Emma's Prison Visit Ch. 02

Emma's Prison Visit 02.

Emma is arrested and prepares to go to Prison.

This story is a follow up to 'Emma's Prison Visit'.

All comments are very welcome.

This story features relatively little sex. This is a fictional story based in a fictional country where all characters and locations are fictional and all involved in sexual acts are over 18 years of age. The names, dialogue, incidents and plot are fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

*****

About two years later I had a weekend conjugal visit with Brad. Our two kids were staying with Brad's sister Angie who had two children Ellie and Stan close in age to Tony and Erin. We had almost forty eight hours together in an apartment on prison grounds. I was free to come and go except at night, but each time I left I had to go through security which took at least an hour so we normally planned to spend the whole time in the apartment and an area we were allowed to exercise in. I had to bring food for the two of us in their factory sealed packaging. I was allowed to bring in my own clothes and some for Brad but I had to bring them all home again. It took a lot of pre planning but I had done it multiple times so I knew the rules.

It was Sunday afternoon and we had made love at least five times since I got there late on Friday. I was wearing a sexy little semi-transparent robe that barely covered my large butt, while Brad wore a robe I brought for him. We had been resting after lunch chatting about everything and nothing just enjoying our time together.

"Come over here." Brad said as he sat on a chair while I sat on the bed.

I went over and straddled him, while he opened the belt on my robe, as I sat on his legs.

"I can't keep my eyes off your sexy bod." He said flattering me.

"Well I see your reaction." I said as I saw his cock swelling back up to its full size.

"You want to fuck again?"

"Yeah, let's make the most of our time; you never know when it might not be possible."

"True." I said, as I moved forward, letting his hard cock push against my hood, while I wrapped my arms around him. We moved together for a slow tongue swapping kiss. I could still taste my arousal off him as we kissed.

*****

The following Wednesday I drove into work as normal but when I got there, something felt odd but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I made my way up the lift to our offices which took up the whole sixth floor of the office building and went to my desk as normal. I said hello to my co-workers as I passed them, not everyone was in yet. My boss Michael came to me saying he wanted me to go to his office at ten fifteen for a meeting. We normally met, once I was close to finishing my work on whatever account I was working on. I hoped to have it completed the following day. After lunch I was due to meet an important client, so I had dressed in a smart blue suit with a skirt that went down to just above my knee.

At about nine thirty a number of men and women walked into the open office in dark suits all with earpieces in their ears.

"We are from the Criminal Investigation Bureau." One of them said holding his badge out so we could all see it.

"Everyone stand up we have a search warrant for the whole office and arrest warrants for each one of you. Stand beside your desks, put your hands on your heads and don't move."

My heart went into overdrive in shock. I noticed they all seemed to have guns in holsters attached to their waist bands. I was not going argue with them as my body shook in fear as this was only going to get worse. Brad's arrest was still fresh in my memory even though it happened over four years ago.

We stood beside our desks awaiting the next instruction. An officer went up to John, asked him to put his hands behind his back as he was hand cuffed and he was brought out of the office. Next it was Chloe's the office flirt's turn in her short skirt and cleavage revealing top. Each of my seven colleagues was brought out in turn leaving me shaking like a nervous wreck to the very end. A male and female officer came over to me and showed me their identity badges.

"Your name please Ma'am?" the female officer said.

"E.. e.. emma W.. w.. woodford." I stammered in fear.

"Okay Ms Woodford, I am about to formally arrest you, when my colleague will show you your warrant in a minute or two. I have a warrant here to search all electronic devices, files, paper, etc. belonging to the company you work for, I need you to give me the log in details of all electronic equipment and door pass codes and keys you have access to. If you refuse or give me incorrect details it may result in further charges."

The second officer read me my rights and hand cuffed me behind my back, at least they were not too tight.

"You are being arrested on five counts of financial fraud, ten counts of aiding tax evasion, and three counts of money laundering."

'Holy shit' I thought, I knew my company had been doing some work for a few dodgy characters but that was a lot. However it was a lot less than what Brad was first charged with when he was arrested. A lot of them were very minor accounting details that would not normally be an issue. I hoped it would be the same for me as my heart thumped in fear.

"Can I speak to a lawyer first please?"

"Your company lawyer has been notified and will be here in a minute or so."

It was a bit of relief as I saw Stephen Barnes come in the door, I knew him from Brad's case. He immediately said.

"Emma you have to give them all your log in details, as it is a valid warrant and they will want your company phone, I will be here to guide you through this."

I felt reassured as I took a deep breath and I started to give them all the details I could remember, as we had a lot of them. The man had a tablet where he noted down all the details as I gave them to him. I normally used my finger print to log into my phone so I told them that.

"First we need you to log into your phone and disable the finger print log in please."

I did as instructed, as Brad had to do all of what I was doing a few years ago. I felt this whole thing was not going to end well. I knew there were records from a number of years ago on our computer systems to do with what Brad had been jailed for. By this stage I had calmed a little bit, as I went through their requests as if I were in a dream. It felt surreal like a dream or was it a nightmare, I wasn't sure. I was doing everything on autopilot as they checked I had given the correct computer log in details along with all the files I had access to that needed separate passwords.

As I was doing all they requested, my colleague Karen came in with two officers. She seemed to have to do what I had been doing for the last twenty minutes. Stephen Barnes had to assist her as well but was still near enough if I needed him. It took almost an hour before I was finished. I felt exhausted and very fearful of what the future would bring.

"Okay, show me any personnel property you have here, and I will check it before you bring it with you to the waiting area."

I was released from the hand cuffs to gather up my small shoulder bag and coat. I had to put them in a clear plastic bag which was sealed and my name written on it with a code. Next I was re-cuffed and brought out to a small meeting room where we would normally meet clients. I was told to sit down as a uniformed police officer stood watching me. An hour ticked by with nothing happening when John was brought in, he was in hand cuffs like me. We were ordered not to talk as the officer stood watching us. We looked at each other, he had a very worried expression on his face while his breathing was very distinct. My left leg began to shake, I could see him looking at it, and my skirt began to ride up a little over my stocking covered legs.

*****

A short while later Karen was brought in hand cuffed like the rest of us, she was ordered to sit down separately from John or me. I could see streaks running down her cheeks as she had obviously been crying. She was a young, quiet, shy girl who I doubted had ever been in any sort of trouble before. I felt for her, but was unable to try and comfort her. I had already gone through a lot of emotions with Brad as we dealt with his case. I didn't want that to happen again but I felt I was going to end up in prison like he did, however my initial charge sheet was less than a quarter of what he got. I began worrying about my two children, what would happen to them if I was incarcerated. What would happen to our home as I would have no way to pay our mortgage. I was breathing heavily, as the weight of the situation I was in, came over me. I needed to talk it through with someone but that was not possible. I felt a tear forming in my left eye, as the weight of all this worry was on my shoulders.

We were joined by Chloe a little later who looked extremely worried compared with her normally bubbly self. By this stage it was almost midday and we had no idea what was going to happen. I had another concern as Tony and Erin my two children had to be collected from school about five after their sports practice. Shortly before two pm we were brought out to the large meeting room where all the staff were; except for the three company principals. A plain clothes officer spoke to us.

"You are all going to be transported to jail shortly where you will spend the night there and there will be bail hearings tomorrow. Before you are released you will all be interviewed. If you need to make any phone calls you will be given an opportunity while you are being booked into jail. You should take any personnel belongings with you as anything left behind will be considered company property during the searches that will happen here. Your cars will remain in the company car park where you can collect them after release, assuming you get bail."

So we were all going to spend the night in jail. I began to worry about what arrangements I could make for Tony and Erin, should I call my parents or Brad's sister Angie. I decided to call Angie as her two kids went to the school next door to where Tony and Erin were, hopefully she could collect them.

As I was trying to plan for my family three police officers came in carrying chains and shackles. They surely didn't need to shackle us up any more than the hand cuffs I thought. It did not take long for my fears to be confirmed as we all had our ankles shackled and chains tied around our waists with our hand cuffs repositioned in front of us attached to the waist chain. To my horror we were all going to be chained together in a chain gang as we all had to stand in a line while the officers chained all our ankles together in groups of five. Three groups had their left ankles chained while the other three groups had their right ankles chained.

We were brought out to the lifts and all five in my group were ushered into a lift with two officers and brought to the main entrance foyer. I could see lots of cameras and members of the press standing outside. The police officers were about to make a big show of us. I bent my head down so they couldn't see my face as the second group arrived. This was going to be a lot worse than I feared, with our faces about to be plastered all over the television and newspapers. My hands and legs were trembling as I thought of the possible consequences.

The lead person in that group; who was John, was chained to the last person in my group who was Lucy, into one long line of fifteen. We were soon joined by the other three groups joined into a different line. Unfortunately I was the lead person in our group so it was going to be my face everyone would see. I needed to have a poker face, in the hope that I would get through this next ordeal we were facing.

We were brought out to a prison bus that was a short distance up the sidewalk in a long line of shame, as the cameras clicked. I kept my head down feeling very humiliated, but I knew it was not going to make much difference, as I spotted two television reporters I recognised talking to the camera with me in the background struggling to walk with the chains around my ankles. I felt truly awful as my stomach was in knots. I felt like throwing up, as I passed the press mob before finally arriving at the bus steps.

At least I was first in and out of sight with the windows blacked out. We were directed to sit on the seats on one side of the bus. It was awkward trying to sit as we manoeuvred to sit with our ankles chained together but we got there after directions from the officers. Once everyone was seated in the bus, we moved off but we could not see where we were going, while a number of officers were watching us.

We came to a halt and the door opened. The opposite line was brought out first and I could hear people talking outside. I was last out and was horrified to see more press outside. We were not inside the sally port but were being led into an entrance on the street along a side walk. More humiliating cameras were watching all twenty nine of us, as we made our way in through the door of the jail.

*****

It was a relief to be inside the jail away from the baying press. We were brought through a series of corridors and doors to an area that I recognised as the intake area. In there, we had to go to various places where they got all our details, medical records, fingerprints, photographed and pat down searches. We had to hand over any jewellery or metal objects we were wearing, that included my bra for storage until we got out. I got to phone Angie and said she would look after Tony and Erin, even if it was Friday before I got out. I feared I was going to be asking a lot more of her and her husband Barry over the next while.

When we were finished in the intake area we were brought individually to a cell where we had to take off all our own clothes and shoes and put them in a clear plastic bag with a label on it. We were given a black and orange jump suit to wear along with some well used dull white panties, a white 'T' shirt, socks and sliders for our feet. Once changed a police officer took our bag of clothes and brought us to a holding cell. Lucy, Karen and Carla were already in there when I joined them as I heard the metallic clunk and click of the door being closed behind me. I was left with a top bunk with Lucy underneath me. Karen was in the top metal bunk opposite, with Carla below her. At the end of my bunk was a metal toilet and sink in one unit. There was a list of rules stuck to the back of the steel door under the window and above a hatch in the door.

"Hi Emma, we're glad you are here, you might know more about what is going on than we do." Carla said with a very worried look. I was the longest serving member of staff in there having spent fifteen years with the company.

"We better not say anything about work in here as these cells have ears. Why do you think they put us in here all together?"

"They want us to talk so they can get info." My very good friend Lucy answered.

I nodded yes.

"How long will they keep us in here?" Karen asked.

"I'm not sure but we can be held up to seventy two hours before they have to bring us before a judge based on what happened to Brad. I'm pretty sure they will want to interrogate all of us before we are released on bail, Brad was released on five hundred with an ankle monitor so I suspect we will have something similar unless any of you have a record or have jumped bail." I said knowing what questions were likely to follow.

"So we could be in here until Saturday, I know we get on at work but in this small space and that toilet." Karen said with her face scrunched up like she was about to cry again.

"I suspect we will be offered bail before Saturday as then we will have to spend the weekend and they don't want the twenty nine of us clogging up cells for the weekend's druggies and drunks." Lucy added sounding subdued.

"I suspect we will know each other a lot better before we get out of here and I'm bursting to use the toilet." Carla said.

"You have no choice, we won't look, promise." Lucy replied.

Carla got up off her bunk to use the loo. I noticed Karen starting to cry again, it was obviously hitting her hard. I climbed down off my bunk (there were no ladders) and went over to her.

"Karen we will get through this and you have only been with us for two months so I doubt they can convict you with much, you probably have done nothing wrong."

I wanted to be realistic but reassuring.

"I have never been in trouble before, not at school or college and my parent's I can't face them after this. I don't know..." she sobbed.

Carla had finished on the toilet and stood beside me.

"Karen you are among friends here, we will take care of you and I'm sure you have good parents who will look out for you. If they bring you for an interview make sure you have a lawyer, the company should be providing one for you." Carla said.

I thought it highly unlikely Karen had done anything knowingly illegal. She had spent such a short time with us. Lucy who I had known for about twelve years and a very good friend. She and I were at the biggest risk as she had spent twelve years working in the company and was in probably a more difficult situation to mine. She was divorced and was the only parent to her two children. Her ex was given an exclusion order, after being found with child porn on his computer and had served one year in prison for it, but was living about an hour away. Like me she wanted to leave the company, but her pay was so good she could not get another job with that pay rate.

Lucy looked out the window to see the time was ten past four.

"I wonder are any of us going to be interrogated today, it's getting late." Lucy said

About five minutes later we heard officers at the door and opened the hatch.

"Karen Swartz put your hands through the hatch."

Karen carefully climbed down off her bunk and put her hands through the hatch. We heard handcuffs being clicked onto her wrists.

"Karen, stay at the door everyone else stand facing the end wall and put your hands over your head and against the wall."

We did so and we heard the door open. Karen was brought away and the door was relocked.

"I hope she's okay."

"Once she keeps her mouth shut until her lawyer gives her the okay she should be fine."

About forty minutes later Karen returned, she seemed in better form.

"Karen what did they ask you about?"

"Mostly about Michael and what he got me to do."

"Did they ask you what you did?"

"Not really, they only asked me if I had done anything for some company whose name I didn't know but I don't remember doing anything to do with them."

"That sounds not so bad, you should be okay."

"They said they may need to talk to me again and I haven't been released."

Our dinners appeared on four trays. What it was I couldn't say as it was all chopped up into little pieces. We continued to talk until we fell asleep. There was nothing else to do. At one stage Lucy and I sat in together to talk about our similar situations while Carla and Karen talked on Carla's bunk. Lucy and I felt sure they would find something to jail us for, whereas the others began to feel more confident as Carla had only spent less than a year with us after moving from another company.

The next morning after breakfast Lucy was the first to go for interrogation shortly before eleven. When she returned over an hour later I could tell she had a hard time. She said they had a lot of evidence against her and it did not look good. We had lunch and Carla was called away about three. She came back over an hour later looking horrified but said very little other than she thought she was being set up.

*****

I was given a day to worry as I was not called until after seven. I was brought into an interrogation room. One of our company lawyers Jane Cooper was there facing two officers' one male one female who introduced themselves as officers Marini and Gonzales. They had two lap tops plus two large files of papers sitting in front of them. That did not look good. They showed me a number of tax returns I was responsible for calculating from a company that operated two casinos. They showed their income and pay outs from the roulette tables. The figures balanced and I believed them to be correct. They then told me that the pay outs were twenty five per cent above the industry average, how could that be? I had no answer.

They had done a massive job of forensic accounting going through every detail of work I had done asking me questions, then showing how the money had come from drug deals that I could not have known about. I believed the money had come from ordinary gamblers betting. They showed me the size of the casino and for the amount of cash going through it, there was a very small number of gambling tables and machines. The machines were meant to be carrying three times the number of gambles over what they were physically capable of. It also meant that the various card games roulette wheels and so on had to be almost exclusively used by high rollers putting down bets of tens of thousands each time.

They had officers working undercover in the casino able to show that the betting rates were below the national average. This showed that the figures could not be correct.

I knew I was bound to end up serving prison time; it was a question of how much. I couldn't see how I could avoid it. I went back to the cell almost in tears as most of what they showed me I couldn't have known about but I had signed off on the accounts that clearly were not realistic. I was only working on the figures I was given with the appropriate documentation. The casino was over a thousand miles from our office and none of us had ever been there only the company principal had ever been in the casinos, even though it had turned over multiple millions in cash.

I felt sick like I was about to throw up with a massive pain in my stomach. I felt beaten with no way out. To make matters worse the company had been shut down by the bureau meaning I no longer had a job. I had two teenage children to take care of and a mortgage to pay, all on my own for the next six or so years, until Brad was released. I was looking down a vast deep black hole with no way out.

I was brought back to the cell where I cried my eyes out. I was physically drained of all energy. I didn't know how I was going to deal with the situation I was in. I barely slept that night I was exhausted the next morning. We were told our bail hearings were to begin at two o'clock and were asked if we had funds readily available. We could use credit cards or cash. All four of us had cards but no idea how much was going to be needed. I knew Brad had to put down five hundred in his case but it was down to the judge.

*****

We were brought to the court house which was a part of the jail building in chains and shackles like when we were brought to the jail in the bus. All twenty nine of us had to sit in a big holding cell chained to a bench while we waited our turn. Each of us was brought in individually. Two of the men were first to go and came back saying they were set bail at five hundred and seven hundred. I was next.

I was brought in to the court room still in prison clothes and chains and told to sit beside Jane. My charges were read out, the list seemed a little shorter but I wasn't sure. I was read my rights and asked how I wanted to plead.

"Not guilty, your honour." I replied to the Judge who had also given Brad bail.

The prosecution was asked if they had an objection to bail, if not did they have a recommendation and was I flight risk. They had no objection to bail and recommended a thousand dollars.

Jane was asked if she wanted to say anything in my defence. She painted a pretty poor picture of my situation explaining I had lost my only source of income, was due a month's salary that was very unlikely to be paid. I had a mortgage to pay along with two children to look after on my own. He set bail at one hundred dollars and I would have to wear an ankle monitor. If I needed to travel over thirty miles from where I lived I would have to inform the police of my travel plans. I was able to pay the bail money but I had only about enough money to survive for the next month without any extras.

*****

Three hours later I was home with my two children with a monitor attached to my ankle. I knew I had to tell Tony and Erin about my situation. Both were fourteen eleven months apart Tony the eldest was almost fifteen and was due to start high school in September while Erin had turned fourteen only a few weeks ago and had another year in middle school. The two schools were only a minute's walk apart.

The pair of them were very quiet as we drove home from Angie's. I suspected they were worried about what happened having already lost their dad to prison. Angie had told me they already knew I had been arrested and jailed. They had seen it on the news; it was all over the media and the city. There was no escaping it. I knew I had to tell them what was happening; they were mature enough to understand, while it was more difficult to explain in Brad's case a few years earlier.

"Once we were in the door Erin asked.

"Mum why did they arrest you and will you be going to prison like Dad?"

"The company I worked for was connected to the one your father worked for. Both companies did things for the same people. Since your father went to prison I have discovered some the people my company worked for were involved in organised crime selling lots of drugs. They used our company to make the money they made, look like it came from legal sources. Even though I didn't know this was happening. As I did some of their accounting work and from my side it all looked legal but it wasn't. Do you understand so far?"

"Yes Mum." I could see they were listening intently.

"Anyway the Criminal Investigations Bureau found what the organised crime people were doing and then started to investigate the company I worked for. They found a whole lot of things that were not right, that I might have known if our company had visited their casino, but it is over a thousand miles away and we have never been there. So basically, I have been arrested for making false statements in their tax accounts plus a few other things that will take a lot of time to explain."

"So are you going to prison like Dad?"

I needed to be realistic but I wanted to reassure them at the same time.

"I need to be honest with you; the chances are very high that I will go to prison because once the Criminal Investigations Bureau (CIB) arrest and charge you, you are pretty sure to end up in prison. My best hope is to keep it to a minimum and try to control when it happens. I will tell you everything as it happens and I will make sure you are looked after."

"Can we stay here when you are in prison?" Tony asked.

"At the moment I don't know. I might be going to prison in the next few months or it could take years and I don't know how long for. The other thing is that I no longer have a job so we have no money coming in to pay for food and everything else. I will have to find some work somewhere, so that we have a roof over our heads and food on the table."

"I can get a job now that I'm fourteen, to help out." My daughter Erin volunteered with a serious expression.

"I would rather you spend your time studying as you will need to pass your exams to go to college and get a good job then."

We ended up talking for the next few hours and despite my desperate situation I felt good afterwards, my kids can be a tonic at times.

The next day I had a call from Lucy, she wanted a group of us to get together to try and see what we would do and work out a strategy for our futures. After all we were all in this together. I offered my house as none of us could afford to go out somewhere to meet. Six of us met that afternoon and Lucy brought her brother Simon who was a lawyer, although not a criminal one.

Along with Lucy and Simon there was Carla, John, Jess, Karen and Bryan gathered around my kitchen table. We spent hours talking and drinking lots of coffee. Everyone was surprised by the amount of media coverage we got making life very difficult.

I related my feelings after going through what happened with Brad. We had spent over two years fighting his case based on what the company lawyers said. He had been offered a plea deal of three years early on but the lawyers insisted on going to court where he ended up with a ten year sentence over a year later after a jury trial. If he had taken up the offer, he would have been out of prison and sitting at the table with us. I felt my best option was to take as early a plea deal as possible and get away from all the media attention, even if proved wrong long term.

We discussed what we learned from the interviews or interrogation and all felt we were in serious trouble except for Carla. We went through what legal stuff was likely to happen and how long it would take before a preliminary court hearing would take place. It would decide whether we had a case to answer or not and should happen within two months.

Lucy, John and Jess all agreed with me on my strategy of taking a plea deal. Carla felt she had not been involved and was prepared to fight it all the way. Bryan did not seem to have a definite view. Simon whose main legal work involved insurance fraud, had come across the Bureau before, agreed with me on taking a plea deal.

We talked about our family circumstances and how going to prison would affect our families. In all we felt it was good to talk. All of us except Carla agreed to meet regularly as our cases progressed.

In the end I felt good that there was a group of us working together with our situations. We realised Lucy and I were in the most difficult situations of not only our group but also among all the staff, because of our long service and family situations.

*****

Later on I had to go shopping and everywhere I turned there was another person looking at me with distain or whispering to a colleague. I heard a lot of the comments that went along the lines of.

"What's that fraudster doing here?"

"That bitch should bury her head in shame."

"Fucking cunt working for the cartels, they should shoot her."

"Where's the lynch mob to finish her off."

"She should be stoned to death for working for the drug gangs."

That's just a sample of it. I went home crying in the car with only half of what I needed. I needed to find a way to deal with my situation, as I couldn't survive abuse like that for long.

On Sunday evening I had a long phone conversation with Brad. We discussed our family circumstances.

"Emma love, I was talking to Angie last night and she said to me if the worst happens and you go to prison, she would look after Tony and Erin. As you know they get on well with Ellie and Stan (Angie's children)."

"That's a lot to ask as I suspect I am looking at years rather than months. I have been doing those accounts for about ten years and there's bound to be a lot of shit in there that hasn't been found yet."

"Look I was offered three years and I am bound to have worse stuff in my case than yours, after all I was responsible for managing their money while you did the book work."

"What do I do with none or very little income until I know whether I am going to prison or not?"

"My suggestion is you take whatever temporary job or jobs you can get as getting a decent job is unrealistic for now. I was thinking about our house and I have an idea, we don't have to do it straight away but think about it and talk to family about it. We should rent our house, based on what I have found and that's limited in here. The rent should cover the mortgage plus a surplus. Then rent some cheap place or if family will take you all in for a few months before you have to go to prison. I think it's your only realistic option for the moment as there's no way you will manage otherwise."

"That's a lot to take in and I don't know how Tony and Erin will take it?"

"They're resilient and if they end up in Angie's they'll be happy. I doubt she has room for you as well as they have no spare bedroom so maybe you could stay with your parent's. I think the kids might be a bit too much for them."

"It makes sense in the very short term but I wouldn't like to impose for more than a few weeks."

"It all depends on you getting a job that pays enough for renting a place but being realistic, it'll be at least a month if not two before you can rent our house and by then you might have a plea offer if you are lucky. I know it sounds bad but the sooner you go to prison the better and you will be out quicker and able to start afresh. That hanging round I had for over two years was a killer and was a real waste of time."

"What if we sold our house and rented some place until I go to prison?"

"It's worth a thought but the market is slow and prices are down at the moment, so I don't think it's the right time to sell. In a few years house prices should pick up again."

We continued to discuss our situation for a little longer, and the call was costing me a fortune because it was collect but I felt it was well worth it. One thing Brad has, is a good head for money and I knew he was right about what I should do, it was a question of getting it done. I needed to talk to my parents, which was next on my list. I was glad Angie had made the offer, as I hated having to ask, being in the situation I was in. My pride was taking a severe knocking but I had to be realistic.

The next evening I went to visit my parents It was a little after seven when I got there. My Mum greeted me with a big hug, she was very concerned about my mental health with all that was going on. We went into the living room where we had a long chat. When I said I was very likely to end up in prison they were taken aback but it in a way not surprised. They knew once you are in trouble with the Criminal Investigations Bureau, prison was a likely outcome. They asked if I had any idea what would happen to Tony and Erin if I went to prison. I told them about Angie's offer and they said they would do anything they could to help.

We moved onto my job situation and I said getting a decent job with prison hanging over me was very unlikely. It also meant I couldn't afford to live in my current home so I explained Brad's plan to them. They offered me the use of their two spare bedrooms, one was my old bedroom from when I lived with them until I was about twenty. It would be like going home and I felt it was going to happen sooner or later.

The next day I contacted a letting agent about letting our house to see what it would be worth and what conditions I should let it under. They said there was good demand from a construction company who needed accommodation for senior staff on a major hospital project in the city that was due to last for three years. They needed the house in five weeks-time with no furniture. I would have to put everything into storage, except for stuff we needed. I had until the following Monday to decide and would have to have the house available in a month's time. At least the rental rate was over ten per cent higher than what we thought.

By the following weekend I had a job cleaning bedrooms and dish washing in a local hotel. It was about eight hours a day and I had to work every second weekend. The pay rate was about a third of what I was paid a week earlier.

Things were falling into place, I had a lot of things done and felt better about my family's situation. In another two weeks I would have everything in place, should I end up in prison. I had talked with Brad and he said we should go ahead with the lease. If by some miracle I did not end up in prison we would rent some place smaller and cheaper to fit my budget. In the short term I would stay in my parent's house with the kids. Brad and I wanted to have as many conjugal visits as possible, before I went to prison. The kids always came with me every time for our visits until it was no longer possible. They needed as much time as we could manage with their father, which was at best, every second weekend but it didn't always happen that way.

*****

About a month after my arrest I decided to get my own lawyer, the company ones wanted me to fight my case all the way to a jury trial. After what I experienced out shopping or any other time I was out in public, I could see no way of getting a fair trial. The lawyers said the evidence against me was circumstantial and I didn't have all the facts when I signed off on those tax returns, but they were still my signatures, my responsibility. At that stage, I knew there was more to come after we all had been interviewed again by the Bureau. My company lawyers wouldn't listen to my logic once we knew the exact charges I was facing. I knew in my soul there was no way I could avoid prison, it was a matter of minimising it. I needed a negotiated settlement I could live with. They wanted everyone to fight their cases so that it could possibly save the company principals skins. Those same principals got me into that mess by taking on those clients. I felt no sympathy for the principals, as they left me and my co-workers in the dark about whom and what we were really dealing with.

Lucy and I had always got along well at work but we seldom met socially due to living in different parts of the city. A week or so after we were arrested she got a temporary job working for another accountancy company covering for someone on maternity leave. At least she had a decent amount of money coming in, even though it was quite a bit less than what she had been earning.

As the weeks after our arrests went by I met Lucy regularly, initially to discuss how we would deal with our common situations, with some of the other co-workers. After those meetings Lucy and I would chat together afterwards. She was thinking about doing a pod cast about how her arrest had affected her life, with all the media attention it had got. She felt rather than fight the media, she was going to try to embrace it to her advantage. Whereas I wanted to get away from it and try and live a normal life. She hoped to make some money from it as well, because there was an audience out there for our situation, judging by the constant media attention.

She thought if all these others are making money off our backs, why shouldn't she? I felt she was probably right, but at that time I just wanted to be able to hide in deep dark hole, after all the abuse I received when out shopping or whatever.

*****

Time seemed to be moving rapidly as I had only a month to organise moving out of our home and get the place ready for renting. My father was an absolute star with all the help he gave boxing stuff and bringing it to the storage unit I had rented. My main task was sorting everything so we knew where to find them if needed later as my parents would have access to the storage unit even if I was in prison. We had all done, just, by the due date after spending massive hours the previous weekend trying to finish. We moved into my parents' house and I ended up sharing a bed with Erin while Tony had the other spare room.

Life was still tough outside our home, while some of the media attention had died off, it was never far away. There always seemed to be another news article or podcast appearing with a new piece of information, or regurgitating some earlier stuff and there were the downright lies, that needed to be challenged but I didn't have the means to do it.

*****

My next focus was on a preliminary court hearing where a judge would decide whether there would be a case to answer or a full jury trial scheduled. There was only limited amount of preparation I could do, as I was depending on my lawyers to ask the relevant questions. They knew my story and I had given them as much information as I could. It was really down to the prosecution side to prove they had a case against me. Realistically I felt the judge would agree with the prosecution and my case would be sent to trial. There were two judges hearing all the cases against my co-workers and I and each case was scheduled for one day. It would take two weeks for all our individual hearings.

My former work colleague John was the first in court, he originally had similar charges to me just the quantities varied. However the prosecution added in a few more in time for the court hearing mostly conspiracy charges adding another twelve to his list of charges. Once the hearing was over the judge announced he would reserve judgement until he heard all the other cases, so we were going to have to wait in more agony. My case was called on the Monday of the second week. I was hit with six conspiracy charges to defraud the government and another five to aid organised crime, along with my earlier charges. I didn't bother counting them all; I didn't see the point as they were all related.

The only significant thing that happened during the preliminary hearing was all the charges against Karen were dropped, but the prosecution would still have the option of charging her again if they found a reason to. When all was finished the two judges decided all the rest of our cases could go forward for full jury trials, all twenty eight of us.

I spoke to my lawyers afterwards and they explained a few things and we spoke about our future strategy. Trial dates were set to start about five months later but had not been finalised.

"What happens next?" I asked.

"I suspect most of you if not all will be offered plea deals. If anyone decides to hold out and goes to trial, I suspect they could end up being made an example of and get a harsh sentence. These guys in the CIB know how to make sure their preferred judges oversee the cases they want to win big. I suspect the three company principals will not be offered plea deals but might end up with them as those three have connections.

The other thing is because of the technical nature of all your cases they will take up a lot of court time. I expect each case could take at least two weeks and they can't run more than two at the same time as most of the witnesses are common to all cases. So you can do the maths of how long that will take."

"So if they offer deals what prison time would you expect?"

"The range of sentence lengths is very broad, and range from a year up to thirty. If you or any of your colleagues went to trial I would guess fifteen worst case, as none of you intentionally did what you did but you still are responsible for it. Plea deals will be a minimum of a year, after that its guess work but in your case I think worst offer could be five with three likely."

I didn't fancy three years away especially as my kids would be without Brad and me.

"Is there any chance, I could get away with a year?"

"Possibly or you might get away with probation if you have enough information to convict the company principals, that's if you were prepared to do it and I believe they were very close to the clients. I wouldn't recommend you go down that route without some serious protection given your family circumstances."

I hadn't been thinking of that. I could see it might not be wise to go against the principals and get a bullet in the head, for helping the cops.

"So how long do you think all this will take?"

"It will take six to eight weeks to get through discovery assuming the prosecution play ball and not silly buggers. My guess you could have a plea offer a month after that, and I would be pretty sure you will be offered one. As taking a mother away from her kids for a long time with no other parent, never looks good. At the same time they will want to see you go to prison, to show regardless of who you are you must do time."

"Should I accept a plea offer if I don't like it."

"Who likes to go to prison? Seriously though, you need to be careful turning down an offer as you could end up going to prison for a long time by default. However there is usually room for a bit of negotiation but we need to be careful."

At least I knew a lot more about what was likely to happen but I would be okay with two years anymore and I would need to think about it.

After that I began to prepare for going to prison. I had to be realistic about my situation. I needed to get my personal and family situations prepared for the inevitable; things like bank accounts, transferring guardianship of my two children, all sorts of things to try make life easier when I was in prison. I also began to search the internet about what prison was actually like once inside. I had a major source of that from a man's perspective, with Brad having spent over two years in prison.

*****

The next six weeks seemed to go slowly as I waited for discovery to be completed. I was still getting hassle when out in public but it wasn't as bad as the first few weeks. There were days when my mother did my shopping it was so bad. At least I didn't have journalists camped outside my parent's home. Tony and Erin's school situation had improved between action by the school authorities and a reduction in media attention directed at me letting things get easier. There was an increase of attention and negative commentary around the time of the court case but most people had moved on.

Lucy started her podcasts about her life under the media spotlight with serious charges hanging over her. It went under the title 'My Life Uncovered' and it really was uncovered because she did the podcasts naked. She did her talk while sitting in an armchair totally naked. However with some clever camera positioning she kept her nipples and bald pussy out of sight for one channel she uploaded on for free. She had another channel which was for subscribers or pay per view, where almost everything could be seen, using a different camera at a different angle but the same content.

Lucy's first three podcasts featured only her talking about her life and what happened after her arrest and how she dealt with it. She then persuaded some of our work colleagues to join her, although none were brave enough to do it naked. Again they talked about their experience of going from what was regarded as a respectable job to being arrested and under the media spotlight in difficult circumstances. She asked me to join her, but I felt the extra publicity would only make things worse for me. I wanted to be out of the spotlight, even though I felt talking to on audience could be therapeutic.

Some of my neighbours and friends from outside work watched them. They thought what Lucy was doing; was actually very slowly changing the narrative about people, under the spotlight of criminal charges. Not everyone in trouble with the law is a murderer or doing actual harm to people but the victim of circumstance.

*****

It took my lawyer ten weeks to get through the discovery process so we had all the fine detail of the evidence against me and what all the charges came from, although some were pushing the limit of sufficient evidence. My lawyer said it seemed to be a policy to charge for as many things as possible, knowing some will stick while others will get dropped before they end up or in court. When she studied them and looked at the evidence against me, she believed there were five or six of the charges that would be easily provable beyond doubt. In other words in a trial she would expect a jury to find me guilty, and the prosecution only needed one of them to stick to land me in prison.

Once we knew exactly what I was facing, it was a question of finding out from the prosecution whether a plea deal would be acceptable or not. Prosecutors generally like plea deals as they get a win in their eyes without all the hassle of court saving a lot of time. Apparently over ninety per cent of prosecutions are done via plea deals. My lawyers knew how to deal with the prosecutors, in terms of getting an offer. It would mean more waiting time.

By this time it was over five months since I was arrested. I was stuck in limbo, a bit like Brad was, as I waited for a plea offering. While a lot of the vitriol I had suffered in the early weeks after our very public arrests had died down, it was still simmering in the background. Almost every week something new would pop up in the media bringing the story back of how a respected accountancy and financial advisory business had been shut down due to it doing working for organised crime gangs. It meant a week didn't go by without someone I knew, asking me how I ended up working there and how I didn't know what was really going on.

The issue was, I was aware of it in the last few years but couldn't get out because we were well paid and were unable to find as good a salary elsewhere. I was given a significant pay rise after Brad went to prison as well. Also a few former colleagues had been arrested, after those of us working there were arrested. Our former colleagues were facing similar charges to what I was. I seriously felt prison would allow me to get away from all of it and move on after serving my time. If I was single I would have done a deal straight away but because of family responsibilities that was not realistic.

*****

A week or so later we had one of our regular former co-worker meetings. We had John, Lucy, Bryan, Jess, Chloe and Jenny. The latter two had joined our group a month after we started. Karen's charges had been dropped so she no longer had any reason to attend.

John told us he had been offered a plea deal two days previously and was considering what to do. It was for two years and could not work in financial services again. He was told he would probably be released after eighteen months having to serve three quarters of his sentence. He wanted our view on whether to take it or not. His lawyers said he should take it, as he was unlikely to get a much better offer, considering he had been with the company five years and had a significant involvement with the offending accounts. There were also about three slam dunks in terms of being found guilty at trial, even though like me he only became aware of them after he had signed off on the accounts.

Jess was in a more difficult situation, she could turn state's witness to help convict one of the company principals, and she had been offered probation, as part of a plea deal with no time in prison. She had worked as an assistant to one of the principals for three years before moving to looking after client investment accounts for the last few years. If she didn't take up the offer to turn state witness she was facing four years with a plea deal. On a personal front she had married a year ago and was four months pregnant. Her decision was going to be very difficult to make.

After some discussion with Jess as she was very worried because her former boss the company principal was believed to be good friends with one of the crime bosses. She needed very good security if she was to become a state witness and spending four years in prison missing out on those first years with a baby was going to make life very difficult for the child growing up.

When I heard John's offer I became worried because I knew my charges were more serious than his, could I end up like Jess with a plea offer of four years, that didn't bear thinking about. What made it worse, Jess's charges were a lot less than what Brad or I had. I was becoming seriously worried.

The following Wednesday I got a message from Sarah my lawyer, she wanted me to meet her the following day. That increased my anxiety even more as I thought the worst. I went to meet her before I went to work.

"You are being offered a plea deal of twenty eight months in prison, of which you will probably serve twenty one. There are a few other conditions the main one is you can never work as an accountant again which means your current career is over and your qualifications not worth much. The other main condition is you cannot appeal it. I did manage a concession on that front; you cannot get any more additional charges in relation to your activities with your former employer other than something like murder."

"When do I have to make a decision by and what are the chances of getting a better offer?"

"You have five days to make a decision. If you turn it down I don't know whether we can get a better offer and they mightn't make another one. I get the impression they want to make an example of someone in court. I would normally say a person of your profile would not be hauled before a jury by a prosecutor, but in this case I think they would prefer a senior person to take the hit along with the company principals."

"So you think I should take it, although I was hoping for under two years?"

"I think you should take it, I don't think we can do much better at this stage. There is a chance that some of the others might get more lenient offers later on, but it's something you will have to live with."

If it had been two years, I would have taken it on the spot, as that was the upper limit I had in my head, but after Jess and John's plea offers it seemed okay.

"Can I take a few minutes to think about it?"

"How about we get some coffee?"

"Yes please."

When we got our coffees, I sat there thinking as I sipped, while Sarah browsed on her phone. If I had no children to worry about, I would have taken it, but I was very worried for Tony and Erin as well as the extra stress they were going to put on Angie and Barry. At the same time I felt I needed to decide and move on. My mind started to go round in circles trying to think things through. In reality it seemed like I had no real choice.

"Sarah, I'm going to take the twenty eight month offer." I'd done it, I had just said I'm a criminal and going to prison.

"Okay, I think it is the best decision in the circumstances. You are aware this conviction will be on your record for the rest of your life."

"Yeah, but what choice do I have in reality."

"I know these decisions are never easy but I am sure you will bounce back. You have said before you want to get this over with and move on would like to go to prison soon or leave it for a little while?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"To a certain extent, yes, the sooner the better probably, as it will show you are prepared to take responsibility."

"It's probably best to get this over with, so would next week be possible?"

"I'll check for you and get back to you as soon as I know. Now one more thing, I need you to fill out a couple of forms and I will get them off later."

I filled out the forms committing myself to prison for twenty eight months. It was done no going back. For the final part before I went to prison I had to go to court for my plea deal to be confirmed by a judge. There was always the chance the plea deal might be rejected by the judge but unlikely.

I was relieved to have it almost all over. While worried about what might happen to me in prison as I didn't know what level I was going to. I suspected it could medium or minimum security. Brad had told me a lot about prison life so I had some idea what to expect.

An hour later she called me.

"We can go to court next Tuesday and all going to plan you have the option to self-surrender the following Thursday to the Provincial Women's Prison. That's the soonest it can be done unless you want to spend time in the county jail before going to prison."

"Yeah I'll do that. I assume it's more straight forward to go straight to prison and having a day in between, will allow me to finalise things."

"That sounds sensible. We have to be in court for ten and it shouldn't take long once we get before the judge."

We finished up

*****

The following weekend Tony, Erin and I went on our final conjugal visit with Brad before I went to prison. The kids always loved meeting him as he always liked to play games with them. There was an outside area we could use for a bit of ball sports which was really good. We had a long talk about our family situation and what would happen when I went to prison. The kids had accepted it was going to happen. Their biggest issue was others talking about them at school, their close friends were very good but there were a number of people who were taking it out on them, for what was my and Brad's issue.

I was relieved to finally get into bed with Brad on the Saturday night, but we knew we had to be quiet with the kids next door. Brad and I wanted to make the best of our last opportunity together as we were both going to be in prison at the same time there could be no direct contact. It felt so good just gently caressing our naked bodies, exploring each other. We very slowly reached our sexes. He rubbed my clit while I stroked his cock, as we lay close facing each other. We could feel each other's breath quicken as the touching became more intimate. I wanted him inside me but we could take our time. I like it when we can do it nice and slow.

He moved down the bed and I instinctively lay on my back and opened my legs. I love to be eaten out and his tongue feels wonderful down there. He began by circling around my lower lips, not going near my really sensitive spots. His tongue slowly worked its way around my sex and I began to feel really aroused. I felt my breathing begin to get heavier as his tongue touched my outer lips. He kept licking slowly beginning to touch my partially hidden pink inner lips. He cupped a hand over my mouth as I began to moan, I was feeling so good. He kept licking in long deliberate strokes almost from my butt hole to the top of my clit. His tongue worked deeper with each stroke driving me towards a mighty orgasm. I felt my body pulse into a powerful orgasm, as I broke into a sweat, with his hand covering my mouth.

I slowly came down from my orgasm and I said.

"That was beautiful lover; do you want me to suck you?"

"Would you prefer me to cum in your mouth or pussy?"

"Pussy... preferably... now."

He climbed up along my body as we got into a missionary position and I felt his cock pushing at my slit quickly finding my damp entrance. He slipped in easily; pushing my pussy walls apart, as he slowly went in all the way. He pulled back out almost the whole way before gently pushing back inside me. He began stroking at a slow steady pace; I felt he wanted to last as long as he could as he kept his slow controlled pace. I ran my hand down to my clit and began to stroke it with two fingers as he kept pumping. I felt my pulse beginning to rise again while he continued speeding up ever so slightly.

"Cowboy?"

"Let's do it."

We changed position, I slowly impaled myself on him and I started to rock.

"Ohhh, fuuuccckkkk, that's gooooddd." Brad moaned.

I continued to slide up and down on his hard cock for a little while.

"Reverse."

I spun around so he could see my butt cheeks and continued to rock.

"Ooooohhhh... I'm..."

I felt him unload his cock into my pussy.

When he recovered he said.

"That butt, of yours, it's so sexy, it always does it for me."

Why he likes my big butt I'll never know but it always does it for him.

We would go on to make love for the last time for a few years the next morning; we were both in tears as we lay in the afterglow of our orgasms.

*****

It was a quiet journey home to my parent's house. I was thinking of my court visit on Tuesday. I was told I could spend Tuesday and Wednesday night at home and to sign myself into the prison on Thursday morning. At least it would avoid me having to leave the court in shackles and hand cuffs.

As it happened all went smoothly on Tuesday and my twenty eight months in prison was confirmed. John was also in court that day and he had similar arrangements to me. That night on the news our going to prison was the second item on the news headlines in our local television station. It also made national headlines. I planned on staying in my parent's house the next day, other that one trip to Lucy's. I had agreed after much persuasion on her part to do a pod cast with her where she interviews people while she is naked.

We did it in her house after she got home from work. She showed me around the former small bedroom that she uses for recording with its two arm chairs and a number of cameras set up along with microphones one at each arm chair. The way she has it set up all the cameras are fixed in position and record at the same time. Once the recording is done she has to edit it all together into one video for up loading. Actually there are two as both features her naked with one covering her girly bits while the other one doesn't on her pay channel. We were sitting almost facing each other, with cameras to my left and her right except for one set relatively low between us facing Lucy getting her full frontal in all her naked glory.

We sat down and started to talk I knew beforehand what sort of questions she would ask so there were no surprises. It was basically my story, from when I was arrested until I had my sentence handed down by the judge the day before. We wanted it be my story with me taking responsibility for what I did, but also how easy it is to get caught up in breaking the law.

As we talked I couldn't avoid looking at her sexy naked body, while I was fully clothed in a black dress that showed a little cleavage and black tights. I found myself getting aroused as she seemed to be so sexy and relaxed sitting there naked. I began to wonder what it felt like doing the interview naked, as we talked and I began to lose concentration at times. I knew she was going to edit out bits, so it was no big deal until she said.

"Emma, are you okay, you seem distracted?"

I looked at her turning red with embarrassment trying to figure out what to say.

"Do you need a break?"

I nodded. She stopped the cameras by remote controls.

"Do you want more water?"

"No thanks, it's just that..."

"Is it me being naked?"

"Eh... sort... of."

"Are you feeling... turned... on?"

I nodded yes feeling highly embarrassed.

"Don't worry you're not the first, we'll take a few minutes break."

She got up from her seat and stretched her sexy body. She had a slightly curvy body with really nice full boobs to my eyes as I felt even more turned on to the point of feeling damp downstairs. I wondered what it felt like doing the interview naked, so I asked her.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, I really like being naked, especially in front of people and this gives me an outlet to show my body to the public without having to face them directly. I get turned on by it sometimes and I have to control it, while doing the interviews. Usually just concentrating on the job does it, but sometimes..."

A minute or two later we restarted, but those feelings about being naked kept coming back to me. I was beginning to wonder what it felt like being naked like she was. However I have a big hang up about the size of my thighs and butt. I thought for a second that my butt and thighs were not visible to the camera, because I was sitting in an arm chair. My boobs were and I have often been complemented about them and I am proud of them. Then out of the blue I said.

"Lucy, can you see my thighs and butt on the screen?"

She had monitors in front of her, showing what the cameras could see.

"No, why do you ask?"

"I don't know what's come over me but seeing you in all your naked glory, makes me wonder what it feels like."

"Emma, are you seriously thinking of... after all, you're not wanting to be interviewed?"

"Eh... um... yeah." I said feeling embarrassed but very aroused.

"If you are serious we can finish with your kit on and then go again with your clothes off, and decide later, what you want aired."

By this time we were nearly finished.

"Yeah I might do that." I said, giving myself a get out, as my feelings were in conflict.

We finished off, but my mind was thinking about doing it naked.

Once we finished Lucy asked me if I was still up for doing it naked.

We had a quick coffee and I stripped and sat back in the arm chair. It felt odd but it was a pleasant odd.

"Would you like to see what the camera sees?"

"Please."

She turned the screen towards me. I looked at my naked body on screen for the first time.

"Is that me in all my naked glory?" I said.

"You bet and you look fabulous. You know you have a very pretty chest."

"Thank you." I said as I looked at the screen. One boob was partially covered while the other was fully on display. I was trying to cover both nipples without it looking obvious. Lucy's hair is long enough to cover hers, but she leaves one boob uncovered and shields it with her arm, for what she calls her 'family channel'.

My hair was not long enough to cover my boobs properly.

"How would you feel about leaving that beautiful pair uncovered and we'll only show you naked, on the pay per view channel?"

I thought for a moment and thought if I'm going to do this, I need to do it properly.

"Yeah let's do it before I get cold feet."

We went back to the beginning and I felt very conscious of being naked. I could see Lucy in her seat opposite me with her chest completely visible to all her cameras. We started and I gradually began to relax but very conscious of my nudity. I kept telling myself to not cover myself and relax. I gradually felt a bit more normal as time went on. We continued talking and I was feeling good as I didn't have to think about my answers so much and became less aware of my nakedness. As we kept talking I began to enjoy the experience. Lucy had her list of questions up on a monitor in front of her so she repeated them making my life easier as I remembered a lot of them. We seemed to be going faster than the previous time as I began to really enjoy being naked. I sensed a slight dampness down below as the cameras watched me.

We got through all the main points along with a few others as Lucy thought of some additional questions as we did the interview. By the end I felt really good and feeling very comfortable naked in front of a camera, as Lucy looked so chilled in front of me.

"Well done Emma, you're a natural, you're brilliant."

"Thanks, but I'm not that good, although I'm feeling pretty good sitting here naked."

We both stood up and stepped past the cameras. Lucy opened her arms.

"Thanks Emma, I really appreciate what you've done." Lucy said as we hugged.

A pleasant tingly feeling ran down my back as our naked bodies clung together.

"That feels really nice and I've never done this before."

"Neither have I, let's hope we get to do it again sometime."

"Yeah, well I guess it'll be almost two years before I'm able to."

"Do you want to look at the video, before you go?"

"No I trust you to do the right thing." I said as we parted.

"I hope you don't mind but I need you to sign some paperwork saying you are okay with me publishing what we've just done."

"No problem."

We did the paper work where I consented to my naked images to be published. Shortly after we hugged, said a tearful goodbye and I headed back to my parent's house. Once there the news had just started on the television. The main headline to my horror there was a story about inmates being sexually abused in the only women's prison in the Provence. I had assumed I would be going there, what was I about to face? I had no choice but to sign myself into jail the next morning, but my anxiety level suddenly went through the roof. I didn't sleep a wink that Wednesday night.