Frieda Knight stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, bored out of her mind.
She already done her homework and despite the Knight manor having its own private generator system, which proved there were occasional advantages to being rich, the local Internet provider was offline.
With all the servants having quit over her father hitting Jeffery in a drunken rage, she had no one to hang out with or talk to.
Frieda seriously missed her friends.
Her mother was in the kitchen trying to figure out what to cook for dinner. Does she even know how to cook? wondered Frieda, having never seen her mother ever actually use the kitchen for anything more than a briefing room to address the staff.
Then Frieda thought about her father.
While unaware of all the details, she knew some kind of private feud existed between Benton Knight and Daisuke Tachibana, dating back to at least high school, if not earlier in their lives.
Although Frieda had no regrets about warning the Skulk via Eric Anderson that her father was attempting a covert takeover of Tachibana Enterprises through dummy corporations, she had absolutely no idea that he would react the way he did today.
I've never seen him drunk before in my entire life, realized Frieda, vividly recalling the image of her father passed out on the floor of his study in his werepanther fursona.
Sure, he had a drink of alcohol every now and then, what adult didn't? But like most weres, he never touched the stuff on a regular basis, or drank to excess the way he did today.
The man's going to have a nasty hangover whenever he wakes up, and it serves him right.
Nothing seemed right in her life since Julie Stovall first went on the warpath against Eric Anderson and Spencer Lawson.
Nothing except the fact Eric and Spencer had since become her friends... and lovers.
I don't feel Whole without them, thought Frieda, using the nickname she gave herself in their company. Is it just because I finally have someone my own age who likes me just for myself? Is it because I inducted Eric into were society before having that fantastic threesome with him and Spencer, knowing full well how my parents would react to the whole situation if they ever found out? Or could it be something more? wondered Frieda, as the bi-werepanthress thought happily about Eric and Spencer a while longer.
Then Frieda felt her stomach begin to growl, reminding her she hadn't eaten since lunch. A quick look at her wristwatch showed it was after 7 that evening, so she went downstairs in hope that her mother had something edible prepared.
As she started to walk past the open door of her father's study, Frieda heard something ding.
She looked inside and saw the modem on his executive style desk was now fully lit, indicating the Internet was back online.
She was happy about that. Now I can keep my nightly Skype appointment with Yin and Yang, provided they have electricity and Internet service, thought Frieda, using the nicknames she coined for Eric and Spencer, based upon their fur coloring.
Her father was still passed out drunk on the lush carpeting of the study floor, but that was his problem, as far as she was concerned.
Frieda was about to head on to the kitchen when she heard another noise.
Curious, she walked over to her father's computer and saw that not only had he left his system on and his private e-mail account open, but he had just received an e-mail.
She was about to ignore it and leave when she saw the subject line said ANDERSON/LAWSON DIRT.
I shouldn't, but in this case two wrongs might actually make a right.
Afraid for her friends and their families, she looked and saw her father was still snoozing away, so took the risk of opening the e-mail and started scanning the contents.
Inside was stuff on everyone from birth certificates to current credit card statements!
William and Martha Anderson (both teachers), their sons Nathaniel and Eric; along with Evan (who seemed to have a pretty impressive military service record as a Navy SEAL) and Doctor Maggie Lawson, their daughter Spencer (named for a deceased relative of her father's who was a war hero) and a Mike Lawson (with a decent military service record of his own), listed as Evan's father.
Spencer's complete juvenile records were attached as well, but how the researcher got this material, considering it should be sealed by the courts involved, was unknown to Frieda.
There was absolutely no mention of any of them being weres, since whoever did the research obviously had no immediate connection with Moon Lake beyond being employed by Knight Industries.
But it was the last attachment that gave Frieda the most concern. Documented proof that the Andersons and the Lawsons happily practiced the concept of an "open" marriage, along with evidence of both wives being bi.
Money and power corrupt, and absolute money and absolute power corrupt absolutely, realized Frieda, misquoting a classic line while staring at the screen.
Hearing a low moan, she turned and saw her father start to stir on the floor.
Taking a really big chance, Frieda deleted the attachment concerning the Anderson and Lawson's sex practices before putting everything else back the way she found it on screen. While it would have been nice to delete that too, there was no time to erase any evidence of Spencer's juvie records.
Then, knowing there was no way she could leave the study without her father realizing she had been in there and possibly discovering what she had done, Frieda went over and stood near him.
Benton Knight opened one bleary eye, trying to focus.
His head throbbed and it felt like there was a herd of elephants tap dancing on his skull.
When his vision finally cleared enough to see, the image of his daughter standing over him sharpened considerably.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded to know. "Haven't I told you never to come into my study without permission?"
"Yes, but I was walking past on my way to the kitchen in hopes of getting something to eat. The door was wide open, I heard you moan, and wanted to make sure you were all right," said Frieda, telling him some of the truth and not mentioning she knew about his drinking binge and hitting Jeffery.
The hung over werepanther that was Benton Knight looked at his daughter. Technically she had misbehaved and broke his rules. Again.
Yet this time he couldn't find any fault with her actions, no matter how much he tried.
"Okay. I understand," he said, managing to stand and walk over to his desk chair.
Managing to sit down without either completely missing the chair or hurting his tail, he started to say, "Tell your mother..."
Then he paused, noticing the monitor screen and the e-mail about the Andersons and Lawsons he had been waiting for.
Between his excitement to read the information and his post-drunken state, he never noticed that the e-mail had already been opened once.
Frieda, privately relieved that her sabotage of his illegal actions had gone unnoticed, waited until her father was totally engrossed in his reading before asking, "What did you want me to tell mother?"
Benton Knight turned, surprised to see his daughter still standing there. Then said, "Please tell your mother I'm awake, and will need some dinner with a pot of coffee as soon as possible. I may have a long night of work ahead of me."
He knew that, except for those rare instances he loses control over his personal hatred of Daisuke Tachibana, he was a shrewd and wise business tycoon.
Somehow Tachibana Enterprises tumbled onto his covert takeover attempt. Knight Industries would have to do damage control for awhile, but it was nothing he or the company he built couldn't come back from within days, weeks at the most.
I've got to figure out how to control my temper better and not fly off the handle like I did today. That isn't good for business, and I still might have to deal with the were council about my actions, but one thing I'm definitely good at that Daisuke never figured out is how to play the long game. He may know what he's doing next month, but I've already have business plans in place for next year!
Hearing his casual dismissal, Frieda Knight left her father's study, happy that she had done what she could to make sure her friends and their families were safe.
Since I didn't have time to read everything, there might still be something in those files that he will try to use against them, but at least I got rid of the worst of it, she thought with a smile on her face, as Frieda resumed her journey to the kitchen.