Retribution

By Patt and Mary Browne

 

 

In NYC:

 

Berkshire Publishing stood behind their employees ninety nine percent of the time.  This one time they were going to have to step back and pay someone off and because of that, someone was going to be fired.  This was not supposed to happen. 

 

Blair Sandburg brought suit against Berkshire Publishing two months earlier, but after Martin Berkshire had read all of the paperwork, he knew that they would have to settle out of court.  Sid Graham was going to be fired and they would have to pay Blair Sandburg at least 20 million dollars. 

 

Martin Berkshire paced in his office knowing he had to do the firing, but not looking forward to it at all.  He and Sid Graham were friends.  Their wives were friends and their children went to college together.  Now all of that would change because Sid Graham didn’t think before he spoke on camera. 

 

He glanced out of his high rise window and wished sometimes that he was a bird that could fly away when things got too hard.  This was going to be very hard.  He sat down and called his lawyers and said, “Do we have a figure for Mr. Sandburg yet?”

 

The lawyer on the line answered, “We think that ten million for himself and ten million for James Ellison would be readily accepted.”

 

“And what if it’s not?” Martin asked. 

 

“Then we’ll go up another five million for each of them.  Sir, I think they’ll gladly take this payoff so they won’t have to drag it out in court. When do you want me to get this ready for you?”

 

“Get it ready today and I will drop by for all of the legal signings and you can take it to them personally.  Will that work, Mike?”

 

“I would gladly take it, Mr. Berkshire.  Give me a couple of hours to have this perfect and then you can come by.  Talk to you later.” Mike Murphy hung up the phone and sighed.  He knew that this could get ugly.  This Blair Sandburg character seemed to want to make them suffer more than make money, but Mike had been wrong before, maybe this would be one of those times.  Hopefully, he would be able to talk some sense into both men. 

 

Martin Berkshire buzzed his secretary and said, “Celine, could you come in please?”

 

“Yes, sir.” Celine answered and walked into his office after knocking. “What do you need, sir?”

 

“I need walking papers for Sid Graham.  I need this hush hush.  No one can know about it.  He’s been with us for a long time, so he won’t take it well.  I need all of his paperwork finished by the end of the day.  We’ll need to know how much we have to give him for retirement, 401K and his stock.  Take that amount, slice it in half and put that in the paperwork for his offer.  He takes that or nothing.” Martin Berkshire was one cold man and he didn’t want Celine to become weak when dealing with him. 

 

“I’ve got it, sir.  It will take most of the day.  Do you mind if I use your office?  It would make things more private?”

 

“By all means.  The office is yours.  I have errands to run and people to see today.  I’ll be back at five o’clock to have a meeting with Sid. Will you set that up, please?” Martin asked, but Celine knew she had no choice. 

 

“Yes, sir.  I’ll take care of everything.  I will see you at five.” Celine walked over to Martin’s desk and began to work on his computer.  Martin had no doubt that this woman would have everything done and waiting by five o’clock.  She was very good at her job and he was quite thankful about that. 

 

 

In the elevator, Sid got on and smiled at Martin.  “Good morning, Martin.”

 

“Good morning, Sid.  How are you today?  And how is Debra?”

 

“Everything is fine and everyone is just fine.  How is Catherine doing away from home for the first time?”

 

Martin smiled as he thought of his daughter, “She’s doing great.  She said she saw SJ the other day and they were going out for dinner this week.”

 

When the elevator stopped on his floor, Sid said, “Well, I better get busy.  Have a great day, Martin.” Sid started to get off the elevator. 

 

“Oh Sid, please come up to my office at five, would you?  I’d like to discuss two things with you.  I need your opinion.”

 

“Sure… I’ll be there at five.” Suddenly, the eager worker felt like his life was being turned upside down.  No one got called into Martin’s office unless there was something wrong. He tried to remain upbeat as he walked away from the elevator.  Martin wouldn’t have a clue.

 

 

On the elevator, Martin smiled to himself when he saw the look on Sid’s face.  Martin now knew that Sid knew something was wrong and he was in the hot seat.  It served him right.  He handled the entire thing poorly and almost destroyed two people’s lives.  Yes, today would be the end of Sid Graham’s career as he knew it. 

 

At three o’clock, Martin Berkshire sat at his lawyer’s office and said, “This all looks just fine, Mike.  Do you think you’ll have time to serve the papers in the next few days?  We need to rush on this.  I don’t want Berkshire publishing drug through an ugly court hearing.”

 

 

Mike Murphy stood up and said, “Give me a few days and I’ll have the papers served to them.  Don’t worry about it, Mr. Berkshire.  And I’m staying in Cascade for a week so we can get their answer.  I’m hoping they’ll answer quickly.”

 

“Good job, Mike.  Have a safe trip and keep me informed.” Martin stood up to leave. 

 

“Mr. Berkshire, are you sure you’re doing the right thing?  We could take it to court and perhaps find a weak spot for the two men.”

 

“Mike, I want this over and done with.  And they can’t speak of it after it’s done.  I like how you put that in the paperwork also.  Thank you.”

 

“Have a good evening, Mr. Berkshire.  See you when I get back.” Mike Murphy led Berkshire out into the hallway and then went back inside to finish his last minute plans.  He would call his wife, Sue, and tell her tomorrow night’s dinner plans were still on.  She was going to be happy.  It was their anniversary, and this would be the first year they would actually celebrate together.  

 

 

At Berkshire Publishing:

 

It was five o’clock and Sid made his way up to Berkshire’s office for the meeting.  He wondered what had gone wrong.  He wasn’t aware of anything going bad. He would just have to wait and see and do the best tap dance he could to get himself out of it.  His wife would leave if he didn’t make the money he did now.  He wouldn’t be able to pay for college for his son if he was jobless.  No, he would have to make sure that Martin Berkshire understood he was a desperate man. 

 

When he walked up to Celine’s desk she said, “Sit down and he’ll call for you in a moment.” She then pushed the buzzer and said, “Mr. Berkshire, Sid Graham is here for his five o’clock meeting.”

 

“Send him in, Celine.” Berkshire said quietly. 

 

“Go right in, Mr. Graham.” She then busied herself so she didn’t have to see his face. 

 

He knocked and entered the huge office which was colder than a morgue.  “Hello, Martin.”

 

“Sit down, Sid.  We have some things to discuss.”

 

“What’s happened?” Sid asked nervously. 

 

“We’ve been sued by one Blair Sandburg and one James Ellison for the handling of Sandburg’s private papers.  You said you would publish it before you talked to him and you called a press conference.  For this, we’re being sued and I’m afraid that you won’t be able to stay with our company.  It was in very poor taste that you took a story from a source and the source wasn’t the writer; it happened to be his mother.  Very poor judgment indeed.” Martin walked around his desk and handed the paperwork to Sid and walked back around and sat down. “This is a compensation package for everything you’ve done for us.  It works out to be about half of what you had in the company.  We’re going to lose 20 million on this suit, so you have to go.”

 

Sid’s face had a fine sheen of sweat on it from the nervousness.  He quietly looked over the paperwork and said, “Martin, this isn’t enough.  You know I can’t get started with this.”

 

“It’s not my concern, Sid.  You made the mistake and we’re going to lose a lot because of it.  You have to be made to pay for it.  I’m sorry, but this is how the company feels.”

 

“You’re going to pay Sandburg off?” Sid couldn’t believe it. 

 

“Yes, we’re paying both of them off so they won’t go to the newspapers or magazines and have anything bad to say about us.  Instead, they’ll take the money and shut their mouths.”

 

“Couldn’t I stay on at a lower pay scale?” Sid was almost begging now. “After all look at all of the work I’ve done for you over the years.”

 

“The paperwork explains it all, Sid.  Please go to your office and take what you need.  Someone will escort you to your office and then from the building.  Please don’t make things harder than they already are.”

 

“Do you really think this is over?  I’m going to sue your ass and then you’ll have to worry about that.” Sid spat.

 

“You can sue us all you like, but we’ve got the upper hand and you know it.”

 

“You’re an asshole, Berkshire, and I’m going to make sure your life will be as miserable as mine.” Sid was very angry at this point. 

 

“Get out of my office.  I’ll have you escorted to your office this moment.  Don’t make things harder than they have to be.” Berkshire was trying to remain calm but Sid was making it hard to do. 

 

Sid stood up and coldly said, “I’ll be gone before you know it.  Can I at least ask you for a reference?”

 

“What do you think, Sid?  Would you give me one after this?  I think not.  Now please leave.” Martin walked around and opened up the door to the almost empty office waiting area.  No doubt Celine was hiding out for the time being. There were two security officers waiting for Sid when he walked out of Berkshire’s office.  

 

Sid left with not another word said and went down two floors to his office and began to box things up.  Thankfully, he had just moved into this office, so a lot of things were already packed.  After two hours, two security guards helped him carry everything down.  Everyone looked at him with pity and Sid Graham knew that someone was going to have to pay for this. 

 

 

Sid’s House:

 

At two in the morning, Sid finally got up the nerve to walk in the door and found his wife, Debra waiting for him. 

 

“Debra, I’m sure you’ve heard the news, but at least let me explain.” Sid began.

 

“Don’t bother.  I was contacted by four people tonight and found out what happened.  You never even bothered to come home and break the news to me.  Instead, I had to find out from nosy fellow workers and their wives.  I’ll be back tomorrow to move everything out of the house and I’m filing for divorce.  You spent all of the money that my father left me and now you have nothing.  I need more than that and so does your son.  We haven’t been a real family in years, so maybe this is for the best.  Besides there was no room for Naomi Sandburg.  Yes, don’t look so surprised, I knew about her all along. Please don’t be here tomorrow when I come for all of our things.  We’ll put the house on the market and split the money. I hope that you have enough sense to take what money you have from the settlement and pay Sid Junior’s college tuition.  Maybe your dear friend Naomi will let you move in with her.  You’re perfect for each other.”

 

“I can’t believe you’re just throwing me out, just like Berkshire.” Sid said sadly. 

 

“I’ve known about your affair with Ms. Sandburg all along and I let it go because I just didn’t care.  But now there is no reason to stay together.  I don’t want to be with a man that won’t go anywhere in life. You won’t after this.  Berkshire will be sure that your life is ruined. What do you think you’re going to do?”

 

“Anyone would be happy to have someone with my knowledge and expertise.  I just have to find the right job.  Berkshire won’t do anything about me because they’re afraid of me suing them.  Why do you think they’re going to settle out of court for the alleged case in Cascade?”

 

“It doesn’t matter.  I’m sick of everything and I’m leaving.  Don’t make things harder than they have to be. Goodbye.” With that said, she walked out the front door and left a broken man behind.

 

Sid looked around the empty room and said, “Someone is going to have to pay for this.” The sad man then went up the stairs and readied for bed. 

 

 

Three days later, in Cascade:

 

There was a knock at the door at ten o’clock and Jim said, “Who is it?”

 

“Mr. Ellison?  My name is Mike Murphy and I’m here to serve papers.”

 

Jim opened up the door and said, “Papers for what?”

 

“Sir, I need Blair Sandburg to be here too.  You both need to sign the papers and then get back to me at Cascade Towers.  Here is my card with the information on the back.”

 

Blair walked over and said, “I’m Blair Sandburg.  What is this about?”

 

“This is about the lawsuit against Berkshire Publishing. This is their answer and I’ll be waiting for your reply at the hotel.  Could I have you both sign on the dotted line? This is only to verify the fact that you received these papers from Berkshire Publishing.”

 

Jim signed first, followed by Blair and Mike Murphy handed them each a set of papers and said, “Good evening.”

 

“Chief, do you suppose they want to settle out of court?”

 

“I can’t believe they’re willing to.  Sid made it clear that it was my fault and my fault only.  He wasn’t going to pay anything.”

 

“Well, it seems that someone thinks differently.  Let’s sit at the table and read.” Both men walked over and sat down.  They each read their papers silently and finally stopped long enough to stare at each other with a smile. 

 

“This means we wouldn’t have it dragged through a court hearing with all of the publicity.  I like the idea a lot, Chief.  I think your academic life is worth more than this, but at least it’s something, right?” Jim hoped that Blair would agree with him about the settlement. 

 

Blair glanced at Jim’s paper and said, “I think that ten million for each of us is more than fair.  I like that idea a lot. No hearing to make everything worse again. Can we call him tomorrow and sign?”

 

“Sounds good to me, Chief.  We’ll do it when we wake up in the morning.  Can I ask one favor?”

 

“Anything, Jim.”

 

“We don’t tell your mom anything about it.  I don’t want her to know our business.”

 

“Deal.  I’m still mad at her anyhow.  It pisses me off how quickly you forgave her.” Blair growled. 

 

“Hey, she’s your mom.  But I don’t want her to know because of what she did, we will now have money.  I never want her to know.” Jim explained. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

In NYC:

 

Sid Graham put his house on the market quickly so he wouldn’t have to worry about making payments on it.  It sold in four days and his wife would be taking everything in the divorce.  He would be left with nothing.  He knew spending her estate money had been a bad idea from the start and now it was coming back to haunt him. 

 

Sid found himself a cheap, but very clean apartment downtown and began job hunting.  When he wasn’t job hunting he was plotting out something evil to do to Blair Sandburg and Jim Ellison.  He knew it had to be good but he would have to take his time.  They would never expect him to do anything.

 

While walking down the street one day, he saw a familiar backside in front of him.  // I think it’s Naomi.  The bitch. //

 

Sid caught up with her and said, “Naomi, how nice to see you in New York. What brings you here?”

 

“I was looking for you.  I wanted to apologize to you face to face and they told me you were no longer at Berkshire Publishing.  Please tell me you weren’t fired because of my actions.” Naomi looked very concerned. 

 

“Don’t worry about it, Naomi.  I’ll find a better job.  In the meantime, would you like to have dinner with me on Friday?”

 

Naomi looked at her schedule to see what she had open and answered, “That sounds wonderful.  Where would you like to go?”

 

“How about a picnic in Central Park when the sun just begins to set.  I love that time of night and I want to wine and dine you. I’ll take care of everything and with the weather so beautiful we don’t even have to worry about jackets.”

 

“That sounds marvelous, Sid.  Thank you for understanding about Blair.  I’m so sorry.” Naomi moved in closer to the man she was sleeping with before this all happened. 

 

Sid took a step closer and kissed her firmly, letting her know that they were still important to one another.  She just didn’t know ‘how’ important she was to Sid. 

 

“Shall we meet at the park on Friday night?  Or would you like to come to my hotel room this evening?” Naomi asked. 

 

“Let’s wait until Friday.  That way it’ll be even more wonderful for both of us.  I’ve missed you, Naomi. Please don’t say anything to anyone because my divorce proceeding is already messy.”

 

“I’ll see you on Friday and I won’t say a word to anyone.  Five o’clock all right?”

 

“Perfect.” Sid kissed her and moved off in the opposite direction. He would have to put a plan into action soon.  He only had four days until Friday. 

 

He would begin to grow his beard.  He had to find a blond male wig and he had an appointment across the street from the park for his alibi.  Yes, things were going to work out for him, he knew it.

 

Sid knew Naomi well enough to know that wine made her fall asleep, so he would be bringing lots of wine and they could relax on a blanket.  Then his plan would be put into action. 

 

 

In Cascade:

 

Jim and Blair called Mike Murphy and they went to his hotel to sign the papers.  Mike handed both of them the checks and said that was all there was to it. 

 

“Would you like me to invest any for you?” Mike asked both men. 

 

“No, my father will help us invest.  He used to do it for a living and still dabbles.” Jim explained.  “Thank you anyhow.”

 

“No problem. Well, I won’t be seeing you again.  Have a good life, Mr. Sandburg and Mr. Ellison.  Make the money count for something.”

 

“We will, don’t you worry.” Blair shook Mike’s hand and then Mike walked away. 

 

“Do you have any plans for your money?” Jim asked Blair. 

 

“I’d love for us to get a house near the mountains but not too far away from Cascade.  You need to be close enough to still be the Sentinel of the City.”

 

“Chief, we could get a really nice place and still have plenty of money for whatever we want to do with it, right?”

 

“You’re right.  I’ll get the house and you buy each of us a new vehicle.  How does that sound?” Blair smiled at his lover. 

 

“It doesn’t sound fair.  You’d be paying a lot more than I would be.  We go halves on the house and the SUV’s.  That’s what we need.  Something big that says, ‘move out of my way’ to make the crooks believe us.” Jim laughed as they walked to his truck. 

 

“Jim, the loft is paid for... do you think we could get it decked out for Daryl?  He’s in college now and can’t afford too much.  Simon’s having a hell of a time paying his tuition.  Daryl works a lot to make ends meet, but it’s been hard.  He could get a roommate and have extra money to spare. We could even pay his tuition.”

 

“That’s a great idea, Chief.  But we would tell him it would only belong to him if he keeps his GPA up.  How does that sound?  And we’ll fix up the truck for him too.  He’ll have it made in the shade.”

 

“How about Joel’s daughter, Sarah?  She’s in her first year of college too.” Blair thought aloud. 

 

“Okay, we’ll set up a fund for her too.  Maybe she and Daryl could share the loft.  What do you think?  Are they friends?”

 

“I think they’re more than friends, babe.  Daryl is totally in love with her, so he would probably jump at this chance.  But I don’t know how she feels about Daryl.”

 

“We’ll have them over one of these nights and ask them how they feel about it.  When do you want to start looking at houses?” Jim asked. 

 

“Let’s start this weekend while we’re off.  Naomi is out of town, so we don’t have to worry about her showing up and ruining everything.” Blair stated. 

 

“Babe, you’re going to have to get over being pissed at her one of these days, it might as well be sooner than later.” Jim advised. 

 

“I know you’re right, but she tried to ruin both of us.  I’m having a hard time turning the other cheek.  The only time I want to turn my cheek is for you.”

 

Jim smiled at his love and said, “Well, when we get home you’re going to show me those cheeks, baby.”

 

Both men laughed and talked about the changes in their lives all the way home. 

 

Later that night, Blair said, “Jim, let’s have Simon and Joel over for dinner tomorrow night and tell them about paying for the kids’ education and giving them the loft soon.  I want to do this.”

 

“Okay, call them tonight and ask them to dinner.  Might as well ask the kids too, so we can ask them if they are even interested in the loft.  They might not be.” Jim pondered. 

 

“Oh right.  Like they would give up a free pad, man.  Get with the program, Jim.”

 

“So call them already.” Jim teased as he handed his lover the phone. 

 

Blair called both Simon and Joel and asked them to come for dinner and bring the kids. Both men had accepted and dinner was set for 7:00 the following night.  Jim and Blair were very excited. 

 

That night in bed Jim held Blair and asked, “So when we make love does it feel any different now that we have money?”

 

“I haven’t really noticed a change, but give me a few times tonight to see if I can spot something.  Wanna fool around, old man?”

 

“I’ll show you old man.” And Jim did just that.  He sucked and kissed Blair close to unconsciousness. Blair was gladly there for the ride.  And the money didn’t change either one of their love making skills. 

 

As they lay holding each other Blair said, “Jim, I love you so much that sometimes it scares me.”

 

“No need to be scared, Blair.  We’re going to be together forever.  No one will ever split us apart.”

 

They held on to each other and slept the sleep of totally sexually exhausted and happy men.

 

 

The next evening, Simon, Daryl, Joel and Sarah came for dinner.  Jim saw the sparks flying between the two kids and smiled. 

 

Blair explained how their tuition was going to be paid and the loft was going to be their new home, if they continued to hold at least a 3.5 average in school.  Simon and Joel were shocked, but very happy about it. 

 

“Simon, is that all right with you letting the kids have the loft?  We’re going to look for a house this weekend and hope to find something soon.  It shouldn’t take us too long to get all moved out.  We’re going to leave all of the furniture so the kids won’t need to buy anything to start with.  They can add things as they go, but for now they won’t have to buy a thing.”

 

“Jim, how are you and Blair doing this?” Simon asked. 

 

“We don’t want anyone to know, Simon, but we sued the publishing company and they settled. So we just wanted to share some things.” Blair explained. 

 

“Jim and Blair, this is wonderful.  I can’t thank you enough.  The kids just told us about them being engaged a week ago, so this will be a good move for both of them. And I really like the idea of you putting a stipulation on them keeping the place.” Joel didn’t say anything, but he had been having a hard time coming up with the tuition and this was going to save his ass. 

 

“When the kids graduate, the loft will be their’s, but not until then.  Does this sound fair, kids?” Jim asked.

 

“Jim, it sounds more than fair.  Sarah and I love the loft.  We could even make the small room downstairs into an office for studying, right, honey?” Daryl asked his sweetheart. 

 

“Sounds good to me.  I can’t wait.  I hate living in a dorm.” Sarah said. 

 

“We’ll try and hurry and get things moving as fast as we can.  Then we’ll draw up the papers for you both to sign before you move in.  That way it’s all legal.” Blair was almost bouncing. 

 

The evening flew by and when everyone left, the guys were exhausted.  For a change, they went to bed and slept instead of having sex.  Sometimes it was nice just being with each other and not having to do a thing.

 

 

NYC Friday Night:

 

Sid wore his glasses, had a beard and wore a blond wig, instead of his dark brown hair.  In the picnic basket, he had all the food for the evening and a lot of chilled wine.  Naomi wasn’t going to have a chance.  In a separate bag, he had his change of clothing and the syringe that he would need once she passed out.  Thankfully, he knew her well enough to know that would only take about two hours.  His appointment across the street wasn’t until 7:30, so he had plenty of time to wine, dine and kill her.  He found it odd how easily it was coming to him.  He knew the police would be looking into his whereabouts after she was killed, so that’s why he was being so careful with his alibi.  Not to mention he wanted everyone to see him as a blond, with a beard and dark rimmed glasses.  The evening was lovely and he was thankful for that.  They would be able to sit in a quiet spot and eat and drink until it was time to take care of business.  He wondered if she would scream, or if the air in her vein would be too quick to let her scream. Either way, he didn’t care.  He wanted to see her face as she quickly died of an embolism.  Sid had read that it was a terribly painful way to go and he thought this would be perfect for Naomi. 

 

He went to the spot that they had talked about and laid a blanket down on the grass.  Then he set the food up because he knew she would be there any moment.  People were walking by him and smiling at him.  He wanted people to see him.  He wanted them to give a description of him to the police when the need called for it. 

 

Naomi was running a little late but knew that it wasn’t a bad thing.  Sid loved her in his own way.  Maybe once his wife was out of the way, they could get together.  He would be good husband material.  Yes, Naomi was putting plans together as she walked up to the man on the blanket. 

 

“Sid?  My god, it doesn’t even look like you?” She said as she walked up to the man getting their meal ready. 

 

“I decided to go casual for a while. What do you think?” Sid asked her. 

 

“I think you look very hot.  I love the hair.  Let’s keep it blond from now on, all right?”

 

“Whatever you want, Naomi.  Now sit down and we’ll get our dinner started.  I’ve got your favorite wine too.” He poured her a large glass and she laughed.  “Are you trying to get me drunk, Sid?”

 

“Would that be such a bad thing, Naomi?”

 

“Not at all.  As long as we end up together, that’s all that counts.” She smiled as she ate the dinner he had prepared for her and drank the wine.  On her third glass she said, “I don’t want to pass out, Sid.  I think I’ll slow down now.”

 

She had no idea that he put a drug into the wine that was going to make her very sleepy pretty quickly.  But she would still be with it enough to know what was going on.  That was important.  He didn’t want her to think she was getting away that easily. 

 

“I love you, Sid.  I always have.  You’re such a kind man.” Naomi slurred her words and wondered why she felt so drunk. “Something is wrong, Sid.  I feel funny.”

 

“Yes, you look a little funny too, Naomi.  Maybe it has something to do with you causing my downfall.  Did you really think I was going to forgive you?”

 

“Sid, what are you talking about?  You said we were fine.”

 

“Naomi, you must be dumber than you look.  We’re not fine and I won’t be fine again until you’re not breathing any longer.”

 

She tried to get up but was unable to do anything.  She fell back further onto the blanket.  There was no one around and he knew this was the perfect time.  It would only take about 30-50 seconds, and then he could gather up everything and leave her on the ground.  No one would know he was even there. He laid almost on top of her and said, “How does it feel to know that you ruined my life?  How does it feel to know that you took everything from me? I have nothing anymore and you’ll pay for it dearly.” He pulled out the syringe and filled the tube with air.  Naomi tried to fight him off, but didn’t have much use of her limbs by that time. He easily found a vein and shot the air into her arm and watched smiling as she got a look of horror on her face.  He put his hand over her mouth with a napkin to make sure she made no sound.  What he had read was true.  It was very fast acting and her eyes rolled into the back of her head, about 20 seconds after he shot her with the air.  After 40 seconds, she became limp in his arms and he smiled even larger.  Now, he had his retribution.  She deserved this and he knew he had done the right thing.  He sat her up against the tree and began to pack up their things.  He took everything, including her purse so they wouldn’t even know who it was at first. No one could trace the drugs back to him because he had stolen them from a drug store while he was getting something else.  He had taken someone else’s drugs and they just happened to be downers.  Things went well. 

 

Sid was a very smart man.  He had packed all new clothing for dressing in the building across the street.  Hopefully, no one would see him go into the restroom to shave, take off the wig and put all new clothing on, including his socks and shoes.  He walked across the street and looked back over his shoulder and smiled at the dead woman who had caused his downfall.  She paid and rightfully so. She looked very peaceful leaning against the tree.  He hoped that someone would find her soon. 

 

He walked into the restroom and shaved and took the wig off.  Then he got dressed and put all of the things he had worn in the bag.  He was going to toss them in a box on the corner for the homeless shelters.  But he would be sure to do it far enough away that no one would think to look there.  The more he thought about it, the more he realized he needed to dispose of the bag and its contents.  He wanted nothing to come back to him. 

 

Sid looked into the mirror and saw a man on a mission.  He had done what he wanted to do and looked like a million bucks.  Now it was time for his interview.  He was about 20 minutes early, but that would work out well.  His alibi was in place.  He put his bag into a locker in the lobby so that Mr. Williams wouldn’t even see a bag and would have nothing to comment on.

 

Walking into the office he smiled at the girl at the desk.  She was very lovely and he wondered if he could take her out sometime.  // No, this isn’t the time. // “Hello, my name is Sid Graham and I’m here to see Mr. Williams.  I’m a little early is that a problem?”

 

“No, not at all.  His last appointment was cancelled so you might get in a lot sooner.  Please sit down while I get you a cup of coffee.  How do you take it?”

 

“Cream, thank you.” Sid was almost glowing with excitement.  He had done it.  He had changed his looks back and was in this office in time to have an alibi.  He knew that Detective Ellison and Sandburg would be looking into this, but his alibi was airtight.

 

She brought his coffee and buzzed her boss to tell him that Sid was there.  “He’ll see you now, Mr. Graham. Good luck.”

 

The interview went very well, and the man offered Sid a fairly decent job that Sid decided to take.  Mr. Williams asked him if he would like to go to dinner with him and he agreed to meet him in about ten minutes.  Williams told him to meet him at Morgan’s around the corner and Sid was on his way to destroy the evidence. He picked up the bag out of the locker and went out the doorway, seeing an ambulance and police cars all around the park.  They were talking to witnesses and this made Sid smile all the more. He went four blocks away and threw some of the stuff in one garbage bin. He crushed the glass in the frames and made sure they wouldn’t find anything to tie him to the murder.  Then four blocks further he threw some more of the things.  He wiped his prints off of everything, just in case. He stopped at a store and bought a newspaper and made sure and talked to the man that worked there.  He was very careful and met Mr. Williams within ten minutes.  They talked about the job and enjoyed dinner.  Sid could see himself working for this man.  He seemed like a good person and it was fine that he had no idea that Sid was a stone cold killer.  This made Sid smile to himself. 

 

Once dinner was over, he took a cab back to his small apartment and was glad he picked up a paper on the way.  He would be able to get a bigger apartment now, and buy some furniture.  Things were going to work out just fine. 

 

 

In Cascade:

 

Jim and Blair looked at houses all day Saturday.  They found four that they liked and started making up lists of things they liked the most.  They went back and saw the houses again on Sunday and decided on one that was near the mountains, but not too far from the interstate.  It was perfect.  Four bedrooms, so they could have a spare room and an exercise room and an office.  Everything would work out fine for them.  They were very excited.  After the fiasco with the diss, they both wondered if things would ever be all right again, but they were.  Both men were happy as can be about that.

 

Monday, they went and signed all of the papers since they were paying cash it was a much quicker closing and they had the keys to the empty house by Tuesday morning. 

 

As Simon, Joel, Rafe and Brown helped the boys move things, new and old into the house, Simon asked, “So where is Naomi?”

 

“We haven’t heard from her in ages.  She said she was going to New York City, but she must be having a good time.” Blair answered. 

 

Two days later, they were all moved in and Blair and Jim were exhausted.  They had picked out all new furniture for the house and that part had been fairly fun, but moving it all was a pain in the butt.  Some got delivered, but they still had to move it to different rooms in the house.  The exercise equipment was heavier than all get out.  The guys all decided that they would come over at least once a week and work out in the den.  There was too much equipment for a spare room, so they had to use the den.

 

Both men began to unpack and get settled in.  When they were done, they ordered a pizza and watched the game on the big screen TV. 

 

“Chief, it’s weird.  It looks like I’m in the game it’s so large.  It’s like larger than life.” Jim complained. 

 

“Dial it down, wuss.” Blair teased and made both men laugh. 

 

 

In NYC:

 

Yvette paced her apartment for the fifth day in a row and finally decided she had to do something.  Naomi had told her she’d be back on Friday night and she never returned.  She needed to call Blair and see if he had heard from her.  She was Naomi’s best friend and they were going to France together on Saturday.  She knew that Naomi wouldn’t have blown that off even for a good looking man. 

 

She picked up the phone and dialed Blair’s number. 

 

 

In Cascade:

 

“Oh cool... our first phone call.  Let me get it.” Blair ran for the phone and answered, Sandburg-Ellison residence, can I help you?”

 

“Blair, honey?  This is Yvette and I wondered if you’ve heard from your mom.  We had plans for the week and were going to fly to Paris on Saturday, but I haven’t seen her in almost a week now.  Something is wrong, I just feel it.”

 

“Yvette, maybe she met up with someone.  You know how flighty she can be.”

 

“Yes, I do know, but she promised and we don’t take that lightly, honey.  Something is wrong.  Can I call the police and report her missing?” Yvette was beside herself with worry. 

 

“Sure, report her missing and if you don’t hear from her in a few days, I’ll fly up and see if we can find her together. Try not to worry so much.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

When Blair hung up the phone Jim could tell he was upset.  “Chief, do you want to go to New York right now?”

 

 

The men walked up the stairs and Blair stripped for Jim and Jim again wondered how he had gotten so fucking lucky.  Jim took his clothing off and climbed between Blair’s legs.  He got the lube out and began to loosen up Blair and sucked his cock at the same time.  Blair was moaning loudly and Jim was very happy to know that no one in the neighborhood could hear him like they did at the loft sometimes.  When he was ready, he pulled Blair’s legs around his waist and slid into his hot, tight hole.  Jim had to go slowly because he was on the verge of coming already.  Blair started squirming around making Jim almost lose it.  Jim gained a little control and started thrusting into Blair’s ass as hard as he could, brushing Blair’s prostate as he rammed into him.  Blair was almost screaming for release as Jim started stroking Blair’s cock.  Blair came with a shout and Jim followed closely behind, throwing his head back and making a noise that Blair had never heard before.

 

“Wow.  A new noise.  You must have enjoyed yourself, eh?” Blair teased as he cleaned them both off. 

 

“You make me so fucking hot, I lose control almost immediately.  Thank you for being mine.” Jim pulled him into his arms and the two men fell into sweet dreams quickly. 

 

There however was no rest for them tonight.  The phone rang at 3:00 a.m. and Jim picked it up.  “Ellison.”

 

“Could you tell me if there is a Blair Sandburg there?  This is NYPD calling.  We need to talk to him.”

 

“Just one moment.” Jim woke Blair up and handed him the phone.  “Lo.”

 

“Mr. Sandburg, we’re sorry to tell you that your mother was found dead a week ago.  Her friend Yvette Miller identified the body.  She was murdered in Central Park.”

 

“Murdered?  I don’t understand.” Blair was confused from being sleepy and not wanting to believe that his mom was actually dead.

 

“We received the paperwork from her lawyer and she wants to be cremated, so we’ll take care of that as soon as you come.”

 

“So my friend and I to be able to see her before you cremate her?”

 

“Yes.  You will be coming soon?” The officer asked. “My name is Sgt. Thompson. 

 

“We’ll fly in tomorrow and talk to you about what happened.  All right?” Blair asked sadly. 

 

“We’ll see you tomorrow.  Have a safe trip.  I’m sorry I had to give you such bad news.  Good evening.” Thompson hung up and dreaded talking to the son tomorrow. 

 

 

In NYC:

 

There was nothing they could do.  They thought they had someone in mind, but he had an alibi and they had witness who said it wasn’t Sid Graham.  Yvette Miller just thought it was him because she could think of no other. He had an airtight alibi and they had nowhere to go with this.

 

 

In Cascade:

 

Jim pulled Blair into his arms and both men started to softly cry.  Jim knew that Blair would be sad about losing his mom without making up with her.  This would indeed haunt the young man for many years to come. 

 

Jim called Simon first thing in the morning and told him what was happening.  They would be taking off in two hours.  Both men packed and didn’t say a word.  They were both too sad.  Today was a day they would never forget. 

 

The plane ride was also quiet.  Neither man wanted to make the other cry in public. 

 

NYC:

 

Once they arrived, they got their bags and took a cab to the 44^th Precinct.  Jim said, “Do you have a Sgt. Thompson here?”

 

“Yes, he’s on the fifth floor in homicide.  I’ll call him and let him know you’re coming.  What are your names?” She asked sweetly. 

 

“Blair Sandburg and Jim Ellison.  He’s expecting us.” Jim said. 

 

When they arrived upstairs, Sgt. Thompson shook both of their hands and said, “Detective Sandburg, I’m truly sorry for your loss.  It’s a shame that we have no news to tell you.”

 

“What can you tell us?” Jim asked. 

 

“Follow me into the conference room.” He led the men back to the room and waited until they were sitting down and shut the door.  “First of all, Ms. Yvette Miller said she thought it might be Sid Graham.  Naomi told her that he lost his job, his wife and his home all in one day.  So she thinks that perhaps he went after her.”

 

“Did you check him out?” Jim asked.  Blair still hadn’t said a word. 

 

“Yes, we checked him out.  First of all, he doesn’t match the description and he has an airtight alibi.”

 

“What alibi?”

 

“He had an appointment with a Mr. Williams at 7:30.  He arrived there at 7:10 and saw Mr. Williams right away.  Then Mr. Graham went to buy a paper and met Mr. Williams for dinner around the corner.  Your mother died sometime during this time.  There is no way he could have been in two places at the same time.”

 

“What was the description?” Jim asked. 

 

“Blond hair, beard, dark rimmed glasses and much shorter than Mr. Graham.  We have about ten witnesses that saw her eating a picnic lunch in the park with him.  She was drinking and everyone says they thought she was pretty drunk.  The coroner said she was drugged and then injected with air into her vein.”

 

Blair looked like he wanted to scream and Jim wanted to hold him in the worst way, but knew they couldn’t do that. “So, he could have been there and did it before he had his appointment.” Jim wondered aloud. 

 

“No, he couldn’t.  He doesn’t have blond hair.  He didn’t have a beard and he was early for his appointment.  Mr. Williams said he looked very nice and he was shaved and his hair was dark as always.”

 

Blair stood up and looked out the window and asked, “When you brought Sid Graham in for questioning, did you get the feeling that he had anything to hide?”

 

“You know, I shouldn’t say anything.  I don’t like the man.  He’s a jerk, he was supposedly in love with your mother and he acted like he could care less.  He said it was her fault that he was in the position he’s in now.  So while I questioned him, I wondered more than once if there was any way for him to have pulled it off, but we couldn’t come up with anything.  He had nothing but a briefcase when he went for his appointment and we checked the trash in the restroom and the lobby to see if we could find anything.  There was nothing. 

 

“Is there any chance of bringing him in one more time for me to question?” Jim asked. 

 

“No, there is no chance.  We have nothing to bring him here for.  He’s done nothing that we can prove, but I believe he might have had reason to do it.  I didn’t like the way he thought he was so clever. He might be the one, I just can’t prove it.  I’m truly sorry, Mr. Sandburg.”

 

“It’s not your fault.  He must have planned it out and made sure that there was nothing you could do.  Is it all right if we talk to him?” Blair asked. 

 

“You can talk to him about your mother, but you can’t talk to him about murder, because we have nothing on him.”

 

“Okay, we’ll go to our hotel for now.  Do you know how to get a hold of Yvette?” Jim asked. 

 

“Yes, here is her number.  Call her.  She’s making the arrangements for the funeral.  Ms. Sandburg wanted to be cremated; she didn’t want to be in the ground.  So, if you two need anything at all, just let me know.”

 

“Can we walk through this quickly with you before we leave?” Jim asked.

 

“Sure, go ahead.” Thompson was glad to try and help the two men. 

 

“So, he was a blond with big dark framed glasses.  What if he had on all different clothes, dyed his hair blond with that quick dye that washes right out and then had a bag with all of his new clothing inside of it.  He could leave there, run over to the building into the restroom, wash his hair and shave and put on all of his expensive clothing and put everything in a bag.  Are there locker’s in the lobby of this building?” Jim wondered aloud. 

 

“Yes, there are.  But we have no way to know if he used one or not. And he has really dark hair, so it isn’t like he could have died it blond and then dyed it back.”

 

Blair was getting into this now, “What if he put his bag in a locker and then left to go get a newspaper before dinner and picked the bag up.  He could have walked to a trash bin and dumped it out.  Couldn’t he have? And don’t you find it strange that he seems to have everything covered?  It’s just too fucking neat. Sid Graham lost everything and he wanted me to lose it all too.”

 

“But we can’t prove it, Detective Sandburg.” Thompson felt bad for both men grasping at straws. 

 

“What if you checked for his fingerprints on one of the lockers.  You could check them all just to see if he had a bag.” Jim suggested. 

 

“We can’t do it without cause.  I’m sorry.  His alibi is holding up and whether I think he did it or not doesn’t matter.  Please don’t start trouble with him because he’ll take everything you have.  I’ve seen his type before.  He’s waiting for the two of you to make a mistake.”

 

“We’ll be careful.” Blair promised.  But Jim didn’t say a word.  Jim was going to have plenty to say to Mr. Graham.

 

Jim and Blair left to go to their hotel.  They had their bags and caught a cab.  Neither man spoke because there was really nothing to say.  Blair knew he could do nothing.  Sid Graham had made Blair pay the ultimate price for Naomi’s mistake.  And there was nothing anyone could do about it. 

 

Jim was wondering how he was going to get over to Sid Graham’s house without Blair.  He needed to talk to the man.  If he killed Naomi that easily, he might go after Blair too.  Yes, he was going to have to talk to the man and set things straight. 

 

That night when they went to bed, there was no love making, only sleep without much touching.  Jim had never seen Blair this upset.  And he knew why.  Blair hadn’t forgiven his mom for doing what she did.  Jim was going to find a way to help Blair out of this. 

 

 

The following morning Blair was going to meet Yvette to make the funeral arrangements.  Jim said, “Blair, I’m going to check out the bathroom at that lobby and see if I can find anything that would reopen the case.  You finish up what you have to do and I’ll get this taken care of.”

 

“Thanks, babe.  I knew you would check things out.” Blair kissed him softly as he left the room.  Jim got ready and went to the building that Sid Graham had the appointment at.  He went into the lobby restroom and looked in all of the sinks to see if he could see hair dye or anything else, but he saw nothing like that.  Jim realized the jerk probably brought cleaners so that it would all be clean and free of any evidence.  Jim then walked upstairs and asked for Sid Graham.  The woman in the office showed Jim into Sid’s office and Sid got an odd look on his face. 

 

“Why are you here, Detective Ellison?  I’ve been cleared of everything; they said it was a much shorter man with blond hair and a beard.”

 

“Mr. Graham, I know you did it.  I don’t care at this point because there is nothing I can do about it, but I want to let you know that if anything happens to myself or Blair Sandburg, you will be hunted down and destroyed.  No one will think twice about it and they’ll never find the person that did it. I know that Naomi destroyed your life.  I know you lost everything and for this I feel for you.  But you crossed the line.  You took someone’s life instead of just trying to get through life like the rest of us.  I’m going to be watching you and believe me; I’ve got some investigating to do while I’m here.  I might find what they couldn’t.  I expect you to do the honorable thing and turn yourself in, but you have no honor, so I know you won’t do that.  Instead you’ll live every day of your life not knowing if I’m in New York or not.  And I’m going to have you followed for the rest of your fucking life. I can afford it. You won’t know what hit you, Mr. Graham.  And there’s nothing you can do about it.” Jim turned around and walked out of the office.  He knew the man was guilty.  His heart rate had tripled and he was sweating like there was no tomorrow. There was nothing he could do about it, but he could pretend to have the man followed and just scare him somewhat.

 

When Jim got back to the hotel, Sgt. Thompson was waiting there with Blair.  Jim knew that the asshole had called and ratted him out. 

 

“What’s going on?” Jim asked cautiously. 

 

“Detective, he called us and reported that you said you were going to hunt him down and kill him.”

 

“Really?  That’s not what I said.  I said if something happened to Blair, he would be hunted down.  But other than that, I was very nice during the whole exchange.”

 

“He said he wants a restraining order put on you.” Thompson said almost smiling. 

 

“So do it.  I don’t care.  I talked to him.  I found out that he’s the killer and that’s all I needed to know. And he threatened me, so I want a restraining order put out on him.”

 

“Are you serious, Ellison?” Thompson asked. 

 

“Yes, I’m serious.  I don’t want him going anywhere near Naomi’s service and if I have a restraining order that will keep him away.”

 

“We’ll get that filed today so we don’t have to worry about it.  Come down to the precinct and we’ll get it all done. 

 

After Thompson left, Blair jumped up and said, “Did you find anything to help?”

 

“No, Chief.  Everything in that bathroom was clean.  It was cleaner than it’s probably ever been in the history of the building since it was built.  He took cleaners with him too.  He’s smart, I’ll give him that.  He had this all timed out.  I could see some blond hairs in his hair; he probably wore a wig. It was him.  But we can’t prove it so I guess we go home. He has to live with what he did, not us.”

 

“We’re going to be here for four more days because we’re having the service here.  Most of her friends were here, not in Cascade.  Is that all right, Jim?”

 

“That’s fine, Blair.  Don’t worry so much, all right?” Jim tried to be supportive. 

 

Jim went over to the phone and called his dad.  “Ellison.”

 

“Hi Dad.  It’s me.  Blair’s mother was killed in New York City and I would like to have you come for the service.  There is an extra room in our suite if you’d like to come.”

 

“I’ll get a flight out right away and I’ll take a cab to the hotel.  Where are you staying? “

 

“The Radisson.  Thank you, Dad.” Jim was very grateful that his father didn’t ask 100 questions. 

 

When he got done talking to his dad, he then called Simon to tell him what was going on.  Simon said, “I’ll be there in a few hours.  Tell Sandburg I’ll talk to him when I get there.”

 

“Chief, I have to go and file that restraining order, so will you wait here for my dad?”

 

“Of course.  It’s so nice that he’s coming.  I can’t believe he’s making the trip.  He hardly knew her.”

 

“But he knows you, Sandburg, and he likes you.  He might not agree with our lifestyle but he likes you.” Jim kissed his mate before he left. 

 

On the way to the precinct, Jim realized that Blair hadn’t really had the opportunity to grieve.  He’d been busy working the case with him the whole time.  Jim hoped that he could talk about a few things with Simon and his father.  They might help him open up.

 

Jim got to the stationhouse and filled out all of the paperwork.  Sgt. Tommy Thompson was glad that tough Jim Ellison did this, so he could protect himself too. 

 

“Ellison, would you like to have lunch?  I’d like to talk to you.”

 

“Sure, I have to eat, may as well be with you.” The two men walked side by side to the diner across the street and found a booth and sat down. 

 

The waitress walked up and said, “What can I get you to drink?”

 

“I’d like brewed ice tea, please.” Jim said quickly.  He was dying of thirst. 

 

“Same here.  We’ll look at the menu’s and be done when you come back.” Thompson opened his up and said, “The meatloaf is really good here.  You can’t go wrong with that.”

 

“Meatloaf it is.” Jim put his menu down and waited for the waitress to come back.  When she brought their tea, she took their orders and left quickly. 

 

“Now, what do you want to talk to me about, Sgt?” Jim asked. 

 

“Ellison, I have to warn you that if something happens to Graham, I have no choice but to come after you.  So I’m hoping that you can promise me that you won’t be paying him another visit.”

 

“I can promise that.  I finished.  I told him to turn himself in.  He would never do that because he has no conscience.  He’s a low life and Blair didn’t deserve this.  You have no idea how this is going to affect him.  Blair’s been mad at his mom for about four months and they never made up.  Now he’ll have to live with that.  It’s too bad.  Blair is going to suffer forever because of something Naomi and Graham did.”

 

“I’m glad we had this talk because I was afraid you were going to go after him.” Thompson said. 

 

“I can’t.  Blair would be left all alone if I was sent to prison.  I can’t do that, even if I want to.”

 

The waitress brought their lunch and the two men talked about life in general and ate.  Sgt. Thompson believed that Jim Ellison wanted to kill that man, but he wouldn’t do it because of Blair Sandburg. 

 

When they finished, Thompson got the check and said, “My treat.”

 

“Thank you.  You were right, it was great meatloaf.”

 

They walked outside and Thompson said, “Well, I guess we won’t be seeing you again.”

 

“Blair would like it if you came to the service.  I’ll call you with the details later on tonight.  When are you going to serve those papers on Sid Graham?”

 

“As soon as I get back to my office and finish filing them.  His boss is going to get tired of this shit.  Maybe he’ll fire him.” The smile on Sgt. Thompson’s face was pure evil. 

 

“I like you a lot, Thompson.  I’m glad you were here to help us through this.  Thank you.” Jim shook his hand and turned to go. 

 

“I’ll see you at the service, Ellison.”

 

The cab ride back to the hotel was quiet and uneventful.  Jim was glad of that.  He wanted to be alone with his thoughts.  He wanted to kill Sid Graham so badly he could taste it, but he knew he couldn’t.  Jim knew he was going to have to work on his anger issues and learn to control them. 

 

Later that day, at Sid Graham’s office, he was being served with the restraining order.  He didn’t say much as he signed them and watched the cops leave his office.  As soon as he shut the door his phone rang and he picked it up. “Graham.”

 

“This is William’s.  Please come to my office.”

 

Sid sighed and walked over to the other door and knocked before he entered.  “Sir, you wanted to see me?”

 

“I’m afraid that I’m going to have to let you go.  I can’t have an employee that is hounded by the police every day.  It just won’t work. “

 

“Sir, please give me another chance.  This has all been a misunderstanding.  They want someone to blame and they chose me.  I’m innocent.  That’s why the police haven’t been in to ask any more questions.  The two men that were here are trying to frame me for something I didn’t do.” Sid hoped this would do the trick but he looked at William’s face and knew he had lost already. 

 

“Have your things out of your desk in an hour.  I’m sorry, but this is becoming a big problem. Good day.” William’s opened up the door and watched a sad and dejected Sid Graham go through it. 

 

 

Sid took all of his things to his apartment that he had just moved into and realized he couldn’t afford it any longer.  What would he do now?  Fired from two jobs in two weeks?  It wouldn’t look good to anyone.  Someone was going to pay for this and it wasn’t him. 

 

Sid decided to go to the service and have revenge once and for all.  He didn’t care if he had a restraining order or not.  Who cared?  And it’s not like there would be cops all around, anyhow.  Sid knew he was going to have to buy a gun and that wasn’t going to be easy.  The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of a knife plunging in and out of Blair Sandburg.  Yes, this is what he would do to the man.  He was going to continue stabbing him until Sandburg took his last breath.  When they arrested him, it would be all right because he couldn’t afford his apartment any longer anyhow. 

 

Sid called one of Naomi’s friends and asked when the service was and where and the fool told him.  She didn’t even ask who it was.  Now all Sid had to do was set his plan in motion.  He had three days to plan it all out.  It was going to be perfect and he’d make Jim Ellison sorry that he had ever tangled with him. 

 

 

At the hotel:

 

Blair was talking with Simon and William when Jim walked in.  William got up and gave his son a quick hug and then asked, “Are you all right, Jimmy?  You look a little pale.”

 

“I’m fine.  I’m just tired, that’s all.  Chief, how are you doing?” Jim worriedly asked. 

 

“I’m fine, Jim.  Don’t worry so much.  The service is set for Wednesday and Simon said it was fine that we’re taking off that much time.” Blair explained. 

 

The four men sat and talked about Naomi until Blair got too sad and had to go into the bedroom. 

 

“Jim, I’m sorry.  I thought it would help to tell some of the funny stories of Naomi, but I might have been wrong.” Simon said. 

 

“No, he needs to grieve, so stop worrying.  He needs to cry for his loss.  He also needs to forgive himself for something he had no control over.” Jim explained. 

 

“What is that, Jimmy?” William asked quietly. 

 

“He never forgave his mom for the dissertation fiasco, so they still weren’t talking when she was murdered.  Now he’ll blame himself for the rest of his life.  Eventually he’ll come around, but it’s going to be hard on him. Please just have patience with him.”

 

 

For the next two days, William and Simon were there for both Jim and Blair.  Wherever they went, the other two followed.  Blair was beginning to feel like he would never be alone, but he knew his friends were trying to help. 

 

The morning of the service, everyone got up and got ready to go.  Blair bought a beautiful black suit for himself and Jim.  When they were done getting ready both Simon and William commented on how nice they looked.  It was such a sad day, but the sun was shining, birds were singing and things could always be worse. 

 

William asked Blair, “Are you going to speak at the service?”

 

“No sir.  I don’t feel like I have the right.  We were at odds when she died and I feel conflicted about that.”

 

“Jimmy, are you going to speak?”

 

“No, Dad.  Her friends are going to talk about her and we figured that was enough.  Right now I don’t think Blair and I are the perfect people to talk about his mom.”

 

“Is everyone ready to go?” Simon asked standing by the door. 

 

“Yes, let’s get this over with.” Blair said sadly. 

 

 

The ride over was very quiet.  No one said a word.  Blair found himself being very angry with Naomi.  This was so typical of her.  She would have bugged Sid until he went crazy and killed her.  She probably thought she was helping him deal with his pain and anger.  She was such a nut job sometimes. 

 

When they arrived Blair looked at the small church and said, “Well, looky here.  It’s the Church of What’s Happening Now.  Perfect for Naomi.”

 

No one said anything because they didn’t know what to say.  The small church was already crowded with friends and family.  Blair hadn’t seen any of his Aunts in years.  He didn’t even remember some of them.  The front row was left empty for Blair, Jim, Simon and William.  They went and sat down and waited for the service to start. 

 

Music from the 60’s was playing and making Blair smile.  It was so Naomi.  Yvette did a good job choosing the songs and getting everything ready.  When Yvette got up to talk Blair hoped he could hold it together until they left.  His mother’s friend told happy stories, sad stories and wild stories.  Everyone in the place was smiling and remembering Naomi just the way she would have wanted to be remembered. 

 

No one noticed the figure behind Blair Sandburg.  No one even paid any attention as he plunged a knife into Blair’s back.  Sid Graham found out that it’s harder to stab someone than a person thinks.  He barely made it in once when Jim grabbed him and swung him around. 

 

“She ruined my life.  She destroyed me and you all think she was some sort of Saint?  She wasn’t.  She was evil and deserved to die. So does her son.”

 

Jim had a good hold on Graham while the cops were being called.  Sgt. Thompson was there but was in a suit and didn’t have any cuffs.  He could see that Jim had it well in hand. 

 

“Sandburg, how are you doing?” Thompson asked. 

 

“Not too bad.  I think it just barely went in.  The pain isn’t too bad.”

 

The EMT’s arrived and got Blair’s suit off and began to dress the wound.  Blair was right, it barely went into his back.  The cop’s arrived and cuffed Graham and took him away kicking and screaming.  All you could hear was, “Let me try it one more time.  I’ll make it work this time.”

 

Simon looked at Jim and whispered, “He’s a few fries short of a Happy Meal, isn’t he?”

 

“They better not take him to the loony bin.  He’ll get out too soon.  He deserves to go to the big house just like the rest of us would.” Jim somehow knew that he wouldn’t be.  He would be going to a mental facility. 

 

The EMT’s were ready to transport Blair, so Jim rode with them.  Simon and William stayed at the service to see that everything went well.

 

After their farewells, William said, “Simon, do you want to share a cab to the hospital?”

 

“Yeah, that would be good.  We’ll be sure that Blair is all right.  He’s a good guy and doesn’t deserve to be hurt any more.” Simon said. 

 

Once inside the cab, William asked, “I would never say anything to Blair about this, but his mother did ruin that man’s life, didn’t she?”

 

“Yes, she did.  She ruined Blair and Jim’s too.  She was too worried about getting Blair into the spotlight and forgot to worry about who she was stepping on.  It was too bad.  I can understand Graham losing it and going after her.  She thought everything was always just perfect and nothing bad ever touched her, but that wasn’t true.” Simon was so tired.  He could only imagine how tired Jim and Blair were. 

 

At the hospital, the doctor stitched Blair up and told him to take it easy for a few days.  Blair looked at his new suit jacket and said, “Fuck… I liked this suit, didn’t you?”

 

“It’s only a suit, Chief.  The most important thing is that you’re all right.  That’s all I care about.  To hell with the suit.”

 

“Ready to go home, Jim?” Blair asked out of the blue. 

 

“I think we’ll need to stay and tie up some loose ends, don’t you think?” Jim suggested. 

 

“What do we need to tie up? The service is over and it’s time to go back to Cascade.  I don’t want to be here any longer.”

 

“We’ll make sure they don’t need us for anything against Sid Graham.  I’m sure there will be a hearing.” Jim reminded Blair. 

 

“I’m sure we will, but not right now. Jim, I want to go home and relax and just be in your arms in the safety of our own place.  Please?”

 

“Okay, we’ll tell everyone we’re leaving.” Jim said as they walked out the front door.  Simon and William walked up at that very same moment. 

 

“Sandburg, what are you doing out of the hospital already?” Simon inquired. 

 

“It’s only a scratch and I’ll be good as new in a day or two.  Isn’t that right, Jim?”

 

“Yes, the doctor said he would be back to work in a week, so he’s doing well.” Jim explained.  “Blair wants to go home right now.”

 

“You have to stay for the hearing, Sandburg, you must know that.” Simon couldn’t believe that he thought he could just up and leave. 

 

“I don’t know but I’m sure that Sgt. Thompson knows.  We’ll contact him and see what he says.  I, however, do have to go home and get everyone whipped back into shape.  William, would you like to fly back with me?” Simon thought he would at least offer. 

 

“If you don’t mind, Jimmy, I think I should go home now.  If you need me again, I’m only a phone call away.” William got back in the cab with Simon to go and get their things at the hotel.

 

That left Jim with handling Blair and his feelings for what had happened in the last few days.  It wasn’t something he was looking forward to.  Jim hugged his dad and Simon before they got into the cab and said his goodbyes then.  He turned to Blair and said, “So how about a trip to the stationhouse to see if they have anything to tell us?”

 

Blair just shrugged his shoulders and held out his hand for a cab.  Once they got in one, Jim pulled Blair close to him and hugged him.  “I’m sorry for everything that’s happened, Blair.”

 

“It’s not your fault, Jim, she had it coming.  She asked for this all and didn’t care about anyone else in her madness.  She was mad, you know?  What normal mom would leave and not make sure her son needed help after what she had done?  It was so typical Naomi and I’ll hate her forever for that.”

 

“Chief, you’re going to need some therapy after all of this and I’m here to go along with you if you’d like me to.  We can’t just act like she had it coming and go on with our lives.  Everything about you is Naomi.  She raised you and I love you.  So, I don’t want you regretting things later on.  Promise me we’ll see someone, all right?”

 

“Jim, I’ll go see someone and would love if you went along with me.  I could use the support.  I loved my mom, I’m just not happy with her right this moment.  Can we stay here for the hearing and then just go home?  I want to be home again.  I long for our regular life.” Blair moved even closer to Jim and didn’t care that the cab driver gave them an odd look in the rear-view mirror. 

 

“Sounds good to me, Chief, we’ll go see what we have to do about the hearing and then go back to the hotel until we know something.  We’ll go home as soon as we can.  I’ll call Simon and tell him to give us both family time off.  How does that sound?” Jim kissed Blair on his cheek. 

 

“That sounds terrific, man.  I was afraid I would have to stay here alone while you went back to work.  Thank you for all of your help, big guy.  I love you.”

 

“I love you, too, Blair and we’ll get through this one way or another.” Jim promised. 

 

And they would.  Life would go on, and Blair would suffer from Naomi’s actions once again, but he would be able to handle it better now because he had Jim to lean on.  Things would work out fine. 

 

The end