How It Started, How It's Going Pt. 05

"I came over here looking for you," Tank argued. "And it turned out Casey here was keen for a action replay."

"Bullshit."

"Hey you trained her well man. She loves a black dick. That weekend in the mountains..." Tank didn't get to finish the sentence as JT stepped forward and shoved him.

"Shut your mouth and get out."

The phrase 'weekend in the mountains' hit Bill like a sledgehammer. It was the piece of information that made the jigsaw of everything else that had happened fall into place. Both JT and Casey swung around to see Bill's reaction. Tank might not have been the sharpest tool in the shed but he guessed what was going on.

"Oh, doesn't hubbie know about that? I'm guessing he's going to be more pissed off when he finds out you took her ass cherry." Tank couldn't help but laugh at the way JT's bravado had crumbled.

Bill looked from JT's guilty face to his wife's. Her eyes were fixed on JT and there was more than a hint of satisfaction in the expression on her face. It stayed there until she noticed Bill staring at her. Casey dropped her eyes, made a show of tying the her robes sash around her waist then scurried out of the room leaving let Bill find his voice.

"I think you can both get the fuck out."

"Bill, you got to understand something..."JT tried to explain.

"I understand all I need to. Get the fuck out of my house and my life."

Tank had already pulled on his shorts and was on his way out the door. JT made to follow before he turned back again.

"Keep right on going."

It was Bill's face rather than his words that made JT comply. He knew there was nothing left to say. When they were gone Bill went to the back door and locked it. As he moved back into the living area he saw a pair of his wife's panties and a bra discarded on the floor. A rage bubbled inside him. He spied a ornate glass vase that Casey used a centre piece on their dining table. He'd never liked it so it gave him even more satisfaction when he threw it as hard as he could against the wall. It disintegrated spraying shards of glass everywhere. The wanton destruction appeased the beast inside for a moment as Bill searched for his next target. Then he got an idea. He picked up Casey's car keys on the way to the garage. The car flew backwards down the driveway with tyres spinning, swinging wildly onto the road before he took off in the direction of the freeway.

Bill realised ten minutes later he wasn't exactly sure of his destination. He pulled into the emergency lane and did a quick internet search. When Bill pulled up in front of the gates some of his anger had subsided. For a moment he stayed in the car contemplating backing onto the roadway and driving off. Fuck it, he thought, I've come this far. Getting out he went to the intercom and pressed the buzzer. While he waited for a response Bill checked out the house. It wasn't as grand as the pictures in the real estate article had suggested.

"Can I help you?"

"Mrs Hudson?"

"Yes."

"I'm a neighbour of your husband. Well where he was living before. I've got some information you should know before next Saturday."

"Well I doubt you're my husbands neighbour because he's been dead for ten years." There was some restrained laughter. "I think you want my daughter Keisha. I'll get her for you."

Bill was waiting for a response on the intercom and didn't see JT's wife until she was almost at the gates. He couldn't help himself as his eyes checked her out. She was shorter than he expected, curvy but not fat. She wore designer gym gear, joggers and a baseball cap. Large sunglasses covered much of her face still Bill reckoned she couldn't be much more than thirty years old.

"You want to talk to me?"

"Yeah, I, er," Bill struggled to find the words so in the end he just blurted it out. "Your husband hasn't been faithful."

"Well that's not exactly news to me."

"No, I mean lately, when he was supposed to be celibate."

"And how do you know that?" JT's wife hands were on her hips in an aggressive way. "Are you a peeping Tom or something?"

"No, no... it was with my wife."

"So she was the slut with him at his cabin?"

"Fucking hell, am I the only one who didn't know about that?"

"Well what do you expect heh?" Her hand came up as she gesticulated with her finger on every point. "I mean what the fuck is wrong with you white boys? Are you all gay? Do you secretly want to be fucked in the ass by the big bad black man? Or are you harking back to your racist roots? Pretending you're the plantation owner using some prime buck to breed your bitch?"

"So you don't care that he's cheating on you?"

"He hasn't since he's come back."

"And how long do you think that will last?"

"A long time if dumb fucks like you keep your slut wives and daughters on a short leash. Now get off my property before I call the police." Bill threw up his hands and walked back towards his car. "And don't think about talking no trash to the media. Not unless you want everyone to know what a pathetic cuckold you are!"

Bill drove around aimlessly for an hour. If he had his own car he probably wouldn't have but in the end he was driving up his own street. The cars were all gone from outside the house next door. Bill expected to find his own house silent. He was surprised to see Casey dressed and awake in the living area. She was talking on her phone and as he entered she stood up and went outside on the deck.

Steeling himself for a confrontation Bill got a glass of water and watched through the glass doors. In his mind he role played the questions and answers that would surely follow. He saw Casey put the phone down on an outside table. She bowed her head for a moment then stood up. Collecting her phone she walked back into the kitchen. Bill's was about to start his interrogation but Casey spoke first.

"It's back."

"What?"

"It's back, the cancer."

"Oh,"

Bill was struck dumb. A life and death struggle made theirs less important.

"I can't get any more time off work. I'm going to go up on weekends to help out."

As she spoke Casey put her phone on to charge then began heading for the stairs.

"So that's it? We aren't going to talk about what happened last night and this morning?"

"Not much to talk about. I got high and things got out of control."

"It was a bit more than just out of control!"

"Why? I got fucked by someone else. Not that long ago it was happening most weekends and you loved it." Casey shot back.

"It's completely different. It was one guy, and I was there to participate. You were at your sisters. You drove home specifically to get fucked knowing I wouldn't be home until much later."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I can't do this right now okay I'm tired, I've got to go to bed."

Casey went upstairs leaving Bill with a lot of unanswered questions. Circumstances meant they pretty much remained unanswered for the next six months. Between each of their work commitments, Casey's sister and Bill's app development they were only together a few hours a week. And Bill soon learnt that any mention of that weekend led to a week of the silent treatment. They still played the married couple roles on the rare occasions they were out in public or when the boys were home. Still shared a bed and had had sex once or twice. However it seemed to be more from habit than any actual desire.

Casey mostly took a bag of clothes to work Friday and left for her sisters straight from there. She would stay Sunday night, get up early and go straight to work Monday morning. Bill made the best of a bad situation by throwing himself into his online security side project. Sergio and Henri were still interested but unwilling to put a lot of money on the table until they had some proof the system worked.

They had proposed a competition. First prize of five hundred thousand dollars to any hacker who could get into a dummy website protected by their software. Advertisements for the prize were put up online on legitimate sites and the shady dark places. For the past month Bill and his collaborators anxiety had been through the roof as treasure hunters probed their inventions defences.

At first it was just single hackers. With only a few days to go there had been multiple attempts by larger groups working together. They had broken through some of the outer walls. No doubt getting excited about a financial windfall only to find their own computers frozen by the attacking defence. Bill would have loved to see their faces when they realised they would be the ones paying if they ever wanted to use them again.

Today was the big day. The competition was over and no one had claimed the prize. Henri and Sergio were flying in to meet Bill and his colleagues. They had made an offer to buy the system outright for one hundred million dollars. It was way under it's value. Not that the guys were interested in selling it. They knew this would revolutionise computer security so any of the big tech firms would pay that much a year just to subscribe.

The mood was ebullient as they waited in the hotel conference room. Champagne was on ice. The three of them swapped ideas of how they would spend their new found wealth. Nerves began to show when their potential benefactors were an hour late. It didn't get any better when three men wearing dark suits entered the room followed by two others dressed in military uniforms.

"I think you guys have the wrong room." Bill said. "We have booked this for an important meeting."

"Just sit down Bill." One of the guys in uniform said. "Your investors won't be making an appearance today."

"What are you talking about?" Bill's collaborator tried to stand up but a suit pushed him back down into his chair.

"Just relax guys." Uniformed guy said, "I'll explain everything."

Turned out he was a General in charge of Department of Defence Cyber division. They'd been keeping tabs on the trio's progress with interest ever since they had met up with the Europeans.

"Those guys run cyber teams linked to Russia and North Korea. Hackers seeking western intellectual property. They also have a sideline in ransomware extortion. We intercepted communications between them. They never intended to pay you. They were planning for you and possibly your loved ones to have accidents."

Bill and his team were stunned.

"We've detained them. They are no longer a threat."

"Why did you let them into the country in the first place?" Bill asked.

"They hadn't committed any crimes on US soil that we could prove." The General said holding his hands out as a mea culpa. "Plus we were interested to see what had attracted them to take the risk of coming here."

"Okay so you've stopped them. What has that got to do with us?" The third member of Bill's team asked.

"I'm really glad you asked that question." The general's smile as he made the statement gave Bill chills. "It seems your little security app has been quite successful. We have noticed a fifty percent drop in cyberattacks on US interests in the past month. Most of that can be put down to the disabled computers from your contest."

"So you want to buy it?" Bill was hopeful.

"Not exactly. We want the three of you to come to Washington and work for us."

"Why would we do that? We've got the golden ticket. When we sell this app to the tech giants we won't have to work." Bill's colleague was always the optimist.

"No, you don't understand your current situation." The General's face hardened. "Right now you are facing long prison terms for aiding and abetting foreign agents and treason. The app is no longer your property, it belongs to the United States Government." He paused to let the words sink in before continuing. "However, there is another option. Come and work for us. No charges will be written up. You get paid six figures with all the usual benefits and you'll be helping the security of the United States."

"You can't do that!" Bill slammed his hand down on the table.

"It's already done. You have ten minutes to make you decision. Jail or job, hero's or traitors."

There was silence. Bill looked across the table at his collaborators. They both shrugged and nodded their heads.

"I'll take that as a yes then."

The General was very pleased with himself. He waved to one of the guys in a suit. He placed a briefcase on the table, opened it and pulled out a sheath of papers. Four pages were placed in front of the Bill and his two friends.

"The first page is the standard government official secrets act. The second passes the apps ownership to the government. The other two are your employment contracts."

"What about the jobs we have already?"

"First thing tomorrow we will contact your employers. Impress on them that the security of the country is at stake and that we need your talents in the DoD."

The three men signed the papers. They were collected and put back in the briefcase.

"Okay gentlemen, that concludes our business today. Your new jobs start in three weeks. We'll be in touch before then to facilitate your moving to Washington."

They'd been dismissed. As they stood up to leave the General spoke directly to Bill.

"Could I have a word to you in private Bill?" He looked across at the agents in suits. "Give me the room guys."

They all filed out the door leaving Bill and the General alone.

"There is something else I needed to talk to you about Bill. It's of a private nature so that's why I'm doing it this way." He stopped for a moment and Bill could see he was searching for the right words to use. "We really want you in Washington Bill. From our observations you appear to be the team leader and you've done a remarkable job with the limited resources at your disposal." He paused again and Bill felt like the room was closing in on him. "The thing is, you've got to sort out the shit that's going on at home. The current situation would present problems for us re your security clearances. That would mean no job, and that would put us in a difficult position."

The general stood up to leave as Bill asked a question.

"What do you mean by the shit going on at home?"

"I don't want to comment any further. Our intelligence suggests you'll know what I mean soon enough."

Despite Bill's protests the general wouldn't elaborate. He was left to ponder it on his drive home but no obvious answers came. He thought maybe he was referring to the thing with JT but that was finished. To try and take his mind off it he changed from the radio to Bluetooth and started listening the latest episode of his favourite NFL podcast. Five minutes in he almost turned it off when one of the regular hosts announced they had a special guest.

"Tonight we are lucky to have ex player and now expert commentator for WXYZ's NFL coverage Micheal 'Tank' Abrams with us at the desk."

The two hosts started fawning over the fat fuck and Bill's finger was just about to hit the button to turn it off when something he heard stopped him.

"...before we start Tank I understand you have a big announcement?"

"Yeah, yeah man I do. Now this goes out to all the recruitment managers in the NFL. Put a circle around the year 2042 because you'all gonna be calling me to get the inside track on my boy for the draft."

"So you finally found a woman desperate enough to sleep with your fat ass?" There was some raucous laughter.

"Oh come on, I've had more bitches than you had incomplete passes." More laughter. "And yes, my babymomma is due in five months and it's gonna be a big bad boy just like his dad."

"Well I guess the only other thing we have to find out is does her husband know?"

Bill hand slapped the mode button on the steering wheel so it changed from the podcast to the radio. Was this what the General was talking about earlier? It can't be. Bill's inner dialogue continued, she's been at her sisters. But she was supposed to be there when she fucked the guys at the buck's night. He pulled the car over so he could search for Casey's sister's number. It rang for a long time and he was about to hang up when she answered. They exchanged pleasantries while Bill tried to think of a way to ask his question. In the end Casey's sister made any question redundant.

"...so how are you and Casey going. We haven't seen either of you in so long. I still haven't had a chance to thank her for all the time she put in up here when I was sick."

"We're fine," Bill struggled to get the words out as he felt his chest contract like he was being squeezed by a giant hand.

"Are you still there?"

"Yes, yes," Bill recovered enough to form some more words.

"And you are okay? No more..."

"Oh yes, I'm great. Just last week we visited the oncologist. He said everything's fine."

Bill found an excuse to get off the phone and disconnected. He sat for quite some time absorbing all he had learnt in the last half hour. Cars and truck wizzed past as the rest of the world carried on oblivious to his pain. Eventually he put on his blinker, selected drive and merged back into the flow of traffic heading for home.

At the house Casey's car was parked facing out onto the street. Ready for a quick getaway. Inside he followed his normal routine. Going into the downstairs bathroom and washing his hands and face. He took a deep breath and he held it, then let it out slowly as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"Showtime," he said before exiting and heading for the living area.

Casey was sitting on the lounge. She was dressed as if she was going out. In front of her was a bulging overnight night bag. She looked up at him as he walked to the refrigerator a grabbed a beer.

"Drinking during the week. That's unlike you." Casey said.

"Seems like the right thing to do tonight." Bill replied as he flipped off the lid.

"Um, could you come over here? There's something I've got to talk to you about."

"So what's that going to be about? Your sister's miraculous recovery? Or the fact that in five months time you are having another man's baby?"

Casey felt the blood drain from her face. She couldn't maintain eye contact so she dropped her head and stared at her hands in her lap.

"I'm sorry," was her feeble response.

"You're sorry? Sorry for which part? The lying? The cheating? Or did you mean the getting pregnant part?"

"All of it. I didn't mean... it just got out of hand."

"Out of hand? Fuck! That's the understatement of the century. You've been sneaking off to fuck Tank under the cover of helping your sick sister and then you wind up pregnant. I mean fucking hell Casey! You're not some teenager. You're a grown assed woman. How the fuck do you wind up pregnant?"

"It wasn't supposed to happen. I got an IUD put in but it became displaced. I went to a clinic and they removed it. They wouldn't put another one in straight away and I thought it was a safe time..." her voice drifted off but Bill didn't say anything so she continued. "Then the boys were home for holidays... by the time they'd gone back I knew I was... I was going to get it fixed but I told Michael, and he was so happy, and..."

"So he's not Tank anymore he's Michael?" Casey nodded and tears fell off her cheeks. "And his happiness is the most important thing?"

"I'm sorry Bill. I'm really sorry."

"Oh just fuck off with your sorry's. What are you going to tell the boys?"

"I've told them we are having some time apart."

"You've told them? When?"

"Last weekend."

"Oh for fucks sake!" Bill exploded. "Last weekend? Last fucking weekend? They've known for seven days and I find out on the radio? Is their a press release or newspaper article out there as well?"

"I know it's bad. I've been trying to tell you all week. You've been so busy."

"So it's my fault?"

"No. Look I know I've fucked everything up." Casey attitude had moved from explanation to moving on. "I can't change what happened with JT, or Michael and the baby. I'm going to live with Michael. I'll sign whatever you want. I don't want a dime from you."