Flash 02: Career Changes

I imagined the driver putting the car in reverse, backing up a bit, then ramming the large concrete block again at full speed. The driver did just as I imagined. Then he did it again. And again. Finally, the car sputtered and died as the front end was completely destroyed, spewing hot liquid all over the grass.

The two men got out of the car, but I wasn't finished with them just yet. As I looked, the men dropped their trousers and pulled their underwear down. Grabbing their tiny pricks, they began masturbating. I heard them shout as they pumped their dicks.

"What the fuck!" one of them said.

"Why are we doing this?" the other one asked.

"Beats the fuck outta me," the first man said.

"Goddammit, I can't stop!"

"Shit, neither can I. Oh fuck, I'm about to cum."

"Yeah, me too." Both of them spewed at the same time, their stuff dripping off the back of the car.

By now, people were looking out their windows at the two men masturbating behind a smashed car. I could see a couple of them on their phones, and more than one of them were taking video of the spectacle. I was about to call 911 when I saw two police cruisers with flashing lights come into the complex.

Four police officers jumped out and grabbed the two men, ordering them to stop masturbating.

"I'd love to, officer, but I can't. Swear to God," the first man said.

"Neither can I," the second man said. The officers wrestled the men to the ground and cuffed them before dragging them to the cruisers. One officer called for a wrecking truck as another walked around, talking to the other residents. Finally, the officer came to me.

"Did you see what happened here, sir?" the officer asked.

"Yeah, I saw the whole thing," I said. "They were heading out, then drove onto the grassy area there and slammed into that light fixture, backed up and did it about three more times, then got out, stripped down and started jacking off. Damnedest thing I ever saw. I thought maybe they were on drugs or something."

"Do you know who those men are? Do they live here?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Never seen 'em before, officer. I don't think they live here," I said.

"Alright, sir, thank you for your time. Sorry about the disturbance. Have a good evening," he said as he walked away. The incident made the last news that night.

"Police say officers detained two men who repeatedly rammed their vehicle into a concrete light post at Eden Meadows earlier this evening," the anchor said. "After ramming their vehicle, the men got out of the car, disrobed and began masturbating. According to officers, the men were instructed to stop, but they claimed they were simply unable to. Both men are currently being held for psychological evaluation at a county mental health facility."

I was still laughing when my phone rang a couple minutes later. It was Jack.

"You see the news just now?" he asked.

"Yes, I did," I said.

"You have anything to do with that?"

"Well..."

"I thought so," he said, interrupting me. "At any rate, however you did it, I thank you."

"My pleasure, Jack," I said.

"I'll be in touch, Cameron. Have a good evening," he said before we ended the call. The next day, I put in for three weeks vacation. I explained to Ryan, my boss, that I had a lot of things to take care of regarding Ginger's treatment. He didn't like that I would be gone for so long, but he relented and let me have the time.

On my way home that evening, I stopped to see how Ginger was doing. I was told that she had started to respond to the audio I had provided earlier, but it was still far too early to tell if she was going to wake up. I sat with her and held her hand.

I talked about the day's events and told her about what happened the previous night. I was torn about what to do about her. On one hand, I was still very angry over what she had done, but another part of me still loved her. After a while, I kissed her on the forehead and told her to get well, then left her room. I got a call from Jack that evening after I returned home from my session at the dojo.

"Can you be at my office tomorrow at 9:00 am?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "In fact, tomorrow is my first full day of vacation. I'll have three weeks off."

"Good," he said. "Just come on up to my office and I'll fill you in on what to expect. Oh, and please wear a suit and a tie."

"Of course," I said before ending the call. The next day, I dressed in a suit and tie, then headed for Jack's office, curious to know what he had in store for me. When I got there, his receptionist, Christine, according to the nameplate on her desk, showed me straight in.

"Good to see you, Cameron," Jack said as he shook my hand. "Right on time. I like punctuality. Have a seat, and I'll brief you on my plan." I sat and waited for him to get all his notes together. "We'll be heading to the conference room here in just a few minutes, so here's what I want to do. First off, I'm going to introduce you to each of the board members. They're not going to like that I'm bringing you in, but that's just too damn bad.

"I plan on having you brief the board on Ginger's progress. At least, that's what I'm telling them. My real goal is to give you a chance to know who we're up against and give you the opportunity to put faces to names," he said.

"That makes sense," I said. "Do me a favor, though. Introduce them to me before the meeting and give me a chance to shake their hands." This would give me a chance to download their memories, but I didn't tell Jack that. I only hoped I would be able to keep them all separate for the download.

"Okay, if that's what you want," he said.

"I do. I'll explain later."

"Alright. Just so you know, I also want to make them squirm just a bit," Jack added. "Let them think the police suspect foul play, and give them the impression Wheeler may have been behind what happened to her."

"Wheeler was behind it, Jack," I said. He looked shocked at that.

"And how do you know that?" he asked.

"There's not enough time to get into it now," I said. "But I promise you, I'll fill you in completely. Maybe later today at my place, if that's alright."

"Uh, yeah, sure, I'll be there right after the meeting," he said. "Are you absolutely certain about this?"

"Absolutely," I said.

"My God," he said quietly. "What about the board? Were any of them involved as well?"

"I'm not 100 percent certain at this point," I said. "But they made it very clear to Wheeler that all loose ends had to be addressed."

"Holy shit," he gasped. "And you have evidence of this?"

"I do, but it would never be accepted in a court of law," I said. "You'll understand later."

"I get the feeling there's a few things you haven't told me, Cameron," he said.

"And you would be correct," I said. "Just trust me, okay?" He nodded his head after a few moments.

"Alright," he said. He looked at his watch. "Well, we'd better get going." He stood up and I followed him out of his office and down the hall. At the end of the hall was a set of large double doors. An armed guard standing at the door nodded his head when we approached. Jack opened the doors and I saw 12 people in the room milling about, talking to each other.

They stopped and stared when I came into the room. I looked around and saw all of them displayed the same anaglyph effect I saw with Ginger. I began to get a headache from looking at them all, but I focused my mind the way Smith and Jones taught me and the headache went away. I could hear their thoughts, even from across the room.

"What the fuck is he doing here?"

"Is that really Ginger Drake's husband?"

"So, this is Ginger's cuck." Before any of them could actually say anything, Jack spoke up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Ginger Drake's husband, Cameron," he said. "I know we're all concerned about the status of her health so I asked him to come and gives us a quick brief on that and the investigation into her accident." He went on to introduce me to each of them and I shook their hands, placing my thumb on the spot that would trigger the download of their memories into my brain.

"Alright, shall we commence?" he asked after the introductions were made. They all murmured agreement and sat down. "If there's no objection, I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Drake." There was no objection, but I could tell they were all a bit uncomfortable. "Mr. Drake, the floor is yours," he said, looking at me.

"Thank you, Mr. Peabody," I said, still standing. "First off, I want to thank you for your continued support. I know you're under no obligation, and I appreciate all the company is doing for her." I saw them nod their heads as if in agreement, but I could tell they were more than concerned about the ongoing cost of keeping Ginger on the payroll while in the hospital. Profits over people, as usual. Just one more reason to make them all pay.

"As you all probably know, Ginger is still in a coma. Physically, she's doing okay, but the doctors are concerned she may be going into what they call a persistent vegetative state. We're now working to address that and I've been told she's starting to respond."

"How long will she be in a coma?" an older man asked. I recognized him as Harold Bergstrom, the Chairman of the Board. He was the one who referred to me in his thoughts as Ginger's cuckold.

"No one knows for certain," I said. "It's impossible to predict how long a person will stay in a coma like this, or so I've been told."

"I understand you approved her extended medical leave, is that right, Jack?" another man asked. I recognized him as Jake Johnson. He was involved in several gang bangs with Ginger.

"Yes, that's correct, Jake," Jack said. "As you know, positive employee morale is very important to me. Productivity has improved due to feelings among the team that the company has their backs and cares about them. I'm sure you understand." I could tell they were a bit uncomfortable but Jack's statement seemed to mollify them for the time being.

"Of course, Jack," Jake said.

"Is there anything else?" a woman appearing to be in her 40s asked. I knew her as Sherrie Langford, a relatively new member of the board, but just as dirty as the rest.

"Police suspect foul play was involved in her accident, Ms. Langford," I said. "A partial fingerprint of an associate of Chad Wheeler was found and they said her brakes had been sabotaged. From what I understand, neither Wheeler nor his associates have yet to be found." They all looked at each other nervously at that.

"Are you saying someone from this company is responsible for what happened to her?" she asked.

"Possibly. I'm pretty certain Mr. Wheeler was involved, but there's no conclusive evidence yet. I understand the investigation is ongoing but there aren't any new leads at this time," I said. She nodded her head at that.

"Thank God for that," I heard Bergstrom say in his mind. I looked at him briefly before continuing.

"But there's always the possibility that something will be found," I added.

"Well, I thank you for that update, Mr. Drake. Please look after our girl and keep us in the loop," Bergstrom said. "I can't wait to get into that pussy again," he said in his mind.

"I assure you, I will, Mr. Bergstrom," I said. "And I can also assure you everyone responsible will pay for what's been done to her." At that moment, I wanted to make all 12 of their heads explode, but I suppressed the urge. I did, however, focus on Bergstrom's heart, making it skip a few beats. His face turned red and he grabbed his chest.

"Are you okay, Mr. Bergstrom?" Sherrie asked. "Do you need a doctor?" I released his heart and saw him take a few breaths. He would live, but would probably feel pain in his chest for the rest of the day.

"I'll be fine," he gasped, waving his hand. "Just a bit of indigestion. It'll pass."

"Will that be all, Mr. Drake?" Jack asked, playing his role like a well-trained actor.

"Yes, for now, Mr. Peabody. Thank you for giving me this time," I said. He nodded his head.

"You're welcome, son," he said with a knowing smile. I took that as my cue to leave and left the room after giving the group one last look. I got to my car, ripped off my tie and headed home. When I got there, I changed into more casual clothes and sat down to my computer.

After booting it up, I donned a headset and downloaded all the memories I had collected that day. It took more than a few minutes for the download to complete, and I watched as the processing began. I figured it would take a while to complete, so I grabbed a cup of coffee and made a sandwich.

It took more than an hour for the processing to complete, but when the application was done, I was presented with an enlarged menu that showed memories from all 12 of the board members. Since Bergstrom was the chairman, I started with him. I had limited time, so I searched his memories for anything dealing with Ginger.

There were quite a few spread out over the time she worked at the company, so I focused on the last seven months before her "accident." The first showed him and Wheeler discussing who their next target would be.

"Any new prospects, Chad?" he asked.

"Yes, there's this blonde analyst who looks like she'd be a pretty fun plaything," Chad said. "Ginger Drake. Take a look." Bergstrom stood behind Wheeler and looked at Ginger's photo on Chad's computer. He nodded his head.

"Nice. Looks like she's got pretty firm tits and some decent legs," Bergstrom said. "You tap into that already?"

"Not yet, but I'm working on it," Chad said. "She's married, loves her husband, and says she'd never cheat on him, though."

"Well maybe you need to up the ante a bit, Chad. Wouldn't be the first time," Bergstrom said.

"I know, but it's more fun when they come on their own accord," Chad said.

"I tend to agree, but there are times when you need to go the extra mile," Bergstrom told him with a smile. Chad smiled back and nodded his head in agreement.

"I hear ya, boss," he said.

"Get it done," Bergstrom said. "Do what you gotta do. I want to see her spread out on the boardroom table, if you know what I mean. Soon."

"Will do," Chad said as Bergstrom left. Now I had confirmation -- Bergstrom was the one ultimately responsible for what happened to Ginger. I promised to make him pay dearly for what he had done. I had no need to look at any memories of him with Ginger, since I had already viewed some of those encounters in her memories.

I took the headset off and sat back for a moment. Then I had an idea. I connected to Bergstrom's mind, remotely, to see what he was doing at that moment. When I connected, he was sitting in an office, presumably his, and two people were in the office sitting across from his desk -- Jake and Sherrie. Apparently, I thought, the board meeting had concluded by now.

"Sherrie, I want you to call Hammer. I want to know everything there is to find out about this Cameron Drake. Everything! I want to know when he takes a shit, where he goes, who he speaks to and what he does. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," Sherrie said, pulling out her cell phone.

"You think he's gonna be a problem, Mr. Bergstrom?" Jake asked.

"Could be," Bergstrom said, rubbing his chest. He recalled the pain in his chest and wondered if my presence had something to do with it. I smiled at that. "Also, Jake, get two more of your guys on Peabody. This time, get someone with a functioning brain cell, willya? I don't want to see any more news stories about our guys jacking off in public."

"Already done, Mr. B," he said. "Did that this morning before the meeting. So, why do you think Peabody brought Drake to the meeting today? You think he's got something going on?"

"I've known Jack Peabody for years," Bergstrom said. "I'd be surprised if he didn't have something going on."

"Did you see Drake's eyes?" Jake asked. "What's up with that?"

"Yeah, I saw 'em," Bergstrom said. "I've only seen something like that once before. All I can say is we gotta be real careful. No more boardroom parties for a while. Not until we get this mess cleaned up."

"Any word on Chad, Mr. B?" Jake asked.

"No, none," Bergstrom said. "Police haven't got a fuckin' clue."

"You think Drake did him in?" Jake asked.

"Either that or he ran off," Bergstrom said.

"He wouldn't do that, Mr. B," Jake said.

"I know. Drake doesn't look like the type to handle Chad and two of his guys. Know what I mean?"

"Yes, sir, I do," Jake said. "It's been three months now. Surely the cops would've found something out by now. You think maybe we should get a couple guys to, you know, talk to Drake?"

"That may not be such a bad idea," Bergstrom said. "Let me think about it for a bit first."

"Okay, Mr. B," Jake said. Sherrie looked up from her phone.

"Hammer said he'll get right on it," she said.

"Good," Bergstrom said. "I want a report on my desk, ASAP."

"Yes, sir," she said. I disconnected from his mind when my phone rang. I looked and saw it was Jack, so I answered.

"Good job at the board meeting this morning," Jack said when I answered. "Are you available right now?"

"Yes," I said. "I'm at home right now, going through some things. I think we need to talk."

"I think you're right," Jack said. "I'm on my way. See you in about a half hour." We ended the call and I grabbed a small USB drive. Consulting my notes, I copied some files to the drive for Jack, then put on a fresh pot of coffee.

About a half hour later, I stood at my front window and watched as Jack put his Bentley in the guest parking area. A few moments later, I saw an unfamiliar sedan pull into the parking lot and take a space not far from Jack's car. I shook my head and watched the two men inside the car eyeball Jack as he left his car and came up to my condo. I turned on the jamming device Smith and Jones gave me just in case he was wearing a wire. I opened the door when he rang the bell and invited him inside.

"You got a couple of new shadows," I told him when he came inside.

"Yeah, I know," he said.

"I'll take care of them when you leave. Come on in, have a seat. I've got a fresh pot of coffee on. You want some?"

"Of course," he said as he sat down. I grabbed us each a cup of coffee and came back to the couch.

"Jack, who's Hammer?" I asked when I sat down. He looked at me, surprised.

"That would be Thomas Hammer," he said. "He goes by the nickname, 'Sledge' as in 'Sledge Hammer.' Thinks it makes him sound like a bad-ass. He's a private investigator the board likes to use. He's not above getting his hands dirty, if you know what I mean. Why?"

"Bergstrom put him on me after the board meeting," I said.

"How do you know that?" he asked, surprised. I considered him for a few minutes before speaking.

"I listened to your story the other day, so I think you deserve to know mine," I said. "Ginger trusted you, thinks the world of you. So, I hope her trust isn't misplaced. And I feel you deserve to know what you're getting for your money."

"Okay," he said. "I'm listening." I told him the whole story -- how I suspected Ginger of cheating on me, my futile attempts to get evidence, the day I saw her in Wheeler's car, and my visit with the attorney.

Then I told him what happened to me at the golf course, and the result of what happened. I didn't tell him about Smith and Jones, nor did I tell him about the book. But I did tell him about my ability to download memories and my ability to hear thoughts and control other people. His eyes were wide when I finished.

"So, you know what happened to Wheeler and his two men," Jack said. I nodded my head.

"Yes," I said. "You remember how Bergstrom clutched his chest in the board meeting?"

"I do," he said. "I thought he was having a heart attack. That was you?"

"It was," I said. "The heart is an amazing muscle, you know." He looked at me, shocked. "I could've killed him, right there on the spot. I could've killed them all with a single thought. Believe me, I wanted to kill them all for what they had done to Ginger."