Austin had hit the bricks behind the station house and run. That foolish woman had trusted him, something he knew Alan wouldn't have done. Two blocks down he hailed a cab and headed home to Kevin.

The cab driver had demanded to see some cash before he moved the vehicle. Austin laughed and pulled the rolled up twenties from his stash in the waistband of his jeans, urging the man to get moving.

The cops were such idiots ... well except for Alan. There was something about that man, something that made him feel excited inside. He didn't look or act much like a cop either. And he was a boy-lover ... maybe if things had been different.

Austin wasn't kidding himself; Alan wouldn't have sex with him. But maybe they could have formed some kind of relationship, something that might last. None of the men he'd been sent to perform with were worth remembering. A few were downright scary, but Kevin was protecting him from the real hardcore ones, he was sure of that now.

His love for Kevin had grown out of need. The whole sex for sale business was starting to freak him out. And today, oh my god, Alan had shown him those photos and Austin had recognized the first one. He'd never met the boy, only seen the kid in the portfolio Kevin kept on the computer. In fact, he had been there when the boy's photos had been removed from the site.

"He didn't work out," was Kevin's only comment at the time.

Austin didn't know the boy had been killed, no one had admitted to that reality. Did he die just for refusing to be fucked by some client? Did Kevin even know the truth? He had only known the boy for eight months but Kevin acted like he knew everything.

A couple of weeks after Austin arrived in town these two guys had come to the apartment to talk to them. The chatter had been about making movies, taking photos, and these guys had big plans. Ricky, Kyle and David had seemed a little upset at first, unsure what was being asked of them.

Bucky had been there too, leering at David, the youngest member of the group. It was the first time Austin could remember seeing Kevin away from his computer. He was the only boy allowed in that apartment next door. But that night things felt different, like these two strange men had changed the way the rules were setup.

Of course Bucky had been the man in the red hat that picked him up at the airport. The guy's eyes had undressed him at first glance and Austin immediately knew he would have to watch out for this man.

But then had come the apartment with the other boys, and he relaxed when Bucky left him alone. Still there was no sign of Kevin and no one would tell him anything. Finally one of the boys had gone for pizza and Austin was told to take a box next door.

The door to that apartment had opened and Austin came face to face with Kevin. They shared the food and drank a gallon of chocolate milk as they stayed up all night talking to each other. He filled Austin in on the business side of Golden Hand. At first shocked, Austin came to realize that he had expected something like this might happen.

The apartment next door was referred to as 'The Nest,' it was the place where the new boys first started out. Each boy had to be taught the rules of the game and indoctrinated in the ways of the Golden Hand. Some never made it according to Kevin, they couldn't handle the sex. So now Austin knew what Bucky and his friends were all about, they were the trainers.

Having Kevin tell him that sex and the photos paid for everything made the whole thing easier to accept. He trusted Kevin ... he had to, the boy was now in control of his life. And if it meant he would have to allow some guy to use his body to make cash then it just had to be. Over all it hadn't been that bad so far, and then Alan came along and made him think differently.

Then came the night those two guys rattled on about what would be expected of the boys when the cameras rolled. Kevin had quickly pulled him aside and Austin was surprised when he suggested they go out for dinner. Bucky was already feeling up the new kid while the other men seemed to want time alone with Ricky and Kyle. Austin was only too glad to walk out of there.

That time alone with Kevin away from the apartments was like pure heaven. Away from the computer Kevin was a different person. Austin had always thought he was kinda geeky from the moment they first met, but he was still a handsome boy.

Without his glasses on, Kevin had big brown eyes that made Austin feel warm and sensual. Without the electronic stimulus of the internet demanding his attention, Kevin actually wanted to talk.

"You're not like the others," Kevin had said, "You won't have to put up with what Bucky and his pals do to the new ones. Hot and smart, that's how Bucky first described you to me."

"He did? Oh yeah, when I first met him at the airport. I knew he wanted in my pants."

"But he never got there, did he?" Kevin laughed. "I stopped him."

The sound of that laughter flowed over Austin like a warm blanket. This was a different Kevin; this was the one he loved.

"I sorta figured you did, he listens to you doesn't he?" Austin said. "I might do it for money ... unless I think the person is special. Nothing special about Bucky I ever noticed."

"I could never do it for money just like that," Kevin admitted. "I think you're pretty brave."

"But you said I would have to ... that the business needed the cash."

"Yeah, I know, and you'll have to go out pretty soon ... sorry, them's the rules," Kevin said.

"Have you ever ... ?" Austin started to ask, but then he remembered the rules. Kevin was never to be questioned; it was like rule number six or something. The damn list was tacked to the wall in their apartment.

Kevin smiled. "You want to know something about me?"

"Sorry, I know I'm not supposed to ask."

"Well forget the rules ... I didn't write them. Tonight we forget the rules; just like we'll forget those two men ever came to the apartment ... OK?"

"You're the boss," Austin said, but that made Kevin frown.

"I don't want to be the boss all the time. Can't you just forget that for now? Let's be friends this evening ... can we?"

"Yes ... you have beautiful eyes," Austin blurted out.

Kevin smiled, "Thank you ... and while we're being honest, you're the hottest guy I've ever met."

Austin must have blushed a dozen shades of red because his face felt like it was on fire. Kevin's eyes gleamed. "I mean that."

"When did you know you were gay?" Austin asked

"I think it was fifth grade, but I've never experienced much in the way of sex. You ... you could you teach me what being gay means," Kevin said.

Those eyes gazed at him, glistening with tears and Austin remembered that as the moment he really fell in love with Kevin. He could not find the words to reply, there was such a lump in his throat. Instead he reached across and took Kevin's hand, watching as the tears rolled down the boy's cheeks.

"Please ... please don't cry," Austin croaked ... his own throat closed with the emotions of the moment.

"I've never felt like this before," Kevin sniffed, wiping his cheeks with a rough paper napkin from the table dispenser. "Can we go?"

They took the food as carry out, neither of them hungry for the moment. Austin remembered the feel of Kevin's hand in his as they walked back to the apartment. Kevin led the way to his door, opened it and pulled Austin inside. They both knew what was going on next door. There would be lots and lots of sex over there, but not one ounce of love.

Austin was experienced with the way his body performed. The mysteries of sex with another boy had always left him yearning for more. But that first night with Kevin had erased any doubts about who he really was. Their passions reigned, until at last just before dawn they fell asleep in each other's arms.

It was the most awesome sex Austin had ever imagined; he didn't know anything could be so wonderful. Nothing else mattered, it felt so right ... and all because he loved this one amazing boy.

But as noon came around the phone started ringing, the email requests started rolling in and the website got active. Kevin was pulled back to his duties and Austin slipped quietly out the door of 304.

He inserted his key in 306, hoping the chaos was long gone. But the living room was a shambles and there was blood on the couch cushions. It could only mean that David had been broken in by Bucky. The man was a total asshole and didn't have the slightest regard for the boys. Austin truly began to hate the bastard.

David was nude, passed out on his bed. Austin leaned over to examine the damage and cringed at the sight. The poor kid's asshole was torn up from the assault. If Bucky had still been there Austin might have strangled him in his sleep.

He went to the medicine cabinet and found some gauze and antiseptic cream. David would be damaged for at least a week from the looks of it. Maybe it was Bucky's job to break in the new kids but this had gone too far.

David had a severe hangover. It seems Bucky favored booze and poppers when he was breaking in the new boys. He cried when Austin applied the cream but then quickly fell back asleep.

Ricky and Kyle were doing fine so Austin stripped in his room and showered. It was going to be different from now on ... he was in love and his lover was the boss. As the oldest he had naturally taken charge of the other three. Someone needed to do that.

Ricky and Kyle were fourteen and David had just turned thirteen a few days ago. What an awful birthday present. He would remember that fucking for the rest of his life. God damn Bucky.

All that had flashed through his mind as the cab took him ever closer to the apartment building. He had been Kevin's lover for over seven months now, and if anything their feelings had grown stronger. The dates he had were easy ones, gentle guys, very rich guys. Kevin had made sure he was safe.

The cabbie let him out the next block over and he even smiled at the five dollar tip. Austin went to the pay phone and dialed Kevin's private number.

"I got busted, escaped and rode a cab back here, I"m in the alley. I had to ditch the keys and the phone like you told me. I wasn't followed ... we have to talk."

Kevin himself came down and opened the door, and then they dashed up the stairs. He explained everything to Kevin in one long rambling monologue, only leaving out any mention of how he might feel about Alan. He lied and said the cops knew about the arcade and that Bucky hung out there.

"They even have a picture of him, I saw it. They asked me who he was and I said I didn't know, he was just some dude that hung around. I'm sorry Kevin, some cop grabbed me and they were gonna charge me with prostitution even though I didn't do anything."

"The arcade is only three blocks over," Kevin said. "I bet they go there and start asking about you. Some of those street punks know you live over here don't they?"

"Yeah ... well Bucky kept wanting me to pimp some of them to him. That's fucked up."

"Well Bucky is becoming a liability I think. OK ... I have to make a call," Kevin said. "You wait right here."

Kevin went in the other room and closed the door. Ten minutes later he was back and looking much relieved.

"We're so outta here. I gotta strip the equipment and rig it to burn. Go get that backpack from under my bed will ya. And Austin ... you did the right thing. No one is gonna blame you for this."

Kevin gave him a long hard kiss and a smile which made Austin's head swim. He went for the backpack and watched as Kevin stripped the drives and pulled some other things from his computer. Carefully wrapped they went in the bag. Five minutes and he was done.

"Our ride will be here in a while ... do you think those cops will be outside looking for us?" Kevin asked.

"Uh, I don't know ... but I can't go look."

"We'll send Ricky for pizza, that'll make everything look normal if they are watching." Kevin reached in his pack and took out another cheap cell phone; he always had a lot of them around. "Try not to lose this one, Austin. I never want to lose touch with you again. Now go get Ricky."

Kevin moved the backpack by the door and finished off his last bottle of chocolate milk. A quick look around told him nothing incriminating was going to be left behind. Fingerprints didn't matter; there were none on file for any of them.

Austin came back with Ricky in tow and Kevin explained what they wanted. Kyle and David had gathered their few possessions and were already standing in the hall awaiting orders.

Austin described what Alan looked like, but any man that spoke to Ricky would be suspect. The boy was to take a photo and send it back if he could, then they would know for sure. Ricky took a handful of cash and went off to the pizzeria. Kevin led the others down to the basement laundry room where they stashed their belongings.

This had been a pretty good place to roost, Kevin told them, but there was always a chance that they would be discovered so now they moved on. A van would come for them in a little while and they would be taken to a motel for the next few nights. Mr. G wasn't going to take any chances with their safety and soon they would have a new home.

It wasn't the first time Austin had heard that name. He didn't know who Mr. G was, but Kevin had mentioned him before. None of them were stupid, there had to be some adult running things behind the scenes, and it sure wasn't Bucky.

This had been a quiet building, mostly old folks lived here. But they used the front lobby and the elevators while the boys ran the back stairs and went thru the alley door. There had been no trouble here, no one seemed to notice them and they had enjoyed the anonymity that money can buy.

Kevin's phone beeped and he opened the call from Ricky. A photo appeared on the screen and Kevin smiled, turning the screen towards Austin. The boy looked at the familiar face and nodded. "That's him, that's the cop who questioned me today."

"OK," Kevin said, "they're on to us."

"What can we do? Kyle asked. "Are we going to jail?"

Kevin snorted. "No way ... let's go eat pizza."

Austin didn't know how Kevin could be so cool about all this. The cops were out there looking for him ... for all of them. But they went upstairs and met Ricky in the hall, his arms filled with pizza boxes. They chowed down while Kevin went for one last look in his apartment. He shrugged and threw the switch that would burn it all up.

Austin felt bad for Alan. The man had tracked him down and that was pretty amazing. If he wasn't a cop ... well no sense speculating on that, the man was a cop. But what if he ever needed a friend, someone to protect him? Austin went in the kitchen and wrote a note.

"Time to go, guys," Kevin said at the door. They filed out and Austin was the last to leave. Kevin took them downstairs and back to the basement service entrance. A van was waiting and Austin didn't know the driver, but at least it wasn't Bucky. The doors were slid shut and they drove off into the night.

The lab team went over both apartments with a fine-toothed comb. They got a bunch of fingerprints, a lot of hair samples and a major amount of semen swabs from the bed sheets. At least they were normal teenage boys. The lab finally came back with some disturbing answers the following morning.

Apartment 306 held hair and semen samples from seven different individuals. 304 yielded only two such samples and one of those matched a sample from 306. Austin no doubt, Alan thought. That meant he was in a monogamous relationship with Kevin, good for him. But the other six from 306 was the disturbing factor here.

Three boys and Austin, maybe Bucky if he was into the boys, but who were the other two? The assorted hair samples yielded further information along that line. At least three adult males had been in the apartment, hair and semen showed them that much.

Alan was surprised at that; he didn't think they would ever bring strange men back to their safe house. Maybe these two guys were part of the operation and that went in his report. Somewhere down the road they would find out, the DNA profiles would go into the investigation files.

Now what? A lot hinged on his connecting with Austin. He wondered when he should make the call. Would the boy be able to talk? Not if Kevin was there, that's for sure. And again he pondered just why Austin had had offered this means of contact.

The boy had less than good parental care, in fact it seemed like he had none at all. The address in Belmont had been a fake; they didn't know where Austin had come from. But one thing was sure; the boy was in this over his head.

Maybe that was it, maybe he saw Alan as a lifeline for some future crisis. Yes, he probably would help the kid if he could, but Austin had to know there was a price to pay, he'd already said as much.

Alan was alone in his corner office, no prying eyes to see as he slid the disk into his drive. The images of Austin rolled by one by one. Not inspired photography, but then the model was everything here. The wisps of blonde hair across his face, the piercing blue eyes, the long slender nose. The kid's face was a knockout, and the rest of him ... well he was beautiful just about everywhere.

Why such beauty would allow itself to be soiled by this dirty business was anyone's guess. Another time, another place and Alan would have fallen in love with this creature. Now all he felt was pity, and anger ... anger at the bastards that used the boy for their gain.

Prostitution was a choice some people made. He knew many females had careers, boyfriends, even husbands, and yet they sold themselves. It showed a lack of concern for their true worth as human beings, it cheapened life itself. But these kids had to be outcasts, desperate for any form of acceptance, even from a master who abused them.

Yes, he and Matty had talked about that long ago. They had posed for the camera because of the praise they received, and of course the little bit of cash. Sex was fun when the boys involved thought of it as play and rejected the harsh labels. No need to tell anyone that only a cock would satisfy that primal urge to mate, it was all for money. Yes Austin, I understand, Alan thought.

He'd seen first hand the number of boys on the net who felt such angst about their sexuality. The teenage years were hard enough without the pressures from parents and peers. Many seemed to question their sanity, some of them acted out by abusing their bodies ... too many just ended the pain in horrible ways.

By noon he was on edge and Alan took out the note, using his cell phone to dial the number. If Austin didn't answer at least he would have the return number to call back later. After three rings the connection was terminated. Alan smiled. Austin had just turned his phone off after it captured the incoming number and his name.

It might be ten minutes or two hours before the boy called back, but call he would. The hand of friendship had been extended and Alan was sure the boy knew what that meant. He knew he ought to arrange to meet the kid, arrest him and lock him up for his own safety. But Austin would clam up, lose faith in the one guy he thought he could trust ... and all because he worried about Kevin.

Kevin was the weak spot in Austin's mind. Somewhere out there the kid was plotting to go back in cyberspace and resume his domain. They needed to intensify the search for Kevin online. He had to be out there, it was what he did, and who he was.


On to Chapter Four

Back to Chapter Two

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"On the Wire" Copyright © 16 November 2008 by Chris James. All rights reserved.
    This work may not be duplicated in any form (physical, electronic, audio, or otherwise) without the author's written permission. All applicable copyright laws apply. All individuals depicted are fictional with any resemblance to real persons being purely coincidental.

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