Chapter 4

Flint drove away from the Stanley compound wondering what he'd gotten himself into. If it includes Darla Stanley, I don't care, he reflected.

Incest! She fucks her brother, her mother, her mother's husband, and her brother's wife. He grinned. And from all indications, she isn't completely opposed to fucking me. That, or she's a tease.

He didn't believe she was a tease. Time would tell. She was his employer. She'd have to seduce him, not the other way around.

Like my sister when we were teenagers, he thought.

He drove to his brother-in-law's used car lot and quit his job, which didn't upset his brother-in-law, just the opposite. Flint knew he wasn't a very good salesman. His brother-in-law had merely accommodated his wife's request to give her brother a job. Then he drove to his sister's house and packed his things, which didn't take long. From his years in the military, Flint had learned to travel light.

His sister was conflicted. She was happy for him but sad to see him go.

He had just put his things away in Darla's guest suite when she stopped by his rooms. She was holding her son's hand. Flint guessed the boy's age at four. A good-looking lad, he thought.

"Wanna see the rest of the compound?" she said.

"Sure."

"Say hi to Mr. Flint, George," she said to her son, who promptly hid his face in her skirt.

"Hi, George," Flint said as he tickled the little boy's chin with his fingers, which produced a smile. "How old are you?"

"He's four," Darla said. "And shy around strangers."

Darla walked him through Carol Stanley's house first. "You're welcome to use Mom's hot tub," she said, "or the pool behind David's house. And David has a gym he uses on inclement days. Otherwise he swims and runs for exercise. He built what he calls a makeshift running track that meanders around the grounds just inside the walls. When I built my house, I added a communal dining room and another room the five of us use for sexy fun and games. I also added an entertainment room with a large-screen, plasma TV with surround sound."

"What do you do to stay in shape?" Flint said.

"I ride Thee Brigand, my Arabian stallion, swim, and work out in the gym. Mom and I share a personal trainer. Thee Brigand was supposed to be David's, but the stallion prefers me to David, so he gave him to me. Actually a family corporation owns all the horses."

"You folks obviously have money," Flint said. "Tell me if it's none of my business, but how did you come by your money?"

"David. He invested his college fund in the stock market when he was a teenager. Then he invested my college fund for me, and when Mom sold her manufacturers rep business, he invested her money. We're all multi-millionaires now. New rich, Flint, not old money, so we're not stuffy about our money."

When they entered David Stanley's house, Flint met Nora. She was wearing shorts and a cutoff t-shirt. He later discovered that anticipating she'd meet him, she'd put on some clothes. Otherwise, she would have been naked. Christ! he thought. I'm working for the two best-looking women in Phoenix, Arizona.

"I'm giving Flint the nickel tour, Nora," Darla said after introducing her to the bodyguard. "Where's David?"

"He's phased out," Nora said.

"That reminds me. Flint, you need to know something else about David," Darla said. "He sleeps in deep delta, which means he goes into a coma. You can't wake him, but he's fine, so if you run across him while he's asleep, don't call an ambulance."

"Give me George," Nora said. "I'll play with him until you and Flint finish the tour. David promised to burn some steaks on the outdoor grill. I'll make the salad and steam some vegetables, so plan on dinner in an hour. Of course, you're invited, Flint."

The boy happily went to Nora, Flint noticed. After Darla showed Flint the bathhouse, pool, and the gym, she pressed her finger to a lock, and a door opened. "This is the security room. David will have to explain this room for you. All I know about this equipment is when all the security systems are engaged no one can enter the compound without us knowing it. David told me that he wants you to do a security audit, whatever that is."

"I'll get with him on the audit tomorrow," Flint said.

"The garages are next. I'll show you some of David's big-boy toys." She opened a door and they stepped inside. "The Rolls Royce Cornice, the '67 Chevy Corvette Roadster, and the Escalade are David's. He keeps a Jeep Grand Cherokee in Sedona where he has a summer home, and garages a Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer at Wahweap Marina where he berths his Searay Sports Cruiser. When we visit Sedona or Lake Powell, he flies his Cessna Turbo Stationair. The Jaguar sedan is Nora's. The Mercedes sedan and Hummer are mine. Joe drives a four-door pickup truck, and my mother also has a Mercedes sedan. I imagine you'll be driving all of them at one time or another, including the airplane and boat."

Back in Darla's home, she showed him the communal dining room, the entertainment room, and the tour ended in the fun-and-games room. "This room is restricted for the family's use, Flint." She giggled winningly. "For our bacchanalias."

Flint shook his head in wonder. The sexy images dancing in his mind transported blood from his big head to his little head. He bit the inside of his lip to gain control.

"I'll leave you now," Darla said. "You'll want to freshen up for dinner. Dress is casual tonight. Last night, we had a formal dinner. Do you own a tux?"

"No." He grinned. "I have a dress uniform."

"Ooh, that'd work."

Her "Ooh" sent chills up and down his spine. "Not really," he said. "I'm medically retired from the service. I'll buy a tux."

"That's up to you. Your limp is hardly noticeable," she said. "Are you still in physical therapy?"

"No, except for therapy I'm doing on my own."

"Will the facilities here work for you?"

He laughed. "Yes, and then some."

"Do you ride?"

"Huh?"

"Horses?"

"Oh, no. Never been on a horse."

"It's great exercise. Wanna learn?"

"Sure."

"I'll ask Joe to teach you. He's a horse whisperer, talks horse, he claims. I believe him. After you watch him with our horses, you'll believe him, too. I'll take you to Arabian Downs tomorrow, so you can meet Joe and my mother. You'll need to do a security audit for the ranch, as well."

The sexiest woman alive, a stock-market genius, an FBI agent, a horse whisperer, and probably the sexiest mother alive, all involved in an incestuous relationship. I think I'm going to like working here, he thought. Beats the hell out of selling used cars; that's for sure.

Dinner was an eye opener for Flint. He listened while his three employers talked about charity in the trenches. David had briefly outlined some of their plans, but the scope of what they wanted to accomplish was mind-boggling.

"I retained some legal-beagles to set up a foundation and two non-profit organizations today," David said. "We'll fund each with a million dollars. I also met with the tax department of the law firm. They'll work with the corporate lawyers to make sure Uncle Sam won't get his nose out of shape with the taxes we won't have to pay."

"I spoke with Mom, David," Darla said. "She found a forty-unit apartment project for sale close to CASS's family emergency shelter. It needs some work, she says, but..."

David laughed and said, "Mom, the eternal re-designer."

Nora laughed with him. "That's for sure. When she gets through with the apartments, they'll be the finest in the area."

"Nora, she wants you to help her furnish them," Darla said.

Nora grinned. "I can do that."

When Nora had turned David's bachelor pad into a home, she'd discovered that she had an exceptional talent as an interior decorator.

After Flint asked, Darla explained their planned use for the apartments.

"Did Mom make an offer on the apartments?" David asked his sister.

"No," Darla said. "She says there's one other project she wants to look into first. Besides, she mentioned that you might want to make the offer in the name of one of your non-profits, although at the time, she didn't know you were setting up two of them. Why two, by the way?"

"One for the homeless and one for battered women and children," David said.

"Did you meet with Johnson's CEO?" Nora asked her husband.

"No, tomorrow. I ran out of time today. I still believe starting fresh with shelters for battered women and children will work best. As I said, one of the non-profits is designed for that purpose. If we decide to overhaul Johnson instead, we can merge that non-profit with Johnson and survive the merger to gain control." He snorted a derisive sound. "Lawyers are a sneaky bunch."

"I recruited another charity operative this afternoon," Darla said. "A nurse named Greta Simms. She works at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Scottsdale. The children's ward. Greta introduced me to a little boy, age eleven, who had a concussion and some broken bones. An automobile accident. Both of his parents were killed in the accident, David. He's an orphan now. They were about to ship him to a charity hospital, so I agreed to pay his hospital expenses."

"Good," David said. "What happens to him when he's released from the hospital?"

"He'll go into the foster care system," Darla said. She pursed her lips. "I'm thinking about becoming a foster parent and making my home a foster home."