Consequences Pt. 13F

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Since Friday night, someone had been trying to get in contact with David, leaving messages anywhere that might be connected with him. A call to Dawn was unanswered because she had left her phone behind for a weekend tryst with John. He even tracked down David's father but he was away for the weekend and also purposely left his phone behind.

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Olivia is frightened, probably more frightened than she had ever been before, she is shut away in a room and apart from being asked her name and address, no one has spoken to her. Aside from David she couldn't think of anyone who would be angry with her and David is probably the last person who would hurt her now, he had completely lost interest in her.

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David's address was still registered at his former house, it was a rule that nobody registered at the Retreat, and everything went to the post office for collection, so a note delivered to his house wasn't going to be picked up until the weekly cleaner came.

It wasn't until Monday morning that anyone realised the situation, Dawn's father finally found out that her husband was looking for her and got a message through to David. All the pointers suggested that her husband was after him to find Dawn. It soon began to look like this had escalated to a tit for tat situation. A search of Olivia's laptop took time before they were able to assume rightly that she had been to see Daniel. It wasn't for David to follow up to him; there was no way he would reply, anyway they needed to find and make contact through Daniel's Mum. Jane went into overdrive tracking her down but time ran past before Daniel finally told her where they had met and when he last saw her.

David rang Phillip at the police headquarters and reported the situation. The security guard found the camera recording of Olivia leaving; they rewound over and over trying to identify the car that followed her. Soon Phillip arrived and had his subordinates calling hire car companies and identifying cameras on the route from the Retreat to the Motel. Another detective was on the way to the Motel to check their cameras and interrogate the staff. Everyone at the Retreat was searching for information about Dawn's husband, particularly photographs on social media. Dawn's husband is a stranger in the area and must be staying somewhere. They searched every accommodation source, created a list and passed it to the police.

Monica had been quick on the ball pulling together all the information they could find for the police, the only problem was that she had to hand it over to Phillip. She had been putting him off for days, he wanted to get serious, but she knew his history of womanising and couldn't accept yet that he had turned over a new leaf. She went to the room the police were working from and stepped in, and almost swore, the only person there was Phillip. She thought he looked worn and worried, she knew how he felt and wanted to give him a hug. He looked up to see who was there and gave her the best smile he could in the circumstances. It didn't help her resolve as she realised he couldn't have eaten and promptly invited him for dinner that evening. Phillip didn't want to leave the scene while Olivia was still missing. He had known David most of his life and despite their recent divorce he couldn't help feeling personally responsible to David for recovering her. Monica's invitation was accepted without a moment's thought. Then he looked at her properly, she looked very worried and tired, something inside him said she needed a hug, the timing was bad but it broke the ice and they clung to each other in mutual worry.

Everybody dropped what they were doing to help search through camera recordings and make phone calls to all of the possible places a visitor might stay. It was late afternoon before they finally made a match, they located the car hire company, and the police managed to extract the address he had given. Meanwhile they obtained a photograph with Dawn's help and an all points bulletin was issued for his arrest, officers were sent to his accommodation and to the hire car office to wait for him.

Dawn's husband had been sitting outside David's house since he found the address but couldn't work out why nobody came or went. By late in the afternoon, he was beginning to worry that something was wrong; he couldn't decide how long he could wait. Then a neighbour started to take notice of him sitting outside, he came over and asked if there was a problem. Being suspicious, he explained that David didn't live here anymore but lied saying he didn't know him well and couldn't say more. The husband had run out of leads, the drugs he had given the woman only extracted that they were divorced and the address at where he was now sitting. He didn't know what the side effects were, but she had become incoherent. His only remaining idea was to drive back to where he followed the woman from to see if he could find out anything, but it was a big risk. He decided he had run out of alternatives.

His fears were well founded when he found the road full of police cars. 'How in the hell did they even know she was missing?' was his first reaction. He drives past at a steady speed trying to look innocent but the car is spotted and shouts ring out, he speeds up and makes a rush to escape. The police think they must have the right man but it takes a vital few seconds to get cars started and he manages to give them the slip. He is heading for an airport at first then decides that will be covered, so changes direction and takes a route in the opposite direction, he needs to pick up his stuff and then head off to somewhere out of State.

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In a farm somewhere between the Retreat and the Motel, Olivia is trying to find a way out of the room, when unexpectedly someone forces the door open. Standing at the entrance are two farmers, strapping men in jeans and plaid shirts. She looks at them blankly as they do her, she's been drugged and has lost memory of what has happened to her. In fact, she has lost all of her recent memory.

The next day she found her house from the address on her driving licence and strangely can't find anything to suggest that she lived there recently. There are possessions of course but not enough to spark her memory. She finds enough to get by on, some clothes in a closet and food in the freezer. Her breasts are hurting like crazy and desperately she is searching through her purse, found at the farm, for any more clues about herself. She eventually finds her business card and the office address; and that's where she heads to, much to the surprise of the staff. While she relates what little she knows of her story, they telephone the police and make her comfortable although she looks reasonably well. They also telephone the Retreat and speak to Jane, advising her of Olivia's arrival and the memory loss; Jane doesn't delay contacting Angela for emergency help.

When David receives the news he is relieved, but because of her past behaviour, he is more concerned about the baby and for Olivia to see the right professional to deal with her, only to be told that Jane has already called in Angela. He finds the fact that Olivia was first seen when arriving at the office as strange but then any inclination to go there himself evaporates immediately. He decides instead to see his and Jane's father about ongoing issues and to let them know that Olivia is safe.

By the end of the day Angela has decided that Olivia should maintain contact with people but live somewhere that holds memories. They decide for her to continue to live at the house and her possessions are brought back from the Retreat. There has been massive concern about the baby and Susan brings her in for feeding supported by the security guard, Janice. Olivia responds naturally to the baby so Angela consults with David and he agrees that Susan will spend time with the baby at the house and Janice will stay, ostensibly as protection for Olivia; but also from his perspective to prevent Olivia skipping.

Huge relief runs through the Retreat as Jane passes on the news that she is still alive, Monica rushes to tell Phillip but although he has already been told it doesn't stop him from taking her into his arms. He was always going to be a rogue but he had made up his mind that he was going to be her rogue.

Daniel telephones the police to check for news and they tell him, saying unwittingly that she had gone home and he decides that he should visit.

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When David returns to the Retreat it is early evening and he heads into the kitchen, there is a big gathering as all the residents want to catch up on the latest news and to speculate on what happened. Many came forward to hug him, but some recognised his mood as unhappy, and he surprised them by changing the subject quickly to discuss other issues. Lauren recognised his mood and wasn't surprised that she didn't get his usual teasing. The question was, is he hiding his worry or doesn't he care? Eventually the group couldn't stop themselves asking and he wasn't slow to react bitterly. "She put herself in danger, so whatever happened she was partially responsible, but it's not just that, because I just don't know what is or isn't true and frankly I have given up wondering."

There was a silence after that, those who knew him longest felt various shades of the same, whilst newer members didn't fully understand and had a questioning look written across their faces. David looked around his closest confidants, "Would someone mind telling the newbie's some of the history while I get a drink." Some guiltily offered to get him something that should have been forthcoming when he arrived and several offered to tell the story. Lauren won the job of getting him a drink and David's mood lightened as Lauren tried a little teasing to bring him around. And so he became magnanimous offering all a celebratory drink and helped by passing them around. The others agreed to tell the story together and the newbie faces became aghast with disbelief as the truth was related. When it was finished there was silence again, but David had more to say. "I want to make a toast to all of you who pulled together to help our lost person. My friendly Detective tells me that they could not have achieved half of what they did without your help and I feel very proud of you all, so here is to you all." At which he raised his glass. "To everyone here with thanks." They drank up and he went around refilling and receiving one hug after another.

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Then Monica came in followed by Phillip, soon followed by Arthur, then Dee arrived. Jane looked around wondering, 'something was up,' then there was the sharp 'ting' of a spoon against a glass bottle and Phillip asking for silence. David thought it was a bit rich coming from an outsider even if he is a friend; but was intrigued and kept his silence.

"Ladies," he said, "and Arthur," there was a titter at the brazen taunting of David, who didn't look impressed, but he continued. "I know I'm intruding, for which I apologise, but I want to make an announcement." He stopped for a minute to build up the suspense then said, "I know it isn't good timing but I have asked Monica to marry me and the brave foolhardy woman has accepted." There's another wait while people express their delight then, "We just wanted to tell everyone while you are together and tonight seemed to be a rare time that you are all in one room."

"Monica," said David loudly. "Have you stopped taking your medicine and gone completely mad!?"

She smiled at him, knowing him well enough to recognise the return jibe to his lifelong friend, and he went to hug her, whispering his congratulations and "it's about time," then "he's a good man......... mostly." Monica beamed up at him grateful for someone telling her she was doing the right thing.

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When Daniel calls Olivia, she is at first unaware who he is and explains that she is suffering memory loss. He says that he was coming to see her but for the moment she is only vaguely able to recognise the name as unthreatening, but she allows it, saying, "If you must." not knowing of any reason why not. By a quirk of fate Daniel arrives as the cleaner is leaving, she gets half way to her car when she realises that she has forgotten something and heads back, so that as she arrives it is just the time when Daniel has walked up to the front door. She pauses for a moment, not wanting to intrude and witnesses a brief conversation that gradually becomes heated before eventually Olivia closes the door on him. The cleaner watches the man as he reaches the car and slams the door behind him in petulance. She decides it would be politic to wait a while until he's gone and watches until the car drives away, leaves it for a moment then re-enters the house as if she knew nothing.

Hello Mrs Thurlow, it's just me, she calls out going to pick up the cleaning equipment she needed. As she passes the living room door, she sees Olivia sitting there with the baby held to her breast, a beatific smile on her face staring into space.

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After the excitement of the last few days there was a strange sense of loss when it suddenly came to end, the camaraderie that had built up was definitely something to marvel at and would stand them in good stead going forward. The issue of Dawn's husband still being on the loose was worrying and urgent calls to Florida ensured that security was stepped up until he was caught. David, Jane, and Sophia discussed the implications at a quickly arranged meeting and they decided that everyone needed a new challenge to distract them, but the question was what. They discussed the challenge of coming up with a solution for a male support unit but until they had spoken to people like Angela they were just guessing.

Changing direction, Jane asked, "I don't suppose they have a need for a Retreat somewhere tropical like that Island we stayed on." At first it seemed she was joking but then it went quiet as they mulled that one over for a moment. Then David said, "I'm not sure if one island has enough need individually but I suppose that if you took an entire group of Caribbean islands, would women be able to get off one island to get to a centralised Retreat on another?"

"I somehow doubt it, there are too many obstacles like international boundaries," Sophia thought out loud. Then she continued, "I don't suppose there would be issues for moving between English Speaking islands or French, even Dutch, but the economics of moving might be prohibitive.

"What about a country that itself has a tropical paradise, does Mexico count? Or one of the other Central American countries?" asked Jane.

David felt they were getting away from the main principles of the developments, self sustainability, and a facility for businessmen who travel to the major centres, so he voiced his concern. "We would need cities by the sea," he half joked.

So Jane joked back "Acapulco?" then "I hear the language of Belize is English, is that a possibility?"

"I'm not sure about the political situation for women down there, we would probably have to tread carefully" said Sophia.

"You have given me an idea" he said, "How about we create our own resort in a suitable country but we give the ladies the task of working out where?"

There was silence for a while, the question on their minds was how to fit it around their existing work. Jane finally recognised the reality, "It would have to be out of hours, and split evenly with maybe a prize to work towards, and all benefit from, like a vacation for them all."

Their discussion went on considering how urgent work could be dealt with while a whole Retreat was away, possible uses for vacations for all the Retreats, crossing borders particularly with women at risk, the issues of children and so on. They decided that the sponsors and investors should be consulted, which was David's task as soon as possible and they would delay announcing the project until they met again. Sofia said she would investigate the political situations in the various countries and Jane offered to speak to Ruth about Hotel requirements; they also decided to ask Arthur to look into security issues in the various countries within reasonable flight distance. David wondered whether he should ask Olivia to draw up another plan like the one she had done for the States, then put the idea aside until he spoke to the investors and they discussed it again.

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The idea of an exclusive golfing resort appealed very much to the enthusiast investors. David's next call to Tania and Christina found that they liked the idea of a place outside the country where they could take people at risk, provided they could work out all the issues of crossing borders; at which point David rang Honor to arrange to get her input. His Grandmother was ambivalent on the matter, preferring to rely on his good judgement so finally he talked to his and Jane's father whose advice he always found to be sound. At first they were very reticent about taking money overseas but agreed to speak to financial advisors, overall they weren't against the idea but preferred to wait for the results of further investigations. On the back of that David made the decision to go to the next stage of setting the process and investigations in motion, so he went to see Jane.

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Jane couldn't see that there was much to lose at this stage; but it would be helpful to have the results of Sofia's investigations, the advice from Ruth, and some further investigation of crossing borders by Honor before they gave the go ahead. He mentioned that he was meeting with Honor to discuss and she scoffed "There won't be much discussion going on if we leave you two alone. I am sure that you are her kink."

David pretended to look affronted at that and kind of hoped she was right, although it would be even better if Jane came too. How to arrange that without offending Honor or Jane was the question. He decided to ask her up front and she surprised him with enthusiasm for the idea, which both disappointed and delighted him at once. They arranged to meet in the Hotel that evening to avoid being interrupted and David booked a table in the restaurant and a room; 'well I can hope' he decided.

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Two days later, they had everything they needed to start the competition. Jane had agreed to the idea of involving Olivia but suggested that she do the asking which he enthusiastically agreed to. Their night at the Hotel had been particularly good and Jane was feeling especially magnanimous to her lovers at the moment.

Olivia welcomed the work with enthusiasm and admitted that her memory of the kidnap was gradually recovering although there were so many bad memories coming back from the last few months. This surprised Jane greatly, she couldn't recall Olivia ever describing her experiences as bad even though they patently were, if not to her then to someone else; usually David and thus by relationship, to everyone. "Do you think you'll come back soon?" she asked.