Chapter 87: Sleepless in Seattle

I’d decided, that since the appointment in the Seattle office was at eleven am on Tuesday, I’d drive up on the Monday night, and stay over in a local hotel.

It wasn’t so much the early start, as the potential for things to go wrong on the journey up. Who knew what could happen that would get in the way. If I travelled up the day before then at least I’d have plenty of time to sort out any issues and still be there fresh, and ready, to jump through whatever hoops they had for me at the interview.

We’d spent the rest of the Sunday doing what we normally did on a Sunday, spending time together as a family. Ness had cooked dinner, and Arnie had come over and stayed overnight again.

I was fairly certain that Sarah had told Arnie about our morning’s activities, because when they came out of their bedroom for dinner, he looked flushed and kept darting glances at the girls, especially Amanda. I wondered at that at first but then remembered that Amanda had cleaned his creampie from inside Sarah. He didn’t seem at all upset about things, in fact he spent most of the evening in a state of semi arousal. Sarah took him back into their room again, not long after we’d finished dinner.

Sarah and Melanie went off to the Dojo the next morning to train with Kevin. I went out for a run, and then did some exercises on the deck. I was still intermittently seeing how many pushups and sit-ups I could do. I’d gotten around the lack of a pull-up bar by simply fixing a bar in the air with TK. It wasn’t difficult to hold. Given what I could lift with my TK, my weight was negligible and I could lock it off in my mind almost indefinitely.

When Arnie came out, while I was still doing pull ups, his eyes were wide and he walked around me, looking to see how the bar was supported.

“I didn’t think I’d joined the circus,” he said. “What exactly is holding that up?”

“Me,” I said, continuing to do pull-ups. I was on forty two and still feeling good.

“Your power?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I can lift quite a lot with it, so holding my own weight is no trouble.”

“Can you fly then?” he asked.

“Not really,” I said. “I can jump really high, but I need to push against something to keep me up there. Did you ever read any of Brandon Sanderson?”

“Yeah,” he responded.

“Then think of it like a coin shot,” I said, “if you remember them.”

“The guys that could move metal, they’d throw down coins and then ‘fly’ by pushing against them?”

“That’s the ones,” I said. “But I can push against anything – its almost like flying but I need a solid surface to push against. I don’t know how I’d fare over water.”

He nodded, then stood watching me for a few minutes.

“Sarah told me about Sunday morning,” he said.

“I thought she might,” I responded. “How do you feel about it?”

“If I’m honest,” he said. “I’m a little pissed.”

I dropped down off the bar, and then dropped the bar, catching it as it fell. I turned to him.

“Oh,” I said. “I’m sorry if...”

“It’s not that,” he said. “I’m pissed I missed it.”

I grinned at him.

“We were catching up with Ness,” I said. “You were at work.”

“I know,” he said with a sigh.

“You’re not mad that Sarah got involved?” I asked. “Just that you missed it?”

“Somehow that feels so wrong,” he said. “I shouldn’t be okay with it, but I am. Like I say, I’m just pissed I missed it.”

“Then maybe we should have some fun while you’re not working,” I told him. “Although I’m going to Seattle later today, and coming back tomorrow, I’m sure that the girls would be happy to play a little later if you’re up for it?

“Also, Sarah is going to be practicing her Compulsion with Josh and Louise. Maybe you can sit in on that.”

He groaned.

“Jesus,” he said. “Why am I always so horny when I’m here?”

“You’re an eighteen year old guy,” I said. “Do you need another reason?”

“I wasn’t this bad before I met you,” he said. “Admittedly I wasn’t exactly a monk, but I wasn’t constantly in heat like I am now.”

“How long are you going to be?” I sent to Sarah.

“Five minutes,” she responded. “Why?”

“Because your fiancé is trying to drill a hole in his shorts.” I told her. “Will you take care of him, or do you want me to figure it out?”

“I’m almost home.” I felt amusement in her send. “Ask him, if you want. Let him decide.”

“Sarah will be home in a couple of minutes,” I said. “Why don’t you go wait for her in your room. I’m sure she’ll help you out, unless you’d like me to?”

Arnie’s face went red. I could feel that he was torn, but in the end, he didn’t quite have the courage to ask.

“I’ll go wait for Sarah,” he said, and turned to go.

I put my hand on his arm.

“Hey,” I said gently when he looked at me. “Nobody is going to judge you. You know that we all love you, and that the twins or I would be happy to spend time with you if you want. Sarah would be fine with it too. Ness and Jules are a little more complicated but I’m sure Josh and Louise would both be happy to have some fun with you too.

“But there’s no pressure. It’s up to you.”

He was still standing there, seemingly stuck for an answer, when Sarah came out into the yard. She smiled at him.

“Hey you,” she said pulling him into a hug and kissing him.

That seemed to break the spell.

“Come on,” she said taking his hand. “We’re going to have to be quick if you’ve got a flight at nine.”

She led him into the house.

Melanie, who’d followed Sarah out, came over to me.

“He looked conflicted,” she said.

I gave her the memories of the time since he came into the yard.

“He’s just taking a little time to get his head around things,” I said. “I’m sure he’ll be fine once he figures it out.”

“Would you mind if I ‘helped him out’ occasionally?” she asked.

“Not at all,” I told her. “Would you like to?”

“Maybe,” she said. “If it’s okay?”

“Like I said to him,” I told her, “nobody is going to judge you. Who you decide to invite into your bed, is entirely up to you. I feel honored every time you choose me.”

She smiled at me.

“Then would you like to come shower with me?” she asked.

I took her hand, and we went into the bedroom.

Ness had cooked breakfast by the time we emerged. She grinned at the pair of us.

“Morning,” she said. “I made some extra since you did so much ‘exercising’ this morning.

Melanie laughed. “That’s so nice,” she said. “I hope you made extra for Sarah and Arnie too?”

“I did,” she responded. “And for the twins and me.” She grinned at us both.

Sounds like everyone had a good morning.

Jules came into the kitchen. “I got an early start on my new project,” she said with a smile.

I went over to her and pulled her into a hug.

“Did I ever tell you how much I love you?” I asked her. She laughed into my shirt.

“Only every day,” she said. “And I never get tired of hearing it.”

“Then I’ll never get tired of saying it.” I said, before collecting a kiss from her.

We ate breakfast and everyone headed out to start their days. Mary had packed me an overnight bag, and booked me a night’s stay in a hotel near the Seattle office. I looked out of the window, watching the rain lash down, and decided that I’d set out around lunchtime, and give myself plenty of time to get there.

I wanted to arrive at the hotel after the normal check-in time, which was 3pm, but I expected there to be trouble on the roads, given the weather.

Fortunately, my truck was in the garage, so I didn’t have to go out into the weather. I loaded my overnight bag into the back seat and got in. I had about half a tank of gas which I knew wouldn’t get me all the way there, but I decided to set out and top up at one of the truck stops on the freeway. I was hoping that the weather would clear by the time I needed gas, although I didn’t hold out much hope.

I set out just after midday and headed north. Once I was on the freeway I set my adaptive cruise control and let it do the hard work. I just relaxed and steered the truck. I loved this truck, with all it’s gadgets and gizmo’s. It was so easy to drive and practically drove itself. I remembered that my old truck didn’t have nearly as many features, and adaptive cruise control was one that I’d always wished for, but as my father used to say...

“Stop daydreaming and take out the trash!!!”

I smiled at that thought. I was looking forward to the Christmas break. I was hoping that the surprise that Cheryl and Dean had alluded to would be that my parents were going up to the Ranch for Christmas. I’d not seen or even spoken to them in such a long time. I needed to make more effort, but there was just so much else going on in my life – it was hard to make time. I knew that that was just an excuse.

A yellow light ahead caught my eye, and I saw I was coming into a construction zone. The speed limit was reduced, but fortunately the truck had slowed with the traffic, and I was still well within the limit. I grinned at the state trooper standing by the side of the road with a speed gun pointing at the oncoming traffic.

I checked my speed. I was doing five below the posted speed limit, even for the construction zone. I paid attention for a while not wanting to have a problem going through the zone. I knew there would be people working here and didn’t want to risk hitting anyone because I was daydreaming.

By the time I’d gotten through the construction zone, I was another hour into my journey, but about half an hour behind schedule. I’d have to wait another half hour before I could stop for a drink. I was getting the first stirrings that I needed a bathroom break too. It wasn’t urgent, I’d make it no problem.

I was right. Almost exactly half an hour later, I pulled into the rest stop. I needed to pee.

Parking the truck in the lot, I dashed through the rain into the diner. Fortunately the rain had lessened to a light drizzle which was good for me because, despite setting out in an absolute downpour, I’d forgotten to bring my coat. That’s what you get for being able to get into your truck in the garage. I berated myself for my stupidity.

The diner was busy and I decided I’d get my coffee to go, but first things first. The bathroom.

When I got into the bathroom, all the urinals were taped off with ‘out of order’ signs so I made my way further in, to where the cubicles were. As I walked toward them, someone came out of one. He walked toward, and then past, me making momentary eye contact. I ‘heard’ a thought go through his head.

“He looks the type.”

I furrowed my brow but continued on, my need to pee overriding all other considerations. I entered the cubicle and closed the door. A moment later and I was sighing with relief as I stood emptying my bladder into the toilet.

I heard the door to the next cubicle close, but then nothing.

“He’s just peeing.”

The thought was loud from the next cubicle. I wondered at that, but then noticed just behind the paper dispenser was a gloryhole. It wasn’t big, maybe an inch and a half in diameter, just big enough to get your cock through. I smirked to myself, thinking of the fun I’d had with our neighbours through the hole.

Out of curiosity I glanced at the opposite wall of the cubicle and saw another hole. Much smaller. Only big enough to look through. That’s when I heard the thought from that side.

“Come on – do something.”

What? Was he hoping I’d use the gloryhole so he could watch? I smiled – he wouldn’t see very much, just my ass moving maybe. Besides I wasn’t in the mood and didn’t really have time. Otherwise, I might have spent some time here.

“Come on. We need one more today.”

Wait what? One more? One more what? Then it clicked. This was a police sting. The guy on the one side was filming, hoping I’d put my cock through the hole, then I’d get arrested for – what did they call it – fuck knew but it wouldn’t look good. I finished up and tucked myself away.

I pulled my phone out and started the video recording, and then reached forward and flushed, just as a large cock slid through the hole to my right. It was semi hard.

I’ll admit, if I hadn’t heard the thoughts from the other guy, I would have been tempted.

“Go on,” thought the guy with the camera, “Just do it. You know you want to, you queer fuck!”

I backed out of the stall, careful not to touch the cock sticking through the wall, and still videoing.

“Fuck” thought the camera man. “I thought he’d go for it. Well, I could say I saw him put his dick through the hole, but didn’t get the chance to film. Bernie would back me up. Yeah, we’ll do that. Then we can get out of this fucking place.”

I backed toward the sinks still pointing my phone at the booths. The guy on the camera side came out of the stall and started toward me. It took him a second to realise I was recording him.

“What do you think you are doing?” he asked. “You can’t film in here.”

“Why not?” I asked. “You were. You were filming through the hole in the wall while I was taking a piss. You were filming as your buddy stuck his cock through the hole, and you were filming when you saw me steer well clear of it and leave the stall. You do realize that that is entrapment?”

“What is? I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re just some perv getting off filming guys in the toilet. I’m going to call the police.”

“So you’re not police then?” I asked.

Just then his buddy came out of the other stall. He still had a bulge visible in his pants. Not enough time had passed for it to go down, but he was hearing what was going on outside and he wanted to back up his partner.

“What?” asked the first guy. “What you mean ‘we’re not police’?”

“We?” I said. “So, you are together?”

“What? No,” said the other guy.

“And you’re not police either?”

“Why do you keep saying that?” he asked.

“Because I think you are both police officers on a sting,” I said. “And when I didn’t take your bait, you decided to try and entrap me. So, Officer, you know that I did nothing wrong, and you know HE broke the law by putting his penis through a hole in the stall wall into my stall. Are you going to continue this charade or are you going to quit while you are behind?”

They looked at each other.

The cocksman sighed. “You done in here?” he asked.

“I need to wash my hands,” I said.

He nodded toward the sink.

Keeping my phone, and my eye, on them, I washed and dried my hands.

“Now I’m done,” I said.

He nodded to the door. I backed away from them, continuing to film until I reached the door and exited the bathroom. I looked around and saw an officer sitting facing the toilet door. He watched me as I emerged.

I went to the counter and ordered my coffee. I also placed another order.

The two officers came out of the bathroom and went and sat with the guy I’d seen watching me.

They had a quiet discussion and I saw him shake his head.

My coffee arrived just as the waitress went over to their table with an order of coffee and donuts. She turned and pointed to me, and I grinned at the three of them.

The two that had been in the bathroom looked angry, but the one who’d been waiting outside picked up his cup and raised it toward me. He then picked up a donut and began to eat.

“That’s a month’s work wasted,” I heard him think. “If he publishes that video on social media then all the people we caught in the various stings with these two Bozo’s will scream entrapment, and will walk. And who knows, some of them may be right.

“The captain is going to go apeshit. We’ll all be lucky to keep our jobs.”

I saw him make his mind up to come and talk to me but, since I had my coffee, I headed out to my truck. He didn’t follow.

I gassed up and headed out. Just as I got back on the freeway, the weather worsened. Perfect.

The skies darkened as the rain got heavier and heavier. I switched on my lights. It didn’t make a difference to what I could see – but hopefully it would mean others could see me. The problem was that others didn’t know what lights to use. They either didn’t bother switching their lights on at all, making their vehicles grey smudges in the gloom, or they put on their high intensity fog lamps, which blinded from the front and caused red glare to make it more difficult to see.

That added to the fact that some of them didn’t bother to account for the sudden deluge and the amount of surface water that was on the road. They drove like maniacs, meaning that it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. A car came barrelling up beside me and just didn’t see the car in front – which had no lights on – until it was way too late.

The driver of a Mercedes did try and stop but in the wet there was no chance. He stuffed the nose of his Benz into the back of the slower moving vehicle. She, in turn, swerved left after the impact and into my lane, causing me to have to brake suddenly. Fortunately the car behind me was keeping their distance, but the car to my other side from the Mercedes ran into the side of the car that had crossed in front of me. Before I knew it, I was slap bang in the middle of a number of wrecked cars. Thankfully mine wasn’t one of them. But there were four cars in total, blocking all three lanes of the freeway in front of me. I sighed.

None of the passengers of the cars looked badly injured, but I felt I ought to go check. My problem was that it was still pelting down with rain. I was going to get wet.

I put my hazard lights on, stepped out of my truck and went over to the nearest car, the Mercedes that had cause the mess in the first place. There was a middle aged man in a suit sitting behind a deployed airbag, talking on a mobile phone. I knocked on his window and he looked at me in disgust.

“You alright?” I shouted.

He didn’t deign to answer but continued his call. I figured if he could be that rude then he couldn’t be too badly injured and moved to the next vehicle. There was a middle aged woman in there looking stunned. She was the one who had been shunted across in front of me and then hit from the side by another car.

I opened her door. It was an older car and either didn’t have airbags or they hadn’t deployed.

“Ma’am?” I said “Are you alright?”

She looked up at me.

“What happened?” she asked.

“You got in a wreck,” I said. “Guy behind was going too fast, ran into you, and pushed you into that other car. Are you hurt?”

As I was asking, I looked her over. Miraculously she seemed completely unhurt. Just shocked.

“I’m just going to check those other folks,” I said and closed her door.

It seemed that I was the only idiot willing to get drenched and so, although there were people honking their horns, nobody else was getting out to help. There were a steady stream of cars taking to the median to go around the wreck and passing on the other side in the emergency lane. I saw one car go onto the median which was starting to get churned up in the rain, and get stuck, his wheels spinning. I grinned.

The third car, which had been to my right, had hit the car that had crossed in front of me, and then had been hit from behind by the following car.

Inside were a family, all of whom seemed to be unhurt. The two adults seemed more concerned about whose fault the crash was than the health of the two children in the back. I checked both over, and they had no appreciable injuries.

I was approaching the final car in the mess when I heard a siren. A state trooper arrived down the emergency lane, emergency lights flashing.

Since I was already there, I looked over the driver of the last car, a young man who was pissed that his car had been damaged, even though he was partially to blame. If he’d kept his distance he wouldn’t have hit the car in front. He was uninjured, but trying to figure out how he could spin this to make it someone else’s fault.

The trooper was just getting out of his car as I approached.

“Hey,” he said. “Anyone hurt?”

“Not that I can see,” I said. I described the accident as I’d witnessed it, and then went on to tell him what I’d found in each car.

“Which is your vehicle,” he asked and I pointed out my truck, sitting in the middle of the chaos, thankfully undamaged.

“Typical,” he said. “Folks just don’t take account of the weather. We need to clear the road. The back-up is already about five miles.

“There’s also someone stuck on the median,” I said. “He tried to go around but sunk in the mud.”

The trooper grinned. “That’s going to be expensive,” he said. “He’s going to need a tow truck to get unstuck, and he’s going to get a citation for driving on the median.”

I laughed. “I can see you are full of sympathy for him.”

It took us about fifteen minutes to get the road cleared, after which the trooper asked me to pull over onto the emergency lane so he could take my statement about what I’d witnessed.

Forty minutes later, cold and soaked, I was back in my truck and on my way again. Now I was an hour and a half behind, my coffee was cold, I was cold, and the rain was still coming down.

I turned the heat all the way up in the truck, which helped, but while it felt stifling, I was still uncomfortable. I needed to get out of my wet clothes. Fortunately, I had a change of clothes in the truck, but I could use a shower to get warm again. I headed for the next truck stop. Maybe I could use the facilities that the truckers used.

I pulled onto a truck stop I had never stopped at before. It looked a little rundown and shabby. But in my condition, I just wanted to get dry and warm again.

I went into the store area, and walked up to the clerk. An older woman trying to look younger.

“You have showers I can use?” I asked. She looked me up and down.

“Looks like you already did.”

“Yeah,” I laughed. “Only I’d like one with warm water this time.”

She grinned displaying yellowed teeth.

“The trucker’s shower is fifteen bucks,” she said. “But you need your own soap and towel. Do you have those?”

I had soap but no towel. Expecting to be stopping in a hotel.

“We have a few towels for sale over there,” she said pointing. “When you have what you need come back and I’ll give you the key.”

I went around the store, picked up a towel and I saw some shower shoes, so I grabbed a pair of those too. I also picked up a laundry bag for my wet clothes. I went back to the register and paid, picking up the key. She directed me to the showers.

I was pleasantly surprised by the shower. I’d kind of expected it to be a dingy room with a shower head on the wall, but it was like a little ensuite bathroom. There was a sink and toilet combo, a shelf to put your belongings on and quite a large shower cubicle, with a rainfall shower head. It all looked clean.

Locking the door behind me, and for good measure applying a little TK to keep it closed, I stripped out of my wet things, putting my phone, keys, wallet, Glock, and the spare magazines on the shelf. The clothing all went into the bag. Even my sneakers were soaked through so they went in the bag as well. Fortunately I had some training shoes in my bag so I’d be fine.

I then got in the shower and, once again, was pleasantly surprised that the water was hot and plentiful. It took no time at all to get warm and comfortable. After my shower I dried off with my new towel, redressed and got all my belongings back together. I’d not thought to put a brush or comb in the bag – so I just ran my fingers through my hair and, after unsealing the door, headed out.

I took the key back to the girl on the register.

“You scrub up well,” she said taking the key back. I smiled at her. “Thanks.”

“But you don’t got a coat.” She said. “And you’re going to be soaked through again before you get back to your vehicle.”

I looked out of the window and saw she was right. The rain was still lashing down.

I looked back at her. She pointed.

They had quite a good range of outdoor wear. It was overpriced but you kind of expect that at a truck stop. I found a decent raincoat with hood. I tried it on and it fit.

I walked back to the register wearing it.

“The tag’s on the back” she said Turn around

I turned and she scanned the tag.

“You want I should take it off?”

“Sure,” I said.

Getting far more ‘handsy’ than was technically necessary she removed the tag from the bottom hem of my coat.

I turned to pay.

“You going far?” she asked.

“A little ways,” I said.

“I’m off in an hour, if you’ve got time.” she offered.

I had to stifle a shudder.

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m on a deadline, and I’m already behind.”

“Shame,” she said. “Maybe next time.”

“Maybe,” I said.

I left the store and headed into the diner. I needed hot coffee.

Ten minutes later I was back on the road. Now I was two and a half hours behind schedule, and I’d only covered about a quarter of the journey. I sighed. It was going to be one of those trips.

The rain eased up about half an hour later, and another fifteen minutes saw it stop completely.

The sun came out, and as I settled into my drive once again, I once again activated the cruise control.

Other than some heavy traffic as I came into Seattle, the rest of the journey was uneventful and I arrived at my hotel just before six PM.

I was very glad that I’d decided to travel up today. If I’d left it until the morning, and had run into half the delays that I’d run into today, I would have been late. It could be argued that I would have missed all of the events of today had I travelled tomorrow, but who knew what fresh horrors a new day might have brought. I would have had no time to deal with them.

I went and checked in to my hotel and was happy to see that it had a decent restaurant attached. It had started raining again as I’d hit Seattle, and I was glad that I wouldn’t have to go out in the weather to find something to eat.

“Would you like to make a reservation for dinner?” asked the concierge as I checked in. “We are very busy so if you don’t, then you may struggle to get a table.”

“Sure,” I said. I could always get room service, but that would mean spending the entire night on my own in a hotel room. That didn’t sound like a great proposition to me.

He looked on his computer and found a space.

“Eight pm is all we have I’m afraid,” he said. “Table for one?”

“Yes please,” I said, and he booked it in. Then he gave me my key and I took myself and my now depleted bag up to my room.

Once in my room I checked in with the guys at home. I told them all about my journey, and Mary advised that I tell Dianna about the sting, just in case anything came back to me. Although I was never identified by any of the officers involved, I was certain that they could have taken my license plate as I drove away and gotten my details from the DMV.

I did just that.

“Jesus, Caleb,” Dianna said once I explained. “Can you not go anywhere without getting into trouble?”

“I didn’t do this,” I said. “It was...”

“I know,” she groused. “Dean is right. You are a fucking trouble magnet. Only you could drive from Portland to Seattle and not only nearly get caught up in a police sting but almost wind up in a multi car fender bender on the freeway. Was there anything else you needed to tell me, did you get struck by lightening by any chance, have a divine revelation, discover the cure for Cancer?”

I laughed. “I already can do that,” I said.

“Fuck off,” she said good naturedly. “I just know I’m going to regret you joining the FBI, let alone having you in my office. Are you sure you don’t want to go work for the NSA?”

“Well if you’d prefer...” I started but she laughed.

“No” she sighed. “I need to keep you where I can see you. Good job at the pileup by the way. I’m glad nobody was injured. Let me know if anything comes of the other thing. I doubt it will but you never know. You didn’t ID yourself at all?”

“Nope,” I said. “They didn’t ask, and I didn’t tell. Although they might have sneaked a peek at my license plate.”

“From the sound of it that wasn’t the only thing they snuck a peek at.” She laughed.

“Who knows,” I said. “I may be a Pornhub star by the end of the day,”

“Somehow I doubt that,” she said. “Unless you have plans?”

“Not me,” I said. “I’m very shy and retiring.”

She choked at that.

“Well,” she said. “Single and alone in a hotel in Seattle. What trouble are you going to get in tonight?”

“None,” I said. “I’m going to have dinner, and then an early night.”

“I have bets on with the twins that you don’t spend the night alone, or at least you don’t spend it all alone,” she told me.

“You think I can’t go one night without...”

“I’m sure you can,” she said. “But if it’s offered, why would you turn it down. You know where we are with this. This is your first time away from home. The girls all have each other and, from what I hear, they are intending to make it up to Arnie because he missed your little party yesterday.”