True Meaning Of Sacrifice Ch. 04

Jim tried to measure his words. "You mean you've known all along and let her go through this alone?"

After taking another break from hitting the bag, Mike took a deep breath and started telling him everything that had happened since he followed Michelle to the hotel room. When he finished, Jim paused to take it all in. He was impressed with Mike's plan. It was incredibly well thought out and daring.

"Was the trip successful?"

Mike looked up and smiled for the first time all day, "Completely."

Monday at work, Ryan tried to reach Michelle, but her secretary informed him that she was at the hospital with her mother. "Fucking luck," he thought.

The party Friday night would have been one to remember. There were two video cameras to record everything, the four men and a hooker Tony had picked up. They wound up using her all night, but it wasn't anything like it should have been. For several weeks now, it seemed like Michelle always had a good reason for not being available and it was beginning to concern him. He wasn't sure if it was bad luck or if she was doing it on purpose. This was a really bad time for her to be getting out of control, he was already dealing with a bad situation that was getting worse.

He decided to call Bill to ask what he should do. The relationship between the two men had been steadily declining since things started going badly with the plan. Ryan was in so far over his head with this situation that he had no idea what to do next.

"What now, Ryan?" Bill asked wearily. He was getting sick of the whining. Now that it looked like Ryan wasn't going to get his promotion, it certainly wasn't worth the headache.

We need to stay together now, Bill. Things are really getting out of control on my end. I need your help." He heard deep breathing for a moment while Bill was thinking.

"Listen, your promotion is probably shot, you already know that. From what you said, you were going to push her as far as you could last weekend. You're lucky that you didn't blow the whole thing. You're not a pimp. This isn't some messed up junkie streetwalker. You have to be careful with her if you're going to keep her under your thumb. I think I can persuade her to keep cooperating. Have John and Paul meet me with her at the same place as the first time this Saturday and we'll make sure she learns her place."

He smiled as he hung up the phone. He was ready for another piece of the housewife and wanted to see if there was a possibility of taking over her training. She could be very valuable to him with the way he conducted business. Instead of banging her at the office and taking all kinds of chances with her, Ryan should have been dialing down the brutality. The asshole had no idea how to handle people, especially women.

If Bill stepped in and offered to get Ryan off of her back, Michelle might just be willing to agree to an arrangement that was less stressful on her and her marriage. Bill envisioned a night once a month or even less for her services. She might even look at it like he was helping her. The police do the 'good cop, bad cop' thing all the time, Bill thought it might work here.

Although he usually worked with escorts to help with businessmen, they were notoriously unreliable. He'd never have to worry about someone like Michelle getting strung out on drugs or trying to work her own angle for money. If he could get her to go along with him, she'd be ideal. Besides she was amazingly hot and hadn't lost that air of innocence. He'd been with her twice and the second time was a remarkable improvement. If she continued getting better like that, she had serious potential.

If she wouldn't go along, Bill decided he was out. Ryan had nothing on him, so he could walk away clean. He knew the signs of a good situation going bad and this one had the potential to be catastrophic. If everything went to shit, he'd just take his money and disappear, but he didn't think it would come to that. He never let Ryan have anything concrete that could implicate him. As always, he would walk away like a ghost.

When Ryan hung up, he felt a little better. If things didn't work with Michelle after this weekend, he decided to cut her loose and give her the transfer she wanted. He figured she would be so grateful, that he wouldn't have anything to fear, plus he always had the pictures for insurance. Things were going to heat up because of the mess with Keith, but if Ryan could weather the storm, he would still be better off than when he fucked up at the party. In addition he got to fuck the woman he'd been lusting after for two years. Now he just had to work out the details for this weekend. Maybe he could still salvage this disaster.

Alan watched the tape of Ryan hanging up the phone and smiled. "Got you, fucker!" He hit the stop button and basked in his moment of victory. He immediately dialed the phone. "Mike, it's Alan. We've got something."

~~~~~

"...But the one thing he made me promise was to not tell Michelle. The rest has to be a surprise." As Alan filled Stacy in on what he had told Mike, she felt relieved to no longer be in the middle of everything. Her admiration for her new boyfriend (she smiled as she found herself using the word boyfriend about him) continued to grow. He had taken everything that had been thrown at him in stride. Now he was even taking charge. She had felt overloaded for weeks trying to protect and comfort her friend, then having to lie to her as she helped Mike. She kissed Alan gently on the lips, just to let him know how amazing he was.

Wednesday, Ryan told Michelle there was to be another meeting this weekend, this time with Bill. He warned her that there better not be any excuses this time, or the consequences would be harsh. She looked him in the eye and agreed, knowing that she'd die first.

"Don't worry, it's been taken care of," Stacy told her when she got back to her office.

Michelle was stunned, "I don't understand, how?"

"Sarah and I are going to play a little game of phone tag with the bastards and everything will get screwed up at the last minute. Just act like you are expecting everything to happen the way he told you. Don't worry, none of it will look like your fault, so Ryan can't be angry. When Monday comes, he'll be so pissed that he'll be making phone calls and having meetings. Then we'll have him, I promise. No matter what, you can tell Mike the first thing next week and we'll all back you. It will be over."

Michelle hugged her friend and could only hope she was right. As they embraced, Stacy felt a rush at being able to tell her enough to relieve her fears. Stacy also felt incredible anxiety about the end of Mike's plan, knowing what was involved, but by now believed with all her heart that he could pull it off.

That night, Jim and Mary came over. They all started watching a movie upstairs. Mike told them to keep enjoying it. He had to go to the basement to do his workout. He gave Mikki a kiss on the forehead and said he'd come back up in a few hours when he was done. He made sure to tell her he loved her, just in case.

Jim gave him a curt nod, letting Mike know it was OK to go. Not only would he make sure Michelle was OK, Jim would keep anyone from going downstairs until Mike got back. When he reached the basement, Mike got the bag he had packed earlier in the day and snuck out the door, heading for the city.

Stacy had found the address for him the previous week. After the close call Friday, it took all his self control to wait, but the plan had to be followed. When he arrived, he put on the padded sparring shirt, wrapped his hands and slipped on the brass knuckles. He couldn't afford to break a finger or leave any blood, creating too many questions. This was the only part of this he was going to allow himself to enjoy.

He walked in the bar and slipped quietly upstairs, no one noticing the shadowy figure. He didn't stand out, which is exactly how he planned it when he scouted the bar the first time. He knocked quietly on the door. He heard rustling from inside and a gruff voice say, "Who is it?"

Mike couldn't help but smile as he waited for Tony's surprise. The door opened and Mike saw a man who stood 6" taller and outweighed him by 75 pounds.

Looking suspiciously at Mike, he asked, "Who the fuck are you?"

"We haven't met, I'm Michelle's husband," Mike answered as he punched the startled security guard in the nose, smashing it completely. Tony stumbled back into the room surprised, but recovered quickly. Mike knew that Tony was a street fighter and wouldn't give up easily.

"You got me with a cheap shot but one's all you get," he sputtered, blood flowing from his nose. Tony moved in and tried to land a wild hook but Mike stepped away easily.

Mike snarled, "I hope you enjoyed your date with Michelle, because it's the last one you're going to have." He tried a jab followed by a right cross but Tony's size advantage made him miss badly.

Tony tried to distract Mike by making him angry. "Oh, every time I fuck your wife in the ass I have a good time. You should have seen the party we had ready for her last Friday. Trust me, after I'm done with you, we'll make sure she gets a second chance."

He moved in and tried to crowd the smaller man, which would give him the clear advantage. It turned out to be a serious mistake. At the last second Mike spun and gave him a side-kick to the face, dislocating his jaw.

"Aawww!" he groaned in pain as he fell to the floor.

For the first time he could remember, Tony was worried about losing a fight. Mike was quick and hitting harder than he could believe. He got back to his feet in time to catch a fast left-right in the ribs, then Mike backed away. Tony had lost the will to fight. It was obvious he was outclassed and he couldn't breathe through the broken nose. Blood covered his whole face and was soaked into his shirt. He felt a little dizzy and realized that there was no way he could win.

"All right, I give up," he said miserably.

"Wrong answer bitch!" Mike moved in again, hitting with an uppercut that snapped a rib loudly.

Tony staggered back with tears in his eyes and begged, "Please, I give."

Mike paused, "I'm sorry, I guess I should have explained when I got here. This isn't the kind of dance we both walk away from."

Tony looked at him in shock. Could he have heard right? It wasn't possible. Then his small mind got around the disappearance of Keith and the death of the three managers and it hit him.

"You're going to kill all of us."

"Yep," Mike said with a detached voice that sent chills through the injured man. He thought about the sadistic pictures of Tony hurting Michelle that Alan found of on Ryan's hard drive. Then he moved in again and began hitting as hard and fast as he could.

...He snuck out of the apartment 10 minutes later exhausted, trying to make sure he wasn't seen. He picked up the bag he left in the hallway and slipped a video into it. It was plain other than the name 'Michelle' written in magic marker on the back. As he turned to leave, he breathed a sigh of relief and said grimly to himself, "Five down, four to go."

When he arrived home, there was no fanfare. He snuck in the backdoor and immediately went downstairs, hoping there hadn't been any unexpected complications. He hid the video behind his workbench where Michelle couldn't find it. The bag and his bloodstained clothes were gone, burned in a metal garbage can he passed on the way home. He rinsed the blood from his arms and face, so he could go upstairs to kiss his wife. As he walked up the stairs, he wished more than anything that he could tell her Tony wouldn't bother her again.

Thursday night, Mike announced he had to leave again on Friday. He promised it was the last trip for work. Michelle tried not to show him how scared she was but asked him not to go. He told her sadly that it was important, but suggested she spend the weekend with her parents. He knew if she went to their house, there was no way Ryan or the others could bother her.

~~~~~~~

When Ryan arrived at work Monday, he asked Sarah to summon both John and Paul.

She gave him a strange look and said, "I can't sir."

"Why, what's going on?" he said with obvious annoyance.

"Sir, the police called earlier." She saw Ryan pale slightly. "John's wife reported him missing yesterday. He and Paul left together Friday and no one's seen either of them since."

Ryan turned without saying a word to her and hurried into his office to call Bill. There was supposed to be another meeting with Bill, John and Paul Saturday. He never heard from anyone after work on Friday, so didn't know what had happened. Maybe Bill would know what happened to the others.

When Ryan finally got through to Bill's secretary, she informed him that no one had heard from him since work on Friday. Ryan hung up the phone and fell into his chair. With Keith, John, Bill and Paul missing, and the accident earlier, there was no way this was a coincidence. He looked at the spot where he first fucked Michelle and realized that he needed to do something fast. Michelle sat in her office trying to absorb the news. She wondered how something could have happened to both of them. Stacy told her that she didn't know anything except she and Sarah had left false messages for both of them Friday. Michelle could play innocent and say she went where she was supposed to go and waited. She was stirred by Stacy's voice telling her that Ryan wanted to see her.

"Well, this should be interesting," she thought.

She went to his office and was greeted by a very distressed Ryan. "I want to know what's going on. Did you meet with them Saturday?" he demanded.

She tried to be as convincing as possible. "I waited at the bar all night and no one ever showed. It was a complete waste of time."

Ryan didn't like her tone, it sounded like she wasn't afraid of him anymore.

"What's going on? I can't reach anyone, don't think I don't know you're trying to pull something."

Michelle was floored as she realized Ryan actually thought she was behind everything going wrong. She thought quickly about what she should say, then decided it would be too risky to pretend to know something she didn't. "I don't know what you're talking about, but remember, bad things always happen to bad people."

Ryan considered her for a moment. He couldn't tell what her game was, but had no doubt that she was involved somehow. He was already planning on cutting her loose if things didn't go well, and they couldn't have gone much worse. "Fine, if you want out of this once and for all, come by my place tonight. I'll give you the pictures and erase the account information. Then we can walk away and you can go back to your life. I'm not going to be here much longer anyway. The head office is already asking questions around the deals I set up. Now that they've fallen through, I'm screwed. You can have my damn job for all I care. Now get out."

Michelle was ecstatic as she realized he was afraid of her and thought everything that happened was her doing. She was almost free!

"...And are you going to tell him?" Stacey said with her hands on her hips.

She looked down at the floor, "Yes, I was alone with Ryan once, and that's how all this started. Do you think I'd actually let him put me in that position now? I just don't know how I'm going to be able to do it. If he won't come with me to Ryan's, I don't know what I'll do."

"He will go with you, trust him. No matter what, he'd never let anything happen to you."

The two embraced and Michelle told Stacy how grateful she was for all her help. Stacy smiled, thinking, 'You don't know the half of it.' As she watched Michelle leave, Stacy immediately picked up the phone and began dialing.

When she arrived home, she found Mike working in front of his laptop again. She took a deep breath, trying to think of some way to make this easier for him.

"Mike," she began unsteadily, "I need to talk to you." He stopped what he was doing and gave her his full attention.

"Something happened the day of your accident..." Despite her resolve, she began to tear up and couldn't continue.

"Mikki, I just wanted to know you were ready to be honest with me. I already know everything. Stacy called to let me know you were finally coming home to tell me."

She sat back down in shock. "You knew? When?"

"The night you met the three businessmen in the hotel. I followed you there because I thought you were having an affair. When I saw you go into the room with them, I went out..." he suddenly felt embarrassed. "I went to a bar and got drunk. Stacy saw me driving and followed me to the motel. She told me everything."

Michelle didn't know whether to be thrilled she didn't have to explain this horrible mess, or incredibly angry that he let her believe he didn't know. She ran shaking fingers through her hair as tears appeared in her eyes.

"How could you pretend you didn't know?"

He stared pointedly into her eyes. "How could you look me in the eye and lie to me about it?"

She couldn't think of anything to say to possibly defend herself. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know what to do. I would do anything to take it back." She stopped talking as the futility of defending her actions overwhelmed her.

Mike felt for her pain, but couldn't help her right now. "We'll worry about that later. Right now we have to go to Ryan's. It's time to finish this." They drove in silence all the way. She had no idea what to say to him. All along she was preparing speeches and thinking of how to answer accusations. To find him already knowing everything was too much to deal with.

Mike was lost in his own thoughts. Michelle hadn't figured it out yet but it had to be because of the shock. It was far too obvious to miss. He hoped she wouldn't see it until they arrived at Ryan's. He needed to focus everything on that son of a bitch to make this work. Sadly, he also knew it would be better for the plan if she found out along with Ryan. He hated having to play with her like this after all she'd been through.

Ryan was sitting on his couch drinking when he heard the doorbell ring. When he answered the door, he got the shock of his life. He had a little going away party planned for Michelle, but when her husband showed up too, he was stunned.

"Uh...Mike, what are you doing here."

"Save it Ryan, it's time to end this," he said as he pushed his way past him into the house.

Ryan caught up with him in the living room. "Listen, I don't know what she's told you but..."

Mike interrupted him, grabbing him by the collar with both hands and pulling his face close. "Ryan, I don't think you understand. Does the phrase 'Eight down and one to go' mean anything to you?" Ryan's face lost all it's color. Mike couldn't see her, but Michelle's face was a mirror of Ryan's.

"You...you are the one responsible for Paul, John and the others?"

"Don't forget Tony, Keith and your three manager friends."

He looked confused, "Tony, I didn't know. How?"

Mike smiled maniacally, "Actually, it's kind of a funny story now that you mention it. You see I went to see him at his place. While we were talking, I thought about the time you had him rape my wife and I beat him to death with my bare hands."

Ryan's head spun. This couldn't be happening. Everything had unraveled and he was terrified. He scrambled back quickly and hit a button behind him on the wall.

"You better leave me alone. The police will be here in minutes!"

Mike wasn't moved, "Let them come. I've done too much to walk away from this. I just have one more loose end to tie up." Mike was sure he heard sobbing from behind him. He tried to shut it out to focus everything on the task at hand.

Ryan's fear overcame him. Tony was a monster, if this guy killed him, there was no hope. "What do you want from me?"