Chapter 34

Thursday, June 10, 2010

When Havel came by in the morning to pick up Ellen, Jake gave him last-minute instructions and described Harris’s car to him.

“With my mother staying away from her gym, the only places where Harris knows to find her are at work and at home. I mostly worry about when she arrives at work and when she leaves. Make sure that he can’t approach you without you seeing him. We figured out how he was keeping my mother from seeing him, and I stopped it. She can help you watch out for him now.”

“He won’t try to get her inside the office building?”

“No, I don’t see how,” Ellen said. “There are security cameras around. You need a badge to get past the entrance. He would be filmed.”

“He doesn’t have to leave with her or do anything illegal while he’s there. Just get to her. If he can do what you say, he could make her leave on her own and meet him outside.”

“I doubt he would try that,” Jake said. “Being caught on video at the same place he is suspected of abducting his victim would increase the chance of the police taking an interest in him.

“But still, Mr. Havel is right.” He turned to Ellen. “Mom, why don’t you ask them at work how they would feel about having a low-key security presence in the office while you’re there. It can’t hurt and it closes down a vulnerability.”

Jake turned to Havel.

“He knows that Mom likes to exercise at lunch. She’s not going back to the old gym, but if he’s smart, he’ll look for her at other gyms in the area. Be sure to keep an eye open.

“I’m going to leave you with two thoughts, Mr. Havel. If in the course of protecting my mother, you have to do something that is frowned on by the police, I will ensure that nothing worse than arrest happens to you. Just as my father has never been convicted, I will make sure that the justice system won’t convict you. That is my promise to you, on my honor.

“I tell you that because if he comes for her, the only way you can stop him is to shoot him. I prefer that you shoot to kill. The world would be a better place, and my mother would be able to live without fear. If you wait until you are within his range, you are no good to her.”

“I do not relish the prospect of conflict with the police or the courts, but I will trust your assurances that you can get me out of trouble.”

Jake kissed Ellen on the cheek. She and Havel left.

Jake watched them leave and then went over to the DeRizzo house. Leanne answered the door.

He kissed her. It started out gently but they progressed to greater intensity. When they broke the kiss, he stepped back and smiled at her.

“Hello, jailbird.”

She smacked his arm.

“Are we the only ones up?”

“For now. They’ll start trickling down soon.”

“What if you and I go up to your room to talk?”

“We could talk down here.”

“It just wouldn’t be as much fun.”

She took his hand and pulled him upstairs and into her room. He closed the door behind and quickly took off his clothes.

“I’ve still got work to do making your breasts more sensitive.”

He sat on her bed and pulled her in front of him. He removed her robe and lifted her nightgown up and over her head. He began to suckle on her. His arms went around her bottom and he held her firmly to him. The part of her brain that processed the sensations in her breasts became active and he resumed the task of making the circuits more efficient. Leanne pulled his head to her breast.

“That feels better every time you do it.”

“Tell me how your family is taking the news about us,” Jake said and resumed sucking.

“Kara is excited for us. Julie is glad that we’re back together, but I think she’s a little jealous. She’s worried she’s being displaced. Brian’s in a surly mood and won’t talk.”

I worry about Brian. He’s jealous of me and it’s coloring his judgment.

“Why’s he jealous?”

He wants all three of you women for himself.

“How do you mean that?”

He sees me as a threat to your devotion to him and a threat to his position as the head of the household.

“He was never in the running to be the man of the family. He’s got to grow up more.”

He sees it more as me coming in and usurping his rightful place.

“Well, in a way you did. All three of us look up to you for what you’ve done for us.”

He’s convincing himself that I came in and used mind tricks to take control of you.

Leanne was beginning to get aroused. Her breathing was getting deeper. Jake kept working steadily in her head.

“Uhhh, what can we do about it?”

I hesitate to do anything. He’s not responding to reason. His sense of entitlement makes him touchy. And he gets mad when he sees you and the girls accept my leadership. He takes it as an insult because I’m younger and smaller. There’s little I can do.

“You could change him.”

With some people, I would. But he’s your son. He’s Kara and Julie’s brother. I wouldn’t undertake to do that on my own. Do you know what I did to him yesterday?

“No, but Kara told me that he knocked you down and sent you to the doctor for stitches.”

Yes, we were rushed and I didn’t have the time to coddle him. I made it so that he wouldn’t attack me again, and that he would obey me. Given that he’s so volatile, I should probably leave the conditioning that stops him from hurting me, but there’s no real reason to make him obey me anymore. I’ll undo that the next time I see him.

“How do those things affect his personality?”

Besides making him obey me, they don’t. He’s still the same surly, obstinate fellow he was before I darkened your door. Well, perhaps he’s a bit wary of me now, but that’s because of the circumstances, not because of any change I made to his personality.

“What could you do to change him?”

The problem is his attitude toward women. He expects you three to obey to him. He’s the same way with Beth. He’s mad at me because he thinks that I am responsible for you all not showing him the deference he feels he’s due.

“His father has the same attitude toward women.”

It’s probably not a coincidence.

“What can we do about it?”

For centuries, parents have been pointing out to their children the errors of their ways and insisting that they behave better. That’s the tried and true method. But that’s no surprise to you. You do that already. It might take a while for the training to sink in, and he’s got to unlearn some bad habits, but it should work, eventually. Especially if you keep at it and everyone around him shows a united front. With me reading him, he won’t be able to fake it. I’ll smoke him out if he’s only feigning a change of heart.

“What could you do differently if you used your powers?”

One approach is to directly change his personality, sculpt it the way I want. It’s a step I hate to take. I could also change his attitude by making him feel bad when he misbehaves. But I don’t think that that technique is as good for him as the traditional way. I would rather figure out an approach that makes him a better person, not just better behaved.

“Would you do that for me? Think about a way to make him a better person? He doesn’t like his dad much, but that didn’t stop Brian from learning all too much from him.” She moaned softly. “Ohhh, my. That sure does feel good.”

Jake pulled Leanne down on his lap, impaling her on his penis. He moistened a finger in his mouth and slid it slowly into her anus. She went off. He kept her orgasm going long enough that she was rendered insensate. He kissed her and laid her on the bed.

“I’ll be back,” he said.

He peeked out the door. The hallway was empty. He stole into Kara’s room. She was awake and smiled at him when he came in. She pulled the sheet back in invitation.

“I’m glad you and my mom are working things out, but listening to you two has got me hot. Get under here, naked boy.”

He slid into her bed, and she pulled him on top of her. He set his penis at the entrance to her vagina and pushed in slowly.

“I’ve missed being with you like this,” Jake said.

“It’s not like you haven’t had other stuff to deal with. Or other women, too.”

“If you lived with me, we could spend more time together.”

“Jake, are you making some kind of a proposal?”

“I’m just wishing it were true.”

“We’ve got a big house here.”

“No, that wouldn’t work. You don’t have any spare bedrooms. And besides, I come with baggage.”

“I’m going to tell your mom that you called her baggage.”

“You do and I’ll spank you.”

“You talk pretty big for someone who’s not any bigger than I am.”

“As if that would stop me. And don’t forget, I’m at the age where boys start to grow. You don’t want to piss me off if I turn out to be six foot six and 230 pounds.”

“Oh, that could be interesting. Jake that feels really good. Fuck me harder, please.”

“Patience, woman. We haven’t had a chance to be with you since Sunday. I want to enjoy it. I do have a plan for us. Would you like to hear about it?”

“Uhhh. Whatever you want. Just keep doing me.”

“We’re going to buy a big house before the baby is born. Then I’m going to move you and your family in. Ellen and me, too. Then we start the serious business of being a family.”

“I didn’t know that ninth grade paid that well.”

“I’m going to earn the money from my summer job.”

“Jake, what do you work? Ten hours a week?”

“Something like that. But they are ten good, productive hours. You’ll see. But you let me worry about the money. It will be there. I’ll need the help of my chief wife in choosing a house, planning the move, and setting up our new household.”

“No. Well, yes. I’ll help, of course, but what you need to do is set up a council composed of you and your chief advisors. If we pool our talents, we’ll make better decisions. Now stop toying with me.”

Jake gave in. He started to go faster. When he felt his orgasm coming on him, he lit up her feedback circuit and drove her to climax. He kept her orgasm going long enough that she, like her mother, lay trembling, curled up into a fetal ball.

“You are my life, love. I’ve got to go.”

He checked the hallway again. It was empty, so he hurried to Julie’s door. She was lying naked on her bed.

“I was hoping that I’d be next,” she said. “You’ve been neglecting me.”

“That’s what you said the last time. It’s only been three days.”

“Only three days? Some girls die if they go without for that long.”

He lay on the bed and kissed her.

“So, I have to live with sloppy thirds?” she asked.

“No, not unless I can get hard again. You know that you’re first in my heart, don’t you?”

She pushed him onto his back and put his penis in her mouth. He firmed up quickly.

“So that’s what Kara tastes like,” Julie said when he was fully hard. “Jake, how many other of your women have you said that to? That first-in-your-heart thing?”

“All of them, although not necessarily with those exact words. Well, not Carol. She knows that we’re friends with benefits, not romantically involved. But that doesn’t change the fact that there is no one that I love more than you. I’d rather die than be without you.”

“I love you, Jake Fielding. I’d die without you, too.”

He nibbled gently on her nipples.

“I really, really like these breasts.”

“And I like the way that feels. When are you going to finish them?”

He rolled off her and onto his back.

“Get on top. I’ll work on them some more.”

She hopped onto him and slowly sank onto his penis. He pushed just a trickle into her feedback circuit, enough for her to really enjoy the vaginal sex. She began to grind against his pubic bone. He pulled her down towards him by her arms, took a breast into his mouth, and focused on sensitizing it. After a couple minutes, he moved to the other one.

After five minutes he reached behind her and rubbed her anus. That took her over the top. She cried out and then fell onto him. She put her arms around him and held on, smiling contentedly.

Jake let her lie there for a few minutes before he rolled to his side and deposited her on the bed.

“Beloved, I have to get going. I’ve got to get to work soon. Put on a robe and let’s go down to the kitchen for breakfast.”

“You can’t go running about. You’re naked as the day you were born.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Jake checked the hall and then dashed down to Leanne’s room. She was gone. His clothes were folded and lying on the bed. He dressed and returned to Julie’s room where she was still lying relaxed and naked.

“I liked you naked better,” she said.

“Not as much as I like you naked. But you’ll scandalize your brother if you come down to the kitchen like that.”

“Nah. He’d just leer at me.”

“Proving only that he is human.”

She pulled herself out of bed and put on a bathrobe. They went down to the kitchen. Leanne and Kara were sitting at the kitchen table. They giggled when Jake and Julie came in.

Leanne stood and went to the stove.

“Bacon and eggs this morning. I’m sure you’ve worked up a big appetite,” she said and then broke into laughter along with Kara.

“I’ve got to be at work at ten,” Jake said, “preferably with as much of my dignity intact as possible.”

“What is there to impair your dignity?” Kara said. “You just walked in here and nailed every woman in the place. I’d think you’d be strutting into work.”

Jake rolled his eyes.

“Where’s Brian?” he asked.

“He didn’t like the noise. He left shortly after Kara started screaming,” Leanne said. She turned to Julie. “Jake’s got to hurry. Would you make his toast while I cook his eggs?”

“I’ll put his bacon in the microwave,” Kara said and jumped to her feet.

Soon Jake was sitting in front of his breakfast. All three of the women were watching him. Jake looked back at them.

“You all could eat something, too.”

This caused them to giggle.

“No, not right now,” Leanne said. “We’ll just sit here, watching our man eat his breakfast.”

“I don’t know why, but there’s something about this that makes me feel good,” Jake said.

“A man can never get too much devotion,” Kara said.

Jake wiped his mouth and stood to leave.

“You are all big teases, but I love you anyway.”

He kissed them each in turn and rushed off to work.

Jake watched the court reporter swear in the witness. Jake tried to hide his revulsion. He did not bother hiding his awe.

The person being deposed was Tommy Cox, the speaker of the house of the state legislature. Governors came and went, but Tommy Cox had controlled the state legislature longer than Jake had been alive. He was the most influential politician in the state, maybe in the South. And there he was, sitting in all his corpulent glory less than ten feet away.

Jake had not realized that anything unusual was up when he arrived for the deposition five minutes early. Denise had fawned over him. He had helped that along by goosing her arousal level. He had started a new game. Whenever he touched her or she him, he would fire up the circuits that processed clitoral stimulation. As far as her brain was concerned, every touch was sex. It only took a couple of minutes of his casually touching her before she was initiating contact with him. Underneath her blouse, her nipples were pronounced and she had broken out into a light sheen of sweat.

At ten on the dot, Jerry walked into the reception room looking for him. He had taken one look at Denise and shaken his head.

Are you still tormenting her?

It’s a character defect of mine. I can’t resist toying with people who mess with me.

Leave your toy here.

Jerry led him to the conference room and seated him at the far end of the table with a legal pad and pen.

Cox and his party had arrived just then. There were three attorneys and a fourth man, some honcho from Speaker Cox’s office.

Jake had to admit that Cox had a presence. He seemed confident and unconcerned about the lawsuit. And it was no act. That’s how he felt.

Jake, on the other hand, suddenly felt nauseous. He had never met evil before. Oh, he had read plenty of people who were selfish or cruel. And there had been many people who were so consumed by some addiction or passion that they didn’t care who they hurt to get what they wanted.

But he had never met someone who so delighted in his ability to torment people who crossed him. Cox was willing to do anything to advance himself or profit from a situation. Jake kept getting flashes of memories of Cox bullying people. Cox reveled in his power. As for the insignificant people who could neither help him nor hurt him, he disregarded them entirely.

Jake’s stomach churned. He stood and looked out the window, trying to distract himself until he could get control of the agitation in his belly. He leaned his forehead against the window and started taking deep breaths.

Jake, are you all right?

Jake kept looking out the window so that he would not have to see that all too familiar face masking the monster underneath.

He’s vile, Jerry. Reading his mind is like what it must be like to sit in the same room with a week-old corpse. I feel really bad.

You’ve got to pull it together, Jake. This is the big leagues. I’m running a huge risk taking this case. Bad things happen to his enemies. I need you. It doesn’t matter how bad you feel.

Jerry, I’ll do my best. But push that trash can this way. I can’t guarantee that I’m not going to spew.

Jake moved his chair so that it was positioned under a vent. The cold air on his face steadied his stomach some. He sat and turned so that he faced the window. Seeing Cox would not help Jake read him any better.

When Cox had taken the oath, Jerry began his examination. He stepped Cox through the events of the evening of the automobile crash. Cox said that he’d never met the decedent, Carolyn O’Connor, before. She had been a guest at a house where he had attended a poker party. The house belonged to Ryan Caldwell, the chief of staff of his congressional office and a longtime friend. The game had broken up at about three a.m. Cox had agreed to take Carolyn home because she lived in the same direction he was driving. Yes, he had had a couple of beers, but they had been spaced throughout the evening. He had wanted to do well in the game, so he kept the drinking to a minimum.

On his way home, a raccoon surprised him by jumping into the road. He had lost control and the car rolled. Carolyn had been ejected from the car during the rollover. He had asked her to buckle her seat belt, but she was tipsy and refused. It was immediately obvious that she was dead. He had called the police who arrived about ten minutes later. Cox had had a minor cut and was a little bruised up. He had been taken to a hospital and was released a few hours later.

Jake took notes furiously. The honcho from Cox’s office who was present at the deposition was Ryan Caldwell, the chief of staff at whose house the poker party had taken place. Except that it had not. Caldwell knew exactly what had happened. As Cox had been telling his story, Jake had been pulling the real events from Caldwell.

But that was not all that Jake saw in Caldwell’s mind. Caldwell was a longtime trusted aide. Caldwell and Cox had been using Cox’s power to feather their nests for decades. In addition to writing the notes that Jerry needed for his next round of questions, Jake was writing down details about present and past deals that Cox had been involved in. The money and perks that Cox had received in exchange for favorable legislation and administrative appointments were staggering.