Lost Days

"It's been a while for me too, Jenny didn't want to do anything that might lead to complications with the pregnancy. Oh she'd go down on me or jerk me off but we didn't actually have intercourse for some months."

"We'd better get cleaned up and I'll drop you off on my way to work." It was a bit of a scramble but an hour later she dropped me off a hundred metres from my hotel and headed into her work.

I didn't hurry so it was ten minutes before I let myself into the room to be greeted by the phone ringing. "Byron, it has hit the fan big time, fucking Benson must have followed us last night and has dobbed me in for fraternising with you. As we speak he and Roxburgh on their way to the hotel to pick you up. Get out of there and go to Central station and get a train to Katoomba and I'll meet you there. Hurry!"

I hurried, I was out of there using the stairs instead of the lift and the back entrance instead of the foyer. I had a short wait at the station before the train departed and I sat in it not watching the scenery flash by and willing it to go faster. Madeline was on the platform when the train pulled into the station and ran to me, kissing me quickly before literally dragging me from the station to her waiting car.

"What's going on, how come you're here instead of at work?"

"I've been suspended while they investigate our relationship and how much it has compromised the investigation. I told them that I would be spending some time with my parents, which is true. I'd like for you to meet them but that will be impossible."

"Why, are you ashamed of me?"

"You'll see." She drove away from the station and headed for, of all places the cemetery. I followed her as she strode between the rows of headstones until she found what she was looking for, the grave of her parents. I say grave because they were buried in the same grave plot and I noticed that they had died on the same day. "I come here when I need advice, these two were the wisest people I've ever known and even now, spending time with them helps me to make decisions or to get over any problems I might have. They mightn't have been trained psychologists but saw that every problem had a solution if approached with love. They were never apart for even a day except when Mum was in hospital with me, and while it was a tragedy them being taken like they were, at least it was together. If one had died before the other I don't think the survivor would have coped at all well. I am going to sit on the grave and meditate, feel free to join me, please."

Madeline leaned against me with her eyes closed and hummed softly to herself. I couldn't make out what she was humming, it seemed to be some sort of mantra. We stayed in this position for some time and I was trying my best to clear my mind of all that had happened to me. I was having little success until I began to talk softly to myself and found that it developed into my own mantra, a low humming series of repetitious phrases. Slowly the mists cleared and my thinking became clear and I found that I could look on my problems from a detached perspective, from an external viewpoint, sort of what I believed it would be like to travel in an astral plane.

I felt her coming out of her trancelike state. "Wake up, we have a lot of work to do." She shook me.

"I'm awake, more awake than I think I've ever been, and yes, we do have a lot of work to do. First things first, I should get back to Melbourne and talk to my Solicitor."

"I'll drive you."

"I can't ask you to do that, I'll find my own way back."

"How do you propose to do that, I gather that you want to get back before the cops find you, because it will look better if you go to the police rather than if they arrest you with the media present."

"You're right, what do you suggest."

"I'll drive you but we won't go the direct route."

"Which way do you suggest?"

"We'll head west over the Blue Mountains and then south down the Newell Highway across the river at Echuca, the Cobb Highway to Bendigo and the Calder Highway into Melbourne. If we take it in turns to drive we can make it without having to stop anywhere except for food and fuel. Hopefully it will be a while before they start looking for us and we can hope that they will think that we've gone to ground somewhere or that we've headed north as far away from this as possible, and not be going back to Melbourne."

"That's pretty much what I thought although I didn't expect that you'd want to come with me."

"Are you saying that you don't want me with you?" I could tell by the look on her face that she knew that I wanted her with me, the sexy smile was a dead giveaway.

By swapping every two hours and only stopping to refuel the car and ourselves, we made good time and it was mid-afternoon when I rang my Solicitor. "James, it's Byron."

"I've been expecting your call, where are you?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. I need to talk to you, when would be a good time?"

"As soon as you can get here, I've had the police crawling all over me wanting to know if I'd heard from you. They've told me a little of why they're looking for you and I can't believe that you'd do something like that."

"I didn't, it'll take me a couple of hours to get to your office, can you be there?"

"I'm in all afternoon, I'll see you when you get here."

"Why did you tell him that?" Madeline asked. "We're just down the road."

"Because he'll feel obliged to contact the police and I want some time with him before I speak to them."

I turned off the main road into the street that led to his office. I drove past and did a U turn a couple of hundred metres beyond it. "I don't see anything that looks like a police car." I said as I drove into the car park behind his office.

"Byron," His receptionist looked surprised to see us. "We weren't expecting you for a couple of hours, I'll let James know that you're here."

"Does he have anyone with him?"

"No."

"Don't tell him I'm here, I want to surprise him." I didn't wait for her response and seconds later I pushed open his office door and ushered Madeline in.

"Byron, now this is a surprise, come in, sit down, and introduce me to this lovely lady."

"James, this is Detective Sergeant Madeline Allison of the New South Wales police. She has been helping me sort out this mess. I'm sure that you've been told that I'm being looked for because the police suspect that I killed Jenny. I didn't, but they're convinced because someone has convinced them that I'm guilty. I have proof that I couldn't have, but they have proof that I did. What we have to do is to change their thinking so that they will actually consider other scenarios so that I can clear my name."

"You sound as if you know who's involved."

"Unfortunately knowing is not proving and we need proof. They are overlooking the minutiae because they have circumstantial proof." Madeline said.

"What sort of proof are we looking for?"

I outlined what had happened to me and the so-called evidence that the police had introduced into court during the extradition hearing. "My car keys were taken from my luggage at my hotel to make it look as if I'd flown back to Melbourne and killed Jenny and flown back to Sydney. I was drugged and kept in my hotel room until after the murder and then moved to another hotel where I was 'found' a couple of days later, not knowing where I was or how I got there. I had in my room an attaché case with a large amount of money, they will not find my fingerprints anywhere on the money although I told them that I'd counted it."

"How did you manage that?" Madeline asked.

"When I picked up the bundles I took from the case I used my fingernails to grip either side of the tape around the bundles. The label told me how much was in each bundle, I just needed to count the number of bundles. There probably won't be any usable prints unless they got careless and didn't use gloves. I want to know where the money came from and who arranged it."

"What do you want me to do?" James asked.

"I want you to come to the police station with us. I'm going to surrender to the police and I want you to be there when I'm interviewed."

"I can do that, when did you plan to do this?"

"No time like the present. Shall we go?" James looked uncertain for a brief moment before he stood up and we walked out to the reception area where he told his receptionist what was happening and that he would not be available for some time.

"When we get to the police station I want you to demand to see the evidence that they have, in particular the CCTV footage from the airport on the night of the murder, I'm looking for someone in particular. I want to be able to access my car, I presume that it is being held by the police. If the police decide to press charges I want you to apply for bail, I need to be free to move around looking for any evidence that will clear me."

"I'll do what I can, in the mean time remember you do not have to answer any questions that may incriminate you, they have to have proof of guilt before they can get a conviction."

"I know what I can and can't say, I've had a good teacher, Madeline and I have been going over what we think they know, and what we need them to release to us."

We caused something of a stir when we walked into the police station and I identified myself. "Detective Sergeant Roxburgh is still in Sydney looking for you, there is no-one here that knows about the case and he has the files with him."

"That's okay, we'll start without him, here is a list of what we require, we need access to the CFCTV footage from the airport and Mr. Pollard's car, can you arrange that?"

"I'll have to speak to the Inspector about this." He picked up the phone and punched in a number. "Inspector, I think you should come to the front desk, Byron Pollard has just walked in with his Solicitor and they want access to evidence." He hung up the phone. "He's on his way."

The Inspector was most obliging when James explained that unless evidence was produced the police could not hold me and that we were quite happy to wait at home for Roxburgh and his files to arrive. They had no evidence so we went home via the police impound yard where I had a look at my car. The seat was in the forward position, whoever had driven it had used Jenny's keys and not mine."

Madeline and I arranged to meet James in the morning and, if the police were ready for us, go back to the police station. I decided that I didn't want to go back to my house, at least not yet, so we checked into a hotel. The food in their restaurant was okay but over-priced, the wine list was un-inspiring so we found ourselves back in our room early.

"What's been on your mind this evening?"

"I know who's responsible for this whole mess. Up until this afternoon I wasn't sure but now I am. I've been trying to work out how to attack this."

"I know who did this too. While you were on the toilet a few minutes ago I spoke with my boss. You toxicology report showed that you'd been heavily sedated over a long period to the point that when we found you, you were awake but not fully aware, your brain was just kicking in. The check on various banking records turned up some very interesting facts and Constable Benson has been most helpful." She caught my astonished expression. "We can be devious when we feel the need. Now we have to come up with a strategy, but not now, we need to rest, tomorrow is going to be tough."

We went to bed early, both of us were exhausted from the long drive and the stress of the day, so sleep didn't come easily, so we had to find some form of stress relief. I kissed her and she responded by kissing me back with a bit of tongue thrown in, so I began to caress her boobs. Her hand found my cock, she didn't need to wake it up, it was already up and ready. Tiredness set in moments after we'd both come, I didn't even feel up to pulling him out so he sort of fell out sometime after we'd both dropped off into an exhausted sleep.

When I woke Madeline was still half on top of me with one leg draped over my hips. My cock had a mind of its own and had decided that it needed more of that action and was heading towards her pussy. I gave it a little help and no sooner had it arrived at her entrance than she stirred. "Mmm, what a way to be woken up in the morning." She wasn't fully awake but enough that she managed to climb back onto me and push her pussy down onto my cock. This time we didn't have tiredness to contend with and Madeline came quickly. "I'm sure that there's something wrong with this, we shouldn't be enjoying this as much as we are."

"I have no problem enjoying you. Jenny and I discussed this scenario some time back when we were convinced that we'd never have children. She suggested divorce and if I chose that path she told me that she encouraged me to find someone that I could love as quickly as possible. We even touched on the topic of if either one of us pre-deceased the other, the surviving partner should feel no remorse about finding someone else. So I feel no guilt at all, just a little sad that I've lost her."

We arrived back at the police station at 9:00am and were ushered into a room where we could review the CCTV footage from the airport. I said nothing when I saw what I'd expected to see, just squeezed Madeline's hand under the desk to let her know that I'd found what I was looking for. The footage had just finished when the door opened to admit Roxburgh. He was not amused. "I need you in the interview room now."

"Sure thing." I stood up and moved towards the door. Madeline and James followed me.

"What did you two think, disappearing on us like that? We've spent time that we should have been using to investigate this case just looking for you. As for you Detective Sergeant Allison, you will be lucky to have a job at the end of this, perverting the course of justice, aiding and abetting a fugitive, the list goes on."

"A moment Detective Sergeant Roxburgh, my client was not a fugitive, he'd never been arrested, he was free to travel wherever he wanted, and as for Sergeant Allison, she was merely ensuring that justice prevailed. It was obvious that you had already decided that my client was guilty and were only prepared to consider any evidence that supported that stance. You may find that your job will be on the line." This shook Roxburgh, he was used to operating from a position of strength.

"I suppose that you've just come in from the stakeout at my place." I said.

"What do you mean?" He wasn't expecting this either.

"You would have received word yesterday afternoon that we were back in town and rushed back. Working on the assumption that we would be staying in my house you were waiting there with the cavalry and the media so that you could make your high profile arrest. We needed to be able to access evidence without you looking over our shoulders so we had no problem letting you think that we'd be there."

"Have you found what you're looking for?"

"Yes, I recognised someone in the CCTV footage and this confirmed what I'd already concluded based on what has happened over the past month or so. You see, I have become aware that things were not normal in my company, assets were disappearing and contracts were going to other companies that would normally have gone to mine. You see certain negotiations were being floated that would see the company placed in administration and, after the staff were sacked, sold off and then shut down. I could not have that so was fighting it. I figured that if I couldn't stop it I could at least ensure that the staff that had been loyal to me and my father before me would be looked after. Unfortunately the person involved, or one of the people involved, had other ideas."

"Who do you suspect?" James asked.

"It was my brother Nelson. He had several reasons to seek to harm me, not the least of which was that he had been engaged to Jenny before she broke it off and married me. He was also jealous of the fact that Father chose me to run the company over him, the fact that I was better qualified didn't enter into his thinking. He had help of course." I turned to James. "I had hoped for better from you James, I trusted you, and you betrayed that trust."

"What! What are you babbling about?"

"I knew as soon as we arrived at your office yesterday. You have a new Receptionist, don't you?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"She's Nelson's new girlfriend. It was she who sat next to me at the cricket, and it was she who attached herself to me and arrived after the game at my hotel room. It was she that drugged me and fed a drip into my hand to keep me under sedation until after Jenny had been killed. It was she who escorted me to the room at the Sebel and stayed with me until it was time for me to be conveniently found. It was you that pre-empted my being found so that your tame policeman here could be in Sydney armed with extradition papers to get me back here in a blaze of publicity designed to re-enforce my guilt. You were very good a moment ago, you almost had me believing that you were on my side. How am I doing so far?"

"Sheer fantasy, I don't know who put these ideas into your head, but it is totally ridiculous."

I turned to Roxburgh. "The tox screen, did it show any drugs in my system?"

"Yes."

"And yet you come back home hell bent on making sure that you charges stuck. I think I should call for an investigation into the handling of this case, including an investigation of your bank accounts."

"And just how do you propose to do this?"

"Simple." It was Madeline that spoke now. "You see I've not actually been suspended from the force. Everything I have done I did with the approval of my Inspector. When it became obvious to me that evidence had been fabricated to implicate Byron here, we began our own investigation and that included allowing you to think that Constable Benson believed your version of the story. It's amazing how much information can be gleaned that way. An investigation of Nelson's bank records as well as James' revealed that the money that had been planted on Byron came from Nelson, it was part of an advance against the sale of the business. The whole scheme was cooked up by James here who just happens to be the husband of a Director and a major shareholder in the company that's seeking to take over Byron's company."

"You still won't get away with this, all that we have to do is to tamper with this recording and it will be a case of a rogue cop's word against that of a Solicitor and a senior serving cop."

"That's where you're wrong, you see I have a miniature radio transmitter in my bag and now we have another recording of this interview, and it is in the hands of the Corruption Branch, who should be just about ready to burst into this room and arrest you." Her prediction was immediately confirmed by the entry of several men all armed with handcuffs.

"Well done Sergeant Allison, we've had our eyes on Roxburgh for some time, he has an interesting group of friends as well as a property portfolio that could never have been obtained on a police salary. Your Inspector is expecting you back in Sydney on Monday, after you make a full statement for us of course, you officially have a couple of days leave."

"I expect more than a couple of days. I'm taking some of the leave that's owing to me, Byron and I are going to have some serious discussions about our future."

"A bit sudden isn't it?"

"Isn't that what we're taught to do, quickly analyse the situation and react accordingly." She grabbed me and planted a passionate kiss on my unprepared lips. "Come lover, we'll leave these people to their business, I want you to show me again how you do that thing with your cock."

When we got to my house I showed Madeline pictures of Jenny and we both sat and meditated for several minutes. "Wow, did you feel that?" She asked.