Chapter 18

Exiting the conference room, I notice that my staff is arriving back from lunch. Thankfully, Dahlia is here. I walk up to her and say, “I need to get out of here, and I didn’t get anything to eat. How about some A&W onion rings?”

Her smile brightens, and she gives a little squeak, followed by an, “Always.” I doubt that A&W onion rings will ever fail to put a smile on her face. She places the stack of papers she has in hand back on her desk, then arm in arm we head for the SUV.

We get to A&W, and she gets us a table as I order our food. She is in a jovial mood as she catches me up on what I have missed at school. I hate to have to ruin it, but I promised to help her through her problems, and we haven’t talked about any of it since. Once she slows down and lets me speak, I say, “And how are things with Dr. Sleeman?”

“I really like him. Thanks for telling me about him. He wants to talk to you.”

“Oh, oh. Talk with means it is a two-way conversation, and the chances are things are ok. If he is talking to me, it is one way, which indicates that I have done something wrong.”

“He is mad at you for pushing me to face my problems. He says that you could have made things worse. He also wants to talk with you about our relationship.”

“I’m surprised he is mad. One of his primary beliefs is that people are stronger than they think they are, so he doesn’t hold back, and he tends to tell it like it is. That is why he doesn’t keep patients for long. Either you listen, in which case you tend to heal quicker than with most psychologists or refuse to listen, in which case, there is no need for him to waste his time on you. If you aren’t going to listen, then you aren’t ready to heal.”

“Yes, but pushing a person that isn’t ready isn’t smart.”

“You gave me no choice. You were getting worse and worse. All that you left was for me to do something drastic. Besides, you were in a situation where the risk of making it worse was minimal. You are consciously aware that a group of people love you unconditionally, and you would have to do one hell of a lot to push us away. That support network would have reversed any damage my pushing you would have done.”

“He disagrees with you on that.”

“As for our relationship, what does he want to talk about?”

“He didn’t say.”

“You did tell him that you masterminded this entire four girlfriends thing, and you didn’t give me a choice.”

“You say that like it is a bad thing.”

“That is how he is going to view it.”

“So, it is none of his business.”

“He is just trying to look out for you ... Listen, I know I said I would hold your hand while you dealt with this, but I think we both understand that I need to back off.”

“Why do you say that.”

“Dr. Sleeman seems to have things in hand. Besides, look at us. I ruined a perfectly good bonding moment with my girlfriend to dig up her crap.”

“There is something else. I can see something is bothering you.”

“You are improving. Last week you wouldn’t have noticed.”

“Spill it, Buster. What is bothering you?”

“I told you that I had helped other girls through similar problems. I didn’t tell you that by doing so, we grew closer, and I fell deeply in love with each of them. The problem was by being that big of a part of their healing process, there was a bit of a Pavlovian reaction. After having helped her through the healing process, when she saw me, she was reminded of me helping her and thus reminded of her problems. When you have just finished healing or are on the cusp, that can be damaging. All but one of them fell in love with me too, but seeing me also hurt them, so they all ended up cheating on me and finding another guy. I don’t want that for us. I was willing to sacrifice my happiness for your mental health, but since Sleeman is doing such a good job, I’m going to stop forcing you to talk. If you feel the need to talk, that is ok. I’m just not going to bring it up unless I have to. I love you. I don’t want to wipe that smile off your face.”

She slid out of her side of the booth and into mine, to hug me. With tears of happiness, she tells me, “I love you too. Promise me that you will still always be here for me.”

“Of course, I will. You are silly to think otherwise.”

“I know. I needed to hear it. That’s all.”

“There is something else you need to hear.”

“What’s that?”

“There is nothing wrong with you.”

“Yah, right.”

“Hear me out. We are all human, and we all have our own faults. At least yours were caused by trauma. Most people have no excuse. I would like to think my faults stem from a similar place as yours.”

“What faults. You are an athletic genius. Even when you step in it, you end up smelling like roses. Hell, you were thrown back in time, so you decide you will clean up your little town, and when you couldn’t do that anymore, you decide to try and save humanity and clean up the planet while you are at it. Then there is what you have done for my sisters and me. We were all depressed and confused. You have given us each a life worth having.”

“None of you had a bad life. It was only a matter of time before something pushed you in the right direction.

“A 15-year-old should be out having fun. How often am I the one to bring that into our relationship? I’m always the sombre one. Heck, in my past life, I almost never smiled. Thanks to you girls, that is changing.”

“But you’re not 15. You are 70. Old people don’t act that way.”

“That is because youth is wasted on the young. Make any other old person 55 years younger, and they would be ecstatic and living it up. I’m a workaholic, and if it weren’t for my girlfriends, I would be moping around, depressed.”

When somebody trusts you enough to talk about their problems, it is best to reciprocate, especially if it was something significant. Dahlia was feeling vulnerable because we were talking about her issues. I didn’t want that. If I told her about a bigger problem than hers, it could belittle her problems and make her feel worse. I told her of a problem that she would believe isn’t as bad as hers. This turns a broken heart into a bonding experience. In this case, it also refocuses her energies, so she feels nurturing, which also helps to strengthen our relationship.

For the first time since I realized we needed to deal with her past, I feel good about our relationship. I feel like we actually have a chance of making it. I am overjoyed. There is no way I could take losing another girl because I helped her through her troubles. For that girl to be Dahlia, it would be even worse. I am relieved and feel a great weight lifted.

There isn’t much said while I finish my meal. We just cuddle and enjoy each other’s company. I am almost sad when Dahlia eats the last onion ring. When she does, I smile down on her and say, “If you want us to do something with just the two of us, I’m all up for it. Personally, I would prefer it if we went home and cuddled on the couch. If you want to watch TV or listen to some horrid 80s music, I’m fine with it. I just want to lie there holding you.”

Her reply is simply to smile then get up, holding my hand while pulling me to the SUV. We only get a little over two hours alone together before my girlfriends, and our friends start to show up to hang out, but it is time well cherished.

The next morning, I have a meeting with Paul. He starts by asking, “How was your lunch meeting yesterday?”

“I thought it would be a complete waste of time, but Director Morden from CSIS rescued it. I suppose you should have been there, but I think you were where you needed to be.”

“That bad, huh?”

“They showed up late and treated me like I was a freak. Ok, I am one, but there is no need to treat me that way. In the end, Morden said he would send a team over to help figure out what we need and what they can do for us. I want you to sit down with them to design our bunker, or at least the first draft. They will leave ways in so they can spy on us while preventing others. Take those plans and go over them with Allied Security. When that is done, I will add in a few of my own security measures.”

“Anything else regarding CSIS.”

“Yes, use them to screen both construction workers and the people who will be working in the bunker once it is finished. I want double redundancy on this. I want you to vet them as well. Hire a company like the Pinkertons; only I would prefer it if you used somebody with a little more of a moral backbone.”

“Got it ... With our meeting, we didn’t come up with a solid plan. Nobody liked any of the options. We need more intel.”

“I can’t tell you how I know, but I can tell you that he only has cameras for external security on his home. There are no pressure plates or other sensors to let them know that they have unwanted guests. The windows and doors all have security circuits, but they are the older ones that you can fool with a metallic gum wrapper. I don’t know what internal security is like, nor do I know how many security guards he has on the premise.”

“I guess we need to case the place out.”

“You know the infrared trick, right?”

“You mean, point an infrared light at the camera to overwhelm the sensor and turn the recording into either a bright light or static.”

“Yes, I would do that a good 2 hours before breaking in. Even if they know the trick, their security and the police don’t have infrared goggles. They will just think there is something wrong with the wiring.”

“I normally only do it a half hour before, but in this case, they may call a local security firm. Two hours is a good call. It will give them plenty of time to check it out and leave, thinking it is a wiring issue that they can deal with in the morning.”

“Get somebody that can’t be linked to us and have them check the blueprints from the building permits on the property. We may get lucky. We can also try talking with one of the girls he has living there.”

“It would mean giving her your drug cocktail.”

“Any ideas on how to get everybody out of the house so we can search it?”

“We had a good laugh at Jane. She has watched too many movies. She wanted us to dress up like we were from the gas company, looking for a leak. If a neighbour calls the gas company, we will be had.”

“We could play to his ego. Say, dress up like a documentary crew, and pretend we are doing a show about Canada’s best homes. Tell him we want the place void of people for our filming. That would get us a few hours.”

“The problem with that is he would want somebody there to watch us.”

“I have the perfect thing. It will even ruin his party on Saturday. Thursday, when everybody is asleep, we open a couple of windows and drop in a shit ton of rodents, insects or something. We just need to make sure the problem is bad enough that he will not waste his time with traps. We need him to fumigate. Bribing the exterminators will be easy since they don’t get paid enough. Then we could have free rein of the place for three days to a week, depending on what we infected his house with.”

“What if he asks a neighbour if they are having problems?”

“Then we use rats. What port city doesn’t have rat problems? Leave a paperclip in a basement window and make it look like one of the girls left it there so she could open the window. That would explain how the rats got inside. Throw in a few other rodents, so it isn’t as suspicious.”

“Then all we need is a safecracker, somebody that could open almost anything.”

“Give us a day to set up the tent, three to fumigate, one to collect all the dead rodents and one to take down. Given six days, any good safecracker should be able to open whatever he has. Then they have to leave the place empty for a day after the tent is down, but I don’t like the idea of being in there without a tent.”

“I guess I need to start trapping rodents and buying them.”

“Send somebody to Vancouver, Duncan and Nanaimo to buy out the pet stores. And, set traps by our main garage and lake houses. That should be more than enough.”

“Pet stores tend to sell white rats, which aren’t found in the wild. I’ll ask Dr. Willson. He has to have a line on rodents used for medical research. I’m sure Vancouver has to have something like that. I don’t know a safecracker, but I’ll ask the guys ... Since that is dealt with, I have another personal matter that you will want to know about.”

“Is somebody unhappy with their job?”

“No, nothing like that. Do you remember telling me to have your foster sister watched?”

“Ya, last you mentioned she had fallen in with a bad crowd and was drinking excessively. There was also a possibility of them taking advantage of her for her money.”

“They have done that. Rachel still has a bit saved, but she isn’t working. That isn’t the problem. She started doing drugs, and her drug dealer has moved in with her. There are two things you need to know about him. First, he is a 47-year-old pervert that has manipulated her and is quite controlling. The second is that he doesn’t treat her well. Last night, she went to emergency, claiming that she fell down the stairs.”

Hearing this, I am visibly upset. I am saddened that Rachel has suffered such abuses after living the life she has. I am also angry and want to kill the asshole that is abusing her. I have often mentioned how I don’t always think best while angered. Setting into motion the creation of a quantum computer made me realize that I need to get my emotions under control. Instead of doing something rash, I closing my eyes, take a deep breath and pause. After I exhale, I ask, “What do you recommend doing?”

“There is nothing we can do. As a low-end dealer, he has no money. If we steal his stash, then she will be in as much trouble as he will. Threatening him will just anger him, and he will likely take it out on her. Trying to rescue her will just cause her to resent you more.”

“How bad are her injuries?”

“She is in the hospital, in traction. Beyond that, I don’t know. She isn’t in the ICU, so there should be nothing life-threatening.”

“Pending on what is broken, she will be in the hospital for up to six weeks.”

I start writing a note.

Dearest Rachel,

I have been told that you are in the hospital. I know that you want nothing to do with me and would turn away my help, so I will stay out of your business. I just wanted you to know that there are people that care about you and worry. If you ever change your mind, the family wants you to know that there will be a place for you here.

Much love,

Your Big/Little Brother

When I am finished writing the note, I put it in a small envelope, include a business card with my office and home numbers, and hand it to Paul with some money. Then I say, “Here is $40. Get somebody to buy her flowers and have them sent to the hospital along with this note. Find out what all he did to her, and when they will let her out of the hospital.”

“Got it.”

“You are right in that there is nothing you can do. That doesn’t mean I’m going to sit back. You know how this plays out if we don’t do anything. Rachel ends up dead, or if she is lucky, she ends up living on the street as a penniless crack whore. All I have to say is, if I decide to give my bodyguard the slip, there is nothing he can do about it. When it happens, don’t give him too much shit.”

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t get caught. I will need this guy’s name and a report of his daily routine.”

The rest of our conversation is a bit mundane. We have started having weekly meetings where Paul gives me a security report. With the new buildings, properties that require security, people needing bodyguards, the new computer projects and trying to entrap the rapists, we have a lot to discuss. Since nobody can know about the three types of advanced computers we are building nor the plot against the jocks, we needed an excuse for the regular meetings, so people wouldn’t talk.

Monday, I decide to start joining my cycle team for their morning ride, even if I am not going to school. When we stop at the school and they head in for a shower, I continue on to work. It isn’t fair for me to force my employees and girlfriends to train hard, and then slack off.

At work, my mind keeps wandering to Rachel and her problems. I need a distraction. Since I have delegated to the point where none of my big projects need significant amounts of my time, I decide to start another project. At first, I am only thinking about my buildings’ security, but it has more applications.

I am working on improving TIC (Thermal Imaging Camera) equipment. It isn’t used for security systems yet, and handheld units are still too big for practical use. The only people interested in it for firefighting are those involved with the RN (Royal Navy, UK’s navy).