Texas Fall (7 page)

Clinton subsided into the
chair and Vaughn underscored the movement by patting him on the shoulder.

“We’ll let you think on
that,” Vaughn growled.

Jack was really very
impressed with the growl, as impressed as Clinton was terrified. He placed the
papers on Clinton’s desk, pictures, reports going back a long way, everything
to do with Clinton and his family.

“I’ll be watching you,”
Jack said.

Then Robbie moved to the
door, opened it, and Jack left with Robbie close behind. They left Vaughn for a
moment but he quickly joined them in the car.

“You okay?” Jack asked
Vaughn.

“Warned him I knew where
he lived,” he mumbled. “And yeah, I know that’s stupid.”

The comment lightened the
situation. They wouldn’t know what effect it would have that they had done
this. They could just hope it was enough.

Riley was never happier to
count down to a call from Jack. Even though they’d talked on the phone, and
skyped with the kids, today had been stressful and all he wanted was to hear
Jack’s voice. He closed the door to the twins’ room and walked past Hayley’s
empty room. She was on a sleepover, and that was probably what was half of the
problem tonight. The twins were asleep, Carol had gone to bed early, and Max
was settled with a DVD of Thomas the Tank Engine. Riley just felt lonely.
Actually he’d moved past lonely a few days ago. And how bad was that? He had
more than most people: four kids, his best friends Eli and Steve just down the
road. Hell, Eli was literally a few steps away. Just… there was a Jack-sized
hole in his heart.
I’m a damn sap.

“We’ll be home in a couple
days,” Jack said on a yawn.

As far as Riley was
concerned, it was a couple days too many, but he didn’t say that. Instead he
pushed his mood to the back of his thoughts and focused in on his husband.

“You tired?”

“Miss you in bed with me,”
Jack admitted. “I’m finding it hard to sleep without you.”

“I miss you too. I’m not
sleeping.”

“How’re the kids?”

Selfishly Riley didn’t
want to talk about the kids. He wanted to discuss them, have them time, maybe
even get it on with some phone sex.
Yep, losing it big-time.
Then his
daddy switch flipped, and suddenly he couldn’t shut up about Hayley’s A on her
Cold War history project, about how Connor was pushing a tooth, about the fact
Lexie had slept through an entire night, and how Max had figured out how to
change the DVDs all by himself instead of just sitting and staring.

Jack was laughing at
something Riley said, and Riley couldn’t even recall what it was, instead he
focused on the tone of Jack’s voice and sat down on the edge of his bed. He
needed to tell Jack something, and it wasn’t good. That was probably why he was
feeling the strain today.

“I’m not going to be here
when you get back. They moved the meeting up at the field.”

Jack didn’t say anything
immediately, and the silence spoke volumes. “I thought it was two weeks away.”

“Tom is more efficient
than I thought. He’s pulled us up by a month at least, and I’ve been asked to
accompany the team looking at the fields over the border as an industry expert
in ethical issues and with a view to widening the support for the population in
that area.”

“Wow, Riley, that’s
amazing.”

Riley lay back on the bed
and sighed heavily as he did so. “Is it wrong that all I want to do is be here
when you get back?”

Jack chuckled. “Is it
wrong I wish I was there now and that I didn’t have to do the grown adult thing
and stay in Laredo
for the whole trial?”

That made Riley smile, and
the chuckle was that soft, deep, sexy sound Jack made that just kicked Riley in
the chest every time he heard it. “I’m leaving Wednesday.”

“I’ll be back Thursday.”

“I’ll be back Saturday.”

“Two days, then. We’ve
been apart two weeks, we can handle two days.” Jack’s voice had lowered, and
suddenly Riley was very much back in phone-sex mode. The tone of his husband’s
voice, half-growly, half-sleepy, was turning him on.

“Not sure I can handle any
more time apart,” Riley said in his best impression of Jack’s voice, all lazy
vowels and gruffness.

“Where are you?”

“Laying on the bed. You?”

“Yeah, and staring up at
the ceiling.”

Riley shifted in bed and
idly cupped his cock. “Are you in sleep pants?”

“Just a towel,” Jack
answered immediately. “But I’m taking it off.”

Riley groaned at the
thought of Jack alone and naked in a bed hundreds of miles away. “You touching
yourself?” He tightened the grip he had on his own cock and moved his hand to a
soft, slow rhythm, just enough to quicken his breathing and to make him want
more. He could envision Jack’s dark hair, the swirls of it on his chest and the
trail that traveled south, and if he closed his eyes, he could imagine the
scents and the touch of his lover.

The phone slipped from his
hand, and frustrated, he pressed buttons until he was on speakerphone. “I’ve
put the phone down,” he said.

“Me too.”

Just those words had Riley
arching up into his hand, his eyes tight and his need overwhelming.

“What are you doing?” he
asked.

“I have lube for my cock,”
Jack said. His voice was lower, if that was even possible. “Riley, talk to me.”

Riley instinctively
reached for the drawer and pulled out lube, rushing to squeeze enough on his
hands to make a difference. “I want you to fuck me, Jack.”

“Jesus, Riley.”

“I’m pushing my fingers
inside. I’m not going slow—I need you inside me now. Two fingers. It burns,
Jack, three…”

“Fuck…”

Riley gasped as he stroked
his gland gently. He was going to come from this with the thought of Jack
inside him. Frantically he pressed inside, the feel not quite Jack, not quite
close enough, but when he twisted his fingers and pushed them apart so they
stretched him… Now it was his turn to curse. Awkwardly he circled his cock with
his other hand and nearly lost his balance.

“I need you here, holding
me while you fuck me,” he breathed. “Making me push my hand in, holding me
down, Jack…”

“So close, Ri, push deeper
for me, I’m inside you, pushing you down, not letting you move… Fuck…”

“Jack… I’m… Jack—” Orgasm
burned through Riley like wildfire, the sheer brilliance of the light behind
his eyes making him gasp. “I love you…”

At the other end of the
phone, Jack was groaning, and then there was absolute silence before a muttered
curse. “I love you…”

Riley rolled onto his
side, wiping his hand on the towel from his shower, boneless, his mouth only
inches from the discarded phone.

“Jack?”

“Fuck, Riley, I broke me.”

Jack sounded so spaced out
it made Riley laugh. “That’s my boy,” he teased.

“One thing I know,” Jack
began. “I’m going away more often.”

Riley’s chest tightened at
the words, even though he knew Jack was joking. More time apart was not
something Riley wanted to contemplate. This trip south was going to be one of
his last. He was keeping his focus on home and his office. Tom could handle the
business trips.

“I miss you,” Riley
admitted. “Nothing is the same here, it’s like we’re missing a limb or
something.”

“I bet the kids don’t even
know I’m gone,” Jack said. His tone was light, and Riley knew his husband
didn’t really think that.

“Yeah, right,” Riley
countered. “We’re counting down the days.”

“Even the twins?”

Riley nodded, then
realized what he’d done. “Even the twins.”

Jack groaned. “I need
another shower. It went everywhere.”

“Best remember to tip the
cleaner,” Riley quipped.

“Ha freaking ha. I’ll talk
to you in the morning.”

“In the morning. Good luck
in court, I wish I was there.”

Jack yawned. “I wish you
were here too.”

They ended the call, and
Riley slumped back on the bed. He really needed to reach over and grab his PJ
bottoms or something in case there was an emergency. He wasn’t sure any of his
family or friends needed to see him laying naked and boneless on his bed.

If only he could be
bothered to move.

Jack took a seat on the
bench of the county courthouse right behind the prosecution, Robbie to his
left. In this position he could see through to the witness stand and also had a
clear view of the defense, albeit it the backs of their heads as they sat. Hank
was already at the table, his head bent and in discussion with his attorney.
Jack knew exactly what the man looked like, about five ten, with dark hair and
an overwhelming attitude that the world owed him. They’d met each other before,
back when the D was ailing, before Jack had pulled the ranch up by its neck and
made something of it.

Even then Jack hadn’t
gotten a good feeling about the man. Hank had made some crass joke about
bloodlines and forgeries, then to add insult to injury, he’d added in more shit
about Jack being gay.

Two men came in and sat
across the aisle behind the defense and Jack exchanged nods with Vaughn and
Darren. They hadn’t spoken face to face since the whole cowboy intimidation
scene.

At their arrival, Hank
looked around in his seat, and there was pure hate in his eyes and Jack got the
full force of it as well. Then the hate dissolved into a focused expression of cunning
and superiority. Evidently Hank thought he had the upper hand in this.

Jack and Robbie had left
Liam in the hall with Marcus, where he would be until he was called in. He was all
dressed up and confident he could do this thing. Hank wouldn’t know what hit
him, because Jack had every faith in Liam.

Jack sensed movement to
his right and saw Darren push past Vaughn, his expression determined.

He crouched down next to
Jack. “How is Liam?”

Jack wasn’t sure what to say;
this was Hank’s brother next to him.
Yeah but Riley is nothing like his
brother was, so don’t judge Darren by his.

“He’s good,” Jack said. He
left it at that, not extending the words to anything more revealing.

“I’ve done what I can,”
Darren admitted. “I’ve backed up Castille money in so much red tape, I’ve tried
to block Hank’s every move.” He stood up from his crouch. “I know how I want
this to go.”

Darren glanced at his
brother, who was staring at him and Jack with that same hate back in his eyes.
Darren turned to leave, but Jack tugged at his sleeve.

“Did you never know?” he
asked quietly.

Darren bit his lip and
shook his head. “Not until Liam, not until he told me. I was never there, I
didn’t want to be there, and the way Hank was with me about me being gay, I
never imagined he wanted… that he did… I warned him, thought it was done, I
didn’t know he’d done it again. I have to live with that.” Vaughn appeared at
Darren’s side, a hand on Darren’s arm, and he focused blue eyes on Jack.

“Everything okay here?” he
asked.

Jack released his hold on
Darren’s sleeve. “Everything is fine.” Jack recognized a concerned partner when
he saw one, from the possessive hold to the subtle leaning back into Vaughn
from Darren. Jack shook Vaughn’s hand, but they couldn’t talk because
everything started to happen and the two men sat back down. The court was kind
of empty, apart from the jury and the officials there were not a lot of people
in the seating area. He and Robbie were there for Liam, but who was there for
the other three boys?

Was there anyone there at
all? Maybe they were in the corridor with their charges? Although Jack hadn’t
seen anyone, just three young men sitting on separate benches in various levels
of dress: one in jeans that looked smart but had seen better days, another in a
suit that looked two sizes too small for him, the other with his back to
everyone in a subdued designer suit. And Jack knew designer now; after all, he
lived with Riley.

Opening statements passed
quickly, and the first person on the witness stand was a face Jack recalled: Yuri
Fensin, the man who had attacked Liam in the barn on D land, friend of Hank,
and all-around bastard. He’d plea-bargained his way down from Attempted
Aggravated Sexual Assault to Assault in exchange for turning state’s witness
against Hank. The prosecution worked hard to push every single button for the
jury. The defense accused him of lying to cover his own ass, but he didn’t back
down. Jack called it a win, if you could call what sat on the witness stand a
win. Yuri wouldn’t look at Hank, and that was telling in itself.

Then it was Clinton’s
turn. The PI was wearing the suit that Jack had seen hanging in the room, and
he looked a different man. Still slimy and obsequious, he was focused on what
he was saying. The defense was pushing him to reveal evidence, but with every
question was becoming more and more impatient. Clinton gave nothing, just simple
background stories on each boy that had been allegedly abused, but not once did
he mention one of them being a call boy.

Finally it appeared the
defense was done and outright asked Clinton if he’d found evidence that one of
the young men was indeed a prostitute, which may well suggest all the boys
were?

Clinton glanced at Jack
and subtly nod his head, then turned back to face the question. “No,” he said.
Just like that. A single word. And the defense didn’t seem to know what to say
or where to go.

If Jack hadn’t been in court,
he would have pumped the air. This was a small victory, but there was a lot of
evidence to hear yet.

The first victim on the
stand was the young man in the jeans, the one who looked like he’d tried his
hardest to scrub up in the right way. He was stoic but looked tired, and he
didn’t cry even though the defense attorney tried every single thing to get him
to retract the story of systematic abuse over the past two years. This was Hank’s
most recent victim, and Jack’s stomach turned when he heard the young man was
only sixteen and another throwaway just like Liam had been. Jack resolved to
make sure he was okay, made a mental note to check if he had a job or at the
very least somewhere to go.

The well-dressed young man
was next, although up close Jack could see that under the confidence was
another child who’d been destroyed by what had happened to him. His testimony
was the same, but when he was pushed by the defense to explain details of one
particular attack, he cried.

Jack added another name to
his list.

“Are you hearing all this?”
Robbie whispered. “These are kids, Jack.”

“I wish Liam didn’t have
to go through this,” Jack answered just as quietly. He glanced behind himself
again. Still no one, no family or counselors or, hell, anyone. What happened to
the three men when they left the ranch where so much had happened to them?

The young man in the suit
a couple sizes too small silently moved into the room with his eyes downcast.
Jack could sense the change in the room. The prosecution exchanged worried
glances that Jack could see, and the defense straightened in their seats. Even
the jury sat forward in their seats.

“Kyle Braden,” the witness
spoke his name shakily, and the prosecution began a series of questions. After
five minutes or so, Kyle appeared to relax, and he even lifted his chin a
little. He was brutally honest about what happened, and his words went from
shaky in their delivery to crisp and matter-of-fact. He was the oldest of the
boys, twenty-five and he admitted there had even been boys before him.

Then it was the defense’s turn.
And shit, they ripped into him, and every shred of what had been built up was
torn down. After it was all over, Kyle had to be helped from the witness stand.

“What the fuck?” Robbie
growled.

How could a jury not fail
to see what had happened to these kids? Jack wanted to go home, get a rifle,
and point it between Hank’s eyes, shoot the man dead there and then for the
lives he had destroyed. When Jack saw the defense team exchange smiles, Jack
wanted to let Robbie go, just to see him pummel them into the ground.

But then it was Liam’s
turn and Jack had to stop himself from standing up and stopping this whole
fucking debacle. Next to him Robbie moved like he’d had the same idea, and Jack
quickly laid a hand on his foreman’s knee. He looked directly at Jack, and all
Jack could see in the depth of Robbie’s eyes was despair and anger.

Liam looked different from
the other three. Yes, he was nervous and scared, but he was looking behind Jack
and when Marcus settled next to Robbie, Liam was staring right at him. Liam
smiled and nodded his head. The smile didn’t quite reach his eyes or change the
stiff way he was holding himself, but he had someone to look at through this.

He answered prosecution
questions with soft but insightful replies, from the way his abuse started to
the lies he was told by Hank to keep him quiet. Then with a brief but visible
closing of his eyes, he faced the defense attorney.

“You’re gay.” The attorney
opened with the same thing he had with all the others.

“I am.”

Then it went much as the
others. Until they came to the question that Jack dreaded.

“I would suggest you made
yourself available, and in fact led my client into sexual situations. How would
you answer that?”

Liam stared straight ahead
to Marcus, whose hands were twisted in his lap.

“On no occasion did I make
myself available,” Liam began. “I will admit that I craved the attention after
the first time.”

“You’re saying that sexual
advances were welcome?” the defense attorney offered with the silkiest tone
Jack had ever heard.

“Never welcomed. I was
homeless, and the Castille family took me in. They were the closest thing I had
to family—”

“Did you, in fact, lead my
client to believe you wanted a relationship?”

The prosecution interrupted
with an objection, but the judge simply said, “Overruled.”

Liam sat absolutely still.

The defense pushed again,
clearly high on what they assumed would be a case-winning admission. “Mr. Frazier?
Is that what you did?”

The judge looked at him,
then leaned forward. “Please answer, Mr. Frazier.”

Then Liam did something
absolutely extraordinary. He half turned to address the judge. “I
was
answering,
sir, but this man interrupted me. It’s like no one wants to listen to me.”

Jack waited with bated breath.
The judge took a few seconds, then addressed the defense attorney. “You will
let the witness answer. Continue, Mr. Frazier.”

Liam nodded. “Thank you,
sir. I wanted to belong. I needed to belong somewhere. I was only sixteen, and
Hank made it seem like unless I did what I was supposed to do, I wouldn’t have
a home anymore. He was physically bigger, a man, whereas I was a boy. So if you
are asking if I led him on, no I never did, but if you’re asking why I never
spoke out, that is simple. I wanted a family that wanted me. I was scared to
lose it all again.”

The defense attorney took
a step back before recovering his equilibrium and the questions continued. It
was Hank’s word against that of a handful of boys and Yuri, but somehow
everything had slotted together and Jack hoped to hell the jury agreed. But
that point there was Liam’s moment, and he hadn’t blown it.

Jack couldn’t be prouder.

Then it was Hank’s turn on
the stand and he used every smooth oily way of explaining away his actions,
calling Yuri a liar, the boys liars, talking about how he was an upstanding
member of the community. It fell apart spectacularly when the prosecution
simply asked:

“Are you gay?”

Talk about turning the
tables. Hank spluttered and looked as if he felt the question was beneath him,
and he looked directly at the defense team for them to intervene, to object.
Weakly they did, they finally stood and stated “objection” loudly. The judge
dismissed their stalling and directed Hank to answer.

That was the moment where
Hank’s world fell apart, where all the carefully constructed lies against the backdrop
of how he ran a ranch and had responsibilities simply died.

“I’m not fucking gay. They
forced themselves on me.”

There was a collective
gasp from the jury and some well-crafted questions to revisit the point from
the defense attempting to get him back on track, but the damage was done. The
idea that four young kids had somehow independently forced Hank to do anything
was something no person would believe.

Summing up was painful to
hear as Jack had to listen to the testimony given in sound bites. Then it was
done. The jury was retired with instructions from the judge as to points they
should consider, and Jack only felt like he could breathe when he was out of
the court.

* * * * *

Vaughn paced the small
room while they waited for the verdict and wished to hell that Darren would say
something, anything. He’d been utterly quiet all morning and while Vaughn knew
this had to be hard he thought that he and Darren were connected enough to
actually talk. They’d been lovers for four months now and it had been a
tumultuous time. Somehow they had come together in this fight and Vaughn wanted
more. He wanted Darren away from this case, from the toxicity that was the Bar
Five, and away from Hank.