What Did Happen in Vegas? Ch. 03

"Look at her shadow in this picture. It looks the same as in the first picture so they had to have been taken at nearly the same time but look at Tom's shadow. See how long it is. His picture was taken much later in the day and I know this for a fact. Look at the man behind Tom and tell me what you see."

Lisa looked closely at the picture on the display and studied it for a few seconds.

"Oh, my God. That's you."

"That's right. I was with Tom that day and Brandi was not. Someone took this picture of Tom in front of the hotel and then edited in Brandi's picture later. These pictures taken inside the hotel aren't as obvious. No shadows to compare but if you look closely you can see that they look a little funny. Whoever made these wasn't expecting you to look at them very closely. That brings us to the pictures on this last note. This one in front of Applebee's has the same problem with shadows and if you look closely at this last one that was supposed to be at your house Tom isn't anywhere to be seen and the door isn't opened. It looks to me like Brandi was just posed on your front steps to make it look like she was going into the house," Carl said.

"Oh my God, I should have known. When I got those last two pictures the note said that they had been taken on Sunday and I believed it. Then I found out that Tom had been in the accident and had been in the hospital all weekend I just assumed that the date on the pictures was wrong. I should have figured it out then. Tom tried to tell me not to believe the pictures but I wouldn't listen to him."

'Who would want to cause trouble between you and Tom and why?" Carl asked

"I have no idea but I intend to find out. I have to go to the hospital and tell Tom what I found out. I have to apologize for not believing him."

"I guess I'll stay over another day and come see Tom tomorrow. That will give you time to straighten things out with him."

"Where are you staying while you are in town?" Lisa asked.

"I'm at the Marriott," Carl said and then handed Lisa a business card with his cell phone number and asked her to have Tom call him. Lisa took the card and thanked him.

When Carl left, Lisa quickly went up to her office to shut off her computer and lock up her desk. While she waited for the computer to shut down she remembered what Brad had told her and she wanted to confront him to find out why he lied about seeing Tom with that woman. She called Brad but he didn't answer his phone so she decided to go down to his office.

Lisa took the elevator down to the second floor and headed down the long hallway that led to the development labs. Lisa hadn't been in this part of the building in a couple of years so when she walked into the lab and didn't recognize more than half of the people in there she wasn't surprised. She did remember where Brad's office was and went directly to his door but he was not in.

Lisa looked around the room but didn't see him anywhere. One of the new faces in the room was watching her and finally asked if he could help her so Lisa walked over to his workbench.

"I was looking for Brad. Is he around?"

"He took a late lunch today. He should be back in a half hour. I don't believe we have met before. My name is Jim Brasso."

"Nice to meet you Jim, I am..."

Before Lisa could finish giving him her name she saw something on the desk in front of her that caught her eye. It was a big HP photo editing system.

When she saw the photo editor Lisa felt that now familiar chill and without understanding why she lied about her name.

"I'm Sarah from accounting. I just wanted to see if Brad would still be wanting the weekly profit and loss reports. Tell Brad I'll call him later."

"I'll tell him."

Lisa pointed to the photo editor. "Is that one of those things that lets you change digital pictures?"

"Yeah. It's the top of the line too. You can do amazing things with it. You can edit a photograph to take parts of the image out that you don't want." Jim said.

"Can you put images into a picture?" Lisa asked.

"It's a little harder than taking things out of a picture but it can be done and, if it's done right, it would be very hard to tell," Jim said.

"That's cool. Whose desk is this?"

"It's Bill Werner's. You ought to come down some time and let him give you a demonstration. He is pretty good at using it."

"Where is he now?"

"I think Bill had a meeting with one of the VPs but he should be back soon.," Jim said.

"Well, I got to go. It was nice meeting you, Jim."

"Nice meeting you too, Sarah."

As Lisa left the lab area she tried to remember where she had heard the name Bill Werner before. Lisa had no evidence that Bill Werner had anything to do with the pictures but then she remembered that Tom had mentioned his name when he talked about the team that went to Las Vegas for the convention. The fact that he was in Vegas with Tom and he had access to a photo editor was too much of a coincidence for her.

Why would anyone want to break up their marriage was beyond Lisa but she knew if she didn't act fast and make things right with Tom, whoever was responsible might have succeeded.

*****

4:30 PM

By the time Lisa reached the hospital her heart was pounding. She was excited and happy to know that Tom hadn't cheated on her but she was worried that no matter what she said he would not be able to forgive her.

Lisa ran up the stairs to the second floor rather than wait for the elevator. When Lisa pushed open the door to Tom's room the privacy curtain was pulled around the bed and a nurse was in with Tom. Lisa sat and waited for the nurse to finish her work and come out from behind the curtain.

"Can I see my husband now?" Lisa asked.

The nurse gave Lisa a funny look and said, "You must have the wrong room."

"No, this is the right room. Room 209."

"Well, if you say so. You can see him now."

Lisa crossed the room and pulled the curtain back.

"Tom, I have to talk to you so please listen. I just found...."

As Lisa was talking, the man on the bed turned to face her. Lisa was stunned. It wasn't Tom; it was an eighty-year-old man.

Lisa ran from the room and out to the nurses' station.

"Where is my husband? He was in that room this morning and he is not there now. Where did you take him?"

"What's his name?"

"Tom Boyer."

The nurse checked her floor records.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Boyer, but according to my records you husband was released this morning."

Lisa was in a panic. Why had he left the hospital by himself? She raced home risking getting stopped for speeding but she made it home without incident. When she pulled her car into the garage she noticed that Tom's truck was gone.

He couldn't have driven his truck, could he? She ran into the house and up to the bedroom but Tom wasn't there, the house was empty. Lisa noticed that the door to Tom's closet was opened so she looked inside and saw that a lot of his clothes had been removed.

He had left her. Where would he have gone? Was it over? No, it couldn't be over. She wasn't going to let someone destroy her marriage. She had to straighten things out. Lisa ran down to the kitchen to start making calls.

Having completed her plans Lisa went back to the bedroom to change her clothes. Once she was dressed, she sat on the bed, reached for the phone to call a taxi and as she did she noticed a business card sitting on the bedside table next to the phone. On the back of the card were the words, "Call me."

*****

7:00 PM

Tom's day had been very busy for someone in his condition. He was exhausted from unpacking his clothes and from the physical stress of the move. Don had stopped by at 6:30 to deliver Tom's computer and a bag full of groceries. Tom thanked him.

"Just call me if you need anything else," Don said. "By the way, Zack caught me in your office packing up your computer. I didn't tell him where you were but he said to ask you to call him at home tonight."

"I'll call him after you leave."

"Tom, don't you think you should call Lisa and at least tell her where you are?"

"No. I'll call her in a few days but I don't want to talk to her right now," Tom said. "I do appreciate the help, Don, but just remember that no one is to know where I am staying."

"Got it. I won't tell anyone."

Don only stayed a few minutes more and discussed some business with Tom and then said good night.

Tom wasn't ready to talk to Zack yet so, deciding to wait to call Zack in the morning, Tom got a beer from the refrigerator and sat down and tried to watch television. He couldn't seem to get interested in anything on the television and eventually turned it off. Then, without anything to distract him, Tom began to think about Lisa. He knew that he had overreacted to her accusation that he had cheated on her. He should have told her the truth. That he had been going to strip clubs with Carl Koonce every night just to make sure Carl would sign the contract. Was it the promise he made to Carl that made him lie to Lisa or was it the anger when she questioned him about what he had been doing with his evenings in Las Vegas. The phrase "the truth shall set you free," popped into Tom's head. In this case it may not have set him free but it would have saved his marriage.

This is not all my fault either, Tom thought. Lisa seemed to presume that he was guilty before she even asked him what he did in Las Vegas. Then there was the stunt she pulled going to Ben's Lounge that night. If she hadn't done that Tom would certainly have been able to straighten things out with her. Now he was stuck with the prospect that he and Lisa would never get back together because he couldn't forgive her for what happened with Brad. Then another thought struck Tom. "Who the fuck was messing up his life and why?"

Tom ended up drinking four beers and falling asleep on the sofa.

8:00 PM

Lisa was looking out the window as the MD 80 began to accelerate down the runway finally lifting off the ground with a jolt followed by the sound of the landing gear retracting. Her thoughts wandering back to her last conversation, or rather argument, with Tom. It struck her that she had apologized to Brad for the way Tom was acting but she never even tried to apologize to Tom for what happened. She should never have let Brad into the house that day. She should have called him and asked him to stay away from the house. Everything she had done during the past several weeks had only made matters worse.

Lisa briefly looked at the man sitting next to her and wondered if she was doing the right thing. "Should I have tried to talk to Tom first?" she thought to herself. "No. He doesn't want to talk to me. He made that very clear."

"Thanks for coming with me," Lisa said.

To be continued...