Chapter 17: Day 124

The following weekend, I brought home the pictures of Barrington that I had received from the investigator 2 months earlier. I had decided that it was time to confirm his identity with Carol before I progressed further with my plan. I sat her down and explained that I had tentatively identified her tormentor in Greenwich. Before taking any action against him, I wanted her to confirm his identity. She started to shake. I quickly told her that I only wanted her to look at his picture, not see him in person. She calmed down almost immediately.

I said, "Do you think that you can look at his picture?"

"Yes, Mistress. I think that I can do that."

When I took out his picture, she started to shake again, but got herself under control. "Yes, that's him. I'll never forget his face."

"His name in Barrington. Do you remember the man who tied us up several months ago?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"They look very much alike, don't they?"

"Yes, Mistress. At first I thought that it WAS him. But then I realized that it wasn't. I was still frightened though."

"You remember that I told you that the man who came here was Peter Hotaling? And that I work with Peter at McCarthy Publishing?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Peter looks like the man who harmed you, but he would never harm you, or myself. He's a good man who shares our affinity for bondage. Would you be able to stay calm in his presence knowing this?"

"I think so, Mistress. If you wish me too."

"I do, and I wish you to understand that not all men want to hurt you. There will always be terrible men like your stepfather and stepbrother, and the two men who enslaved you, but overall, men are not your enemy. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mistress. If you say so."

"I do. I want you to be able to trust certain men so that we can punish the ones that harmed you. Mainly, I want you to be able to trust that Peter will not harm you. I want you to know that he liked you. OK?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Good. Then I think that it will be possible to meet with Peter to discuss some ideas that I have been working on, which will even the score with Mr. Barrington, and prevent him from harming anyone else. He may already have found another victim."

"You mean that he may have someone right now?"

"Yes, I believe it more than likely. Remember, you escaped more than two years ago."

"Why don't you just call the police like you did with the Renwicks?"

"This is a lot trickier. Barrington is wealthy. The police would probably not even be able to get a search warrant for his house without substantial probable cause. If you were to file a complaint, than a search warrant would be issued, but it would drag you into the morass. Also, you told me that your first master had you sign a lot of papers that you didn't read. Perhaps one of them is like the one that you gave me, and states that you requested your status. No, what I have planned for Mr. Barrington will drag him down alone, without destroying anyone else's life in the process. For the rest of his life, he'll regret torturing helpless women.