He was too proud of his own cleverness not to want to tell her the details. 'I have a mate in air traffic control. There aren't many of these babies in the air, darling.' He pronounced the word 'darling' in his distinct Cockney accent. 'It wasn't difficult to find one with regular flights south. It had to be south didn't it? France, Spain, Italy. So it turns out there's a lot of flights to Lake Trasimeno. I bought a guidebook. There's a medieval castle in the middle of the lake. Bingo. That's where we're going. My mate tipped me off when he got the flight plan for the next arrival and we've been following you ever since. Couldn't have been simpler, darling. Course I needed a bit of extra help. But my friends here were only too glad to come along when I told them about all the facilities at the castle, all the extras they could enjoy...' He laughed. 'All the team sports.'
Amanda had taken two sets of handcuffs from the holdall. Andrew climbed off Stephanie and got to his feet.
'Get up. Slowly. Put your hands behind your back. And don't try anything.' He emphasised the point by holding the knife up again.
Stephanie flicked open the seatbelt and did as she was told. She saw absolutely no alternative. She felt the cold steel cuffs snapped over her wrists by Amanda.
'Now you,' Paul said, getting up off Venetia and keeping his knife in evidence as she obeyed. Quickly Amanda applied the cuffs to Venetia's wrists as the two men returned the big hunting knives to leather sheaths strapped to their waists.
'What about her?' Mick said, indicating Susie who had stood stock-still as though hoping they wouldn't notice her. 'She's just my type.'
'No,' Andrew said sharply. 'She's just an employee. Aren't you?'
'Yes, sir. I just work for the company.'
'And you're going to be good, aren't you darling?' Andrew said, coming over to stare into Susie's eyes menacingly.
'Yes sir. I don't want to have any trouble.'
'See. Good as gold. She probably hates this bitch as much as I do. Why don't you get us all a drink? Vodka, lots of ice. You've got ice, haven't you?'
'Yes sir.'
The bar was towards the rear of the plane. Susie pushed past the two captive women to get the drinks.
'Come here,' Andrew said, looking at Stephanie.
'What for?' she replied defiantly.
'Oh dear, that's not the right attitude at all is it? Don't you remember your little rules: obey everything you are told without question?'
'I'm not your slave,' Stephanie snapped.
'Really? Well, we'll see about that. When we get to the castle we're going to have a trial. A fair trial, with a judge and a jury. Of course if you're found guilty then it'll be up to me to decide what to do with you. And I have a very vivid imagination.'
'What am I supposed to have done?'
'Oh, come on darling...'
'You had a choice. You didn't have to come to the castle. It was your punishment. If you'd rather we'd gone to the police...'
'Shut up,' Andrew shouted, his anger getting on top of him. Then he said more quietly. 'You'll get your chance to defend yourself.'
The plane began to bank slightly, changing to a more southerly direction. Andrew slumped into one of the leather armchairs as Susie handed him a large tumbler of vodka on the rocks. She handed the others drinks too, then returned to the bar where she hoped she would remain inconspicuous.
'Well, cheers everybody. It seems we've accomplished our mission. Now we have the queen bee here I'm sure the rest of the workers will be no problem.'
'Can't wait,' Mick said, slumping down on to the sofa. He stretched out his hand and caught Venetia by the wrist, pulling her onto his lap as Paul sat down beside him.
'She's beautiful,' Paul said.
'Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from. The rest of the slaves will be so glad to see us you'll have wall to wall women.'
Amanda walked back into the cargo hold. In a few minutes she emerged with one of Stephanie's cases. It was not locked. She pulled the case open to reveal Stephanie's new clothes mixed in with the ones she had brought from the castle. She tore open the various packages and held up the clothes in front of her body.
'Look at this. Must have cost a fortune.' She was holding up a camiknicker Stephanie had bought in Bond Street.
'Suits you, darling,' Andrew said.
Paul reached forward and fingered the material obscenely. 'Feels like silk,' he said, bringing the material to his face and letting it brush his lips. 'As we've got some time on our hands, why don't we have a look at our little prize?' He nodded towards Stephanie.
'Yes,' Mick agreed. 'Come on love, give us a little in-flight entertainment.' His hand squeezed Venetia's breast as he said it. She winced and tried to wriggle away from him, a look of horror on her face that perhaps only Stephanie understood.
'Well, mistress,' Andrew sneered. 'I think you'd better do as you're told, don't you?'
Stephanie said nothing, looking Andrew straight in the eyes. He had been cocky and stubborn at the castle and she was not at all surprised he had organised this plot. Even when he had finally bent to her will she had suspected there was still defiance lurking beneath the surface. Equally she knew that unless she did exactly what she was told he was capable of making her life a living hell.
'We're waiting,' Amanda said, sitting on the floor among discarded wrappings and new clothes.
'Take my handcuffs off and I'll give you a show,' Stephanie said steadily.
'No way darling. You'll manage.' Andrew took a swig of his vodka. The ice clinked against the side of the glass. 'Come on, we're getting impatient. You've got a treat boys, she's a real looker I can tell you.' Andrew got up from his seat suddenly and walked right up to Stephanie. He squeezed her cheeks together between his thumb and fingers. 'I know, don't I mistress? The way you used me to rub suntan oil all over your body while I had that blasted pouch chained round my cock. You do remember making me do that, don't you?'
'Yes,' she said knowing instinctively that she shouldn't show him the fear she felt.
'Good. So let my friends see what you've got.' Andrew went to the bar and slammed his glass down on its small wooden counter. Susie quickly poured him another drink.
How she was expected to get her dress off with her hands cuffed behind her back she did not know. She knelt on the floor and managed to catch the hem in her left hand, wriggling it up over her thighs and waist but she could not pull it any higher.
'She's stuck,' Mick said, stating the obvious.
'Give her a hand,' Paul said.
'Leave her,' Andrew ordered.
Stephanie managed to hook the dress on the arm of one of the chairs. By dipping her body below the level of the arm she pulled the dress up over her bra and around her neck, though of course it was still trapped behind her shoulders. That was as far as she could get. She stood up. Under the dress she was wearing creamy beige-coloured French knickers, with matching suspender belt and soft cup bra. The knickers had V-shaped inserts of lace over her navel and at the side of her hips. Her stockings were beige too, their broad welts pulled into peaks by the taut suspenders.
'Well, just look at that,' Paul said, studying her body closely.
'Come on,' Andrew said irritably.
'I can't do any more,' Stephanie said, stretching her wrists against the cuffs to demonstrate her inability.
'Help her.' Andrew's eyes fell on Susie.
'Me, sir?' Susie's voice trembled with fear.
'Yes, you. Get her dress off.' Susie didn't move. 'Now.'
Quickly Susie came round the bar to stand in front of Stephanie. Their eyes met. For the first time since she had known her, Stephanie saw a look of sympathy in Susie's eyes: she actually cared.
'Sorry...' Susie whispered.
'It's all right. Just do it.'
Susie's hands were trembling as her fingers pulled the dress up over Stephanie's head and down over her arms until it was hanging by its sleeves from the cuffed wrists. Seeing the problem Andrew stepped forward, unsheathed his knife and
sliced the wool away. The dress fell to the floor. While the knife was out he slipped it into the strap of the bra between Stephanie's shoulder-blades and sliced it in two. He cut both the shoulder straps with equal ease and the bra fell away from Stephanie's breasts.
'Pretty good,' Mick said as Andrew gave Susie a shove to indicate she should get back behind the bar. 'But not as good as these.' His hands wrapped round both Venetia's breasts, weighing them as if they were some sort of fruit. Again there was panic on Venetia's face.
'She's gorgeous,' Paul said, staring. 'Gorgeous.'
'There's lots more where that came from,' Amanda said, beginning to pack things back into the suitcase.
'Well, this is definitely the only way to travel,' Paul said, stretching back on the sofa.
Andrew came back towards Stephanie, the vodka glass in his hand. 'So now,' he said, looking into her eyes, 'the boot is on the other foot.'
'It appears so,' she said calmly, looking back at him unflinchingly. 'And what do you think you're going to do now?' Her tone was icy.
'I told you.' He touched the glass against her nipple. She did not move. The nipple hardened. 'How long before we land?' he asked Susie.
'Thirty minutes,' she replied, looking at her watch.
'Good. Now I want you to tell the captain that he is to take off again the moment we are out of the plane.' He was still looking at Susie.
'That's the plan anyway,' Stephanie said.
'How convenient.'
'What about me?' Susie asked, fearing they were going to take her with them to the castle. 'Am I to leave with the plane?'
'Would you prefer to stay?'
'No sir.'
'You're free to go. What are you going to do? Call the police? I don't think so, do you? I don't think the mistress here wants the police crawling all over the castle, do you darling?'
It had never occurred to Stephanie before. What Devlin had organised at the castle was not illegal but if it became public knowledge by being splashed all over the tabloid press, as it undoubtedly would be if the police became involved, it would seriously embarrass him and his business empire. Andrew was absolutely right about that.
'Say nothing, Susie,' Stephanie said.
'But...'
'Tell the pilot he's to return to London and wait for instructions. You go with him. Nothing else. Understood?'
Susie nodded.
'That's a good girl,' Andrew declared.
What Stephanie really wanted to tell Susie was how to contact Devlin in Moscow. But even if she could have said something she had no idea where he was. There was a chance he would ring the main office in London but it was unlikely. He was due back tomorrow and would leave everything until then. Devlin would be walking into a trap and there was no way to warn him.
Susie walked towards the front cabin.
'And don't get any ideas about telling him to go back to London. If this plane changes direction you'll be the first to suffer. Do you understand? Don't make the mistake of thinking I won't do it.'
'Do as he says, Susie,' Stephanie said firmly.
Susie nodded again, unlocked the front cabin door and went inside.
'Still giving orders, aren't you?' Amanda said, standing up. 'Well, it's going to be our turn to give orders now, bitch. I'm looking forward to giving you some orders after what you did to me.'
'I didn't do anything you didn't ask for. Either of you.'
'We didn't have any choice, did we?' Amanda replied, her eyes blazing with anger.
'Calm down, Mandy. There's plenty of time for that later.'
'I'd like some time for this now,' Mick said, pawing Venetia's body more aggressively.
'Take her in the back then,' Paul suggested.
'Don't be so coy. Do it here,' Amanda said.
'No,' Venetia cried. 'Please, no... not with a man... please.'
'There's time,' Andrew looked at his watch. 'Plenty of time.'
Mick started to unbutton the front of the black one-piece that Venetia wore. She twisted her body, pulling the buttons out of his grasp.
'No, no, no, no. Please.' Venetia managed to free herself altogether and scrambled to her feet, running over to Andrew. She dropped on her knees in front of him. 'I'm not like her,' she said, looking at Stephanie standing alone in the high-heel boots, stockings and French knickers, her breasts naked and proud. 'I'm a slave just like you were. Devlin caught me embezzling. He used me just like he used you.'
'What are you talking about?' Andrew asked.
'They've got files on me just like they have on you. I stole from Devlin. I'm just like all the other slaves. Just because I'm good with computers he needs me in London. Otherwise I'd be in the cellars with the other slaves.'
'Is this true?' Andrew asked Stephanie.
'Yes,' she said quietly. It was perfectly true and Stephanie didn't blame Venetia for trying to save herself. If anyone had to be punished, if anyone was to be put on trial or whatever else Andrew's mind had thought up, it was her, not Venetia. Venetia was not bisexual. She was a lesbian through and through and being fucked by a man was a violation for her. It had happened once; Devlin had been forced to allow it to happen once, but otherwise because of her special place in the system he had respected her sexual proclivities. At the castle she had only been used by the female guests. Stephanie knew the terror Mick's fondling had already instilled in her.
'Well... let me think...' Andrew said nothing for a moment.
'It's a set-up, Andy. Come on.' Mick was stroking himself to erection through his trousers.
'No, no. If it's true she could be very helpful to us, Mick. Very helpful. You know all the computer codes?'
'Yes.'
'You can get it to wipe our files?'
'Yes. Easily.'
'Is everything stored on the computer?'
'Yes. But there are hard copies too.'
'You see, Mick. She didn't have to tell us that.'
'We can order them to destroy the files on us,' Amanda said. 'They'll believe her.'
'Exactly.'
'I'll do anything you want. Except sleep with a man... I just can't...'
'OK. You've got a deal.'
'I won't let you down.'
'You better not.'
Venetia strained at her wrists as if asking for the handcuffs to be removed. Andrew took a set of keys from his shirt pocket, twisted her round and unlocked the cuffs. Venetia rubbed her sore wrists as soon as she was free.
'I don't trust her,' Mick said grudgingly.
'I'm on your side,' Venetia said with conviction. 'I've had to work like a dog for years because he had that bloody file on me. You think I liked it? Especially when this bitch turned up.' She indicated Stephanie with a dismissive wave of her hand. 'She's got Devlin eating out of her hand. He'll do anything for her. He's besotted by her. If you're going to have a trial you can count me in. I'll give evidence against her, lots of it. The way the bitch has treated me.'
Andrew started to laugh. 'Well, that's great. And you know all Devlin's little secrets?'
'All of them.'
'Well, we're really in business then.' Andrew went to the bar and reached over it to find the vodka bottle. He poured more into everyone's glass and gave Venetia a glass too. She drank a silent toast with the rest of them.
They strapped Stephanie, still naked from the waist up, into one of the leather armchairs as the plane banked to come in to land. She could see the whole of Lake Trasimeno laid out under the plane as it descended, the castle on the island with its extensive orchards and walled garden and vineyard revealed in every detail. She had never been less glad to see the place.
Curiously, she was not frightened at the prospect of what Andrew planned. If you live by the sword you will, inevitably and metaphorically, die by it sooner or later. She had played a dangerous game. And now it was her turn to pay for it. She had ruled the castle and enjoyed every minute of it. But the tables had turned...
She cursed herself for not trusting her own intuition
. She had realised she was being followed, at least her subconscious had, but she had done nothing about it. She had dismissed the feeling as paranoia. If she had not, if she had taken precautions, she would not be in the situation she found herself now.
Tomorrow Devlin would walk into the trap too. There was no way to warn him. Even if she managed to get away, run off when they landed - which was a slim chance - she wouldn't be able to get to him in time. And realistically, with her hands cuffed behind her back and wearing high-heeled boots, she'd hardly be able to outrun Andrew or Amanda, who was probably the fittest of the two.
Susie reappeared as soon as the plane had landed. She looked anxiously at Stephanie as though wanting to know what to do. But there was nothing Stephanie could say. There was no point shouting for her to call Devlin. She couldn't get him in Moscow. He was moving from place to place and even his main office didn't have a number. Stephanie hoped Susie or the pilot would have the sense to call the headquarters just in case Devlin phoned in but she knew that was a slim chance.
As the plane came to a halt Stephanie saw the black Mercedes that Devlin used to ferry them to and from the jetty, parked on the grass at the end of the concrete landing strip. As soon as the plane was stationary, Susie operated the exterior cabin door and extended the hydraulically operated landing ramp.
Without a word, as this had obviously been carefully planned, Mick and Paul descended the steps. Stephanie watched from the window as the driver got out of the car. There was a short scuffle and then Mick pushed the driver away. He began running faster and faster away from the plane. Mick was laughing.
Andrew had thought of everything. He was right not to be worried about the driver. There was no need to keep him prisoner, just as there was no need to hold the flight crew. The driver would be too scared to go to the police. He was only a local peasant hired by Devlin to drive for short trips and look after the car. He wouldn't want to get involved with the law. He probably didn't even have an official driving license. He had also seen enough to know that things went on at the castle that were better not talked about.
Stephanie's Trial Page 11