Conversations with Donna

"Sure, but can you satisfy some of my curiosity?"

"Did you know they", nodding her head toward Joan and John's house, "were selling porn videos of sex acts caught on tape from people in the neighborhood?"

"Videos?"

"Yea. I noticed one had a guy that looked like Frank and when Suzi showed it to me, it was Frank and others. I am sure John and Joan were doing it."

"I wouldn't be surprised. They were also running a porn website that caters to all sorts of people."

Yea, Suzi showed me the link. You said 'were'?"

"It is down, we made sure of it."

"We? I think you have a few pieces of the puzzle I have been working on with Wit, Jessie, and Suzi. Let's see, my guess is You, Brenda, Amy, and Dave are your team?"

"With a couple more. I might bring Amy or Dave with me tonight. It might be late; this party shows little sign of ending early."

"Late is OK because I doubt anyone will be leaving too early. You pull together the most incredible parties, little to no notice and there's a crowd. How the hell do you do it?"

"It's easy, invite the kids and the adults follow! Most of them are good folks."

"I know, most are. The bad apples usually stay away, at least the worst ones. I remember Sylvia only coming over once, but Frank on the other hand?"

"Yea, Frank. Well you got rid of him finally. Why don't we adjourn this talk until later and enjoy ourselves."

About 9 PM the party started breaking up. It wasn't as late as the usual summer party, but this late in the season it started getting chilly. By 10 the council convened at Donna's sitting around her family room. Her kids were in bed, exhausted but happy! Aim joined them, leaving their kids with Dave, who did dial in on Rob's speaker/cell phone. Rob and Brenda were there, but what caught Donna's eye was that Tracy was leaning on Rob as much as Aim was leaning on Brenda. There was a dynamic here she was going to have to think about. Jessie and Wit were also present, as was Suzi -- of course. She put on a pot of coffee while everyone relaxed a little.

"Since I called this little get-together, I guess I should start." Donna said. "Frank has been bugging me again, but I might have a way to deal with him." She put some of the movies on the table. "John and Joan had formed a production company and were marketing some amateur porn videos and magazines under the name of J&J productions. I spotted a porn actor that looked a lot like Frank. When we viewed it, I knew it was Frank. We did some digging and discovered that the porno was part of a series and many of its stars were people from our neighborhood. Jess found out the company seemed to be out of business and the website was off the air. I'm not sure what it all means, but Suzi thinks you, Rob, are the one person who I needed to talk to."

William actually spoke up first. "Actually before Rob gets into anything, I have a couple of things to add. A couple of years ago, Joan asked Gem to audit her security for her website. When Gem saw the contents she demurred. She's not against it, but I think she saw more than Joan wanted her to and decided to not get involved. She told Elise about it, but that was literally a few weeks before her accident. She forgot about it until I asked her if she was aware of anything. She didn't know about the videos or print publication, just the website."

"Well we didn't know about them selling videos. But we did get a line on their business methodology. Joan and John used blackmail to force many of the people they knew to submit to their games. Some were willing; we think Frank was one of the willing. They went after Amy and Dave and we busted them up. They moved and shut down the website because of us. I don't know where they are now, but they seem to be trying to avoid having to deal with a great many refund requests."

"Blackmail? How"

"They set up a bunch of cameras around their property and they would automatically record anything they saw. They also seeded the woods behind their property with mics and cams. It seems Frank or Sylvia would lure someone down there, get them on tape, and once they had them, they owned them. Joanie was big into domination and control."

Dave spoke up from the phone. "And not just their property. We think they put cams in various houses because we looked at a lot of their material and were surprised at where some of the 'action' was taking place. Show them the book, Rob."

Rob took out a printed stack of paper bound by a large clip. "We used some software and have pics of the faces of everyone involved. We have names for about half. Some of our neighbors have been doing some pretty interesting things, but we have no way of knowing who was being blackmailed and who was willingly involved."

Donna thumbed through the book. She stopped at a pic of her in bed.

"Where the hell did that come from?"

"From their database."

"You captured all their stuff?"

"Well we didn't exactly capture it; we kinda, sorta took it over. It was the only way to find out what they had and how they were using it."

Wit started laughing hard. "You hacked them?"

Rob looked down. Tracy spoke up, "He sure as hell did. And when we confronted them, Amy here slapped Joan down to her knees. Rob and Dave bought their house and all the computer equipment and I live there now."

"So how did you get involved in all this?" Suzi asked Tracy.

"They needed a fresh face, someone Joan wouldn't know, to join the website and see what was what. I was already a friend of Amy's, so it was a good fit."

"Friend, sure!" Jessie said.

"No need to go there. Yes, we are friends, close friends. But that is neither here nor there in this story. So where do we go from here?"

"My main goal is to deal with Frank . . . OMG!"

What?"

Jessie spoke up. "I was wondering if that was going to occur to you."

"You knew?"

"Just now, from the camera angle."

"Fuck, there was a camera in the ceiling of my bedroom!"

"What do you mean was?" Suzie replied. "You mentioned Frank mouthing off suggesting things. What if he saw?"

"Oh shit!"

Suzi took charge a little, Donna appeared to be in shock. "Rob, can you check the master bedroom, probably in the ceiling fan from the angle of the picture."

"Sure, but that might tip Frank off. How about I check first? If he is tapping in, it's probably remote. It doesn't take much to set up a web cam and broadcast it locally. Where is the attic access?"

Donna's eyes focused, but with an intensity no one had ever seen. "Upstairs, I'll show you."

As they left the room Amy commented. "I always thought Donna would make a really bad enemy, now I know it. That look in her eyes bodes all sorts of evil things for Frank and if you think me hitting Joan was good, if she was in the room right now, I think that look would have burnt the bitch to a crisp.

Upstairs Donna led Rob to a small closet. In the ceiling was an attic access complete with a folding ladder. Rob led the way and the two of them crawled though the attic. On one side was a small box with wires leading off. A quick tug and the cover came off revealing something Donna didn't recognize.

"It's a wireless router."

"A what?"

A wireless router, it means anyone with a wireless receiver could be getting a signal from about 2-300 feet away, maybe a little longer if it in direct sight of the antenna. I bet it we look outside we'll see a small antenna running flush with the roof. And I bet this wire goes through the wall and down to your ceiling fan."

"Could there be more in the house"

"Maybe, but there is only one wire here, so it's probably the only one."

"Crap! He's been spying on me all this time?"

"Probably, we found several videos of you sleeping and you and Frank in bed. There was one other thing. Joanie was hoping you would do something she could use. She wanted you as another victim."

"I can't fucking believe this. I never warmed to her because of her big mouth, but this . . . this is criminal!"

"Yea."

"You knew about this?"

"Only recently Joan went after Dave and Aim. Her plan was to turn Dave into a toy for John and Aim into one for herself. Donna, we have no way of knowing what was gotten legally or illegally. We just saw the video clips the other day of you."

"So you watched them?"

"Yes, and Tracey was mighty taken with you."

"I am already taken, thank you!"

"Suzi seems great. Good for you both!"

"And you, you bastard. If my eyes were reading things right, you have gotten pretty sexed up yourself!"

"It just happened, nothing because of Joan and John. We just sorta happened."

"You are a bastard!" She said with a laugh near her usual humor. Then she looked at the set-up again. "I am going to get this son-of-a-bitch."

"Let's go back downstairs. We can disable this later if that's what you want to do."

"Why not kill it now?"

"Think it though. You have a way to let Frank see what you want him to see. You might be able to use this to your advantage."

Back downstairs, Donna unhesitantly sat down and pulled Suzi in her lap, not caring if everyone saw. "The bastard had me wired!" A camera in the ceiling fan, he was transmitting. I bet he comes by regularly to see what I have been doing."

"Shit, Donna. So he . . ." She holds Donna close.

"Donna, would you, Jessie, and Wit here take a look and see if there is anyone else you know."

Dave asked, "Rob, there has to be a way to catch Frank in the act of downloading. Would the cops help?"

"No!" Jessie said suddenly.

"What, Jessie?"

"The cops won't help." She points to a picture. "He's a cop! Lt. Kurt Dupreaux! The bastard has been after my shop for a while and I can't figure out why."

"Kurt!" Rob, Dave, and Amy exclaimed.

"A guy named Kurt is a partner in all this. We have no idea who he really is. Joanie has something on him that she keeps on CD in a safety deposit box. So Kurt is a cop!"

"Oh that's just fucking great."

"It is, for me anyway. I would give a great deal to have copies of everything Kurt appears in. He's been making trouble for my place for years."

"What is your place?"

"You know the adult shop off Main? I own it, well me, the bank, and a few others, like Suzi here. It's nice, clean, and nothing like a usual dump."

"If you haven't been there, you should. I love it and I work there."

There was a surprised look on several people, but Wit cracked up. "You know for a bunch of swingers, you can be surprisingly straight-laced!"

That broke up the room and any tension.

Tracey said, "I've been there, it's a great shop. I thought I knew Suzi from someplace, but wasn't sure. You helped me with a costume once."

"The 7 veils, I remember now. Damn, you looked hot in it."

Donna tugged her close.

"Relax lover, I said she looked hot, but I also remember thinking how you would look in it."

"I wasn't hugging to be jealous, you just have a bony butt and I need to shift you a little. I think she would look sexy in that costume."

"I want to see her in it," said Brenda, who up to now was pretty quiet.

"If you do, you best look fast because those veils won't last long with you in the room."

The group relaxed a lot as most of the more personal side of things was revealed and no one got weirded out. For a few seconds Donna wondered what making love with Rob would be like, not knowing that Brenda was thinking the same thing about her.

"Now the question is what do we do?"

"Donna, I'll make you a copy of everything Frank is in for you to use as you see fit. Jessie, I'll do the same thing for you with Kurt. Right now Joan and John are trying to avoid having to pay a great deal of money in refunds. I don't know where their money was going but that website had a lot of subscribers, and they must have been spending like hell on something. The computer equipment was state-of-the-art, but it wasn't that expensive. We're going to keep trying to identify all these people and the ones we know were being blackmailed then find a way to tell them the threat seems to be over. Other than that I think this is a dead issue for us. We have the house and the equipment. We might use it for something someday, but for right now we are just cataloging all their material. I am so tempted to just erase it all, but I want to know what I have before I toss it away. We have the identified blackmail material backed-up for the moment. We have dumped the user account stored material. We are only really interested in what Joan and John and their host of 'friends' were up to."

"Son of a bitch, you guys have been having so much fun and you didn't invite me?"

"Donna, we didn't know how deep you were in it, if at all. Seeing your pics in the database finally told us that is was more Frank and that Joanie was simply trying to hook you."

"You believed I might be in it?"

"Donna, it wasn't a matter of what we believed, it was what we could prove to ourselves. We have some pretty incriminating shots of some of our neighbors doing things I would have sworn in court they would never do. This party told a few of them that Joanie and John were gone. I know some are wondering if their punishment was over, but still others are probably looking for some similar fun and games. We had no way of knowing for sure. I almost held back until Suzi here came down in the basement.

Wit spoke up again. "Let me get this straight. You have all of their material, sans anything that might be in their safety deposit box. Some of it is pretty incriminating to people around here. Joan and John have been partnered with a cop in this little enterprise. Right?"

"On the money. Why?"

"You need to get rid of it quickly and do a complete scrub of everything fast!"

"What?"

"If I were Kurt and found out you guys got it all without blanking the hardware, I would be scared. A search warrant and a good computer forensic scientist could show that you own all that material. The right words from Joan and John and you might get picked up for blackmail. Remember its part of my job working with data storage and analysis. If you think you need it, burn DVD's of the material and get it off-site. Not to me, but to someone you trust. Review it in detail later, but for right now clean all those systems off and start fresh. I'm serious, as soon as the 'enemy' knows you have it, he'll be looking for ways to neutralize it. If Joanie has something on Kurt, he might think you have it now. He'll be sweating a lot!"

"We already have a back-up set."

"So get it off your property, right now. And start blanking those drives, and destroying the CD's and tapes. Even this document," he points to the printed faces and names, "can be incriminating."

"Crap! Thanks, Wit, we should have thought about something like that. OK, we'll deal with it. The question is where to send it?"

Jessie got up, much to Rob and Wit's appreciation. "Donna, where is the ladies?"

Donna points. "Thanks. Tracy, come here, there is something I want to tell you."

Jess pulls Tracy down the hall. "I can't tell you this in front of Wit, but tell Rob that I have a secure place for storing stuff. Wit knows I have a safe place, but has no idea where it is and prefers it that way. If you guys need it just bring your stuff to me at my shop and I will keep them for you -- without looking at them."

"Thanks Jess." Tracy hugged her and then heard a whistle from the hall." Brenda was standing there. "You two look very nice together."

Trace reached out and swatted Brenda. "And you have a dirty mind."

"Yup, and that's what you love about me!"

"Uh-huh," She said to Jessie's knowing smile.

The meeting broke up with one last unresolved issue, the camera in Donna's ceiling. She was all for removing it immediately, Rob and Wit were trying to leave it alone. Maybe they could use it to hang Frank out to dry. Donna was so angry about it; she knew she needed a clear head to make any decisions. Rob came back with a laptop and wireless card.

"Hi Donna, I know the meeting ended, but Brenda thought I might give you a chance to see what Frank has been watching. I think I can access his feed from here."

She nodded while Suzi hugged her and then she stood behind her rubbing the tension out of her shoulders.

"Here's the live feed." The screen showed her bedroom, she knew it was live because the outfit she wore to the party was lying on the bed. She changed right afterward, which means that fucker might have seen her naked!

"Here are some capture files."

Suzi said, "Capture files?"

"It looks like there is a little more up in your ceiling that I thought. I bet if we had looked further we would have found a laptop. The cam software is just like the stuff Joan had in her backyard. The cam senses motion and comes on and records the action. 10 minutes after the last perceived motion it shuts off. The recorded video is saved in a file; I called it the capture file, on the laptops hard drive. Then he can come along and download the files to his laptop. Just like Joanie's crap, there is very little security involved here, mostly security by obscurity. Which means it's secure as long as no one knows it's here. Now that we know, we can deal with it."

"How?"

"The cam is controlled from the laptop, but the cam configuration files are open."

Several clicks on his touchpad, "There, I just disabled the motion sensor and put its saved image in a loop. Which in normal speak means that the cam will take the current image and save it over and over again."

"Won't he notice?"

"Sure, but until he looks at the cam software, it'll look a malfunction. Since that file hasn't been accessed in over a year, I am betting he has no idea how to do it. You mentioned a restraining order?"

"Yea, he can't come within 200 feet of my office or home without calling for an appointment first."

"200 Feet, huh? How would you like to bust him with his hand in the cookie jar?"

"Fuck, I would love it!"

Rob was smiling! "Let me take a look outside for a moment and then let's plan." Rob left by the back door.

Suzi sat in Donna's lap and hugged her. "It's going to be OK; I have a good feeling about this."

"How did you know Rob was OK to talk to?"

"Oh that was easy. I remembered Tracy and I liked her. She reminds me of me to a certain extent. I saw her and Rob kissing when I visited the loo and I was worried until Brenda showed up and it was a three-way kiss. It was easy to see the love there. Rob left and Tracy and Brenda were still kissing when Dave joined them. I overheard Amy teasing him about his woody and I knew they were a hell of a lot less straight-laced than you thought, but in a good way! If I thought for one second he was in it with Joan I would have gotten your lovely ass outa there!"

Donna hugged her and Suzi placed her hand on her breast. Donna massaged her breast and kissed her, finally calming down over Frank-less. The very idea of being bugged like that . . .

"Relax sweetie, it's just me here."

She realized she was squeezing Suzi's breast hard. She let go and started apologizing.

"Relax, I like things rough too, but I know you weren't thinking about me at that moment." She lifted her top and offered Donna a breast to kiss when Rob walked back in. Suzi covered up.

"You don't have to cover up on my account."

"Don't you have enough sex at home?"

"I sure do, but you two are a very sexy sight to see!"

"Thanks Rob. OK, what do we do?"

And the planning commenced.

. . .

The next day Suzi took off from work and spent the day at Donna's baking and watching the side street.

"Aha!" She exclaimed when she saw what she expected to see. The pattern repeated over the next several days, alternating every other day.

On Friday when a small dirty white car parked next to Donna's house, the driver never noticed the white van across the street.