Chapter 78

I showed the headlines to Harold and Cecy.

"Looks like you're going to have to stay here a little bit longer," said Cecy. "Good, we like having you here, you're fun."

Harold looked at the headline and muttered under his breath for a moment. "I wondered when they'd try something like this." We all looked at him in surprise. "Paul, this is something that you'd never even think of. They blew up the police station themselves. I'll bet the ones who died were honest cops, or ones that they wanted to punish for some reason."

I thought about this for a couple of seconds. "You mean that they killed these people themselves?" Harold nodded.

I couldn't believe these people, how could they just slaughter innocents? The people who did this had to die and as soon as possible.

My staff came in then. Carol picked up a paper as she passed the table. Jenny just glanced at the headline and tossed her copy back.

Carol looked at the paper and then me, "But you were here for the last four days at least." She seemed bewildered as to what to think. If that was the level of clarity of thought that she would give me, especially after her experiences with the Morrisons, then perhaps she isn't really suitable for me.

"They're LYING!" Carol was fuming, "The bastards are LYING!" Carol seemed to be really shocked at this revelation. I watched her face as reality dawned. "Nearly everything's been a lie, hasn't it? We can't trust anything we read," she dropped the paper as though it'd just turned into a viper. "Who can we trust?" she asked plaintively.

"Him," Jenny pointed at me from the breakfast buffet, "I trust him. Madam Rhea said I could, and she was right."

Susan looked at me, almost studying me to see what made me so trustworthy.

"But why him?" 2 asked.

Jenny looked at her, "2, you're my dearest friend. Memories of you kept me going when I was in a solitary pen. Trust me in this, please trust me. When they moved me to the main pen the slaves were all talking." She nodded towards me, "they were talking about him; the Bastard Baron. You've never seen a slave being called to serve a master or mistress, not at Madam Rhea's. We always wondered if they'd come back. Sometimes they came back ... but that could be ... worse. Then we tried to help them. They'd been to the hospital, but how do you put a mind in plaster, how do you stitch up a soul? We didn't know, so we talked about the Baron, what would the Baron do to the master who did these things, what revenge would he give us? We heard about a puppy, about to be drowned, but saved by the Baron."

"A PUPPY!" exclaimed Julie, "what the fuck's this got to do with a dog?"

"Julie, a puppy isn't a dog. It's a boy or girl who's being trained for animal sex. If they can't get a dog puppy to bond with them, then they're drowned with the rest of the unmatched dogs. That's why they're called 'puppies'." Jenny explained patiently, to the obvious horror of her friends.

"Anyway," Jenny continued, "while the puppy was saved, the daughter of the favourite was put to a horrible death. That's what they said, that's what they all believed, I don't know if it's true, but I believed it."

"It is true Jenny. I'm the puppy who was saved. I was a bag carrier for the girls, three other girls were saved too, but the Baron's enemies made one girl kill herself and our sister. Her mother is still with the Baron, Lynne is that girl's name. And now look at me, I was a failed puppy and am now a body slave, the chief body slave, with a collar which shows my status and my Masters wealth. My Master is the Baron, this girl is happy to be a slave of the Baron." Umber surprised us all with the strength and ferocity of her statement. No one could deny her feelings in this matter.

"So it's true then," Jenny whispered, "it's really true." She looked at me with awe, "Master..."

"Jenny, you're free, you don't have to call me 'Master'." I tried to be kind, I knew how much it must have cost her to use that, once hated, word again."

"I..." she hesitated for a second.

"Jenny..." Susan hissed, "what are you doing?"

Jenny turned and smiled to her friend, "I'm not doing what I want to do. I want. to give myself to him as slave, but not yet. He's given me the greatest gift a slave can get, my freedom. He gave it freely and willingly. You cannot know how rare that is. Masters do not free their slaves." She smiled, a rueful smile as she obviously remembered friends who'd gone, "And I don't know of any slave who'd willingly forgo their freedom to remain enslaved."

Umber looked up, "Freewoman Jenny, I have."

Melissa stepped forward, "This girl has too."

Jill stepped away from the wall where she waited to serve, "This girl gave herself into the Baron's enslavement."

Jenny looked at the smiling, friendly faces surrounding her. Slaves who'd been given the choice and remained enslaved. Slaves who delighted in their choice, their enslavement. "Then perhaps I am one of the luckiest slaves in the world. And one of the unluckiest Freewomen too."

I collected my breakfast and sat in my usual place. Umber knelt beside me, hoping to be fed. Jill came and knelt on the other side.

Taking a little bacon I slipped it into Jill's mouth. Her lips caressed my finger tips as she accepted this titbit. In her turn, Umber licked my fingers clean before she'd let them go.

Jenny turned from the breakfast buffet and watched for a few moments. Then she dropped her plate down amongst the food trays and, crying, fled from the room.

Julie looked at the slowly closing door, "what was that about?"

Cecy looked across at her. "Julie, it is a high honour for a slave to be fed from their master's plate, by their master himself. Paul is feeding two of his slaves, one of the highest and one of the lowest. Neither you nor I could tell the difference in these slaves statuses, but take it on trust that Jenny can. And she saw too, that she too could have been so honoured. As she said, luckiest slave, unluckiest freewoman."

Subdued, Julie resumed eating. 2 got up and followed her friend. Jill stood, looked at the piece of egg I was about to give her, and sighed. Then she ran after 2 to ensure she didn't hurt herself as Umber had ordered her.

Cecy looked at me thoughtfully for a long time. "Soon they'll be 15." She said quietly.

Breakfast was quiet that morning. Finished, I looked at the buffet, I gathered some mini baguettes, butter, ham and cheese, together on a tray. A pot of coffee too. These I took with me into my office. I put them on a small table beside my desk.

A few minutes later the women came in. Jenny red-eyed from crying. I waved them to their places around the meeting table. When Jenny seemed to be settled I brought the tray round and placed it in front of her and 2. "You two have to eat. You have a lot of work to do today and you need your food."

A tear splashed onto my wrist as I put the tray down.

"Thank you master," Jenny said quietly.

"But Jenny, I'm not your master, you're free."

She looked up at me, "Baron, you may not be my master, but I'll never again be free."

I started the briefing again. Today was to be mainly a question and answer session. And 2 had lots of questions. Jenny ate her breakfast, slowly, as though savouring every mouthful.

I watched her carefully. Perhaps Cecy was right, I thought, soon there'd be 15.

Sasha joined us midmorning, she sat beside me while we had coffee.

"What are these?" she asked tugging at my jeans.

"Jeans," I said, "they're a bit like trousers but last longer."

She gave me a look. "I know they're jeans, but what are they doing on you?"

"I thought I would get dressed this morning." What else could I say?

"Hummmph!" Sasha was good at Hummmphing, she did things with her body when she Hummmphed, she set her breasts jiggling very sexily. And as she was naked, I had a very sexy lady to watch while she Hummmphed.

"That was nice," I said, "do it again."

She looked down at her breasts, "Hummmph."

"You are so sexy, lady of mine." I kissed her and caressed her breast.

"Thank you master." She snuggled against me, ensuring that her breast was free for me to hold.

All too soon 2 stood up, "Boss, when you drove up..." and so it started again. Sasha left soon after.

"Boss, I think we've got most of what we need from you now. We'll start with Bee tomorrow. Debriefing Bee will take about three days and then Ms Dempsey wants us to talk with Lynne, Karolina and Ela." Carol looked up from her notes. 2 had been remembering everything. But she also had copies of the other's notes and video recordings of these sessions too.

Dog tired, I almost crawled off to my bed. June was waiting with the massage pad, and a smile, for me. Gratefully, I lay on the pad and closed my eyes.

Cries of ecstasy woke me. A light cover had been placed over me, though it was not really needed in the warmth of the bedroom. Sasha was arched upwards, desperately trying to press her sex harder into Jill's fingertips, her head thrown back and making guttural noises as she climaxed.

I noticed Menolly standing by the wall watching her charge carefully. Her eyes sparkling with her delight in Sasha's pleasure. Menolly seemed to lean forward slightly, as though by willpower alone she could heighten Sasha's peak. Watching her, I saw what Paula must have seen, Menolly would be a perfect choice as Sasha's bodyguard.

Girls surrounded Sasha now, wiping her clean with damp cloths, drying her, covering her as she fell asleep. I leant over her and gently kissed my love's forehead. "Sleep tight my precious one. I love you."

Sasha mumbled something back and I watched as her body relaxed into her deepening sleep.

I felt refreshed and ready for the day ahead, but seeing the clock, I realised it was still early evening. Well, I thought, in that case I've got time to do some more work. The walk to my office was quiet and I believed I was alone, until I turned and spotted Umber and Alison trailing me. Both smiled at me when they saw me watching them. I waited until they caught up with me, then looked down at them as they waited patiently for me to continue.

I smiled at them too and continued my walk. I hadn't really thought that I'd be allowed to come this far without one of my girls in attendance. Who knows what I could get up to if I was left on my own? Mind you, with these girls I had no idea of what I could get up to with them. They were willing to do anything for, or with, me. Maybe I'd have less opportunity for misbehaviour alone than I would with two or three of these girls. That thought made me laugh out loud. I wonder what Umber and Alison thought about their Master laughing at nothing?

In the office I saw that my desk had been rearranged. There were now three IN trays. One with my C&C work piled high in it. That was over to the far left. On the right of that, tray number two held a single folder. To the right of that was an empty tray. Sitting, I could read the labels on the trays. In order, left to right they said 'BORING', 'INTERESTING' and 'WOW, LOOK AT THIS'.

I wondered who'd had this simple but brilliant idea to help me prioritise my work. Now as the work came in, day or night, if it didn't have to be seen there and then, it could just be placed into the correct tray and I'd see it when I came into the office.

I picked up the 'Wow, Look at This' folder.

Inspector Bryant. Prof had found him, or rather her. She was in the Thames Valley Police based at their headquarters in Kidlington, Oxfordshire. She was too young and inexperienced, in real police work that is, for the post she held. I put the folder down for a moment and made a note, perhaps this could help us identify the people we should be interested in, lack of real experience for the post and very quick progression through the ranks.

I looked at the picture Prof had provided. Her eye gave her away instantly, cold, lifeless, not an ounce of humanity in there at all. This woman would torture her own children for entertainment, and then wonder why they left home as soon as they could. I'd be willing to bet that she was a certifiable psychopath. It was all in her eyes.

This woman needed to go to Cher's, besides, I still owed her 97 pence. Inspector Nancy Bryant would drop that to 96 pence.

I lifted the phone and dialled.

Prof answered on the second ring, "I'm looking at her now Frosty, cold bitch ain't she? You want her picked up?"

"As soon as possible Prof." I answered, wondering how he knew it was me and what I wanted. But we didn't call him 'Prof' for his looks alone.

"That's good 'cos we're just getting on the plane. And I tell you, she wasn't happy about being lifted. She'd just been promoted to Chief Inspector. Ain't she a high flier?" he finished with a laugh.

"Bring her in Prof, and be careful with that one, I don't like her eyes."

"With you on that one Frosty, if you don't like them in her photo, just wait until you see the real thing, man, she is one cold bitch."

Having nothing more to say, Prof hung up.

I looked at the phone, I knew Prof would be an asset. Now he's showing what we all saw in the Provinces during the troubles. Prof was a very capable warrior. He just didn't like to take on too much responsibility. Something like this though, for five of the new RN and RM officers, well, he'd just force himself a little.

"Umber," I asked without looking up, "who rearranged my desk?"

"Alison did Master. She asked if she could and I gave my permission. Did I do wrong Master?"

I looked up and smiled at her. "No, neither of you did wrong. Please tell Alison that she's my office manager for a trial period, of..." I thought for a few moments, "three months. She can ask Jill for any help that she needs, or just to get a feeling for what I will most likely want from her. I'll see how she does the job."

"Yes Master, Alison will be honoured by your trust Master."

"Well if she can have simple, but good, ideas like these trays, then she should help organise my office. It'll really help me when I'm working."

I picked up the next document pack from the BORING tray. One for Mandy, this one was one of the government's schemes. I read through the proposals, making a couple of changes, mainly in the specifications of heat and sound insulation. And I changed the prime building contractor back to C&C. I made a note on the pack front for Sasha's team to inspect all of the government's scheme proposals very carefully. I didn't want either C&C or me to be implicated in any way with corruption and fraud.

The next three packs were all the same, minor changes which could have awarded contracts to friends or relations of MPs and Ministers. Well, if they wanted to do that they could do it without me. We'd warned them that if we didn't like their proposals then they'd have to do them on their own.

I yawned, tired enough to sleep now. I stood up, "come on girls, let's get to bed." Umber and Alison almost jumped up and followed me out of the office. Another day done.