Finding Amy

Only later when life had dealt one or two unfortunate surprises had she started to wish that she was someone else, someone wilder and braver than the 'dependable Ash' she had become.

But that wasn't possible.

No.

There was no point in wishing she was someone that she wasn't. Her life was on a preset path and that was that.

But that wasn't true at all now. Her evolution as a human being wasn't over. It was just beginning.

She was changing rapidly...on every level. An accelerated transformation with a time-frame that was measured in days instead of years.

With that change had come fear and confusion, but it was also exhilarating and exciting beyond words.

A whole paragraph of Amy's farewell letter played out in her mind then like it had so many times before, only this time, it all made perfect sense.

Ashley recalled when she had first read that note and how crushing and hurtful it had all been.

But lately, as she had delved deeper and deeper into Amy's life it had almost been a revelation how true those words really were. It seemed to Ashley that each new day brought a greater understanding of why Amy had decided to leave.

"I'm figuring out how to live a different way..a stronger way, and I need some time alone to do it. I'm filled with hope for the first time in years Ash. I'm so excited about what my new life will bring........."

"You and me both Amy.........you and me both." Ashley whispered out loud to herself then.

2

She just sat there on that couch for the rest of the day. A thousand thoughts and day-dreams populating her mind until the sun finally faded.

When the darkness descended she just let the blackness close in around her as she continued to sit and think.

After a while she stood up and removed the skirt and jacket that she had hastily thrown on earlier for her appointment with Dr Taft.

She still wore the same lingerie and ripped hose from her ordeal the night before.

Without even knowing why, she found herself staring through the dim light at the mobile phone number that was still scrawled on her wrist.

A detailed fantasy began to form in her mind as she pictured herself calling that number.

She saw herself opening her apartment door.

She looked on with a detached fascination as those same four men from her hallway all entered.

Heard herself whimper and feign protest when they picked her up and carried her into her bedroom.

Watched as she capitulated and then moaned like a common whore as they all took turns at fucking her.

Ashley spent the rest of that evening in total darkness, her mind playing out those vivid fantasies over and over.

At some point she had gotten onto her hands and knees in the middle of her living-room floor..... still dressed in that same lingerie.

She had held that position for what felt like hours.

"I can be so good for you, but I can be so bad too." Ashley had chanted out loud as she knelt there.

It was a long time before she even realized that those words weren't her own.

She had been repeating that same line from Amy's 'Dark Palace' member profile for hours by then.

Over and over, unconscious and unthinking.

That realization was significant for Ashley. It told her that Amy was inside her head now.

Their thoughts were as one.

It was yet another sign to her that the link between them wasn't fading. It was getting stronger.

3

She had lost all concept of time before she had finally decided to crawl on her hands and knees into her bedroom and then up into her un-made bed.

She had slept blissfully for the entire night after that, and when the morning came she was renewed and strong once more.

All of these astounding new revelations about herself were wonderful and all, but it was time to get back to finding Amy now.

None of this would even have happened if she hadn't been searching for Amy anyway.

"It's still about her and it always will be," she asserted out loud to herself.

She got up, got dressed, made some coffee and then opened her ' Mac Book Pro' on her kitchen table once more.

1. Executive_2

2. SemperFidelis

3. Mr_Fye

4. GameFace

5. Miss_Warsaw

6. Toymaster

7. Pow3ranger

8. Lust4life77

Once more she stared at that curious list of screen names she had assembled from all of the e-mails Amy had received.

There were seven very male sounding profile names and one quite clearly female.

'Miss_Warsaw'. A curious name that didn't really communicate anything other than a vague reference to Poland.

'Lust4life77' had sent the most recent email to Ashley but even that had been months ago now.

None of those screen names had been particularly revealing or helpful at all.

All of those shocking new revelations about herself over the past few days had only just served to distract Ashley from what she had really needed to be doing all along.

Now that she was re-focused and back into 'detective mode', it was actually a relief to be distracted from those constant thoughts and day-time fantasies that seemed to be filling almost every waking moment now.

Ashley began to read all of the e-mails Amy had received from start to finish and the first thing that struck her was just how light on solid information all of them seemed to be.

Meetings were arranged and times and dates were discussed, but actual places and addresses were almost not discussed at all.

The few locations that were mentioned seemed to all be public places. Most were probably just meeting points.

The activities described in those e-mails were clearly sexual but also quite non specific.

Ashley could tell that all of those people were very practiced in the art of keeping a secret.

What she was able to discover however, was the personal cell phone numbers of virtually all of those eight people Amy had been in contact with.

There seemed to be a definite pattern to it all. Initial contact would be made through the 'Dark Palace' website and after details were exchanged, all communication was done in person or via text message.

Ashley changed her approach immediately then and opened Amy's 'sent e-mail' folder.

She started by scanning through all of Amy's correspondence with the first name on her list.

A man who called himself 'Executive_2'.

After only the third e-mail her heart soared and an almost electric jolt of excitement shot through her.

Amy had left a cell phone number and it was not the one Ashley had called a thousand times before. It was a brand new number she didn't recognize. A long string of nine ungainly numbers.

It was the kind of phone number you'd expect to get with one of those cheap pre-pay phones from Walmart.

'A pretty smart move for a girl with a secret life', Ashley thought immediately.

A phone like that was not only cheap, but practically untraceable.

'I'm getting pretty good at this detective stuff.' She congratulated herself then.

It was true. She really did seem to have a talent for all this. Perhaps she had missed her true calling in life. It was an idea that made her smile.

As surprised and as happy as she was, her excitement was tempered with caution.

Hitting 'pay-dirt' this easily was a little too good to be true.

She wasn't about to get her hopes up only to see them dashed again. Ashley had been through too much for too long to fall for that.

She immediately picked up her i-phone and keyed in the digits that Amy had given in that e-mail.

Nervous seconds passed before she heard a familiar message and a familiar voice that wasn't Amy's.

It told her what she had already suspected. It told her that she had been right to be skeptical.

"I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service...........I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is not in service.........I'm sorr......"

Ashley hung up.

"Well...it ain't the first dead-end.....and It won't be the last either." She said out loud in an even, steady tone.

4

Will Harper wasn't exactly pleased to be wading back into the whole 'Amy Price thing' once again. He had thought he had finally been free of it all until he had gotten that phone message from a Dr Taft earlier that day. It was a name he knew by reputation only.

"You try to get out and they pull you back in!" he had said to his partner Bryce Lucas using his best 'Al Pachino, Godfather Three' voice.

"It's probably nuthin. You need to stop stressing on shit like that, life is too short." Bryce had offered then. That little gem of advice was vintage Bryce Lucas.

"Wow that is some deep shit. You're like Deepak Chopra on a budget." Will couldn't help but smile at his own joke then.

A good natured "Fuck you," was the immediate reply.

Will took a seat and hastily dialed the number he had written down in his notebook. Technically the both of them should have been out of the station and on patrol five minutes ago already. He hoped that whatever this Dr Taft had to say was going to be brief.

"Yes......Hello, may I speak with Doctor Wendy Taft please."

"Dr Taft is in session at the moment. I'd be happy to take a message and pass it on Mr..............."

"Officer........Officer William Harper, Boston police department. I'm returning a phone message Dr Taft left with my desk this morning. It sounded important."

The tone of that female voice on the other end of the line changed immediately then. Her courteous, efficient manner took on a little more urgency.

"Yes of course....I have instructions to put you through immediately Officer Harper. Wait one moment please."

Will Harper had known a little about Dr Wendy Taft because of her criminal profiling work with the Boston P.D. a year or two back. This was the first time he'd had to deal with her personally.

From all accounts her work had been impressive.

There was a momentary pause before he heard a different, and slightly older female voice on the line.

"Yes, thank-you Rachel.......Officer Harper?"

"Dr Taft. Yes, this is Officer William Harper. You called me this morning.....something to do with the Amy Price disappearance I gather."

"Well, indirectly, yes." Will picked up a hint of concern in her voice. That in itself didn't mean much at this point. In his experience, most of the shrinks he'd dealt with over the years had always seemed to be overly concerned about one thing or another.

That just seemed to be part of the job description for their line of work.

"I trust you're aware of who I am and what I do. I'm told you were the officer assigned to the Amy Price missing persons file."

"Yeah your reputation precedes you......and yeah, I was assigned that one. Did you have some information you'd like to share on the matter?"

"So naturally you've met Ashley Thomson then?" Just the mention of that name made Will Harper roll his eyes.

"More times than I'd care to admit Dr Taft. I'm pretty sure that woman has me on her 'speed-dial'."

"And you also saw her appearance on channel nine a month ago I assume?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I saw it live. Look please excuse me if I'm a little slow on the uptake Doctor, but what is this all about?"

He didn't like vague questions like the ones Wendy Taft was asking.

'If there is a point to all this she had better get to it fast.' He had thought to himself then.

"I contacted Miss Thomson after that interview. I thought I might be able to shed some light on Amy's disappearance for her. Actually I've had two scheduled appointments with her so far."

"Lucky you." Will replied with more than a little satisfaction. Hearing that had been music to his ears. As far as he was concerned, a therapist was probably what Ashley Thomson had needed most at this point anyway.

"Did her appearance on television bring any new information Officer Harper?"

"Yeah....Well....about that." Will paused. He thought on the last time had seen Ashley in person and he remembered her hostile manner.

After all those extra hours and late nights he had devoted to finding her friend Amy, it still bothered him personally that she had turned on him so suddenly then.

"The television thing was her gig. She by-passed me and the entire department on that one. You'll have to ask her about that."

"Well, what was Ashley's state of mind like when you saw her last. Are you aware of any new developments....something....how should I put it.....shocking perhaps?"

'Holy shit this woman is a regular blood-hound' Will thought to himself.

He didn't know if Ashley had shared any of her wild theories about Amy with Dr Taft yet.

To be honest he had doubted that the explicit picture and sordid profile Ashley had shown him had even been Amy Price anyway.

To him, Ashley Thomson had simply become a sad, lonely woman clutching at straws.

"She had some interesting ideas, but nothing concrete. She showed me a picture she had received that might be Amy, but honestly Dr Taft..............she had nothing."

There was a long pause before Wendy Taft finally replied.

"And what was her manner then, how did she behave?" She pressed.

"Aggressively. I ended the interview shortly after that. That was almost two weeks ago. I gave her a follow-up phone call maybe three days ago. She seemed to be a changed woman then."

"Really, how so?" Will noted how strongly Dr Taft had reacted to that last comment.

"She seemed to have finally let it all go......sounded like she didn't even give a damn anymore. Good thing if you ask me."

"Well I just had her in my office yesterday Officer Harper, and I can tell you that the woman I saw has most definitely not let it all go........in fact......I'd go as far as saying that I believe Ashley Thomson is on the verge of a mental collapse."

5

'I'm so fucking sick of being patient.'

Ashley thought to herself.

Once more she sat and scanned all of the e-mails Amy had sent and received.

Aside from a collection of names and mobile phone numbers there was really nothing else tangible.

Nothing in them gave any clue as to where Amy had gone, or more importantly, where she was right now.

The next step, therefore, was obvious and simply unavoidable.

It was time to make contact.

At least one of those eight names on that list knew something. It didn't take a genius to figure that out.

Most of those people had even sent and received e-mails from Amy after she had actually disappeared.

She now had options to consider and an important decision to make.

It was a safe bet that those people weren't just going to offer up information about their sex lives to a total stranger.....but that's exactly what she needed them to do.

So just how was she going to achieve that little miracle?

Having access to the mobile phone number of virtually everyone Amy had met on that web-site had been a huge discovery. While that was a vital piece of information, Ashley was quite certain that calling or texting those numbers out of the blue was just a bad idea.

How she contacted them wasn't the only issue either.

Just what the hell was she going to say to them anyway when she did finally make contact?

She could be totally honest with them.....maybe that was even the best way to earn their trust. Although that might be the right thing to do, that option came with some pretty big risks.

On the other hand, she could just lie to them and get the information she wanted that way too. 'It's not like these people are saints anyway', Ashley thought.

Ashley had total access to all of Amy's private messages and e-mails after-all.

If she could read any e-mail in Amy's account, then she should be able send messages from that same account just as easily too.

So what if it was Ashley sending and receiving those messages now instead of Amy. There's no way any of them could know that, not if she was smart about it at least.

'If the truth won't set you free........lie.' Ashley couldn't quite recall where she had first read that quote, but it had a definite ring to it now.

In the end, it was an easy choice.

6

Member: Fallen_angel5

Message Sent: 19th January

To: lust4life77

Hello. This is Angel.

I've been away for a while but now I'm back. Would love to reminisce about our previous adventures and maybe plan some new ones.

Anxious to know what's been going on since I've been away. Hope I haven't missed out on too much.

Send me a reply soon...I'd love to hear from you.

Angel.

****

Writing even that short e-mail had been tricky.

It was hard to know what to say.

Ashley had noted a certain degree of guarded playfulness in Amy's previous e-mails and it was that same tone that she had tried very hard to replicate.

If she could open up some kind of conversation but avoid talking about anything specific, then she would probably be able to milk some good information out of each of them before she pulled the plug and moved on to the next name on her list.

Ashley had decided then to take what she believed to be the most logical and well thought out approach. She was going to contact the senders of the most recent e-mails first and then work her way back in time to the very first name on that list.

Eventually they would all get a nice little e-mail from 'Fallen_angel5'.

'Lust4Life77' had sent the last e-mail to Amy a few months back, and although it was clear they had lost contact with her, it was still pretty likely that they'd have at least one or two secrets about Amy worth sharing.

All she had to do now was wait.

There was no point in sending messages to any of the other seven names just yet.

To her way of thinking she just needed to win the trust of at least one of those people on that list first before going any further.

There were just too many questions about Amy and the 'Dark Palace' website itself that needed to be answered. A little inside knowledge was going to make all the difference.

The next few hours passed uneventfully.

As day turned into night and 'Lust4Life77' didn't reply, Ashley decided to turn that time towards something productive.

She spent hours trawling through the 'Dark Palace' personals trying to get a better understanding of what all of it was really about.

There was no denying that it was an exercise that the 'new' Ashley found very informative...perhaps even 'stimulating'.

So many women living secret lives.....just like Amy had......just like Ashley wanted to now.

Brave women (and men too) from all walks of life looking for something different.....something forbidden.

After all the hours Ashley had sat alone in her apartment and thought about Amy's secret life, she still hadn't quite been able to come to terms with it any of it yet. It was all just so very new and even contradictory.

For a girl that had studied a 'Women's History' paper once in college, there was a great irony in all of this for Ashley too.

The 20th century had been an important time for women and the first part of the 21st had led to even more progress for the aptly named 'fairer sex'.

Now more than ever women lived in a time of equality and emancipation. Well for the most part anyway.

Now, as Ashley read profile after profile she was discovering that there seemed to be so many women out there that took great amounts of pleasure in temporarily relinquishing that equality.

Even more interesting was that they almost always had total control over when, where and how it happened.

Some seemed more than willing to spend a night, or even a weekend as the sex slave of a total stranger.

Others, seemingly normal, intelligent women would happily submit to being used and just plain fucked (for want of a better word) by a room full of strangers.

One woman in particular had even bragged on her profile about such an encounter.

She had seemed particularly proud of the fact that she had simply returned home afterward and then crawled into bed beside her unsuspecting husband.