When I go back to my bedroom, my four year old granddaughter Stephanie is fast asleep on my bed. I lay back on the bed next to Steph and try to think. Steph stirs and rolls over to me and put one hand on my cock thru my robe. I picked her hand up gently and remove it from my hardening cock. She takes it and starts sucking her thumb again. I close my eyes for a few moments.

I dream about sex again. This time I'm getting a hand job from a little oriental woman I remember from my last trip to Japan. She was a tiny girl, probably 4'10, in one of those oriental massage parlors. I just lie back and let her work, although this time it feels a little drier. I remember she had all sorts of scented soaps and lotions. I don't really care and eventually come anyway. As I spurt all over her hand, I wake up to the washer buzzing. Stephanie has curled up next to me asleep with her hand on my cock again. I've come all over her little hand and I nearly jump out of bed. Before I can stop her, Steph rolls over and sucks her cum soaked thumb into her mouth. She eagerly sucks it and smiles. God, what have I done?

I wipe the cum off the rest of her hand and arm. Then get up and take a quick shower. As I dry off, the washer buzzes again. I check the clock and it's past one in the afternoon. I wondered where Dagny, Stephanie's mom, has gotten off too.

I'm putting Steph's few clothes in the dryer when the phone rings. "Hello?"

"This is Sergeant Jack Hendricks of the Metro Police. May I please speak with Edward Smith?"

The last thing I want after my little "dream" today is to talk to a cop. "Speaking..."

"Are you the father of Dagny Barns?"

"I'm her step-father."

"I'm afraid I have some bad news, sir. Ms. Barnes was killed this morning in an apparent murder-suicide."

"What!" I am shocked to silence for a few moments. "Wha... what happened?" I finally manage to say. "Was it that Billy Jenkins?"

"Yes, sir, we believe so. Can you come down to the morgue and identify her body?"

"Sure, sure, I guess." I get the address and sit down again. This is all too much. What is going to happen to Stephanie? What am I going to do with her? What am I going to do with her right now?

After a few minutes and another cup of coffee, I call my neighbor Sue Hastings. "Sorry to bother you Sue, but I have a bit of an emergency going on. Can you come over and babysit my granddaughter for a little while this afternoon?"

"You have a granddaughter, Ed? Surely you're not old enough..."

I cut her off. "It's a long story. She's my step-daughter's kid and, I'm sorry, I don't have time to explain."

"Sure, Ed, no problem. What is going on?"

"Look, I'm sorry Sue, it's a bit of a family disaster. When can you get over here?"

"I don't know, give me five minutes." She's a bit put off.

"Thanks Sue, I'll owe you more than one."

It's more than 15 minutes before Sue pads over from next door. I've thrown Steph's few clothes in the dryer and gotten dressed myself. Sue is a retired schoolteacher of about 60 and is wearing a housedress and slippers. I don't know what took her so long but I don't say anything.

"Thanks for coming over so quickly," I lie. "Stephanie is asleep in my bedroom." We walk down the hall and Steph is still asleep sucking her thumb.

"Well, isn't she a cutie," Sue says. "What is going Ed? I didn't know you even had kids."

"I don't, not really. It's a long story." I cut off her next dozen questions. I realize Dag isn't getting any deader, but I just don't want to stop and explain, or think anymore. "I'm sorry Sue, I'll explain when I get back." As I turn to go, I say. "Her clothes are in the dryer."

The morgue is in the basement of an old funeral home that is now the county medical examiner's office. The whole place smells like industrialized death. Cold, bitter and efficient.

They show me to Dagny's body, but there's not much to recognize. "What happened?" I manage to ask, trying to hold down my breakfast.

"Looks like a shotgun blast to the face. We'll know more when we do the autopsy."

Autopsy. I hesitate remembering this morning, then remember we used a condom.

"I'm sorry, sir, can you identify her? Do you recognize anything at all?"

I recognize her tattoos and what's left of her dishwater blond hair. "It's her, I guess."

"Are you sure, sir?"

"Yeah, I recognize her tattoos." I recognized more of them than I should, including the skull and crossbones over her shaved snatch.

"Very good, can you sign here?" the clerk asked. I turned away and signed the forms. What a waste. "Will you be responsible for the body?"

"What?"

"After the autopsy, will you handle the burial?"

"Sure, I guess."

He flips to another page "Fill in your contact info and sign here, too, then."

I sign. "When will she be...?"

"We're pretty backed up, probably not until next week."

Another couple come in, led by another clerk. I turn and leave before I see another body.

I drive by Billy's trailer and it's a smoldering ruin surrounded by police tape. There's a bit of a crowd watching the firemen hose down the smoking remains. There are even a couple of news trucks setting up. Must be a slow news day. As I get close, I notice is a big red smear on the porch that probably is the top half of Dagny's head. A cop approaches me as I try to step under the tape.

"Please stay behind the tape, sir," he says putting his hand on my chest.

"Is there anything left?"

"Not really. Who are you?"

"I'm the dead girl's step-father."

"Ah, the Sergeant wants to talk to you." He points me to a paddy wagon parked at the entrance to the trailer park.

The Sergeant is sitting on the back bumper filling out paperwork. He's an older fellow with a grey crew cut and a bit of a paunch. "You Hendricks?" I ask. He nods. "I'm Ed Smith."

He looks down at his clipboard then looks me over. "I'm sorry for your loss, sir. Have you IDed the body?"

"Yes, although there wasn't much left."

"No sir, there wasn't. But you were certain."

"Yes, Sergeant," I almost feel like I am back in Army. I don't mention the tattoos. "Is there anything left in the house? Clothes, valuables, anything?"

"I doubt it. It was totally involved when we arrived. The fire boys were lucky to keep it from spreading. We found one other body inside holding a shotgun."

"That bastard Billy, I hope."

"We think so, sir, but we'll have to wait for the autopsy for positive ID."

"Well, I think he had a record, so you probably have his DNA on file," I offer.

"I'll make a note of that, thank you. I don't think there is anything else we need right now. Can I get your phone and address?"

"Sure, no problem." I give him the details and he writes them in his notes. I think about mentioning I have Stephanie, but I need to sort out what happened this morning first. There's nothing left here but ashes, so I turn and leave. I guess I'll have to buy clothes and everything for Stephanie now.

When I get home, Sue is in the living room with Stephanie. Sue is drinking coffee on the sofa and Steph is collapsed on her stomach in front of the TV. Stephanie isn't dressed and I can see her little pink ass under the t-shirt as she idly swings her legs back and forth in the air behind her. Judge Judy is dispensing justice fast and loose on Fox. I reach for the remote to switch to PBS cartoons then get Steph some clothes, but Sue grabs my hand and interrupts, asking "What is going on?"

I don't want to talk in front of Steph. I don't know how I'm going to break this to my little granddaughter. So I ask Sue, "Can you help me with the coffee in the kitchen?"

"I just brewed a fresh pot."

"Can we talk in there..." I nod towards Steph who seems absorbed by a dispute between two crack ho's arguing over rent or something. I think I saw one of them in the crowd at Billy's.

"Oh, Okay." She finally gets the point and follows me into the kitchen.

As I pour myself a cup, I realize I still have the remote. "What is going on?" Sue asks again as we sit at the table.

There is no easy way to say this. "Dagny is dead."

"Who?" Sue is winning today's Alzheimer's award.

"Stephanie's mom and my..." I am about to explain when I hear a scream from the living room. As I come running, FOX has Dagny's picture up as the anchor says "...in a tragic murder suicide. Reporter Joe Belsen has a live report from the scene..."

I frantically look for the remote, but it's still in the kitchen. Stephanie is still screaming, so I shield her from the screen as I frantically slap at the buttons on the front of the TV trying to turn the damn thing off. The last thing I recognize before I finally turn it off is Steph's Big Wheel on in the little yard surrounded by fire hoses.

I grab Stephanie and she clings to me for dear life, wailing. Sue finally appears with the remote, but I wave her away. She looks shocked and even more confused. "I...I don't know what..."

"Thanks for coming over," I say as Stephanie's howls die down to sobs. "I'll call you later, OK?"

"Sure, anything you want." She has an odd look on her face as she turns to leave.

I look down and notice that Steph's t-shirt had ridden up as I held her, exposing her ass. My hand held one cheek with my fingers in her crack as she wrapped her arms and legs around me. I sit down on the couch and pull down her t-shirt.

"Mama's...dead?" she croaks out between sobs. All I can do is nod my head. She wails again, gripping me tighter.