Chapter 21

"I need supplementary help. We now may have some. It is a risk but they are also linked. I would suggest that we are forming a clan. At this time there is great genetic diversity which will help us in later years."

"The king and I see it as your security being compromised."

"What do you think of the way we fought and cleaned up later?"

"Did you consider the fact that others may be assisting Tony Caputo and go to his last known location?"

"I did. They would find a burnt out trailer. They will suspect that Tony is dead and as time passes they will believe that this is certain. Carmen will send out investigators then resort to other methods to make sure he gets to the truth. Carmen will not find much if I am lucky. He will want to break out sooner to handle the investigation himself. This will mean that he will have to complete the sale of his assets sooner."

"That is a poor business strategy."

"I plan on shifting the blame to one or more of Caputo's competitors. It is logical that Tony would take over the running of the empire. By killing the only heir then the illegal assets that we are not buying could be acquired by the strongest."

"That is a cleaver idea."

"How do you plan to do this?"

"We have some of the guns plus the identification. A local enforcers closely allied with one of the other mob figures can be singled out for arrest when we plant some drugs at his home. One of the wallets is found in his possession. When they search his home further, they find one of the guns. The magazines from the guns at the moment still have the former owner's prints on them."

That sounds logical."

Again there was no reply but the last was the best I had got so far.

I went back to my bed and awoke Betts and Erica. They wanted to pull me back to bed until they started thinking. It must have been about last night.

Betts said, "How is Mom taking it?"

"She and the rest were still up this morning. I suggested that they could think better after a rest. I pointed out that Gail was assaulted and she needed some comfort of her own."

"You didn't!"

"They had a shower and went to bed. I didn't peek."

"Was there anything on the news?"

"Never turned the radio or television on."

"You know so much sometimes but then just forget about something like yesterday like it is old news."

"It is. Now get up. I made breakfast for my girls."

Erica said, "What if your girls want a protein supplement?"

"Then it will have to be after our talk." The last was said seriously.

I woke Chuck and Jerry up. Sam had gone back to sleep but it was from exhaustion. He had to get up too. The girls were attached to their men now. The men and Betts had killed to protect them. I was going to use this against the girls but in a good way.

We had lunch or breakfast. The munchkins and Paul joined us so we talked of other matters. When television drew them away I whispered, "It looks like my family has grown. Chuck, Jerry and Sam were always my friends but we had to hide this after our operation at the farm. They are my brothers in many ways. We fought and we have killed for each other.

"They now seem to have some girlfriends. All of them are also my friends. You are all young and I expect you to shift around and find new boyfriends or girlfriends but the units now will be special.

"We are in a time when there will be quite a bit of external threats. We have to learn to deal with them. One way is to know what to do in a certain situation. This is like karate. Karate builds the mind as well as the body. It gives us self-respect.

"Other than Betts, you girls have acted like the average young lady. That is fine in a normal situation but our unit is not in a normal situation. We formed a quasi-military unit. I now want you to join. You will get some high-tech weapons and communications gear. Your lovely figures will change from soft curves to beautiful muscle. None here can say that Betts is overly muscular but she can run and fight to save her own life and mine if the need arises. Think what would have happened if Betts did not have the mental training and the physical one too when this house was attacked. I will answer my own question. If I had not been able to take them all out then all of us here with the exclusion of the guys would now be dead."

This seems to ring a bell. "Girls in old books were meek and mild. Men opened doors for them but they had no rights. Today women have to open their own doors. They also have to protect themselves and their families. Do you want the five original members of out unit to protect you while you hide under a bed? If we fail; you die. We will have more of a chance if all of us can fight. I want you to enlist in the Toronto Self-help Militia."

Wendy was not sure. "You want us to do what you guys did?"

"No. You take karate and learn to protect yourselves. You can get weapons training but that does not mean you go on the offensive. You go swimming with us but not to sit around and give erections to the guys but to strengthen your bodies. After that you go to our officer training school. Mrs Watson teaches you how the be ladies, but ladies that can kill if they need to."

Wendy said, "We can do all that stuff, why are you asking the way you did?"

"Wendy, I love you. You are part of my family. You are also not very motivated. You keep clean and your room is neat but you do not do too much more. Your marks are ok but not great. I want my family healthy and active both in their bodies and their minds. Not long after you start, you will find one excuse or another to drop out. We are fighting for our lives. To do that we need well trained people that worked extra hard to learn. For you to work extra hard means somebody has to push you."

"I can do that."

I turned to Erica. "Will you learn to fight alongside Betts and I?"

"I'm enlisting if you need me."

"We do need you."

"Ashleigh will you fight alongside Jerry to keep him safe?"

"That's a funny way of putting it but I will?"

"Elaine, Shirley. Will you learn to protect yourselves and your man?"

Elaine said, "I like the sound of that but Sam is not ours."

"The two of you have him all fucked up. He's yours."

"Then we will fight with you guys."

I looked at Shirley and she nodded too then she had to say, "I'll join."

We will start tomorrow. After school you will go to karate training with us. If I guess right you will see Gail try to kill the instructor."

Chuck said, "Why? What did he do?"

"Gail and you guys were taken and you did not fight hard enough. She sees that she was much too weak. She will try to make it up now. She will be a very determined woman. Someone trying to take her chicks again will be in trouble."

Just before it got dark, Dad drove us down to get the motor home. There was a ticket on it but that didn't bother me. Gail drove the vehicle back as if she were looking for trouble. She had seen the kidnappers die or already dead but she still worried. That was why I was in front with her to give her some encouragement.

During the day I looked through the information Nadac had been able to amass on other gangs. Luigi Mastti was one of the biggest competitors of Caputo. He now lived in Montréal and controlled that city. He had small operations in Toronto to keep abreast of the situation here. He was presently after the illegal operations that Caputo had for sale. He also competed against us to get real estate at fire-sale prices.

Caputo did what he could to sell to anybody except Mastti, but the man worked through intermediaries just as we did. The two men had a long standing feud that went back to when they were young men. It centred around prostitution at the time but could have been anything. They were looking for a fight. A lot of people died and Mastti moved to a new city.

Mastti's surrogate here was Carlo Abrutzo. Caputo knew of the link but didn't openly attack either of the men. Carlo Abrutzo's right hand man was Sam Italo. This was the man we would target. To be subtle, Jimmy Mano would be involved. He was a high ranking man in another mob family. He had a long criminal record and a long list of corpses strewn behind him.

We would plant the wallet of Tony's best friend Matt Eppi who I had met at the ill-fated party and at the other party last night.

We monitored those that had been abducted. Those that had been taken watched not only themselves but the others too. There were some rough spots but talking to a lover and a fellow sufferer helped. Wendy didn't meet anybody in the washrooms now. She had enough in the safe environment of our home. That did not mean that we didn't feel the erotic thrill if we did it ourselves.

Gail was excited when she picked us up. It was my way for getting her to focus outside herself and it looked to have worked.

The new girls including Paul and the three munchkins would take karate with us. The first day, the girls were shocked and then pleased to see what Gail wore under her gi. She also did as I thought and took out her fear, hate and helplessness on the sensei. He protected himself very easily and talked to Gail after the regular session to see what he could do.

Gail did open up but only mentioned being attacked. It was easy to see that it was more than that but Sensei Kazuyoshi could do little but to make sure Gail had her training.

We drove to a swanky downtown section. The original buildings had either all been ripped down or gutted to make expensive condos. Chuck and I got into the penthouse apartment of one building easily only because I knew everything to do and did them all. I opened the safe within seconds. It was large and quite full of money. The wallet went under all of this.

We were back on the street in half an hour. Our cheering section was all of the girls along with Jerry and Sam. They worked hard in karate and now saw some of the possible uses for being strong and coordinated.

Erica breathlessly said, "Did you do it?"

"It wasn't hard with good help. Let Chuck tell you what we found."

Chuck couldn't wait to answer. "The safe was full of money. There must have been enough to fill a bushel basket. It was all in hundreds."

"Did you get any?"

"We're professionals. We don't do things like that."

Shy Shirley said breathlessly, "What's next?"

"Tomorrow we plant the information that Jimmy Mano killed Tony. We make it hard to find but Caputo will find that the information came from Sam Italo. Sam only does what he is told and his immediate boss is Carlo Abrutzo. Abrutzo takes orders from Luigi Mastti. Mastti wants to move in and take over. Tony is in the way. Mastti does not want a fight but he doesn't mind if some of the competition is killed off. Caputo will know this and clean up the city and get vengeance for the probable death of his son. Caputo will be too busy to really worry about me or our family."

Gail said, "You are really devious. You don't have any relatives by the name of Lucrezia Borgia?"

The information flashed on my internal screen. "That family learned intrigue from my ancestors." Gail smiled at the fact that I knew who she was referring to. It would be nice to have come by the knowledge honestly.

When we got home I let the boys and girls relax while my two helped me make supper. June happily pitched in. She said, "I went to the library at school and looked up about the kiddy porn then a lot more about what you call the farm. They were very vague about who went in. I found that it was all conjecture by different reporters because they said that they suspect or theorise. The police said very little."

Betts said, "They know more but not much. The witnesses contradict each other and they were all in shock at the time. They have footprints and smudges made by small hands. They found every place we sat to take a breather and have our bum prints."

"They won't catch you?"

"They could but not with the evidence they have..."

I interrupted, "You better get the meal going. I hear some heavy feet coming in search of the elixir of life."

June was very worried but Betts simply got a mug and poured a coffee. Betts had it on the table with sugar and some oatmeal cookies for one of her large friends.

The guys and the girls ate with us but had to go home at least once in a while. The girls went too. Chuck laid down the law and the girls were not only driven home but escorted to their foster parent's house. Gail liked this sort of rule. She dropped the guys off and waited until they got inside before driving off.

That morning Nadac sent audio transmitting units to the building that had the majority of Caputo's attorneys. One of the men used a cubical in a washroom when the transmitter made the sound of the main door opening. A voice said, "Did you hear that Jimmy Mano was involved in the killing of Carmen's son?"

"No! Where did you hear that?"

"A guy that I buy information from mentioned he heard it near Bloor and Yorkville."

"Shit, should we be taking here?"

The sound of the door opening and then closing was heard. A kilometre away similar voices talked outside the locked door of a building used by Jimmy Mano. A similar piece of information was spoken in the stairwell of a building with friends of Sam Italo. In the latter case they would actually be spreading the information that could hang them later. Seven more areas with friends of Sam Italo were targeted. The info was slightly different each time. Tony was shot knifed or poisoned. The reason was always to remove him from contention. The names of Tony's late friends would come out later.

That night the munchkins, Wendy, Betts and June did exercises with me then rested and we did them again. Sandy was guarding us so I dragged her into the fitness regimen. She then had to tell her reasons for being a cop and for all the need to be physically fit. Sandy made us work hard. She seemed to have issues about weak women too.

Betts and I made love. It felt right but it felt like something was missing. I was sure that Erica was feeling worse being in a bed alone.

I was busy at school but not with school work. The rumour had spread and Carmen had heard it from at least three sources. The burnt out cars were easy to identify. A light coating of snow was on the ground which hid our tracks and the darts at the second farm. I would have to get a company to drag the hulk out and have the farmer plough the entire area to hide any evidence.

Carmen was not dealing with his assets now. He must believe that at least part of the rumours were true.

Cosner Data Processing was part of a large organisation. Through our portal in Toronto we took some electronic money from criminal organisations. We left a faint trail that lead to the Chicago facility that was part of Cosner. If they were even a standard business, they would still try to hide this information. Vessio and Caputo as shareholders would be made aware of this. The next day another attack could be traced back to the Cosner owned subsidiary in New York. If the news got out the company was unsafe then it would fall into bankruptcy. The investment the men put into the company would be lost unless they could dump it onto somebody else first.

Nadac and the king seemed to like this idea. It was a bit of what big business or organised crime would do. I had no wish to hurt other investors. Shafting those that had screwed so many others didn't sound bad to me.

The shipping company was targeted too. The revenue departments of two countries were informed of how they were cheated. Contraband goods of all kinds were targeted even if they had nothing to do with Caputo. A lawsuit or two would make the company shares fall.

Large shipments of illegal drugs that usually got through customs were now caught. These didn't even have to be Caputo's. It was my way of controlling the traffic. The cartels were losing but the price of their product went up. When possible, we tried to get the electronic funds when the drugs were paid for and still find a way of getting the cargo seized.

The king and Nadac didn't care one way or another about drugs. By making some money this way, I was able to do a good turn to my fellow humans. It was doubtful if they appreciated it.

Other companies that had dealings with Caputo saw him as a pariah. He brought unwanted attention to their businesses. Those members were buying Caputo out just to get his name off the ledgers. We were doing the same thing when the investment looked profitable.

Planting evidence on Sam Italo would have to wait. Caputo was not moving as fast as I thought he would. I had to wait until Caputo sent an investigating team out before I planted the identification. The guys and gals were not going to like this. They wanted some real life drama as long as they were just spectators.

After karate we went shopping. We all went as a group with the guys spread out to protect the gals the way herds of bison or other animals did. Instinct was very strong in humans even if some attributes like smell and hearing were getting weaker.

Mom was not back to the way she was. What Betts had become bothered her immensely. I don't think she liked us exercising now. She might see it as a way of training so we could kill more. Sandy was the one I got to talk to all of us about the benefits of training that had nothing to do with being in a police force. I played the stalking horse and asked questions so that Sandy told Mom a few more times that we were doing something good for us.

Rontem put pressure on me by demanding I work more diligently at processing crystals. The 88 was doing well. I would normally work toward an 87 or perhaps an 86 to learn more. Nadac had the main processing crystal for an 80. This computer was to be built on the sly but would take a long time to complete. In the back of my mind I wanted to work on at least a 72 which was the equivalent of what the yacht Fonduush had which also happened to be Rontem's home.

The Aristis had made computers to the 60 series that ran worlds or could. The Aristis were paranoid and worried about the computers taking over. Nothing more powerful was made. The numbers were not arbitrary but followed an orderly progression. More powerful computers would someday be made but a need had to arise and the resources found for the project.

We came home with bags that we hid from the proposed recipients but the girls showed what they had bought to others. Girls were naturally nosey. I could look through the plastic and paper to find out what everything was but I didn't. I guess I liked these kind of surprises.

That night I found that somebody else was trying very persistently to break into an off-shore bank. I had money there but not that much. Nadac and I traced the source back to Toronto. The hacker was not Cosner but the way it worked showed that he had a lot of processing power. Something looked fishy though. Nadac discovered that the directions were actually coming from Montréal.

Nadac traced the location down to a large building owned by Mastti. I quickly said to Nadac, "Let Mastti get some money but make his link through Toronto able to be traced. He must be doing this to cause Caputo more problems."

"It is done."

"How much did he get?"

"Seven million."

"Not much more than a sting but enough to get Caputo in hot water."

Nadac didn't comment but said, "Masti seems to have a financial empire just a bit smaller than Caputo."

"Perhaps we can hit Masti's money now and have it look like Caputo."

"The two have been doing this for a long time already. To hit now would seem too coincidental."

"Then perhaps a new rumour that supposedly came from Sam Italo saying how his people helped shaft Caputo and made money doing it."

"That sounds interesting."

I had started working with Nadac months ago to gain access to some of our legal profession. I wanted Gail Watson to be a foster parent. This looked very unlikely but money made odd things happen. Gail had been appraised of what was happening. Even before she knew about us and she didn't believe my quest possible. Our lawyers had come and briefed her on the situation and prepared her for the questions that would be asked. Some of the people asking questions were already well disposed toward Gail because of favours that were given them.

Gail had just been given permission to take in some of the older children. I asked her to only accept those that were hurt by Caputo. Through a bit of shuffling, she got Erica. This was my real Christmas present, though the transfer was not quite complete yet.

I was still concerned with the spies that watched Giuseppe Scringi's former home. I did not want them to link us but this would be unavoidable until I found a way to shift Caputo's focus elsewhere.

Nadac and I worked to make a nebulous trail from the organisations that bought Wendy's home and the other ones to Montréal that were in turn linked to Mastti. Mastti was not into kiddy porn. It was probably because he didn't like it as opposed to not seeing it as profitable. Mastti would be seen as being a nice guy to those that Caputo had hurt. It would not take more than a few seconds for Caputo to consider whether Mastti had been involved with all his current problems. The king and Nadac liked this idea too. It would not put more pressure on us because we looked like pawns.

We helped Gail move into her new house. It had already been renovated extensively. The bugs left by the previous owners were removed and a much better alarm system installed. The garage was already a separate building as it should be. It was altered considerably to accept the motor home's length and height.

Gail praised one particular philanthropic organisation for giving her a job and a new place to work. Her old home was kept and she leased it out after being remortgaged to the hilt. The mortgage payments were all tax deductible now though not normally in Canada.

The actual move was fun for all of us. I got our grade eight classes plus all the other students sent to our school for special help. Miss Lime came but not as a teacher. Through some arm twisting Doc Suffolk and his wife Irene came too. There was a lot of refreshments and food and the kids had little to do. It was basically an excuse for a party.

My real mother was now in the hospital. She had heard about me killing two men in Wendy's home. This was the last straw. Dad had her committed and made sure she got treated by using the courts to back up what should be done. Dad used what government assistance he could plus his own visible resources. I put the same money into his hidden account so that it was me that was helping my mother.

Dad must still love Mom. She was the dynamic force in the family and he followed what was told him. He would occasionally rebel but this was good or she would have simply taken over. Dad had asked Mom's psychiatrist about me visiting. The reply was not favourable.

The foundation that donated to the police to protect us now paid for a much better alarm system around the property. One day there would be free access from the other houses but that would have to be well after Caputo left.

Nadac sent more bugs into the jail and many more into the offices of the lawyers and the remaining free members of his organisation. Many of Caputo's representatives had died or were currently in jail.

Caputo was going to have Sam Italo picked up for questioning. We of course warned the man in time for him to put up a minor defence. His office on the main floor of his home had a MAC 11 and the remaining wallets including Tony's. This one was in a mahogany case with a glass face.

Sam luckily was one of the casualties. He died a few hours later in the hospital. The wallets and gun were taken by Caputo's men.

Carlo Abrutzo was hit two hours later but he had time to prepare. Our gang war had started. Strong arm men were coming into Toronto for the last few weeks. Carmen now wanted cash for his properties. The cash was easier to dispense from his war chest.

Caputo' lawyers talked to us about how much of the conglomerate of shipping companies that we wanted. It looked like Caputo wanted to unload his 39.8%. Other members thought it a good idea to unload at this time since there was a buyer. Our offer was good but not great. We estimated the net worth of the conglomerate after deduction all the liabilities to be at 16.6 billion dollars. The lawsuits and other litigation made the group of companies a leper and worth more like 12. The offer we put to Caputo was 4.75 billion after our discount. There was a further 3.2 percent was offered which came to 384 million.

This conglomerate was going to go through some troubled times now. I figured and both Nadac and Rontem knew that we would get robbed. We needed better accounting and this meant a separate data processing facility.

Caputo snapped up our offer and an army of lawyers and accountants descended on the various companies. We knew that there would be all sorts of subterfuge because Caputo did this for a living. Fraud in many forms made him lots of money. It was listed many times that our offer was on the company having a specific net value.

It would take a month to find out the data we needed. Caputo was desperate to get the money and run. He bent over backwards to help us find every fact we wanted even if this meant that the money we paid him would be less.

During all this, Caputo's lawyers met some angry Columbians. It took them three days to find the trail to Montréal and to the real culprit, Mastti.

Caputo was now even more anxious to dump Cosner. The company was now worth less than the billion plus dollars it would normally fetch. The parent company Foster Communications would normally be worth 17.9 billion when Cosner's assets were factored in. They would now be worth 15 billion if the news got out about the rampant security leaks. Since all this was owned privately we put an offer in of 15 and let them bargain us up to 15.5 if they wanted to.

We had nowhere near that amount of money. We could make it by slight of hand though but it would have to be removed from the system later. We would get back 200 million from Caputo and Vessio. The good thing to know was that Foster was owned by the Cartel. We figured that only four billion of our offer for the parent company would go to the fringe of the underworld and not the main players.

The Cartel owned banks and other financial institutions so they could afford to let a piece, that now exuded an unpleasant odour, go.

We put in an offer of 0.7 billion on all of Cosner's assets. This also included all the current employees. This was less than our previous offer of 85% but they had to know that we knew about the security leak. If we did not get all of the company we would offer slightly less on a percentage basis. This meant a meeting of the Cosner owners. I wanted a whole company much more than a fraction even if it was a major portion.

Caputo was busy with the shipping company and the majority of his assets. Once he was paid I thought he would concentrate on this asset.

After karate practice every day, we watched the news, or read the papers about what new atrocities were committed. Mastti was pretty much kicked out of Toronto. A bomb had gone off in an exclusive community north of Montréal but Mastti was lucky enough to live though many of his servants did not.

The adults and the youngsters didn't know of my machinations. Even Betts did not know all of it because I would have no way of explaining how I did everything. The adults cringed at the violence but watched the news as eagerly as we did.

The tips we sent the police allowed many other criminals to be picked up. Surveillance cameras or news cameras would show actual footage of a man being murdered. This did not happen often but it made for a lot of viewers.

The news of our website spread beyond the police and governments. The mob bought the password and location from the other two groups. The guys and gals watched this too but it would be too much for the adults and we didn't tell them about it.

The extended family was now fairly healthy. The methadone treatment had tapered off to nothing. The people were still in need and it took the rest of us to support them. Love was the best but it was not always the sexual variety.

Christmas vacation started. The house was usually full of kids. The foster parents still got paid and Christmas could be the most depressing time of the year. The younger ones roughed it. They slept in the freestanding tents on air mattresses and in sleeping bags. The fireplaces cooked some of their food.

The parents came too if there were any allowed to and if they wished. They got to stay with the kids in a controlled and safe environment. The fact that we killed three men here seemed to make the house seem safer and not the reverse.

The Doc and Mrs Doc came over during this time and camped with us. I guess it was fun for them too. They had lots of parties and commitments but we were one of them. The Doc even printed out a diploma stating that I had graduated from Apprentice Headshrinker forth class to third. I had a present for him too. It was a shirt to match the shorts I saw him in once. Betts got him a feminine razor for his legs.