Flip the Colleague [Flip Zimmerman]

Ch 17: Letting Go

You sat at the dining table, reviewing the footage from the flash drive, while Flip tore through his house and truck looking for his cell phone.

"Son of a bitch... where the hell did I leave it?" Flip muttered, lifting couch cushions in frustration. He spotted an extra set of car keys on the coffee table and grabbed them. "Are these yours?" he asked, irritation creeping into his voice.

You shook your head. Your keys were in your purse. "Must be Mandy's car that's still parked outside," you said, rolling your eyes at the mention of her name.

Flip nearly winced - he'd almost forgotten she'd been there again, without him knowing.

Pocketing the keys, he darted outside toward her car while you exhaled deeply, trying to focus on the video. You fast-forwarded and rewound, scanning for the exact moment Flip entered the bar.

When you finally saw him come into frame, you paused the footage, scanning carefully for Mandy. She was nowhere in sight, so you pressed play again.

Flip walked up to the bar and exchanged a few words with Rick, who poured him a drink, which looked like bourbon. Patrons came and went, but Mandy never appeared in the footage.

Flip sat at the bar for a few minutes before getting up and heading to the restroom, leaving his drink, still half full, behind. As a woman watching, you immediately recognized that as a mistake. Rick was still behind the bar, not far from Flip's drink.

An unfamiliar man approached the barstool next to where Flip had been sitting. His face was mostly hidden under a baseball cap, making him hard to read. Rick turned to cash out another patron, and that's when you noticed it: the man casually, almost imperceptibly, hovered his hand over Flip's drink.

If you hadn't been watching closely, the move would have gone completely unnoticed. A knot formed in your stomach. Mandy wasn't acting alone; she had help. You bit your lip and kept your eyes glued to the screen. The man lingered just long enough, then turned and walked out of frame.

Moments later, Flip returned, settled onto the barstool, and lifted the drink to his lips. You inhaled sharply and held your breath as he drank it. He continued chatting with Rick, but it didn't take long for the change to appear. His demeanor shifted quickly, more intoxicated than usual.

It was agonizing to watch the man you loved being drugged, knowing all too well how Mandy would later exploit him.

Flip came back inside, and you paused the video, needing a moment to catch your breath. His phone wasn't in his hand, so you knew it was still missing. But something else caught your eye: a pill bottle.

"Found this." He set the unmarked blue bottle on the table in front of you as he sat down across from you. "Looks like some kind of illegal drug... MDMA, maybe." He shrugged.

He noticed your pensive expression. "...You find something on there?" he asked, nodding toward the laptop.

You nodded. "Mandy didn't drug you. Someone else did, a man. But I can't tell who."

Flip's brows furrowed as he leaned forward, rotating the laptop so he could study the footage himself. He replayed it carefully, eyes narrowing. You noticed a small twitch beneath his eye as he glared at the screen. He rewound and watched it several more times before finally lifting his gaze to you over the top of the laptop.

"I know who it is," he said, his voice low and heavy, a mix of anger and defeat. He leaned back in his chair, staring down at the table, lost in thought.

You watched him for a moment, waiting for him to speak, but he remained silent.

"Hello?" you prompted, trying to pull him back into the conversation.