The Entity Pt. 05

"Back then, $10,000 dollars was a small fortune. Checking further, Robert found the loan had never been paid back. Principal or interest. It seems Newsome and Robert's father were close friends and a very casual attitude was taken concerning the loan. Robert's family had plenty. Newsome was a wanna' be that actually invested the nest egg well.

Recalling their real mission, Tammy looked at her watch and exclaimed, "Wait! We've gotta go if we're going to make our flight."

Snug in First Class, Linda continued the story over spinster's sips of white wine, Tammy still feeling a little less than top form after getting drunk the previous evening.

"Okay, so we have a pending loan, an incensed Robert and an indifferent Thomas Lee. Robert had turned to plotting but could never seem to get the upper hand in business over Thomas Lee. Somehow his Machiavellian machinations never worked out. In fact, over a very short time, they drained his reserves and only left Thomas Lee richer."

"That makes sense," Tammy said, her fingers falling lightly on Linda's forearm to pause the story. "A slightly different version is part of family folklore. Much simpler, actually. Robert turned to drinking and through a series of bad investments lost most of the family fortune. That's why I don't ride around in a chauffer driven Rolls today."

Linda tingled slightly with goose bumps and wondered if Tammy realized she was gently twisting her fingers in, and pulling delicately, the short black hairs that covered the back of her forearm. Glancing at Tammy, she saw she was completely lost in the story and continued, "That's when, one Sunday afternoon at the University Club, a very exclusive business mens club in Chicago, Robert heard a rumor and decided what had to be done.

"The next week he confronted Thomas Lee. All his investigation indicated that the loan contract was in fact valid and had, in fact, never been repaid. There was also a clause that if the loan was not repaid in the allotted time, which was two years, the bearer of the document could collect 50% of all profits earned from any business ventures realized using the loan."

Tammy scrunched her freckle covered nose and speculated, "Wait. If Newsome was a wanna' be, that would mean he had nothing. That would mean half of everything Thomas Lee had would be Robert's."

Linda shifted slightly and leaned her shoulder into Tammy's as she enjoyed the soft ministrations of Tammy's fingers on her forearm. "Exactly. And Robert knew it. The next week, at the University club, in the presence of a mutual friend that was actually Thomas Lee's banker, Robert demanded a private audience with Thomas Lee.

"Thomas Lee smirked and said 'Sure, why not. I've taken all your money, as well that whore of a daughter of yours. Let's meet.' Robert was taken aback at the comment concerning his money and wondered if maybe there hadn't been some undetected funny business that had actually been the reason for his financial downfall.

"They met the next morning at the banker's office. Robert showed up with his Lawyer and theatrically placed the contract on the table."

Tammy's eyes had become dreamy and lost in the drama as she watched it play-out on the clouds that rushed past the planes window. "Uuuuuuuu," she cooed, "that must have gone over like a ton of bricks."

Linda shifted again when Tammy's fingers strayed to the soft sensitive skin on the inside of her forearm and started tracing a small circle with her fingernail. "Ah, yes. It did," Linda managed to continue.

"To cut to the chase, Robert had Thomas Lee by the short hairs. Both Robert's lawyer and Thomas Lee's banker confirmed the authenticity of the document and what impact it would have. But Robert had other ideas."

Suddenly Linda became aware of Tammy's finger sliding past her wrist and pressing into her palm. She froze for a beat when the finger slid between her thumb and forefinger and Tammy's hand closed gently around hers.

Her eyes went down as Tammy teased her hand open, forcing her to splay her fingers and interlaced her own. After a brief silence Tammy finally leaned in and whispered, "You can go ahead now."

Linda's tongue had stumbled around the first word but she finally regained her composure, gave Tammy's hand a gentle squeeze, and continued, "T T Thomas Lee was dumb struck. But it wasn't just the loss of half his fortune. It was the loss toRobert. He couldn't stand the idea. Robert offered an alternate solution."

Tammy's eyes finally came back from the cloudscape, her hand clutched Linda's and she said, "Come on, Bitch, tell me what happened."

They were both grinning, cheeks close and lost to the world. Linda continued, her eyes holding Tammy's, not letting her escape to the clouds again, "Robert had heard that Thomas Lee's wife was pregnant. He offered to destroy the document if Thomas Lee gave him his newborn child."

Tammy's mouth fell open. "What?"

"You heard right. Thomas Lee chose pride and money over his own flesh and blood. The morning of the birth, a carriage showed up at Thomas Lee's estate and a small crying bundle was handed to Robert who immediately passed the new child on to a wet nurse waiting in his carriage, tore up the contract, turned on his heel and left.

"There's more. Robert never changed the baby's last name, making public, a very private matter as he explained to anyone that asked, what had happened."

Linda blushed but did not turn away when Tammy said, "Thank you, Linda," and leaned in to give her a chaste kiss on the lips.

They'd sat like adolescents, fingers interlaced, shoulder to shoulder and drifted in and out of sleep the rest of the flight.

Finding the Jag in the parking lot, they threw their overnight bags into the oversized glove box on back that paraded as a trunk, and headed out.

The night air was clear, a nice breeze moved around the windscreen. Tammy, red hair streaming back, leaned slightly toward Linda, reaching across the hump between the seats that allowed the driveshaft to connect the motor to the drive wheels in back, and rested her hand on Linda's thigh.

They slipped through the snug cocoon of darkness and Tammy started prodding, "Faster! I want to go faster!" her hand clutching Linda's thigh.

Linda calculated the distance of deserted highway before the next car and pressed harder on the accelerator.

Tammy clutched Linda's thigh tighter and turned in her seat leaning close to be heard above the roar of the engine and buffeting wind, "I didn't mean the car."

Linda immediately lifted her foot off the gas pedal and turned to face Tammy as they drifted along. No words were spoken as the Jag dropped back to an acceptable highway speed and Tammy's fingers splayed across Linda's jeans, her smallest digit snuggling into the fold of material at the top of Linda's inner thigh.

Linda one handed her cell phone from purse to ear hitting the office speed dial button. Looking down at the apparatus she cursed and yelled above the sound of the engine, "We have to go by the office. My battery is dead and I want to check in."

Tammy just sighed and smiled as she slouched a little in the seat and slid her hand further to the inside of Linda's thigh.

Shutting off the engine, they both just sat there, the engine ticking, waiting for the other to decide which was more important; a visit to the office or Tammy's fingers which were now trapped between Linda's thighs.

Linda finally decided for them, "Sorry, Red, we have to do this."

Tammy just laughed and said, "I know," while she prodded a little with her pinkie.

Linda felt the prodding and laughed, "Notthat. We have to talk aboutthatfirst. I have to go into the office. I'm sure Tom or the Captain will be in there."

Tammy didn't withdraw her hand and said, "If you must," then in a pout, "I'm going to stay here. I feel too good to be traipsing around a stuffy old office."

Another pause while Tammy continued her gentle probing and Linda finally turned slightly and leaned in. Her tongue darted out quickly to wet her lips and she waited a few inches from Tammy's face, lips parted like a panther contemplating its prey, eyes locked with Tammy's.

Tammy admired Linda's half moon eyes, closed her own and leaned in, the contact of their lips electric, the gentle, almost timid probing of Tammy's tongue soliciting a moan from Linda.

Tammy's other hand came up, her fingers played across Linda's cheek before raking back through her shiny black hair, her fingernails scraped tantalizingly across Linda's scalp.

The kiss continued. Not harsh and aggressive, the thought popping into Tammy's mind out of nowhere, but soft and gentle. Like kissing the small spout of water that shoots up from a porcelain water fountain at the park. Warm and wet. No pressure.

Linda shifted a knee and her thighs fell open slightly. She made a small squeaking sound as Tammy became more insistent, her middle finger replacing her pinkie, pressing rhythmically across the square stitch point in Linda's jeans at the apex of the garments legs, letting the finger press purposefully before sliding down across the crease of the fabric, returning to repeat the process.

Tammy realized Linda's mouth wasn't the only part of her body that was warm and wet.

Linda felt dizzy. Like a high school kid on a first date. Necking in the car beside some lake or in front of her parent's house. Neither one of them came up for air as she felt Tammy's hand leave her head and make itself known as fingers fumbled with the bottom of her cotton top before warm fingertips slid across her midriff moving slowly, but persistently, toward her white cotton runners bra beneath.

Tammy dug with her nails and was rewarded with the soft stretch of elastic and cotton across the back of her fingers as the garment gave up its secrets and trapped her cupped hand over the small soft pillow of Linda's breast. A small hard nub pressed into the fold of Tammy's lifeline where her palm flexed and Tammy felt Linda shudder.

Linda pulled away enough to notice Tammy's mouth followed.

After another minute of gentle exploration Linda leaned her forehead into Tammy's and pressed gently, prying their lips apart. They just leaned into each other, foreheads pressed, panting, and Tammy's hand slowly slid from beneath Linda's sports bra.

Finally finding found words, "Red," came out as an intimate whisper. Tammy wasn't sure if she was being addressed or if it had been an exclamation until Linda continued, "We really have to talk first. And I really have to go inside."

Tammy's voice was husky when she whispered back, their lips close enough they brushed as she spoke, "I know, Linda," and Tammy brought her hand back to the side of Linda's head pressing her fingers back into the shiny black mane. Her intention had been to lean away and smile but Linda made it clear she didn't want to break contact yet when her forehead followed Tammy's.

Tammy waited and Linda finally spoke again, "Red."

Tammy whispered back, "Yes, Linda?"

"Don't do this because you think I want you to. Don't do it for me."

Tammy's lips stretched from a pout to a smile, "I'm not," she whispered and once again leaned away, once again to have Linda follow, signaling she hadn't finished.

This time the pause was longer but Linda's eyes finally opened and she whispered, more intimately than before, "Red," drawn out likeRRRReeeeeeeddd.

"Yes, Linda?" Tammy felt breathless.

"Who do you think will win the Word Series this year?"

Tammy finally registered what Linda had asked and the absolute incongruity of the question with the moment and realized Linda had pulled away and was muffling a laugh.

"You're a Bitch!" Tammy said as she too started to laugh.

Linda walked away straightening her top and Tammy suddenly felt a chill. Her sleeveless knit top was left wanting after the bubble of warmth the two of them had generated in the open top car. Finding nothing in the passenger compartment, she pushed the door open, avoiding the parking meter on the curb and stepped to the trunk.

She'd seen Linda turn the small T-handle without a key and she opened the trunk and rooted around in her overnight bag for a windbreaker she'd thrown in for the trip.

She might not have noticed the car but for how slow it was going as it rolled by in the lane beside her. A black Mercedes. The windows were tinted, the street dark, and in Tammy's estimation, much too deserted. She could make out the silhouette of someone in the drivers seat but no features came to light. The small hairs on her forearm stood on end as a shiver coursed through her body.Watched, she thought.I'm being watched.

It rolled past and Tammy watched the receding tail lights until they disappear around the corner at the end of the street. Pulling the windbreaker on, she got back in the car and wondered how the top worked. She wanted to shut herself in.

She decided it was probably some guy that had seen her and Linda necking and wanted to get a closer look at half of his fantasy. Slouching low in the seat, her head barely visible above the form of the car, she decided to wait for Linda.

She shouldn't be too long, Tammy hoped.

*****

The Doctor was a busy man. Given his eighty eight years, he could be considered a triathlon athlete. He'd been up since the previous morning and was in the room behind the stainless steel door of the tank room.

After watching Michael's progress he knew the switch wouldn't be as straightforward as they'd hoped.

Sitting in the futuristic chair, something like a barber's chair in that it sat on a pedestal, was comfortably padded and would lean back slightly, he directed his assistant, Beth Turner, to bring the halo down and begin the update.

While similar in function, stainless steel construction and the small half sphere hat that dangled from a support jutting up from the back of the chair, set it aside from anything found in a barber shop.

Injecting a sedative into the Doctor's saline drip, Beth watched as in less than a minute, his eyes closed and his mouth went slightly slack.

Stepping to the console, a futuristic, purpose built piece of high technology, that made Kevin and Gerald's Hodgepodge of computers, laptops and cabling look like a back yard mechanics nightmare, Beth pressed a button and watched as the Doctor's last scan was updated. Software she'd developed from Kevin's beta version, automatically monitoring and adjusted the process, as his most recent memories and thoughts were added to his storage unit.

Beth had been recruited two years earlier. The youngest of four children, she'd taken her father's abandonment of the family personal, thinking it was something she must have done. At seven, life can be confusing.

By twenty seven, that confusion had transformed into a lust for older men, still seeking the approval of her long gone father. A math and computer prodigy, she was the only other person that knew the entire plan. The only one that had been brought into the fold, as the Doctor liked to call it, when they both lay naked in bed, bodies sweaty and intimacies turned from physical to verbal.

She knew what was planned for Kevin and Gerald. She knew they'd never see their millions. She knew they had less than a week to live and that Mrs. Miller had no intention at all of going public with all the breathtaking advances in technology they'd achieved.

Beth hadn't always been so cold and indifferent. She didn't consider herself a sociopath. She might better have been defined as a case study in environment versus genes. The FBI would have loved to study the beautiful blonde.

Female sociopaths were so rare.

Please be sure to take the time to vote and comment. I hope you're enjoying the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Much more to come. BTW – This is a sequel to The Sentinel.