Last Christmas Party Ch. 01: Tom

Furious, Tom printed the entire email chain off, along with several other email chains between Jake and Brenda outlining their scheme against him and Linda. He swore they would pay for this. After he printed everything out, he grabbed a folder and called Linda's phone one more time, hoping to reach her. As before, it went straight to voicemail.

He ran back to his office, grabbed his laptop and his jacket and drove straight to the Radisson. When he got there, he ran to the ballroom where the party was still going on. He looked around, frantic, hoping to see his wife. He didn't but several of his colleagues looked at him, concerned. He asked around, but no one knew where she was. He finally found Julie.

"Hey Julie," he said. "Do you know where Linda is? Have you seen her?"

"I don't know where she is now," Julie said. "But I saw her earlier. Tom, she wasn't acting like herself at all."

"What do you mean?" he asked. She pulled out her phone and showed him a video of Linda, rubbing herself all over the man she was dancing with. As she moved out of the way, he saw the man she was with was none other than Jake fucking Wheeler. And Brenda was close by.

"I'm sorry, Tom," she said. "For a moment, I thought she was gonna screw him right there on the dance floor."

"Shit," he said. "Is Brenda still here?"

"I saw her a couple minutes ago over by the rest rooms," Julie said. "You need to get Linda home, fast."

"Thanks," Tom said, heading in the direction of the restrooms. On the way, he spotted Brenda by the bar, sipping a drink. He changed direction and went straight to her.

"Nice to see you could finally make it, Tom," she said with a smirk on her face. "Care for something to drink?"

"Where's my wife?" he asked. "What have you done with her?"

"Your wife?" she asked, the smirk getting more pronounced.

"Yes, Goddammit, my wife. Linda. What the fuck have you done with her and where the fuck is she?" Tom shouted. Others heard him shout and stopped dancing to find out was going on. As they stood off, others stopped dancing as well to see what was going on. The band finally stopped playing and the room got quiet.

"Well, you've made quite a scene," she said. "I hope your proud of yourself."

"Answer my question," Tom demanded. "Where is my wife? I want to see her here right fucking now!"

"Settle down," she said. "Your wife is in very good hands. I'd say she's probably a third of the way to New York right about now. In a few hours, she'll have been 'evaluated' by every member of the Board, male and female alike. She'll be returned to you, a bit worn for wear. But the cost for her return will be a blowjob."

"What?" Tom asked.

"That's right," she said. "You'll be required to suck Jake's dick. That's the price for getting your wife back." There were gasps from many of those now gathered around them. "Don't be alarmed," Brenda said. "That's just the way we do things at Acme." Tom pulled out his phone.

"Then perhaps this is as good a time as any to give you my two-week notice," Tom said, shocking a number of his colleagues. "That's right. I quit. Now, I'm giving you five seconds to call Jake and turn that plane around," he said. "Then I'm calling the authorities to have you, Jake and the Board of Directors arrested and charged with kidnapping and conspiracy."

"Kidnapping?" Brenda asked with a smirk. "You can't be serious. She left of her own free will. She knew exactly what she was doing."

"I don't think so," a male voice said from the crowd. Tom looked and saw Chuck Marston, one of his teammates, step forward. "I saw her with Jake. I even said hello to her, but she never responded. She looked to me like she had been drugged." More gasps from the crowd.

"I also have the emails between Jake, the Chairman and you, outlining your plot to drug and kidnap her," Tom said. You have to the count of five to call Jake and turn that plane around.

"What?" Brenda asked.

"Five," Tom said.

"You can't mean that?" she said.

"Four." She pulled out her phone.

"Three." She hit Jake's number on speed dial.

"Two." He heard Jake's voice over her phone.

"Put it on speaker," Tom demanded. Brenda put the phone on speaker so everyone could hear.

"Yeah, what?" Jake asked. "We're a little busy right now." They could all hear a woman screaming and moaning in the background.

"Jake, you need to turn that plane around right now," Brenda said.

"No way," he said. "We're going to New York and the slut is putting on one helluva show right now."

"He knows everything and he's here," Brenda said. "He's threatening to have us all arrested for kidnapping."

"Kidnapping?" Jake asked.

"That's right, asshole," Tom shouted. "Kidnapping, conspiracy and whatever else I can think of. Then I'm going to rip your goddamn head off and shit down your throat. Now you get my wife back here right fucking now!" A tall man stepped from the crowd. Tom recognized him as Alan Hawkins, a senior attorney from the company's legal department.

"Jake, this is Alan Hawkins from legal," he said. "Tom's right. There's witnesses here who say she wasn't acting herself. If you did in fact drug her or have her drugged for the purposes of taking her to New York against her will, he could have you arrested for kidnapping along with a few other charges. The best thing you can do right now is turn that plane around and bring her back."

"Okay, hang on, let me talk to the pilot," Jake said after a few moments. Just then a large hotel security man showed up.

"Is everything alright here, folks?" he asked.

"No," Tom said before Brenda could get a word out. "This woman," he said, pointing at Linda, "drugged my wife so her accomplice could kidnap her from the party and take her to New York. I want the police called and I want her arrested." The security man looked Brenda over, then nodded his head, turned around and spoke quietly into his microphone. A few moments later, he turned back to them.

"The police are on their way," he said. "You'll need to stay with us, ma'am," he told Brenda.

"Just a moment, please," Tom said. "We're trying to get the plane she's on turned around." The security man nodded his head and stood quietly, keeping his eyes on Linda. By now, the scene looked like something out of an old Frankenstein movie, but this time, Brenda was Dr. Frankenstein and Tom's colleagues were the townspeople carrying pitchforks and torches. A few moments later, they heard Jake's voice.

"Alright, I talked to the pilot and he's turning the plane around," he said. He says we can be back in..." Jake's voice was interrupted by a horrible sound. They could hear the engines revving up in the background along with the sound of screaming.

"Jake, what's going on?" Brenda shouted.

"Oh shit," Jake exclaimed. "One engine is on fire. We're going down." The call suddenly ended and Tom looked at Brenda with hatred in his eyes.

"So help me God, if she dies, I'll make sure you die as well," he said. Brenda looked around at the others, who also eyed her with hatred and anger. Most of them didn't care for Acme to begin with, and for them, this was the last straw. The security man spoke into his microphone for a few moments.

"We've alerted the local air traffic control," he said. "I'm told they're monitoring the situation and first responders are standing by." Just then, several uniformed police officers showed up and began asking questions.

After taking Tom's statement, they spoke with the others at the party. Several told the officers they thought Linda had been drugged, based on the way she was acting.

"You say you have an email chain that can corroborate all this?" a sergeant asked.

"Yes, in my car," Tom said. The sergeant nodded his head.

"Very well," he said. He turned to a couple other officers. "Arrest this woman on charges of kidnapping, and conspiracy to kidnap. I'm sure there'll be other charges." He turned to Tom. "One of our detectives is on his way and he'll need to speak with you. You can give him that email chain." Tom nodded his head, saying nothing.

By then, Brenda had been led away in handcuffs and Tom's colleagues gathered around him and did what they could to comfort him. Hurt, angry, humiliated and scared for Linda, Tom put his head in his arms on the bar and cried bitter tears.

"It'll be alright, Tom," Julie said. "We'll be there for you."

"Thanks," Tom said. He closed his eyes and quietly prayed for his wife -- something he hadn't done in a very long time. He was filled with rage -- partly at Brenda and Jake, but mostly at himself for not seeing through Jake's despicable act and not insisting that Linda stay home until he could pick her up. His friends and colleagues did all they could but it seemed he was inconsolable.

After about 45 minutes, he heard a man's voice coming through the crowd. In a few minutes, he sensed the man's presence and looked up to see a burly man in a trench coat and a taller man wearing the standard dark suit of a federal agent. They each held up a set of credentials.

"Mr. Johnson," the trench coat said. "I'm Detective Abernathy, and this is Special Agent Ron Smith, FBI. Could we have a word please?"

"Sure," Tom said. He thanked his friends and walked with Abernathy and Smith to a smaller, more private room off the main ballroom. They sat down and Abernathy asked a hostess if she could get a couple cups of coffee. The hostess nodded her head and walked off.

"Before we start, I want you to know that we've been informed that first responders are on the scene of the crash and they report three survivors. One woman and two men. I'm not aware of their condition, but they're being stabilized and airlifted as we speak," Abernathy said.

"Thanks," Tom said. At least she was alive.

"What happened here tonight, Mr. Johnson?" Abernathy asked. Tom told them both the whole story, leaving nothing out. They listened intently, taking notes, and only interrupted Tom to ask some clarifying questions. When he finished, he looked at them. Abernathy looked at Smith, who nodded his head.

"From what you've told us, Mr. Johnson," Smith said. "It sounds like a clear cut case of kidnapping. You say you have an email chain that can back all this up?"

"Yes, I have the printed emails in my car," Tom said.

"Go get them, please," Abernathy said. Tom nodded his head and went to his car. He returned a few minutes later with the folder and handed it to Abernathy. They looked through it and read what the co-conspirators said to each other.

"You say you know where the computer is, the one that holds these emails?" Smith asked.

"Yes, I do," Tom said. "I also know the password."

"Alright," Smith said. "We'll have to confiscate that as evidence. Can you get into the building this time of night?"

"Yes, my security fob gives me 24/7 access," Tom said.

"Then let's get over there," Smith said. "We'll follow you." They left the hotel and drove to the building housing Tyndall. Tom opened the front door and escorted Smith and Abernathy inside. The building security guard approached them, but walked away when the two officers flashed their badges.

When they got to Jake's office, the two officers donned latex gloves and asked Tom to stay at the doorway. They examined everything, taking pictures with cards holding numbers. Smith pointed at the folder Tom put on Jake's desk earlier that evening.

"Is this the report you spoke of? The one Wheeler used to distract you?" Smith asked.

"Yes, it is," Tom said. Smith placed the folder in an evidence bag and continued his search.

"You say you know where the password is for this computer?" Abernathy asked.

"Top drawer, right hand side," Tom said. "Right on top. The last password is the one that worked." Abernathy nodded his head and opened the drawer. He took a picture of the password list and used it to bring Jake's laptop up. The two officers looked at each other and nodded their heads. Apparently, Tom thought, these guys use some kind of secret code. They brought Jake's laptop down and bagged it as evidence.

When they finished, they came out of the office and Abernathy put tape across the door labeling the office as a crime scene. He turned to Tom before speaking.

"This office is now a crime scene," he said. "No one is to enter until we clear it. Understand?"

"Yeah," Tom said.

"What about the woman, Brenda? Where is her office?" Abernathy asked.

"Right across the hall," Tom said. They entered and found no computer on her desk. They went through her desk drawers but came away empty-handed. They took pictures as they had done in Jake's office and also marked it as a crime scene.

"I want you to understand that we may be back for more statements and we may want to do another search," Smith said as Abernathy answered his phone.

"I understand," Tom said. "I'll make sure everyone knows."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Johnson," Smith said. By then, Abernathy had put his phone away.

"Your wife has just been admitted to Mercy General Hospital, Mr. Johnson," he said. "She's undergoing surgery right now."

"Is she going to be okay?" Tom asked.

"You'll have to talk to the doctor about that," Abernathy said. "Maybe you should head on over. We're finished here for now, anyway." They left the building and Tom drove to the hospital, praying that Linda would be okay. He knew he would have to tell the children and Linda's parents, but he was desperate to learn of her condition first.

...

To be continued...