Memoirs of a Swinger Ep. 18

The husband said nothing but the wife agreed quickly. Then Stefan picked up a cardboard box from the floor.

"Let's see what we have in the box," he said placing the contents on his desk.

The first items were innocuous. Wallet, cheque book, car keys, watch, jewellery, IDs... Then he placed another bottle similar to the one in the woman's handbag on the table. Finally he produced a sheaf of Polaroids showing the two of them engaged in various sex acts with another couple in what was clearly one of the hotel's bedrooms. Clearly each of them had been photographing the other as they played with their victims. It must have happened that weekend.

"Would you care to explain these?"

"Go fuck yourself," said the husband. You could see the rage building up in him. He was a reasonably big guy, looked like a bit of a thug made good. Both he and his wife must have been mid-thirties and just below the cut off age for the weekend.

"There's no need for bad language Mr, Peeters. I'm trying to be civilised. But if you prefer we can involve the police or perhaps we could just share these pictures with your friends and family. Do you have children Mrs Peeters?"

Mrs. Peeters cracked and sang like a bird at the mention of children.

"Don't," she pleaded." This is just a bit of fun. We don't hurt them and they're all swingers. It's just that my husband likes them compliant."

"I think what you're describing is rape Mrs. Peeters. Would you agree?"

"But they're all swingers," she repeated.

"Did they consent to you drugging them and performing sex acts on them?"

"No." The woman started to cry. "I don't want to do this but he makes me. We've got children. I'd die if they found out."

Stefan stopped talking and produced a tape recorder from under his desk. He pressed stop and rewound the tape a bit and replayed Mrs. Peeters confession.

"What do you want?" said the guy.

"Well let's see. What's your favourite charity?" There was no answer so Stefan continued, "Mine is the Red Cross. So why don't you write a cheque to the Red Cross for five thousand Marks!"

Stefan handed him the chequebook and he wrote out a cheque, then tore it out of the cheque book and tossed it at Stefan.

"I'm sure that refugees the world over will thank you Mr. Peeters."

"Are we done?"

"Good lord no," said Stefan. "That's your debt to the management settled. Now there is the matter of the debt to your victims. Steven do you want to do this or shall I ask Klaus to do the honours."

"I'll do it," I said. "But he gets a fighting chance. I won't hit a guy tied to a chair. I'm not an animal like these two."

"As you wish," said Stefan. "Is this alright for you Mr. Peeters?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Did your victims?" Stefan replied.

The basement store room was a large room with pallets and odds and ends stored at one end. Peeters, Stefan, Klaus and I went into the room and Klaus closed the door behind us.

"Right gentlemen," Stefan said when we were ready. "You will fight until I say enough or until someone is unconscious. There are no other rules. So whenever you are ready you can begin."

Peeters rushed at me clumsily. I sidestepped him and hit him hard in the face, but he didn't go down. He was more cautious after that and picked his moments. This wasn't going to be a quick fight and we traded blows for probably five minutes. He was taller than me and had a longer reach. Although I could box better I had to expose myself to him to get close. For every couple of punches I landed I had to take one from him and he hit hard.

One punch to the gut knocked the wind out of me and before I knew it he'd grabbed me in an arm lock around the neck and was punching me in the side of the face with his other hand. I couldn't escape and so I reached up trying to find his face. When I did I gouged one of his eyeballs. He recoiled in shock and I escaped from his grip but I was bleeding quite badly above my right eye.

We both took a moment to sort ourselves out. His eye must have been stinging and he closed it to ease the pain while I tried to wipe the blood away from mine. In desperation he rushed me again and we grappled before his weight forced me over and onto the ground. I went down but he didn't. I covered my head with my arms and he proceeded to kick me repeatedly in the side. I felt a sharp pain in my ribs but rolled away and managed to spring up before he could stop me. I'd been lucky.

We went back to sparring, both of us with the ability to see through one eye only now. He was beginning to tire and so I pretended to do the same. I stayed close to the store room wall and eventually he charged me again. I sidestepped him again and he ran into the wall. When he turned round I hit him square in the face and this time he went down. Then I jumped on top of him and pummelled my fists into his face for what seemed like ages. I landed blow after blow until there was blood everywhere. I didn't stop until Klaus grabbed me and lifted me off. Apparently Stefan had been shouting at me to stop but I couldn't hear anything once the red mist had descended.

Stefan took a picture of Peeters with his Polaroid camera then they brought back Mrs. Peeters who almost threw up when she saw the state of her husband. She couldn't help but notice the damage her husband had done to me however.

"As you can see Mrs Peeters," said Stefan. "Your husband had more than a fair chance, which is something your victims never had. Now this is what is going to happen. We are going to fill your husband up with alcohol and pain killers and you are going to drive him home to Frankfurt this evening. In the morning you will take him to a hospital. Tell them your husband had too much to drink and got into an argument with the occupants of another car. They beat him up then stole your wallet, credit cards, everything. Tomorrow somebody will use your credit cards to buy beer and cigarettes in Frankfurt. You will not go to the police. You will not say anything to anyone else. If you do then I will release the tape and the photos and remember Mrs Peeters. We really do know where you live."

After they'd filled him with peach schnapps and ibuprofen a security guard brought their Mercedes round to the back of the hotel and loaded Peeters into the back seat. Stefan handed Mrs. Peeters the key.

"What about our clothes, watches, jewellery?" she asked.

"All gone," Stefan replied. "Now you should go before I change my mind about being so lenient toward you."

Mrs. Peeters got into the car and drove off. The tyres of the big Mercedes screeched as she left the car park.

Stefan turned to me.

"I can see why Markus trusts you," was all he said. Then he added, "Most people would have let Klaus do his stuff."

Stefan turned to Klaus.

"What did you think of our friend Steven?" he asked.

"He's got no fear. He can take punishment. He's very good with his fists. You can see he's been in the ring. But he can't grapple or kick and those are his biggest weaknesses," Klaus replied with clinical accuracy.

"I know someone in London who can help you get better. If you're interested that is. I realise it's not your chosen career but I get the feeling you might benefit from it. I'll pass the details on to Markus. Shall we go up and see how Heike is doing?"

The three of us went back up to the suite. Sally and Mark were horrified when they saw the state of me but Lesley knew better than to show any emotion. She knew it wasn't what my mum would have done.

"Let's get you cleaned up," was all she said.

I had a quick shower and changed my clothes. We tried to stop the bleeding from my eye but we couldn't. Klaus offered to help and he skilfully managed to stop it with small pieces of sticking plaster but told me I was going to need stitches.

The adrenaline had worn off now, my right eye had swollen up and my ribs were hurting bad, amongst other things. I took some Ibuprofen and then went back into the living room. Heike and Aldo were dressed but asleep now and our bags were packed.

"It's time you were going," said Stefan. "Lesley, I hadn't realised that you were going to need to drive. Are you happy to?"

"She's the best one in any case," I said.

"Excellent! Let's get these sleeping beauties into the car then."

With the help of the security guards we carried Heike and Aldo to the service lift. Klaus drove the car to the rear entrance and we strapped the two of them into the back seats. Then we said our goodbyes to Sally and Mark and thanked them for their help, saying we'd see them soon back in London. They were both a bit overwhelmed with what had happened but Lesley reassured them that everything would be alright. Klaus shook my hand and told me to focus on y grappling and kicking then escorted Sally and Mark back into the hotel. That just left Stefan, Lesley and me.

"Well Mr and Mrs Carter," said Stefan. "You make a good team."

Stefan reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope which he handed to me. Inside were the Polaroids of Heike and the one of Peeters taken after the fight. There was also a cassette tape.

"Please give those to Markus," he said. "The tape is a copy. I still have the original and the photographs of the other couple."

"They did this to another couple?" Lesley asked.

"I'm afraid so. But what's done is done."

"We should be going," I said.

Stefan agreed.

"Thank you Stefan," I said as I shook his hand.

"I hope to see you both again. Please say hello to Markus for me. Drive carefully."

Lesley gave Stefan a hug then we got into Heike's car and began the journey to Munich.

******************

It took six hours to reach Heike and Markus' home. We stopped twice to refuel and once just give Lesley a break. Lesley bought loads of sweets, sugary drinks and strong coffees from the petrol stations. Only she could go in. I couldn't risk the attention my face would bring.

In a strange way Lesley was enjoying it. People were relying on her and it gave her a sense of purpose. Towards the end of the journey Heike and Aldo began to wake up and we had to stop to get them to drink some water. We'd been advised not to let them dehydrate but it was like getting children to eat broccoli. Lesley persisted however and we managed to get some into both of them.

We arrived at just after six in the morning. It was still dark but as we came up the drive Markus was on the doorstep waiting for us. Behind him stood Maria, the housekeeper and her husband Karl, the chef. Next to them were a man and a woman I didn't recognise. We got out of the car and Markus rushed to where Heike was sitting. He and Maria got her out of the car and Karl and I got Aldo out. We took them both upstairs and put them to bed. I realised that the couple I didn't know were a doctor and a nurse. We left Heike with Markus and the doctor and Aldo with Karl and the nurse.

Maria told us to go into the study as it had a fire going in it then she asked us if we wanted a coffee.

"Do you have anything stronger?" asked Lesley.

"Whisky?"

"That'll be just fine."

Maria came back with a bottle and two glasses. She poured us both a generous measure then left the bottle.

Fifteen minutes later Markus came down with the doctor and his assistant.

"How are they," asked Lesley.

"They are both fine," said the doctor. "They'll have a terrible hangover when they wake up but nothing more. Now Mr. Carter, I think we need to take a look at you. That was a nasty flight of stairs you fell down. I suggest you pour yourself another whisky, this may hurt a little."

The doctor wasn't wrong. They put some stitches in my eyebrow to stop the wound opening up again. Even with a local anaesthetic it was still painful. There wasn't much they could do for the bruising or the ribs so the doctor gave me some strong painkillers but told me not to mix them with alcohol.

I thanked the two medics and Markus saw the two of them out then joined us in the study. He found a glass and poured himself a drink.

"I'm sorry," I said to Markus. "I should have paid more attention."

"I spoke with Stefan," Markus replied. "He told me what happened. He told me how lucky Heike was that you two were there and how she couldn't have wished for two better friends"

Markus took a long sip of his whisky.

"He says you have a package for me?"

I handed Markus the envelope. He found a portable cassette player and played the tape. We listened to Mrs. Peeters confession while Markus looked at the photos of his wife with another woman. When the tape ended Markus held up the photo of Mr. Peeters, bloody and battered after the fight.

"This is the guy?" he said putting the photo on the table.

"Yes." I replied.

"Thank you."

Lesley picked up the photo and looked at the image. She hadn't seen it before.

"You could have just let Klaus or one of the others beat him up, couldn't you?"

"That wouldn't have been right," I told her.

Markus took a last look at the photos then threw the pile into the fire. We watched them burn in silence. When the images were just cinders he threw the tape in the fire after them.

"Heike's always been a wild one. That's what I love about her."

Markus' eyes welled up and he stopped to wipe the tears away.

"Thank you. Just thank you," he said.

"You must be tired Markus. Why don't you go and be with your wife."

"You're right Lesley, It's been a long day. I'll get Maria to show you to your room."

Markus got up and hugged Lesley. Seeing how sore I was he shook my hand gently.

"I don't know how to thank you two," he said then left.

Maria came in and said she'd show us to our room. Lesley asked if we could take the bottle with us. She laughed and told us of course. I told Maria I was probably going to bleed a bit on the pillow but she told me not to worry about it.

"I want to say thank you to you both," said Maria as she left. "Heike means the world to Markus. He'd be lost without her and the two of them mean a lot to Karl and me."

Lesley and I got into bed and she cuddled up to me on the side which Peeters hadn't kicked.

"I'm proud of you," she said.

"I'm proud of you," I told her. "We do make a good team, don't we?"

******************

We slept until just after midday. Someone had brought up our luggage and so when we got up we had a shower and put on some fresh clothes. Lesley had to help me on with my pullover. I just couldn't get it on by myself. However, I took a couple of the painkillers the doctor had given me and in fifteen minutes I felt much better.

Maria cooked up a late breakfast and as we were eating Markus joined us. He'd taken the day off but had been on a call in his office.

"Morning," he said. "How are you?"

"We're fine," said Lesley. How are Heike and Aldo?"

"They're fine. Heike really wants to see you both."

When we went into Heike's bedroom she had a big smile on her face. Lesley gave her a hug and asked her how she felt.

"I'm fine," she said. "I feel a bit of an idiot."

"None of this is your fault," said Markus.

"Do you remember much?" asked Lesley.

"At first it was like I was in the room but it was happening to somebody else. I remember all of you bursting into the room then I think I fell asleep."

We chatted for a while then Lesley suggested that we should visit Aldo too.

"Would you mind if I spoke with Steven alone for a moment?" Heike asked.

The moment that Markus and Lesley were out of the room Heike burst into tears.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't want Markus to see me upset."

"It's ok."

"Thank you for looking after me. Markus told me what you did."

"You know. I really enjoyed our weekend. It was fun. Well maybe not the last bit. But the rest was just the break I needed. I know Lesley enjoyed it."

"Me too."

"I really enjoyed curling up on the sofa with you on Saturday night and the big bed with the four of us in it on Sunday morning."

"Shall we go again next year?"

"If you want. Do you reckon Aldo will come again?"

"Aldo's a dog. Of course he will."

******************

We flew home on Tuesday. The man at the immigration desk looked at me oddly but there wasn't really anything he could do but let me in. Kate was there to collect us from the airport and she and Lesley gossiped about the weekend's events all the way home. That evening we had supper with Daniel and Kate, Lesley recounted our tale in intimate detail.

Lesley was a day late getting back to work, but it was Christmas so folks were winding down for the holidays. I'd planned to go into work at Durolitum that week too and so on Wednesday I put a suit on and went.

You could hear a pin drop when I walked into the office, the swelling on my face had gone down quite a bit by then but the bruising was now coming out. Lynne my assistant came out and greeted me. Daniel's p.a. had already briefed her on what to expect so she wasn't fazed when she saw me. I asked her to come into my office and when she closed the door I gave her a hug and told her it was good to see her after so long. She asked me if I was alright and I told her I was fine.

I went to the morning meeting with Daniel's other directors and sat and listened. You could see that everyone was shocked at my appearance and you couldn't really blame them. When Daniel got to the end of the meeting he acknowledged my presence.

"Finally," he said. "I just want to welcome Steven back from University. Steven's been in Germany the last few days working with the Munich bank. As you can see he's had a nasty fall down some stairs, so go easy on him."

I don't know what you look like after you've fallen down some stairs, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't how I did.

"Anyway," Daniel continued. "I've just come off the phone this morning with Markus at the Munich bank and what Steven doesn't know is that they have agreed to increase their investment from ten to twenty million immediately. So, well done to Steven."

Everyone clapped and suddenly I wasn't the thug in the room any more.

It wasn't a coincidence. Markus knew I would get the commission and it meant that Lesley and I now had more than enough to buy our house in Wimbledon.

It was shaping up to be a great Christmas.

******************