Flash 05: A Friend Indeed

"That sounds wonderful," she said. "I'm sure they will. I'll ask them tomorrow."

"Good. You do that. I'll make the travel arrangements," he said. "Then it's adios forever," flashed in the thought monitor.

I ended the surveillance, saved the video and looked at Ginger.

"I'd say this complicates things just a bit," I said.

"Yes, it does. Maybe you need to get Max and Adrestia involved before he tries to kill you. Or us," she said.

"Not quite yet," I said. "Remember, knowledge is power. We have the advantage in that we know what Ross is planning. And he has no idea that we already know. That can work to our advantage. Plus, you heard him -- this is only the germ of an idea. It's been a while since he's used a rifle, so he's bound to be a bit rusty. Up until now, he's had other people do his dirty work for him."

"There's something else you're not telling me," she said. "Why not call in Max and Adrestia. They can resolve this in no time."

"I don't doubt that," I said. "But I can't go running to them on every case that gets a little hairy. No, I need to handle this myself."

"I understand that," she said. "But the least you can do is give them a heads-up." I thought about her words for a bit before making my decision.

"You may have a point," I said. "I'll brief Max on the case tomorrow. Bill is set to see Drew tomorrow, so I'll make sure both of them have this video. Then I intend to take Ross Simpson down. Do you think you're advanced enough in your training to watch over the kids?"

"Absolutely," she said. I had seen her destroy watermelons in our back yard during target practice, but that's quite different from facing a human being. But, I realized, she's got two children she'll be protecting.

"Got that right, buster," she said in my mind, interrupting my thoughts. "This is one mama bear who won't tolerate anyone endangering our children." I looked at her and saw the serious look on her face. She meant it.

"Damn right, I mean it," she said. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Right now, I'm going to the office, get this video off to Bill and Drew," I said. "Something Ross said gave me an idea. I'm going to do a little search in his brain feed, then I think I'm going to play a little game of divide and conquer."

"Alright," she said. "By the way," she added a few moments later. "What DID you plant in Jenkins' mind anyway?"

"I simply suggested that he crap his pants every time he hears my name," I said. She busted out laughing.

"A singular wit, indeed," she said as she laughed. I laughed with her. "Go on, get to work. You know where I'll be when you get done." I gave her a kiss and headed for the office. The first thing I did was send the video to both Bill and Drew. Then I called my old friend.

"Hey, boss, what's up?" he asked when he answered.

"I just sent you a video I think you'll find very interesting. I also sent a copy to Drew. It looks like Ross is going to up his game a bit, so you need to be on your toes," I said.

"Okay, I'll take a look," he said.

"Just so you know, he's now talking about killing both of us," I said. "And Gloria."

"WHAT?!" Bill exclaimed.

"It's okay," I said, trying to calm him down. "Right now, it's only talk. We know what he's planning to do, but it's not going to happen. I'm going to throw a monkey wrench into his plan tonight."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked.

"Absolutely," I said. "Trust me."

"Alright, I trust you," he said.

"Good. Get some sleep. I'll call you in the morning." With that, we ended the call and I pulled up Simpson's brain feed. I searched for the time he spent in the service. From what I could tell, he actually was a sniper at one time, and a fairly good one at that.

However, there was an incident where he accidentally shot and killed an Afghan girl. She was maybe six years old at the time. Nothing happened to him, however, the memory of that haunted him for quite some time. That's the ticket, I thought. I also wondered why he was now so eager to dump Gloria, so I searched his brain feed further, digging deep into his thoughts.

It turned out that Gloria was pressuring him to marry her and adopt her children. Simpson, however, wasn't looking for a commitment or a ready-made family, just a quick fuck. Gloria had served that purpose well for quite some time, but he now felt that she was becoming too clingy and demanding.

Armed with this knowledge, I connected to Gloria's mind first and planted the seeds of doubt, passing on to her subconscious mind Ross' evil plot to leave her in Mexico. Once that was complete, I exited her mind, then connected to Ross.

I made him relive that fateful day in Afghanistan in his dreams, and kept replaying that memory in his head until he woke up. Then I projected myself through his mind, taking the form of the Afghan girl, complete with the bullet hole in her forehead. He woke with a start, turned and saw the girl -- which was really me -- and nearly fainted.

"Why did you kill me, mister?" I said in a little girl's voice. "I never did anything to you. Now my parents are so sad. Why? Tell me, please."

"I... I don't know. It was an accident. Really. I didn't mean to hurt you," Ross cried, shaking as he watched the apparition in front of him. The little girl looked so real to him. How is this even possible, he asked himself.

"But you did hurt me. You MURDERED me for no good reason," I said in the little girl's voice. Apparently, Ross hadn't picked up on the fact the girl was speaking in English and not her native language. "And now you plan to murder two men and leave your girlfriend in a Mexican whorehouse."

"What?" Ross asked. "How do you know that?"

"I know everything about you, H. Ross Simpson," I said in the girl's voice. "I know how you tried to frame your girlfriend's husband for things he never did. How you deliberately destroyed his life and his family with lies. And soon, the authorities will know."

"Wait," Ross said. "You're not real. You're a figment of my imagination. This is a dream."

"It's no dream, Mr. Simpson. It's real. But soon, it will become your personal nightmare. I am going to see to that," I said in the girl's voice.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Confess," I said. "Confess everything now."

"I can't do that," he said.

"Then do humanity a favor and KILL yourself! Rid the world of your evil, because that's what you are," the "girl" said.

"No! I won't," he said.

"Those are your choices. Confess. Or die. You choose. I'll never leave you alone until you do," I added. The apparition disappeared and I left Ross' mind, but before I did, I searched through his mind and found his knowledge of firearms.

Using a newly-learned technique, I erased all knowledge of guns from his mind. From this moment forward, he wouldn't know which end of a gun was which. I also planted the image of the girl in his mind so he would see her even when he was awake. The girl's image would haunt him wherever he went, encouraging him to either confess his actions or do himself in.

I came to in my office, sweat pouring off my head. Connecting to a mind like that takes a lot of work. It takes even more work to project myself through someone's mind. I caught my breath and smiled. The game's afoot, I thought, recalling the old Sherlock Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange."

I sent Bill an email to let him know of my nocturnal adventure, then headed back to the main part of the house. I found Ginger in bed, sitting up with the purple dinosaur book we bought for the kids.

"You know, this really isn't such a bad book after all," she said with a smile. "How did it go? You look beat."

"I think things are going to get interesting between Gloria and Ross," I said.

"Good," she said. "Now, why don't you take a shower, get into your pajamas and let momma read you a story about the purple dinosaur."

"Oh, goody," I said, heading to the bathroom.

...

The next morning, I fired up my tablet and checked in on Gloria and Ross. Neither of them had slept very well the night before and were irritable and short-tempered.

"You look about the way I feel," Gloria said as she poured their coffee.

"I didn't sleep too well last night," Ross said.

"Neither did I," she said. They wolfed down a bagel, drank their coffee and headed out the door for work. I made sure the "girl" in Ross' dream would haunt him wherever he went, then called Max to brief him on the situation.

"Yeah, I figured it was you when I saw the story about Jenkins," he said. "You need any help on this?"

"Not right now, boss," I said. "Besides, Bill is a friend and I'd like to handle this on my own if you don't mind."

"Not at all," he said. "In fact, Adrestia and I were thinking it was about time you starting operating without a net, so to speak."

"So you're cutting me loose, then?" I asked.

"Not at all. I just feel you need the freedom to pursue some of your own caseload for a change. Just keep me in the loop and feel free to shout if you need any help. I assure you, there's plenty here to keep us both busy," he said.

"Thanks, Max, I appreciate that," I said.

"No problem. By the way, how are my godchildren doing?" he asked.

"Growing like weeds," I said. He laughed at that.

"That's good to hear. I gotta head out now, so stay in touch," he said.

"Will do," I said. My next call was to Bill.

"Hey, boss," he said. "Just getting ready to head over to see Drew. How'd it go last night?"

"I think we're getting close to administering the coup de grace," I said. "Let me know how it goes with Drew."

"I will," he said. We ended the call and I kept tabs on both Ross and Gloria for the day. What I had done the previous night was taking its toll on both of them. They were both on edge, short-tempered and shaky for the entire day. I especially made sure Ross saw the little girl several times throughout the day. By the end of the business day, they were quite rattled. Good, I thought. I intended to repeat my performance that night.

I also checked in on Jenkins. The man was now being held in solitary at the behavioral health clinic. Concerned about his mental state and the wild claims he was making, the doctors put him on a regimen of various drugs that kept him sedated most of the day.

I finally heard from Bill that afternoon. He came by the house and we went into the office. From what he told me, Drew was putting together a pretty solid case against both Ross and Gloria. Some of the criminal charges included extortion and perjury, while a civil case was being prepared for intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation. He was also putting together a case to present to the State Bar.

Drew said a possible case might be made for conspiracy to commit murder, but he doubted the district attorney would accept the video evidence we provided, given its source. Still, he said it could be used as leverage against the two of them if they decided to fight the civil case he intended to file. He also planned to file for a modification of the final divorce decree.

"So basically, Ross is fucked," I said.

"Pretty much," Bill said.

"Couldn't happen to a better asshole," I said. Bill agreed.

That night, I made another visit to the bed shared by Gloria and Ross. This time, I appeared to Gloria in her dreams and told her flat out that Ross intended to dump her in Mexico or leave her for dead in an unmarked grave.

"That's not true," she said. "He'd never do that to me."

"Right," I said. "This is the same man who filed false charges against your ex-husband and the same man who intends to kill the father of your children."

"How do you know about all that?" she asked in her dream.

"I know everything about your boyfriend. He's about to get hit with a ton of charges. And guess what? You're getting charged as an accessory," I said. "Cut your losses now, Gloria. Do the right thing for once in your life. You know Bill loves the kids and you know what you have done is wrong."

"If I do this, what will I get?" she asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Can't say for certain. But I know you're going to lose even more if you keep going the way you are. Maybe even your life. Is that worth it?"

"I... I guess not," she said. I disconnected from Gloria's mind and reconnected to Ross, again as the girl he killed overseas.

"Why are you still alive when I'm dead?" she asked. Ross backed away and shook his head.

"Leave me alone. Go away," he begged.

"Never! Confess! Now! Or kill yourself. But know this. It's very hot where you're going, and they just love to play with little bitches like you," I had her say. "Hahahaha! I'd love to see you spit-roasted by a few demons. That would make my day."

"Nooooooooo!" Ross screamed. He shot upright in bed and looked around. The image of the girl dissipated and he looked at Gloria, who was sitting up in bed, looking at him with murder in her eyes. "What?" he demanded.

"You were really going to do it, weren't you?" she asked.

"Do what? What are you babbling about, bitch?"

"You were going to leave me in Mexico, maybe sell me off to a whorehouse or worse. Weren't you?" When he didn't say anything, it dawned on her that the being in her dream was telling her the truth. "Oh my God, it IS true. Get out. Get out of my house right fucking now."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I'm not going anywhere." He opened the nightstand drawer next to him and pulled out a 9 mm pistol. He looked at it, and suddenly realized he didn't know how to operate the thing. He didn't even know where the bullets went.

Just then, Bill Jr., came into the room, having been woken up by his mother's screams. He saw the gun and screamed. Ross pointed the gun at him, and Gloria launched herself at her boyfriend.

"Call 911, Bill," she screamed as she struggled with Ross. The boy fled the room and called the police as his mother fought with Ross. A few moments into the call, the sound of two gunshots rang throughout the house. The 911 operator told the youngster to stay on the line as officers were on their way.

Neighbors, hearing the gunshots, ran to the house and knocked on the door. The young boy answered the door just as a police cruiser pulled up with lights flashing. Two officers ran into the house, their guns drawn. Bill pointed the way to the master bedroom.

When the officers went in, they saw a man with a gunshot wound in his upper chest on the floor. Next to him was a woman with a gunshot wound to her arm. Both were covered in blood. A 9 mm pistol lay on the floor next to the man. Officers checked both of them and found they were still alive.

An ambulance came and paramedics took both of them to the hospital. After talking to the boy, they let him call his father. Bill gladly came to the house to pick the children up, but called me first. When I got to the house, officers were going through the house collecting whatever evidence they could find.

Bill took the kids to the condo and I gleaned whatever information I could from the officers. From what they could gather, the couple fought in the bed over the gun, eventually falling on the floor.

Ross managed to take the safety off and pulled the trigger, causing the first bullet to travel the length of Gloria's upper arm. Somehow, she got the weapon pointed back at Ross just as he pulled the trigger, sending a second shot into his upper chest at point-blank range.

I tried to connect to their minds, but found that I couldn't. That meant they were either dead or unconscious. I hoped it meant the latter. I made my way to the hospital and probed the minds of the emergency staff to see what I could learn.

H. Ross Simpson was dead on arrival, and Gloria was undergoing surgery. That explained why I couldn't connect with her mind. I called Bill to let him know. He told me he would contact her parents to let them know what had happened. There was nothing more I could do here, so I went back home.

...

The next day, I went to the hospital with Bill after he dropped the kids at my house. We learned that Gloria had survived the surgery and was recovering in her hospital room. We caught up with her parents, who were shocked at what they learned. All this time, they thought Bill was the bad guy in their daughter's marriage and refused to have anything to do with him.

"I'm really so very sorry, Bill," Gloria's mother cried. "I had no idea."

"I understand," he said. "She had a lot of people fooled." They hugged and said their goodbyes and we went to Gloria's room. She looked a mess with all the tubes and wires going into her arms. She looked at Bill and a tear fell down her cheek.

"Ross didn't make it," he said, causing her to start crying harder. She calmed down long enough to look at me, then her eyes lit up with recognition.

"It was you," she said. "You're the one who told me about Ross. Was it true? Was he really going to leave me in a Mexican whorehouse?"

"I'm afraid so," I told her. "Or dead." She looked at Bill before speaking.

"It was all his idea, setting you up with those false charges, making you defend yourself from things you never did," she said.

"I know," Bill said. "But you signed off on the papers. And you wanted me dead so you could have my insurance money." She looked down, ashamed.

"I'm sorry for that," she said.

"And you knew he planned to kill the two of us," I said. She looked at me, shocked.

"How do you know that?" she asked.

"We know everything," I said. "I'm an investigator. It's my job to know."

"What happens now?" she asked Bill.

"There'll be an investigation," he said. "Then there'll be charges filed. Someone is going to jail over this. Since Ross is dead, that leaves you. I'm filing to have the divorce decree modified. I intend to take full custody of the children, but I'll let you see them, provided you're not in jail. I won't deny you visitation the way you denied me. The house will be sold and we'll split the proceeds. I'm asking for a 60-40 split based on what I've had to pay."

"I guess that's only fair after what I put you through," she said. "I'm sorry, Bill, really I am."

"Yeah," Bill said. "Well, we'd better get going. Goodbye, Gloria."

"Goodbye, Bill," she said quietly. We left and went back to my place.

...

Epilogue (Three months later)

Bill's divorce decree was modified pretty much the way he said it would be. His house sold pretty fast, and he split the proceeds 60-40 with Gloria. He also got full custody of his kids and they're all doing just fine now. It wasn't easy after all the trouble Gloria had put them through.

Bill brings them by when he comes to work most mornings and they help Ginger around the house. They're good kids, but were put in a horrible position by their mother.

Gloria was found guilty of all the charges put against her. Because of her clean record, she was given a suspended sentence. She still works as an administrative assistant for the firm Simpson used to work for and rents an apartment not far from her office.

True to his word, Bill lets her see the children pretty much whenever she wants. As far as I know, she's not dating anyone. She tried to maneuver Bill into taking her out, but he refused, saying that ship had already sailed. Besides, he's now dating a pretty blonde he met at a club a few weeks ago.

Drew filed a lawsuit against Simpson's estate and is still litigating that action. Bill tells me it could take quite some time for that to get settled.

Jenkins is still at the local behavioral health facility, and from what I could gather, doctors still don't know why it is he involuntarily defecates whenever he hears, "Drake." He should've listened to Hammer...

"Not bad for a few days' work," Max said. "I've got some cases that need to be worked if you can spare the time."