Secrets I

Tom was in his car watching his ex-girlfriend step into her house when his phone rang. He picked it up, "This is Rogers." "Mike needs you to accompany him to pick-up someone." Tracy said on the other line, and then Mike Peirson grabbed the phone before Tracy could react to what Tom said. "Tell Mike that he can pick-up that someone himself, I’m busy." Tom replied, but instead of Tracy it was already Mike who answered the phone, "You’ll have to leave whatever you’re doing for now Tom, I need you to come with me. We’ll be taking my car. Be here in 20 minutes, I’ll be waiting." Tom started the engine and headed back to the complex, he can’t disobey orders especially when it’s the head of the team who said this.

Twenty minutes later he arrived, Mike was already waiting by the car. Tom stepped out, "Can’t I get some coffee or something." "There’s no time for that, we’re already late."
It was a 15-minute drive; they arrived at the Wittmoore Suites where the person that they are supposed to pick-up is staying. The lobby of the place had marble floors, furnished with elegant furniture with throws that are made with the finest silk in the world, the room was filled with music from a group of world class violinists that has toured the world then there was their staff educated from the best hotel & restaurant management school in the country and they can speak at least 2 languages.

Tom and Mike stepped into the lobby and went straight into the elevator but before that a series of security checks were done. The Butler led them to the pool area. "Would you care for some tea or coffee maybe?" Both of them answered, "No thank you, we’re fine." The Butler nodded and said, "The Miss will be with you shortly, please follow me."
"So who are we picking up again? Can’t she get to our place herself?" Tom said with annoyance in his voice. Mike answered him, "We are picking her up." He said while nodding to the direction of the woman coming out of the pool. Tom could not utter a single word.

The woman came out of the pool in a sexy black bikini then was offered a towel by the butler. As she wore her robe she squeezed out the water from her hair. "Were you expecting someone older?", the lady asked as she took the hand of Mike Peirson to shake. Tom again could not say anything. "Please have a seat." "This is Tom Rogers; he will be with you at all times Ms. Wittmoore." Mike Peirson informed. "I see and does Mr. Rogers know how to speak or should I hire someone to help me communicate with him." Ms. Wittmoore replied.

Ms. Wittmoore, Tom and Mike drove back to the complex of WSG. "Do we really need a second car?" Tom finally said. "Thank goodness he can talk." Ms. Wittmoore exclaimed. Tom sternly looked at Mike. "Yes, Mr. Rogers because that car was supposedly for me." Ms. Wittmoore angrily said. "I’m sorry Ms. Wittmoore but we just can’t let you ride in your car, it’s for your own protection." Mike explained. "Fine. And please call me Ricki Ms. Wittmoore is too formal, it makes me feel like I’m 50." When they entered the main building of the complex, Ricki was introduced to everyone after which they went to the lab area of the complex where Tom’s father works. "You must be proud of your father Mr. Rogers?" Ricki asked. "Please, call me Tom. And about my dad I’m still in the process of accepting all the stuff that he has done. I can’t quite categorize it as noble work."

The lab was a mess, there’s a pile of paper by the door and jars of preserved stuff on the shelf by the window. "This is where it all happens?" Ricki curiously asked Tom as they both entered the room. "Not really, he did most of his work at his lab somewhere in Austria. You wouldn’t even think that he would stay there to do his work." Tom said. "So, you’ve been there." Ricki asked. "No I haven’t and I don’t have any plans on going there, I just read about it on his file and again no I didn’t see the pictures." Tom answered with irritation in his voice. "Chill man, I was just asking."

They walked towards the middle of the room where Tom’s father was, this time there was a wide table with photos and paper on it. "Dad, this is Victoria Wittmoore. Ms. Wittmoore this is my father Henry George Rogers." Ricki held out her hand to shake Henry’s hand and Henry accepted it. "It’s an honor to finally meet you Ms. Wittmoore, I’ve been a fan of your father Sir Charles William Wittmoore XIV." Henry proudly confessed. Tom on the other rolled his eyes when he heard his father say this. Ricki smiled and said, "I believe you are referring to my great grandfather Dr. Rogers, my father is Richard Martin Wittmoore." Henry blushed and said, "Oh! My mistake." And went back to his work. His assistant Abby came in, carrying more files. "We seem to have come at a bad time?" Ricki asked. "Oh no Ms. Wittmoore." Ricki cut him off and said, "Ricki would be fine Dr. Rogers." "ok Ricki it is. So where was I? ah, yes… There has been some progress son, I noticed that the children injected with the 49ZBC serum became well after 2 days but still died of hemorrhage a week after. According to this they did not have any injuries prior to the bleeding." Dr. Rogers explained. "So what do you think caused the hemorrhage Doctor?" Abby asked. "I’m not so sure. Son, we need a sample of that serum to figure this all out. I have a feeling that the 20 deaths that have been happening in Oxon Hill are the same with this one." Dr. Rogers instructed his son.

"I can’t stay with him. I already have a place to stay and I am well protected by my bodyguards. NO! I won’t stay with him." Ricki said as Mike explained to her that she cannot go back to her unit.
"Make yourself at home. It’s not much but it’s comfortable enough." Tom said as he switched the lights on as they entered the house. Ricki just looked around. The house was comfortable, it didn’t have expensive furniture but it was nice. There were frames of photos on the table by the window and a jigsaw puzzle that was framed and hung on the wall by the fireplace. "This is my dad’s room and this will be your room." Tom said as he opened the door. "The bathroom is right over here and there is a telephone and a laptop if want to use it." he added. "Thanks." Ricki said. "Wait a minute." Ricki added. Tom turned to face her. "There are only two rooms in this house, where will you stay?" Ricki asked. "I can take the couch." Tom answered. "But the couch is not a bed; it’s not for sleeping it’s for sitting." Ricki argued. "Ok then if that is the case then maybe we can both sleep on the bed." Tom suggested. But Ricki didn’t respond she just kept quite, Tom broke the silence "It’s not really a problem if I sleep on the couch, I always do. So don’t worry ok? We won’t be sharing the bed." "It’s not the sharing part that I’m worried about, it’s what I will where to sleep. You see, it would have been fine with me to sleep here as long as I was told before hand. I could have packed some of my essentials. I can’t go to the complex wearing the same set of clothes; even if it was washed I still would not like the idea." Ricki explained to Tom her dilemma. "That might be a problem but if it’s alright with you, I can lend you my shirt and a pair of boxers." Tom offered. Ricki bit her lower lip and gave out a sigh. "I guess that will have to do."

Tom was on the couch when Ricki came out of the room. She was hungry and was arguing with her self whether she’ll raid Tom’s fridge for food or just order some pizza. She didn’t notice that Tom was still awake and was just watching what she would do. Finally she decided to order some pizza. When she turned on the lights, "Where are you going?" Tom asked standing behind her. Ricki was startled when Tom spoke that she accidentally elbowed him from behind. "OMG! I’m so sorry; I didn’t know you’re still awake." Ricki said as she held Tom by the waist towards the chair. "Wow, for a petite girl you can really do damage." Tom said. Ricki pulled out a chair and sat infront of Tom. "Well I guess all that training with my grandfather paid off." Ricki said with a smile. "um… I want to ask for your permission." Ricki added. "What is it?" Tom asked. "Is it ok if called for pizza? I’m starving and I don’t want to raid your fridge since it’s your property. Please?" Ricki asked looking down at the floor feeling embarrassed. "It’s not a problem." Ricki walked to the phone by the kitchen counter. Tom didn’t realize that he was already staring at her. Ricki was wearing only his shirt, she leaned over to the counter exposing her legs even more. Tom couldn’t explain what he felt at the moment. "She’s a goddess." Tom told himself. After Ricki made the phone call she pulled the chair to sit beside Tom. "What!" Ricki said as she noticed that Tom was staring at her. "huh? Oh, um… Nothing." Tom replied.

"Something smells good." Dr. Rogers announced as he stepped out of his room. Ricki was making breakfast for everyone. "I didn’t know you cook Ricki." Dr. Rogers said. "I know a thing or two."
"Mike I need to talk to you." Ricki said as she stormed into Mike’s office. "Is there any problem Ricki?" Mike asked. Mike’s office was so clean, it was well organized nothing is out of place. He has a huge desk that has a pile of folders but still stacked in an organized manner. "Yes, there is a huge problem. I cannot in any circumstance live in Tom’s house. I’m better off living in my own place." Ricki explained. "But Ricki you have to understand that I need Tom to be by your side at all times." Mike clarified. "Listen to me Mike. Tom can be by my side even if I was in the shower for all I care, we can even bring along Dr. Rogers if that’s what’s keeping him from leaving his house; what I want is to be in my place since all of my stuff are there. And besides my place is very secure, there are cameras all over the place, everything is state of the art, I can get you access to my cameras in case you want to check on us." Ricki explained in detail. "ok, here’s what I’ll do I’ll tell Tom about it."

Eventually Ricki had her way and later that night the three of them moved to Ricki’s place. They entered the elevator and Ricki pressed the top floor of the building. The elevator was so high tech that every time they made a stop at a specific floor it would speak. The elevator doors opened and Ricki ushered them to the front door. As she welcomed them in, "Ms. Victoria!" William, the butler, said as he ran to hug her. "Hi William… This is William our butler. William this is Tom and his dad, Dr. Henry Rogers." William bowed to Tom and his dad, "I am pleased to meet you kind Sirs." "We’re also pleased to meet you William and there is no need for you to bow." Dr. Rogers informed. "If you need anything, William will be pleased to get it or do it for you. Oh, um… Before I forget, William I need to speak with everyone after dinner." "As you wish Ms. Victoria."
Ricki led Tom and his dad to the rooms upstairs. Ricki’s place was so grand, every single furniture was from London and the paintings were bought from countries all over the world. The floor was marble and the hand rail of the stairs was made of handcrafted wood that was bought from the Philippines.

"um… This will be your room Dr. Rogers." Ricki said as they enter the room. "The closet is over here and this is the bathroom and if you need anything like new linens or other stuff just press 5 on the phone it will connect you to William’s mobile phone." Ricki and Tom left his father in his room. "Wow, your place is huge." Tom said. "I guess it is." Ricki replied. "I’m guessing the fourth room is yours?" Tom asked pointing to the room at the end of the corridor. "That’s my dad’s room, mine is the third one. (pause) Which brings us to the second room which is yours." Ricki led Tom to his room.
After dinner Ricki talked to her people, explained to them why Tom and his dad are with her and that every now and then the WSG would drop by to check on her.
Tom knocks at Ricki’s Door. "William is that you?" Ricki asked as she approached the door. "No it’s me, Tom." He replied. Ricki opened the door and they talked inside the room. Tom was still wearing his clothes from work while Ricki on the other hand was ready for bed in her black shorts and pink razorback. They talked for hours.
Then there was a knock on the door. Ricki opened the door to see who it was. "Ms. Victoria, we have a situation. I think you need to see this." Mark, the head of the security, informed Ricki while catching his breath.

Ricki, Tom together with Mark went to the control room where all the cameras are being monitored. Mark ordered one of his men to play back the video from the camera by Ricki’s room. "Is that a horse?" Tom asked. Ricki ignored Tom’s comment and instead talked to Mark. "When did this happen and how come we didn’t hear anything." "I knew it! This place is haunted." One of Mark’s men said. Mark shushed him and spoke to Ricki, "We’ll get to the bottom of this Miss. We won’t rest." Ricki reviewed the video over and over again. After an hour of watching the video, "I’ve got it!" Ricki shouted as she stood infront of the monitors. "The horse is not real. It’s not a ghost." Ricki cleared facing Mark’s man who claimed that it was a ghost. "Then what is it?" Tom asked. "It’s a virus." Ricki answered. Everyone looked puzzled at Ricki’s claim. One even scratched his head. Ricki started to explain, "You see two years ago I accepted interns from MIT to help me with a project for a casino in Vegas. They gave me three guys, Benjamine Wolfe, Micheal Anderson and Anthony Smith. From what I heard, these guys were the best. So I challenged them to test the security system of a casino; they hacked into their system and released the horse. The virus worked, the whole security system would shut down for 3 minutes and the virus could not be removed. It will self destruct after 3 minutes and every thing will be back to normal, there was along pause, but as far as I could remember we destroyed every single data about that virus, the four of us did everything by ourselves to make sure that it won’t get into the wrong hands." "So you’re saying that what we have here is a virus." Tom asked. "Yes but it may be a copycat. I checked our system right after it appeared but nothing seems to be out of place." Ricki answered. "But Ms. Victoria, how can you be sure that it is a copy and not the real thing?" Mark asked. "I’ll have to call one of the boys and hear it from them; after all they’re the ones who made it. (pause) Mark could you please tell William that I need him to call Charlotte, I need to talk to her it’s urgent." Ricki informed. Ricki instructed Charlotte, her father’s assistant, to call Benjamin Wolfe and to connect the call to her.

"Good afternoon Ben, I hope I didn’t bother you at work." Ricki greeted. "It’s nothing. How are you these days Ms. Victoria?" Ben asked. "I’m good. (pause) Ben, I’m going to cut to the chase. I’m calling you because the horse appeared in my home." There was dead silence in the room this time. Ben was shocked; he never thought that this would happen. "But how could this happen, didn’t we destroy everything?" "I know, that’s what’s so puzzling. We destroyed everything; there was no trace of it. Then all of a sudden this occurs." Ricki said near to tears. "Can you send me a copy of the video and the analysis you did on your system and (pause) I’ll have to hack my way into your system too to double check… Would that be alright Ms. Victoria?"
30 minutes after Ben confirmed that it was just a copycat and that everything in the system is fine, "I’ll run this again to my system at my house and I’ll inform you right away of the developments I’ve made." Ben offered. "Thank you so much Ben. I owe you." Then the line went dead.
Tom and Ricki left the control room and went to the kitchen. "So, MIT gives you interns." Tom confirmed. "That was before. Ben and the guys were the first and last interns I had. Nerds are too much to handle." Ricki said laughing. "You see after the guys were in that project, I made sure that they would land a job at top companies of their choice. They’re living their lives well." Ricki confessed. "Wow, top companies of their choice. That’s top companies here right?" Tom clarified. "That’s what they thought. (smiles) Ben works in Norway, Anthony is in Brunei while Micheal is in Japan." Then just as Ricki went to the fridge to get another beer Tom was hit on the head while Ricki was tasered.