© 2022, All rights reserved -- mimaster
Transformation complete, Brandi takes Christina to Vegas
*****
"Freewill", written by Neil Peart. Performed by Rush, 1979.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sunday Evening, May 19th -- DAY 3
Maggie was still sitting at the island, staring at the computer in despair. Well, not in despair as much as she was in deep thought. Kalinda was pacing around the living area, a glass of wine on her hand as she ran through her head all the details that she knew, trying to make sense of the dilemma they were in, and how to attack it.
They both saw Alex descending the white metal staircase from his bedroom to the kitchen, his erection fast rising. He'd just made sure the kids were sound asleep, anticipating the naughty fun that awaited the rest of his evening.
That is until he saw the look in Maggie's green eyes. They flashed anything but brilliant, instead showing a resignation to their current fate. Instantly his member started to deflate, knowing that his night wasn't going to turn out like he'd hoped.
"Sorry sweetie," she sighed.
"Yeah... me too babe," he responded, surprising her with the use of a pet name. She was also disappointed that he was now worried. About Christina.
Kalinda picked up on the change of vibe in the room. "Hey, I've got this. I just need some time to figure it out."
"Kal, he's canceled the Bellagio. He's changed the rental. He's booked a plane ticket to Vegas on Wednesday night. One way. And just one person... him. What the fuck does it all mean?"
"Truthfully, I don't know. Yet. We don't have enough information to make an informed conclusion on anything, so we're not going to. We go only with what we know. That's our baseline, and we build on it."
"Well what do we really know?" Alex asked.
"Besides that this prick is always five moves ahead of us? Not much," Maggie bitched.
Kalinda was calming. "That's not true, Mag. What do I always tell you about these things?"
"Take my emotion out of it," she sighed again, her head slowly nodding. Taking a swig of her Fosters, she acknowledged, "You're right. I'd just rather be fucking right now."
"And we still can. But first we need to work the problem."
Alex shook his head quickly, actually chuckling a little in spite of the mood on the huge room. "Wait. She got that
from you?
"
"Got what?" Kalinda wondered.
"That line... from
Apollo 13
."
Maggie sighed. "I'm sure I'm not the only one that's ever seen the movie, Alex."
"Yeah, but... "
"I got it from her, sweetie. She says it all the time. You have to admit, it's wise advice."
Kalinda offered a different perspective. "Whats wiser is Gene Kranz saying not to make things worse by guessing. That's what you end up doing if you get ahead of yourself."
"Agreed," Alex said. "So what do we really know."
Kalinda grinned at him. "Well, nothing we can act on. We know he's been tracking you and Maggie. And Christina when she was here. There are GPS devices on all three vehicles in the garage. That's how he was able to coordinate meeting up with Maggie and Sarah at the shoe store."
"What the fuck?" he said under his breath.
"We know that he just made three changes to the itinerary that we've been told for the trip to Vegas. I'm still confused as to what his plan is. It's not adding up in my head."
"Wh... what changes did he make?" he asked nervously.
Maggie spoke up and said, "The first was changing the rental car. My phone went off, and the card was used. He's getting a vehicle today. Upgraded to a higher-end SUV of some kind through Enterprise."
"That's a blow," Kalinda shared. "I actually have an in with Enterprise. I was going to call him tomorrow and get him to return the favor of what this Gerard character did to you. Put a tracker on whatever vehicle he got so we could track where he takes Christina. Now, we're back to square one."
"Well, nothing we can do about it," he said philosophically. "What else?"
Maggie answered, "He canceled the Bellagio. Well, maybe not. Definitely canceled Monday and Tuesday. Put a hold on the rest of the week. And then there's the airline ticket. First, it was bad enough him renting a car on the company card. The hotel is reserved in Christina's name, but the SUV and plane ticket? Thank God I got Candice at the bank to set up that alert so we can at least stay on top of this. For fucks sake, I have no idea how we'd explain a one-way airline ticket in his name to your partners. Hell I can't explain why he's doing that anyway. A Wednesday night flight? It doesn't make any sense."
"It does if we consider he's definitely not doing this alone," Kalinda said as a hypothesis. "Didn't you just say the ticket is in his name?"
"Yeah... but like I said, so is the SUV."
"But that can be worked around. Especially at Enterprise. They'll pick you up. If it's this Brandi that's helping him, then she could get that changed when she goes in to sign the paperwork. To be honest it's the only thing that makes sense. She'd have to show ID, but she could get then to change it."
"How?"
"Monetary payoff. Blowjob. Hell, Christina might be told by Gerard to fuck for it. That's negotiable if you get the right person to work with. But there's no way to get on a plane in this country without proving you are who you are. Not since 9/11. He's definitely the one flying. Which means why the SUV, if not for Christina and Brandi... or more, to head over either before or after he goes."
"Why would they go afterward?" Alex wondered. "Then again, he canceled the first two days at the Bellagio. Maybe the whole week. None of what we know adds up."
Kalinda agreed. "Yeah... that's why we need more intel. Right now, the only thing we really have is he doesn't know we know he put trackers on your vehicles. What we thought we knew about the Vegas trip is kinda out the window right now. It's almost like he's deliberately throwing us a misdirection to keep us in the dark."
Alex shook his head. "Thanks. I feel a whole lot better now," he whined sarcastically.
"Relax, stud. I'm going to figure this out. I know it's hard to be patient in something like this, but that's what we need to be. We have to be patient, keep our senses clear, and be ready to act."
"You... you act like Christina is in real danger."
"Until we prove differently, we have to assume she is. Do
you trust the guy she's with?
All you have to do is remind yourself what he's got her doing to you to keep you off balance. I get the idea of it being exciting to you for her to be fucking other men, but this feels different to me. There's no reason for him to track you,
or
Maggie, unless he's up to something."
"God... what have I done. I'm supposed to be her protector. I wasn't man enough to fuck her in the bedroom, and I'm not man enough to -"
Maggie had heard enough. "Stop it Alex. You're more than enough man for her. And for me. That's Gerard trying to emasculate you that's playing in your head. You can't let him win, no matter what we have to do the rest of the week. I need you to be strong, for me and the kids... and most important, your wife. Kalinda is the best. We need to trust what she says and listen to her."
"Thanks Mag. And she's right Alex... you're definitely man enough. I promise I'm gonna let you prove that to me this week. For now, we need to be looking for the break that's going to come our way. And one will... we just can't afford to miss it."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sunday Evening, May 19th -- DAY 3
Instead of flipping the rearview mirror so the headlights from the vehicles behind wouldn't blind her, Brandi readjusted it, tilting it lower so she could keep her eyes on her passenger in the back.
Christina was naked, and was tied into a spread eagle position in the back of the huge Chevy Suburban she'd rented. It was black, with tinted windows, and it was top of the line of the premium SUVs that were available.
A hunky black Enterprise employee named Quantrell showed up in a sporty new Porsche Cayenne. The slogan 'We'll pick you up' was being done in style, as a way to perhaps entice an upgrade. After all, the description on the rental ticket listed a high end SUV.