Action, Reaction and Consequences Ch. 08

"Please Sandra, let me in, I'll tell you why I went, it's not what y...."

"Hello Police, there's a man harassing me on my doorstep trying to force his way ina..."

Sandra had dialled 999 whilst he was speaking to her, she just glared back at him with hatred in her eyes. Matt turned and walked dejectedly away. Smith and Jones had taken Tanya from him, now Jones had taken Sandra. This was now a war as far as he was concerned and he was going to fight back.

When Tammi woke up Sunday morning, she was alone and immediately started crying. This wasn't supposed to happen. She needed to see Matt and make it clear to him it's an act, a very elaborate act, that has pushed everything well beyond what she expected. She stood and looked at herself in the mirror and hated what she saw. Why had she let it go this far? She found her arguing with herself as two different personalities in her brain clashed, not realising that she was now slowly starting to unravel. The next time she went to see Mr. Smith, she would insist he organise some time for her to see and talk to Matt. She sat on the bed and prayed that Matt was ok this morning. She felt sorry for the woman with Matt. She had endured such a brutal assault at the hands of Lucas Jones but, at the same time grateful, as Matt was hers and not Sandra's.

Tammi was due to go to see Mr. Smith who was acting as a fake doctor caring for her fake mum in a home. When she was dressed and ready to go, Mickey took her keys from her and told her she was going for a drive with him to meet an old friend. Mickey was cold and hard, which made her uncomfortable, remembering his comments about punishing her the previous night. They travelled in the Range Rover and drove over the Dartford Crossing and down into rural Kent along country lanes. She became afraid and considered ways to try and protect herself against anything Mickey would try and pull off. They eventually came to a large gated property with a substantial house and a large barn that had clearly been repurposed.

"Where are we Mickey?"

"It's my oldest friend, Tony T. We were at school together. I had a chat with him this morning and he's keen to meet you. He's offered to put your mind straight about where your allegiance lies Tammi."

Tammi looked at Mickey and he could see the colour draining from her face.

"Don't worry, you'll be driving out later, sitting in that seat, to go home with me. All you're gonna do is spend some time with Tony."

They were welcomed into Tony's home as Tammi looked around nervously. Tony didn't seem like a thug, he was more akin to a grown-up games geek. They sat for around an hour and a half talking and Tammi started to relax. It seemed inconceivable that this man was going to be part of her punishment.

Just then, the deafening sound of a motorcycle, that appeared to be unsilenced, seemed to roar out of the wood surrounding the property.

Tony spoke;

"Let's go out and meet my friend DifAzio. You have an appointment with him, Tammi."

Mickey stood and reached his hand out to a still seated Tammi who took it and got up with growing unease as to where this was all going. When they stepped outside, there stood a figure that looked as if he'd stepped straight out of a post-apocalyptic film set. But, this was no film. Clad in worn black leather and studs, he was covered from his feet up to his hairline, where a salt and pepper crewcut jutted from the open top of his face mask. A large zip ran across the mouth and two holes allowed him to breathe through his nose.

Two bright blue, piercing eyes looked out from the eye holes in the mask. They stared at Tammi and they looked malevolent. Tammi held Mickey's arm and moved in close to him. He walked calmly over to Tammi, took her arm and dragged her away as she kicked and screamed.

"You knew what betrayal would bring Tammi...this time you'll leave here alive. The next time...maybe not."

DifAzio pulled Tammi towards the barn. Once inside, he shut the door. Mickey followed Tony toward the rear of the building and entered a small room filled with computer equipment. He gestured Mickey to sit and watch two PC monitors which showed video streamed from next door and a very hi-tech overlay. This was what Tammi would see from VR goggles that she would soon be wearing. He left Mickey and went to assist DifAzio, binding her to some kind of metal framework.

What Tammi didn't know was, that Tony had a certain kink - he was heavily into the BDSM scene. Mickey had heard he was developing some ultra-hi-tech BDSM equipment that would take that world by storm. The phone call he'd had was to ask how it was going and could he bring his girlfriend down for a try-out. He explained she needed to be punished and knowing Mickey of old, he knew full well that he wouldn't be satisfied until the wrong had been made right.

Mickey wasn't allowed to be in the room and Tony had just the guy to add to the mix. His new best friend, known as DifAzio. Even though Mickey couldn't be present, Tony assured him, the view from the monitors would be worthwhile. He knew that Tammi was pregnant and that the real physical damage was negligible. It was all about the mental stimulation and the brain's perception of what it considered real.

For the next two hours Mickey watched DiFazio. He felt like he was watching a true artist at work. When Tony spilled the beans as to who he was Mickey found it hilarious. It just showed how easy it was to fool people by spreading a few rumours and whispers in the right ears.

Eventually it came to a close. DiFazio walked from the barn, fired up his Harley Davidson and left without uttering a word. Mickey thought it was brilliant. He told Tony to pass on his thanks and that the pair of them had a good thing going. They took Tammi into the house and Tony insisted she have an hour's aftercare as she sat in silence. She kept looking at her body as if she was expecting it to look different. During the last couple of hours, the virtual hell she had been through had felt terribly real, so real she expected to die at the end.

Four hours after they had arrived, Tammi was put in the Range Rover and wrapped in a blanket. They drove back home in silence as Tammi looked blankly out of the passenger window. When they arrived back home in Essex, Mickey spoke, just before they got out of the car.

"The next time Tammi, it won't be VR. I'll let them do it for real and you know the outcome of that."

Tammi nodded slowly, it was a terrifying experience she'd endured and there would be no way she'd survive it if it was real. In her mind, this was confirmation it had gone too far.

The following weekend they were due to fly to Dubai on Friday, for a week, with Lucas. There was a surprising call from the care home for Tammi on Monday. The doctor treating her mother said there was a significant change in her condition and she needed to come up to the care home to see her mother and discuss options. She knew it was simply Mr. Smith trying to get an update from Tammi. She had put her phone on speaker to make sure Mickey heard. She knew that Mickey would have trust issues with her for a while so, she was trying to be as transparent as she could. Mickey's solution was for Lucas to accompany her on Monday whilst he attended to his own business.

Lucas and Tammi travelled up in relative silence. She was always nervous around him and his treatment of Sandra made it abundantly clear that he had a severe lack of respect for women, bordering on hatred. They went into an office and for the first time in several months, all three of them could converse freely together.

The meeting did not go well. Mr. Smith was totally unaware that Matt had inadvertently bumped into Tanya a few weeks back and that he had subsequently returned that weekend, just gone. He aimed his displeasure at Mr. Jones as he had that direct link to him and they had even met a couple of times without it being discussed. It started to degrade further when Mr. Smith said it felt like Jones had now reversed the polarity of the flow of information - he was feeding more back into Mickey's empire to help him than was coming back to the government. As it got more heated, it was Tanya that threw the big spanner into the works.

"Mr. Smith, what exactly are we looking for? It isn't just Mickey's empire, the gun running is too new, there's something else. You recently asked if Mickey had confided in me. What is it we are looking for? I've had enough and I want out as soon as possible. If it doesn't happen soon, I'm walking and unless you can let me see Matt soon, I'll walk even quicker."

From the conversations he had had with the Americans about Tanya before this started, they warned she would start to fall apart, somewhere down the line. He thought this was the first indication that it may be starting. Mr. Jones was becoming more elusive and he knew he wasn't too far away from renegading. He was already working on another plan as a backup so he thought he would have a last roll of the dice to try and get Mr. Jones and Tanya to close out the operation.

He got up from the chair at the desk, turned and looked out into the gardens of the nursing home.

"Operation Culebra is a cover for the real operation that you are undertaking. The real operation is called Pórnē. There are less than a handful of people that are aware of its existence as it is classified as a Z operation. There are no written or electronic documents, every means of communication is via personal interaction. I am sorry but, we have had to withhold it from you both but, it simply comes down to pay grade."

"The hope was that at least one of you, and primarily you Tammi, could get close enough to reveal where the object that needs to be recovered is located. The object is a SD card. The card contains information that will severely damage this country. If you are shown or find it, you will recognise it immediately as the item we need. We are aware of virtual backups and have plans to deal with those when the time is right, but we need the original SD card to make this all go away. I have broken protocol to tell you this but, we need to try and bring this to a close."

Has Mickey ever given you any indication as to where this is or hinted at showing you something of importance?"

Tanya spoke.

"Yes, he did. He indicated he would reveal something to me when the time is right but, I'm not sure what time he was referring to."

"You need to push him, I appreciate you are in a bit of a corner but as soon as things improve, try...try and get him to reveal its location to you. Tammi, I need to talk to Mr. Jones for a couple of minutes, be a darling and go sit with your mother for a while."

Tanya got up and left, it bothered her that there were conversations going on that she wasn't party to.

"You are keeping information from me Paulie. I warned you before about understanding which side you're on here. Can you explain to me why ex-SAS personnel within the Government are poking around asking about Tanya and Mickey?"

"No, I can't. Do you think Matt has blabbed to someone along the way? I wasn't there when Matt first rocked up but Mickey did ask me to do some digging into Matt. Luckily, the story about the tattoo and being a college boyfriend worked and cut that down. I was hoping that Mickey was going to finish him but he didn't. If he shows his face again though, Mickey has made it clear, he's a dead man so, hopefully he'll keep the fuck away. But what are you going to do about what she's asking? Do you want me to sort it?"

"No, let it ride a bit longer. At least I can keep tabs on her by coming here but, it'll come down to you if we lose this link here other than the coded messages in the catalogues. Paulie, just remember what I said. Remember what side of the fence you're supposed to be on. Find a way to get what we need."

Lucas Jones left with a plan forming. Smith made it clear where the weak link was and he was going to exploit it. He put two and two together to understand when it was likely that Mickey would reveal to Tammi either what was on this SD card or even better, its location. In his plan he wasn't changing sides, he was going out on his own and would take everything with him he possibly could. In the meantime, who was doing some digging in the background? He would look over some of Matt's friends to see if it was somehow related to them.

On the way he spoke to Tanya.

"He's not going to go out of his way to let you see Matt, said it's too risky. I don't know about you but, I've had enough of this shit. I can help you if you help me. We are supposed to be going to Dubai on Friday - what if I get you and me a 'hall pass' for a couple of days not to go, hook you up with Matt so you can iron things out? In return, you'll double down to find this SD card. Knowing Mickey, it won't be in a safe, he's too clever for that. I'll try and dig around in Dubai for it, you try and dig at home. If you find it, come to me, not Smith, OK?"

"If you can get me a couple of days with Matt then sure, I'll come on board."

On Wednesday Lucas Jones told Mickey he was following some leads up on some intel and would be back in touch Thursday before they flew out to Dubai on the Friday. He also asked if Mickey felt sure that Matt was fully out of the picture and Tammi wouldn't try to connect with him, he wanted to plant a small seed of doubt with Mickey.

Early on Thursday, Lucas travelled back to Peterborough, dressed as a doctor with a stolen set of ID and carefully entered a care home room. He injected a patient with a toxin that would cause a heart attack. Before she was dead, Lucas was out and travelling back southwards down the M11 motorway towards Essex.

A few hours later the care home called the only known next of kin, Tammi, to inform her of her mother's death. Tammi acted like the distraught daughter. An hour later Lucas called Mickey to confirm the details regarding Duba. Mickey explained that Tammi's mum had died but he didn't trust to leave her on her own. Lucas suggested that Mickey travel out alone to meet the Russians and he would accompany Tammi everywhere, then bring her out on a rescheduled flight on Sunday. They went with that plan and Mickey flew out on Friday morning.

Matt was on his last twelve-hour day on Friday. He returned to his "known" apartment to collect the mail. As he walked up to his door someone walking the other way suddenly grabbed him and he felt a prick in his neck. Mr Jones had entered the building minutes before, walked the length of the corridor and timed it to pass Matt, as he opened his door. A baseball cap, jacket and keeping his head down helped disguise him. He rang Tammi and told her to come up to the apartment.

Matt woke up but, trying to move, found his arms spread out above his head and restrained. Groggily looking around he found his wrists were in good old-fashioned handcuffs affixed to his bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, was Tanya, in a flowery dress.

"Please not again, don't do this Tanya"

"Sorry, I wasn't sure you'd initially feel happy to see me but, I promise we can work it out Catch. I promise we can find a way."

Catch...he hadn't heard that name in months. It used to mean something but, now turned his stomach.

"Untie me Tanya or whatever your name is. Remember, you willingly signed the document to dissolve our marriage...unlike me, that was forced to sign it. There's nothing to fix Tanya, because there is absolutely nothing left that can be fixed. Do you think having me here, restrained on my own bed, is going to help? If you know what's good for you, let me go, walk out and let's pretend this never happened".

She leant forward and went to kiss him but he turned his head to the side. Instead she placed kisses all over his cheek and earlobe whilst her other hand's fingertips ran down his chest to his cock.

"We used to play games like this and you loved it, my work has been acting, nothing more than that. It's you I love and I'm going to show you how much you mean me to m..."

"You're one delusional bitch, Tanya. Look at you, a cheap tawdry Essex tramp. You don't get it, do you. I gave you an ultimatum when we were in France. That day, when I said come home to me or stick with your job. Nothing's changed...no, I lie. You fucking drugged me to sign the crazy agreement, then you raped me. Do you understand me. YOU raped a man as part of your sick fantasy that you are living in!"

He felt a stinging slap across his cheek.

"I always told you I needed to reach the top and I have, I'm coming back soon my love, I promise. I always said I would."

Matt started laughing, it grew in volume and depth until he was crying. He turned to face her and saw a cold and angry face staring back at him. She stormed away from the bed, out of the room and came back with Mr. Jones. Matt immediately stopped laughing and watched him carefully. Matt started to struggle on the bed but Lucas lent on a shoulder and injected him again. As he drifted into a sleep, he heard a voice tell him they loved him and will do so until the end of all eternity.

When he came to, he was breathing hard and felt as horny as hell. He could feel someone straddling him and he could see a woman riding him hard. He thought he knew her but he wasn't sure. The woman slowed, leant forward and wiped the drool from his chin before kissing him.

"Welcome back Catch. I've already cum once. Make me cum again."

The woman sat back up and started the rocking motion back and forth on him. Matt looked down to see a frothy white mess at the juncture of their bodies and tried to push himself up to meet her downward thrust. He knew this woman but, couldn't quite remember, she has some earrings he thought he recognised. They had a gold and silver capital 'M' and 'T' in each one. He couldn't quite place them but, they were once important. They faded from his mind as the woman leant forward and started to expiscate, taking his mind back into nothing more than the need to fuck this creature atop him. He wrapped his arms around her and rutted as hard as he could.

When Matt awoke again, his head was pounding and he had what felt like an unquenchable need for water. Barely able to speak, he called out for help. To his horror, Tanya walked into the room, wrapped in a silk kimono, carrying a bottle of water with a straw. He went to get up but he was handcuffed to the bed. His mind was sure he was free earlier. It was now just a jumble of hazy images that didn't form any particular order. She put the straw in his mouth and he eagerly sucked down the water. She looked at him, smiling happily but, he shattered her illusion as he spoke in barely a whisper.

"I fucking hate you. I wish I'd never fucking spoke to you in that hospital back then. You've ruined my life. Please let me go, get out of my life, fuck off back to whatever cesspit you live in and never darken my door again. I don't want you. Get that through that blonde, slut airhead you've adopted."

Tanya removed the kimono to reveal her nakedness and climbed back atop him. The drugs still had some potency and his cock sat rigid. She aligned it with her slit and sank back down on him. She leant forward, put her hands around his neck, as she started to rock back up and down on him. She started to squeeze his neck harder and harder as she started to strangle him. Trying to throw her off, he started to thrash around, as he felt his airway becoming more restricted. In desperation, he looked directly into her eyes and he now knew that, since the very beginning, she was ill. Seriously, mentally ill, as she stared back, smiling. Eventually she let him go and he sucked air in like a fish out of water.

Matt awoke yet again but, he was in a darkened room. His head felt like he'd been hit by a hammer and his body ached. Plus, his wrists were sore. But, he was free. He gingerly managed to get off the bed and walked groggily around his apartment to find it was empty. On the side, by the kettle, was a folded piece of paper addressed to him. Inside there was a simple message.