Laying Down the Law

"That doesn't really matter anyway, does it, officer?" Brock asserted. "I never hit her, or touched her, nor threatened her in any way, ever!" He belligerently declared.

"He's lying and I can prove that too," Anya claimed.

"Go right ahead you lying brat. Show us your proof," Brock demanded.

Anya tugged on the officer who lowered his ear to her mouth. She whispered something to him. The officer nodded his understanding.

"Sir, have you ever exposed yourself to Anya? Has she ever seen you naked at any time or for any reason?" The officer interrogated.

"Never. If she says otherwise, she's a liar."

"I see. Then we can settle this situation quickly if you'll come with me to the other room, sir."

Quizzically, Brock followed the officer through a doorway while the door was closed behind them.

The officer reiterated, "You state with certainty that she has never seen you in a state of undress before, is that correct?"

"It is, officer. She's a mischievous little liar trying to stir up trouble."

"Thank you, sir. I just needed your statement for clarification. She claims to have proof to refute your claim," the officer presented.

"I'd sure like to know what kind of proof she has, sir. Whatever it is, there's not a word of truth to it," Brock unambiguously avowed.

"Fine, sir. I just need to ask you a very personal question. Do you have a dark mole on the left side of your scrotum?"

"WHAT?!"

"It's a simple question, sir. Do you have a dark mole on the left side of your scrotum?"

"What's that got to do with anything?" Brock reeled.

"Because that girl in there, claims you do. If you do, her claim is credible. If you don't, that disproves her claim. I will not touch you in any way, sir. But if you would prove to me that you have no such mole, then her lie will be quickly exposed," The officer explained.

"I'm not going to show you or anyone my genitals. This is perverted and sick, not to mention an invasion of my privacy."

"Sir, if you refuse to prove her wrong, then I have no choice but to believe all of her claims and escort the young lady to CPS, child protective services. They will decide how to proceed from there. But my first responsibility is to protect, and right now, it appears as though Anya needs protection. If, as you say, she has never seen you naked under any circumstances, then how would she be able to make such a specific identification that you refuse to disprove? Knowing that sir, are you ready to reconsider your refusal?"

Perplexed, Brock shook his head no.

"Very well, sir. As you have refused to disprove her allegations, we have no choice but to escort Anya to CPS. I'll leave a business card with Mrs. Allerton so she can contact them for the disposition of this case. You both must remain here. You may not interfere with these circumstances in any way. Is that clear, sir?"

Brock once again, nodded.

A sobbing Priscilla cursed both officers and Anya as they took her with them. They drove her straight to CPS who quickly confirmed the identity of her next of kin, Gordon Laughlin. They called me to come in for the matter of Anya Allerton, requesting that I bring a photo ID with me. Upon confirmation of my identity, I was apprised of everything the officers had reported. I expressed immediate outrage at her abuse. CPS was going to immediately have a magistrate sign an ex-parte order for me to have sole temporary custody of Anya until the hearing which would take place five weeks hence. They asked if I wanted to request a restraining order against Priscilla and Brock until a ruling was made by a judge. I gladly requested the order. Before leaving with my daughter, I had one more question.

"Her grandmother on her mother's side snatched her away from me today without my knowledge. What's to prevent her from doing that again? Do I need a restraining order against her also?"

"No, sir. That would be redundant. This ex-parte order awards you temporary sole custody until the court date. No one can interfere with your custodial rights issued by the State. Mrs. Allerton will receive service of the temporary custody and restraining orders. All you need to do is notify the grandmother or any other parties of the orders against the mother. Priscilla's rights to authorize anyone else to take Anya anywhere without your express consent have been temporarily suspended. If the grandmother takes Anya without your consent, she'll face kidnapping charges by the State. We take child protection very seriously, I assure you."

I was very pleased to learn of the protections now in place. I didn't ask any questions of Anya until we had left to go to my new condo. To her credit, she told me the unadulterated truth. I laughed until my sides hurt. I was glad that she had inherited that sliver of cleverness from her mother and grandmother. For the next five weeks, I was assured of uninterrupted custody of Anya and we both couldn't be happier. I laughed at the inventiveness of my girl.

"Mom said she came to see you earlier today," Anya shared.

"SEE me? She threatened me with life-altering consequences if I refused to abide by her demands. Don't you worry, sweetheart. I'll go to the ends of the earth to keep us together if it is at all possible. Are you sure you'll be okay living in a strange condo in totally new surroundings?"

Chapter-18

"Daddy, wherever you are is home, and I'm always home when I'm with you." That girl sure knows how to melt my heart.

Connie offered help getting Anya settled into our new place. She has been an amazing help during this time of crisis, and I, for one, felt very fortunate to have her with us. Lately, since leaving Priscilla, Connie is the second person I think of in the mornings (after Anya), and the last person I think of when I go to sleep. To be honest, she comes to mind very frequently between those times as well. I did remember to send Daphne a short text advising her of the temporary custody and restraining orders, advising her to verify the terms with Priscilla for confirmation.

Then I dove right into deciphering Priscilla's program. I quickly understood why the SEC took her for her word regarding the trading transactions. There was so much obfuscation built into the coding that it easily misled anyone who was trying to determine how it functioned. I put my thinking cap on and began using my college degree to the max. Her coding was filled with analytical math and circular statistical averages that made no sense. It was apparent to me that all was not what it appeared to be. There was something hidden within it, and I was determined to find out what it was. I worked into the wee hours of the morning endeavoring to painstakingly decrypt her labyrinth.

I slept in until ten Tuesday morning. The smell of bacon and eggs awakened me from my stupor. Connie had come by early to take Anya grocery shopping. They were cooking my favorite breakfast. The three of us devoured the meal before Connie returned to handle things at the office. Anya cleaned up the kitchen and was putting her purchases away as I resumed my attack on Priscilla's trading program. It was two in the afternoon when the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. I immediately gave Thomas a call. I printed out everything for clarity on how the program actually worked. He wanted to come to my place and have me go over it with him. I asked him to meet me at my office instead in case he was followed to my home. I didn't want to let Anya out of my sight even with the custody and restraining orders. I brought her with me to the office. Connie kept an eye on Anya for me while Thomas and I slipped into the back office to talk.

"So you're telling me that ninety-nine point nine percent of her trading program is mere window dressing? It doesn't do anything at all?"

"Not exactly, Thomas. It does do something. It confuses anyone but a determined expert to inhibit deciphering. There are hundreds of tables of stocks and options built into the program. They're nothing more than a smokescreen. Four specific data locations exist within the program where the actual trade setup is managed, the name of the stock, the entry price, the stops, and the target. Her program is a ruse. It only makes one trade at a time. The name of the stock and data values are stored in a hidden Boolean gosub-call routine that references the cell data and executes the trade on their trading platform. Once the target or stop is reached, the trade is exited. Nothing else can take place until new data has been entered into those same hidden cells and the program is reset. Everything else is bells and whistles intended to confuse even the most ardent reviewer." I apprised.

"You've outlined it perfectly, Gordon. Even a clueless idiot like me can understand what you've shown here. Thank you," Thomas gratefully acknowledged.

"But it doesn't make sense, Thomas. This program is virtually worthless. It would be much easier to simply manually enter the trades directly into the trading platform. Why go to this elaborate extent just to conceal and make it appear more technically sophisticated than it is?"

"It makes perfect sense, Gordon. This is exactly the smoking gun I hoped you'd find. You've given me a great gift. The final piece of the puzzle just clicked into place. Now it's my turn to give you a gift in return."

Thomas handed me a manila envelope. "There are two DVDs in there, along with three USB storage devices. You're holding the total collection of all videos of you and Eric Amundsen, both the raw video footage and the edited versions. There are no other copies in existence, I give you my word. Once you destroy that, all threats of leverage Priscilla or Daphne hoped to hold over you will be gone. You can inform my daughter that you intend to follow through with the divorce."

I exhaled as if I had been holding my breath for days. "If what you say is true, I can't thank you enough, Thomas. How on earth did you come by this?"

"Over the years, I have spotted Daphne clandestinely doing things at her office and home. In one of her desk drawers at home, I found a strong rare-earth magnet. I knew she had a reason for keeping it there. One day I saw a commercial for a concealed gun storage hearth that utilized a magnet like hers to unlock a secret compartment. Over several different opportunities, I slid the magnet over every inch of her desk. On the underside of the main center drawer, a small hidden compartment was released that contained a few papers. On those pages were her account logins and passwords, safe and asset locations, safe combinations, and quantities/values of all of her hidden assets. For example, I discovered a wall safe behind a hidden panel in the back of her closet. Inside it was all of the recordings she had used against me for leverage. I've already destroyed them all and replaced them with blanks. There's a safe in Daphne's Acropolis building trading office. Armed with the combination, I retrieved your video to give to you. Don't worry, I turned off the video recording systems before carrying out these missions. Neither Daphne nor Priscilla will learn how they went missing. Also in that envelope that I gave you, is another DVD with some highlights of Brock and my daughter engaging in intimate activity in case you need it for your divorce. On it, they're having sex while she's pregnant, so Priscilla cannot argue that the sessions took place before you were married."

"Again, I can't thank you enough, Thomas. But once they discover that all of their blackmail material is gone, won't they suspect you and come after you? They can still destroy us both with their considerable resources."

"That's true but they will be too busy defending themselves from the SEC."

"Why the SEC?" I asked.

"I have spent hours and days sifting through all of the recordings from home. Daphne has had sex with nearly every powerful mogul in NYC. She delights in ordering me to perform cleanup duties afterward. My subservience is powerfully addictive to her. On dozens of occasions over the years, during their pillow talk, CEOs have discussed inside information with her about their firms. Daphne would then trade off that information to make millions over time. Insider trading is a crime that can lead to heavy fines and imprisonment. Just ask Martha Stewart. Daphne stayed under the radar before Priscilla's program was instituted by only trading reasonable amounts, so as not to attract the attention of the SEC. They're very vigilant about such things. Once Priscilla created her 'proprietary' trading system, Daphne and Priscilla insisted that it was an algorithmic calculated trade initiated by the program and had nothing to do with inside information. Until today, the SEC was unable to dispute their claims and allowed the trades to stand. With the evidence you've uncovered, coupled with the recordings I have of Daphne being given the inside information, the SEC can piece together what transpired and levy charges accordingly. If convicted, Daphne and Priscilla will both go to prison, for how long is an unknown."

I was shocked to learn all of this. Insider trading? I'd have never guessed, not in a million years. I want to divorce Priscilla and get custody of Anya. If Priscilla were to go to prison, then I should be awarded both. This was potentially great news.

"What time frame do you envision this happening, Thomas?"

"I'll take everything we have to the SEC tomorrow morning. When I discussed this situation with them before, they said they'd need about a week to research and corroborate the data for confirmation before making any arrests. That's why I wanted you to uncover Priscilla's complicity as, not just Daphne's employee but her partner in crime, to take them both down simultaneously. It's long past time that they face the music. Be vigilant, Gordon. Let's not reveal our hand too soon. No matter how tumultuous your interactions may be with any of them before arrests are made, you must be careful not to reveal the pending action. Hold your tongue and let the wheels of justice turn at their own speed. If the three of them get wind of anything ahead of time, they may take unforeseen measures to mitigate the damage. Okay?"

"I understand, Thomas; mum's the word. They'll get nothing from me. You have my word on that."

I worked from home Wednesday, diving fully into the resumption of Anya's homeschooling. She's smart as a whip and picked up quickly where we had left off. It was a good day for us both. Thomas texted from his burner phone that things were set in motion. I knew what he meant. Connie returned to the office to keep things running smoothly.

I felt butterflies in my stomach Thursday morning. I knew that Priscilla would be confronting me about the three-day deadline. She texted me mid-morning to meet her for lunch at a posh establishment, Chez Phillipe's, perhaps to have witnesses in case I somehow got out of hand. She no longer has any power to compromise me but is unaware of her lost leverage. The restraining order was to maintain Priscilla and Brock's distance from Anya, not me. Connie came over to stay with Anya in my absence to ensure her safety. When I walked into the restaurant, I saw Priscilla and her mother together waiting for me. At least butthole Brock wasn't there.

"Right on time. Good. It's a good omen that you've come to your senses, Gordon. Please have a seat. We'll talk after placing our orders," Priscilla commanded. Daphne said nothing but politely smiled. I ordered a champagne ice bucket with two canned cokes in the can. I wasn't taking any chances on spiked drinks or food. They both looked at me with contempt. I didn't care. After the waiter disappeared with our orders, she began.

"Your three days are up, Gordon. Your options remain the same, ruin or reward? I require your answer today. Let's put all this animosity and strife behind us, shall we? You need to come home to me where you belong. Anya needs us both in her life. I never had any plans to remove you from her life. I don't want that. I want the three of us back together and happy as we once were before everything became blown out of proportion," Priscilla supplied.

This was it, the moment of truth. I had already destroyed the evidence Thomas had handed over to me. I had to trust that there were no other copies in existence. I took a deep breath and decided to face this uncomfortable confrontation head-on.

As calmly as I could, I said, "It's unfortunate that you limited me to only three days. Honestly, that is insufficient time for me to wrap my head around everything you expect of me. Quite frankly, I can find no way to deal with the betrayal of your wedding vows. The reward you suggest, spending more intimate time with you after, and I'm sure during, your ongoing infidelity with that low-life slime, is not a reward in my book but rather a punishment. At one time I found you desirable, Priscilla but that time has passed. Divorce is the only acceptable path forward for me."

Her eyes became squinted. She wanted to blow her top. She was expecting my acquiescence, not rejection. However, she was under the same constraints as me to maintain decorum. Daphne joined the conversation.

"You have made a most unfortunate choice, Gordon. You will regret it the rest of your life, I promise you," she threatened. Prepare to become nationally known as a gay porn star. Once we're through with you, gay porn may be your only avenue for future gainful employment. Not only that but, although you may believe you've fulfilled the terms and conditions of the loan I made to you to start your little hobby company, I assure you that you've overlooked details that empower me to take your company away from you. Everything you've worked for will soon be mine. I may decide to give it to Brock as a wedding present when Priscilla finally marries a real man," she sarcastically spat.

Priscilla added, "Divorce me and you'll never see or talk to Anya again. You may feel as though you have the upper hand right now but this fraudulent claim of hers will soon be disproven. Mom assures me that she can produce irrefutable proof of Anya's lies, and when she does, we'll convince CPS that you put her up to it. Once Anya is back with me, I will poison her against you, even if it means institutionalizing her for a while, and convince her that it's all your fault. Your life as you know it will be over, Gordon. This is your last chance to listen to reason. Do you want to end up as an ostracized, penniless, homeless, faggot on the street, or will you be sensible and let me sweep you off your feet for our second honeymoon where you'll be treated as a king?"

The waiters delivered our drinks. I opened one of the chilled cans of coke and took a sip. "Since Brock is superior to me in every way, he deserves that honeymoon vacation much more than I do. Take him in my place with my blessing. I'll never set foot in the Maldives again. I hope you two lovebirds have the times of your lives." I rose and left the extravagant restaurant without another word. The two women were shocked beyond belief.

After leaving the threatening meeting. I texted Thomas asking him if he had any idea what Daphne's irrefutable proof against Anya's claim might be. He called me back chuckling. He told me that the night he first heard of the incident with Anya, he logged onto the server and watched the account unfold on the video feed from Priscilla's condo. He said he was relieved that there had been no attempted assault, however, in a move to protect his granddaughter, he deleted the entire twenty-four hours' worth of recordings from the server to prevent them from ever being used against her. He admitted overhearing Daphne tell Priscilla that she was going to get the proof needed to exonerate them. But she'll soon learn that the evidence doesn't exist, leaving them in limbo. I felt much better after talking with him.