Katelyn covered up a yawn as Fred backed the U-Haul moving truck they rented into the driveway. She was glad they finally arrived at the house she bought with her winnings from a purchased lottery ticket. She was also happy to finally be out from under her uncle and aunt’s supervision.

“God, I am so glad to be here finally.” Katelyn couldn’t believe the paperwork and how long it took to buy the house.

“Tell me about it. I thought you would never get the house.” Fred was just as glad as Katelyn to leave his parent's supervision.

They watch as two more cars pull into the driveway. One was their friend Clare and her girlfriend. The other one was Barbara, driving Katelyn’s old Ford Explorer. All of them were attending The University of North Carolina for various subjects.

Katelyn was studying Journalism. Freddie studied environmental law and policy. Clare and her girlfriend studied nursing, and Barbara inherited a local newspaper company. Which Katelyn would be working for as a freelance reporter.

“Well, I’m just glad the deal finally went through. It cost me almost all of my winnings.” Katelyn didn’t want to use the insurance money she received from her father’s and mother’s death. Her aunt and uncle got some of it to support her while living with them.

However, that changed when her uncle forced her to accept the job at the trash substation. Since he made her pay rent and half the utilities. They also made her buy her food as well.

“Do you still have enough to have your operation?” Freddie knew Katelyn wasn’t born female, even though she looked female.

“I’m short five thousand dollars. If I can sell a few more political cartoons or sell the story I’m working on. I’ll have enough to get the surgery.” Katelyn couldn’t wait to have her groin area match the rest of her body.

“God, this is a nice house, Katelyn.” Barbara looks at the house that they were moving into. She wasn’t sure about moving in with a bunch of young adults, but she knew all of them.

“Thanks, Barbara. Now the hard work begins.” Katelyn wasn’t looking forward to unloading the moving truck.

They all contributed to renting it since they put some of their things in the truck. Freddie and Katelyn pull the ramp out and set it up. Afterward, everyone starts unloading the back of the truck. They place everyone's items in the rooms they want or the common room, like the living room, den, or kitchen.

“Hey, Katelyn, where’s the nearest fast-food place?” Clare looks over towards Katelyn for an answer.

“I’m not sure. Check your cell phone and see.” Katelyn didn’t know the area she bought the house in.

“Well, I’ll see if I can find a chicken place or a pizza joint.” Clare motions to her girlfriend to ride with her.

“Alright. Also, bring back some sodas to drink, please.” Freddie was a soda addict.

“Alright.” Clare gets in her car and waits for her girlfriend.

Once Cindy gets in the car, Clare backs out of the driveway and follows the directions on her cell phone.

“Hey, Katelyn. What do you want to do with your screen-printing equipment?” Freddie looks towards Katelyn as she walks towards the truck with Barbara following behind her.

“Second garage bay. I will set my work area in the second bay and keep the first bay open for working on our cars.” Katelyn knew Freddie knew how to work on cars.

“Sounds good. That will give me a place to put my tool chest.” Freddie had a professional tool chest from working with his uncle at his garage.

By the time Clare and Cindy get back from making a food run. Half the truck had been unloaded and brought into the house. The sun was setting, and it was getting dark outside.

“I don’t think we'll finish tonight, Katelyn.” Barbara looks over towards her friends.

“I think your right, Barb.” Katelyn was hoping to get everything unloaded today.

“When does everyone have to start their classes?” Barbara knew everyone was enrolled at the same college.

“Next week. So, we have a week to get everything done.” Katelyn looked at all the stuff they still had left. That wasn’t counting what was loaded
in her Explorer, either.

Freddie and Katelyn put the ramp back in its storage spot and locked the truck door before walking inside the house. They all sit around the coffee table that Barbara donated to the house. The pizzas Clare and Cindy bought and the sodas were set up.

“Man, I’m going to be hurting in the morning.” Katelyn looks at her friends and roommates.

“Tell me about it. Why didn’t you tell me you had a lot of heavy furniture?” Freddie looked at Katelyn and couldn’t believe how heavy her old-style desk was. From what he knew of it, it was an old-fashioned Georgian kneehole desk.

Katelyn once told him it originally belonged to her grandmother on her mother's side. She had a bunch of antique furniture that belonged to her mother and father that she inherited. She couldn’t part with it, and her aunt and uncle didn’t want it.

“I inherited most of it. My mother and grandmothers on both sides of my family loved antique furniture. I’m just glad none of my relatives wanted any of them.” Katelyn would have hated letting her other aunts and uncles take any of her parent's furniture.

“Well, I will enjoy those old vinyl records you inherited. I love the sound of old records when you play them.” Cindy loved old-style records.

“Wait until you play them on my father’s old stereo system. He loved listening to music from it. He picked each component out himself. None of them are from the same brand.” Katelyn knew her father loved his stereo system.

“Well, I can’t wait to see what I inherited.” Barbara knew newspaper print wasn’t trendy nowadays. Most news was reported online or on television.

“Well, I think we can fix that, Barbara.” Katelyn was willing to help Barbara with her news agency.

“Thanks, Katelyn.” Barbara looks over towards her friend.

They met at a journalism seminar where Professor Wiggles from the Boston Globe was talking. She knew Katelyn from her reputation of going after politicians and school officials who passed the legislation that banned trans students from using bathrooms and changing rooms of the gender they identify with.

She also wrote about how the police treated her and how, thanks to the new sports policies about girl sports teams. She could no longer compete on the girl's swim team against other girls. She didn’t stop there either. Katelyn tore into one of the prominent people of her town as well.

The woman managed to get her expelled from school for a whole week. Even when she was threatened with being expelled for the rest of the school year, she wouldn’t apologize to her. The principal of Katelyn’s high school followed through with the threat of expelling her for the rest of the school year.

After dinner, everyone grabs a sleeping bag and sleeps in the living room. Barbara took the sofa while Clare and her girlfriend combined their sleeping bags and slept with each other. Katelyn sleeps near one of the enormous bay windows and looks out into the darkness of the front yard.

She takes a deep breath as a smile forms on her face just before she falls asleep.

“What do you think, Caroline?” Katelyn looks down at the cocker spaniel she adopted from the animal shelter last week.

Katelyn found out that the power supply and space in the second garage bay wasn’t big enough for her to put all her silk-screening equipment. So, she ended up dipping into her SRS surgery funds and buying a storage shed to work out of. The electrician she hired to run power out to the storage shed and wire the place did a good job.

He was nice enough to change out the power outlet for her dryer hookup and not charge her for it. She planned on using him again for any electrical job she has around the house. When Freddie heard she wasn’t setting up her silk-screening equipment in the second bay. He was thrilled. Now he could use it for a project he had planned on doing.

As for the rest of her friends, they had started their college courses like her. Clare and Cindy were started their nursing course. Freddie was looking to work for a local garage. She knew with his skills, it wouldn’t be a problem. He could do everything from bodywork to building an engine from the ground up. He came from a family of mechanics.

As for Barbara, she knew Barbara was being brought up-to-date by the editor of the newspaper company she inherited. She went with Barbara to meet the guy that reminded her of the editor from the Daily Planet from the Superman comic. He was nice and gruff at the same time. When Barbara informed him that she planned on allowing her to work as a freelance reporter and political cartoonist for the newspaper company. He wanted to see her work and what she has done in the past. Which she was happy to do. She kept a portfolio of her work.

Caroline starts barking at her. Katelyn looks down at the rust color cocker spaniel “alright, girl.”

Katelyn opens the screen door on the storage shed and let Caroline out into the yard. She stands at the door and watch as Caroline walks around sniffing the yard. She knew Caroline was looking for a spot to do her business. As for herself, she didn’t have any classes until Friday.

She was studying mass communications, and taking an art class as well to improve her drawing technique. She was working on her latest political cartoon, that she knew would ruffle some feathers. She has always expressed how she felt about certain subjects and the politicians that sponsor bills that restrict LBGTQ rights.

She was hated in her hometown by the politicians and local representatives. She knew they were happy when she left, because she didn’t cut them any slack. A few of their supporters threaten her a few times. She had several supporters who came up to her stall one time and knock over her merchandise.

She opens the screen door to let Caroline inside the storage shed. Since the weather was nice currently, she wasn’t running the A/C unit in the shed. She grabs a treat for Caroline and gives it to her.

She walks over to her work desk and start working on another cartoon. North Carolina’s State Legislature was working on banning minors being prescribed puberty blockers and hormones. She found out which representatives were sponsoring the bill. So, she dug into their background and found some dirt on them. She was putting together a cartoon incorporating the dirt she dug up.

It was bad enough that her home state banned people like her from competing on the team she identified with. She understood the argument people made that said she had an unfair advantage being born male. However, she never asked to be born in a male body. She also has been taking hormones to stop the secondary sexual development of her body.

The thing was, the decision should be left to the girls on the team if they want a transperson on their team. It shouldn’t be decided by a bunch of ignorant politicians or religious fanaticism. However, the problem with the south. Is that a lot of the people born in the south or deep south let religion dictate how they treat others.

Katelyn does a rough sketch of what she wants to draw first. Then she goes in and starts filling in the different panels/cartoon. Music was playing the background from a local radio station she found that played music she liked. Caroline was lying down on her pillow near Katelyn’s desk.

Katelyn works through lunch and late in the afternoon. She’s forced to stop when she feels her bladder ready to burst. She glances at the clock on the wall and notices it is around four in the afternoon.

Katelyn gets up and uses the bathroom. She was glad that the electrician had a plumber friend who didn’t charge her too much money to install a bathroom in the storage shed. She washes her hands walks out of the bathroom, and looks down at Caroline. “Are you hungry, girl?”

Caroline looks up at Katelyn and barks. She was getting hungry.

“All right, girl. Let’s go inside the house and get some dinner going for everyone.” Katelyn signs off her computer.

As for her drawing, she covers it and turns the lights off in the storage shed. She walks across the yard and into the house through the back door. She knew Caroline followed her as she closed the back door. She feeds Caroline first while she thinks about what she wants to cook for dinner for everyone.

She knew Clare and Cindy wouldn’t be home until six o’clock. She knew Freddie would be home around that time as well. She wasn’t sure about Barbara, because she had been staying late at the newspaper office.

Katelyn walks out to the garage and the deep freezer to see what meats they had. She digs through the frozen meats and spots some pork chops they bought last week. She grabs them and heads back into the house and lets them defrost. She knew what she was going to make for everyone.

She grabs some crackers and covers them with peanut butter to munch on. She didn’t want to eat anything right now. And since she didn’t take a lunch break. A little snack would hold her over.

While the pork chops are defrosting in the sink, she selects what vegetables and starch she will cook. Since they had a big jar of applesauce, she poured some into a bowl and mixed sugar and cinnamon.

As for the veggies, she was using frozen white corn and lima beans. She mixes them and adds some spices to them. She let them cook on low.

Once the pork chops are defrosted, she covers them in spices and puts them in the oven on a sheet pan. She hears the exhaust from the muscle car Freddie had shipped down. It still needed much work, but it was a project in progress.

Freddie walks into the house and spots Caroline coming towards him. A smile appears on his face. He liked dogs and thought having a dog around the house would be nice.

“Honey, I’m home.” Freddie loved that line from his favorite movie.

“I heard.” As Katelyn comes walking out of the kitchen.

She looked towards Freddie and knew he wasn’t into girls. He was gay and just hadn’t found the right fellow yet. They were just good friends and stood up for each other. Sometimes, she would pretend to be his girlfriend whenever he attended family affairs.

His mom knew he was gay, but his father couldn’t accept it. Even Freddie’s older brother didn’t accept it. So, between his older brother and father, they gave him a hard time.

“So, how was your day? Did you get any work done?” Freddie knew that sometimes, Katelyn liked to goof off when she should be working.

“Yes, I got some work done. I’m not waiting until the last minute to do this job.”

“So, do I have time to shower and change clothes before dinner?” Freddie wanted to get out of his work clothes.

“Yep. Dinner won’t be done for another twenty minutes or so.” Katelyn had the pork chops on slow cook.

“Thanks.” Freddie heads towards his bedroom.

A few minutes later, Cindy and Clare show up looking bored. They were dressed in their scrubs. They walk into the kitchen and spot Katelyn cooking.

“What’s for dinner, Kat?” Clare looks at how Kately is dressed.

She knew Katelyn didn’t wear a bra when she was home alone. She saw Katelyn wearing shorts and a Cami top with a picture of a naked Trump. He was bent over a chair, being fucked by a naked Putin. A large jar of Vaseline had Saudi oil written on it.

She knew Katelyn designed the picture. Some of Trump's supporters didn’t like Katelyn’s designs and threatened her several times. Katelyn either ignores them or sends them a Kiss My Ass message.

“Pork chops, apple sauce, veggies, and mashed potatoes.”

“Yummy.” Cindy rubs her stomach.

“It will be ready in a few minutes, if you want to change.”

“Cool.” Clare wanted to get out of her medical scrubs.

Katelyn showed her art assignment to her teacher as she stood before the class. After a few weeks in the class, her peers knew she was very outspoken. She wasn’t above criticizing school policy, local laws, or churches that spoke out against LGBTQ rights. Sure, Chapel Hill wasn’t as anti-gay as a lot of other places, but anyone or organization who spoke out restricting people’s rights. She would smack them down.

She managed to get a press pass with help from Barbara’s newspaper company. She applied and was accepted by the US Press Association. It gave her blogs and website more credentials as being more legit and allowed her to attend press conferences at local, and government levels and crime scenes.

To improve her drawings and news reporting, she is taking a photography course. When she originally signed up for her courses. Katelyn didn’t think she would need to take a photography course, but after speaking with her teacher in her Mass Communication class. He suggested she might want to. So, she managed to sign up for a class that was still open.

The rest of the day, after her classes. She went home and took Caroline for her daily walk. She tried to take Caroline for a walk every day. She met some of her neighbors and most of them were nice. There were two or three people in her neighborhood who were curious about her and her roommates.

During the night, she had a hard time sleeping. Her mind wouldn’t quiet down, so she took a shot from the bottle of Zzzquil she kept on the nightstand by her bed. She could feel Caroline sleeping next to her on her bed.

When she adopted Caroline, she brought her a doggy bed to sleep on, but Caroline liked jumping up on her bed and sleeping next to her. She didn’t mind, because she was never allowed to have pets when she was younger. Her family didn’t believe in them.

Katelyn gets up out of bed and stumbles towards the bathroom and does her morning routine. Once she was done doing her morning business, she grabbed her robe and looked at Caroline “Come on girl, let’s go potty.”

She steps into her slippers and escorts Caroline outside. Katelyn stands on the front porch, watching Caroline as she sniffs around for a place to do her business. Katelyn shivers from a light breeze as she watches Caroline.

“Come on girl, it’s cool out here.” Katelyn wanted to go back inside and have a cup of coffee.

Caroline finds the spot she was looking for and does her business. She scratches the ground with her hind legs. She turns and runs towards her human.

A smile appears on Katelyn’s face as she watches Caroline run towards her. She loved having a cocker spaniel. There were several different dogs she had thought about adopting, but after seeing Caroline. She knew she was the perfect pet for her.

Her roommates didn’t mind her having a pet and loved Caroline as much as she did. Once Caroline reaches her, the two of them head back into the house. As soon as she walked into the house, she could hear someone moving around in the kitchen.

When Katelyn walked into the kitchen, she spotted Freddie in the kitchen in his boxers prepping the coffee maker. It was a waste that Freddie was gay because he had a remarkable build. He had a nice body build from the time he spent at the gym. He could have been a model or competed in bodybuilding competitions.

Instead, he was a mechanic and loved men who were kind of girly or feminine. She knew she fell into the type of person Freddie liked. It was how they met and became friends. He didn’t mind that she wanted to be a girl.

He didn’t dislike girls, but it was just that he preferred men. As for his relationship with Cindy and Clare, he thought of them as his adopted sisters. Cindy went to school with him, and there were times when he pretended to be her brother. As for Clare, the two of them loved competing against one another.

It was a friendly competition and it was fun watching the two of them. Clare was a female bodybuilder but didn’t like having a lot of muscles. Where Cindy was the lipstick type of lesbian, but Clare was the opposite. She loved building her muscles and showing them off, but she tried not to be too muscular.

“You’re up early.” As Katelyn prepares Caroline’s food bowl.

“I couldn’t sleep anymore. I was thinking about going to the gym. Do you want to come along?” Freddie takes a sip from his coffee cup.

“Sure, let me make my coffee.” Katelyn tried to stay fit.

She so missed swimming and wishes they had a swimming pool. She fixes her coffee and carries it to her bedroom with her. She changes out of her night clothes and puts on her exercise leotard. It was a vintage 80s Aerobic Thong Bodysuit she wore with a pair of tights. She loved showing off her cute little butt. She puts her tennis shoes on and will change into her workout shoes at the gym.

She walks back into the living room, where she spots Freddie waiting for her. She grabs a heavy sweat jacket from the closet to wear.

“You might want to grab a light jacket to wear outside.”

“It’s that cold outside?” Freddie looks at Kathy.

“Yes and no. There’s a light breeze blowing with a light chill to it.”

“Which makes it even worse.” Freddie grabs his light jacket from the closet.

Freddie leads Katelyn out to his car and gets in. He turns the car on, as he watches Katelyn put on her seat belt.

“You ready?” As he looks at her face.

“Yes.”

Freddie drove them to the gym at all of them had membership. When they enter, Freddie starts working out on his favorite machines. Katelyn changed her shoes and started working out as well, after stretching first.

By the time they finish at the gym and go by Starbucks to grab a coffee. Katelyn couldn't wait to get out of her sweat-soak leotard. She knew some of the guys at the gym had watched as she worked out. She knew they watched as the thing portion of her suit went up her butt crack.

It was a good thing she was used to wearing this style of clothing. Her swimsuit was two sizes smaller than what she wore normally. It felt more like a second skin and allowed her to swim without holding air.

“You looked like you worked out hard.” Freddie saw how hard Katelyn worked out.

“Since I stopped swimming, I’ve been gaining a little weight. So, I need to start working out more.”

“Are your pills helping, you?” Freddie knew Katelyn was taking estrogen and anti-androgen pills and shots.

“I have to be careful how much I eat. The pills do make me hungrier than normal.” Katelyn noticed that about herself.

“Well, it’s making you look cute.”

“Thanks. Now, I need to take a shower.” Katelyn turns and heads towards her bathroom.

She takes her gym clothes off and puts them in the hamper. She looks down at her tiny penis and wishes it would shrivel up and disappear. She hated it and if she had the nerve, she would do to herself, what they do to goats. She had done some research and saw where in India some of the transgender people would do that themselves.

She takes a shower and puts on a pair of comfy tights and an oversized t-shirt with one of her custom drawings on it. She slips her house slippers on and sits down at her computer to answer some emails and pay some bills.

Piggly Wiggly Grocery Store:
Katelyn looks at the grocery list on her phone as she walks up and down the aisles. This was her fourth trip since moving to Chapel Hill. Her roommates were at school and Freddie was at work. Barbara was thinking about sending her to Raleigh.

The representatives for North Carolina were meeting to vote on several issues that dealt with transgender rights. One of the issues they were voting on was the bathroom and locker room issue. Some parents from one of the high schools were complaining because a transgender girl was sharing a locker room with her daughter. Now Moms for Liberty and several religious groups are trying to convince several representatives to make it illegal for transgender students to share the bathrooms and locker room with genetic girls.

It was already bad enough that several states have passed bills prohibiting transgenders from participating in girls’ sports at the local level and up to the college level. She has been going hard at the Republicans and the one Democrat who voted for the bill and to overturn the governor’s veto of it. She was wearing one of the t-shirts she designed to protest against the bill.

When Katelyn walks by some of the other women that were in the store shopping. She could hear snide comments made by one woman. The woman was a MAGA supporter. She had seen her at some of the events she went to. An evil idea pops into her head as she walks down the aisle the woman is in.

Katelyn kneels to pick up a big bundle of toilet paper. As she is kneeling, “Man, it feels like the sun is beating down hard outside. I hope I don’t get heat stroke and become a sick MAGA puppet.”

Elizabeth looks at the young woman kneeling near her. She knew she had seen this woman before, but couldn’t remember where. She noticed the t-shirt the young woman was wearing and all the Republicans from her state with ball gags covering their mouths.

“You disgust me with your liberal views.” Elizabeth hated that the liberal party thought everything they complained about was right.

“And you disgust me for being a bigot and brain dead, but you don’t see me trying to ruin your life. All thou, I can think of something to get the ball rolling.” Katelyn takes her cell phone out and snaps a picture of the woman. She posts it on her website with the title Another Sheep for the Slaughter.

Elizabeth looks at the young woman standing in front of her, “What did you just post?”

“Take a look at my website and check it out for yourself.”

Elizabeth storms off. She wanted to show that bitch that liberals like her are ruining this country god fearing Christians like her.

Katelyn watches as the woman walks off in a huff. She couldn’t believe how red the woman’s face got. She wonders how she is going to react when the image of her being led around on a leash like a dog starts circulating on the web.

Katelyn finishes her shopping and walks out to her car. She couldn’t wait to be sent to Raliegh and report on the dumbasses up there. She turns the volume up on the car stereo as she drives home.

Once Katelyn arrives home, she lets Caroline out in the backyard to do her business. While Caroline is doing her business. Katelyn puts the groceries away. She makes sure the cold drinks are switched with the new ones in the back on the shelf and the older ones up front to be grabbed. She makes sure one of the twenty-four packs of beer she bought for Freddie is put in the refrigerator and the other one is put away outside in the other refrigerator.

Freddie found a nice 1960s refrigerator that still worked and put it in the garage. That way he didn’t have to come back into the house to grab a cold beer. Once all the groceries are put away and Caroline is back in the house. Katelyn walks upstairs to her bedroom and start working on her website.

She does some research on the republican members making life hard on transgender. She knew she needed to dig up some dirt on these people to punish them. They don’t deserve any mercy for their actions.

While Katelyn is researching some of the reps. Her cell phone starts ringing. Katelyn picked it up looked at the caller ID and noticed it was Barbara. She presses accept “Hi Barbara, what’s up?”

“Not much. The reason I am calling you, is I need to send you to Raliegh tomorrow.”

“Cool, I was hoping you would. What time do I need to be there?” Katelyn was hoping Barbara was going to send her.

“You need to be there at or around nine o’clock tomorrow.”

“No problem. Are you going to bring my press pass home with you?” Katelyn had an independent one she wore.

“Yep, I’ll bring you your passes tonight when I come home.” Barbara was holding the passes she had for Katelyn while talking to her.

“Alright, I’ll see you tonight when you get home.” Katelyn ended the call and was excited she was going to go to Raliegh.

She goes back to what she was doing before Barbara called.

State Capitol Building, Raleigh, N.C.:
Katelyn couldn’t believe that they were making all the news reporters wait outside while the delegates and state senate members voted on legislation that would affect a bunch of transgender people. She walks around interviewing members from both sides of the issue. She was biased when it came to the cruel arguments people were using to justify their opinions about trans youth.

They were saying trans youth were being brainwashed and being shamed about the gender they were born. Several people even accused the LGBTQ groups of supporting trans youth of grooming them. Turning them against what made them.

She had to bite her tongue when a group of older women accused some of the gays out in the crowd dressed in drag of recruiting youths and turning them into freaks like them. Katelyn wanted to say something to those people but kept her mouth shut. She makes sure to take lots of pictures of those people so that later, she can go online and write a piece about them.

As for the religious nut jobs that were there in support of a bill that forbade trans people from using the bathroom that they identified with, she was going to write a scorching piece about them. She makes sure to get plenty of footage on her phone.

She spends half of the morning listening to the pros and cons. She already knew what the cons were, but her professor informed her that if she was going to be a good reporter, she needed to get both sides of a story, even if she disagreed. That way, she can have her notes to prove and back them up if someone accuses her of incorrectly quoting them.

She manages to sneak into the capitol building and makes her way to the chamber where the state delegates talk about the issues. Some were nearly screaming all because they weren’t getting their way. Her drawings of the senators and the congressmen/women acting like little children fit these people ideally.

Katelyn found a spot where she could hang out and record the session. The session lasts for hours, and nothing gets accomplished before they break for lunch. When the reps start leaving the chamber, she follows a few, pushing the hardest to pass the law. She wanted to know about them and why they were so damn focused on ruining the lives of trans people.

She follows them as much as she can before being blocked by security. Katelyn looked at the security officer blocking her way. “Hey, I have a right to ask the delegate a question.”

Officer Penn looks at the young woman with dark hair. “Not beyond this point, you don’t. Now, turn around and leave before you get carried out.”

“Touch me, and I’ll sue you and the company you work for.” Katelyn wasn’t going to be intimidated by Officer Penn.

Officer Penn motions to two nearby guards, “Remove this person from this building.”

One guard goes to grab Katelyn, but she brushes his hand aside. The other guard manages to grab her right arm and twist it behind her back.

“Come along, ma’am, before you hurt yourself.” Officer Evans gives a little lift to Katelyn’s arm to get his message across to her.

“OUCH!” Katelyn felt the pain in her arm and back as she was lifted.

She is forced to walk on her tiptoes as Officer Evans lifts her from behind by her arm. He escorted her out of the hallway she was in and out the front door of the building they were in. Once she was outside, he gave her a little shove and let go of her. He watches as she turns with an angry expression on her face. She was rubbing her arm where he twisted it.

“I catch you inside again, and I won’t be so gentle next time.” An evil smile appears on Officer Evan's face.

“We’ll see about that, asshole.” Katelyn was pissed.

“Did you hear a mouse or something, Penn?” Officer Evans looks at Penn.

“I thought I heard someone fart, that’s about it.” Officer Penn smiles at Katelyn.

“Ha, ha, very funny.” Katelyn turns and walks away.

“Who do you think she was?” Officer Evans looks at his friend.

“Who knows, and who cares? She’s not going to be a problem again. And if she becomes a problem, we’ll deal with her like always.” Officer Penn enjoyed hurting people.

Evans knew what Penn was thinking. The last female reporter who gave them problems got a visit in the night she’ll never forget. He wonders what happened to her afterward. He turns and follows Penn back inside the building.

Katelyn makes a note on her cell phone to investigate those two gorillas. She wanted to know who they were and how they still had a job treating people like that. She heads back to where the other reporters are waiting and sits down to wait.

During the question-and-answer session, those who came out to explain their agenda only answered questions from their favorite reporters. Katelyn gets tired of being ignored and asks a question to the delegate speaking.

“Is it true, delegate Manson? That you like having young, attractive women around you, and that’s the reason you are pushing this agenda against trans people? You’re afraid that someone on your staff might be trans?”

Manson looks at Katelyn in a bored tone. “I don’t know anything about what you accuse me of, young lady.”

“Well, from the rumors about you, Mr. Manson, you like having young, attractive women working for you. Like you are, Hefner. You want them to be like the young ladies who work for the Hooters restaurants and are models.”

“I have no idea where you heard those ridicules rumors young lady.”

“The same place I heard about a rumor that you fired your last assistant after getting her pregnant and that you accidentally took home a former tranny. You didn’t like finding out she used to be a man.” Katelyn had looked up Delegate Manson and found some interesting stories about him. Manson looks at the young lady. He couldn’t believe she was asking him about that incident in Houston.

“I have no idea what you are asking about, Ms.” Manson moves on to another reporter.

Katelyn saw Manson’s reaction to the question she asked. She needs to learn more about the woman he was dating who used to be a trans person. She had a feeling that was why he and the other three delegates were insistent on making it hard for people like her.

Later in the afternoon, when everything was over, Katelyn returned to her hotel room. She was going to do some digging into Mr. Manson and the woman he fired because she was pregnant and the woman, he dated who used to be like her. The other three people she knew were their motive on why they were signing on with Manson. Their districts were heavily conservative and had a sizeable religious influence.

Instead of going out, Katelyn orders from a local shop that delivers to the hotel. She could put it down as a business expense. While waiting for the delivery, she steps into the bathroom nd takes a bath.

Delegate Manson’s Office:
Manson looks at Security Officer Evans and Penn. He heard what happened today and wants to know more about it.

‘How did a young female reporter manage to get to the chambers?” He looks at both Security Officers for an answer.

“We don’t know, but she won’t be coming back. If she does, we’ll have to introduce her to some of our friends.” A smile appears on Evans’s face.

“Do what you have to do. Today, I was questioned by a news reporter. I want you to find out who the fuck she is. I also want to know how she knew about that tranny freak in Houston? I thought you took care of her?” Manson looks at Officer Penn.

“I did. She shouldn’t be a problem for you. No one is going to believe a drug addict.” Penn made sure to shoot her up with cocaine and plant a large quality on her.

“She better not. Now get lost.” Manson walks over to a window and looks out of it.

Security Officer Penn and Evans leave the office. Evans looks at Penn. “I wonder why he is so upset? If he plays his cards right. Nothing will lead to him.”

“Maybe. It all depends on how smart this reporter is.”

Katelyn was happy to be back home. She had so much to do and hopes the photos she managed to take pay out. When she shows them to Barbara, she offers to buy the footage she had of the delegates arguing about the law being debated. Since she managed to get footage no one else did, it would help Barbara’s newspaper company.

She also turns over some of the statements and interviews she did as well. Since Barbara’s company wasn’t very big and was only a local news outlet. She didn’t get paid as much if she sold the footage and interviews to a bigger company like the New Yorker or even the huge news outlets.

Afterwards, she starts working on the pollical cartoons of the delegates and their supporters who were in support of the new laws. She wanted to make the cartoon controversy, while funny at the same time. It takes her several tries before finally getting the right cartoon drawn.

She leans back in her chair and reaches down to scratch Caroline between her ears. She loved having a pet and she knew Caroline loved having her head scratched. Caroline normally came with her out to her office.

“Now, lets see what we can find out about the security company you clowns work for.” Katelyn was looking at the pictures of the two security officers she got caught by.

She enlarges the image of the guards and notices they weren’t wearing uniforms, but dress suites instead. She goes to the Carolina website and looks through the information provided to the public. After going through several different pages, she finally finds the company that protects the place. The company was named Xe Services and was listed as a worldwide protection service that also offered body guard and protection services. She goes to the company website and start looking through the setup of the website and the various services they offer. She notices that they have a lot of contracts with various airlines, Disney, Fedex, and the US government as well.

She also notices that when she goggles the company name. Several stories popup of crimes that some their people have committed or are currently in the court system. The owner of the company was a former Navy Seal from Erik Prince, North Carolina.

Katelyn knew the company wouldn’t be stupid enough to put pictures of their employees on the site. So, she goes to Tweeter and Facebook to see if they had personal pages. Since she only knew their last names and not their first name. She needed to find out what their names were.

“Well, that’s a dead end.” Katelyn leans back in her chair and thinks.

She leans forwards and start doing a search again about Xe Security to see what trouble the company has or is involved in. She looks through
the articles and stops at one. It was about something that happened between a few guards in Houston, Texas.

“Houston?” Katelyn remembered reading something about delegate Manson and a news report about him and a tranny in Houston.

She looks up about delegate Manson and relocates the article she saw before about him being caught dating a woman who uses to be a man.
She reads through the article and then the following articles of the person. According to the article, the person was found with a needle sticking out of her arm and with several small baggies of cocaine on her.

“Damn, I wonder if Manson had something to do with her being killed by an overdose.” Katelyn looks at some more photos and spot the two men she ran into.

They looked to be Mr. Manson personal body guards. The article didn’t give their names, but it did list the name of the reporter who wrote it. Katelyn picks her cell phone up and call the news agency the reporter worked for.

Katelyn manages to get the receptionist at the Houston time. She asks to speak to the reporter, but is informed that the reporter no longer works for them. That the reporter was at a recovery hospital, recovering from injuries she sustained a few years ago.

Katelyn thanks the woman and leans back in her chair, after hearing about the woman. According to what the person told them, she had been attacked a few days after she posted the story about Manson. Katelyn looks at the publishing date of the article and saw it was only a few years old.

She really needs to find out more about those guards, protecting Mr. Manson, but how? She wonders if the Xe Security have a local office. She locates one of their local offices here in Chapel Hill. She’ll have to go and see if they can give her their full names and how to get in touch with them.

She prints the directions to the office and shut down her computer. She notices she needs to start getting dinner ready for everyone.

“Come on Caroline, let’s go and get dinner going.” As Katelyn gets up and start walking towards the door.

Caroline gets up and follows her owner out the door and towards the main house. As she is walking towards the back door. She wonders should she be worried about retaliation.

Katelyn walks into the kitchen through the back door. She was planning on making homemade Salisbury steaks for dinner tonight. Everyone was going to be home, so she needed to get busy making the patties and putting them in the oven to cook.

While Katelyn was making the patties, Cindy comes walking into the kitchen. She waves to Katelyn as she grabs a wine cooler from the refrigerator. Just before she closes the door “do you want one?”

“I’m fine, thanks.” Katelyn mixes the beef and seasoning together in the bowl.

“So, how did your assignment go?” As Cindy takes a sip from her bottle.

“Interesting. I got bullied by the private security personnel working at the building.”

“Were you some where you shouldn’t be?” Cindy knew how Katelyn was when she was reporting.

Katelyn gives Cindy her best innocent look. “Now why would I do something like that?”

“Because, besides being a woman, you’re a news reporter and that makes you the worst busy body around.”

“I’m not a busy body. I just don’t like politicians or anyone else lying through their ass. I swear, most of the people I ran into at the capital in
support of restricting transgender and gays rights should have their mouths sewn shut and locked up in prison. They will believe nay lie told to them.”

“Well, you can’t lock everyone up. There’s not enough room or prisons to do it.”

“How about sewing their mouths shut? Can I at least do that?” Katelyn flattens a patty.

“Nope, you can’t do that either. The only thing you can do is educate them and show them they are wrong.”

“That doesn’t always work. People are going to believe anything they are told no matter how much you try to educate them. Politicians are
going to do whatever they, including lying in order to get elected or to stay in office. There needs to be a term limit to how long you can serve.”

“True, there should be. I agree with you on that. The problem is, is getting a law or constitution amendment added to enforce that and no
politician is going to do that. Just as they aren’t going to pass a law saying they should get paid if the government is forced to shut down either.”

“I know. It just sucks that people won’t do anything to stop the madness these politicians are doing.” Katelyn pounds another burger.

“Maybe one day something will be done, but not during our lifetime.” Cindy empty’s her wine cooler and grabs another one.

“True, change won’t occur until people pull their heads out of their assess and start thinking for themselves.”

“True. Well, I’m going to go and grab mine and Clare’s dirty laundry.”

“Alright, I’ll be here working on dinner.” Katelyn watches as Cindy walks off.

Katelyn continues to prepare dinner for everyone.

XE Security:
Katelyn takes a sip from her coffee cup as she follows the directions from Google Maps to the security office. She was going to go in pretending to be looking for a job. She learned from the article on XE Security that they hired local talent as well. Since she had a cover ID that would pass a security background check when they did one, she would use it to get hired.

After pulling into the company's parking lot, she pulls out a fake set of fingerprints that went with the ID. She knew security companies took your picture, fingerprints, and social security number to run a background check.

When she decided to become a reporter to supplement her political cartoon drawing, she also learned a few tricks from her teacher and a trusted reporter. She checks her appearance before she gets out of the car she was driving. It was a rental, and she didn’t want anyone to know her real car.

Katelyn fixes the dress she was wearing as she walks towards the entrance. She checked the time to make sure she was on time. She spotted a middle-aged woman sitting at a desk as she entered the reception area. She walks up to the woman.

“Hi, I’m Joann Benavidez. I have an appointment with Mr. William Alvey.” Katelyn was using her best Southern accent.

Brenda looks at the dark-haired young woman standing before her. The woman was wearing a dress she spotted at TJ Max the other day and fake knockoffs of a famous designer brand shoes you could buy online for fifteen dollars.

“What I might ask is your business with Mr. Alvey?” Brenda knew Mr. Alvey did mainly recruiting of new applicants for security jobs.

“He instructed me to come in to fill out some paperwork for a job.” It was a good thing that Joann/Katelyn was recording everything.

“If you’ll have a seat over there. I’ll let Mr. Alvey know you are here to see him.” Brenda points towards a waiting area.

“Thank you.” Joann turned and walked over to the sofa and sat down. She was watching the woman as she picked up the phone.

After about ten minutes, a middle age man wearing a dark blue business suit comes walking into the reception area. He had short dark brown hair and looked like the type to spend time outdoors. He wasn’t as built as some of the men she knew.

Mr. Alvey spots a dark-haired young woman sitting in the reception area. He noticed she had a nice figure and was wearing a decent dress. Most women who came in to apply for work did not wear anything as nice. He walks over to her and extends his hand. “hi, I’m William Alvey.”

Joann shakes his hand. A smile appears on her face. “I’m Joann Benavidez, Mr. Alvey.”

‘It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Benavidez. Suppose you’ll follow me to my office. We can see if you’ll be a good match for our company.” He helps
Mrs. Joann off the sofa.

“Sounds good to me.” Joann smiles at Mr. Alvey.

Mr. Alvey escorts Joann back to his office. The first thing Mr. Alvey does is ask her a few questions. Why did she want to work for the company? What security experience did she have? Would she consent to a background check? Why should he hire her?

Joann answers his questions. She had prepared herself for this and knew what answers would help her. Afterward, he gives her a personality test. She hated these types of tests but knew how to answer them. She knew she couldn’t get a perfect score on it, which would give her away. So, she fudges some of the answers.

Afterward, she submits to having her fingerprints scanned instead of taken as they used to. They used to have you press your hand onto an ink pad and then roll each finger onto a card to get your print. When is set down in front of a computer to complete an online application?

She looks towards Mr. Alvey. “To be honest with you, sir. I would rather have an office job. I can’t handle being a guard somewhere and worrying my parents.”

“Well, we do have guard positions in warehouses and such. I could place you there.” Mr. Alvey had plenty of openings.

“Still, I would prefer an office job, sir. I don’t feel I have what it takes to be a guard.” Joann hoped she wasn’t showing her hand too much.

“Let me check with one of my colleagues and see if we have something here.” Mr. Alvey gets up and leaves his office.

A smile appears on Katelyn’s face. If she was a computer hacker, she could use the time he was gone to attach a USB drive to the back of his computer to monitor his computer usage. She figures they would have some monitoring software built into the computer system to see what their employees were doing.

“You’re in luck, Mrs. Benavidez. There’s an opening here at the office. It’s mostly filing and opening mail and ensuring everyone gets the right
mail. If you’re interested, you can start tomorrow.” Mr. Alvey sits down behind his desk.

“That will be perfect. What time will I need to be here?”

“Eight o’clock.”

“That’s perfect.” Katelyn knew she’d have to juggle her classes and work.

“Perfect. Let’s go ahead and get you into the system and fill out all your paperwork. That way, you can go straight to work tomorrow.” Mr. Alvey pulls out several sheets of paper and has Joann fill them out.

Katelyn filled out the paperwork and handed it back to Mr. Alvey. He looked over it, and everything had been filled out once he was satisfied. He escorts her back to the front of the office.

“It has been nice meeting you, Mrs. Benavidez.”

“And you, sir.” As Joann shakes his hand.

Katelyn smiles to herself as she walks towards her rental. Now, she can use her position to investigate those two security guards who gave her a hard time. She gets into her car and leaves. She grabs some lunch on the way home.

The following two weeks for Katelyn are difficult between working for Xe Security and attending college. She transferred to night classes so she could balance the two. On top of that, she was still doing her political cartoons as well.

The people she is working with at Xe Security are friendly. Sure, some of them have attitudes and are snobs. Especially the woman named Brenda. Brenda was a bitch towards her and made sure to remind Katelyn/Joann that she was the head bitch around there.

The holidays were approaching, and the office would be closed. She would have the day off since she was a receptionist/mail clerk. She managed to find a cheap red Toyota Prius for sale. She registered it in her undercover name.

Access to specific files was still restricted to her, but she was learning who had access to them. Katelyn found out that three others were at her site besides the person who interviewed her. The chief operations officer, Tim Williams. The liaison officer, Bob Flecther, and the office manager, Craig Gunn. The fourth person who had access but was never around at the office was a fellow named Nichola Blanchard. According to the rumors she has been hearing. He handles special assignments and is normally out of the office.

“So, what are your plans for Thanksgiving?” Freddie looks at Katelyn as she cooks dinner.

“I was thinking about staying here for Thanksgiving, given my relationship with my aunt and uncle.” Katelyn knew her aunt and uncle disapproved of what she did.

“Well, you know Clair and Cindy might have to work. As for Barbara, I don’t think she is doing anything special.”

“Well, I’ll ask her when she comes home tonight.” Katelyn finishes searing the meat and puts it in the oven to cook.

Freddie watches as Katelyn cooks dinner. Sometimes, he helps her by peeling or cutting up whatever she needs.

“Honey, we’re home.” Clair comes walking into the kitchen.

Behind was Cindy, and she looked tired. Cindy sits down on one of the stools in the kitchen.

“Rough day?” Katelyn noticed the look on Cindy’s face.

“Yes.”

“How about you, Clair?” Freddie looks towards Clair as she walks over to the refrigerator to grab a wine cooler.

“Not as rough as Cindy’s day. The floor I was working on was slow. Cindy’s floor was busy.” Clair heard about the troubles they had on Cindy’s floor. One of the patients on that floor had to be restrained.

“Hey, do you ladies know what your schedule will be like for Thanksgiving?” Katelyn looks at her roomies.

“I’m working the afternoon shift.” Clair already knew what her schedule was.

“Same here. I volunteered to switch with one of my co-workers.” Cindy had the morning shift, but one of the ladies wanted to spend Thanksgiving with her family.

“That’s fine. I can get up early and cook everything. That way, we can still do Thanksgiving, and you can take some to work with you.” Katelyn didn’t mind.

“Hey, you’re not cooking by yourself. We’ll help out.” Clair looks towards Katelyn.

“Thanks.” Katelyn will be thankful for the extra help.

“So, how is your investigation going?” Clair and Cindy knew Katelyn was investigating a person who ended up dead after complaining about two guards from Xe Security and the congressperson.

“Slow, I must be careful about what I am doing.”

“It would be bad if you got caught. So, why are you serious about looking into Xe Security?” Cindy was curious about what Katelyn was doing.

“Because something fishy is going on between two of their guards and the congressperson.”

“Do you know what?” Cindy takes a sip from her wine cooler.

“Nope, I don’t have a clue. However, my interaction between the guards and the congressman has my hair on end.”

“Is being a reporter important to you? I thought you enjoy drawing political cartoons and such?” Freddie looks at Katelyn.

“Yes, it's important. Yes, my cartoons are essential in my fight against these close-minded, homophobic congressmen and senators. However, I
also want to punish them for what I find out about what they are doing.”

“I can’t say I don’t blame you. This country is heading towards a civil war, thanks to what is being done. First, they take away the rights of women to have abortions, then they start going after transgender students saying that the treatments are taking away their childhood, which is a bunch of crap. It’s like these people want to live in a third-world nation. And finally, you have politicians trying to undermine what the Constitution says about people causing an insurrection. Are they so hungry for power that they are willing to burn this country?”

“You know how it is. This is how Hitler started, and look where it led him. People who want our country to go to an authoritarian style of government aren’t thinking straight. I like my freedom and don’t want to lose it.” Katelyn knew if things kept going the way they were.

The United States might become an authoritarian government. The people in power need to be removed and replaced. The voters need to pull
their heads out of their asses and get rid of these people.

“Politics has never been my thing, but I agree with you, Katelyn.” Clair saw what might happen.

“Let’s talk about something else, ladies.” Freddie knew Katelyn felt strongly about certain subjects.

“Yeah, I guess you are right, Freddie. So, what do we want to have at Thanksgiving?” Katelyn looks at Cindy and Clair. She knew Freddie would
eat whatever was put in front of him.

“Here, let me write everything down, and we can go shopping on Friday.” Cindy grabs a pad and pencil to write everything down.

Katelyn shivers as she gets out of bed. She looks at Caroline and knew she needed to go out and potty. She grabs her heavy house robe and step into her slippers. She was glad she bought fur line slippers to wear. She lets Caroline out back to do her business.

She shivers even more when she feels the cold air outside. Katelyn stands at the back door and watches as Caroline sniffs around for the best spot to do her business. She swears Caroline is very picky about where she poops and pee.

When Caroline starts walking back to the back door, Katelyn opens it. She looks down at her “did you get everything out this time?”

Caroline just looks up at Katelyn with her tongue hanging out and panting. She barks once at Katelyn.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Katelyn walks over to where she keeps the treats for Caroline and gives her one.

While Caroline eats the treat, Katelyn goes about fixing a cup of coffee. She, and Clair went out and got everything for Thanksgiving dinner and planning on cooking everything at five in the morning on Thanksgiving Day. She’ll prepare some of the dishes the night before.

After feeding Caroline, Katelyn fixes herself a cup of coffee and put three slices of cheese toast in the toaster oven to heat up. She has been eating cheese toast and popcorn chicken a lot lately. Mainly, because it was quick and easy to prepare.

Katelyn watches as Barbara comes walking into the kitchen. She was wearing a flannel night gown and slippers as well.

“Morning, Barb.” Katelyn smiles at Barbara.

Barbara just waves at Katelyn. She grabs her favorite coffee mug and fixes herself a cup of coffee. Barbara turns to look at Katelyn “how is your investigation going?”

“Slow, I have to be careful about what I do at Xe security. The information I need to access can only be accessed by a few authorized people.” Katelyn takes a sip from her coffee.

“Sounds like you need someone who is good at cracking into computers.” Barbara knew a few people.

“I don’t know anyone who can do that.” Katelyn didn’t know any hackers.

“I might be able to help you out. The thing is, dealing with these people can be tricky.” Barbara had a few she normally uses.

“As long as they can be trusted and won’t leak what I gain from them, I don’t mind.” Katelyn didn’t mind using a hacker. She has seen enough movies where hackers come in handy on collecting information.

“All right, I’ll get in touch with the individual.” Barbara knew the perfect person to call to help Katelyn out.

“Thanks.” Katelyn takes another sip form her coffee mug.

After eating her toast and making a second cup of coffee. Katelyn busies herself making some desserts for Thanksgiving. After she finishes doing that, she starts defrosting the turkey and ham.

Barbara watches as Katelyn makes several chocolate pies, pumpkin pies, and several apple pies as well. She was surprised that Katelyn knew how to make pies.

“Where did you learn how to cook?” Barbara was curious.

“From my aunt. She said since I wasn’t going to school any more and since I’ll have to survive on my own. I should learn how to cook for
myself. So, she had me help her or cook the evening meal after I got home from work. Now, I know why she always complained about having three jobs.”

“Three jobs?” Barbara had a puzzled look on her face.

“Yeah, her day time job away from the house. Coming home and taking care of my uncle and me. And being the family cook, maid, and wife.
After I dropped out of school and got my GED. She made me take care of myself since both of them felt I was being to uppity about how I felt.”

“I can see why they would think that. Your aunt and uncle don’t agree with your decision.” Barbara has met Katelyn’s relatives and knew they
didn’t approve of how she handled everything. They felt she should had done what the school said.

“Well, you know me. I didn’t give a fart what they thought. I had to be myself. I think that if people stopped listening to their damn preachers and stop reading what they want into a book put together by a bunch of old men two thousand years ago. We wouldn’t have half the problems we do now. Religion, people who want power over others and greed are the major problems this planet has.” Katelyn hated when people tried to use religious beliefs to justify their ignorant towards others. All because they believe if you are born one way, you should spend your life that way.

“Well, you know the old saying Katelyn. People’s options are like assholes, everyone has one.” Barbara takes a sip from her coffee.

“Are you saying I’m being an asshole, Barb?” Katelyn looks towards her friend.

“No, but you are right about other people. People like things to be simple, not don’t adapt well to change and don’t want things to change.”
Barbara knew that from years of living and meeting people.

“And people who have money and power don’t think us little poor people should tell them what to do. There are times I would love to have no morals and just shoot all those assholes.” Katelyn wonder if you killed a few of them, what they would think after that.

Once all the pies were made and put aside. Cindy and Clare enter to help get everything else made and cooked. While that was going on,
Katelyn wonders if she is turning into those type of people. She hated that she couldn’t continue on the swim team and that she was forced to drop out because one of the town’s bitches wanted an apology form her and she wouldn’t do it. In the end, the bitch won.

Katelyn waves at Freddie as he comes walking out of the bathroom with his towel wrapped around his waist. If she was into men, she might be attentive to him. Also, if he was into women, it might be the same as well. The thing was, Freddie liked girly men or Bears. She shivers just thinking about that. Some of them were really nice and the others, well. She wouldn’t want to be seen in public with them.

Katelyn walks into her bedroom to grab her tablet and head back to the kitchen. She spots Clare and Cindy dancing as everything was cooking.

“You ladies look like your having fun.” Katelyn watches her friends.

“Our favorite song was playing earlier.” Cindy was smiling. She loved dancing with her girlfriend.

Kathlyn smiles as she checks on everything. She was happy that Cindy and Clare were enjoying themselves.

XE Security:
The first week back after the holidays was a mad house. Katelyn was helping the HR resource officer catch up with several new employees who were hired. She was processing their paperwork, when all of a sudden, she lost internet connection.

She looks over towards Brenda “Did you just lose internet connection?”

“Yeah. We better let Eric know.”

“Okay.” Picks the office phone up and dials Eric's extension.

Eric’s Office:
Eric was in the middle of an online game when his game locked up. He notices that he has lost his internet connection. Just as he was about to check the connection coming into the place. His office phone starts ringing.

“Hello?”

“Eric, this is Joann. Have we lost internet connection?”

“I’m checking on that right now.” Eric brings up some software to check the router and line.

“Okay.” Joann/Katelyn wonders if Barbara’s friend was hacking into the system.

A white van with Halo Telecommunication on the side of it pulls into the parking lot. A middle-aged man with salt pepper hair and a mustache gets out of the van and walks towards the entrance of XE Security. He walks inside the building and stops in front of Joann and Brenda.

“I’m here to see an Eric Goodman.” Jerry looks at the two young women at the receptionist's desk.

“Can I ask who you are?” Brenda looks at the old man standing in front of her.

“I’m Jerry Earnheart from Halo Telecommunications. We received a phone call for internet connection problems.” Jerry had intercepted the phone call from Eric.

He had already set up everything ahead of time, so when he interrupted the internet connection to XE Security. They would be forced to call for a repairman.

“One moment.” Brenda picks her office phone up to dial Eric’s extension.

Eric heads towards the front to escort the cable back to the server room where the modem for the internet backbone is located. Eric knew he had to watch the repair person. He watches as Jerry goes about troubleshooting the problem.

Jerry knew Eric was watching him, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve. He makes the current modem short out and changes it out with a custom one he designed. It looked just like the one the company was currently using. It allowed him to tap the fiber optic system without setting off any alarms, any time he wanted to access it.

Once everything is restored, Jerry looks at Eric “Go ahead and check everything.”

Eric ran his test and couldn’t believe the speed he was getting. He looks towards Jerry “I don’t know what you did, but you did an incredible job. Our speed has increased drastically.”

“Newer technology.” Jerry knew he used specialized hardware when he built the modem.

He found out what type of backbone XE Security had and what equipment they were using. He built an exact replicate of their modem, except
using higher quality parts. He knew they would get increased speed when he tested it. It also allowed him to intercept any information leaving their system and allow him into their system without setting off any of their security systems.

“Well, it looks like my job is done. If you have any problems, feel free to contact me personally.” Jerry hands Eric one of his fake business cards.

“Thanks, I will.” Eric accepts the card.

“See you later, ladies.” Jerry waves to the women as he walks out the front door.

“That was nice of him.” Joann watches as the repair guy leaves the office.

Brenda shrugs her shoulders as she goes back to work. She didn’t care. She had work to do and hoped that Joann would keep up.

Later during lunch, Katelyn gets a text from Barbara informing her that a hacker she knew has taken the case. After reading that text, Katelyn wondered if the tech that came to the office today was the hacker. She drives through Burger King and orders a double whopper with onion rings. The project she had for her college class was done and ready to turn in.

The artwork assignment she was assigned to do was done as well. Between her college courses and her work schedule. She barely had time for herself or to go out with her roommates. She needed the time off from everything to just be a girl.

She liked going to the bars and dancing with Clair and her girlfriend. Also, spending time with Barbara at some of the social events she went to. She liked going to some of the gay events that Freddie and the guy he was currently seeing go to.

Katelyn tried to be careful so that no one at XE Security knew what she was up to. She wanted to know more about the two assholes that assaulted her that day at the Capital. Also, the councilman they were working for. She knows he is up to no good, from the track record she uncovered about him.

One night while on the way home from buying art supplies. A car comes out of nowhere and does a brake check on her. Just as she presses down on her brakes to keep from slamming into the back of the car. A pickup truck with a grille guard mounted on the front of it rams her in the rear.

As she releases the brake, she is slammed again and this time she hits the car in front of her. She hits her head on the steering wheel after the airbag deploys. Whoever was behind her, had their high beams on and was blinding her.

She is forced to pull over. As she is trying to gather herself, her driver-side window glass is smashed inward. A leather fist comes out of nowhere and hits her in her jaw. She tries to grab her pepper spray from her purse but is hit again. This time whoever was punching her, got her nose and blood was pouring out of it.

“Stop your investigation, BITCH!”

As Katelyn is hit again. She is knocked unconscious as her head hits her steering wheel. She is found later by a highway patrol officer going her way.

Katelyn wakes up later in the emergency room. Her face was hurting her and the side of her face hurt. She looks at the police officer standing near her.

“Where am I?” Katelyn tries looking around.

“Easy ma’am. You’re in the emergency room at Chapel Hill Medical. You were involved in a car accident.” Nurse Amy looks at Katelyn.

“Do you remember what happened, ma’am?” Officer Cooper looks at Katelyn.

“No.” Katelyn couldn’t remember what happened to her.

Officer Cooper looks at the young woman. He felt sorry for her because she was going to be feeling everything later. He makes sure he has everything about her in his notebook.

He tries to help her recover what happened to her. After a while, he leaves after doing all he can.

Katelyn spent a few days in the hospital before being allowed to go home. She missed about a week's worth of work at XE Security. She told her supervisor she was involved in a car accident, which was true, sort of.

As for her studies, Freddie managed to get her assignments and any lectures she missed. Her instructor was understanding and willing to help her catch up. Since she was stuck at home recovering she starts digging into the two security officers protecting delegate Manson.

Since she has access to XE Security’s computer system now. She logged into their system and circumvented the protections the system had. All the things she knew and what Barbara’s hacker person instructed her to do were paying off.

She finally makes it to the personnel files. Katelyn noticed that the people she was looking for were under a different classification. The file that held their info was for special projects. Once she was in the folder containing their info. She lets out a low whistle as she reads about them.

These men shouldn’t be allowed to be bodyguards or security officers with their backgrounds. These were hired assassins with a serious criminal background. Katelyn leaned back in her chair and couldn’t believe that people like these were working for a security firm.

Katelyn used XE Security’s background check software to search delegate Manson’s background and see what she could find out about him. She knew XE always does a background check on their clients.

Katelyn dug through the information since she had access to XE Security systems. The information they had on Manson was enough to ruin his career. A wicked idea comes to her as she grabs her drawing pad and starts drawing a cartoon. She could get back at Manson and XE Security at the same time.

By the time Katelyn gets done with the cartoon. It was late in the afternoon and her stomach was growling. She sets her drawing pad aside and walks to the kitchen. She pulls some bacon out of the refrigerator and makes a Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.

Katelyn looks down towards Caroline “Do you want a treat, girl?”

Caroline lifts her head and her tail starts wagging. She loved it when her human spoke to her.

“I’ll take that as a yes, girl.” Katelyn gets up from her computer chair and heads for the kitchen.

She notices Caroline following behind her. As she walks into the kitchen, she notices Freddie is home. She also spotted two large pizza boxes from their favorite pizza joint that they found when they first moved in.

“When did you get in, Freddie?” Katelyn walks over to where she kept the treats for Caroline.

“A little while ago. How are you feeling?” Freddie had been concerned when he got the call about Katelyn being in the hospital.

“I’m doing better. I’ll be able to go back to work and to my classes by next week.”

“You're still going to XE Security after what you have been through?” Freddie feels they were behind what happened to Katelyn.

“Yes, I need to get to the truth. But don’t worry, I have already stirred the hornet's nest with what I recently found out.” Katelyn was proud of the work she did this afternoon.

“You’re playing with fire, Katelyn. Next time they might try something more serious, than running you off the road.” Freddie knew how stubborn Katelyn was.

“I hope so.” A playful smile appears on Katelyn’s face.

She walks over to the refrigerator and grabs a cold drink. Afterward, she grabs a stack of paper plates for everyone to use and takes three slices of pizza back to her bedroom. She sits down at her computer desk and posts the latest cartoon she did.

Katelyn hopes it causes the people responsible for attacking her to try it again. She was going to make sure to catch them on camera if they attacked her again. She places an order for the cameras she found online at a spy supplier company.

The insurance on the secondary car she bought totaled her car out and deposited the funds into her bank account. The bill she was dreading was her medical bill, but the insurance she had from XE Security was covering part of that, while her insurance was covering the rest. She might end up paying a few thousand, but luckily she had the money saved up.

Katelyn watches a video on her television while eating her pizza. She gives Caroline tidbits from her slices since she was being so nice. Katelyn wonders if she should give what she has so far on XE Security, the two security officers, and the councilman over to someone more capable of doing more.

She ponders that question while watching Cannonball Run II. It was playing on the channel she had selected. Some of the actors and actresses she recognized in the movie.

Katelyn wonders what it would be like to speed like they were doing in the movie. Also, would it be worth it to just win one million dollars? She watches the movie to the end, before drifting off to sleep.

Katelyn felt well enough to go back to school and work. She got a new used car with the insurance money from her old car. She bought a used black 2009 Toyota Prius with only one hundred, and twelve miles on it. The person she bought the car from took really good care of it. Plus, she could buy an after-market car maintenance insurance for it, since it was under two hundred thousand miles. She did have it checked out by
Freddie before she bought it.

When Katelyn walked into XE Security, she was greeted by Brenda.

“How are you feeling, Joann?” Brenda looks at Joann as she walks in.

“I’m doing better. Oh, thank you for the flowers and the get-well card.” Katelyn/Joann puts her purse in the bottom drawer at her workstation.

“You’re welcome. So, are you ready to get back to work?” Brenda had a list of things for Joann to do.

“Sure, am. So, what’s first on the list?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Brenda hands Joann a list of things that need to be done.

Joann sits down and starts tackling the list. A smile appears on her face when Brenda gives her the key to the secure files. She had a bunch of files that needed to be added to them. So, when she is in there, she snaps a few pictures of certain files.

When Brenda or the office manager check to see how she is doing or why she is taking so long. Joann informs them that she is reorganizing the files so they have more room to add more. Any file that seemed questionable, she takes snapshots of.

She tries not to spend a lot of time in the file room. Once she is done reorganizing and taking the phones. Joann exits from the file room and gives Brenda back the key. The rest of the day Joann stays busy.

During lunch, while Katelyn is at Arby’s grabbing a roast beef sandwich. She notices a dark sedan driving by the restaurant. It wasn’t like the people in the car could spot her because she took a seat away from the window. She also parked her new car between two huge trucks and a van in front of her.

She watches the sedan as it pulls into the parking lot and looks around. After it makes a pass by the row her car was on. It leaves after driving by the front of the restaurant. That right there made her suspicious.

“So, they have my car bugged.” Katelyn finishes her lunch and leaves.

She takes her car over to where Freddie works. She parks the car heads inside the garage and greets Patsy at the reception counter.

“Hey Patsy, can I go in the back to talk with Freddie?” Katelyn noticed Patsy was wearing one of the shop's t-shirts that emphasized her breasts.
The low-cut jeans she wore, showed off her hips and butt.

Katelyn knew Pasty had been hitting on Freddie since he came to work at the shop. The funny thing was, Freddie wasn’t into women, but men and he recently met a very nice guy who was a weightlifter.

“I’m sorry, Katelyn but you know the rules. I can’t let you go into the garage area.” Patsy knew Freddie was working on a car in the garage.

“I know, but can you get him for me, please? It won’t take long.” Katelyn wanted Freddie to look through her car for a tracker.

“Alright, I’ll go and get him for you.”

“Thanks.” Katelyn goes over and stands by the window and looks outside.

She spots the sedan she saw before. An evil thought appears, as she pulls out her cell phone and makes a phone call to the police. She tells them she is being stalked by a strange vehicle that has followed her from Arby’s to the garage.

She also informs them that she is a member of the press as well. Once Katelyn finishes talking with the police, she ends the call and watches what happens next. After a few minutes, she spots the sedan that has been following her get pulled over by two police cars. An evil smile appears on her face.

Freddie was doing an oil change when Patsy came walking towards him. He wonders what she wants now. He has been ignoring her since he came to work at the garage.

“Hey Freddie, your girlfriend wants to talk to you.”

“Can you take a message, please?” Freddie puts the drain plug back into the oil pan.

“She’s upfront.” Patsy watches as Freddie tightens the drain plug.

“Alright, I’ll be up there in a minute.” Freddie wanted to get the oil change done first.

“I’ll tell her.” Patsy turns around and walks back towards the front.

Katelyn watches as the police and people following her have a heated discussion outside. One of the people refused to cooperate with a female police officer and a fight ensued.

“Katelyn, Freddie said he’ll be up in a minute. He has to finish an oil change.”

“Thanks, Patsy.”

“You’re welcome.” Patsy turns around and goes back to the counter.

Katelyn continues to watch what happens outside. Four more police officers show up and overwhelm the guys that had been trailing her. One of the guys that followed her was taken down by a huge police officer. The man looked like he played football or something.

About fifteen minutes later, Freddie comes walking up front and over to Katelyn. He notices Katelyn is looking out of the big window “What’s up Katelyn?” as he walks over to her.

Katelyn turns around to look at Freddie “I need you to go over my Prius. I think someone put a tracker either in it or on it.”

“What makes you say that?” Freddie wonders why Katelyn is acting strange.

“Because of that.” Katelyn points across the street.

Freddie looks at the cops across the street. There were a lot of them and they were handling two people.

“Is that the reason?” Freddie turns to look at Katelyn.

“Yes, they have been following me since I left XE Security. The only way they can keep track of me is by a tracker or something.”

“Could they have hacked your cellphone?” Freddie knew it was possible.

“Maybe, but I keep my phone close to me. I would know if they have.” Katelyn followed Barbara's advice and added a hidden command that records anyone who uses her phone without her permission. It recorded anyone who accessed it and sent her an email letting her know. Most of the time, it was her.

“All right, I’ll go through your car.”

“Thanks. While you are doing going over my car. Can I borrow your truck, please?” Katelyn batts her eyes at Freddie.

“You know that doesn’t work on me, right.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls his car keys out.

“I know, but you love me,” Katelyn says those words like Sandra Bullock did in the movie Miss Congeniality.

“Get, before I change my mind.” As Freddie hands Katelyn his keys.

“Here.” Katelyn hands her remote to her Prius to him in exchange.

Katelyn walks out of the shop over to Freddie’s truck and heads to her communication class.

Katelyn picks up a pizza on the way home after her class. Barbara was out on a date with a fellow she met at work. Clare and Cindy were at work and wouldn’t be home until late. Freddie was already at home and the news he gave her wasn’t good.

It seemed her suspicions had been right about a bug in her car. It had been placed over her OBD plug acting like a second skin, broadcasting her location. Then he found another one super glued under her rear bumper cover.

Things were starting to get dangerous. She bites into the slice of pizza she was holding. She tries to think of some way to set the people up who were chasing her. She knows now, that she can’t go back to XE Security.

Katelyn eats a few more slices, before putting the rest in the refrigerator. She, her roommates and Freddie would eat cold pizza for breakfast. Once the pizza is in the frig, Katelyn lets Caroline outside to potty her.

Katelyn steps outside and watches Caroline. She knew Caroline was picky about where she did her business. Once Caroline was done doing her business. Katelyn gives her a treat and heads towards her bedroom.

Katelyn lays down in bed and turn the lights out. Hopefully, she can figure out what to do next. She needs to speak to Barbara and see what can be arranged.

“Barbara, things are starting to heat up over at XE Security.” Katelyn looked at Barbara as they sat in the kitchen drinking her coffee.

“Well, what do you have so far?” Barbara looks at Katelyn while drinking her coffee.

“Well, for one thing. Some of the guys working for them, shouldn’t be. They shouldn’t even be doing security with the records they have. Another
thing, Delegate Mason has had several situations covered up by XE Security.” Katelyn found a lot of information in the file room.

“Do you have proof about this matter?” Barbara looks at Katelyn.

“You wouldn’t believe the stuff I dug up in the file room and on their computer records.”

“Show me.” Barbara wanted to see this information for herself.

“Okay.” Katelyn sets her coffee mug on the counter.

Katelyn walks out of the kitchen and to her bedroom to grab her tablet. She transferred everything she took pictures of to her computer system. She heads back to the kitchen and shows Barbara everything she has.

Barbara flipped through the information on the tablet and couldn’t believe it. She even saw the information Katelyn stole off the servers that XE Security used. Barbara looks at Katelyn ‘you have a lot of damaging information on everyone.”

“I know. I’ve already done some political cartoon drawings from it.” Katelyn picks her coffee mug up off the counter and drinks some of it.

Barbara looks at Katelyn “Do you mind if I publish some of this?”

“Go ahead, but you know XE Security is going to challenge you and how you got it.” Katelyn knew XE Security was going to go to war to protect themselves.

“An anonymous source dropped off the information to me.” Barbara smiles at Katelyn when she says that.

“You do know the first person they are going suspect is me.”

“Yep, but don’t worry. As far as I know, you didn’t give me the info. They can’t do anything to you.” Barbara takes a sip from her coffee.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Barbara wonders what Katelyn is going to do.

“Watch as XE Security gets what it desires. I do feel sorry for the good employees that work for XE.”

“Me too, but they might be better off working somewhere else, instead of going down with the ship.” Barbara knew how bad things were going to get when she published this information.

XE Security had a lot of high-class security gigs and was well-known in the business world. The owners themselves were highly decorated soldiers. They managed to snag a bunch of military contracts because of their reputation.

Once Katelyn is done with breakfast, she dresses in a pair of tights and a low-slung shirt that exposes her shoulder, while covering the other one. She doesn’t bother wearing a bra, since she was off today and hadn’t planned on going anywhere.

“Come on Caroline, let’s go to work.” Katelyn holds the back door open for Caroline and follows behind her towards her office.

Once Katelyn enters her office, she walks over to her desk and starts working on a new political cartoon from information she recently learned about last night. She doesn’t understand why politicians set themselves up to do stupid things.

Do they like all the negative press they get or are they just doing it to draw attention to themselves? She started working on the cartoon rough draft and slowly refined what she wanted to construct to get her message across. Some of the popular news agencies will be interested in this particular cartoon.

Katelyn couldn’t believe the shit storm that followed after Barbara published some of the information she had given her. The Private Protective Services of North Carolina had launched an investigation into XE Security activities. So, that suspicion was thrown off her.

Katelyn informed the hr person that she needed to take time off for physical therapy. The person wasn’t too happy because of the shit storm going on at the agency, but since Katelyn was still recovering from her accident. They had to approve it.

The Department Of Justice for North Carolina launched an investigation into XE Security’s activities and spoke with Barbara about the information she received. Barbara informed Katelyn that her name wouldn’t come up. No matter what XE Security lawyers tried, they couldn’t get Barbara to reveal who gave her the information.

Of course, Katelyn was questioned and after the questioning, she quit the agency. The men that had tailed her come under intense investigation. All the information she released to Barbara had their involvement of several unsolved cases and activities that were highly questionable.

As for the counselor, all the cover ups that XE Security did for him were finally being exposed. That right there made Katelyn happy. She was happy that he was finally getting what he deserved. Of course she did political cartoon drawings of everything.

One night while Katelyn is sitting in the living room watching the evening news. Freddie comes walking in and sits down next to her. He looks at her “I bet you are enjoying this?”

“Of course, I am. Politicians and corrupt people should get what is coming to them. It’s people like them that there so much corruption in society right now and why the innocent are being hurt.”

“Well, just be careful in your crusade. One day someone is going to figure out, that you had something to do with this.” Freddie knew karma was a bitch.

“I think they already know. But, yeah I will watch my back.” A smile appears on Katelyn’s face.

She sits back and enjoy the moment and wonders what she should do next.