It's truly amazing the way a shower, a shave and a change of clothes can make you feel like a completely new man. Of course it's all an illusion, for in reality you are still the same middle-aged idiot whose wife has been secretly working as an upper class prostitute for some asshole throughout your entire marriage.
But hey, if reality sucks an illusion is better than nothing.
I removed my Glock from the coat with the intention of putting it in my pants and noticed that the gun felt different somehow. I was never a firearms expert, but I could have sworn the thing was lighter or somehow differently balanced compared to when I held it earlier. Upon a closer examination I soon discovered a square hole in the bottom of the grip and cursed to myself. Crap! The friggin clip was gone! M had given me his word of honour that I could keep my gun, but naturally he never said anything about bullets.
"Motoko you sneaky fox," I mumbled.
She evidently took her task of keeping me out of trouble seriously. Guess I could hardly blame her for following orders. And she may just have saved me from facing murder charges in the event that M or some of his goons should decide to push me around.
I left my useless gun in a drawer and strode downstairs intending to spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the premises. Well that, - and maybe locating something edible to silence my rumbling stomach. As everybody knows, there is no better way of working up a voracious appetite than engaging in great sex. And I sure as hell had my share of that earlier, courtesy of my beautiful but totally batshit oriental slave-girl.
Who incidentally was nowhere to be seen at the moment. So I guess I was exploring on my own. To be honest her absence suited me just fine. Oh, don't misunderstand me. I enjoyed Motoko's company a lot, but even barring the bullet-issue there was no way I could trust her where M was concerned. I might formally be her "master," but I had no illusions regarding who was really calling the shots in that place.
The mansion proved even larger and more impressive than I had originally assumed and seemed to offer every imaginable luxury. I found a cinema with rows of long couches rather than chairs -- perfect for making out while watching frisky movies - and there was a large pool and spa area with nude masseuses ready to offer their services,- which I had a pretty good idea went a lot further than "ordinary" massages. Yes, you better believe that I was temped, but I was on a recon mission and my time was limited so I took note and moved on.
The overall medieval theme of the decor occasionally clashed with the modern facilities -- the fitness room looked especially out of place -- but my general impression was that of an aesthetically pleasing house that was nice to live in. This was more like an x-rated version of Playboy Mansion than a prison, and none of the girls I encountered seemed abused or unhappy.
I could easily imagine how some of them might consider boinking a few customers once in a while and showing obedience to M a small price to pay for living a life of leisure in surroundings like these.
Some rooms were locked - I assumed they were private quarters or maybe currently in use for carnal activities - and a little further ahead I even located a gaming room with several pool tables, air hockey and slot machines. And this was where I bumped into Horsey and Monique.
Horsey was now wearing a brocaded smoking jacket and Monique sported the usual leather corset and garters, but I recognised them both immediately. They were engaged in a game of pool with another couple I hadn't seen before. Thank God it wasn't Ruth and her Ape-man. That would have been awkward to the max and I might even have been forced to set him on fire just for the fun of it -- but this woman wasn't wearing a black corset so I pegged her as a guest rather than a slave-girl.
I went to greet the party.
"Steve Mitchel," I said and shook hands with Horsey.
"Carl Armitage," he replied in a deep resonant voice. "And this is Monique Masters."
I greeted Monique who eyed me curiously. She had been sitting in the lobby when I had my little Mexican standoff with M and was probably wondering why Motoko wasn't along to keep me in line. Maybe she had discussed me with Ruth too. The two of them appeared to be good friends.
I smiled reassuringly and introduced myself to the other couple, Mr. and Mrs. Who-gives-a-fuck, and found my original impression to be correct. They were indeed guests, just like Horsey and yours truly. I was invited to join the game, but passed on the offer and politely excused myself.
As soon as I was out of the room, I whipped out my phone. As expected there was no signal, but as I had hoped there was wireless Internet without a passcode. Why bother with passcodes when you live on a private estate with miles to the nearest neighbour, right? I Googled "Carl Armitage" and was rewarded with several links mentioning "State Court Justice Armitage" complete with pictures of Horsey in a stately black robe.
What do you know? Horsey was a friggin judge!
No wonder M didn't want to disappoint him. I was willing to bet good money that Ape-man was a VIP of some sort as well. This realisation made me elevate M on the danger scale. I had already inferred that he had to be immensely wealthy, given that he owned a place like this, but if he also had a pocket full of influential people there were few things he couldn't get away with. I would need to step very carefully and feel my way around this guy if I wanted to entertain any hope of getting Ruth and myself away from this place unscathed. Provided that Ruth even
wanted
to leave, which was an open question at the moment.
What a fucking mess.
At that point the sound of steps from behind made me turn around and I saw Monique approaching.
"Pardon master Steve. A word?"
I couldn't imagine what she wanted from me -- I hardly knew her - but when she dragged me towards a side door I obliged. I was halfway hoping for a message from Ruth or something, but as it turned out that wasn't exactly what she had in mind.
"Master Steve. You beeg?"
"Six feet and a fraction. Why do you ask?"
"Non! Biroute... culotte... flute... member.... uuge... beeg?"
"You mean, do I have a big cock?"
"Oui," she nodded eagerly. "c'est ca."
"I am pretty satisfied with my size, but compared to Horsey in there I am afraid I can't measure up."
"Orsii?" she asked confused.
"Yeah, your date or trick or whatever the hell he is. Your pool partner in there. The guy is hung like a friggin horse. You know, like heehaw, giddyup, hi-ho Silver... cheval..."
Suddenly she started giggling and I knew she had understood me. Steve Mitchel -- polyglot extraordinaire. Yeah that's me.
"So I regret to have to disappoint you my fair French maiden, but I fear that I am not the droid you're looking for."
"Non. No beeg. Carl... c'est trop orsii... too beeg. Pleasing, but no orgasm. Too much pressure. Normal member for orgasm."
"Like me?"
"Oui. Ruth mon ami. She will permit."
"I would love to pound you like a flank steak Monique, but I honestly don't know if I can get it up. Motoko did a serious number on me twice today and I am no longer in my twenties, as you might have noticed."