Memoirs of a Swinger Ep. 35

"Is this your vehicle?" the guard asked me.

"No the van is on hire, the papers are in the glove compartment."

"And the vehicle on the trailer."

"That's not mine either."

"Does the owner know that the vehicle is in your possession?"

"Err...No."

"I think you'd better come with us, sir."

I was taken to a small holding-room and then left for an hour on my own. The door was locked and if I'd wanted a pee or a drink of water I guess I'd have had to bang on it to get somebody's attention. Fortunately I didn't and so I tried to close my eyes and rest my head on the table. I felt more inconvenienced than worried. After all, I'd done nothing wrong. Provided you overlooked the breaking and entering while in possession of a loaded firearm part.

Eventually the door was unlocked and in walked a man in a suit.

"I'm Detective Sergeant Johnson," he said by way of introduction.

"Pleased to meet you I told him. I guess you already know who I am."

"Yes Mr. Carter. Can you tell me how you came to be in possession of a 1929 Le Mans Bentley."

"The car belongs to Lord Justice Michael Taylor. It was stolen just over a month ago. A week ago I received an anonymous tip off that the thieves wanted to return it."

"Why would they do that?"

"I'm not entirely sure. It's too well known perhaps. So I hired a van and came to France to retrieve it."

"Where did you find the car?"

"In a wood near Annecy."

"Can you prove this?"

"No."

"Does Lord Justice Taylor know about this?"

"No. I didn't want to get his hopes up."

"Do you know Lord Justice Taylor?"

"Yes. He gave my wife away at our wedding."

The last answer threw the detective a bit. If I wasn't lying then it meant that I was possibly connected to one of the highest judges in the land and therefore needed to be treated with a bit of caution and a lot of civility, just in case.

"Thank you Mr. Carter. I'll try to contact Lord Justice Taylor. In the meantime can I get you a drink?"

"I could murder a beer," I told him.

"Sadly we're not a licensed premises Mr. Carter."

"Tea would be great then."

Another hour went by before the Detective Sergeant returned.

"We've spoken to Lord Justice Taylor. He confirms that he knows you and that he holds you in the highest regard. However he cannot explain why you are in possession of his car, which puts us in a bit of a quandary Mr. Carter."

Michael Taylor was a high court judge, he had to be beyond reproach. I couldn't expect him to cover for me.

"I understand," I said sympathetically.

"Is there anything else you can tell us that might clarify your situation?" the detective asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry."

Just then the door opened and in walked Colin Macgregor of Blackfinch Security, with another man in a police uniform.

"Chief Superintendent," the detective said, springing out of his chair.

"Stand easy, Johnson," the man replied. "Mr. Carter is to be released immediately."

"Yes sir. And the Bentley?"

"That too. Mr Carter, I apologise that you 've been inconvenienced."

"Not at all," I said. "I was treated fairly. I can't ask for any more than that."

"Thank you."

Colin Macgregor escorted me back to the van and we drove out of the customs shed and onto British soil.

"Good work," he said in his thick Scottish accent. "Everything went well, I take it?"

"Yes, thank you for your help."

"Not at all."

"Do you need a lift anywhere," I asked.

"No. I'm parked just outside the terminal building. You have a pick up to make from the passenger terminal though."

"Kate?"

"Aye, she's been waiting all night, wouldn't leave without you. Don't worry, we had someone sit with her."

I dropped Colin Macgregor off then drove to the passenger terminal to find Kate. It wasn't difficult. It was still early and she and her minder were the only people in it. Kate hugged me tightly when she saw me and wouldn't let go.

"You should have got a taxi back to London," I told her.

"You wouldn't have left me," she replied. "And we look after each other don't we?"

"Thank you."

I asked Kate's minder if he needed a lift anywhere but very deferentially, he declined. And so, as the sun began to rise, we set off on the last leg of our journey to London.

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

I woke up in my own bed in Wimbledon, with Kate lying next to me. It was three o'clock on Tuesday afternoon now. I studied Kate's perfect body and, as if she knew I was watching, she began to wake up.

"Good afternoon sleepy head," I said.

"What time is it?" she mumbled.

I looked at the clock and said, "Three."

Kate relaxed. We still had a couple of hours before everyone came home.

"Make love to me, Steven," she purred.

And so I did.

Afterwards, Kate borrowed my Porsche and drove back to Chelsea to wait for Daniel. I changed the bedsheets then retrieved the grease gun from the Bentley and carefully extracted the diamonds, all eighteen of them. After washing the grease off they sparkled like new. In today's money I guess there must have been about half a million pounds' worth. I was going to need a safe but for the time being I hid them at the back of our closet.

I was glad I'd changed the bedsheets because Lesley wasted no time when she got home. She pinned me to the bed and had her way with me, such was her need to re-connect. I'd cum only a few hours earlier, so it wasn't a short session and Lesley exhausted herself getting the desired result.

"How was your weekend?" I asked her afterwards, as she lay recovering from her efforts.

"It was marvellous," she replied grinning. "I met Astrid Olsen."

"The model?"

"That's right."

I remembered Astrid Olsen from magazine pictures and a few fleeting teenage fantasies.

"When you say you met her?"

Lesley giggled.

"She's married to a friend of Daniel's and while the guys went out for breakfast we might have gone to bed together," Lesley confessed smugly. "She's so pretty and really nice."

"And the rest of the weekend?"

"Concorde was amazing. You'd have loved it, more than me I think. On Saturday we went up the empire state building then Daniel took me shopping on Fifth Avenue and bought me a lovely bracelet and a beautiful dress. In the evening we went for dinner with Astrid and her husband, Paul and afterwards I let Daniel fuck me in the stretch limo as it drove round Central Park. Then on Sunday morning we met Astrid and Paul again. That's when the boys went off for breakfast and Astrid and I went to bed. Then we all visited the Metropolitan museum and had a walk in Central Park. It was fantastic."

"Sounds like you had a great time."

"I did. But I couldn't stop thinking about you. Are you going to tell me what happened? Kate called me last night to say that you'd been detained by customs and then Michael called to say that the police were involved. I woke Carole up and asked her what I should do and she suggested that I phone Blackfinch."

"What did they say?"

"Nothing at first, then twenty minutes later I got a call to say that there was nothing to worry about and that you'd be home later."

"And here I am."

"Please tell me what happened, Steven."

"If I do then you have to keep it to yourself. You can't tell anyone and that includes Michael and Daniel."

"I promise," Lesley swore solemnly.

I began by telling Lesley about the weekend with Kate and Polly before moving on to how we'd broken into Gert Strang's house and held him and his family at gunpoint. Then I told her how Stefan had interrogated Strang and relieved him of his secrets, cash and diamonds, how we'd driven back to Annecy to pick up Kate, how Alice and Anton had got engaged, how Kate and I had driven across France towing the Bentley and finally about how I'd been stopped in Dover.

"It sounds like you had an adventure," Lesley said snuggling into me. "That's what I love about you."

"There's a bit more," I confessed.

"Should I be concerned?" Lesley asked, sensing that this was different.

"No, but we've been made an offer."

I explained to Lesley about the conversation I'd had with Stefan at the restaurant in Evian, and how, twenty years ago, Blackfinch had recruited Carole and Daniel to work for them.

"So, in part, Blackfinch helped to make Durolitum the success it is today," I told Lesley.

"And Daniel and Carole still work for Blackfinch?"

"Not any more. It stopped when they split up."

"So Blackfinch want to continue that relationship with you?"

"I guess. But they're also offering something else. Something that, as Stefan put it might appeal to our 'sense of adventure'."

"OUR sense of adventure?" Lesley queried.

"That's right. They want to recruit you as well."

"What did you tell Stefan?

"I said I'd talk to you."

"What do you think we should do?"

"I want to talk to Carole and Daniel before deciding. What do you think?"

"This is going to sound shallow Steven, but I'd like to have Daniel and Kate's lifestyle. Or Carole's for that matter."

"We're already doing better than most."

"And as long as I have you then I'm happy. But, if I could, I'd have the houses, the cars the holidays, the clothes and the jewellery. Daniel was very generous in New York and I love him for it but it's not the same as being able to pay for things yourself."

I got up from the bed and rummaged around in the back of the closet.

"Close your eyes and hold your hands out," I instructed.

Naked, Lesley knelt on the bed and carefully, I poured the diamonds into her hands.

"You can open them now," I told her.

"Oh my god," she exclaimed looking down at her hands. "Are they real?"

"Yes. Stefan told me they were an 'introductory bonus'."

"You mean if we say no, we have to give them back?"

"That's right."

"Then we should say yes."

That evening we towed the Bentley the last few miles to Michael and Claire Taylor's house in Richmond. Michael's joy at being reunited with the car was plain to see and after a quick inspection he fired the car up and took Lesley for a quick spin in it, leaving Claire and me on the driveway.

"Apart from Lesley, you and me, that car's the only thing he really cares about," Claire said. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me how you got it back."

"Nope."

"To be honest I don't care. I just want to see my husband happy and this has made him very happy. Thank you, Steven."

"I'm glad I could help, but it wasn't just me, Kate helped too."

"That's good of her. You know it's not easy seeing your best friend replaced by a younger model," Claire said referring to Carole.

"You know it wasn't like that, Claire," I told her.

"I guess I do. It suited me to think of Kate as some vacuous little gold-digger but perhaps it's time I gave her a little more credit," she continued.

"Kate's a good person. You should have seen what she did for Poppy."

"I know," Claire admitted.

When Michael and Lesley returned, Michael's smile stretched from ear to ear.

"Why don't you and your mom go inside and find us a bottle of champagne while I have a word with your husband," Michael said to Lesley after they'd put the car safely back into its garage.

Lesley and Claire disappeared inside leaving Michael and I standing on the Taylor's large driveway.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more for you this morning," Michael said apologetically. "It wasn't because I didn't want to. It's just that telling the truth is an occupational hazard for a judge."

"I understand." I told him.

"The man you met at the ferry. The one who'd been racing his Cooper at Spa, is an acquaintance. He thought he recognised the car and so he told the border police. He called to tell me this morning but by that time the police had already been in touch."

"There's no harm done."

"Can you tell me how you found it?" Michael asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry," I told him.

Michael thought for a bit. I knew he wanted answers but he knew he wasn't going to get them.

"You never needed my approval to marry Lesley," he said, changing the subject. "She's the closest thing I have to a daughter and it's hard to express how much Claire and I care for her."

"I know," I said. "And she thinks the world of you."

"I just want you to know that we're both very glad that you and Lesley found each other."

"Thank you."

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

Loose Ends

On Sunday night, Lesley and I went to Daniel and Kate's for Pizza as usual and Kate insisted that Suzy came along too. After spending the best part of two weeks with Daniel while Kate was with Poppy, Kate didn't want Suzy to feel left out.

While the girls shared their respective adventures in the lounge, Daniel and I stood outside in the cold, damp London air and smoked a cigar.

"I was approached by Blackfinch," I told him.

"I thought you would be eventually," he replied, unsurprised by the topic.

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

"It wasn't my place, Steven. It's between you and them."

"Do you think I should accept?"

"Blackfinch was very good for Durolitum," he said, then added, "I'm guessing that they asked Lesley as well."

"That's right."

"What does she think?"

"Lesley's intoxicated by a heady mix of money and adventure."

"And you?"

"I won't deny a part of me is too."

"Then if I were you I'd accept," he told me.

"Why did you stop working for them?"

"It's a young man's game, Steven and besides without Carole there didn't seem much point in carrying on," he confessed. "Kate's many things but she's not Carole and it would have been wrong for me to expect her to fill that gap. To be honest, for a while I thought about giving up Durolitum altogether and walking away from it. God knows money wasn't a problem."

"Why did you change your mind?"

"You and Lesley came along I guess. I realised that I enjoyed being a part of the action and I wasn't ready to give it up."

"So you'd support us if we decided to accept?"

"I would."

"Thank you."

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

I had to wait another day to have the same conversation with Carole although this time the circumstances were a bit different. Lesley and I got home from our French class to find Carole in the kitchen cooking. Suzy hadn't got home from her badminton practise and so it was the ideal time to approach Carole.

"Come to bed with us?" Lesley insisted.

"Can you wait until we've eaten?" Carole replied.

"No, we can't."

I made Lesley wait until after we'd had sex with Carole before asking her. Lesley played along but when she thought that Carole had received sufficient attention she hastened my orgasm like only Lesley could. The moment I pulled out of Carole the questioning started.

"Steven and I have been asked to join Blackfinch," she began.

"Now there's a surprise," Carole replied ironically.

"What do you think?"

"I think you are just the sort of people they're looking for."

"So you think we should accept?" Lesley said, prompting the answer she wanted to hear.

"I think you should," Carole confirmed, "but I'll tell you the same thing I told Steven in the summer."

"What's that?"

"You have to promise me that you'll both be loyal to Durolitum and to Daniel."

"Why do you say that?" Lesley asked looking confused.

"Because you're likely to get what might seem like better offers along the way and I want you to promise me you'll say no to them."

"I promise Carole. And Steven does too, don't you?"

"I've already promised," I told Lesley.

"Daniel said he'd support us," I told Carole. "Will you?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"Now what does a girl have to do around here to get the cum licked out of her pussy?" Carole asked.

"All she has to do is ask," Lesley giggled as she sunk her head between Carole's thighs.

A while later, when Carole was in the kitchen trying to recover whatever she could from her previously abandoned cooking, Lesley and I sat alone in our bedroom.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked one last time.

"Yes," Lesley responded with just a hint of apprehension in her voice.

I dialled the number and waited for it to connect. The line rang a couple of times before a voice at the other end answered.

"Sir Hillary, it's Steven and Lesley Carter..."

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

Epilogue

There are a few things that need to be wrapped up, more for interest than anything else, before this episode can be completely put to bed.

Polly's operation was a complete success and left her with only the faintest trace that she'd ever had a scar. She returned to school in November.

When Poppy had made her wish, she'd actually asked for two things. A daddy and a dog. Prince was a German Shepherd Dog. He'd been bred for the German army but as a puppy had proved a bit too soft for their exacting requirements. Rejects from the breeding programme were in high demand as assistance dogs but in the end Prince had a different calling, as the companion of nine year old French girl.

It had been fairly easy for Stefan to commandeer Prince and within weeks he'd been presented to Poppy and her parents. Prince was the canine equivalent of Poppy. Young, intelligent, inquisitive and extremely loyal. The two were inseparable. Prince lived to a good old age and thanks to his pedigree sired quite a few offspring along the way, ensuring that his line continues to this day.

One Saturday evening in the middle of November we had dinner with Michael and Claire at their home. It followed the usual format with Michael and Lesley cooking while Claire and I talked in the living room.

After dinner Michael produced a copy of the Telegraph newspaper from the sideboard. He opened up the broadsheet, found the page he was looking for then refolded it to focus on one article.

"This caught my eye the other day," he said and proceeded to read out the article.

"Eight rare vintage racing cars were discovered this week in a warehouse on the outskirts of Marseille. The cars had all been stolen over the past five years and were believed to have disappeared into private collections or been broken down for their rare parts.

It is unclear what the vehicles were doing in Marseille. One theory is that they were about to be shipped to a new owner, perhaps in one of the Gulf States. No arrests were made but in a statement to the press, Marion Lefebvre, 'Commissaire Divisionnaire' for Marseille said that they were pleased to have rescued these historic vehicles. She paid tribute to the work of one of her officers, Sophie Dubois, whose investigations led to locating the cache."

"Isn't Sophie Dubois the girl who lives in your house in Provence?" Michael asked Lesley with the solemnity of a judge asking the defendant a question.

"If it's the same one," Lesley responded cheekily.

"And didn't Marion Lefebvre come to your party in Provence last year?"

"I think she might have," Lesley giggled.

"Curious, isn't it?" Michael said, folding the paper and putting it away again.