Just Because
Chapter One
Rating: Adults Only
Category: Fanfiction
Pairing: Brian Kinney, Justin Taylor
Genres: Angst, AU, POV, Drama, Romance
Warnings: OOC
Summary:Brian is a building inspector assigned to a case that was previously handled by Justin's father before he mysteriously disappeared.
Disclaimer: All characters and situations from Queer as Folk are properties of Russell T. Davies, Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, Showtime, and others. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is rated by the author and not by any independent body.
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“But he can’t be dead, this isn’t happening.” She clung to the small framed blond man and sobbed. “Oh Justin, what will we do?” her tears were flowing freely now and alternating between muffled sobs and louder cries as she pressed her face into the chest of her son.
“Officer, we need to know what happened, what can you tell us?” Justin looked at the policeman, waiting for him to respond.
“His body was found at the base of the scaffolding on one of his sites. It appears that he had fallen but at this stage, we still can’t rule out foul play. The time of death is set at 11pm. Did your husband usually conduct inspections at night?” The officer asked Mrs. Taylor directly.
Jennifer hadn’t heard a word. She was so distraught at the loss of her husband she wasn’t even processing the semantics of her loss.
“Mrs. Taylor?”
“I don’t think my mother can answer any questions at this time. Can I bring her down to the station, perhaps tomorrow, when she is thinking a little clearer?”
“Tomorrow. That will been fine, Mr. Taylor. Again, please accept our condolences for your family’s loss.”
Justin walked his mother to the sofa and sat her down. She continued to sob uncontrollably. “I’ll make you a cup of tea, Mom. Just sit here until I get back.” He walked into the kitchen and put on the kettle. Picking up the phone, he dialed Daphne’s number.
“Hello.”
“Daph, it’s me. The police were just here. Can you come over?”
“Did they find him?”
“Yeah, in a crumpled pile at the base of one of his buildings. They don’t know yet if he jumped or was pushed.”
“Oh Jus, I’m so sorry.”
“Well he’s been missing for a month, so the police are treating it seriously. Listen Daph, Mom is a mess, can you come over?”
“Sure I’m leaving now; I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Justin put down the receiver as the kettle started to whistle. He made the tea and carried it into his mother.
********
Brian walked into the office to finish up a report. There were police coming out of the main doors as he was going in.
”Mikey, what’s the deal?”
“They found Craig Taylor’s body.”
“Where?”
“It looks like he fell from the twenty third floor of the Sortini Building. Well, fell or was pushed.”
“Oh shit, how long has he been missing?”
“A month, yesterday. Apparently the body was pretty messed up and they don’t think it was all from the fall. Their treating it as a murder.”
“Didn’t that architect who designed the building die as well?”
“Yeah they said a boating accident but now who knows. The guy in charge of that development is Paulie Scantouzo. He’s a real piece of work. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him and he’s one fat asshole.”
“Who are they going to transfer the building to now?”
“Don’t know. I don’t want it. We’ll know soon enough. Ryder’s in there with two guys I’ve never seen before but I know that’s what they’re talking about.”
Brian looked through the glass partitions and indeed his boss was talking to two men in suits. One of the men waved for Brian to come in.
“Brian, how are you?”
“Fine thanks Ted. It’s been a while.”
“Five years I believe. How are Linds and the girls?”
“Their all fine. What are you guys doing here?”
Ryder spoke. “Sit down Brian. These men are from the FBI. They would like us to co-operate with them in a joint investigation.”
“Really.” Brian was not happy. He knew was coming next.
“Yes, they feel that your past history makes you eminently qualified to handle this building.”
Brian thought and then spoke slowly. “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.” He stood up to leave.
Ryder jumped to his feet. “I wasn’t asking for your help, I was assigning you this building.”
“You knew when I came here my position. I am not about to put my family at risk by working on this case so if you want to fire me go ahead. I’ve changed careers before I will do it again.” There was no room for negotiation in Brian’s voice. Ryder wasn’t going to push him about. Brian stood up. “If you’ll excuse me gentlemen I have a concert to go to."
Brian left and the three men looked at each other.
“I’ll try him again later. Brian’s stubborn but he is honest and hates injustice. He’ll come around. Ted turned to Ryder. ”Don’t push him, leave him to me. He’s a stubborn son of a bitch and if you make him dig his heels in he won’t help us.” Ryder nodded.
********
Brian sneaked in quietly. Those jerks had made him late.
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Everyone applauded. The two little girls ran from the stage towards Brian. “Daddy, Daddy, did you see us?” They demanded in unison.
“Yes, daddy’s angels, I saw you.” He pulled them onto his knees. Kelly and Annabel were two years old and full of life.
“I’m so glad you’re here I thought you would miss them. What happened?” Lindsay pecked him on the cheek.
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Hi Deb, what did you think of my angel’s” Brian asked.
“My angels were the best singer’s here. Come on girls, let’s have ice cream.” Debbie took their hands and led them out to the car.
“How’s my Sonnyboy” Brian picked up the little boy who was patiently waiting for his father to finish with his sisters.
“Good Dada, the girls singed good. I helped dem practice.”
“You are a good boy, Gus. They are your sisters and you will always need to watch over them. Come on let’s go to Grandma Deb’s for ice-cream. They followed to the car.
********
Joey Sortini paced as he waited for Paulie to arrive. Each time he stopped walking, he started to rant.
“I can’t believe that idiot. Two bodies connected to the same site in a month. The cops might be morons, but they’re not that stupid.”
“Calm down boss. He’ll be here soon and he will explain.” Guido was afraid for his nephew. Joey was right . He was an idiot. If it hadn’t been for his uncle, Joey would have gotten rid of him ages ago. Paulie liked to flash around drawing attention to himself. Big cars, lots of women. He liked to thumb his nose at the law and he was making some powerful enemies in Washington. Guido knew he would have to calm Joey down or they would be laying plastic over the rugs when he got here.
“Boss, I’ll pull him into line. He’s only trying to make sure your building goes up without any problems.”
“Yeah, I can see that pissing off every Fed that he comes in contact with, is the way to get my building up.”
The buzzer sounded. “What Margie?”
“He’s here Mr. Sortini.”
“Send him in.”
“Boss, how are you?” Paulie flocked to the side of his employer. “Uncle Guido, how’s Auntie Maria?”
“Fine Paulie, now what have you been up to? The body of that Building Inspector was found today and on our site.”
Paulie shifted nervously. “That was a mistake. We were interrupted and there was no time to move the body.”
“How about you negotiate and bribe these people. Stop fucking killing them and leaving a trail that fucking leads back to me. Guido, you make him see that I am serious because I won’t have this conversation again. The next time I call you here, you will find yourself standing on plastic. Do you understand?”
Paulie and Guido both nodded. “Now both of you, get the fuck out.”
The two men hurried out. Once the door was closed, Guido spun around to face his nephew. He raised his hand and slapped him hard across the face. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you want every Fed in the country after us? Even our own boys can’t keep the heat off us that you are bringing down. Jesus, Paulie, first the architect and now the Inspector. What were you thinking?”
Paulie looked at his uncle’s face. He did not want an answer to that question; he wanted to know it would never happen again. “I’m sorry Uncle Guido. It won’t happen again.”
“It better not. The boss, he’s serious Paulie. The next time you get called in to his office look for the plastic.”
“What does that mean?”
“He has them lay plastic down so the blood doesn’t stain the carpet. He’s warned you Paulie, only as a favor to me. He won’t do it again. Now get out of here.”
Paulie left quickly cursing Craig Taylor for all the trouble he was causing.
********
Lindsay sat down and sighed. “Finally, they are asleep.” She was exhausted all the time. Small children really were hard work.
“The girls were so pleased with themselves today.” Brian beamed with pride. “And Gus seemed pleased that he had helped.”
“Yeah, he had been correcting the words all morning. He loves having little sisters.”
Brian sighed. He was thinking about Ted’s offer. “I saw Ted Schmidt today.”
Lindsay froze. “By accident?”
“No, he was at the office about Craig Taylor.”
“What did he say?” she asked nervously. She knew what was coming.
“They want me to take over the Sortini building.”
Lindsay spoke slowly. “Brian, I thought we agreed, that stuff is too dangerous. What about the kids?”
“I know Linds but those bastards have done two now. I know that piece of shit Paulie; if he’s done both the architect and the BI, then he’s putting inferior materials in and pocketing the money from Sortini.”
“But Brian, it isn’t your responsibility to stop him.”
“Well whose is it Linds? Listen I’m going out for a walk. I won’t be long.”
“Brian.” But too late, he was gone.
********
“She’s asleep Jus, I gave her a sleeping pill. She’s really taking this badly.” Daphne said softly.
“Well how should she take it Daph? Her husband who’s been missing for a month was just thrown off a building.”
“Jus, you know what I meant.”
“Sorry Daph. I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”
Daphne put her arms around him and held him. He couldn’t cry and was so mad he couldn’t think straight. Wriggling out of her grasp, he sat down. ‘Can you come to the police station with us tomorrow? They want a statement from us and I don’t want Mom left alone while they take mine.”
“Surely they don’t think either of you had anything to do with this?”
“No, but I want to get all the details and I don’t think Mom needs to hear it. Apparently whoever pushed him off that building, thought the fall would cover up there handy-work, but he had been systematically beaten and tortured prior to falling.”
“Oh shit Jus.”
“I don’t know the full story, but after tomorrow, I intend to find out. I’m gonna find out who did this Daph and they will be sorry, I promise you that.” Justin mouth hardened and his eyes were cold. Daphne had never seen him like this. She hoped that everything would settle down after he had some sleep. Justin was a kind, sweet person not a vigilante.
********
Brian walked past the Sortini Building site. Security was good, fences were in tact, the gates had cameras and guards were patrolling. He shook his head. If Craig Taylor fell off that building, he didn’t sneak onto this site, someone took him through the main gates. Security was too tough. This was no accident.