Flash 04: OJT, Part 02

"That'll go over like a lead balloon," Ginger said, laughing. "Please, I'm being serious here. What do we do?"

"Maybe we should think about home-schooling," I said.

"But they need to socialize with other children," she countered.

"You're right. I guess we'll just have to see how things go. Who knows, maybe they'll be well-adjusted enough that it won't be a problem. That's not all that's bugging you though, is it?"

"No, it's not," she said quietly. "All this talk of neural networks and transitioning and mental links -- I mean, how do you cope with all of it?"

"It's not easy, I'll admit," I said. "I try not to let it overwhelm me. Just look on the bright side, though."

"What's that?"

"We'll never be able to say we couldn't get in touch with each other," I said with a smile. She chuckled and slapped my arm.

"I'm being serious here, and you're making jokes," she said.

"Look, if worse comes to worst, we'll buy an island somewhere and start our own civilization of super-powered human beings, okay? At this point, I'm focused on the here and now. And right now, I'm in bed with the most beautiful woman in the world who just happens to be carrying my children. I've never been happier or more in love with anyone in my entire life," I said.

"Oh, Cam, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me," she said as she snuggled into me. "You know what I really need right now?"

"What?" I asked.

"Right now, I need another big dose of your genetic material," she said as she grabbed my cock.

"Yes, ma'am," I said. "One dose of genetic material coming right up. You want fries with that?" She giggled and took my manhood into her mouth.

...

"Good morning, Cam," Sally, Max's receptionist, said as I walked into the office. "Max is waiting for you."

"Thanks, Sally," I said. "And good morning to you as well." I went into Max's office and found him sitting behind his desk, a lit cigarette in his ashtray. Two cups of hot tea were sitting on his desk and I knew one was for me. I sat down and took a sip of tea.

"Morning," I said.

"About damn time you got in," he said with a smile. "I take it everything went well last night?"

"It did, thanks. Ginger's working up a portfolio on Lee and the Hamilton Group. No red flags so far, but she did say he's being considered for some kind of award."

"Interesting," Max said. "Oh, I got something for you," he added as he pulled a tablet out of his briefcase and handed it over to me. "Adrestia put an application on it for you. It's just like the one I use. Go ahead, turn it on and use 1234 to unlock it. You can set the code to whatever you want."

I opened the tablet and found only one icon on the main screen. That was odd, I thought. Max told me to go ahead and launch it, so I did.

"What is this?" I asked.

"It's a tool that lets you perform real-time surveillance on anyone, anywhere and at any time," Max said.

"How is that possible?" I asked.

"Trade secret. I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you," he added with a smile and a wink. "Just kidding, of course. Actually, it's something Adrestia cooked up. It's a lot like what you can do, except you don't need to have a previous mental connection to the target."

"Feds would probably go nuts with something like this if they ever learned about it," I said.

"They won't learn about it, trust me," he said. "Watch how this works." He showed me how to search for anyone I wanted. He entered Roger Lee's name in the first box and "Orange County, California" in the second box. A list of Roger Lee's showed up, but one had a yellow star next to it.

"I took the liberty of drilling the search down myself to save us some time," he explained. He selected the name and the main window appeared. We found ourselves looking at a man sitting at a desk inside a well-appointed office. I recognized him right off.

Max selected another icon and a smaller window appeared below the video. I saw gibberish scroll across and wondered what was going on.

"That's the thought monitor," Max said. "It's synchronizing to his brain. Give it a couple minutes." Sure enough, after a few minutes, the gibberish changed to something that could be read.

"This is what he's thinking?" I asked.

"Yes, it is," Max said. "As you have probably already surmised, he's reading some paperwork in front of him and thinking about how he plans to handle the case he's working on. We heard a knock on his door.

"Enter," Roger said abruptly. The door opened and an attractive brunette walked into the office carrying two cups of what I assumed was coffee. She handed one to him and kept the other for herself, taking a sip.

"Caramel mocha, decaf, just like you wanted," she said with a smile. He looked up and smiled back at her.

"Thank you, Veronica, this is just what the doctor ordered," he said before taking a sip. "Perfect," he added, wiping his mouth. I looked at Max.

"Did he just call her Veronica?" I asked.

"That's what I heard. You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That she's Nelson's ex-wife? Yeah," I said.

"Let's watch and find out," Max said. As we watched, Roger closed his folder and turned his attention to Veronica.

"So, have you found out where that loser ex-husband of yours is hiding out?" he asked. The woman shook her head and sat down.

"No, I haven't heard anything from anyone," she said.

"I haven't had any luck either," he said.

"Why are you so interested in finding him?" she asked. "You've taken everything from him. You got me. We destroyed him. Why not just let it go so we can move on with our lives?"

"I haven't taken everything yet," Roger said. "He's still working at that bank and he's still drawing air."

"You promised me you wouldn't kill him," she said.

"And I don't intend to. Not unless he forces my hand. I'd rather he did it himself. You know that. You're not going soft on me, are you?"

"No, sweetheart," she said. "It's just that I'd rather forget about him and focus on us."

"I'd like nothing better myself," he said. "But there's one thing I need to do first."

"What's that?" she asked.

"I need to piss on his grave," he said grimly.

"Haven't your investigators found anything out?" she asked.

"No. Useless bunch of worthless fucks haven't been able to find out shit. So I hired in some guy from back east."

"Oh? Who?"

"Some gumshoe named Hammer," he said. That got my attention. "Found him in Atlantic City, running from some mob types. Fixed his little problem for him, then brought him here to find your ex."

"Has he found anything?"

"Not yet, but he's hot on the trail. Went by his apartment the other day. Found out he hasn't been around for the last couple of months. All his bills are being paid, though, and his mail is being held until just after the end of next month," Roger said. "He's asking around, though."

"What happens if this Hammer guy finds him?"

"He'll do what he's been paid to do. Enough about your ex. Are you still my little slave?" he asked with a sneer.

"Of course," she said. "You know I'm yours to command." He smiled wide and pulled back from his desk.

"Then what are you waiting for, my slave? Why aren't you under my desk sucking my dick?" She smiled and crawled under the desk as he unzipped his fly.

"Watch this," Max said. As I watched, he moved his finger on the screen and the camera angle followed his movement. He touched another icon and zoomed in. By now, we could clearly see Veronica with Roger's cock planted firmly in her mouth. I looked at Max, shocked.

"How is that possible?" I asked.

"Trade secret, remember?" I shook my head in disbelief.

"You recorded this, right?"

"Of course," Max said. "Man of the year, huh?" he asked with a snort.

"Yeah," I said sarcastically. A germ of an idea began to form in my mind. I connected to Hammer's mind to find out what he was doing. At that moment, he was in bed with what looked like a hooker. She seemed to be well-worn and a bit long in the tooth, but I wasn't there to judge Hammer's taste in women.

Projecting myself through his mind, I looked around the small motel room and discovered that he was in Westminster, California, one of the many communities that filled Orange County just south of Los Angeles. I made a note to myself and disconnected from his mind.

"Where the hell were you?" Max asked. "I tried talking to you, but you just sat there staring at the desk."

"Sorry, I connected with Hammer's mind. He's located in Westminster, California. Last I heard, he was in Atlantic City. I wanted to see if the Hammer Roger spoke of was the same guy. It is."

"I take it you've had dealings with this Hammer?" Max asked.

"Yes, I have. He worked for Bergstrom for a while," I said. "After he was sent to prison, he wanted Hammer to kill us. I convinced Hammer it would be best if he left the area."

"I see," Max said. "Are you alright? You seem to be a bit stressed."

"I'll be fine," I said. "It takes a lot of effort to project myself through someone's mind."

"I imagine it does," he said. He pressed a button on his intercom. "Sally, would you mind bringing in a couple cups of tea, please?" he asked.

"Of course, Max," she said in response. "I'll be right there." A couple minutes later, she came into the office with two cups of hot tea and set them on the desk.

"Thank you, Sally," Max said.

"You're welcome," she said before leaving the office. He pulled out his cigarettes and offered one, which I took. We drank our tea and smoked our cigarettes as we discussed the plan for our visit to Orange County. Then we spent the next two hours or so rehearsing my part, with him playing Roger. By the time we finished, I felt like I had a good handle on things.

"Why don't you call it a day, go on home, rest, pack and spend some quality time with your wife," Max said. "I'll pick you up at 7:00 am so we can get to the airport in time."

"Sounds like a plan to me," I said. I went home and packed my bags for the trip. Ginger got home from work about the time I finished.

"You about ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I've got my martial arts class this afternoon, but other than that I'm all yours. How was work?"

"Oh, pretty much the same old, same old. You know how that goes," she said.

"Yeah, I do. Listen, after my class, you want me to bring home a pizza or something? Maybe we can hang out on the couch and... play."

"Play?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "That sounds... interesting. Does this play involve swapping genetic material?" she asked with a smile.

"It just might," I said, taking her in my arms.

"Well then. I guess it's pizza and playtime tonight," she said before giving me a kiss. "What time is Max picking you up?"

"Six o'clock," I said. "So I'll have to get up earlier than normal."

"Well, better get going then, so we'll have time to play," she said.

I went to my class and stopped off for pizza afterward. I got a large half veggie and half meat-lovers with extra sauce. The half veggie part was Ginger's and the other was mine. I though about calling her to let her know, but decided instead to connect directly to her mind.

"I'm picking up the pizza now," I told her in my mind when I saw her smiling face.

"Good," she replied. "The wine is chilled and the rest is warming up," she added with a delightfully wicked smile. I pulled back and saw she was totally naked on the couch.

"I'll be home as fast as I can get there," I said. Grabbing the pizza, I made it home as fast as I could without breaking any laws. We fed each other some pizza and... played. I made sure her eyes flashed multiple times before we fell asleep.

That night I dreamed of tropical beaches. I was stretched out, naked, in a hammock strung between two large palm trees watching a fairly large group of nearly-naked people frolicking in the surf and sand not too far from me. I felt a connection to those people, as if I knew them.

I turned to the naked woman laying in the hammock with me. She turned her head toward me and smiled, her eyes flashing. It was definitely Ginger. She was a bit older in my dream, but just as beautiful as ever.

"This is the life, isn't it?" she asked.

"It sure is," I said.

The alarm woke me at 5:15 am. I turned it off, and went into the bathroom to shit, shower and shave. After I got dressed, I gave Ginger a kiss.

"You getting ready to leave already?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said. "It's about that time. I'll get with you when I get there."

"You'd better," she said. "I love you."

"Love you too," I said. She turned and fell back to sleep, holding my pillow. I went downstairs, grabbed a cup of coffee to go. Just then, Max arrived and we headed out for the airport.

We landed at John Wayne Airport in Orange County and Max got the rental sedan he and Adrestia reserved. I connected to Ginger to let her know we had landed.

"Be careful," she said.

"I will," I told her. We exchanged mental "kisses" and disconnected. Max drove us to the Comfort Inn, which was close to the airport and we checked into our rooms. After we put our things away, Max looked at his watch.

"Get changed and grab your gear," he said. "We have just enough time to get you to your appointment with Roger." I already knew from Max that Adrestia had managed to get me an appointment with Roger and Veronica. I did as he said, changing into a suit and tie. I grabbed my briefcase and followed Max back to the car.

From there, we drove to Irvine, where the Hamilton Law Group was located. Max looked at me as I climbed out of the car.

"I'll be over in Santa Ana," he said. "I don't know how long this will take, so you probably should call an Uber when you're finished."

"No problem," I said.

"You have everything you need?" he asked.

"Under control," I said.

"Alright, I'll be in touch. Good luck," he said. I watched him drive off and went into the building.

"May I help you, sir," a large burly man in a dark suit asked when I approached the large desk in the entryway. I could make out the bulge in his suit and knew he was carrying a pistol.

"I'm here to see Roger Lee and Veronica Hartley. I have an appointment," I said. He looked on his computer before turning back to me.

"You have some identification?" he asked. I pulled out my license and let him look at it before putting it away. "One moment," he said before picking up a phone. I heard him talking to someone on the other end before ending the call.

"Someone will be with you shortly," he said abruptly.

"Thank you," I said. About five minutes later, a tall blonde wearing a tight dress came out of an elevator and headed my way.

"Mr. Drake?" she asked with a smile. "My God, what piercing eyes. And what's with those gold specks? I bet he'd be fun in the sack," I heard her say in her mind. Then I saw Ginger's face. "Don't even think of it, buster," she warned with a smile. I smiled back in my mind.

"Don't worry, babe," I told her. "She's got nothing on you."

"Damn right," Ginger said before we stepped in the elevator.

"So, is this your first time to southern California?" the blonde asked after the doors closed.

"Yes, it is," I said.

"Well, I hope you enjoy your stay," she said when the elevator stopped. "I'm Lucy, by the way."

"Cameron," I said. "Good to meet you, Lucy." The door opened and Lucy escorted me to another desk where another blonde-haired woman looked at my identification before pressing a buzzer.

"Mr. Lee and Ms. Hartley are expecting you," she said. "Please, go on in." Lucy escorted me into the office. I recognized Veronica and Roger from Joe's brain feed. They both stood as we walked in. Veronica held out her hand and I accepted. I felt the slight jolt and saw her flinch.

"Must be static," I said as her brain feed downloaded into my mind. "Sorry. You must be Veronica Hartley."

"Yes, I am," she said.

"Cameron Drake. Good to meet you," I said as pleasantly as I could. The anaglyph effect was strong with Veronica, but it was even stronger with Roger. I knew I would have to be on my toes with these two snakes.

Roger held out his hand and I accepted it as well. He also flinched when he felt the slight jolt.

"Roger Lee," he said. "Pleasure to meet you."

"And you as well, Mr. Lee," I said. "Please, call me Cameron."

"Very well, Cameron," he said with a crooked smile. "Would you care for something to drink? Coffee? Tea? Something a bit stronger, perhaps?"

"Coffee would be fine, please," I said. "Preferably black."

"Coffee it is, then," he said. "Ms. Johnson, would you please bring our guest a cup of coffee, black?"

"Of course, sir," Lucy said before leaving.

"Please, have a seat," Roger said. I sat as did Roger and Veronica. I noticed he was eyeing me closely, and I heard both of them comment on my eyes in their minds. I had gotten used to that by now, but for some reason it still unnerved me just a bit.

"You seem familiar to me for some reason, Cameron," he said. "Have we met before?"

"No sir, this is my first time in California," I said. By then Lucy had returned with a cup of coffee. She set it on a coaster on Roger's desk and looked at me with a smile.

"Coffee, black," she said. "Is there anything else I can get for you?" I heard her mind quite clearly. "Like a hot, wet pussy?" I saw her lips hadn't moved and I shook my head as I looked at her.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for asking anyway, Lucy," I said, making sure she could see my wedding ring as I picked up my coffee.

"Damn, married," I heard her think to herself. "Oh well, I tried."

"Did you hear that?" Ginger's voice echoed in my mind. "That woman was ready to fuck you right there in the office. I have a good mind to fly down there this instant and scratch her eyes out!"

"You're welcome, Mr. Drake," Lucy said before leaving the office, completely unaware of the conversation taking place in my head.

"Aaaghhh!" Ginger's voice exclaimed in my mind. "We're going to have a talk when you get home, mister," she said.

"It's alright, sweetheart," I responded in my head. "You're the only one for me and you know it. We talked about this, remember? Calm down and let me work, okay?" I turned back to Roger.

"So, tell me about this company you work for, Cameron," he said. "I know all of the investigative firms in the area. Work with most of them. I don't believe I've ever heard of the Burnage Agency."

"We do specialized investigations all across the country, Mr. Lee. We're not based in California," I said, sticking to the script Max and I had worked out.

"But you are licensed to operate in California?" he asked.

"Of course," I said. "We're licensed to operate in all 50 states."

"Do you have a business card or something?" Roger asked. I pulled one out of my shirt pocket and handed it to him. Let him call the number, I thought. I knew he would either get Sally or Adrestia and they would both stick to the script. So far, this was going pretty much the way Max said it would. He looked at it for a few moments before setting it on his desk.

"So, Cameron, tell me how we can help the Burnage Agency out today," he said. Having gotten Roger's and Veronica's brain feeds, I had already accomplished what I came here to do, and could have simply gotten up and walked out. But I decided to stick to the script as much as possible to see what I could get from them.

"We're doing background on a claim of property damage filed by one Joseph R. Nelson," I said. "That's your ex-husband, right, Ms. Hartley?" I asked, looking at Veronica.

"Yes," she said. "He's my ex-husband. I reverted back to my maiden name after the divorce. Have you talked to him? Do you know where he is?"

"I have spoken to him, Ms. Hartley," I said. "At this time he is in an undisclosed location. Apparently, he claims he has reason to fear for his safety. Would you know anything about that?" Her face paled and she shook her head.