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.
