Page 15 of Daddy P.I. 3.0

Jaimie and Olaf both had views but I’ve found nothing to substantiate their theories.

Vizzi shrugs. “I just hope it’s not one of us.”

“I hope that, too. Sacrum’s as much of a family as Blunts, from what I’ve seen. Nothing hurts worse than betrayal by a member of your family. I sincerely hope that’s not what this is.”

“But you think it’s an inside job,” Vizzi says. “You told Jaimie that.”

“I think it would be hard for someone who isn’t very familiar with the club to evade the cameras I initially installed. That doesn’t mean it’s a current member of Sacrum. It could be someone who used to be a member and has a bit of an axe to grind. It could be someone involved in the renovation two years ago. There are plenty of possibilities that don’t involve a current club member.”

Vizzi’s shoulders drop an inch. “I hope that’s the case.”

“Me, too.” I finish the last of my tea and salute her with the cup before I wash it and leave it in the draining rack to dry. “Back to work.”

Vizzi grunts softly then says, “I’m making a run to the store to replace the sandwiches. If you’re a good boy, I’ll bring you one. Ham and cheese or tuna?”

I chuckle. I will never be a good boy. And Emily packed me a three-course lunch. “I’m all set, thanks but I appreciate the offer.”

She shakes her head at me as I back out of the kitchen.

Once I have all of the cameras wired in, including the two panning cameras, I spend the early afternoon calibrating and testing the system. When I’m happy with everything, I pull up Max’s instructions on my laptop and connect the system to the cloud account he’s set up. I’ll admit I’m not sure exactly how it works but Max and his back-up guy in Singapore will be able to monitor the system in real-time, including overriding the cameras’ programming and redirecting them.

I assume Max will be too preoccupied with his trip to pay attention to this job today but, as always, he’s on top of it. He pings me almost as soon as the system connects to the cloud account.

Max: Squid and I are going to run some fire drills. We’ll set the system to go live at midnight. If you want to take off for the day, I’ll send Manny your way.

I smile at his message. People underestimate Max because he’s better with machines than humans. Their mistake. He’s twice as smart as I am and almost as perceptive as my baby doll. I’d give a lot for a few free hours.

That would be great.

I begin packing up my kit. I leave the tools I need to tweak the system if there are physical adjustments to be made but box up my heavy drill and other power equipment. I collect the drop cloths from the hallway where I was working and pack all but one of them away, then return the ladder to the office closet.

Max texts as I’m debating over my caulk gun.

Max: Manny’s on the way. ETA 5 min.

I toss the caulk gun into the satchel I’m leaving, pick up my box, and head out to meet Manny. We might not have theprecision we had in the Navy but with Max coordinating things now, we’re not far off.

Manny’s not sorry to beat the worst of rush hour traffic as we head back into the City. He tells me about the job he’s been on and I listen with half an ear as I consider how to spend the hours I’ve been gifted.

First, I flip my phone over to the app Max created for me, which is a modified version of the app he uses with his little. The app tracks what I’ve come to think of as “subbie wellness.” It covers the physical aspects of a submissive’s health: eating properly, drinking enough water, getting enough exercise and sleep. But it also tracks their moods with blood pressure and heart rate monitoring as well as asking them questions at random intervals to establish their mental state.

Emily’s not a fan of the app, so I’ve only asked her to log her water consumption. I’m constantly in touch with Emily and can evaluate her without mechanical assistance.

I didn’t give Lucy or Cappa the choice. I only see Lucy once a week for scheduled scenes. I still see Cappa most days but it’s less than immediately after his injury. He’s back at work and the club full time. He was evicted from his apartment at the beginning of the month, even though I offered to help him with the rent. He’s moved in with Fleur; as far as I can tell, that’s working out well. The app lets me keep tabs on both of them from a distance, and alerts me when I need to step in.

Both of them have had good days. Cappa’s blood pressure is way down from where it was after his eviction, which was stressful for him despite the offers of assistance and having a place to land. Lucy’s been having a little trouble at work, some kind of conflict with a co-worker but her signs are all good today. I tap in rewards for both of them, then flip over to the message string with my baby doll.

She’s been on a high since Halloween. Her “Halloween Eve-Eve” party was a huge success. This book that she and Bren are working on is coming together and although she won’t let me see it, Mac says the artwork he’s seen Bren working on brought a tear to his jaded eye. Despite her ongoing tussle with Mac for control of the kitchen, Emmy’s loving living with “the Mac Grandaddy” and her “Big Sub Bestie.” Every night’s a sleepover.

But the changes turning my world on its ear are going to impact Emmy. It’s inevitable. The biggest is Olivia’s arrival in a few days. Although Emily says she wants to be the “best little babysitter in the world” to Livvy, the truth is that we’re suddenly going to be parents of an infant. Emily’s preparing for it like she’s prepping for the apocalypse but neither of us has any idea what it’s going to be like.

I need to make it as easy for Emily as possible. And put some mechanisms in place so that if she’s not okay, I know before she spirals.

“Man,” I say to my business partner, “how do you know when Jen’s struggling with the kids?”

He flexes his hands on the steering wheel. “Easy. It’s the five o’clock check in. If I call at five and ask her how things are goin’ and she says, ‘fine,’ I head straight home and take the kids for the night so she can chill. If she tells me that Tabby broke a toy and Mickey colored all over the walls, I don’t have to worry, she’s got it under control.”

I chuckle. “Fine is code red, huh?”

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