Justyn followed Mr. Anderson into the house. He took him into the den first. There was a big oak cabinet filled with stock car trophies.
"Billy won all of these in two and a half years. We went almost every weekend from Spring until Fall. He was really making progress. I was pretty good in my day too, but not as good as Billy. He really was something special. We had already had a few people talk to us about Billy driving in the Trans Am series when he got out of high school. They were offering a guaranteed salary and a percentage of the winnings. I wanted Billy to go to college, but he was thinking that he might try that first. If he did well there, NASCAR was the next step and Billy had always wanted to try that," Mr. Anderson said, as he walked away for a moment. "But he won't ever get that chance now."
"Mr. Anderson, I'm really sorry about your loss. I can see what you think. If Billy could drive this good, he had no reason to get his thrills going fast down his own driveway. He could do that on a race track. I think you're right. Someone murdered him," Justyn said.
Mr. Anderson looked around at Justyn. Justyn could see his eyes were red. "How old are you, son?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" he yelled. "I'm 23. I'm the best we have in Atlanta at what I do. I can take care of myself. You're bigger than I am, but I can take you down in just a few seconds. You want to try me?"
"Sure. Let's go outside," Mr. Anderson answered.
Justyn stormed outside and then turned to face Mr. Anderson in a karate pose.
"You'd really do it, wouldn't you?" Mr. Anderson asked.
"What?" Justyn asked, puzzled.
"I'm lots bigger and stronger than you. You have no idea what I've been trained to do. You'd take me on right now, wouldn't you?" he asked, grinning.
"I'd kick your ass too," Justyn grinned back.
Mr. Anderson held out his hand. "You know, I think you're the man for the job after all. I first thought that you were just some rookie that Atlanta had sent up here because they didn't have anybody else they could spare. But maybe you are the real deal. We'll see. But I have one request."
"What's that?" Justyn asked as he shook his hand.
"I want to see everything you find on my boy's computer. I want to know the whole truth. And I want you to agree to keep me posted once a week on your progress in the case," Mr. Anderson answered.
"Mr. Anderson, I can't promise to give out details about the case. I'm sorry," Justyn said.
"Me too. I think you're right. I think there might be something on my boy's computer to help you in your case. But I can't let you look unless you agree to my deal," Mr. Anderson answered.
Justyn stared him in the eyes for a moment or two. He knew he shouldn't do this. But he wouldn't go back on his word. "What if we just fight? If I win, I get to look on Billy's computer as long as I want to. If you win, I'll agree to your terms."
"Nope. I drive a hard bargain on my cars and I'm going to drive a hard bargain here. Take it or leave it. That's what I say when I sell my cars and that's how I live my life," Mr. Anderson answered.
"And if I agree, no one else will know what I've told you?" Justyn asked.
"I give you my word of honor," Mr. Anderson answered.
"That's good enough for me," Justyn said, as he held out his hand this time.
Mr. Anderson took it with a big grin on his face. "Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help. It's sad that I have to go all the way to Atlanta to find someone to help me find the fuck who murdered my boy, but I think I've finally found him."
Bill had staked out behind Mike's house again. He had parked three blocks away, which was too far away for his liking, but it was in a parking lot where no one would be able to link it to him if he parked there every day. He was keeping watch, but they had drawn all the blinds and no one seemed to be leaving the house.
He was getting really bored doing this. He thought about setting fire to the house like he had done his parents, but he knew that getting close to it in a subdivision would be dangerous. The three inside also would be on edge and he couldn't surprise them.
He didn't like it, but he decided all he could do was wait. They'd make a mistake soon, and he'd be ready when they did.
Justyn looked through Billy's room. It was a typical teenager's room. There were pictures of rock bands and stock car races on the walls. He had a nice PC with a 19 inch monitor on a desk in the corner.
But there were also several pictures of Billy as he was growing up in the room. Obviously, his Mom had placed them in there, but there was no mistake. The boy Justyn had on the disk he had with him was the same boy.
Justyn turned it on and waited while it loaded. The first thing he did was try to access Billy's e-mail, but it had a password. He tried to log onto AIM, but it was also password protected.
Justyn knew he would have to get a court order to be able to access either Billy's e-mail records or his chats on AIM and he knew he didn't have enough proof to get a judge to agree to that yet. So he was temporarily stumped.
He tried opening the "My Documents" section and looking through different documents there, but he didn't find anything of interest. All the time he did this, Mr. Anderson was watching from behind him.
Justyn was stymied. He didn't know what else to try.
He went to Start and Find and went on a hunch. He typed in "Bill*.*" It quickly came back with a hidden folder named Bill. Justyn's heart started beating faster and he wrote down the path to it on a sheet of paper next to the PC and went to Explorer to get there. In just a few clicks he was there.
And he hit the jackpot! Billy must have saved everything. There were chats with Bill and lots pictures of who Bill had once claimed to be. Justyn went through them one by one and he could feel Mr. Anderson wince behind him as they got more graphic.
They were very similar to the ones of Billy he already had. It was evident that Bill had done this before and if he did murder Billy, Billy might not have been the first one.
Justyn wrote down that he claimed to be living in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan when he was talking to Billy. He would have to see what he could find out there next.
The next chat Justyn brought up was exactly what Brian had shown him. Bill had a big surprise. He was moving to Charlotte and they could be together as much as Billy wanted. And surprise number two. He was 46, not 17. This was exactly what he had done with Brian. Billy had asked him for a picture but Bill had said he didn't have any. That they would go and have some taken together when Bill moved.
Billy had taken the news a lot better that Brian had. He had agreed to meet Bill when he got to Charlotte and see how they liked each other. Bill had even sent him a ring. It was the same silver and turquoise ring like he had sent Brian.
The last chats were more than Justyn had counted on. Billy had gone to Bill's apartment numerous times and they had sex there. There were chats where Billy told Bill he was anxious to lose his virginity and chats where Bill told Billy in explicit terms about what he was going to do to him to rid him of that problem. Justyn felt bad that Billy's Dad had to read all of this behind him, but he had insisted.
The next one was Billy telling Bill how much he had enjoyed them making love the night before. Billy's parents had gone away to Florida for a five day cruise and had left Billy alone at his house. Billy had lost his virginity in his own bed. Justyn heard Mr. Anderson gasp when he read that. He must have remembered that occasion. But Bill had definitely known how to get to Billy's house and he could have come up in the middle of the night and cut the brake cable. All of this was circumstantial evidence, but it was beginning to tie together.
Then Justyn found what convinced him once and for all that Billy had been murdered. Billy had a close friend at school, and they had finally confessed to each other that they were both gay. They had fallen in love and Billy had tried to gently explain to Bill that he really wanted to be with John, who was his age, rather than an older man.
Bill had exploded. It was the same as he had acted towards Brian. Threats, verbal abuse, and finally, he had told Billy that if he couldn't have him, no one could. Justyn thought it was the exact words he had used with Brian. He would have to check when he got back to Atlanta.
When Justyn had finally read or looked at everything in the folder, he took out a number of floppy disks from his bag and copied everything. Billy's PC didn't have a CD burner.
He was avoiding looking at Mr. Anderson until he had to. He knew how much pain he had to be in. When he was finally finished, he got up and faced him. "I'm going to catch this son of a bitch. I'll promise you that," he said.
Mr. Anderson' eyes were red but he stared into Justyn's eyes. "Remember our deal. Weekly reports."
"You know how much shit I'll be in if anyone ever finds out I am leaking parts of this case to the public, don't you?" Justyn asked.
"I know. And I gave you my word. No one else will ever know," Mr. Anderson answered.
"I gave you my word too, Mr. Anderson. I'll be calling you at least once a week," Justyn said. "Where would Billy keep a ring?"
"I have no idea. I'll help you look," Mr. Anderson answered.
They found it quickly. It was in the top drawer of Billy's desk. But they didn't find the package it had come in so they couldn't get a forwarding address.
"Can I take this with me?" Justyn asked.
"Sure. I don't want it in my house," Mr. Anderson answered.
Justyn was about to walk out when he turned around and asked, "Do me one favor, OK?"
"What's that, son?" Mr. Anderson asked.
"Don't record my phone calls, OK?" Justyn answered.
"You have a deal," Mr. Anderson answered, giving Justyn something between a smile and a sneer, as he escorted Justyn out of his house.
"When are we going to get our window fixed?" Brian asked.
"I can't get anyone out here until Monday. I've made an appointment for after I bring you both home," Mike answered.
"Ok," Brian answered. "I'm tired of watching TV. We can't go out of the house. It's only been a day and I'm already going stir crazy."
"Bro, it's going to get lots worse than this. Neither of you are going anywhere until Bill is caught," Mike answered.
Brian just stared angrily at him, but he knew he was right.
Justyn was on his way home. It was early on a Saturday night. Most people would be going out somewhere. But Justyn was pretty sure he knew where Luke was. He picked up his cell phone and hit one of his stored numbers.
"Hello?"
"Luke, go home. Go out on a date. Go buy a blow up woman. Get a life. If you can't afford one, borrow one," Justyn kidded.
"What the Hell do you want?" he kidded back. Justyn and Luke had hit it off immediately and were now good friends. Luke was as introverted as Justyn was extraverted and they made a strange pair, but they had become friends nonetheless.
"How do you know I'm not just calling to see how you're doing?" Justyn asked, feigning hurt.
"Because any time you ever call me, you always want something. So give," Luke answered back.
"Ok, I do want something. I want to try out your new baby with some photos I have," Justyn answered.
"Oh no! You know it's not ready for real police work yet. It still has to go through a beta test," Luke answered back.
"All I want you to do is compare the pictures I have to some newspapers from the Detroit area," Justyn said.
"I said no. You couldn't use the fact that you used my new search engine in your investigation even if I agreed to let you try," Luke answered.
"If you find something, I could fly up there and search by hand. You know how lucky I am," Justyn answered. "I might stumble across it."
"No! NO! NO! How many times do I have to say it," Luke said loudly.
"How long are you going to be there tonight?" Justyn asked.
"If you're on your way here now, I'm leaving this instant," Luke answered.
"You know you don't mean that. What if I told you the life of a 16 year old boy might be saved by your new search engine before anyone even knows about it?" Justyn asked.
Luke didn't say anything for a few moments, then he said, "Where are you?"
"That's my boy. I'm just over the South Carolina border heading south. I can be there in a little over an hour if I drive fast and you know I like to do that anyway. I'll bring dinner with me, my treat. Anything you want, just as long as it's under five bucks," Justyn answered, laughing.
"You always were a big spender," Luke answered, also laughing. "Ok, I'll be here when you get here."
"Thanks buddy. I owe you one," Justyn answered.
"You owe me lots more than one. Bye," Luke said as he hung up.
To Be Continued
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