Chapter 15 - raid

No one expected what happened next. There was no warning.
The banging on the door was quickly followed by it being forced open and several police officers in full riot gear burst into the mansion.
They stormed into every room, until they found the dining room. They stood for a moment, in silence, shocked at the aura of excess in the room. Then they remembered themselves, remembered what they were here for. They arrested everybody, guest, servant and otherwise. They did not have time to be picky. They would sort out who was who at the station and release them as they weeded the wheat from the chaff. It did not matter what state of dress or undress they were in. They were given a blanket to put over themselves.
Pete was more of a problem. He would not fit in the back of their police van with everyone else. A car was too small for him. They called their base for another van to follow and bundled him onto that.
By the time they arrived at the station, the reality was hitting them. Arguments were starting, so they all had to be kept in seperate cells as they blamed each other for their predicament.
They were given standard issue prisoner's clothing to keep them warm.
One by one they were identified, interviewed and released, or held for further questioning.
They were in the middle of a big investigation in human trafficking. The discovery of drugs on the property, even in small quantities showed them that someone was going down for this, no matter what.
Lady Anna was quickly identified as the organiser of the party. During her interview she denied being party to a human trafficking ring. She knew nothing about it. She had never kidnapped anyone and held them against their will! She used her one telephone call to ring her family. They would find her a good lawyer to get her out of this! She was innocent! Completely innocent!
Hours later, with a solicitor by her side, she was still completely denying everything. But then they showed her bank statements with payments made to 'the company'.
This was years ago! She claimed.
That did not matter. They knew 'the company' was at the centre of it all. They were trying to find the customers who had willingly bought and sold those who had allegedly 'belonged' to the company.
Anna could deny it no longer. There was the proof. She was a customer of the company. She'd bought three slaves, but given away two who had not been successful...

Pete was hungry. He was soon identified as a victim not a perpetrator. He was given only standard rations, but he was finding that woefully inadequate. He had no rich family to contact to help him. A lawyer had to be appointed for him.
With a grumbling stomach and the promise of something else to eat, Pete spoke more than one sentence for the first time in over a year. He told them everything they wanted to know. How he had discovered the company. How they had tricked him into signing the contract. How his life had been since then.
No, he had not met any other slaves. He knew there had to be more, but he knew nothing of there whereabouts. He could not tell them where the company HQ was. He didn't know anything about the men who ran the company.
He showed them his implant that gave his owners complete control of him.
He told them about his life with Anna. Where was his food? How she had changed him from a muscle bound hunk to a fattened pig who struggled to stand.
He was rewarded for talking with an extra helping of rations.

Aftermath

Anna was found guilty of human trafficking and of keeping a person against their will. She was sentenced to two years in prison.
Further investigations into the company led to other customers who also went down.
Many of the company employees blabbed to save themselves and give information about the location of the headquarters, where they found the organisers of the whole set up. They got between ten to fifteen years each.
There were many victims like Pete. They all needed rehabilitation.
Pete was given a council house on a seedy estate to live in. He was given financial help via social security. Social services made sure he was looked after until he had reached a point where he could look after himself.
He got help from medics, nurses, dietitians and a personal trainer to lose weight.
He lost sixteen stones in just over a year. The medics wanted to see him lose more, but he was comfortable where he was. He could look after himself, although the acres of loose skin were a constant reminder of how big he had become. He was not super fit. Just fit enough to get on with his life. He was independent. The was free... and that was the most important thing in the world!