The Butterfly Effect Read online

  The answer to the problem was simple. I gave her the money and she placed it back into the company's accounts without a trace. We then punished the HMO. The unscrupulous health organization is no longer in business. For my efforts, Vera agreed to be my financial wizard on not just one, but also every project that needed her unique abilities. She readily agreed and had taken an early retirement. I kept her busy half the time, until I made her my accountant, and she now worked for me fulltime for a fair salary. She told me she would rather work with me helping people than work for a soulless corporation.

  Her husband, Roy, opened the door and invited me in. He was a big man with a weak heart—physically. His heart otherwise was as big as he was. He helped his wife, doing whatever he could. Sometimes his contribution was substantial. In fact, this visit to their home was more to recruit his help than Vera's. She was already onboard.

  Vera didn't chitchat. Always businesslike, she opened the conversation. “I reviewed the financial data Robert sent over on Evan French and his photography business. He's making more than he should, and he's not paying taxes on a large chunk of his income. I suspect he's doing something illegal and is trying to hide the fact."

  I grinned. “Right on target, as usual, Vera. He's a pornographer, kiddy porn, and is involved in white slavery."

  Roy's face scrunched up. “Evil, pure evil. Somebody that hurts little kids doesn't deserve to be on the same planet with the rest of us. I want to help on this one, Martin. What can I do?"

  "I plan to set up a call center, using cell phones of course. I know you have a source for untraceable cell phones. My sister, Ruth, will be managing the center. You've met her, haven't you?"

  He nodded. “A nice, smart lady. I'll be happy to help her out."

  "And she'd be happy to have your help, Roy. But there's a problem. The call center will be located in New Orleans, and later it will be moved to New York City.” I looked at Vera. She nodded. “Are you up to traveling and living in hotel rooms for a month?"

  "For this one, yeah,” he said. “Vera will come with me. She has a new fangled laptop that goes anywhere."

  Vera grinned. “It's a doozy, Martin. It razzles and dazzles."

  Vera was always making up words. Curiously, I always understood their meaning.

  "Roy, we need up to thirty untraceable cell phones, PDQ. We'll pay for the calls and provide a premium, but they can't be associated with our operation.” Roy worked for AT&T until he retired.

  "That's easy. I'll have ten for you tomorrow, and the balance by the end of the week."

  "This one is moving fast, Roy. I'm opening the call center day after tomorrow. Can you be in New Orleans early Friday morning with the balance of the phones."

  "Yeah, but the premium will jump a bit."

  "No problem. I'll have plane tickets delivered for the two of you tomorrow. I'll pick up your expenses on this one, and the standard bonus applies.” I turned to Vera. “Sometime next week or early the following, we'll have more detailed financials on French and preliminary financials on a man named Frank Able. Able is also involved in the pedophilia ring, probably its leader."

  "Good. As usual, I really need more data, Martin. I'll write up a report on what I have, ready for your review when we arrive in New Orleans."

  "That's fine. Vera, with your permission, I'm going to work you hard on this one. I want you to take over the control and disbursements of funds. You'll need to work closely with Marilyn. She's the administrative head."

  Vera smiled honestly. “I enjoy working with Marilyn. She's a smart lady, and efficient. Of course you have my permission, Martin, I'll do what's needed. Have you set up an operating account?"

  "Sort of. I've freed up the funds necessary. If we need more, I'll sell some stock. The funds have been wired into our offshore project account. You are signatory to that account, so we'll use it as the operating account. Is that all right?"

  "That should work. What have you set aside for this project?"

  "One million."

  "Whew,” Roy said. “This is an expensive one."

  I smiled. “It's just money, Roy."

  "Yeah, I guess,” he replied and shook his large head.

  En route to visit Mikey, the computer hacker, I called Robert. We said our hellos, and I asked, “Do you know a trustworthy burglar, an electronic specialist, one who knows his way around alarm systems?"

  "No, but Harry does. I talked with him about it yesterday."

  "Good, as usual you're ahead of me. Tell the ladies I'm finished with Vera and her husband and on the way to meet Mikey."

  "I won't be here when you return. I'm taking the redeye to New York to put our plan in place to circumvent Jill's meeting with the man her ex wants her to boink. Do I talk with Marilyn or Vera if I need funds?"

  "Marilyn. Vera will disburse the funds, but Marilyn is in charge."

  "Right. See you Friday evening in New York. Will Jill be coming with you?"

  "Yes. Tell Marilyn to set up two suites for us at the Marriott Marquis on Broadway for the next two weeks, and reserve an entire floor of suites for the balance of the month. You take one suite for your operations, Robert. You should plan to work out of New York until the project is finished."

  "That's the way I figured it too, Boss."

  I pulled up in front of a trailer house in Mesa, a suburb of Phoenix. The trailer had more antennas poking out of it than South Mountain, the main location for the Phoenix Metro Area communications antennas. Of course, Mikey's antennas were smaller, didn't need lights to warn off aircraft.

  He answered the door wearing thongs, shorts that came down below his knees, a soiled tie-died t-shirt, and his dirty-blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail. About thirty pounds overweight, he ate pizza most evenings and when the door opened, the odor of old pizza boxes wafted to my nostrils and stung my eyes. His face was pockmarked from a bad acne problem when he was younger. With a mocking smile, he invited me in.

  "I've got beer. Want one?” he asked reluctantly and pushed some dirty clothes from a chair so I could sit.

  "No thanks, Mikey. How have you been?” I looked to my right. Half the trailer was dedicated to computer hardware. That part of the trailer shined, squeaky clean.

  "Hangin', you know, trying to get by. But I've been stayin’ outta trouble."

  "Good for you. I need some help, Mikey."

  He smiled. “This time you have to pay me."

  I laughed. “That's right, Mikey. That was the deal."

  "Cool. What do you need?"

  "I might need you to burn down some web sites for me."

  "If they were mine, I'd just put ‘em back up."

  "If they do, I want you to burn them down again, as many times as needed until they give up. With a little luck, the man who pays their expenses will be in jail. I don't think his techno dudes will work for him very long without pay."

  He nodded and a glint entered his small eyes. He rubbed his pudgy hands together. “Yeah. I've designed a new virus I call Little Nasty. It's a mean sumabitch, Dr. Crowe. Little Nasty will take down a site lickety-split."

  "What's your fee, Mikey?"

  "How many sites?

  "I don't know. There may be none, but that's highly unlikely."

  "Make it a couple a grand for up to five sites. Pay half now and the rest when they stop going back up."

  "Make it up to ten sites, and I won't pay you the first half until I've determined the sites exist, and I need your services."

  "Deal."

  I stood and shook his hand. As I was leaving, a pizza was being delivered.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter Nine

  I arrived earlier than predicted and noted Marilyn's car in the driveway. The ladies were still in the family room when I entered. Jill rose and asked if I wanted a drink.

  I nodded. “Please, scotch on ice. Was your meeting productive?” I asked Marilyn. Jill handed me my drink as I collapsed on a couch. Suddenly I felt tired.

 
"Yes. Robert is gross to look at, but he's a professional. I like the man."

  I sipped scotch and told the ladies about my meeting with Vera and Roy. “They're good people,” I said and kicked off my shoes. “Mikey isn't good people. He's a little shit, but his dubious talents will be useful if French and Able have published some kiddy porn web sites. And he's cheap. He's designed a virus he calls Little Nasty that will take them down."

  "They'll just put them back up, Martin,” Marilyn said.

  "Not if they're in jail."

  "There's always bail."

  I studied Marilyn briefly. Her slightly crooked smile wasn't cynical; it was merely the way the muscles of her pretty face moved her lips. Marilyn was nice, a nice person, nice to look at, nice to be with. My thoughts returned to her statement.

  "Yes, I know, and that's the rub. Maybe...” Suddenly, I had an idea. Bail was always a problem. Able or French or both of them could jump bail and disappear into the woodwork only to resurface and start their illegal operations all over again. Maybe, I thought, just maybe.

  "I'm confused,” Jill said. “You say you're going to put Able and Ev—French in jail. You also say you will not use their illegal activities against them because I would become involved, and my situation would worsen, not improve. What will you do to put them away?"

  I smiled when I noted Jill altering how she referred to her ex-husband from Evan to French. She was distancing herself from him. That's good.

  "I don't know yet,” I said, “but I have a few ideas. I have no compunction about framing them for another crime. They're bad guys and should be in jail. Do you have any qualms about framing them, Jill? All it takes is a little money and some help from my friends."

  She smiled. “No, not at all, and you've answered my question. You have a devious mind, Martin Crowe. I am, however, concerned about what all this is costing you. I have money, Mar..."

  I interrupted her. “Tell her, Marilyn."

  "You made a deal, Jill. You agreed to compensate us for our efforts on your behalf. You agreed to help us with one other project sometime in the future. If you are trying to renege on our agreement, or change it in any way, Martin will close up Operation Monarch right now. I've seen him do it before. The terms and conditions under our agreement cannot be altered."

  Jill looked at me, back at Marilyn, and sighed. “I won't bring up the cost of the project again. I didn't want to renege. I'll help with a hundred new projects without compensation if I'm needed and useful. I was merely..."

  "You still don't get it, Jill,” I said. “You will not help on a hundred projects without compensation. You will help on one without compensation. That's it. No more, no less."

  "You are a stubborn man, Martin Crowe,” Jill said, and tears welled in her eyes. She turned and rushed from the room.

  "Now you've done it,” Marilyn said to me. “I agree with Jill. You're as stubborn as a mule, but not nearly as sensitive."

  Marilyn followed Jill. I sipped scotch, finished the drink in my hand and poured another. I was stubborn, I knew, especially about how I wanted to practice my avocation. Early on, I had allowed the agreement to change. The change seemed harmless at the time, but disaster resulted. Good people died. It was the only project I ever accepted that failed. I vowed then I would never allow the deal to be altered, and I've been true to the vow. What Jill didn't understand was money didn't have any value to me other than supplying my needs and financing my avocation. I was a multi-millionaire before I finished graduate school, and regardless of how much I spent on others and myself, my net worth doubled every few years.

  Twenty minutes later Marilyn returned—naked. She curled up in my lap. I touched her satiny skin, and she squirmed like a puppy getting its belly scratched. Restless, small breasts, rounded like moons at the bottom with youthful nipples, unchewed by babies and eraser hard, presented for pleasure only, swayed softly when she slipped her arms around my neck. I nuzzled her swan neck. It smelled sweet and tasted even sweeter—girl sweat. Two shades darker than her head hair but straighter than the usual, her sparse pubic hair tried to hide puffy labia and failed. A wet vulva, hair matted and a swollen clitoris throbbed to my touch. Has she been touching herself? Did Jill...? My mind conjured visions, sublime imaginary couplings, as the soft, feminine, strong, intelligent and gloriously naked young woman kissed me. Her lips tasted of cunt! My cock slammed against my trousers, fully erect. The taste of cunt on a woman's breath always did that to me.

  "We want to share,” Marilyn said.

  "Share? What..."

  "We want to share. I want you. Jill wants you. I want Jill. Jill wants me. If we all get what we want, that's sharing."

  I smiled. “I want to share, too."

  Marilyn pushed herself from my lap, knelt and unbuckled my belt. “Help me get you naked, like Jill and me,” she said.

  I helped, and she pulled me toward my bedroom. I adored the sight of her little butt clenching as she pulled me, so I dragged my feet, teased with resistance, to force her to pull harder, which in turn emphasized the tantalizing view of the round little ass I so adored. When I saw Jill on my bed, reclining like Francisco Goya's Naked Maya, all resistance evaporated. I also wondered where the pair found all the candles flickering their complimentary light around the room, reflecting off golden flesh and sultry eyes. I quit wondering and merely appreciated.

  But suddenly I didn't know what to do. Should I go to Jill? Should I take Marilyn in my arms again? I stood rooted to the floor with indecision. I had a hard-on, yet I was impotent.

  Marilyn giggled, intuitively understanding my dilemma, and dropped to her knees. She fisted my cock, licked around the crown and dipped to take half my shaft into her mouth. I groaned, appreciating the sublime pleasures her warm mouth evoked, and placed my hands softly at her head while my eyes remained fixed on Jill. She reached down and pulled her fingers through the crease of her cunt, masturbating while she watched Marilyn sucking me off.

  "She has a talented mouth,” Jill said with her sultry green eyes half-closed. “She went down on me while you sat in the other room. I want to taste her now. Do you mind, Martin?"

  "No,” I said. “I agreed to share, too."

  Marilyn's lips smacked when she pulled her mouth off my cock. “Fuck her while she's eating me, Martin,” she said huskily and moved to the bed. The two women embraced first, kissing each other. I watched as breast rubbed against breast, as nipples flattened nipples and then popped back up hard and pointy as they slid by each other. My hand moved without volition to my cock, and I groaned again.

  Their embrace ended and Marilyn pulled a pillow under her little butt to elevate her pussy for easier access. Jill knelt between her legs and rubbed Marilyn's pussy with the palm of her hand. She looked over her shoulder at me.

  "She's exquisite, Martin. I can understand why you've been fucking her."

  She looked back down at Marilyn. I did, too. Lust emanated from Marilyn's bright blue eyes. Her legs were splayed and her fingers had pulled the lips of her pussy wide, like her legs—open, inviting and obscene. I enjoyed obscene. Her soft breasts had flattened on her chest, but her youthful nipples poked up hard and enticing. I climbed onto the bed and dipped my head to Marilyn's breasts. I licked and sucked her enticing nipples, both of them, and then I kissed her. The kiss was more a suck than a kiss, a lick and a suck. Our tongues slipped out as far as they would go. We entwined them, licking into the other's mouth. Marilyn groaned into my jaws, a groan that expressed pleasure evoked by something more than a kiss. Ah, I thought, Jill must be sucking, licking at her other mouth. I raised my head and looked back at a truly erotic sight—Jill bent across her knees, her breasts flattened against her thighs as if she were bowing to her God. Instead, she worshiped cunnilingus. Her beautiful round ass was higher than her head as she slowly licked up and down in Marilyn's cunt.

  I wanted her ass. I had not fucked Jill's butt since our summer long ago. My cock throbbed with the thought, and I moved back behind my lover from the
past. With my hands, I raised her shapely ass a little and spread her cheeks until I could see her little sphincter—a fear-filled pucker, clenching to avoid the coming assault. I bent and licked it, and the pucker squirmed. With delight? Or was it fear? My tongue rolled around her puckered hole, rimming her for over a minute before I tried to jab my tongue inside. Her natural reflex expelled the intrusion, but I persisted and finally my curled tongue gained entry. I enjoyed her pungent taste, and continued to jab my tongue in and out of her asshole as far as my tongue could reach. She squirmed against my face, and I reached down with one hand and pushed two fingers into her cunt. When they were liberally covered with her moisture, I brought them back up and pushed one of them into her ass. Once beyond the sphincter, it slid in easily, and I heard Jill groan in Marilyn's pussy. I bent and kissed the back of her neck and inserted the other finger. She tried to expel both of them, but I held them firmly inside without moving them. As with my tongue, finally Jill relaxed, and soon I was finger fucking her ass with the two fingers. With my other hand, I guided my cock to her cunt and pushed it inside her.

  Jill raised her mouth from Marilyn's cunt and said, “No, in my ass. Fuck me in my ass, Martin."

  "That's my plan, you gorgeous, wanton woman. I'm just getting my cock wet with your juices."

  I stroked fully into her a few times and then backed away. As I pulled my fingers from her anus, I placed the head of my cock at her sphincter and pushed. Again she tried to repel me, but she wanted me inside her as much as I wanted to be in her, so I pressed forward until the crown of my cock abruptly slipped through her sphincter. I waited until I could feel her move back against me slightly, signaling she wanted more. I pushed again until I heard her cry out. I stopped but didn't retract my shaft. When I felt the membranes inside her ass relax, I pushed with force. This time my cock slid fully inside her with little resistance.