The Nature of Things

Chapter 14

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Brian sat outside of Casey's hospital room, watching the officers assigned to guard him. He wanted five minutes alone with the little bastard. He wanted to make the asshole pay for what he'd done to Molly. The DNA tests proved that he was the one who raped Molly and Brian was going to see to it that the rest of his life was as miserable as possible.

He wondered if anyone had told Justin what his friend had done to his sister. After speaking with the officers, Brian went downstairs for a cup of coffee. He had just stepped off the elevator when he saw Craig leaving Casey's room.

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Justin woke in a cold sweat, not sure if what he'd dreamt had actually happened or if it was just a dream. Everything screamed that it had happened. He couldn't make out the face of the man but he could hear Casey's voice.

He was just about to call Emmett when the phone rang. Picking it up he saw Emmett's name on the display and smiled.

"Are you psychic now?"

"What?"

"I was just about to call you. I remembered something and I was hoping you were up to listening to me ramble on until I figure it out."

"Listen, honey, I have to tell you something. Is Teddy there?"

"I think so."

"Go get him and put him on the phone, please."

Several minutes later, Teddy picked up the phone and listened to Emmett, before handing the phone back to Justin. Sitting down on the bed next to him, Teddy held his hand as Emmett explained what had happened at Brian's loft.

Justin wanted to go straight to the hospital to kill Casey until Emmett and Ted talked him out of it. Justin hung up with Emmett and turned to Teddy.

He spilled the whole dream to Ted and asked if he thought it possible that Casey had raped both Molly and him.

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Craig had threatened to kill Casey for touching Molly, but he was still intent on getting Justin. Casey gave him the name of the man he'd hired to rape Justin and Craig planned to continue his plan to destroy his own son.

He wasn't aware of Brian following him out to the parking garage. Once they were alone in the darkness, Brian closed the distance between them. Pushing Craig against the back of his SUV, Brian confronted the man he hated almost as much as his own father.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Trying to take care of the fucker who raped my daughter."

"Fuck you, tell me the truth. What are you up to?"

"I'm just a father who loves his kid. I should be the one asking you what you're doing here."

"Molly's my family and I always take care of my family and anyone who tries to hurt them."

"She is not your family. I want you to stay away from her. If it wasn't for you and your disgusting lifestyle this asshole would never have gotten the chance to hurt my little girl."

"Oh, so now it's my fault. Fuck you Craig. You drove her to me. Just like you did with Justin."

"Leave that little faggott out of this. This is about my child."

"Justin's your child too or did you forget that?"

"The second he moved in with you he ceased being my son. He's damaged goods now. You can keep him. I wouldn't be surprised if you've tried to seduce my daughter away from me too."

"Funny, but, it's his new lover that fucked your daughter, not me. There's only one Taylor I've ever wanted to fuck and I hate to tell you Craig, it's not you or Molly."

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"What the fuck is that cat doing here?"

"She saved my life."

"I thought you were allergic to cats."

"I took a fucking pill. Why do you care anyway, Justin?"

"So this is the little furball that Brian replaced me with, huh?"

"She's not a furball and Brian didn't replace you. He still loves you, Justin. It's you who left."

"I know who left. You don't understand Mollusk. Brian's hard to live with."

"I've lived with him, he's not that bad, once you get used to him."

"That's just it, I couldn't get used to the steady stream of men. I wanted him to only need me."

So did you find what you were looking for?"

"No, and it almost cost me everything."

Molly stared at her brother for a minute before she asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Molly, I don't know how to tell you this, but the guy that attacked you in Brian's loft was my friend Casey."

"Your friend!?!"

"Yeah, but as it turns out, he wasn't much of a friend."

"So it was Brian he was after and not me?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe. Or maybe he just wanted to see what Brian had that drew me to him. I don't know why he was there. I just know that if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Justin opened it to find two policemen and Cynthia standing there. Cynthia pushed her way past Justin and went straight to Molly.

"Molly, honey, sit down. We need to talk to you about something."

"What? I've told the police everything I know about what happened at Brian's."

"No, we need to tell you something. They've arrested your rapist."

"What? You're kidding, but how, I didn't give them much to go on."

"The DNA sample that was taken at the hospital actually caught him, and his own stupidity. But, honey, I think that maybe you should sit down."

"Fine," she said as she sat, still holding Cynthia's hand tightly.

The younger policeman introduced himself to Molly as Eric James. She smiled at him, and watched the sadness that clouded his eyes as he spoke about her attack.

"Miss Taylor, we have apprehended a suspect in your attack. He is currently being held at Pittsburgh General Hospital. He is under constant supervision and he is being restrained. There is no need for you to be concerned. He will not escape and he will not harm you again."

"Who is it? What's his name?"

"Ma'am, I'm not sure that it would be a good idea for us to tell you that at the moment."

"And why the fuck not?"

"Well, see, he has a connection to your family."

"What? It's someone I know?"

"I can't say for sure that you met him, but he is connected to the family."

"How?"

"Ma'am I think it would be best for you to wait until the DA contacts you about the trial. We will do our best to keep your name out of the papers, but don't be surprised to find reporters on your doorstep tomorrow morning."

"Why? Who is it?"

No one noticed Brian and Craig enter the room until Craig spoke up.

"It's your brother's lover. Your brother's disgusting lifestyle is the cause of your pain, Molly."

"What?"

"Casey, isn't that his name, Justin? You had to bring that filth into her life, didn't you? You caused this and now she'll never forgive you."

"You don't speak for me, Dad." Molly turned to her brother and hugged him close. "I don't blame you," she whispered. Turning back to her father, she let her anger explode.

"Get out."

"Molly, honey, I'm not the enemy here."

"Get out!" She pounded on his chest with her fists and continued to tell him to leave until Officer James stepped in.

"Sir, do you live here?"

"No, but this is my daughter and I belong here with her."

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Sir, if you don't leave, I'm going to be forced to arrest you for trespassing."

"Molly, you can't really want me to go and leave you here with the people responsible for your rape."

"I not only want you to leave my house, I want you to get out of my life. Leave me alone, Dad. Don't ever call me or come back here again. I never want to see you again."

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