Probe

by Douglas E Roff

  Candles, scented and perfumed, were placed for mood and effect and when the ladies were finished arranging, they were satisfied. Adam was to be the center of all attention while Misti would be the focus of his attention. Alana was to support the show and provide new visuals for Adam to admire during his first and subsequent intermissions. She would tease and caress, helping Adam to full attention but not be directly involved in bringing Adam to full satisfaction. The more intimate and erotic pleasures would be the province of Misti alone.

  Alana wasn’t prohibited from any aspect of pleasuring Adam; indeed, Misti herself had arranged discreet trysts on several occasions before with girlfriends who enjoyed the intimate trade-off, both male and female. As for Alana, she wasn’t yet ready, and it might be a while before she was. This was new for her and she had never known an intimate, romantic, and caring relationship with a man. She wished for it; she told Misti her attraction naturally leaned more to men than women but was terrified of being touched by a man. Any man. The thought of coupling with a man right now was simply out of the question. Her memories were still too raw, even nine years later.

  Adam, for his part, wasn’t certain this was a good idea for Alana to be part of their evening entertainment; he knew that Misti didn’t always approach sex as a gentle exercise in romantic love. Adam was fine with that and enjoyed his primal exercise with Misti’s most aggressive and dominant side. She could be predatory; delighting in the passionate power and control that brought her physical senses and erotic passions alive with the only man who had ever satisfied her so utterly and so completely.

  It wasn’t her intent on this night to test the outer boundaries of their more extreme erotic natures, nor to satisfy the outer edges of Misti’s own dominant nature. Hers would be a slower and more intense expression of an erotic and uninhibited imagination whose only desire was to visually tantalize, sensually explore and then physically satisfy his controlled and eventual climax.

  Then begin again.

  ***

  The conversation that the girls heard from the bedroom was apparently winding down with Adam firmly, but calmly, barking out instructions to whoever was on the other side of the conversation.

  “I don’t care who you are, and I don’t care what authority you think you possess when it come to this request. Let me rephrase this inquiry for you in a slightly different way. I am not asking you, I am telling you to produce the document I require that I know to be in your possession no later than the close of business tomorrow. I am following up this conversation with Undersecretary Kroman, who I can assure you will be significantly less generous with your small and insignificant career when he learns that I have been jerked around by you. So, I suggest you get off your ass and call your boss to get him, or her, on the horn with the Secretary who will confirm my identity and clear this request.”

  There was a pause in the conversation.

  “Your career, buddy, not mine. I will personally see to the immediacy of your discharge. We will soon see whose services the Secretary values more greatly, yours or mine. In twenty-four hours, one of us will have a lot of free time to enjoy. Goodbye.”

  Adam pivoted on a dime and in his cheery voice said, “Hey girls, back so soon. How was shopping?”

  Alana poked her head out of the bedroom. “Well, I got a book, and Misti got – well you’ll see what Misti got a little later. Don’t you just love surprises?”

  Adam was grinning. “Sometimes. Depends on the nature of the surprise and the identity of the surprisor. Especially when I’m the surprisee.”

  Misti shouted, “Don’t complain, mister. You had two hot ladies shopping all day just to satisfy your quirky and lusty libido. Whatever the surprise, we promise you full satisfaction with a no money back guarantee. Can’t do better than that!”

  “According to who?” was Adam’s reply.

  “According to these.”

  Flung out from the bedroom came a matching pair of sheer black panties and a matching sheer black bra.

  “I see your point. How can I argue with not one, but two experts? I’ll return them to you as soon as I confirm their credentials.”

  The room went silent, so Misti came out to see what Adam was up to. He was now on the balcony, cell phone to his ear again and deep in conversation. The call lasted all of two or three minutes and concluded quietly.

  Adam slinked back in the room, sliding the glass door furtively as he entered. Misti took note but said nothing. She knew exactly what the topic of both conversations had been and probably who they were with. She was satisfied her earlier conjecture was correct. She would inform Alana that the mystery of the Friday Night Dinner was solved, and did she have clothes packed for London in summer?

  Something between and squeal and a shriek filled the air, coming out of the bedroom, the source of which was Alana. “Really? Do you mean it? Are you sure?”

  Followed by “Shush, big mouth. We’ll talk later.”

  ***

  When the girls appeared ten minutes later, Adam was sitting on the couch getting his organic entertainment prepped and ready for his big night. There was plenty, and he genuinely enjoyed the local brew; some say the best growers of the best strains were all graduates of the University of Hawaii’s Floriculture Department. Having tested the evidence thoroughly in the past, he was inclined to agree that U of H graduates rocked.

  “Whatcha doin’, mister?” Misti asked grinning. “Getting’ ready for sumpin’?”

  “I am. I am indeed, and I’ve been a good boy all week, so my girl has promised me … nirvana. And it better not be the rock group.”

  “As you were, soldier. The festivities begin well after dinner. Just keep your panties on for a little while longer.”

  Adam said, “No problem little lady. But now, it is my turn to interrogate the lovely Alana as previously promised. And no excuses. I have questions and she has answers. Tonight, at dinner, and afterwards fer a spell, she’s mine. All mine. And this time, you won’t be allowed to protect her.”

  “Alana,” Misti shouted. “My husband has unnatural designs on you at dinner. Maybe you should flee the country.”

  “What kind of designs were those? Architectural, graphic or erotic?”

  “Worse than any of those. He wants your mind. He wants to talk dirty tech, I assume. I may go to bed early. Wake me after he’s had his way with you.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  “You must be joking. At least I want you for your incredible body and that lascivious mind. Where’s the romance in tech?”

  “You’d be surprised, my love,” said Adam.

  “Ditto his thought,” said Alana. “Finally, some male erotica I can relate to.”

  Adam grinned and said to Alana, “Come here little girl, I want to show you the girth of my hard drive and the size of my joystick.”

  Alana giggled her now famous laugh, “My, my you are a naughty boy.”

  Adam smiled to himself and said, “Wait’ll you see my RAM.”

  ***

  Later, after the meal had arrived, dinner laid out on the sumptuous dining room table and the help had quickly disappeared, the three finally sat down together. Adam was dressed in a pair of baggie swimming trunks and a one size too small plain blue t-shirt. His dirty blond hair was cropped short and some sun had begun to color his face. The girls both thought he looked delicious and were already imagining new ways to put those abs and muscled chest to good use. Alana could only guess, but Misti had very specific plans.

  Adam had been busy all day, first calling his contacts in DC to get the annoying business of background checks on Alana ticked off the list, then to think through the events of the past few days. It had been an amazingly short time frame; a tiny span as easily measured in hours as in days. But it seemed like longer, much longer. The time compression he experienced with Alana had come as a shock; he had experienced something like it many times before but never as intense or fraught with peril.


  Time compression experiences had always been one of his deepest secrets, shared only with his Priest and a few other mentors. Even Misti had no idea what his inner mind was like. It was like an enormous interconnected series of caves with he, the amateur spelunker, exploring its depths. There was new beauty in all his surroundings but filled with darkness and hidden danger.

  He had made little progress in understanding what had happened during the incident with Alana; the intensity and fullness of the visual experience had never presented itself before, at least not like that. But the depth and breadth of the emotional connection with Alana had been even more frightening for him. He had never avoided any experience connected to his mind; the journeys were always brief and never unpleasant. It was like a travelogue, nothing more.

  This journey had been deeply dark and hideous. He not only saw but felt every moment of every second of agony and pain, both physical and emotional. He felt the corrosive evil that sought her out but could not claim its prize. It retreated to some other place, slinking away for some terrible other purpose. And there, it waited. Waited patiently for another chance, a second opportune moment of spiritual weakness.

  Adam hadn’t lied to the girls; what he said had happened just as he described. But there was more. And he was given knowledge, knowledge of the great evil existing in the world, seeking out unwilling and innocent victims. And he was given a special burden he knew would be his and his alone to understand. But he would not travel this journey alone. That too had been promised him.

  Now he was fully mature physically and spiritually and prepared for the difficult road ahead.

  Adam knew he couldn’t save every soul in need, but he could save some. One at a time.

  Alana was his first, chosen by whatever Architect had conceived his gift. His mentors in India and Tibet had foretold his path and marked the year of his awakening. Adam had begun to doubt them; he doubted them no longer.

  With Misti he could catch glimpses of something as he searched and finally found the true path to her libido. But his glimpses were without context, like snapshots of her troubled youth, adventures and trials from long ago. He sensed other things too, dark and disturbing, but these sensations were always brief and transitory.

  Misti was strong and deep. An old soul, just as she had told him when they were first brought back together. It had been a sign, the first sign to him of her true nature. Her soul was unblemished; it was for Adam to keep her that way.

  Adam believed that Misti would come independently to the knowledge of her place in the world, but it would be a longer and more difficult path. After all, she didn’t believe. There would be challenges, and there would be pain; there would also be anger between them, but his task was to remain on the path with her. In the end, she would join him as one and then the balance of their journey together would recommence with a new purpose and vigor. But that path was far from guaranteed and all their gifts would be needed if they were to have a chance for success.

  Of long life or happiness, nothing had ever been promised him.

  Chapter 13

  There had been a brief but awkward silence as the girls waited for Adam to snap out of his reverie, or whatever had gripped his thoughts just then. Suddenly the switch turned on and he was back in the present, smiling his obvious joy at the company now gathered at the table. The girls seemed lovelier and more beautiful in every way; his heart couldn’t have been more joyful.

  Misti looked at Alana, having no explanation for the moment now passed.

  “Where were you, buddy?” Misti asked, knowing Adam’s quirky and sometimes unpredictable nature could take him, and them, to odd places and strange conversations. She sometimes thought, on any given and random day, that she fully understood and appreciated her man, only to discover anew some facet of his complex psyche. On those days, she realized she had only scratched the surface of all that was Adam and even a lifetime of exploration wouldn’t be long enough.

  Today was one of those days and so he remained a mystery to her. He could be at times hard, sometimes unknowingly cruel, but there was also a softness and innocence she could not define. But she sensed him, and it sometimes troubled her inner peace, a disturbance that could make her cry when he wasn’t around. She hated this feeling; a deep love and an intense need she couldn’t completely control.

  Only during intimacy could she let go and allow him to free her from that bondage. But it was fleeting, as if letting go for very long would put her in an unrelenting freefall and panic.

  Control.

  It was an old friend and the one stronghold that Misti clung to and cherished, a gift from Edward to guide and protect her life among the herd. And the only thing she was unwilling to permanently concede to Adam, no matter the depth of her love. Edward had seen the duality that this the challenge would mean in her life. The challenge of staying on the right path might be too high a cost to ever have a chance at true and lasting happiness. Even Edward had not foreseen the centrality of what Adam would mean for her; he only vaguely understood the contours of these pieces himself.

  The deeper meaning eluded him entirely, but he knew that it was there. If he was lucky, it would be revealed to him in time. He hoped he would live to see it.

  As it turned out, he would.

  ***

  “Alrighty then, I’m back. Just nodded out for a second. Sorry.”

  The girls looked at each other, wondering what had just transpired but each knew they would never be permitted to know.

  Misti said, “All right mister, you’re up. Alana is yours to interrogate for a while but be nice. I’m here to referee and if you step out of line, I shave one full hour off your playtime. Understood?”

  “Tyrant. What must you both think of me anyway? I’m a gentleman, after all and I know when I’m crossing a line. But that won’t be tonight and never with Alana. I hope you believe that.”

  Alana spoke first. “I do. And I trust you fully and completely with my heart. So, go on and ask away. I’ll answer what I can and carefully dodge the rest. Just as the NSA taught me.”

  Misti was surprised by Alana’s immediate candor. She herself was always more guarded, even with Adam. In many ways, Alana was an ingénue; in many other ways, she was not. Her beauty and innocence were both alluring and highly erotic to Misti. She was drawn to this woman, connected in some strange way. First Adam, now Alana. Intriguing.

  Doubtless it was the same for Adam, she thought. But she would have to ask him later; Alana had been an unexpected twist in their lives and there was more to her relationship with Adam than either of them, or Misti, understood. Did he know? She hoped he did and could allay her increasing sense of anxiety.

  Yet her connection to Adam wasn’t sexual nor did Misti find it in any way threatening. But it was something, something different and powerful, yet illusive and undefined. She was certain there was much more to know but only in the fullness of time would this puzzle be solved.

  Misti turned to Alana and said, “Give me a signal and I’ll distract him if he gets out of control.”

  Adam laughed, knowing his wife and his wife alone possessed that unique ability. “And just how do you expect the accomplish that?”

  “Tits.”

  ***

  When dinner was over, they repaired to the living room to relax.

  “I’m not asking you to tell me what you’re working on, or even more narrowly who you work with. But I would like to understand the broad parameters of what you do and how you got there. You mentioned the FBI, the CIA and the NSA. In my experience, they don’t work with amateurs. And you must have clearances and have been vetted top to bottom. Since what we each do for must be related at least tangentially; I’m eager to know more. What can you tell us?”

  Adam sat back, found his recreational diversion, and fired up. Ditto Misti, who was seated next to Alana, her hand on Alana’s thigh. Her fingers stroked her friend ever so gently, not to distract but only to remind Alana of
her presence close to the conversation.

  “Well, let’s begin in the beginning. If I asked you what hacking was, what would you say?”

  Adam responded, “I’d say it was computer burglary, trying to get at something private. Something probably illegal.”

  “And I’ll bet that in your corner of the computer world, the words and terms you use are quite narrowly defined and commonly understood to mean the same thing. Probably everywhere in the world. Right?”

  “Mostly. There may be some variability involved but generally you’re correct. Why?”

  “Imagine that in my corner of the computer world, none of that is true. My world is every bit as complex as yours but with none of the rules and definitions you probably rely on to make your work readily and easily understandable.”

  “I can’t imagine that. It would be chaos. Doesn’t even sound computer-related.”

  Alana smiled and glanced at Misti. “Welcome to my world, Adam St. James.”

  “Please go on.” Adam was astounded, not thinking any part of his world could be chaotic. How could such chaos possibly work in the real world?

  “I’m not saying that what I do doesn’t obey rules and physical laws; that would be absurd. It’s still hardware and software. But let’s begin with what I do. I said I was a ‘hacker’ but let’s come back to the real meaning of that term in a second.”

  “OK. I thought that term was pretty easily understood by almost everyone.”

  “You’d think. But no. The work I do is as a Computer Security Consultant. I have a business with my father which we call ‘McSquare’. Dad’s contribution is to the marketing end but truthfully we have no cards, no letterhead and frankly we are only known in a few circles.”