Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2024 11:29:39 +0000
From: DJ Warner <djwarner1984@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Inheritance Clause 20

This story contains descriptions of graphic sex between males.
If that kind of thing does not appeal to you, stop reading now.

This story is pure fiction. If this resembles something that happened to
you, it must have been an incredible experience. But it's simply a
coincidence.

All comments are welcome: djwarner1984@hotmail.com
Please donate to Nifty: https://donate.nifty.org/

-DJ

==========

The Inheritance Clause - 20

"Babe," Dawson heard Adam whispering softly to him.

"Babe," he heard Adam again, very softly, like off in the distance.

Dawson smiled. He pulled his arms in and hugged himself, dreaming of
holding Adam.

"Dawson, wake up," Dawson heard Adam, louder this time.

Dawson opened his eyes and saw Adam looking down on him. He was lying on
one of the beds in his room. Adam was standing next to the bed, bent over
him. Adam was gently caressing his bicep.

"You fell asleep," Adam said softly.

"Oh," Dawson acknowledged as he stretched, "What happened? What time is
it?"

"You must have fallen asleep after we came back from Rosemary's Point. We
have about an hour before dinner," Adam said.

"Ok," Dawson said as he sat up.

"What's all this?" Adam said with confusion.

He gestured across the room. Adam's family photo albums were sprawled all
over the other bed. Some were opened to a particular page. Others were
closed with slips of paper sticking out of them. The canvas bag with the
love notes was lying on its side on the bed, next to a small stack of photo
albums. The love notes were piled up next to the bag. The Giorgio Brutini
shoes were sitting on one of the couches. There was a Spanish-English
dictionary next to the shoes. And there were six paintings, all lined up on
the floor, leaning against the same couch.

Dawson rubbed his eyes.

"Well... It's just that... ok... so... I don't... I mean..." Dawson started
and then kept stopping. He was trying to figure out where to start.

Adam simply looked at Dawson with a concerned face. Dawson cleared his
throat and finally collected his thoughts.

"I found something," Dawson said, "I found a few things."

Adam was still looking at Dawson with concern. Dawson got off the bed and
went in front of the six paintings. He rubbed his eyes again to try to wake
himself up. He gestured down toward the paintings as he spoke.

"I looked up the two paintings in the dining room on the tablet. Turns out,
they were painted by someone named Alejandro S. And I found out there were
four more paintings in the house, by the same artist. Two were in the
living room and the other two were in storage," Dawson explained.

"These are the two that were in the living room. They depict different
terrain than the ones in the dining room. It looks like the same two
people, though. They were closer, more defined in these paintings. You can
see it's two young girls, maybe ten years old," Dawson continued.

Adam bent down and looked at the two paintings.

"Huh, I never noticed them before," Adam said.

"Then I found these two in storage. They are just landscapes. But this one
is definitely the mountain we saw when we were out on the lake. These look
like they were Alejandro's early works. They weren't as polished as the
others. But even more interesting... I found these photos tucked into the
corners of each of the paintings I got from storage," Dawson said.

He picked up two photographs. He handed them to Adam.

"These were used as the basis for the two paintings. Then it hit me. Your
granddad might have been friendly with Alejandro S. Maybe the photos for
these other paintings were in the albums we found in your granddad's
office," Dawson said.

"Ah," Adam said when he got the explanation for why the photo albums were
spread out all over the bed.

"Then, I found this," Dawson said excitedly.

He looked over the pile of open photo albums until he picked one up. He
flipped to a page and handed it to Adam. Adam looked at it.

"See, here?" Dawson said as he pointed to a picture in the photo album.

He was pointing to a picture of two girls on the same hill they saw that
afternoon.

"That's the photo used as the basis for that painting," Dawson said.

Dawson pointed at one of the paintings from the living room, propped up
against the couch.

"Mmm," Adam hummed in agreement as he looked back and forth from the
painting to the photo album.

"Look at the caption," Dawson said.

Adam's eyes widened. It said, 'Sarah Rawley and Camilla Santos'.

"That's my grandmother!" Adam said in astonishment as he looked closer at
the photo and then again at the painting.

"Yup," said Dawson with satisfaction, "That's her when she was around ten
years old. I got curious and started to look for pictures of your
grandmother. There were a bunch with her and Camilla Santos. The Santos
property was close by. Your grandmother must have met the Santos family
from when she came to Rosemary's Point as a kid. And she became friends
with Camilla Santos. Then I found this," Dawson said

Dawson took back the first photo album. He went over to the bed again and
picked up the photo album he was looking for. It was opened to the right
page. Dawson brought it over to the empty couch and he sat with the album
in his lap. Adam sat down next to him. He moved the album to Adam's
lap. Adam looked down and saw a picture with a bunch of people. His
grandmother as a young girl was in the picture. There were other people in
the picture with the last name Rawley, his grandmother's family name. And
there were people with the last name Santos.

"Look at the names," Dawson said.

Adam traced with his finger as he read the names to himself. Then he
stopped.

"Alejandro Santos," Adam said, "He's Alejandro S... the one who painted
these..."

"Yup," Dawson said, "from what I put together from the photo albums,
Alejandro was Camilla's father."

"Wow," Adam said as he looked at the picture, trying to match the faces
with the names.

"So, it was your grandmother who knew Alejandro, the person who painted
these pictures. Not your grandfather," Dawson explained.

Adam had a look of fascination on his face.

"There's more..." Dawson said with a serious tone.

Dawson stood and started to get animated.

"So, from what I can tell, Alejandro had five children, Camilla, Manuel,
Luis, Helena, and Jorge. Manuel's daughter is Margherita, who currently
runs the Santos farm," Dawson explained.

Adam nodded in acceptance.

"I knew Manuel was Margherita's father. And I knew Helena from when I used
to come here in the summers," Adam said, "Everyone called her Abuelita. It
was Manuel, Camilla, and Helena's grandkids I used to play with. I never
knew Luis or Jorge."

"Ok...so..." Dawson said, "so..." he said again and averted Adam's eyes as
he tried to find the words.

Adam looked at him with concern.

"So, I kept looking for pictures of the Santos family to confirm what I
thought," Dawson said, "then I found this."

Dawson went to the edge of the bed where there was a closed album. There
was a slip of paper sticking out of it. He picked the album up and opened
it to where the paper was marking the page. He placed the piece of paper
onto the bed. He brought the album over to Adam and slid it onto his lap,
covering the first album. He pointed at one of the pictures. It was the
Santos siblings all standing together as adults, Camilla, Luis, Helena,
Manuel, and Jorge. They were somewhere in their twenties or thirties in
age. They were dressed in nice clothes. It looked like they were at some
kind of ceremony. Adam looked at the picture and read the names under it.

"So?" Adam said as he looked up at Dawson.

"Look at the shoes..." Dawson said softly.

Adam looked at the shoes of the Santos siblings in the photo. Realization
hit him. He shifted his eyes to look at the Italian shoes they found in his
granddad's closet, sitting on the other couch.

"They're Jorge's shoes?" Adam said with confusion as he looked closer at
the photo.

"Yes," Dawson said as he nodded.

"What would my granddad be doing with shoes that belonged to Jorge Santos?"
Adam said.

He looked to Dawson for an answer. Dawson's face looked like he was about
to deliver bad news.

"What? What did you figure out?" Adam said.

"I found this tucked into the back of one of the albums," Dawson said
softly.

He reached toward the bed and retrieved the slip of paper that he used as a
bookmark in the photo album. It looked like one of the love notes they
found in the armoire. He held it up and read it out loud.

"Clay -- I was thrilled you came to the rodeo this afternoon. I will call
on you next week when we finish the tour. -- Jorge," Dawson read quietly.

Dawson sat down next to Adam and showed him the note. Adam sat in stunned
silence as he looked at it.

"It's the same handwriting, same style, same paper, same everything, as all
of the love notes we found in the armoire," Dawson explained, "The C in
Clay is written exactly like the C in the love notes from Q."

Dawson got up and grabbed one of the love notes. He came back and sat next
to Adam. He lined up the Cs in the two notes next to each other to show
him. Adam could clearly see that they were the same. He could also see it
was the exact same kind of note paper. Adam sat there, stunned. He took the
two notes from Dawson. He aligned some of the words and letters between the
two notes. Each pairing was close to identical. It was clear that the same
person wrote both notes. He finally spoke.

"My granddad and Jorge?" Adam said with disbelief.

"It looks that way," Dawson said, "He was gay... or at least he was
bi. Either way, he and Jorge definitely had a relationship. I went through
all of the love notes. They all have the same handwriting and style. This
one, by itself, doesn't reveal their secret. That must be why your granddad
didn't hide it."

Dawson paused to let Adam absorb the news.

"I think Jorge died before I was born, but I'm not sure." Adam tried to
make sense of what Dawson was saying, "I know he wasn't around when I used
to come here when I was a kid," Adam mused out loud, "Are you sure these
are Jorge's shoes?"

Adam looked closer at the picture again.

"I had doubts, too. It did seem hard to believe," Dawson continued, "So I
went through the love notes and read them all."

Dawson got up and grabbed the pile of love notes on the bed. He came back
and grabbed the albums in Adam's lap. He put the albums on the bed and put
the love notes in Adam's hand. He sat back down next to Adam.

"Once you know Q is Jorge, the love notes make so much more sense," Dawson
said.

Adam began reading the love notes while Dawson slipped his arm across
Adam's shoulder and pulled him closer. He continued explaining what he
discovered.

"Jorge spent a lot of time on the road with the horse shows, that's why Q
was always out of town. Jorge and your granddad were trying to keep their
relationship secret, so they left notes to each other. There were three of
them signed by 'Querido'. I found a Spanish dictionary in the library and
looked it up. It means, 'darling', in Spanish. I wonder if that's what your
granddad called him. Jorge used notes and signed them Q so they could
communicate without anyone finding out. If someone did find a note, they
wouldn't know who it was from. There are several notes that refer to
RP. It's clear by the context in the love notes that it means Rosemary's
Point. Jorge secretly met up with your granddad there many times," Dawson
said.

Adam was silent as he kept looking through the notes. He didn't know what
to think. Dawson knew Adam needed time, so he just kept his arm over his
shoulder as they sat there together, embracing him from the
side. Eventually, Adam read every love note. He leaned over and wrapped his
arms around Dawson's torso, still clutching the love notes. He dug his head
into Dawson's chest. Dawson held him and caressed his back. He kept leaning
down and kissing the top of Adam's head. Eventually Adam sat up and put the
love notes on the bed. He reached over to take Dawson's hand. They held
hands, resting them on Adam's lap. Adam sighed. They contemplated the
impact of what Dawson figured out.

"I just can't believe it..." Adam said softly, "I keep going through in my
mind if there was any time he gave me any indication that he was gay."

"I know... that's what I kept thinking," Dawson said, "I went back through
the albums. And then I was certain it was true. There were some pictures
where your granddad and Jorge were in them, usually with other people,
sometimes just them. There were a few pictures where it was kind of obvious
now that there was something between them," Dawson began explaining and
then paused, "I think if I looked at the pictures and didn't know they were
lovers, I wouldn't have noticed anything."

Dawson got up and went to the albums sprawled on the bed. He picked up a
stack of photo albums and brought them over. He sat down with the albums
piled on his lap.

"Here, take a look. I marked them with these slips of scrap paper," Dawson
said.

Dawson opened the first album and put it in Adam's lap. They began looking
at the pictures as Dawson went through them.

"Look at this one. It looks like your granddad has his hand innocently
around Jorge's back. But if you follow his arm, he has his hand in Jorge's
back pocket or he's cupping his butt cheek," Dawson said with a neutral
tone, "Either way..."

"Mmm," Adam said.

They went through a couple more pictures. Adam made small sounds as he came
to realize the photos showed that there was something between the two of
them.

"This must be what Krantz and Niven saw in us. Remember, they said they
knew we were a couple because of all the looks and the touching?" Dawson
said.

Adam didn't say anything. He was looking at the next picture. He got a
funny look on his face as he examined a photo with his granddad, Jorge, and
some horses. In the background was a huge sign that said, 'Santos Family
Farm'. In the foreground, Jorge was smiling, standing next to the side view
of a horse. He had his hand propped up on the saddle. His body was turned,
facing the camera. Clayton was standing near the horse's head, facing
Jorge, smiling. He also had his hand on the saddle. Their hands were
touching. Clayton was looking at Jorge, smiling, with a loving gaze.

"That's weird," Adam said.

"What?" Dawson said.

"I feel like I've seen this picture before. It looks familiar," Adam said,
"They don't have that sign anymore. It was from years ago when it was a
working farm. But I know I've seen a picture just like this with that sign
in it."

"Hmm," Dawson said.

He paused to think about it.

"You spent a lot of time over at the Santos property as a kid. Maybe they
have this picture, too. Or you saw one with that sign," Dawson surmised.

"Yeah, now that I think about it..." Adam said, "They did have a lot of
pictures in their house with people and horses. That must be why it looks
familiar."

They continued to look at the pictures. Finally, they reached the last
photo that Dawson had bookmarked. There were six people all posing
together. Everyone was lined up with their arms around each other. But the
way Clay and Jorge were touching was more intimate, much closer. Adam was
about to close the album when Dawson stopped him.

"Wait. This was the clincher for me. Check this out," Dawson said as his
finger touched the photo, "Jorge is wearing a gold chain necklace just like
the one your granddad had. You can see it clearly in this picture."

Adam looked closer, then he sat up straighter.

"Hang on," Adam said excitedly.

Adam put the album down. He went into his room. A minute later he came back
and stood in the bathroom doorway.

"Well, now he's done it," Adam said.

"Who did what?" Dawson said as he stood up.

"My father," Adam said.

He stood in the doorway and sighed.

"Someone went through my stuff. Everything is out of place. It had to be my
father when we went to Rosemary's Point. He was looking for this," Adam
said.

He showed Dawson his granddad's gold chain which he had retrieved from the
safe in his closet. The rings dangled from it as he held it up.

"Really?" Dawson said with surprise, "Wow, good thing we put it in the
safe."

"Yeah," Adam said.

He sighed again and then came toward Dawson. They both sat back down on the
couch. Dawson picked up the album. Adam laid the chain across the
photo. They both leaned in to look.

"It looks like the same kind of links," Adam whispered as acceptance
finally hit him.

"Yeah, and there was that love note," Dawson said, "The one where Q thanked
your granddad for the gift. And he said that he would always be near his
heart when he wore it. Your granddad must have bought matching chains and
gave one to Jorge."

Adam leaned into Dawson.

"It's so hard to believe," Adam said as he let Dawson envelop him in his
arms.

"I know," said Dawson, "After I came to the point you are now, I lay on the
bed to try to figure out how to poke holes in it. I couldn't come up with
anything. All I did was come up with more confirming facts. Like, I saw a
hitching post at the cabin today. There were those couple of notes that
implied Q rode his horse to get to Rosemary's Point to meet up with your
granddad. As I lay on the bed, I kept trying to come up with some other
explanation for all these things that seemed random. But I couldn't. The
shoes... and the notes... and the pictures... and the necklace... they all
fit together. The next thing I knew, you were waking me up."

Adam took a deep breath and exhaled.

"We can't say anything to anyone about this, especially my father. My
granddad wanted to keep this a secret. We don't have the right to expose
it," Adam said.

"I agree," Dawson said softly, "We'll have to figure out how best to
dispose of the love notes. I think we can keep the photos. They're fine as
long as you don't know about Jorge and your granddad."

"What if we burn the love notes and scatter the ashes at Rosemary's Point?"
Adam mused.

Dawson squeezed Adam tighter.

"I love that idea," Dawson said.

They stayed sitting on the couch. Dawson embraced Adam from the side for
several minutes. They both contemplated what it must have been like for
Adam's granddad and Jorge to hide their relationship.

"We should put these paintings back before dinner," Adam finally spoke.

Dawson slowly let go of Adam and stood. Dawson straightened his clothes,
which were slightly mussed from sleeping. Adam put on his granddad's gold
chain necklace and then he stood. He confirmed with his hand that the rings
were hanging down the inside front of his shirt.

"Umm...," Adam said, "What happened to your hair?"

Adam began to pick at it to try to fix it. Dawson looked at him with tight
lips, frustrated that it was messed up.

"Fix it for me?" Dawson said with a playful pout.

"Heh, heh, of course," Adam chuckled, "Here, sit down."

Adam gestured toward the couch as he went into the bathroom and came back
with the gel.

Dawson sat on the couch. Adam stood in front of Dawson as he fixed his
hair. Dawson gently took hold of Adam's hips. He slid his shirt up and
kissed Adam's abdominal muscles. He kept planting little kisses as he moved
toward his bruise. He gently rubbed his cheek against the tender spot where
Adam was bruised.

"Eh-hem," Adam reprimanded him by clearing his throat, "What are you
doing?"

"I was just checking where you got hurt," Dawson said.

Adam smiled as he finished Dawson's hair.

"Gorgeous," Adam said as he finished.

"You're gonna have to show me how you do that," Dawson said as he let go of
Adam's shirt.

"I will," Adam said as he made his way into the bathroom to return the gel.

"Ready?" Adam said, coming out of the bathroom.

"Mmm," Dawson said.

The boys stacked up all of the albums and left them on Dawson's extra
bed. Dawson picked up all of the love notes and put them back in the canvas
bag. Adam picked up the shoes. The boys went into Adam's room.

"See? My drawers have all been gone through," Adam said as he opened a
couple drawers in his bureau, "And look at all of my clothes in the
closet."

The boys went into the closet. Dawson could see that everything looked
slightly askew. They put the love notes into the safe and locked it. Adam
put the shoes in his shoe tree.

"I think we'll donate the shoes," Adam said.

Dawson nodded but didn't respond. He had a thoughtful look on his face.

"What?" Adam said, "Did you figure something out?"

"No," Dawson said, "I was thinking... about the shoes..."

Adam looked at him with interest.

"I mean," Dawson said, "How did Jorge's shoes end up at your granddad's
house? I can't figure out how you could go somewhere and then leave without
your shoes? It's not like you'd forget them by accident, like a hat or a
jacket."

"Hmm," Adam said as he started to think about it, too, "Yeah, I hadn't
thought about that. That is weird."

Dawson couldn't come up with an explanation at that moment. He shrugged his
shoulders. They went back into Dawson's room. Dawson grabbed the two
paintings from the dining room. Adam grabbed the two from the living
room. Adam opened Dawson's bedroom door and looked out into the hallway for
Artie. There was no one there.

They went downstairs and headed for the dining room first. It was set up
for dinner, which would be served shortly. They quickly put the pictures
back onto the wall. They moved to the living room and rehung the two
pictures there. The boys went back up to the room to get the photo
albums. They returned them to the living room. As they were heading toward
the dining room for dinner, they could hear raised voices.

"Well, I would say you've had enough time," they heard Artie practically
yelling.

The boys came to the doorway of the dining room. Artie and the judge were
standing, facing each other. Krantz had just come in from the kitchen
doorway. He was standing with his mouth wide open.

"Mr. Jameson, I told you already. I will announce my decision tomorrow,"
Judge Lynch said firmly.

"Well, I don't understand what's holding you up. You should know by
now. And you should tell us," Artie fumed.

"Dad!" Adam yelled, inserting himself into the argument.

His father and the judge turned and looked at him. Adam took a deep breath
and exhaled. Adam turned toward Krantz.

"Good evening, Krantz. We'll have dinner whenever you and Niven are ready,"
Adam said as he pulled Dawson with him to take their seats.

The judge took advantage of Adam's interjection and took her seat. Artie
looked at Adam, then at the judge. He finally just took his seat.

Dawson had watched the judge during the whole exchange with Artie. He read
on the judge's face that she still had some uncertainty about her ruling.

"I've selected a red blend comprised of Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah. It
should pair well with the roast Niven has prepared. Will everyone be having
wine?" Krantz said.

They all confirmed they would and Krantz began pouring. Adam started
talking about the boat ride and the conversation began to flow. Of course,
Artie didn't go on the trip, so he had nothing to contribute. When the
dinner was served, everyone was very complimentary as they dug in. Except
Artie, who didn't say anything while he ate.

When everyone had finished dinner, Adam spoke up.

"I would like to have creme liqueur on the terrace before we watch the
film. Anyone wish to join me?" Adam said.

The judge spoke first.

"I'm grateful for the invitation, but I should take some time alone and
skip the film. I need to prepare for tomorrow," Judge Lynch said.

"Of course," Adam said.

Dawson watched the judge as she spoke. He was convinced now that he saw
uncertainty on her face.

"I will have some creme liqueur on the terrace, Krantz," Artie said, not
directly accepting Adam's invitation, but joining him anyway.

After a slight pause where Dawson was momentarily distracted by watching
the judge, he said he would join them. The judge said goodnight and the
others went out to the terrace.

It was a beautiful night. The two boys stood at the railing looking out on
the lake. Artie took a chair about ten feet behind them, facing the
lake. Krantz came out with the drinks and left. Adam and Dawson took sips
while they gazed at the lake. Then Artie spoke.

"Adam, I want to talk to you... alone," Artie said with a demanding tone.

Adam slowly turned around.

"Do you have any idea how rude you are?" Adam began, "You sat there and let
me invite Dawson out here and now you want him to go away so you can say
whatever it is you want to say to me?!?!"

Adam paused. Dawson turned and looked at Adam.

"I'm supposed to listen to you?!?! After the way you treated me when I fell
at the fence line?!?!" Adam said with increasing frustration,
"No... No... You want to say something to me, you can say it in front of
Dawson. Or don't say it at all."

Adam didn't wait for a response. He turned back around and looked out at
the lake. Dawson looked down at his drink and turned around, too. There was
quiet for maybe five seconds when Adam suddenly turned back around.

"Oh, and don't think I don't know that you ransacked my room looking for
these," Adam said angrily as he reached into his shirt and pulled out the
rings on the gold chain.

Dawson turned around to face Artie again. Artie and Dawson looked at the
rings dangling from Adam's hand. Artie licked his lips.

"They belong to me. You will never get them," Adam said with satisfaction,
"And you're lucky I don't call the police and charge you with attempted
theft."

Adam put the rings back under his shirt as he turned around to face the
lake again. Dawson looked at Artie. Artie made eye contact with Dawson. He
could see only anger in Artie's eyes. Dawson broke eye contact and turned
around to face the lake again.

There was quiet for a bit as the boys looked out over the lake and sipped
their drinks. Artie just sat there. After about two minutes, Artie got up
and went inside. When he was sure Artie was inside, Dawson leaned into
Adam.

"I'm pretty sure he knows we're a couple, or at least he knows we're really
close. I think he was going to confront you about it," Dawson said as he
reached out his hand and caressed Adam's arm.

"Whatever..." Adam said, "After the judge rules tomorrow, either way, I
don't want to ever have to talk to him again. My grandfather was right. He
is an asshole."

"I'm sorry," Dawson said with sympathy.

"I know," Adam said.

Dawson covered Adam's hand, which was leaning on the railing. Dawson gently
rubbed Adam's hand with his thumb. They stayed outside for a few more
minutes enjoying the clear night and the creme liqueur.

Eventually, they placed their empty drink glasses on the service tray and
went inside to go to the movie screening. As they were walking by the
darkened ballroom, they heard a noise. Both boys immediately thought that
Artie was trying to take Sarah's portrait, so they quickly jumped into the
ballroom and turned on the light. Judge Lynch was standing in front of the
paintings of Adam's grandparents.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she grabbed her chest, "Oh, my goodness! You
startled me!"

"Sorry, we heard a noise and came in to investigate," Adam said.

"What are you doing in here in the dark? We thought you went to your room,"
Dawson said.

"Well..." Judge Lynch said and then paused.

She looked back and forth between the boys. She looked very uncomfortable.

"Well, I guess there's no harm in telling you. You'll find out tomorrow. I
have gone over all the evidence at my disposal. I still don't have
everything wrapped up cleanly," the judge said in a hushed tone, "There are
still unanswered questions. I do not like it when things are uncertain. I
came in here to see if I could get some inspiration by looking at these
paintings of Clayton and Sarah Jameson."

A look of realization came over Dawson's face as he listened to the judge.

"You've just said it!" Dawson said.

The judge looked at Dawson with confusion. Then she looked at Adam to see
his reaction.

"Said what? What did I say?" the judge said with her brow furrowed.

"All the evidence at your disposal!" Dawson exclaimed.

Adam and the judge stood there looking confused.

"Clause D... Have you looked at everything in clause D?" Dawson said.

Confusion gradually subsided as a surprised look spread slowly over the
judge's face. It was then that the judge realized she had only seen the
directives which Krantz and Niven had opened so far. She hadn't looked at
the unopened directives from clause D.

"No. No, I haven't..." said the judge animatedly, "thank you, Dawson."

"You're welcome," Dawson said.

"How on earth did you come up with that?" the judge asked.

"Well, I've been wracking my brain trying to explain why Clayton made us
stay here, isolated, for six months. Every time I go through in my head all
the information I have, clause D is sitting there like a blinking red light
because we don't have access to it. When you said, 'all the evidence at
your disposal', I realized you have the same problem. Clause D was the
first thing I thought of, because it's been bugging me," Dawson explained.

Adam smiled and slipped his hand into Dawson's. The judge looked back and
forth between the two boys. Dawson's explanation seemed to satisfy her. She
thanked Dawson again, said goodnight with relief on her face, and left the
ballroom.

After she left, the boys started toward the screening room.

"Do you think whatever is in clause D will help?" asked Adam.

"I have no idea," replied Dawson.

==========

If you like this story, tell me: djwarner1984@hotmail.com
And then donate to Nifty: https://donate.nifty.org/

-DJ