Baring All

Dbz77

Project QL Intern
Sep 22, 2022
72
6
8
Long Beach
Summary


Ben leaps into the world of stripping for cash when he leaps into a full-nude female stripper in 2010. But to dissuade the manager from committing suicide, the leaper learns a dark secret about her youth.

Chapter One

1992

Jason is scared.

His heart races and his palms are feeling sweaty.

He is inside a large room inside a police precinct for the Atlanta Police Department. The room has several desks. A bulletin board is pinned to the wall, contain some sort of notice as well as a wanted poster.

Several uniformed police officers point handguns at him.

"Drop your weapon!" barks a police sergeant.

He holds another officer in front of him, with his right arm, and in his left hand is a handgun, with the barrel against the police officer's temple, his left hand shaking visibly.

"Just let me go!" cries Jason. "I don;t wanna go to jail."

This is his only small chance. He had known upon being arrested today that if he goes through the system, he would be sent away to prison for years.

He did not want to lose years of his life in prison.

"We're warning you," says the police sergeant. "There's no way out except in handcuffs or a body bag."

"Why were you arrested?" someone asks.

Jason looks at the police officer who had asked the question. The officer looks young, younger than he is. He figures the police officer is a rookie.

"Please," that officer asks again. "I just want to talk. Why were you arrested? Just tell me."

"It was for stealing," he says. "I...They said I stole some jewelry."

"If you pull that trigger, you steal a life. Is that what you want?"

The question hits Jason in his very soul. He had been a troublemaker since childhood. He had done theft and vandalism. Did quite a bit of community service, even spent a few months in the Fulton County jail.

He never actually hurt anyone. Since he was a young boy, he tended to avoid physical confrontations if he could help it. For that same reason, he never went into muggings or armed robberies, as he knew even without experience that things could get dangerous real fast.

And things had gotten dangerous real fast.

Looking the rookie cop in the eye, he lets his hostage go. Slowly, he bends his knees. He is very careful to point the barrel downward. He finally sets the handgun on the hard surface of the floor.

Two officers surround him even as he places his hands, palms down, on the floor. He can feel his arms being pulled behind this back, feel the familiar touch of steel handcuffs, and then hears the click of the handcuffs locking in place.

Jason breathes a slight sigh of relief.

The rookie cop looks on as Jason is taken away to a holding cell.

Unknown to Jason or the police officers in the room, the rookie cop is not whom he appears.

He is Dr. Ben Song, a quantum physicist from the future. Thirty years ahead of this time, he had stepped into the Quantum Leap Accelerator and vanished. He now leaps from life to life, putting right what once went wrong.

A woman with light brown hair appears to be in this room. In truth, she is in the Imaging Chamber decades in the future. A hologram of her is projected via brainwave transmissions to the past, and only Ben can see or hear her.

"That little stunt cost him five years of freedom," says Addison Augustine, the observer for Project Quantum Leap. "But get this. After getting out of prison, he becomes a mentor for at-risk youth. According to Ziggy, at least three murders never happened due to his mentoring. His new life touched other lives."

"You;'re a hero," another police officer says to Ben.

He smiles, and then a blue glow surrounds him as he quantum leaps.

Ben Song finds himself in another place, another time, another person.

The place much darker as the squad room in the Atlanta police precinct in 1992.

He hears music, sexually suggestive music.

He looks and sees several men before him, all cheering. Glancing at his left and right, the leaper sees brass poles.

His stance feels familiar. Looking down, Ben can see that he is wearing high heels. There are dollar bills scattered on the wooden floor near his feet.

There is something around his right ankle. Picking it up, he can see it is red, and it feels silky.

It is basically a loop, with a thin strip of red cloth material connecting opposite ends of the loop.

It takes two seconds for the leaper to realize he is holding red thong panties!

He sees another article of clothing. Picking it up, he sees an article made up of two triangular pieces of fabric, connecting to each other, and a string.

That is a bra!

"And now Nurse Bridget is baring all!" announces a voice.

Ben realizes that high heels is all that he is wearing!
 
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Chapter Two
August 7, 2010

Ben Song stares forward with a blank state.

Sexually suggestive music is playing.

A crows of men standing before him is hollering, many with vulgar comments, with others throws dollar bills. .

The leaper is completely nude.

And he appears to be a woman who calls herself Bridget.

He shifts his body around to the left and right

He hears, "Yeah, baby!" and other comments that would be censored on prime time television.

His hands are shaking a little bit and his heart is racing.

The song seems to go on forever.

And then it finally ends.

"All right, gentlemen and ladies!" exclaims the announcer. "Let's hear it for Nurse Bridget!"

The leaper can figure out his time on the stage is over.

He starts to collect the cash that the men had placed on the wooden surface of the stage. Looking around, he sees a purse, which appears to be Bridget's purse. Stuffing the cash into the purse, he starts to leave the stage before realizing a fraction of a second later that he should clothe himself. He puts on the thong panties and then the red bra. He looks around and sees a white skirt, a white blouse, and a white har. Using his experience of having leaped into the female sex before, he fastens the skirt, and then places on the blouse, which only goes to his midriff. After putting on the hat, he puts on an awkward smile as he holds the purse and walks to the back office.

In the backroom is a large room with dressers and drawers; a woman wearing a short denim skirt and a denim blouse jacket looks into the mirror. The leaper takes the opportunity to find out whom the men were looking at.

He sees a young woman with long blond hair and a milky white complexion. She look more cute than beautiful. She wears what appears to be a nurses outfit. The white hat has a red cross on it. He reaches into the purse and takes out a wallet. Looking at the wallet, Ben sees a driver's license issued by the State of Iowa. The name is Bridget Riley, and her date of birth is October 12, 1988. Her picture looks much younger; it looks like it had been taken during her senior year of high school.

The leaper sees another woman in the mirror, who has shoulder length blond hair, appearing to be in her early thirties.

"Impressive performance, Bridget," she says. "That deer-in the-headlights look. Like a young girl undressing in front of male strangers for the first time, or getting her cherry popped. In a way, the first nude dance is sort of like popping your cherry."

"Deer-in the-headlights?" asks the other woman in the dressing woman. She has olive-complected skin, and wears a cowboy hat covering her dark hair. "Trying to recall memories of your first time?" she asks.

"Yeah," replies Ben.

"Time for me to make some money."

"Convincing men to give up their hard-earned cash to look at their bodies," says Addison Augustine, projected into this strip club.

The leaper looks at the observer, and then to the other woman who is in this place and time. He goes towards Bridget's purse, fumbling through it before he pulls out a Nokia N93i cellular telephone, looking primitive compared to the Androids and iPhones that were in common use in 2022 when he first leaped. "I need to make a phone call."

He walks out to the main room, placing the cell phone by his ear.

"You probably know you're in a strip bar," says Addison. "You're in the Bouncy Cuties Strip Club, a club just outside Nellis Air Force Base, less than nine miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Vegas. I remember when we went to Vegas in April of '19 for three nights. We did more than watch shows and gamble at the casinos; we actually went to Valley of fire."

"I remember that," says the leaper. "We took a picture together by those ancient drawings on the rocks."

"I should continue," says Addison. "You're Bridget Riley. She grew up on a farm less than five miles outside Dubuque in Iowa. Graduating high school in 2006, she worked some waitressing jobs. She moved to the Vegas area in the middle of last winter. She found work as a waitress at Denny's, before she got into exotic dancing."

"Basically baring all."

"Yes. Well, her future seems to be fine. She used much of the money to pay for nursing school, moved back to Iowa, and became a registered nurse. She actually received a civic award from the City of Dubuque in 2022 for her nursing work. Still, it's something I can't understand though. I don;'t know if I would be able to handle leaping into a stripper."

"So her future's all right. I mean, maybe taking off her clothes for money wasn't Bridget's first choice in earning money for nursing school, but we change history for the better. We don't make history perfect.

"And now Cowgirl Letty is baring all!"

Ben looks towards the stage, and sees that dark-haired woman, now wearing only a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and nothing else. Vulgar comments are exclaimed by the men.

Addison steps in front of the leaper, looking right into his eyes. "Focus on me, Ben," she says. "Look into my eyes."

oooooo

"And that was our chocolate delight Nikki," says the DJ.

"We are closed now," says the woman who had spoken to Ben earlier.

Ben became a familiar with the place. There are several tables and booths where the girls could give full-nude lap dances. Not surprisingly, the leaper declined to offer private dances. The place offers a menu, mostly of bar food like sandwiches and tacoes and chicken strips and appetizers. A sign on top of the bar advertises a recession-buster special of sixty-nine cents for a fountain soda and ninety-nine cents for a coffee, and the prices for food are less than what a regular establishment, without fully nude dancing girls, would offer in 2022.

"Hey Bridget," says Letty, who had danced just forty minutes ago, "we'd better go."

"You're driving me home?" asks Ben.

"You're letting me drive your car?" asks the exotic dancer, dressed in her cowgirl outfit.

Addison appears. "That is Leticia Gomez-Aguilar, originally from a ranch near La Joya, Texas. She lived with Bridget in the summer of 2010. She worked as an exotic dancer, and did a five-year tour of duty at a brothel in Pahrump, before she went to community college and then the University of Texas.

The woman with blond hair approaches Ben and the girl; the leaper had figured out her name is Jane. "Take care, you two," she says.

"Love you, Jane," replies Letty.

He follows the other dancer out through the back door of the club and into an asphalt parking lot. Ben notices a large neon sign reading "Bouncy Cuties Full Nude Est. 2003". They soon reach one of the cars in the lot, a blue 2005 Honda CR-V.

"If I am driving, I will need the keys," says Letty.

"Sure," replies the leaper, reaching into the purse and pulling out a keychain.

The other dancer opens the drivers side door and presses a button to unlock all the doors. Ben sits in the passenger seat, fastens his seat belt, and Letty turns the key to start the car.

Girl, you know I-I-I, girl, you know I-I-I
I've been fiendin', wake up in the late-night dreamin' about your lovin'
Girl, you know I-I-I, girl, you know I-I-I
Don't need candles or cake, just need yo' body to make, ooh
Birthday sex, birthday sex (it's the best day of the year, girl)
Birthday sex, birthday sex (it feels like, feels like, lemme hit that G-spot, G-spot)


Letty pulls out of the parking lot. Soon, they are traveling on a main road. From looking at a sign suspended from a straight mast-arm also holding a traffic signal, the leaper notices they are traveling on Nellis Boulevard. On the horizon he can see the skyline of downtown Las Vegas. One of the upsides of leaping is being able to sightsee.

It is maybe ten minutes later that Letty parks the CR-V on a residential street.

"So we're here?" asks Ben.

"This is the closest parking space we could find," replies the exotic dancer.

Ben gets out of the car and follows Letty. The street is well-lit by lampposts, and is much quieter than the Vegas Strip is at this time. After maybe a few meters, Letty reaches this apartment complex. She unlocks the front gate.

He follows Letty into a courtyard; the shadowy outlines of garden plants clearly visible. The leaper then follows Letty up some stairs and then into an apartment.

The lights having been turned on, it looks like a typical apartment in the early 2010's, with sofas and a coffee table and a Toshiba television. There are several magazines, including a fashion magazine and a magazine about firearms. Attached to the television is a Microsoft Xbox and a Nintendo Wii. A kitchenette lies in an alcove to the right, with a Kenmore refrigerator, a stove, and kenmore microwave oven.

Letty goes into one of the bedrooms, and Ben goes to the other bedroom. Turning on the light, he inspects Bridget Riley's inner sanctum. The bed is made, somewhat. Opposite the foot of the bed is a small dresser. To the right of the bed is a closet. Ben opens the closet and finds typical women's clothes, along with some clothes that are clearly outfits for the strip club.

Finding a plug, he connects a charger to the Nokia cell phone. The leaper feels tired, especially as a few hours ago in his time, he was a rookie Atlanta cop who just defused a hostage situation.

Soon, he is fast asleep.

Oooooooo

Ben wakes up early to some noise. He looks at a bedside General Electric clock radio and the time is about 5:30 AM.

Walking, out, dressed in Bridget's nightgown, he looks and sees Letty wearing some tights.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Goin' to 24 Hour Fitness," replies the exotic dancer. "Got to stay in shape to earn money. You coming with me?"

"Ah, no," replies the leaper. "I think I'll stay."

"Don't skip workouts too often, girl."

Taking her purse, Letty heads out the front door. Ben walks back into Bridget's room. He can see more. There is an Apple MacBook on top of the varnished surface of the wooden dresser, with an emblem of a flag consisting of an eagle holding a scrolled bill in its talons stickered on the back. Also on the dresser is a picture of several women, including Bridget, Letty, and Jane. Taking the MacBook to the kitchen, he has a simple breakfast of Post Honeycomb cereal and tomato juice. As he eats breakfast, he activates the MacBook. The familiar WiFi icon appears on the right side of the menu bar; it appears that the apartment complex has WiFi and Bridget's computer automatically connected.

Opening a folder called Pictures, ben opens some pictures. Some are clearly that of Bridget's family, who all have either blond or light-brown hair. There are pictures of some of the other dancers, including Letty.

And there is one picture of Bridget and Jane, standing close together at the Fremont Street Experience. Both women are smiling.

He then opens up Google Chrome and types something.

He then clocks on a link to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which was published May 27, 2010. He reads the article about the man who had held that cop hostage eighteen years before this time, or yesterday in Ben's time. It is an interview about the hostage situation, his time in prison, and his work in mentoring at-risk youth.

"Good morning," says Addison, projected into the kitchen.

"Just catching up on my reading," says Ben. "This article was about my last leap. Here is what our buddy Jason said. 'When he said that if I pulled that trigger, I'd steal a life, I thought about my life for a second and knew I didn't want to be that kind of man'."

"I suppose it's nice to read about your accomplishments from another source," says the observer. "We figured out why you leaped into Bridget. It was big news. I remember it now. I first heard about it back when I was stationed in Fort Benning."

"Tell me."

"I;'ll show you first." Addison presses a button on a circular device called the handlink, which serves as a remote terminal for Ziggy, the supercomputer that runs Project Quantum Leap. A hologram appears.

It is the top of the front page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, dated August 11, 2010. The headline reads "Woman Jumps from Hoover Dam".

"Was that one of the dancers?" asks the leaper.

"The woman had been identified as Jane Schrader," answers Addison. "You've met her; she's the general manager of Bouncy Cuties. Her body was never found and the Las Vegas Metro Police suspected suicide."
 
Chapter Three

August 7, 2010

"I remember that," says Ben Song, sitting at the small dining table in the apartment shared by Bridget Riley and Leticia Gomez-. "I was studying for my doctorate at the time.It was so sad."

"Yeah," answers Addison Augustine. "Here was what Bridget posted on her InstaGram on August 10, 2015."

Ben sees an InstaGram post with that date, and a picture of Bridget and Jane. "8/10/2015. Can't believe it's been five years. I often wonder what demons tormented you. You were the big sister I needed. I can only hope you are free of pain. Love, Bridget."

The leaper reflects for a moment, how Jane's death affected those around her. "What do we know about Jane Schrader?" he continues.

"Born April 28, 1978," replies the observer, tapping on the handlink. "Grew up in Mankato, Minnesota. In 1998 she moved to the Vegas area. She did exotic dancing in some clubs for a few years, got into management. She was the manager at Bouncy Cuties until her death Tuesday of next week."

Ben stands up and paces around the kitchen. "All right," says Ben. "Has she been recently married?"

Addison taps on the handlink. "No, Jane Schrader has never been married," she says. "She did have Facebook and MySpace and Ziggy can dig deep to find evidence of a long-term relationship that she either had, or just recently ended."

"Financials?" asks Ben. "Any financial issues?"

"She own a townhouse in the Summerlin neighborhood of Las Vegas. Purchased in 2009, 30-year mortgage. She never missed a payment. Her car's completely paid off, and she only has credit card debt. She also has $250,000.00 is various investment accounts. Financially, she was better off than most Americans during the Great Recession."

"The public record can only reveal so much."

"We need to know amore about her," says Addison. "and one way to do that is to follow her around. If I get get close to her, I could get a lock and follow her around for the rest of this leap."

"It' still early morning," says Ben. "I'd better get dressed."

ooooo

Wearing a skirt and a sleeveless white blouse, Ben drives Bridget's Honda CR-V along the Oran K. Gragson Freeway. To his left the leaper can see the skyline of downtown Las Vegas, and the Stratosphere Tower further to the left. Aside from the section of Interstate 51`5 adjacent to downtown, the freeway is clear.

He steers toward the ramp to Summerlin Parkway and soon exits of f Buffalo Drive. Addison updates him with directions to reach the townhouse complex where Jane Schrader lives.

He finally pulls up to a curb. On the opposite side of the sidewalk from the street is a wall, and behind the wall are tall buildings.

"Jane's should be here," says Addison. "And if we're lucky, I could get a lock on Jane and then be able to follow her wherever she goes."

the observer goes to the gate, and runs through it. There is a narrow street here, and it is surrounded on both sides by multi-story buildings, with windows and balconies on the upper two floors. On the ground level are garages. She walks around one of the buildings, and then notices the other side has the foot entrances, enclosed in tiny courtyards.

She explores around, taking a close look at the number above the garages and the doors, until she sees a garage with a number above

"This should be Jane," she says.

She hears the garage open. Inside a white 2007 Toyota Land Cruiser. The white reverse lights growing, the Land Cruiser backs out. Addison sees a woman with blond hair in the driver's seat.

Pressing the handlink, Addison is projected back to the Honda CR-V.

"Ben, Jane's driving somewhere," she says. "What's important is that Ian can center me on her at any time."

"Do I follow her?" asks the leaper.

"No. Just go back to Bridget's or explore Vegas. I'll look out for her, and I'll start by looking around her house."

Addison is then projected back inside the garage. It looks like a typical garage, with a shelf full of car supplies like spare motor oil and spare brake fluid. She walks through the door and enters a small vestibule containing a Whirlpool washing machine and a dryer. She then enters the living room. It is a typical living room with couches, a glasstop coffee table, and a Sony color television with attached Sony DVD player. On the coffee table are some magazines, with a People magazine on top of the others. There is a kitchen to the right, separated from the living room any a counter, and there is the typical kitchen stuff. She sees an envelope on the counter clearly addressed to Jane Schrader, so she knows she is in the right place.

She projects herself upstairs into the bedroom, where she sees a typical bedroom- a bed, a dresser, a closet with a mirrored door, and a Sony television on top of the dresser. There is a slo a picture of a woman appearing to be in her late fifties or early sixties whom the observer suspects is Jane's mother. There is no picture of a lover or boyfriend or any person of that sort.

Going into the bathroom, she notices nothing atypical, just a shower and toilet and a sink. A cup continuing two toothbrushes is on the sink, along with a tube of Aqua Fresh toothpaste. The medicine cabinet is closed.

She had seen enough at Jane's for now.

"Ian," calls out Addison. "Center me on Jane!"

Addison finds herself inside the Land Cruiser with Jane. Looking around, she sees the vehicle is southbound on the Gragson Freeway, just right next to downtown Las Vegas. After a few minutes, Jane exists on Exit 70- Boulder Highway. Reaching the surface streets of the Vegas Valley, she reaches the Boulder Station station casino.

The observer looks inside as Jane enters. The casino is much darker than the Vegas Valley outdoor scene. There are plenty of slot machines and video poker machines, and it is filled with the familiar sounds of machines playing the games and occasionally awarding credits.

She sees Jane sit down at a cafe on the casino floor. A waiter comes buy. From the looks on their faces, they recognize each other.


Jane has steak, fried eggs, has browns, and sourdough toast for brunch, washing it down with ice water and orange juice. After finishing brunch and paying with a Discover credit card, Jane walks out and goes to the blackjack tables, with one of them having a table minimum of $5.00. Addison notices the dealer apparently knows Jane, and watches and Jane and an older couple play some hands.

Jane finally cashes her chips at the casino cage. After a brief stint in the ladies room, she gets into her Land Cruiser and drives home, with most of her journey on the Gragson Freeway.

She reaches the townhouse complex and parks her car in the garage. Getting out, she enters her house and goes upstairs. Stripping down, she simply lies on her bed, naked, to go to sleep.

Oooooo

"Jane just had brunch at Boulder Station and took a nap," says the observer, now being projected back at Bridget's.

"I've been looking at her MySpace," replies Ben, holding the Nokia N93i to look like he is talking to someone in this time, as Letty is in the apartment. "Mostly of her and the girls. A lot of comments. A much of Happy Birthday comments on her profile from a few months ago, including from Bridget and Letty. It also turns out that both Bridget and Letty are in her Top 8, along with Tom."

"Top 8?" asks Addison, unfamiliar with the term.

"Top 8 friends. You pick eight friends and they show on on the front page of your MySpace profile."

"I didn't have time for MySpace when I was in the Army."

"Was it suicide? We can't make that kind of assumption."

"I'll keep an eye of Jane. Ziggy will continue to do a deep dive, find out if there's anything in her past that will tell us why she fell off Hoover Dam next Tuesday."

The observer disappears.

Ooooooooooo

Ben can still feel the residual desert heat. He and Leticia Gomez-Aguilar are on the sidewalk right in front of the Mirage Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. On the opposite side is the Venetian. The place is lit by lampposts and the neon light signs from the hotel-casino-resorts The two of them wear short skirts showing most of their legs and low-cut tank tops exposing midriff and cleavage. They wear comfortable walking shoes, as they are doing a lot of walking. They pass cards that serves as coupons to the passers-by, most of whom are visiting for a hot summer weekend.

The leaper glances at a card. It has a picture of Bridget, with her naughty boys covered up with stars. On the back is an address, telephone number, e-mail address, and a mini-map, the caption "about ten minutes from Vegas" and 15% off. Small print indicates that the coupon expires 9/7/10

He had been told that if a customer uses the coupon, he- or Bridget- would get 5% of the cover charge. The cover charge being $15.00, Ben mentally calculated it to be seventy-five cents per coupon.

"At least they're reimbursing for parking," says Ben.

"Yeah, and at least it's better than being cooped up in the apartment," says Letty, handing a coupon with her picture to a young man. "Might as well do something else than play the XBox or the Wii."

"I do like Punch-Out!!!"

"Yeh, it's something to do when it's too hot to work out."

"I could feel the heat."

"At least it doesn't have humidity, girl," says Letty. "South Texas, you can't sweat even if it's a hundred."

Ben smiles as he hands out more coupons to a group of young, hollering, whistling men, some of who made vulgar comments about Letty and the male leaper who appears to be a young woman.

"Enjoying the evening stroll, Ben?" asks Addison, being projected on the Las Vegas Strip.

"Still feels warm," says Ben, looking in Letty's direction.

"This is your first summer here," replies Letty. "Get used to it."

"I was at the strip club," says the observer. "Nothing unusual. "Jane talked business with the owners before the place opened. Some girls danced naked. Ian was actually inside, enjoying the scene. Men giving away their hard-earned savings just for a naked girl to rub against them for five minutes."

"Got it," says the leaper.

"I'll head back to the club."

Addison presses buttons on the handlink, and she is projected back inside Bouncy Cuties, hearing the hollering of men as a woman, clad only in a bra and thong panties, dances on the stage.

She goes to the office and Jane Schrader is sitting at her desk, looking at the monitor of an Apple iMac G%, an all-in-one personal computer manufactured from 2004-2006.

Addison looks at the screen to observe what Jane is looking at.

It is not an office program like Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel.

The Apple Safari web browser appears on the screen.

Addison notices the web site is about early motherhood. She goes to stands though the desk to look at the strip club manager's face.

Jane has a blank look on her face.

Ooooooooo

August 8, 2010

You make me want to say
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I fell in love with shawty when I seen her on the dance floor
She was dancing sexy, pop, pop, popping, dropping, dropping low
Never ever has a lady hit me on the first sight
This was something special, this was just like dynamite
Honey got a booty like pow, pow, pow


It is early lunchtime at Buffalo Wild Wings, and there are few people, and most of the tables are empty. Some tables near the bar area have been gathered together. Jane sits there along with some dancers from Bouncy Cuties; Ben and Letty are among them. The girls are dressed a little more modestly than they would wear on stage. A song by Usher plays over the speaker.

Unseen or unheard by anyone except a leaper from over a decade in the future, Addison observes, wanting to know more about these girls, hoping she can get a clue about Jane's death in two days.

A waitress walks by and takes orders.

"I'll just have some wings," says Ben.

"I haven't been to B-dubs in a long while," says the observer.

Drinks are served, most of them beers, with a few cocktails. The ladies all chat, with Ben and Addison paying close attention.

"..yeah, so my sister-in-law, she's having another baby," says Letty.

"Really?" asks a woman with tightly-curled black hair and skin with a black complexion. "When did you last see her?"

"On my last visit to Texas. I only returned last Thursday."

Addison looks at the black woman. "Well, Nikki," she says. "you have a bright future. You establish a video game company with what you earned from lap dancing, making games for Nintendo and Sony and personal computers."

"Do you have any pictures?" asks a woman with crimson-red hair and a pasty white complexion, wearing a crop-top over her torso.

"Red Kelly," says Addison. "The DJ said you rolled out the red carpet last night. You pursue your passion in dance and music, performing in burlesque shows."

"I posted on MySpace and Facebook," replies Letty.

"Can't wait to see it," replies Red Kelly.

"Wish we could see them here and now," says Ben. The leaper smiles. In a few years fro this time people will be able to access Facebook from their cellular telephones.

"I should remind Letty that she is scheduled for tonight," says Jane.

"The Sunday night crowd is laid back," says Letty. "But, I know how to get multiple lap dances."

"There are developments," says Jane, sipping a beer. "I spoke with Mr. and Mrs. Khan last night."

"They're the owners," says Addison, having actually observed the conversation last night in this time.

"We're thinking about setting up a web-based platform for your girls," says the strip club manager. "Instead of calling or actually going to the club, you'll be able to schedule using a computer from home or from the library or an Internet cafe. And dancers will have their own profiles, and our clients can check them out."

"That's great," says Nikki.

"Just wait a few years for OnlyFans to open," says Addison.

"That's not all, girls. We;re considering opening the place for brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings. No dancing during the morning hours, of course. And no mimosas. Otherwise, you'd have to keep your panties on."

Ben and the girls laugh. Even Addison smiles.

The food is served, mostly chicken wings, wraps, and sandwiches. Ben dips the wings inside the ranch sauce and tears out the meat.

He then looks at another lady, who is only eating celery and carrots with blue cheese sauce.

"No meat?" he asks.

"Trying to eat healthy," replies the woman, who has slightly-curled dark brown hair. "Fresh food is precious. Believe me, I had to subsist on dried nuts and fruits when I hiked to the Pacific Crest Trail all the way from Mexico to Canada."

"And you will again in 2017," says Addison. "You'll post the whole story on your InstaGram account."

The conversation continues, and all the ladies smile.

And after what is a fun time, the checks are brought by the server.

"All right, ladies," calls out Jane. "I want to thank you all for coming here. You girls, you have so much promise." The strip club manager stands up. "We are like a sisterhood."

"To the sisterhood!" Ben and the others exclaim as they clink their glasses.

Jane seems so happy.

Both Ben and Addison wonder why she would leap off Hoover Dam in only two days.

It is in the back of their minds the rest of the day.
 
Chapter Four

August 9, 2010

"You know," says Ben Song, holding a fork. "One day, I've got to visit this place for myself."

"Yeah," says Leticia Gomez-Aguilar, sticking a fork in some Mongolian beef.

The two of them sit with Jane Schrader at a dining table in her townhouse in the Summerlin neighborhood of Las Vegas for a quick lunch. The strip club manager had ordered Chinese take out in little white cardboard containers, containing foods such as beef chow mein, beef chow fun, clams with black bean sauce, beef tip and mushrooms in black bean sauce, and Mongolian beef. The leaper makes sure to savor the taste. He had a lot of experiences in the past two and a half years of his time; the issue is that particular experiences, like Chinese takeout for lunch with friends, is so rare.

Addison Augustine is projected into the living room, observing Jane.

"It's a great place," says Jane, sticking a fork into a beef tip. "Better than the pricey places they have on the Strip."

"Wow," replies Ben. He thinks of the time he was on the Strip wit Letty, handing out censored pictures of Bridget Riley that also served as coupons."You know, may they should hire pretty girls to hand out coupons on the Strip and Fremont Street"

"Most tourists want to stay close to the touristy areas," replies Jane. "Not too many of them would drive even five minutes to a restaurant far away, especially as it can be a hassle to park in the casino garages on a busy weekend. On the other hands, plenty of men would drive thirty minutes and spend hundreds to see live lady parts in person."

"Lady has a point here," says Letty, smiling.

"Which does remind me," says Jane. "I believe you are scheduled for tonight, Bridget."

"Who me?" asks Ben.

"Is there another girl named Bridget in the house?" asks Letty.

"if you perform well enough, you could retire at 40," says Jane.


"Some people dropped out," says Letty. "Remember Charis? She worked until she found religion?"

"Yeah, that's what she told me," says Jane. "It seems like yesterday that it just happened. Still, she did send me a birthday card a few months ago. Such a sweet gesture."

The leaper gets up to stretch his legs. He walks around the living room. It looks rather nice. He looks at some magazines on the glasstop coffee table near the center. Taking one of the magazines, Ben sees that it is a baby magazine.

"Interesting," says Ben. "You gonna have kids someday?"

For a moment here is silence, with the hum of the air conditioner being the only sound.

Addison notices the silence. She starts tapping on the handlink.

"I would have to find a baby daddy first," says Jane. "First thing's first."

"And I want to build my nest egg," says Letty. "Enough for me and to give my kids enough money so they can choose what they want with their life. Of course, I can see my big bro and his wife be parents. It was only last week I was playing with my little cowboy."

"I saw the pics on your MySpace," says Jane.

"That reminds me," says Letty. "I need to post them on Facebook."

"MySpace isn't long for this world," says Addison. She taps some buttons. "And InstaGram debuts October 6th."

"I can't wait until DJ gets married," says Jane.

"Yeah, I got the wedding invitation," says Letty. "He's such a great guy."

"I can say this; he can definitely resist temptation."

It is not long before all the Chinese food is finished.

"I do want to thank you for lunch here," says Ben.

"Anything for my girls. And get some sleep, Bridget, if you;\'re gonna do some dancing."

"Right."

Twenty minutes later, Ben is lying down on Bridget's bed in her apartment, holding the Nokia N93i next to his ear to pretend to talk to someone in this time, in case Letty enters the bedroom.

"I'm thinking," says the leaper. "There's less than twenty-four hors before the incident at Hoover Dam. She has those baby magazines."

"And she was looking at web sites about raising babies," says Addison.

"Maybe she can't have kids."

"I suspected that. The thing is HIPAA. Ziggy can't access Jane's medical records. We are a federal government project, after all. If Congress knew what I was doing, they'd pass laws against holographic stalking."

"Try credit card records. If she made a recent visit to the doctor." Ben puts away the cell phone.

"Get some sleep. You need to earn money at the club so Bridget can go to nursing school. Dancing does require energy, Ben."

Ben just lays down on the bed. He feels mentally exhausted. He has to stop the tragedy at Hoover Dam tomorrow, and he has to dance and strip tonight.

He lets the drone of the air conditioning unit in the apartment put him to sleep.

Oooooo

Monday nights at the Bouncy Cuties Strip Club is not as busy as Friday and Saturday nights, of course. The fee for dancers to dance that night is much lower than weekend fees for a reason. The kitchen is closed.; only coffee, soda, and energy drinks are available.

Still, there are a fair amount of men in the place, most of them tourists, all here to see the show. A nineteen-year-old woman named Marie finishes her dance, covering up her intimate parts before leaving the stage.

She walks into the rear, where there is a break room, like a small kitchenette perhaps ten square meters.

"Got to rest my feet," says Marie, in a thick accent.

"her name is Marie," says Addison, pressing buttons on the handlink. "Immigrated here from Poland on a temporary work visa, built up a substantial investment account from years of dancing nude."

Ben sits inside the room. He wears a denim dress with suspenders over his shoulders. The bottom of his dress barely reaches below his hips. He knew he needed a theme, and Bridget Riley had a Iowa Farm Girl outfit, which alluded to her origins in the prairie backcountry of Dubuque County in Iowa. The shoes on his feet, while elevating them, look like farmers' footwear. A straw hat rests on the table. Marie wears a simple negligee dress over her bra and thong panties.

"Bridget to the stage," says the DJ, his voice projected through speakers. "Bridget to the stage."

"Okay," says Addison, projected inside Bouncy Cuties' break room. "You can do this."

"Your turn," Marie says to the leaper.

He stands up, putting the straw hat on his head. Walking tout to the main room, he ascends the steps onto the varnished wooden surface of the stage. He turns and faces the most all-male audience.

He looks and the DJ, who presses buttons on the equipment in the booth.

"Now here is our Iowa Farm Girl Bridget!"

And the leaper starts dancing.

"Okay, get in the rhythm," says Addison, projected right on the stage. "Just go with the rhythm."

He dances for a few seconds.

"Now,:" says the observer. "Take off your top layer. Not your bra and panties, just your denim dress."

Ben smiles nervously, looking at his audience. He unbuckles the suspender straps as well as the strap around the waist. The leaper then removes the straps from his shoulders, and the denim dress falls on the floor, inciting hollers from the audience. He steps off, and now only a bra and thong panties cover him.

"Stay in the groove, Ben," says Addison. "They didn't pay to see standstill pictures."

And Ben continues to dance, often holding the brass stripping poles. Some of them men start tossing bills on the stage.

His smile gets wider.

And the the song finally ends.

The men in the audience look so eager.

"This is where you take everything off," the observer says to him.

And then the next song plays, and Ben starts dancing.

"Take it off!" chants the men.

""Take it off," says Addison. "Remember, to them you look like a young woman. You're exposing Bridget, not you."

Ben looks at the audience.

His heart races.

He takes a deep breath.

He reaches into his back and unhooks the bra letting it fall to the floor even as the men cheer, with some of them tossing cash onto the stage.

"Shake it! Shake it!" exclaims someone in the crowd.

There is one thing left for Ben.

He glances to his left, at Addison.

He places his fingers on the string holding up the thong panties.

And he pulls downward, with some of the men cheering, other men just stare with their eyes widened and mouth agape.

Ben kicks the thong panties aside on the floor and then starts dancing, wearing only the high shoes and the straw hat.

"Farm Girl Bridget is baring all!" announces the DJ.

Ben starts dancing and men throw more cash on the stage.

"Come on, Ben," says the observer. "Smile! Earn Bridget that money!"

Ben continues dancing. As he hears the song reach the last verses,, he takes off the straw hat, revealing Bridget's blond hair to the men below. He shakes his hips to more loud cheers and more money being thrown on stage.

And the the song ends. Ben knows it is time to get dressed and collect the cash. He goes for the panties.

"Put it on slowly," says Addison. "You want your clients taking one last view."

"Okay," the leaper whispers, slowly pulling up the thong panties. He then takes the bra, looking at the men, who are looking at his- or rather Bridget's- chest, before he places on the bra. He then quickly dons the denim outfit, collects the cash and stuffs it in Bridget's purse, and walks off the stage.

"And that was our Iowa Farm Girl Bridget," says the disc jockey.

Addison walks by Ben.

"You did good-ish," says the observer. "I don't know if I could have handled leaping into a topless-only stripper, let alone a full-nude one.

"It did seem amusing to see a crowd of men looking at a man stripping on the stage, though, cheering and hollering and tossing their day's wages at your feet."

"Nice dance," someone says.

Ben looks at the counter where clients can sit for food and drink. He sees a man with a blond crew cut, appearing in his thirties.

"Thanks," replies the leaper-turned-stripper.

"I did have the fried chicken dinner, the best anywhere west of the Rockies," he says.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Well, how about the usual, Bridget?"

"Usual what?"

"He means a private dance," says Addison.

"No, thank you," replies Ben, knowing what a private dance is.

"We always have a dance."

"I don;t feel like it."

Ben walks away. Marie then walks in front of him.

"Excuse me," she says.

"Yes?" asks Ben.

"I saw what happened. Listen, may I have a dance with him?"

"Sure," replies the leaper.

Marie approaches the man. "Hi there," she says. "I hear you're interested in a dance."

"You're not Bridget," he replies. "You're not even a fellow Hawkeye." He smiles. "Still, we can talk."

Marie then leads him away, to one of the private rooms.

"I still have two more dances," says Ben, recalling the schedule even as he walks to the back room.

"Just relax, Ben," says the observer.

A few hours later, Ben finishes the last of Bridget's three scheduled on-stage dances. He immediately trades the custom-high heels for Nike sneakers, and takes Bridget's bag, informing the assistant managewr he is leaving. The leaper then walks outside the the strip club's parking lot, greeted with the residue of desert summer heat, towards his leapee's Honda CR-V.

"You did well, Ben," says Addison, not feeling the heat as she really is in the air-conditioned Imaging Chamber in Los Angeles "And your dancing definitely improved."

"How was Jane doing?"

"She gambled at the Suncoast- that's near her place, had a quick meal there, and went home where he browsed the World Wide Web and went to sleep. She kept reading web sites about babies.

"We will be bust tomorrow."

Addison's hologram disappears. Ben starts the CR-V and drives off.

Ooooooo

August 10, 2010


Ben feels tense, mindful of the time.

He had the usual morning, with a workout at 24-Hour fitness, before going back to bridget's to have bereakfast.

Even as he delivers blows to opposing boxers while playing Punch Out!!! on the Nintendo Wii, he keeps track of the time.

It will take him an hour to drive to Hoover Dam.

He knows that Jane leaps off the dam at 1:35 P.M..

Addison feels the same way, shadowing Jane. She is projected inside the strip club's office.

Jane has been reading web sites about babies. The look on her face is not happy.

She then suddenly swipes stuff off the desk and leaves. Addison looks at the clock on screen of the iMac G5.

It is 12:13 PM.

Projected outside into the parking lot, the observer briefly looks at the daytime scene, seeing various industrial buildings, as well as the club itself, with the sign reading BOUNCY CUTIES- FULL-NUDE GIRLS.

Jane gets into a Toyota Land Cruiser and drives off.
 
Chapter Five
August 10, 2010

Addison Augustine is projected back inside Bridget Riley's apartment.

"Ben!" she exclaims. "Jane just left the strip club! You got to drive over to Hoover Dam."

"Right," says Ben. Already wearing a sleeveless blouse and short denim shorts, the leaper grabs Bridget's purse and heads out the door. Greeted by the daytime summer heat, he leaves the apartment building, heading out to the blue 2005 Honda CR-V parked on the street.

""Wait!" Leticia Gomez-Aguilar calls out. Ben sees her running.

"Yes?" asks the leaper.

"Where're you going?"

"Hoover Dam."

"Can I come?"

Ben and Addison look at each other. "Yeah, you can come," says Ben even as he gets in the driver's seat and starts the car.

Letty gets into the front seat and fastens the seat belt. Ben pulls from the curb,.

"We are not stopping over for anything," says the leaper.

Addison looks at Jane as she drives her white

I'm Superman with the wind at his back, she's Lois Lane
But when it's bad, it's awful, I feel so ashamed
I snapped, "Who's that dude?", I don't even know his name
I laid hands on her, I'll never stoop so low again
I guess I don't know my own strength


Just gonna stand there and watch me burn?

Well, that's all right because I like the way it hurts
Just gonna stand there and hear me cry?
Well, that's all right because I love the way you lie
I love the way you lie

I love the way you lie

Addison is projected inside the white Toyota Land Cruiser, seeing Jane drive the car on the Oran K. Gragson Freeway southeast. Pressing buttons, she then appears inside Bridget's car.

"You're three minutes ahead of Jane," says Addison.

"Got it," says Ben, focusing on driving the CR-V.

"Okay, can we get lunch at Boulder City?" asks Letty. "There's this nice place I remember from last year."

"After Hoover Dam."

After twenty minutes, they pass through Henderson and reach the end of the Gragson Freeway, stopping at a stoplight serving the access road for the Railroad Pass Hotel and Casino. The light turns green after two minutes, and Ben gently presses the gas pedal and continues on to Boulder City. Soon, after U.S. 95 splits from U.S> 93, he desert landscape is replaced with retail businesses fronting the highway and brick walls separating U.S. 93 from residential homes. Ben takes a left turn to stay on U.S. 93, passing by a Burger King fast food place. Soon, open desert surrounds both side of Highway 93, as the CR-V heads towards Hoover Dam. The highway becomes a two loan-road and twists through reddish-brown mountains, and there is a fair amount of traffic, even on Tuesday.

Ben stops and waits for a gap in opposing traffic to make a left turn to the access the p[arking garage, paying the parking fee at the entrance. Entering the parking structure, the leaper keeps an eye for a parking spot, until he finds one between a black Ford Mustang and a red Toyota Tercel which both have California license plates.

Ben and Letty both leave the parking structure, with Addison following them. They emerge into the oven-like heat. There are still a fair amount of tourists, mostly older people, though there are a few parents there with their children. The two of them walk to the side facing the outlet of the dam, which was constructed between 1931 and 1936. The two of them can see Black Canyon, with the waters of the Colorado River flowing on the bottom. In the distance is the Mike O'CallaghanPat Tillman Memorial bridge, which is in the oprocess of receiving its finishing touches and will carry traffic for U.S. Highway 93 starting on October 18th.

The leaper looks at the watch on his wrist.

It is 1:30 pm.

"Jane will jump off over there," says the observer, pointing toward the Arizona side. "Witnesses said she stood there for a few minutes."

Addison presses some buttons on the handlink,. And then is projected many meters away, still on the top of Hoover Dam. She sees Jane, wearing a denim skirt and a white blouse. She walks to the edge.

And then she climbs up on the concrete wall separating U.S. 93 from the south edge of Hoover Dam. Some of the visitors already look.

Addison is projected back to where Ben is.

"You have to run!" yells Addison. "Four minutes!"

Ben starts running, passing some tourists while mumbling apologies, while Letty follows him.

His heart races.

He sweats even more due to the desert heat.

And then he sees the blond-haired woman standing on the edge.

"Jane!" he calls out.

The strip clumb mamanger turns around.

"Bridget?" she asks.

"I don;t know what you're going through,but please don;t do this!"

"I..wanted a look."

"Just get down, please. Whatever you;'re going through, we can help."

Addison walks through the ledge, finding her feet projected over seven hundred feet above the waters of the Colorado River.

She looks and sees Jane facing southward.

"Don;t do it," says Addison, even though Jane can neither see nor hear the observer.

"Jane, please look at me," says Ben.

Jane turns around, briefly noticing the tourists looking at her. She then look at the leaper, who appears to be a young woman with blond hair, wearing a white sleeveless blouse and short denim shorts barely reaching past her hips, with some leftover baby fat on her face.

She looks for a bout three seconds.

And then steps down.

Ben then gives her a hug.

"What happened?" asks Letty.

"Please don;t tell anyone," asks Jane.

"Uh, sure," replies the exotic dancer.

"Maybe I should drive you home."

"Yeah,"concurs Jane, reaching into the pocket of her denim skirt and handing the leaper the keys to her Land Cruiser.

Ben reaches into Bridget's purse and hands Letty the keys to the Honda CR-V.

"I'll just go home," says Letty, taking the keys before heading back into the parking structure.

Jane guides the leaper into the parking stricture, until she reaches a white Toyota land Cruiser that is parked next to a yellow Chevrolet Camaro with Utah license plates. Ben gets in the driver's seat, while Jane enters the front passenger seat. The leaper inserts the key into the keyhole on the steering column, and turns the key, activating the starter motor which starts the gasoline engine.

Soon, the white Toyota Land Cruiser is northbound on U.S. Highway 93, Ben drives through Boulder City, this time in the opposite direction, making a right turn where the Burger King is to continue northbound towards Henderson and Las Vegas. Less than ten minutes after leaving Boulder City, Ben makes a right turn at the stoplight servicing Railroad Pass Hotel and Casino. The leaper pulls into the spot; he does not shut off the engine, letting the air conditioning running.

"Why are we here?" asks Jane. "If you want to go gamble, just get out and let me drive home."

"I want to talk to you," says Ben. "We both know you were going to jump off the dam."

"Can you just please drive me home?"

Ben looks into her eyes. "Listen, you can tell me. I think I'm one of the few people you can open up to, to bare all."

Addison stares at Jane.

Jane looks at Ben, seeing the young woman named Bridget Riley, seeing a face with wonder and innocence.

"You look so innocent," she says. "So hopeful. I remember when you first looked for a job at the club. YI said you looked underage. You then came the next day with a copy of your birth certificate. I remember. I was that kind of girl."

Ben and Addison hear this, understanding why the leaper had leaped into Bridget Riley and not someone else in Jane's life.

"Go on," says Ben. "Just tell me, please."

"I grew up happy," replies the strip club manager. "Yes, my father walked out on us for "a better model" when I was three, and my mom had to keep fighting to squeeze out child support, but I was happy. We were a family. My mom did date some guys, but it never worked out."

Addison taps on the handlink. "Her mother is still alive even in our time. And, sadly, her pathetic excuse for a father is still alive in our time. I wonder how many children he abandoned."

"When I started high school back in 1992, there was this teacher," says Jane. The students loved him. He was always willing to help out. I had trouble with schoolwork, and he offered to help. He met with other students before. I decided to talk to him more. He would talk to me about more than school, about my life, advise me on the struggles of growing up from girl to woman. I remember I would fantasize that he would marry my mom and we could live together as a family. I guess I wanted a father figure in my life. At one point, I wanted to be like him, helping the next generation.

I'l never forget the date. Tuesday, August 10, 1993. I was fifteen years old, looking forward to tenth grade. He invited me to his house for lunch. H I had drinks at his place before, and I certainly wasn't gonna snitch about that against anyone, let alone someone who I wanted as a stepdad."

"He had music on. I remember "Linger" by the Cranberries playing. It was just released; you would have been only five years old at the time. He even served wine.I gave him a hug, and he slipped his hand under my blouse. I pushed his arm away. He then grabbed me and then pinned me down on the leather couch.

"My mind froze. Even as if he was taking off my clothes, I couldn't understand what he was doing.

"Until I felt that pain, that sharp pain inside me. I'll never forget that sharp pain. That repeated sharp , stabbing pain. I kept crying. And I'll never forget his awful, disgusting grunts.

"And then he was done. I just lay on the couch, sobbing. It hut me that this man I trusted, this man I hoped would be my dad, had just raped me, stolen my virginity."

He then slapped me and told me to shut up. He told me, in exact words, that "you should be grateful because a real man turned you into a woman' He kept demanding me to say' thank you', so I did. I was just a scared, betrayed fifteen-year-old girl. After what he did, I was scared of him. He then showed me a handkerchief, and there were fresh blood stains. He said he would keep my virgin blood as a souvenir. After that, I somehow just went home, crying."

For about five minutes the only sound is that of the Land Cruiser's air conditioning.

"Ziggy pulled something up," says Addison. "There was a male former high school teacher in Mankato, Minnesota. In 1999, he plead guilty to distributing explicit pictures of some of his underage female students and spent three years in federal prison. Considering what he did to Jane, he got off lightly."

"I can't imagine how that would feel," Ben says softly. "I mean, it;s the seventeenth anniversary of..that."

"That wasn't all," replies Jane.

"What happened after?"

"I tried to put it aside. Even though I often had nightmares, it didn't feel real. I was messed up. But then, I started feeling sick each morning. And then I remembered I hadn't had my period since the rape. I went to see a doctor, and the doctor told me I was pregnant. After much discussion, my mom and I, we decided to go forward with what that teacher did to me.

Ben knows from what Addison told him that no one had ever been convicted of raping Jane Schrader. "What happened next?"

"You have to understand that in 1993, we didn't have DNA testing that would have proven that that teacher fathered the baby inside me. The principal called me to a meeting with that teacher, accusing me of making these false accusations, trying to shift the blame for my pregnancy when I 'should have kept my legs closed'. I was suspended pending further action. And then, my mom and I received a letter informing me I was expelled."

"I'm sorry," says Ben.

"I went through my pregnancy, and then on May 10, 1994, I birth to a baby girl that I named Sophie; I was sixteen years old when I became a mom. I focused on being a teen mom, since I didn't have school."

Ben and Addison know that Jane lives alone and not with her daughter. "What happened next?"

"Even as I was raising Sophie, I kept having flashbacks about the rape, about that sharp pain. I went to sleep on Tuesday, August 9, 1994. Once again, those horrible memories turned my dream into a nightmare. Everything kept playing back, the sharp stabbing pain and those disgusting grunts. I could feel the shame and humiliation and rage.

And then my daughter cried loudly, as she often did. It was Wednesday, August 10th, one year after I was raped, one year after Sophie was conceived.

"I woke up very angry. I went to her crib and pressed a pillow against her face.I pressed as hard as I can. I kept yelling, "Stop crying!" I was filled with so much rage. And my rage was only increasing. All the trauma, all the pain I felt, I focused it, pressing on the pillow on my infant daughter's face. If my mom didn't wake up and stop me...Anyway, I ran outside, crying. I was in so much pain. I then saw a light. It was a train. I thought about stepping in front of it, ending the pain. My mom called out to me, called out my voice. I went out and hugged her just as the train passed by."

After that, there are more minutes of the only sound being that of the car's air conditioner. Neither Ben nor Addison could say anything, not after hearing what Jane had gone through.

"I never saw Sophie again. My mom took her away so she could be adopted. I couldn't look at her or say goodbye to her, not after what I did. I signed some paperwork and then Sophie was gone from my life."

"I'm sorry," says Ben. "I hope you feel better. Maybe you should get some help. You were about to jump from the top of Hoover Dam. "

"You can drive me home, Bridget," says Jane. "Besides, you have promotion duty with Marie, tonight."

An hour later, Jane had sobbed herself to sleep in her bedroom, having bared all to the leaper who appeared to be Bridget. Addison watches over her.

Ooooooooo

Ben is still haunted by Jane Schrader' story. He barely notices the Fremont Street Experience, with the half-cylindrical canopy showing various animations, the lights from casinos and other businesses, and the crowds of people walking around this Tuesday night, feeling the residue of the daytime desert heat as they either walk to a casino, visit one of the food establishments or retail kiosks, or just look above at the light show.

Standing near the Mermaids Casino, Marie hands out another coupon-card with a nude picture of her, with the naughty bits covered with stars. Like the leaper, she is dressed in a tank-top and a miniskirt.

"You've been distracted," says the Polish immigrant.

"Just a lot going on, that's all,:" says Ben, as he looks at the crowd. A group of young men pass him, and Ben hands out card's containing a censored photo of an unclothed Bridget Riley.

"It can be hard. I had some trouble adjusting to life in America. It helped I moved to block with many people from Poland"

"Ben," Addison calls out.

The leaper sees her, wearing a simple dress and blouse, dressed more professionally than the tourists on the Fremont Street Experience.

"It's hard to get tired of observing the past like this," she says in a flat, monotone voice. "Mermaids and La Bayou aren't there anymore, and the Circa replaced Vegas Club. At least Plaza is still at the end over there. We need to talk."

Ben looks at Marie. "Listen," he says. "I need to make a phone call."

"sure," says Marie, before proceeding to hand out the coupon cards to passers-by.

The leaper walks into the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino. He hears the familiar sound of various slot machines. Before him are rows of slot machines, a few which are occupied by people pressing the buttons or more rarely, pulling the handles. In a corner is the Race and Sports Book where gamblers can place bets of various sporting events.

He holds the Nokia N93i cellular telephone by his ear. "I am wondering if I should place bets for Bridget to make up for the money she should've earned from lap dancing." he takes a seat at one of the video slot machines.

"It's about why you haven't leaped out,"says Addison.

"I doubt it's because I haven't finished Punch-Out!!!"

"It's best if I show you." The observer presses buttons on the handlink, projecting a hologram onto the screen of the slot machine.

Ben sees a hologram of the front page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, dated October 9, 2010.

He reads the headline.

TRAIN DERAILMENT RELEASES POISON GAS; AT LEAST 40 CONFIRMED DEAD

The leaper reads a few lines of the article, reading about how the train derailed, how the chemicals mixed to generate poisonous gas, and how the cloud of poison gas was blown by the wind toward the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas.

"This happens two months from now," he says. "How can I prevent it now?"

"Jane caused it," says Addison. "On October 8, 2010, she drove her Toyota Land Cruiser on the railroad tracks to commit suicide. And she died. The collision caused the train to derail, and the train was transporting hazardous chemicals. It released poison gas, which killed sixty-three people and sickened over a thousand."
 
Chapter Six

August 11, 2010

Ben Song parks the blue 2005 Honda CR-V on the street next to the apartment building where Bridget Riley lives, having dropped Marie off at her home just less than a mile away. He stays in the car, so that he can speak with Addison Augustine without having to pretend to be talking on a cell phone.

"I'm wondering why I haven't leaped yet," he says. "I mean, I should be leaping two months into the future if I'm supposed to stop that disaster."

"Ziggy says there's still something you can do now to prevent that tragedy in October," replies the observer.

Ben holds the steering wheel silently for a quarter of a minute. "Did either Bridget or Letty report Jane's suicide attempt at Hoover Dam?"asks the leaper.

Addison taps buttons on the handlink. "Apparently not before October 8th," she answers. "There were no news reports mentioning Jane's previous suicide attempt until January of 2011." She presses more buttons. "Now, if you do report the incident to the police, there's an 82% chance she will be confined in a mental institution by October 8th, which will prevent the tragedy. Of course, if she's committed, there's a 40% chance she'll kill herself before our time."

"Commitment. That will ruin her life."

"She's on a course to ruin hundreds of lives."

"We need to find a third option."

Silence fills the interior of the car for about half a minute. "I understand," says Addison. "I mean, I feel so sad for what Jane went through. It would break anyone. She was broken, smashed, shattered, and she had to put herself together with cheap tape. She was only sixteen years old!"

"We still have time," says Ben.

Oooooooo

Leticia Gomez-Aguilar takes the plastic ladle, placing the seasoned ground beef onto the large corn tortilla on the plate before taking the plate to the kitchen table.

Ben places some diced tomatoes, grated cotija cheese, cilantro, and sour cream into his taco, and then folds the corn tortilla. The leaper then takes the bite. The texture of the corn tortilla is rougher than a flour tortilla; he can taste the coolness of the sour cream and the heat of the ground beef, the zestiness of the sauce, and the sweetness of the tomatoes.

"These are great," the leaper says.

"it's a recipe from home," replies Letty. "Our family operates a taco stand on weekends at the entrance to our ranch. I sometimes cook when I get worried. I mean, Jane was going to kill herself."

"Yeah."

"Should we tell someone? I mean, she needs help, but then she might lose her job, and I know we and the other girls, she needs us."

"We still have time," says Ben. He quietly eats lunch, while wondering why he is still in Bridget's life.
Addison is projected into the apartment.

"We have to talk," she says.

Ben looks at her, and then at Letty. "Excuse me, I need to make a quick call," the leaper says to Bridget's roommate.

He gets up, goes inside Bridget's bedroom, and closes the door.

"It is best if I show you," says the observer.

She presses a button on the handlink. A hologram is projected onto the mirror of the dresser in the bedroom, replacing the reflection of a golden-haired woman barely out of girlhood with a hologram of a newspaper article.

Teen Commits Suicide After Suffocating Baby

Ben reads the article. "That can't be," he says. "She's still alive today."

"It's an article from a history that was changed," says Addison. "Ziggy retrieved this from the archives of the old project. Very interesting stuff, to read what history used to be before we even revived Quantum Leap. Originally, on August 10, 1994, Jane Schrader suffocated her infant daughter Sophie to death. She ran out of her home. When she saw a train speeding along a railroad track, she got on the tracks and was struck at high speed. Her clothes were used to identify her. Jane and Sophie were later buried next to each other at Glenwood Cemetery."

"I can't imagine how she felt," whispers Ben, recalling what Jane had told him. "She must have been horrified when she knew that Sophie would never cry again. She was horrified at what she had become. No wonder she saw death as the only way out."

"Your predecessor leaped into her mother and stopped her from suffocating Sophie, and stopped her from stepping in front of a train."

The leaper sits on the bed. The whole sadness of the situation had gotten to him. In two and a half years of leaping, he had not encountered a sob story like this one. "He set the foundation. Now it's time for me to finish. And I have an idea."

Addison hears the idea from Ben, and then presses buttons on the handlink. "It'll take time for Ziggy to find the information," she says. "I'll ask Ian to help."

They both hear a slight rap on the door.

"Yes?" asks Ben.

"You gonna finish your taco?" asks Letty.

"Might as well finish your lunch," says the observer. "I'll get out of the Imaging Chamber." She presses a button, and her hologram disappears.

Ooooooo

that night, Ben is playing Punch-Out!!! on the Nintendo Wii that is connected to the Toshiba color television. His mind has been restless.

The leaper wonders if a third way exists. In that previous leap into the Atlanta Police Department, he managed to find a third way aside from letting a police officer be murdered or killing the murderer, by asking the right question. And that had been far from the only leap where he found a third way that benefited all.

But there is no guarantee of a third way, as he learned in other leaps.

Addison appears.

"Yes?" he asks. "Did you find it?"

"We found the information," says the observer.

"I'll get a pen and paper."

And so Ben transcribes the information on a yellow note pad. He reads it aloud, to make sure the information and his transcription is correct.

"I should be able to see Jane tomorrow morning," says Ben.

"Wait," says Addison. "Ian, center me on Jane!"

She disappears.

A few seconds later, she reappears.

"You can see Jane in about twenty minutes," she says.

Ooooooo

It is dark outside in the Las Vegas Valley, and Ben parks the Honda CR-V into a parking space at the lot serving Bouncy Cuties, less than ten miles northeast of Las Vegas. Shutting off the engine, he leaves the car, unlocks the door, and heads out the front entrance.

The front entrance has a vestibule where the doorman, wearing a black T-shirt, sits behind a small table.

"Oh, hi Bridget," he says. "If you're not dancin', you gotta pay."

"I just want to see Jane," replies the leaper.

The doorman picks up a handset and speaks. He then looks at Ben.

"You can go in," he says.

Ben enters the strip club, which is only a little brighter than the nightscape outside. He looks and sees the stripper on stage whose name he remembers as Nikki; she is fully nude and holds onto a brass pole, with her left leg pointing high in the air, and men placing wads of cash on the stage.

He heads to the back and knocks.

"It's me, Bridget," says the leaper.

"Come on in," says Jane Schrader.

He walks and and sees Jane sitting at the chair, right in front of the Apple iMac G5. Ben closes the door behind him. The manager wears a black skirt reaching just past her knees and a white long-sleeved cotton blouse.

"Is there anything?" she asks.

"I thought about what we talked about in your car," says Ben. I have friends back home, resourceful friends. "

"Make it quick, please."

Ben pulls out a yellow sheet of paper from Bridget's purse. "It's the names, address, telephone number, and e-mail addresses of Sophie's adoptive parents," he says. "In case you want to know if Sophie's okay."

"I'm sure she and her new family are okay."

Ben takes a deep breath. "It's one thing for you to be sure about that. It's a whole other thing to hear it straight from her parents."

Jane takes the paper and uncrumples it, skimming the writing. Silence fills the office for a minute. "I have work to do," she days. "Please excuse me."

Ben leaves the office, while Addison stays inside.

"This is your last chance to avoid being institutionalized," she says.

Jane just stares off as memories arise.

She recalls the sharp pain and the disgusting grunts.

She recalls the crying, ht e last sound she heard from her infant daughter

She recalls the last time she saw Sophie's face, just before she placed that pillow on her face and pressed down with all the rage and trauma she had endured for one year.

And she will never forgot the horror she felt upon realizing what she tried to do.

She will never forget the light of that locomotive.

And she will never forget her mother's voice calling out to her.

She looks at the yellow paper with names, an address, a telephone number, and two e-mail addresses.

Jane places the paper inside her own purse.

The telephone rings, and she picks up the handset.

"Bouncy Cuties, this is Jane," she says.

And then, unheard by Jane, the handlink beeps.

Addison runs through the closed door.

"Ben!" she calls out.

"What?' asks Ben.

"That train disaster, it never happens!" exclaims the observer. "Jane..she doesn't kill herself. In 2015- August 10th, if you can believe it-, she gets married and becomes a stepmom to two boys! Bridget and Letty attended her wedding. And she's still alive, and still married to her husband, in our time."

"That's great."

"I need to find something else out," says Addison, pressing buttons on the handlink. "Wait a minute. You'll want to hear this."

"Go on," replies the leaper.

"Ziggy pulled some of Jane's old credit card records. She made a purchase for tickets for some flights on May 5, 2011, from Vegas to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Sophie's adoptive parents lived, and still live, less than ten miles from Green Bay!"

Ben smiles. "She got closure, the closure she needed to make herself whole again. So I can go now?"

"Yeah, I guess," says Letty, walking in from a dance session at the stage,m clad in thong panties and a bra. "Did you and Jane talk about what needed to be talked about?"

"I'm certain of it."

"the last thing you have to do is dance," says Addison.

"What?" asks Ben.

Jane steps out of the office. "I'm glad you're here, Bridget," she says to the leaper. "Red Kelly just called; she can't make it. Could you take her place? Don;'t worry about the fee; your night here is on the house."

"I'm not exactly dressed."

"The boys want to see what's under your bra and panties, girl," Letty says to him. "I'll lend you my shoes. Good thing we have the same shoe size."

"It's simple, Ben," says the observer. "You leaped into Bridget after she got naked on stage, so you better get naked on stage to leap out of Bridget."

Ben takes Letty's shoes and puts them on. He then walks onto the stage, turns around, and smiles at the audience.

"All right," says the DJ. "We have a pinch hitter here, it's our Iowa Farm Girl Bridget! Now, let's start with a song that played on the radio when Bridget was a baby!"

Girl, the only thing that matters in my life
Is that I'm down for you and treat you right
You've got no call to treat me cold as ice
Oh oh, girl
As long as I've been givin' my love to you
You should be givin' me your love, too
But you just keep on actin' just like a fool


Ben starts dancing to the music, often holding on the brass poles and swinging around. He removes the white sleeveless blouse to reveal the silk bra underneath.
You know it ain't cool
Uh don't be cruel
'Cause I would never be that cruel to you
Uh no, oh oh, no
Uh don't be cruel
Uh girl, you need to change your attitude
Uh no, oh
Uh don't be cruel


On cue, Ben unfastens the miniskirt and lets it fall, revealing the thong panties. He continues to dance at the front, to the hollers of the men.

In the distance he can see Jane, standing against the wall.

Jane is smiling.

The leaper smiles back.

It is one thing for Addison to tell him Jane will be all right; it is a whole other thing for him to see it for himself.

The pain and trauma Jane Schrader experienced in her formative years will always be part of her.

It is not all of her.

She is like a big sister to Bridget, Letty, and the others.

And she will be a wife to a man, and a stepmother to two boys.

And then the song by Bobby Brown ends.

Ben stops dancing, and looks at the men all lined up at the stage, expecting to see more soon.

"And now for our second song," says the DJ. "Is any of you celebrating a birthday tonight?"

Addison looks towards Ben.

"Do it," she says. "It's your last dance, so make it the best."

Ben starts dancing as the song by Jeremih starts playing.

It's yo' birthday, so I know you want to ride out
Even if we only go to my house
Sip mo-weezy as we sit upon my couch
Feels good, but I know you want to cry out
You say want passion, I think you found it
Get ready for action, don't be astounded
We switching positions, you feel surrounded
Tell me where you want your gift, girl


Unfasten the bra, Ben tosses it aside. He then shakes his hips before dancing around the brass poles. The men starts tossing cash onto the varnished wooden surface of the stage.

Girl, you know I-I-I, girl, you know I-I-I
I've been fiendin', wake up in the late-night dreamin' about your lovin'
Girl, you know I-I-I, girl, you know I-I-I
Don't need candles or cake, just need yo' body to make, ooh


Ben then pulls down the thong panties to the sound of cheers.


Birthday sex, birthday sex (it's the best day of the year, girl)
Birthday sex, birthday sex (it feels like, feels like, lemme hit that G-spot, G-spot)


"Farm Girl Bridget is baring all!" announces the DJ.

He lies on his back on stage, the panties down to his knees. The panties are then around his left foot, before he takes it with his left hand and places it on the stage.

Ben then grabs his ankles and pulls them back, eliciting cheers.

"Oh boy!" exclaims one of the men standing right at the edge of the stage.

Unseen by anyone except Addison, a blue glow surrounds Ben and he quantum leaps!