Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2012 01:14:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: ErastesTouch@aol.com
Subject: A Throw Away Kid, chapter 16

Throw Away Kid - by Erastes
Copyright 2012 by Erastes
Chapter 16 –  The Boiling Point.

When I returned to work, my secretary could tell something was wrong,
so she started asking me questions.  I couldn't tell her that I was having
legal difficulties trying to rescue Bryce, because she thought he was my
nephew, so I just told her that certain issues were tearing the family
apart right now.  She did her best in trying to comfort me, but soon
discovered that was going to be impossible, so she told me to go home
and she'd handle things at the office for the rest of the day.  I thanked
her and took her up on the offer, since I realized I wouldn't be much
good there either.  The problem was, I knew I couldn't go home, at least
not until I made up my mind about what I was going to tell Bryce.

With that in mind, I drove to the park and walked around for a while,
as I tried to clear my head and come up with a plan of action.  I weighed
all of the options over in my mind, in an effort to determine not only
what I might possibly do to keep him with me, but also how I was going
to explain it to him.  I had to think this through carefully, if I was going
to make this work.

First of all, I needed to determine if there was anything I could do to
legally keep him with me.  My first thought was to have him use one of
my nephews' names, one that was the same age or close to it, and then I
could get a duplicate birth certificate and use copies of my nephew's
school records to get him enrolled in school.  That might work, but then
Bryce would have to go by a whole new name.  I'm sure he wouldn't
mind doing it, as long as he could stay with me, but I was worried it
would make things worse for us, if we got caught later.

I even thought of just keeping him hidden here and home schooling him
myself, but Bryce needed to be around other kids his own age, so that
option wouldn't be fair to him.  What if we moved to another city or
even another state?  That was an option, although I'd still have to figure
out how we could hide who he really was again, but at least they
wouldn't be actively looking for him there.

Then, I had another idea.  Maybe I could talk one of my brothers or
sisters into adopting him and then have them make me his guardian and
allow him come live with me?  But then I'd have to explain to them why
I wanted to take in a young boy and why I couldn't just do it legally, so
that might cause them to start questioning my intentions, as well as my
sexuality.  Up until now, everyone has thought the reason I didn't date
or hadn't married was just because I was married to my business and
dedicated to becoming a success.  I think they all still expected me to get
married at some point, but my taking in a boy before finding a wife
might cause them to question that assumption.

I also considered what might happen to Bryce, if he were to be placed in
a group facility or another foster home.  He was so set on staying with
me that I don't think he'd considered any other options.  I felt he'd be
crushed if he learned either of those things might happen and I was
deeply concerned about how he would then react.  Would he decide to
run away, rather than go to one of those places?  If he did, would that
mean he'd have to start turning tricks again, in order to survive?  Not
only that, but if he did start turning tricks again, then that would result
in more concerns about his future safety.  Damn, why does life have to
be so freaking complex and difficult?

Now, I had to think of what I was going to tell Bryce about my meeting
with the lawyer.  Should I be honest with him or should I try to spare
his feelings for as long as I could?  Should I crush his dream now or
should I give him false hope?  Should I continue to let him be a boy or
should I teach him the harsh realities of being a man?  I still had no idea
what I was going to do when I got home and I only had a few hours left
before I would have to face him and tell him something.

I was nervous when I arrived home, but I had decided on what I was
going to say to him.  I wasn't going to exactly lie to Bryce, but I was
going to try to phrase the truth so it wouldn't sound so bad.  I hoped I
could pull this off, so he wouldn't see through the deception, but I
wasn't sure of my acting ability.  I guess I was about to find out how
good I really was.

As soon as my car stopped in the driveway, I discovered Bryce was
standing beside my door.  I hadn't seen him come out of the house, but
possibly that was a result of my being distracted, but now he was
smiling at me through the car window, so I smiled back.   I took my time
getting out of the car and pretended I was gathering up some of my
things, but Bryce had grown impatient and opened the door, so he could
attempt to speed me up.

"Hurry up, Uncle Kyle.  I want to know what the lawyer said," he
urged.  "Can I live here with you now?"

Damn, he wasn't wasting any time getting to the point, was he?   I tried
to gather myself, so I could perform my part of the charade.

"Slow down, little man, and give me a chance to get settled," I replied,
in an attempt to distract him.  "We'll go over that soon enough."

"Can't you just tell me now?" he wanted to know.

"It's not that easy and I want to do this right," I answered, "so please be
patient."

"You're always telling me that," he pointed out, annoyed.

"Well, patience is a virtue and it wouldn't hurt you to develop a little," I
suggested.

"But it takes too long!" he whined.

"That's just my point," I agreed.  "Not everything can be done in thirty
seconds or less."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Because some things just take longer, but not all for the same reasons,"
I explained.  "That's just how it is."

He didn't look satisfied with my answer, but he let it drop.  As soon as I
was ready, he walked with me to the house and carried a few of my
things for me.  He didn't, however, leave my side and was waiting for
me to tell him what happened, so I hurriedly put everything in order
and then turned to face him.

"Let's go to the kitchen, get a drink and then I'll fill you in," I offered.

He agreed, and I walked to the kitchen and got us both a can of soda.  I
then walked over to the breakfast counter and sat on one of the stools,
thinking he'd sit on the stool next to me, but he came over and climbed
up to sit on my lap.  He looked directly into my face, so I sat my soda
down on the counter and he followed suit.  Then, I took a deep breath,
hoping that it would help clear my head before I began.

"Bryce, the lawyer told me that DSS is doing everything it can to locate
the boys who ran away," I began.

"Well, we thought they would do that, but can I live here with you?" he
asked, as if he hadn't heard my comment.

I merely looked at him and realized the things I told him earlier still
hadn't registered.

"No decision has been made about that yet," I told him, stretching the
truth a bit, but then again, no official decision HAD been announced.

"When will we know then?" he pressed.

I could see he was extremely anxious about this and wanted an answer
now.

"Bryce, the lawyer is working on that and it might take some time
before we learn anything," I explained, without going into detail.

"How much time?" he wanted to know.

"We're not sure.  That's why you have to be patient," I informed him.

"There's that word again," he observed, looking exasperated.

"Bryce, it will do no good worrying about this or trying to push it along,
because it will happen when it happens and not before," I reasoned.
"Can you understand that?"

"I guess so, but I still don't like it," he confirmed, and he made a face at
me as he said that.

"Well, it's the best we can do for now," I offered, "and I won't let them
say 'no' without a fight."

"Do you mean that?" he demanded, looking hopeful.  "Would you really
fight for me?"

"Of course I would," I confessed.  "You know I love you and I certainly
don't want to lose you, so I will do whatever it takes to try to keep you
here with me."

"Oh, Uncle Kyle.  I love you sooooo much!" he exclaimed.

This caused him to swivel on my lap, so he could throw his arms around
my neck and plant a sloppy, wet kiss on my lips.  He was trying his best
to get me to open my mouth and let him inside, but I resisted his efforts.
Instead, I gave him a fatherly kiss.

"Can't I give you a good kiss this time?  Just this once?" he asked, with
a desperate look on his face.

He was pleading with me now and I could tell from his actions that it
was important to him.  I thought about it for a minute, thinking this
might distract him from asking more questions or wondering about his
future, so I gave in.

"Ok, but just this one time, and only because I know you're so happy," I
conceded.

He flashed me a huge grin, opened his mouth and planted it firmly over
mine.  I parted my lips slightly and his tongue flicked past those fleshy
mounds before I could bat an eye.  Then, it snaked around the inside of
my mouth and explored this previously uncharted territory for him.  He
sighed when our tongues touched and made it sound as if he'd reached
Nirvana, as his hands and arms began to rub all over my back.  As his
tongue played with my teeth, I realized what a hot kisser he was for
being so young and I could feel my manhood rise beneath him.  I knew
he could feel it too, because he wiggled his butt over it, trying to stir it to
even greater heights.

He was bouncing around on my lap even more now, when he suddenly
broke the kiss and got off my lap momentarily, but then climbed right
back into position.  This time, however, he straddled my lap, with his
legs touching both sides of my hips.  His current position spread his butt
cheeks a bit, so that now they nestled around the length of my cock, and
he quickly resumed kissing me again.

His kiss was becoming even more aggressive and he was rubbing his
hands over my chest, while sliding his butt along the length of my
straining cock, as it tried to break free of the restrictive clothing.  At
first I was too overwhelmed with the feelings to be able to realize what
he was doing, but then I began to feel the fires igniting in my loin.
When that happened, I knew I had to stop this before we went over the
edge.  I pushed back on his shoulders, which caused our lips to separate
and his butt to slide backward, closer to my knees.  He looked at me
with the saddest expression of hurt that I'd ever seen.

"Don't you like that?" he asked, seeking understanding for my actions.

"I can't say that, but you know how I feel about going further," I
clarified.

"But I could tell you liked what I was doing, cuz you got hard," he
pointed out.  "So why did you stop me?"

"You know why, because we've talked about this many times before," I
answered.

"Doesn't it feel good to you?" he pressed, as he searched my face for
answers.

"It felt great, but that's part of the problem," I replied.

"What is part of the problem?" he asked, confused.

"That I'd be feeling good by taking advantage of you, and that's just not
right," I explained.

"Uncle Kyle, I don't care," he whined, in response.  "I want you to take
advantage of me."

"But I do care, so we have to stop," I replied.

There were tears streaming down his cheeks now and I knew I had hurt
his feelings, but I couldn't let my hormones overrule my brain about
this.

"I thought you loved me," he sobbed.

"Oh, Bryce, I do.  More than life itself," I confirmed, "and that's why I
have to stop."

He looked up at me, his eyes peering through the watery accumulation.
I could tell that he didn't understand what I'd just told him and was
totally confused by my statement.  I was trying to think of a better way
to explain this to him, when he lifted his arm, wiped the moisture from
both of his eyes and then opened his mouth to speak.

"Uncle Kyle, I don't know what you mean by that," he stated.  "If we
love each other, then why can't we do that?"

A puzzled expression now covered his entire face, so I had to find a way
to clear this up for him.

"Let me see if I can explain this to another way," I began.  "If I didn't
love you, it would be easy for me to do those things and take advantage
of you like those other men did, but I'm not like them.  It is because I
love you so much that I don't want to hurt you and that's why I think
we should wait until you're older."

After I said this, he looked even more puzzled.

"I still don't understand," he told me.  "You mean that if you didn't
love me then you could make love to me, but because you do love me
you can't?"

"That's not exactly the correct interpretation of what I just told you," I
stated.  "It would be more correct to say that if I didn't love you I could
fuck you, but not make love to you.  Do you see the difference now?"

"I guess, but isn't that the same thing?" he asked, confused.

"The physical act is the same, but it's the emotional attachment that is
different.  Fucking is just sticking your penis in and jamming it back
and forth until you have an orgasm.  You can do that without any
emotional attachment to the person you are doing it to, but making love
is more than that.  Making love is where you care about a person and do
the physical act to show how much you really love them."

"So, you told me you loved me, so we'd be making love," he reasoned.

"Only if I felt you were capable of consenting," I stipulated.  "It's not
that you don't understand about sex, it's just that I'm not sure you
understand about why you want to do it with me.  I think all of those
other guys messed up your ability to think things through, at least
where sex is concerned.  You've been conditioned to just do it and get
what enjoyment you can from it, but that's not how it's supposed to
work.  That's why I can't make love to you, at least not yet."

"Uncle Kyle, I still don't understand what you just said," he reiterated,
perplexed.

"And until you do understand that difference, we'll just have to wait," I
answered.

Bryce still looked confused, but I think our discussion gave him enough
to think about for now, so I told him to get ready and we'd go out to eat.
He did that without saying anything else, so I let him choose what type
of cuisine he would prefer tonight.  He was in the mood for Italian food,
so I took him to an Italian restaurant I was quite fond of.  He was fairly
quiet throughout the entire meal, although I would see him glance up at
me occasionally and just stare at my face.  I wasn't sure why he was
doing this, but I thought it best to let sleeping dogs lie for now, so I
didn't question him about it. We ate our meal, mostly in silence, and
then I paid the bill and we left.

On the way home he began to open up a little and I let him have his say.

"Uncle Kyle, I'm not always sure about what you mean, but I do know I
love you and I also know I want to do things with you," he began.  "I
think you want to do those same things with me too, cuz I can tell you
get excited, so I just don't understand why you keep saying 'no' when I
ask you.  Sometimes it makes me think you don't love me like you say
you do, but then I can tell that you really do love me, so it's really
confusing."

"I know it is, sport, and I'm sorry about that, but life is not always easy
to understand," I explained.  "I think one day we'll both figure this out,
but you'll just have to wait until then.  In the meantime, I'll hug you, I'll
have fun with you and I'll even kiss you, but not the open mouth type of
kiss we did earlier.  Do you think you can be happy with just that?"

"Yeah, I like all those things too, but..." I knew where he was heading,
so I cut him off.

"No buts.  If you can be happy with doing those things, then we can
both be happy," I suggested.  "Otherwise, we may have to cool it for a
while."

"No!  I'll be happy with just those things," he conceded.  "I promise I
will, cuz I know I couldn't stand it if I couldn't sit on your lap, kiss you
or if I had to sleep in my own room."

"Ok, little man, I'll take your word for that," I concurred, "but we'll
make it official when we get home."

"What do you mean by that, Uncle Kyle?" he asked next.

"I mean, I won't consider it a real deal unless we seal it with a great big
hug.  Ok?" I replied, with a grin.

He smiled at me in return.

"Yeah, that's real ok," he agreed.

After we arrived at the house, we exchanged a huge hug to cement our
deal and then I began to ask him about his studies.  He seemed quite
surprised when I did this, but it was probably only due to my timing,
because I had warned him I would be checking up on his progress.
After regaining his composure, he told me about each of the educational
shows he had watched and the exercises he had completed on the
computer earlier in the day.

I then questioned him about most of the things he'd mentioned and my
questions weren't merely to give him the impression that I wanted to
know what he'd learned.  My questioning was an in depth evaluation of
the things he had studied and what he'd learned about them.  I was
pleased that he was able to answer my questions and did just fine.  After
I finished checking up on his work habits in this manner, he had a
comment for me.

"Man, this is harder than real school, cuz I have to answer ALL of the
questions here," he complained.

"Yes, and I hope you'll learn more this way," I told him.

"Just my luck.  I fall in love with a guy who doesn't want to hurt me,
but he doesn't mind torturing me," Bryce whined in jest, at least I
hoped it was in jest.

He grinned after he said that, which I think confirmed that suspicion,
but I thought his comment had been pretty clever, since he managed to
make his point on both issues.  Man, I really do love this kid.  If only it
weren't so complicated.

The next couple of weeks went about the same, and even though I got
periodic reports from my lawyer, there were no new developments in
our current situation.  We were now rapidly approaching summer
vacation, when all of the other kids would be out of school and Bryce
should be able to move about a bit more freely during the day.  I also
found out his birth date, which was September 7th, so he was only a few
months away from actually turning thirteen.

Since school was nearly out for the summer, Bryce asked if he'd have to
keep studying while the other kids were on vacation.  I told him I'd only
make him do that until noon, to make up for the time he'd missed out
on being in school, before he came to live with me.  I also told him this
meant he'd have to be up before 8:00 each morning, so he'd have time
to eat and still get a full four hours of work in by noon.  Otherwise, he
would have to spend four hours from the time he started his class work.
He groaned and called me a slave driver, so I told him that's exactly
what my employees say about me.  This comment caused him to give me
a dirty look and then he walked away.

The next time I heard from my lawyer, it definitely wasn't good news.
He called me at my office, so I knew it must be fairly important.

"Kyle, DSS has been trying to get me to divulge what I know about
Bryce, but I've resisted up until now, claiming attorney-client
privilege," he began.  "However, they're trying to turn up the heat."

"How so?" I asked.

I had been worried about this since he first told me about the DSS
position concerning the boys from his last foster home.

"They're going to subpoena me and have threatened contempt of court
charges, if I don't cooperate," he answered.

"Why do they think you know where he is?" I asked next.

"My source at DSS let Bryce's name slip out, after I asked him to check
on Bryce's situation specifically," he answered.  "Now that they suspect
I'm somehow involved, so they want to get more information out of
me."

"So what are you going to tell them?" I wanted to know.

"I'm going to resist their efforts to get anything out of me, even if I have
to take it all the way to the Supreme Court," he assured me.  "They just
can't threaten lawyers in order to get them to break privilege.  That
violates this basis for one of the most sacred judicial principles."

"Well, I guess I hired the right lawyer then," I replied, as a compliment.

"I'm glad you feel that way, but that's not all," he added.  "They also
suspect the client I'm working for in this matter is from the local area
too, so they are concentrating their search around here for now, to see if
they can locate Bryce on their own.  That means you'll have to keep him
out of sight for a while."

"Do you have any other good news for me?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Well, I hate to break this to you, but since they suspect it's definitely
Bryce who is in the area, and not one of the other boys," he replied,
"DSS is circulating his picture.  They've given it to both local law
enforcement and a few private investigators, so the people looking for
him are not flying blindly."

"Oh, great!  Not only do they know who to look for, but they've also
narrowed down the search radius," I exclaimed.  "What do you suggest
now?"

"Personally, I'd get him out of the local area, if you can somehow
manage to do that," he suggested.  "Do you know anyone who could
watch over him for you?"

"Not really.  I have brothers and sisters," I mentioned, "but I'm not
sure they'd understand why I'd be asking them to take in a boy to
whom we weren't related.  Besides, I don't what to get them involved in
any legal snafu either."

"What about you just taking him out of the area for a while?" he
wondered.  "Do you have somewhere you could go and someone who
could cover for you at work until then?"

"Not really.  My secretary can do some things for me, but there are
other aspects of my job she doesn't have a clue about," I told him.  "I'm
also the one that has to sign any legal documents, including the checks."

"I could arrange for you to give her temporary power of attorney," he
suggested, hopefully.

"Even though I trust her, I'd just as soon not tempt her by giving her so
much authority and control just yet," I replied.  "What if I just keep
Bryce hidden at the house for the time being?"

"Well, that might work for the short term, if he is never seen outside
your house," he agreed.  "The problem is, if they discover whom I'm
working for or if they get the courts to uphold their request, then that
won't do you any good.  If he isn't in the area, we could just tell them
that he just took off on his own again.  It's not like he hasn't done that
before."

"Well, if they're putting in that much of an effort to locate him, then I
don't think you should be calling my office any more," I suggested.  "I
want to keep them from finding him that way.  In the meantime, I'll
find an untraceable way to call you in the future, so they can't connect
us easily."

"Good idea, but keep in touch," he advised me.  "When you call, I'll
keep you informed about any breaking news or any other information I
discover during the intervening period."

"Great!" I exclaimed.  "Thanks for all of your help."

I hung up the phone, but now I had to find a way to explain this to
Bryce, at least in terms that he'd understand and not cause him to
panic.  I was afraid that once he learned he'd be under house arrest, so
to speak, he'd have a tough time dealing with everything.  I had to keep
him optimistic and calm for the time being, until this situation was
settled.  I was hoping that he'd understand and would live with
whatever arrangement we worked out, until we could find a solution for
dealing with DSS.

When I got home that evening, I waited until after dinner to explain
things to him.  As we started to clean the table off, I knew I couldn't put
this off any longer and I had to tell him what was going on and what
he'd have to do in the meantime.  After that was done, then I would
have to brace myself to answer all of the questions I knew he'd have
about why he had to do this, what he would be allowed to do and how
long he would have to be like that.

"Uncle Kyle, why are they still looking for me?" he wanted to know,
after I broke the news.  "Aren't they going to let me live with you?"

"Bryce, as of now you are still a ward of the state and for some reason
they really want you back," I informed him.  "Once they have you, then
they will decide what they will do with you next."

"Does that include coming to live with you?" he pushed, because it was
the only option he was interested in.

"It might and that's what we're trying for," I replied, stretching the
truth just a tiny bit.

"But until that happens, I won't be able to leave the house at all?" he
asked, to be certain.  "Will that mean we can't go out to eat or take any
more bike rides together?"

"We should continue to lay low until we get things worked out with
them, sport," I confirmed.

"Then how will I get any exercise?" he demanded.

I think he felt he had me stumped now.

"You can still swim, can't you?" I offered in reply.

When I mentioned this, he at first looked upset that I had thought of
that, but then he gave me a big grin

"I guess, but we'd have to do a lot of swimming and it might become
boring," he countered, trying to pin me into the corner.

"If need be, I can also get some weight training and exercise equipment
for you to use," I added.

"Nah, don't do that yet.  I'll try to live with just the swimming for now,"
he agreed.

For the next couple of weeks, Bryce didn't leave the house.  I bought
plenty of groceries, so he'd have plenty to eat for breakfast and lunch,
and then I'd pick up dinner on my way home.  That would generally
consist of take out from one of the local restaurants or diners we had
been frequenting.  I did this to give him a little variation in what he ate,
while at the same time providing him with a sense of our old routine.
He was really quite a trooper about all of this, and even though we ate
all of our meals together, I knew he missed the other things we used to
do together, especially on the weekends.

To make up for this and ensure it more palatable for him, I spent as
much time at home as I possibly could.  We'd watch television and
DVDs together, play games and we spent a great deal of time enjoying
ourselves in the pool.  Doing these things together seemed to help make
this slightly more bearable for him, even though he tried to convince me
that he didn't really mind not being able to go out at all.  Occasionally,
he would slip and admit that he missed some of the things we used to do
together, but then he'd try to cover it up by telling me that after having
to live and hide out in that old factory, this was much better.  I could
understand where he was coming from and what he was trying to do,
but I still felt badly that he had to have his movements restricted in this
manner.

During this temporary confinement, I would call the lawyer every other
day, since I had taken a disposable cell phone out of inventory and was
using it just for this purpose.  Having to make clandestine calls in this
manner made me begin to feel as if I were part of some second-rate spy
movie or involved in a bad kidnapping plot.  I was beginning to think I
was doing everything in my power to keep from being accosted by some
sleazy looking foreign agents or attempting to remain hidden from the
F.B.I. and other law enforcement agencies.  I guess that last part may be
partially true, although it wasn't because I'd committed a kidnapping,
or had I?  Unfortunately, if I were discovered, my eventual arrest would
have even more dire consequences for me than what might happen to
those movie characters, since they merely faced losing their fictional
lives, where in my case a young boy's future, as well as my own
freedom, lay in the balance.

During one of these calls, my lawyer told me that he had won a minor
victory during the first round in court, since the judge decided that my
lawyer was bound by attorney-client privilege and, therefore, was
professionally obligated not to divulge his source.  However, DSS had
filed the appropriate paperwork to appeal this decision, so this meant a
higher court would now hear the case.

My lawyer also told me that he thought he was being followed by a
private investigator, so there was no way he could meet with me in
person.  After hearing this, I told him that wouldn't be a problem, at
least for now, but he also advised me to be careful and to make sure
Bryce remained out of sight until things calmed down.  He promised
he'd let me know when the heat was off, so I thanked him and hung up,
but I continued to wonder just how long this was going to take.

A couple of days later, I called my attorney again, but this time his
mood was more somber.

"Kyle, I don't know how to tell you this," he began, "but I think
somehow the DSS got copies of my phone records, so they know who
called me and whom I've called.  I'm not sure how long it will take them
to figure anything out, but are you sure you can't get Bryce away from
the area, at least for a few weeks?"

"I could, but will that really do any good?" I wondered.

"Well, if they're looking for you, we could just have your secretary tell
them you're out of town on a business trip, but then we'd know for sure
if they're looking for you specifically," he suggested.  "You do take
business trips from time to time, don't you?"

"Yes, I do and it would cover my being away," I agreed, "but how
would that explain why a single guy is calling a family court lawyer?"

"Maybe we could say that you were gathering information to help one
of your brothers or sisters with one of their children," he suggested.
"Or you could say that you were considering taking in one of your
nephews to live with you for a while, until things settled down for him at
home, and you called me because you wanted advice about your legal
responsibilities if you did that.  You could tell them you wanted to know
your standing about enrolling him in school, signing permission slips for
him and if you'd legally be able to make medical decision for him, in
case he were to get sick or injured while he was with you.  I'm sure that
would cover our calls."

"And what if they asked to contact my brother or sister, so the could
verify the information?" I pressed.

"That is always a possibility," he confirmed.  "Do you think you could
get one of them to cover for you?"

"And just how would I explain why I needed them to do this for me?" I
challenged.  "I'm not sure they'd understand why I was trying to help
some runaway I hardly knew, especially if it could get me in trouble
with the law."

"Well, I'm not so sure I understand that either," he admitted.  "Maybe
if you explained it to me, then I could help you figure out a way to
explain it to them."

"It's because the system has been worse for him than his being on his
own," I began, with a vehement and accusatory tinge to my tone.  "I
merely want to give him a fresh start and provide him with at least a
few years of being able to enjoy just being a kid.  I haven't taken
advantage of him in any way, even he'd tell you that, and we have done
nothing illegal, other than possibly my hiding him out.  I just feel the kid
needs someone to put his best interests first and DSS has proven they
aren't the ones who can do that for him."

"I'll take your word on it that you haven't taken advantage or harmed
him, and I agree with your logic, so I'll do whatever I can to assist you,"
he confirmed.  "You could also explain it to you siblings that way.  Just
mentioned that you happened to stumble across the boy, heard his story
and wanted to do something to help.  Being parents themselves, I'm sure
they would probably understand that.  In the meantime, just try to get
him away from the local area until the dust settles."

"I'll see what I can do and I'll let you know what I'm able to work out,"
I advised him.

After finishing that call, I went focus on my business.  First, I began to
discuss a variety of topics with my secretary, to give her the background
information she would need to be able to cover for me.  I explained I
was doing this because I needed to take my nephew away for a while, so
I would appreciate it if she could handle things for me during while we
were gone.  After she agreed to do this, I told her I'd call her once a day
to answer any questions she might have and I'd give her a forwarding
address from time to time, so she could send any paperwork I needed to
sign using UPS or Fed Ex.  After I finished going over all of this with
her, I advised her that she could also call me on my cell phone if she had
any questions or problems that couldn't wait until I called her and she
agreed she'd be happy to do these things for me.

Since that was settled, she and I began to look at what was planned for
the next few weeks, since I wasn't certain how long we might be gone.
As we did this, I filled her in about the things she was unfamiliar with
and began by explaining to her about suppliers she would be dealing
with and how to determine what we would need to order from them.
Then, I told her which store manager she could use for back up and
support, seeing he was my most experienced manager and had covered
for me in the past.  I also told her that he'd be able to help her with any
issues that arose concerning any of the other stores or their employees,
just in case something came up and it need to be dealt with quickly.
While we were going over those last few items, the phone rang and she
answered it.  A second later, she was telling me my lawyer was on the
line.

"My lawyer?  For me?" I asked, somewhat puzzled.

She looked at me strangely, but I couldn't very well tell her that he had
promised not to call me at the office, just to clear up her confusion.
Since he had, I knew I needed to take this call quickly.

"I'll take it in my office," I told her.

I went inside, shut the door and picked up the receiver.

"This is Kyle, but I thought we agreed you wouldn't call me here for
now," I began.

"We did, but this is an emergency," he replied.  "A contact of mine at
family court has just informed me that a search warrant has been issued
for your home."

"What?  How can they do that?" I demanded.

"They obviously had probable cause to get one," he informed me.  "I
was told that one of the investigators had staked out your place and
took a picture or pictures of Bryce through your windows.  The
authorities are heading over there as we speak, so I don't know what
you'll be able to do now."

"They couldn't get any pictures like that without trespassing on my
property," I protested.  "There are too many trees and it's too secluded
to take photos like that from the road, even with a telephoto lens.  Are
they allowed to go on my property without permission to do that?"

"Not if it was a DSS employee or even law enforcement, unless they got
a warrant first," he answered, "but private investigators tend to blur
the lines of what is and isn't legal."

"Well, I'm heading to the house right after I hang up," I agreed.  "Will
you meet me there?"

"Certainly.  I'll be there as soon as I can," he confirmed.


*  *  *  *  *  *

If you enjoy reading these stories on Nifty, then please consider
helping out.  There are costs associated with maintaining a site
such as this, so if you are able, please make a donation to help
keep this valuable asset up and running.

Thank you, Erastes and the entire Nifty staff.