When they regained their senses they treated me quite differently. Now I was a man, not just an intruder from another planet. Maree didn't have to be pressed for information now. She volunteered it. "I'll take you to where she is," she said after we had swum back to the other shore. "You'll have to drive me to my place, though, and that's in San Francisco."
"That's no trouble."
"And you have to keep it a secret. If any of the girls find out that I'm taking you there they'll kill me."
"Why should it matter to them?"
"Why?" Maree seemed nonplussed for a moment.
"Because nobody liked her," said Lydia quickly. "She was a very unpopular girl, Joe, and so when Maree's father… well, anyway, nobody here wants her back."
I looked from one to the other, more confused than ever. Maree assured me there was nothing to worry about it. I left it at that. The girls were cooperating, no point trying to stretch my luck. Only when I got back to the school I found a message to call Mrs. Van de Kut at once. And when I did she informed me that the ransom note had arrived.
"They want a quarter of a million dollars, Joe," said the dowager. "That's an awful lot of money. I want you to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible, or else I shall have to pay."
"I'm following up a major clue at this moment, Mrs. Van," I told her. "By tomorrow I should have good news for you."
"It'll be a great favor to us both," she replied. "If this ransom stays in my bank I will transfer a goodly portion of it to your bank."
Incentive piled on top of incentive. "Okay, I have to go to San Francisco for a day or so," I told my staff, "and while I'm away I want you to get documentary evidence of widespread masturbation for Miss Parsons, and if you hear anything good pass it on to me. For the rest I know you'll keep yourself amused." Vinnie thanked me from the bottom of his heart and Peggy winked at a girl standing not far from her. She'd been making friends.
Maree and I went to Miss Parsons' office and told her that we'd be back soon. The headmistress asked no questions, offered no objections, she wished us godspeed and that was that. Something was wrong somewhere. My old private eye's bones gave me the message. Everything was moving too slickly, everyone was too agreeable all of a sudden. But then I couldn't see why Maree would lie to me.
She put her bag in the back of the car and joined me on the front seat. A few of the girls waved goodbye to her as we drove through the grounds, among them the little blonde. "Who is that girl?" I asked Maree. "Everywhere I go I see her."
"Oh, her, she's just a nosey bitch, that's all," Maree shrugged. She was out of uniform now and had on a low-cut top and tight jeans, a bit of make-up and high platform shoes, which, instead of making her look older as she'd intended, made her look like a pretentious twelve-year old. I loved it! As we drove I kept taking peeks at the phenomenal bosom, the crotch of her jeans, and false eyelashes, everything about her was erotic, desirable, and wanton. She sat close to me and her hand rested casually on my upper thigh. When we reached the freeway and the car needed only the minimum of attention from me, her hand moved a little higher until it had a firm grasp on my cock.
"Careful now," I warned her. "If you lead me astray this car will follow."
"I'm just being friendly," she said, snuggling up to me and caressing my cock openly. "Do you want me to sit on my side?"
"Oh no, it's all right, you can stay where you are." My cock responded wholeheartedly to the stroking of that childish hand. Hard and thick, it caused a heavy ridge in my lap, and Maree's fingers kept on tracing the outline of it, teasing me, driving me bananas! I kept the speed down to about fifty and stayed in the right hand lane. Let the other cars zoom off into the distance, I was in no hurry. Maree undid the zip and groped about inside my pants until she came upon my cock. I lifted my cheeks and made it easy for her to take it out. At the same time I shifted toward her and rested my right foot on her side of the floor. Maree knew how to take a hint. Now that my cock was up and accessible, she leaned over it and stroked it with both hands, while her hair brushed over my glands. Her mouth was close, closer, her hot breath flowed past my sensitive skin, but she held back for excruciating seconds. Suddenly I wanted nothing more from life than to be blown! If only she would get down to it!
I reached out with my right arm and held her close to me, at the same time applying downward pressure so that she would have to suck my dick. Mischievously she held her head up. The car was on a sort of automatic pilot. One hand remained on the steering wheel, my eyes vaguely took in the long road ahead, but the rest of my being was concentrating on the mouth hovering over my cock. "Come on, baby, give it to me," I said pleadingly. Still no response. Her fingers closed around my dick and began to rub it up, her hot breath stimulated me, but that warm wet mouth remained out of reach.
In the end she looked up at me with her mellow brown eyes and said: "I'm sorry, Joe, it just doesn't seem right in a car. I'd love to do it to you… but I can't!"
"What do you mean?" I said irritably. "Are you afraid someone will see you? So what if they do? They'll never see you again."
"It's not that." She buried my cock and zipped me up, then sat with her back against the other door and chewed on her nails. Her legs were wide apart and it seemed as though that subtle bulge was cocked up at me. I moved about uncomfortably in an attempt to get my cock in a more suitable position and thought how nice it would be to fuck her with abandon. She had a point, cars were not the place for heavy sex. There was only one thing for it.
"How about we pull over at a rest stop and go behind the bushes?"
"Outdoors?" She looked at me as if I was crazy. "No, Joe, I'm sorry. That may be normal to you but I'm not that worldly."
"You want to check into a motel then?"
"Oh, could we! Yes, that'd be wonderful!" She lunged at me and wrapped her arms about my neck to give me a big kiss. It was getting dark and the big neon signs along the freeway were already on, blinking, multicolored, and enticing.
"We'll have to register as father and daughter," I told her. "And you're going to have to take off those eyelashes and make-up. Look innocent at least until we get into our own room. Another thing, could you wear something over that top? Those tits make you look like Lolita."
"Afraid they'll suspect something?" she smirked.
"Terrified." I could see it now, Joe 'jailbait' McCanoczek goes to trial. That crime got the biggest sentences because the judges were mad with jealousy. They wanted teenage pussy and if they couldn't have it, the guy who got it would pay dearly for it. I'd been in the business for a long time, I'd seen men go up for trial a hundred times, and after a while you get to realize that the symbol for justice shouldn't be a blindfolded woman holding balances; it should be a crotchety old man suffering from a war injury, standing on top of steeples with both thumbs turned down. So I took care to see that Maree followed my instructions. By the time we reached the lobby she looked like my daughter. Both of us were swarthy and good looking, and now that she had her platforms off and her flatties on she was able to hold my hand and still resemble a forlorn child. The person behind the counter didn't even raise an eyebrow when I asked for a room with two beds.
"Isn't this marvelous!" she said when the door had been locked behind us. "Look, color TV and everything! I'm going to take a bath first, Joe, I'm still dirty from that swim in the lake."