Chapter 4: Justin settles in

We sat on the porch and talked for the next 2 hours, about horses and hiking and the mountains. We decided I needed an indoor pool, but one that looked natural like a lake, and with a glass enclosure attached to the house. I wish I would have thought about that earlier, now it will cost me money.

"Ok Jenny; if we hire your mom that's your first two jobs, to find information on and buy a horse and barn, then to find a pool manufacturer that can build us a custom pool."

She asked if she could use the computer, I said sure. Then she jumped up and ran inside to the office. Well now she will be busy for a while, so I went in to chat with Pat and Gloria.

"Am I interrupting anything?" I asked

"Yes but you can join in anyway," Gloria said.

"We were talking about US," Pat said.

"Oh, you mean the fact that I haven't propositioned you yet?" I said with a smile.

They both laughed at that. "No," Pat said. "Just about how we met, and about Melissa and her husband."

"Oh my, don't go giving Gloria any ideas now," I said as I was hit with a pillow.

"Don't even think that you pervert! You are as bad as Melissa," Pat said.

"Oh come on; I have been a perfect gentleman and you know it."

"Where did my daughter run off to?" Gloria asked.

"She is in the office on the computer, looking for information on horses and a barn. She is also looking for a custom pool manufacturer - she thought we needed a pool. Well being the man that I am, the images that brings to mind are very good; got to love swimming beauties."

The women looked and each other shaking their heads and started whispering to each other. I left the room and headed to the office; jumping on the other computer to chat with my AI friend. She had found the identity of the girl that used the phone, she was a private investigator named Rebecca Stevenson. She was in the area working on a case. AI hadn't found out what yet, but she apparently was spending time watching Melissa and Jack. Hmm, that's interesting; maybe Pat knows something. I got up and walked into the living room.

"Well any decisions on the job?" I asked.

"Yes she accepted," Pat said.

"Good. Now on another matter, that girl that asked to use the phone yesterday. Well she is a private investigator on a case in the area, we're not sure what case, but she has been watching Melissa and Jack quite a bit," I said.

"You think she asked to use the phone here because of me? Because I drove up here with Melissa and then ran off?" Pat asked.

"It's possible; she is being monitored now so, umm, our friend will let us know if anything changes."

"I think our friend should have a name, don't you think? Maybe Kristy?" she said.

"Kristy. I like that; I'll ask her," I said.

"Who is Kristy?" Gloria asked.

"Oh, I have been developing an interactive computer program; it can do things like search the internet for stuff and control lights in the house. It's even connected to the security system and informs us when we have visitors."

"Cool, does it do dishes?" Gloria asked.

"Nope, that's why we called you," Pat said.

"Well since we all skipped lunch, how does an early dinner sound? It won't take long for the pasta, and the sauce is done," I said.

They thought that was a good idea, so I headed to the kitchen to finish dinner. I even put some French bread in the oven to brown a bit. Then I finished the sauce up and the smell brought everyone into the kitchen. We sat down and started. It was a good meal, hopefully one of the last I will be cooking.

After eating I excused myself and went back into the office. I decided I wanted to play with that investigator a bit, so I went to an online hobby store and ordered a few items. After paying for my wares and clicking the 'will call' option, I then went searching for surveillance cameras. I bought what I needed. I figured Kristy could enhance them a bit along with the RC's Then I called a courier service in LA and set up an account; I'm sure I'll be using these guys often.

I decided on a run before bed, so I informed the ladies and took off. I made four laps of the property, then ran in for a shower, afterwards I hit the bed.

I woke up Sunday morning to a cold nose and a big tongue licking my face. Well I was pretty sure I closed my door when I went to bed, so I opened my eyes and noticed I had all 4 dogs on the bed with me. It was then I heard a giggle from the doorway then feet running down the hall. Well I guess that's my wakeup call, so I got up and showered. I dressed and made my way down to find breakfast in progress.

"Well it's about time you got up," Jenny said.

"Ya well I'm used to the late shift," I said.

We were eating breakfast when the computer chimed that we had a visitor, I looked over at the monitor - it was a large box truck.

"That must be my order from yesterday, I'll be right back."

I hit the button to open the gate and told them to pull to the back of the house. I met them at the back and we unloaded my items in to the back workshop, I gave them a good bonus in cash and they took off. Then I went back in to finish my breakfast.

"What did you order?" Pat asked.

"Oh just some toys. I'm planning on playing games with that investigator that is still up on the hill."

I finished up eating, and then headed back to the workshop. I unpacked all my goodies and had Kristy check the items for possible upgrades. While she was doing her thing I checked out the wireless cameras I bought. I discussed with Kristy what she could do to make the items better, and then she made the upgrades. I assembled the newly upgraded parts and then the camera and made sure it was all balanced. Kristy said that this upgraded model would function within a 5 mile radius and could stay up for about two hours. Well that's pretty good for staying with Earth type materials. As I was fueling the remote control helicopter, Jenny walked into the shop.

"Is that what you bought?" she asked.

"Yep this is one of the items; I bought a little camera to put in it to. See the monitor over there? Watch," I said, turning on the camera.

"Cool! You can use that to spy on people, but I bet it's too noisy."

"Yep it's noisy, but I want Rebecca to see it when I'm watching her, I'm going to try and get her to follow it back here."

After fueling it up, I took it outside and started it up; surprisingly it was not that noisy. I guess some of the modifications helped with that. After it was running I went back inside by the monitor and grabbed the controls. It had been a long time since I flew these as a kid, but thankfully I didn't forget how. I flew around the property for a while; apparently Pat had heard the noise because she came outside with Gloria. I flew around them for a few minutes, but not too close, then took off to find my investigator. I stayed high enough so I couldn't easily be heard. First I found Melissa & Jack's camper, and then I circled until I found Rebecca sitting in a lawn chair next to her car.

"There she is our little spy," I said.

"Is she still watching those guys?" Jenny asked.

"Yep. I have an idea. Maybe we should invite her to lunch?" I said, flying the helicopter home.

After it landed and shut down, I re-fueled it and put a little string on the bottom with a note on it. I laughed to myself; that should get her attention. I went back inside and Jenny was laughing, so I sat back down at the controls, and my helicopter took off again. I flew back over to where Rebecca was and flew around in circles above her; it didn't take long to realize someone knew she was there. I went into a hover just above her car and waited for her to get the idea. Eventually she reached out and took the note on the string; I was watching as she read it and started laughing. She sat back down, and I brought the helicopter home.

I went inside the house and told the ladies I was going to set up the grill and have hotdogs and hamburgers for lunch, and asked if that was ok. I received 'ok's' from everyone. I also informed them we might have a guest for lunch. I went back to working on my toys, and helped fashion a simple control for Kristy. I wanted the computer to be able to easily fly any of the helicopters.

It was now a little before noon, so I decided to start on the BBQ. I was just about to light it when the front gate chime sounded, so I walked inside and looked at the monitor. It was Rebecca. I hit the gate button and asked her to pull up front where I went to meet her.

"Hello Rebecca I'm glad you decided to join us. Please don't feel threatened, this is just a friendly lunch," I said.

She looked at me and said, "I'm not sure how you know my name Mr. Lake, but I took you up on your offer to find that out, among other things."

"That's no problem. Let me introduce you to a few friends." I invited her inside and we met with the ladies.

"Patricia I believe you already know, and this is Gloria and her daughter Jenny," I said.

"Yes, we will need to have a conversation about that when we can," Rebecca said. Then I took her into the office and introduced her to Kristy, pointing at the computer.

"Rebecca I would like you to meet Kristy, she is the one who figured out who you were. She is an interactive computer program I have been working on. She runs the security system here at the house," I said.

Just then the TV came to life and showed Rebecca's file we had put together, and then Kristy said, "It is a pleasure to meet you in person Rebecca. I apologize for snooping but it is my responsibility to protect this house and those inside it."

"I can't believe you were able to get all that information in such a short time, even that I'm on a case up here?" she said.

"Yep, but she has not been able to find out what case. We figure those records are not on a computer anywhere. Although we assume it had to do with Melissa and Jack since you have been watching them like a hawk, we also assume that you wanted information about Patricia and that is why you were here."

"Well you seem to be well informed, so why ask me to lunch?" she asked