This story, as the name suggests, is about codes and variations of codes. It has nothing to do with Elgar and his music.
I thought of including the translations of the coded messages within the body of the story, but decided that this would take away the fun of solving them, so for those code breakers among you, enjoy.
*
It had been a rough trip, the guy I was to interview had decided to shut up like a clam. I tried to reason with him by explaining that he would be doing the world a favour by giving evidence against this menace to society. When that failed I threatened him with a substantial gaol term for obstructing justice, but he just wouldn't budge. In the end I told him that he could be deemed a hostile witness and forced to give evidence. I got what I wanted.
I wrote up my notes on my laptop ready to be uploaded to the office computer when I got back to work. All I wanted to do now was to get home and have a quiet meal with Callie before I had to head out for a drink with mates. I wasn't going to stay out too late for two reasons, the main one being that tomorrow was a big day for us, it was our the fifth anniversary of when we first met and we had something big planned.
"Callie, I'm home." I called as I stepped through the front door. Nothing, not a sound, no squeal of delight as she dropped what she was doing and ran to greet me, deathly silence, except for a beep from my answering machine. There was an envelope propped against the phone and the answer machine light was flashing. I punched the button. "You will read the contents of the envelope". That was it, no greeting or pleasantries of any kind, and the calling number was blocked so I had no idea who it was. I opened the envelope to read the note but, I couldn't because it was just a series of numbers:
67 228534353
968 9455 37 3922859 27 1678782833 67 968 9455 63837 733 2254782 24246
968 9455 37483 76884 25664 843 842867 427267 7623 86845 968 438 86 843 62 52736 8253 8876. 968 9455 8876 5338 263 7762555 86 94558642. 968 9455 37483 8476844 94558642 263 66 86 94558642 4455 7623. 968 9455 37483 87 8447 7623 86845 968 73224 843 5338 4263 2363 2363284 843 5665 688. 968 9445 7855 4686 843 7275464 2732 65 843 74448 43 8447 2363 263 29248 9687 6398 467878284667.
43 968 273 36556933 67 968 4283 736753 782846633 25664 8447 7623 67 26 843 7665688 2254782 9455 343
968 4283 896 46877, 365'8 23 4283
It was a code of some description, but what? It wasn't a straight forward number substitution code, but then I realized that it was a substitution using a telephone alpha/numeric keypad, this was going to be hard going because each number has three or four letters assigned to it. I started by isolating the frequently used words, for instance, the first two words of most paragraphs, 968 9455, translated as 'you will', and 843, 'the'. It was time consuming but eventually I had a message that made some sense to me. I hoped that I was right as I climbed into my car and followed its instructions by driving south down the southern expressway and turning on to the Victor Harbor Road.
I kept an eye on my rear view mirror to see if I was being followed, but the traffic was heavy enough that any number of cars could have been following me. There were cars behind me as I turned off to McLaren Vale. A few turned off to Kangarilla as I cleared the town onto the long straight to Willunga. There were still a couple of cars behind me as I drove through Willunga on to the Willunga Hill road, but no car followed me up the hill to the parking area where I was told (hopefully) to wait for instructions.
I waited for around five minutes, my mind racing, trying to make sense of all of this and hoping that I had got the message right. There were no cars on that road until a car came down the hill and pulled in beside me. I couldn't see inside it because of the heavy tinting on the windows. The back window slid down about 75 mm and one of those gizmos that you use to pick up stuff in tight places, you know, the tong thing on a long handle, appeared with an envelope in its jaws. It was pushed over to my window, so I wound it down and grabbed it. The other car left as quietly as it had come. It wasn't until I'd looked at the message that I realised that the car had no number plates, and because it was a common make and model, my chances of tracing it were next to zero.
It was another coded message, another number substitution code but it wasn't the same as the first code, for starters the numbers went up to 26 so that ruled out the phone keypad.
[13-18] [3-1-21-12-6-9-5-12-4],
[3-15-14-7-18-1-20-21-12-1-20-9-15-14-19] [15-14] [19-15-12-22-9-14-7] [20-8-5] [3-15-4-5].
[25-15-21] [23-9-12-12] [4-18-9-22-5 2-1-3-11] [20-15] [25-15-21-18] [8-15-13-5] [1-14-4] [23-8-5-14] [25-15-21] [7-5-20] [20-8-5-18-5] [25-15-21] [23-9-12-12] [1-3-3-5-19-19] [13-19] [25-15-18-4] [15-14-25-15-21-19] [12-1-16-20-15-16[ [1-14-4] [15-16-5-14] [20-8-5 6-9-12-5] [5-14-9-7-13-1] '3' [20-8-1-20] [3-15-14-20-1-9-14-19] [25-15-21-19] [14-5-24-20] [9-14-19-20-18-211-3-20-9-15-14-19].
[25-15-21] [23-9-12-12] [6-15-12-12-15-23] [20-8-5] [9-14-19-20-18-21-3-20-9-15-14-19] [20-15 20-8-5] [1-14-4] [1-14-25] [1-20-20-5-13-16-20] [20-15] [9-14-22-14-12-22-5] [20-8-5] [16-15-12-9-3-5] [15-18] [1 20-8-9-18-4] [16-1-18-20-25] [23-9-12-12] [18-5-19-21-20] [9-14] [25-15-21] [14-15-20-19-5-5-9-14-7] [25-15-21-18] [3-1-12-9-19-20-1] [1-7-1-9-14].
25-15-21 8-1-22-5 20-23-15 8-15-21-18-19 20-15 3-15-13-16-12-5-20-5 25-15-21-18 9-14-19-29-18-21-3-29-9-15-14-19, 4-15-14'20 2-5 12-1-20-5.
It turned out to be a straightforward number substitution where A=1 through to Z=26.
I drove back home as instructed. I was getting worried, what if as it appeared, that someone had kidnapped Callie? But who? I could think of no person or any reason for this. Whoever this was obviously didn't know Callie and me very well, I have never called her Calista, even when we were first going together. Then there was the fact that this person was able to get into my house, I presumed it was because he would have Callie's key, and then to access my computer, my files were password protected and I doubted if he would have had the time to crack it. One thing that he did know was that I wasn't going to give up until I had Callie back safe with me, and soon, tomorrow was the big day for us.
I let myself in and went to my study where I found my laptop where I'd left it, but it was open and switched on. I accessed the 'Enigma 3' Word file and found another series of numbers.
[13-18] [4-2-22-13-5-7-10-6-5],
[5-17-16-9-20-3-22-23-14-3-22-11-17-16-21] [4-10-4-12-17],
[3-19-25-] [2-14-17-17] [10-24-15-2-11] [16-21-1-22] [2-16-13] [12-18-3-8], [4-25] [5-19-16] [6-1-2-20-13-25] [26-14-25-25] [17-15-6] [5-16-7-26]. [15-5-11] [14-26-3-3] [12-19-3-23] [20] [14-3-23-5-25-14] [22-9-25] [12-23-14-7] [22-12-18-15] [1-25-16], [24-14-20] [23-9-12-12] [21-9-6-15] [9-17] [7-12-21-8-6-20-15-2] [24-19] [25-13-10] [9-21-1-20-26-11-24] [1-22] [24-9-7] [25-10-1-20-18-23-16]. [4-18-15] [12-5-5-16-25-15-12-25-5] [9-21-24-24] [14-6-24] [13-2-8-7] [14-4-10-7] [4-17-3-21] [18-5-21] [1-7-6] [22-8-7-25-2-11-6-20-13-2-8-7] [9-26] [20-10-16-13] [5-26-1-10-16-5-16-21], [20-6-9-9] [6-25-12-2] [24-14-20] [14-5-24-20] [10-15-20-21-19-22-4-20-10-16-15-20].
[1-17-23] [11-4-25-8] [24-1-19] [13-20-26-23] [26-21] [10-22-20-23-19-12-1-12] [7-23-3-26] [18-23-2-3-1-4-12-2-18-24-23-2], [14-25-24'-4] [13-16] [24-13-6-17] [2-5] [19-26-7-19] [14-4-10] [13-25-2-2] [5-6-11] [11-23-23] [22-20-5-2-12-13-20] [21-1-21-3-8].
This one was another number substitution but when I tried it with the previous straight forward substitution it made no sense, it was then that I realised that it consisted of a rolling word by word code shift. I was going well for a short while, moving the substitution with each word, A=1 for the first word then A=2 for the second and so on. It didn't take long to figure that out and after that it was merely time consuming.
I drove into the city to the car park in the message and, taking a ticket, I drove up past the reserved parking levels until I found an empty space. I caught the lift down to the ground floor and went to the payments desk where I handed over my ticket. The attendant's expression changed from bored, to puzzled, to the memory of an instruction. "Mr Caulfield?"
"Yes, you have something for me?"
He said nothing, just handed my ticket back and the envelope that I was expecting. I opened it to be confronted by yet another fucking message full of numbers.
[13-13] [4-2-22-13-7-10-6-13-5],
[3-9-3-11-16] [6-18-17-10-21-4-23-24-15-4-23-12-18-17-22]. [3-19-25] [1-13-16-16] [19-20-2] [10-25-15-2-11] [22-2-1] [23-14] [8-11-12-19-8-16-11-12] [7-20-10] [25-6-16-10] [24 12 9] [22-18-24-22-11] [7-3-21-22-7-20-16] [7-19-6-6-24-2-26] [20-15] [7-26-7-13-3-19-17-5]. [3-16-7-20-3] [17-5-2] [9-23-5-10] [14-15-13-26-26-15] [21-8-24] [13-14-11-7] [10-1-25-26-12] [18-11] [8-1-6-23]. [18-8-14] [17-3-6-6] [15-3-4-14] [14-11-23-26] [17-12] [17-18-16-25-18-6-25-10-23-12] [26-13-3] [20-8-5-14] [21-2-12-6] [22-10-7] [26-8-15-15-12-17-10-23-18-17] [22 19-5-8]. [2-13-10-19] [5-21-1] [25-12-8-10-15] [5-13-20-20-17-22-15-2-23-22] [6-22-2] [3-15-18-18] [9 23 14 1 10] [19-18-24-19] [23-11-8] [8-7-20-20-1] [21-9-2-21] [3-18-15-19-19-5-19] [ 19-7-4] [16-7-20-3-16] [10-18-15-15-2-4-22]. [16-4-1-14-1] [20-10-16] [17-3-6-6] [11-24-22-2-24-15-24] [17-7-13-10]-[5-22-15-11] [1-6-11-12-10-13-21-12-1-7-6-11].
By taking the first two words of the first paragraph I could see that this was a different word to word code shift, and to crack the code I had to work out the shift sequences. This one was another number substitution but when I tried it with the previous substitution it made no sense, it was then that I realised that it consisted of a different rolling word by word code shift. I was going well for a short while, moving the substitution with each word, A=1 for the first word then A=2 for the second and so on, but when I got to the tenth word it didn't make sense. On a hunch I reversed the progression back to A=1. But the next word made no sense and then it hit me, it was an oscillating word progression; A=1 to A=9, then back past A=1 for nine words and back the other way, but when it got to A=1 it kept going to the ninth word in the opposite direction then switched back. It was an oscillating code shift and once I got that figured it was relatively easy.
Oh well, it was back in the car and driving out of town on the South Eastern freeway to Hahndorf. There I was turn off to the Strathalbyn Road and follow it to Strathalbyn. Once there I was to drive to Wellington and onto the ferry. The trip gave me time to try to work out who it was that was doing this to me, and to Callie. It was easy to discount her work colleagues, they all liked her and I have got on well with them since they realised that there was no way to separate us. My side of the equation was different, my family all loved Callie and she loved them, she and my mother talked often and exchanged recipes and stuff like that. But it was my job that brought the greatest concern to my mind. Being an Investigator with the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) office, I came into contact with all sorts of people that I wouldn't take home to meet Mother. I tried to think of any that were currently free or who had contact with anyone that could do either me or Callie harm.
The Bikie gangs could not be discounted. There had been a concerted effort to curb the activities of these gangs, and we had been involved in several high profile cases involving them. It was not unusual for them to seek revenge in a violent way, but that usually involved other gangs and death or extreme harm, not members of the public and not kidnapping, so I dismissed them. There was the case that I am involved with now, and presents possibilities. The man under investigation is facing several charges involving financial transactions valued at millions of dollars. He is on record as threatening anyone who is stupid enough to give evidence against him or anyone seeking such evidence. I guess that includes me. He would know that Callie and I have lived together for years, he would know that we are very close in our relationship and he would know that threatening Callie would get to me. What he didn't know was how far he could push me before I retaliated. If he kept up the pressure he would find out.
I just couldn't think of anyone else that could be doing this and resolved to wreak havoc on whoever it was, when I caught up with him.
The trip took a while, I won't admit to exceeding the speed limit but I got there ahead of time. I drove onto the ferry and the operator, after closing the gates and starting on the crossing, approached me. "Mr. Caulfield?"
"Yes."
"I have something for you." He walked to the cabin and retrieved the ubiquitous manila envelope. He handed it to me and went back to operating.
This was getting beyond a joke. It was obvious that whoever was doing this didn't want money from me or me to do anything other than drive around like a chook with its head cut off, not knowing what or why I was being put through this. All I could think of was; was Callie safe?
I had time to go back through my life with her. We met at some Friday night, end of week function or other that was to become immediately forgettable after we had been introduced by her boss. "Your boss obviously has more important people to talk to, although I, for the life of me can't see anyone more important here, at least no-one that I'd want to talk to more than you."
"Do you pull many birds with a line like that?"
"It wasn't a line, at least I don't think it's a line, I was just complimenting you in a roundabout way."
"Then I accept your compliment."
"Would you like me to trip up one of those hovering drink carriers and get you something, some pretend champagne perhaps?" (In Australia, because of the French Appellation Laws, we aren't able to call our wines 'Champagne' even though some of them are made with the same grape varieties and using the same method, the best that we can do is to label these as; 'Methode Champenoise'). What they were dishing up was neither, it was a sparkling white, and that said it all, it had bubbles and was white wine, not something I would normally drink.
"I think I'll give it a miss, thank you all the same."
"Would you like me to see if I can scrounge up something a little better? I did see some red over near the official's table."
"I'll be impressed if you can manage to get some without being thrown out." She was impressed. After that there was no-one else there, don't get me wrong, there were bodies moving around talking to each other, but as far as Callie and I, we were on our own.
"Ben." (That's me)
"Yes?"
"Is there any reason that we have to be here?"
"None that I can think of. Do you think that your boss would miss you if we were to slide out of here?"
"Well at the moment he's trying to chat up some woman and when she gets sick of his bullshit and tells him to piss off we'll be long gone."
"You don't think much of him, do you?"
"Oh he's okay at work, we get on fine, but at shows like this when he's trying to schmooze some future client, it's part of his plan, arrive with me or one of the other girls and offload us so that he can tell the future client that she was important enough for him to offload a beautiful girl, in this case me, to concentrate on her."
"Does it work?"
"Sometimes, sometimes not, it depends on the vulnerability of the woman."
"What happens once he's snared her, does he still play up to her?"
"No, usually it lasts a while and then he tells her that is extremely busy and can't devote the time to her that she deserves and that he's doing her a great favour by putting one of his best people on her case."
"What an operator."
"He's been moderately successful up until now."
By this time we were outside the function centre and heading for Callie's favourite restaurant. It took no time at all for it to become my favourite. The food was great and the ambience was perfect for dinner for two, it was quiet and the waiting staff were in no way intrusive. They let us dine at our pace with no obvious signs that they wanted to move us on so that they could set the table for another couple. It was close to midnight when we walked out of there into the cool night air.
"How did you intend to get home?"
"I came prepared, I knew that I was going to have a few drinks tonight, so I'm going to catch a cab."
"Don't do that. I have my car just up the road in the car park and I can drive you home."
"You don't have to do that, that is unless you really want to."
"I really want to." We walked the hundred metres or so to the multi-level car park where I'd parked my pride and joy. We took the slow as a wet week lift to the level that I'd parked on, and as the lift reached the creaky end of its journey, Callie moved to stand in front of me, face to face in front of me. Her face was so close to mine I could feel her breath on my lips, so I kissed her, but not in that passionate way that told her that I wanted to get into her pants, but in a gentler way that told her that I wanted to get to know her better. We didn't notice the doors open because we were otherwise occupied, she was returning my kiss and telling me that she was not averse to getting to know me better. The walk to my car couldn't have been better, I had my arm around her, and she had hers around me.
I walked around to the driver's door to open it. "What is it?"
"I'll give you a clue, it's Swedish, but not a Volvo."
"I can see that, I know one of those when I see it."
"It's a SAAB, it's a 900i Turbo."
"Am I supposed to be impressed?"
"No, if I wanted to impress you I'd have something a little more esoteric, more expensive and definitely much newer. I have done this for years, bought second hand cars that, when new cost a shit load of money, most of it Import Duty, and that depreciated rapidly and, because they were expensive to begin with the owners found that it cost heaps to repair the few times anything went wrong with it. This car for instance is one of the famous 'Aero' models and, when it came out in 1985 cost $93,000, I paid $2,500 for it a five of years ago because it had a minor problem that the mechanic the previous owner took it too had no idea how to fix, or what the problem was, but quoted like a wounded steer. The mechanic I go to specialises in upmarket cars and is very reasonable with his charges. He found the problem in five minutes and it cost me less than $100 to fix. The money I'd spend to buy something as good as this in a modern car, I could have the motor rebuilt half a dozen times."
"So you don't mind driving an ancient car? This was made before I was born."
"Hey, it's got leather seats and an electric sunroof that actually opens plus all of the usual stuff like power steering, ABS brakes, air-conditioning, cruise control and performance to die for."
"So now I suppose you're going to do the macho thing and bag it up from the lights."
"No, for starters I don't have to prove anything to anyone, I know how fast this rocket can actually go."
"Okay smarty, how fast can it go?"
"Would you believe a touch over 230 kph?"
"You are kidding me aren't you?"
"I kid you not."
By this time we had cleared the car park and were out on the street. "Where are we going?"
"Just head for Unley. If you go down Hutt Street . . ."
"It will lead me to George Street which leads to Duthy Street."
"Okay smarty, so you know your way around town. I live just off Duthy Street, I'll direct you from there." I drove and had just gone a short way down Duthy when she pointed to the next side street on the right. "Turn down there." I turned into the street and drove for about a hundred metres. "Turn here next to that huge tree." I turned and followed the narrow access road to a cluster of town-houses. "The first one on the right, pull up out the front."
"This looks nice." I wasn't kidding, the security light had come on revealing a neat two-storeyed town house.
"My father built the whole complex and he sold me mine at cost."
"Some people are lucky." I was nearly going to add that I'd had to work my butt off to pay for my three bedroom mortgage.
"Do I detect a note of jealousy?"
"Not at all, I'm sure that you've made the most of your luck, unlike some who have no idea how the other half live."
"You sound like someone that works for a boss who has given his useless son a job over you, in fact I know your boss and his useless son, you see we were at school together. He invited me to the Year 12 Formal (Prom in the US) and got really pissed when I refused."
"I heard about that episode, he got totally legless and threw up over some dignitary and the dance floor."
"Yeah it cost the old man a fortune to keep it out of the Press and to get the school to allow him to sit his finals and graduate. Not that the marks he got could be called graduating, barely enough for a generalist BA."
"He hasn't improved much." We were still standing outside, I was hoping that she would invite me in because I didn't want this evening to end just yet.
"Would you like to come in, I'll make you a coffee."
"Thank you, I would." She opened the door and ushered me into a neatly understated room. "This is nice." She was standing next to me, her hand touching but not holding mine. I turned to face her and she came into my arms, her arms around my neck and that 'I want to get to know you kiss' again. I returned her kiss with my own version of the same.
"I'm not going to let you make love to me tonight."
"I'm disappointed but it is not unexpected, I didn't think that you would."
"But you were hoping, weren't you?"
"I would be lying if I said 'no', but then with no expectations comes no disappointment."
"That's good. What I would like to do is for us to make ourselves comfortable and talk. I want to get to know you, everything there is to know about you, and I'll be open with you. I want, and I hope you want the same thing, is for us to really get to know each other." She kissed me again. "That will have to hold you until I make the coffee."
"Do you need any help?"
"No, but don't let that stop you from being there."
That first night led into the next day. I left her at around four in the afternoon, and then only after I had promised faithfully that I'd return after I'd changed my clothes into something less pretentious. It was a night to remember, we talked, with the occasional pit-stop to relieve the pressure caused by all of the coffee we consumed, and I remember in the early hours we had reached the point where we had run out of things to say and spent some time in each other's arms, me just being there, close to her.
From the very beginning we, Callie and I, realised that there was something special about our relationship, and it just got better from there. A year to the day after our first meeting I moved into her townhouse with her and became an integral part of her family. Her parents approved of me and had no problem when we announced that I was moving in with Callie. Bill, her father, helped me renovate my mortgage and sell it at a tidy profit. That's not entirely true, he did the work and I helped in my spare time. Her sister Millie (short for Millicent) lived in the same cluster of townhouses as Callie and I, and spent a lot of time with us, in a purely platonic and sisterly way. I introduced Callie to my parents and, during a lull in festivities, my father took me aside and told me that if I let her get away from me I would be seen as the biggest dickhead of all time.
I was smiling to myself as I drove on to the ferry. The smile didn't last long. The ferry operator came over to my car after he had shut the gates and started it on its journey across the river. "Are you Mr. Caulfield?"
"Yes."
He walked back to the cabin and retrieved the ubiquitous envelope and handed it to me. I opened it to be confronted by another fucking coded message, this guy, whoever it was, had to be a graduated of the Marquis de Sade School of communications, and I was getting a little pissed off. I was running out of time to find Callie before tomorrow, hopefully none the worse for the experience.
Immediately I looked at the message I realised that this was different, but the same. It was a number substitution code but the first two words, while they had the same number of letters, were nowhere like those in the previous messages. When I drove from the ferry I sat and stared at it for some time before, with a resounding clatter, the penny finally dropped. This was a bastard that was going to take some time and I wouldn't know until I reached the end, how long I had.
[12-19] [5-4-25-17-12-16-13-21-14],
[10-1-8] [11-24-2-3] [22-1123-17-1] [24-10-13-13-7] [21-10-8] [20-23-15-11-14] [19-22-20-22-12-17-16] [12-8] [14-22-59-3-12] [2-6-16-7] [5-19-10] [1-16-14-24] [15-4-22-10-20] [25-5-12-8] [7-16-14-15-25-24] [2-19-11-7-11-10]. [5-22-3] [6-19-23-23] [7-22-7-5-12-25] [14-3-1] [17-13-22-14] [2-16-7] [5-17-22-21-15] [3-18-16] [13-17-19-1-17-26-22-24] [12-10-23-1]. [13-13] [25-16-23-21] [16-10-12-1] [7-24-5] [8-21-25-26] [8-21-22] [19] [6-9-15-1-9], [23-14-15] [4-10-8-7-16] [15-21] . [7-24-5] [8-21-25-26] [19-25-6-24] [21-14] [15-4-2] [11-14-20-6-14] [21-9-24-26-8-5-1-11-6-26-7] [15-3-20] [19-23-26-10-14-2] [16-4-20-22-20-17-13-19-13] [1-23] [8-25-6-4] [5-3-4-3] [16-7-14] [17-4-8-9] [1-14-17-13-14-8-24-10] [5-22-3-1] [12-3-17-14-25-21-17-10-12] [6-25-9-16] [25-24-16-3]. [7-6-22] [4] [11-20-21-11] [22-18-17-19-6'-6] [18-9-16] [19-6-10-11] [18-6-5-12-9-1-11] [6-23-4-2] [25-17-11-8] [24-4-10-12-11-15-24-16-6-13-13-19] [2-16-7] [5] [21-7-10-19-10-17-16] [21-1] [8-23-21] [5-7-11-8-4-10-4].
Fucking hell this was getting really frustrating, here I was, desperate to find Callie before tomorrow, and this fucking message was telling me to drive to Murray Bridge and check in to a specific motel. There I was to have dinner (like I could eat under these circumstances) and go to bed. 'Get a good night's sleep' it said. How the hell was I expected to get to sleep worrying about Callie and tomorrow? I had no option but to follow orders because my next instructions would not be available until tomorrow morning. I was going to have to get up at sparrow fart if I was to have any chance of finding her in time.
With part of a forgettable dinner sitting heavily in my stomach, I slid into your typical motel bed. My thoughts weren't about sleep, but to stop myself worrying I allowed my mind to drift back to the first time Callie and I shared a bed in the loving couple kind of way. We had been to a dinner party at a friend's house, it was our fifth date, and it was a great night, good food, excellent wines and bright company. It was around mid-night when we left and I drove her home. I parked in my usual place out front of her town-house and leaned over to kiss her before getting out to open her door for her. "Will you come in, I have something special for you."
"And what might that be?" I asked, hoping that it was what I was hoping for.
"You'll just have to wait." We got out and she led me inside. "No coffee tonight." She said as she came into my arms. "Tonight, I am going to give myself to you, totally." Her kiss wasn't the 'I would like to get to know you' kiss of previous dates it was an 'I am going to know you' kiss that suggested that the 'know' was in the Biblical sense, her tongue was pressing against my lips, so I let it in. Her hips were pressing against mine and she could not fail to feel my cock becoming rampant against her. "It seems that you are anticipating my gift to you." She whispered to me.
I would have to be completely devoid of feelings not to know where this is leading. My hands began to undress her, beginning with the buttons on her blouse and working down. With her blouse and bra out of the way I was able to concentrate on her breasts. I lavished the best of my lavishing skills on them, caressing them, smelling the perfume lingering in her valley and kissing her peaks. Her hands were working on the buttons of my shirt, she pulled it from my shoulders and tugged it down to hang from my waist. "I love a man with a hairy chest." She whispered as her fingers scrambled through my forest, pausing at my nipples, which she tweaked between her thumb and forefinger.
I picked her up and carried her to her bedroom. Laying her on the bed I pulled her clothes from her and moved my attention further down her body until I could smell the scents of her pussy, her wet pussy. "That hammering sound that you hear isn't my heart, it's Noah down there building an ark to escape from the imminent flood from my pussy. You are going to have to save him by plugging the hole."
"All in good time, we can't rush these things."
"Dammit Ben, I've waited weeks for this moment and I'm not going to wait a second longer. I want your cock inside me, now." I undressed and knelt over her, as I pushed him into she grabbed my arse cheeks and pulled me further in to her pussy. "Oh my god," she said in a slow sensual voice, followed by, "Oh my God, oh my God, ohmygodohmygodohmygod." As she lost control of her body which took off in a massive, shuddering, series of orgasmic spasms.
"Was that worth the wait?" I asked as her spasms slowed.
"If I'd known it was going to be this good I wouldn't have waited this long. Now will you keep going, I want you to come for me, come in me, I want you to fill me."
"I hate to bring this up at this time, but, are you on the pill or do you want me to search in my wallet for the condom that's probably perished anyway."
"Do you mean to tell me that you haven't bought a new condom for such an occasion as this?"
"Of course I have." I moved to retrieve my trousers from the floor and get the condom from my wallet. I was almost out of her pussy.
"Don't you dare take him out of me, and don't worry, I'm on the pill."
"That's all right then." I said as I returned to my position between her legs. She had one big and several smaller orgasms before I came, and when I did it was her first orgasm all over again with the added gush from her pussy that would have drowned Noah, his family and a whole bunch of animals.
"Now that's a first for me, gushing like that, what with our combined fluids we've made quite a mess of the bed."
"Do you want to change the sheets?"
"No way, we are going to wallow in this and possibly add to it, and in the morning, if we feel like it we might change the sheets, or else we could add to the damage before we change them." We luxuriated in each other's closeness for some time, just being us, and then her hand, either deliberately or accidently, brushed my half comatose cock that sprang immediately to life. "Oh boy, I see this is going to be a long and memorable night."
"Do you think so?" I had my hand over her pussy and a finger inside.
Her answer was to climb on me and lower herself onto my, now hard, cock. "We've only just begun." She sang to me as she rode my cock, and that pretty much summed up our night of debauchery that was followed by a morning of similar debauchery. It was afternoon before we got around to taking the sheets from the bed and tossing them into the washer. Life was never to be the same again, it got better and almost five years later it was still as good as it can be.
With thought uppermost in my mind I clambered out of bed and jerked off into the toilet bowl before climbing back into my lonely bed.
My next waking moment was the sound of a knock on my door and the rattling of breakfast stuff. I opened it to find a tray with the usual motel breakfast, a covered dish with a plate of bacon, an egg, half a tomato and a greasy sausage. Next to it a bowl with a small sample pack of breakfast cereal, a jug of milk, a pot of tepid coffee a cup and saucer and a plate with a couple of slices of toast and those horrible foil wrapped frozen butter and containers of alleged marmalade. Not something to inspire me to eat it. I drank the coffee in one gulp and took a bite out of a piece of toast before giving up. I had other things to do.
The package contained a familiar looking suit, a freshly ironed shirt, a tie and fresh jocks and socks and shiny shoes. I was to appear dressed up like a pox doctor's clerk for my next assignment. The message was, you guessed it, in code, and this again was different from the previous codes. It was still a numerical substitution but a different progression. It took a little while to work it out and, suddenly it all became crystal clear to me. I went to the reception desk to find that my account had been settled, so, there being nothing to keep me here, I climbed into my car and headed back to Adelaide. I looked at the clock on the dash of my car and worked out that I had no time to dawdle, whoever was controlling me had the timing worked out almost to the minute.
[13-18] [5-3-23-14-8-11-7-14-6],
[26-14-11-25-11] [9-26-13] [9-25-5-2] [18-21-26-13-24] [23-2-7-8-6-9-17-8-23-3-2-7]. [15-5-11] [14-26-3-3] [9-13-12] [9-8] [16 4 1] [1-10-12-13-18-6-3-17] [20-8-1-20] [1-17-23] [1-13-16-16] [12-15-20-10] [17-22] [3-18-15] [13-26-16] [18-6-23-10-19 ] [18-17-19-1] [1-2-7] [21-24-25-16-21-3-24-25]. [21-11-17] [21-7-10-10] [4-18-9-22-5] [22-17] [24-12-9] [7-10-10-24-11-25-25] [24-26-23-4-17-12-13-12]. [24-25] [17-26-6-17-4-21-26-19] [8-22-19] [18-11-25-2-20-25-4-3] [16-6-12] [17-3-6-6] [24-1] [11-3-18] [2-25] [3] [17-5-18] [3-14-21] [5-17-20-20] [4-11-21-15] [11-1-7] [8-3] [9-24-21] [8-4-19-21-23] [19-4-1-14-1] [23-15-19] [23-9-12-12] [4-7] [22-9-25-18-13-24-9-8] [3-16-1-15] [11-9-20-17-1-2-9].
An hour later I parked my car at the side of the building, there were a lot of people out front waiting for something, I knew what it was, but I'm not going to tell you just yet. I entered through the back door to find Brian (my brother) and Peter (Callie's brother) waiting for me. "So you made it on time, we weren't worried at all, well not much, well no, we were starting to pack it, thinking that you hadn't been able to work out all of those messages."
"Were you two responsible for this?"
"No, it wasn't us I swear. It was Callie and Millie. Callie found out what we had planned for you and decided that there was no way that you were going to be standing here hung over after a night of drunken revelry, especially when she heard that there was a stripper involved."
An organ burst into life and the three of us walked into the church and stood, waiting for my beautiful, radiant, Callie on her Father's arm as they walked slowly down the aisle. I took her from Bill and we turned to face the Minister. "You made it I see.' She whispered to me.
"Bitch." I whispered back.
"There was no way that I was going to turn up here if you were hung over, and had been fucked to within an inch of your life." She whispered back.
"I had no intention of doing that, I'd already worked out my withdrawal strategy. Did you think that I would risk spoiling today?"
The Minister cleared his throat to attract our attention and the ceremony began.
The ceremony dragged itself towards its conclusion. It probably didn't, it just seemed that way to us. Then, to the strains of the Wedding March from Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Callie and I, the newlywed Mr and Mrs Benjamin Caulfield left the church. We posed for photos with family and friends, some I'd actually met, before climbing into our limo for the inevitable photo opportunities around the city.
"Do you think we could give this bullshit a miss?" I asked Callie as we drove away from the church with an entourage following us.
"Look behind you." I looked to see that the entourage had dropped back and felt our car turn a corner and head towards home. "I owe you this. Forgive me for last night. Last week I heard Brian and Peter plotting your downfall, and I wanted to save you from that, save you for me. There was no way that I was going to let some stripper have you the night before our wedding."
"Did you stop to think that there was no way I was going to allow that either?"
"I told Millie that, but she convinced me that you should not be subjected to the temptation."
"Wait until I get my hands on her."
"You just keep your hands off her." Callie said just before she kissed me with an 'I've got you' kind of kiss that I was going to enjoy.
The limo pulled up outside our house and we headed for the door and our bedroom. "We've only got half an hour before the mob arrives."
"What do you mean?" I had started to undo the hundreds (not really) of clasps at the back of her wedding dress and take it from her. She was wearing no underclothes! The bodice of the dress held her boobs in place quite nicely without any other need for support, but the lack of knickers came as a surprise. I draped the dress over a chair as she worked on my suit, shirt and jocks. I left my socks on, figuring that if we had to get dressed in a hurry there was one thing less to put on.
Our lovemaking was just like our previous efforts, but in fast forward, not that we were going at it hammer and tongs, it's just that our previous efforts tended to take their own sweet time. We had just finished when there was a banging on the front door. "Come on you two, get decent so we can come in". We scrambled into our wedding finery to admit Millie and Sonia, one of Callie's friends from work, along with Brian and Peter. It looked very much like Brian and Millie were getting along just fine, and Peter and Sonia weren't far behind.
We looked outside to see caterers setting up trestle tables and chairs and food and wine being unloaded from vans parked in the courtyard area. It was going to be some party judging by the quantities being unloaded.
"Well, did you?" Millie asked. Callie just smiled.
We took our places at the main table and the proceedings began.
Things proceeded pretty much as wedding receptions tended to, Brian's speech was funny as he described my childhood and youth and remarked that I had exceeded expectations by actually reaching my ripe old age (I'm a year older than he is) without being either dead or married with three kids. It also included a bunch of supposedly real emails from absent friends, all loaded with double entendres that had the well oiled guests chuckling and some of them scribbling on napkins. Just when I thought he'd finished, he paused to look at the guests and yelled 'fornication!' to the shocked gasps of the crowd. "For an occasion like this I think you should all be upstanding and drink a toast to the happy couple. I give you Mister and Mrs Ben Caulfield."
I gave it my best shot, thanking all of those that needed thanking and making light of the fact that for the past so many hours I had been chasing around the countryside on a wild goose chase, thinking that I was in danger of losing Callie, that brought cries of 'fat chance' from those in the know, and offering my services as a code breaker. It took ages for the masses to leave but when they did Callie and I went back to what we were doing before they'd arrived, only better.
Tomorrow sometime we'll leave on our honeymoon, and I ain't gunna tell you where.
For those of you who are interested, I have included the translations of the coded messages.
1
Mr Caulfield,
Congratulations on solving the code.
You will drive back to your home and when you get there you will access MS Word on your laptop and open the file 'Enigma 3' that contains your next instructions.
You will follow the instructions to the letter and any attempt to involve the police or a third party will result in you not seeing your Calista again.
You have two hours to complete your instructions, don't be late.
2
Mr Caulfield,
Congratulations again.
You will drive into the city, to the Topham Mall car park. You will take a ticket and park your car, you will then go directly to the counter to pay for your parking. The attendant will ask you your name and, on confirmation of your identity, will hand you your next instructions.
You have three hours to complete your instructions, don't be late or else you will not see Calista again.
3
Mr Caulfield,
Again congratulations. You will now drive out of Adelaide and take the South Eastern freeway to Hahndorf. Drive along the main street and turn right at Pine Street. You will follow this road to Strathalbyn and then take the Wellington road. When you reach Wellington you will drive on to the ferry that crosses the River Murray. There you will receive your next instructions.
You have three hours to complete this task or you will not see Calista again.
4
Mr Caulfield,
You will drive along the Princes Highway to Tailem Bend and then drive into Murray Bridge. You will drive through the town and along the Adelaide Road. On your left you will see a motel, you will check in. You will dine at the motel restaurant and before returning to your room you will complete your breakfast menu card. Get a good night's sleep, you will receive your next instructions and a package in the morning.
5
Mr Caulfield,
These are your final instructions. You will put on the clothes that you will find in the package and drive to back Adelaide. You will drive to the address provided and on entering the building you will be met by a man who will take you to the place where you will be reunited with Calista.
I thought of including the translations of the coded messages within the body of the story, but decided that this would take away the fun of solving them, so for those code breakers among you, enjoy.
*
It had been a rough trip, the guy I was to interview had decided to shut up like a clam. I tried to reason with him by explaining that he would be doing the world a favour by giving evidence against this menace to society. When that failed I threatened him with a substantial gaol term for obstructing justice, but he just wouldn't budge. In the end I told him that he could be deemed a hostile witness and forced to give evidence. I got what I wanted.
I wrote up my notes on my laptop ready to be uploaded to the office computer when I got back to work. All I wanted to do now was to get home and have a quiet meal with Callie before I had to head out for a drink with mates. I wasn't going to stay out too late for two reasons, the main one being that tomorrow was a big day for us, it was our the fifth anniversary of when we first met and we had something big planned.
"Callie, I'm home." I called as I stepped through the front door. Nothing, not a sound, no squeal of delight as she dropped what she was doing and ran to greet me, deathly silence, except for a beep from my answering machine. There was an envelope propped against the phone and the answer machine light was flashing. I punched the button. "You will read the contents of the envelope". That was it, no greeting or pleasantries of any kind, and the calling number was blocked so I had no idea who it was. I opened the envelope to read the note but, I couldn't because it was just a series of numbers:
67 228534353
968 9455 37 3922859 27 1678782833 67 968 9455 63837 733 2254782 24246
968 9455 37483 76884 25664 843 842867 427267 7623 86845 968 438 86 843 62 52736 8253 8876. 968 9455 8876 5338 263 7762555 86 94558642. 968 9455 37483 8476844 94558642 263 66 86 94558642 4455 7623. 968 9455 37483 87 8447 7623 86845 968 73224 843 5338 4263 2363 2363284 843 5665 688. 968 9445 7855 4686 843 7275464 2732 65 843 74448 43 8447 2363 263 29248 9687 6398 467878284667.
43 968 273 36556933 67 968 4283 736753 782846633 25664 8447 7623 67 26 843 7665688 2254782 9455 343
968 4283 896 46877, 365'8 23 4283
It was a code of some description, but what? It wasn't a straight forward number substitution code, but then I realized that it was a substitution using a telephone alpha/numeric keypad, this was going to be hard going because each number has three or four letters assigned to it. I started by isolating the frequently used words, for instance, the first two words of most paragraphs, 968 9455, translated as 'you will', and 843, 'the'. It was time consuming but eventually I had a message that made some sense to me. I hoped that I was right as I climbed into my car and followed its instructions by driving south down the southern expressway and turning on to the Victor Harbor Road.
I kept an eye on my rear view mirror to see if I was being followed, but the traffic was heavy enough that any number of cars could have been following me. There were cars behind me as I turned off to McLaren Vale. A few turned off to Kangarilla as I cleared the town onto the long straight to Willunga. There were still a couple of cars behind me as I drove through Willunga on to the Willunga Hill road, but no car followed me up the hill to the parking area where I was told (hopefully) to wait for instructions.
I waited for around five minutes, my mind racing, trying to make sense of all of this and hoping that I had got the message right. There were no cars on that road until a car came down the hill and pulled in beside me. I couldn't see inside it because of the heavy tinting on the windows. The back window slid down about 75 mm and one of those gizmos that you use to pick up stuff in tight places, you know, the tong thing on a long handle, appeared with an envelope in its jaws. It was pushed over to my window, so I wound it down and grabbed it. The other car left as quietly as it had come. It wasn't until I'd looked at the message that I realised that the car had no number plates, and because it was a common make and model, my chances of tracing it were next to zero.
It was another coded message, another number substitution code but it wasn't the same as the first code, for starters the numbers went up to 26 so that ruled out the phone keypad.
[13-18] [3-1-21-12-6-9-5-12-4],
[3-15-14-7-18-1-20-21-12-1-20-9-15-14-19] [15-14] [19-15-12-22-9-14-7] [20-8-5] [3-15-4-5].
[25-15-21] [23-9-12-12] [4-18-9-22-5 2-1-3-11] [20-15] [25-15-21-18] [8-15-13-5] [1-14-4] [23-8-5-14] [25-15-21] [7-5-20] [20-8-5-18-5] [25-15-21] [23-9-12-12] [1-3-3-5-19-19] [13-19] [25-15-18-4] [15-14-25-15-21-19] [12-1-16-20-15-16[ [1-14-4] [15-16-5-14] [20-8-5 6-9-12-5] [5-14-9-7-13-1] '3' [20-8-1-20] [3-15-14-20-1-9-14-19] [25-15-21-19] [14-5-24-20] [9-14-19-20-18-211-3-20-9-15-14-19].
[25-15-21] [23-9-12-12] [6-15-12-12-15-23] [20-8-5] [9-14-19-20-18-21-3-20-9-15-14-19] [20-15 20-8-5] [1-14-4] [1-14-25] [1-20-20-5-13-16-20] [20-15] [9-14-22-14-12-22-5] [20-8-5] [16-15-12-9-3-5] [15-18] [1 20-8-9-18-4] [16-1-18-20-25] [23-9-12-12] [18-5-19-21-20] [9-14] [25-15-21] [14-15-20-19-5-5-9-14-7] [25-15-21-18] [3-1-12-9-19-20-1] [1-7-1-9-14].
25-15-21 8-1-22-5 20-23-15 8-15-21-18-19 20-15 3-15-13-16-12-5-20-5 25-15-21-18 9-14-19-29-18-21-3-29-9-15-14-19, 4-15-14'20 2-5 12-1-20-5.
It turned out to be a straightforward number substitution where A=1 through to Z=26.
I drove back home as instructed. I was getting worried, what if as it appeared, that someone had kidnapped Callie? But who? I could think of no person or any reason for this. Whoever this was obviously didn't know Callie and me very well, I have never called her Calista, even when we were first going together. Then there was the fact that this person was able to get into my house, I presumed it was because he would have Callie's key, and then to access my computer, my files were password protected and I doubted if he would have had the time to crack it. One thing that he did know was that I wasn't going to give up until I had Callie back safe with me, and soon, tomorrow was the big day for us.
I let myself in and went to my study where I found my laptop where I'd left it, but it was open and switched on. I accessed the 'Enigma 3' Word file and found another series of numbers.
[13-18] [4-2-22-13-5-7-10-6-5],
[5-17-16-9-20-3-22-23-14-3-22-11-17-16-21] [4-10-4-12-17],
[3-19-25-] [2-14-17-17] [10-24-15-2-11] [16-21-1-22] [2-16-13] [12-18-3-8], [4-25] [5-19-16] [6-1-2-20-13-25] [26-14-25-25] [17-15-6] [5-16-7-26]. [15-5-11] [14-26-3-3] [12-19-3-23] [20] [14-3-23-5-25-14] [22-9-25] [12-23-14-7] [22-12-18-15] [1-25-16], [24-14-20] [23-9-12-12] [21-9-6-15] [9-17] [7-12-21-8-6-20-15-2] [24-19] [25-13-10] [9-21-1-20-26-11-24] [1-22] [24-9-7] [25-10-1-20-18-23-16]. [4-18-15] [12-5-5-16-25-15-12-25-5] [9-21-24-24] [14-6-24] [13-2-8-7] [14-4-10-7] [4-17-3-21] [18-5-21] [1-7-6] [22-8-7-25-2-11-6-20-13-2-8-7] [9-26] [20-10-16-13] [5-26-1-10-16-5-16-21], [20-6-9-9] [6-25-12-2] [24-14-20] [14-5-24-20] [10-15-20-21-19-22-4-20-10-16-15-20].
[1-17-23] [11-4-25-8] [24-1-19] [13-20-26-23] [26-21] [10-22-20-23-19-12-1-12] [7-23-3-26] [18-23-2-3-1-4-12-2-18-24-23-2], [14-25-24'-4] [13-16] [24-13-6-17] [2-5] [19-26-7-19] [14-4-10] [13-25-2-2] [5-6-11] [11-23-23] [22-20-5-2-12-13-20] [21-1-21-3-8].
This one was another number substitution but when I tried it with the previous straight forward substitution it made no sense, it was then that I realised that it consisted of a rolling word by word code shift. I was going well for a short while, moving the substitution with each word, A=1 for the first word then A=2 for the second and so on. It didn't take long to figure that out and after that it was merely time consuming.
I drove into the city to the car park in the message and, taking a ticket, I drove up past the reserved parking levels until I found an empty space. I caught the lift down to the ground floor and went to the payments desk where I handed over my ticket. The attendant's expression changed from bored, to puzzled, to the memory of an instruction. "Mr Caulfield?"
"Yes, you have something for me?"
He said nothing, just handed my ticket back and the envelope that I was expecting. I opened it to be confronted by yet another fucking message full of numbers.
[13-13] [4-2-22-13-7-10-6-13-5],
[3-9-3-11-16] [6-18-17-10-21-4-23-24-15-4-23-12-18-17-22]. [3-19-25] [1-13-16-16] [19-20-2] [10-25-15-2-11] [22-2-1] [23-14] [8-11-12-19-8-16-11-12] [7-20-10] [25-6-16-10] [24 12 9] [22-18-24-22-11] [7-3-21-22-7-20-16] [7-19-6-6-24-2-26] [20-15] [7-26-7-13-3-19-17-5]. [3-16-7-20-3] [17-5-2] [9-23-5-10] [14-15-13-26-26-15] [21-8-24] [13-14-11-7] [10-1-25-26-12] [18-11] [8-1-6-23]. [18-8-14] [17-3-6-6] [15-3-4-14] [14-11-23-26] [17-12] [17-18-16-25-18-6-25-10-23-12] [26-13-3] [20-8-5-14] [21-2-12-6] [22-10-7] [26-8-15-15-12-17-10-23-18-17] [22 19-5-8]. [2-13-10-19] [5-21-1] [25-12-8-10-15] [5-13-20-20-17-22-15-2-23-22] [6-22-2] [3-15-18-18] [9 23 14 1 10] [19-18-24-19] [23-11-8] [8-7-20-20-1] [21-9-2-21] [3-18-15-19-19-5-19] [ 19-7-4] [16-7-20-3-16] [10-18-15-15-2-4-22]. [16-4-1-14-1] [20-10-16] [17-3-6-6] [11-24-22-2-24-15-24] [17-7-13-10]-[5-22-15-11] [1-6-11-12-10-13-21-12-1-7-6-11].
By taking the first two words of the first paragraph I could see that this was a different word to word code shift, and to crack the code I had to work out the shift sequences. This one was another number substitution but when I tried it with the previous substitution it made no sense, it was then that I realised that it consisted of a different rolling word by word code shift. I was going well for a short while, moving the substitution with each word, A=1 for the first word then A=2 for the second and so on, but when I got to the tenth word it didn't make sense. On a hunch I reversed the progression back to A=1. But the next word made no sense and then it hit me, it was an oscillating word progression; A=1 to A=9, then back past A=1 for nine words and back the other way, but when it got to A=1 it kept going to the ninth word in the opposite direction then switched back. It was an oscillating code shift and once I got that figured it was relatively easy.
Oh well, it was back in the car and driving out of town on the South Eastern freeway to Hahndorf. There I was turn off to the Strathalbyn Road and follow it to Strathalbyn. Once there I was to drive to Wellington and onto the ferry. The trip gave me time to try to work out who it was that was doing this to me, and to Callie. It was easy to discount her work colleagues, they all liked her and I have got on well with them since they realised that there was no way to separate us. My side of the equation was different, my family all loved Callie and she loved them, she and my mother talked often and exchanged recipes and stuff like that. But it was my job that brought the greatest concern to my mind. Being an Investigator with the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) office, I came into contact with all sorts of people that I wouldn't take home to meet Mother. I tried to think of any that were currently free or who had contact with anyone that could do either me or Callie harm.
The Bikie gangs could not be discounted. There had been a concerted effort to curb the activities of these gangs, and we had been involved in several high profile cases involving them. It was not unusual for them to seek revenge in a violent way, but that usually involved other gangs and death or extreme harm, not members of the public and not kidnapping, so I dismissed them. There was the case that I am involved with now, and presents possibilities. The man under investigation is facing several charges involving financial transactions valued at millions of dollars. He is on record as threatening anyone who is stupid enough to give evidence against him or anyone seeking such evidence. I guess that includes me. He would know that Callie and I have lived together for years, he would know that we are very close in our relationship and he would know that threatening Callie would get to me. What he didn't know was how far he could push me before I retaliated. If he kept up the pressure he would find out.
I just couldn't think of anyone else that could be doing this and resolved to wreak havoc on whoever it was, when I caught up with him.
The trip took a while, I won't admit to exceeding the speed limit but I got there ahead of time. I drove onto the ferry and the operator, after closing the gates and starting on the crossing, approached me. "Mr. Caulfield?"
"Yes."
"I have something for you." He walked to the cabin and retrieved the ubiquitous manila envelope. He handed it to me and went back to operating.
This was getting beyond a joke. It was obvious that whoever was doing this didn't want money from me or me to do anything other than drive around like a chook with its head cut off, not knowing what or why I was being put through this. All I could think of was; was Callie safe?
I had time to go back through my life with her. We met at some Friday night, end of week function or other that was to become immediately forgettable after we had been introduced by her boss. "Your boss obviously has more important people to talk to, although I, for the life of me can't see anyone more important here, at least no-one that I'd want to talk to more than you."
"Do you pull many birds with a line like that?"
"It wasn't a line, at least I don't think it's a line, I was just complimenting you in a roundabout way."
"Then I accept your compliment."
"Would you like me to trip up one of those hovering drink carriers and get you something, some pretend champagne perhaps?" (In Australia, because of the French Appellation Laws, we aren't able to call our wines 'Champagne' even though some of them are made with the same grape varieties and using the same method, the best that we can do is to label these as; 'Methode Champenoise'). What they were dishing up was neither, it was a sparkling white, and that said it all, it had bubbles and was white wine, not something I would normally drink.
"I think I'll give it a miss, thank you all the same."
"Would you like me to see if I can scrounge up something a little better? I did see some red over near the official's table."
"I'll be impressed if you can manage to get some without being thrown out." She was impressed. After that there was no-one else there, don't get me wrong, there were bodies moving around talking to each other, but as far as Callie and I, we were on our own.
"Ben." (That's me)
"Yes?"
"Is there any reason that we have to be here?"
"None that I can think of. Do you think that your boss would miss you if we were to slide out of here?"
"Well at the moment he's trying to chat up some woman and when she gets sick of his bullshit and tells him to piss off we'll be long gone."
"You don't think much of him, do you?"
"Oh he's okay at work, we get on fine, but at shows like this when he's trying to schmooze some future client, it's part of his plan, arrive with me or one of the other girls and offload us so that he can tell the future client that she was important enough for him to offload a beautiful girl, in this case me, to concentrate on her."
"Does it work?"
"Sometimes, sometimes not, it depends on the vulnerability of the woman."
"What happens once he's snared her, does he still play up to her?"
"No, usually it lasts a while and then he tells her that is extremely busy and can't devote the time to her that she deserves and that he's doing her a great favour by putting one of his best people on her case."
"What an operator."
"He's been moderately successful up until now."
By this time we were outside the function centre and heading for Callie's favourite restaurant. It took no time at all for it to become my favourite. The food was great and the ambience was perfect for dinner for two, it was quiet and the waiting staff were in no way intrusive. They let us dine at our pace with no obvious signs that they wanted to move us on so that they could set the table for another couple. It was close to midnight when we walked out of there into the cool night air.
"How did you intend to get home?"
"I came prepared, I knew that I was going to have a few drinks tonight, so I'm going to catch a cab."
"Don't do that. I have my car just up the road in the car park and I can drive you home."
"You don't have to do that, that is unless you really want to."
"I really want to." We walked the hundred metres or so to the multi-level car park where I'd parked my pride and joy. We took the slow as a wet week lift to the level that I'd parked on, and as the lift reached the creaky end of its journey, Callie moved to stand in front of me, face to face in front of me. Her face was so close to mine I could feel her breath on my lips, so I kissed her, but not in that passionate way that told her that I wanted to get into her pants, but in a gentler way that told her that I wanted to get to know her better. We didn't notice the doors open because we were otherwise occupied, she was returning my kiss and telling me that she was not averse to getting to know me better. The walk to my car couldn't have been better, I had my arm around her, and she had hers around me.
I walked around to the driver's door to open it. "What is it?"
"I'll give you a clue, it's Swedish, but not a Volvo."
"I can see that, I know one of those when I see it."
"It's a SAAB, it's a 900i Turbo."
"Am I supposed to be impressed?"
"No, if I wanted to impress you I'd have something a little more esoteric, more expensive and definitely much newer. I have done this for years, bought second hand cars that, when new cost a shit load of money, most of it Import Duty, and that depreciated rapidly and, because they were expensive to begin with the owners found that it cost heaps to repair the few times anything went wrong with it. This car for instance is one of the famous 'Aero' models and, when it came out in 1985 cost $93,000, I paid $2,500 for it a five of years ago because it had a minor problem that the mechanic the previous owner took it too had no idea how to fix, or what the problem was, but quoted like a wounded steer. The mechanic I go to specialises in upmarket cars and is very reasonable with his charges. He found the problem in five minutes and it cost me less than $100 to fix. The money I'd spend to buy something as good as this in a modern car, I could have the motor rebuilt half a dozen times."
"So you don't mind driving an ancient car? This was made before I was born."
"Hey, it's got leather seats and an electric sunroof that actually opens plus all of the usual stuff like power steering, ABS brakes, air-conditioning, cruise control and performance to die for."
"So now I suppose you're going to do the macho thing and bag it up from the lights."
"No, for starters I don't have to prove anything to anyone, I know how fast this rocket can actually go."
"Okay smarty, how fast can it go?"
"Would you believe a touch over 230 kph?"
"You are kidding me aren't you?"
"I kid you not."
By this time we had cleared the car park and were out on the street. "Where are we going?"
"Just head for Unley. If you go down Hutt Street . . ."
"It will lead me to George Street which leads to Duthy Street."
"Okay smarty, so you know your way around town. I live just off Duthy Street, I'll direct you from there." I drove and had just gone a short way down Duthy when she pointed to the next side street on the right. "Turn down there." I turned into the street and drove for about a hundred metres. "Turn here next to that huge tree." I turned and followed the narrow access road to a cluster of town-houses. "The first one on the right, pull up out the front."
"This looks nice." I wasn't kidding, the security light had come on revealing a neat two-storeyed town house.
"My father built the whole complex and he sold me mine at cost."
"Some people are lucky." I was nearly going to add that I'd had to work my butt off to pay for my three bedroom mortgage.
"Do I detect a note of jealousy?"
"Not at all, I'm sure that you've made the most of your luck, unlike some who have no idea how the other half live."
"You sound like someone that works for a boss who has given his useless son a job over you, in fact I know your boss and his useless son, you see we were at school together. He invited me to the Year 12 Formal (Prom in the US) and got really pissed when I refused."
"I heard about that episode, he got totally legless and threw up over some dignitary and the dance floor."
"Yeah it cost the old man a fortune to keep it out of the Press and to get the school to allow him to sit his finals and graduate. Not that the marks he got could be called graduating, barely enough for a generalist BA."
"He hasn't improved much." We were still standing outside, I was hoping that she would invite me in because I didn't want this evening to end just yet.
"Would you like to come in, I'll make you a coffee."
"Thank you, I would." She opened the door and ushered me into a neatly understated room. "This is nice." She was standing next to me, her hand touching but not holding mine. I turned to face her and she came into my arms, her arms around my neck and that 'I want to get to know you kiss' again. I returned her kiss with my own version of the same.
"I'm not going to let you make love to me tonight."
"I'm disappointed but it is not unexpected, I didn't think that you would."
"But you were hoping, weren't you?"
"I would be lying if I said 'no', but then with no expectations comes no disappointment."
"That's good. What I would like to do is for us to make ourselves comfortable and talk. I want to get to know you, everything there is to know about you, and I'll be open with you. I want, and I hope you want the same thing, is for us to really get to know each other." She kissed me again. "That will have to hold you until I make the coffee."
"Do you need any help?"
"No, but don't let that stop you from being there."
That first night led into the next day. I left her at around four in the afternoon, and then only after I had promised faithfully that I'd return after I'd changed my clothes into something less pretentious. It was a night to remember, we talked, with the occasional pit-stop to relieve the pressure caused by all of the coffee we consumed, and I remember in the early hours we had reached the point where we had run out of things to say and spent some time in each other's arms, me just being there, close to her.
From the very beginning we, Callie and I, realised that there was something special about our relationship, and it just got better from there. A year to the day after our first meeting I moved into her townhouse with her and became an integral part of her family. Her parents approved of me and had no problem when we announced that I was moving in with Callie. Bill, her father, helped me renovate my mortgage and sell it at a tidy profit. That's not entirely true, he did the work and I helped in my spare time. Her sister Millie (short for Millicent) lived in the same cluster of townhouses as Callie and I, and spent a lot of time with us, in a purely platonic and sisterly way. I introduced Callie to my parents and, during a lull in festivities, my father took me aside and told me that if I let her get away from me I would be seen as the biggest dickhead of all time.
I was smiling to myself as I drove on to the ferry. The smile didn't last long. The ferry operator came over to my car after he had shut the gates and started it on its journey across the river. "Are you Mr. Caulfield?"
"Yes."
He walked back to the cabin and retrieved the ubiquitous envelope and handed it to me. I opened it to be confronted by another fucking coded message, this guy, whoever it was, had to be a graduated of the Marquis de Sade School of communications, and I was getting a little pissed off. I was running out of time to find Callie before tomorrow, hopefully none the worse for the experience.
Immediately I looked at the message I realised that this was different, but the same. It was a number substitution code but the first two words, while they had the same number of letters, were nowhere like those in the previous messages. When I drove from the ferry I sat and stared at it for some time before, with a resounding clatter, the penny finally dropped. This was a bastard that was going to take some time and I wouldn't know until I reached the end, how long I had.
[12-19] [5-4-25-17-12-16-13-21-14],
[10-1-8] [11-24-2-3] [22-1123-17-1] [24-10-13-13-7] [21-10-8] [20-23-15-11-14] [19-22-20-22-12-17-16] [12-8] [14-22-59-3-12] [2-6-16-7] [5-19-10] [1-16-14-24] [15-4-22-10-20] [25-5-12-8] [7-16-14-15-25-24] [2-19-11-7-11-10]. [5-22-3] [6-19-23-23] [7-22-7-5-12-25] [14-3-1] [17-13-22-14] [2-16-7] [5-17-22-21-15] [3-18-16] [13-17-19-1-17-26-22-24] [12-10-23-1]. [13-13] [25-16-23-21] [16-10-12-1] [7-24-5] [8-21-25-26] [8-21-22] [19] [6-9-15-1-9], [23-14-15] [4-10-8-7-16] [15-21] . [7-24-5] [8-21-25-26] [19-25-6-24] [21-14] [15-4-2] [11-14-20-6-14] [21-9-24-26-8-5-1-11-6-26-7] [15-3-20] [19-23-26-10-14-2] [16-4-20-22-20-17-13-19-13] [1-23] [8-25-6-4] [5-3-4-3] [16-7-14] [17-4-8-9] [1-14-17-13-14-8-24-10] [5-22-3-1] [12-3-17-14-25-21-17-10-12] [6-25-9-16] [25-24-16-3]. [7-6-22] [4] [11-20-21-11] [22-18-17-19-6'-6] [18-9-16] [19-6-10-11] [18-6-5-12-9-1-11] [6-23-4-2] [25-17-11-8] [24-4-10-12-11-15-24-16-6-13-13-19] [2-16-7] [5] [21-7-10-19-10-17-16] [21-1] [8-23-21] [5-7-11-8-4-10-4].
Fucking hell this was getting really frustrating, here I was, desperate to find Callie before tomorrow, and this fucking message was telling me to drive to Murray Bridge and check in to a specific motel. There I was to have dinner (like I could eat under these circumstances) and go to bed. 'Get a good night's sleep' it said. How the hell was I expected to get to sleep worrying about Callie and tomorrow? I had no option but to follow orders because my next instructions would not be available until tomorrow morning. I was going to have to get up at sparrow fart if I was to have any chance of finding her in time.
With part of a forgettable dinner sitting heavily in my stomach, I slid into your typical motel bed. My thoughts weren't about sleep, but to stop myself worrying I allowed my mind to drift back to the first time Callie and I shared a bed in the loving couple kind of way. We had been to a dinner party at a friend's house, it was our fifth date, and it was a great night, good food, excellent wines and bright company. It was around mid-night when we left and I drove her home. I parked in my usual place out front of her town-house and leaned over to kiss her before getting out to open her door for her. "Will you come in, I have something special for you."
"And what might that be?" I asked, hoping that it was what I was hoping for.
"You'll just have to wait." We got out and she led me inside. "No coffee tonight." She said as she came into my arms. "Tonight, I am going to give myself to you, totally." Her kiss wasn't the 'I would like to get to know you' kiss of previous dates it was an 'I am going to know you' kiss that suggested that the 'know' was in the Biblical sense, her tongue was pressing against my lips, so I let it in. Her hips were pressing against mine and she could not fail to feel my cock becoming rampant against her. "It seems that you are anticipating my gift to you." She whispered to me.
I would have to be completely devoid of feelings not to know where this is leading. My hands began to undress her, beginning with the buttons on her blouse and working down. With her blouse and bra out of the way I was able to concentrate on her breasts. I lavished the best of my lavishing skills on them, caressing them, smelling the perfume lingering in her valley and kissing her peaks. Her hands were working on the buttons of my shirt, she pulled it from my shoulders and tugged it down to hang from my waist. "I love a man with a hairy chest." She whispered as her fingers scrambled through my forest, pausing at my nipples, which she tweaked between her thumb and forefinger.
I picked her up and carried her to her bedroom. Laying her on the bed I pulled her clothes from her and moved my attention further down her body until I could smell the scents of her pussy, her wet pussy. "That hammering sound that you hear isn't my heart, it's Noah down there building an ark to escape from the imminent flood from my pussy. You are going to have to save him by plugging the hole."
"All in good time, we can't rush these things."
"Dammit Ben, I've waited weeks for this moment and I'm not going to wait a second longer. I want your cock inside me, now." I undressed and knelt over her, as I pushed him into she grabbed my arse cheeks and pulled me further in to her pussy. "Oh my god," she said in a slow sensual voice, followed by, "Oh my God, oh my God, ohmygodohmygodohmygod." As she lost control of her body which took off in a massive, shuddering, series of orgasmic spasms.
"Was that worth the wait?" I asked as her spasms slowed.
"If I'd known it was going to be this good I wouldn't have waited this long. Now will you keep going, I want you to come for me, come in me, I want you to fill me."
"I hate to bring this up at this time, but, are you on the pill or do you want me to search in my wallet for the condom that's probably perished anyway."
"Do you mean to tell me that you haven't bought a new condom for such an occasion as this?"
"Of course I have." I moved to retrieve my trousers from the floor and get the condom from my wallet. I was almost out of her pussy.
"Don't you dare take him out of me, and don't worry, I'm on the pill."
"That's all right then." I said as I returned to my position between her legs. She had one big and several smaller orgasms before I came, and when I did it was her first orgasm all over again with the added gush from her pussy that would have drowned Noah, his family and a whole bunch of animals.
"Now that's a first for me, gushing like that, what with our combined fluids we've made quite a mess of the bed."
"Do you want to change the sheets?"
"No way, we are going to wallow in this and possibly add to it, and in the morning, if we feel like it we might change the sheets, or else we could add to the damage before we change them." We luxuriated in each other's closeness for some time, just being us, and then her hand, either deliberately or accidently, brushed my half comatose cock that sprang immediately to life. "Oh boy, I see this is going to be a long and memorable night."
"Do you think so?" I had my hand over her pussy and a finger inside.
Her answer was to climb on me and lower herself onto my, now hard, cock. "We've only just begun." She sang to me as she rode my cock, and that pretty much summed up our night of debauchery that was followed by a morning of similar debauchery. It was afternoon before we got around to taking the sheets from the bed and tossing them into the washer. Life was never to be the same again, it got better and almost five years later it was still as good as it can be.
With thought uppermost in my mind I clambered out of bed and jerked off into the toilet bowl before climbing back into my lonely bed.
My next waking moment was the sound of a knock on my door and the rattling of breakfast stuff. I opened it to find a tray with the usual motel breakfast, a covered dish with a plate of bacon, an egg, half a tomato and a greasy sausage. Next to it a bowl with a small sample pack of breakfast cereal, a jug of milk, a pot of tepid coffee a cup and saucer and a plate with a couple of slices of toast and those horrible foil wrapped frozen butter and containers of alleged marmalade. Not something to inspire me to eat it. I drank the coffee in one gulp and took a bite out of a piece of toast before giving up. I had other things to do.
The package contained a familiar looking suit, a freshly ironed shirt, a tie and fresh jocks and socks and shiny shoes. I was to appear dressed up like a pox doctor's clerk for my next assignment. The message was, you guessed it, in code, and this again was different from the previous codes. It was still a numerical substitution but a different progression. It took a little while to work it out and, suddenly it all became crystal clear to me. I went to the reception desk to find that my account had been settled, so, there being nothing to keep me here, I climbed into my car and headed back to Adelaide. I looked at the clock on the dash of my car and worked out that I had no time to dawdle, whoever was controlling me had the timing worked out almost to the minute.
[13-18] [5-3-23-14-8-11-7-14-6],
[26-14-11-25-11] [9-26-13] [9-25-5-2] [18-21-26-13-24] [23-2-7-8-6-9-17-8-23-3-2-7]. [15-5-11] [14-26-3-3] [9-13-12] [9-8] [16 4 1] [1-10-12-13-18-6-3-17] [20-8-1-20] [1-17-23] [1-13-16-16] [12-15-20-10] [17-22] [3-18-15] [13-26-16] [18-6-23-10-19 ] [18-17-19-1] [1-2-7] [21-24-25-16-21-3-24-25]. [21-11-17] [21-7-10-10] [4-18-9-22-5] [22-17] [24-12-9] [7-10-10-24-11-25-25] [24-26-23-4-17-12-13-12]. [24-25] [17-26-6-17-4-21-26-19] [8-22-19] [18-11-25-2-20-25-4-3] [16-6-12] [17-3-6-6] [24-1] [11-3-18] [2-25] [3] [17-5-18] [3-14-21] [5-17-20-20] [4-11-21-15] [11-1-7] [8-3] [9-24-21] [8-4-19-21-23] [19-4-1-14-1] [23-15-19] [23-9-12-12] [4-7] [22-9-25-18-13-24-9-8] [3-16-1-15] [11-9-20-17-1-2-9].
An hour later I parked my car at the side of the building, there were a lot of people out front waiting for something, I knew what it was, but I'm not going to tell you just yet. I entered through the back door to find Brian (my brother) and Peter (Callie's brother) waiting for me. "So you made it on time, we weren't worried at all, well not much, well no, we were starting to pack it, thinking that you hadn't been able to work out all of those messages."
"Were you two responsible for this?"
"No, it wasn't us I swear. It was Callie and Millie. Callie found out what we had planned for you and decided that there was no way that you were going to be standing here hung over after a night of drunken revelry, especially when she heard that there was a stripper involved."
An organ burst into life and the three of us walked into the church and stood, waiting for my beautiful, radiant, Callie on her Father's arm as they walked slowly down the aisle. I took her from Bill and we turned to face the Minister. "You made it I see.' She whispered to me.
"Bitch." I whispered back.
"There was no way that I was going to turn up here if you were hung over, and had been fucked to within an inch of your life." She whispered back.
"I had no intention of doing that, I'd already worked out my withdrawal strategy. Did you think that I would risk spoiling today?"
The Minister cleared his throat to attract our attention and the ceremony began.
The ceremony dragged itself towards its conclusion. It probably didn't, it just seemed that way to us. Then, to the strains of the Wedding March from Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', Callie and I, the newlywed Mr and Mrs Benjamin Caulfield left the church. We posed for photos with family and friends, some I'd actually met, before climbing into our limo for the inevitable photo opportunities around the city.
"Do you think we could give this bullshit a miss?" I asked Callie as we drove away from the church with an entourage following us.
"Look behind you." I looked to see that the entourage had dropped back and felt our car turn a corner and head towards home. "I owe you this. Forgive me for last night. Last week I heard Brian and Peter plotting your downfall, and I wanted to save you from that, save you for me. There was no way that I was going to let some stripper have you the night before our wedding."
"Did you stop to think that there was no way I was going to allow that either?"
"I told Millie that, but she convinced me that you should not be subjected to the temptation."
"Wait until I get my hands on her."
"You just keep your hands off her." Callie said just before she kissed me with an 'I've got you' kind of kiss that I was going to enjoy.
The limo pulled up outside our house and we headed for the door and our bedroom. "We've only got half an hour before the mob arrives."
"What do you mean?" I had started to undo the hundreds (not really) of clasps at the back of her wedding dress and take it from her. She was wearing no underclothes! The bodice of the dress held her boobs in place quite nicely without any other need for support, but the lack of knickers came as a surprise. I draped the dress over a chair as she worked on my suit, shirt and jocks. I left my socks on, figuring that if we had to get dressed in a hurry there was one thing less to put on.
Our lovemaking was just like our previous efforts, but in fast forward, not that we were going at it hammer and tongs, it's just that our previous efforts tended to take their own sweet time. We had just finished when there was a banging on the front door. "Come on you two, get decent so we can come in". We scrambled into our wedding finery to admit Millie and Sonia, one of Callie's friends from work, along with Brian and Peter. It looked very much like Brian and Millie were getting along just fine, and Peter and Sonia weren't far behind.
We looked outside to see caterers setting up trestle tables and chairs and food and wine being unloaded from vans parked in the courtyard area. It was going to be some party judging by the quantities being unloaded.
"Well, did you?" Millie asked. Callie just smiled.
We took our places at the main table and the proceedings began.
Things proceeded pretty much as wedding receptions tended to, Brian's speech was funny as he described my childhood and youth and remarked that I had exceeded expectations by actually reaching my ripe old age (I'm a year older than he is) without being either dead or married with three kids. It also included a bunch of supposedly real emails from absent friends, all loaded with double entendres that had the well oiled guests chuckling and some of them scribbling on napkins. Just when I thought he'd finished, he paused to look at the guests and yelled 'fornication!' to the shocked gasps of the crowd. "For an occasion like this I think you should all be upstanding and drink a toast to the happy couple. I give you Mister and Mrs Ben Caulfield."
I gave it my best shot, thanking all of those that needed thanking and making light of the fact that for the past so many hours I had been chasing around the countryside on a wild goose chase, thinking that I was in danger of losing Callie, that brought cries of 'fat chance' from those in the know, and offering my services as a code breaker. It took ages for the masses to leave but when they did Callie and I went back to what we were doing before they'd arrived, only better.
Tomorrow sometime we'll leave on our honeymoon, and I ain't gunna tell you where.
For those of you who are interested, I have included the translations of the coded messages.
1
Mr Caulfield,
Congratulations on solving the code.
You will drive back to your home and when you get there you will access MS Word on your laptop and open the file 'Enigma 3' that contains your next instructions.
You will follow the instructions to the letter and any attempt to involve the police or a third party will result in you not seeing your Calista again.
You have two hours to complete your instructions, don't be late.
2
Mr Caulfield,
Congratulations again.
You will drive into the city, to the Topham Mall car park. You will take a ticket and park your car, you will then go directly to the counter to pay for your parking. The attendant will ask you your name and, on confirmation of your identity, will hand you your next instructions.
You have three hours to complete your instructions, don't be late or else you will not see Calista again.
3
Mr Caulfield,
Again congratulations. You will now drive out of Adelaide and take the South Eastern freeway to Hahndorf. Drive along the main street and turn right at Pine Street. You will follow this road to Strathalbyn and then take the Wellington road. When you reach Wellington you will drive on to the ferry that crosses the River Murray. There you will receive your next instructions.
You have three hours to complete this task or you will not see Calista again.
4
Mr Caulfield,
You will drive along the Princes Highway to Tailem Bend and then drive into Murray Bridge. You will drive through the town and along the Adelaide Road. On your left you will see a motel, you will check in. You will dine at the motel restaurant and before returning to your room you will complete your breakfast menu card. Get a good night's sleep, you will receive your next instructions and a package in the morning.
5
Mr Caulfield,
These are your final instructions. You will put on the clothes that you will find in the package and drive to back Adelaide. You will drive to the address provided and on entering the building you will be met by a man who will take you to the place where you will be reunited with Calista.