What Did Happen in Vegas? Ch. 04

"We've got those bastards now," Tom said.

"Tom, I am sorry for what I did. I lost your friendship and now Lisa is going to hate me too."

"I am pissed at you but I'm sure Lisa doesn't hate you," Tom said.

"She will when she learns the truth. I told her a lie the other day. I told her that I saw you with that blond twice while we were in Vegas," Brad said.

"Why the fuck did you tell her that?" Tom said.

"Like I said before, I thought that you really had cheated on Lisa so I just tried to help her accept that you had done it. Of course I did that for selfish reasons. I thought that I might have a chance with Lisa if you two broke up. I would never have done anything if I knew the truth. I acted selfishly and now I have lost my two best friends. I just hope you two can get through this and that you'll both forgive me someday."

"We'll see. Thanks, Brad." Tom said and closed his phone.

Tom thought that they now had just about everything they needed to hang Ransom and Werner. Then Tom began to wonder how they planned to drug him so they could take pictures of him with the blond. After all, only Zack and Don knew where he was and they wouldn't tell anyone else.

He opened his phone and tried to call Lisa again but still got no answer. Tom felt his stomach twist as his concern over not being able to get in touch with Lisa increased.

It was three o'clock that morning before Tom was able to fall asleep.

*****

PART 5

Thursday June 12, 2003

8:00 AM

"Hello, NewTech Design, Bill Werner speaking."

"It's me. Is she here yet?"

"No. She called last night and said she would be here today."

"Good. Have you located Boyer yet?"

"No, but I am pretty sure that Don DeLucia knows where he is," Werner said. "I heard Boyer's secretary tell someone that Don had taken Tom's computer to him. I know Tom isn't home so I will keep an eye on DeLucia and if he leaves the building I will follow him. I'll know where Boyer is by the end of the day."

"Send me the pictures as soon as you have them," Dave Ransom said.

*****

9:16 AM

Tom woke up late that morning and when he saw the time he scrambled out of bed as quickly as his injuries would allow him. He immediately tried to call Lisa at home and got no answer and then he tried her cell phone with the same results.

The knot in Tom's stomach was getting tighter. Tom finally decided to bathe, eat breakfast, if he could, and then call Lisa's parents to see if they had heard from her. He didn't want to upset them but he knew that eventually he would have to call them. If they hadn't heard from Lisa, Tom didn't know what he should do. Tom hoped that he wasn't going to have to file a missing person report with the police.

Tom started a pot of coffee and went off to bathe.

*****

9:20 AM

Don DeLucia looked at his phone and saw that the incoming call was from Zack Morgan.

"Good morning, Zack. What can I do for you?"

"Don, I need you to take a package over to Tom for me. I'd go myself but I have an important meeting in a few minutes," Zack said.

"You know where Tom is?"

"Yes."

Don wanted to ask Zack how he knew but decided not to. "When do you want me to go?"

"Now, if you can get away."

"I'll be right up to pick up the package.

*****

9:45 AM

Bill Werner was looking out the window when he spotted Don DeLucia walking out to the parking lot. Bill just smiled to himself as he thought about the GPS transmitter he slipped under the bumper of Don's car earlier that morning.

Bill walk out to his car, in no hurry because it wasn't necessary. Bill slipped into his car and turned on the GPS tracker and watched the flashing dot moving across the monitor.

As Bill Werner watched the screen he thought about all the great toys he had been able to purchase with Ransom's money.

*****

10:05 AM

Tom had finished bathing and was struggling to get a pair of jogging pants on over his cast when there was a knock at his door. Tom let the shorts drop back to the floor and pulled his bathrobe tight and tied it. Tom managed to get to the door just as Don knocked a second time.

"What's up, Don?"

"Zack asked me to bring this to you." Don said as he handed Tom the large envelope.

"You want to come in for a cup of coffee, Don?" Tom asked.

"No, thanks. I have a conference call at eleven o'clock and I need some time to prepare for it," Don said.

"Okay, thanks for bringing this over." Tom said.

"No problem. I'll call you later to see if you need anything."

"You have been a big help. I won't forget this." Tom said.

Don didn't know how to respond to that so he just smiled and then left.

Tom set the envelope on the table and picked up his phone.

*****

10:30 AM

Lisa's parents said that they hadn't heard from her and Tom was sure they were telling him the truth. He had called them fifteen minutes earlier and had been sitting by his phone wishing it to ring.

While he waited by the phone, Tom opened the package that Don had given him. Inside he found a DVD and a note from Zack.

"Tom, I talked to Brad this morning and I copied everything that Brad found on Werner's computer onto the enclosed DVD. Call me to discuss our next step," Zack's note said.

Tom put the DVD into his computer and opened the files.

"Holy shit. It's all here," Tom muttered to himself. "What will Lisa say when she finds out how wrong she was about me?"

Tom looked through all of the files and then called Zack.

"We've got them by the short hairs," Tom said. "I can't wait to see them try and talk their way out of this mess."

"I called the District Attorney and told him what David has been up to and why he was doing it," Zack said. "The DA said that if we are right that David and Mr. Werner would be guilty of conspiracy and would be spending some time in prison. The DA would like to burn Werner first and get him to turn against Ransom. He would really like to talk to the woman in the pictures and he's is trying to find out who she is."

When the call ended Tom was excited about the prospect of nailing Werner and Ransom for what they had done to him but his excitement was tempered by his worry over Lisa. Where in the hell was she? Tom needed to talk to her even though he wasn't sure if their marriage would survive the damage already done. Her infidelity with Brad combined with the terrible things they had said to each other the last time they spoke had built a wall between them that they might not be able to break down.

Tom sat contemplating these things for the next couple of hours, all the time hoping that Lisa would call.

********

1:15 PM

Zack Morgan was sitting in his office talking with Mike Stanton, the District Attorney for the city of Denver and Zack's college roommate. Zack had shown Mike the files that Brad had recovered from Bill Werner's computer and they were discussing how to proceed when Zack's phone rang.

"Marge, I thought I told you to hold my calls," Zack said to his secretary.

"You did but it's Lisa Boyer and you said that you wanted to talk to her if she called. She said it is very important that she speak with you," Marge said.

"I do want to talk to her, Marge. Put the call through."

Zack heard the click as Marge switched the call to his line.

"Lisa, where are you?"

"Zack, we don't have much time so please just listen to me."

*****

3:25 PM

Bill Werner picked up his phone and called David Ransom. Werner had a smirk on his face as he thought about the fun he was going to have with Brandi that evening, before and after he got the pictures Ransom wanted.

"Ransom."

"It's me. Brandi is on her way."

"Good. What time are you meeting her?" Ransom asked.

"Six o'clock."

"Were you able to locate Boyer?"

"Yes. He is at that All Suites just down the road. I got Brandi a room there too," Werner said.

"Good. So you are all set then. You'll have those pictures for me tomorrow morning?"

"I'll send them to you in an e-mail as soon as I get into the office in the morning," Werner said.

*****

6:25 PM

Tom picked up his cell phone to check for messages. He had just returned from a short walk over to the convenience store next to the hotel. Tom hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast and in his rush to get to the store he had forgotten to take his cell phone with him. The walk to the store had taken him much longer than expected and he had missed a call while he was out. The missed call was from Zack but nothing from Lisa. Tom sat down on the sofa and was about to listen to the voice mail message that Zack had left him when there was a knock on his door.

Tom pulled himself up from the sofa and headed to the door thinking that it must be either Zack or Don so when he got to the door he opened it without looking through the peek hole. If he had looked he probably would not have opened the door at all. Standing in his door way was Bill Werner.

"What are you doing here?" Tom said.

'My girlfriend is visiting and she has a room here. I was waiting for her to get dressed to go out when I spotted your truck in the parking lot. I got the guy at the front desk to tell me what room you were in and I thought I would stop by and say hello and see how you were doing."

Tom knew that was bullshit. The hotel clerk would never have told Werner what room he was in. Bill had to have gotten the room number some other way.

"You going to invite me in?" Werner asked.

"Yeah, come on in."

Having read the files that Brad had discovered on Werner's computer, Tom had a pretty good idea of why Werner was there. Tom walked back into the room and sat on the sofa.

"You got anything to drink?" Werner asked.

"Got some beer in the fridge and there's some Scotch on the kitchen counter," Tom said.

"I could go for a Scotch. How about you?" Werner asked.

"A Scotch sounds good," Tom said as he started to get up off the sofa.

"I'll get it," Werner said. "Where do you keep your glasses?

Werner found the glasses in the cabinet next to the sink and stood so that Tom couldn't see him pouring the drinks. Werner brought the drinks over to the sofa and handed one to Tom. Werner was about to sit down when Tom said, "I hate to bother you but I haven't had anything to eat today. There is a can of mixed nuts in the kitchen cabinet. Would you bring them in?"

"Sure, no problem." Werner said.

As Werner was getting the can of nuts Tom called out, "You may as well bring the Scotch in with you. That first one went down too easy. I think I'll need another.

Werner had a smile on his face as he came back into the room and saw Tom holding the empty glass. He put the Scotch and the can of nuts on the coffee table and sat down. Tom poured himself another serving of Scotch, opened the can of nuts and took a handful out.

"So where is this girlfriend of yours from?" Tom asked.

"Las Vegas," Werner said. "I met her when we were over there for the convention back in April. I don't get to see her as often as I would like but we get together whenever we can."

Tom put his hand up to his forehead and said, "Wow. That first drink hit me hard. I probably shouldn't have had that on an empty stomach. I hope the Scotch isn't reacting with the meds I'm on. I took a pain killer an hour ago."

Tom sat quietly for a few minutes while Bill Werner watched him.

"Bill, I am not feeling too well," Tom said. "I'm sorry but I think I need to go to bed."

"No problem," Werner said. "You don't look well. Do you need some help getting into bed?"

"I don't know. I might," Tom said. "I feel very strange all of a sudden."

Werner took Tom's arm and helped him up and then guided him into the bedroom. Once in the bedroom Tom flopped down onto the bed. "I think I'll be all right now. I think I just need to sleep for a while. Thanks."

"Sorry you're not feeling well. I'll check and see how you're doing tomorrow."

Werner walked out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him. He stood outside the door for a few minutes listening to Tom's breathing. When it was obvious that he had drifted off to sleep Werner pulled his cell phone out and hit one of his speed dial numbers.

"We're ready for you, Brandi," Werner said. "Come on over now."

Werner sat down on the sofa and picked up the glass of Scotch he had been drinking and waited for Brandi.

*****

6:50 PM

Lisa was waiting to board her flight to Denver. She looked at her cell phone again but just like the last time she looked at it, the battery was still dead. She wondered if she should have tried to call Tom before she left the hotel. If she had, would he have talked to her? Well, when she got back to Denver he would have to talk to her. She was going to go straight to his room at the All Suites from the airport and try to straighten things out.

*****

6:55 PM

The knock on Tom's door was barely audible but Werner heard it. He jumped up and moved quickly to the door to let Brandi in.

"He's in the bedroom asleep," Werner said. "Get your clothes off and then I'll help you undress him."

"Hey, what's going on here?" Brandi said. "You said all I had to do was party with you and another guy. You never said he would be unconscious."

"I said he was asleep, not unconscious," Werner said.

"Then wake him up. I'm not doing someone while they're asleep," Brandi said.

"Come on, you're getting paid so what's your problem?"

"If I am fucking a guy that's awake, I know it's something he wants to do," she said. "I am not comfortable fucking around with some guy that doesn't even know what's happening?"

"I just want to get some pictures of you with him," Werner said. "It's a joke I am playing on him."

"Oh, a joke," she said. "I don't know what you're up to but I have an uneasy feeling about this. I never asked why you took all those other pictures of me but it did worry me. Now you want to take pictures of me in bed with a guy that isn't even awake? If you really want me to do this it'll cost you another $500.

"What? You have already been paid plenty for this."

"I was paid to have sex with you and let you take some pictures of me. No one said anything about me getting into bed with some guy you drugged. I am guessing this is some kind of blackmail scheme and if you want me to do this it'll cost you $500."

Bill Werner was getting nervous. He didn't like having to negotiate with Brandi and he was afraid that the extra money would have to come out of his own pocket. In the end he realized he had no choice. He had to get the pictures and worry about the money later. "All right, I'll get you the $500 now get undressed. We don't have all night," Werner said.

Bill Werner was waiting for Brandi to start removing her clothes as he thought about fucking her on the bed while Tom Boyer lay next to them unconscious. Werner's erotic thoughts were interrupted when he heard a voice behind him. "What does she have to do for the $500?"

Werner turned toward the voice and saw Tom Boyer coming out of the bedroom and before he could think of anything to say there was a knock at the door. Werner was frozen in place and things seemed to be moving in slow motion around him. He turned away from Tom and watched as Brandi went to the door and opened it. At that moment Bill Werner's world came crashing down on him.

Two uniformed police officers entered the room. One of them with sergeant strips on his arm said, "William Werner?"

Tom pointed at Werner and the two officers approached him. The sergeant said, "Mr. Werner, I have a warrant for your arrest on a charge of conspiracy to commit felony fraud."

Bill Werner just stood there with a blank look on his face as one of the officers handcuffed him. While this was taking place, another man entered the room. He was wearing tan Dockers and a sport jacket. Tom could see that this man had a police badge clipped to his belt next to his gun.

"Mr. Boyer?" The plainclothes officer said.

"That's me," Tom said.

"I am Detective Furgeson, I have been assigned to this case," he said. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Our information is that this man," he said as he pointed at Werner, "was going to drug you so that he could take compromising pictures of you with this woman."

"That was my understanding also," Tom said. "I believe he did try to give me a spiked drink."

"You didn't drink it?"

"No I poured it into that coffee cup on the table next to the sofa," Tom said.

"Smart move. I'll be taking that with me then," detective Furgeson said.

"How did you know what was going on?" Tom asked.

"I got a call from the DA. He told me what was going down and that the woman, Ms. Wilson here, was cooperating with us. She was wearing a wire and we recorded everything Mr. Werner said to her this evening. I thought your boss called you to tell you what was going on."

"I think he did but I missed the call and before I could listen to the message he left me Werner showed up at my door," Tom said.

"I just have a few more questions, then I'll get out of your way."

"Okay, but do you mind if I sit down. My leg is beginning to hurt," Tom said.

"Please do," Furgeson said.

Tom sat down on the sofa and drank the Scotch that he had left in his glass and then spent the next forty-five minutes answering Detective Furgeson's questions. When Furgeson was done with his questions, Tom asked him, "How did you find Ms. Wilson and get her to cooperate with the investigation?"

"I really don't know," Furgeson said. "When the DA called me he said that they had found the woman and that she was willing to cooperate but he never told me how they found her.

*****

8:15 PM

As Detective Furgeson was preparing to leave Tom's room, Zack showed up.

"Are you all right, Tom?" Zack asked as he came into the room.

"I'm fine."

"I was worried when I couldn't get a hold of you earlier but I was sure that once Werner showed up you would know what was going on."

"Thank God Brad found those files, otherwise Werner might have been successful."

"I don't think so," Zack said.

"What do you mean?" Tom said. "If it weren't for the detailed plans that Werner had on his computer we wouldn't have known that they planned to drug me and get pictures of me with that woman."

"Actually we had another source for information about what was supposed to happen tonight," Zack said.

"We did? From who?"

"Ms. Wilson told us everything."

"How did they find her?" Tom asked.

"It's not how they found her that is important but who found her." Zack said.

"Okay, then who found her?" Tom asked.

"Lisa did. That's why you haven't been able to find her. She went to Las Vegas to find Ms. Wilson," Zack said.

"How the hell did Lisa know where to find her?"

"I'm sorry, Tom, I don't know," Zack said. "Lisa called me from Las Vegas this afternoon. Luckily the DA was in my office at the time. Lisa told us what was going on and somehow she got Ms. Wilson to cooperate."

"Is Lisa home now?"

"No. She had to take a later flight than Ms. Wilson. The DA didn't want to take a chance on having anyone associated with this conspiracy seeing Lisa arriving on the same flight from Las Vegas as Ms. Wilson," Zack said.

"What the hell did she think she was doing? She could have put herself into a lot of danger," Tom said. "Was she so sure that I cheated on her that she had to go looking for the final proof of it? "

"No, Tom. You have that wrong. She did it because she knew the truth and wanted to find out who was doing this to you. She took the risk because she loves you."

It was after ten o'clock when Zack finally left Tom's room. Zack had filled Tom in on what he and the DA had planned for David Ransom. The DA was sure, based on what they already knew, that Bill Werner would roll over on Ransom. So all that would be left was to arrest Ransom but Zack wanted to make things as painful for Ransom as possible.