Derek turned and walked down the hallway without a word. Karen wanted so much to ask him what was going on. She was curious about Kat following behind nude as the day she was born carrying a bundle of clothing. She hoped some of that clothing contained something for her as Derek's hands were empty. The rule that slaves were to remain silent in the hallways had been made quite clear. Karen was not about to see if that rule had been relaxed now she had been released from camp. She had watched a slave get strapped for opening her mouth in the hallway and did not want to risk that herself.
Rachael Dubois appeared at the end of the hall. "Hey, Derek!" I get an automatic alert when my slave camp attendees are picked up. I saw your name appear." Derek greeted her and to Karen's astonishment the two hugged. "Are you doing good? We want you to come over some evening. John has the idea he wants to buy some acreage and build a house outside of town. I'm not so convinced. Maybe you can offer some pro's and con's. Get him to see the downside." Derek said he loved living in the country as he did not have to put up with neighbors. "I know he really wants enough land to set up a deer blind and harvest some venison. I think he could do that by a simple lease."
"John can come out and hunt on my place anytime he wants." Derek said with a grin. 'But I admit there is nothing like living in the country. I could never live in the city again."
"A lot of help you are, asshole." Rachael said grinning. "Who is this other slave you brought along?" Rachael's eyes got wide. "Isn't this the woman you brought with you when you signed your slave up for camp? She was the co-owner! What's going on? I gotta hear the story."
"It's gonna have to wait. I have to admit my life is getting FAR more complicated than I had ever thought possible." Derek said. "I had planned a nice quiet retirement in the country where I would not even see another human unless I went into town for supplies. Now I have a group of slaves and a couple free women living with me. " Rachael laughed shaking her head. Derek grinned. He had almost divulged he was going to be a father again. "If you had told me I would be in this position a year ago, I would have called you nuts. Actually, I could not be happier. How about I stop by sometime this week and talk?"
"How about we meet at the bar? You know which one. Give me some notice and I will have John join us." Rachael countered. Derek agreed. "Tomorrow. I can't wait to hear the whole story. Your slave asked me some pointed questions so I know there is a story there, too." Derek agreed and they set a time.
Once in the lobby, he told Kat to give Karen her clothes and get dressed herself. 'You seem to know Ms Dubois more intimately than just sending slaves to her camp." Karen offered accusingly. She was obviously fishing.
"We met when her father was a patient in the ICU." Derek said. "We became friends. I've had dinner at their house several times. Her husband and older son come out to hunt. That's all." 'Yeah, right!' Karen muttered under her breath.
"Why are you naked and collared?" Karen asked Kat. Kat shrugged and shook her head. Karen was angry at first and then caught on Kat must have been ordered not to speak. Indeed Kat had been told to keep their arrangement private unless told otherwise.
"She has changed status." Derek offered dismissing the subject. "It is really nothing you need to be concerned with. You have far more important things to think about. Richard has agreed to accept my terms. He is going to buy you." Karen was elated. "He is going to pay me 360 K for you. We have talked about 5k for 6 years or 6k for 5 years. He has agreed to both at various times. Same amount overall as far as I am concerned, so I don't care how he makes the payments as long as he does. Now after your lessons here, how much do you understand about slave estates? Do you understand that your position is pretty shaky? You get half the communal property when enslaved. But that could mean the value not the actual property." Karen nodded and asked what she could do.
'Okay, let's pretend I was in your position, say with Lou in the role of Richard." Derek offered. "Even if I trusted her implicitly and loved her to death, I would still want to protect myself. My self preservation takes nothing away from Lou. I would start back to work as soon as I could. I'd need my job secure before I made any move. A week or so later I would ask what had been done about my slave estate. I would not accept ANY bullshit line that it still in the works. I happen to know if it has not been taken care of already, SOMEBODY is stalling. Now say Lou told me she will take care of me and I will get my half of the whole thing when we sold the property appreciation and all. I would not accept it as the truth. I would say I want to know my exact legal status and have it protected. A verbal agreement might not be enough. I'd explain I am worried she might die from a heart attack, get hit by a truck or whatever and I would lose everything. I needed to be protected either by a will or in a contract. I would suggest a contract would make me feel better. BUT I would not wait two or three weeks to get it done. The idea is to postpone until you forget about it. Stay on top of it." Derek explained.
"What I want is to have Lou agree in writing that half the actual property is hers and the other half belongs to my slave estate. NOT just the cash equity. If she does not get that done within a week, I would tell her I am not going to work anymore. That is just what you said about not working as a nurse for me. Nursing is a little different in that you don't want a reluctant nurse taking care of patients. So I did not accept when you changed your mine and offered. When you did it I did not care or really need the money. It was more of an irritant that you refused. I stripped you and made you stay naked as punishment.
"In our little scenario if the slave does not work, the income loss means loss of the property. That gives the slave REAL power. But the slave is vulnerable in some ways too. Ass beatings and a myriad of physical punishments are a real possibility. BUT the owner must comply if he needs the income." Derek said. "Do you fully understand what I am saying? You have the choice. You can work like you did before. Richard has bills paid but retains FULL ownership of the property. You ONLY have half of the equity when you were enslaved. Just that amount, not a half interest in the actual property which would include what it might appreciate to. The ONLY way to do that is make sure he agrees with your estate to give you an undivided half interest. He might balk. Of course if you refuse to work, his hand is forced. Your choice, It depends if you trust him. Or his heir if he drops dead. You are a big girl. Do what you want. I am going to protect myself in your sale so I get my money for selling you back no matter what. I covered every contingency."
"Yeah, I understand. You are being an asshole and putting doubt in my mind about my now ex husband." Karen said. "But I see your point. As a slave I no longer have the same rights as a free person. I'll have to force or rather manipulate the issue to protect myself. I didn't know you were a chess player." Karen offered. "You are figuring moves upon moves, aren't you?" Derek grinned and nodded.
"I am covering my bases. I will get the full price for you no matter how Richard might try to manipulate it. He is focusing on that land and the profit. I do NOT think your well being is a real consideration in his planning. You might be, but I have enough doubt that I think you seriously need to protect yourself. Fair enough?" Derek asked. Karen agreed
The trio waked to Lou's office. Sue smiled at Derek and just waved him back with barely a pause in her typing. Karen followed. Lou intercepted her and told her to get herself a cup of coffee if she wanted and sit in Cheryl's office. She told Kat to wait in the conference room after telling her to get something to drink if she wanted.,"Kathy will be here in a few minutes. I'm glad you called before you got Karen. This may take a while. I think the shit is about to hit the fan. Kathy asked Cheryl to make a full statement detailing how she was treated at the Richard residence. She's been working on it. I have not seen any of it yet. Cheryl said she told you the story in pretty fair detail last Friday after we left for the party." Derek nodded. 'Well, she told me more of her story this morning. I think we were too easy on Kat and Lisa last week. Well, my job as a lawyer is to get the guilty bitch off so I guess I did my job well.
