Chapter 5

Emily was sleeping in and I decided to get some breakfast. We were really going to need to get to the grocers to get at least minimum stocks of necessities, like food and coffee.

I no sooner stepped into PI than Kathryn stepped up to me and laid one of the most intense kissed I had ever received with my clothes on. I lost track of time as her tongue dueled with mine. When it ended she released me and stepped back.

I took a deep breath to clear my head and said, “Well good morning to you too.”

She laughed and turned back to the counter.

“You and Kathryn seem awfully friendly this morning,” Cynthia said. She was sitting in a booth with a man I had not yet met.

“Danny, this is my husband Chet.”

Chet was an older man, older than Cynthia anyway. He looked to be in his early fifties. For all that he appeared tan and fit, dressed in a button down shirt and khaki slacks.

“Danny Becket,” I introduced myself and offered my hand.

He shook it. “Cynthia was just telling me she thought you’d fit right in. Won’t you join us?”

I sat down and Kathryn came back.

“How about some coffee? Add hash browns and sausage patties, please.”

“What ever you want, Danny,” she answered saucily.

Cynthia laughed.

“What have you been up to Danny? That girl is positively smitten with you.”

I shrugged. “I’ve only just met her. I don’t think I’ve said more than a couple of sentences to her since I got into town. I did meet her sister, Carly. I found her in my hot tub the other night.”

“Danny, you didn’t...”

I must have looked abashed because Chet started laughing. “Christ, you did?” he said.

Cynthia was laughing too and I was beginning to get a little self conscious, realizing they knew exactly what had happened.

“It’s the Quad,” Cynthia said.

“The ‘quad’?”

“Danny you know that Kathryn has a twin sister?”

“Yes. Megan. I met her yesterday before you came over. She’s the Postmistress, as well as being the mail delivery person.”

“And you met Carly?” Chet said. “And got to know her? Biblically.”

I could feel myself blush, but nodded.

“Carly is also a twin. Her sister is Crystal. They’re all the same age. Carly and Crystal are adopted. Strangely, at any time if you see a pair of them you’re more likely to see Crystal and Megan or Carly and Kathryn together than you are to see them with their own twin. Carly and Kathryn are the wild ones.”

“Not that they aren’t all pretty wild, even for Lesserton standards,” Cynthia said. “Danny they’re the Quad, and they always share.”

Just then Kathryn appeared with my coffee. We were speaking low so I did not think she had overheard us.

“Black, right?” she said setting the cup before me.

“Yes, Thanks.”

As she scampered off Cynthia and Chet laughed again.

I ordered coffee and breakfast to go. After Kathryn brought it to the table I said goodbye to my lawyer and her partner.

When I got back to the loft I noted Emily was no longer in my bed, but I notice suspicious sounds coming out of her room. Eerily familiar suspicious sounds. I battled with myself, embarrassment and curiosity vying for dominance until finally I approached her door. I knew that I really had no right to open her door without knocking, but did it anyway.

I was not surprised to see two bodies entwined on Emily’s bed. I was a little shocked to see that they were both female. Emily was on the bottom and I could see the lithe blond on top’s ponytail swishing as her head moved between my MPDG’s thighs. The uniform gray shorts and blue blouse thrown on the floor identified their owner even without the USPS logo perfectly visible on the discarded ball cap.

I closed the door quietly and walked straight to the bar to pour myself a shot of whiskey, despite the early hour.

Megan slipped out of Emily’s room freshly showered, her gray uniform none the worse for wear despite her recent activities. I was sitting at the kitchen island.

“Oh, coffee. You’re a lifesaver, Danny,” she said scooping up the cup I had brought for Emily.

I stood there in shock as she kissed my cheek like an old friend and floated down the stairway.

I continued to sit mostly staring off into space as my thoughts whirled. Considering my adventures with Carly and Cynthia I had very little right to complain about Emily’s behavior.

The parallels with Darla’s activities did not escape me, except of course they were not equivalent. My relationship with Emily was non-exclusive. We have never actually discussed that point, but the fact that she had assumed it, just as I had, was a pretty good indication we were on the same page.

“Oh, you’re here,” Emily said. She saw the box with the π on the top. “Breakfast!” She looked around. “You didn’t bring coffee?”

“Megan took it.”

“Oh? OH!”

“It’s okay. No harm. No foul. It’s your room. Reasonable guests allowed.”

“Reasonable guests?”

“As long as the silverware doesn’t start turning up missing. Meanwhile, I think we need to go shopping.” Whoever Cynthia had clean out the building had pretty much removed everything perishable and nonperishable from the kitchen. The kitchen cabinets had pretty much been picked bare.

The whole loft looked pretty much unlived-in. There were clean sheets in the linen closet, paper and pens in the desk and brooms and vacuums in the cleaning closets, but just about every sample of human habitation from food to toothpaste had been removed. There were a couple of boxes in the master suite office that I still had to go through with items deemed important enough to keep.

“Can we stop by PI on the way? I need some coffee.”

“So how much do you know about this stuff?” I asked my MPDG assistant.

We were in the workshop. Though orderly, six months of idleness had resulted in a thin coat of dust on just about everything. I decided after shopping and getting the kitchen organized we should start getting familiarized with everything. I needed something to fill my time and this looked like an interesting way to do it. Besides at the very least we needed to get the Internet, router and WiFi working so that the many smart devices spread throughout the loft, such as the video doorbell and alarm system, actually worked.

Emily pointed to the largest CDC machine. “You design stuff or download DXF files. Use use CAM software to create G-Code which you download to the CNC and bingo.”

“Bingo?”

“You load the material on the bed, do the setup and there you go.”

“So what do you design in?”
“There’s a bunch of different CAD programs. Sketchup Pro is probably the cheapest. Of course there’s a bunch of Open Source CAD software too. Let’s see what we’ve got.”

That led to us addressing the computer station.

“I’m afraid this is beyond me,” she said after looking at the equipment rack next to the computer desk.

“This is something I can handle,” I said. “I don’t just manage an app company. I’ve been doing serious IT tech for awhile.”

I examined the rack in detail. The first most obvious thing was the commercial grade UPS, meant to provide backup power. There was an Optical Network Terminal where the internet fiber entered the building and was converted to an input the router could use. There was also a central wireless router that connected to repeaters throughout the building.

I pressed the button on the UPS and watched it spark to life.

“Great. Now all we have to do reset everything.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know any of Uncle Tony’s passwords.” Then I remembered the stuff in the office.

“What are we looking for?” Emily asked.

“I’m not sure. Maybe Uncle Tony had a book of passwords. Or maybe he had a service contract with someone to manage his IT.”

I started digging through the box. On top were a stack of framed pictures. There was one of me and mom from back when I was still in grade school. My graduation picture. A picture of Tony and mom where he had his arm around her, both looking very cozy together. Below were unframed photos. Dozens of Mom, Tony and various others.

Then came the nudes. There was one of my mother. She looked a good deal younger than I was now. It was an artistic picture, centerfold style. There was one with a her and a very shapely blonde that I recognized as Cynthia Smith. If you squinted it was almost possible to believe their pose was not inappropriate. There were other women too. One was of Beverly Mock, who looked like she was barely legal. None of the photographs were pornographic, but I expect I was likely to see most or all of them in Lesserton eventually. I tossed the rest of the stack on the desk, not sure I wanted to review them all in detail now.

There were a couple of ledgers. A quick look proved that the latest entries were at least fifteen years old. I suspected I’d find software on the computer that contained more recent data, provided I did not have to reformat the hard drive to get the system working.

I had just found a small moleskin ledger when Emily said, “Danny! There’s a letter here addressed to you.”

She was holding the sealed envelope where I could see it. I took it and looked at the name on the front: Daniel Becket.

I handed Emily the ledger. Taking the letter I saw a letter opener stuck in a cup with pens, pencils and other writing tools. Inside was a single sheet.

Dear Daniel

I know it has been many years since we have seen each other. I want you to know that was not my choice, but dictated by circumstance which your dear mother found to be too difficult to face. I know she loved you very much and always did what she thought was best for you. She also loved me, in perhaps ways that were not totally proper for a sister.

I can not make up for my actions, no matter how well-intentioned, but perhaps by leaving you what legacy I have to give, I can in some way make some restitution. I expect you have learned about my Lesserton project by now. I hope that you and Darla can embrace Lesserton as I have.

The letter was not signed, but I fully well knew who had written it.

“So what’s it say?”

I sighed. “Nothing.” I folded the letter and stuffed it in my pocket. “How about the ledger?”

Emily opened it and began to page through it. “It’s a password log.”

With the passwords I was able to get first the router and then the WiFi working. It took most of the day to make all of the loft devices operational. This included two of the half dozen or so laptops that were in various places in the loft. I examined one closely and as soon as I found it had nothing on it I wished to preserve I reformatted the hard drive, installed Linux and gifted it to Emily.

I was also thinking it was about time to get her a better phone. She was using a prepaid plan throw away. I decided to talk to Cynthia. Perhaps I should have her set up a shell corporation so that I could pay Emily over the table and pay for services and hardware through it. With my existing wealth I would have to figure out how to keep Uncle Sam from taking large chunks of it. I was sure she could set me up with a competent CPA to handle that sort of thing.

I was getting a well deserved drink from the cooler in the kitchen when the display device on the island started flashing. With curiosity I examined the screen. It showed my cell number over a set of buttons, one of which was labeled ‘Answer’ and the other ‘Video’. I pressed the Video button and a familiar face popped up.

“Kathryn? Hello.”

“Hello Danny. I got your number from Emily, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. What’s up?”

“Carly and I were wondering if you’d like to go to dinner with us.”

That was unexpected.

“I’m not sure what my lovely assistant has planned.”

“I think she’s got a date with my sister Megan tonight.”

Maybe not totally unexpected.

“Okay. I’d like to get to know both of you.”

“Great. Is Italian alright?”

“Sounds lovely.”

“7:30? We’ll come by your place.”

Emily was not surprised that the beautiful Bower sister had called. She did indeed have a date with Megan, though she said Crystal was likely to be on the menu too.

“Where did they invite you?”

“They said Italian,” I reported.

“That means Pipo’s unless things have changed in the last three years. You should dress nice.”

“Slacks and a button down okay?”

“Good enough.”

“Is it alright to come up?” I heard from the stairway.

“Sure.”

“Emily let us in,” I heard Kathryn’s voice say.

I had never seen the blonde except in her PI Diner uniform. She was wearing a teal top that contrasted well with her creamy skin. Black skinny jeans, made of some kind of material that sparkled in the light hugged her luscious hips. Her hair was curled and made a fetching mane for her well formed face.

Carly climbed the steps behind her sister. The darker girl’s straight brown hair framed an equally beautiful face. Her top was tighter, its crinkly mauve material cut high enough to expose the brunette’s navel. Her dark pants were slit at the knees, no doubt the latest in fashion.

“Would you like a drink before we go?”

“Ah, trying to ply us with cheap booze,” Carly laughed. “Maybe later.”

“So how far is this place?”

“It’s just a couple of blocks up Main,” Kathryn said. “Why don’t we walk? Its a beautiful evening.”

We headed out and soon I found myself bracketed by two very beautiful women. The street was well lit in such a way that it did not seem over lit. The top stories of the surrounding buildings were in shadow except for the few windows visible in the edifices. I saw Cynthia’s window at BB&S was dark, as was the clinic below. We were headed farther up Main, away from the diner and the courthouse several blocks behind.

“So how do you like Lesserton so far?” Carly asked.

“I find it a very interesting place,” I said.

“Emily said you’re planning to stay and get the workshop going again.”

“I don’t know that I’ve decided to do that,” I answered. “I’m not sure what that even means. What did Uncle Tony even do?”

“He was a busy man,” Carly said. “He was on the town council. He made stuff. Like the sign outside the PI. Sometimes furniture.” We were passing a shop. I saw it was a kind of curios shop. She turned to look in the window, stopping. “He made that.” She was pointing to a kind of complex toy displayed in the shop window.

“A toy?”

“Of sorts,” Kathryn said. “He use to make all kinds of things.” Saying this she lifted her top to expose her navel, which I noted was pierced. The jewelry was silver with a clear gem. “He made this.”

I felt myself flush a little at her obvious display. She had a very nice and creamy stomach. She dropped the hem, perhaps taken aback at my staring.

Carly grabbed my hand and pulled me along. “Come on Kat, unless you intend to finish stripping here.”

Kathryn, not to be outdone, captured my other hand and we walked down the sidewalk hand-in-hand.

“I know he supported daddy for mayor,” Carly explained, returning to the subject of my uncle. “Lesserton’s mayor is elected by the town council. He was on the county board of supervisors too.”

“So are you staying?” Kathryn asked.

“For awhile at lease. I’m between careers. I was partners in a company and we’re selling out right now. My life is heading in a new direction and maybe Lesserton is where it ends up.”

“Emily says you have a really cool car,” Kathryn said.

I smiled. It was nice that my baby was appreciated.

“It’s a Jeep Wagoneer.”

“Like an old Woody?” Carly asked.

“Yeah. Do you like old cars?”

“Some of them,” she said.

“So Kathryn I know where you work. Carly what do you do?”

She brushed her long hair off her face before answering. “I’m a commercial artist. Mostly I do contract work. We have real good Internet here. It makes working remotely really easy. A lot of people in town do.”

“Anything local I can see?”

“Well, I did a mural in Tony’s shop.”

“The wall art in the shop is yours?” I said quite impressed. It was good.

“It’s actually yours,” she countered. “It was a gift.”