Laura's Choice Ch. 07

"Arie, what do you know? What's going on?"

She looked furtively around and then said quietly. "I don't know for sure but I contacted local police in Denver and they eventually put me through to some guys in what I believe is some sort of human trafficking probe. They didn't tell me much but they made it clear they represented a higher authority. They didn't exactly answer when I asked if they were FBI but they didn't deny it. I was told to not ask too many questions and to return here. From their questioning of me I got the distinct impression that they knew about this place and what goes on here. They were very interested in my story."

"Why didn't they remove you from Xavier in Denver."

"This is where it gets complicated. They asked me to continue on as before and I would eventually be pulled from this. I think they want more than just me and you out of here and Xavier arrested. I think they want more."

"What did you tell them about me?"

"Firstly, I just mentioned that there was another girl being held against her will. They then gave me your full name and asked if you were the girl I was referring to. They seemed to know a lot about you."

My mind reeled about what Xavier would do if he found out the FBI or whoever they were knew my name. He would suspect I had informed on him. I would be flayed alive if he thought I had ratted him out. Oh God, where was this going to go?

I paced nervously around the house all morning and then went for a short walk in the afternoon. Arie was jumpy too but she just kept watching the roadway in. I half expected nothing would come of this but she seemed to be certain it would happen and soon. I just wasn't so sure and I feared what might happen if and when it did.

Xavier came home and left shortly after. He kissed us both, patted my rear and then told us to be good while he was at the meeting. Shortly afterwards, Mrs Lawrence called us in for dinner.

I was no longer expecting anything today, or really for that matter ever when suddenly a light shone through the window. We all looked at each other in surprise. Jean furrowed her eye brows and exclaimed, "What was that?"

We didn't have to wait long before our answer came as all hell seemed to break loose. I knew in a flash that this was either my nightmare about to unfold or my salvation. A crashing knock came on the door followed by an amplified voice, "OPEN the DOOR, POLICE!" We all sat there stunned, looking at each other. Jean moved first, exclaiming, "My, what do they want?" as she moved to the door.

Opening it, five men burst into the room. One man, the least armed of the crew came up to us as the other men secured the entrance and moved into the other rooms. "Xavier Armand, is he here?"

Jean spoke for us. "No, he's not home. Could you please tell us what this is all about?"

"NO, not now. The three of you, sit on the couch with your hands visible and don't move." Oh shit! This was really happening.

We heard more shouting and engines roaring around the Ranch compound. Sirens announced more police arriving. We could see that the area was lit up around the house with the meeting. A loud amplified voice demanded that everyone come out. Ultimatums were given.

Above all the noise of the raid a crackle of gunfire erupted and then more after a short pause. More shouts and several more shots were fired. Several of the men in our house left quickly with only one armed man standing near us and the cop who spoke to us remaining. He spoke rapidly over a hand held radio and looked pleased after a short sharp conversation.

He turned to us and smiled, "Ladies just sit tight. This should be over soon. Let me introduce myself. I'm Agent Barnes, Federal Bureau of Investigation. I want to ask you some questions but not until an agent with recording equipment arrives after the situation stabilizes. For now, just try to relax."

Oh sure, relax, I thought. Nothing like a police raid to calm one out.

The general noise and activity seemed to settle down as we sat nervously on the couch. Mrs. Lawrence seem genuinely distressed. I believe she feared for Xavier. In my reeling mind I didn't know what to think. The gunshots worried me and the possibilities as to what could have happened ran through my mind. Was Xavier okay? Was he arrested? How much trouble were the men in? What would happen to us, Arie and myself? After so long as Xavier's captive could my life here truly be about to change and in what way?

Finally, two more men came in. One who identified himself as Agent Dalton and another man with recording equipment. Jean asked Dalton if he had a search warrant and he immediately produced one.

His first question was to identify ourselves, which we did. He then explained our rights, "Mrs Lawrence, Miss Hobbs and Miss Rouell, you are not currently subject to arrest. What we learn and how you answer our questions will determine our next steps with you. At this point in time we consider the two younger women as victims and you, Mrs. Lawrence, we believe you are an employee of the Ranch and not subject to arrest. However, as our investigation continues this may change. You may contact a lawyer but at this point none of you are under arrest. You are being detained for questioning."

I just nodded my head. I had no lawyer or any idea as to how to find one in a short space of time so I resolved to answer questions.

The next two hours of detailed questioning, with most of the questions directed at me went by in a blur. When it became clear to me that these men knew the outlines of my life since my capture six years ago. They knew my trail went cold at the University where I suddenly stopped attending classes. My bills were paid by bank draft and I had no more contact with the University. They picked up on me when Xavier began to renew my license and then the passport. They asked me many questions about the activity of the men, most of which I couldn't answer.

The Agents seemed to accept that I was told little about the criminal activities. They were pleased that I fully confirmed that I had been abducted. I believe they knew and I was encouraged, almost threatened to confirm my situation as a sex slave. They said to me that if I wasn't a captive then I was one of the criminals and I could be prosecuted as such. My mind flashed to the time Xavier forced me to beat Arie and I knew they could hold some of what I did to her against me. It was time to open up about my captivity and I told them everything. They assured me I had nothing to fear from the Organization but I wasn't so certain. I hoped they were right.

My thoughts kept returning to Xavier and finally I asked them about his whereabouts. Their response was guarded and they replied all the men had been taken into custody.

Arie through all this gleefully recounted all about her abduction and purchase by Xavier and all the beatings he had laid on her. Our situations were so different. She couldn't get out of here fast enough. In contrast. I had been his sex toy and companion for so long I could barely contemplate what it would be like to be truly free if that what in fact was my future. I could hardly believe it.

***

Arie and I stayed that night in Xavier's home. Mrs Lawrence was allowed to leave with strict instructions to report back in the morning to the command post, which was being set up in Xavier's home. The police presence around the Ranch compound was heavy even in the morning. I was surprised when two officers approached me in the study saying that I was wanted at the hospital. A chill went down my back.

As we walked through the hospital corridor they said that Xavier had been wounded in the raid. He hadn't fired a weapon as far as they could tell but had been caught in the crossfire. I guessed that Frank and Ivan most likely had tried to shoot it out. They were idiots as well as brutal masters.

I was unprepared for what I found in the room. Xavier was hooked up every which way to tubes and wires and machines and looked horrible. He swallowed hard a couple of times and gasped out my name. He moved a hand over to the side of the bed and opened it inviting me with the gesture and a pained look on his face. This strong, powerful and supremely confident man now looked broken and something inside me felt broken as well. This is not how I saw this ending, whatever it was we had.

I took his hand and held it. He felt clammy and cool. He gripped my hand but there was no strength in it. My thoughts were at war. This man had beat me and raped me more times than I could possibly count. He locked me in a small windowless room for months and only took me out to use my body. He raped my ass and whipped it bloody. Yet despite all this my heart sank to see him so damaged. I glanced at a nurse and she just shook her head. He was clearly in bad shape.

His eyes fixed on mine but his attempts to speak seemed to take too much out of him. His eyes just glistened as he gently squeezed my hand. I put my other hand on his head and smoothed his hair. A tear slipped down his face. He was a destroyed man.

Being free of him had been my wish for years and I knew his domination was over. Yet, I could take no joy in seeing him this damaged.

He fell asleep or possibly into unconsciousness and the Agents pulled me back into the hall. I asked why I was brought to him. They replied that he had asked for me. ln the end, all he had was me.

The doctors explained that his spine was shattered by a bullet and he would never walk again. And they added that there was no feeling below his waist. He would be in jail and an invalid for the rest of his life. I shook my head as I realized his amazing cock and sexual appetite were gone forever. I was free of his lust for me.

Finally.

***

Epilogue: three years later

Closing the door of my small art studio I walked to my car and headed towards the beach front bar.

Waiting for Will I reflected on how my life had changed since the Ranch. With my inheritance, I had finished my degree with a minor in Art History and had opened up a small shop in the Florida Keys, basically as far away from Colorado as I could get in the US. I sold mostly local artist's works and some handicrafts. Along with the balance of my inheritance I lived quietly but comfortably.

I had even changed my name to hide from my past. It turned out that the FBI had a long list of crimes to prosecute against Xavier's gang, with human trafficking being only one of them. Extensive money laundering seemed to be their bread and butter as I learned from the trial. Fortunately, my testimony was taken near the beginning of what was a very long trial. Xavier survived but was destined for a very long stretch in a wheel chair friendly federal prison. He was a broken man.

During the trial I had stayed, along with Arie, at Philip's home. He was deeply saddened by what happened to his friend. Hardest for me was describing during the trial the beatings Xavier laid on me and the continuous rapes at his hands. I had to recount all this with him staring at me only feet away.

The Defence Attorney drew out of me that towards the end of my captivity the sex had been consensual but the prosecution shot that notion down. No one who was held against their will could truly consent to sex. My strange submission to him was not admissible.

After much thought and anguished reflection I visited him in his prison in Oklahoma on my way to Denver to visit Arie and Philip. It was mostly pity but during my time with him I realized that he was not evil to the core but had been caught up in a life and a culture that treated women as objects to own and sexually abuse as a matter of course. Given where he came from, I was treated as well as could be expected. Seeing him in his wheelchair was pitiful but I tried to move beyond pity. But when he held my hand and broke down sobbing my heart ached for this ruined man. The last thing he said during my prison visit was that he apologized for everything he had done to me. He then said he loved me.

And I knew that, indeed, in his own way, he really had loved me.

That was the last time I ever saw him. The prison, by way of Philip, told me that he died of a blood clot shortly after my visit. I think that may have been for the best.

For myself, I had really sworn off men, that is, until my kitchen renovation. Will was an Iraq veteran who was trying to piece his life back together after the military and the war, working as a contractor and handyman. I fell in love with him sometime after the beautiful new custom cabinets were installed in my modest home. He was handsome in his own right but how could you not love a man who could do such beautiful work! We were going slowly but I could see a long future for us.

The other good news was that Philip and Arie were coming to Florida to visit. They were bringing their beautiful new baby daughter, Amy. To me, she was the proof I needed that sometimes, something good could come out of such evil.

The end.