Author's note: all characters in this story are over 18 years old (ages are given within earlier chapters).
The New Neighbours: Chapter 7
The next three weeks were hugely frustrating for Mike Roberts. As far as everyone at the Manor was concerned he continued to go to work as normal. In reality, he had indefinite leave of absence and instead attended a government facility where he had daily blood and other health tests and then spent hours with a psychologist.
The good news was that it was working. Mike was avoiding consuming anything that might be contaminated with Geoff Mills' drugs and the blood tests showed his system almost clear of them. The sessions with the psychologist were being successful in removing his programming. He no longer felt anything for Mills beyond a deep loathing.
The frustration was that Malcolm Brooke had given Mike strict instructions to take no action and do nothing to draw attention to himself. When the time was right Brooke intended to move in and have Geoff Mills arrested. He would use specialist anti-terrorist police, rather than the local force, which he thought had been compromised.
Jessica and Becky were effectively 'inside informants' for this operation. Mike was little more than a middle man for them. Mike didn't care that it wasn't glamorous, but he did mind that the whole thing seemed glacially slow. He didn't even dare to have sex again with Jessica or Becky in case it was noticed by Geoff.
*****
How long this state of affairs might have continued Mike was not destined to find out, because one perfectly ordinary Tuesday evening about 7 p.m. Becky bought him news that changed everything.
Mike was sitting in the living room of No.37 Park Drive and, fortunately as it turned out, the twins were upstairs. Becky had been over at Park Manor. He heard her key in the lock and moments later she burst into the living room. Mike saw immediately that she was distressed, her face pale and on the edge of tears. He leapt to his feet. "What is it?" he asked.
"Oh Mike, I... its' too horrible..." she stammered.
"What is? What's happened?" He had a sudden feeling of dread.
With an effort she calmed enough to tell him. "It's Jess. The Master has sold her. As part of a business deal, or something. She's with him now, and he has just said that she is being sent away tomorrow. To somewhere in the Middle East, I think..."
Becky was still talking but Mike was no longer listening. For a few seconds he felt as cold as ice with fear and horror. Then a hot fire of anger replaced it. Months of frustration and inaction boiled over. Enough of this, he thought. Fuck Malcolm Brooke. His woman was in danger. He would fight for her and he would do it now.
"Out of my way," he said grimly to Becky and headed for the front door.
"Where are you going?" she asked, following him.
"To kick the shit out of your Master."
*****
By the time Mike had entered Park Manor he had calmed down a little, enough to realise that he needed to play this carefully. He opened the door to Mills' study and entered, followed by Becky. Geoff was sat behind his desk as usual. Jessica was also present, just as Becky had said, sitting on the large sofa.
Geoff looked up, surprised. He hadn't sent for Roberts, so why was his slave here?
"Sorry to interrupt, Master," said Mike, hating to call this man by that title but determined to maintain the bluff as long as possible. "I heard Jessica is being sent away tomorrow. She still has some things stored at my house. I thought perhaps she might wish to take some of them."
Mike, who was watching Mills closely, saw him relax slightly. Geoff said, "That's helpful of you Mike, but she won't need much where she's going." Then he got up, walked around his desk and moved toward where Mike stood, apparently meaning to show him out of the door.
Mike weighed up his chances. He was a healthy and fit man in his late twenties, who made a point of working out to counter his desk-based job. Geoff Mills was a couple of years older and, while not totally unfit, was not in the same shape, carrying a few excess pounds.
On the other hand, Mike was not naturally a violent man. He had never been in a real fight in his life. But his guess was that, despite his streak of sadism toward the helpless, Geoff was no fighter either. And, above all, Mike knew he had the priceless advantage of surprise.
So... what to do? He had heard that, despite what you saw in all the action movies, if you punched someone on the jaw you were as likely to break your hand as anything else. He also recollected once hearing that Harry Houdini had died as a result of a punch to the stomach. Well, he could live with that as an outcome.
Mike moved to greet Geoff, smiling broadly outside, but inside remembering that this man had destroyed his life... and Jessica's. Then, without warning, he hit him as hard as he could, his fist thudding into Geoff's gut.
Geoff Mills collapsed like the proverbial sack of potatoes, the wind knocked out of him. As he lay on the ground gasping for breath, Mike stared down at him and said, almost calmly, yet with a savage underlying rage in his voice, "That's for what you've done to Jessica, you bastard."
Mike drew back his right leg and kicked Geoff, certain that the rules of fair combat didn't apply here. He was aiming for Geoff's groin, but the latter just had time to shift slightly and Mike's foot connected with his hip instead. A preferable result from Geoff's point of view, but he would still have a hefty bruise tomorrow.
"That one was for me," Mike went on. He then bent down, grabbed the still winded Mills by his jacket and dragged him to his feet. He pushed him slightly away and aimed a new blow. Sod the risk of broken hands he decided, he wanted to punch this bastard properly.
"And this one is for Becky and the rest!" Mike shouted and aimed a punch for Geoff's face, somewhere around the nose. Geoff saw it coming and reeled back, taking much of the force out of the strike as a result. Mike caught him a glancing blow on the cheek.
Geoff hit the front edge of his desk, rolled to his right and then desperately scrambled round it, apparently trying to get away from his maddened attacker. But, for all his shock at the sudden assault, he didn't waste time wondering what had gone wrong. He was a man of many resources, some less subtle than others.
Mike had already started to follow him when he suddenly stopped. Geoff had reached the left hand drawer of his desk, dragged it open and pulled out a pistol. Even then, if Geoff had been aiming it at Mike he might have risked rushing him, so enraged was he. But Geoff was pointing the weapon toward Jessica.
"Back off you fucker or your wife gets it!" Mills shouted.
The fight had taken only seconds from Mike's first punch until now. Mike risked a glance at the girls. Neither Jessica nor Becky had moved. His wife was still on the sofa. Mike suddenly realised he had heard her scream when he fit Geoff. Becky was backed against the closed door, a hand to her mouth. Both looked terrified.
Mike looked at Mills. What he saw in his face convinced him that Geoff wasn't bluffing. He backed away.
Geoff straightened up, ignoring the various parts of him that were hurting. He felt back in control. "You," he said to Mike, "go and sit in that chair in the corner, as far away from your whore of wife as possible."
Mike did so. Geoff continued speaking. "I'll go to the sofa and sit next to dear little Jessica. Now, do you think you could make it across the intervening distance before I pull the trigger?" Mike shook his head. "Good. I see we are in agreement. So, let's have a little chat. I see you have broken my control. I think to do that you must have had help. I imagine you know a man called Malcom Brooke?"
Mike said nothing, but his basic honesty betrayed him. He wouldn't have made much of a poker player. Geoff smiled without mirth, "I see that you do. Well here is some free advice for you Mike. Don't trust him."
"Fuck off Mills. I don't want your advice."
"Your loss," said Geoff indifferently. "Now, Becky my dear, I want you to do something for me. On a shelf in the main wardrobe in my bedroom is an attaché case. Go and get it."
Becky glanced at Mike and he nodded.
Geoff noted this and commented, "Ah, her too I see." He looked at Becky and said, "Well cunt, don't do anything stupid or poor little Jessica here gets it."
Mike turned to Becky and said, "Do exactly what he asked." Becky hurried out the door.
Geoff turned back to Mike. "I have good news for you, my friend. I am going. Leaving you, and everything here. That case contains documentation, money, everything I need to escape and start a new life. I keep it packed for just this kind of eventuality. To be clear, if it was just you I had to deal with it would be different. However, I don't plan to hang around and face whatever your friend Malcolm has dreamt up."
Geoff gave Mike an evil grin, "So you get Jessica back, but, sadly, not as you remember her. She's just a worthless slut now; a reasonable fuck but nor much more. I used to quite enjoy taking her up the arse and then making her suck me clean, but I've had better. Oh, and she made a useful whore. Yes, I've made your wife a submissive, nympho harlot, and it's permanent. Still, I hope you enjoy the mess I'm leaving you."