Retreat

Amanda grins and picks up the pillowcase. "Here wrap this 'round your foot."

He takes it from her with a grin and with an evil glint in his eyes, "I meant, nearly always, of course."

The screams of pain from above stop as abruptly as they had started and shortly after, Collette comes walking down to join the others.

Without giving Collette a second glance, Double Ess looks over to the bound men as, after making a couple of strategic tears on the linen, he ties it around his boot. James seems to sense it is he that has attracted the attention of the stocky Welshman and begins to beg, "No, you can't hit a defenceless man, it's not right, please no, don't."

Double Ess chuckles, "You're so right, would you mind cutting the arsehole free sarge?"

Grinning Plod walks over and pulling out a knife, cuts him free.

James is on his feet in a second and attacks Plod as he is walking away. Given no chance to defend himself, Plod goes down and rolls away from harm as James attempts to stamp on him.

"Oi, wanker, you got me first" Double Ess says as Plod is regaining his feet.

"I'm going to kick shit out of you solider boy, while you've been marchin' up and down, I've been training and got black belts in Karate and Tae Kwan Do."

"Oh mercy me, a marital artist eh? Looks like you'll give me a right good kickin', the most I've ever done is a bit of rollin' around on the mats with the major. Never mind lass I can take a slap, let's go to it."

James jumps to a ready pose in the Karate style and Double Ess stands nonchalantly waiting for James to approach. James takes two steps forward and adopts another pose, a Tae Kwan Do ready stance. Still Double Ess stands nonchalantly awaiting him. Two more steps from James and he leaps into the air screaming, "Haiyaaa."

His opponent steps a little to the side, and turning pushes the airborne man away, causing him to land hard. Angrily, James regains his feet and tries a sweep to Double Ess's head, "Owww," Double Ess complains shaking his hand, to the mirth of Plod, Collette and Amanda, "I forgot about that lump of metal on his cock."

James, now beginning to understand that he is against an able opponent, tries a combination of punches and kicks, most of which hit empty air, all others meeting lazy looking blocks. The final punch he throws results with his arm entrapped between the arms of his opponent. Double Ess Moves his feet and bends resulting in an audible crack and a loud scream, before he is released. "arggghhh, you've fucking broke it, you've fucking broke my arm."

Double Ess grabs him by his shirt, "you're lucky it wasn't your fucking neck girlie, because that's what the major would've done after your cowardly attack." Pushing him away, he says, now, go sit back down and shut the fuck up unless you're asked something."

Wincing with every movement, he starts to do as he has been told, but after a couple of steps says, my arm, I need to go to the hospital."

"What did I say? You can go to the hospital when we are finished here, or the morgue, your choice."

Many times over the years he has been with the "retreat" men have uttered the words, "I'll kill you, or variances of them, this is the first time that a threat of his imminent demise is one he has believed to be true. A cold shudder rushes through his body and a warm wet feeling spreads from the end of his penis, his groin and runs down his legs. Without another word of complaint, he goes and sits with the others.

Plod walks over to the women and cuts the foot restraints from one of them. Helping her to her feet, he pushes her to one of the closed doors. He opens the door and takes her inside, fifteen minutes later, he comes out and in a similar fashion, takes another woman to another door. The major glances at him and he gives her a wink before pushing the woman and following her inside.

Collette goes to join the first woman, less than a minute later screams come from behind the closed door.

Intermittently, the screams continue until Collette leaves the room. She walks over to the third woman and cutting her ankles free, roughly pulls her to her feet. She pushes her toward the other unused room and speaking loudly says, "Sergeant, give her some time to recover and then put her back."

"Sir," Double Ess answers.

Collette pushes the woman through the door, once inside she points to a chair and says, "Sit."

Terrified, the woman obeys and fearfully looks at the woman she is sure she is about to torture her.

"Scream," Collette demands. The woman instantly obliges.

Collette waits for her to stop and says, "Right, tell me everything you know about that demented bitch upstairs, those plastic wanna be studs and what she is up to, now scream again."

Between prompted screams, the woman tells her everything she knows, confirming all she had learned from the other woman and one other important piece of information.

When she exits the room, she sees Plod standing with the sergeant and goes in to see the other woman that Plod had taken to a room. Seeing Collette enter the room, the woman gasps and Collette says, "Scream."

"I don't understand?"

Collette leans to the sitting woman until they are nose to nose, "I said scream bitch, or I'll give you reason to." The woman screams loudly.

When the woman stops screaming, Collette again tries to procure information from her and again learns little she had not already found out.

She walks over to the stairs and putting a foot on the first step, she says loudly and clearly, "swap these wankers with the bitches, leave the eunuch with the bitches for now.

She heads back up the stairs to the attic.

Still suspended in the harness, the woman glares hatefully at Collette as she walks through the door.

"Hello Cecelia, yes, I now know who you are. I would offer my condolences to you for your sisters, but I understand they were sadistic bitches that deserved to suffer a long and unpleasant incarceration and it is a pity they had such easy deaths."

"How about you, are you going to top yourself like your whore sister? Or perhaps hope to be shot like a pig in an abattoir as your other sister chose? Cecelia gasps, this is the first time she has heard anything but the official version of her sisters deaths, but Collette continues, "Or perhaps you'll take the cowards way out like that other tramp? From what I heard, she didn't know what the cocktail she took would do to 'er, she took what she had, but she washed it down with what she planned to dose Oscar with. It seems one drug worked against the other, it were a long slow and painful death. Of course not as long as your other sister, she really spilled her guts and I don't just mean with blood and shit, no, that's why Lizzy topped herself, old Monique had sang like a nightingale. I'm hoping you will choose to be stubborn, wrapping yourself in this delusion you claim to be working for?"

"Have you ever sat back and looked at what you have been doing, No, don't answer, I'll spell it out to you. You have corrupted marriages and in doing that, you have destroyed many men and women."

"I've destroyed men and they deserved it, the women I have not destroyed them I have freed them."

"Really? Take the poor cow downstairs. She is a loving wife, a woman that her husband loved and could trust. She came to you asking for help, help to put the spark back into her marriage. That in itself is an honourable aspiration and had..."

"He was treating her badly, always out leaving her alone and ignoring her when he did bother to come home. He would come in demanding that he had a cooked meal whenever he dignified her with his presence, and then he would lay on the sofa, ignoring her and watching television. When he did speak, it was only to send her to fetch him another beer."

"Oh you sad twisted bitch."

"What? Are you saying that isn't true?"

"No, I know it all to be true... however what you have not mentioned is that, some time ago Michelle made an error in judgement and that put her into debt. When they got married, her debt became their debt and then a year down the line, she lost her job. So to make ends meet, Michael started doing a lot of overtime and because of this they were able to start making an increase in payments and the debts began to come down. Now bearing in mind, these debts were hers and he was the one working a minimum of six twelve hour shifts a week, plus vehicle maintenance on his bike and her car and helping out with her parents house and garden, it ain't surprising he wasn't as much fun as she wanted, the poor bloke was knackered all the time.

"Yes but his drinking."

"What, one or two bottles of Sam Smith's after a hard day's graft, that don't mean he's an alky, does it."

"Yes but he was still ignoring her and order..."

"Don't you get it you silly cow. Everythin' he was doing was for her, every single minute of every single day he was working his fucking arse off for her, so what if he wanted a decent meal at the end of the day, so what if all he had the energy for was to watch a couple of hours of telly and sup a couple of beers. That don't make him a monster, someone what abuses his missus do it? No, that makes him a fucking hero, that makes him a man to admire an' respect, but that ain't good enough for you is it?"

"You don't know what you are talking about it is every women's right to..."

"To what? Have their marriages turned into a joke, to be turned into miserable slappers like those three poor cows downstairs. You know the ones I mean, the ones that you have conditioned to not be free thinking partners, but to think that they have been elevated into cruel domineering bitches, but in reality have no use other than to be sperm receptacles for any arsehole with a big cock that you choose to supply them. No darlin' you 'aven't freed them, you've just turned them into whores workin' for you, you're no better than some crack 'ead pimp. You ain't freed no-one, they're your fuckin' slaves, you know it and I know it, whatever you want say."

The woman, Cecelia glares at Collette and for a change says nothing.

"Well guess what, you saggy old gash, on Friday, when I found out that ditzy cow my bruv is married to, had booked them into your gaff, I remembered something, I had overheard and that got me worried. So I made a couple of calls and left a message asking for a certain somebody to get in touch. Well he did, here. Collette pulls her mobile phone, pulls up a contact number and shows her the screen. "Recognise that number... No, didn't expect you would, but I'll bet you recognise the name. I had heard you wanted to meet him, that you had some unfinished business with him. Well guess what," she touches the green icon on the display, "today's your lucky day. Hello Oscar..."

Cecelia, looks at her in horror at the sound of the name. She tries to listen to Collette, but infuriatingly, she walks away, keeping just out of earshot. Five minutes later the unmistakable thump, thump thump, of approaching helicopters intrudes past the soundproofing of the attic.

Black clad men stream into the building and quickly identify, the good guys, they are the only ones not in some form of restraint, not are painted. Shortly afterwards, five women and five men are handcuffed and taken away in a dark van without windows.

A car takes Amanda and Michael to a hospital at high speed and Collette speaks with Oscar as other people begin to examine every nook and cranny of the old house.

Oscar identifies himself to Collette and she briefs him, when she has finished, he tells her they will need to get together for a formal full debrief. As they are speaking, Collette hears, not only many of the British accents, but American and European, and not really expecting an answer, asks, "Who are these guys?"

Oscar smiles and says, "I think you Brits call them squirrels." She nods her understanding and is about to turn away as he speaks again, "We need to interrogate this woman and her cohorts and I really do not think it would be in anyone's interest if anything untoward should happen to any of them."

She smiles and says, as the late and great Mr Stanley Lee would say, "Nuff said," and walks out.

Collette takes one side of Michael and Amanda takes the other and they help him out of the manor house to an awaiting helicopter, which takes them to West Moorland hospital, able to land in an empty car park. He is admitted, and treated for dehydration and malnutrition.

Michelle is taken away with the others for questioning and the "squirrels" search the house with a fine toothcomb.

Eight days later at 15:08 hrs,a sergeant slips into the open room to see a small woman screaming at two men that tower above her.

"...not in some drunken brawl, you are trained soldiers and you will follow my orders, not your hormones. You are here to learn the efficient way to disable an enemy, not to prove the manliness you are obviously lacking. So toots and fandance, come on, use your manliness to overpower me. In fact would you like to bet who will win? You win I'll suck your cocks."

The two red faced men grin and look at one another, "but if I win, you will suck each other's cocks... publically, on the parade square... and you will swallow"

The two grins get wider.

She turns to the awaiting sergeant, "Yes sergeant."

"Umm, major, the Colonel says, you can break away from demoralising and beating up the trainees and that you will report to his office."

She nods and looks at the two men she has been chastising, Give me a minute or two sergeant, this won't take long." She looks at the two men she had been chastising, "When you're ready girlies."

The two large men look at her and she mimes fellatio, they glance at each other and begin to move toward her. Approaching in a pincer movement, they attack together, one attempting to grapple her and hold her arms to her sides, the other taking a sweep at her feet. The one on her left, fails in his attempt, and is only just fast enough to parry a punch to his genitals, as she evades the sweep of his ally. He tries to defend the assault, but does not manage to prevent the rapid onslaught of blows to his body, precisely hitting nerve centres that immobilise him and he falls gasping to the floor like a freshly landed fish. Even as he falls, she seizes the opportunity and uses him as a springboard, and launches herself high into the air spinning and coming to a sitting position on her other opponents shoulder, slight pressure with her thumbs and his knees buckle. A second later, without a backward glance, she shouts out to the other on looking trainees. "Continue practicing the last exercise, Mansell, tell those two that they will honour their bet on the parade ground at 22:30. Carry on."

She walks into the Colonels reception area and finds the desk unmanned, puzzled she moves past his adjutant's desk and knocks on the door.

"Come," the voice is not the Colonel.

She walks in to find a man in civilian attire looking out of the window toward the troops marching up and down the square.

"Have a seat major."

"Hello Oscar, whatcha gotta say?"

"Aside from a big thank you. There are a couple of things we should tell one another."

"Really? I'm sure there is plenty for you to tell me, but I cannot think of anything I would feel necessary to tell you."

"It has been brought to my attention that several hundred thousand pounds were stored in a safe in a certain remote house in the north of Britain, several hundred thousand pounds that we did not find. Care to enlighten me."

"England sir, if you count Scotland it may be nearer to central Britain."

"Let's not get hung up on geographical semantics, the point is, this currency was not found in the safe."

The major gives no sign that she is going to respond to the accusation.

"You know nothing of this?"

"Sir, if you were to know of certain monies, in a certain house in northern or central Britain I would not be able to confirm or deny either whether or not I may or may not have been aware of any said house or safe."

Oscar gives a snort and says, "Major, we are off the record here, I am not here, you are not here and we are not talking, okay."

Collette smiles as she sees the annoyance the man displays.

Relaxing into her normal vernacular, she grins saying, "Honest mate, I know nothin' about no dosh, yeah I knew the safe were there, but it didn't get opened, I were tryin' to get the combo out of the bitch when I called you."

He smiles, implying he does not care where the money may be and says, "Now, to bring you up to speed as far as your family is concerned. Your brother in law's wife was just a victim... no, she was prey; and not the easy mark they expected. She was able to resist all attempts to coerce her into any wrongdoing, other than the subterfuge she used to get your brother in law to the house. Your brother in law should actually be proud of the way she handled herself, especially with the combination of drugs given to her. Drugs specifically used to relax her and enhance her libido. He may not be inclined to forgive her easily, but he should know, she did in fact have the best intentions for him... and herself, she really was trying to repair what she felt was a problem in her marriage."

Collette snorts with derision.

"No, it's true, she was tempted as are many buyers all kinds of goods and services, by glossy web sites and well worded and misleading promises."

"If that is true Mike will be happy, I know he wants her back but he ain't exactly feeling the love and trust he did a week ago and until he can do that..." she leaves the sentence unfinished and shrugs.

"No, it is all verifiable. The house, the car they used all had comprehensive video and audio surveillance. In fact the only times she was outside their surveillance I believe your operatives were surveilling her. She did display, although sporadic, an increasing annoyance and displeasure at having no access to her husband. It may also please your brother in law that we are certain that she had no idea of the conditions of his incarceration. Add to that, the man they had tempting her has supported everything she told us, it seems he is more than a little enamoured with her, which may have helped her resist, it seems he deliberately missed dosing her several times as he wanted to seduce her, in a way that he knew she had truly given herself to him."

Collette allows a smile, she knows how sexy Michelle, she also knows how adept she can be at dissuading suitors, unfortunately, although Michael is just as aware, his captivity has undermined any remaining faith in her. She will gladly pass on the information.

"She showed a remarkable resistance to the drugs, I can only assume she had some experience with such things"

Collette smiles as she remembers stories of Michael and Michelle from their early days as a couple. Sex and drugs and rock and roll were the order of the day, every day for several years and then for some reason they both suddenly started to take life seriously and stopped partying and began to turn their lives around. Oddly enough, it was this post drugs period in Michelle's life that she got herself into debt. "I will let Mike know, I know he will be glad to know."

"There will be no doubt a few, more than a few divorces amongst some people in the public eye over the next few years, needless to say, if you were to have any thoughts other than the official releases then..."

"I should keep them top myself, no need to worry, I know what's what, so does Mand and other people."

"It is more your brother in law and his wife we are worried about."

"I'll 'ave a word, nothin' to worry about there."

"One other thing major, your term of service is about to end isn't it?

She just looks at him and gives no answer.

He proffers a business card, "When it does, I think I could offer you a post, probably your wife too."