Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2022 23:35:32 -0800 From: John Henry Subject: Growing Up Charlie Chapter 74 (Gay/Incest) DONATION: Nifty is a not-for-profit organization that heavily relies on our donations to keep the site free and accessible. Your donations pay for web hosting fees and other day-to-day activities for the wonderful staff of editors/publishers. You can donate on the website at http://donate.nifty.org/ Every little bit counts. DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of fiction, and contains explicit, sexual content involving adults over the age of 21 and minors under the age of 16, and scenes of incest involving step-parents/step-children. If viewing this material is illegal where you live, OR you're a minor under the age of 18, please stop reading this. If you're not sure about this legatilty, please stop reading until you have looked into your own, local laws. Any likeness or similarity between persons, places, products or concepts are purely coincidental. UPDATE: I know it has been a long time between chapters, but I had a lot of very stressful things going on in my personal life. I can't promise to know when the next chapter will be ready, but I am working on it and the conclusion of this portion of the Bartons' story. Thank you for remaining loyal. If you would like to leave any positive feedback, please let me know. Thank you. Chapter 74 "I'm glad you could make it," Detective Dunham said as Rick took a seat across from her. "Of course," Rick replied, waiving a waitress over. The cafe was cramped with college students. For some reason the detective insisted on meeting there. "Your message sounded urgent. I'm hoping you have something new on Justin's whereabouts." "Not exactly." She looked around and took out her notepad. "I need you to listen to everything I have to tell you before you react. Can you promise me that?" Rick looked concerned and agreed. "Okay, great. How much of Will's past are you familiar with?" "Like before he went to prison?" Rick asked. "Not much." "How about his time in prison?" Det. Dunham asked. "Even less," Rick shrugged. "Will doesn't like talking about it, and honestly, I can't really blame him. Who would want to relive a nightmare like that, especially given his innocence. What is this all about?" "During my investigation into finding Charlie, I looked into everyone in your family, including Will." "Why would you do that?" Rick asked incredulously and confused. "We knew Justin was the person who kidnapped Charlie. Why looking into us?" "It's common practice in law enforcement, so it was more out of habit," the detective explained. "Although there was a reasonable suspicion on Justin Roberts, which turned out to be correct, you'd be surprised how many times a family member is involved. I wanted to cover all my bases before I focus solely on Justin." "So, let me get this right," Rick said bitterly. "You delayed looking for my son, so you could do background checks on me and my kids?" "I know it seems like that, Rick, but I assure you that I was also following leads on Charlie, as well...but I digress. I called you here to discuss what I found on Will, and I think you really need to hear what I have to say." Rick looked skeptical. He was mentally calculating how much sooner he would've had Charlie home had the detective focused more on finding his boy. However, he did give her his word to listen, so he nodded, indicating that she should continue. "As I'm sure you know, Will came from a very wealthy family but lost his inheritance fighting the accusations levied against him." "Yeah, Will made that pretty clear shortly after contacting us." "Do you know the current source of Will's money?" Rick thought about it and gave another shrug. "It's not any of my business, to be honest. I know he did cyber and computer security before focusing on the law full-time. He was even law partners with Rebecca Ingram; my lawyer on the custody cases for Billy and Ry. Unsurprisingly, they didn't work well together, and Will quit to move here. To my knowledge, he's in private practice and rents a small office downtown and works at home." "Has Will ever discussed what kind of business he does as a lawyer?" "No, but isn't that privileged? I mean isn't he bound by the law to not talk about his clients and cases?" "Yes, for the most part" Det. Dunham confirmed. "Once he's filed documents with the courts, the names of his clients become public record under most circumstances. I looked up most of his clients and discovered something rather--disturbing." Detective Dunham began to explain Will's connection to the Aryan Brotherhood and organized crime upon his release from prison. She didn't know the full story, of course, but she had pieced enough together to figure out that Will was laundering money for the gang and had represented several members in cases ranging from criminal defense and child custody to business acquisitions and accounting. Rick couldn't believe what he was hearing. "This is absurd," he said with a laugh. "For starters, Will is Jewish. There's no way he'd join a neo-Nazi group, let alone THAT group. I think he'd rather kill himself. Second, Will is a lawyer, so he's going to have all kinds of clients, so the fact that some of them are former or current prison gang members isn't very shocking to me--" "--They're ALL gang members from the Aryan Brotherhood branch in Nebraska," the detective clarified. "He has never filed anything with the courts here or in Nebraska where the client doesn't have ties, direct or indirect, to the gang." "Coincidence," Rick retorted, though he lost his mirth. "Yeah, a rather big coincidence," she said, sarcastically. "Look, Rick, I don't expect you to believe me one-hundred percent here, but there's something seriously wrong with this case. Will disappeared right after we arrived in Omaha--" "Wait," Rick interjected, "Will went with YOU to Omaha? He told us he had to catch a later flight and got us on the earliest flight he could book!" Det. Dunham looked at Rick discerningly. "This is what I'm talking about, Rick. He's covering something up. He was gone for hours and didn't really explain where he went. He told me he was going to get the reward money, but the couple that found Charlie had already disappeared by the time he came back. I think he met with them, gave them the money and told them to leave town." "But why would he do that? It doesn't make any sense." "It does if Justin didn't get away after all." Rick took the words in and took his time to reply. "So, what you're saying is...Justin didn't escape...and Will has him hostage...somewhere...and that this white supremasist group is, somehow, involved?" "I know it sounds crazy--" "--'Crazy' is putting it mildly, I'd say--" "--but according to witness statements, Justin ran from the room naked, which means he couldn't have gotten far on foot, especially being chased by an athletic man. According to the hotel manager, Justin was very thin and looked like he hadn't eaten in days. I saw the security footage of the parking lot, and the guy who chased after him was stacked and was quickly catching up to Justin. "It makes sense that Justin was caught, but what doesn't make sense is why he wasn't turned in yet Charlie was. I think Will got to them first. I don't know how, but I think the neo-Nazi's are part of it." "My head hurts," Rick said, pulling out a bottle of acetaminophen. He sat with the information before him. In all the years he had known Dunham he never took her to be someone who believed in conspiracy theories or other bullshit; however, the story she was spinning was too fantastical, too convoluted, too circumstantial to be true. Yet, Will lied about when he arrived in Nebraska and Will seemed to have bounced back financially rather quickly after getting out of prison, especially for someone with a child molestation charge on their record. "I appreciate the conversation, Detective, but I need time to think about all of this. It's just too much to put on my plate right now, and I've got to get Charlie to his therapy session soon. He's on his fifth therapist in about as many months." "Sorry to hear that." They both stood, shook hands, and Det. Dunham said, "Could you keep this just between us? I know it's a lot to ask, but if I'm right and Will finds out, we're both going to be in a lot of danger." "Sure," Rick said, passively. It's not like he could sneak it into a conversation with Will or anything. * * * "So, Charlie, is there anything you want to talk about today?" Kelly was nice enough, Charlie thought. Unlike his previous therapists, she wasn't pushy or tried getting him to talk about what Justin had done to him. Sometimes, they just sat in silence, as he looked at his feet or the clock waiting for the session to be over. "I don't know," he said with a shrug. "How are things at home?" "Fine." "Are you talking more to your dad and older brother?" "I guess." "How's Ry doing?" "He's good. His teachers are talking about graduating him early." "That's good." "I guess." "You don't sound so sure about it." Again, Charlie shrugged. He wasn't happy about it; in fact, he was very upset by it. Uncle Ken had already promised to send Ry to whichever college he wanted, but Charlie didn't want his brother to go anywhere, especially somewhere far away. It was hard enough at home with Ry there, and it hurt his heart to think of what life would be like without Ry in it. "Do you want to talk about it?" "No really," he said, as tears fell from his eyes. He was tired of crying but, when it came to Ry, he couldn't help it. "We don't have to if you don't want to, but it might help if you did," Kelly said, getting up to get a box of tissues from a hall closet. Charlie, once again, shrugged his shoulders and sat in silence. * * * By the time Rick was off of work, he had mostly forgotten about his conversation with Detective Dunham. His mind was mostly on Charlie, which was also affecting his work. His son's therapist called, saying that Charlie again refused to talk. Though she assumed it would be awhile before Charlie opened up, it had been about the fourth session in a row where Charlie didn't say a word. Rick decided it was time to confront his youngest son. Until now, he had been trying to give Charlie as much space as needed, pretty much letting Ry handle "Dad Duty"; however, Ry wasn't the parent, and Rick felt like he had given Charlie enough space, maybe even too much space, by the sounds of it. He pulled into the driveway a little anxious. It wasn't until after he turned off the engine that he heard the clear sound of breaking glass coming from inside the house. Rick jumped out of his truck and ran through the door. "I HATE YOU!" Charlie shouted. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!" Rick bellowed, taking in the scene. Billy was holding his left eye, flood rolling down his face. Trevor moved between the two brothers, shielding his boyfriend, while also trying to avoid stepping on the remains of a plate. Ry was trying and failing to pull Charlie into the kitchen but stopped at the sound of their father. "YOU!" Rick barked, pointing at his eldest, "EXPLAIN!" "I don't really know," Ry said, getting the wriggling Charlie into a headlock. "I was in the bathroom when I heard shouting. When I came out, Charlie hit Billy in the face with that plate." Both Charlie and Billy began to shout their versions of events, but Rick cut them off. He looked at Trevor and demanded his side of things. "Billy found a prescription pad in Charlie's backpack." He pulled a small pad of paper from his pocket and carefully walked over to Rick. "We think he stole it from his therapist." "I DIDN'T STEAL SHIT!" "Charlie, that's enough!" Rick commanded. "If I have to tell you again--" "--You'll spank me?" Charlie challenged. "I've never spanked you, Charlie," Rick said coldly, "nor do I intend to, but if you don't stop interrupting me, I'll ground you worse than you've ever experienced before." "I doubt that," Charlie snarled. "It can't be worse than what Justin did to me." Rick wasn't going to take the bait. Charlie had taken to using his assault as emotional blackmail, especially when he got in trouble. Instead, Rick looked at the pad. It looked like a standard pharmacy request form, with Charlie's current therapist's name and contact information on it. Luckily, it was blank. To his youngest, Rick asked, "Where did you get this?" "I didn't take it!" Charlie spat. "Billy put it in my bag to get me in trouble." "I didn't, you little bastard." Rick didn't try correcting Billy. After getting hit in the face with a plate, Rick felt that it was the least Charlie deserved, though he would have a talk with Billy later about it. "Why did you search your brother's bag?" Trevor, who had gone for the first aid kit, returned and started to clean Billy's wound. It was luckily superficial, though an inch or two lower, and Billy might have lost his eye. "I found it," Trevor said. "Billy sat in the car, and I went into the office to get Charlie. As we were leaving, I overheard the therapist say something about a script pad. I asked Charlie about it, he said he didn't know anything about it, and I didn't believe him." "You had no right to search my backpack," Charlie said. "I could sue you." Rick rolled his eyes and looked at Charlie, who met his gaze with venom. "Unfortunately for you, I would have to sign off on it, and I won't; however, how about we talk about why you took the pad?" "I didn't take it!" "Fine," Rick said, pulling his phone from his pocket. "How about we let the police sort this out?" "What?!" All four boys said in shock. "Dad," Ry pleaded, "you can't be serious." Rick ignored him and unlocked his phone. "Dad, seriously," Billy begged, "call my dad, instead." Rick put the phone on speaker and dialed 9-1-1. He looked to Trevor, waiting for a reaction, but the boy was still trying to stop the bleeding on his boyfriend's face. Rick was directed through a couple prompts before an operator said, "9-1-1, what's the address of your emergency?" He took it off speaker and put the phone to his ear and gave the address, twice. "I need an officer and an ambulance. My youngest son, Charles Barton, stole a prescription pad from his therapist and then attacked one of my other sons. Yes. Yes. Yes, I'm willing to press charges. I understand that he's facing prison for it, but it might be the best." "Daddy, please, don't," Charlie cried softly. "I'm sorry. Please. I won't do it again. Please don't send me away." Rick turned the phone away from his face, revealing that it wasn't on. Charlie started to sob, while the others expressed their disapproval. He felt bad for what he did, but he needed to teach Charlie a lesson, without worse harm coming to his son. He walked over and pulled his baby into him. He held Charlie for the first time since before the kidnapping and started to cry himself. "I'm sorry, baby," he whispered into Charlie's ear. "I know this hurts, but it could've been a real call. What you did to your brother is not acceptable under any circumstance, and stealing that prescription pad...your therapist could've gotten in trouble or could still have you arrested. Do you understand?" Charlie only sobbed, clinging to his father for dear life. He knew, deep down, that what he did was wrong, but he's been so tired since Justin took him that he just wanted something to help him sleep. Nobody would give him anything, so he thought he could get away with writing a prescription for himself. However, being in his dad's arms and releasing the emotional flood that had been building up in him for months was better than any drug Justin had given him. Rick painfully remembered the last time he held Charlie, and how quickly he let the boy go. He wrapped his arms around his baby boy and held him close, vowing to never let him go until Charlie was ready. Rick picked up Charlie and carried him to his chair and sat down, settling the boy on his lap, arms wrapped tightly around the crying boy. Trevor took Billy to the emergency room, while Ry ordered dinner, but only after cleaning up the glass and blood on the floor. Charlie stopped crying after a good half-hour. He rested his head on his dad's chest, taking in how much he loved how Rick smelled. It was familiar and comforting, though no longer arousing. "I'm sorry, Daddy." "Me too, Charlie," Rick said, kissing Charlie's forehead. He felt his son twinge slightly but was hugged right after. "I never stopped looking, Charlie." His eyes welled up and tears of his own began to fall. "I never gave up hope." Charlie began to cry again. He knew his dad spoke the truth, and for the first time, in a very, very long time, he knew his dad loved him. ***Coming Soon, Chapter 75***