The Driver

I'd forgotten all about him, but two months ago he walked into my office.'

Our starter arrived and the conversation momentarily ceased. Sally was getting stuck into her meal while I sat pushing the food around on my plate. Between bites, Sally started to talk again.

'So what was he doing in your office then?'

'He's the sales director at Barnsdale Insurance. He has every right to walk into my office. To make it worse he's married to Tom Alexander's daughter.'

'Girl you sure know how to pick them. He must be one hell of a hunk for you to put yourself at so much risk.'

'I used to think so, but not anymore. I mean he does have some qualities that a girl needs now and again, but my Ronnie is twice the man he is.'

'So why start anything? I just don't get it.'

'Honestly Sally I didn't think I had. I was completely surprised when he showed up in London. It's as if he targeted me.'

The waiter turned up to clear the plates. Sara found herself having to reassure him that there was nothing wrong with her meal. As they waited for the main course, Sally probed again.

'It sounds to me like he has some kind of hold over you. Why don't you tell me the whole story?'

'We met at a junior common room gig. Being students, we both sank a fair amount of alcohol. The next morning I woke up in Robert's bed and never really left it. He was an arrogant lazy bastard. His privileged background had left him with a sense of entitlement. The fact that he was never short of cash made him popular in some circles. Even at nineteen, he had his choice of girls. His red hair, blue eyes, cleft chin and muscular build made him very attractive. Like most girls, I saw him differently. To me he wasn't arrogant, he had a dominant personality.'

'I was totally besotted with him and enjoyed being submissive. When he told me to give him a blowjob, I got on my knees and did it. It was my first ever and I found the thought of it repulsive, but it didn't stop me. When he told me I wasn't very good, I resolved to get better. Within a month, I had moved in with him. His way of celebrating this was to fuck me in the arse. It was my first time and it hurt like hell. I had to use a pillow to muffle my screams. Now I know that he didn't do it right but in those days, I was naive and thought it was normal. Robert just laughed and told me I would get used to it.'

'By the end of our second year, I was firmly ensconced in my submissive role. Robert was returning home to Leicester for the holidays and we held a big party at the house. Half way through the evening, Robert looked at me and told me to take my clothes off. If we had been alone I would have done it immediately, but in front of all his friends, I was reluctant, to say the least. When he told me to choose between taking my clothes off, and finding somewhere else to live after the holidays, I immediately complied. Spending the next year without him was just too awful to contemplate. I spent the rest of the night naked, dancing with Robert and any of his mates that asked. By the end of the night, my nipples were sore from the pinching and my arse was red from being slapped. Several attempted to get their fingers in my pussy but I was able to fend them off. At the end of the party, Robert led me to the bedroom for my reward. He allowed me to give him a blowjob. As I knelt in front of him and he thrust his cock in and out of my throat, my humiliation was completed as, one by one; his friends put their head round the door to say good night.'

'In our final year, I sank even further into depravity. Robert started to demand sex in full view of his mates and I did it. I thought there was nothing I wouldn't do to keep him. Nothing that is, until he asked me to give his mate John a blowjob. It was John's birthday and we were having a party.'

"The thing is,' he told me, 'I promised John a blowjob for his birthday."

I spun around and slapped his face. "You promised it to him, you give it to him."

I stormed off to our bedroom and left them to it. They all got drunk and I slipped off to the student's union bar and spent the night drinking with Ronald. I fully expected our relationship to be over. I was really surprised the next morning when Robert acted as if nothing had happened. I told him I had spent the evening with Ronald but he didn't bat an eyelid.

'You and the geek! God that's rich, as if he had a chance'

'Don't be so mean. Ronald is really nice. We had a great time.'

"The guy's a loser, nice doesn't get you laid. I'm guessing you didn't, right?"

'No we didn't but that doesn't mean I wouldn't if he'd wanted to.'

'You were out drinking with a bloke and he didn't try to fuck you? He's not only a geek he's gay as well.'

'I can assure you he's not. He's just a gentleman that's all'

'So does that mean you're moving out?'

'I wouldn't go that far, I just thought you'd like to know where I went last night.'

'Let's get one thing straight Sara. If you stay with me you are mine, to do with as I please.'

'I will do whatever you want, but only with you. I will not let you pimp me out to your friends.'

'Wow! One night out with the geek and the whore's grown a backbone. Okay, whore, you stay but remember you are mine now.'

'I always was his and I knew it. I could no more walk out on him than fly to the moon. It hurt when he called me a whore but I was his whore and that was all that mattered. A couple of weeks later he bought me a collar and told me to wear it whenever I left the house. It was similar to a dog collar but purple and made of suede. It had a brass ring threaded through it for attaching a lead. If we went out together, he would attach the lead and make me kneel on the floor at his feet. That was when I found out how Ronald felt about me. We went to a gig in the student's union building. Robert sat at a table and I was kneeling at his feet like a good little pet. I knew Ronald liked me but when he came into the room and saw Robert treating me like an animal his face went white and he left the room. I think he went outside to throw up. I felt so ashamed, I wanted to go after him and explain but as I moved I felt Robert tug on the lead.'

'Things carried on like that for the rest of our final year Robert seemed to get turned on by humiliating me. I was hurt and embarrassed but as long as I was his, I didn't care. He never tried to share me with his friends again and I allowed him to treat me as a sex slave. Ronald seemed to avoid going places where he might meet us.'

'I graduated with second class honours; to my surprise Robert barely scraped a pass. Ronald, of course, got a first. We stayed on campus until the graduation ceremony and the night before graduation Robert and I had a massive fuck session. I was on all fours on the bed as Robert fucked my arse. He was right I did get used to it and he started using my pussy juices for lubrication. The bedroom door was open and his friends would stand in the doorway and talk to him. When this happened, he seemed to take great pleasure from pulling his cock out of my arse and moving around to push it in my mouth. The thought of it is repulsive to me now but it is amazing what you will do when you give yourself totally to a man.'

'The ceremony went off without incident. Several people were surprised to see me without my collar but Robert had said I needn't wear it. Afterwards, in the bar, we had a celebratory drink and I asked Robert something that had been troubling me for some time. He had been particularly relaxed about finding a job and seemed confident that 'something will turn up'

'Graduations over. Where do we go from here?'

'Well, I guess you will be going home. Dad's fixed me up with a job in Chicago. I'm just going home to see the family for a few days then I fly out on Monday.'

'But what about me? How will you manage without your little sex slave?'

'Sorry, no room for excess baggage. I'm sure I'll find someone over there. The girls really go for the English accent. It's been good you know but you must have realised it was going to end.'

'With that, he got up and left without as much as a goodbye kiss. Now he is back as a director of the company I work for.'

Chapter 2

R.S. Automotive, Penrith

7^th August

The Man

Mr Shaftoe,

I think you ought to know, your wife is having an affair with a colleague at work. They've been going at it for some time now and I think it's time you did something about it.

A Friend.

I picked up the phone.

'Hello Jackie, can you get hold of Ivan in I.T.?'

'Certainly Mr Shaftoe, I'll track him down and get him to call you'

'Thank you Jackie. Quick as you can please.'

I'd never been one for knee jerk reactions. Sara used to laugh about how long it took me to get angry or react to frightening situations. In my university days, I had an accident on my motorbike. The engine seized on a fast bend and I ended up lying on the road with a forty-ton truck coming over the hill towards me. The truck stopped only two metres from me and the driver helped me pick up the bike. I pushed it to a lay-by and did a partial strip and rebuild of the seized engine. Then I rode on to my summer job. It wasn't until I got to work that my mouth went dry and I started to shiver. It was the same when Colin died. I knew all the dangers, but didn't feel the fear until the job was done. I felt the same way now, no anger, no tears, just a determination to get to the bottom of this. If it was a joke, I had to find the bastard that sent it and show him the error of his ways. On the other hand, if it was true then I had to decide what to do about Sara and her lover. I remember reading a quote from Sacha Guitry about this situation. "When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep her." No one had stolen her yet the question was, what was I prepared to do to stop it.

I'd just loaded Firefox when the phone rang.

'Mister Shaftoe, I've got Ivan for you.'

'Thank you Jackie put him through if you would.'

'Hello Ivan?'

'Yes Boss, what can I do for you?'

Ivan Gregoriev was a recent addition to the staff. The son of Ukrainian immigrants he had an honours degree in computer systems engineering and had worked for the metropolitan police in their forensic computing department. If there was something hidden on a computer, Ivan could find it, even after you had deleted it and wiped the disc. He told me once that internet anonymity was a myth. Right now, I was hoping he was right.

'I've just received a disturbing anonymous email. What are the chances of finding who sent it?'

'That depends, if I'd sent it you'd never find out. Do you know who the host company is?

'Hotmail. That's not good is it?'

'Well, it might make it harder, it depends how smart the sender is. Why don't you forward it to me and I'll get to work on it?'

'Do you need the whole email? The text is a bit personal.'

'Just delete the message and send me the header.'

'OK, I'll do that straight away. Thanks Ivan, glad to have you on our side.'

'No worries boss I'll get back to you as soon as I've got something.'

I went back to my own investigations. The email said a colleague. Sara would never start something with a member of her own department; it would destroy her credibility as a manager. Come to that she was unlikely to hook up with any subordinate in any department. She had worked too hard to get where she was to risk it for a fling with an office boy. It dawned on me that I was thinking like I knew her well, but the woman I knew wouldn't cheat, so maybe I was wrong. No, I had to believe I knew her at least a little. I did a LinkedIn search on Barnsdale Insurance. A large number of hits showed up employees of Barnsdale past and present. I ruled out all those who had moved on and was still left with forty possibilities. I looked through them one by one. When my Sara's face beamed out at me, I felt the warm glow in my chest that I still got whenever I looked at her. I ran my finger over the picture on the screen. No, this had to be a sick joke. I was thinking about giving up when the phone rang.

'Hello Boss.'

'Hello Ivan, that was quick. Have you got something for me?'

'I've got good and bad I'm afraid.'

'OK, give me what you've got.'

'The bad news is that the email was sent from an internet cafe in Berwick on Tweed. The Hotmail account was set up on the same day the email was sent, so it was probably set up specially. The name given in the setup was Commander Rimmer, so we can say he is a red dwarf fan. Probably the best lead is in the address he gave. People often have problems dreaming up imaginary addresses so they use one they know exists. Often a place where they used to live or a friend lives or lived. It's a long shot but does 25 Saltswood Road, Newcastle, Tyne and Wear mean anything to you?'

'I'm not sure Ivan, it does seem to ring a bell but I'm not sure why.'

'Well, keep thinking because that's the best chance you've got of finding the bastard.'

'Thanks Ivan I owe you one.'

'Least I can do boss, I enjoyed it. Got to keep my hand in you know. Do you want me to keep at it? It's possible to get more but it will take a lot more time and it may not be worthwhile.'

'No thanks just let it rest now.'

'Well if you get another one send it to me. He might get sloppy and use his work or home computer. If he does we'll nail him.'

'I'll do that Ivan. Thanks again'

I hung up the phone.

25 Saltswood Road, that address was burned into my memory. That was the house were Sara had lived for almost three years of university. I continued my search and soon found a face I'd hoped never to see again, Robert McIntyre. He was apparently director for sales at Barnsdale. Sara had lived with him for most of our time at university. The one who made her behave like a pet that he put on a lead and took for walks.

The man was a liar and a cheat. He played Squash at uni and I played against him several times. Whenever he couldn't get to a ball, he would call it out. We would then argue for several minutes until I realised we would probably spend the whole of our court time arguing and not be able to finish a game. He was a good player but I was better. Because of his cheating, the only time I'd managed to beat McIntyre in a tournament was when we weren't drawn to play each other in the early rounds. From the quarterfinals onwards, we had umpires, with whom there could be no arguments. I thrashed him and was hated for it. The hate was mutual but it for me it had nothing to do with Squash. I hated him for the way he treated Sara. He seemed to enjoy humiliating her. It was as if he had to impose his will on everyone he met. Everything in life was a competition and he had to win at all costs. My heart sank when I saw the profile. Sara must have encountered him but she'd said nothing. If there was nothing going on, why hadn't she mentioned the fact that she had run into someone we both knew from university. If Sara was having an affair, then he was the most likely candidate but why would he send the email? I sat thinking about this for a while when Jackie came in with mid-morning coffee. She set it down on my desk.

'You look worried Mr Shaftoe, is there something wrong?'

'Nothing that you can help with I'm sad to say.'

'Oh, you'd be surprised at the things I could help you with' she said with a beaming smile on her face.

I grinned back at her. 'Get out of here before I forget that we are both married to other people.'

I watched the sway of her hips as she walked to the door her skirt accentuated the curve of her bum and the high heels gave her that wiggle as she walked. We frequently flirted, each knowing the other would not take it further than that. She was more than a P.A. she was a friend; one I could rely on to lighten a dark day.

Dragging my thoughts away from Jackie and back to the job in hand, it dawned on me. It was a game and the email was a challenge.

McIntyre was saying 'I'm fucking your woman and there's nothing you can do about it.'

What did he expect to happen? That I would tire of the argument and just let him take her? Roll over and pretend it wasn't happening or kick her out on her arse? Whatever he expected, he wasn't going to get it.

I looked again at the picture on the screen.

'Well Bobby boy, you've only played me at games where I didn't care about the outcome. A squash point here or there who gives a damn. But fucking with my family is a whole new ball game, one you will regret playing.'

His LinkedIn profile said he lived in Bishop Auckland. A little more searching and a small payment found all the Robert McIntyre's on the electoral role for Bishop Auckland, along with their addresses and phone numbers. The addresses ruled out a number of the candidates. The McIntyre I knew would have a house commensurate with his status. Knowing the town the way I did, I chose the most likely candidate and called the number.

'Hello Bethany McIntyre speaking.'

'Hello Bethany, is Robert at home?'

'No, I'm afraid he's at head office today. Is it something I can help with?'

'Oh I don't think so I am due to renew my company insurances and Robert did say to contact him when I was ready to negotiate.'

'I don't think he gets directly involved with selling insurance now. I think you'd be better off dealing with the office. Do you have the number?'

'Yes I have and I'm sure you're right, I'll give them a call. Thank you, good bye'

I had all I needed, disconnected the call and immediately started another. Alec Johnson was a man I used for background checks on potential employees. He didn't like to be called a detective. He didn't follow people around to catch them in the act. No Alec was a man who specialised in finding skeletons in cupboards. Given a day or two, he would trace your history back to birth with all the mistakes you made along the way. If a boy was caught in the girl's toilets at school Alec would find out about it. He employed people to do the gumshoe jobs, he also had financial experts who could analyse your accounts and find every little fiddle you'd tried to get away with. He didn't come cheap but he was the best.

'Hello Alec, Ronald Shaftoe, I've got a job for you.'

'That's usually why you call me. Who do you want checked out?'

'His name is Robert McIntyre; he is sales director for Barnsdale Insurance. I'll email you everything I have on him.'

'So how much do you want to know?'

'Everything, I want to know when he takes a shit. I want to know if he ever cheated on an exam. I want to know if he cheats on his wife and if so with whom. I want to know if he fiddles his expenses. Anything you can find out really. I'll give you two weeks.'

'Right you are Mr Shaftoe. This seems like a lot more than an employee check. Has this guy done something to you?'

'I can see how you might think that but don't ask me to comment.'

'OK, you're the boss, everything I can find in two weeks.'

'Thanks Alec, I'll wait to hear from you.'

I disconnected and sat back in my chair. I looked at the screen again.

'That's it Bobby boy, the wheels are in motion. I'm coming after you, and you had better be ready.'

* * *

Kendal

17^th August

The Wife

I'd said I wouldn't do this again yet here I am driving to the restaurant to meet him. I have to admit that when he walked into my office three months ago, he was the last person I expected to see. We chatted for a while and he seemed to have changed a great deal. He was less arrogant than he had been at university and I have to say he was charming. I didn't believe him when he said I hadn't changed in twenty years but it did me good to hear it. When a girl turns forty, she starts to worry about whether she is still attractive to the opposite sex. Of course, Ronnie always told me I was beautiful but he would, he's my husband. It's his job to say things like that. Hearing it from Robert was something different; he had no obligation to me and had certainly never said anything like that when we were together. Somehow, it seemed to mean more when Robert told me I looked good.