Joining
By StarwinderWarnings: mention of het, Maude/her husband, Violence, bad language, Original character rape by original character. This is a graphic scene! For those who do not want to read it, it is the very last scene. I have placed a warning and space above it.
Vin Tanner looked out the window as the private jet approached Kirk's Island.
The island lay in the bright tropical sun, like a verdant green jewel, surrounded by a band of gleaming, white sand beaches that separated it from the sapphire waters of the Caribbean.
Ezra had told him that the island was about fifty miles long and twenty wide at the longest and widest points. He wondered if that included the string of small atolls that trailed off from one end like beads.
They circled the island before lining up with the runway to land.
Ezra joined him at the window, pointing out the estate as they circled passed it. "That is 'Parrots Point'. Kirk named it for the unusual number and variety of parrots that inhabit the forest around the estate. They are quite bold and unafraid of humans. There have been times when I was sitting in a chair on the patio and parrots would fly down and perch on the back of another chair not five feet away."
He pointed to the long low stucco house, "The main house is mostly a single story high, there are a few places that it rises to two stories and Kirk and Mother's suite is in the only third floor section. There are numerous small guest cottages scattered around the grounds."
"It looks like a small town," Vin commented.
"It's the closest thing to one on the island. There are a half dozen small villages, but Parrots Point covers more acreage than any of them and has more inhabitants, even if you don't count the servants that do not live on the estate."
As they deplaned at the airfield a four-wheel drive Jeep Cherokee pulled up. The driver greeted Maude with a smile and a, "Welcome home, Miz Maude. Mister Ezra, what a pleasure to see you again."
Maude smiled back at the man and said, "Thank you, Hector. The other gentleman is Ezra's intended. Kirk did explain about the wedding did he not?"
"Oh, yes, ma'am Miz Maude. Everyone is terribly excited." He turned to Ezra and Vin to explain, "We haven't had a wedding in almost a year, not since Miguel's daughter, Maria married Emmanuel."
Hector chattered on, filling Ezra in on the various happenings on the island since his last visit, who was engaged to whom, who had passed away, who had new babies, and etc.
Listening, Vin got the idea that the islanders, especially those who lived at Parrots Point considered Ezra to be family. Hector didn't behave towards him or Maude the way that Vin had expected servants to behave towards the wealthy people who employed them.
Kirk came as a welcome surprise, too.
Maude practically ran into his arms when they reached the house.
The first words out of Kirk's mouth were: "Darling, what's wrong?"
Maude clung to him as she said. "Trevor's back."
Obviously knowing what that meant, Kirk had looked up at Ezra, his blue eyes filled with concern, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Kirk... but quite glad to be here at the moment."
"I'll alert the security force to step up to yellow alert status." He held up a hand when Ezra began to protest. "I know that it is very unlikely that he can get anywhere near the island as there are no commercial flights in or out, but we do have some ships that make port here. I'll have security inform the Captains that no passengers will be allowed to disembark here without a security check and no crew will be allowed beyond the docks at all."
Ezra sighed, "Very well. Better safe than sorry, I suppose."
Kirk gave a sharp nod, "Now, I take it that this young man is your intended?"
Ezra smiled happily, reaching to take Vin's hand, drawing him forward. "Yes, this is Vin Tanner."
Vin held out his other hand to Ezra's stepfather, "Pleased to meet you, sir."
Kirk smiled at him and took the hand, giving it a quick, firm shake. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Mister Tanner. Ezra seems happier than I have ever seen him. If you are responsible for that, then I am more than happy to welcome you to the family. He certainly deserves some happiness."
Ezra beamed at him and said, "Vin deserves some happiness as well. I fear his life has been much harder than mine."
Kirk raised an inquiring eyebrow at Vin.
Vin shrugged. "I've had some hard times, right enough, but I figure being stalked by Simon Trevor thumps anything that I've ever been through."
Kirk turned back to Ezra, "Maude tells me that you have left the ATF. You and Mister Tanner are more than welcome to stay here as long as you like. Trevor won't get to you. I guarantee that."
Vin and Ezra exchanged looks then Ezra said, "We're not running from him. We're going to end this permanently."
Kirk frowned, "There is only one way to end it permanently."
Ezra inclined his head slightly, "Indeed."
Kirk thought a moment then said, "Perhaps we should take this discussion to my study. It will be more private."
He turned to the servants who had been standing by, "Miguel, Emmanuel, please take my stepson's and Mister Tanner's things to their room."
Ezra spoke up, "If you don't mind, Kirk, Vin and I would prefer one of the cottages. Perhaps the one down by the beach, if it is unoccupied?"
"Of course, I should have realized that you will want your privacy. The beach cottage is perfect. Miguel, tell Hector that I asked if he would drive you and Emmanuel down there with their luggage."
"Yes, sir, Mister Kirk." Miguel, the older of the two men said with a smile.
Maude declared that she was retiring to her room to freshen up and would see them later.
As Kirk led the way to the study, Vin couldn't help noticing that the majority of the servants wore smiles and greeted both Kirk and Ezra cheerfully.
Vin decided that he liked Kirk van deFevre. He had expected a man made arrogant by his wealth, but Kirk was quite down-to-earth and he treated his servants with respect. He called them by name, he said 'please' and 'thank you', showing respect for them as people and for the services that they provided for him and his family. As a result the atmosphere of the house was cheerful and welcoming.
Once in the study, Kirk asked, "Are you truly set on this course?"
Ezra and Vin exchanged looks, but it was Vin who answered, "Yes, sir. I wanted to hunt the bastard down and shoot him from ambush, but Ezra wouldn't let me do that."
Kirk raised an eyebrow in question.
Ezra nodded. "Vin was a sniper with the Army Rangers then hunted bounty for a living. I have no doubts that he could indeed have tracked and killed Trevor. However, there would have been no way to call that anything other than Murder One. I would prefer to have some chance of the kill being ruled self-defense or at least justifiable homicide."
Kirk nodded, "Tell me the plan. I assure you that nothing said in this room will go beyond it."
Ezra exchanged looks with Vin then nodded and explained about the house that they were buying and how they intended to lure Trevor in and trap him.
When he was done Kirk nodded and said simply, "Tell me what I can do to help."
Ezra took a CD out of his pocket and handed it across to Kirk. "That contains everything that I have been able to learn about Simon Trevor in the twelve years since I first encountered him. He does not fit the usual profile of a serial killer. He comes from a wealthy family. He is well educated, highly intelligent and he is an over achiever."
He paused then went on. "I know that one of your companies develops software, specifically security software and that you have on occasion used hackers to test that software, to see if it can be hacked. Trevor's family never believed that he was guilty despite the preponderance of evidence against him. I think that they helped him escape and that he may still be in touch with them. His father's company has an extensive web presence. I thought that perhaps one of your hackers could get into their server and try to find something that could lead back to Trevor."
"The best hacker that I know of is 'The Sorcerer'. I've used him several times to test the security software for my own companies computer systems. I can have him flown in tonight. I assume that you will want to be able to consult with him on what he finds, perhaps indicate what he should follow up on."
Vin looked over at Ezra, "Ain't JD mentioned a hacker called Sorcerer?"
"Indeed he has and he was quite in awe of what this Sorcerer could do."
"If it's the same fellow, then he's got to be good, 'cause JD ain't no slouch at hacking."
At Kirk's raised eyebrow Ezra explained. "JD Dunne is our computer expert. Or rather he was the computer expert for team seven."
Kirk nodded his understanding, "Then shall I make the arrangements to have The Sorcerer flown in?"
"Yes, tell him that I will pay whatever he charges."
Kirk waved the offer away. "No, I will pay his fee. He is on retainer and will not overcharge me. Besides I can always threaten to take him off retainer and find another hacker should he try to hold me up for too much money."
"Can ya afford to do that, if he's the best like you say?"
"There is always someone nipping at the heels of 'the best', Mister Tanner. Sorcerer was sixteen the first time that I hired him to test a piece of software. There is a young hacker that I currently have my eye on, a girl, barely fourteen. She is already challenging Sorcerer's reputation. Soon she may surpass him. In any event I always have more than one hacker test my software. Each one is different, unique, with their own approach to breaching the security of a piece of software."
Vin nodded his understanding. He decided that hackers were sort of like old west gunslingers. There was always some young buck coming up to challenge the older ones.
Ezra glanced out the window and noted that the sun was going down. "I expect that it will be morning at least before he arrives. I believe that we will stop by the kitchen and have Quanta prepare us a cold tray to take down to the cottage with us. She can wait until tomorrow to stock the kitchen there."
They all rose to leave, Kirk saying, "I'm sure that she will be delighted to see you again. You and Mister Tanner will join us for brunch in the morning, won't you?"
"Certainly," Ezra replied, then cocked an eyebrow and said, "elevenish?"
"Yes."
Vin gave a nod, "We'll be there."
Kirk smiled and said, "Good night, Ezra, Mister Tanner."
Ezra took Vin's hand as he replied with, "Good night, Kirk."
Vin nodded to Kirk saying, "Good night Mister van deFevre."
Kirk laughed suddenly, realizing that Vin was gently chiding him about continuing to use Vin's last name after having said that he was family. "Call me Kirk, as Ezra does, Vin."
Vin grinned at him, "That's better. Nite, Kirk."
Kirk saw them out of the study then closed the door behind them and returned to his desk to make some calls.
He liked Vin Tanner and not entirely because he so obviously made Ezra happy. The man was sharply intelligent, capable, and clearly loyal to any commitment that he might make.
Kirk had run a background check on Tanner as soon as Maude had called to say that he and Ezra were together. He was a bit concerned about some of the personal choices the man had made, the rumors of why he had had to leave the US Marshals pointed to an unhealthy tendency to become involved with the wrong type of men.
Kirk hadn't, however, taken the rumors at face value. A deep background check on the superior that Tanner had been involved with revealed a pattern in his behavior. He habitually seduced, used, then discarded young, lonely agents assigned to him.
Tanner fit the profile of the young men the superior chose to a T. He had been just twenty-two, fresh out of the army with no friends or family close by and the man had latched on to him like a leach. He'd used the younger man until he was tired of him then had gotten him kicked out of the Marshals.
Kirk picked up his phone. Perhaps he'd see if Nightrunner's parents would allow her to fly down to the island to help with the hacking. They had to know that their daughter's hacking could get her into a great deal of trouble, if it was not directed into a legal direction. Testing software was one of the few legal professions for a hacker. That or working for some shadowy government agency. He thought that they would prefer to get her into the business world rather than the espionage one.
He'd probably have to bring the parents down, too, but that was all right. They wouldn't be very good parents, if they didn't insist on coming with her.
He sighed softly. He'd hoped for grandchildren from Ezra, but it didn't seem that they would be getting any.
He had known when he married Maude that they wouldn't have children of their own. She'd told him that she couldn't have children, although she hadn't told him why immediately.
He still wondered sometimes why she'd finally told him the truth about her background. While it was true that he'd found enough discrepancies in her original story to confront her about them, he probably would have never been able to discover the whole truth.
His beautiful, sophisticated, articulate wife had been born in a dirt floor cabin in the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia. She'd been barely fifteen when Ezra and his twin sister had been born. The girl had been stillborn and Maude had been left unable to have more children.
One of eleven children, she had been raped and gotten pregnant by a boy cousin. Fleeing from being forced to marry the violent SOB who had impregnated her, she ended up in New Orleans where she met and married the man listed as Ezra's father on his birth certificate.
Patrick Standish had been a gambler and a con artist. He'd taught Maude everything she knew about both gambling and conning. By the time he was killed by a disgruntled poker opponent, seven years later, he had transformed Maude from a country bumpkin into a sophisticated lady. A lady, who just happened to be able to stack a deck, bottom deal, palm cards and lie in her teeth with a look of such innocence that God himself would believe her.
After Patrick's death she had made a career of marrying well and divorcing better, never staying with a husband more than a couple of years until she married Adrian LeBeau. She'd been married to him just over five years when Simon Trevor had murdered him, trying to get to Ezra.
Kirk had met her just months after Adrian's murder, so perhaps it had been the shock of his murder and Trevor's attempt to kidnap Ezra that had led to her telling him everything, or perhaps she was just tired of pretending.
He had, of course, checked everything that could be checked on the new story before deciding that he still wanted to marry her and it had all checked out. It explained so much about his wife's many quirks, including how long it had taken for her to learn to trust him and to believe that he truly loved her, just as she was.
He nodded to himself, helping Ezra and his new partner get rid of Trevor permanently would give Maude some closure over Adrian's death, therefore he would do anything required to help them.
ª ª ª ª ª ª ª
Ezra led Vin through the maze of corridors to the kitchen, where they were greeted enthusiastically by a tiny, gray-haired woman with bright, brown eyes and cafe a lait skin.
"Mister Ezra!" she greeted him in a delighted voice as she pulled him into a hug.
Ezra hugged her back gently.
After a moment she stepped back. "It is so very good to see you again... and you look so wonderful!" She stretched up to caress his cheek. "And so happy! You glow, cher!"
She turned to look at Vin, "Oh, my! If this is your intended I can see why. He is gorgeous! Such beautiful eyes! The very color of the sky!"
Ezra laughed delightedly, "Quanta, this is indeed my intended, Vin Tanner. Vin, this is Quanta. She rules the kitchen with an iron hand so you and your bottomless pit of a stomach will want to stay on her good side."
"Oh, oui! He is much too thin!"
Ezra laughed, again, "If you can fatten him up it will be a miracle. He can eat more food than three other men and not gain an ounce. Now, we have come to see about a cold tray to take down to the cottage for the night...."
"Of course, my pet. It will only take a few minutes. While I fix your tray, sit at the table and tell me what you are going to want to serve at the wedding reception. Miz Maude has not given instructions as yet, so, I can probably persuade her to whatever you want, but you must tell me."
"I thought perhaps you might commandeer Luis to help and roast a pig or two. Fresh caught sea bass cooked on the grill sounds wonderful as well. Roasted corn ears, sliced tomatoes fresh from your garden, melons and fruit for dessert."
"And the cake. You absolutely must have a wedding cake. What kind would you like?"
"Vin is very fond of chocolate. Devil's food cake with caramel-coconut-pecan icing?" Ezra looked to Vin for approval.
"Damn, you're making my mouth water, Ez!"
"Oh! Make sure anything that has strawberries in it is clearly indicated. Vin is allergic and I do *not* want my spouse covered in hives and scratching like he has fleas on our wedding night!"
"I should think not! I will make certain that there are no dishes containing strawberries. If I serve strawberries, they will be whole or sliced so that it obvious what they are and he can avoid them."
"He does, however, love peaches, particularly peach cobbler, canned ones will do to make it, if you can't get fresh. Of course, you know that I love mangoes and star fruit."
She chuckled, "Of course, and they are always plentiful around here! I will have the children pick them fresh the morning of the wedding."
She turned from where she had been working, with a large silver tray in her hands, "There, that should hold you for the night."
She sat it on the table between them. It was piled high with sliced ham, beef and either chicken or turkey, also cheese and thick slices of bread. There were also slices of tomatoes and onion as well as pineapple, and other fruits. She covered the tray with a domed lid and Ezra stood reaching for it.
Vin swept it up before he could get it. "I've got it, babe. You need to show me the way down to the cottage. It's getting a mite dark and I've never been there before."
Ezra smiled his agreement and they turned to go as Quanta bid them good night.
They were almost out the door when Quanta called after them to wait and brought a gallon jug and handed it to Ezra. "Lemonade. You will need something to drink."
They said good night again and stepped off the patio, Ezra leading Vin through a maze of hedges and flowerbeds until they reached the path down to the beach.
It wasn't as dark out as it might have been. The moon had been up before the sun went down. Being near full, it lit the well-worn path quite well.
They strolled down towards the beach, Vin bracing the tray against one hip with his arm wrapped around it, while he held Ezra's free hand with his free one.
It was perhaps a half-mile walk down to the cottage and the beach was another few hundred yards beyond that.
Vin was pleasantly surprised to find that the cottage had electricity and was air-conditioned.
Ezra explained, "A hydroelectric plant was among the first improvements that Kirk made to the island when he bought it from the French government nearly twenty years ago. It supplies the villages as well as the estate. The French had never bothered to provide the islanders with any modern conveniences. Kirk also put in a water system, both running water to the homes and sewage lines from them to a treatment plant that he built."
"Sounds like he takes good care of the islanders."
"He tries to pretend that the improvements were just by-products of his supplying electricity, running water and modern plumbing to the estate but the fact is that he fell in love with the island the first time that he visited it as a child with his parents. His first wife was a villager and he did everything he could to improve the lot of her people. One of the first things he did was build a medical clinic and import a doctor and nurses to run it, providing free medical care to all island inhabitants."
Ezra put the lemonade in the refrigerator and set the tray of food in as well, then turned back to Vin, "Now, enough about others. Why don't we take a nice long soak in the hot tub, then we can either go on to bed and make mad, passionate love, or just relax with a walk in the moonlight on the beach and perhaps a midnight swim...."
Vin pulled him close, kissing him tenderly, "Mad, passionate love sounds good to me. But I'm flexible, we'll do whatever you want."
Ezra laughed, "Then mad, passionate love it is!"
ª ª ª ª ª ª ª
Vin lay stretched out in the hot tropical sun, on a beach towel, spread out on the snowy white sands of the private beach adjoining Parrots Point. He lay on his stomach, completely naked, his head resting on his folded arms.
Through hooded eyes he watched Ezra, lying equally naked a few feet away, in a lounge chair, sheltered from the sun by the twelve-foot by twelve-foot tent that he lay under. All four sides of the tent could be rolled up. Currently only one side was down, the one that shielded Ezra's fair skin from the blazing sun as he napped.
A soft tropical breeze stirred Ezra's hair and he turned his head slightly, murmuring in his sleep. A thick book lay on the canvas floor of the tent, having fallen from Ezra's hand when he drifted off to sleep.
Vin rolled over on his back, closing his eyes.
Denver's snows and the threat of Trevor seemed a million miles away and he was glad that Ezra was getting this break before they went home to trap the killer.
When Maude had told Kirk in a clipped tone that Trevor was back, he had seemed to know exactly what she was talking about and had immediately offered any help that he could give.
He had flown in not one but two hackers to help get into Trevor's family's computer systems and other net transactions.
The Sorcerer was a young man who didn't look much older than JD. With pale blonde hair and sharp blue eyes behind his thick lens glasses, he stood barely five eight and was quite slender. He gave the name Hans Brinker but that was obviously an alias.
The other hacker was just a teenager, a girl of fourteen, who called herself Nightrunner, but whose parents, who had come with her, called Marguerite. She was a petite, dark-haired, blue-eyed, angel-faced child, but she clearly knew what she was doing.
When Sorcerer had seen how young Nightrunner was, he had insisted on doing the hacking into the Trevor family's bank accounts, looking for suspicious transactions, particularly anything that connected to Denver, saying that the banks were much more likely to prosecute should they discover the hacking than would Trevor's family. As he already had a police record as a hacker it would be better for him to do it, than to risk Nightrunner getting a record at her age.
They were working together remarkably well, with little rivalry apparent.
Thus far they had no results but then they had only arrived in the wee hours of the morning, gotten a few hours sleep and begun work just two hours before.
After about fifteen minutes on his back, Vin sat up and stretched, rising to move over and sit on the tent floor next to Ezra.
Ezra's eyes opened immediately as if he had sensed Vin's presence.
After leaning in for a lingering kiss, Vin asked, "Wanna go for a dip then head back to the cottage?"
Ezra smiled up at him, then glanced at the position of the sun, "I'd love to, I doubt that Hans or Marguerite will have any thing for us for at least several more hours, if at all today."
They had both fallen in love with the unpolluted waters and beaches of the island. It was amazing how clear the water was this far away from the mainland and how unspoiled the beaches.
They chased each other down to the water, laughing and playing. Diving into the water, they splashed and played for most of an hour before racing back to the cottage to shower and walk up to the main house to see if Hans or Marguerite had gotten any results yet.
ª ª ª ª ª ª ª
James Barton tried to make his hands stop shaking as he walked towards the office of Bill Hullet, Imports and Exports.
He didn't want to be here, he didn't want to meet with the man that called himself Bill Hullet, but he was afraid of what would happen if he didn't come, didn't give the man the information that he wanted.
He stopped in front of the door, trying to gather his courage. He'd never thought of himself as a hero but then he'd never thought he was a coward either, but the man waiting on the other side of the door terrified him.
After a long moment he forced himself to open the door and step inside. The lights were off and at first he didn't see Hullet. Then he saw that the high-backed desk chair was swiveled to face the window, its back to the door. He decided that Hullet must be sitting there as he had always before been at the desk when Barton entered.
He stepped forwards hesitantly and cleared his throat.
The door suddenly swung shut behind him with a bang that made him jump then a hand closed on his throat, wrapped around from behind and another grabbed his crotch, groping his cock and balls which seemed to shrivel and try to draw up into his body at the touch.
Hot breath against his ear, was followed by the question, "Did you get the information, bitch?"
He nodded as best he could unable to speak with the hand locked on his throat.
Hullet/Trevor chuckled, "I'm disappointed. I was looking forwards to screwing your hot little boy pussy bloody. Still, I guess you've earned another reprieve... if I'm satisfied with your answers."
He shoved Barton forwards until he was against the desk, then releasing his throat and his crotch he caught both arms and twisted them behind Barton's back pushing him down so that he was bent over the desk. He ground his cock into Barton's ass cheeks reminding him of what he had coming if Hullet/Trevor wasn't pleased with his answers.
"Question number one: Where did they go when they left the house?"
"She... she went to the airport. There was a private plane waiting, but it didn't take off until Standish and Tanner arrived."
Barton stammered.
"Where did Standish go?"
"To the Federal Building. He saw Travis then went down to team seven's bullpen and stayed a bit before leaving."
"And Tanner?"
"I couldn't find anyone at the Federal Building that saw him there. I checked down in Purgatorio where he used to live but those folks don't talk to strangers and you can get killed quick asking too many questions. He met back up with Standish later somewhere. He was with him in the Jag when Standish arrived at the airport."
"And where did they fly away to?"
"The plane was Standish's stepfather's. The flight plan was to some place called Kirk's Island."
Hullet/Trevor let out a roar, and slung Barton across the room, where he hit the wall face first and crumbled to the floor.
"Son-of-a-bitch! Goddamned, mother-fucking son-of-a-bitch!" Hullet/Trevor raged. Snarling and stomping around. "Kirk's Island! There's no fucking way to get to him there!"
He snatched Barton up off the floor and shook him like a rag doll. "What are they doing there? Why? Why did they go there?"
Barton managed to gasp out, "Wedding. S-Standish was passing out these." He pawed at his pocket.
Hullet/Trevor shoved his hand into the pocket and pulled out the crisp white envelope he found there. Shoving Barton back to the floor, he casually placed a foot in the center of the PI's back to keep him down while he opened the envelope.
The name on the envelope meant nothing to him and he ignored it, only interested in what was inside.
He pulled out the thick white card. On the front in embossed gold script were the words:
You are invited.
He opened the next fold of the tri-folded card and read:
to the marriage ceremony of Ezra Patrick Standish and Kevin James Tanner. To be performed on the second day of October in the year of our Lord two thousand five at the home of Maude Standish van deFevre and Kirk van deFevre on Kirk's Island.
He opened the last fold and read:
Transportation and accommodation for all guests will be provided. RSVP by appearing at LeBeau Charter Flights at Denver International airport on Sept 30, 2005 no later than 2 PM. Please bring an official picture ID. This invitation will serve as your boarding pass.
The little whore was planning a wedding to Tanner. To Tanner! When he belonged to Trevor! He'd kill him! He'd rip them both to pieces and eat their fucking hearts!
Without thinking he ripped the invitation to shreds and threw the pieces on the floor. Snarling, he turned back to Barton, moving his foot from Barton's back only so that he could aim a kick at the man.
"Get up! Get up, you piece of shit! I want to know when they are coming back! Find out!"
Barton crawled painfully to his feet, using the wall for support.
When Hullet/Trevor took a step towards him he cowed away, to Trevor's amusement.
Trevor laughed, reaching out to turn Barton's tear stained face to him. "I like it when they cry," he crooned, a smile on his face. He caught Barton's face in both hands and leaned in to kiss him cruelly, crushing Barton's lips under his, then forcing his mouth open to ravish it.
He pulled back, studying Barton's frightened and horrified face.
He smiled again, "I'm going to fuck you, pussy boy. I'm going to shove my dick so far up your tight little virgin hole that you'll think it's coming out your throat, but not today... maybe tomorrow, if you can't tell me what I want to know."
He snorted in amusement and turned, releasing Barton, letting him slide to the floor as he strode to the door and left.
Some part of Barton realized that it was the first time that Hullet had left first and that he should try to follow him, try to find out more about him, but he was too hurt, too scared and too ashamed to even try.
It was a long time before he pulled himself together enough to get up and straighten his clothes as best he could and leave the office.
He didn't bother to lock the door behind him.
ª ª ª ª ª ª ª
Simon Trevor strode along the sidewalk towards Standish's townhouse as though he owned it, as though he belonged there. People never paid attention to people who acted as if they belonged. It was people who sneaked and skulked that drew attention.
The only person who might remember him would be the pretty lady that he had smiled at and then only because he was so handsome.
He snorted in amusement. If she only knew!
He strolled up the walk to Standish's townhouse as if he lived there. It took him only a little longer to open the front door with his picklock than it would have with a key. He quickly punched in the alarm code that Barton had gotten him, then turned to look around.
He nearly flew into another rage at what he saw. The place was empty!
With a growl he moved on to the living room, then the den and the breakfast nook and kitchen.
There was nothing! Nothing!
He snatched open cabinets and found them empty. The refrigerator was empty and unplugged.
He stood in the middle of the empty kitchen and howled his rage.
Finally, he calmed himself and walked down the hall to the stairs and climbed them. He didn't expect to find anything, but he had to check the bedroom, see for himself that it had been packed up and moved.
The upstairs was as empty as the downstairs. There was nothing left, not even a stray toothbrush in the bathroom. The place looked as if it had been professionally cleaned.
He forced him self to think, to remember Barton's log entries. Standish had been the last to leave on Thursday. Barton's man had followed Maude to the airport. Barton himself had followed Standish, since it was his movements that Trevor had hired him to document.
The house hadn't been under surveillance since then. Four days. Standish must have hired someone to pack up the house and move it, but where did they move everything to?
He'd make Barton find out for him, but *after* he'd punished the pussy boy for letting this major piece of information slip past him.
He let himself back out of the house, smiling at the thought of what he would do to Barton to punish him for this slip up.
He strolled casually down the street, got in his car and drove away.
ª ª ª ª ª ª ª
Hans emerged from the room where he and Marguerite had been working with a triumphant grin on his face. Waving a printout at them he announced, "We have him Herr van deFevre! We have him!"
"Are you sure?" Vin demanded as Ezra reached for the printout.
"As sure as we can be. Nothing is one hundred percent but I feel that this is our link to him."
Ezra looked at the printout, "A numbered account in the Cayman Islands?"
"Ja. Ja. His father set it up years ago. I noted that Trevor Senior had been making regular, large transfers to that account so I hacked it and guess when it was set up?"
"When?" Vin demanded.
Hans turned to Ezra, "According to your information on the CD, Trevor Senior denied that he could have had anything to do with Simon's escape when he was being transferred to Federal Prison after his trial ten years ago, because he was out of the country. This account was set up, with a balance of three million dollars, during the time that Trevor Senior was "out of the country" and was accessed for the first time on the day that Simon Trevor escaped."
"Trevor Senior has continued to funnel funds into the account religiously, being careful to never move more at one time than the law allows, but keeping the account balance in the millions. The account has been quite active. Activity is steady most of the time, money is transferred to other accounts regularly. Then there are times when there is a flurry of transfers to new and different accounts. Eight years ago, beginning about six months before his attack on you and Adrian LeBeau's murder, there was a flurry of activity, transferring money to accounts in New York. One of those accounts belonged to a Private Investigator, another was a security guard at your stepfather's building and also to a couple of police officers."
Ezra interrupted, "We always knew that he must have had inside help to get in the building. It was very high security. The bribe to the police officers would explain why it never came out that the security guard had received a large sum of money and why the investigation never went any where."
"That all was years ago. What's going on with the account now?" Vin demanded.
"There were several large transfers to Denver four months ago, totaling more than a million dollars to a business account in the name of Bill Hullet, Imports and Exports. I hacked that account but all the transactions are cash, taken from ATMs all over Denver, Bounder and surrounding cities. I guess he's paying cash to whoever he's hired to help him in Denver."
"Still we have some clues. He hired a PI in New York when he was planning his attack there. I believe he will have done the same in Denver. And we can check out this Bill Hullet, Imports and Exports."
"I've already done that. It appears to just be a front. There's an office address listed, but I can't find anything else on it. They don't appear to buy or sell anything."
Ezra looked at Vin, "What does your gut say?"
"Trevor's Hullet. He's smartened up some. He's using the office to meet with his PI or PIs. Reports will be verbal and payment in cash. No paper or electronic trail to follow." Vin thought a moment. "He's got to be living somewhere. Do his folks own anything in Denver? Apartments, houses, businesses, *ware* houses?"
"That's a question for Marguerite," Hans said, "she's digging into Trevor's family, their company and its holdings."
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Warning: Graphic rape scene follows. Scroll down to read or stop here.
Night had fallen in Denver and a light snow was falling.
Simon Trevor stood silently in James Barton's bedroom, watching the PI sleep. It had been ridiculously easy to gain access to the apartment in a run down section of Denver.
He wrapped the length of rope around his hand letting the hangman's noose on the end dangle. He moved forwards of silent feet, until he stood over the huddle form on the bed.
He studied the figure for a moment deciding on the best way to gain immediate control of the man.
He grinned, almost letting a snort of laughter escape.
Barton lay on his stomach, head turned to one side, his arms wrapped around the pillow that his head lay on.
This was almost too easy.
He leaped onto the bed, landing astride Barton's back.
Barton came awake with a pitiful shriek, rearing up trying to throw the weight off his back.
Trevor laughed out loud as he dropped the noose over Barton's head and pulled back with the hand the rope was wrapped around while he pushed the hangman's knot tight with the other hand.
He held on for the long seconds that it took for Barton's struggles to weaken as the man slipped into unconsciousness.
He loosened the noose then. He didn't want Barton dead, not yet. It was time to play.
James Barton regained consciousness slowly. He realized that he was naked and tried to move, finding that he was bound. He jerked at his arms, but they were securely fastened to the headboard of his bed. Handcuffs encircled his wrists, the cuffs closed tightly. The chains were looped through the uprights of the antique iron headboard and then returned to his wrist, so that the other cuff fastened around it as well. The other wrist was similarly secured. He could feel the noose still around his neck. It had been loosened but it was still there.
He felt something hard pressing into his abdomen and tried to see what it was. It felt like wood, like a low wooden step stool. It raised his belly up off the bed so that his cock and balls hung suspended in midair and his ass jutted up.
His legs... he swallowed hard. They weren't attached to the footboard as he'd feared, but perhaps worse. He could feel a rope tied around each leg just above the knees, pulling his thighs apart. When he tried to move one leg it tugged on the other. The rope must go under the bed, one end tied to each leg, holding them splayed open, exposing his ass, cock and balls to whatever Hullet wanted to do to him.
He almost sobbed at the thought.
Oh! God! He was naked and Hullet was here, here and angry about something.
"Please," he whimpered, "I'll get the information. I swear. I haven't had time."
"This isn't about that information, little bitch." Hullet's voice came from behind him, then weight shifted on the bed and Hullet was on top of him, rubbing his naked form against Barton's.
Barton sobbed. "I don't know what you're talking about, I did what you told me. I got you the information that you wanted. I swear I did."
"This isn't about what you did get, fuck hole. This is about what you didn't do. You didn't give me need to know information!" He slammed a fist into Barton's back. "You didn't tell me that they were moving!" He hit the man again.
Barton groaned then protested, "I didn't know!"
"You should have known! You never went back and checked the house after they left did you? DID YOU?"
"NO! Oh, please! I'm sorry."
"The goddamned house is empty! Empty!" Trevor punctuated every word with a blow to Barton's back.
"Standish had someone pack it up and move it out. They must have done it after you quit watching the house. And I didn't know! Because of you! You!" He hit the PI again, and again.
"I don't know where they moved it to! Because of you!" He snarled. Leaning over Barton's back, he panted.
"For *that* you have to be punished. I'd like to tear your tight little virgin hole up real good, watch you bleed out as I fuck you, but I still need you, to find out who moved them and where."
He chuckled evilly, "So, I'll have to be gentle, real gentle, this time."
He rolled off Barton's back and walked away. A moment later he returned with his underwear and stuffed it in Barton's mouth. He used his necktie to bind the gag, tying it around Barton's head.
"You can cry all you want little bitch, but I don't want the neighbors to hear you screaming." He chuckled again.
Trevor/Hullet held his hand in front of Barton's face so that Barton could see that he was wearing the rubber kitchen gloves that Barton used to wash dishes.
He poured oil over the glove then bent over Barton and shoved two fingers roughly up his ass.
Barton bucked and struggled against the invasion. Tears ran down his face. Oh, God, if this was gentle, he hoped he passed out before Hullet got rough.
Trevor climbed back on the bed and yanked his fingers out of Barton, only to shove three back in. He worked the hole only enough to make sure that it was well oiled then pulled those fingers out as well and placed the head of his cock against Barton's anus, Holding it with his hand, rubbing it back and forth before pushing in, enjoying Barton's whimpers of fear.
He lay his other arm across the small of Barton's back, holding him pressed into the stool he had put under him to raise his ass into the proper position for this. He leaned over Barton and said, cheerfully, "Time to kiss your cherry good bye!"
Then he lunged forwards.
Barton's muffled shriek of agony was music to his ears.
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