Chapter 2

We moved Crystal from the dorms into our house. She took the third bedroom as her space. For whatever she wanted. Closet overflow, study sanctuary, someplace to do her toenails and listen to Holly Fields albums. Whatever she wanted.

We also started looking for a bigger house. We wanted a four-car garage, three bedrooms and a work out room, the family room, living room, chef’s kitchen, area to entertain outside, and if there was a Goddess, a nice pool as well. We actually found one. A couple had recently completed just such a dream house, right up the street, in our same neighborhood, using three lots. He passed away from a freak heart attack just before they moved in and she wanted to take herself and her two older children back to the Midwest to be with her parents. Him being a cardiologist worried me a bit. He was my age.

The view of the bay was fabulous, unobstructed save a couple palm trees, and it was on a side street versus a main road, like we had now. The pool was really nice sized, enough for laps, with a hot tub attached, and another one by the house. When Ashley came to me with her bag and told me she wanted to buy us the house that would have room for all four of our vehicles, and had a pool, I almost cried. She was willing to give almost her entire fortune, to give us room. To make our lives richer.

I took her in my arms and held her. I could not believe she didn’t just assume I’d pay for it. She was my wife, plus, she knew all about my situation now. The money, the plane, the job. I hadn’t discussed it with her, but I was considering cutting back, consulting, or just leaving the field and taking phone calls to assist where needed. We had more money than we could spend if we bought a house like that every year.

We got it for just under three million. The builder made their money and the original buyer got out what she needed to break even and go home. Everybody won in this case. Mostly, The Little Thief. She stole this deal. I wouldn’t let her pay for it, though, for any number of reasons other than the obvious one. She was my wife. It was my duty, my job, my position, as well as my desire. And anyway, we had to be careful with hers. The two bond deposits hadn’t set off any flags, and we were hoping to keep it that way. We even considered a trip to the Caymans but were still working out whether that would be good, or not. It was a financial decision. I could get diplomatic immunity for the bag, so that wasn’t a concern. It was more of a financial thing. I was happy, very happy, with her just taking a little now and again for shopping. It was working for her, too, so for now, that was that.

The girls goofed off around the new house all summer, getting things just like they wanted. They spent a lot of time around the pool, mostly unclothed. We had accidentally, without knowing it I mean, purchased a house with no other homes able to see into the back yard and pool area. It was entirely private; almost unheard of in any established non-gated community. We looked at a couple of houses like that, though. They didn’t fit our lifestyle, and were too far from the bay. In any case, clothing in the Cooper household was ‘optional’.

They started school back up, with similar schedules. They each bought a bike that they could use to get around from where they parked, using Ashley’s car as home base. Crystal was instrumental in helping Ash get her feet on the ground her Freshman year at UCSD. She was holding out for her medical path, looking at family psychiatry as a specialty. She had the brains and the money (and the connections) so why not. Crystal was well on the way, in her Junior year now, chasing her degree in oceanography with a minor in Business Management. No, I had no idea what it was, but she had a dream. She said she’d share her dream with us, a little at a time. First hint? When we bought another boat, don’t sell the old one. Oh. OK. That makes sense. NOT! But I loved her. I didn’t care.

I did have an idea, though, and wanted Ashley to see how her slave felt about her position. I thought long and hard about it, because I’m not a fan of indenture, forced service, or anything even close to that. But, talking with Ashley, I realized what we had was a willing recipient of some control and guidance. It wasn’t a game, or just playing dungeon, or anything, but also, she was not a slave we beat and fucked and whipped and starved and let the neighbors borrow to clean dog poop up in the yard. Soooo, my bright idea? Have David, the jeweler, make her a collar. A collar of gold and jewels with words to proclaim our love, signifying her standing, but at the same time showing how important she was to us. A slave with a ten-thousand-dollar collar will probably think twice before thinking they’re unwanted.

Ashley thought that would be the absolute best thing, so, for her first Christmas with us, she was collared and made a slave. The happiest one in Southern California, most likely. Boxing Day saw us on the way back to Hawaii, Kauai, more precisely to celebrate our first anniversary, but this time, we had a collared slave with us. Less drinks to schlepp, if nothing else. Of course, her collar didn’t have to come off going through security, since that comprised of me playfully swatting her cute little ass and telling her to get on the plane. It was a total surprise to her, and although she had heard about the plane, and knew that I often flew to work, and Ashley had done a weekend thing with me once, she hadn’t been on it yet. She even asked Momma when the pilot would get there when Daddy pushed the buttons that brought the stairs up. When Daddy pulled the door shut she shivered a bit.

“Baby, Daddy is the pilot. I can fly now, too. I have a private pilot’s license and can fly a couple of smaller planes, but I’m working on flying this one, too. I’ve been going out to Montgomery for flying lessons almost every weekend for well over a year now. That’s where I disappear to when I have my ‘me time’. And Daddy is going to let me go to Wichita for some lessons pretty soon. Are you going to be a good slave and go with me?”

“Kansas? Of course, I’ll go. Just to take care of you. You know I will. Ashley, Momma, before this goes any further, you know I’ll do anything for you, don’t you? You need but tell me.”

“Baby, we’re going to test that someday. When I know you feel safe. When I know you feel loved. When I know you feel secure in our relationship, completely secure, I’ll test that. Then we’ll know. I’ll never endanger your life. I’ll never share you with another man. I’ll never force you to do anything unsafe or unhealthy, but someday, you’ll know you’re my slave, and mine alone.” Crystal smiled at her and nodded.

“Momma, I want that. Believe me.”

“Good, Baby. Don’t make any plans without asking me first. Summer is going to be quite an experience for you.”

When Ash shared the conversation with me later that evening, I smiled to myself. Crystal had been warned. Crystal had also volunteered that the warning need not be given. There was way too much love in our home for me to be scared about Crystal’s treatment. Ashley confirmed I was right, she just needed to keep her little slave girl on her toes.

And we treated her terribly on Kauai. At the hotel pool, as well as the beach, she was often found applying suntan oils to her owners. And advertising that fact, if asked for a date, or to talk or some such by a handsome stranger, and in one case an obviously wealthy woman with an eye for beauty. She fluttered her eyes at the woman, and thanked her, but told the woman that she couldn’t leave her owners for even a minute as they couldn’t get along without her. She touched her fingers to her collar while they talked. The woman formed a little ‘O’ with her lips and her eyebrows went up. Crystal went on to explain that we were helpless without our thrall. They both laughed, as did Ashley and I, then our slave was forced to use her back, arms, and legs to massage my hands with suntan oil as well. She did pretty well. My hands felt better afterwards. The life of our slave, sexual or otherwise, shouldn’t be all that bad, I wouldn’t think.

We went beach sunning and swimming a couple times while we were there. Both of my girls got hit on quite a bit. They used their jewelry to explain away most situations, but there were a couple of ruffians on one outing that were a little overboard. When my little redheaded wife was propositioned by one of two buffed up beach bums, who obviously wanted her, and wanted Crystal for his buddy, she tried to politely say she wasn’t interested in their advances. She went on to tell them she did not want to go out with either one, and wouldn’t allow her slave to accompany them either, so they might want to look elsewhere. They said that was a load of crap and asked the girls to go with them back to their hotel. I was laying right next to Ashley, on a towel this whole time, and I don’t know exactly what the guys were thinking, but they obviously didn’t care that I was there.

“Gentlemen, I think the ladies asked to be left alone. I’m actually pretty sure that’s what I heard.”

“Back off, old man. If you daughters want to come with us, they will. Get it?”

“Yes, I get it. However, number one, they said they didn’t want to, and number two, the little one is my wife, not my daughter, and the other one is her slave. Her possession. Not yours, and she does not want you involving yourself with her belongings. Have I made myself clear? At all?”

“You made yourself get your ass whipped is what you did.”

The one closest to me walked over to me and kicked at me. Ashley’s scream disguised his. I broke his ankle and dislocated his knee.

The other one came over to help, but by that time I was on my feet and stamped the ground. When idiot number two looked at my foot I put a knuckle in his solar plexus.

“Ashley, dial 911, please. Ashley? Crystal, dial 911 now. Don’t question it, just do it. We’re on Puu Poa Beach by the tall palms and your friend’s husband was attacked by two beach bums.”

“Yes, hello, my name is Crystal Cooper, my wife’s friend was just attacked by two guys trying to take us from him. (Pause.) Puu Poa Beach, by the two tall palms. (Pause.) No, you might want to send an ambulance. (Pause.) OK, I’ll hold.”

“Crystal, honey, you used Cooper as your last name, and called me your wife’s friend.”

“OH SHIT. You’re my friend’s wife. SHIT. My friend’s husband. Sir, you just took care of those guys. You saved us. Wow. Momma did you see that?”

Just then a four-wheeler came busting up behind us. I guess we were the only party by the palms big enough to have an incident going.

“Did one of you call 911?”

“Yes, Ma’am, I did.” She, the officer, shook a bit of hair out after taking her helmet off and looked over at Crystal. “I’m Crystal. That’s my friend, Ashley, and that’s her husband Chuck, and those two guys attacked him trying to take us away.”

“You’re kidding. Jake Stevens? You? Again? Oh, that looks nasty. Don’t move. A meat wagon is on the way. Tommy Tudor. Nice to see you again, what’s it been, a week? Don’t move. It will slowly come back, inhale, exhale, easy, then just stay there, or I’ll handcuff you before you get your breath all the way back. You don’t want that. Makes it really hard to get it back to normal if you can’t move your arms. Remember now, stay there. Don’t move on me.” She came back over to Crystal. “OK, try this again. You’re Crystal. You called. Last name?”

“I go by Cooper, but it’s really Vinetti.”

“And these are?”

“Chuck and Ashley Cooper. Man and wife. They go by Cooper, too. But they are...” The officer interrupted.

“You’re fine, Crystal. Slow down. I can take it from here.” Crystal nodded and sat on her blanket. An EMS wagon, oversized Jeep, Humvee Hybrid, whatever it was, came down to where we were on the beach.

“Mr. Cooper? Can I see some ID? Care to tell me what happened here?”

I handed her my California driver’s license. “Yes’m. We were talking about how pretty it is here on Kauai, when these two ... Persons. When these two persons approached us and told my wife and our friend they were going back to the hotel with them. They made a point to tell me (I made air quotes) ‘my daughters’ would be going with them if they wanted them to. I took exception to that, since one of them is actually my wife, so I told them to leave the girls alone. The one you called Jake came over and tried to kick me in the ribs so I broke his foot. The other one came to finish the job so I stopped his breathing temporarily so we’d be safe.”

“And just how did you do that, sir?”

“I stamped my foot to get his attention and popped him in the solar plexus with my knuckle.”

“Oh. Well, I know these guys, so if you’ll sign statements and agree to press charges, they won’t be bothering anyone else for about six months.”

“Consider it done. Will we know when we have to suffer through another vacation to Kauai to come to court to testify?”

She laughed. “We’ll try to do it over the phone, but if you’re determined, you can come here.”

Ashley spoke up, “Good, I love it here. Maybe I can help fly by then.”

“You flew here on your own?”

“Yes, the three of us. No jokes about tired arms, though. Just a little plane. No biggie.”

“Little? From San Diego? Usually that takes a medium business jet, minimum.”

“CJ4 with a couple gas cans strapped under the wings. Little.”

“Gotcha. Lemme make sure they’re going to live then we can talk instructions for tomorrow. Thanks, by the way. Normally tourists won’t help us take our trash out, and it’s hard without witnesses and charges. Damned civil rights anyway. You know?” I nodded and snickered when she giggled.

“You girls OK?” I was talking to my wife and her slave girl at that point. They both nodded, but I could tell they were both a touch shaken by the events. “Baby, you said Cooper. Then said you go by Cooper. You really do that?”

“Yes, Sir. I belong to Mistress Ashley. Momma. I’m a Cooper now. No disrespect to my family. I (she did air quotes) ‘married’ out of the Vinetti clan. It was going to happen someday, one way or the other. I wouldn’t have been an old maid, I don’t think. I’m not ugly. Stupid for being used against my will, but not ugly. I was hoping at some point to have a ceremony where you would tell me I’m a Cooper. I was holding out for it.”

Ashley told her to bend over and touch her toes. She did. She got smacked on the ass, almost playfully. “You’re a Cooper. There’s your ceremony. I just beat the Cooper name into your sweet and pretty young ass. We’ll make it legal when we get home. Chuck, buy her a ring. It won’t be a wedding ring, but it will mean the same to us. No, wait. The bag of tricks. We have anything left?” I nodded and mouthed ‘Plenty’. “Good. We’ll have another ceremony to make you my wife, but for now, you’re a Cooper, AND my pretty little slave girl.”

“Slavery is illegal in Hawaii, Ma’am,” said the officer, having just walked up and giggling, trying to keep her composure. “Sorry, I overheard. It’s not as uncommon as you might think, and I have a feeling, after looking at that collar, and the definite lack of marks on that gorgeous form, which I can see almost all of, that the worst thing that slave does is get coffee in the morning. In any case, it’s none of my business, and I wish you all well. Whatever you’re doing. I, or we, will text you some instructions for tomorrow, and if you can come into Princeville to the station, we’d appreciate your statements and signatures. Neither of these guys are residents but they’re both bad news, and we’re hoping we can get them back to Arizona by making them feel unwelcome.”

I told her, “We’re more than happy to help, and we can come back if needed.”

“Thanks. Also, the guy who you did the breathing adjustment on just told the medics you used magic on Jake’s foot. Can I send some more trouble makers down here, if I promise not to ask what he’s talking about?” I shook my head. “Just kidding. Jeez, no sense of humor.” Then we both laughed. The girls did, too. Looked like the shock of the incident was wearing off.

We were told we could vacate the premises, so we got in the rental car and headed back to the hotel. I was hungry at that point and was getting close to eating one of my captive women. When I explained that to them, they both raised their hands saying, “Me, me, eat me!”

“You don’t understand girls, if I eat you in this condition, you won’t be able to walk. I might use mustard, and hurt somebody. I’m hungry.” Then I got a couple of...

“Oh, never mind. Ewwww.”

We showered, together, almost fixing my hunger, but the belly won the war, so we dressed, nicely, me in slacks and a button down with loafers, them in sundresses. Ashley was in a princess cut, enhancing her petite and slim figure, and Crystal in a shirt dress. One that I just wanted to unbutton. All the way. They were both in strappy high heeled sandals, very fuckable ones, with natural tones. I could tell I was hungry, thinking of their feet and shoes like that. Ash had her pearls and Crystal her collar. They were, in a word, fabulously gorgeous. I guess you just can’t explain my dolls with just ‘a word’.

We got a text from the police station asking us to come see the responsible reporting officer at nine o’clock the next morning. No problem. Right after breakfast!

The restaurant we went to was having a band that night, so we stayed for a couple sets and danced. In three combinations of two, and one of three. We had fun. The only problems from interlopers was one that asked if Ashley was a natural redhead. She said later that she thought he was ‘slimy’. She asked which he preferred, then went on to tell him she’d use the other answer so he’d stop bothering her. He was miffed and walked away with a sneer. Another guy offered Crystal money to leave with him, figuring her to be other than my wife and carrying on with both of us. Thought he’d get lucky. She asked him, “How much?” He said five hundred. We heard her reply.

“Mister, my slave collar is worth thirty times that much. Momma? Can I have a thousand dollars? This guy just offered me five hundred to go with him, but I wanna stay with you and Daddy.”

“Sure, Pumpkin. I’ll give you fifteen hundred if you smile at him and then not say another word to him.” She smiled at the man and turned back to us. He got pissed, embarrassed, and walked out. “Like that cop said on the beach today. No sense of humor, jeez!”

We danced a few more numbers, then headed out for the car to leave for the hotel. We had company, though, and I really thought then that we were going to have to tone down our approach to the vultures, or something. Ash and the cop were right. Some people have no sense of humor. The guy from inside that offered Crystal the money had a friend with him, and thought he’d just take her, I guess. He asked me to step away from the girls, and I didn’t, so he pulled a knife. Then that’s immediately what I did so the knife wasn’t around them. I asked him to put the knife down and let us walk away so no one got hurt. He laughed at that and his buddy thought it was so funny he reached out for Ashley’s arm. His lips were puckered. Ickkkkk. That set me off. I stamped the ground, distracting the knife guy, then drove my fist into the knife guy’s chest, broke his wrist over my knee, putting the knife in the gravel by my foot. I reached down for it, checked the balance and pitched the knife into the back of the Ickkky guy’s thigh. He was not a happy camper. Both of the girls had jumped back by then and were in no danger. They saw the foot stomp thing earlier and I guess learned to get the hell out of the way. It doesn’t always work, but normally it helps. By the time Ickkky guy was done yelling, I had his breathing interrupted and retrieved the knife, carefully laying it on the ground until the police showed up. I ripped his sleeve off his arm, ripped it in two, longwise and wrapped it around the wound.

“Are we calling them or are you?” I asked them. “You,” I pointed to knife guy, “pulled a knife on me. That’s an assault charge from the get go. You,” I said to Ickkky guy, “tried to grab my wife. Not cool. Assault of a lesser degree. You boys calling the cops, or am I? I have an idea. My wife’s little slave is good at this. She did it earlier today, as well. Call 911, Crystal. Hey, Doll, listen carefully to me this time. Your friend’s husband was attacked by two guys, one with a knife. Got it?” She nodded, shaking tears loose.

She put the phone up to her face after punching at the screen. “Yes, sniff, my name is Crystal Cooper and my ... Friend’s ... Husband ... Yes, my friend’s husband was attacked with a knife. (Pause.) No, he’s fine. At the Trade Winds Restaurant. (Pause.) You’ll want to send an ambulance. (Pause.) He is. The two guys that attacked him, not so much. One may have a hole in his leg. (Pause.) No, Chuck stopped the bleeding. (Pause.) The guy’s shirt is around it. Looks pretty tight. (Pause.) OK, I’ll hold.”

My girls were holding each other now, and we were drawing a crowd.

A cop car came screaming up. I pointed to the knife. And held my hands up.

“Who called us?” the cop asked.

“I did.” Crystal told the dispatcher the police were there. “This is my wife’s friend and he was ... Shit. This is my friend’s husband and he was attacked by that guy,” She pointed to knife guy, “with that knife,” she pointed to the knife, “which Master threw into the back of that guy’s leg,” pointing to ickkky guy, “when he tried to assault my friend here.” She put her arm around her mistress.

One of the officers pulled me aside while the other checked on the ‘guys’. He asked for my ID and took down a couple notes. He called my name in. The ambulance was roaring up then, so things would be stable soon, I’m sure. I explained exactly what happened. Three times. I was quite happy when I found out that both of these bad guys, brothers and local thugs, were well known to the gendarmes. Made my life much simpler when I told them I’d come back if I needed to testify against them.

He touched his earpiece. “Sir, your name just popped up from an earlier incident today. Are you out looking for trouble?” He was serious!

“Absolutely not, but I will tell you, having those two gorgeous things on my arm, in places where I don’t know the entire crew, is becoming a non-option. This afternoon at the beach, and now here, just because someone thinks they can take them away from me. The little one is my wife, and the other one is our friend. I want them safe, and always thought on Kauai, especially in Princeville, they would be.”

“OK, another week with you here, and they probably will be. Sorry. Bad humor. Where are you headed from here?”

“At any other time in my life, I would have told you that’s none of your business, since I’m not under arrest, or under oath,” I could tell he was getting his hackles up a bit, “but I’ll tell you, because it’s pertinent. Highly relevant. We were going to the hotel to get some sleep so we could go to the police station in the morning for statements and such about the earlier incident this afternoon. Officer, the last time, before today, that I took anyone down was about six years ago in a little country in Southwest Asia. One you’ve probably never heard of. I haven’t thrown a knife at a human being for longer than that. This is not a habit of mine.”

“OK, understood. Same station, same department. We get you after Cindy does. She’s the reporting officer from earlier this afternoon.”

I said, “OK, and one other thing, and then I’ll let it go. If my permit were any good in this state, no one would have been injured. I can tell neither of them wanted to die, they just wanted to get laid, using someone else’s women. Tell them when I come back, I’ll have a federal permit, and they can act accordingly. I will press charges, though, and I will come back for court. I can come any time within a few hours’ notice, so no one’s getting off on technicalities, either.”

The officer cocked his head, then nodded, and replied, “I think that was loud enough that they heard you. As did the two guys behind you that are waiting for us to leave. They would probably like a word with you. I think they work for Fred and Ralph. Yeah, the thugs. Fred and Ralph Reynolds. Gangsters. At least these two will be off the street tonight. The other two won’t follow you while we’re here, so head out and take your girls with you.” He put his hand up to his earpiece. “We’ll see you in the morning. We have two eye witnesses that saw the whole thing, and two more that say the two behind you were inside when it happened. Fun, fun. Thank you, sir. Have a good evening.”

“Let’s go, girls. This place is crawling with snakes.” I said that loud enough, too. We left and I made sure no one was following us. I headed out to a different hotel, the other direction from ours, then turned later to make it look like we were going somewhere else. If they realized how close we were, they would have been upset. As it was, they had no way to follow us. If I’d been alone, I would have driven slowly and directly here. Lucky for them, I’m not.

We decided to go home the day after tomorrow. We would get up early and make the trek, getting back early in the afternoon, all being equal. Tomorrow, the police station in the morning, then maybe the pool or a beach in the afternoon, then a good night’s rest for the pilots and off we go into the wild blue yonder. We were wound up, but a couple beers and a talk about the exciting day, and we were out like babies.

Awake, then fun and frolic in the shower followed by a breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant. They had a good cook in the back when it came to the scrambled eggs, but also had an omelet bar. I drowned my upcoming legal fears and sorrows in cholesterol with all the mushrooms, tomato, black olives and jack cheese he could fit in the thing. Marvelous. Simply marvelous. Kona coffee, and pineapple juice. This is Hawaii, after all.

At the station we gave our statements on incident number one and were mildly surprised that it went so smoothly. The statements were gone over by a couple of suits, we were asked some questions, which all meshed pretty well. Even a couple bystanders contributed. I was asked about the broken foot/knee thing, but I passed it off as a lucky catch and throw of the foot, ankle, and knee. They did get enough out of me to know I was a Special Operator at some point.

The second set of interviews went a little differently. That one caused some dismay that I was able to disarm one guy and use his knife to take down another one. Ten feet away. The witnesses didn’t see it progress as it happened, just that it did. I explained it as a lucky break, but they weren’t buying it twice. I held off as long as I could, then when he mentioned he might have to charge me with first degree assault with a deadly weapon, instead of it going down as a case of self-defense and defense of another person, I pulled out my GOOJC, my Juicy. My Get Out of Jail Card. With the phone number to the DoD duty officer. The detective looked at it.

“OK, I call this number, the MPs come over from Wheeler and snatch you up, right?”

“I don’t know how it works, here, detective. I do know this, though. I protected myself from a knife last night and protected my wife from assault with the weapon that the asshat had the nerve to try to use on me. You have witness accounts, and except for his cronies, no opposing information. For you to threaten me with assault charges, because you don’t understand how I did something is ludicrous. I took a knife away from the person threatening me and my wife, and our friend, and used it on the person threatening my wife. If that is a problem, I will show you how I did it. I want a statement from you that you won’t press charges, and that you won’t shoot me for embarrassing you afterwards. Without those, you get the duty officer, and then you’ll get me coming back here carrying a bigger gun than you have and a federal carry permit. Or, you call it what it is. Bad luck for a couple of jerks and let us go on our way. Choice is yours. To be honest, I like it here, but those two jerks know me now. So do their henchmen. We saw that last night. When I come back, I’ll be armed anyway. And, I will be back. My ladies like it here, too. What say you, sir? You want to be honest about this or beat your chest. Alone.”

“I want to know how you got to where you were able to do things like that. How did you get that good?”

“How did you get so good at interviewing suspects and getting to the bottom of a case?”

“Instinct and practice.”

“Well, you answered it yourself, right there. While you were using your instincts to practice being a good cop, I was doing the same thing to be a good ... Servant of the American people. Enough said. Make a decision. My wife and my girlfriend are getting really bored out there alone. And I could use some lunch.”

He got up, opened the door and walked out, holding the door open for me. “Have a nice day, Mr. Cooper. We will be in touch with dates for legal proceedings, discovery, that sort of thing. We’ll try to give you enough time...” I interrupted him.

“Just give me a day if you can, flight time if you can’t. I don’t want anyone getting off on a technicality due to a no-show witness or the like. I am pressing charges, and I want them seen through. Even if my wife has to fly me over.” I saw the look in his eyes. “Yes, Detective, I can be here in 5 hours. Depending on the time of day and my state of mind. I do have a beer now and again.” I walked out, then turned to him. “Oh, and detective, you showed me two of your cards today. If I find out you work with or help those thugs, well, that’s not something you want me to find out. You have a nice day, too.”