Deceptions Abound

Because of her job with the LAPD, Caitlyn believed being proficient in Spanish would be extremely helpful. Ash was now currently studying Mandarin Chinese please don't ask me why. Also a gorgeous creature, with her father's dark features and deep green eyes, her black hair cascading to the small of her back, Ashlin broke many a heart.

Ashlin was also Katy's protector, whether Katy wanted it or not. It was years later when I found out, but during the last week of Katy's senior year, she had gone with several of her friends for a senior ditch day. Unknown to her, her friends had made plans to meet with some boys at a beach house. While there, Katy was talked into drinking a glass of wine but she didn't know one of the boys had spiked the bottle with a little concoction of his own, a mixture of X and just a pinch of a well known date rape drug.

Soon, all three girls were under its effects and quickly taken advantage. There was a fight among the four boys regarding Katy. They all wanted first crack at her. The biggest of the bunch won out and swept the semi-conscience girl into his arms and strolled into a back bedroom.

As he set Katy on the bed, he heard a loud crash and screaming come from the front room. He grinned thinking the guys were fighting over the other two girls and leaned down over the prostate Katy. Grasping the top of her blouse, he ripped the material apart revealing a lacy white bra covering a pair of delicious looking tits. Just as he was about to tear the flimsy fabric away, the bedroom door slammed open.

"What the fuck!" he bellowed and turned, surprised to find a young black-haired beauty standing in the doorway dressed in an old pair of torn jeans, a black t-shirt with 'SWAT' stenciled across the chest, and a worn pair of work boots. The young man smiled and said, "You'll have to wait your turn cutie. Just give me a few minutes."

The doctor would later tell his parents, the boy suffered a fractured jaw, two broken ribs and may lose his left testicle. All four boys were arrested for possession of drugs, drugging the girls, attempted rape and sexual molestation. The parents of the boys thought about suing for injuries to their sons but their attorneys advised against it. After all, it wouldn't look very good to see four large young college jocks taken down by a slight sixteen year old girl.

I never heard the full story until much later. When the incident occurred, I was in Southeast Asia building a bridge over a large gorge in the middle of a god-forsaken jungle so that an American oil company could have access to oil rich land. When I returned home, all I was told was several boys had tried to make some inappropriate advances on Katy and her friends and the boys were punished for it.

It wasn't until two and half-years later I found out the truth. My sister, Caitlyn, had finally told me what happened. She told me after Ash's graduation from high school. Caitlyn thought it was safe to finally clue me in as to what really took place. She didn't think I would do anything about it...was she ever wrong. But, that's another story.

By now both girls were out of the house. Katy had graduated from USC in fine arts and design and had already landed a position with an up and coming L.A. design studio. Ash was currently attending MIT, her goal...to follow her father's footsteps, much to the disappointment to Caitlyn and my brothers. With her skills, they hoped she would enter law enforcement. Actually, I was surprised by her choice of careers. When Ash told me, I couldn't have been prouder. Dani always liked to say, I had tears in my eyes. Mmmm...maybe.

The home seemed so empty after the girls were gone. It was hard for me but it must have been terrible for Dani. When Katy was born, much to Olivia's distress, Dani became a 'remain at home mom.' With my salary, we could well afford it; however, Olivia was incensed. She was compelled to remind her daughter she was losing her independence, her freedom. There were times, I could see the seeds of discontent in Dani's eyes but for the most part, she was a loving and fiercely loyal mother.

Now, with the girls away and I always working, I worried Dani would start listening to that harpy. And after today...I was right.

When the game ended, I moved into the den and did some last minute work on some designs for a new high rise in Orange County. I could hear Dani fervently moving about in the bedroom and could hear water running. She must be preparing a bath, I thought.

I heard the bedroom door open and two loud thumps in the hallway. The door closed, again followed by the door lock. Curious, I got up and walked into the hallway. Sitting there in front of the bedroom door were my two suitcases. I didn't have to figure out what was in them. Shaking my head, I approached the door and turned the knob. Locked! I knocked on the door and said, "Dani, please let me in...we really need to discuss whatever is bothering you."

"I have nothing to say, now take the hint and leave!"

Oh this was going to be fun, I thought. I stepped back a few paces and lifted my foot kicking the door. My brothers had taught me the proper way to kick in a door. The bedroom door exploded inward, followed by a high pitched scream. As the door flew open, I picked up the two suitcases, walked in and tossed them onto the bed. Dani was cowering by the nightstand as I began unpacking.

Taking my time, I deliberately made sure each and every item she had tossed into those two cases where returned to their original location. Without saying a word, I grabbed a clean pair of boxers and a t-shirt, my usual sleeping attire, and moved into the bathroom. Once done, I returned and slid into bed. Dani hadn't moved.

"God damn you, Patrick!" she growled and stomped into the bathroom slamming the door shut. She was good at that. I smiled before I fell asleep; she was always sexy when angry.

The next morning, I awoke to silence. Turning over, I could see that Dani didn't come to bed...no small surprise. When I got up, the house was empty. Dani wasn't home. On the kitchen counter, I found a simple white envelope. This wasn't good. Opening it, I removed a single page letter.

~

"Patrick,

I can no longer live with you. Since you won't leave, I must. I have moved in with mom and dad. Knowing how you feel about my mother, moving in with her should make your day.

You want to know why I hate you, one word, Crystal! Try explaining that away! And, don't try and deny it. Crystal admitted everything and she had pictures. I am filing for divorce. I thought you loved me but now I see everything. You will hear from my attorney. At least, I'll be fair. The house will be sold and everything will be split down the middle. Since the girls are of age, we won't have to worry about them but I do expect you to continue with Ashlin's college expenses.

Please don't fight me on this. I don't want to make this any uglier than you've already made it. Don't try to contact me. If you do, I'll be forced to get a restraining order on you. Mother has already tried to convince me to do so. You'll be pleased to know, my father doesn't believe you've cheated on me. I guess men always stick together.

I will tell the girls we have separated and will be getting a divorce but I will not tell them why, I'll leave that little tidbit for you.

Goodbye,

Dani

PS: I guess mother was right all along."

~

Pictures? Crystal? What the hell was she talking about? This sounds a lot like her mother, I thought. Okay, first things first...Crystal.

Crystal was one of Dani's closest friends from high school. They still kept in touch but I never cared for the woman. She was always eyeballing me, sizing me up like a side of beef. Last year, during a Halloween party at our home, I was down in the cellar getting more beer when Crystal appeared. She slithered toward me wearing a sexy rendition of Elvira, the Mistress of the Dark costume.

"Ummm...Patrick, where have you been all night? Ready to fall prey to the mistress of the dark?" Crystal purred. She slinked along until she was against me, her full breasts doing their best to escape from their confines.

"Crystal, what do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, come on Pat...you know you want some of this." She grazed her fingers over the soft exposed swell of her breasts as she stared into my eyes. She slipped one hand behind my neck and pulled me down as she stood up to kiss me. When I pushed her back, her other hand grabbed mine and shoved it inside her costume over the smooth flesh of her tit. I could feel her nipple harden under my fingers.

"Ummm....yessss! That's what I'm talking about," she moaned.

Forcefully, I yanked my hand away from her bodice and pushed her back. Startled, Crystal glared at me as I said, "Crystal, I love my wife. I have no desire for you or anyone else for that matter. You're Dani's friend and I'll always consider you as such but, for your sake, don't ever be around me again! Understand?"

Nodding meekly, she whispered, "I'm sorry, yes...I understand," and left. Nothing was ever said about that little come on.

When I called Crystal's apartment, there was no answer. I figured as much but what neither Dani nor Crystal realized, I knew where she worked. Crystal was a dancer and stripper for the gentleman's club on the outskirts of town.

At two o'clock in the morning, I waited outside the club, next to her little red Spyder. The side door smacked open and the girls started piling out, followed by their escorts, the bouncers. When Crystal saw me standing by her car she said something to two rather large men who glared at me. When they came toward me, I continued to lean on the fender of Crystal's car.

"What the fuck you doin here, asshole? Ya got ten seconds to get the fuck outa here before I rip your fuckin head off and shit down your fuckin neck!" The largest of the two stooges bellowed at me. Just as he was about to grab me, several lights spilled over the area and the sound of a couple of shotgun action filed back loading shells echoed through the parking lot. The two bully boys froze.

"What the fuck!"

I didn't pay any attention to the two bouncers as I approached Crystal, who by now was frozen. When one of the bouncers moved toward me, Caitlyn stepped out of the shadows and said, "I wouldn't." He gasped as he stared at the diminutive sized woman holding a bad ass looking Benilli semi-auto 12 gauge shotgun.

Opposite him, two large men stepped out from behind a parked truck, one holding a similar weapon.

"On your fucking stomachs, now!" my brother, Brian, ordered. Both bouncers dropped like stones to the pavement.

"Well, long time no see...Crystal. How have you been?"

"How...how did you find me," she whispered.

"Shit, Crystal, I make it my business to know about my wife's friends. What? You forgot my brothers and sister are cops in this city? You that stupid?"

She looked around frantically until suddenly, her shoulders slumped and closed her eyes. Sighing, she opened them and looked at me.

"What do you want?"

"You already know the answer to that one, bitch! Who put you up to this and where did you get the photos?"

"Shit, Patrick...you already know who's behind it. She's hated you from day one for taking her baby girl away. As for the pictures...digital magic. Olivia hired some guy to follow you around and take pictures. Once he got a few good ones, he took some of me and merged them. Not bad either. I kept one because I've always wanted you."

"How much?" I asked.

"Ten K."

"Olivia paid you ten thousand to set me up?"

"Yep...that is one vengeful bitch. I played up to Dani four weeks back. Once I showed Dani the pictures and told her about our little affair, dear sweet Olivia paid me the money. I gotta say, it took a lot of convincing to get Dani to believe me. I couldn't have done it without the photos. Even then, she didn't want to. I told her I've always had a thing for you and seduced you a couple of years back. We had this off and on tryst during those two years. Patrick, she wanted to kill me, she was so devastated."

"Who was the photographer?"

"Don't know...some shyster PI, I think. Olivia's the one that gave me the pictures. So...what are ya gonna do now, Patrick? I'm not gonna say anything to Dani and I know you won't hurt me. There's nothing you can do to convince her I was lying."

I smiled and reached in my shirt pocket. Her sneer vanished when she saw the recorder.

She screamed, "You mother-fuckin son of a ...."

"Crystal...I'd be real careful what you say about my mother. I won't hurt you but I can't answer for my sister Caitlyn. You remember Caitlyn don't you?"

Crystal nervously glanced at my sister holding the Benelli.

"Now, you'd better listen and listen very carefully, Crystal. I've got you on some major shit. You conspired to commit several felonies. I think it would be in your best interests to play along. Let's face it, you cunt...I've got you by your short hairs!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing for now. I want you to remain out of sight. Don't say anything to anybody, especially Olivia or Dani. Understand?"

Crystal reluctantly nodded. "Patrick, you should know this. Olivia has Ted Bowman sniffing around Dani. She's hired him to seduce her. Olivia believes that once Dani gives in to Ted, there is no way you'll forgive her."

"She's right about that! Does her father know anything about what's been going on?"

Crystal laughed and said, "Puh—lease, that poor man doesn't know anything about what your mother-in-law does. Why he stays with her is a fuckin mystery."

"Okay, thanks for the heads up. Now, do your part and stay hidden."

Crystal nodded. I turned and shrugged at my sister and brothers. Just as quickly as they appeared, they vanished.

The two bouncers slowly got up, still a little worried as I left.

Going over my mental check list, I thought, Crystal is taken care of, now Ted Bowman.

Ted would be easy. Fast cars, hot women, booze and drugs, he was into all of it. His parents have paid a small fortune to bail him out over the years and it cost them a small fortune to make certain charges disappear. Besides his looks, good ole Ted did have one thing in his favor, his inheritance when his old man croaked, something Olivia wanted her claws hooked into and Dani was the bait.

As I said, Ted did have the looks. He was tall with long wavy blond hair and gray eyes. The forty-year old youngster spent most of his time either at the gym or on the tennis court so he could maintain his muscular physique. Daniel Phillip Bowman considered himself a hot item for the ladies leaving a trail of broken hearts and marriages and Dani was evidently his next quarry.

Bowman loves to drive expensive cars and presently drove around in a silver Bentley Continental GTC convertible. My brother, Brian, managed to stop him for running a red light and issued the asshole a citation. Brian laughed when he told me he nearly took the dunce to jail for refusing to sign the ticket. He actually had Ted cuffed and in the back of his patrol car when dick head finally agreed to sign the citation. I guess you have to let these idiots go when they decide to sign instead of going to jail.

That night, I sat just down the street from my in-laws and waited. Sure enough, a silver blue Bentley convertible pulled into the driveway, that scum bucket driving. Activating the camcorder, I watched him get out of the car, saunter up to the front door and knock. Soon, the door opened and the wicked witch of the west appeared. I smiled as Olivia smiled and hugged the shithead and vanished when Dani materialized. She smiled at that piece of shit as he took her hand and kissed it, Olivia with a pasty shit eating grin.

Holding her hand, Bowman led her to his car and Dani slid in after he opened the passenger door for her. I saw Olivia wave and yell for the loving couple to have a good time. This was getting better and better. Thankfully, his car was facing to same direction as mine so it was easy to follow them. Olivia had already gone back inside as I passed the house.

I trailed them to downtown and dear old Ted pulled into the parking lot of a posh nightclub, The Ritz Playpen. Dani and I had been there once but we weren't impressed. The club was expensive and packed with spoiled pretentious rich kids having fun on daddy's dime.

I parked further down the street and paid the outlandish cover charge. Once inside, it wasn't hard to spot the two lovebirds...well, so far one love bird. Dani didn't seem awed by Teddy boy. Every time he would put his arm around her shoulders or waist, she would nonchalantly remove it but the dumbshit wouldn't take the hint. After a round of drinks, she loves her Chardonnay; he led her onto the dance floor to a fast number.

God, after twenty-plus years, Dani still took my breath away. She moved with the grace of a gazelle as she danced to the music. Just as the band neared the end of the piece, Teddy boy moved behind her and tried to spoon with some dirty dancing, didn't work. The moment she felt him close in, she walked off the floor. I grinned as he frowned watching her retreating to their booth.

Once they were back at their table, Teddy boy ordered another round. Suddenly, Ted had to slide out of the booth to allow Dani out to go to the ladies room. While she was gone, the waitress brought the drinks. After the waitress left, Ted removed something from his pocket. He fiddled around with the object until he held over the glass of wine. I couldn't see if anything fell in but I did see him stir the goblet with his pinkie. That mother fucker was going to drug Dani.

I looked around the room and spied a disheveled looking young man hanging onto the bar. Approaching, I whispered in his ear if he would like to make a quick fifty. At first the guy looked at me like I was queer but when I explained what I wanted, he smiled evilly and nodded. Slipping him a twenty, I told him he would get the rest afterwards and the young man nodded.

Dani was pushing her way through the crowd and had just settled back into the booth. Lover boy didn't have a chance to sit down when my appointed assassin arrived and in the nick of time, Dani was about to sip from her glass. My paid drunk, at least he was to act as such, stumbled into Ted spilling his drink all over Ted's silk shirt and jacket. Bowman exploded and pushed the drunk away screaming, "You fuckin asshole, that's my best shirt you piece of..."

Poor Ted never got the chance to finish his tirade. My interloper got pissed and grabbed Bowman throwing him on the table. Dani jumped back, her glass flying as the wine spilled all over Ted fucking Bowman. Shit, I couldn't have planned this any better. The young man now had a grip on Ted's jacket and was pummeling Ted pretty good before the bouncers arrived and pulled my hired gun off the struggling man. They dragged the angry young man through the throng of looky losers and hustled him out the front door.

Ted, by this time, was up and Dani was trying to console him as she applied towels to his drenched shirt. Ted grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the club. Following, I saw them rush to the parking attendant.

"Was that okay?"

I turned around and saw my drunk standing there with a huge grin.

"That was outstanding," I said. "Here's an even hundred. That performance should have gotten an Oscar. What did the bouncers do?"

"Nothing, I know em all...their good friends of mine. They just got me out of there in case your friend decided to take it further. Thanks for the cash, man. Anytime you need another performance give me a call."

"You got it. By the way, what's your name?"

"Dalton, Bill Dalton...at your service."

Dalton grinned as he bowed and handed me a card before leaving. The card read, William D. Dalton, Dalton Investigations, 1345 Fallingleaf Ave., Barrington, CA. I laughed when I realized this guy was a private investigator. He might come in handy after all.