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Unsuspecting BetrayalBy Aaron Rowe
It was a warm autumn night. It was a busy Friday night as the subway station was just getting finished with the busy traffic for the evening. The sound of nightly police carswere heard from every corner of New York. The train pulled into the station aroundalmost. Screeching wheels echoed throughout the empty train station. The subway stationwas close to being empty as the passengers rushed to exit the car.One man who looked to be in his thirties was the last one to exit. His eyes weredark brown like the leaves on a tree in early winter. His body was upright; he was slimfor his age, His face worn from many years of working outdoors he looked to be asmoker. He traveled the usual journey from the other side of New York and was finallyrelieved to arrive at the station.As he walked up the stairs to the main street, a scruffy old man gave him an evilglare. As he continued up the stairs, he said hello to a couple of other people. They gavehim the cold shoulder. He couldn’t figure out why people were ignoring him everywherehe went. He tried to think a couple of years back but everything was a blur. He didn’tunderstand what happened in his past that affected his future so deeply. His name is JohnTemple and this is his story.
Chapter 1
As John walked home, he stopped by Mick’s, the local diner at the corner of Walker. He stepped inside the diner for a banana cream pie and some coffee. The bartender came up to take his order.“Don’t see a lot of people this early in the morning.” She said with a soft voice.He thought about what she said and then responded.“Yeah, the train ride here took hours, wanted to get home before the rain set in.”She understood where he was coming from. She brought over his order and he started toeat.“You’re ok with this?” she stated.“With what?” He looked puzzled.“With coming here.”“Why wouldn’t I come here,” he pondered. He couldn’t figure out what was the problem with him coming into the diner.“I thought you wouldn’t be showing your face after what went down five yearsago.” He tried to think back but it is as if that a part of his life was erased from existence.He then said, “I really can’t remember what happened. I only remember wakingup in the hospital with the doctor telling me that I was in a very bad car accident.”She then said, “Ok, I’ll explain it to you.” She pulled up a bar stool from near her and sat down. John was happy to know that he would be able to figure out what happenedsuch a long time ago.“You used to work at P.C.I or Parson Cantron Industries. They specialize incomputers and network consulting. You were very close to the president of the company,Elliot Wilson. Elliot was old, too old to be running a big, global company like P.C.I. heoffered you strength, he offered you control he offered you power. One of your friends,Peter Dryson, wanted you to accept Elliot’s offer.
 
“You weren’t in such a hurry to take the position but after weeks of pressure fromPeter, you finally gave in. Therefore, weeks later channel six and every other news stationin New York had Elliot’s step down on the news. Everyone was watching it. You had become the new company president. You were very happy about the promotion.“Weeks went by as you learned to handle such a responsible position. Peter wasalways trying to do everything for you. Open doors for you, buy you food. He wasalways trying to suck up to you. I never trusted him.“It got later in the year and it was wintertime again. New York was hit with anoutbreak of the flu. You caught it and were out sick for a week and a half. You had to findsomeone to fill in for you for the time being. Peter was the first person in line to beg youfor the job.” John tried to remember everything that Wendy was telling him but it was alla big blur.“You being the president and knowing Peter as a good friend gave him temporarycontrol. That was the biggest mistake you could have ever made. With you out of the picture for a little while, he began to take funds out of the company and store them in anoffshore account. He would then use the money to pay off his debts and spend freely.When you got better and went back to work you were immediately alerted that thecompany’s funds were depleting a very fast rate. You looked into the crisis but couldn’tfind a connection between you being sick and the money suddenly disappearing. Dayswent by and it didn’t get any better it got worse. They started to wonder why thecompany couldn’t figure out the problem. They started to question what you were doing.They thought you were running the company the entire time. After a while, the companythought it was you. They took the presidents title away and gave it to Peter. Peter actedsurprised when he heard the news. They appointed him because his resume was flawless.With you gone permanently, he could easily bring the company closer and closer to bankruptcy. With all the companies money in an offshore account he could easily quit andnever be seen again. You never got a fair trail for being falsely accused. No one ever spoke of it again.“The company went bankrupt a few months later and went out of business. Onyour way home from a restaurant; it was very rainy on the road. At the same time,another driver was coming from a bar drunk. As the light turned from red to green youstepped on the gas and kept going forward, the other driver didn’t stop. He slammed headon into your car. The drunk driver was killed instantly; you were pretty banged up aswell.“A man walking his dog saw the accident first hand. He immediately called 9-1-1. The ambulance rushed you to the hospital. You had a fifty- fifty chance of living. Thedoctor said you had suffered a broken leg, arm, fractured rib, and severe head trauma.“You were released from the hospital several weeks later. You had to go to aspecial center to learn how to walk again. That’s what happened.” It was around two-thirty in the morning when the story was finished.“It seems like a lot of stuff went down along time ago.” He said, you could hear the fatigue in his voice.“So my best friend framed me for a crime I didn’t commit.” This made him wide-awake.“Yep, what can you really do about it?”
 
“I can prove it was Peter who set me up.” John got up, paid for his meal, and wasabout to leave when Wendy caught his attention.“John, Peter left town four years ago; he now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hewent there to spend his stolen wealth.”“Thanks for telling me, bye.” She said bye as she went into the kitchen. John leftthe diner with a new mission in mind; find Peter, revive the company, and save hisreputation.
Chapter 2
John finally made it home to try to get some sleep but he couldn’t. The fact thathis friend had used him to gain access to the company’s funds made him furious. Heknew he should have had better judgment when finding a replacement.“Look where it got me. Peter is in Las Vegas having the time of his life, P.C.I. isout of business, and people think I’m the cause of it. I owe it to myself and the public to prove I wasn’t the one who ripped off the company.”John got up from his bed and took out his laptop, and he did a search for Peter Dryson, He thought he could find something on the web; he was surprised to find thatPeter now owns his own chain of casinos.“He calls them X²; he was always a math person. It says here that the casinoswere built in 2000, a year after he fled New York. The casinos got popular a couple of months after the grand opening. Let’s see, says here that Peter is throwing a V.I.P party inthe penthouse Suite of his casino on the fifteenth of September. You can only get in byinvitation only. I need to figure out a way to get an invitation to this party and causally blend in with everyone else.” John looked for a flight and after two hours, he found one.The party was scheduled to be held a week after his arrival.“I got my ticket, I’ll get my clothes packed and it’s off to Las Vegas.”
Chapter 3
John left New York around five P.M; the flight to Nevada took about three hours.He touched down in Las Vegas around eight P.M. As the plane flew over the mountains,the strip was easily visible. The plane landed in Mc Carran Airport very smoothly. AsJohn got off the plane, he went to the baggage claim to get his luggage. After receivinghis things, he went outside the airport to where the limos were. He looked for his limoand then noticed a man holding up a sign that said “Temple” on it. John then confrontedthe driver and got into the limo.The limo then exited the airport, got on to the right highway and drove to TheMirage. John always wanted to stay here. He checked into the hotel and found his room.He was tired from the trip. He unpacked his things and had a well-deserved rest. He hadnever been to Las Vegas before and wanted to take in all it had to offer. He visitedMandalay Bay, Paris, Bellagio, MGM Grand, The stratosphere, and many other big hotelsaround the Strip. John didn’t notice how fast time flew by, as it was already the end of theweek. The party was on Saturday, which was tomorrow. He would meet the person whoruined his life; he would come face to face with Peter Dryson.
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