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

When things were quiet again, Steve said, “Thank you, Uncle Charles, for that and for getting us out of jail last night.”


There was an embarrassingly long round of applause. Then I smiled and said, “Okay. Thanks. However, it isn’t over until the fat lady sings, and right now she’s just warming up in the wings. We still have to nail the bad guys, and by bad guys, I mean the boys who started things and the sheriff’s department who handled it so poorly.”


“We saw the newscast last night and the article in the paper this morning,” Mason said. “However did you manage that?”


“In cases like this, the media can be your best friend or your worst enemy,” I said, “and I’ve had a fair amount of experience in keeping them on my side.”


“You just tell us what to do and when to do it,” Hayden Hansen said.


“And send us a bill as you go,” Mason said.


Chapter 68