Final Encore (26 page)

could he enter his apartment without him? His things

were stil there, Ian’s things. Bily put his hand on the

door to open it and again hesitated. He thought of Ian,

alone and in pain, and that could have easily kiled him

right then and there if he’d let it.

Sitting in his truck, unable to move, his mind went

over and over the events of the night. He was so ful of

questions and doubt, but in his mind, something didn’t

add up. His mind brought him immediately to Todd.

What could have made him betray Ian in such a horrible

way? Ian had said that they were in love and things

were going great, so he wasn’t looking for an easy way

out, or was he? Was Todd as happy as he’d appeared?

Ian would have known if he wasn’t, wouldn’t he?

Could Todd have been so scared of his parents and

losing his inheritance and education that he’d

abandoned Ian emotionaly? That didn’t sound like the

actions of someone in love. Bily thought what he would

have done if he was in that position. He knew the

answer without hesitation: he would’ve told his parents

to shove it and he would’ve been gone. Bily knew the

answers he was looking for lay with Todd, and he

would be taking a big risk, but he would get his

answers. He loved Ian too much to let him go.

Bily took his keys out of the ignition, opened the

door of his truck, and, with renewed hope, made his

way to his apartment. It was as gloomy and

heartbreaking as he’d thought it would be, but he fought

the urge to stop and give in to the pain in his heart. He

proceeded to the bedroom, stopping only long enough

to drop his bag of clothes on the bed and move to the

computer. He knew that if he stopped even for a

second and lost sight of his mission, he might just

colapse on the bed and never get up. He had to stay

focused. He logged on to the internet and went to the

Google search engine. He typed in “people searches”

and reviewed his options. There were many free sites,

but he wanted an advanced site which alowed him to

enter al the information he knew, which might narrow

down his results. He selected a site, and it brought up a

ful screen of search criteria. He typed in Todd’s first

and last name and Greenvile, SC, as his last known

address. He knew that each question he was able to

answer would significantly narrow his search results, so

he thought about everything Ian had told him about

Todd. He continued entering the search criteria by

selecting an approximate age of twenty-eight, colege

graduate of Bob Jones University, single versus

married, just a hunch, search area up to two hundred

miles surrounding Greenvile. And lastly, he clicked the

button that signaled the software to provide search

results that met al or some of the search criteria. If he

got no results, he would expand the search distance

until he did get the desired results. He hit the “enter”

key.

As the software’s little flashlight moved back and

forth, indicating a search was in progress, Bily kept his

fingers crossed. He knew his results would present

many options, but he hoped it would be manageable.

No matter how many names came up, he would cal

each and every person until he found the right Todd.

His and Ian’s future depended on it.

When the flashlight stopped, the screen presented

seventeen Todd Slocums in the greater Greenvile and

surrounding areas. After entering his credit card

information, the software revealed al the known

information about the list of Todd Slocums.

The first four were in Anderson, SC, five were in

Spartanburg, SC, two were in Greenvile, SC, and six

were in Charlotte, NC. Only ten of the seventeen

graduated from Bob Jones, so he was able to eliminate

seven prospects. The results had pretty extensive

information, like home address and telephone numbers,

employer’s name, address and telephone number,

spouses, if married, number of children, etc. Of the ten

remaining prospects, one worked for a market research

firm and two worked for advertising agencies, and Bily

remembered Ian saying that they were both majoring in

marketing with minors in business administration. If

Todd had folowed his major and went into marketing,

that could narrow the search, but if he’d chosen his

minor in business administration, that could mean

numerous possibilities. While he printed off the list, Bily

wondered if someone knew al this information about

him, and if so, how in the hel did they get it?

Since it was early evening, he started by caling

the home numbers of the two prospects in Greenvile.

The first cal was answered by a woman. Bily asked for

Todd, and within seconds a male voice came to the

phone.

“Hi, my name is Bily Eagan. I’m looking for a

colege friend of a friend of mine. Did you happen to

know a guy named Ian Dilon while you were at Bob

Jones?”

“Um, the name doesn’t ring a bel. What did he

look like?”

“Wel,” Bily said, “he’s about five ten, blond hair

with green eyes, and he was on the swim team.”

“No, not that I can recal,” Todd said.

Bily knew that when he got the right Todd

Slocum, he wouldn’t have to think about it. Bily said,

“Thanks for your time,” and hung up the phone. He

caled the next Todd Slocum on the list. This time a man

answered.

“Hi, is this Todd Slocum?” Bily asked.

“Who’s caling?” the male voice replied.

Bily told the man his name and why he was

caling, and again, no connection.

The next Todd Slocum on the list lived in

Spartanburg and worked for an advertising agency.

After a four rings, he got an answering machine and left

his name and cel number. Continuing on, the next also

lived in Spartanburg and owned a marketing firm. This

time a man answered, and when Bily asked if he was

Todd Slocum, the male voice said, “Nope, hang on a

second.” He heard the voice yel, “Todd, pick up the

phone,” and then someone picked up another telephone

extension. The man said, “Helo,” and Bily again

explained who he was and why he was caling. There

was silence on the other end of the line.

Bily said, “Helo?”

“I’m here,” Todd said.

“Did you know Ian?” Bily asked again.

“Yeah, I knew Ian,” Todd said.

Bingo
, Bily thought as he heard Todd sigh on the

other end of the phone.

“Todd, Ian needs your help.”

“Is he in some kind of trouble?” Todd asked.

“No, nothing like that,” Bily replied.

“What, then?” Todd asked.

“It’s a long story, and you’re a big part of it. Do

you have time to talk to me?” Bily asked.

“Ian made his decision concerning me many years

ago. I don’t know what I can do for him or you, for that

matter. Does he know you were looking for me?”

“No,” Bily admitted. “But please, just hear me

out.”

“You’ve got five minutes to tel me how and why

I should help Ian,” Todd said.

“Deal,” said Bily. He told Todd how he and Ian

had met and how their friendship had grown into a

relationship.

“I hope you two wil be very happy together, but

I stil don’t know what this has to do with me.”

“Please alow me to finish,” Bily said.

He told Todd what had happened earlier that

evening between him and Ian and slowly began to

recount the story, word for word, as Ian had told it to

him. Fifteen minutes later, Bily asked, “Todd, is that

what happened? So much doesn’t add up to me.”

“I can’t believe… this can’t be true,” Todd said in

a very shaky voice. “That’s not how it happened at al,”

he whispered. “My parents told me that Ian had blamed

me for everything and admitted to them that he was

never realy into me and had plans to leave town and

not return to colege. I argued with them for hours that

he’d never betray me like that, and when they couldn’t

convince me of it, they finaly told me that they’d paid

him twenty thousand dolars to leave town and never

see me again. They convinced me that he’d never loved

me, and the fact that he accepted the money was surely

proof of that.”

“Todd,” Bily said, “Ian never took any money.

Your parents played you both to get what they wanted.

They threatened Ian with rape charges if he didn’t leave

town, with you as their star witness. And they told you

that Ian abandoned you for twenty thousand dolars.

Todd, if you don’t believe me or Ian, maybe it’s time

you have a talk with your parents.”

“I can’t,” Todd said. “They were both kiled in an

automobile accident over six years ago.”

“I’m sorry, Todd.”

“Don’t be. We didn’t have any real relationship

after they discovered that I was gay. They agreed to

pay for the remainder of my colege if I folowed their

rules, but once I graduated and they could no longer

control me, we broke al ties and never spoke again. I

didn’t even attend their funeral.”

“I can’t believe that both of you had to endure

such prejudice and hatred from your own parents.

Todd, Ian needs to hear the truth and he needs to hear

it from you. I love him dearly, but if he stil loves you

and there’s a chance that you guys could work things

out, I love him enough to let him go.”

“Bily, Ian and I were over a long time ago. I have

someone in my life, for seven years now, who deserves

my love and respect. I would never turn my back on

him for anyone.”

Bily sighed. “I understand and admire your

decision, but wil you consider making a trip to

Nashvile, if for nothing else, closure for both of you?

Ian is a broken man, and we need to act quickly. I’m

very concerned about him.”

“Let me talk to my partner and see how he feels

about this whole thing, and I’l cal you back shortly.”

Bily gave Todd his cel phone number, along with

his thanks, and closed his phone. Al he could do now

was hope and pray that Todd would help him.

He knew he was taking a big chance. Ian might

never forgive him for contacting Todd, but if that was

the case, he told himself that if Ian could get some

closure, it would be worth it. But in his heart, he

believed in Ian and knew that he would eventualy

understand that Bily couldn’t stand by knowing this

information and not share it with him. He lay in the

darkness of his bedroom, waiting.

Within an hour, Bily’s phone rang. He looked at

the caler ID and took a deep breath. His phone barely

made it to the second ring before he answered it.

“Helo,” he said as his voice cracked.

“When do you want to do this?”

“Can you come tomorrow?”

“It’s about a six-hour drive. I’l leave early in the

morning, and with any luck, I’l be there by eleven,”

Todd said.

Bily gave him directions to Ian’s. “I’l be there to

meet you, Todd, and thanks.”

Bily tried to sleep, but it was no use. To be in the

bed that he and Ian had shared since he had moved

there was useless. Just then the phone rang, and Bily

picked it up immediately, thinking it would be Ian. But

to his disappointment, the caler ID said Buck Stevens.

“Helo,” Bily said.

“Oh, Bily, I’m so glad you picked up.”

“Buck?” Bily said.

“Yeah, it’s me, Bily. Listen, I’m sorry to bother

you, but the smoke alarm is going off in the west barn

and I can’t reach Jules and I didn’t know who else to

cal. I figured since you were the former ranch foreman,

maybe you could come out here and give me a hand.”

He sounded so frantic, Bily felt bad for him.

“Okay, Buck, calm down. Wake up the other

guys and get al the horses out. I’m on my way.”

“Thanks, man,” Buck shouted into the phone, and

then he hung up.

Bily immediately dressed and headed out to the

ranch. On the way, he tried to cal Jules, but the phone

went straight to voice mail. He left a message explaining

what was happening and that he was on his way to the

ranch to help Buck.

When he arrived, everything was quiet. Bily first

went to the west barn, but al was wel: There were no

signs of fire, and the horses were al okay. Maybe Buck

had confused the west and east barns as he had on

Bily’s initial job interview? Bily turned to check on the