Chapter 20: Mr. Olsen Goes to Washington

It took Jim several weeks to organize his plans and make further upgrades to the Master PC program. Using what had been done to both his wife and to Cheri, Jim was able to reverse engineer the FMCA’s version of the software and exploit a few security holes they’d missed. His intent was to end the FMCA threat once and for all.

Mentally he was more powerful than ever. He did not need the Master PC program to manipulate others, except in the physical realm. He could control anyone with a mere thought. More importantly, he could make anyone feel or see whatever he wanted them to feel or see. He could produce mass illusions, a power once thought to be the sole province of Faux News.

His plans made, Jim put in for two weeks of vacation.

“Susan! I’m home!” Jim called out as he entered his house. It was Friday evening. Tonight he would tell Susan about his trip to D.C. Cheri would be coming along. There was a legitimate reason for his being in the Capitol. He had a consulting contract with a D.C. based company.

He’d programmed Cheri to report some progress and he’d set up a dummy program that looked just like Master PC. At the appropriate moment, he was going to give her access to his laptop and she was going to “find” the fake program and use it. That would send a virus back to the FMCA’s computer system (using the security hole he’d discovered) and destroy their version of Master PC entirely, slagging their entire computer system. There were some other tricks he intended to use – tricks he’d developed especially for Mr. Joe Friday and his cyber-Gestapo.

“Honey?”

Jim walked through the (apparently) empty house until he got to the kitchen where a note was taped to the fridge.

“We went shopping with Sam. BBL. xoxoxo”

“Hmph.”

Jim punched Sue’s cell number into the phone.

“It’s me. Yes, I found your note. Do we have dinner plans? Café Boef at 7? OK. Is Sam still with you? Is she? What about Dave? Oh, OK, well I think I can survive at a table full of beautiful women. I’ll meet you there.”

Jim went upstairs and changed into his swim trunks then went out to the pool and swam laps for 30 minutes before showering and getting dressed for dinner. He liked Café Boef. For one thing, they required men to be properly attired. He liked places like that; not that he didn’t also enjoy a good meal in a café like the one where Cheri worked. And, of course, he was no stranger to the drive-through at McDonald’s, but when he went out for an evening meal, he liked to dress up.

He was just tightening the knot on his tie when the phone rang. The caller i.d. had a Colorado area code. Frowning, Jim pushed the “talk” button.

“Hello?”

“Jim. It’s Tiffany. We need to talk.”

“Not on this phone.”

“OK, when and where?”

“I’ll give you a different number to call.” Jim sent a mental message to Tiffany and hoped she would get it – he wasn’t entirely sure how far his new mental powers extended.

“OK. We really need to talk.”

“Don’t worry. Everything will be OK.”

Jim turned off the phone and went into his office. Opening his briefcase he took out a prepaid cell phone – one of five different prepaid cell phones he’d purchased at various big box stores in the last couple of weeks. He turned it on and waited.

30 minutes later the phone in his hand buzzed.

“Tiff. You got my message.”

“Yeah, it was weird. I had a strong feeling that I needed to go pick up a disposable cell and call this number with it.”

“That was me. OK, you’ve got a problem and I think I know what it is, but tell me about it anyway.”

“Joe Friday and some other guy whose name I can’t remember came to see me today asking about Master PC.”

“That’s what I thought. What did you tell them.”

“I played dumb and made sure they stayed focused on my tits.”

“Good plan. Did it work? How’d they leave things?”

“It sort of worked – at least on one of the guys, but that Friday guy never even looked at the twins. He told me that the FMCA was very concerned about my activities, that they knew I had a copy of Master PC and had used it.”

“If they’d been serious, Tiff, they would have come with a warrant for your laptop and any other computer in the house. They’re using you to get to me. Don’t underestimate these people, Tiffany. I did once and it nearly fucked everything up.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to fix things. I should never have sent you that software, Tiff, and that’s a fact. I really had my head up my ass when I did that.”

“Oh, I don’t know, I think things have been pretty good since you sent me the Master PC.”

“So far, but the wheels are about to come off if we’re not real careful.”

“So, what’s your plan?”

Jim told her.

“Shit. That’s either brilliant or the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard of.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. Don’t worry – I’ve given myself some capabilities that will make it possible for me to pull this off. Barely. And, I’ve set some things in motion that should render the FMCA harmless, at least for now.”

“So what do I do?”

“You don’t have to do anything. Make sure your friend doesn’t blab about Master PC, stop using the program, for now, put the CD I gave you in a safe place, and uninstall the software from your laptop. This is my fault, Tiff. I should never have sent you the program in the first place. But I’m going to make things right and get Joe Friday off your back.”

“Can’t I help?”

“No. Just take care of Pi and the kids and get on with your life. Get rid of the phone you’re using and buy another one. Call me in two weeks.”

Jim gave her the number of one of his other prepaid phones, had her repeat it to him to make sure she had it right, told Tiffany not to worry, and hung up.

Jim finished the final adjustments to his tie, put on his jacket, shot his cuffs, made sure the links were showing, folded his pocket square into the proper shape and put it into the breast pocket of his blazer, checked his shoes for lint, grabbed his keys and headed out the door.

Café Boef is located in a reclaimed iron foundry. It occupies a portion of the old building. The developer was in the process of creating a complex of hotels, restaurants, and other attractions in the run-down industrial district of the city and it was working. There was a hockey rink nearby and that provided wintertime customers for the complex. Other attractions, including its proximity to the waterfront, provided tourist traffic in other parts of the year.

Jim pulled up, handed his keys to the valet and went inside.

“Your party is waiting, Mr. Olsen.” Jim was escorted to his table.

“Thank you, Andre.”

A year ago Jim would never have been caught dead in this place. He didn’t have the money or the looks to dine here. Now, however, he had both. He kissed his wife, Cheri, and Sam, the latter two on the cheek, and then sat down.

“Where’s Dave tonight, Samantha?”

“Fishing trip to Canada,” she replied.

“Ah, I see. How long?”

“Two weeks.”

“He left you alone for two weeks?”

“Yup,” Samantha said, smiling. “But I’ll be OK. Susan and Cheri and I have plans.”

Jim laughed. “I’ll bet you do, but I’m afraid I have to put a little kink in those plans, Sam.”

All three women gave him the “oh no you didn’t” stare.

“I have to go to Washington, D.C. on a consulting gig and I’m taking Cheri with me.”

“What?”

Jim took out a sheet of paper from his inside jacket pocket and put it in front of Cheri.

“Congratulations, Cheri, you are now the Chief of Staff to the CEO of Olsen Consulting, Inc.”

Andre had the timing perfect. He arrived with a bottle of champagne and four glasses at exactly the right moment.

“A toast, ladies, to Cheri, may she never work for tips again.”

Crystal clinked and the toast was consummated.

“Wow,” Cheri said. “Thanks, Mr. Olsen.”

“It’s Jim, Cheri. Call me Jim,” Jim said.

“Thanks, Jim. When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow afternoon. In the morning you’ll be going shopping so that you have appropriate clothing for the trip. We’re leaving on the 3:00 p.m. flight.”

Susan looked at Jim.

“Why am I not coming along?”

“Someone has to keep Sam company. We don’t want her getting lonely with Dave gone do we?” He reinforced his comment with a mental command.

Susan looked at Sam, lust filling her eyes, and said “of course not, dear. What was I thinking?”

“Hold on a minute Susan,” Sam said. “Jim’s going off to Washington with this beautiful creature here and that’s OK with you?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Never mind,” Sam said, looking at Jim with an arched eyebrow.

“How long will we be there?” Cheri asked.

“It might be a week, maybe longer. Plan for two weeks.”

“OK.”

“Let’s order. I’m famished,” Jim said.

“Cheri, do you know what the term polyamory means?”

Cheri and Jim were sitting in the first class section of the flight to the nation’s capitol. There were other conversations going on around them creating a bubble of privacy.

“Yes, I think so,” Cheri said, wondering where this was going.

“Well, Susan and I have been talking and we’d like you to stay with us, be a part of our lives, and a part of our family.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Cheri said.

“You don’t have to say anything. Just think about it. Now, let’s go over what we’re going to be doing and what you need to do for me while we’re in D.C., OK?”

“Sure, boss,” Cheri said. Her mind was in turmoil. Jim’s question had come as a shock. Sure she had really enjoyed being with Susan and Sam and Dave and Jim – the sex was incredible. Everyone was so nice to her and she really felt safe in Jim’s house. Plus there were other perks. Jim was becoming wealthy from his consulting business – it was a matter of time before his company became a full-time occupation. She could really benefit from the association.

But, what about the FMCA? She felt like a traitor to Jim in some ways, even though their relationship had started out as a form of rape. Still, she had come to really like him; he had done a lot to further her career, and he was a great sex partner. But the Master PC program was dangerous – Joe Friday had shown her that. She had to go through with her orders from him because no one should have the kind of power that Jim Olsen was wielding with his computer.

Still, she was conflicted. She listened as carefully as she could to her instructions and made notes. It was going to be a busy two weeks. She idly wondered if she and Jim would have sex – the thought sent a tingle through her body. Sex with Jim was better than any sex she’d had with other men – not that she’d had all that many other partners. It was like he knew exactly what to do and when to really make her soar into the sexual stratosphere. Her daydreams were cut short as the plane touched down and the real world intruded on her thoughts again.

For his part, Jim had been monitoring Cheri’s mind with part of his consciousness and found her conflicts mildly amusing. Well, it was understandable. He’d used her and was still doing so. Had he helped her career? Well, yes, but his assistance was fairly self-serving; his reasons for helping her were his own and not in any sense altruistic.

He liked having sex with Cheri because it was like having his own private porn star at his beck and call – she looked a LOT like Leah Livingston. He’d toyed with the idea of actually capturing a few of his favorite starlets and starting a harem of sorts. It was amusing to daydream about having a bevy of young ladies from the world of adult entertainment available at his whim. He’d actually made a list at one point: Brooke Lee Adams, Ashlyn Rae, Dana Dearmond, Faye Reagan (but then he found out that she smoked and took her off the list), Samantha Ryan, Dia Zerva, Persia Monir, and the list went on.