by J. Rosemary Moss
Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13
LINK TO PART ONE
~
It took a moment for Adam’s words to sink in. Before all this began, David reflected, he would never have credited Gregory Miller with such duplicity.
“He was the one who told you about Stephen and me?” he asked at last, rubbing his chin. “Well, that’s interesting. But what did he stand to gain from it? If he had decided to blackmail Stephen, what good would it do him to have you know about the affair?”
“We’re not sure that Miller is the blackmailer,” Adam reminded him. “But it does look like he played you and me against each other. Now we just have to find out why.”
“Well, I still want a look at his bank accounts,” David said, frowning.
Adam nodded. “Monday—we have to wait until then. In the meantime, let’s think this through. Did Gregory Miller benefit somehow if Ed Niles disinherited his son?”
He shrugged. “I can’t think how. I can’t imagine that Niles would have made Miller his heir—he was just an employee, after all.”
Adam leaned up against a wall and folded his arms over his chest. “And Niles had no other children—no daughter that Miller could marry. Well, we know that he caused trouble between you and me—”
“No,” David said suddenly, interrupting him. “That was only a by-product, at least at first. Try this: Gregory Miller finds out that his employer’s only son is engaging in a distasteful affair with me. First he begins to blackmail Stephen—but he purposely makes his demands too high. Next, he makes sure that you discover the affair, knowing that you’ll confront me. That puts additional pressure on Stephen.”
“Stephen then decides that it’s better to confront his father,” Adam put in, “then to give into any more blackmail.”
“Right,” David agreed. “He even makes up some story about how he and I have had a falling out in a misguided attempt to protect me.”
“He confronts his father,” Adam continued. “Ed Niles disowns him and sometime afterwards Stephen commits suicide.”
“Prompting Niles to cover up his son’s death and the scandals surrounding it,” David finished. “Only then does Miller decide to lie to me about you forcing the boy to confess. That's just an insurance policy to set us at odds and make sure we don't compare notes. It’s a neat little story, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” Adam admitted, “if only we could prove that Gregory Miller somehow benefits from the fact that Ed Niles disinherited Stephen. If he doesn’t benefit, we’re left without any motive. He might still be the blackmailer—but why orchestrate the disinheritance?”
“Of course, why orchestrate any of it to begin with?” David asked. “Why not just tell Niles flat-out that his son was having an affair with me?”
“Oh, that wouldn’t have nearly the affect of Stephen tearfully confessing the scandal,” Adam ventured. “You know how Niles is—nothing could have made him angrier. Besides, if Miller told him directly, Niles might have found a way to blame the messenger.”
David considered that. “That makes sense,” he agreed. “I wonder if Marty will know who Ed Niles is leaving his fortune to now?”
“It’s worth asking her,” Adam assured him.
David opened his mouth to agree, but he was interrupted by a knock at the door. He went to answer it, forgetting that he wasn’t in his own suite.
It was a porter and, as it turned out, he was looking for David after all. An old bearded gentleman—Rabbi something or other—was downstairs in the lobby, hoping to pay a call on him.
David thanked him for the information and asked him to wait a moment for a tip. Then he slammed the door shut.
He could feel his blood starting to boil. “Can you believe this?” he asked Adam. “That damned rabbi is here wanting to see me. You must have mentioned where we were staying. I knew we should have gotten out of that synagogue straight after services.”
Adam raised his eyebrows at him. “The sun hasn't set yet, so it’s still the Sabbath,” he commented. “He must have walked here—that’s quite a distance for an old man.”
“Well, he wasted his efforts,” David said bluntly. “Would you mind tipping the porter? I don’t want to handle money.”
Adam stared at him for a long moment and then suddenly started laughing. “How can you worry about handling money on the Sabbath while you’re refusing to see an old man—a rabbi, no less—who came all this way to talk with you?” he asked.
David had the grace to blush at that. “You’re right,” he owned. “I’ll tip the fellow.”
Adam sighed. “David, go downstairs and talk to the man. It’s the least you can do.”
David’s temper was getting hotter each moment. He narrowed his eyes at Adam. “Don’t presume to give me an order like that. You’ve no right to question my judgment on this—not unless we have something considerably deeper than a friendship.”
‘That goes without saying,” Adam agreed softly.
The words hung between them for a long moment. David stared at Adam as he took in their significance.
He turned away in some confusion. Damn—he hadn’t realized that Adam would be able to disconcert him this way.
“Your father won’t understand,” he managed at last, still looking away from him.
Adam sighed again. “I know,” he said. “But my father doesn’t have to be privy to all aspects of my life.”
David pulled himself together and nodded. “Right. Well, I suppose I’ll go downstairs and see what the old man wants.”
“Good,” Adam responded with a wry smile in his voice. “I’ll tip the porter.”
LINK TO PART THIRTY-THREE
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