Houston Goes to Washington Pt. 01

"As do I," he said with a smile. After shaking their hands, Franklin left. John waited until he was out of the club before speaking.

"What are you thinking?" he asked Houston.

"I'm thinking this could get very... interesting," she said. "Did you see the way he was leering at me?"

"I think everyone here could see," John said. "You think there may be something to what Ryan said earlier?"

"It's possible," she said. "There was something in the way he spoke that kinda creeped me out. You know what I mean?"

"Yes, I do," John said.

"So, what's on the agenda for tonight?" she asked.

"Well, I'll send a quick report to Regis, then I think we have just about enough time to make it over to see the Evening Parade," John said.

"Evening Parade?" Houston asked.

"Yeah, it's something they do at the Marine Barracks at 8^th and I street every Friday night," John said. "I think you'll like it. Regis got reservations for us, and we need to be there by 7:00."

"Well, lead on, dear husband," she said. After verifying their bill was covered, they left the hotel and headed to the Marine Barracks. They got there in plenty of time and took their assigned seats. John recorded the event for them to watch later. Houston had never seen anything like this before and sat in awe, watching the Silent Drill Team perform. When the performance ended, she threw her arms around her husband.

"That was awesome," she said. "Thanks for bringing me here. Where to now?"

"Well, there's this nice little Irish pub I know about," John said. "They usually have live music. Wanna go grab a beer and do some dancing?"

"Sounds like fun," she said. "Let's go." They went to the bar and had a great time drinking dark beer and dancing to a live Irish band. A couple hours later, Houston threw her arms around John and kissed him on the mouth.

"I love you, John Smith," she said. "This has been a wonderful evening. Now, take me back to the hotel and fuck my brains out."

"I love you, too, Houston Smith," John said. "And I can't think of anything I'd rather do than fuck your brains out."

...

After breakfast he next morning, John fired up his tablet and connected to the Company's secure VPN for their morning briefing as Houston sat next to him on the bed. Shortly thereafter, Regis' face filled the screen.

"About Goddamned time you two lazy asses got out of bed," he said with a crooked grin.

"Good to see you too, boss," John said.

"I hope you enjoyed the Evening Parade last night," Regis told them.

"We did, very much," Houston said. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Regis said. "I went over your report, John. The forensic analysts are going through the documents you sent with a fine-toothed comb. Jury's not out yet, though."

"So what do we do now?" John asked.

"I understand you've accepted Senator Legstrom's invitation," Regis said.

"I felt we really didn't have much choice," John said. "Plus, Ryan said he and his wife would be there."

"Right," Regis said.

"Do you think there's anything to his claim of sexual blackmail?" John asked.

"That's what I need you to find out," Regis said. "I've heard a lot of rumors, but I've never been able to get any solid proof. I understand you plan to do some sight-seeing today."

"Yes," John said.

"Good," Regis said. "I need you to be at the Washington Monument at 1100 hours. You'll be joined by an old friend who will give you more information."

"An old friend?" John asked.

"Yes," Regis said. "You'll know him when you see him. And Houston?"

"Yes?" she responded.

"Remember your pills," Regis said.

"I will," she said. "How long do those last, by the way?"

"One will protect you for about six hours. You may take two if you feel the need, but no more than two in an eight-hour period," Regis said.

"I'll remember," she said.

"Alright, gang, you have your marching orders," Regis said. "Be careful."

"We will, boss," John said, ending the call. Gathering what they needed, they headed out for the day.

...

"Have you got everything lined up for tonight?" Franklin H. Legstrom asked as he spoke into the phone.

"We've got everything set to go," the voice said at the other end of the call.

"Good," Franklin said. "Make sure she gets there on time. There can be no fuckups on this. You got me?"

"We've got everything under control," the person on the other end of the call said.

"See that you do," Franklin said before ending the call. He looked out the window of his spacious Senate office and wondered how it was there were so many incompetent people in one place at one time. A knock at the door got his attention and he turned to see Lucille, his receptionist, poking her head in the door.

"Senator, Mr. Ogilvie is here to see you," she said.

"Fine, send him in, Lucy," he said. The door opened wider and Ryan came inside. Franklin waved him in. "Come on in, Ryan," he said with a smile. "Please, have a seat. As Ryan walked to the chair Franklin pointed to, the Senator turned to the large security man. "Close the door on your way out, please," he said. The large man nodded his head silently, turned and walked out the door, closing it behind him. Franklin's expression changed when the two men were alone.

"You've been a busy little bee lately, haven't you, Ryan?" Franklin asked.

"Just doing my job, Senator," Ryan answered.

"Your job, huh?" Franklin responded. "It seems that you've also been something of a naughty boy while doing your job. Sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong, looking into things I already told you to leave alone. Talking to people you shouldn't be talking to."

"Senator, I..." Ryan began before Franklin waved his hand.

"I don't want to hear it, Ryan," Franklin said. "Look, I don't mind a bit of naughtiness. In fact, I've been known to get... naughty... a time or two myself. I know how this game is played. Hell, son, I was playing it long before you were a twinkle in your daddy's eye." Ryan looked down, trying to find something interesting in the carpet.

"Look at me when I'm talking to ya, boy," Franklin ordered, reminding Ryan of his overbearing father. Ryan's head snapped up and for a moment, Franklin saw something in the young man's eyes. Was it anger? Good, he thought. "The real question now is what are we gonna do about this? I can't just have staffers thinking they can do whatever they want whenever they want to do it. I need to be able to trust the people working for me. You can understand that, I'm sure."

"Yes, Senator, I do," Ryan said.

"Good," Franklin said. "Now, what would you do if you were in my shoes, huh?"

"I don't know, Senator," Ryan said. "Maybe clear the air."

"Well, I've got an even better idea than that, son," Franklin said. "You need to learn a lesson, learn your place in the grand scheme of things. Know what I mean?"

"I'm not sure what you mean, Senator," Ryan said. Franklin leaned back in his overstuffed chair and smiled, but there was no warmth in his smile.

"That's okay, son," Franklin said. "You will, soon enough." He saw Ryan start to tremble nervously. "Don't worry, no harm will come to you. Just go along with me on this. Trust me. Think you can do that?"

"I... I guess so, Senator," Ryan said.

"Then here's what we're gonna do," Franklin said, leaning forward.

...

A few hundred miles away, an operative observed the conversation between Ryan and Franklin. He was glad that it wasn't him facing the Senator and shuddered at what he heard. He turned to his supervisor, who sat at a large desk at one end of the room.

"Boss, you might want to come see this," the operative said. The woman sitting at the desk got up and walked to the operative's station. She watched the conversation as she put on a set of headphones. After a few minutes, she took the headphones off.

"You have all this recorded, right?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

"Good," she said, picking up the phone sitting on the station. She dialed a series of numbers and waited.

"Alpha One," she heard Regis say as he answered.

"Boss, we have something I think you should come see," she told him.

"On my way," he said, ending the call.

...

After seeing the Lincoln Memorial and several of the other landmarks and monuments in the area, John and Houston made their way to the Washington Monument. Houston had seen many pictures of the large, imposing obelisk, but those pictures simply didn't do this thing justice. She squinted her eyes as she looked up at the structure and marveled at its size.

"Wow," she said.

"Breathtaking, isn't it?" John and Houston heard a man ask behind them. "The view from the top is quite inspiring as well." They turned to see an average-looking man standing just a few feet from them. John recognized him instantly and extended a hand.

"Warren? Oscar Warren?" he asked. Oscar nodded his head as he shook John's hand.

"That's me," he said with a smile. "And how are you doing, John Smith?"

"Doing fine," John answered. "You remember my wife, Houston?"

"Of course," Oscar said, shaking her hand. "I'm glad to see the two of you working together. And in case you're wondering, yes, I'm the one you're supposed to meet here. Although we're not really supposed to officially meet for another two minutes or so."

"I won't tell anyone if you won't," John said, laughing. Oscar laughed with him.

"No problem," he said. "Let's take a walk, shall we?" The three of them turned and walked around the monument as they spoke.

"I understand you were contacted by a whistle-blower with information related to Senator Legstrom," Oscar said.

"Yes, we were," John said. "Are we running parallel investigations here?"

"Possibly," Oscar said. "You remember what we discussed before?"

"Yes," John said. "You think Legstrom was involved with this, what was it, MMAS? And Omega?" Before Houston was recruited, Oscar told them about an organization called MMAS, the Mutual Marital Assurance Society, an organization originally set up to allegedly punish husbands who strayed in their marriages.

The group, however, morphed into something else and became a vehicle used to push a femdom ideology nationwide. Among those involved was the former First Lady, who conspired to bring down her husband, Lincoln Skaggs. She failed, and died after taking poison. The other top operatives were also brought down.

From what Oscar told them, even though the organization was destroyed, there were a number of loose ends that had to be dealt with. Was Senator Legstrom one of those loose ends, John asked himself.

"That's what we're looking into," Oscar said. "George Black, the senior partner with Omega, and Ryan Dreyfuss, the Chairman of the Board, were both big contributors to Legstrom. In fact, Omega's PAC donated the maximum legal amount to Legstrom's campaign, and Dreyfuss was a major bundler. We believe he and Black both helped redirect foreign funds to Legstrom.

"As you may recall, Omega was also tied to MMAS. And we believe Legstrom had ties to them as well, although we're not 100 percent certain. It's also possible he may not have known what the organization was really all about. We do know that he and President Skaggs have been at odds with each other for a while now," Oscar said.

"On top of that, we've seen Legstrom's name mentioned a few times in Pat Witherspoon's files, but again, there's nothing that conclusively connects him to their operation," Oscar added. John recalled that Pat was the person Houston said she saw talking to her bosses when she worked at Omega. He also recalled Oscar saying she was a top operative with MMAS.

"Could it be that he was mentioned because he heads up the subcommittees that oversee both our organizations?" John asked.

"That's entirely possible," Oscar said. "There's a couple of other things. The wife of your whistle-blower attended one of MMAS' so-called 'spa retreats' about three years ago. That's how the organization recruited their 'customers.' From what we could tell, Ryan, your whistle-blower, never followed up with the group and was never interviewed.

"Additionally, we believe Legstrom's wife may have been involved with the group. Witherspoon often referred to people in her files by their initials, or the initials of their rank or position. One set of initials mentioned a few times is 'NG.' We've been unable to verify it, but we believe those are the initials of Legstrom's wife, Nancy," he said.

"Nancy?" John asked. "Wouldn't that make her initials 'NL' and not 'NG'?"

"Ordinarily, yes," John said. "But she prefers to go by her maiden name, Garrison, thus making her initials NG."

"Interesting," John said. "So far, I've heard a lot of coincidences and possibilities, but as Alpha One might say, nothing that would make my skirt blow up."

"I agree. That's why we need your help, John," Oscar said.

"Okay," John said. "What do want from us?"

"I understand the two of you have been invited to one of Legstrom's private parties," Oscar said.

"Yes," John said. "Tonight, in fact."

"I'd like you to press him a bit, see if you can get him to open up," Oscar said.

"I kinda doubt anything he says to me during a party could be used as evidence in a court of law," John said.

"I'm not interested in what can be presented in court," Oscar said.

"What are you looking for, Oscar?" John asked.

"Justice," Oscar said quietly.

"Isn't that what the courts are for?" John asked.

"You don't understand," Oscar said. He pulled out his cell phone and showed John and Houston a short video. They instantly recognized Liz Skaggs, the former First Lady, dressed in a white robe, her cleavage quite prominent. As they watched, she pulled a small vial from a pocket, drank it quickly, then downed the champagne in Oscar's flute. Her face immediately turned white and her eyes bulged. Seconds later, she was on the floor.

"Oh my God," Houston exclaimed as John handed the phone back to Oscar.

"That happened in her quarters at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, right across the table from me," Oscar said. "She killed herself in front of me right after I told her that her sister had been shot by officers."

"Her sister?" John asked.

"Yes, Mona Larsen, the one who founded MMAS," Oscar said. He pulled a folder from inside his jacket. "Go on, take a look." John opened the folder and the first picture he saw was of a man on a gurney with a dark substance in his mouth.

"What's that in his mouth?" Houston asked.

"Feces, Houston," Oscar said, causing Houston to feel nauseous. "Human feces. From his wife. Look at the rest of the pictures. Go on." John thumbed through the other pictures. Both he and Houston were shocked at what they saw. A couple of the pictures showed men with shaved heads in various stages of mental distress. John looked at Oscar with one eyebrow raised.

"Those are just a few of the men MMAS tortured, beat and humiliated," Oscar said. "We have a whole hospital full of men like this." Another picture showed a woman in a hospital bed. "That was my first wife, Renee," Oscar said. "She was sentenced to 30 years for her role in an attempt on my life. We had two children. They still don't fully understand why their mother could never come back home. She died of cancer shortly after Liz Skaggs committed suicide. We believe it was from the drugs MMAS gave her."

"And you're still wearing your wedding ring?" Houston asked. Oscar looked at his finger before responding.

"No, I've since remarried," he said. "In fact, we have a young son. Not quite two years old."

The next picture showed what looked like the aftermath of a terrorist bombing, with body parts strewn all over a room. John looked to Oscar for an explanation.

"That was the result of a sick experiment by MMAS," Oscar said. "They developed exploding male chastity devices, and that's what happened when one of them blew up. Believe me, many people have suffered and died thanks to MMAS. The last picture is of my first partner, Frank. Killed by MMAS in the line of duty." John closed the folder and handed it back to Oscar.

"No, you keep it," Oscar said. "I've got plenty of copies -- and memories. I'll never get those images out of my head. They've even tried to kill me, more than once. So you see, I want to know if Legstrom knew about this. I want to know what role, if any, he had in this."

"I'm sorry, Oscar, I had no idea. I think I understand now," John said. "I'll see what I can do."

"I'm sorry as well, John," Oscar said. "I shouldn't have gone off like that. It was unprofessional of me. And I appreciate any help you can give me."

"What are your intentions?" John asked.

"You mean, am I going to kill him?" Oscar asked. "God knows I should if it turns out he did know about this. But I probably won't unless I have no choice. Like you, I'm a trained federal officer, sworn to uphold the law and protect the Constitution and all that stuff. But so help me, there are times I'd like to take this badge off and do things the old-fashioned way. Know what I mean?" John nodded his head.

"Oh yes, I know exactly what you mean," he said, looking at Houston.

"I just wanted you to understand what we're up against here," Oscar said. "God help us all if these people get in power. If Legstrom had anything to do with this, I want him brought down -- hard." John looked at Oscar and saw the determination in his face. He wondered how Oscar had dealt with all of this over the years without going insane.

"We'll do everything we can, Oscar," John said.

"Thank you, John, I know you will," Oscar said. "Be extra careful tonight. I don't think Legstrom will try anything against you, but you never know. Contact me when you can," he added, handing John a business card. "I can be reached at that number any time day or night."

"Thanks for the heads-up," John said. "We'll be extra careful." They shook hands and parted ways.

"That poor man," Houston said after Oscar left.

"Yeah," John said. They finished their day of sightseeing a bit early, then went back to their room, where John fired up his tablet.

"I hope you two had a good time seeing the sights," Regis said.

"We did," John said. "We also met Oscar."

"So, you have a better understanding of what's at stake here?" Regis asked.

"I think so," John said.

"Good," Regis said. "Our analysts have been going through what Ryan gave you. Guess what?"

"What?" John asked.

"Most of those documents are fake," Regis said.

"Fake?" John asked. "Why would he plant fake documents? What about the transactions to his campaign coffers?"

"We're still digging and sifting through the transactions, but I suspect some of those may be fake as well," Regis told them. "As for the 'why,' that's anyone's guess. If you ask me, he's fishing, looking to trap some poor sucker like Ryan."

"That just doesn't make a lot of sense to me," John said. "Why go through all that trouble?"

"And that is the $64,000 question," Regis said. "Fortunately for the two of you, I think I may have a possible answer."

"And what might that be?" John asked.

"I think he wanted to entrap Ogilvie, knowing the young man's penchant for doing the right thing," Regis said. "He knew there was no security breach. He simply wanted an excuse to get Ogilvie and his wife to that party. The reason for that may be found in Legstrom's confidential profile," Regis said. "The one that not even he knows about. You see, Legstrom and his wife have what you might call an... interesting... relationship."

"Interesting?" John asked. "What do you mean?"

"It seems that his wife is into a form of domination," Regis said. "And Legstrom, well, he likes to watch."

"Watch?" Houston asked. "What do you mean, watch?"

"He gets off watching people have sex, Houston," Regis explained. "He also has a thing for intimidation. Put the two together. You can use your imagination for that."