Finding Virginia: Exposure

Everyone was asleep. Everyone, except for me. It wasn’t glorious, cunning, or exciting, but it was a plan with opportunity too ripe to ignore. I snuck out of my bed, passed the other sleeping women and into the dead of night. Along my way I snagged a cheap fork from the dining hall and began bending the tines to my devious needs. Under light of moon I crept quietly to the small administration office.

I struggled with the lock for a minute or two, conscious of every noise like it were an alarm screaming out into the early morning hours. The air was cool against my skin and the clammy sweat beading on my body made me shiver as the lock finally surrendered to my efforts. I slipped inside and closed the door.

Finding the filing cabinets was easy and the keys were laying unhidden in the top desk drawer. I guess security is something they don’t do well or even feel much need. The top drawer was nearly overflowing with monthly accounting reports, vendor files, and unpaid bills. If I was really snoopy, I’d have looked closer, but the operating situation of the camp was the farthest thing from my mind.

In the second drawer, I found the files. A complete folder for everyone in the current class along with a general class folder complete with an enrollment chart listing everyone’s name, enrollment date, and corporate sponsor. It was even in alphabetical order indicating it had been compiled and printed after the last registrant.

Most of the attendees had enrolled in the class several months ago, but not all. In total there were five late enrollees including myself, although I think I can safely say I am not the spy. Virginia cautioned me as I scanned the list; it was entirely possible there was no spy at all and this entire scenario was nothing more than a game concocted to test me in some way. I really hoped that was all it was.

The names of the others were oddly, not surprising. Brian Osterman, Georgina Alvarez, Dr. Patricia Gaines, and Olivia Stratford along with myself were the only recently added names. Seeing Brian’s name on the list sent a new shiver down my spine. I’ve never put much stock in intuition, but the coincidence of my own feeling and his name being where it was, that was almost too much to dismiss.

The most obvious would be Georgina. She started off by revealing an in depth knowledge of a background I knew nothing about. I didn’t bite and she didn’t pursue it further, but where had she come up with her knowledge from? Was any of it accurate? The bit about her being a journalist in training could be a ruse, but she fit’s the type well enough and her sponsor was The Reverie, the scientific gossip magazine. If she is the spy, I don’t think there is any danger other than possibly reading a gossip story about Virginia West. On second thought, if she runs any photos of me with the story, it could turn into a problem fast enough. Especially since Dad is a subscriber.

Dr. Patricia Gaines, now that was a surprise. I never would have pegged her for an educated type and from her file, she’s a medical doctor even. She is her own sponsor, but that makes sense. Her motivation for the class; to prepare for a two year stint as a volunteer in Africa. If I hadn’t seen her driving on two wheels I might even have bought the whole thing, but medical doctors don’t moonlight as stunt drivers. There was definitely something off with her, almost like she was a different person from the one in her file. Who am I to talk, but it’s definitely suspicious.

If Olivia had been even remotely skilled, she might have ranked higher in my suspicions. Instead, she was dead last on my radar. Virginia was not as easily dissuaded and so I took a closer look at her file for thoroughness’ sake. Everything looked fine until Virginia pointed out her sponsor, private global security company, E.F. Burke & Sons. Would they send their new hires to an survival camp? Probably. Would they hire someone who was as likely to shoot the person next to her as the enemy? Probably not. Virginia replayed the accident in the shooting range in my head and suddenly it seemed less like an accident.

Last, but not least, I pulled out Brian’s file. I honestly felt relieved when it failed to hold incriminating evidence. Of course Virginia new that a spy would do their best to make their file look anything but interesting. Still, Brian’s file made perfect sense, an anthropologist with a Federal grant to study tribes in Central and South America with the purpose of identifying possible links to ancient civilizations like the Mayans and Aztecs. Nothing about it screamed sinister spy with hidden agenda. I guess I can’t cross him off the list completely, but at least I can feel a little more at ease.

I put away the files and made my way back to bed. With only suspicions to go on, I knew I would have to send what little information I had found to Mr. Candle and hope he could find something more concrete in it. That would have to wait until after morning showers though because turning on my phone while everyone was asleep would mostly likely end with everyone awake. I napped for the last two hours of night, but never fully fell into sleep before the morning trumpet blared over the bullhorn.

It was on my way back from the showers when things took a turn for the worse. Rick was standing out in front of the administration office and I did my best not to look at him but as soon as I had come around the corner into his sight, I felt his gaze on me. The guilty feeling in my gut made his stare ten times worse and I was keenly aware of the towel barely covering my private flesh from view.

“Virginia! Might I speak with you for a moment?” Rick called out.

My heart thudded and my breath grew quick and shallow before I got it all back under control. I swallowed the guilt and found innocence again.

“Certainly. Do you mind if I get dressed first?” I replied.

“Now if you please.” Rick said.

I nodded, sighed, and changed course toward Rick and the administration building. When I reached him, he gestured for me to follow him inside. I decided that was a good sign and allowed myself to relax a little. It was, I told myself, entirely possible he wanted to speak with me about something totally unrelated to my nocturnal activities.

“Can you explain this?” Rick asked.

He turned the monitor on the desk so I could see it and then clicked play on a video he had loaded. The picture was grainy and black and white, but it was easy enough to make out my face next to the door knob on the outside of the administration building. Even easier to see, was what I was doing to the door lock with the bent tines of a fork. I should have been embarrassed but Virginia chose outrage instead.

“You have cameras monitoring us? How dare you violate my privacy without so much as a warning sign!” I said.

Rick regarded me with his stern face and no nonsense attitude, but his eyes were laughing. The video was still playing and showed me slip inside and then the picture turned to snow. Concern must have slipped onto my face.

“I take it you’ve noticed what is really wrong with this picture?” Rick said.

“Who shut off the camera?” I asked.

“Well I was going to ask you but the look on your face tells me you have about as much a clue on that one as I do.” Rick said. “What were you looking for?”

I weighed my options before speaking. Obviously Rick and Tanya are considered trustworthy by Mr. Candle, but that doesn’t make them so. If he trusted them fully, he would have called them directly and asked about the records himself. The fact he asked me to snoop on my own indicated there was a gap or that Mr. Candle was indeed testing me in some way. Virginia’s vote was for the latter.

On the other hand, lying to Rick at this juncture was only likely to increase any possible danger. If it was all nothing more than an elaborate test, I might fail it for saying more than I should, but then again, maybe the test was about judgment and knowing who to talk to and when to do so. Virginia advocated going with my gut and I agreed. Rick needed to know what was going on and if he already did, I wouldn’t be telling him anything he didn’t already know. It made sense in a weird paradoxical sort of way.

“A corporate spy.” I said.

“Can you explain that?” Rick asked.

“Not to the degree you might want to know, but in essence, yes. My boss recently discovered my personal information had been compromised by an internal mole and that information had been transmitted to an unknown third party. Evidence suggested, that third party might possibly have been a late registrant in this camp.” I explained.

“You were the last one to register. No one even called in after you.”

“There were four others who registered within the time frame of the compromised information being sent. You see, I didn’t know I was coming here but about two days before I arrived. However, it was determined a while before that and in company records.”

“Alright so, what you are telling me, is that a corporate spy, someone interested in information about you, has enrolled in this class. What for? I mean forgive me for being dense here, but what possible purpose could be served by going through this training class with you?” Rick said.

“That is the million dollar question and I don’t have an answer for you, except to say I thought it was more likely a wild goose chase right up until that camera turned to snow. Are there any other cameras that show any hint of someone else being out of bed?”

“No. Whoever disabled the cameras knew exactly where they all were.”

“It’s very likely that person knows I was up last night and that the video would show me coming in here.” I said.

“They wanted me to catch you.” He said.

I nodded. The wheels were turning and something of a plan began to sort itself out in my mind.

“I broke in to find out who registered me for this class, so I could deal with them when I got back to LA for making me arrive late.” I said.

Rick blinked, not following me.

“What are you saying? I thought we just covered that this was about some corporate espionage.” Rick said.

“I’m giving you an excuse which will keep our spy guessing as to how much I know.” I said.

There was only one person who would have any hint I knew of the spy’s existence and that was the person sitting on the bunk across from me when I found out myself. Gina wasn’t the one, I was sure of it and this would be a quick way to prove it for certain. Whoever took out the cameras would only be suspicious that I was on to them but if they learned a reasonable excuse they might well relax enough to make a mistake. It’s just too bad I was going to have to set this up the hard way.

“I don’t think I follow you.” Rick said.

“It’s simple the person who cut those cameras doesn’t know why I was in here. They are expecting you to find out and rather than letting them know we are aware of their existence we are going to give them some doubt. They will undoubtedly believe you to be in the dark and they’ll be uncertain if I know anything or not.” I said.

“You’re hoping to lull them out into the open. I get it. Very devious.”

“Precisely. Only problem is you are going to have to use your strap to sell it.” I said.

Rick chuckled.

“I was planning on doing that anyways.” He said.

I half smiled. It was odd to think I was asking for a spanking I had coming regardless. At least this time there was a point beyond a little embarrassment and pain. Right about then I realized I was still only wearing a towel. Much as I wished I could have found a way around that problem, nothing came close to an acceptable excuse for me getting dressed first.

“Shall we then?” I said, gesturing toward the door and the outside world.

“I’ll take the towel first and you can march out to the flagpole, hands on your head.” Rick said.

I groaned and blushed, but decided against arguing. The towel came off easily. Marching outside with my hands on my head and all my tender flesh exposed was a lot harder. Virginia took over and made me take each step further into the gaping gazes of my classmates, while I blushed hot enough to be a second morning sun. The flagpole was far enough way that by the time I got to it, everyone in the camp was aware of my situation and gathering to watch the show.

Rick let me stand there for several minutes. It felt like an eternity. Virginia stayed cool and paid attention to the four key classmates, looking for any sign of culpability. Gina was blushing nearly as badly as I was. Patricia was smirking almost as much as the guys. Brian was trying not to look. Olivia was looking smug. All told, nothing all that revealing, certainly not as revealing as my naked pose before them all.

“I knew you were the type when I first saw you.” Rick lectured. “You can’t accept responsibility for any of your own mistakes. I can’t believe you would break into my office just to find out who signed you up so you can get revenge on them because I spanked you for arriving late. At what point do you start to take responsibility for yourself Virginia? It seems to me, that it’s only when someone makes you and today, I’m going to take great pleasure in making you.”

Rick paused to pull out his strap and step up a little closer to me. He stared into my eyes and then looked down at my bare breasts. I could feel his eyes drinking in the sight of my hardened nipples and soft white flesh. I closed my eyes and then felt his finger under my chin.

“Look at me.” Rick ordered.

I opened my eyes, with tears stinging at the corners.

“No one, and I do mean no one, breaks into my office and gets away with it. Understood?” Rick said.

I bit at my quivering lower lip trying to find my voice to respond. It came out more like a squeak and I felt thoroughly shamed standing there helpless and waiting to be dealt with. Virginia tried to be strong, but the humiliation was almost more than I could stand. Virginia insisted it was a necessary price to be paid, but I wondered what rewards could be worth such a steep cost.

“Touch your toes.” Rick ordered.

I complied only too happy to give myself some semblance of privacy from the prying eyes of my classmates. Of course nothing was truly hidden but the position allowed me to fool myself enough that unbearable became bearable.

Rick stepped around behind me and raised his strap high in the air. He lashed it down with a vigor that felt entirely unjust. I winced at each lick and struggled to keep bent over as the stinging lashes began to burn. I cried out early on and continued throughout with tears streaming from eyes, mixing with the reddish sand and looking eerily like drops of blood.

It didn’t last so long as one might have thought, but it was going to sting and burn the rest of the day without respite. I wiped at the tears from eyes when I was allowed to rise and fought the urge to bounce around waving my helpless hands in the air and hoping the act would somehow lessen the pain in my posterior. I knew better and Virginia was not about to shame herself so publicly.

“Get dressed and get your exercises done. First classes start in less than hour.” Rick said.

I ran inside to my bunk and fortunately no one followed me. Before getting dressed, I paused long enough to text what information I had found to Mr. Candle. Hopefully, something will come of it. A few minutes later, I was composed and dressed and running my morning laps as if nothing had happened.

I spent most of the day tensed up, expecting a rude comment or general teasing at any moment, but it never came. Everyone was amazingly quiet about the morning’s event, at least in my presence. Brian, in fact, looked more uncomfortable than I felt. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, except there was a voice in my head saying he might have been the one who cut the cameras and he might have done it in a failed attempt to help. Obviously that would be a best case scenario, but I really wanted it to be true.

River rafting was the course of the day and when I wasn’t wincing from Rick’s ministrations, it was a lot of fun. I was worn out by the end of the day and I crawled off to bed shortly after dinner. My phone was void of any new messages which was something of a relief as I slipped off to sleep.