without saying a word and slowly walked to the bedroom. Brian
could see him as he laid on the bed. All he wanted
at that moment was to be there with him, but he had to have answers.
“Brian, let’s not start flinging blame, here. There’s an APB out for him, and I’m going to have a car outside your building. Just stay put for the time being and you and Justin will be fine. Make sure your door is locked and the alarm is on.”
“I’m not worried for myself. It’s that kid in there. He’s been through so much and now this. You better find Ethan before I do, or there won’t be much left of him to even worry about a trial. I can promise you that.”
“Look, Brian. I know you’re upset and I can’t blame you, but leave the police work to the police. If you do something rash, you’re the one that’s going to be in jail. Do you understand?”
Brian glared at him. “Are you threatening me, Carl?”
“I’m
telling it like it is. Now you stay here with Justin. He needs you now. Let
me do my job, you do yours.” He left, taking the elevator down to the
first floor. Before the elevator reached the first floor, the front door
opened and Gloria Sanders, who lived in the first apartment, entered the
building. She was just getting home from her last night shift tour in the
ER, and had to work overtime. She was tired and all she could think of was
her bed and 8 hours of sleep, so she didn’t notice the young dark-haired
man as he slipped through the almost closed door. He could hear the elevator
moving down and decided to go up the stairs. He was on the
first landing when
Det. Horvath exited the elevator, phone in hand.
“Is there anything new on the Gold
kid?...What?... Yeah...Look,
I want someone outside this building at soon as possible...Where?...I’m
on my way. Just get someone here?...Bye.” The
dark haired man heard the door open and close.
“Horvath, that fat pig, At least now I know they’re here.” A shadow crossed his face. Brown eyes looked around the short hallway and ears strained to here any sound that would mean he may be spotted. He couldn’t believe how quiet this building was compared to the noise of his own. He would have to be careful, any undue noise would alert any tenants who were still at home. “This is Yuppie heaven. Everyone is probably at work at their big, important jobs downtown, or too old to hold a job like those geezers I followed in. He listened for another minute then slowly climbed the stairs.
Brian made sure the door was locked and the alarm set before he joined Justin
on the bed. Justin was just lying there, eyes wide
open, staring at nothing in particular. He didn’t move when Brian pressed
himself against Justin’s back and wrapped his arms around him.
“Justin, Baby, talk to me.”
“Why, Brian?” It was barely
a whisper. Justin still hadn’t moved.
“Because
you need to tell me what you’re feeling so I can help you.”
“No,
Brian. Why is this happening? First they let Chris Hobbs off with community
service, essentially a slap on the wrist, now they let Ethan get away.
Isn’t my life worth anything? Are they just going to let me die the
next time?”
Brian had his eyes squeezed shut. Listening to Justin talk like that
broke
his heart. The words and
the way he said them, it was like he had given up. He held the younger man
a little tighter and kissed the back of his head, blonde hairs tickling his
nose. “Oh, Baby, don’t talk like that.
Your life is worth a million times more than anyone else’s in this
whole country, or world. If anything ever
happened to you, I wouldn’t want to live. I don’t think I could
live. They’ll find him and he’ll go to trial, then to prison for
a long, long time. I won’t let anything happen to you again. Besides,
if anything did happen to you, I’d have to answer to the Female Dragon
Squad.”
Justin wrinkled his brow and turned his head to look at Brian. “What
is the Female Dragon Squad, Brian?”
“Well,
at least I got your attention. The Female Dragon Squad is your mom, Debbie,
Daphne, Lindsay and Melanie. I could probably even add Molly to the list,
and I’ll
have to in a few years.
Justin, if anything else ever happened to you, the F.D.S. will have me hanging
by certain very delicate parts of my anatomy from the top of this building
for all the world to see. And I’m sure medieval
torture will also be involved. Now, do you think I’d risk that?
Justin smiled at the image. “I love you. I know you won’t let anything happen to me, but you can’t protect me forever. This is the real world and we have our own lives to lead. I just want them to pay for what they did, so maybe it won’t happen again to someone else.”
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
She couldn’t quite make out where she was. She knew she was lying on
something hard, and when she opened her eyes she could see a wall of old
brick in front of her. There was blood on the arm stretched out in front
of her and she could tell it was broken. Her head was pounding, and her vision
was quickly becoming very blurred. “Where am I?” she thought.
She tried to call for help, but all that came out was a high pitched squeak.
Her head was pounding, and she was having trouble focusing on what she needed
to do. “Phone, where’s my phone?”
She tried sitting up the pain and effort made her black out again. The phone
wouldn’t have helped anyway. The man with brown eyes had thrown it against
the wall when it started to ring. Pieces flew in all directions, successfully
silencing the annoying sound. The shadows the buildings cast over the alley
road were enough to hide the small figure dressed in dark gray. She had no
idea how long she had been there and no way of calling for help. Her last
thoughts before slipping into unconsciousness were of Lindsay and Gus. She
hoped he would somehow remember her and how much she loved him.
The brown-eyed man slowly and quietly climbed the stairs. He gave no thought
to the woman he left in the alley. His only thoughts were for a certain blonde
haired, blue-eyed teen and finishing the job he started 10 days ago. Ten
days of hell in the county jail. Ten
days of planning what
he would do when he got out. When he heard he was being held without bail,
he knew he would have to devise a plan to escape. Looking back, it had all
been too easy. They didn’t know who they were dealing with. He always
got his way, and this would be no different. He slowly climbed the stairs
to the top floor and listened at the door. No sounds came through. He looked
past the elevator and saw another door. He was able to open it without much
noise and entered the small room. He propped the door open a few inches and
waited for his opportunity. He had plenty of time. He sat back on the floor,
knowing, sooner or later, he would have his chance.
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series