Flip the Colleague [Flip Zimmerman]

Ch 17: Letting Go

You sat at the dining table and reviewed the footage from the flash drive as Flip searched his house and truck for his cell phone.

"Son of a bitch... where the fuck did I leave it?" Flip scoffed as he removed the couch cushions. He saw an extra set of car keys on the coffee table and picked them up. "Are these yours?" he asked, impatiently.

You looked over and shook your head. Your keys were in your purse. "Must be to Mandy's car that's still parked outside." you rolled your eyes when her name left your mouth.

Flip had almost forgotten that Mandy had been there, again, without his knowledge.

He took the keys and darted outside to her car while you exhaled deeply, trying to concentrate on the video footage, fast-forwarding and rewinding to find the timestamp of when Flip entered the bar.

Once you saw Flip come into frame, you paused the video. You looked all over to see if Mandy was anywhere visible. You didn't see her so you pressed play again.

You watched as Flip approached the bar and exchanged some words with Rick as Rick poured him a drink. It looked like bourbon from what you could tell. You watched as a few other patrons left and some new ones came in. Mandy was nowhere to be found in the video.

Flip sat at the bar for a few minutes before getting up and heading to the restroom, leaving his beverage still half full at the bar. As a woman, you thought that was a mistake. Rick was still tending the bar and wasn't far from Flip's drink.

You saw an unknown male approach the barstool next to where Flip was sitting. You couldn't see his face very well since he was wearing a baseball hat. Rick turned around to cash out another patron and that's when you noticed the unknown man quickly and casually hover his hand over Flip's drink.

Unless you knew what you were looking for, the move would've gone completely unnoticed. You felt a knot form in your stomach. This meant Mandy had help. You bit your lip as you continued watching. The man turned and walked away out of the frame.

A moment later Flip returned, sat down and lifted the drink to his lips. You inhaled and held your breath as you watched him drink it. He continued chatting with Rick for a while longer. You noticed how his demeanor changed rather quickly and appeared more intoxicated than normal.  It was hard to watch the man you loved being drugged especially knowing how Mandy weaseled her way into taking advantage of him afterwards.

Flip came back inside the house and you paused the video, needing a break. You didn't see his phone in his hand so you knew it was still missing. But you did see something else in his hand; a pill bottle.

"Found this." He sat the unmarked blue pill bottle on the table in front of you as he sat 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 pointed to the laptop.

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