John's a bit naïve and doesn't have a ruthless molecule in his body - a good mate for me, Kelly thought. I'm a ruthless bitch with a lot of guile and little naiveté. She sighed. But, I am naïve about some things, frequently make assumptions without enough facts, and in the past generally went through life along the path of least resistance. No more. I have something to fight for now. I've found my man and will protect my position with him regardless of obstacles looming up in the path. I'll let Mom and Janice take their shot at Daddy, but if they fail, I'll bring him around. I know a few things about him they don't.
The waitress interrupted her thoughts, and Kelly placed her breakfast order.
She smiled at her man. "Tell me about your meeting with your attorney, John. By the way, did you need to let him see the video with me in the starring role?"
John blushed. "Yeah. He refused to pursue the matter without viewing the tapes. I left them with him. Sorry."
"That's okay." Surprisingly, Kelly wasn't as upset as she thought she would be. "Will he be able to help us?"
"Maybe. He says he has a potential legal attack with record keeping requirements, model information and model release forms. Every performer in any video depicting explicit sexual content on the Internet or otherwise must provide a release to the video's producer; in your case, the producer was probably Jim. Bob doesn't believe the adult web site offering your video for view would buy the film or even offer it to viewers without such a release; so in all likelihood, Jim forged your signature. Did you ever sign anything Jim shoved in front of you without knowing what it was?"
"No, I don't think so, but he handled our finances and other matters like that and asked me to sign papers from time to time. I might have signed a release without reading the document if he presented it to me in the guise of something else. If I did, or if Jim forged a release, does that mean we can't get the video removed from the Internet?"
"Bob wouldn't commit. He did say he could threaten the owners of the web site with a lawsuit. Under such a threat, they might pull it, which brings me to the second problem. Bob's research indicates the site is owned by the mob."
"Dagnabit! Is it wise to take on the mob, John?"
He chuckled. "Not really, though they tend to kill each other more than outsiders."
"Okay, what's our next step?"
"Instruct Bob to make the threat. If the web site ignores us or tells us to go piss up a rope, Bob has no other suggestion except to sue your ex-husband."
"No. I don't want to sue him. A civil suit will take years and cost a bundle, and Jim's a wily son of a female dog. Suing him isn't an option. I just want to get that video off the Internet, and then get even with the scum sucking shithead, and more. As I said, I don't want to get even with the fucker; I want to get ahead. You mentioned you had an idea."
"Yeah. I'll lay it out for you when I have more of the pieces in place. In the meantime, I've told Bob to hold off on the threat. I don't want Jim to know we're on to him before we lower the boom. Then I'll sic Bob on the web site."
"Good enough. I'm happy you're helping me with this. I get so angry when I think of what the low-life, miserable, scab-picking, belly-crawling snake did to me, I see red, which isn't the proper frame of mind to attack the problem. Clear thinking is required; something your organized mind is better suited for. God, I love you." She took his hand in hers.
John laughed. "I'll make some calls when we return to your house, and move my plan along a little. I might need your help, or Janice's to pull it off."
"Now you've piqued my curiosity. I think you'd better lay it out for me."
"Okay, but I don't have all the pieces in place for my plan, even in my head, so it could change dramatically. Remember, I mentioned we could use Jim's perversion against him. Well, I..."
Jim spoke for about fifteen minutes. Their meals arrived, interrupting him momentarily. He finished eating about the time he finished laying out his plan. Leaning back in his chair, he smiled. "What do you think?"
"I love it!" Kelly also decided she needed to dramatically alter her opinion that her lover didn't have a ruthless molecule in his body. "I'll help. I have a few ideas along the same lines we can explore."
"One other thing. We need to decide whether to approach Mary or not. The more I've thought about it, the more I believe she was drugged during the taping episode. Regardless, contacting her is risky."
"Let's approach her anonymously."
John's expression looked inward. "That'll work. Any suggestions?"
"Let's use Mom. I don't' want you involved at all. You'll be too exposed by other elements of your plan to take the risk."
John grinned. "Good idea! She needs to know about our problem anyway."
For more reasons than you think, Lover, Kelly thought.
***
"So what do you think, Mom?" Kelly asked. John and Kelly had just informed their mother about the video featuring her oldest daughter on the Internet. The three of them sat in Kelly's living room. Janice was expected momentarily.
"I think your ex should be strung up my his balls."
Kelly giggled. "We have more drastic measures in mind. We plan to do to him what he did to me, but in spades."
"Mom, we need someone to feel Mary out, the gal in the other video we told you about," John said. "We think she was drugged, probably with a date-rape drug like GHB or Rohypnol."
"How do you know about such drugs, Son? You haven't used them, have you?" his mother asked, her serious expression defying him to lie to her.
He chuckled. "No, of course not. I did some research on the Internet. GHB and Rohypnol are sedatives, popularly known as date-rape drugs. Victims can be drugged by spiking their drinks, and the next day they wake up not knowing how they got where they are or what happened the night before. They're street drugs. Anyway, if Jim and Peter spiked her drink with one of these drugs, she won't remember the taping incident. If this is the case, we'll have her meet with us. If she remembers the incident, she was either blackmailed or joined the men willingly. Under those circumstances, we won't meet with her. Kelly can't feel her out. It has to be someone she doesn't know. Will you make the call for us? Anonymously, of course."
"Certainly. What's her number?"
Kelly handed her a slip of paper, and John handed her a cell phone with a suction cup attached to the receiver and a wire leading to a tape recorder. "Use this cell phone, Mom. It can't be traced to any of us, and we'll tape the conversation." He reached and handed her a piece of paper. "This is a tentative script. Take a gander and then put it into your own words."
