Mastering the Virgin Box Set Five: A BDSM Ménage Erotic Romance novel Chapter 63

Five Years Ago – Corby/Bech

There is a knock at the door. She opens it to see a familiar figure. “Ah, Officer Corby. Nice to see you again. What can I do for you?”

He touches his cap. “Good morning, Mrs Bennett. I'm sorry to keep bothering you. I was hoping to talk with your son, Chad was it?”

“Chad's not in. Can we help at all?”

“Could you spare me five minutes? A couple more questions?”

“Not at all. Do come in. Coffee?”

“Please, yes.”

She waves him through to the lounge. “Do sit down. I’ll only be a minute. Black wasn't it?”

“That's right.”

She bustles back after only a couple of minutes, placing down the tray complete with coffee cup, cookies and doily. She passes him the plate of cookies “Do help yourself.”

He flashes brows at her. “Thanks. I will.” He bites in. “Every bit as good as last time,” he mumbles.

Mrs Bennett sits up, brushing her skirt down straight. “So, have you found her?”

“Not yet, but I understand Jennifer and your son are going through divorce proceedings? Do I have that right?”

She nods sharply, lips pursed. “Yes, that’s right. He's divorcing her.”

“Do you know the name of the lawyer she is using.? I might be able to track her down that way.”

She pauses, “I don’t, no, but….” She raises a finger. “One moment. I'll look in his room, see if I can find the papers.”

She fusses off out of the room, returning five minutes or so later with a large brown envelope. She extracts a sheaf of papers. “I think this should give you what you want… Ah yes….” She pushes a page to him, pointing. “There, the solicitor she’s using.”

“That’s perfect, thank you.” He takes out a notebook, jotting down from the sheet. Then, “If I were you, I’d just put them back where you found them. There's no reason to upset your son with this is there?” He glances down at the plate. “Um, could I be cheeky and beg another of those cookies? They’re really delicious.”

Mrs Bennett beams, passing him the plate. “You mentioned last time that Jennifer is wanted in connection with some kind of swindle?”

He nods, a faint regret flitting across his face. “Yes, I'm here because we have had some more similar reports and we believe she might be connected. Small time grifting. None of it is serious, but the pattern is usually one of increasing severity in these cases. You know, starting small and escalating as confidence grows.”

Mrs Bennett sniffs. “I'll be sure to warn everyone in the area. If she tries to come back, you never know what she might get up to.”

Corby blinks. “That's probably sensible,” he agrees. “Make sure she can't fool anyone into trusting her. Try the same thing on them.” He dabs biscuit crumbs up with the tip of a finger. “Do you have a recent photo of Jennifer?”

*****

Corby keeps his face straight as he gets into his car, waving a cheery little wave at the woman standing on the doorstep to see him off.

As he drives away, he looks down at the seat beside him where a paper bag of cookies sits next to a wedding photo.

He breaks into a grin.

*****

Richard

Out of surgery, James remains in intensive care.

As I enter, Michael sits slumped in a chair, sleeping. His eyes are deeply shadowed, and the normally handsome man looks threadbare.

Wonder how much sleep he’s had?

And by the bed, Charlotte weeps inconsolably over the unconscious James. It’s heart-rending to see. She’s exhausted with crying, each sob wracked from her body. Her face is dry, but puffy and swollen, red and blotched.

And the sheer injustice of it bites at me.

She doesn’t deserve this….

Leaning forward over the edge of the bed, she rests her head on folded hands, her face close to his.

“Master, come back to me. Please don't leave me. I promise I'll never disobey you again….”

Fuck. She's blaming herself….

“…. Just please don't leave me….”

Time to step in….

Her head turns a little as she hears the scrape of the chair and I sit beside her. “Charlotte this wasn't your fault. You didn't do this.”

Her face crumples and her tears stream once more. “I disobeyed him. He didn’t want me to do it and I disobeyed him. If I'd.…”

I lean in, take her hand in mine. “Yes, you disobeyed him, but for very good reason. You were right. We couldn't have stayed hidden long enough for the police to arrive. Your doing what you did certainly saved Elizabeth from….” I can’t bring myself to finish the thought. I change tack. “As you said, Elizabeth couldn’t have handled what was happening. And the fact is, that had you not distracted Klempner and his men, James, Michael and I couldn’t have done what we did.”