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