Charles and Philip Barnett have settled down to raise their children, but their domesticity is disrupted when Philip's nephew Steve is delivered to their doorstep early one morning after being beaten senseless by his homophobic father.<br><br>So the family grows, but of course, that's the easy part. A rabidly fundamentalist sheriff and a gay-bashing incident leave Steve and his new boyfriend in legal hot water and at the mercy of the deputies' harassment, and Charles must once again take up the fight for justice for his loved ones.

Triumph

“Good. I’ll call both of them and tell them to expect you. Okay, babe,” I said as I handed Philip my cell phone, “punch in the Lamberts’ telephone number.”


He did so and pushed Send. Lawrence Lambert reacted calmly to the news and agreed to wait for Mason to pick him up.


I ended the call and said, “Now enter the Hansens’ number.”


I made the second call with similar results. When the call ended, Philip said, “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive? You know I drive a lot faster than you.”


By way of answering, I pressed down on the accelerator, and the Jag shot forward. Traffic on I-85 was flowing at its usual rapid pace, and I maintained a steady seventy-five until we reached its intersection with I-285, known locally as Spaghetti Junction. I had to slow down a bit until we cleared the interchange; then I was able to accelerate once again.


Chapter 62