Chapter 7

I followed the leads to a small box. This was not big enough to store all this information that could be gathered. The search went on until I found a small basement room near the furnace. It had seven large, and I guess, powerful computers. They were stacked full of CD drives or perhaps they were DVD.

Pictures of fucking took up a lot of room if they were done in high quality. That meant a lot of disks. I was getting a sore ass by the time I found a safe cemented into the floor in the room with the computers. There were two other safes but since the disks were on their sides, they were hard to recognise.

My mind now worked on the reason for all this. Blackmail had been used so far. Selling smut was a possibility. Blackmail so that some people could get off directly watching a live performance. Another possibility was that a parent would be threatened with having their child exposed. The bedrooms also suggested that more blackmail could go on if an adult was caught with a child. Money was a good motive but sex and power could also apply.

I fought some entrenched clingons and flushed before I hurried outside. Jerry was currently being lured away and it was better to stop it now. Jerry was near the cabana when I called his name. He turned around and came back with a frown. "You got to come Wally. That guy has a stash of some serious educational pictures."

Betts gasped and all of us looked at her.

"You are all my friends. You know that I get hunches." When they nodded their heads I said, "Do not go to the cabana or the room behind it. Do not go into the house unless you have to use the bathroom. Go in pairs. Please trust me until later. Don't go anywhere with anybody else. This is serious. I am investigating a crime. I found something that you guys will not believe."

"What is it?"

"Later, I promise. Play the game like James Bond. Have fun but look at everybody except us as enemy agents."

Chuck said, "What are you smoking, Wally?"

"Do I get your trust or not?"

"Alright I guess but those girls are nosing around and I may not be able to fight them off for long."

"They are the enemy."

Betts said, "Let's go Wally. I don't like it here."

"Neither do I but I want to gather some more evidence."

I went back into the house through the wide basement doors. I knew where the cameras were but not where they were aimed. Only a fool would think they were aimed straight ahead.

I plotted a course to the door to the small room. No matter how I did this one camera or another would see me. Killing a camera with paint would warn the people here that they were found out.

One camera was close and I read the information on it and sent it to Nadac. Here is where he could really help. It took even a few minutes from him and he told me the capabilities of the camera. The best was that they could not see in the dark or even low light. Nine o'clock was not dark enough though.

"What are your intentions?"

"The disks I see, may contain blackmail material. If I gather the material I can find who is being blackmailed. With this information I can find who is doing this. Wendy's father is the logical person but the police need proof."

"Your thinking is faulty. Your own mind says that they will not post any pictures of your woman. Your own mind says that the person known as Wendy is part of this scheme. I have analysed the machines in the home and see that the cost is at least a forth part of a million dollars."

"My advice is to ignore the summons. One night come here and enter the room and take what proof you wish."

This sounded reasonable, especially if as Nadac said, it came from my own mind. "Will you bring some units here to help me?"

"I will assist you but only so far. This could be seen as a training exercise. If you are caught, you will go to jail. You may flee but then you will be without a mate." The king would hear this conversation or could. This meant that the king would like to see me fumble towards a goal like this. From the information about the king that I was given, this seemed to be certain."

"What will you do to assist me?"

"I will answer questions but not inform you of what my remotes detect. I give some advice and intelligence but you have to do the incursions alone."

"What do I need to know now?"

"Find out how to open the locked door and then the security devices."

Is there an intruder alarm?"

"Very good. There is a good one from your people's point of view."

"Motion detectors?"

"Yes."

"Pressure sensitive sensors?"

"Yes."

"Heat sensors?"

"No."

There was noise of people approaching. I had to move behind a small wall. My hiding spot must have been good because I heard one of Tony's friends say, "I don't see him here."

"Look some more."

This could mean that they knew I was here staring at the small room. In a few minutes I left when the coast looked clear to meet with my friends. Seconds later Wendy came over with a strained smile and an even smaller bikini.

"Hi Wally. Red wanted to talk with you for a few minutes. We have a problem and so does Betts. We hope you can help us. We really need it."

This meant that she knew that Betts told me. "I am sorry Wendy. We have to leave. It was a nice party except for your friend Tony and his buddies."

"They are not... They are a bit odd. It is because Tony's dad is so rich and powerful."

"What does his dad do for a living?"

"I would rather not say."

"Illegal?"

"I really can't say, Wally."

"That's ok. It was a nice party. I would like the chance to come back someday." I asked Nadac now to find out about the Caputo family for me. And then added Wendy's family too.

We gathered our property and headed out. The ultrawave in my head had some interference and it took a while to guess at its cause. I stopped a few doors down and searched through my pockets and my pack. I found a small black plastic disk with a whisker thin wire. I left it in place and said out loud, "That Tony is an asshole. I wish I never came here."

The rest of the guys agreed. Chuck said, "You were..."

I stopped him and said, "Yes we were going for some ice cream. When we walked a block away I put the pack on Betts and pointed so she stayed put. When it looked like it was safe I said, "Somebody put a transmitter in my pack. They may know that I was looking at their house. The place is a trap. There are cameras everywhere. A girl could come to you and start giving you a blow job. Before she is done a guy takes her place and they film it. You are trapped into doing what they say."

Chuck said, "Nobody would do that? We're only kids."

"We will talk later. Forget what I said until then. You talk about it and then they will get pissed off. There is more than a quarter million dollars in spy equipment in that house alone. Jerry, when Betts catches up, you take the pack and slow down."

"Ok."

Betts caught up to us and I said, "Betts is my girlfriend. She is my friend too. You are my friends. I said that because somebody tried to blackmail Betts. She is to go to the house tonight at nine. What do you think will happen?"

The guys looked sheepish and said nothing. "I will tell you. She will be forced to do things that would hurt her deeply if they got out. Betts and her family do not have a lot of money but Bert works for a brokerage house and Lillian works in a lawyer's office."

I put my arm around Sam and said, "A guy that is a professional tried to seduce Sam. He could jerk Sam's trunks down and suck. A quick picture is all it takes. They were leading Jerry away too. He was supposed to look at some books that make Hustler look tame. We all know any one of us would get an erection. A yank of the trunks and a picture taken and he is trapped."

I didn't know how good the pictures were or if the guy was a pro or not but I had to say it just in case.

Chuck said, "Why would they do that?"

"Would Betts family pay to save Betts?"

"Sure, I guess."

"If they asked for inside information on stock deals, would Bert work very hard to give it?"

"I guess?"

"Do you know how much that kind of information is worth?"

"No."

"It can go into the millions if not the hundreds of millions of dollars. Lillian may even talk about a case so that a criminal gets off. When any deal is made, it will be taped then the parents are then caught. Now I want to call Jerry back and we do not talk about what I said."

When we got home, I showed the guys the transmitter then left the pack in the closet while we talked outside.

"Let's state the facts. Do you agree that the device was a transmitter?"

"It might be something else," Chuck said.

We went back inside and fired up Betts' computer. Nadac gave to me the data to throw into Google. In a moment I had the picture of the device, its size and range. I just pointed to the picture and looked at Chuck. He nodded.

I opened note pad and wrote in the data I had seen on the camera. With Nadac's help I found pictures and data for this device too.

We went outside again and I said, "We will have to start over. Was that a transmitter used to keep surveillance Chuck?"

"It has to be."

"Good."

I saw the camera and you saw a similar model. It too is used for surveillance. Now listen to Betts. Betts, were you shown pictures and told to show up tonight?"

"Why are you telling these guys. I thought you loved me."

"I do love you and I need help. They are your friends too. Now answer the question."

Betts looked at the ground but finally said, "They said I had to come tonight. They showed me some very detailed pictures."

"Thanks Betts. You will see that these guys are your friends too. They will say nothing."

I pulled Sam over and said, "Tell us what happened. Be as accurate as possible."

"The guy talked about girls and the things he did with them. He used his hands to describe what he was talking about. He usually kept a hand on my shoulder. He was rubbing my back and then asked if I ever had a..." he looked at Betts, "a blow job. I knew that he was going to give me one if I could not get away. I was never so happy in my life to hear you call my name."

Chuck asked, "You're sure he was going to give you a blow job?"

"Positive."

Jerry talked about the supposed stash of porn. I said, "The stash was real. Some of the people you may even know but I doubt if you would have seen the faces."

Betts said, "What are we going to do?"

"You will do nothing. They will not post anything."

"What if they do?"

"If all else fails you will say that they took a picture of your face and put it on another girl's body."

I added, "When I talked to Wendy, she more or less told me that she does not like Tony. Tony's father, Carmen, is one of the leading mob figures in Canada. The police want him but a lot of cops are paid to not find him or give him messages. I haven't figured out how to deal with this yet."

Betts burst out, "What could you do about this? For god's sake Wally, he is in the mob and you said the police won't help without evidence."

"I can do a lot and if you guys help, we can do a lot more."

Chuck said, "What can we do?"

"I don't know yet. The best way is to expose them so the cops have no choice but to arrest them."

"How can we do that?"

"I don't know." In a moment I did have a start. You could not trace a broadcast signal to where it went very well. You could make a special sound and this got transmitted. You then went around with an antenna to find the amplified signal at the receiving end. We already had a good idea of where it might be.

Nadac would not help, but he would show me how to alter my ultrawave receiver to find what I wanted. It had already found the bug, all I had to do was tune it in. The trouble was that I could not prove to the gang that I had the right equipment.

There was one possibility though. I still had my nearly useless pea sized crystal. I could tune it to the same frequency of the transmitter. It would be basically a crystal radio set but it should work.

Sam's dad did a lot of tinkering. He could weld, machine, do plumbing, electrical work and even electronics. We had sneaked into his workshop a lot of times. Now I needed it to make my receiver.

"Guys, I know what to do, at least the first part. We are going to Sam's house and using his father's shop."

I got my pack and my bike too. Mom had luckily not destroyed this too. Betts had her bike. The guys had to run though because they came by car. I was the one to slow them down anyway.

We were in luck because Sam's parents were not home. I had never used a metal lathe before but Nadac guided me through the steps. I had to wear glasses too. The guys got the other material while I was the one that had to secretly tinker with the crystal.

Earphones came from a Walkman, two sheets of aluminum foil, an old transistor radio antenna, a coil of wire and a small piece of cardboard worked with just a bit of tinkering. I tapped by my pack to make a noise and Chuck gave a beautiful smile because he heard the tapping from a hundred metres away.

We all got on our bikes and drove near Wendy's home. The transmitter was in Sam's garage with his alarm clock was beeping near it. We could hear it faintly but the signal would get stronger when the receiving amplifier boosted the signal for its own processing needs. There was no increase at Wendy's.

There was only a limited range of this device and on a hunch we went to the Caputo home. The signal got stronger as we got nearer and weaker as we drove away.

A block away the boys gave the radio to Betts and she drove by then Sam and finally Jerry.

Sam said, "What do we do now?"

"I am going to see what I can do to hurt Caputo. I don't think he keeps much at his house. It is going to take a long time. There may not be any payback for years and a lot more people are going to be hurt."

Chuck said, "We can't do anything. We have to let the police do it."

I said, "We call the police. They hear that there was a note and pictures of Betts but she doesn't have them now. I saw the camera heads. They are on private property. They can't do anything. Somebody wanted to give a blow job. That may be illegal because of the age but it is only one person's word against another. There is a transmitter in my pack. If I report this, the police will ask questions. Whoever put in my pack can say that I stole it from them. There is nothing the police can do even if they wanted to."

"Ok, so there is nothing the police can do. What can you do?"

"I can investigate Wendy's house one day or rather night."

Betts blurted out, "Don't do that. They will catch you."

"They may if I do not plan for this. Now here is what we are going to do. None of us talks about this until there is more information. If they bugged me then they can bug you too. Betts is not going near that house again. You guys stay away from situations where they can blackmail you too. Wendy and everybody at that party is bad news. There has to be others that were not at the party too."

The guys went to my new home and I got out some of my funny money. We went to get the ice cream I talked about earlier and avoided all talk about the party.

The guys left. Liza and I went home. When we got upstairs, she cried and cried. Luckily her mother didn't hear.

Patricia came home and looked at us on the bed. She could see that her sister was upset. "What happened?"

"I just got frightened at the party."

"What happened?"

"I almost got hurt."

"Oh. I am kinda hurt too."

Betts said, "What happened?"

"When we came home Liza and I went to her room to play. We played real good." she came close to us and whispered, "She put her finger up my bum. It felt real good. I did it to her too. Do you want me to show you what I did?"

Betts had to smile now. "You are a horny girl just like me."

"It's fun."

"I know."

I said, "Exams are starting. You better get to studying."

Patricia said, "Why? We are going to pass."

"I want smart girlfriends. I never studied very hard and it was a mistake. Now get to your books."

The girls got out their books and I went to my room and lifted weights while Nadac fed me more information on Caputo and the Pallos.

Nadac did not make it easy for me. He gave me all the information I asked for and in fact there was too much. I had to carefully word my requests to get the information in manageable sized pieces.

The city, provincial and the RCMP computers were searched. Caputo was into a great many activities. What was of interest to me though was his kiddy porn industry. There was not much proof but there were hundreds of reports and information from informers. There were reports that Caputo fucked little girls and boys since he was small himself. The complainants sometimes died along with their parents.

He owned a lot of women. These turned tricks for him. Children were sold the same way and used by Caputo and his friends.

Caputo's partners sold drugs both to retail customers and to middlemen. This suggested that he had a great way of getting drugs into the country then sell them south of the border.

Caputo was into white collar crime but nothing could be proved. He was into scams to rip off the small guy and into other scams to rip off large companies or financial institutions for millions. The Bank of Commerce was recently hit for a hundred million. The news had never gone out to the public though.

Credit cards, forged checks and counterfeiting were to fill in the cracks between large hauls. I could not complain about the last point because I had some myself.

Nadac worked through the known associates of Caputo and found a pattern. Caputo owned outright or with others a lot of legitimate businesses. Some were quite large. Some like some data storage firms were not under his name but his people worked at them from tax records.

Nadac went into a Caputo company and through some heavily encrypted files. This lead him offshore and into some of the larger computers that served the banks. The Caputo name was not used because the accounts were numbered. The records of Caputo's transactions led Nadac to many other accounts. Some were very large. They ranged from a shipping line that had planes, trucks and ships.

The police conservatively estimated that Caputo and his associates had amassed three and a half billion dollars in the last ten years. The reports said the rate was increasing quickly. Nadac computed the figure to be much closer to fifteen billion and going as high as a thirty billion. I figured that all that could not be Caputo's alone.

Caputo was not just into Canada but he had branched out into the States and Europe. A bank in the Cayman Islands was theorised as belonging to him or to a consortium of criminals.

Wendy Pallo's father Frank, seemed to be one of Caputo's employees. Frank's name was linked to the kiddy porn and the prostitution rings. I put in a suggestion to Nadac to look for the film studio and a way of distributing their product.

"Nadac, you said you would provide information to make the planning possible."

"Yes, I did."

"Can you manufacture more surveillance probes? We can follow drug shipments and inform the authorities. We can even inform the papers so that the shipment is seized."

"Sometimes it is better to let it through so more people can be caught."

"I guess you're right. It's just that I still see some crooked cops though most I guess are ok."

"To answer your question, I can make more but I need processed crystals for them."

"Is it better to make them where you are or can I align them here?"

"Your location is suitable. I can load your mental viewing screen from here."

"That reminds me. The Aristis have a good processor to help them think. When can I get one?"

"You have a better memory, your intelligence was encouraged to grow, I opened your mind to your ability to see through the dimensions and to see the flow of power from crystals. You have an adequate processor now. When you add your ability to both communicate with me and then to gain information, you are far ahead of any of your race. It was not long ago that you did not wish to have this device."

"You kinda' grow on me. I see that I can do a lot more but I am not able to do much myself."

"That is always the case."

"Maybe I can be upgraded to be a soldier."

"That is a possibility but your value is in your abilities to manufacture and repair computers."

"Then I will make computers. I want Caputo stopped."

"Taking his money would hinder his ability to do business."

"Yes it would but he has a lot. Even a small fraction of it would keep him going strong until he made his money back."

"Then we will see about getting all that is possible."

I was still working on how to get Caputo and through him Pallo when Betts came in with a notebook in her hand.

"I like that. I am studying to make you happy and you are here lifting weights."

"I'm studying too. I'm thinking and going over the facts."

"Ok then but this is hard to do."

"Hard to keep your mind on your studies?"

"Yes."

"I'll make a deal. You get at least equal to your last report card or better in all of your subjects then I will take you out to a fancy restaurant."

"You have enough money?"

"Enough for my girl."

Patricia was in the hallway apparently listening. "Me too?"

Betts just gave a weak smile so I figured she was not that peeved. "Yes both girlfriends then."

We had a nice supper and afterward Bert said, "I heard about your wager. Do you have the money for that?"

"Sure. I can take all of you out to an expensive place to eat but then I am back to being a poor boy."

"How much money do you have?"

"I will tell you if you tell me your net worth." He just looked at me and didn't answer.

Lillian and I quizzed her daughters on their upcoming exams. When the girls got tired, Bert said, "Do you want me to help you in math. Betty said that was your first one."

Betts started to chuckle then laughed hard. Bert was curious and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Mr Ramsey gives Wally highschool stuff."

Bert looked at me and said, "Is that right?"

"I like math. I especially like it when the functions are graphed. The symmetry is beautiful to me."

"And I thought it was only my daughter."

"Oh, she is beautiful too. She may even grow up to be a beautiful as her mother."

All the Huggins looked at each other. Lillian said, "You do have a sweet tongue in your head." She then turned red because of the innuendo.

I felt embarrassed but I said, "I did not lie or exaggerate."

There was a long pause and then Bert broke it by saying, "Tell me about your math."

"Mr Ramsey gave me his old math book. I can do most of the work in it but some problems I do not understand well yet."

"Let me see the book, please."

Betts got up and ran to my room while I thought of a way to make my knowledge seem less. Lillian and Bert went through the book after reading the cover. Lillian said, "You can do the work in this book?"

"Most of it. It keeps me occupied when Mr Ramsey is teaching math to the class."

"Quite an accomplishment for a boy in grade seven. I know you are going to go far in life."

"Alpha Ursae Majoris?"

She burst out laughing and so did Bert. She almost stopped and then started again. The two girls just looked in wonder at their parents.

Lillian said, "Yes, perhaps even Alpha Ursae Majoris."

"Your crystals are in a sack near your bicycle."

The unexpected voice shocked me but I tried to hide it. Later when the girls were starting to get bored, I went to put the bikes away and picked up the small bag of crystals. There were 762 of them. Many would be spares but a computer needed a good many of them. All but three in each computer were smaller than the size of a BB and half of those were only half of that diameter. Nadac would take care of the substrate. All of the bag could fit in one of my pockets.

I went upstairs later and put the bag in my dresser but kept one of the largest crystals out. Betts came in and threw herself on my bed as she watched me work.

"When are you going to stop fooling with that rock."

She did not recognise that this was a different crystal. "Not until I completely understand it. The crystal helped us today, didn't it?"

"Ya, I guess it did."

"Maybe I can get it to do a Christmas carol like some card do. I can make a million."

"Sure, as soon as you make it then somebody big will copy it." That wasn't going to happen but I kept my mouth shut.

Betts got off the bed and stood behind me. I guess she felt bad. I took the crystal and got up. I went over to the bed and sat with my back to the headboard. I patted the bed between my legs. "Come and sit here. Lay back on your man."

She liked that a lot and got into position. I had no place for the crystal so I said, "Hi Nadac. Can I put the crystal in my mouth without me getting poisoned or something?"

"It is not toxic or that soluble."

"Thanks."

For the first time I thought I heard a chuckle from him.

Nadac fed me the graph once more and I began to hammer the lines of force to where I wanted them to go. In a way this was better. I only had to look within my head for what to do and the crystal was nearer my brain and a bit easier to alter.

The crystal was nearly done when Betts started to shake. I held her tight and wondered what was wrong. Just before I asked, I heard the clock downstairs chime. It was nine o'clock.

It was only when Betts quieted that I continued with the crystal. Betts said, "I have to go an pee. Keep my seat warm."

"Bring a book, Honey."

Her small smile got brighter and she left. I got up and put the finished crystal away and took out the rest of the large crystals. All but one went into my pocket and the other went into my mouth.

Betts came back with a book and took 'her' position while I worked. In a half hour Patricia came by and then took up a position leaning against my right side. For a second I thought how nice it would be to have Liza as another bookend to keep me upright. I didn't mean erect.

Patricia looked like she was going to sleep so I said to her, "Sweetie, go get your jammies on."

When she hurried of, Betts turned around and kissed me then ran off too. I had a chance for a pee myself and I put my one pair of pajamas on. I turned off the overhead light but turned on the one at the bedside. The girls were already in the bed and I got them off and then sat as I was before.

They all snuggled up. Patricia fell asleep quickly and Betts took a half hour. Bert came by later and looked into the room. I put my finger to my lips and he whispered, "Are they both asleep?" I nodded. "Do you want me to help you get free? You can sleep in their bed."

I whispered with the crystal now under my tongue. "I will stay here for a while."

"Suit yourself."

A moment later Lillian came by but she only smiled at her daughters and me.

I was getting tired. The crystals were not taking longer though so I figured I was improving. I spit the crystal out and put it with the other ones in the bedside table.

Betts woke up when I got up but went right back to sleep after I got her to lay down. I turned off the light and slipped between the two girls that meant so much to me.

My door had not been closed and I woke up to see two parents looking at me. I just looked at them and snuggled back next to Betts while Patricia kept my back warm.

I woke up again but this time I was holding Patricia. One of my hands was holding her flat chest. One day she would fill out like her mother. I felt some discomfort and I knew I had to take a pee. Getting out of bed was a problem but the girls both went back to sleep.

When I came back I saw the girls holding each other. This was a good time to get up anyway. My mother or actually my old mother had us go to church. Only a few times was I allowed to avoid this. Most of them I was sick or injured. Today I would make breakfast instead.

I put on the coffee then made a hot breakfast for three. I put this on two trays and walked upstairs. The trays went on the floor to one side. I pulled back the covers over Betts then licked a finger. This one went into her pajama bottoms while I kissed her.

She squirmed and kissed me with a passion. Her arms went around me and pulled me to her. My finger continued to work on her opening and clit. It was only a few minutes until she shook. I slowed down and pulled my hand out. She pulled me closer as it to keep my finger where it was.