“The Things We Do For Love”

…

The waiting game begins.

Henry moves into the hotel to begin the wait for the call from Michelle.

Radly turns up, having decided to join the rescue mission, and they while away the time playing chess.

Then, the call comes, and decisive action is prompted by the news of Angie’s death.

They are given the location, and it’s time to move.

They are being followed.  The Turks men had Henry’s location and were on surveillance, waiting to see what he would do.

Seems the Turk never believed Michelle’s promises, and vice versa.

Radly leads them on a merry-goose chase, and then manipulates them into having an accident which ends their surveillance.  Unfortunately, it also ends the protection provided by Banner, his men being caught up in the traffic disaster.

Henry’s finally at the door, only to find a woman he least expects.  Michelle is also there.

They go to leave, and the Turk is standing in the doorway.

The reunion doesn’t last long.  Michelle is dragged away, unconscious and Henry’s brief but futile resistance is met with extreme violence.  He is taken away too but downstairs all is in darkness and there’s hesitation on the Turk’s part.

Henry escapes and finds Radly ensconced with Diana, waiting for the inevitable in another apartment.  That becomes a messy last stand, Radly badly injured, as Diana and Henry escape, as far as the Turks man who sees them and deals with Henry first.

Banner arrives too late to prevent both Henry and Diana from paying a hefty price for their involvement.

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Words written 3,980, for a total of 98,326

“The Things We Do For Love”

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Suitably warned off, and after agreeing to wait for the word to come to rescue her, one Henry feels sceptical about, they return to Henry’s hotel room and toast their good luck and savour the air conditioning.

And start making other foolish plans, like rescuing Angie and Millie, her friends, as a means of hastening Michelle’s decision to leave with them.  Like any plan made without knowing all the facts, it is fraught with danger.

Radly tells Henry that his view of their world was stilted by his background, that not everyone wants to be saved, and that they just might like the life they have.  Henry, of course, doesn’t get it, nor realise what he thinks and how he acts has been shaped by the world he lives in.  It’s a shattering truth he still doesn’t consider possible.

Despite Radly’s reservations, that doesn’t stop them.  Knowing where Angie lives, they make the assumption that Angie would want to be rescued, and suitably fortified by cold beer, they depart.

Doing something, or anything is preferable to sitting around doing nothing.

It was a mission that was destined to fail, but not for the reasons Radly postulated.

When they get to her apartment the door is open.  Inside they are met with the unexpected and tragic consequences of a user that has just pushed the envelope a little too far.

They find Angie dead from an overdose.

For her, the knights in shining armour are too late.

…

Words written 4,769, for a total of 94,346

“The Things We Do For Love”

…

Suitably warned off, and after agreeing to wait for the word to come to rescue her, one Henry feels sceptical about, they return to Henry’s hotel room and toast their good luck and savour the air conditioning.

And start making other foolish plans, like rescuing Angie and Millie, her friends, as a means of hastening Michelle’s decision to leave with them.  Like any plan made without knowing all the facts, it is fraught with danger.

Radly tells Henry that his view of their world was stilted by his background, that not everyone wants to be saved, and that they just might like the life they have.  Henry, of course, doesn’t get it, nor realise what he thinks and how he acts has been shaped by the world he lives in.  It’s a shattering truth he still doesn’t consider possible.

Despite Radly’s reservations, that doesn’t stop them.  Knowing where Angie lives, they make the assumption that Angie would want to be rescued, and suitably fortified by cold beer, they depart.

Doing something, or anything is preferable to sitting around doing nothing.

It was a mission that was destined to fail, but not for the reasons Radly postulated.

When they get to her apartment the door is open.  Inside they are met with the unexpected and tragic consequences of a user that has just pushed the envelope a little too far.

They find Angie dead from an overdose.

For her, the knights in shining armour are too late.

…

Words written 4,769, for a total of 94,346

“The Things We Do For Love”

…

Michelle is not happy to see him.

And this was a situation that he hadn’t considered, that she would not be pleased to see him.  And not only that, was trying her hardest to get rid of him.

They talk and Henry has to wheedle the truth out of her, that the time is not right for her to leave yet, and that he must go.  Once again she had presented yet another different persona, and Henry is confused as to her motives and their relationship.

The phone ringing interrupts their moment, Radly advising that they were about to get company.

Just enough time for Henry to say goodbye before he comes face to face with the Turk, who arrives unexpectedly at her front door.

The master of the house arrives, Michelle changes instantly into someone else, and the Turk makes Henry a proposition.  He can walk out in one piece but never come back or see her again.

After he leaves the Turk and his favourite girl talk. She doesn’t believe a single word of the Turks, but it does reveal how much he will tolerate her.

He on the other hand does not trust her at all, not now that she has transformed, and off the drugs he supplies to keep his girls compliant.  She is different, he has to admit, but he has bigger plans for her now. And sadly that will break their agreement.

…

Words written 4,482, for a total of 89,577

“The Things We Do For Love”

…

Michelle is not happy to see him.

And this was a situation that he hadn’t considered, that she would not be pleased to see him.  And not only that, was trying her hardest to get rid of him.

They talk and Henry has to wheedle the truth out of her, that the time is not right for her to leave yet, and that he must go.  Once again she had presented yet another different persona, and Henry is confused as to her motives and their relationship.

The phone ringing interrupts their moment, Radly advising that they were about to get company.

Just enough time for Henry to say goodbye before he comes face to face with the Turk, who arrives unexpectedly at her front door.

The master of the house arrives, Michelle changes instantly into someone else, and the Turk makes Henry a proposition.  He can walk out in one piece but never come back or see her again.

After he leaves the Turk and his favourite girl talk. She doesn’t believe a single word of the Turks, but it does reveal how much he will tolerate her.

He on the other hand does not trust her at all, not now that she has transformed, and off the drugs he supplies to keep his girls compliant.  She is different, he has to admit, but he has bigger plans for her now. And sadly that will break their agreement.

…

Words written 4,482, for a total of 89,577

“The Things We Do For Love”

…

After a fruitless search, Henry decides not to go home but stay in one of the more salubrious hotels nearby.  The next day, refreshed, he has his eyes firmly on the prize.

Once the darkness sets in, they’re off to the address that Angie had given him the previous night.  Expecting to see Michelle, instead, Henry discovers no one is at home, but an old lady who hears him knocking on the door tells him where the occupant works.

Another interestingly named establishment.

Which, when they go there, discover to be a cut above some they’d been to, and it’s back to the conversation with one of the girls, hoping to gain some information.

Only this girl, Diana, is a little trickier to deal with in that she does not let him escape without having to do the dance first.  He asks his questions, gets oblique answers, and has an experience he will never forget.

Which, when they go there, discover to be a cut above some they’d been to, and it’s back to the conversation with one of the girls, hoping to gain some information.

Only this girl, Diana, is a little trickier to deal with in that she does not let him escape without having to do the dance first.  He asks his questions, gets oblique answers, and has an experience he will never forget.

With a line almost crossed, Henry staggers back out into the heat of the night, wondering himself exactly what just happened, only to find Radly waiting with two other men.

The police, and none other than colleagues of Inspector Banner.  It’s time for a visit to the police station.

This is where we get to learn a little bit more about Banner and his mission.  Then a long chat with Henry about Michelle, the girl he is looking for, and how dangerous it is.  Then, in the end, Banner gives him her address, one that is different from Angie’s, and asks Henry to deliver a message.

Then he is standing at the door and the girl herself is looking back at him.

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