Debauchery on Faculty Row

"Mind if we take a look?"

"Not at all. Knock yourselves out."

Chase took a slow, grimacing, limping lead. The two detectives, with Mac close behind, started down the hallway looking high and low. As the silent detective started thumping a wall that looked newer than the rest, he immediately noticed a hollow sound in the wall between the house and Chase's back entrance door into the minor procedure room.

"Can I call a crew in here to knock this wall out, Chase."

"Screw that. I want to see what's back there." Chase tapped the wall and, finding a very hollow echo, pushed his fist through the sheet rock. Abby anxiously helped him pull the chunks of fresh sheet rock away. Sure enough. A sealed off room Chase had never seen before came into view. The only hint that it had once been an exam room was the dingy surgical light left hanging from the ceiling.

"It's all coming together now," Chase exhaled. "Zeigler told me that he lit a fire under the maintenance chief to get the house done. He was trying to appease me in our first meeting after he learned that the university president was a fan of the clinic. It appears what he meant was to get the maintenance crew to cover up the sins of the past."

"What are you talking about, Chase?" Quinn asked.

"They were doing the abortions here. In this room. It was obviously Lindstrom's private exam room. It doesn't look like there's any access other than from this hallway here in the house. Don't you see? When Lindstrom got fired, he needed a place to continue his nefarious little business. The house was no longer his. Hence the barn clinic. And Zeigler needed to make sure he got this covered up before I stumbled up on it. Although, simply leaving it alone would have been far less conspicuous. There's nothing strange about a procedure room in a clinic. A buried exam room, however, leads to all sorts of questions."

"Holy shit!"

"Mac, this girl. Will she give a statement?"

"I don't know, Quinn. She was pretty torn up."

"Maybe one of the counselors should talk to her," Chase stated. "She doesn't need to deal with this alone."

"I'm starting to follow your thinking, Chase, but I'm still not understanding the need for illegal abortions?"

"That girl Mac just mentioned is perfect proof. Swearing she was a virgin? If her declaration is true, and it wasn't an immaculate conception, she has no recollection of having sex. Obviously it happened with her unaware. See the correlation?"

"If some of the willing participants in the Disciples of Dionysus became pregnant, or one of the unwilling victims did, and these whack-jobs wanted to keep it quiet, Lindstrom may have been there to keep things under wraps. We know Kay was taken down there more than once without any memory of what happened. If word got out that one of their victims was pregnant, they could have kidnapped her again, drugged her, and taken her here: or, after Lindstrom was fired, back to that barn. I have a feeling others in that coven know a whole lot more about it than they're saying. Being tied to something like that would add even more despicable charges to their already endless lists. And given that he was in reality a veterinarian working on a suspended license, he certainly couldn't have worked in any legal medical or veterinary facility. Of course, this is all just supposition: but it makes sense. I can't think of any other reason for having such a well stocked clinic in an all but forgotten barn. And someone was living there, too. Probably Lindstrom. Orderlies don't make much and rents around here are pretty steep."

"We'll delve into this a little deeper once we finish dismantling that hell hole basement. Thanks for the added nightmares, Chase!" Quinn chuckled, but there was no joy in it.

"Well we just wanted to clear a few things up, Chase, and I believe we did. We won't keep you any longer. Get some rest. And I hope you're both feeling better very soon."

"Thank you. And please keep us in the loop." They all shook hands. Abby saw them out of the office and helped Chase back to bed.

"Ok, Hotshot. I don't care if the President of these United States himself comes to see you: you're not going to be disturbed again today. Now let's get you undressed and iced down again."

"My own personal bulldog. I like that!"

For the first time since the morning before, Chase was chuckling heartily as Abby undressed him. Abby looked at him oddly for a moment, then just joined in the yuck fest. Be it relief, joy, whatever they were experiencing, they were soon holding each other, laughing like lunatics. Their lighthearted giggle fest seemed to last for hours. Every time one of them looked at the other, they just laughed harder.

When they'd regained some semblance of calm, Chase was in excruciating pain again.

"Would you get me a couple Toradol from the pharmacy, Honey? I need to knock this pain down a little."

"Are you sure you don't want something stronger?"

"No. Toradol's fine."

She was back in a flash with the tablets and a glass of water. "And I brought a bed urinal in with me. You're not getting out of that bed, Mister."

"Yes, Dear. How are your nether regions today?"

"Throbbing like a bitch. But I'll live. As inappropriate as this may sound, after experiencing that massive growth between your legs, I was better prepared to deal with last night's disgusting intrusion.

"Abby!" Chase was laughing as Abby blushed.

"Well it's true, Tripod! Now. Let me heat up our breakfast. I'm sure you're hungry."

"Starving. Thank you."

She made quick work of reheating breakfast and sat the tray down on the bed.

"Ah, ah, ah! If I have to lay here naked, so do you."

"But you said it made your wee-wee hurt," she chuckled.

"Being granted the privilege of seeing that breathtaking sight that is your amazing body is worth any pain I may experience," he smiled.

"You old flatterer, you."

Abby quickly undressed and sat down to eat. When they finished, she cleaned up the mess and came back into the room with that nefarious folder in her hands.

"Chase. I want...I need...to see these pictures; but I want you to see them with me."

"Are you sure, Abby? Wouldn't you rather just toss them in the fireplace and forget about them?"

"No. I need to see them. And I need to see the look on your face when you see them."

"The look on my face, I'm sure, will be one of utter revulsion, Abby. But not for you. I hope you know that."

"I know that, Chase. After what you saved us from last night, I doubt anything could shock you now. But it's just something we have to do. And we have to do this together. I hope you understand."

He sadly did. "If you're sure, Abby?"

He was patting the bed beside him. She snuggled into him, trembling. He wrapped his arm around her as she opened the envelope with shaking hands.

The gasp that escaped her lips and the look of utter dismay and devastation on her beautiful face was heartbreaking. Abby had been used in that twisted operating room stage in the most disgusting of ways. The pictures were hideous. Revolting. Every inch of her tiny little body was grossly violated.

As she rifled through the repulsive prints, her hands shook more and more. Heartbreaking tears and sobs of utter despair were flowing from her beautiful eyes. Hearing her sobbing broke his heart.

"Abby. Honey." He took the pictures from her locked hand and tossed them aside. "No more, ok? Let's just burn those and try to forget that hell on earth ever existed."

"I should have known! That...sick..." she could barely get the words through her trembling lips "twisted fuck! I knew he had a medical fetish!! I knew it!! He was always digging in my bag, playing with the stethoscope and things, asking me to let him listen to my chest and my abdomen! I...never realized! This is hardly innocent medical play!! Oh my God!"

Chase just held her closer, kissing her forehead lovingly. "Let's just burn the pictures, Baby. You need them out of your sight. You need to try to forget this ever happened."

"No, Chase." She wiped her tears away and sat on the edge of the bed. It took her a moment for her sobbing to subside before she spoke. Her tiny shoulders quivered, then stilled. Her voice sounded as if it was coming from somewhere far off.

"We went through this nightmare with two other women last night, Chase. And given the size of that massive pile of envelopes we found in that room, there had to be dozens more. I want to stand with them."

"Are you sure, Abby. This could get very personal."

"Will you stand by me?"

"Of course I will. You know I will."

"Then, yes. I'm sure. We were violated in the most revolting, dehumanizing ways, Chase. Our very sense of personal peace, privacy and safety was stolen from us last night. And for Kay and me and many others I'm sure as far back as a year ago or longer, too. And the only way we're ever going to really get past this is to stand up and face those fucking monsters in court and watch them squirm as the judge passes judgement on the sick bastards."

"Wow! You're one brave little lady. I couldn't be more proud of you if I tried."

"I'm not brave, Chase. I'm a coward, really. If I were brave, I'd have brought this to light when I realized what happened to me. It could have saved a whole lot of other women a whole lot of pain and suffering."

"You can't take the blame for that, Abby. Without the proof we have now it would have been your word against theirs. One tiny little nurse practitioner against a prestigious university's faculty and alumni? They'd have discredited you in every way imaginable and ruined you: personally and professionally. It's obvious they'd have gone to any length to keep their disgusting secrets secret."

"Still."

"None of the other woman came forward, Abby. And I'd bet it's for just that very reason."

"I just hope none of those animals ever see the light of day again."

"Can I tell you something, Abby?"

"Of course you can. You can tell me anything, My Hero."

"I'm truly, madly, deeply in love with you. We're talking head over heels here," he smiled, leaning down to kiss her sweet lips.

"Oh, Chase!"

She fell into him in a hail of tears. "How I've prayed we were on the same page in that department. I fell in love with you that very first night at Gas Light! I knew immediately that there was something wild and wonderful about you. Everything about you just sends me into orbit. You've become my everything!"

"I still can't even begin to process what you did for us last night. You were amazing, Honey. You were on the brink of unconsciousness after the horrible things they did to you, yet you overcame that to save us. And you did! You saved our lives!" Her tiny shoulders were shaking all over again as she squeezed him in a hail of tears, holding him tightly, kissing his chest over and over again. "I love you so much, Chase!"

****************

The morning papers were rife with the story; each with its' own twist. Reporters and news crews stormed the campus. Thankfully the campus police were keeping the throng away from the clinic. They were in no shape for interviews.

The incoming relief staff told everyone that Faculty Row was like a battle zone with flashing lights, news crews, and police vehicles lining the street on both sides. Many of the perverts were snatched from their beds in the middle of the night. Others hightailed it out of town before they could be captured. Alumni businesses, including a certain accounting firm, were shuttered; their owners unreachable.

Chase's personal physician kept him in bed and hovered over him like a mother hen, letting the staff in to visit occasionally; but only in small groups. And she got down right dictatorial at running them out if Chase so much as blinked a pained eye. It made him laugh.

He and Abby lay in bed reading the papers, many of the write ups highly embellished, when Carol knocked on the door. Abby let her in."

Chase! Did you see this write up in the campus paper? Listen. Ninja Doc Saves Damsels in Distress from Certain Death in Satanic Campus Sex Dungeon!"

Abby was rolling on the bed, laughing. "No wonder your head hurts. It must be the size of Texas. You're being heralded as the hero you truly are in all these stories no matter what twist they put on it."

"You can laugh now, but I'm still having nightmares about seeing you up there." His whole body trembled again at the thought. She kissed him tenderly. "Thank you for making me break protocol and examine you, Adonis."

"Thank you for doing it, Yah Lil Hottie."

"Oh, shit! I almost forgot why I'm here!" Carol chuckled. "Chase, President and Missus Billings and a Stephanie Carmody from accounting are in the waiting room. They'd like to see you."

Abby and Chase looked to each other. Shocked.

"Let me get dressed, Carol. Ask them to wait in my office, please."

"He said to tell you to stay in bed. They'll come down to see you. He said he knows you're having a hard time getting around."

"Well then, send them down please, Carol."

Abby covered Chase up with the bedspread, an ice bag over his eye and his scrotum resting on a fresh ice bag.

"Hello, Doctor Billings. Missus Billings." He shook their hands.

Steph sat beside Chase on the bed, wrapped him in a huge hug and kissed his undamaged cheek while Abby pulled up chairs for the Billings' and crawled up on Chase's other side.

"Please, Doctor Brandt. It's Harry."

"And call me Chase, Harry."

"I'm sorry you're under the weather, Chase. I just thank God above you're all ok! Stephanie gave us the whole story this morning. And of course the police were knocking at our door before the sun came up. My God! I must be blind. All that going on under my nose and I didn't even have a clue."

"You can't blame yourself, Harry. This is a big university. You have a staff that's supposed to be taking care of those things for you. A staff you're supposed to be able to count on. This campus is massive. You can't be everywhere at once."

"I knew that weasel bastard Zeigler was bad news on wheels from the moment I first laid eyes on him. Unfortunately, every time I tried to get rid of him I had a faculty and alumni uprising. I almost had to call in the National Guard when I had that slimy Lindstrom fired. I guess we know why, now."

"We're still in shock. This is the kind of thing you read about in supermarket tabloids!" Missus Billings was shaking his head sadly, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Unfortunately, this tabloid story is actually true to life," Chase sighed.

"What happened to you four, and anyone else those animals violated, is breaking my heart. I think it's time I listened to my wife and bowed out gracefully. I've been past retirement age for five years now. Given the deplorable scandal that just took place, I can't expect people to respect and support me knowing this. This abomination happened on my watch."

"Harry! You have to stop blaming yourself for this. I just wish Chase and I had gotten to you with all the evidence sooner. Somehow that slime bag Zeigler found out that I'd cleared your calendar for us to see you at nine this morning to bring all of this to you. I'm just so sorry it took us so long to get the full picture. We had to do a lot of covert digging to bring it all to the surface."

"And the four of you were abused in a most heinous way: and almost killed, because of it. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever believed some of the faculty and alumni they're holding in that jail, and the ones they're still searching for, were capable of anything so ungodly despicable. These are academics for Christ sake. Intelligent people."

"No one would have imagined it, Harry. I mean, the kink and orgies among consenting adults doesn't surprise me. That's factually very common in academic circles. But this? This total disregard for humanity and personal privacy is the kind of thing you hear about going on in some third world country: or in ghost stories. No one could have seen this coming."

"But you need to hang in there, Harry. Ensure this can never happen again. Vet the incoming faculty replacements yourself. Hire the kind of good, quality people you want teaching here. The alumni who weren't involved will come back once the scandal dies down. Another big news story, or football season, will come along and all this will all be forgotten before you know it." Chase was sincere.

"I'm planning on appointing Kay McMillian as chancellor. In reality, she's been doing his job for years anyway."

"Now you're talking, Harry!" Stephanie laughed. "Not only would she be perfect for the job, but hiring a woman will make you look like the great guy you are. No more stuffy good old boy's club up in the ivory towers. She'll have you all toeing the line."

"Harry, if you hire Kay, I won't nag you about retiring for another couple of years," Missus Billings laughed.

"Let's face it. I know you love me, and we have plans for our retirement, but you love this job. You'd be a basket case just ambling around that big old house. What would you do? Collect stamps? Besides, Kay will do the job that sick little pervert was supposed to be doing and take a lot of the load off of you."

"Yeah, Harry! Hire Kay and stick it to the establishment," Steph laughed. "Bring this school into the twenty-first century."

"Kinda nostalgic, really. "Give um hell, Harry!" Now they were all laughing.

"Kay's promotion is a sure thing; if she'll accept it. Whether it's my parting act, or the beginning of a new age will depend on how bad the fallout from this nightmare is. I'm sure we'll be sued by all those poor victims."

"Don't be so quick to come to conclusions, Harry. Hopefully, they'll go after the sick bastards involved in this. They're the guilty ones." Steph had an oddly cheerful look on her face.

"For the record, Faculty Row isn't, officially, on campus. Clay Sparkman told me that when I talked to him this morning. He's been on this like a pit bull on a ham bone since Kay pulled her disappearing act. How's that for a southernism, Chase?" Stephanie laughed.

"I'll have you craving grits and red eye gravy before you know it, Steph," Chase laughed.

"Anyway, Harry, the Faculty Club wasn't a school sanctioned entity. Zeigler, Lindstrom and Sandler just sort of took over what was once just a faculty hangout and commandeered the basement. With a little expert legal work, those involved will go to jail as paupers and the school will hopefully be left unscathed."

"We'll have to wait and see what Clay and the rest of the legal department can determine. But the summer semester is about to start. Thankfully, it's our least attended semester. I guess I'd better promote Kay quickly so she can do some damage control over the summer and have things back on track by the fall term."

"Oh, no! You mean I'll have to beg Kay for funding now," Chase laughed.

"I have a feeling she'll give you a blank check wrapped in gold, Chase," Stephanie laughed.

"I took her and Cathy home this morning. She's doing much better knowing this is all behind us. She was singing your praises from the rooftops, Chase. And Cathy's going to stay with her for as long as she's needed."

"Thank God. She really had me worried last night."

"What you did was nothing shy of amazing, Chase."

"It was a sheer, primal, adrenaline fueled reaction, Harry. I don't want to even think about my ability to reach a place that dark; but I pray I never hit that level of utter rage and desperation ever again."

"I've got some pondering to do," Harry said, offhandedly. "We just wanted to stop by and make sure you two were healing, and you were both ok, Chase and Abby."

"Well, Harry, I hope you decide to stick it out. You'll have my full support."

"The Mayo will probably be hunting you up when the story goes national, Chase," he laughed.