The meeting had lasted nearly three hours. Mister Crowler had read them Danny Tripps' last will and testament, a lengthy document that had taken up forty one pages in total and then he'd gone through each item on each page, answering questions from the three stunned siblings.

"Do you want to read it?" Kyle asked, nodding towards his copy of the will in its binder on the table.

She shook her head. "I helped write it. I can tell you it's had one hundred and fourteen revisions that I know about."

"Fuck me," Kyle muttered. He knew about document control and records management from his work, but a document with a hundred and fourteen revisions belonged in Government.

"It's a lot of information."

"It's a lot of fucking money," Kyle blurted. He lit another cigarette.

"What is it that's bothering you about it, Kyle?" Patricia asked after a moment. "Most people would be delighted that they're suddenly rich."

"It's not the money," Kyle said immediately. "It's the weight of responsibility. And he just fucking dumped it on us, having never said a word to any of us in twenty three years. He's got no clue if we're up to the job and he's made us responsible for the livelihood of thousands, tens of thousands of people all over the world."

"He wouldn't have done it if he wasn't sure, Kyle."

"How could he be sure though? He's got no way of knowing, no knowledge of us beyond what he's read about us in reports from other people. He doesn't know us."

Kyle looked at the blue binder on the table, seeing the big letter T embossed on the front. He wanted nothing more in that moment than to throw it over the pool and into the sea, then pretend it was all some horrible mistake.

"So now me and Katie and Kara have been landed with this massive burden of responsibility that we can't walk away from, and our lives are no longer our own," He continued. "I mean, think about it. I'd have been lost without you here, and I can't imagine what it'll be like in a few weeks or months time without your help either. I can see clearly why I'll need security around me, why I'll need people to cook and clean for me, and I get all that. I understand it. But my life's not my own anymore either. I can't date who I want, I can't finish work and then decide to just go to the cinema with my friends. Or go get hammered and phone in sick. I can't go home and close my door or drop in on my mom and dad for a chat. My time's no longer going to be my own."

He slumped down in the wooden chair and put his feet up on the table.

"It's like prison for the uber-rich. You can have anything you want except free will, and there's no escape. That's what's bothering me about it," He concluded.

"Just give it a bit of time, okay," Patricia said gently. "Give your head a bit of time to wrap itself around the enormity of everything that's happened. It's not as bad as it seems, believe me."

Kyle shrugged. "We'll see."

"Am I interrupting?"

Kyle turned in his seat, recognising the voice. "Hi, Katie."

"Hi Katie, I'm Patricia." Patricia moved forward and shook hands with Kyle's sister. "I'm Kyle's assistant."

"Like Heidi is for me?" She asked, smiling.

"Yes, exactly like that," Patricia said, giving her a warm smile. "Or like Garius is for Kara."

"Garius? He's.... Um...." Katie's voice trailed off.

Kyle remembered the strange looking black man he'd seen walking down the pier behind Kara. There was something about him that reminded him of Mister Potato Head in spandex. Kyle remembered a few of Ed's favourite put downs, and the one about Forest Whitaker and Ugly Betty having a lovechild who didn't so much fall out the ugly tree as smash it to bits on the way down seemed particularly apt.

"He's a really nice guy and smart too," Patricia said quietly. "Thinks all men are secretly in love with him though, which I'm pretty sure qualifies him as delusional. I love him to bits."

"He seems nice," Katie agreed. "Kyle, you got a minute?"

"Sure." Kyle took a deep breath and got up.

"I've got a couple of things to do," Patricia said, moving towards the stairs. "I'll see you in ten, Kyle."

"Okay."

Kyle turned to Katie and beckoned her inside and they sat down on the leather sofas in front of the TV.

"Harrison Ford made this table," Kyle said, feeling nervous and immediately cursing himself for blurting out the first thing that popped into his head.

Katie rolled her eyes. "That's... interesting."

For some reason it made Kyle chuckle. "Okay, fair enough. So how you doing?"

"Shocked. Scared. Confused. Exhausted. I haven't slept since I found out." Katie looked at him closely and lowered her voice. "I couldn't believe it when I saw your photo."

"I nearly passed out," Kyle admitted. "I must have gone white as a sheet."

"Me too." She frowned. "So what are we gonna do about this, Kyle?"

"Well, it's probably not the best idea to pick up where we left off, is it?"

"That would be no," Katie replied flatly. "So we keep quiet, right?"

He nodded. "I think that's the way to go. The problem is Ed and Casey know."

"Oh, fuck," Katie blurted. "And my friends too."

"Yep."

Katie ran her hands through her hair then rubbed her face. Her eyes met Kyle's. "Are you still close with them?"

"They're my best friends, both of them. What about yours?"

"Still close with Margarita, not so much with Shawna or Rosie," She replied.

"Listen, I realised this problem yesterday, so I've had a bit of time to think about it and try and figure my way through it," Kyle began slowly. "Last night I was freaking out, and Mister Crowler told me I should trust in Patricia, so I..."

"You told her." Katie's expression hardened instantly, and for the first time, Kyle saw her angry.

"We need help with this," He told her bluntly. "There's ways we can make sure it's in everyones best interests to conveniently forget."

Katie's mouth fell open and Kyle quickly clarified.

"I'm not talking anything dark or dodgy. I mean positive things. Like annual vacations, a career, or college scholarships for kids, medical stuff. Helping people have a good life. Not threatening them or blackmailing them, or anything like that."

Katie took a moment to think about what he was saying, then gradually settled. "I was worried there."

"Yeah, I was the same. Anyway, Patricia's getting each of our friends investigated. It's all being done discretely and she's confident we can sort it out." Kyle sighed. "As if everything else wasn't bad enough."

"I'll need to have a chat with her," Katie said a moment later. "Rosie's got a kid now and he's got some kind of health problem. I don't know what, but she's in and out the hospital all the time."

Kyle thought for a second. "You should call her and tell her we'll cover every medical expense she's got, get her the best physicians, expense money for trips to the hospital and shit like that. All she hs to do is keep her mouth shut."

"Hi, Rosie. It's Katie," Katie said, looking at Kyle as if he was stupid as she made her mock phone call. "Yeah, I know we haven't spoken in over a year, but I'm just gonna promise to cover all your costs and I can't tell you how, or even verify that I have any money. Yeah, that's right. I fucked my brother on Spring Break, but don't tell anyone, okay?" She paused and shook her head. "Yeah, I can see that going down well, Kyle."

Kyle sat there, lost for words.

"Sorry," Katie muttered a moment later. "I'm pretty... stressed, you know?"

He nodded immediately. "I know."

"And it had to be you, of all people."

Kyle smiled, despite the situation. "I know that feeling. Probably the closest, most intimate experience of my life and now...."

"Fucking ruined," Katie concluded. "I thought about you a lot, you know."

"Me too," He admitted, surprising himself with his honesty. "I kicked myself for months for not getting your number or address."

"So did I," Katie replied. "All things considered, it's just as well really."

"You think we'd have hit it off?" Kyle asked.

Katie's eyes met his. "I used to daydream I'd bump into you in New York."

"I used to daydream about looking for you. In a city of eight million people though?" Then he chuckled. "Do you have any idea how many photographers are listed for New York?"

"Yeah, there's a few of us kicking around," She replied, then frowned. "Kara doesn't know."

"Nope. Listen, about Kara..." Kyle began, frowning.

Katie's eyebrow shot up. "She was the stripper that you thought was me?"

Kyle nodded slowly.

"I wondered about that when we were on the plane," Katie explained. "Man, when he showed you those photographs...."

"Yeah. Look, did Kara give any indication she recognised me?"

Katie shook her head. "She plays things close to her chest, Kyle. She's quiet, withdrawn."

"I have to talk to her about it."

Katie thought about it for a second. "You going to tell her about us?"

"I don't know," He admiited. "I wanted to talk to you first."

"Let me think about it for a bit."

"Of course." He nodded. "So how insane is all this?"

"It's bizarre," Katie replied. "I keep feeling like someone's gonna jump out and shout Candid Camera or something."

"I have these surreal moments where it's like watching a movie. Weird shit happening to other people."

"Yeah, I understand that. How's the Island?"

"Oh, it's gorgeous. Stunning. And it's got everything."

"Has it got a trampoline?" Katie grinned.

"Probably. It's got its own hair salon."

"Yeah, Heidi tells me I'm down there tomorrow at some point," Katie smiled. "Did they do your hair?"

"Yeah, about twenty minutes before I fell off the pier," Kyle replied, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I thought you looked hot," Katie said quietly. "Before you got all wet, of course."

"Thanks, and no problem. Glad I could entertain you."

There was a knock at the door and Kyle stood up as Patricia entered.

"Sorry to interrupt. Dinner's going to be served in ten minutes. Thought I'd better let you know."

"Cheers, Patricia," Kyle nodded.

"I better make a move," Katie said, getting up. "Cheers for the chat, Kyle."

"Anytime."

Patricia waited until Katie was inside her own suite before she spoke. "How did it go?"

Kyle shrugged. "Okay, I guess. What's happening with the whole...."

"Discrete investigation?" Patricia asked quietly.

Kyle nodded. "I told Katie you know."

"How did she react?"

"Angry at first, but she's had a lot to deal with. She told me about one of her friends though. She's got a kid that's got health problems. Can we help her with that?"

"I already know about it," Patricia said quietly. "As I said, we move quick and quiet when we need to."

"So what else do you know?"

"Who do you want first?"

"Ed? Casey?" Kyle shrugged. "Whoever."

"Okay, Ed's maxed out on his credit cards, he's on the verge of defaulting on a loan too, and he's got an online gambling problem. Also, some very unhealthy porn habits, but you don't want me to go into that, do you?"

Kyle shook his head. "I know about Ed's taste in porn. He's not exactly quiet about things he finds on the internet. How bad's the debt?"

He felt bad prying into his friends personal business, but Kyle reminded himself the problems it would cause. Besides, he realised, if his buddy needed some financial help then he would be happy to help him out anyway.

"He's in about forty grand," Patricia replied.

Kyle's eyes widened. "Fucking hell. How many cards has he got?"

"I'm not sure," She admitted. "I can find out for you if you really want to know."

Kyle frowned and shook his head. "I don't suppose it matters, really."

"No. Not really."

"And Casey?"

"Casey's squeaky clean. We can't find anything bad on him at all, which is kinda impressive, I guess," Patricia admitted.

"I'm not really surprised. Casey's an honest guy, and he's really conscientious about work and bills and shit like that," Kyle replied. "He'd be a good guy to put on a fast-track promotion ladder."

"That we can do. I guess it depends on what he wants. Do you think he'd keep the secret if you asked him to?"

Kyle thought about it and nodded. "Yeah, I think he'd do that. In fact, I don't think I'd even have to ask him."

"Well, we'll look at that. Now, Katie's friends."

"Okay."

"Margarita is her best friend, financially pretty normal. Bit of debt but working to pay it off. Setbacks for shoes and handbags. Just the usual, really. We haven't found anything in her transcripts from college or school, and her family is clean too. We're still working on her though."

"Maybe Katie can ask her to keep quiet and that'll be that?" Kyle suggested.

"Maybe." Patricia said, not looking convinced. "Moving on, Shawna, who you knew as Shanice. We've got a ton of stuff about her."

"Like what?"

"Affair with a professor at college and knowledge that he was married with kids. A homemade sex tape of her with another girl at a party. History of drugs and wild parties too."

"Wow. I would never have guessed any of that," Kyle admitted. "I thought she was the quiet one of the four of them too."

"Different strokes for different folks, Kyle."

"So is she still doing all that now?"

"No, she's got a job in a law firm and she's doing quite well for herself. She won't want any of this to come out though, and like Casey, we can help her with her career, so we made an approach to her."

Kyle's eyes widened. "You what?"

"We don't know when this is going to break, so we made an approach to her," Patricia repeated. "We asked her to attend a meeting with one of our agents posing as a head-hunter out of LA, looking to recruit the brightest talent going."

"You should have spoken to me first," Kyle said immediately.

"There wasn't time, because we don't know when this is going to break," Patricia said flatly. "Anyway, we made her an offer of a post in LA with guaranteed career progression, a fantastic salary, house, company car, expense account. The job is working for our talent agency in New York, and the offer keeps her there for three years, then she can transfer to Los Angeles if she wants."

Kyle looked at her, feeling nervous and a little pissed that she'd just steamed ahead without consulting him. "And?"

"And she said she'd have to think about it, so we dangled the stick too," Patricia admitted. "We told her we'd managed to secure all copies of the video of her at the party and they would stay hidden. We also told her we could ensure the affair with her professor or her history with drugs wouldn't ever come out. Then we repeated the offer, added a signing bonus to sweeten the pot, and then told her the condition attached to it."

"What was the condition?" Kyle asked, immediately concerned that someone else was now in the know about his history with Katie.

"That she doesn't ever mention her friendship with Katie or anything that may or may not have happened in the past. Basically a gag-agreement," Patricia said simply. "Anyway, she went for the offer and starts work tomorrow in her new job."

Kyle nodded, unhappy that the proverbial stick had been used, but glad to hear there was a positive outcome in there somewhere. "How about Rosie? The girl I knew as Jessica."

"Well, her little boy has cystic fibrosis, so we can get him the best of care and her the best of support."

"How bad is it?"

"The illness? I don't know," She admitted. "I'll get some briefing material put together for you if you want, but to be frank, you don't really need to know. You've got other things to be filling your brain with."

Kyle nodded. "So have we done anything to help her?"

"She's been notified that Katie has come into an inheritance, and wants to help her out, cover all her costs, etc, using a charity foundation that she's going to set up. Apparently the news was very gratefully received and she wept." Patricia shrugged. "Anyway, she's keen to speak with Katie and signed the conditional agreement without complaint. Heidi is going to set up a call with her sometime tomorrow."

"So, we can help out Ed, we've got Shawna and Rosie covered. That just leaves Casey and Margarita as the problems?"

"Pretty much," Patricia nodded.

"That's fast work, Patricia."

She shrugged. "We got information and acted on it before it became a problem."

"True, but it's helping me." While he still felt uncomfortable prying into peoples private lives and bribing people, he did feel a little safer, a little less exposed.

"Anyway, you've got to get changed for dinner," She said.

"Again?"

"You got a problem with looking nice, Kyle?" Patricia chuckled.

"Nope. I think you've got a problem with me wearing the same clothes for more than two hours though."

"If it's any consolation, Margaret picked out these ones. Same jeans you had on at pier, different shirt and shoes though."

"The soaking wet jeans?"

Patricia rolled her eyes as she stood up. "They've been washed, pressed and back in your wardrobe for hours, Kyle."

Kyle shook his head, remembering again how weird it was to have staff who looked after him. "Okay, I'm going to get changed."

"Don't forget to fix your hair."

"Yes, mother," He chuckled.

Dinner wasn't as fantastic as Kyle expected when it came to the food. Due to Julian's interference Kyle had his own menu with his options dramatically reduced. He'd been looking forward to some more of the lobster or those delicious prawns from lunch, but ended up with a grilled tuna steak and poached egg on a bed of quinoa, a substance a lot like couscous, but delicately spiced. It was delicious, but when he saw everyone else tucking into steak, lobster, mussels, spicy noodles, and a dazzling array of vegetables he definitely felt restricted.

Eight of them sat around a table in the dining area next to the bar. Kyle was joined by his sisters, Patricia, Heidi and Garius, and Edwin and Mister Crowler completed the party. What started off as a fairly subdued group quickly opened up as each of them told funny stories about themselves, knowing that Kyle, Kara and Katie didn't really know any of them.

Kyle told them of how he'd been so hungover in a lecture at college once that he'd fallen asleep and when he woke up it took him three hours to discover he had drawings on his face. Katie told them of a photoshoot she'd done where she fainted in front of a client but still got the job, and of how she once did the infamous 'skirt-tucked-into-her-underwear' thing and no-one told her.

Mister Crowler talked for a few mnutes of former clients who wanted to sue the government for situating the movie industry in Hollywood instead of Nebraska, or one who wanted to sue twitter for allowing him to tweet a picture of his own penis while drunk. Another who wanted to sue Blackberry because their phones didn't contain any actual berries.

Patricia, Garius and Heidi told funny stories involving Mister Tripps, crazy meetings with crazy people, and then told of dozens of letters they'd dealt with from people claiming bizarre things, like a proclamation they received that Danny Tripps was the new messiah, along with a completely updated bible about him from an obsessed housewife in Texas. Patricia insisted it was on the Island somewhere.

Edwin contributed a couple of stories too, delivered in a quiet voice, telling of the time Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie were visiting the Island and she'd got in a fury during an argument and threw a vase at a reinforced window. The vase had bounced off and knocked her out cold, and they'd ended up staying an extra week until the bump on her head disappeared. Another story told of Salma Hayek jogging o

n the Island and how her breasts were bouncing so much that one of the staff broke his nose by walking right into a tree.

Kara was the only one who didn't contribute anything and on a couple of occasions, Kyle tried to draw her into the conversations but he could see what Katie meant when he said she was withdrawn.