Silas’ Office
Ivar walked into Silas’ office to find him sitting behind his desk, staring intently at the laptop hooked to the SIPRnet classified network system. It was obvious which of the two he was on since his former boss implemented a stupid simple clue for everyone to know and recognize which they were using. The classified computers were in bright red sparkly cases.
“What was so important to call me down here instead of going over to the wake?”
Silas replied without looking up.
“I told you yesterday the girls made it to Salt lake but Frickel was hurt trying to escape, right?”
“Yes, and you assured me neither of the girls were hurt. Did that change? Were you wrong?” Ivar was instantly worried now.
“No, but your darling little girl just sent us the bodycam Violet was wearing the whole time of the transport. Unofficially. Her tech dept just FTPed it to us. We need to watch it. The synopsis alone had me hooked.”
“Damn.”
Ivar filled up a coffee mug from Silas’ pot, closed the door and pulled a second chair around behind the desk. Silas pulled the curser back to the start.
On the Screen
The first image was confusing. They were looking at the inside roof of a van. At the edge of the frame, they could see Veronica, prim and proper in her camouflage uniform, behind the steering wheel, a clipboard in her hands. The dome light came on and the image rocked back and forth some. Veronica spoke to unseen people.
“Good evening gentlemen, Capt. Frickel. Since he is known to be violent, please lock him to the floor ring. Capt. Frickel, we are going for a little drive to your new home while awaiting trial. If you behave yourself properly throughout the trip, all will go smoothly. Do not give me trouble of any kind. If you do, the outcome will not be pleasurable for any involved and it will only worsen your pending outcome. Thank you, gentlemen that will be all. My co-driver will be here momentarily.” The dome light went out as they could hear the van doors being shut. Once this happened, Veronica turned in her seat and spoke at Capt. Frickel.
“Look Captain, I meant what I said about behaving yourself. I have your jacket of charges here and it disgusts me. I haven’t seen such a laundry list in a long time.” She started leafing through the papers on the clipboard. “Let’s see what all they will be addressing at your article 32 hearings. You are being charged with violating the following articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, in numerological not chronologic order: 80, 81, 89, 90, 92, 93, 120, 125, 128, 133, 134-3, 134-4, 134-26, 134-35, 134-36 and 134-47. This is quite the list. You should just sit back and contemplate the errors of your ways.”
A male voice came from off screen.
“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t even know what most of those are! I was told I was charged with assault, of which I am contesting for cause. What are the rest of those you rattled off?”
Veronica had a smirk as she replied.
Ivar recognized that smirk. It was the one that had Sofia proclaiming Veronica’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ character was the cat, not Alice.
“Well, that is between you, your lawyer and the arresting officers. I am just going over what I have. If you let me continue, they have you for much more. Let’s see. What are the highlights?”
She made a show of flipping through the pages on the clipboard.
‘Good touch’ thought Silas.
“I’ll skip the numbers since you don’t understand the UCMJ. I guess you must have slept through the military justice section of OTC, you don’t have the bearing for ring knocker or the common sense for ROTC.”
Speaking slowly to further make her point, make sure he understood, and treat him like he was stupid for having to explain it to him without crayons, she continued.
“Attempted murder, conduct unbecoming, disobeying a lawful order of a superior officer, it looks like there are twelve counts of that, Unlawful conduct as a sentry in time of war, and they have the camera footage from inside the armory for most of this.” Veronica’s eyes lit up as she got to another page and she smiled like she had just swallowed a box of canaries.
“Oh, and it will be interesting how you ‘contest with cause’ the raping of her six-year-old son!”
The scream was harsh through the speaker on the laptop. In the van, it must have been deafening.
“Rape her son?! What the **** ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?”
Ivar pressed the pause button and looked over at Silas.
“Holy crap! What the hell is she talking about? I didn’t know any of this. I sure as hell didn’t know Paige had a son, much less was involved in this. What the **** is going on?”
“What’s going on is your sweet innocent conniving evil plotting little girl is seriously screwing with his head. Just keep watching.” Silas said as he pushed the play button.
Veronica’s skewed image started speaking again.
“Calm down Captain. All I am doing is reading the charges sheet. And all I am reading to you are the items with checkmarks and numbers links to the material evidence. My co-driver is here now. You need to sit back and shut up if you know what’s good for you.”
Veronica turned to look across the cabin of the van towards the passenger side. She held up a small audio recorder high near the roof where presumably the Captain could see it, then placed it prominently on the dash of the van.
“Wait, what the hell is she doing here? She can’t be here. What kind of ****ing trick is this? She’s supposed to be in a coma! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!”
“Calm down, be quiet. We are just taking a drive. Do not irritate the Special Agent who is driving and can add more charges to your list!” Veronica wasn’t loud, but she was forceful and harsh, the tone cutting through the Captain’s noise like a knife.
The dome light came on. There on the screen, looking down into the camera was Violet/Paige. The camera moved and got closer, then turned towards the dash and was wiggled and jostled some more until it settled down to a view of the dash and the windshield. A slow rhythmic up and down motion puzzled them for a moment until they figured it was Violet breathing.
Veronica spoke again.
“Ma’am, here is the map so you can follow along and help navigate. The van has already been fueled and has enough for the entire trip. I will repeat what the JAG briefed you. Do not speak with the prisoner, otherwise there might be more interaction required at the far end. Do you understand?”
There was some movement, so the viewers assumed she nodded her head.
Ivar pushed the pause button again and looked at Silas.
“Are they trying to pull off what I think they are?”
“Violet does look a lot like Paige. Five bucks says it was Veronica’s idea.”
“No deal.” Ivar pushed the play button again.
There were a few minutes of silence as the screen showed nothing but the winding road in front of the van. Silas and Ivar could tell exactly where on the rad they were.
Finally, the Captain evidently had to speak.
“What is this bullshit about your son? What kind of shit is this? I thought you were in the hospital! Sergeant! You better answer me! I am a Captain in the….” The words were muffled by the squealing of tires and the view of the camera ended up being of Violet’s thighs as the van came to a screeching halt in the middle of the road. Veronica’s voice came loud and clear.
“Look. She is not to speak to you. She has been ordered not to. She actually knows what orders mean and what to do when given them. Oh, and as for rank, a bottle cap has more rank than you do while you are in custody. Your rank is ‘Prisoner’. In case you didn’t read you booking papers, your rank and privileges afforded due to such have been suspended. If you are exonerated, your rank and privileges will be returned, but considering the charges and the evidence against you, I wouldn’t count on it! At this point, I think you should devote all your energy to praying for solitary confinement. Child rapists in Leavenworth don’t fare well in general population. Now shut up!”
At the words ‘child rapist’ a sob came out of Violet.
“This is some evil shit.” Ivar said. He looked over and could see Silas was a little bit choked up at Violet’s sob. He knew it was reflexive to hearing his girl distraught, even though he knew it was acting.
The Captain must have been stunned for a few moments. The next sounds other than the van to be heard were a continued low repeated phrase of ‘this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening, this can’t be happening’
The quiet mumbling was all that was said for several hours. Silas kept fast forwarding, keeping an eye on the audio, looking for the next part where anything was going on.
Eventually, the Captain screwed his courage or his outrage up enough he had to pop off again.
“Look, I was told she was in a coma, how are you up and walking around? If you’re up and walking around, how is it attempted murder? None of this shit makes sense! I want to talk to my lawyer! This is bullshit! Where’s my lawyer? He didn’t authorize this move. This has to be illegal!”
Veronica’s voice was weary sounding.
“You can talk to your legal representation when he gets to the holding facility. He’s a little busy right now. That’s part of the reason I keep telling you to shut up. Your lawyer isn’t here and we do not want to question you without him. I am a federal law enforcement officer. You say shit to me and it’s admissible. I am not asking you questions. I am in fact commanding you to shut up. You are only hurting your case.”
Veronica paused, then continued. Ivar and Silas could hear the resignation in her tone.
“Actually, go ahead and talk, I don’t care. Your case probably couldn’t get much worse. You probably would have been better off if you could have hit worth a shit and actually killed her.”
Veronica’s voice went soft and consoling for a moment. “Shit! I’m sorry ma’am, but it’s the truth from that point of view. Then you couldn’t have testified about the sexual advances on you and the rape of your son. He was trying to shut you up and get away with it again.”
Violet’s camera shook a little and they heard soft sobs coming from her. She was really selling it.
Silas’ fingernails were making bloody marks in his palms. Violet was too good at acting. He looked over at Ivar. Ivar was shaking his head in disbelief at the evil web Violet and Veronica were weaving.
The captain’s voice sharpened as he lashed back , snapping Ivar and Silas’ focus back to the screen.
“What do you mean again? What kinda shit are you trying to hang me with? And what do you mean couldn’t hit worth a shit?”
“I mean your punch was as limp as your dick! Punching her was probably the biggest boner you had since her son. If it wasn’t so weak, she couldn’t have played dead, knowing she had four cameras recording the whole assault. She just had to put up with your pathetic ass making a fool out of yourself for a few minutes, then she would have all the evidence to finally put you away! We already have investigators pouring through the other units you were in. Some have already come back with examples of a ‘pattern of behavior’. This will lead us to your other victims. Like I said, you shouldn’t be flapping your gums. You should be praying for solitary.”
This earned another couple hours of silence. Silas kept scanning ahead. He knew there must be more.
The next ploy from Frickel played out early in the morning.
“We need to stop. I have to piss.”
Veronica rolled her eyes and looked over to Violet, then over her shoulder at Frickel.
“We are only stopping once. You sure you want this to be your one?”
“I know my rights. I have to piss. Food would be good too. Any fast-food place would work for both.”
“We will see what we can do.”
Twenty minutes later, Veronica must have found her spot.
“Alright, we are stopping here. The rules will be as follows. The vehicle stops. I go in. She goes in when I come out. Then we unlock you. You go in, do your business, come out, we lock you back in the van. When we get to someplace for food, we will go through the drive through. We will then stop at the next interstate crossover, open the passenger compartment and give you your food. We are not opening your section inside a populated area. End of story.”
“That seems a bit excessive. Look, just swing into a burger joint and we can do it all in one shot!” There was a little bit of desperation in his voice now. Veronica didn’t deviate from her plan.
They could see Veronica put the van in park. Veronica and Violet immediately got out and closed the door. Veronica went around the van and joined Violet about twenty feet from the van. With their backs to the van, they must have figured they could finally talk some without Frickel seeing or hearing what was said. Ivar and Silas got a view of the rest stop building as Violet and Veronica talked.
“I thought he was never going to say something! I’m about to bust! You stand here with the street lamp behind you. It will keep you in the shadows and looking more ominous. The longer he thinks your Paige, the better.”
“We will talk when he goes in”
Veronica went in. She was gone for at least ten minutes. Violet turned around to face the van. They could see Frickel staring hard at her.
Veronica finally came out, so it was Violet’s turn. She went in and offloaded her bladder. When she finished and went to wash up, the camera showed her checking and touching up any of her makeup and hair. The hair looked lighter, a lot more like Paige’s, but they both still saw Violet.
Violet came out of the female’s bathroom and immediately went to the male’s rest room to get the lay of the land in case they had to go in after him. Ivar and Silas got a quick look around the men’s room then Violet went back outside. returning to Veronica.
At the van, Violet stood back while Veronica opened the door. She leaned in, unlocking the chains from the floor ring.
“Alright, Frickel, Let’s go.” She stepped back out of reach.
He started walking towards the restroom. He stopped at the door.
“You gotta unlock the waist chain, otherwise I can’t drop my trousers.” He pulled on the chains, making a show of how restrictive it was.
“You said you had to piss. Fish that tiny worm through your fly.”
“If this is my only stop, I need to take a shit as well.” He tugged at the chains again.
“Fine. I unlock, you go in, you step back out the door, I relock the belly chain, we get back in the van. You give me any problems; you will greatly regret it.” Veronica’s voice was stern and brooks no deviation. Frickel briefly smiled. It wasn’t a friendly thing.
“I don’t like the looks of that smug bastard’s smile.” Silas said.
After Frickel went in, Violet and Veronica stood together talking quietly.
“Rape my six-year old son? No more binging SVU and Criminal whatchamacallit.”
Veronica chuckled. “I was thinking of having him rape your dog, but I decided that would be a little too far.”
“You know he’s going to try something.”
“Yeah. The question is, how bad do we hurt him when we have to stop him?”
“That’s up to him. I’m not going to let him hurt me to keep him alive.”
They were standing outside the restroom door for about fifteen minutes when an older gentleman walked out. His t-shirt caught both their attention. It had a silhouette of a busty woman on a pole, the words on it said ‘I support single moms’. He looked around until he spotted them. He walked straight to them.
“Excuse me, ma’am’s, is the individual in the bathroom yours?” He was holding his hat in his hands.
Veronica spoke up. “Yes, he is in our custody. We are transporting him to another detention facility. Why?”
“Well, he was trying to convince me he needed help. I was supposed to come out and tell you he was sick and throwing up to convince you two to come in. I figure he is looking to jump you when you do.”
“And you didn’t help him because?”
“In spite of what my shirt says, it was a gift from my daughter who put herself through college by dancing before she went in the Coast Guard, I don’t buy into the anti- woman bullshit he was spouting. Besides I was in your shoes back in the day.” He put his hat on his head. Veronica and Violet read the hat. It was simple letters. It read BORTAC. Veronica started laughing.
“I bet you have!”
“I don’t get it” Violet said.
Veronica turned to her.
“BORTAC, it’s the Border Patrol High Risk SWAT Team.” Veronica was half laughing before she could finish her statement. Violet started laughing as well.
“Do you girls need a hand?”
“Thank you, sir, but we should be ok. This is why I brought her. It looks like you’re on, Sergeant Violent.”
Violet pulled out a pair of black leather gloves from her pocket and slid them on. She walked into the bathroom.
Half the lights were out in the restroom when Violet walked in, a change from their view of it moments before. Violet didn’t go far into the room. There were not too many places for Frickel to gain an advantage. This was an older style rest stop facility. There were concrete and tile stalls with simple metal doors. He was bent over one of the toilets making heaving sounds.
Violet wasn’t buying it and called him out.
“May as well get up, Frickel. The trucker is retired federal law enforcement. He told us your scheme.” Violet pitched her voice soft and kind of weak, a surprise to Ivar and Silas.
Frickel stood up, all pretense gone.
“Pretty bold coming in alone. The Special Agent needs another sacrificial lamb?”
“No, I told her I would take care of it for her. I’ve already taken your best punch. It hurt, but not too much. I could have jumped up and kicked your ass in front of those two, then posted the camera footage on the web for everyone’s amusement, but that would have been over quick. Instead, I went for the long game. Just taking some kicks and getting bruises was worth putting you away forever. Behind bars forever, being used by every guy as their personal sex toy. You will be the ‘helpless woman’ in that equation. You will be the one ‘giving blowjobs and polishing nightsticks.’”
They could see he was now enraged. He was ready to attack.
When he charged, she was able to feint one way, then dart to the opposite side. The movements were hard to follow on the bodycam.
Silas pushed the controls to slow the footage down, backed it up to the start of the fight and played it again. At the slower speed, they could see her moves better. Both of them were seriously impressed.
.. We know you make it up as you go 
