Chapter 1

David red-shifted and accelerating into Joe's past, connecting with his father-in-law when the man was a lad in his early teens. He was with an American Indian. They stood in a field of green grasses surrounded by cedar and pine trees among a small herd of horses. Were they wild? Mustangs? David had no way of knowing. Nora had told him that an old Ute Indian had taught her father how to talk horse. Was David witnessing a language lesson?

He blue-shifted and decelerated into the future, but not far enough to reach Joe's present. He smiled when he saw Joe with his daughter. She was naked and sat astraddle his lap. With natural turns of her wrist, Nora stroked her father's erection, and from their conversation, David realized he was witnessing the first time that they'd had sex. He calibrated the time for a return visit when he could enjoy the event at his leisure, and then blue-shifted once again, this time landing at Arabian Downs, the family's horse farm. Joe was working Su Shafara, Nora's Arabian mare. Nora and Carol watched from the top rail of the corral. In the background, David could see construction activity on the big house.

Before the weddings, David thought. I'm still in the past. Can I hit the wedding day?

Yes!

He was pleased because he'd selected a date in the past and moved his consciousness to observe Joe on that date, a first for him. He watched for a while, feeling nostalgic because Nora-girl had also become his wife on that day. She looked like a gossamer dream in her white wedding dress.

At least, I'm getting used to seeing myself in the past and future, he reflected. He'd also learned that his consciousness couldn't interact with anyone in the future if he also was present in the flesh. Every time he'd tried, he returned immediately to his body in the present. He could observe himself, but could not make his consciousness known, which didn't bother him. Seeing himself outside his present made him feel a little schizophrenic, anyway.

David shifted ahead on Joe's timeline moving beyond the present into the future. He groaned. Too, far. It was afternoon. Could he move back to the early morning hours? He red-shifted. Bingo!

David looked over Joe's shoulder as Joe held a Wall Street Journal in his hands. He searched for and found the date for the newspaper: three days in the future from the present.

"Good morning, Joe," David said, which made his father-in-law jump.

"Mornin'," Joe said. "You'd think I'd learn not to be so surprised when, out of the blue, I suddenly hear your voice, but..." He shrugged. "You did it, eh?"

"Yep, except I'm off two days. It's Friday, not Wednesday." Wednesday was tomorrow as related to David and Joe's today. The trip was an experiment to determine if he could hit a specific day and time in the future. He'd failed.

Not really, he thought with a ghostly grin. I can shift back and forth until I find Joe on Wednesday morning.

"Will I remember this?" Joe asked.

"Not until it happens Friday when it becomes a memory," David said. "Were you actually reading the Journal?"

"I was, an article about oil prices and how the price is tied to the unrest in the Middle East, which to my mind is only part of the problem. The oil companies aren't above gouging, either."

David groaned silently. Nora-girl had been trying to get him involved in the War on Terror, but he'd resisted. Putting on tights with a big red S on his chest gave him heartburn.

"Thanks for helping with the experiment, Joe," David said. "I'll shift back to Wednesday, if I can. Bye."

Split seconds later, David greeted Joe on Wednesday morning. As planned, Joe was reading Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, and David read the parts that listed the information he'd need to make Tuesday's investments. He chatted briefly with his father-in-law and returned to his body. After jotting down the numbers he'd committed to memory, he turned on his computer.

Should I bet the farm? he asked himself and chuckled. Why not? I can't lose. I know the closing prices for the index and currency options I want to trade today.

He bought an assortment of options, investing $18 million, the total of Darla's, his mother's, and his investment capital. He also took advantage of the maximum margin allowed. His profit for the trading day would be in the neighborhood of $250,000. About an average day, he figured.

"Not bad wages for fifteen minutes," he said out loud as he pushed his chair away from the computer and stood up.

He was drinking his first cup of coffee for the day when he realized his new business paradigm would give him more leisure time. "I need a hobby," he said out loud just as Nora padded into the kitchen.

She was naked, which wasn't unusual. In their home, Nora preferred nudity to being dressed. She looked mussed, not really disheveled, just not quite put-together. That would change. She'd present the perfect FBI special agent when she left the house to commute to work. David preferred the slight disarray of her early-morning look to the FBI uniform she donned. Besides, a naked Nora beat a dressed Nora hands down every time. Nora was one of those women who actually looked better nude than partially dressed.

"Talkin' to yourself now, huh?" she said, gave him a good-morning kiss, and poured herself a cup of coffee.

David considered her question rhetorical and said nothing.

She sat at the table, blew air over the rim on her cup and sipped some coffee. "Did the experiment work?" she said as her green eyes settled on David with the detachment of a Siamese cat.

"Yes, in an around about way." He described the trip.

"How much will we make today?" she said.

He told her.

"Holy cow, David! That equates to around $60 million a year, give or take $10 million," she said.

"If I don't increase the amount I invest each day, yes, but by increasing the daily investment slightly as the profits roll in, I can easily take our annual income from day trading to $100 million and beyond the first year. I won't go beyond, though. There's a point when my investments alone will affect the markets too much and change the closing prices. This is especially true if I go short. I'll place excess funds in long-term securities and let them grow in a normal fashion. I was saying I'd need a hobby because the $100 million will only take about fifteen minutes of my time per trading day."

"We don't need that much money, David," she said. "No one needs that much money."

"I agree," he said. "I think I'll give away a large chunk of it — the hobby I was mumbling about when you joined me"

She smiled. "David, the philanthropist, huh?"

"Mr. and Mrs. David Stanley, the philanthropists," I said.

"Uh-uh. I'm a G-person."

He laughed. "A person can have a day job and still be a philanthropist."

"Humph!" she huffed. "I'm a pistol-packin' chick from the sticks, not a highfalutin society queen."

He laughed again. "And I love my pistol-packing chick." He paused. "Where is it written that philanthropy is akin to high society?"

She frowned.

"My type of philanthropy will take place in the trenches, Nora-girl, not at black-tie benefits," he added. "I've been careful to remain as anonymous as possible, and pushing my way into high society would defeat that purpose." He took her hand. "Help me give our money away, sweetheart. It'll be something we can do together and have fun while we're doing it."

Her green eyes danced with mischief. "I'll help you if you help me."

David groaned. "I don't cope well with evil, and terrorists, to my mind, sit at the top of the evil heap." He sighed. "All right. Point me at some suspected terrorists cells, and I'll check them out, but you and other G-persons you work with must take it from there."

"Deal," she said. "Check with Darla. She's at loose ends. She'll jump at an opportunity to give our money away."

"I'll do that."

She rose to her feet, poured herself another cup of coffee and set it on the table. "I've got the early mornin' hornies, and we've got the time. Slide your chair back a little," she said.

David grinned and complied with her request. She sat on the table in front of him and pulled her feet up to the table. "Ready for breakfast?" she said as her knees fell open.

He laughed, pulled her feet over his shoulders and slid the chair forward again. She moaned with pleasure when his mouth covered her vulva. "Nice," she said. "I do love to be eaten early in the morn." She picked up the cup of coffee and sipped. "Yeah, right there. So good."

David reveled in her fragrances and flavors as his tongue rolled around and around her clitoris. He felt the nubbin grow larger, and through experience knew when she could take and would want direct contact. She climaxed quickly, which didn't surprise him. She would not have been so pushy had she not felt the need. He was surprised when she pushed him away. He thought she'd want at least two orgasms from his mouth before she'd want him to stop.

He understood when she pulled at him and said, "Fuck me now."

When he rose to his feet, he noticed her coffee cup was empty. "Finished your coffee, huh?" he said with a chuckle he pushed down his shorts and kicked them away. His t-shirt landed on the floor, and then he rolled the crown of his cock in her cunt to get it lubricated.

She blushed, and then laughed. "Where is it said that a gal can't have a good cup of coffee while having a good come. Ah." The drawn-out "Ah," came out as he pushed his cock inside her. "I do love a good fuck after I've been eaten in the early morn," she said.

"Happy to oblige," he said. "Touch yourself if you want to come again."

He watched her hand move to her pussy and enjoyed her fingers fondling his shaft as she gathered some natural lubricant. His thrusts lengthened and quickened, but he waited for her. Her fingers flashed over her clitoris, and she pinched and fondled her nipples. He watched a small red blotch form at the base of her neck. It grew slowly and spread across her upper chest as she moved closer to her climax.

"So good, lover," she gushed. "So good. Yes. Yes. Ah. Yes. Oh, I'm coming. Coming. Now! Come in my now!"

They climaxed together, and he collapsed back onto the chair.

Nice way to start a day, he reflected.

They were sharing a shower when Nora said, "Before you talk with Darla about philanthropy in the trenches, fuck her. She needs a good fuck, too, baby."

"I can do that," David said.

"You've also been neglecting your mother."

"Not my fault. She's been busy," David said. His mother had jumped in with both feet in the operation of Arabian Downs and one of their Arabian mares had just given birth to a colt.

"Go to her. She'll make the time," Nora said.

"I'd planned to see her today, anyway. I want her to close out our trading days. If she agrees to take on the job, she'll need some training, not much, but a little."

"Good. She's helped you for years. She'd be upset, and rightly so, if your new way of doing business made her unnecessary."

"I'm not as certain about that as you," he said. "She's become so involved with Joe and the ranch that she has little time for anything else. I've sensed some resentment lately, especially regarding the month-end reports. They've been a day or two late the last two months."

"She's also keeping the books for Arabian Downs. Maybe you should hire a bookkeeper to do the reports," Nora said and huffed a derisive laugh. "From the sound of it, you can afford it. Regardless, don't leave her out of the day-to-day activities of your business."