Brigit Pt. 04: Christmas Debt

But Justin told Anna that his extended family would continue to harass her even if he was in a police cell. Anna, Bronwen, Anna's mother AND the police believe that is a genuine possibility. Anna couldn't stay with Bronwen any longer. For the last three nights Anna has been in the local women's refuge, sleeping on a couch because they don't have a bedroom for her.

When I went to see Bronwen, the Goddess had already suggested us as a solution for Anna's problems. We would get someone who could help us. Anna would get a safe place to live that Justin doesn't know about. It seems like a win for all of us.

Anna is seriously worried that Justin will find out where she is and come here to attack her and us. Anna thought a middle-aged man and woman couldn't protect her..."

I laughed. Deirdre looked at me.

"I might be middle-aged, and tired, but I don't see Justin as a threat."

"Are you sure, Raymond?"

"Yes." I said bluntly.

Anna had shown us pictures of Justin so we could recognise him if he came anywhere near. He was pasty-faced, not particularly large, and looked unfit. He was an occasional user of cannabis but not the harder drugs he sold. Although my fitness level had been poor at the start of the year and I was not as fit as Deirdre could be, I had much more bulk and muscle than she has. Looking at the pictures of Justin, I think Deirdre could deal with him. Anna however was petite and slight.

+++

Ever since the Goddess sent Deirdre to me we had been gradually discovering how little we knew about each other's past. Deirdre knew I was a company owner that was involved in engineering projects. She didn't know, or didn't understand, exactly what my company did. She knew I had an engineering degree, a Masters of Business Administration and a doctorate. The details meant nothing to her.

Deirdre was a freelance newspaper and magazine columnist. That is how she had become involved with the campaign to protect the quarry site that brought her to me. She had a degree in history, qualifications in journalism and a doctorate earned on aspects of 18th century newspapers.

What Deirdre did know, because I attended Remembrance Day parades wearing my medals, was that I had been in the services. She didn't know and hadn't asked what I had been. If she had, she would have known why I didn't think Justin was a threat to me.

Why should she know or care what I had done in my twenties? We were enjoying our life together and expecting a future in which we loved each other. The past was irrelevant.

+++

Over the next few days Anna was settling down with us. Biddie enjoyed Anna. So did we. Deirdre did the nursery school runs because we thought it might be dangerous for Anna. Justin would expect her to be employed at a nursery school so he, or his family members, could be watching any or all of them. Anna had left her mobile phone with her mother. I had lent her a basic phone I had kept in a car. It would send and receive voice and texts but nothing else. Justin couldn't locate it because it didn't have GPS and Anna turned it off whenever she wasn't using it.

Gradually Anna gave us more information about Justin. He had been using her apartment as his store room for drugs. He supplied his low level dealers from his car but he had use of a caravan on a travellers' site. Anna explained that the man who lived in the caravan was an addict. He allowed Justin to use the caravan in exchange for a discount on drugs. Anna thought that the other travellers on that site were irritated by Justin.

She didn't say anything about the abuse she had suffered but Deirdre and I had seen some of the old bruises when Anna was wearing a sleeveless top.

When Anna wasn't looking after Biddie she turned herself into a maid of all work. We tried to persuade her to stop but she felt she owed us a debt for taking her in. She cleaned, cooked, tidied and did the washing. I had ironed underwear for the first time in decades.

Deirdre was spending more effective time on her writing. She had time for Biddie that she didn't have to resent for interrupting her work. All of us were happier and more relaxed, particularly Anna as she felt Justin's threats were distant from us.

I had made discreet enquiries about Justin. He was still in a cell on remand for failing to appear in a court a couple of months ago. That court appearance was for assault and possession of cannabis for personal use despite two previous police cautions. If convicted he would be unlikely to get a custodial sentence - for those charges. If Justin reappeared and Anna filed a formal complaint against him for breaches of an injunction? That might change the sentence.

The prosecution service were trying to get the charges of assault on the night club doorkeeper and resisting arrest added to Justin's court appearance. They really wanted a formal complaint from Anna too.

I had spoken to the pro-bono lawyer and arranged for him to be paid to expedite the injunction against Justin. I hadn't told Deirdre or Anna but the injunction would be issued today. Justin would be given notice of it while in his cell.

I had hinted through my police contacts that Justin's possessions in the storage facility might repay searching. They obtained a search warrant, perhaps unnecessary since they had the key, but it would allow anything found to be used in evidence.

+++

A day later Anna had a worrying call from her mother. The agent for Anna's apartment had sent a letter stating that her deposit would not be refunded and there would be a large bill of several thousand pounds for necessary repairs. I drove round to Anna's mother's place and collected the letter. I took it, and the signed end of lease agreement to my lawyers. Anna's mother had emailed me pictures of the flat as they left it. I asked my lawyers to deal with the matter for Anna. I could sense my solicitor getting excited at the idea of ripping the agents a new arsehole.

He wrote them a stinging letter threatening a county court judgement for withholding the deposit and revocation of their trading licence for breaching the terms of the deposit scheme.

A week later Anna's mother received a letter addressed to Anna enclosing a cheque for the full deposit and a grovelling apology. The agents also enclosed copies of photos of what had been done inside the flat. CCTV had shown Justin entering the building and using his keys to get into the flat. The agents hadn't changed the locks even a week after Anna had told them to. Justin had been carrying a sledgehammer. He had smashed the kitchen and bathroom including all the fittings and equipment, leaving water gushing from broken pipes. The shop downstairs had turned off the water and electricity supplies as soon as they saw water coming through their ceiling. The agents had reported Justin for criminal damage. Apart from the CCTV he had left his blood on some of the pieces of the broken washbasin. Anna's photos had shown there was no blood when she left.

Anna's potential debt had been solved. She had the deposit back and we were paying her for looking after Biddie. She had no expenses so her bank account was in a better state than it had ever been. If only the debt problems on the estate could be solved that easily...

+++

Our initiatives on the estate were beginning to show some benefits but it would be years if ever before debt problems were solved. We had helped but the people we had helped were mainly those who hadn't got the worst problems. Drugs, alcohol and gangs were still major factors. Apparently Justin's continued detention had affected the supply of hard drugs. Other dealers were moving in to take over Justin's street-level peddlers. There was a rumour that Justin himself was in debt to the major drug dealers who had supplied him. The police search of Justin's possession in the storage depot had caused excitement. They found thirty thousand pounds in used notes and enough hard drugs to supply the whole town for a month. They needed to prove that Justin had handled those packages. Forensic scientists were testing every seized item. But until then? Justin would appear in a magistrate's court, probably be bailed for appearance in a higher court, and be back on the street within a day or two.

Anna and Deirdre were worried that Justin would find out where Anna was and come for her. I had asked my police and court contacts to let me know when Justin was bailed. In the meantime I had paid a local company to upgrade our home CCTV to include more cameras in the grounds, low light capability, and 24 hour recording and uploading. Anyone approaching our house from any direction would be recorded in real time.

One evening we were sitting around complaining about the lack of news about Justin's trial. The forensic tests on the drugs found among Justin's possessions might take more weeks to finish.

"Anna, why does Justin continue to chase you?" Deirdre asked.

Anna looked at Deirdre as if that was a stupid question. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Justin is afraid I could give evidence about his drug dealing, Deirdre. I know too much including where and who he got his drugs from. He used to send me out on my bicycle to deliver to his street dealers. I know them all, their street names, their real names and addresses and their mobile numbers. But I think that a more important reason for Justin is that I was his possession, his sex slave. It's hurt his pride that I've left. Without my Mum and Bronwen I might not have. I had loved Justin. I took some of the abuse as signs that he loved me. But not the last beating that broke my ribs. That finished any feeling I had for him. Now? I just want him gone from my life so I can start again."

I could see Deirdre was shocked. She gave Anna a hug. People like Justin are outside Deirdre's experience. Not mine. I had met many people like Justin, too many. They use people and throw them away when they're bored. Or go too far when high on drugs and alcohol and injure or kill the person they say they love. Their love is only for themselves.

Even though Justin was still remanded in custody his family remained a threat to Anna. She had been afraid to leave the house. Deirdre had taken Anna shopping to a town thirty miles away that as far as Anna knew had not association with any of Justin's family. Anna had worn one of Deirdre's hooded jackets in the car, her head almost lost inside the fur-trimmed hood, and wearing dark glasses.

They had gone to some of the charity shops and bought clothes very unlike Anna's normal styles. Anna used to wear leggings and long tops with trainers on her feet. She and Deirdre bought skirts, dresses and formal trousers. They had been to a hairdressers. Anna's long straight light brown hair had been cut much shorter, styled into a bob, and had blonde highlights.

When they returned I barely recognised Anna. She had been transformed from a casually-dressed young woman into an elegant young lady wearing a dress with pantyhose and low heels. Her make-up had been revised by a professional saleswoman in a department store. She looked wonderful. If I had been decades younger? The new-look Anna would have made me look twice or more often. It wasn't just the change in externals. Anna was much happier.

Biddie wasn't sure at first that she liked the change in Anna. As soon as they were both on the floor playing with Biddie's dolls, Biddie was satisfied her Anna was the same person even if she looked different. Biddie's Anna was now part of our family.

+++

One evening we were sitting around the kitchen table. Deirdre was writing on her laptop. I was reading a trade magazine. Anna was idly looking at a page of an old issue of the local paper she was using to put potato peelings on. She was preparing a potato topping for a Shepherd's Pie for tomorrow evening. Anna stopped with a muttered exclamation.

"What is it, Anna?" Deirdre asked.

"This report. A traveller's caravan burned. I know that caravan. It belonged to Lonny. Justin used Lonny's caravan as a store for his drugs as well as my flat. Lonny was a serious heroin addict in poor health. Every time I visited Lonny I thought he would be dead before I went again. He was in a dreadful state. The report said that the occupant was in hospital when the caravan burned. I know that travellers sometimes burn a dead person's caravan as part of a funeral but Lonny wasn't dead."

"I think he was," I said. "I think there was an obituary notice in this week's issue."

I went to the sitting room to find that paper. I flipped to the obituary page. I showed it to Anna. It read "Leonard (Lonny)..."

"That's him," Anna said. "I felt sorry for him. He had lost his wife and two children in a car crash that left him with smashed legs. He blamed himself, possibly with some justification. He was driving an uninsured and unlicensed car that was unroadworthy. But the car was hit by a stolen van that sped through a red light. He took to drink and drugs to blunt his pain. Justin used Lonny's caravan as a safe house. The police rarely go on to travellers' sites unless they have enough men to deal with the aggravation. By the time the police had got past everyone else to Lonny's caravan Lonny could have hidden the drugs."

"That's a sad story," Deirdre said.

"Most of Justin's dealers and customers are sad stories," Anna said. "He used them all."

I noticed movement on the CCTV monitor. Someone was approaching the front door. I thought I knew who it was. I put my magazine down.

"I'll get that," I said.

"Get what?" Deirdre asked.

"The front door," I said as the doorbell rang.

I opened the door. It was the Goddess Brigit. She hadn't been to us since Anna arrived. She kissed me. We walked into the kitchen.

"Anna, this is Brigit, our Biddie's godmother."

Anna was startled. The Goddess Brigit always looks spectacular.

"Anna knows who I am, even if she hasn't seen me before," Brigit said.

"You're..." Anna said.

"The Goddess Brigit," Brigit said. "You've worshipped me, Anna."

Brigit walked to Anna and kissed her on the forehead. Anna still looked shocked.

"I thought you were a myth..." Anna whispered.

"No myth."

Brigit waved a hand. Anna's potatoes appeared on the Shepherd's Pie already mashed and part-cooked.

"You can put that in the fridge, Anna," Brigit said. "We're going to have coffee in the living room."

Anna nearly dropped the Shepherd's Pie but she managed to put it in the fridge. We followed Brigit into the living room. Three mugs of coffee were already there. Deirdre and I sat down on the settee. Brigit pulled Anna to sit on her legs in a large armchair. Anna was obviously frightened of Brigit.

"Drink your coffee, Anna," Brigit ordered, giving Anna a mug.

Anna sipped. Her face changed. We knew why. The coffee had Brigit's breast milk in it. Anna drank the coffee quickly. Brigit took the empty mug from Anna's hand before pulling Anna's head to her shoulder. Anna snuggled against Brigit. I felt slightly jealous of Anna.

"I've come mainly to talk to Anna," Brigit announced, "but also to thank you two for what you are doing about Christmas. We're getting there on debt. It will always be a problem for some of my people. Many of them are now just solvent and will be able to afford Christmas without too much pain next year. But I need Anna's help with a bigger problem."

Brigit hugged Anna.

"I know you are scared, Anna, but you need to tell the police everything you know about Justin and his drug dealing. We could clear most of the drug dealing off our local estates, even the new dealers who have moved in. They're still using the local people Justin supplied. You know all of them. If you..."

"They'll kill me!" Anna exclaimed.

"No they won't. The big dealers will all be in jail. The little people, the drug users and minor dealers will be on drug addiction programmes. You would have helped them break their habit."

"I'm still hurting from the broken ribs Justin gave me," Anna said quietly.

Brigit hugged Anna.

"No. You're not. Feel. I've healed them."

"How?"

"I'm a Goddess. I can. I have."

Anna pushed a finger against her ribcage and was surprised there was no pain. She kissed Brigit.

"Thank you, thank you," Anna said.

"And I'll protect you against Justin and his low-lifes. So will Raymond and Deirdre."

Anna looked at me. I could sense that she didn't think I would be much protection.

"Don't underestimate Raymond. I did at first. There's more to him than he looks. As for Deirdre? She'd beat Justin up with pleasure, wouldn't you Deirdre?"

"Yes," Deirdre said, "But could Raymond?"

"Trust me. He could, probably more effectively than you." Brigit replied.

Brigit had to work hard to persuade Anna that she would be protected even after giving evidence to the police. Eventually, and very reluctantly, Anna agreed to go to the police as long as I and my solicitor went with her.

+++

That night Brigit joined us in bed. I worshipped her as she and Deirdre enjoyed each other. As I was licking Brigit's pussy my erection was sheathed in Deirdre. They rocked backwards and forwards, their hands caressing breasts while they kissed. I had a hand on two women's breasts until Brigit pushed them under her thighs. She lifted herself, thrusting Deirdre hard down on my erection. Deirdre shuddered into the first orgasm of many before the Goddess let me come into my wife.

Deirdre and I slept on the Goddess Brigit's shoulders after drinking breast milk. In the morning the Goddess had gone leaving Deirdre sleeping on my shoulder.

Anna seemed worried during breakfast. She had agreed to go to the police but was afraid of the consequences. Deirdre told me Anna had cried on Deirdre's shoulder when Deirdre came back from taking Biddie to nursery school. Anna wasn't going to back out of her decision but she was still scared.

From work I rang my solicitor. I asked him to arrange with the Police for Anna and I, accompanied by him, to give an interview. The solicitor rang back within the hour. We had an appointment at the county police headquarters tomorrow morning at 10 am. He also warned me that Justin might be out on bail by the end of tomorrow. The police's scientific evidence was still incomplete. Justin couldn't be held any longer on minor charges, even including the damage to Anna's former flat.

Anna would need her original mobile phone she had left with her mother. She arranged for her mother to bring it, switched off, to my office. I collected it from my secretary when I left.

When I got home I told Anna and Deirdre what had been arranged and that Justin could be out on bail by tomorrow evening. I had to hug both of them because they were worried what might happen.

Later on Anna showed me another article from the local paper. One of her former boyfriend Darren's motorcycle racing team had been killed in a motorcycle race last weekend. Darren had been interviewed by the reporter and had expressed his grief at the team's loss. Anna wanted to write to Darren expressing her sympathy. She had known the man who had died. But should she use our address or her mother's? Deirdre thought it would still be better to use Anna's mother's address. Anything that linked Anna to us might be unwise until Justin was on trial.

+++

All of us had made the mistake of underestimating Justin's family and his drug dealing network. They had established fairly quickly that Anna was nowhere on the estates or at the Women's refuge. So where was she?

They had followed Anna's mother for days without being seen. The link to Bronwen was clear. The two women were often together. Bronwen was known on the estates as someone working on the debt problems of Christmas. Almost all the other women working on those projects were also from the estates, and Anna was not around.