Flash 04: OJT, Part 01

As we savored our venison, John and Gunny Rob came to our table, each holding a tray of their own.

"Mind if we join you?" John asked.

"Not at all," Max said. They sat down and began eating.

"So, what do ya think?" Gunny Rob asked.

"This is delicious," I told him. "You eat like this every day?"

"Sure do," he said. "Nothing but the best for our students. Oh, by the way, before I forget. We got Nelson's phone, and he gave us the code to unlock it. The battery probably needs to be charged up, though."

"Thanks," I said, taking the plastic bag from him that held the phone and charger. I saw a slip of paper in the bag, folded in two. I opened it up and saw a four-digit code, then put it back into the bag. "I'll take a look when I get back to my room."

"We got a bitch-burning coming up in a couple weeks," Gunny Rob said as we ate. "You two are welcome to come up and watch if you want."

"We may just do that, Gunny," Max said.

"Bitch-burning? What's that?" I asked.

"It's a tradition here at Camp Rollins," John said. "It's a little ceremony we have the day before a class graduates. Gives the students a chance to blow off some steam before they go back to the real world."

"Sounds... interesting," I said. The other three smiled at each other.

"It is," Max said.

"Don't you tell him anything, Max," Gunny Rob said.

"Hey, what happens at Camp Rollins stays at Camp Rollins, right?" Max responded. The other two chuckled at that. My curiosity was piqued, though. Something told me this was something I had to see. I thought about probing their minds to see what this was really all about but decided to respect their privacy.

"Well, I'd better get back to my room, check out this phone, and see what's there," I said after I finished. "If you'll excuse me."

"Sure," Max said.

"You wanna join us at the lounge for a bit, Max?" John asked.

"Sure, why not," Max said. John handed me a card with his number. "I won't be gone too long," he told me before I left.

"And don't forget, breakfast is at 0600 hours," Gunny Rob said. "That's 6:00 am."

"Got it," I said. "See you all later." We said our goodbyes and I headed back to my room. I plugged Nelson's phone into its charger and checked my laptop. The search had completed and I noticed it had found several matches.

Two of the matches were dated after the initial call, which matched what Nelson had told me earlier. The remaining matches, however, were dated about 15 years or more before the first call. I thought that to be a bit odd and took a look at the memory corresponding to the last match before the first call.

Observing in the third-person perspective, I saw a teenage Joe Nelson walking in what appeared to be a schoolyard. A group of three other teenage boys came up and one who appeared to be slightly older than Joe stepped up and grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around.

"Alright, Nelson," he growled. "You know the deal. Give me your lunch money."

"Buzz off, creep," Joe said. The bully turned to his two companions and laughed.

"You hear that? Did he just call me a creep?"

"Sounded like it to me, Roger," one of the other boys said.

"Yeah, me too," the second boy added.

"Maybe you need to teach Nelson some manners," the first boy said. Roger chuckled at that and threw a punch, hitting Joe in the stomach. He went down, holding his stomach. Roger started kicking him as he lay on the ground.

"I said, gimme your money, Nelson," he yelled as he kept kicking. The other two boys egged Roger on.

"Kick his ass, Rog," one of them said. Roger laughed and sent another kick, but Joe had moved out of the way and surprised the bully with a fist to the face. They tangled for a while, falling to the ground. Finally, Joe straddled Roger and began pummeling his face with one blow after another. As this happened, the other two boys ran off and came back a few moments later, accompanied by two adults.

One of the adults pulled Joe off of Roger and the second took a look at Roger's face, which was now bruised and bloodied.

"What happened here?" one of the adults asked.

"Nothing, Mr. Smith. We were just walking along minding our own business when Nelson there jumped Roger," one of Roger's friends said.

"Is that true?" the other adult asked Joe.

"No, sir," Joe said. "Roger's been taking my lunch money almost every day for weeks. If I don't give it to him, he and his friends there beat me up. He tried it again, and had me on the ground, kicking me. I fought back."

The adult looked at Roger after Joe spoke and the two adults spoke to each other for a couple of minutes as the boys glared at each other.

"Alright, Joe, go see the nurse," the first adult said. "Then I want you to report to the principal's office." He turned to Roger. "And you, Mr. Lee, can consider yourself suspended. I'm tired of hearing about you bullying the other students. You understand me?"

"Yes, Mr. Smith," Roger said. I now had a name -- Roger Lee. But Roger wasn't finished. "Just wait, Nelson," he called out to Joe. "One of these days I'm going to take everything you have away from you. You hear me? Hah hah hah."

There it was, I thought to myself. The laugh convinced me this was the same guy who called Joe, and the same guy who destroyed his life. I didn't see much need to look at the other matches but saved the search for later.

I noticed that wifi coverage in the camp wasn't very good, so I used my phone as a hotspot and connected my laptop. The connection was better, but not by much. I did a search on Roger Lee and found that a man by that same name was a partner in the Hamilton Law Group in Orange County, California, the same firm where Joe's wife worked.

When I looked at the photos on the company's website, I saw him -- he was older than the boy in Joe's memory, but it was definitely him. He had the same sandy-colored hair, only cut shorter and more professional. He also had the same long face and the same shifty eyes. It was definitely him.

I saved my search and printed out the picture with my portable printer, then disconnected from the Internet. I didn't want to use up all of my hotspot bandwidth. Once done, I called Ginger.

"Hey, sweetie," she said when she answered.

"Hey yourself," I said. "Miss you."

"I miss you too, handsome," she said. "How's the case going? You like it up there in north Idaho?"

"It's nice up here," I said. "And the case is going well. I think I found something but I could use your help."

"Oh? What do you need?"

"Could you look up the Hamilton Law Group in Orange County, California, and pull up everything you can? Also get all the information you can about one of their partners, a Roger Lee."

"Yeah, I'll start my search right away. When do you need this?" she asked.

"As soon as possible," I said.

"Alright, I'll get right on it," she said.

"Thanks, you're the best," I told her.

"You got that right," she quipped. We exchanged sweet nothings for a bit longer and ended the call, expressing our love for each other. My next call was to Max.

"What's up, Cameron?" he asked.

"I think I may have found our guy," I told him. "Can you ask John if we can speak to Joe tonight?"

"That was fast," he said. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, pretty sure," I said.

"Alright. Hang on, let me ask." I heard him cover the phone with his hand as he spoke. A few moments later, he came back to me.

"Yeah, John and Gunny Rob said they can have Nelson at the training and services building in a few minutes. We'll be over as well."

"Thanks, Max," I said. "See you then." We ended the call and I gathered my things before heading out to the training and services building. The door was locked, so I waited for them to show up. About 15 minutes later, I saw them heading my way, along with Joe and Sgt. Johnson. Gunny Rob pulled out his keys and opened the door, escorting us all inside. We went into the same room we used before and took our seats.

"Sorry to pull you away on such short notice, Joe," I said. "I just wanted to follow up on something with you."

"That's alright, Mr. Drake," he said.

"What can you tell me about a man named Roger Lee?" I asked.

"Roger Lee? Let me think. I don't recall anyone by that name right off the top of my head," he said. I could tell he was searching through his mind and let him think about it for a few moments. Then it hit him and his eyes opened wide. "Wait a minute, now I remember. I knew someone by that name in high school."

"That was about what, 15 years ago?" I asked. He nodded his head. I put the picture of Roger from his company's website on the table so he could see it.

"Yeah, that's him," Joe said.

"You two went to high school together, didn't you?" I asked.

"Yeah, we went to the same school, but he was a couple years ahead of me. I remember him now. He was a bully, hung out with a couple buddies of his. They all thought they were king shit. He used to take my lunch money and beat me up if I didn't give it to him. I remember telling my dad, and he taught me how to fight. One day, Roger came at me, hit me, and kicked me a few times, then I went back at him."

"You beat the crap out of him that day, didn't you?" I asked. He nodded his head.

"Yeah. Almost got suspended until they figured out what was really going on. He ended up getting suspended that day. Last I heard, his parents transferred him to a different school and I never heard from him again," Joe said.

"Do you remember what he told you that day?" I asked.

"He threatened me. I remember that" he said. I picked up my digital audio recorder and hit play.

"One of these days I'm going to take everything you have away from you. You hear me? Hah hah hah," we heard young Roger Lee's voice say. I saw Joe's eyes light up as he recalled the memory. I knew he recognized the laugh instantly.

"Sound familiar?" I asked.

"How... how did you get that?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"Trade secret," I said with a smile. "That's the same voice that called you that day a year ago, isn't it?" I asked. He nodded his head.

"Yeah, I'd recognize that laugh anywhere. Creepy," he said.

"Did you know he works at the same law firm as your wife?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No, I didn't know that," he said. "Wait, you think he and Veronica were in on this together?"

"I can't say that for certain," I said. "At least not at this time. We still have to verify that."

"Have you listened to the call on my phone yet?" he asked.

"Not yet," I said. "Your phone was dead and it's still charging up. I intend to listen to it later."

"So, what happens now?" he asked.

"What happens now, Joe is this," Max interjected before I could say anything. "Mr. Drake and I will follow through on this lead and see what comes of it." He turned to Gunny Rob. "Joe starts his third month in a couple weeks or so, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Gunny Rob said. Max nodded his head.

"And that's when the lawyers get involved," Max said. He looked at Joe before speaking again. "Does your ex-wife know where you live?"

"Yeah, I think she does," he said. Max looked at John and Gunny Rob. They exchanged a look of concern before anyone spoke.

"I guess we'd better keep a closer eye on his apartment," John said. "I'll make the call, take care of that."

"Is there anything else, Cameron?" Max asked.

"I contacted Ginger. She's pulling a report on Lee and the company he works for," I said.

"Good thinking," Max said. "Well, it looks like we will be up for the bitch-burning after all," he told John and Gunny Rob. He turned to me and smiled. "Nice work, Cameron," he said. "Alright, I guess we're about done here, then. We'll make sure you get Nelson's phone back before we leave in the morning."

"Sounds good," Gunny Rob said. He nodded to Sgt. Johnson, who escorted Joe out of the room. Gunny Rob smiled as he looked at me. "Good job, son," he said with a smile. We left and headed back to our rooms.

"I'm amazed you were able to get that information so quickly," Max said.

"I have a few more memories to sort through, and I still need to hear that phone call," I told him.

"So, you think Lee wanted revenge for a 15-year-old schoolyard slight?" Max asked. "That seems a bit extreme to me."

"Me too," I said. "Maybe we should see about talking to Lee and Veronica."

"I think you're right," he said. By then, we reached the guest quarters and Max joined me in my room. By then, the phone had charged and I unlocked it. After it updated all the calls, texts, and other notifications, I opened the audio recorder and found the call Joe received from Veronica.

"You ready for this?" Max asked. I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I think so," I said.

"Let me know if you feel the need to blow," he said. "We'll go out back if necessary."

"I think I'll be okay," I said.

"Well, then, let's hear it." I started the playback.

"Veronica? Is that really you?" Joe asked.

"Yes, Joe, it's me," she said in a monotone.

"Before you say anything else, you should know that I'm recording this call," he said. "If you want to continue, then I'll assume you consent to have it recorded. Otherwise, we'll end it right here and now."

"Whatever," she said in a dismissive tone of voice. "I figured your lawyer would tell you to do that anyway. It won't make any difference in the long run."

"Okay, I'm just letting you know. I've been trying to get in touch with you for the longest time. Where are you? What's going on? Why the divorce papers?"

"I'm sorry, Joe," she said. "If you must know, I'm with... him right now."

"Him? Who's this 'him' you're talking about?" Joe asked.

"I... can't tell you that, Joe," she said. "But I can tell you he's the guy who called you."

"What? And you're with him now?"

"Yes, Joe. I've been with him since before he called," she said.

"Wait, what?" Joe asked, clearly shocked.

"That's right, Joe. I knew he was going to call you. We... planned it that way."

"You planned it? Why? I don't get it. Were you already fucking him when he called?"

"No, Joe. We waited until the day after he called for that. But I had been with him before then. We just hadn't gone all the way yet. We planned everything. Then we executed our plan."

"But why would you do this to me? To us? What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"You didn't do anything to deserve what we did. We did it because... well, it made him happy, and... it was fun."

"Fun? What all did you do? Besides fuck around behind my back?"

"You really don't want to know, Joe," she said.

"Yes, I do," Joe said.

"Alright," she said. "But this is going to be painful. He would come to the house with me and fuck me in the kitchen while I made your dinner. Then when he was ready, he would shoot his cum right into your food and I would mix it in. Remember all those casseroles I made for you to eat while I was supposedly out with the girls?"

"You didn't," Joe said, shocked. "No wonder they tasted so bitter."

"Now you know. He even pissed in some of them as well."

"That's sick. Why would you let him do that?"

"I told you. It was fun, and I got a kick out of humiliating you for him. There's more."

"More?"

"Yes. I can't tell you how many times he would cum in my mouth and leave the house just before you got home. I wondered if you could even tell when you kissed me."

"I thought you tasted a bit... off. That's disgusting." She laughed hysterically.

"Yes it is, isn't it? You remember that day I called you home when the pipes burst?"

"Yeah," Joe said.

"They didn't burst. I cut them. And I tore the hole in the closet to make sure the water would get all over your stuff. That was after he pissed all over your collections."

"You realize those were worth some $250,000?" Joe asked.

"Yes, I did. But he and I thought it was so childish. I mean, a grown man, collecting stamps and baseball cards."

"My father and I spent years putting those together," Joe said. "Some of those were collected by my grandfather during the war. That was his legacy. Didn't that mean anything to you at all?"

"No. Not at all. All that mattered was making my man happy," she said. "And you know what? I loved watching him piss all over those collections of yours."

"The plumber told me it looked like sabotage to him. So you're responsible for that? Did you burn them as well?"

"Yes," she said. "To both of your questions."

"And all those nights you supposedly spent with your sister? Were you with him?"

"Yes," she said. "In fact, the night you came over, he was in the bedroom. He had just finished fucking both of us. We both had his cum running down our legs. You wanna know what we did after you left?"

"What?"

"We went back into the bedroom and had a three-way. I never knew sucking cum out of my own sister's pussy could be so... delicious."

"You fucked your own sister?" Joe asked, the shock clear in his voice.

"Yeah," she responded with a little laugh. "We do it regularly now."

"And the divorce papers you had served on me. You claimed I abused you. You know I never abused you. Ever. I loved you too much to ever hurt you. All that was a collection of lies," Joe said through his tears.

"I know," she said.

"You knew those were all lies? That's perjury!"

"So? Grow up, Joe. No one cares about any of that shit."

"I take it your lover told you to do that as well," Joe said.

"Yes, he did."

"I don't get it. Why not just tell me you didn't want to be married to me anymore? Why did you do all of this?"

"Because it made him happy," she said. "You see, he's not just my lover. He's my soul mate. My master and I would do anything for him. Anything. I would even kill you if he asked me to."

"You would kill me?" Joe asked.

"Yes," she said calmly. "But don't worry. He doesn't want you dead. Not by my hand, anyway. He wants you to suffer. Now if you decided to kill yourself, that would be different. We would both celebrate that."

"My God, you're not even human," Joe said. "What are you?"

"What I am is your past," she said. "I'm my master's personal plaything now. By the way, this will be the last time we ever talk. I'm having you served with a restraining order. Goodbye, Joe. Enjoy what's left of your miserable life. And remember to keep your eyes peeled. One of these days, I may just decide to put you out of your misery like a dog. Bye now. Bye." The call ended and I stopped the recording.

...

To be continued.

Notes: Camp Rollins was first mentioned in my series, "The Camp." Gunny Rob shows up in "The Camp Ch. 04: Gunny Rob."

Adrestia Rhamnousia first appeared in "The Cheating Zone 03: Lori." She is also featured in her own series, "Cheater's Gallery," and plays a prominent role in the "Max Burnage" series.