Chapter 27
He was still holding her close to him. He didn't want her to see his face as she answered his questions. He knew that he gave away so much of what he was feeling in his facial expressions. He didn't want her to see what he felt when she answered his questions because he was so afraid of what he was going to hear. He was afraid her answer was going to shatter his world. She was going to come back to him this very night. Olivia had said so. Finally she had realized that what existed between them was a love that couldn't be broken. All the heartache and pain had been for nothing. He had begged her not to let the Mellie fiasco separate them. They were so happy and so in love.
Mellie was just a pest to be ignored. He had ignored her for years as she had ignored him and then with intentional malice she decides to disrupt his life. She realized he loved Olivia and that she wasn't some type of fucking handmaiden or a side-chick and she set out to destroy the love between them. He had focused in on Mellie because he still saw her as the initiator of everything that had happened and he was looking for someone to blame for Olivia being in this bed other than himself. Maybe some how he could ease the pain that was cleaving through him right now, he could barely pull oxygen into his lungs!
He was also trying to block his thoughts out of his head for fear that Olivia could read them. At times the telepathy between them was exceedingly strong. When Olivia was made privy to the truth he wanted it uttered from his own mouth. So it was true Jake Ballesston his old friend was responsible for what had happened to Olivia. What exactly had happened he didn't know but he had never asked Jake to go into Olivia home and invade her privacy. Regardless of why Jake had done it he would never do anything like that. Asking someone to follow her around and take pictures is far different from what was done. It was a senseless perverted criminal act perpetrated against the woman he loved. It was an act that he Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III had put it in motion.
He finally let her out of the embrace and looked at her. She was so beautiful even swaddled in a hospital gown and her hair askew. She was smiling but he could tell she was worried, she sensed something was off with him.
"Fitz you do understand don't you? You have to erase what you imagined happened between me and that pervert from your mind. It has nothing to do with us. We just need to find him and make him pay!"
"I'm okay Olivia. I understand what happened. Please get it out of your head that I blame you for anything. I should have come for you months ago. But I wanted you to see for yourself that we belong together and we had to stop letting outside forces come between us. This horrible man will be dealt with I promise. He will never hurt you again. I need to go to work on finding him and stopping him dead in his tracks with his perversion. I am going to have to leave here in order to do that Olivia. This is personal for me I intend to be involved with his take down."
"I knew you would want to be Fitz I can understand that you want to take part in this but you need to let Huck handle it. You are the President and…"
"Olivia this man this perverted animal has stalked you, invaded your home, and made pornographic imagery of you to view for his own depraved pleasure. There is going to be a swift and dire consequence for his actions. As the man that loves you I had a duty to protect you and I failed trying to let you be you. I'm from a different generation than you Olivia. I didn't storm into your place myself like a caveman or sent Secret Agents to pick you up and bring you to me because it would have been exerting a force over you I was trying not to do. But it was what I wanted to do every single day and night you were gone. I kept saying she will come back because what we share, the love we have for each other will bring her back. But after so many months I became afraid you wouldn't see and it was eating be alive. It had entered my head that maybe you had truly moved on and there was someone else."
"Fitz listen to me. There never was anyone else. There never will be anyone else. You are it, you are the one. Just as you said I realized that what I was doing was meaningless and I was coming back to you this very night. Yes I made a terrible mistake; I placed myself in harm's way trying to prove something that doesn't exist. But I am going to be alright and my mistake is correctable. However as I was saying you are the President and certain things aren't for you to do. This is one of them. Let Huck handle it, this is what he does, it is another one of his specialties. Have Huck come here and we will tell him the details and he will deal with it."
He wasn't going to debate this issue with Olivia. Jake Ballesston had overstepped his boundaries. It was true he didn't tell Jake the true nature of his relationship with Olivia but that was none of his damned business. He had stalked his woman. He had dared to touch her and use images of her for his warped pleasure. The man's life was forfeit and he didn't even know it. For five years Fitzgerald Grant III had travelled the globe dispensing of people that the United States Government deemed disposable. He knew about Huck's other specialty because for a time it had been his own.
"I am going to speak with Huck of course. At this very moment he is working to break this case. I had sent him to his computers with your phone. There is no doubt he may have already figured out who the culprit is himself. However now you are awake and you have given me all the answers to the puzzle. I in turn need to get together with Huck to decide exactly how this will end. You no longer have to worry about Jake Ballesston and what he is doing. I will get with Huck and we will end it. I hate to leave you Olivia but I need to put certain things in motion. You are safe here. There will be armed agents outside that door people I trust to protect you. Everything will be alright."
"Fitz I can feel your anger it is palpable. You want to tear him apart limb by limb. You want to kill him for what he has done to me. But you can't Fitz; you can't be involved with whatever befalls this man. You are the President of the United States. I am here in place because you arranged it Fitz. I know you did. You had the power to do it. You love me and I am your mistress I fully accept the title. But you have to be careful wielding your power. Someone may slip up or something could be revealed. I don't want you to suffer any consequence for loving me. I brought this event on myself."
"Olivia stop this kind of ridiculous talk right now. Never call yourself a mistress you are not a mistress, especially not mine. I would tell the world today what you mean to me. I would walk out that door and hold a press conference today and claim you as the love of my life. I would face impeachment for putting you into the protocol that placed you here so I could be with you. I would outright resign today, tomorrow, it doesn't matter Olivia. I would do anything in this world for you for your happiness. What happened to you isn't your fault. Stop saying it is. I am going out to take care of some business. Stop worrying about me and my fate. I want you to rest now like the doctor said. When I have finished my business I will return to you. Tomorrow if the doctor clears you to go home we are going to talk and we will clear everything up between us. And we will move forward together." At least he hoped so but he had to tell her the truth about his involvement with Jake.
"Please don't taint yourself with this man Fitz. I am afraid for you. I sense so much anger in you right now. Please stay here with me I need you with me tonight. Maybe we could…"
"Olivia you are not going to get your way this time. Lie here and let yourself start to heal. You have a concussion. You are to do nothing but lie in this bed until the doctor tells you otherwise. I'll be back. Remember Olivia I love you more than anything."
"I know you love me so please let me talk to Huck and let him take care of it. He will know what to do and we won't have to worry about him again. Fitz, Huck kills people and I have no qualms about whatever he decides to do. The earth will be a better place without this man on it. But you have no business being involved. Let Huck do this." Olivia finally threw up both hands. She wasn't going to be able to sway him. "Be careful then and hurry back to me. I do know how much you love me and it makes me happy. You must know that I love you more than anything too!"
He went to the door and turned around and looked at her. She didn't want him to go it was written all over her face, but yet she smiled. "I love you Livvie." And he was gone.
The President spoke privately with Tom and they left the hospital. They had arrived in the middle of the night in a single car and that is the way they left. Sitting in the rear of the vehicle he dialed Olivia's phone. Huck answered on the first ring. "Hello, this is Huck."
"This is the President. Huck we need to talk. I want you to come to the White House. I can send someone for you if you would like. It would be better if you came in another way other than the front gate."
"Of course Sir, I have some news. If I am correct Olivia singled out the person that hurt her on her phone. She refers to him as a predator in her contacts. She left the address of this person in her contacts. I have also tracked down the taxi driver that brought Olivia to the office. He confirmed Olivia was his passenger. The owner of the residence is one Jacob Ballesston. He is a forty-two year old White male, ex-military with two businesses. One is a real estate business and the other is a private investigator enterprise where he specializes in surveillance of cheating spouses. He is the one we are looking for Sir. Has Olivia come around Sir, do you have any news about her?"
"Olivia is awake Huck and she is alright. The doctor says she is going to recover and be fine. She has a concussion. She remembers what happened to her and I want to discuss it with you but not over the phone. As I said I want you to come to the White House. I am going to send a car for you. Could you be at K and Capitol in say twenty minutes?"
"I can Sir."
"Good, bring all the information you have gathered with you."
Fitz had transformed into someone he thought he had left behind over twenty years ago. He was working hard to keep the thoughts trying to enter his head out! Olivia had sensed it the urge he felt to kill. There was something about a trained killer when their switches had been turned on, you could just feel the energy swirling around them.
He wanted Jake to die and he wanted it to be painful. The man should suffer for what he had done to Olivia. And he had wanted him to know what was happening to him and why. He shouldn't be shown one ounce of mercy. He had forfeited all of that the day he went rogue and decided to invade an innocent woman's privacy in such a vile way. He couldn't even imagine how Olivia felt seeing herself that way. Of course Fitz knew his turn would come. There would be a price for him to pay for hiring Jake in the first place. He had pictures of Olivia he could have looked at but he was greedy and he had been needy. He was a fool when it came to Olivia. But would any of that matter to her once she realized that he was the catalyst for all that had happened to her?
He had grappled with not telling her. He could just leave it out by omission and say to himself he wasn't lying to her but he knew better. A lie was a lie whether it was by omission or some other reason. He wanted a relationship with Olivia built on truth and trust. If a marriage or a relationship was built on a scaffolding of lies and deceit it would surely crumble and fall. He knew that from experience. He didn't want that and he wouldn't accept that not for him and Olivia. He would tell her the truth after he dealt with this situation.
He had come to his office and he had tried to quell the urge he had to kill. It was overwhelming. It was primal the need to protect his woman and see justice for the violation she had suffered. Still he couldn't absolve himself of how his actions had precipitated what had happened. He loved Olivia too much to ever see her actions as any more than her exercising her rights as a single woman. What she had done had been reckless and foolish. However if he had been free she would never have left him nor would she have been on a so-called mission to see what she could feel with another man. Olivia was still young in the sense that her reasoning sometimes defied logic. What existed between them couldn't be replicated with other people. It was futile to try.
Jake deserved for so much to happen to him right now. Nonetheless some of the rage he had felt was simmering down. He knew he could snap Jake's neck and not blink an eye. But did the man really need to die? Maybe a stint in prison would teach him his lesson. The madness circulating in his brain wanted to see Jake's blood spilled. He wanted to hear his bones breaking and see black and blue marks across his body. Fitz wanted to beat the living shit out of Jake Ballesston so he would never forget that he had touched what was his. He closed his eyes and tried to reason this one out.
Huck had arrived and was now sitting across from Fitz at his desk. He had told Huck what Olivia had told him. He explained to Huck that Jake Ballesston had been stalking Olivia. He had somehow infiltrated the security at Olivia's apartment and he had been taping her throughout the apartment even in her bedroom. He had been watching her nude in her most private moments. He didn't go into detail but he did say that Jake had taken some very private moments and turned them into pornographic images for his personal gratification. The President had said what the man had done was most egregious and he should serve the ultimate punishment. However the masters including all footage of Olivia had to be found and accounted for first. Once they were found he wanted Olivia's apartment cleaned of all traces of Jake Ballesston and new security in place. After that was finished he wanted Ballesston confined to his residence. When these things were done he was to be notified and not before.
Huck was somewhat taken aback that the President was such a beast. He gave orders as if he had commanded men before. And it was very apparent he wouldn't accept failure in reference to his "to do" list. The President was a man on a mission. Poor Jake he had made a big mistake in stalking the President's woman. Huck had no qualms about what was about to happen to the man. If the President hadn't given the order it would have still happened. The man swam with the fishes!
Huck returned to the office and retrieved his tool box he had work to do. He had called the offices of both of Jake's businesses and he found him at the real estate business. He went there and waited. He followed the man around until he went home. Huck put on his tie and jacket and paid the man a visit. Jake had come to the door and Huck could see the alarm on his face.
"Sir I am Agent Finn and I am with the FBI." He held up a badge and an ID that hung from around his neck in front on the man. I am investigating an assault that may or may not have occurred on the premises. May I come in?"
So the bitch had gone to the cops and it was now at the federal level. What the hell was going on? He was willing to bet the President was right Olivia Pope had been involved in something. He was right to go into her home. If she had said he had assaulted her it would simply be a she said/he said type of thing. He had the "porno" tape he had made of Olivia and the master well hidden. He hadn't pulled the bugs from her apartment yet because he had been waiting for her to return there and to see if she would implicate him in anything. Apparently she had. But he was ready with his story.
"Come in Mr. Finn. I'm not sure how I can help you but I am a former military man and I will always do my civic duty. I can assure you there has been no assault carried out here but please come in."
Huck walked in and when Jake turned around to close the door he turned to him and stuck the needle into his neck and released the drug that would render Jake unconscious for at least the next two hours. Huck finished closing the door and he locked it. He dragged him into the great room and left him there. Huck immediately started looking around for Ballesston's home surveillance equipment. There was no doubt he had some. Huck wanted that tape of Olivia. The President wanted it destroyed.
Huck went from room to room searching to make sure they were alone. The President had told him there was a basement. He needed to find it. He needed a place he could plow his trade. The door to the basement was in the kitchen. Huck put the man over his shoulders and took him down into the basement. The basement was finished. It would serve his purpose. He looked around the place to see what would assist him with what had to be done. There was a pool table. There was a card table with chairs. There was also a couch and two chairs.
Huck needed to return to his car for his tool kit. He needed to secure Ballesston before he awakened. He had decided that the pool table would suffice for the next stage of what he had planned for the man. He came back into the house and headed for the basement and Ballesston. Huck had decided he would strip the man naked and place him on the pool table. Next he wrapped him in the industrial strength plastic wrap. Then he secured the man to the table using an industrial stapler. He simply stapled the man to his expensive pool table.
Huck thought to himself this was straight from that episode of Dexter where the Tony Goldwyn character got his ass killed. Huck was smiling he really liked that show. Dexter was a boss! After putting duck tape on Ballesston's mouth Huck stood back and admired his handy work. He was hoping he could ferret out Olivia's tape without a lot of hoopla. The President wanted this wrapped tonight. His anger was deep and palpable even on the phone. Lord this fool had made a fatal mistake messing with Olivia. Of course he was glad he and the President were thinking alike on this one. This man had been on the list of the walking dead with that shit he had done to Olivia.
Huck had gone back upstairs to the house to continue his search. He had found nothing upstairs. He had gone back to basement where he found an exercise room and another bedroom. The exercise room was very small with just a few pieces of equipment and a giant mirrored wall. Huck kept looking at the wall and the symmetry of the room. It was down stairs and basically it should have been about the same size as the room above it on the main floor but it wasn't. Huck kept looking at the mirror and around the room. There was something behind that mirror and that wall.
Huck would smash it to bits if he had to but there had to be something in this room that would open up whatever was behind that mirrored wall. There was a TV mounted on the wall. There was remote for the TV. Huck pushed all the buttons separately and collectively. He began looking at the few pieces of equipment in the room. There was this elliptical machine, a stationary bike, and the customary weights and barbells aligned on a stand in a corner. There was a small workout bench. Huck tried every piece of equipment looking for something out of place. It was when he had lain on the small work bench and ran his hands beneath it that he had found the other remote attached to bench with Velcro. He started pushing buttons and sure enough one side of the mirror slid behind the other and opened into a small darkened area. He walked in and found the light switch. This was apparently Ballesston's darkroom and also the room where he did his editing.
It didn't take Huck long to find the main box that housed the security system in the house. There was a DVD still in the machine. He played the video feed of the tape and sure enough Olivia was on it. She and Jake had pulled into the garage and engaged in some heavy petting that had kept up even inside the house. There wasn't any sound but Huck could almost sense when Olivia came out of the fog she had been in. She had pushed the man away and seemed to asking for space. She was slowing what was happening between them down. Ballesston left the room and apparently went down into the basement.
It was at that point that Olivia turned on his television. You could see that something had shocked Olivia. She had sat up in her seat and was just staring at the television screen. What was she watching? Huck began to stare at the video himself. At first he couldn't believe his eyes after all he was watching a video of Olivia watching a video. At first he had turned away. He couldn't believe the man down stairs had taped Olivia in her own house like that. He had to watch it though so he turned back around. The same cut kept playing over and over. He watched Olivia naked walking around her home. She had gone into her bedroom and gotten on her bed and oh my god! Again Huck couldn't believe what he was seeing. What should have been Olivia's most private moments were being played over and over again. Olivia is obviously shocked and sits back in her seat.
Ballesston comes back up the steps and apparently Olivia confronts him and a fight ensues. He saw it for himself. That son of a bitch had tripped her and caused her to fall and hit her head and he didn't even call for help. He had paced the floor for ten minutes wringing his hands before he went to the kitchen for ice. And the son of a bitch never did call for help.
This was bad. Huck was going to suggest to the President he shouldn't watch it. Olivia's boyfriend, the President, he wasn't an ordinary President Huck could tell. It was true the man had been a Governor and he had served in the military as well but he knew that wasn't all he had done. Huck could sense people like himself and the President he was just different. The things he had said he wanted done and the medication he had asked Huck to get none of it fared well for the man down stairs. Huck was still watching the TV. Jake had definitely spliced himself up a little pornographic skit of Olivia.
He had checked around for the DVD from which this piece of filth had been cut. He didn't find anything else but lots of photographs of Olivia and a pretty detailed collection of labeled videos. None of them were labeled Olivia Pope however. Not to say it was amongst the collection. However Huck wouldn't expect it to be. That tape was personal. It would be separate from the products of his business. It was somewhere in this house probably somewhere hidden in a safe.
Huck had already searched upstairs. He had looked behind paintings, in the refrigerator, the freezer, in the closet, everywhere and he hadn't found it. He had found a safe. He broke the code and opened it, nothing in it but loads of cash. He had searched the car and the truck and he hadn't found it. He looked at his watch. The man should be coming around about now. Why not go down stairs and ask him where the tape was? He came down the stairs and walked over to the pool table. The man was still asleep but he was stirring. He would be awake shortly. Huck pulled away from the pool table and sat there patiently waiting for the man to awaken.
Ballesston started to move around about ten minutes later. He was trying to move his arms and legs but his eyes had yet to open. Finally his eyes opened and you could see he was trying to clear his head. When is dawned on him that he couldn't move his arms and legs you could see the panic in his eyes. He could only turn his head from side to side so he couldn't see Huck sitting on the couch. He realized he was in his basement and he was trying to move with all his might. Of course it was futile his efforts, he wasn't going anywhere.
Huck stood up and walked into the man's line of vision. The man nearly lost his shit then trying to move. His eyed were bugged out of his head. He was breathing like a bull. Huck walked up to him. "Calm down son you aren't going anywhere. I need that tape you made of Olivia Pope and I like needed it yesterday. Do you understand what I am saying? I am going to take the tape off of your mouth and I want you to tell me where that little spliced piece of porno is and the master that you made it from. Got it?"
He was just looking at Huck saying nothing. Huck grabbed the hair on the top of his head and it felt funny so he examined it. What was this a toupee atop his head? It definitely wasn't glued in. He kept searching and he finally saw the fine threads where the fake hair had been sewn onto his real hair. Huck shook his head. A hair pull wasn't going to be effective in this case. He placed his fingers deep into one of the man's eye sockets and pushed inward. "I will pull your fucking eye out of the socket if you don't tell me what I want to know. I don't have a lot of time so are we clear?" The man shook his head in agreement.
Huck opened his tool kit and took out a jar of Vaseline and the man looked terrified. Huck looked at him and laughed. The motherfucker probably though he was going to fuck him in the ass. He had a lot of tricks in his bag but that wasn't one of them. He took his time and greased up his fingers while the bastard squirmed. He walked up to him and started placing the Vaseline around the edges of his mouth and the tape. The President said he wasn't to be marked. After working the oil around his mouth he pulled off the tape. "I dare you to scream and I will put something in your mouth that will be very painful, trust me. Don't make a sound unless I ask you to. Am I clear? Again he shook his head in agreement. "The tapes where are they?"
"Listen to me Mr. Finn there aren't any tapes. We came back here and we had sex and she left. I called a taxi for her and she left. Someone has given you some bad info man."
Huck stood over him and placed one of his hands over his mouth and with the other he pinched his nostrils together. The man couldn't move his head so Huck had essentially cut off his oxygen supply. The man was imploring him with his eyes to let him breathe. Just as the man started to turn blue Huck removed his hands and the man was gulping trying to get air into his lungs. "Don't play with me Mr. Ballesston. I have already discovered your darkroom behind the mirror. You don't want to push the wrong button with me Mr. Ballessston I will peel your ass like a grape. I will cut off your balls and make you eat them. I will gouge your eyes out with a screw driver. Talk to me and make it quick."
Jake knew his goose was cooked. "They are in the wine cellar all the way in the back."
"How much equipment do you have at Olivia's and how did you bypass her security system?"
Ballesston started squealing like a pig. He was telling everything. He said he was only told to take pictures of Olivia as she moved about town. He had been hired to take pictures only of her coming and going from her place. He had found nothing of interest and the client asked him to stop following her and taking pictures. The case had been closed. However on his own he had set up devices to see what was going on in her apartment. He meant no harm. Then he had seen her naked walking around her place and he had lost his mind. He couldn't stop himself. He said he had fallen in love with her. He watched her every night for months harmlessly and then it started.
"She did herself. You understand what I am saying. She got her rocks off with a dildo and I watched it and it drove me crazy. I started watching it and jacking off. Then I wanted to meet her so I staged a meeting and tried to get her to go out with me and she wouldn't. I saw that she was going to the local clubs so I started following her there. I finally got her to notice me and we started talking. She asked for my number. She called me and asked me out. We met up for a movie the night she was hurt. Afterwards we went out to the club and had some dinner. She wanted me. She was all over me at the club. She was backing her stuff up to me on the dance floor. She wanted me to fuck her. I never forced her to do anything. She wanted me. I brought her back here and I fucked her and she left."
Huck quickly walked up to him again and he had a pair of scissors in his hands. Before the man even knew what was happening Huck took the scissors and cut a hole in the area of his genitals. He pulled the man's penis and balls out. He started to twist all of it as hard as he could. Ballesston started to scream. Huck put his hand over his mouth to silence him. "Shut the fuck or I will cut them off next. You are lying to me. I saw the tape. She kissed you and let you feel her up but she wasn't going to fuck you. She changed her mind and you were going to force her. You caused her to fall and hit her head and you didn't even try to help her. You sick son of a bitch. Tell me one more lie, just one more and I swear I will stuff your own dick down your throat!"
Jake was crying. "Please no more. I will tell you the truth. I had forgotten I had left the tape in the machine. I never meant for her to see it. She turned on the TV and there it was. She was fine until she saw the video and she went ballistic man. I wasn't going to force her you are wrong. I was just going to explain to her what happened. I was going to tell her what I just told you. I would never have hurt her on purpose. I love her. I just tried to block her from kicking me in the privates. It was an accident. When she was knocked out I just lost it. I didn't know what to do and then she woke up and she seemed fine. She said she didn't remember what had happened so I left well enough alone. She asked me to call her a cab and I did. She was alright when she left. I never meant to hurt her. I swear I am telling the truth."
Poor sap the truth no longer mattered he was in deep trouble. "Do I need to tape your mouth or not? I have some business upstairs after I get the videos."
"I am good man. I promise I will cause you no trouble. I have told you the truth. All I want you to do let me go and this is over I will never see her again."
"Relax man everything is alright. You are good. Open up your mouth I have some medication for you to make you relax." The man was scared to death of this guy but he didn't open his mouth. The man grabbed his genitals again. "Don't make me ask you again." Ballesston opened his mouth and took the pills. The man gave him a large glass of water and insisted he drink it all.
Jake drew a sigh of relief because this motherfucker was crazy as hell. He had cut off his oxygen and twisted his junk like he did it every fucking day. He wanted him to get the tapes and leave his house. Jake watched him go to the wine cellar. He came back with the tapes and then he went up stairs. How did this happen? He had invaded her privacy but she had wanted him, he knew she did. Once he had made love to her everything would have been fine. He would have destroyed the tapes and they could have moved forward. Why in the world had it come to this? What in the hell was that medicine, he was getting drowsy. He closed his eyes and started to pray.
Huck in the meantime had called the President and was telling him all the information he had received. He had the tapes and he had the ability to go to Liv's place and sweep it clean. He would do so as soon as this case with Jake Ballesston was closed. The man had told him everything he needed to know in reference to the tapes. However the man was saying that he had been hired initially to photograph Olivia by another party. Huck said he wasn't sure he believed that so as of right now he hadn't asked him the question of who that other party was yet. What was their next move?
Fitz wanted Jake brought in. He had finally had time to calm down some and think about what had happened. He was still teetering on this side of murder but he had to come to terms with the fact that none of this would have happened had he not been so out of his mind about losing Olivia. He had only wanted to make sure she wasn't seeing anyone else. What he would have done if she had been he didn't know.
What he should have done was to have gone to Olivia and they should have talked liked reasonable people that loved each other. He was always trying to give Olivia her space simply because she had a tendency to run. He hadn't wanted to press her. He had wanted her to return to him on her on. He was at a point in his life where he knew there was no one else for him. There would be no need to "audition" other lovers. It hurt his heart that Olivia even felt she had to do what she did. He knew she loved him, only him but she apparently wasn't at the same place he had arrived at years ago.
Fitz had decided he was going to send a unit for Huck and Jake to bring them to an undisclosed location. He had called his friend that headed up special ops at the Pentagon. He had requested an interrogation room for a person of interest that needed to be processed in reference to a matter involving some security matters. It wasn't a problem. He called Huck and told him of his plans. Huck didn't like the plan. Huck simply asked the President what was he doing? He had the perpetrator secured and he could take care of business right where he was. The bastard had to pay for what he had done to Olivia.
The President assured Huck that Jake was going to be punished. However there were things that he wanted established before anything else was done. If Huck had a problem he would come and get the man himself. If not he would discuss his plans when they arrived.
Fitz still had a great deal of fury emanating from his body. His body-language had a lethal edge to it. It was not good. The urge to kill Jake Ballesston would come on so strong that he had to keep himself in his chair he would become so angry. He called Tom in and told him they had found the person that had assaulted Olivia and he was having him brought to the Pentagon. He was going over there and he only wanted a single detail.
Fitz was in a fit of frenzy all the way to the Pentagon. The urge to kill was back. He spoke to Tom. "This is my entire fault Tom. I put all these events in motion. I am responsible for it all. I want to kill him Tom. He touched her. He hurt her. I can barely contain this pain I feel. I caused Olivia to be hurt. I involved a person that I thought was an honorable man into my problems with Olivia. All that has happened is because of my own personal weakness for her. And now I either end the man's life or end his life as he knows it. I am so many things but most of all I am just the man that a woman. I have done so many things wrong Tom. I found the love of my life and I didn't want to lose her. I was so lost without her. I just wanted a connection with her. I didn't want this. I simply missed her."
Tom adjusted the mirror so he could see the President's face and then he spoke. "Mr. President I have been with you now for three years. I know you Mr. President. You are a decent man. Whatever your past has been, this is your future now. I know how much you love Ms Pope. I know how much this separation has devastated you. You would never hurt her purposely, I know that and so do you. This is a tough situation Sir but you must be able to live with all your actions in reference to it. Whatever you do tonight can you live with it tomorrow? That is the question you have to ask yourself. Answer that question and you will be fine."
"Thank-you for your input Tom you are absolutely correct. That is indeed the question."
In the meantime Huck and Jake had arrived at the Pentagon and had been ushered into an area that Huck knew didn't exist on paper. Jake was in a wheel chair as the medication still had him out cold. Huck wasn't new to this rodeo he had been here before as the man asking the questions. He had also done time in the "hole" the one time he hadn't followed orders. Olivia had helped him escape his old life and for that she deserved justice from him in reference this Ballesston bastard! He wasn't sure what the President was planning to do to Jake but the fact that they were here didn't bode well for the man. Huck and the President had spoken briefly when he arrived. He had advised the President that he had indeed found the video and the master that had been used to make the tape Olivia had seen. He had them in his possession right now. What he planned for the offending pieces was an acid bath in which they would cease to exist unless he wished to see them and dispose of them himself.
"No I have no desire to see or touch them. Destroy all traces of them. I want this over," the President said in a voice that brooked no more conversation about the subject.
Jake finally opened his eyes and looked around. He wasn't at home anymore. Everywhere he looked he saw steel. The walls were steel. The ceiling was steel. The floors were steel and he was lying on a steel table. What in the hell was this place. A bright light was shining in his face and he couldn't really see. This was frightening. Where had that man taken him?
"So you are awake Jake?"
Jake knew that voice. It was Fitz it was the President. He breathed a sigh of relief. Fitz would help him he would end this nightmare. "Fitz, Mr. President is that you? You have to help me. There is a man and he is holding me here against my will. He is torturing me. I don't what Olivia Pope is into but it must be big because the Feds know about it. I…" His breath cut off from him and Jake was sure his heart stopped beating for a moment. He was just now seeing the man that had called himself Agent Finn was standing behind the President. Fitz had been blocking his view of the man. What the hell was happening? "Mr. President what is happening. You have to help me. I am your friend."
"What is happening is that you are going to pay for your crimes. Crimes against a women that may have come to your home with you willingly but she had no idea the type of man you really were or we both know that would have never happened. If she had known you were taping her naked in her own home and splicing together pornographic images of her for your own sadist pleasure, do you really think she would have gone anywhere with you? Do you honestly think a woman would let you touch her after seeing her privacy invaded like that? So what would you have done kept her there against her will? You tried to restrain her and caused her to be injured. And then you let her lay at your feet unconscious and bleeding? What type of man are you Jake? I thought I knew you?"
"We had been friends all those years ago. I asked you to take pictures of Olivia Pope going and coming from her apartment and around town. And most telling in this story is that I ended the contract I had with you eight weeks ago. I never asked you to go inside her apartment and do shit. Did you get off watching her naked too or was it just when she inserted a sex toy inside her. You are disgusting and a disgrace to the uniform soldier!"
"Mr. President it wasn't like that at all. I did exactly as you had asked me to do I was just taking pictures. I decided to rig inside her home because I really thought she was up to some wrong doing, some criminal activity. I was going to get the goods on her and show you that I knew my stuff. I was trying to impress you Mr. President."
Huck was being a silent observer. When he heard the man implicate the President as the one that had initially hired him he didn't blink an eye or move a muscle. It was shocking but Huck wasn't really surprised. It was obvious the President was torn to pieces over this incident. You could sense the extreme pain he was in because of it. Olivia had been hurt and violated and apparently the man knew he bore some responsibility for it. Meanwhile Ballesstion rattled on digging his hole deeper and deeper.
"The more I watched her, the more fascinated I became. I think I fell in love with her, I know I fell in love with her. And then I saw her masturbating and I lost it. I couldn't stop watching her. I wanted her for myself so I started pursuing her. She finally noticed me and we went out once. She called me and asked me out. She decided on her own to come home with me after the date Fitz. After one date she came home with me. She wanted to have sex with me. She was all over me she was asking for it. I wouldn't have had to force her. If it hadn't been me it would have been someone else. She wanted to be fucked by a real man. That dildo wasn't enough for her. You know me. Me and you we could get any girl we wanted. Remember I never had to force a woman. She fell but it was an accident. I only meant to keep her from kicking me."
"Let me stop you right there Jake. I have heard your side of the story and I have heard hers and guess what I don't fucking believe yours. You stalked her. You followed her around like a goddamned animal in heat. Then you went into her home and installed video cameras in her bedroom. Why her bedroom Jake? You know what people do in their bedrooms Jake they pull off their clothes and they get naked. You are a fucking pervert and you know it. You lost it when you saw her masturbating, are you fucking kidding me? What are you some fifteen year old boy? So you rig up some perverted version of the act so you could watch it over and over again? I should choke the goddamned life out of you right now!"
"Wait Fitz what is this? Why are you so mad?" He looked at Huck who at this point who had said nothing. "Why is he so angry? Who is Olivia Pope to you Fitz?"
"Keep Olivia's name out of your mouth. I thought you were a decent human being…"
"Wait a minute she was yours wasn't she? Olivia you are in love with her. The pictures were to connect you with her…"
The President was on him so fast he didn't even realize what was happening. Fitz found a spot on the sides his parietal skull and he pressed hard with his thumbs. Whatever spots he had found, Jake started to scream in agony from the pain it caused. Fitz got right in his face and said, "I told you not to say her name and I meant it. Shut your damned mouth!"
"Do you want to go to prison Jake? I would love to see you go there because I can assure you that you will die there. If not the first or second night I assure you will not live out the week. That is what I want for you death. You had no right to film her, touch her, or hurt her. You have to answer for that. Prison is your first option. The second option is to leave the United States of America and start a new life as a new person. Within the next forty-eight hours all of your assets will be liquidated. You will take your assets, assume a new identity, and you will go. If you should ever set foot on American soil again for any reason your life will be forfeit. However the glitch in your good fortune is this Jake; if you so much as breathe Olivia Pope's name again in any capacity all deals are voided. And when I say mention her name again I mean starting today. In others words it should be as if you never ever heard her name in your life. And if you are wondering if I can pull this off, if I will know. I promise you I will know and I promise you I will kill you myself!"
"Stand up and face me." Jake stood up and faced the President. What he saw in the eyes of the man that had once been his friend was hate and rage. The President punched him directly in the nose. The blow was so hard that Jake fell to the floor. "Get up! Don't underestimate me Jake. Am I making myself clear?" Jake stood up with blood gushing from his twisted nose. "Answer me?" Jake shook head in the affirmative.
Huck was watching this unfold. The President was going to let this piece of trash live. Huck wasn't sure the man deserved to live, but he sensed the President's dilemma. It was the President himself that had hired this vermin to photograph Olivia and his guilt was overwhelming. He blamed himself obviously more than he blamed this man dripping blood all over the steel floor. The President had broken the man's nose with one blow and it had been intentional. As Huck had surmised earlier the President was different. As for Huck he loved Olivia too but not the way the President did. Huck wanted to kill the man straight out. The President had called dibs on this one but was it truly his call? He was sure Jake had seen the error of his ways. He was done in this country and he could either leave it or die. But still the question was it truly just the President's call?
"Agent Finn your assignment should you agree to accept it is to assist Mr. Ballesston to get ready for a prison sentence and his death or his departure from the states. He may need help getting all his affairs in order regardless of whether he chooses option one or option two. He only has forty-eight hours to conclude all his business. Because on the forty-ninth hour both options will be rescinded. He may be in need of your expertise in certain areas to facilitate that. If you have any questions please call me. The President started to leave the room.
Huck called out to the President asking if he could have a moment of his time in private. They moved to the far side of the huge cavernous room. Huck lowered his voice and said. "Mr. President you know I would rather the man be killed outright but you are in charge. For the most part this thing is over. But you have to tell Olivia the truth Mr. President about your involvement with the man. She loves you enough to understand. Olivia and I share a special friendship and I couldn't keep that from her."
"I am not asking you to Huck. I have every intention of telling Olivia about my involvement in this entire mess. I would never lie to her about this. I am not sure what it will do to our already fragile relationship but I assure you as soon as she is cleared and released from the hospital I will tell her. Her recovery is the paramount issue right now. She will hear it from me Huck and only from me. I will take care of it. What I need you to do is to make sure that Jake follows through with whatever option he chooses. Stay with him until it is done. I want him on a plane and out of country as soon as soon his assets are liquidated."
Huck looked at the President for a moment longer than he should have before he said, "Consider it done Mr. President. I can assure you Ballesston will follow through with his options and choose the one best suited for his circumstances." There was an option three. Of course Ballesston nor the President knew that. But Huck did!
The President was afraid yet again. He could lose her over this thing. She could walk right out of his life for good. He still wasn't sure he had done the right thing in letting Jake live but he blamed himself for everything that had happened. He had to do better. This thing with Jake should have never happened. Of course he would have never thought he was capable of the things he had done but he had been and now they were where they were. He placed his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. "Tom let's get back to the hospital I need to get back Olivia."
"Of course Mr. President."