Karma
Characters borrowed from the television series Nashville.
Chapter 4
Juliette began drinking at 9.00 every morning and maintained it all day and most of the night. She suspected she could be classed as an alcoholic but it was a small price to pay to numb herself enough to suffer Wentworth's sick amusements. She recovered from the birth fairly quickly and from that time she was a forced to participate. This was her regular routine; spend most of the day drunk and most of the evening as well. It was the only way she could make her situation bearable. She could not refuse to be involved. A refusal bought a merciless beating with a horse riding crop until she submitted after which the beating would continue for a short time just to make sure she got the message.
She knew when she agreed to go to Wentworth's he was into some weird activities. She just expected it would be a little kinky, maybe some wife swapping or masochistic behaviour. The reality was far different. It was carried out on an almost daily basis. He seemed to have some sort of roster system as the people changed each day but the activities were the same. It seemed to her that every upper class sex deviant from Maryland and Washington was there. Wentworth was the president, for want of a better term, of a gathering of the vilest depravity, disgusting orgies, where both sexes participated in some of the most repulsive acts. Distorted, depraved activities the likes of which she had never dreamed of. Unnatural acts, things so revolting they made her vomit. When she became too disgusted to participate Wentworth would whip her with that crop until she submitted. Little wonder he was the leader, he was the most disgusting, actually sick, sadistic. He was so degenerate normal sex had no interest for him.
Something else Juliette discovered. Wentworth had some ulterior motive for getting her here and that became apparent when Olivia, Charlie's first wife joined in a week or so ago. When Wentworth proposed Juliette first join him he told her his divorce from Olivia was finalised. At the party a week ago, Olivia began mauling Juliette. "Hmm, I've wanted to do this since I caught you and Charlie after that polo match." Olivia purred, "Thank you Charlie, now you can watch while I finally get to enjoy her."
Juliette was very drunk but she managed to ask one question, "Olivia, why are you here? You and Charlie are divorced. He's going to marry me."
Olivia laughed, "My, my, aren't you naïve? We never got divorced. That was part of Charlie's plan. You are an extra benefit, my reward. I said I was fascinated with you and Charlie always gives me what I want." Juliette could not even find the will to resist. Doing so would bring on further whippings from Wentworth.
Being drunk was the only way she could cope with Wentworth, Olivia and her situation. However it did not take long before the effects of the alcohol were insufficient to kill her disgust. She started cocaine.
Despite being shunned by Wentworth he always made certain her cocaine and alcohol were readily available. Perhaps when she was under the influence it made her easier to control. The fact was; she was a prisoner and a slave, hidden in plain sight, part of the Wentworth household. The estate was effectively a fenced prison. Security patrolled the grounds confining her. She was trapped and terrified.
Immediately they returned from Washington Avery moved into Kristen's house. This family lifestyle was so contrasted from his earlier bachelor flat he could not believe what he had been missing. It became really obvious very early in the arrangement he made a very wise choice.
Rayna established a crèche at the highway65 offices and employed Kristen's mother, Susan, to look after both babies. This was doubly appreciated by both Kristen and her mother who was divorced and at last had a regular source of income. It also allowed Avery and Kristen to see their babies through the day and give them peace of mind to concentrate on their work.
Avery discussed a visit to his parents but Rayna asked him to postpone it for a few weeks. He had a backlog of work that needed to be finished. Zoe had a single that needed completion as well as Gunner and Scarlett with a duet single. 'The hole in the wall gang' still had two tracks to record for their new album and the production of that was becoming urgent. "Damn I just have too much on my plate," he complained.
In return Rayna promised Kristen, Susan and him two weeks leave to visit his parents.
He was talking to Kristen that night, "I have been thinking but I just feel so comfortable and right with us all here. When we meet my parents I would love to introduce you as my fiancé. What do you think, maybe a six month engagement that seem proper?"
"Avery, this is casual for a proposal. I'm sure you know there is a tradition to follow here."
"You mean the down on the knee thing. You want that?"
"Of course, every girl does."
"OK. Well tomorrow we'll go and buy a ring. As soon as we get that you get the formal proposal. That seem fair to you?"
"Yes it does, but right now there is something I want from you and I'm not waiting and it's non negotiable."
"Now, I wonder what that is?" he asked as she led him to the bedroom.
A few weeks later Avery was checking in with Rayna prior to visiting his parents. "Everything smooth and squared away?" Rayna asked.
"Yep and I'm really looking forward to getting home, but not half as much as my parents. They're dying to see their grandchildren. They want Tiffany, Kristen and Susan as part of the family. There will probably be lots of happy tears for a while. They have a huge reunion planned. This is the first time I've been home since I moved to Nashville.
"There is something I need to say to you Avery on behalf of my family," Rayna said. "We have just received the final annual company statements from the auditors. When you took over from me seven months ago this company had a debt of fifteen million dollars which would've destroyed us without you restructuring the company. We now show a net worth of thirty seven million dollars. You have done that. We are the fastest growing company in Nashville. We now have the resources to grow and expand our label. We have the pick of the new up and coming artists. My backlog in the music department with auditions, tours and functions is nearly as bad as yours. Almost every release we issue is a success. My family owes you a huge debt and we want to do something appropriate. We are thinking as you and Kristen are now engaged when you get back we are going to organize a function so we can demonstrate our appreciation."
"I thought a gold watch function was for twenty five years," he joked.
"Damn," Rayna picked up the joke. "I guess that's the end of that idea. It will have to be something else, maybe a case of beer."
Natchez is about an eight hour drive from Nashville. Kristen was being inquisitive about Avery's family. "Well you know all my family. Mom didn't have any brothers or sisters. My grandparents have both passed. I have no idea where my father is and besides, I don't really want to know him. He left mom with a three year old daughter for another woman, some twenty two year old. What we have here Mum, me and Tiffany is all there is. But your family sounds large. Parents, two siblings and a whole lot of relatives."
"Yes, tell me about it. I love them all but tomorrow you will find out what chaos really is. Family barbeques are a riot and they're all going to be at this one. They get to meet George and Elaine's grandkids, Avery's fiancé and Susan. More family additions, as if they don't have enough already. But I have to be honest I'm going to skite about my contributions."
"So what businesses does your father own. Your dad sounds like some kind of Natchez tycoon."
"Ok let's see, there is the restaurant but I told you about that one, he has a car dealership, a hardware store, a tyre store, he moves most of the freight in and out of Natchez, and a menswear store. But you will never guess his favourite, and he loves it. I'm sure when you see it you will as well. He lives on fifty acres and he runs a goat farm. Goats are the most unbelievable animals. They're just like dogs, very smart. He loves his farm and this trip I'm going to straighten things out between us. We need to talk and have for a long time."
"Avery, I hope that doesn't mean you will leave Highway65 for your father's businesses. Rayna would die, so would a lot of other people as well."
"No I'm not leaving Highway65. I've got this great assistant and I have no idea what I would do without her." Kristen grabbed his arm and held it to her cheek. "No I'm going to talk some sense into him. He needs to understand he is getting up near sixty. He has enough money to last him five lifetimes. He should liquidate some businesses and retire. Why does he want me there? Does he want to keep working and still be pulling a salary when he's eighty? No, he should liquidate and retire. He can keep maybe the farm and one other for the interest but he needs to put his heels up. So does mom. He wants me to run his businesses again? Well there, that's how I would run them."
"Do you think he'll go for it?"
"Well, I'll probably have to beat him over the head with the idea for a few days, but yes I think he will. Especially when he realises he will have the free time to come to Nashville and visit us."
It was mid afternoon when they arrived at Avery's home. Avery's parents were delighted to see them.
"Kristen, it's wonderful to meet you. Please if you're comfortable with it just call us mom and dad. It'll be official in a few weeks in any case and we are so looking forward to have you in the family."
"Susan, you as well. We want you as part of the family, like the sister I never had."
"These of course are the grandchildren. Tiffany and Allegra."
"This is the most wonderful day I can remember for a long time," Elaine said as she lifted Allegra from her basket.
"Don't be shy dad," Avery said and passed Tiffany to him. "You have to get used to this as well."
"By the way son," George said. "You have someone who is looking forward to having you back."
Kristen looked across where George indicated and saw a small oriental man with a stern look on his face. As soon as Avery saw him he drew himself up to his full height, clasped his left hand over his right fist at chin height and bowed his head. "Sensei," was all Avery said in greeting.
George moved over next to Kristen. "Did you know Avery is a karate Rokudan?"
"I knew he did karate but I don't know what Rokudan means."
"It means you should never try to fight him. That's his Grandmaster. You should watch these two, they are unbelievable but fascinating."
"Sensei," Avery said. "Kristen, my fiancée."
The small man extended a hand towards her. Avery said, "Give him your hand."
The small man took her hand, bowed his head and touched her hand to his forehead. "He likes you and is very respectful of you," Avery said. The small man released her hand, stepped back and bowed to her again. Kristen felt honoured.
The small man addressed Avery. "Tomorrow," and held up six fingers.
Avery dropped to his haunches still with his hands clasped. He held out four fingers.
"Training starts at six in the morning," George told Kristen. "Avery is asking for four hours. If they train for six he will miss the start of tomorrow's welcoming."
The Sensei stepped forward and hit Avery quite solidly with the heel of his hand to Avery's forehead. He held out six fingers again.
Avery again held out four. The Grandmaster turned his back to Avery, folded his arms and grunted. He held this position for a good minute. He turned back to Avery and held out five fingers. Avery bowed his head in acknowledgement.
George whispered to Kristen. "They have agreed to five hours that was bound to happen. Soken is very traditional but he is reasonable. He just needs to show he's the boss. You should watch them. They'll be on the front lawn."
The Grandmaster lifted Avery to his feet. He seized two handfuls of Avery's shirt just inside the shoulders and jerked Avery as if bracing him. He only uttered one word, "Domo."
Next morning Kristen sat on the front porch and watched them train. George sat beside her and explained the different stages, exercises, drills and sparring. "They move so fast and look so serious," she said. "That sparring looks like they are really fighting and trying to hurt each other."
"They are, but they will stop short of full application. They are both very highly trained and very good. Soken is a Grandmaster, back in Okinawa he would be treated with the greatest respect." Just then Soken seized Avery in an arm lock and threw him to the ground. Avery hit the ground three times with the palm of his hand. "That's a submission," George said. "Soken won that point. They treat it like a competition, most points at the end wins. Avery has never beaten him, he gets very close though. There's not much between them."
"Avery told me Soken left Okinawa because of a woman."
"Yes, he fell in love with a woman above his station and she loved him as well. She was promised to a rival chieftain but refused to marry him because of her love for Soken. Soken became hunted by both her father's and the chieftain's family and was forced to leave otherwise they would have killed him. So he's been working for me for over twenty five years, he's very loyal and a great friend to Avery.
After training Avery gave her a brief tour of the farm. "You know goats are amazing creatures. We keep fifty Saneen Goats as a milking herd and one hundred Angora goats for their fleece. That fleece is mohair wool, it isn't cheap. I haven't been home for two years but watch this." He made a shrill whistle and called "Mitzi."
A white goat broke from the herd at the other end of the paddock and came up to them at a full gallop. When the goat got to Avery, she was nuzzling him and making little goat noises, obviously delighted to see him. "This is Mitzi she was my pet goat when I was here. I haven't been home for over two years but as you see she remembers me. Goats are very smart."
The afternoon welcoming was a blur for Kristen. So many people she was introduced to them all but could only remember Avery's brother and sister, Peter and Gloria. However she delighted in Avery being beside her, he said he would show her off and he made his pride in her obvious.
By the time they left for Nashville Kristen felt a true part of Avery's family. So much had been achieved. Avery's father had finally seen the wisdom of Avery's idea. He would keep the restaurant; Soken virtually ran it in any case, and the farm. The reunion of Avery and his father and the settling of their differences were of major importance for the entire family. The undercurrents had been dissolved, they were one complete unit and Kristen and Susan were a part of it. It was so rewarding to have a sense of belonging, something she never truly had in her entire life.
The drive to Nashville was uneventful until Avery's hands free car phone activated.
"You have a call from, Emily, answer or ignore?" It said in a metallic, artificial voice.
"Answer," Avery said. "Emily? This is a surprise. What are you ringing me for?"
"Avery. Thank God I reached you. I have been getting out of range messages for over an hour."
"I'm in a car heading back to Nashville. We must have gone through some network drop outs. What can I do for you?"
"I'm hoping you'll help but I know this might be awkward for you. I asked Glenn first but he said contact you. You would be her only hope. It's Juliette."
"Juliette? I don't know what I can do. She seems to have developed a major dislike for me of late. I doubt she will want me involved."
"I expected you would be like that but please Avery. I think she might be in a lot of trouble. She has no-one close, no family, only you. If you don't help Avery I don't know what she will do." Avery looked at Kristen and she indicated he should help. "Emily, tell me what's happened."
"Did you see that article in the paper last week about Charles Wentworth?"
"Emily, I've been back in Natchez for two weeks. Looking at papers is too much like work. No I haven't seen a paper for a fortnight. What was it about?"
"Apparently Charles Wentworth is the subject of a large IRS investigation.
"Damn!" Avery said. "Well that sure fills in a lot of the questions I had, the snake."
"Yes well that's not all," Emily continued. "Juliette rang me a few days ago to find out what to do. Her bank had rung her and told her she needed to make a credit card payment because there were insufficient funds in her account to cover the outstanding balance. Avery that is the working account; there is never less than a million dollars in it. The bank said they required at least the minimum payment. There's still more. Juliette asked me to live in her house while she is away. This morning I was contacted by a Nashville Realtor and told the house was being put on the market and I had to vacate in twenty four hours. Avery, Juliette paid nearly two million dollars for this house. They are selling it for less than one million. She is also desperate and terrified. She is being treated terribly there they are all sick, perverted she said."
"Alright Emily I'll help. It never occurred to me Wentworth would be after Juliette's money. I thought he had billions but apparently not. If he's under an IRS investigation they already know he's guilty. The investigation is to see how much money the IRS can collect. Juliette is about to pay Wentworth's tax bill by the looks of it. He must be close to broke. If he had any money he would have been paying his taxes. Now, as far as the house goes, the occupant is supposed to get a month's notice. Tell that realtor you are not moving and no inspections while you are there. We should be able to save her house. I'll be back in Nashville in about two hours. I'll pick you up and we will go to Wentworth's and get Juliette out of there. Can you do a few things for me in the meantime? First, see if Wentworth has changed any of Juliette's bank access codes by trying to access her accounts. If you can get in, try and change the passwords. Ring Juliette and let her know help is on the way. Better not mention me though."
"Well that has sure answered a lot of questions about Wentworth," he said to Kristen. "It's obvious now why he went for her. She's about the easiest clip in the entire country. She's got a lot of money but does not understand one iota of finance. She relied on Glenn and Emily to look after that for her. As soon as Wentworth got her manager's job he got control of her money. I can guarantee you he has fleeced her for the lot. I knew something bad was going to come out of this. We are left in damage control now, just seeing what we can salvage out of this shambles. Plus god only knows what kind of a mess she's going to be in after having spent all this time with them. Thank god the baby was alright."
"Hopefully," Kristen said, "She won't be too bad. It's only been six or seven weeks since the baby was born."
"Unfortunately with Juliette there is no moderation," he said. "She can do a lot of damage to herself in that time."
Kristen decided to take the trip to get Juliette with Avery and Emily. An extra pair of hands may be useful. There was one piece of good news. Emily said Wentworth had not altered any of the bank access codes. She was able to change the passwords on all of them and shut him out. She was despondent about the usefulness of her actions. The funds had been cleared from all accounts right down to every credit card which had been drawn to its limit. Periodically Emily burst into tears for Juliette. "How will she manage?" Emily asked.
"There are a couple of things that even if Wentworth found them he would not be able to use them. We might be able to give her a reasonable amount plus save her house. She'll be OK while we see what we can organize in her future."
About ten minutes from Wentworth's Emily rang Juliette to organize access through the security at the front gate. They were passed though and drove up to the front door of the mansion. Juliette and Wentworth were on the front patio.
"Make your visit quick," Wentworth said. "Juliette is busy."
"This is no visit Wentworth. I've come to pick her up and get her away from your money grubbing claws. While I'm at it I want all her paper work, computers, credit cards, invoices and anything else concerning her business activities. I know what you've been up to you thieving bastard and it will stop right now."
"Is that so?" Wentworth gloated. "I'm not giving them to you. What are you going to do about that?"
"I'm giving you fair warning. Don't tangle with me. You will either give me what I ask or you will be eating all your thanksgiving dinners through a straw."
"You've got a big mouth Barkley seeing as I have three guards. Four to one odds Barkley, not good for you," Wentworth said and addressed the guards. "Kick the shit out him and throw him out."
He reached for Juliette, "You get back inside."
"Juliette, go to Kristen. I'll take care of this." Avery commanded.
Kristen saw what happened next but it was so fast she wasn't absolutely sure what happened. Avery grabbed Wentworth's wrist before he touched Juliette. In one motion he bent the arm, dislocated his elbow and drove a punch into Wentworth's jaw. The force of the blow broke Wentworth's jaw in two places and dislocated his jaw from its socket. He collapsed, half his face was hanging off.
The first guard that reached Avery received a side chop to the throat. He went down without making a sound. The second guard received a kick to the groin and a second kick to the front of his knee. Kristen actually heard the joint separate. The final guard rushed at Avery who caught his arm and used his momentum to put him on the ground. Avery then stretched his arm straight back and dislocated his shoulder.
"Juliette," Avery said. "Do you know where Wentworth has your business information?"
"In his office just inside the front door I think." A search found all the information, contracts and computers. They loaded the car. Avery's four antagonists where still strewn on the ground.
Kristen said as they drove out, "My god Avery, your father said you were very good but that was an understatement. That's the sort of thing you only see in movies. Looks like Wentworth will be spending a fair amount of Juliette's money in the hospital."
"Actually," Avery said. "He got me angry with what he did to Juliette. The hospital may not be able to completely fix that. He will probably have trouble with that injury for the rest of his life. One thing is for certain though, his recovery will be about as miserable as Juliette's stay with him was."
Juliette was sobbing into Emily's shoulder. "Thank you for coming for me Emily. I was so terrified in there. What they made me do and what they did to me. I wanted to kill myself but they made sure I couldn't."
"Juliette, you really need to thank Avery and Kristen. I asked them to help. They were the one's who did it all."
Juliette said nothing Avery thought out of embarrassment. "Perhaps we should just start off low key," he thought
"It's good to see you Juliette, it's been a while."
"Yes thank you Avery. It has been a while."
"We'll get you home and settled in and see what we can do about getting you sorted out."