Hot Potato

37. Of Accounting and Slips

"What about tax? How do we handle that?"

"I wrote the contract to include the seven per cent GST in the price, and that becomes an input tax credit for later use."

"Ooh! I like that twist. But I meant how will I cover the income tax on your gift? That'll be far more than I have."

"It's non-taxable. Unlike in the US, the UK and elsewhere, gifts of money are tax-free in Canada."

"Hmmm, like when Grandma gave me the downpayment for the condo. But I thought that was only from family."

"No, from any source – the same as Canada treats lottery winnings."

I chuckled. "I sure won the lottery when I decided to seduce you."

"That made it much easier for me." He opened the door and ushered me into the lobby. "I was trying to figure out how I would approach you. No experience with that – never any urge."

"You've absolutely no problem with it now." I fished in the bottom of my case and pulled out the keyring, used the fob to call the elevator and then opened my mailbox. As I removed the three postcards, a slip of paper fluttered to the floor.

Dunc picked it up and held it out to me. "Might be another note from him."

I slipped the postcards into my case, took the note and read, Nice length on your new fuck. Pity it's so slim.

Dunc looked over my shoulder at it. "Forget about changing, Gigi. Let's go directly to the police station."

As we headed out, he said, "He would have watched us the first time. Before the police came. Before we disconnected the other routers."

"But why had he left the note about Marcy yesterday? Not about you?"

"When had you checked the box before that?"

"The previous afternoon. My routine."

"Then, he could have left it that evening or yesterday morning."

"True. Marcy had stayed overnight, so he would have had plenty of opportunity to download our frolicking – long sessions both evening and morning."

"Yeah." He blew out a loud breath. "Would you rather be with her?"

"Why?"

"Your long-standing intimate relationship."

"I far prefer being with you, Dunc. There's really no contest. Some similarities, like feeling wanted, feeling safe, sharing thoughts, sharing orgasms." I shrugged. "But you win hands down with them all."

He squeezed my hand. "I had a strange twinge – fear that you prefer her. Jealousy, I suppose. Never felt that before with anyone."

"It's one of the signs of love on Marcy's list. Things she tells me I should watch for."

"Yeah."

"I should stop seeing her, then."

"Why?"

"To not trigger your jealousy."

"No need for that. It's my emotion, and I have to learn how to deal with it. A lot of other stuff, as well. This whole love thing is new to me – except for the theory."

"Is it scary?"

"No, not at all. Rather, it's exciting."

"I wish I could be like that. New things are scary to me."

"From what I've seen, it's only until you're forced to step into them. Then you soar. Appears you're scared by the idea, not by the actuality."

"Marcy keeps telling me this, but my mind screams caution."

We continued discussing this as we walked, and I startled when Dunc opened a door for me. "Here already? I lost track of time and space."

"That's another sign you love me, Gigi. You relinquished control and trusted me to keep you safe."

Inside Police Headquarters, after Dunc had given the reception officer the case number and explained the reason for our visit, we were shown to seats. Both of us pulled out our phones at the same time, and I asked, "Seeing if he uploaded us?"

"Yeah. I now know how you would have felt."

"And feel again – now."

Dunc's phone was the first to load, and he turned his screen toward me as the video played. When it finished, he said, "Only thirty-seven seconds and no faces. Focused on Buddy."

"While we dried each other. Jerky editing. Looks like he patched together clips when the towels weren't blocking too much. Seems he wanted to show only your dangling parts, not our interactions."

"Yeah, the tags appear to confirm this."

I scanned them, then asked, "I understand the uncut and intact, but why would he have tagged mushroom and gay?"

Dunc shrugged. "Porn code of some sort. Gay might be because he thinks they focus on size."

We both searched for other vids of us, and when we had found none, I said, "That's a relief. Only one for them to take down."

"Hmmm! Might make sense to leave it – I'm unidentifiable except to you and me. If he has more of us to edit and load, and he sees this has been removed, he'll likely upload them on another site. Be much harder to find."

"True. Did you have a chance to search for Marcy and me on other sites?"

"I was going to, but I got sidetracked, sorting out where the four million went."

"I love where it went." I giggled. "Straight into our venture."

"There's another sign you love me, Gigi."

"What is?"

"Saying our."

"Hmmm! Like when you...."

I paused as a voice inquired, "Gallini?"

"Here."

A young policeman approached and said, "I'm Constable Gwan. Follow me, please." A short while later, when we were inside and seated in a cubicle, he said, "I understand this is an ongoing case, and you have additional information."

Dunc placed the slip of paper on the desk. "More intimidation from him, and he's posted a revealing video of us."

The officer read the note, then shrugged and looked up at us. "What's intimidating about this?"

"The context. Are you not familiar with the case?"

"No, this was just assigned to me."

"It involves domestic violence, threats of revenge, stalking, intimidation and posting nude and intimate videos of us to the web without our permission." Dunc turned and pointed beyond the cubicle. "Sergeant Royston had opened the investigation, and it links to an earlier domestic violence incident handled by Constable Gurvinder Singh."

The officer uncradled a phone and said, "Let me see if the sergeant's available."

A minute later, as the sergeant welcomed the three of us into her office, she said, "An arrest warrant has been issued for Garth Davis, but he's given us the slip. The address on the waybill is Kitsilano Mini Storage, but he is unknown to them. The phone number he gave is their office, and the delivery service was paid in cash."

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Points to consider in this chapter:

What do you think about Dunc's analysis of Gigi's fear of the unknown?

Does it make sense to leave Garth's latest vid on the site?

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