Chapter 9

Just before I pack it in for supper, Dr. Willson phones.

“Hi Trent, Nancy said you called.”

“There is something I’m working on, but I need to ask you some personal questions before I get into it.”

“OK, well, ask away.”

“The picture on your desk, Is that your daughter?”

“Yes, it is, why?”

“How old is she?”

“13, What’s this got to do with?”

“Where does she go to school?”

“Edward Milne”

“Where is that?”

“Sooke”

“So, she will be going to Belmont next year.”

“That is right. What is this about.”

“I can’t tell you over the phone. Are you about to head home?”

“In 20 minutes or so.”

“Swing by my office, the Langford Lake location. We will be finished moving out of the rental property this week.”

When the call ends, I page Moira.

“What do you need, boss?”

“Send everybody to supper. I want nobody in the office in 20 minutes. I’m having a private meeting.”

“Sure thing.”

Kicking everybody out isn’t something I usually do, but given the sensitive nature of some of the things I deal with, nobody will question it. I continue to work on my plan to deal with the rapists while I wait for the doctor.”

A half-hour later, there is a knock on my office door, and I look up to see Dr. Wilson.

“How are the animal trials going so far,” I ask.

“We have only just opened up the first few to check on the implants. So far, we have seen all the same benefits of using surgical titanium. It’s still too early to tell if the bones will become brittle or not.”

“Good, it is what I was expecting but is still nice to hear.”

“So, why are we meeting in secret like this. I don’t think I have ever seen your office empty. There is always somebody working on something. That and you talking about my daughter has me worried.”

“I wish I could say I’ll assuage your fears, but that isn’t the case. Do you know the details of how Carol’s arm was busted up?”

“I was told somebody was trying to kill you, and she was in the way. Other than that, no.”

“I had discovered a group of boys were drugging, raping and then blackmailing girls at our school. I tried teaching all the female students how to avoid such things, and they tried to kill me.”

“You’re safe now, though, right?”

“Ya, It turns out it is bigger than I thought, and somebody ordered them to steer clear of my girls and me. Unfortunately, that implies, and I can confirm that this means it is a lot bigger than just a few boys at school. I have since learned that the same thing is happening at Belmont, and both principals are somehow involved but aren’t the masterminds behind it.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“I figured, since your daughter is likely to be involved soon, you wouldn’t mind helping me break a few laws and end it.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“The less you know, the better. If you need proof that what I say is true, I will gladly requisition the police files. I want to keep you in the dark in case this goes south.”

“I don’t need proof. People don’t throw as much money as you do into medical procedures, not caring about the financial gain and then come up with a scheme like this. What is it you need from me?”

“4-hydroxybutyric acid, sodium pentothal and a few less restricted chemicals. I have to ask some people some questions, and they can’t remember it happening.”

“You can kill people using those drugs if you don’t know what you are doing.”

“Don’t worry. I only plan to give it to known rapists and then only in low quantities. I will make a drug cocktail that looks like it was just a bunch of kids experimenting on ways to get a better high from alcohol.”

“You do know that sodium pentathol doesn’t actually work as a truth serum? That is just in the movies.”

“The reason it doesn’t work is that after a while of asking the same thing over and over, even the most experienced of interrogators end up asking leading questions. With a brain on sodium pentothal, the subject becomes pliable and asking leading questions can reprogram the subject’s memory. The subject will answer honestly, but the memory may be a lie. The trick is to program him with a lie that will make him willing to freely give you the answers you are looking for and stop resisting the interrogation.”

“Remind me to stay on your good side.”

“Don’t break your Hippocratic Oath, and we won’t have a problem.”

“What do you plan on doing once you have the information you seek?”

“Gift-wrap them for the police. I would prefer to stay away from vigilante justice if I can.”

“If you swear to me that is exactly what you will do and that you will not hurt anybody, then I will order your chemicals and either write them off as waste or pretend to use them on the lab animals.”

“You have my word. I have no intention of doing anything but setting whoever it is up, so the police can catch them.”

“What do you mean, set them up?”

“I doubt it is what you are thinking. I will not put any more girls at risk. I also don’t want to tell you any more of the plan.”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this, but when do you need it?”

I hand him a list and ask, “Can you get it to me within two weeks?”

He looks over the list and replies, “I can’t see why not. We have most of it. The GHB will take the full two weeks, though.”

“Not a problem. Just remember not to talk to anybody about this. Not even your wife or daughter. It might be a good idea for you to do some research and teach your daughter how to avoid date rape.”

After a conversation like that, there isn’t room for socializing. We part ways. The doctor, in a far more gloomy mood than when he arrived.

Usually, I would have told you the story of how and why I know about these drugs and how to combine them for what I want. The Chinese are right in that some things need to be censored. There is no way I will give you the means to learn how to make a drug that you can use to alter a person’s memory without them knowing it. I can say that similar drugs are used in surgery, and if you want to change something in your spouse, get a nurse to let you see him after surgery before they wake up and keep whispering in their ear. It should, in theory, reprogram their memory. That doesn’t mean it will reprogram their beliefs and habits, just their memory, but you are really good and alter the right memories, their beliefs and habits will follow suit.

Once the doctor is gone, I head outside to see the progress on our compound. Initially, we were only supposed to have two double-wide offices, a temporary shop for small boats and a temporary storage area. We now have another double-wide office, two mobile homes converted to showers and bathrooms and two temporary shop structures for building bikes. It is all neatly fenced in and patrolled by our security. There are other security measures, but there is no need to bore you with the details.

Crossing the road at the main gate is our track. Just as I asked, Dick ensured it is precisely a 5km loop. It was Dick’s idea to make it a rubberized track. Victoria never gets rain pouring down hard, but there are many months where all it does is drizzle. It is what we call winter. The rubber track will mean that we don’t have to worry about it getting slippery, so there will be fewer training accidents. The downside is, with all the bike traffic, it will need to be maintained and resurfaced.

A few of the houses we bought along the waterfront are being torn down. We are keeping the nicer ones. This is where Dick, his father and his youngest son live with their nanny. Once the landscapers were done with the track, they started expanding a beach, building a park there and making an access-way for our small boats. None of it is completed yet, but you can see it start to take shape, and it appears as though they are doing an excellent job of it.

Last are the permanent buildings. They are behind our temporary compound, and each building dwarfs its temporary counterpart. We are even putting in a gym, but the foundation for it hasn’t been poured yet. As I tour the place, I am pleased and envision how it will grow even bigger.

The rest of the week is relatively dull. I take the placement tests at the university so that Mr. Sheffield can’t interfere with them.

The following Monday, Kevin, Blair and my girlfriends meet at my place for our morning bike ride before school. This time I have our prototype bike trailer to haul all our stuff. It also means that I get to have the bigger workout from now on, making me stay in better shape than any of them.

Blair has taken to cycling better than I had hoped. She has lost some weight but will not likely lose anymore. She is still a big girl, but the rest is muscle, and if you are into that sort of thing, you would consider her an extremely attractive girl. Don’t get caught checking her out. She will threaten to kick the shit out of you for disrespecting Kevin, her boyfriend.