"What the hell is the matter with you?" Kendra yelled. "I didn't give you that key so you could just waltz on in here whenever you pleased."
Mr. Colins shook his head and gathered his surroundings. Roger and Kendra stood over him and he immediately sprang back to his feet.
"I was trying to get a hold of you. I thought something..."
"I was on a girl's trip with my daughter. I don't need to tell you everything about my life." Kendra said.
"I understand that, but your husband..."
"My husband what? He's like a mosquito buzzing around and pissing you off but he'll never hurt me."
"I apologize Ms. Blackwood." Mr. Collins said.
"It's Mrs. West. And you know what, forget about the divorce. Ed and I will make do for now."
"Kendra, what is going on with you?"
"You heard the lady, beat it asshole." Roger said.
"Who the hell are you?"
"I'm her new man. Unlike you, I actually get invited over."
"This is ridiculous. I will call you tomorrow to straighten things out." Mr. Colins said. He quickly ran out of the man cave fearing another knock to the noggin.
Kendra froze in place as Ed came out of the next room.
"Hell yah Mr. W." Rogers said with his hand up for a high five. Ed ignored him. "So, is that how you were controlling the twins?"
Ed nodded.
"Can I try?"
Ed gripped his phone tight. His daughter's former lover was starting to learn too much. First it was the Decor camera, now it was the Kollar Tech items and furthermore he also knew Kendra's lawyer by name and face. And her lawyer knew him. Ed had a choice to make. Roger knew a lot but keeping him involved would inevitably make it impossible to get rid of him. At least now, he had only the faintest idea and if he tried anything, Ed would have no choice but to use a Kollar Tech item on him. If it came to that. There was just no benefit from having him around and Ed was tired of worrying about the stoner college kid. It was time to cut ties.
"You need to go now." Ed said.
"Go? I still haven't finished with Mrs. W." Roger said. "I was looking forward to trying a few new positions."
"Try them another time." Ed said in a grumpy tone.
"Hey, did you forget that I brought you those two dime pieces. Saw you having a good time with them, too"
"I didn't ask you to do that. And you don't think fucking my wife is enough." Ed said. "Tell me, how many guys let you fuck their wife?"
Roger moved towards Kendra, but Ed blocked his path.
"I said go home, kid."
Roger pushed Ed back. "You know what. Fuck you man."
Roger left the basement and Ed turned to his frozen, programmed wife. The interaction with the lawyer proved without any doubt that the devices worked. Even Kendra's nagging, self righteous voice was on full display. There was plenty to explore with the programmable item, but Ed had other things to tend to. Before someone came looking for them, it was time to let the twins go.
***
"Good job on the Berger investigation."
Detective Melody Peele nodded her head in acknowledgement. It was one of her hardest and most satisfying cases to solve. Long nights, false leads, and dead ends littered the case work, but after a year, her intuitive nature and compounded evidence helped her put the final pieces together and catch Wrigley Berger in the act.
"Detective Peele, you have a visitor out front." Another colleague said as he walked by.
Out front was one of Detective Peele's main contacts for legal questions and in return she had to field many illegitimate and oftentimes delusional legal inquires into people's lives.
"Mr. Collins. It's been a while. What can I do for you?" Detective Peele asked.
"You know that Kollar Tech investigation you're putting together."
"You mean the Kollar Tech investigation you asked me to put together?"
"Look, I know you think I'm crazy, but if you've never been to a Kollar Hotel, I don't know how else to explain it."
"I have Mr. Collins. In fact, I've had a collar around my neck and was able to easily take it off." Detective Peele said. "So, I don't know what you have against this company, but your outlandish claims have no substance."
One of her biggest regrets was taking Mr. Collins seriously and opening an investigation into Kollar Tech, a very large contributor to the city and, by proxy, her station. Questioning their ethics didn't seem like a big deal, but it had rustled a lot of feathers throughout her organization and Kollar Tech. She was brought in immediately to dispel any rumors through demonstrations of their products and told to wrap up the case quickly.
On paper she did just that. But off the record, she kept her own personal file of anything that may have come up including Mr. Collins accusations, of which there were many. The man had lost the benefit of the doubt when he cried wolf too many times. Detective Peele was good at being discreet, but putting her job on the line for someone who yelled whenever he imagined that there was a problem would soon see her out the door.
"I swear Melody. Something is up with one of my clients." Mr. Collins said as he blocked the detective's path.
"I'm going to need more than a hunch."
"I found her fucking another man."