The New Year had a lot going on. I was still carrying on my torrid affair with Erin. Even did something kinky and brought a little handheld into the bedroom, even though I swore my one time on camera would be the only one.

 

 

But this chapter is more about what was going on with people I knew, or didn't yet know, but wanted to, or, well, you'll see.

 

First, I was picked to be a judge in this young writers' contest. The entry I selected didn't win, it was too controversial, but I reached out to the kid, because I thought it was special. He was a junior in high school named Max, and had a flair for the language.

 

 

But it was the subject matter that captured me, and also why he didn't win. See, he'd had a fling with this popular senior girl, and gotten her knocked up.

 

 

And he decided to write about that. The stress of being a teenaged father.

 

 

The difficulty of putting on a brave face for the girl who had decided to keep the baby and was looking forward to it.

 

 

And the worry of wondering whether this would lead to a relationship, or if he was just a sperm donor.

 

 

It was very good, and extremely mature for someone his age. It should have won. But most judges were turned off by the subject matter, as you might expect. I hear the girls' parents were none too happy, too. But after he didn't win, I reached out to tell him he should have, and I voted for him, and if he wanted any advice, all he had to do was contact me, and that started a correspondence that would be very rewarding.

 

I'd also finally heard from Just a Scientist again. Remember him?

 

 

He explained to me that he'd kept a low profile because of the advances they'd been making on the extraterrestrial front.

 

 

But he had finally cracked his own personal project, the one about deciphering mind control.

 

 

And he was ready to talk to me about it.

 

 

So that was a new story ripe for the picking.

 

Then there was Pedro.

 

 

Two more girls had gone missing in the Magnolia area.

 

 

I said Maggie Justus was surely on top of it. This case was her baby.

 

 

But he simply said, "Things came up, she's probably too late. I think someone in this hood already found him. She won't."

 

 

Since we were meeting at Picante...

 

 

He did his usual hospitality and made sure I knew I had a free blowjob waiting for me. Obviously, I accpeted.

 

 

Next was Grace. She was really torn up about the business.

 

 

I asked her if she was losing money.

 

 

She said that wasn't it. She was richer than ever.

 

 

The problem was what people wanted. She felt left behind. See, for most of the time since she'd started the site, she'd been the most popular performer there.

 

 

But now, she'd dropped down below Skye. People just weren't into round busty chicks the way they used to be.

 

 

She told me, they had this big deal the last month, where they finally did a sex scene with Milky Rouge, the camgirl/stripper from Willow Creek.

 

 

It was just a blowjob scene, she said, but it was super hot, and they'd been plugging it for weeks. And it got some views, but not what they were hoping. But what did break the bank? This new camgirl named Kyra going to town on herself with a dildo.

 

 

The girls had a lot in common, she said. Pale skin. Dark hair. Great on camera. But Milky was round and busty (like Grace), and Kyra was skinny and waifish (like Skye). And that seemed to be the direction their users were going. Grace was worried about how to keep up.

 

 

Anyway, she was still making money, so my heart wasn't breaking.

 

Finally, we get to my new friends, the Illuminati. I swear that's what they call themselves. They think it's a joke. But I knew a couple of guys in it (I didn't realize, of course), and I was invited to join. Hobnobbed with some really rich folks. I mean really rich.

 

 

And I met with their leader, who was some minor noble from an old Windenburg family.

 

 

He flat out told me that the expose I did on that pervert Bertie Humber worried them.

 

"He wasn't one of us, of course!" he told me. "It's just that how easily you tore his life apart. A lot of us have secrets. Your friend Devon says you know how to keep them."

 

 

"I keep Devon's secrets out of respect for our friendship," I said. "It's not a professional thing."

 

 

"But you also kept Mr. Menendes' secrets during the whole investigation into that gang war. Yes, we know about that. We know you know how to be discreet. That's all we want. Someone in your profession who knows a little discretion by our side. What do you say?"

 

 

So that's the question: What would I say?