Past Tense

Chapter 8

“You fucking did what?” Brian ranted.

“Um…I kind of blackmailed him,” Justin confessed. His revelations to Brian about how he had tricked Kip Thomas into dropping the sexual harassment suit had not been well received.

“Are you fucking nuts? What the fuck did you think you were doing? He … He could have killed you … or something?” Brian stammered.

“But he didn’t, and he left town. And I’ve done worse things,” Justin said. “Kip Thomas wasn’t very scary.”

“Worse things?” Brian asked with a frown. “What are you talking about?”

“What I did to Stockwell was worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, the posters and the way we blind-sided him at the GLC.”

“Yeah,” Brian said with a worried look on his face. “We do seem to have a history of dealing with enemies in rather unorthodox ways.”

“And then there’s my father,” Justin said with a grimace. “He had me arrested.”

“And he tried to demolish my car with me in it.”

“God, Brian, I never realized how bad all these things were until you put them all together.”

“It makes my list of enemies look like good prospects for this crime. Is there anything else you haven’t told me?” Brian asked raising that infamous eyebrow and glaring at his partner.

“Um, nothing that I can think of.”

“That doesn’t exactly reassure me.”

“Brian, I thought those … incidents were the right path to take. At the time they worked. And then down the road who knew anything about consequences that we might have to deal with.”

Brian walked to the bar cart and poured himself a shot of scotch. “Christ!” he said rubbing his hand across his face. “I don’t fucking believe this.”

“They’re going to catch whoever did this … and then we’ll know,” Justin said rubbing the palm of his hand up and down Brian’s arm.

“And what the fuck good is knowing?” He shrugged off Justin’s touch.

Justin shook his head. There was no dealing with Brian when he was like this. Whatever Justin might say Brian would find fault with it or argue the other side. “I’m going to bed,” Justin said and started up the steps to the bedroom.

“Justin…”

“Yes?” Justin looked back at his partner, the man he loved, the man who could be so cruel and infuriating when he wanted to be.

“I … Thank you for all you’ve tried to do,” Brian said hoping that would take the sting out of his earlier words.

“Yeah, right! Look where my actions have got us.”

“It’s not your fault. They’re my enemies.”

“But I contributed big time to the reasons they hate you.”

“I guess we’re inextricably joined together,” Brian admitted quietly.

Justin couldn’t stop himself from smiling when he heard those words. This was the other side of Brian – the side that could say the sweetest things without even realizing he was doing it. This was what made him love Brian beyond all reason. Justin never knew which Brian he might have to deal with, but moments like this melted his heart and made tears form in his eyes … out of pure joy. He swallowed hard, and knew better than to profess undying love at such a moment. “We could be inextricably joined again in a few minutes,” Justin said with a suggestive leer.

“No shit!”

“Come on. You know you waaaant to,” Justin teased.

Brian took another hit of the scotch. “What the fuck!” he said as he chased Justin back to their bed.

 

*****
 

The next morning as they were dressing for work, Justin thought of something he felt he should mention to Brian. “Are you going to tell Mr. Spade about what we discussed last night?” he asked.

“You mean about how you tricked Kip Thomas and posted all that propaganda about Stockwell?”

“And that I’m the reason my father hates you?”

“I think he already knows that.”

“But not about Kip and Stockwell.”

“I’ll let him know,” Brian said as he straightened his tie.

“Then he’ll think I’m a blackmailer and a slut.”

“And a very fine slut you are.”

“That’s not funny.”

“I thought it was very clever.”

“You would,” Justin said as he opened the loft door. “Are you ready?”

“Yes, let’s go,” Brian said walking through the open door and then closing and locking it behind him. “I don’t have to mention to Spade any of what we talked about last night … if you don’t want me to.”

“Yeah, but it might help him in the investigation if you did.”

“And it might not.”

“God, you are hard to deal with.”

“I thought I was being very reasonable,” Brian said as they got into the Corvette.

“Yeah, reasonable,” Justin griped.

“What climbed up your ass?”

“You – last night. But this morning, I have the choice of helping you or being labeled a whore. Not much of a choice.”

“But you can choose not to have me say anything,” Brian reminded him as he headed the car down Tremont.

“I already made my choice. Tell Spade.”

Brian shook his head. Justin was too brave sometimes. “I think you need coffee.”

“I know I need coffee. If you hadn’t fucked me in the shower this morning, we would have had time for coffee before we left the loft.”

“A man has his priorities,” Brian smirked.

“Let me off at the Starbucks,” Justin ordered.

Brian pulled the Corvette to a stop. “Have a lovely day at work, dear,” Brian said in his best falsetto.

“Fuck you!” Justin said as he got out of the car.

“When you get home from work,” Brian promised cheerfully.

“See you tonight,” Justin replied with a grin before Brian drove away. He headed into the Starbucks for some much needed caffeine.

 

*****
 

“Chase Hammond on line one,” Cynthia said over the intercom.

“Put him through,” Brian said.

“Mr. Kinney?”

“You can call me Brian.”

“Mr. Kinney,” Chase repeated firmly, letting Brian know they were definitely not on a first name basis. Far from it. “I wanted an update on the ad campaign. I want to get started as soon as possible.”

“I can email some of what I’ve done. The art department has all the ideas, and they are in the process of getting it ready to show to you.”

“When will it be ready?” Chase asked brusquely.

“If I put a rush on it, it could be ready for the day after tomorrow,” Brian said. Maybe if he hurried up this process, it would thaw Chase’s frosty demeanor towards him.

“I can be there around two. Is that satisfactory?”

“Certainly. I’ll make it happen.”

“Do that.”

“Chase…I…” The buzzing in the receiver told Brian that his maybe half brother had hung up. “Fuck!”

 

*****
 

“Yes?” Brian said into the phone after Cynthia had told him that Detective Coltrane was on the line.

“Mr. Kinney, I had a call from a Samuel Spade who says he is working for you.”

“That’s correct.”

“He gave me a list of possibles for this identity theft.”

“So?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about these three men?”

“You didn’t ask.”

“That’s not quite true. I merely told you that it was difficult to solve these cases. They’re usually done by someone who has gained access to your credit cards at a restaurant or a gas station,” Coltrane explained.

“And how would you have felt if I said that Jim Stockwell was number one on my list of enemies.”

“I kind of figured that out, but you can’t seriously think that the chief of police…”

“Ex-chief of police,” Brian reminded him.

“Okay, ex. It would make no sense for Jim to do something like this.”

“Would it make sense for Jim to hire someone to do this for him?” Brian asked pointedly.

“I just can’t believe…”

“And maybe that’s exactly why I didn’t say anything about Stockwell being on my enemy list,” Brian interrupted.

“Okay, point taken,” Coltrane said with a sigh.

“Does that mean that you’ll look into the possibility that Stockwell is behind this?”

“If this is a legitimate lead, I will certainly follow it up,” Coltrane stated.

“All the names I gave Spade are legitimate possibilities,” Brian stated.

“Okay, I’ll check into them.”

“That would be lovely,” Brian said sarcastically before he cut the connection. Pigs would be flying past the front door of Kinnetik before one cop investigated another.

Brian got back to work.

 

*****
 

“Brian, your mother is on line two,” Cynthia informed her boss.

“My mother? Put her through.”

“Brian?”

“Yes, what do you want?”

“You could at least be civil.”

Brian heaved a sigh. “Mother dearest, what can I do for you on this lovely day?”

“And you needn’t be sarcastic either.”

“Tell me how you’d like me to be, and I’ll try to accommodate you,” Brian replied nastily. He was in no mood for his mother’s criticisms.

“I had something to tell you, but now…”

“Could you get to the fucking point? I’m busy.”

“You are incorrigible.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“Do you want to hear what I have to say, or not?” Joan asked indignantly. “I didn’t call to waste my time.”

‘No, you called to waste mine,’ Brian thought to himself. “Tell me what you want to say,” Brian ordered, although he hoped it didn’t sound too much like a command.

“You asked me about that Marjorie Adams woman when you were here,” Joan began.

“Yes, and you said you didn’t know anyone by that name.”

“I don’t, but it got me thinking. I remember a Marge Adams from way back. I think your father’s cousin brought her to a birthday party or some kind of social thing here in Pittsburgh.”

“We had social things?” Brian asked, finding it impossible to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

“I’m sorry I called,” Joan said, the brittle tone in her voice telling him that she was on the verge of hanging up on him.

“Mother, what are you trying to tell me?” Brian said toning down the sarcasm. He wanted to know about this Marge Adams person.

“That I think Marge Adams may have known your father.”

“I see.”

“Why are you asking about this woman?” Joan wanted to know.

“It…It’s a long story,” Brian said reluctant to tell her about what he suspected.

“I have time,” Joan said waiting for him to continue.

“Well, I don’t,” Brian replied. “I have work to do.”

“Brian…”

“Thanks for the information. If you remember anything else, call me. Goodbye, mother.” Brian cut the connection.

Well, that was a kick in the gut. It was looking more and more like Chase Hammond might actually be his long lost half brother. Poor schmuck!

 

*****
 

Brian reported Joan’s revelation to Sam Spade. Spade said he would look into it, and revealed that he had no new information on the identity theft case. Brian had not expected much, and his expectations were being met.

Just as the work day was winding down, Brian’s cell phone started vibrating on his desk. He picked it up and looked at the caller ID.

“Shit! I should have known,” he grumbled before pushing the talk button. “Yes, Mikey, what can I do for you?”

“Come to Woody’s for a drink later.”

“I’m busy.”

“You can find an hour or two for old friends, can’t you?”

“Michael…”

“Just come. I want to talk to you.”

“Okay, seven at Woody’s.”

“See you then.”

 

*****
 

Brian pulled the Corvette into a parking space on Liberty Avenue. He wasn’t sure what the fuck he was doing there. He and Michael weren’t nearly as close as they used to be, but Brian still felt the compulsion to answer when Mikey called. They had known each other far too long not to respond when the other asked.

Wearily Brian hoisted himself out of the low slung car. This whole identity theft crap made him feel … old. And that was not a feeling Brian Kinney liked one iota. Somehow the mess he was in had taken a silent toll. It made him tired and … annoyed with everything, with the world. He hoped he could be civil to his old friend until it was time to leave.

As Brian walked into the bar, his stomach clenched. Ben and Emmett were sitting at a table with Michael. They were all nursing bottles of beer, waiting for him apparently. Brian couldn’t help but wonder if this was some kind of fucking intervention that they had cooked up. He was going to kill Emmett Honeycutt.

“Brian,” Michael called, and waved him over.

“Have a beer,” Emmett said shoving a bottle towards Brian as he sat down.

Brian took a long pull on the beer. If all three of his friends were there, something must be up. Michael had brought reinforcements. At least Ted had decided to lie low and not get involved. Of course, Ted already knew what was going on. Brian wondered how much Ted might have revealed to the others.

“So, what have you been doing lately?” Michael asked with a big smile.

“Same old, same old,” Brian replied as he drank some more beer. The sooner he finished the bottle, the sooner he would be able to get out of there. All he had promised was to have a drink with Michael – one drink.

“Brian,” Ben began.

‘Here it comes,’ Brian thought.

“Emmett seems to think you’re in some kind of trouble.”

“And so he came to you two,” Brian snarled. He hated when people stuck their fucking noses into his business.

“We’re worried,” Ben added.

“There’s nothing to worry about. It’s under control,” Brian said drinking some more beer and trying to look nonchalant.

“Is that why Teddy won’t tell us what’s going on?” Emmett felt compelled to ask.

“Ted doesn’t tell you what’s going on, because it’s none of your fucking business,” Brian said before drinking the last of his beer.

“We want to help,” Michael said.

“I don’t need help,” Brian stated firmly as he pushed back his chair. “And I’m out of here.” With that, Brian Kinney left the building. He also left his friends shaking their heads.
 

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