Chapter 47

Rory

Phil and My mum came back to Marchester for Christmas and with Baby Emma despite having been here a few weeks ago. Rebecca and I had thought that they might want to bring in Christmas at home this year since it would be Emma's first. However my mum told me that they both felt the family should have a chance to get to know the baby and watch her grow. She seemed to be a contented little soul and she had a regular routine of sleeping for a spell in the morning and in the afternoon. During the bits in between she was a lively baby who loved to be held and had a ready smile for anyone who approached her.

I got a dig in the ribs from Rebecca for saying that she was such a placid natured little thing that she belied the fact that she was a red head.

"I will have you know that not all redheads are fiery tempered. I am normally a calm person except when someone who was formerly known as a wimp, forgets how kind I have been to him, and provokes my wrath."

I laughed at her description of me as a former wimp, but I knew she was right in one respect; she is normally a calm and collected person who cares for others. But she can be quite forceful when she needs to be however. I thought I would tackle her about suggesting I provoked her wrath and see how she reacted.

"I seldom give you an excuse for temper tantrums," I told her tongue in cheek. "I am forever complementing you and telling you how beautiful, sexy and intelligent you are. I think that helps keep you calm, and besides which, you now know should you go over the score I am quite capable of giving you a good spanking when you need it."

That brought out her fiery side as I knew it would and she gave me one of those malevolent looks of which she is so capable.

"I will allow that you are very good at complementing me and boosting my confidence, and on occasion I am kind enough and soft enough to let you assert your manliness and satisfy your male ego by disciplining me. However, Macgregor, you ought to know full well, that I only do so because it leads to great sex. Furthermore you should remember from past experiences that I am also quite capable of deflating that same male ego by administering that same brand of punishment to you as you have done to me. I also indulge in that because I know that also leads to great sex. So watch your step mister."

"Oh I do love it when your fiery side comes out; I find your wicked looks and equally wicked tongue very arousing,"

"If we were not due at my mother's for lunch, you might also find it proved to be very painful.

"Promises, Promises," I said with a laugh.

"Oh and by the way," she reminded me, "as someone administering a spanking said to me not so long ago you may find that I am also someone who keeps mine. So watch your step or you may find yourself on the receiving end."

"I will make sure I try to stay on your good side sweetheart," I told her as we made for the car.

As we gathered as a family for drinks prior to our lunch I realised my mother, in the few short weeks since the baby was born, had recovered her figure and was looking very trim. When I complemented her on this she informed me that there was a gym near her house which had crèche facilities for mums several times a week and she had gone there twice weekly since she came home from the hospital.

"It is paying off mum," I said with a laugh. "You are looking really good, so keep it up. Look what Rebecca's regime has done for me."

"Yes he has turned into a bit of a hunk as a result of my trainer's program for getting him fit," Rebecca said, "but he did a fair bit of moaning about it when I started him off."

"Well he was a bit of a couch potato before he started going out with you dear," my mum told her, "So I'm not surprised he did a bit of complaining at the start.

It has certainly paid off though because he has scrubbed up rather well as a result."

"Hey ladies, give me a break. I was dishing out compliments here and what do I get in return?"

"You get two beautiful women appraising you and saying how well you look as a result of Rebecca taking you in hand," My mother said, "So just be thankful that she cared enough to do so."

At that my three women, Ruth, mum and Rebecca burst out laughing.

The maid had come in at this point and told us lunch was ready to be served, so David said "I suggest we go into the dining room and that you three should leave poor Rory alone. He is not the only one to benefit from these two becoming a couple. You, young lady, are looking so much better and happier since he took you in hand and got you studying. I for one congratulate him on the improvements he has wrought, and I am certainly pleased with the results."

"Thank you sir for coming to my aid, but I should point out the work your daughter put in to make these results come about. Though I am glad you think that I have contributed to her happiness."

"Think nothing of it son, sometimes we men have to stick together in the face of female onslaughts."

"Hear, hear!" Phil added and it was our turn to laugh.

Rebecca

After our half in fun half in earnest verbal exchanges the conversation turned more serious. Phil wanted to know what was happening with the fraud case and we told them the preliminary hearings had been heard and that the people from our business had pled guilty, so there was a good chance we would not have to spend days at court. Our lawyers had handed over all the evidence we had obtained for the prosecution service and they had no doubts about gaining their convictions. The police had also seized quite few assets and money from bank accounts under the proceeds of crime laws.

This meant that we would probably recover some of the money that was involved in the fraud but not anything like the amounts involved. However the firm was insured against some of the losses and so the company would not be too badly hurt. It also meant, as my dad pointed out, that we had to look at our systems and try to build in safeguards to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.

"If it hadn't been for the vigilance of Frank and the skills of Rory this could have gone on for long enough, we have been lucky but we must find ways to insure a similar thing can't happen again," he told us.

Phil had wanted to know how Rory uncovered the mess and after warning Phil not to breathe a word of it to anyone, he told him about Rory's ability to hack into any computer and that he belonged to a very select group called Hacker's Anonymous.

Rory was quick to point out that his group were not interested in doing damage to computers but that they did enjoy finding out what was going on in the world and that on several occasions they had anonymously tipped of police forces in several parts of the world when they discovered very harmful criminal activity, especially dope dealing and paedophile groups who spread child pornography and hurt children in the process.

Rory's mum was surprised to hear that Rory could do such things and again he had to reassure her that none of the people in the group he was associated with would ever intentionally harm another person's computer. In fact he told her they were so skilled that no one ever found they had been in there in the first place. 'No harm, no foul', was how he described their policy He also told them that on at least two occasions he had found gaping holes in large companies' security and anonymously tipped them off about it without telling them how he knew and without enabling them to trace him.

I think I was as amazed as everyone else that someone as young as Rory could do these things. He told me once, that if they wished, his group could topple governments by disclosing some of the things they learned or by shutting down every computer in government departments.

Rory

After all the research and the secrecy of the work to expose the fraud that was being perpetrated on the company, things settled down. I was now just part of the team sorting out It problems for the various departments, not only in the main factory, but across the range of businesses in which the company operated, including the betting shops. I found it fascinating when just before the Christmas holidays Frank sent me to rectify a problem in one of the shops. I had never crossed the door of such an establishment before and I was surprised, not just to see the size of some of the wagers people placed, but the complicated maths that some of the punters were able to do in their head when it came to working out how much they had won in multiple bets.

Christmas and New Year followed the usual pattern. We exchanged gifts on Christmas day after Dinner and the Queens speech. This year we had the additional pleasure of seeing the latest addition to our family react to all the festivities. She may not have been able to appreciate fully her presents but the Christmas tree and its lights certainly fascinated her. She also seemed to enjoy having all these people around to pay attention to her and to nurse her. She was obviously going to be a very social little girl.