Chapter 32

Two thugs, one named Howie, the other Ken, no last names — not yet, anyway, David thought — had been hired to torch the shelter by a man named Glen Brown, but Brown wasn't the initiating party. Someone else had hired Brown, but because a man that Brown referred to as Kevin had hired Brown over the telephone, the trail to the culprit who had initiated the attack against the shelter went cold.

Knowing that he'd taken too much time to learn just those few facts, David stopped his investigation and returned to his body, vowing to expand his enquiries into the incident later that night while others slept.

When he opened his eyes, Nora was holding his hand. They were alone in the Hummer.

He looked around. They were at the shelter. He saw... chaos. At second glance, he realized it was controlled chaos. Fire engines, police cruisers, and other vehicles were parked helter-skelter on the street, red, blue, and yellow lights flashing, and hoards of firemen and police officers mingling among the vehicles.

"The fire's out, David," Nora said.

"Was anyone hurt?" he said.

"Kara Flynn, the shelter manager, and Marcy Rose, the housekeeper. They fought the fire until the firemen arrived and took over. They were taken to the emergency room, but the paramedics say the burns they received weren't too serious. Their efforts and the quick arrival of the first fire engine minimized the damage to the shelter." She grimaced. "Grace says there's more water damage than fire damage. She's worried about you; she doesn't understand your comas."

"How long have we been here?" David asked.

"Fifteen, twenty minutes."

A door opened, and Danny and Darla moved into the Hummer. Danny's face was smudged with soot. Cute, David thought.

"Did you find out who is responsible for this criminal act?" Danny said.

David related the results of his investigation and added, "I'll know more by morning."

Danny shook her head in wonder. "Sometime, you'll have to explain what you do in more detail for me."

"I will," David said.

Flint and Grace hopped into the Hummer next.

"Good, you're awake," Grace said to David. "You scared me, David."

"Sorry about that. My catnap went on longer than planned," David said. "What's the situation?"

"Minor damage, considering," Grace said. "We'll have the shelter up and running again in ten days or less. Kara and Marcy were taken to the hospital and are being treated for some minor burns and smoke inhalation. They saved the shelter, David, they and your maintenance man. Thursday, Phil noticed the fire extinguishers needed charging and took it upon himself to have them charged. Otherwise..."

She shrugged and said, "I called our insurance agent. He authorized me to hire professionals to clean up the fire and water damage. They're on the way, as we speak. Danny and Flint booked a block of rooms in a nearby hotel for our residents, and the used bus we just purchased is on the way here to transport them to the hotel. At this point, I don't know if our insurance covers the cost of the hotel rooms."

"Doesn't matter. If it doesn't, I'll pay for the rooms," David said.

Flint laughed and said, "Told you so."

"Are we needed here any longer?" David asked.

"I am," Grace said. "You aren't."

"All right. We'll go to the hospital and check on Kara and Marcy," David said.

"Tell them I'll stop by and see them as soon as I can," Grace said as she stepped from the vehicle.

"We will," David said.

En route to the hospital, Danny said, "Darla, the fire was a tragedy, but it's also an opportunity to attract donations."

"Yes!" Darla said and pulled out her cell phone. "I'll call our PR gal. After the hospital visit, we'll meet with her and set up a press conference for tomorrow morning where you and Grace can do your dog-and-pony show." She moved through the phone numbers stored on her phone, found the one she wanted, and pressed a button.

"Nancy, it's Darla. Arsonists just..."

"The hot tub beckons," Nora said.

"That, Nora, is a stellar idea," David said.

After visiting Kara and Marcy at the hospital, Flint had dropped Nora and David off at the compound and then driven Darla and Danny to meet Nancy Reese, the public relations expert Darla had hired to help with fundraising.

They stripped and walked naked to the hot tub on the patio at Carol's house and were soon neck deep in the bubbling water.

"Ah," David moaned with pleasure as the hot water jets started to take out the kinks.

Nora took his hand and said, "You hired the right person for your assistant, David."

"I believe I did," he said.

"Carol and I talked today," Nora said.

"About what?" David said.

"Danny. We think you should bring her into the group."

"I'm not ready to do that," David said.

"Why not?"

"I'm attracted to her. I won't deny that, but I'm not in love with her."

"Is love possible?"

David looked at her and said, "Yes."

She nodded. "Thought so."

"If love happens for me with Danny, I won't love you less, Nora."

"I know. Danny loves you deeply."

"Right now, I see that as a problem," David said.

"Explain, please."

"She loves me. She doesn't love you or anyone else in the group. Our group works because we love each other. I'll admit that some love is stronger between some individuals than others, but love abounds. And you advised me to move slowly, to make sure Danny wouldn't be jealous or too possessive. That, Nora, was good advice. I took it to heart. Besides, Danny's flying to D.C. on Sunday and won't return until next weekend. Frankly, the gap in time is handy. It will let us all talk and think, Danny included, the thinking part, anyway, and I'll speak with her during my flights. Have you talked with Darla about bringing Danny into the group?"

"No."

"Thought so. I told her what you said on the subject. She was shocked, Nora, said she'd have to think about it."

"I'll talk to her," Nora said.

"I have one other reservation," David said.

"Tell me," Nora said as her dainty hand reached and gently grasped David's flaccid cock.

"I believe our group works because the women have sex with each other as well as the men," David said. Her stroking hand was accomplishing what Nora wanted. He turned and kissed the side of her neck, the soft spot under her ear.

"Maybe she's bisexual and doesn't know it," Nora said.

"There's that," David said as his hand snaked between her legs. She opened them to give him access.

"Perhaps I should test the premise," Nora said.

"Perhaps, which brings me to my last point."

"Which is?" Nora said.

"I don't think I should have sex with her until after one or more members of our group fucks her." He'd used the expletive purposefully.

"You think?"

"I do."

"Would one of us women count, or are you referring only to Joe and Flint?"

"Anyone, but preferably one of each gender."

"All right. I'll fuck her," Nora said, released his cock and straddled him. She guided his rampant cock to her cunt, and settled down around it. She was wet, but the water had washed away much of her natural lubricant, so it took three aggressive bounces to bury him to the hilt. "I'll fuck her; then Pops and I will fuck her. Would that work for you?"

"Yes."

"Good." She kissed him. "I'll guide Pops' cock to her cunt, and then I'll sit on her face while Pops fucks her silly. Pops reminds her of the old cowboy who raised her. Did she fuck Gabby?"

"No. By the time Danny was old enough to be sexually active, Gabby was too old to have sex. If he'd been younger, she would have fucked him — maybe." Telling Nora what had actually happened between Danny and her foster father would have been a betrayal of trust and a further erosion of Danny's privacy.

"Good. She can pretend," Nora said.

"And will," David said, grabbing her moving hips and thrusting upwards into her.

They didn't speak for a while, except for soft moans.

"I'm close, David," Nora announced.

"I've been waiting for you," he said.

"I know... uh-uh... yes... yes... now!"

They climaxed together, but as usual, Nora's orgasm lasted twice as long as David's. He held her tenderly until she recovered.

"Can you lift us out of the hot tub while we're still connected?" Nora said.

"To avoid our juices floating in the water?" he said.

"Yes, yours more than mine."

"I can try."

With a few grunts, he succeeded.

As Nora and David strolled back to their house, Nora said, "You cancelled your sessions with Rima while Danny is here."

"Yes I did. I'll work hard next week and catch up," David said. "And I'll want some sessions with you. I need to understand these Islamic nuts better than I do, and with that said, I'm not talking about all Muslims, just the leaders seeking power at the top of the extremist heap, as well as the saps they convince to commit suicide as long as they take as many women and children as possible with them when they blow themselves to smithereens. How any religion can twist their belief systems into accepting the death of innocents in the name of their God is beyond me."

Good, Nora thought. He's angry about what's happening. When he understands Arabic well enough to be effective, he'll do what he usually does when faced with a problem: jump in with both feet and fix it.

"Religions have been doing that for time immemorial, David," Nora said.

"I know. It's still beyond me. From what Rima told me, Islam has two major sects: the Shiites and Sunnis. Correct?" David said.

"Add the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia to that list." She shrugged. "There are others."

"Don't the Shiites and Sunnis despise each other?"

Nora chuckled. "Despise is a bit strong, but you're correct to assume they don't get along very well."

"Usama bin Laden and al Qaeda are Sunni. Right?"

"Yes."

"And the ayatollahs in Iran are Shiites."

"Yes, but there are groups of Shiites and Sunnis scattered in pockets across the globe."

"Like in Iraq?"

"Yes. Saddam Hussein was Sunni. Under his control, Sunnis ruled, or rather he ruled. The majority of the country is Shiite. He kept his boot firmly planted on the back of their necks."

"That was then. Now with their majority, the Shiites are in control and will turn Iraq into an Islamic state," David said.

"Probably," Nora said.

"The Sunnis won't like it and along with al Qaeda will fight back, and the Shiite militias will turn their full fury on Sunni enclaves. Civil war will ensue, and our fighting men will be right in the middle of it. The Shiites will consolidate their control over that country, with or without the backing of the United States, and the Shiites are backed by Iran, one of only two of the remaining Islamic states in the world. It appears to me that the United States is acting as midwife for a new Shiite state, backed and controlled by the ayatollahs in Iran."

"Controlled is questionable, but otherwise that appears to be what is happening."

"Which means we're helping Iran, one of the countries we included in the axis of evil. The folks running foreign policy for our country have their heads up their asses," David said.

Nora laughed and said, "It would seem so."

"You're fighting the War on Terror, Nora. Whom are you fighting?"

"Islamic extremists committed to doing us harm," she said.

"How?"

"On my part, tracking money transfers and analyses of electronic communications to identify cells of extremists in the United States, and then stopping them before they take action."

"Are you winning?"

"So far."

"Our borders are sieves. Anyone can walk or ride across them or enter the country by boat."

"That is a problem," she said. "But I'm realizing more and more that our biggest problem will soon be home-grown extremists. This is already happening throughout Europe."

"I'll want to know more about that. Does the Patriot Act help?"

"Yes."

"It can be abused."

"Yes."

"Regardless, I take it that you believe it's needed."

"Yes."

He sighed. "Before I enlist in this war, I'll need to know how I can be effective without doing harm."

"Except for the extremists who want to harm innocents and our country," she said.

"Yes. Collateral damage will not be acceptable, though, not if I'm the cause. If that happens, I will resign."

"Then we'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen," Nora said, wondering if that were possible.