Gotta Pay the Piper Ch. 06

Everybody except Sonya and me went on their way. "What do you want me to do today, sir?" she asked.

"Call me sir again and I will have you naked and over my lap." I said. "And I will not just be spanking you." I added.

"OOOO! Okay, Bas." she said. Then she grinned. "What do you want me to do today, SIR? Any special task, SIR? " I could not help but laugh along with her when she burst out laughing.

"I talked with the girls out at the Hacienda." Sonya said. "If you run this household like a few of them told me they do things, I might be able to endure being a slave." She leaned over and kissed me on the lips. "Anything you want, anytime. I know I have no choice, really. I'm just sayin'." She smiled again. I grinned back. I knew full well she was kissing ass and I enjoyed it.

I took Sonya with me when I left to run my errands. Our first stop was to add all three slave's phones to my account. It was an easier and faster process than I thought it would be. All the woman had to do was reassign their numbers. Since I had so many other cells on my account I asked if I could add a phone belonging to a student who lived with me. She needed the phone itself but said I could authorize the change and the girl could bring the phone in later. I did so. I texted Robin to go to the cell phone place when she got out of class. She texted back and said she would and thanked me.

I was in a hurry to talk to Lou but as we passed the department store we stopped to check my freezer purchase. They would be able to deliver it the next day. I ordered a second freezer which amazed the woman. "You realize this thing's capacity don't you?" I nodded. "Just how much food do you intend to store?" I told her I wanted more capacity than I had food or need. She shrugged and said she would send the second freezer under the same delivery fee.

"I will show you exactly where I want the freezers put." I told Sonya. "Remind me. You may be the one there to receive delivery." She assured me she could handle the task.

"I was not just pushing paper and doing the filing at my job. I actually graduated with a degree in business. Gloria called me a secretary. I did that but I also served as a customer relations slash sales rep for the company. I should have been paid more but George was, well is, a cheap bastard. Too cheap to pay for a motel where we'd likely not been caught. But I AM a competent manager." she said.

"Well, maybe we can find you a job using your skills." I said. "For now, I think I want you to run the household. We'll go from there." Sonya said she could handle the house and work at a job, too.

"Will I have spanking rights, like Caroline?" she asked impishly. I asked her if she thought she needed that. She nodded. "Carol and Rene are both flighty little girls. I had to put my foot down the other day a couple times and tell them to get on the stick or their asses might pay. When you paddled Robin and Joanne they realized I was not bullshitting." I grinned. The woman was smart.

Once again, I thought about Derek's comment he did well because of the collective wisdom of his women. I knew I could trust Lenore. Even though a slave, I thought maybe Sonya might deserve some limited trust. I told her I was going to seriously consider giving her some responsibility to help me manage the house and then added, 'and the girls". She smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I certainly did not plan to give her too much power nor confide in her until I knew where she stood.

In order for her to get around without me, she would need her driver's license. Of course it had disappeared. The clerk at the department of motor vehicles assured me that happened all the time with slaves. She pulled up Sonya's file on the computer and issued her a replacement. This time, her picture appeared sideways on the license, indicating her slave status. My name was entered as her owner.

Our final stop was the office building where Lou had her law practice. I knew Lenore worked in the same building. As much as I wanted, I decided against paying her a visit. As we walked to the main entrance, I heard a voice call out my name. It was Gloria, the woman who sold me Sonya.

Sonya's expression turned to stone. She was not about to react to Gloria. "Hey, Bas. I want to thank you for calling Wanda and having her call me Saturday. I felt really stupid not charging their collars. I was so pissed at both of them, I did not even think about it. I went to the Slave Store to buy a charger. He told me he had just sold a multi-unit and described Sonya here. He sold me a chastity device for George too. I tell you, he was upset when that guy fitted him with that little cage. He moaned about it all day yesterday. I had a long discussion with my kids about what he had done. I call them kids but they are all in college now. When I told them how he blackmailed Sonya, they agreed he deserves what he got." Sonya perked up at that. "The asshole gave me the drive he had and showed me where he stored the file in the cloud. I deleted it all. I watched the full video, not just the one that made it look like you were a slut, but the unedited one where he threatened you."

Sonya looked happy for a second. "You believe me totally? You hinted you thought I might be telling the truth the other day." Then she thought about what Gloria said. "You deleted the proof I was forced?" she asked in horror. 'I might have used that to get set free!"

"You weren't convicted because you got screwed over. You got enslaved for beating me to a pulp." Gloria said. "If you had come to me, I'd have worked with you to crucify the bastard. He cheated before. I took him back after counseling and had him sign a really tough post-nup agreement. His slave estate is not going to be what it might have been. He is only entitled to like twenty percent of our assets INCLUDING the business if we divorced because of cheating. I'm not sure if he gets even less because he got enslaved or not. But none of that concerns you."

"You beat my face in. I have a cracked orbital bone, broken nose which by the way is gonna need surgery to fix the damage inside. Not to mention my teeth. I just came from the oral surgeon. I am going to need implants. I always liked you. I thought we got along. If you had come to me and told me what George had done, we'd have gone for his nuts together. But NO. As soon as you see me, you go off and beat me like a dog. You believed the asshole that I was part of it. That hurts. Not as much as my face hurts, though. So I still think you deserve that collar." Sonya began to cry and whimper about deleting the proof she was blackmailed.

"I don't think you would have been found innocent anyway. Even with mitigating circumstances." Gloria said. "But I'll tell you what. After six or seven years of being a slave if Bas here or whoever owns you wants to try to get your sentence reduced, I'll tell what I saw in the videos. I almost regret selling you. It would be fun to watch you kick George's balls every now and then. But I needed the money to get my face fixed." She turned and went inside.

"I'm still fucked aren't I?" Sonya said. "She said I have to serve half my time before she will help me."

"I'm not a lawyer, but I think I know where the case would have gone." I offered. "If it was George you had busted up, and proved the blackmail, you would probably have gotten off. But you attacked his wife. No matter you were a victim yourself, you attacked an innocent person." She nodded. Tears streamed down her face but she did not argue. We made our way to Lou's office.

Lou's secretary walked me back to Lou's office saying, "She's not busy with a client. She told me if you came in to take you back." I thanked her. "I saw your slave girl has been crying. Did you punish her or is she just upset? Reason I ask is if I should be nice to her or let her wallow in her misery?" I grinned and told her briefly what had happened. "It sucks when good people make bad decisions based on bullshit. But from what I am hearing, she made the decision. She has nobody to blame but herself for that. Thanks for telling me. I'll talk to her."

Lou said, "Bas, I think you spotted the shadow of the very tip of an iceberg." I asked her what she meant. Her analogy was totally lost on me. "You gave me some documents that showed some unethical behavior. Nothing that would really set off official alarms but enough to raise a red flag with me. I did a couple checks and what I found or rather did NOT find was disturbing. I think there is something very illegal going on."

I asked her why she started looking. She was not a cop nor an investigator. Wouldn't it be better to turn it over to one of them. "Oh, I have. I am friends with a detective and a couple of the people in the district attorney's office. Well, one of the assistant DA's is a good friend. We need more information. What we have now is just a feeling. The WHY I looked is simple. A friend was being railroaded. I refuse to let that happen, I wanted to know why and how." I was still puzzled.

"Alright, dumbshit. And I mean that affectionately. YOU were being railroaded. You and I discussed how you were being pushed to give up your freedom to your daughter and that Robin girl." Lou said. I agreed. I said I wondered why Gary Atwell was so hot to get me to sign.

"I personally think he wants to keep his daughter busy and away from him." I said. Lou smiled.

"Maybe. Do you have the videos I asked about?" I nodded and gave her the drive containing the files. She watched them and laughed. "Well, you took over for sure and gave it back to them. What is your honest opinion of how they acted after?" I was curious what she meant but I told her what I thought.

"They are contrite and act like they have backed off." I said. "but I get the feeling they have something in mind. Like they know something I don't. Like they have something up their sleeve. I think they only surrendered, accepting the paddling because I was going to toss them out of the house." I said. "Don't get me wrong. Both were thoroughly defeated standing there naked with their butts on fire. But later I had the impression they were thinking, 'Just wait. and we will get ours.' I hate my daughter is thinking something like that."

"I'd like to take you over to the District Attorney's office." Lou said. "Is it okay if we leave your slave girl sitting in my lobby for a few hours?" I told her I would send Sonya on some errands. She got her driver's license updated this morning.

Sonya was flabbergasted when I handed her my car keys and couple hundred dollars. "Go to the store. I want you to buy groceries, lots of salad stuff and frozen vegetables. I don't like canned. Also buy shampoo, body wash and all that other stuff. You did laundry the other day. If we need detergent get it. In other words, think about what we need. If you want, you can get some makeup for yourself. Don't go overboard and buy that high dollar stuff." She grinned. "And don't forget a couple cases of beer. You saw my brand. If you want a different type, get one of those also. When you get home, put it all away. I'll call you when I need you to pick me up." She was happy I trusted her with my car and the money. She left.

Lou told me I was going to be a fine slave manager. "Give them some responsibility and expect them to perform." she advised. We walked the block to the courthouse, where Lou introduced me to Helen Leblanc, the assistant district attorney. "Helen has known us for a long time. She was the one who prosecuted Derek. You heard the story where he proved he was framed."

"We are friends now." Helen said. "He's even invited me to the Hacienda." I told her I've had a lot of contact with lawyers lately. Some good and some not so good. Lou of course was on the good side. I bought a couple slaves from Lisa Townsend. And now meeting her. My contact with Gary Atwell was not so pleasant. "That's why you are here." Helen said.

"I knew about this alternative program but did not realize how prevalent it really is. It is like snakes here in Louisiana. You know they are around but you might not see one until you look close. Then you seem to find one under every log you turn over. These contracts are pretty common. I asked around. It seems they are most commonly used for ex-slaves trying to adapt to their new freedom. They get freed and find they still need supervision. Often even strict discipline for a while. They volunteer for the alternative program to force them to stay on the straight and narrow."

Lou explained that presenting documents to a client that are already notarized is not only unethical but illegal. "Before I took them to the Bar Association, I thought I'd have a little talk with Helen here. We started looking closer and found a few unusual things. You said Atwell told you he got others into the Alternative to conservatorship program, correct?" I nodded. "Did he tell you he was their attorney? That he handled their cases himself?" I nodded again, wondering where this was going. I said I got that impression and I was trying to remember if he said exactly that. I recounted the conversation he and I had as he explained the difference between the conservatorship and the alternative program. I said I knew he signed up my sister in law, Brenda.

"I'm surprised he told you all that personal stuff about how his daughter disciplines him." Helen said. "Probably because you would find out anyway from his daughter if she took control of you. And what your sister in law, Brenda said about how he and his wife molested her tells me he might be a little sadistic as well as masochistic. That in itself is not illegal. And if Brenda did not protest their feeling her up, it could be considered consensual even if it did not feel that way to her at the time. In court, it would be difficult to prosecute." I asked why all the interest.

Lou explained. "The law firm Atwell works for does mainly contract law. Financial stuff. On occasion they will handle another type case for their clients like when Atwell represented Brenda for her DUI case. They do not handle conservatorships nor the alternative program contracts. Gary Atwell is apparently doing that on his own." I shrugged, still puzzled. "The thing is Bas, we found a record of Atwell defending Brenda in her DUI case, but none of her entering the program. Her contract was never recorded. Nor was the supposed paper she signed where if she reneged, she could be indentured."

Helen said, "That type of contract would be illegal anyway. A person can not be indentured for a debt. Indenture requires a legal review to make sure there was a financial transaction and it meets certain standards. You can transfer a slave to pay off a debt but not indenture somebody. Atwell is doing something shady. We just have to prove it. Do you have any idea of who some of these other people are? A name we can trace? Atwell has not filed a single contract of that type."

I asked how that can be and why would he push the program on me? "Could it be a scam to get control of my money?" I asked, beginning to get angry. "If that's the case, Robin has to be in on it. I can't imagine she could be that good an actress, though. And I wonder if Joanne has been hoodwinked as well. It's hard to believe she would involved in something like that. Knowing both those girls I just can't see it."

"It may very well be they are innocent of trying to scam you out of your money." Helen said. "But they have certainly crossed the line trying to coerce you. We will look at that later. Right now Atwell is the person we are targeting. I have an investigator helping us. I am going to call her." Helen made a phone call. "Yes, he is here now. Okay." She hung up. "She wants to talk to you as well. Our problem is how we can get proof. We are limited at what we can find without a warrant. And we can't get a warrant without having something to look for and a place to look. I don't want to alert Atwell. That is why we do not want to try the obvious and see if Brenda has a copy of her supposed contract. If we approach her, something might get back to Atwell. We may do that later. Right now we just need information."

"Would a computer search help?" I asked. "How about recorded phone conversations?" I grinned. Helen said they tried a computer search and came up empty. And a phone conversation might tell them where to look but would not be admissible. Lou was squinting at me.

"Wanda said something about you having some kind of search program you were going to let them use." Lou said. "Do you think it will get us a more in-depth search?" I grinned and said I was sure of it and asked if they would like to get started now.

We stepped into Helen's private office. "First of all, I want you to give verbal consent in front of my attorney to make changes to your computer." I said, grinning. "I don't want to get in trouble for using and altering state property." They both laughed at me. I sat down. "First of all, I need to pull a program I have saved to the cloud. It will let me access my home network. It'll turn this computer into a terminal for my server." I waited a few seconds for it to upload. "Be thinking of search parameters. Like Atwell's social security number, date of birth, all that. Then I will double check your search and see if you just missed something. I am NOT hacking into any secure network. I am merely going to avoid all the fluff out there that regular search engines pick up." Once that was ready, I said, "Okay now I am going to go into my own computer. I have it rigged for remote access, but nobody else can get in."

I saw I had some new files that popped up. "After my little confrontation with Robin and Joanne, I put tracker and monitor programs on their phones. They have no idea they are there. I can listen to their phone calls. As a matter of fact I have a few conversations recorded. I want to listen to them when we finish with this." I said. "They might give us some information." Neither Helen nor Lou thought that likely.

Entering Atwell's full name produced a deluge of possible files. I entered a series of key words like conservatorship and guardian that quickly trimmed the results down to single result. The only contract that linked his name to a conservatorship was his own contract entering him into the alternative program. It had been filed in Jefferson Parish. I remember Robin saying they used to live there. Both Helen and Lou were disappointed. I typed a few more lines and got Atwell's social security number from his IRS tax returns. That was new information. With that I also got his wife's.

"This is getting interesting. " I said, getting Helen and Lou's attention. They were talking to Katherine Douglas, the investigator Helen had called. "Atwell's name appears on a few bank accounts. One he apparently shares with his wife and another woman. It is at a bank over in Baton Rouge. What is interesting is the account balance. Over 300K. Robin lead me to believe they were having financial difficulties until she took over the family. Here is their local account. A moderate sum, kinda low. Do you want me to check deposits? That is borderline illegal." Helen huffed 'nothing borderline to it'. She was surprised I got what I did. I told her I used an data base the credit bureaus use. Because credit ratings are public use even though you normally have to pay a fee, it is not illegal. Atwell had bought a car on a payment plan.

"So we know Atwell is not the family lawyer he claims to be, signing up people for this program." Helen summarized. "He used his company letterhead for the contract he sent to his daughter for you to sign. She stated he prepared the documents, and they were notarized before they were signed. We need to see who the notary was. We also know he has a pile of money in a bank in another parish. And he has not been a resident of that parish.That suggests he doesn't want the account known. His wife and another woman are also on the account. We'll need to identify her."