The Orphan
Copyright© 2025 by A Well Traveled Man
Chapter 4
Nicholas woke up early Monday morning, went to the hotel gym, and worked out on the weight machine. Returning to his room, he showered, dressed, and ate breakfast at the breakfast bar. At 6:45 a.m., he boarded the shuttle bus, and they went to Radford Racing School. Joel, the lead instructor, welcomed everyone to the course. Then, they had a safety briefing and the rules of the training sessions. The instructors were always right, and failure to follow instructions would result in dismissal.
They were given a driving knowledge test and fitted with racing suits and helmets. Then, in a van, they toured the different race tracks. Next was ground school, and then they were trained to throttle and steer. If not done correctly, this caused the vehicle to spin out of control.
After lunch, they did slalom racing, first at slow speed and then at highway speed. Moving the vehicle quickly at 50 mph can cause issues, and it did for several students. Paddle shifting was next, and they ended the day with individual performance evaluations with an instructor. Joel warned everyone that it would go against their grade if they were late, and training ended at 4 p.m.
When the shuttle bus arrived at the hotel, Nicholas took a taxi to Chandler Harley Davidson Motorcycles. Thomas checked his ID, and they filled out the paperwork. Nic had paid over $6k in taxes, title, and registration. They offered insurance, so Nicholas purchased it for a year. Then the safety gear and he another grand. Thomas was happy when Nic left the dealership and returned to the hotel. He put the cover on the Harley and locked it.
Nicholas ate dinner at the diner, then went to his room and called Kelli on her cell phone. She was still at work, but said they got the police reports and court records. They backed up our thoughts, and the police and prosecutor were fixing cases. So, I’m finalizing the lawsuit and drafting letters to preserve emails, phone records, and files. Nic said, “You go and get them, girl,” and Kelli laughed. Nicholas told her he’ll call again tomorrow night, and they said goodnight. Nic undressed and crashed.
Tuesday was a repeat in the morning, except that a few people were missing. They reviewed what they had learned yesterday, then put on the racing suits and helmets. First were accident-avoidance drills. That was an intense exercise and very beneficial. Then they moved to handling drills on the oval track and took a lunch break.
After lunch, we did a heel-to-toe downshifting exercise and another handling drill on the larger elevated oval track before moving on to skid control exercises. We finished the day on the track doing ABS breaking exercises. We returned to the classroom and were individually evaluated on our performance by our instructors. Joal reminded everyone to be on time tomorrow, and class was excused.
The shuttle van arrived at the hotel after 4 p.m., and Nicholas put on his helmet and rode around Chandler, getting experience riding the Harley. He rode the freeway, highways, and surface streets. After almost two hours, Nic stopped for fuel and returned to the hotel. He put on the Harley cover, locked it, and went to the diner for dinner. While eating, he thought about how to get his luggage home and decided to call the airline.
After dinner, he returned to the hotel and called the airline. They would ship his luggage and hold it at Burbank Airport for up to a week. The cost wasn’t cheap, but it was less than shipping it via UPS or FedEx. Nic called Kelli on her cell phone, and she was leaving the office. She said the lawsuit was filed, and the letters were sent by courier with a signature required. Nic told her about his training, and then they said goodnight. Nic stripped and fell asleep.
The last day of class began with an introduction to the road course. Then, a lead-and-follow exercise followed by an instruction ride-along on the road course. The final exercise was an open-track session by ourselves for time on the road track. At the end was graduation, and the training was over before noon. The shuttle van returned us to the hotel, and Nic rushed to pack.
He took the airport shuttle, shipped his luggage, and returned to the Marriott. Then, Nicholas got on his Harley and started his ride home. He figured it would take around seven hours, and hopefully, he’d miss the rush hour traffic. With stops for fuel, food, and rest, he pulled into the driveway at 8 p.m. Kelli rushed outside, and Nic said, “Hey, baby, want some excitement? Hop on,” and they laughed.
She asked how he got the Harley, and Nicholas said he took a shuttle van to see the Gala Resort and Casino. They were having a raffle and he bought ten tickets. One was the winner, so what do you think? Kelli said it looks sleek and mean, but be careful. It’s dangerous riding a motorcycle in L.A. Nic said he knows and planned to stay off the freeways and stick to surface streets.
They went inside. Kelli asked where his luggage was, and Nic said it was at Burbank Airport, waiting for him. He’ll pick it up in the morning. Nic asked about her day. Kelli laughed and said it was busy answering irate phone calls. Judging by their response, settlement offers should begin shortly. Kelli told Nicholas to pick up his luggage at lunchtime and avoid the rush-hour traffic. Nic agreed, and they said goodnight and went to their rooms. Nic finished his order on the dark web and fell asleep.
Nic teleported to the gym early Thursday morning and practiced martial arts on the heavy bag. It felt good to hit something after the layoff from driver training. Returning to his room, he showered, dressed, and went to the kitchen. Kelli said, “Let’s take one vehicle, and I’ll drive you to the airport. We’ll have a long lunch, and no one will complain after the long hours I’ve put in.” Nicholas agreed, and they headed to the law office.
When they arrived, David asked Nicholas about the advanced driver training. Nic said it was great, and he learned a lot. If you have some free time, I can show you some tricks in your SUV. David laughed and said he’d take a rain check. He gave Nicholas a charge card and told him to be sure to turn in the receipts, and he left. They entered Kelli’s office, and Nic ordered a backup drive from Newegg and charged it to the credit card. Then he double-checked the firewall program and corrected several errors.
Then he started changing the freeware antivirus program and was in a programming zone. Kelli brought him out, saying it was lunchtime, and Nic saved his work. On the way to the airport, she told Nicholas his fingers were flying across the keyboard while he was programming. He said he wasn’t paying attention to how fast he was typing. Kelli told him to program privately, or you’ll attract unwanted attention. Nic agreed, and they arrived at the airport.
They got his luggage from the airport and stopped at a deli for takeout on returning to the office. While they ate lunch, Kelli said she set up his evaluation at UCLA on Monday morning. Her friend Mia Sanders would meet him at 8 a.m. in the administration building reception. Nic asked what she looked like so he would recognize her. Kelli said you’ll meet her this weekend at her place in Manhattan Beach. Mia invited us for lunch on Saturday.
Nic asked what type of swimwear you or I were wearing. Kelli laughed and said, “We’re going for lunch, not to sunbathe. So, shorts and a T-shirt will do for you.” Nic said he doesn’t have shorts and T-shirts other than underwear. Kelli said, “Great, we’ll go shopping tomorrow at lunch,” and Nic groaned, causing her to laugh. They finished lunch and resumed working on her lawsuit, and Nic continued programming the new antivirus program.
An hour later, Nicholas finished the antivirus program, went to the computer room, and installed the firewall and antivirus onto the mainframe. Then, he ran a virus scan and found 76 viruses. Nic inoculated them and then deleted them. He repeated the scan, and the system was clean. Then, he ordered 1 TB of cloud storage and put it on the firm’s credit card. The final step was scheduling the backup, and he set it up for every 24 hours.
When he returned to Kerri’s office, she asked where he had gone. Nic said to check the computer mainframe and ask Tammy if she had toys for bathtime. Kerri laughed and asked if he really did that. Nic said no, but he was thinking about it. She said Don’t do it because you’re sending the wrong message, so leave it alone. Nicholas asked Kerri if she had bathtime toys, and she laughed and said it was none of his business.
Kelli stopped at a Mexican restaurant for takeout on the way home. Nic noticed a black sedan following them, but didn’t tell Kelli. When they turned into their neighborhood, the sedan took off. Nicholas remembered the license plate and expected them to be followed again. During dinner, Kerri told Nicholas to gather his dry cleaning, and they would drop it off on the way to work. They finished dinner, said goodnight, and went to bed.
Nicholas teleported to the vacant house early Friday morning and retrieved his package. He opened it in the alleyway, threw away the box and packaging, and returned home. He put the safe-cracking books and amplified stethoscope in the hidden room. Nic returned to his room, showered, dressed, and went to the kitchen. After breakfast, they went to the law office and entered Kelli’s office.
She worked on her civil case, and Nic searched online for a freeware encryption program. He found a 128-bit one that looked good and started altering it. Nic was in a zone programming when Tammy called Kelli and said a LAPD detective wanted to see her. Nicholas told Kerri to wait, and I’ll go with you and record the event. They went to the lobby, and the detective said Listen bitch drop the civil suit or your life won’t be worth shit.
Kerri said Sorry, detective, but my client demands justice. The detective grabbed Kelli’s coat, lifted her, and said I’m going to kill you and threw her to the floor. Nic said Try that with me, asshole and he rushed Nicholas. He kicked the detective in the balls, lifting him two feet off the floor. Then Nic punched him with an uppercut, coming down, and the detective landed on the ground with a thud. Tammy called 911, and soon there was a sea of police and emergency personnel.
It turned out the LAPD detective was Darrel Hodge, and he was arrested for aggravated assault and making terrorist threats. His partner was arrested in their unmarked car in front of the law office. Beverly Hills PD took a copy of the video, and finally, the lobby cleared. Kelli told Nicholas they needed to get to court to get an emergency restraining order. Upon arrival, a judge viewed the video and gave Kelli and Nicholas a restraining order against the LAPD.
Nicholas told Kerri it was all right to bypass shopping due to the circumstances. Kelli said no, and they went to the Beverly Center. He got three pairs of shorts, three polo shirts, and a pair of sandals. Before leaving, they stopped and got two pairs of sunglasses and lunch at the food court. While eating, Nicholas asked Kerri how her ass was, and he could give it a massage if necessary. She laughed, said it was fine, and he wasn’t touching it, causing more laughter.
After lunch, they returned to the law office, and David asked what had happened this morning. Kelli told him one of the detectives involved in the civil case showed up and asked for me. So, I went to the lobby with Nicholas, who recorded the meeting on his phone. Kelli told David about what happened and how Nicholas ended the threat. David asked to see the video and said, “Oh my god.” He asked for a copy and said he would call the LAPD police chief.
David left, and Kelli resumed working on the civil case. Nic resumed programming, and at the end of the day, he finished the 512-bit encryption program. David came into Kelli’s office and said there was a settlement conference at City Hall at 9 a.m. Monday morning. He told Kelli to contact Reid Croft and his father, Henry, and have them available to discuss an offer. David said he was going too, but she would handle the negotiations. He would be there to show how serious the matter was and offer assistance if needed.