Fallout 04: Choices

I held out some hope that Nikki might call or text, but she never did. I did get a call from Paul, who told me they had an operative on site who would record her activity and report directly to him. I thanked him and informed him of my appointment with Rose.

"Good," he said. "I'm glad to see you're taking positive action, Ned. Take whatever time you need to deal with this. I'll fill you in when I get something from our guy at the resort. You just take it easy now, you hear me?"

"Yeah, I hear ya," I told him. We ended the call and I tried to relax, but found it next to impossible. A part of me wanted to go out and drown my sorrows in a bottle, but the rational side of me said, "no."

I waited in agony for the rest of the weekend, but heard nothing from anyone -- until Sunday about 10:00 am. Paul contacted me to say that Nikki left with Ramon and his crew that morning.

"It seems she was quite busy over the weekend," he told me. "We've got video, audio, pics, the works. I'll get this all over to Nick and make a copy for you in case you want to see it."

"Do you know where they went?" I asked.

"No idea," Paul said. "They left about 9:00 am."

"Okay," I said. "That means she should be here around 12 or so."

"Assuming that she's coming home," Paul said.

"Yeah," I said in agreement.

"Stay in touch, let me know if she shows up," he told me.

"I will," I told him, ending the call. I decided to take a chance and dialed Nikki's number. Unfortunately, it went straight to voicemail. "Nikki, call me when you get this message," I said. "I know you've left the resort. Call me." I ended the call and dialed Kirsten's number. She answered after the third ring.

"Kirsten, this is Ned," I said.

"Yeah, I know," she said. "You missed one hell of a party, Ned."

"Somehow I don't think I really missed much," I told her. "I understand Nikki left with Ramon."

"Yeah, they left earlier this morning," she said.

"Do you know where they were going?" I asked.

"No idea," she said. "I'm not my sister's keeper. I assumed they were heading to your place, but I don't know for sure."

"Don't you care if she's coming home or not?" I asked.

"Hey, don't get snippy with me," she said. "Nikki's a grown-ass woman and she can do whatever she wants and go wherever she wants. With whomever she wants. If she chooses not to go home, that's not my problem. Now buzz off." With that, she ended the call.

I put my phone back in my pocket and sat in the front room, waiting. It's amazing how slow time goes by when you're watching the clock. The minutes ticked by slowly. Soon enough, 12:00 came and went with no sign of Nikki. I waited anxiously, but nothing. An hour later, there was still no sign of Nikki and still no response to my voicemail.

I pulled up the phone finder app on my cell and tried to find her with that, but to no avail. Apparently, she turned her phone off and removed the battery so I couldn't track her. I fired up my computer and checked my email -- nothing. I continued to wait. And wait. And wait some more.

She still hadn't shown up by 6:00 pm and I assumed that she either wasn't coming home or had gotten into an accident on the way. I reached out to Paul, who made some calls only to learn that she hadn't been checked into a hospital and as far as he could tell, hadn't been stopped by police along the way.

I had an idea and went back on my computer. I figured that if she had used her ATM card, I would see it reflected on our account. Pulling up the online register, I saw a $200 withdrawal had been made at an airport fairly close to the resort about 9:45 am. That was the daily limit I had set her card to on Friday.

Based on that bit of information, I figured she decided to fly off with Ramon and his gang, but to where? Opening up another browser window, I checked for flights out of that airport and saw one that had left for Los Angeles at 11:00. I also saw flights for Miami, San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle about the same time. I knew Ramon was based on the west coast, so I figured that was where she was headed, but I wouldn't be certain until she used the card again. I called Paul and filled him in.

"I guess we'll have to wait until she uses her card again," he said.

"That won't be until sometime tomorrow at the earliest," I told him. "And she could be anywhere by then."

"Have you considered reporting her missing?" he asked.

"Police won't do anything until she's been gone at least 24 hours," I said.

"Then there's nothing we can do but wait," he said.

"Is there anything in the transcript of the videos that indicates where she might be going?" I asked.

"I suppose if we comb through it line by line we might be able to find something," he said. "You want to try tackling that?"

"I've got to do something," I said. "There has to be something that indicates where she's at."

"Alright, come on over to my place and we can start going through it if you want," he said. "But I gotta tell you, what I've seen of this isn't pretty."

"I don't care about that," I said. "I need to know where she's going or if she's even coming back."

"Well, come on over, then," he said. We ended the call, and I drove to Paul's house as fast as I legally could. When I got there, his wife, Donna, answered the door and let me in.

"Can I get you something to drink, Ned? Coffee, maybe? Or would you prefer a beer?" she asked.

"I need my wits about me," I said. "Coffee would be perfect, please."

"Alright," she said. "Paul's in his office, so go right on in." I went into Paul's home office and saw him reading through a fairly thick set of papers. He looked up when I came in.

"Come in, Ned," he said. "Here, take this and see what you can find." He handed me a thick sheaf of papers and I sat down to read through them. He was right -- this wasn't pretty, at all. Most of it was Nikki begging to be fucked harder and faster, and there was a lot of commentary from Ramon and his gang regarding the quality of her pussy, ass and mouth. Most of it was pretty sickening and juvenile in my opinion.

I also couldn't help but notice the obligatory abuse heaped upon me by Nikki and her lovers.

"Too bad your loser husband was too chicken to stick around," Ramon said.

"Yeah, well, that's his loss," Nikki said. "He's never touching this pussy again."

"He gave me his ring on his way out," Ramon told her. "Said you were all mine now and he was through with you." (Laughter)

"Maybe I'll piss on it for old times sake," she said. (Laughter) At that moment, I wondered what it was I had ever seen in her. Good riddance to bad garbage, I thought. We kept looking through the transcripts trying to find a clue. Suddenly, Paul yelled out.

"Wait," he said. "I think I found something."

"What?" I asked.

"This was late Saturday night, about 11:45 pm," he said. "Here, read this. Tell me what you think." I took the transcript from him and began reading a few lines above where he indicated to get better context.

(Grunts) (Groans) (Moan)

"God, this is the best pussy we've had in a while, boss," said one of Ramon's flunkies. "We could make a ton off this ass."

"Think so?" Ramon asked.

"Oh fuck, yeah," another flunky said.

"What about it?" Ramon asked. "You up to making some real money with this fine pussy of yours?"

"I'm not a fucking prostitute," Nikki said. (Laughter)

"Nah, baby, I'm talking movies, on-line videos," Ramon said. "You got a killer body and a pretty face. All you gotta do is spread those legs for the camera and do what you're doing right now. You're a natural at this. I've been thinking of a whole new line of cuckolding and humiliation videos and you'd be perfect."

"Yeah? When would I get to start?" she asked.

"We can leave right after the party here if you want," Ramon said. "We'll set you up with a nice apartment in LA and you work strictly for me. Of course, I get a cut of everything, but you could make a hell of a lot of money if you do enough videos."

"Can I get more of that white stuff you gave me earlier?" she asked. "And some of that Ecstasy?"

"All you want, baby," he said.

"You mean I get all the cock and blow I want and I get paid," she asked. "And I get to humiliate losers like Ned?"

"That's right," Ramon said.

"Count me in," she said.

"What about your loser husband?" one of the flunkies asked. "You gonna tell him?"

"Fuck him, he's history," she said. "He'll never see me again. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning," Ramon said. "We leave here at 9:00 am, go to the airport then fly out west."

"Fuck yeah," she said. "Let's do it." I handed the transcript back to Paul.

"We got this on video?" I asked him.

"Yeah, let me just get the disc and cue it up," he said. He pulled out one of the discs and inserted it into his computer, then started the video, forwarding it to the time stamp in the transcript. He looked at me before starting. "You ready for this?" he asked.

"Let's get it over with," I said. He started the video, and I could see it was taken through the window of the room Nikki and I had. She was naked, on the bed. Ramon was next to her and they were surrounded by his flunkies, one of whom held a camera. Next to them was a tray holding a few lines of what looked like cocaine.

I could tell from the way she was acting that she was high on something -- perhaps coke. I looked to see if I could spot anyone else, but I couldn't. I would not have been surprised to see Nikki's sister in the middle of all this. We watched the video, following along with the transcript. After they finished talking, they began fucking again, this time with Nikki taking Ramon's cock in her pussy, another cock in her ass and a third cock in her mouth.

"I've seen enough," I said, disgusted. "Turn it off." Paul turned the video off and looked at me.

"Well?" he asked.

"She's clearly doing this of her own volition, even though she's high on coke and God only knows what else," I said. "So kidnapping's out of the question. And I didn't see Kirsten anywhere in this video, so it's doubtful she knows anything. Even if she did, she wouldn't say. But we still have to make a good faith effort to locate her so we can have her served. You know anyone out in LA?"

"Please, Ned," Paul said. "You know I have contacts all over the place. I'll make some calls, see what we can come up with."

"When you find her, let me know, please," I said. "I want to be the one who serves her papers."

"No way, Ned," Paul said. "Not gonna happen. I know you've been hurt bad, but you are not to get any deeper in this than you already are. I know you. You'd do something stupid and I'd have to fly out there to get ya out of jail. You stay right here. Let Nick and I take care of this. So help me, I'll have your license pulled if you even think about going."

"Okay, okay," I said, putting my hands up. "I'll be a good boy, promise."

"Damn well better," Paul said. "Let me make some calls, then I'll get with Nick. Don't worry, I'll make sure you stay in the loop. Now, go on home, drink a beer, relax, watch some TV. In fact, why don't you take a few days vacation."

"I can't do that, Paul," I said. "I have things to do."

"I got it under control," Paul said. "Consider this an order. You're on vacation. Effective immediately."

"Alright," I said. "I'm on vacation. I'll be a good boy and go home." We shook hands and I headed out, thanking Donna for the coffee. I thought again about getting a beer, but changed my mind and drove home. It was a good thing, since I heard the house phone ring just as I walked into the front room.

"Hello," I said when I answered. After seeing Kirsten's number come up, I pressed the button on my machine to record the call.

"Hello, Ned, this is Kirsten," she said.

"Yes, I know," I told her. "And you should know I'm recording this conversation. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," she said. "If I were in your shoes I'd probably do the same."

"What do you want, Kirsten?" I asked.

"I just heard from Nikki," she said. "She's asked me to represent her in the event you file divorce papers against her."

"Do you know where she is?" I asked.

"She tells me she's in Miami at the moment, but she'll be moving around a lot and probably won't be back any time soon," Kirsten said.

"Miami, huh?" I asked. I knew she was either lying or had been lied to.

"That's right," she said. "At least that's what she said. She tells me you will probably divorce her. Is that true?"

"Papers are being drawn up as we speak," I said.

"When they're ready, have them sent to me," she said. "I'll email you my address."

"I'll pass that on," I said. "Did you know she intended to leave me to be a porn slut for Ramon Torres?"

"No, Ned, I didn't," she said. "I know you don't think too highly of me, but that's the God's honest truth. I thought she was just going to have sex with him to make you jealous enough to do something, but I didn't know she would leave you. I was shocked when she told me. I happen to know you're basically a good man, Ned, so please accept my apologies."

"Did you know about the drugs he used on her?" I asked. "The cocaine and Ecstasy?"

"Well, I knew about the Ecstasy, but not about the cocaine," she said. "We all took some of the Ecstasy that night but I saw no cocaine."

"You know what he does to the girls he recruits, right?" I asked.

"He makes adult films," she said. "He specializes in gangbangs, cuckolding and humiliation. He decided to start a new series featuring more mature amateur women, like Nikki. But I didn't know he had his sights on her."

"You didn't answer my question, counselor," I said. "Do you know what he does to them?"

"I'm not following you," she said.

"Don't play dumb with me, Kirsten," I said. "He uses them up. Burns them out. Then tosses them to the streets where they're forced into prostitution to get their next fix. That's what's in store for your sister. How long do you think she'll last?"

"Is this concern on your part?" she asked.

"Oh please," I said sarcastically. "As much as I hate her right now, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Not even you. Where's your concern for your sister?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'll take her in myself before I let that happen to her," she said.

"Make sure she knows that," I said. "From what I know about him, he'll probably be done with her in five years. Maybe less. I hope you have a spare room handy."

"You don't need to worry about the size of my accommodations," she said. "All I need to know is what you're going for in your divorce."

"You'll find out soon enough, counselor," I said.

"Very well," she said. "Is there a message you wish me to pass on to Nikki?"

"No," I said. "I have nothing to say to her at the moment."

"Well then, I guess we have nothing further to discuss, Ned. Again, I'm sorry this happened. Have your attorney send the papers to me directly. Any communication will be through us," she said. "Goodbye, Ned." We ended the call and I stopped the recording. I called Nick and told him what she said.

"Representing her own sister, huh? After facilitating her actions," he said. "Wow."

"Isn't that unethical?" I asked.

"No, not at all," Nick said. "But in my humble opinion, it doesn't look very good. We'll send Kirsten a copy of the papers, but I want to see if we can track your wife down and serve her personally. There's too much of a chance Kirsten will conveniently not get the papers to her sister, then argue that she was never properly served."

"You think she'd actually do that?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," Nick said. "You'd be amazed at some of the things I've seen her do. I'll talk with Paul, see if we can locate Nikki. If not, we'll do what's called a divorce by publication."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Well, when a spouse leaves and can't be located, we can pay to publish the document in a newspaper where she's most likely to see it at least once a week for four weeks," he said. "If it turns out she's in the Los Angeles area as we believe, we'll run it both here and in the LA Times. That way, we can show the court we've jumped through all the necessary hoops to have her served."

"That's in addition to sending a copy of the paperwork to Kirsten, right?" I asked.

"Absolutely. Just because we send it to her doesn't mean that Nikki will get served," Nick said. We talked for a while longer before ending the call. I grabbed a bite to eat, smoked a cigarette then headed to bed.

Over the course of the next few weeks, we had monitored Nikki's ATM card usage and determined that she was most likely in the area of Long Beach, California. Paul reached out to his contact in Los Angeles and learned that investigators had spotted her in several night clubs where she did stage performances, but they were never able to pin her residence down to one specific place.

Pat Silva, Nikki's supervisor at the clinic where she worked as a therapist, called to ask about her, since she hadn't bothered to report for work. I calmly told her that Nikki had decided upon a career change.

"What do you mean a career change?" Pat asked.

"You haven't heard?" I asked. "She's decided to go into the porn business."

"What?" Pat asked, incredulous.

"Yes, she wants to be a drug addicted porn star," I said. "She's somewhere in southern California pursuing her dream even as we speak. I'm surprised she didn't tell you."

"Ned, you'd better not be pulling my leg," Pat said.

"I'm sorry, but it's true," I said.

"So she's not coming back, then?" Pat asked.

"I'd be very surprised if she does," I said.

"Okay, I'll process her final pay and get it out," she said. "Is there an address I can send this to?"

"For now, you can just mail it here," I said. "I'll get it to her attorney."

"Okay, Ned," she said. "I'm sorry to hear about this. We'll miss her."

"Thanks, Pat," I said, ending the call. I got Nikki's final pay and forwarded it to Kirsten as promised. I don't know if she ever got it to Nikki. Frankly, I didn't care.

I started my counseling sessions with Dr. Carlson -- Rose. She was a very good counselor and listened to what I had to say. At first I thought she would give me a bunch of psychobabble, or maybe even blame me for what Nikki did. But she didn't, much to my surprise. By the end of the first month, I was beginning to feel much better about myself.

My time at the gym was also quite helpful. I had managed to lose a few pounds and had developed a diet that I could actually live with. John helped considerably, and soon, I could see the old me start to reappear in the mirror.

Nick had been busy as well. After drawing up the heavily one-sided petition for divorce, he published it in the local paper and in the LA Times, twice a week for four weeks. Toward the end of the fourth week, he sent a courtesy copy to Kirsten, who wasn't very happy. She demanded a meeting with myself and Nick as soon as possible.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?" she demanded when we met in his conference room. "This is an insult, it's not a petition for divorce. Where the fuck do you get off by demanding a 75-25 split? With no support?"

"The real insult is what your client did to her husband, with your help, I might add. Since your client decided to abandon the marriage, my client and I both feel this is the most appropriate response," Nick said. "She hasn't even bothered to make arrangements to get her things out of my client's home."

"My client hasn't even been served with papers yet," Kirsten hissed.

"That's because your client has been hiding in the Los Angeles area," Nick said. "Since we don't have an address for her, and you haven't been very cooperative about informing us of your client's whereabouts, we decided to do a divorce by publication. The fourth announcement has just been published in both the local paper and the Los Angeles Times."