Chapter 6

Back in my office I got stuck in to sorting out the problems. I was sure that the company would appoint a new Finance Manager and they would probably not want me around as I was now tainted.

Later that day I was surprised by Tess telling me that she and Toni had got a better job with an import / export company in Southampton and would be moving in a month. They had given in their notice and would be leaving the company in two weeks. We went out for a meal and drink that evening and I told them that it would not be the same without them. Julia assured me that I would be all right and I had a bit of a sob when I said that it would be unlikely that I would be in the PA job for long.

A couple of days later I had a letter when I got home, it was from HR at the company and it told me that I would be required to continue as the PA to the new Manager until they recruited their own. Then, they said, I could move to a lower position in the company or take a lump sum as severance pay. They assured me that I was, in no way, connected with Adrians’ crime but that the customers may not see it that way. For the time I had been there the lump sum was very generous. Interestingly, another letter in that days post was from a modelling agency who wanted me to go into their office to be interviewed for the upcoming spring and summer fashion shows. I rang them from work and got an appointment time, then told HR that I would be taking that day off.

I made sure that I was clean and tidy and dressed with care when I went to see the agency but made sure I had a minimum make-up as I knew they would do it themselves if they wanted to take some pictures. The interview went well as they knew all about my previous experience and I was given a two hour photo session with various dresses. They liked my height as it was to be the new look for the season. When we checked the proofs they offered me a full-time job which I agreed to. The next day, back at the company, I told HR that I would take the lump sum.

The new Finance Manager was a woman who was very short with me from the moment she walked into the office. I was sure she thought I was complicit with the crime. She did not take long to bring in her choice of PA who was just as nasty so I showed her the books, the diary and where the coffee machine was and went down to HR to tell them to give me the money as I was walking out today. They gave me a cheque and I signed the termination papers and walked out of there. On the train home I had a sneaking thought that they could stick their job where the sun doesn’t shine now.

The following Monday I started work as a model. For a few weeks I was in-house doing shoots for the new seasons catalogues and then, as the weather improved, I was taken out to country locations for shoots. I found I needed a car and was able to find one at a reasonable price. I think I paid more for a garage space but that’s how it is in London. I was busy in the season with fashion shows in various stores and developed quite a following with my height and lanky looks that screamed ‘sports star’. I always seemed to end up as the one in the mini skirt with legs that went to heaven. It took a little while but I was able to master the highest heels they could throw at me which magnified my look. I was earning good money and amassing a good wardrobe from the shoots and everything was going well.

I was still going out for meals with Julia and having the odd night with Ritchie. It did not even bother me when they found Adrians’ body in his car, at the bottom of an old quarry when the water dried up in the hot summer. There was no sign of the briefcases. One night, after we had made love, Ritchie turned to me and said “Beth, I wonder if you can do me a favour?” I said that it depended on what it was. He said that Tess and Toni had sometimes helped him with a little sideline of his. He located horny, married men and the girl would be introduced to them, and then taken to a hotel room where she would press the button on a little key fob once she was in a compromising position with the mark. He would rush in and take photos and would then take over the blackmail. He said that he had a particularly tasty fool in his sights and he needed a girl to be the bait. He said that this guy was a bit of a snob and a supermodel would float his boat.

I said “Just this once.” Two days later saw me walking into an upmarket hotel in a little black dress. I saw Ritchie by the bar with another man and walked over to them, giving Ritchie a kiss on the cheek when I got there. He introduced me as Beth David, the model, and the guys eyes lit up. Ritchie made his excuses and the guy took me for a meal. Afterwards we went up to his hotel room where he poured a couple of glasses of champagne. As we drank he said “To us and a successful night”. I thought that this was an odd turn of phrase and then started to feel a little giddy. The bastard had slipped me something in the drink and I was so angry I pushed him in his chest. He stepped back and his foot caught on the rug and he fell, banging his head on the bedside table. He was out like a light and I had enough strength to press the button I had been given.

Ritchie rushed in with his camera and pulled up short when he saw the guy on the floor and me still dressed. He asked what was going on and I said “The bastard slipped me a date rape drug and I am starting to lose it. I am already so horny I could scream, do me now, please and then take me home and do me again.” He needed no second telling and, while I pulled up my skirt and dropped my panties, he was out of his trousers and shorts and we lay on the bed and he gave me a seeing to. I don’t know what the drug was but, as the mark was lying next to the bed snorting, I was on my back with my legs firmly gripping Ritchie to me and having the most tremendous orgasm. Afterwards he helped me into the bathroom where I tidied myself up before I just became a zombie. Ritchie found me in the bathroom and helped me put my panties on again and we left the room with him half carrying me. The mark was quiet now.

When we got back to the flat he undressed me and put me into bed but I pleaded with him to take me again, which he did, with a bit of difficulty. I then went off to sleep for twelve hours. Luckily, I did not have a shoot or show the next day until the evening so, when I woke, I was able to have a good shower and tidied myself up. After a large lunch I was able to calm down enough to be able to get myself ready for an evening catwalk. The make-up artist told me that I had to stay off the strong stuff as it made my eyes puffy but she was able to make me look normal.

Things carried on for some weeks and the summer shows were over. One day I was just getting home from the shops when a couple of coppers stopped me and asked if they could come inside and chat. Once I had put my bags on the kitchen bench I sat down at the table and they started asking me questions. They wanted to know who I was as I was not the person I said I was. I told them that I was the only person I have ever been and that they were crazy. They threw a name at me and I said I had never heard of him and then one pulled out a picture of me walking into a hotel and told me that he had it on good authority that I had been seen dining with the person and that the man had been found by the staff, the next day, lying next to the bed with his neck broken. What did I have to say about that?

I said that I didn’t know what he was talking about and he told me that there had been a wet spot in the bed that was good enough to get a DNA trace and that they had obtained a DNA trace from a glass I had used at the recent fashion parade. The two were identical so why was I lying? OK, time to come clean. I told them that I had, indeed, gone to his room and he had given me a date rape drug in a glass of champagne. They nodded at this. I told them that I had pushed him backwards and he had hit his head as he fell but he was certainly alive after that because I could hear him snore. One said “What were you doing while you could hear him snore?” and I had to say that I was being royally ploughed by a friend as I needed to have sex, something the guy on the floor was aiming for. “Was the friend a certain Ritchie Frazer?” asked one and I just nodded.

They allowed me to put my shopping away and then took me to Scotland Yard, leaving me in an interview room for over an hour. No doubt they thought I would be a quivering mess when another detective came in and sat down at the table. “Would you like to make a confession now?” he asked kindly. I answered that I had nothing to confess, I had already told the other two detectives what had happened and I was willing to sign a statement based on that. He told me that they had me ‘bang to rights’ as Ritchie had spilled everything about me being the ringleader of a blackmail gang. I had to laugh at that and told him that the ploy was number five in the Hendon Handbook. He said “How do you know what they teach there?” and I had to say it was just a guess as I suddenly could not think of why I said it.

He tried to get me to admit that I was involved in the murder but I kept on telling him the truth; the guy was alive after I had pushed him and after that I was a zombie for a couple of hours. I cheerfully admitted that I had taken part in Ritchie’s silly attempt at blackmail but it had been as a favour for a friend and nothing else. After about another hour of this he sat back and just glared at me. It was then there was a knock on the door and another policeman walked in. This one emanated authority and just told the poor constable to leave the room.

I thought that this was looking serious but he just sat down and said “You know you are so much more beautiful in the flesh than those fashion adverts. I would have never thought it could be so. Back in Somerset we have been following your modelling career with much interest.” Just then one of the local detectives barged into the room and demanded that his prisoner was not the person she said she was and that I was to be held in custody until hell froze over. The new guy just looked at him and said “There is no way you are holding this lady; she is an integral part of a multi-county investigation that has been running for a couple of years. It is from her work that we have arrested a number of human traffickers and even a couple of bank robbers, although she doesn’t know the details just yet. I suggest you go and talk to your super as you will not be holding our Bethany.”

I looked at him with amazement and he told me that all will be revealed in the next few hours but, before that, he was going to take me to dinner as he said that he could hear my stomach rumbling. He led me out of the building and we got into a car, with a uniformed police driver. He told the driver to take us to The Queens Head, near my flat. I was keeping myself well in check at this turn of events When we got to the Queens Head we went into the dining area and he led me to a table where a couple were already sitting with drinks in front of them. They both stood as we approached and the woman was easily as tall as I, while the man was close to it himself and had a military air about him.

My saviour said “Bethany, it is time I introduced myself. I am Chief Inspector Jackson from the Somerset Police, this gentleman is Major X from the SAS and the lady is Detective Sergeant Leeds, also from Somerset.” The man shook my hand and the woman gave me a kiss on the cheek and said “Call me Gwen.”

Marianne G 2020