Hidden Valley Farms

Essentially there were three main businesses. The farm, retail and wholesale divisions. The bulk marijuana sales and marijuana product sales. The tech assembly business called Flowmatrix.

All the revenue flowed into a single general ledger . . . . And then, anyway, I'll skip all the boring details. It was as far as I could see, basic accounting.

After a few weeks I saw some ways of improving the overall system. I approached April about streamlining some things to increase efficiency.

"What specifically are you trying to do?" She asked. She had an accusatory glare on her face.

I was a bit surprised. I thought she would appreciate my input and would be happy that I was trying to improve the overall function.

I began to tell her how we could improve things and she cut me off.

"Write up a report and I'll look at it when I get time. In the meantime continue to work with Claire on the things you were told to do."

I was a bit embarrassed, the others in the office saw her talk so dismissively to me. I also was a little pissed off. Why was April acting like a bitch to me? I was just trying to help.

Despite the odd hostility in the office, things were great for Gina and I at Hidden Valley Farm. Gina loved what she was doing and enjoyed the people she worked with. The absence of the stress from our old jobs was so refreshing. The food was good and so healthy. We both increased our physical activity. Gina was losing weight and she looked great. The same curvy body, but now the excess weight was dissolving.

They had this odd tradition at the beach on the river, the one we saw on our initial tour. There were naturist days. Nude swimming and sunning. Tuesdays were women and Thursdays were for men. It was not co ed. There was some information about the health benefits of swimming nude. I didn't recall all the details.

Our sex life had vastly improved. I think there were a combination of things that contributed to that. Number one was less stress. We were happier more often. Number two, physically we were in better shape. I felt like I looked a little better and Gina definitely looked better after losing the weight. Number three, there was the outdoor shower. Being outside was a turn on for both of us. The fact that someone may hear us also excited us both. Now that the weather was getting warmer we were out there a lot more.

The other thing that turned me on was the thought of Gina skinny dipping with other women on Tuesdays. We would lie in bed and I would ask her about other women's bodies as I would caress her sensitive nipples and explore her pussy. Most Tuesday nights led to many satisfying sexual experiences.

These were wonderful times at Hidden Valley and any doubts we had about changing our lives so radically were dashed away by this healthy, less stressful lifestyle. We were getting along so well, we both felt and looked good, I knew overall we were much healthier and our sex life was active and frequent.

A series of events happened in the coming weeks that began to change things.

I had noted earlier that I wanted to help with the organization of the accounting structure at Hidden Valley Farm LLC. April was disinterested in my suggestions. If I were to honestly assess my abilities as an accountant I would say this: at best I was a fair numbers man. My strength came in organization. I could look at systems and software and create ways that it became easier for all parties to use. My tech skills complimented my abilities in this area.

I knew something was wrong with the accounting system at HVF, but so far I could not figure out what. I had to tiptoe around April. There were certain parts of the business she withheld from me. But I knew there was something off. One day I asked Claire about this "C" account I kept seeing.

"What is this account?" I asked the slim dark haired Claire. I see revenue into it but I don't see it on the balance sheet." I asked her.

When I brought this up she nervously glanced through her cubicle toward April's office.

"Warner," She said and shook her head negatively, all the time staring at April's open door.

"What?" I asked, confused by her behavior.

"Just leave it alone" she whispered to me.

At that moment we heard activity from April's office. Claire's odd behavior conveyed a message of secrecy and I walked back over to my cubicle and continued to work. At one point I glanced away from my screen and saw April leaning against her door jamb, arms crossed looking at me.

Later that day Claire brought me a file folder. Inside was a sticky note 'be careful there are cameras everywhere. Destroy this note'. Be careful of what or who?

I then found another file. The file had a series of inquiries from the IRS. Apparently they were asking for information and had questions about our method of accounting. The IRS was asking for further explanation of recent quarters' estimated taxes. It seems as if some data was provided, but not all. There was an IRS agent, Damon Claiborne, who was doggedly pursuing this. So far HVF LLC had avoided further inquiries, but I also saw that this Claiborne was persistent. I set that aside for now.

Several days later there was a strange commotion in the executive cluster, the quadrant. We heard someone raising his voice and shouting at one of the executive residences. This went on for several minutes. I got up to look out the window at what was going on, but I could not see who was creating all the noise.

A few minutes later there was a single whoop, like a police siren. I then saw a man running back down the hill away from the quadrant. Quickly a vehicle followed. I could see Ed Gunther, the big security guy, in the vehicle with several others. From my vantage point I could not see what happened next but I did here shouts of "NO", "STOP", and the sounds of some type of struggle.

"Everyone, back to work." I looked up to see April, hands on hips, standing in the office.

I felt like I was in grade school being reprimanded by the principal.

After work that night I told Gina what I had seen. She had seen Gunther's black Suburban head towards Grants Pass followed by another HVF vehicle.

At dinner that night we sat with Mike and Claire. We had developed a friendship with them. As we sat, Tom January was at the small stage on the open end of the dining hall.

"Everyone, everyone," He announces, "At the conclusion of the evening meal, please hang around a bit, Simon wants to share a few words with you."

It wasn't that unusual for Simon to talk to the group during the meal, but it was unusual for January to announce that he would speak. The announcement took on a more serious tone.

When Simon came on to the stage, I noticed his appearance. Worn khaki pants and a work shirt with rolled up sleeves, barefoot. The image of casual, control. This guy had some built in charisma. Briefly glancing around I noticed all these shining faces captivated by his presence. Including Gina's, I'd seen that look before.

"Today," he began, "we had an incident on the farm." He paused, shook his head and looked toward the ground as he meandered about the stage, hands stuffed in his pockets. As if he was trying to come to grips with something.

"One of our brothers became unhappy about something and tried to take action." Simon went on. "We are getting this individual assistance. Our community here," and he spread his arms wide in an encompassing gesture, "Has to have harmony. Sometimes one individual can interrupt that harmony."

I watched Simon and was mesmerized by his presence, he had a way of capturing your attention. I saw Ed Gunther on one side of the stage area, arms clasped in front, watching Simon and the crowd. On the other side of the stage was an attractive blond woman, probably mid 30's staring at Simon. I had seen her before but hadn't met her.

"When we do something, like what we are doing here, there is growth." Simon continued, arms spread. "And with growth there are inevitably growing pains. The goal here is to create an environment focusing on all our health and all our lives. I, we, are guiding this farm toward those goals. Occasionally, not often, someone has different ideas about their individual goals and becomes disenchanted. It saddens me when that happens. At that point we must make ... adjustments."

"Finally, I ask one small thing from all of you and I then give you a promise. What I ask is that you make small sacrifices for the betterment of all our lives here. What I promise is this, if you should ever have a problem with anything here, we will do our best to fix it. My door is always open for all of you. If I am not available, for immediate help you can contact Tom, Ed or April. We do have a plan and things are moving quickly and soundly in the correct direction. Good night."

And that was it. As we got up to leave, I asked Mike.

"What was that all about?" I wanted to hear what he knew.

Mike just shook his head and increased his pace away from the dining hall. I nearly had to run to catch up to him. When I caught up he would not answer any of my questions.

Finally I asked him who was the blond on stage when Simon was speaking.

"The wife," he whispered to me and then he and Claire walked away towards their cottage.

What wife I wondered. The entire day had a strange vibe. First the incident in the quadrant and then Simon's vague explanation. Gina and I discussed it, but she seems less puzzled or concerned by the events of the day.

Back at work and it was a Tuesday. I knew that Gina would be with some of the other women at the beach. Nude. That normally meant an exciting sexual evening for us. I looked forward to that. Meanwhile my questions around the "C" account would not go away. From what I could see large amounts of revenue were not accounted for and the only place it could possibly be was in this mysterious "C" file. Claire knew about it, but would not talk about it. Strange.

A further inquiry from the IRS agent, Damon Claiborne, had appeared. I could not see where we had replied.

That night Gina was in a good mood after her naturistic afternoon at the beach. She seemed like something was on her mind though. After dinner I asked her about her day.

"Yeah, it was a good day," she said. "I really like my job at the farm store. I've suggested a few marketing ideas and Tom and the others are open to my suggestions." She went on.

"Gina, that's great, I'm so glad all this is working," I said. "But, what I was wondering about was how it went at the beach today?"

It had been a nice warm day and I assumed there had been a fair crowd of women enjoying the water, naked. As I asked Gina the question I started lightly rubbing her firm round ass. Usually at this time she would start telling me about one of the other women's tits or something. Normally, a lead up to some good sex.

"Today at the beach was definitely different." She said and glanced off towards the river.

"Oh, really?" I questioned, "Different how?" I was anticipating some kind of tantalizing answer. I increased my stroking.

"Simon showed up." She stated.

"What!?" I nearly shouted.

My hand quit rubbing her. This was so strange in a couple of ways. Number one, I had been told it was an iron clad rule that the nude beach days were never to be co ed. Number two, Simon rarely was seen out in the open on the farm. He was normally in office meetings or traveling with Tom or Ed, or one of the others for specific purposes. The idea of him out for an afternoon stroll was completely out of character.

"Tell me what happened." I asked.

"At first it was just a normal day. A group of us were enjoying the water and the sunshine. I was laying on my towel, drying off from my swim. I was almost asleep when I heard some noises that seemed out of place." Gina continued to gaze out the window towards the river.

"I opened my eyes and then I saw this clothed man walking along the beach. It took me a minute to recognize him. What was odd was Simon was talking to some of the women, seeming oblivious to their nudity. I felt the urge to use my towel to cover up, but no one else was, so I didn't either."

"Did you talk to him?" I asked.

"He came up to where I was laying out, squatted down and started talking to me like he knew me. He knew my name, asked how I liked it on the farm, he told me he had heard good things about my work. It was flattering to have Simon be so nice to me. But weird too. I was naked and he was talking to me so normally." She went on.

I had this mental image of Gina nude and Simon an arms-length away, ogling her beautiful round tits, her legs, her pussy and the rest of her while he complimented her. With the weight she's lost, her body now was exceptional. This image left me a little unsettled. I was not about to start getting jealous, but it bothered me.

Later when we were nude in bed, she was willing but seemed not quite into it. When I asked her to describe the other women's naked bodies, something we both enjoyed as part of our foreplay, she gave quick less detailed descriptions.

I caressed her breasts and sucked her nipples, they were as firm and erect as always. My tongue trailed down toward her pussy, but she had a different idea. She turned me on my back and mounted me, her on top.

I continued to massage her breasts as she rhythmically squirmed above me. I looked up at her face, but her eyes were closed, she was in her own erotic world. As I manipulated the erect nipples, she suddenly and loudly erupted and slumped down on top of me. Our post coital intimacy was cut short as she disentangled and walked to the bathroom. That was a little different. Normally after sex we would caress each other and often talk intimately. That didn't happen tonight. Oh well.

Another odd thing happened this week while I was at work. I was going over some income statements and I saw something that I thought related to the "C" account. There was a large number, thousands, that was not being accounted for. It was quarterly tax time and any net income had to be reported.

I was beginning to understand why this Claiborne from the IRS had concerns.

I asked Claire and she quickly told me I needed to talk to April about any of that. I walked over to April's office and stood in the doorway. She was intently working on her laptop. I could see that the "C" account was open on her screen and I observed how she accessed it on her laptop. I saw the sequence on how she got into the account. I also saw the file program she was using. At this point she was completely oblivious to my observation. If somehow I could get her password, I would know how to get access and copy that file.

"Um, April," I asked. I startled her. She nearly jumped. She turned her screen away from me and closed her small top right hand desk drawer.

"Jesus," she said. "What are you doing sneaking up on people! You nearly gave me a heart attack. What is it now?" She demanded.

I asked her about the "C" account and the quarterly taxes for that income. She stared at me, giving me a long hard look.

"I take care of that. You don't need to be concerned with any of that. Just leave it alone." She told me.

"But," I said, "It looks like there is a lot of cash from the farm store and marijuana product sales going in to that account. We have to pay taxes on that." I told her.

"Leave it alone!" She was now shouting. "I take care of that! Now get back to work." She yelled at me.

Walking back, Claire had witnessed the confrontation and glanced at me. I was embarrassed, but more than that I was mad at that bitch April. Furthermore I was curious. Something was going on here that was not right.

That night I tried to talk to Gina about it and what my theory was. She seemed withdrawn and not particularly curious about what I was saying. When I asked her what was going on, she said she was fine. That mood seemed to last for the next several days.

A week or so later she came from work excited about something.

"Guess where we are having dinner tonight," She smilingly announced.

"The dining hall?" I answered, curious what this was all about.

"Nope, you and I are having dinner with Simon tonight at his home." Gina proudly announced.

"How did that happen?" I asked.

She told me that during the day Simon and Tom January showed up at the farm store while she was working. Tom told the group that Simon wanted to see some of the new changes. Many of the things he noted were ideas that Gina had suggested. Simon spent some time with Gina and praised her work. He then asked her if she and I would like to attend a small dinner party tonight.

"We are supposed to be there at 6:30, I've got to shower and get ready. I also have to get into my packed clothes and find something appropriate to wear." She told me.

When I tried to join her in the shower I was told to wait my turn. No time for hanky panky, this was an important night.

When I finished my shower I saw that Gina was wearing a dress that had a plunging neckline showing a lot of cleavage. The open back precluded the ability to wear a bra. She looked great, sexy but stylish. I was proud to be with her and I had the distinct feeling that her leaner body would attract a lot of attention.

At dinner, Simon was a wonderful host. There was about a dozen people at the party, including April who I avoided. Simon approached me and we had a nice conversation. He has a lot of charisma, as I've noted, and he had the ability to make you feel comfortable immediately talking with him.

"Warner, I have heard some very good things about how you are helping in our business office. Thank you." Simon told me.

"How do you and your lovely wife like living on the farm?" He asked.

I told him how well we liked our lifestyle change and how much better we both felt. I enjoyed the conversation, but there was something about him that made me wary. I couldn't specifically pinpoint what that was.

There was assigned seating at dinner and I ended up sitting next to Ed Gunther. I noticed Gina was next to Simon. The food was great and there were lively conversations throughout the large table. I did notice that Simon and Gina seemed to be involved in a long and intense conversation. I also noticed quite a bit of Gina's breasts were visible in the sexy dress.

As we walked back to our cottage I wanted to compare notes about the evening with Gina. This was something we would often do after a party we attended. She seemed to be less engaged in this conversation. When I asked her about her discussion with Simon she was again uncharacteristically not forthcoming.

Over the next several days she continued her quiet mood. Though we had sex, the intimacy that we had revived in the early days at Hidden Valley Farm wasn't quite the same.

Meanwhile in the office I kept my nose down but watched April from across the room. I noticed her getting into that "C" account regularly. Once she almost caught me watching her and gave me a dirty look when our eyes met. One thing I became pretty confident of, she kept her passwords in the small drawer on the right side of her desk.

A few days later, Gina came home from work excited again.

"Tom, came by today. I have a dinner meeting with Tom, some of the staff and Simon tonight." She gushed. "We are talking about a big expansion of our retail operation and they want my input. I'm so excited!" She went on.

"Congratulations," I told Gina. "How long a meeting will it be?" I asked.

"I don't know, Warner." She replied with a touch of irritation in her voice. "I suppose it depends on how much we get done." She replied.

Once again attractive dress, shower, makeup. She was looking good as she left for the meeting at Simon's house. I was starting to get a funny feeling about the situation. We had been here months with little exposure to Simon. He sees her nude and suddenly she's being invited to his house twice in the last week or so!?