Aftermath

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Samuel

My mother is Vanessa McBride, the Notorious Madame of Chicago. She earned that name due to her running an escort service. I don’t understand the big deal about it though. It’s not like she is doing anything wrong, yet many people say that my mother is the head of an exclusive prostitution ring. I find that hard to believe. It’s just an escort service.

I know she means well, as she’s just trying to find partners for everyone, even those that may be socially awkward. She even has it out for me; she’s always trying to find someone for me. I know she wants me to have the perfect mate, but I think I would be the judge of who would be perfect for me.

There was one person who came over to the house not long ago who piqued my interest. I thought she must be extra special because my mother had her over, she hardly ever has any of her employees over to the house. The only one would be Peabody, but I know he’s not just an employee - he’s my mother’s lover and significant other.

They may think I’m gullible and blind but I see how they treat each other and how they speak to each other, that is way more than an employer-employee relationship. He’s been around for about the last 5 or 6 years, working for my mother and keeping her happy.

I like him, he’s good for her and he’s a good person all together. I know he’s younger than her, not much older than me but when it comes to them, age is just a number.

“So how’s it hanging, Peabody?” I said as I walked in the kitchen door. He was chopping vegetables along with having the counters filled with pantry items. “What are you about to make?”

“Dinner for your mother and I,” he said as he threw the veggies in the saute pan. “I’ve been doing good, how about you?”

“I’m good. But I need you to tell me straight up, who is the chick that my Mother had over the other day?” I asked.

He looked at me as if he was contemplating telling me a lie. He shook his head and continued chopping the vegetables. “Her name is Penelope,” he finally answered.

“Yeah, that’s the one. What’s up with her? Why did Mother have her at the house?”

“She had a special project for her to handle,”

“Really? Must be someone high profile,” I replied.

“Very,” he said as he stirred the veggies sizzling in the pan. I watched him as he added garlic and pineapples and bell peppers.

“What are you making again?”

“Sweet and Sour Chicken,” he replied as he added the sauce to the mixture. The aroma coming from the pan filled the entire kitchen.

“Did you make enough to share?” I asked, hoping to get a taste of this wonderful smelling meal.

“I’ll leave some for you,” he said smiling.

“That’s my guy. I know you won’t let me down!” I said, giving him a ‘pound’ across the counter.

He turned off the stove and poured the sauce over some breaded chicken and gave them a little toss. His phone rang on the counter just as he was pouring the meal into a large serving dish. He looked at his phone and immediately picked it up.

“Hello?” he said, looking concerned. “I’ll be right there, don’t touch anything!” he said as he disconnected. “Looks like you can eat first, I have to take care of something very important,” he said quickly leaving the kitchen.

“Oh ok. Next time I’ll ask you more about that Penelope girl,” I said as I grabbed a bowl to dig into the meal. “I think she’s cute.” I said to myself as my mouth watered looking at the meal before me.

---

Mr. Peabody

“Vanessa,” I said as I drove over to the hotel. “There has been an incident,”

“With whom?” she asked.

“Penelope.”

“Is she okay?”

“I’m not sure, I will let you know as soon as I arrive and analyze the situation,” I said.

“Okay, keep me posted,” I disconnected the phone. I didn’t want to tell Vanessa and get upset before I had eyes on the situation. But from the sound of Penelope’s voice, it didn’t sound good.

I arrived at the hotel and took the private elevator up to the designated floor. I opened the door and instantly saw that everything was not exactly - okay. The place looked as if there was a fight and nobody won.

I saw Penelope on the floor and rushed over to her. She had bruises all over her face, her eye was swollen shut and she looked as if she had unwillingly participated in forceful sex acts.

“Penelope? Can you hear me?” I said leaning down close to her mouth. She slowly opened her one eye and looked at me.

“Mr. Peabody,” she strained to say as she reached for me.

“It’s okay Penelope, I’m here. Everything will be okay,” I said, trying to get her off the floor.

“Richard...he....he...,” she started crying as she tried to tell me what happened.

“I know, Sweetheart and I’m so sorry. Let me get you out of here first and I’ll take care of him,” I said as I picked her up off the floor and she instantly passed out.

I laid her on the couch while I tended to the Governor’s son. He was bleeding pretty bad and he hadn’t moved since I arrived. I checked his pulse, it was faint but still present. I had to take precautions and activate the emergency plan for Richard. I grabbed my phone immediately and started the process.

“Hello, yes this is Peabody. I need two teams on the designated floor #2, room 711, immediately,” I said.

We have procedures that I follow when situations arise, especially with our high profile clients. Therefore we have cleaner teams for every situation possible, even death. In this case, we needed two medical teams - one for Penelope and one for Richard. I will work on the damage control once they have been removed from the scene.

After about 15 minutes, the cleaner team and two medical teams arrived to analyze the situation. A cleaner team is always dispatched for any situation.

“Take Mr. Fitzgerald to Mount Sinai Hospital and call his assistant once you have arrived,” I said pointing to one team. They immediately started working on Richard checking his vitals.

“I need the remaining team to load up Penelope Matthews. Make sure she stabilizes and hold on for a moment for further instructions,” I said as I walked towards the door. “I need to make a quick phone call,” I had to call Vanessa.

“Brian, I thought you were going to eat dinner with me,” she said, pouting over the phone. I love when she misses me.

“I know, but I’ve evaluated the situation,”

“What happened?”

“It looks as if Richard attacked Penelope,” I said, shaking my head. Penelope didn’t deserve it.

“Oh my goodness, how is she?”

“Not good. She took some pretty hard hits, and it looks as if he may have...” I didn’t want to say it. It made me so angry just thinking about it. I care for each and every lady that works for Vanessa and this is something that rarely happens, but when it does it makes me sick to my stomach.

“Oh my. Don’t say it. Bring her here, to the house. I will call my doctor. She can be set up in the south wing,” she said. She will make sure Penelope has the best care.

“On our way,” I said, disconnected. I stepped back into the room and the first medical team was ready to move out.

“Take the private elevator at the end of the hall,” I said and they left with Mr. Fitzgerald.

“Vanessa would like for Ms. Matthews to be taken to the mansion as she will have her specialist tend to her there,” I said and the medical team took Penelope on a stretcher out the door and down the hallway to the private elevator.

The cleaner team was quickly at work, cleaning the designated room, making sure everything was tidy and neat.

I left them to finish up as I was no longer needed in the room. I had gathered Penelope’s items and headed downstairs to the security office.

“Hey Peabody, what it do?” One of the guards said as I entered the office.

“Hello gentlemen, it’s good, it’s good, you know how it is,” I said, smiling at them.

“What can we do for you today?”

“I am going to need a copy of the security footage for Room 711, Designated Floor #2,”

“Awww shit,” the other guard said. “Why can’t people act right?” he said pulling up the footage.

“Is there a particular time?”

“From 6 pm on, I need everything copied and sent to me immediately. ” I said as I walked to the door.

“It’s on the way,” Guard #2 said. “I hope everything is okay,”

“It will be.” I said as I left.

I arrived at the mansion shortly after the ambulance. Vanessa met the ambulance outside as it pulled into the gate and Sam had come along with her. I wish he hadn’t. I know he was just asking about Penelope and now he would be more concerned than ever if he sees her like this. Before I could get out of the car fast enough, he and Vanessa were at the back of the ambulance as they opened up the doors to pull Penelope out.

“Oh my, Penelope,” Vanessa said as she covered her mouth. Sam held his mother as they took her out of the ambulance.

Sam just stood beside his mother in awe as they wheeled Penelope into the house and down the corridor to the south wing. Vanessa walked over to me looking for answers.

“Did she say what happened?”

“No, she was out of it. He beat the fuck out of her Vanessa,” I looked at her.

She knew I was upset because of my past, that was something that I swore to never do - hit a woman. No matter how angry a woman may make me, I will never raise my hand to hit her. I had seen enough when I was younger with my mother and father. My father would beat my mother senseless to the point she would be knocked out for hours.

“I know,” she said, caressing my cheek. I closed my eyes to control my anger. “Did she try to protect herself?”

“Yes, she did. She sent him to the hospital,” I said, sounding like a proud father. Penelope took care of herself. She wasn’t going down without a fight.

“Good for her, I will deal with that in the morning. But for now, we need to make sure she is taken care of,” Vanessa said walking back into the house.

“What happened, Peabody?” Sam said, looking for answers.

“She was attacked,” I answered. He looked concerned and worried about her. “She’ll be okay, she’s a fighter. She sent the person to the hospital.”

“Good. I hope she’ll be okay,”

“I’m sure she will.” I said, putting my arm around his shoulders as we walked back into the house.

This was just the beginning of a shit storm that’s coming since this was the Governor’s son.

I’m sure Vanessa will be ready for what’s coming her way.