“You know I can't.” Saga replied. “I'd lose my job.”
She hadn't told Daniel about the pornography, only that Jason Locke knew something about her that could get her fired. She had only been a little older than her teenage boyfriend when she had been involved in making videos.
A young innocent student who had left the quiet island life in Oland to go to the big city in Stockholm to pursue her dream as an actress. She had been accepted to Drama school. It had been her dream; however, those dreams had quickly been trashed. She had been told that her birthmark would ensure that she would never be a success.
It was then she met Lars. He was a director, he told her that he would make her a success. That was, if she was prepared to take her clothes off. He assured her that this was the way that all girls started out in the industry. She remembered the first line of cocaine he had given her. Told her it was what all the actresses did on set. Within a few months, she was addicted to drugs, and needing to perform more and more demeaning acts to pay for her growing habit, which had now moved to heroin. Which was the only thing that could take away the edge of her pain as she was abused by a stream of men, to give even more men sexual kicks.
How she had been tempted to return to drugs since Jason had discovered her secret.
However, she had fought hard to get off the drugs. Following an overdose when she was twenty, she returned home to her family, to get clean. It was then that an aunt suggested that Saga moved to England and become a drama teacher, she would let her live rent free whilst she started her studies again. When Saga graduated both her English and Drama degree and then her subsequent teacher training, it was her aunt that gave her her confidence back and ultimately her future. Aunt Cecilia had since moved back to Sweden to retire, but Saga would never forget the opportunity that she had given her.
Saga had then moved from Bristol where she had studied, over the border into Wales where she had settled in Cardiff. The city had the right blend of theatre and drama, but without being as overwhelming as a large city like London. Saga had thought she would stay forever, that was until her colleague had begun his attacks.
“Fuck your job.” Daniel replied. “He is going to kill you if he carries this on.”
Saga had been desperately looking at other teaching jobs in Cardiff, however, with government funding continuing to move away from the arts, the opportunities for drama teachers were becoming increasingly rare. She had looked into theatre jobs too, but these would not pay enough to cover her mortgage and life expenses. Saga's future was looking bleak, the only thing that had kept her going the last year was her affair with Daniel. He made her feel young again, he gave her a relationship that she should have had as a young developing woman. He was like a second chance. Through Daniel she could write off everything that had happened in her late teens and become eighteen again.
“I want him to pay, Daniel. Of course, I do, but there has to be another way.”
43
One year later
“This is really quite a disgusting case.” Lisa sighed into her hands.
She was at the facility with her girlfriend, Hannah.
Troy had gone for a walk. Still struggling to process what he'd seen.
“He's seeming really messed up.” Hannah said, speaking about her colleague. “He's been so stressed at work lately with all the shit we've had with Matron Bradley, and now we have uncovered the truth about what an evil bastard his next door neighbour is, I'm worried this will make him ill. I've sent him out to get some fresh air.”
“So there have indeed been multiple sexual assaults over two years like Saga has claimed.” Lisa said.
“Oh yes.” Hannah replied “But worse than that, he is making her re-enact pornography videos that she had made whilst she was younger. We've watched him wank over the videos, and then told her in great detail what they were going to do. It's made me feel physically sick.”
“That is what she has told us, when we told her we knew about the porn.” Lisa said. “We've told her an eye witness came forward and identified her as the attacker, as well, it's kind of true.”
“I'm so glad he's gone back to the NHS.” Hannah hissed. “After seeing why he's ended up in the state he's in, I hope he dies.”
“But that will make Saga a murderer, when she's actually a victim.” Lisa replied.
“What I don't understand is how that Daniel comes into this, and the girl who was raped, Kylie was it?” Hannah replied.
“Yep Kylie.” Lisa said “Well that story takes this case onto a whole new disgusting level.”
44
Six months earlier
Daniel sobbed down the telephone.
“Please Saga, I love you. You can't finish with me.” he pleaded.
“You need someone your own age.” Saga replied coldly on the other side of the phone. “I can't do this anymore.”
“This is because of Mr Locke, isn't it?” Daniel said.
Saga sighed before she replied. “I'm damaged, Daniel. You have a lot of love to give. You should be giving it to someone who can appreciate you.”
“But I want you.” Daniel's sobs intensified.
“Give it a month or two and you will have forgotten all about me.”
...
The month after – December
Daniel had taken no joy in his eighteenth birthday. It had fallen at the start of the month. Although if Daniel was honest with himself, he hadn't taken joy in any birthday or Christmas since his Mum had died of cancer when he was twelve.
His Dad had tried his best. Timothy Cooke was a good man, but he was a typical man's man. Whilst he loved his son, he wasn't able to provide the love and affection that Daniel needed. He provided financially well enough, and had given Daniel a roof over his head. However, he always preferred to spend Friday and Saturday nights in the pub with his friends than with his son. This unintentional neglect had meant that Daniel had become quite a loner.
So it was surprising when, just before Christmas, Daniel accepted an invitation to a house party. There were two boys doing the apprenticeship at the tyre fitting shop, him and Luke. It was Luke who invited him to the party. His parents had gone away with friends for a weekend and had left Luke and his younger brother Rhys home alone for the weekend. Luke eighteen, Rhys sixteen. There had been two rules, no parties and no girls staying over. The teenagers had decided to break both rules.
Daniel and Luke finished work and headed to Bargain Booze to follow the name on the shop to buy vast quantities of cheap booze from the meagre apprentice earnings. It was long dark by the time they arrived back to the terraced house in Splott.
The living room light was off, the room dimly lit by the TV in the background. Rhys was on the sofa, snogging a girl.
“Fuck sake Rhys.” Luke yelled, as he saw the empty cans of Kopperberg on the floor. “I said to wait until I was home.”
He stormed out to the fully lit kitchen, Daniel following, and there Daniel saw her.
She was wearing a tight short black leather skirt, knee high black boots and a crop top. Her eyes were heavily made up and she had the brightest pink lips.
“Alright!” the girl said.
“Alright.” Luke replied.
“I'm glad someone else is here.” she continued “I feel like a tit sat out here on my own whilst they are getting off with each other in there.”
“I'm Daniel.” Dan said to her.
“Kylie.” she replied. She looked at the shopping bags. “Please tell me there's a cider in there for me.”
45
Two months later – February
“I went to bed with him.”
The girls were listening to her story intently.
“I'd gone around his on Friday. His Dad was in the pub. We were kissing on the sofa and he put his hand up my skirt. I didn't stop him. He stuck his hand in my knickers and he touched me and then it happened.”
“What happened?” one of the girls asked.
“I had an orgasm
.” she said. “Oh my God, it was fucking amazing. I knew then I wanted to shag him.”
“So, what happened then?” another asked.
“I asked him did he want to go to bed, and he asked me if I was sure. I said I was and then he said he didn't have any condoms, and I told him it was OK as I'm on the pill.”
“You are on the pill?” another girl asked.
“Yeah.” she replied “Doctor gave them to me because my periods are so heavy. She said it might help.”
“So, what did he say?” the original girl asked, keen to get back to the juicy story that was unfolding.
“He asked if I was a virgin if I was on the pill, and I said I was. But then we went up to his room, and we did it.”
“What was it like?” her friend asked.
“It hurt a bit, and we stopped, but we kissed some more and he was naked and I was naked, and I was touching his cock and it was really hard, and I had another orgasm and then we did it again and it was really good.”
“Oh my god, I can't believe you are first one of us to do it.” her friend shrieked.
“I know.” Kylie said. “I'm shagging Daniel Cook.”
Then she turned around in the drama hall dressing room and saw that the teacher was standing in the doorway.
“Less gossiping and more practising girls. We are behind on rehearsals already. Chop chop.” she clapped her hands and the girls scurried out of the room.
Saga paused for a moment. She knew she had heard right, and she felt jealousy. This slim little girl was having sex with her former lover. Things like this were not meant to happen. Before she returned to the class, she pulled her phone out of her pocket. She typed three words. “I miss you”. She paused for a fraction debating whether or not she should press send. But she did.
46
That night
Saga lifted her head as she swallowed, grinning into the face of Daniel as raised herself up to his lips, kissing him.
“Bet she doesn't do that.” she grinned.
“Fucking hell Saga, that was awesome.” Daniel grinned, aware that his penis that was flacid only a few seconds before was starting to get hard again.
“I'll dump her.” he said. “It's you I love. I thought of you the whole time I was fucking her.”
“Ah my sweet boy.” Saga said. “You can't break the young girls heart. I think you should keep seeing her.”
“Does this mean you don't want me?” Daniel's insecurity was open, transparent.
“Good god no.” Saga said quickly. “Hearing her today made me realise that I missed you, I missed what we had. I think you should keep seeing us both. You can enjoy her pert little tits and tight arse and when you really want to shoot your load and have an amazing fuck, you can come back to me.”
“I want to fuck you right now.” Daniel said.
...
The following month – March
It had been the last day of the spring term before Easter, and Saga had already panicked about what that may mean. With two weeks of holidays ahead, she expected a visit. She had tried to rush her year nine class out as quickly as she could. Wanting to get out of school quickly.
She had just grabbed her coat and picked up her handbag when the door slammed.
“In a hurry, Miss Eriksson.” the familiar voice of Jason Locke said.
“I have somewhere to be.” she said, as she tried to push past him.
He pushed her back away from the door, then pushed her hard towards the desk. Saga lost her footing and tripped.
Jason pulled her up by her hair. He turned her and pushed her face down on the desk as he stumbled with his trouser zip.
“Stop it, you’re hurting me.” Saga said.
He slammed her face hard on the desk.
“Stop being so fucking dramatic. You know you like it rough.” he said, he ripped down her skirt, and she knew what was coming, yet again.
...
Daniel was waiting in the hallway in Saga's block of flats when she arrived home. He took one look at her, her tear-stained face, her swollen eye which had already started to turn black.
“I'm going to fucking kill him.” he said.
“He needs to go to prison.” Saga replied. “But we need to plan this properly.”
It was then she shared her plan, her idea that she had hatched a few weeks earlier. A plan that would need to wait until the summer term was in full swing.
47
Now
“So, she was sleeping with her former pupil, and she put him up to raping Kylie and blaming the teacher.” Troy couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.
“Yep.” Hannah said. “And it would have worked if Kylie's parents hadn't worked it out.”
“And so she went to the woods, knowing that he walked his dog there are tried to kill him after the truth came out.” Troy continued.
“Yep, that's what Lisa said.” Hannah said. “She said that as the boy had screwed it up, she needed to sort it out once and for all herself.”
“This is really fucked up.” Troy shook his head. “How many lives has he ruined as a result of finding that porn.”
“Lisa said the same thing.” Hannah agreed. “They don't know what charges to bring against her. I know what that boy did was awful, but she used him. Lisa said that he lost his mum when he had just started high school. Probably all he wanted was an older woman to love him.”
“It’s that poor girl I feel sorry for.” Troy said. “And Penny too. They are the innocent victims in this.”
He paused for a moment.
“Jen said that Penny is going to leave Jason if he survives. I don't blame her.”
Troy paused again. Hannah thought she could see tears in his eyes.
“I can't help thinking that my technology has resulted in everything turning to shit.”
“Nonsense.” Hannah said. “You brought out the truth. How were you to know that your next-door neighbour was a sick perverted prick. Besides, I've thought of a way that we can make money AND do good.”
Troy looked at her, he was intrigued.
“OK, we need to do the tests on the hospice patients first.” she continued. “I've chatted to one of them today, an initial psych evaluation, and he was really up for the experiment. Said it's his way of doing something with his life and leave money to his family.”
She was digressing, and needed to get to the point.
“I was thinking about people like you and Jen. People who can't have children. What if we used these female prisoners as surrogates? We could implant the memories into women who want to be Mums into the surrogate. They could feel their babies grow; they could experience pregnancy. Also, it's an experiment where our test patient would take nine months. Matron Bradley would know we would need a test patient. It gives us breathing time to think.”
Troy looked at her.
“It's an idea.” he said. “But we would have to find a test subject who would know the risks.”
“What about Jen?” Hannah asked “Would you guys like a family?”
Troy shook his head.
“Definitely not! Jen has been through too much, and she's had her memories extracted before. I'm not taking the risk with the love of my life.”
Hannah nodded. “I get that, but it's a good idea though. What do you think?”
“It certainly has potential.” Troy replied.
Their conversation was interrupted by the phone ringing.
Hannah answered.
“Ah my love” she started. “I was just bringing Troy up to speed.”
As she listened to Lisa speak, the smile from her face disappeared.
“Ok, thanks love. I'll tell him now.”
“Troy, Lisa thinks you should go home. She's just had a call from the hospital. Jason didn't make it. She thinks Jen may need you for when Penny gets home. They are charging Saga with murder.”
The End
Buy the next book in the series – The Surrogate
mybook.to/thesurrogate
Author note
I nearly didn't finish this book. I had a hard time personally when I was in the process of writing, but I stuck with it for three reasons. Firstly, I'm a completely stubborn sod. Secondly, I wanted you to feel sorry for the characters, then hate them or vice versa. Jason started as a likeable character, well I think, then you realise his darkness. Saga starts as a victim, but then you can see that she is barely any better than Jason. And Daniel you hate from the start, then you realise that he's just a poor lad who has suffered as a result of the hand that life dealt him, both with losing his Mum and his dyslexia. Of course, he still shouldn't have raped Kylie or threatened Alice. The third and final reason I stuck with it is because I had already plotted the next book in the series in my head. The Surrogate. I have enjoyed introducing you to Matron Bradley. A character who purposefully does not have a first name. I work with a real-life Matron Bradley; she is a thoroughly gorgeous human who doesn't have a nasty bone in her body. But she likes reading my books. And of course, when she asked me could Matron Bradley work in the facility and could she be tall, blonde, stunning and evil.... well, I just couldn't resist! I hope you'll stick with me to see how that story develops.
Link to buy: mybook.to/thesurrogate
1
Barbara Lewis felt an extraordinary sense of a smug satisfaction as she emailed the story to her editor. It was a court hearing story, ordinarily not the most exciting of writing assignments. However, this was about the beautiful twenty-five-year-old bar manager who had been sentenced for stealing from her employer. Today she had begun serving a six-year prison sentence, close to the maximum tariff, and this made Barbara incredibly proud.
It wasn't the story itself that filled her with pride, far from it, that was a very factual and matter of fact follow up on the conclusion of the story that had previously been in the press. But she knew the readers of the South Wales Echo would lap the details up. The girl had protested her innocence from the start. The accompanying photos of the stunning young woman being taken away in handcuffs, just added to the drama of the article. She had grinned from the back of the court room as she watched her being taken away to serve her term in HMP Eastwood Park over the border in Gloucestershire.
Mob Justice (Sinister Minds Quick Reads Book 3) Page 8
