A Hostage to Delusion

Prologue

The rain was coming down heavily as Lieutenant Dekker Yates headed home after a long and eventful day as a Lieutenant on the Centerville Ohio police force. He hadn’t slept well for several nights now and he was running on fumes. So when something vaguely person-shaped darted out of the trees along the road, he slammed on his brakes a bit later than he should. He heard a cry of alarm and looked up to see a girl standing illuminated in the headlights just inches from the grille, her eyes large with fright. He got out of the car and approached her slowly.
“Are you all right, kid?” he asked as he moved. She was shaking like a leaf and looking around for some place to run. The dark-haired child with her dove gray eyes couldn’t be more than fifteen or sixteen, he noted, but she was heavily pregnant. Something about her seemed really familiar, but he knew he had never met this girl. “Can I help you, kid?”
For a moment he thought that she would refuse to answer him and run. He had never seen a more terrified child in his life and he knew something very bad had happened. She looked at him closely and something in his eyes made her relax a bit.
“Grandmother,” she finally nodded as some of the fear left her. He saw actual concern in his eyes. “Please hurry. I think I’ve killed her.”
Dekker hid his reaction to her strange statement and got her in the car beside him. They drove down the long driveway she had come running down and he saw the old Victorian monstrosity with a tinge of alarm he kept hidden from her. This was his grandmother’s house! He parked and followed her inside, glancing around the house he had not been inside for over ten years.
“Justine?” he called as he entered. He heard a moan and went towards the sound. He saw Justine lying on the floor and called for an ambulance. He turned to talk to the girl and she was gone. “Damn!” He looked down at Justine and saw her cold green eyes focusing on him. They were filled with pain but also a great deal of anger. “What have you done, Justine?” he asked as he helped her to her feet and over to the couch.
“How did you find me?” Justine countered his question with another. She looked around and her eyes narrowed, as she did not find who she was looking for. “Where is your sister?”
“My sister?” Dekker hissed. “That girl is my sister?”
“You and your father weren’t going to be able to look after her properly,” Justine sniffed. “You had other things to think about with Margaret’s death…”
“So you just took her?” Dekker broke in coldly. Justine glared at him. “A man went to prison because of you! You had no right!”
“She’s my granddaughter,” Justine replied. “I wasn’t going to let her stay with your father. He killed my daughter. I wasn’t going to let him hurt the girl, too.”
Dekker placed a call to the station. When he was done, there was ice in the eyes of the woman who was his grandmother. He truly hated her then. Her lies had sent a man to prison for a murder that had never taken place. And his sister was now out there somewhere, traumatized by a murder she had not committed. When his partner arrived, he was quite happy to have the bitch arrested.
“Arrested?” Justine snarled at him as the cuffs were put on her. “I took custody of my own grandchild…”
“Without her father’s knowledge or consent, Justine,” Dekker broke in firmly. “That constitutes kidnapping so I am arresting you.” He looked at his stunned partner. “You handle the arrest procedure, John,” he said. “I have to find my sister.”
He looked through the house and didn’t find the girl anywhere. When the others arrived, he had them move out into the neighborhood to see if they could find the girl. When he got Justine to the hospital under guard he went to the Administrator’s Office.
“Dad,” he said to the man seated behind the desk. “I’ve arrested Justine Dekker.”
“You what?” Grant Yates exclaimed. “Where is she?”
“In the Psych Ward for evaluation,” Dekker told his father. He looked uneasy as he wondered if he should tell Grant the rest. “She wasn’t alone, Dad,” he said as he ran the tip of his fingers along the top of the frame holding the family photo from the year Cassie had disappeared and his mother had died. She’d just turned five and a man had gone to jail for kidnapping her. “She had Cassie.” He could see his father go white. “Justine lied to us, Dad! She had Cassie this whole time.”
“Where is your sister now?” Grant asked his son.
“She ran, Dad,” Dekker told him. He tried to dispel the image of that closet with the whip and shackles. Dekker went to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink. “I am going to keep looking for her.”
“Do so,” Grant nodded. “I don’t care how much it costs or who you have to hire. I want that child brought home.”
Cassie watched from the woods as the man who had found her continued searching for her. But the higher branches of the tree she had climbed provided a perfect vantage point. He and his men never thought to look up once and she was perfectly safe. When the ambulance came and went and the police car followed, she climbed down.
“You should have gone with them, child,” a familiar voice sounded behind her. A hand clamped over her mouth as Cassie began to scream and she felt the prick on her arm. “You belong to us now, Cassandra.”

Six Months Later…

Dekker was at breakfast with his wife and his father when the phone rang. After three years he no longer jumped. He saw the number on the Caller ID screen and a flare of hope that had refused to die surged into his mind. He picked up the receiver as he put the speaker on.
“Henry,” he acknowledged the identity of the caller and saw his father rise to his feet. “Tell us you have something good to report.”
“That depends on how you take the news,” Henry Evans, the private detective they’d hired three years ago, replied. His voice was filled with weariness. “Ready?”
“Do you really need to ask?” Grant spoke up. “What’s going on, Henry?”
“A four-month old boy is in the ER at the hospital in Centerville,” Henry told them. “He has a very rare blood type so an alert has been sent out to the area hospitals for three units of that blood because there is none on reserve.” He waited a moment before he continued his report with the part that he knew would interest them. “Because it was used when Dekker was shot last year.”
“We’re on the way,” Grant said as he grabbed his car keys from the hook on the inner kitchen wall. “Are you calling us from there?”
“Yes,” Henry acknowledged. “Delia is talking to the boy’s parents now.”
They were hard pressed not to run when they arrived. This was the first good news they had run across in months. The young couple, Steven and Amy Parker, was waiting in an office off of the ER. Their four-month old son was sitting on Amy’s lap looking around in interest. Grant was frozen in shock as the boy looked up and he saw his wife’s eyes.
“He doesn’t look like he’s dying,” Grant said to Henry, who was leaning against the wall. The man shrugged. “A little fiction to bring out news of Cassie?” He nodded his approval of the tactic. “It might work.”
“It already has,” Delia smiled as she came in waving a fax. She looked exhausted but triumphant as she put the paper down in front of Grant. Tendrils of hair hung out of her usual ponytail like scarlet ribbons along her neck. Like all members of her family she had auburn hair and deep green eyes. “It took some doing but I finally convinced the hospital to release this information to me.” She tickled Oliver under the chin and smiled. “Given the little guy’s tenuous hold on life, they had no choice.”
“Cassandra Baker, aged 15,” Grant read, “was admitted to a hospital in Toledo on October 23rd. She was hemorrhaging from injuries suffered in a car accident and needed several units of blood during the C-section the obstetrician was forced to perform.” He felt his heart ache as he read the rest of the report. “Her guardian told us to tell the girl the baby had died.”
“Why would anyone do such a heinous thing?” Steven asked as he clutched his wife’s hand. “We were told that Oliver’s mother had died giving birth to him and shown the medical report. She’d lost a lot of blood because of injuries due to a car accident and they had to take Oliver out by C-section.”
“That poor child was led to believe her baby was dead?” Amy was in tears. “What kind of monster would do such a thing?”
Grant was silent. He knew the kind of man they were talking about. He’d met them before. The report said that the girl had died, but he was not so certain. He fixed his steel gray eyes on Henry and the man nodded. He was already on the way even before he physically left the room.
“I’ll send out teams and find the girl,” Henry nodded. “The hospital listed her parents as George and Gloria Baker. We’ll move out into the towns nearby and start hunting.” He allowed a brief smile. “Good work, Sis.”
“We’re going to find her,” Delia said to Grant as she laid her hand on his. “I know we are.” She nodded to the couple. “I’ll leave you. I need a hot bath and a few hours of shut-eye.”

Cassie sighed wearily as she cleared the last table and took the bucket to the kitchen to help George finish the dishes. It had been her first full day of work at the diner since her accident and the loss of her son and she was exhausted. But she was not going to go upstairs and leave the clean up to George. She saw George frowning at her and knew he was worrying about her again. The doctor had told her to take it easy, but working kept her from remembering the child she had never had a chance to know.
She had woken up in their home above their diner when she was abducted. He and his wife, Gloria, had taken her in at Jonathan Garrison’s request. And no one, especially in this town that bore his family’s name, ever said no to Jonathan Garrison. He had arrived to tell her that the Bakers had adopted her and would be her parents now. Her own family didn’t really want her, he told her. How could they, given what she had done?
“Are you looking forward to the dance, Cassie,” George smiled over at her as he rinsed off the dishes and she put them in the auto washer. “It’s all Adam has talked about this week.”
“I don’t want to go, George,” Cassie told him. He and his wife had been kind to her since they had taken her in and she was almost happy to be a prisoner. They had never lied to her or tried to manipulate her as her grandmother and Jonathan Garrison had. For that alone, she almost loved them, people who had been paid to act as her parents while she was still a minor. The only annoying thing was George’s continued support of Adam. “You know why.”
“Still listening to those lies that woman told you?” George asked as he finished rinsing and washed out the bucket. He set it to drain and dry and rubbed his aching back with his thick fingers gnarled with age and a life of hard work. “Not all men are out to hurt you, Cassie. You have to start learning how to differentiate between those who want to hurt you and those who want to be your friends.”
“Why?” Cassie asked as she put the last of the dishes in place and started the auto washer. “You know I am not free to learn such things. I am the Garrison’s property and they will never let me go as long as they believe I am useful to them. After that, I will be kept here so I can’t tell anyone what they’ve done to me.” She looked into his pale blue eyes and sighed. “I am trapped, George.”
“Garrisonville isn’t such a bad place, Cassie,” George sighed. “You have everything you need here.”
“No,” Cassie shook her head. “I don’t. But what I don’t have is not allowed so why should I waste my time or energy wanting it?” She remembered trying to run away just before Oliver was born and that had only led to the death of her child. She let go of the grief that flared to life inside of her heart and hugged George. “Thank you for trying, George.”
George looked at the sixteen-year old girl and shook his head. She was still so young but at least she was beginning to sound like she knew the truth of her existence now. They had adopted her at the request of the town scion and been with her as the girl had nearly died giving birth to a son; a sweet dark-haired boy Cassie had told them she would have named Oliver if he had not ‘died’; she was not aware that he had been given up for adoption. She had been very ill afterwards. The Bakers were well paid for their work with her and the weekly reports they sent to the man on her progress.
They were also told to keep her from trying to go home to her family as one of the conditions of the fostering. It was easy enough. Cassie never asked to go to her family. She told them that she wanted no connection to the family that hadn’t wanted her. She wanted to work at the diner full time to pay him and Gloria back for all their support, but they told her she had no reason to work and would only let her work part-time. Jonathan and his son provided her with everything.
“You’d better get moving, Cassie,” George smiled at her, “or you’ll be late for your doctor’s appointment.”
Cassie went to get her purse and hurried out to the car George and Gloria had given to her for a high school graduation gift. She froze as she heard someone coming towards her. She recognized the scent of cigarettes and horse and his favorite cologne long before she turned to see Adam coming towards her. She’d managed to keep him off of her for six months but it was going to get increasingly hard now that she could no longer use injury and illness to hold him back.
“Adam,” she frowned as he leaned one hand on the door so she couldn’t open it and played with a curl with the other. “I’m going to be late for my doctor’s appointment. Let go.”
“Then meet me afterwards, Cassie Baker,” Theodore ‘Adam’ Garrison said evenly. He saw the anger in her eyes. “You know better than to say no to me, Cassie.”
“I don’t have time, Adam,” Cassie protesTed. “Please leave me alone.” She shoved him back. “Go find a girl who wants to be with you.”
“I want you!” Adam snapped and pressed her up against the car. “Don’t you understand that?” He kissed her and then slapped her when she bit him. “You little bitch!”
“I don’t like people touching me, Adam,” Cassie said as she moved away from him. “Go away!”
“People who belong to me don’t say no, Cassie,” Adam snarled as he caught her wrist and yanked her back to his side. “I am going to get what I want.”
“Not this time, Adam!” a second man snarled and knocked Adam over the head. Aaron Garrison, Adam’s younger twin, turned to Cassie. She let him hold her as she shook with fear. Her constant trust in him considering who his family was floored him every time. “Are you all right, Cassie?”
“I’m fine,” Cassie said shakily. She smiled at the tall golden-haired man with his deep blue-gray eyes gratefully. “My hero.”
She had been uneasy around him at first, until she saw the differences. Eric had darker hair and eyes than his brother, and had a wider shoulders and a scar just behind his ear. Cassie had asked him how he had gotten that scar once and he would only say she should ask Adam. He might be Adam’s younger twin, but Eric had never been unkind to her or bullying like his father and brother. There was none of the demanding arrogant bully in him. In fact, he was her dearest friend.
“Thank you, Eric.” She turned to get her backpack off the ground. “Your brother was being far too insistent.”
“My brother is too used to getting what he wants,” Eric frowned. “I’ll get him home,” he said as he opened the car door for her. “Maybe I could meet you at the coffee shop near campus after your class?” He saw her hesitate and did not blame her. “We can put our heads together and figure out some way to get you away from here.”
“It’s a nice dream, Eric,” Cassie’s shook her head, “but you know it will never happen. Your father and brother will never let me go.”
“We’ll find a way,” Eric staTed firmly. He brought his hand up to her cheek and there was a strange expression in his eyes. Cassie found herself wishing for things she could never have when he looked at her like that. He smiled and kissed her on the forehead. “Trust me, Cassie.”
He was so nice, Cassie sighed. It was good to have a friend who was concerned about helping her with at least one part of her life; even if he was Adam’s younger brother. Her caution was overridden by her need for someone she could talk to. She nodded and Eric smiled warmly and Tedged on her hair. She went through class with a much lighter heart and less worried frame of mind for the first time in three years. She wouldn’t have felt that way if she had noticed the car following her to the hospital, or the people who sat in the waiting room nearby while she had her checkup.
“You’re healing up just fine, Cassie,” Doctor Angela Hilliard smiled at her. “Adam is going to be very pleased with how well you’re doing.” He saw her tears. “Is something wrong, child?”
“No,” Cassie shook her head. “How could anything be wrong?” She got up and got dressed. “I’m just a little tired still.”
“Trouble sleeping?” Angela asked gently. “You’re still having the nightmares, aren’t you?”
“I keep hearing my baby crying for me but when I wake up he isn’t there,” Cassie told him. “But how can that be. He was born dead, wasn’t he?”
“I’m going to talk to Doctor Swanson,” Angela smiled at her gently. She entered the prescription on the computer and sent the request. “It will be ready for you by the time you’re ready to leave. Take one pill at bedtime,” she instructed and then frowned as she saw Cassie’s expression. ‘You need to get some sleep, Cassie.”
Cassie nodded and Angela left her alone. Eric was waiting for her when she came out of the hospital with her prescription in hand. He followed her to her car so she could leave the pills and then took her hand and walked her to the coffee shop from the campus parking lot. Cassie felt a strange feeling flare to life inside of her. This was her friend, but she was suddenly aware of how their meeting would look to certain parties. The idea that he could get hurt because he was befriending her made her realize she cared about him far more than as a mere friend.
“You have to back off, Eric,” she said as she sat nursing a cup of tea. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Let me worry about that, Cass,” Eric said as he refused to let go of her hand. “I care about what happens to you.” He saw the fear in her eyes shift to hope and he knew he was right. She cared about him, too. “That’s why we have to figure out how to get you away from my family.”
“I tried that once, Eric,” Cassie shut down and pulled her hand away. “My baby died because of me.”
“That’s not true, Cassie,” Eric shook his head, ready to tell her the truth. “Your baby…”
“Miss Baker?” a man who was quite obviously something more than a police officer asked as he stopped by the table. He opened his wallet and showed her the credentials of a private investigator. “I’m Henry Evans. I was hired me to find you.”
““I don’t care who hired you to find me,” Cassie said as she grabbed her purse and got to her feet, “tell them to leave me alone.” She felt despair flood through her as she was forced to let a chance for freedom slip through her fingers. “My life is here.”
Henry Evans watched her expressive face and frowned. She was terrified at the thought of leaving this town and his nature made it imperative that he found out why. She didn’t have to talk to him. It was enough for now that he had finally found her for her father and brother’s peace of mind. After six months of having to look at the faces of every teenaged girl in the morgues and hospitals around the country, they would finally know she was alive.
“How did you find me?” Cassie asked the question that was uppermost in her mind then.
“A little boy was brought into the Emergency Room at the hospital in Centerville,” Henry told her. “He was hurt, Miss Baker, and needed transfusions.”
“I had a baby four months ago,” Cassie sank back down into the chair. “He was born dead. I was in a car accident and I was too weak…” She froze as he shook his head. “You’re telling me that he is alive? That I was lied to?”
“Yes,” Henry nodded. “His uncle, your older brother, has the same blood type. We found you through the records from your time in the hospital. There weren’t that many fifteen year olds with your blood type giving birth on October 23rd of this year.” He saw her struggling to come to grips with the fact that her child was alive. “Since it was a very rare blood type, they ran a DNA test when his mother told the doctor the boy was adopted”
“He is not my son,” Cassie broke in, feeling the old fear and the surge of memories shaking her resolve. “My son is dead! He has to be dead,” she continued as she felt the tears pricking at her eyelids now; “otherwise I have let myself be imprisoned in this town for no reason!” She looked over at Eric and anger flooded through her at his betrayal. He had known her son was alive, and he had never said a word until now? How could someone who told her he cared about her have done such an uncaring thing to her? She started gathering her things together, her heart throbbing with pain. “Just tell them you found me and I am alive. They don’t need to worry about me.”
“Your father would like to talk to you,” Henry said gently, noting her panic, “about what to do with your son…”
“No!” Cassie was back on her feet and shaking in fear. If Garrison found out she knew about her son, he would threaten the baby to make her obey. “I can’t! Don’t you understand that?” Her eyes were huge with fright and Henry was stricken with conscience. She turned to Eric who had listened to the exchange without comment. “I hate you for lying to me, Eric. You’re supposed to be my friend!”
“Cassie, wait!” Eric got on his feet to follow her. He took a few steps and saw the anguish in her eyes. His hand fell to his side and he watched as she drove away. “Damn!”
Henry did not follow her. He knew where she was. He saw the young man eyeing him with a strange mixture of protectiveness and curiosity. She had a champion. Her father’s biggest concern was that she was alone and hurting. But from what he and his team had found out, Cassie had everything she needed. But he had an odd feeling it was a means of keeping her chained to this town.
“So I’m right in believing she is really Cassie Yates?” Henry asked the young man.
“You’re not leaving her alone, are you, Mister Evans?” Eric asked coldly as he came back to the table. He could see the man was good at what he did and wouldn’t stop until he had what he was sent for. “It would be safer for you if you just let this drop.”
“You heard her, kid,” Henry replied as he watched Cassie drive away. “She doesn’t want to go. I will give her father and brother her message and let them decide what to do next, but I am not letting it drop.” He saw the relief on the boy’s face. “You like her, don’t you?”
“Cassie is my friend,” Eric nodded, “and she needs all the friends she can get.” He saw the man catch on to the hitch in his voice. “My older brother has decided he wants her and I am doing all I can to help her refuse.” He got up and stretched. “I need to get home. If I don’t keep an eye on him, he’s going to do something stupid.”
“We are going to have people watching her,” Henry said to the boy as he turned to go. Eric nodded and the stiffness eased as he understood Cassie was being protected. “We’ll remain here until my client makes a decision about how he wants us to proceed.”
“Just don’t spook her, Mr. Evans,” Eric said without turning. “Cassie is no better than a prisoner here,” he continued as he made the decision to trust the man. If he was going to get Cassie out of here then he needed help. “She has been led to believe she has no choice but to live in our town and do as she is told.”
“Then we got here just in time,” Henry nodded. He nodded to Eric and got out his phone. “David, get someone on Adam Garrison. He’s harassing the girl.”
Eric drove home, still thinking about what he’d learned. He was not paying attention so he did not see the fist as his brother attacked him. He hit the floor and looked up at Adam coldly. His father stood in the doorway of the study watching them.
“What the hell was that for?” Eric asked as he got to his feet and faced his brother.
“You get in the way again, Eric,” Adam snapped, “and I will break you! Cassie is my girl and I won’t let you worm your way into her affections and take her from me!”
“She doesn’t want you, Adam,” Eric said tightly. “Hasn’t she made that abundantly clear the past four months?”
“She is mine, little brother,” Adam shoved his brother and headed for the front door.
“He’s going to get in trouble, Dad,” Eric said as he watched his brother slam out of the house. “Cassie’s father sent a private eye to find her. She knows that her son is alive now.”
“Is that so?” Jonathan Garrison frowned. He looked at Eric. “You like that girl, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” Eric nodded. “She’s a nice girl. I don’t want my brother to hurt her again.” He nodded to his father. “I’ll head up to my room now. Good night, Dad.”
“Good night, son,” Jonathan nodded. He turned back into his study and closed the door. “Johnson,” he snapped when the call was picked up. “The girl has shadows. Discourage them.” He smiled tightly. “Keep an eye on her. The girl is flighty and my son is pushy. She will run if he is not careful and we can’t allow that.”

Cassie got home and Adam was waiting for her. He opened the car door and she got inside. She had no choice; he knew she wasn’t going to make a scene. They drove to the lake and she saw the other cars waiting for them. She tried to open the door as a shadowy figure approached and Adam locked it and shook his head at her.
“I’ve talked to Dad, honey,” Adam smiled as he let her out so the stranger could grab her arms. “He says it is time for me to marry you.”
“I’m only sixteen, Adam,” Cassie protesTed. “I don’t want…”
“For an intelligent girl, Cassie,” Adam broke in as he came around to her, “you are remarkably dense.” He made her look at him. “You know we don’t get a choice in this, honey. My father owns us.”
“That’s slavery, Adam,” Cassie whimpered. She tried to pull out of the stranger’s hold and he tightened his grip and brought her to tears. “It’s illegal.”
“This is Garrisonville,” Jonathan said to her coldly. She looked towards the sound of his voice and saw him seaTed in a large chair like a king on his throng. “I say what is legal and illegal here and I say that you are more than old enough to get married.” He looked at the man holding her. “Is the priest here?” The man nodded. “Then bring her.”
Cassie was forced to follow as Adam headed down towards the lake. She saw the bonfire and people waiting and her heart was filled with fear. At first she thought these were only Adam’s cronies waiting for them. But as she was pulled forward, she saw other faces. The entire town was here. What was he planning now? She saw that they had laid out padding near the bonfire. The looks on the faces of the waiting throng horrified her.
“You see here,” a man clothed in red robes intoned as Adam went to his father and Jonathan bowed his head, “the one chosen to be Adam Garrison’s bride.” He turned to let one of the girls remove his clothing. “Tonight they wed in the witness of this company.”
“No!” Cassie screamed and tried to pull free. Two of the girls in the group moved in on her and they stripped her. Then they poured Adam’s cologne over her struggling body and she was forced over to the pad and put on her knees. “Let me go!” She looked at Adam as he came towards her, his naked body glowing in the moonlight. “Adam, stop this!” His eyes were glowing with lust and she looked at Jonathan. “Please, don’t do this!”
“It is decided,” Jonathan said to her, his voice telling her how pleased he was by this event.
“It is time for you to become mine, Cassandra Justine Yates,” Adam said as he knelt in front of her. He grabbed her hand and slid the rings on her finger. “I choose you to be my wife.”
“Let the joining of their bodies signify the joining of their lives,” the priest’s voice rose in exultation. “Once joined, let no man rend them asunder.”
Cassie shook her head and saw the anguish in Adam’s eyes as his father laughed in triumph. He was shaking as he pushed her back as the others pounded on drums and someone played a strange tune on a recorder. She lost all track of the noise as she fought him as he raped her. He whispered his apology to her for letting himself be forced into this action and he took her gently. When she tried to get up while he resTed, she found the others were still there. They had watched in silence while she had been assaulTed. The next generation of her jailers, she sobbed as she was shoved back down.
“I give you Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Garrison,” the priest smiled once Adam was through with her. He clapped his hands and the others joined suit. Cassie closed her eyes as the people began to cheer.
“You’re mine now, Cassie,” Adam told her as he got dressed. “I wish I could have stopped this,” he whispered in her ear as he kissed her on the cheek. He tossed her clothing to her and watched as she tried to get dressed.
“She’s so overcome with gratitude and longing that she can’t move,” Jonathan laughed. “Help her.” He checked his watch as the girls helped Cassie get dressed. “It’s getting late. Take you home now, son.”
Cassie was shaking in fear as he took her to the diner. He carried her up the stairs and unlocked the door as he held her to him as if he actually cared about her. They got into bed and he fell asleep with his arm over her. But Cassie could not sleep. Her baby was alive! Jonathan had lied to her all of these months and let her mourn her boy when he was safe and alive with a family he had chosen. She had to see him and make certain he was all right. And after that she would keep running because there was no way she was staying married to Adam!
“He was hurt,” Cassie whimpered as she remembered what the detective had told her. “I need to know that he’s all right.” The phone rang and she picked it up without thinking. “Cassie Baker.”
“Baker?” Jonathan laughed. “No longer, my dear child. You’re a Garrison now and I just wanTed to welcome to the family.”
“Mr. Garrison.” Cassie struggled to keep the panic out of her voice. Her hand gripped the receiver tight. “What do you want?”
“You will call me Father, Cassandra,” Justine said coldly. “You are my daughter now.”
“You are not my father, Mr. Garrison,” Cassie snapped. She hung up the phone and sank down on the couch sobbing. “Why can’t he leave me alone?”
She jumped as someone knocked on the door and she went to open it. Eric was standing there. She grabbed her coat and stepped outside with him and they walked to the park without saying a word. Only when they were hidden from curious eyes, did she turn to him. She slapped him and he was not angry. He knew he deserved much worse. He should have known Adam was going to hurt her tonight. He should have stopped him.
“I am not going to defend my silence, Cassie,” Eric said to her. “I should have told you when I found out, but you were so sick. Then I let my father convince me it was better for you not to know he was alive.” He hung his head. “I was a weak fool!” He put his hand on her arm. “I want to help you, Cassie…”
“How can I believe you, Eric?” Cassie broke in and moved away from his touch. “All this time, I thought you were my friend. And you were lying to me!” She wrapped her arms around her body. “How many more things were you lying about?” she asked sharply. “Were you only pretending to be my friend so you could spy on me for your family?”
“No!”
“How can I trust anything you say to me, Eric?” Cassie sobbed. She waiTed and saw the anguish in his expression shifting to something she did not recognize. And then he had her in his arms and his lips were on hers. Her fear and anger melTed away and she was confused. It wasn’t like it was with Adam. She pulled away and looked at him in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“I love you, Cassie,” Eric said simply as he let her go. “And even if it kills me, I am going to get you out of this nightmare!”
“It’s too late, Eric,” Cassie cried in despair. “Adam married me tonight.” She saw him go white. “I’m not going anywhere.” She heard a door slam and turned to see Adam coming their way. “You have to go! He’ll kill you if he sees you with me.”
“I’m not giving up, Cassie,” Eric said to her. “I’m going to get you away from him.”
He took off and Cassie burst into tears. Why was this happening to her? What had she ever done to deserve to have her life turn into such a nightmare? She felt him getting closer and looked up to see Adam standing over her. He yanked her up to her feet and took her back to the apartment.
“I wish I could have stopped him, Cassie,” Adam told her as he poured them both some juice, “but my father was insistent. He told me he’d sell you if I didn’t marry you tonight.”
“We could have run away, Adam,” Cassie said to him.
“He has a lot of contacts, honey,” Adam told her. “He would just bring us back.” He reached over to touch her cheek. “I know you don’t have any reason to believe me, Cassie, but I really do care about you.”
“You’re right, Adam,” Cassie said as she finished her juice and took the glasses into the kitchen, “I don’t believe you.”

Cassie was in the movie theater the next day watching an old classic film when Adam joined her. She had been puzzling over Eric’s words since he had spoken them and still could not quite believe that he had meant them the way she hoped. Adam was her reality; Eric was only a dream. Encouraging Eric would only get him hurt and she cared too much about him to let that happen.
“I thought you might be here,” Adam said as he held out his hand. “Let’s go into the balcony where we can be more private.”
Cassie did not argue. She followed Adam up to the balcony and he smiled as he put his arm around her shoulder and just sat with her as if their argument had never taken place. She had been ordered not to wear pants anymore and arrived home to find all of her jeans and slacks missing from her closet. The argument had sent her fleeing to the theater for some time to think. Of course he would learn where she was; every person in town was keeping an eye on her now that she was married to Adam.
“Oh honey,” he purred as he turned her head to him and kissed her. “I have been hungering for a taste of you all day.”
His hand clamped down over her mouth to keep her from being heard as his hand moved under her blouse and caressed her breast. It didn’t matter. Every one in town knew she was his now. She could see it in their expressions before they turned away. They were not going to risk their own comfort to help her.
“What the hell are you kids doing up here?” Eric snapped as his flashlight swept over them. Cassie had forgotten that he was the acting manager today. Cassie kept her face hidden as Adam glared at his brother. “Adam,” Eric frowned. “I didn’t know it was you. I thought it was some high school kid up here necking with his girlfriend.”
“Instead you find the town prince,” Adam laughed, “necking with his wife.” He pulled Cassie up and put her in his lap. “Thank you, honey,” he purred as he ran his tongue along Cassie’s neck. “You always know just how to make me feel better.”
“You’re really married?” Eric’s face lost all color as he saw the despair in Cassie’s eyes. His brother had gone too far! “Congratulations, Adam. Cassie.”
He left the balcony and Adam kissed Cassie and set her on her feet. He could see the sorrow in his wife’s eyes and he wished there was some way he could make her feel better. He was happy enough with this marriage; he wanTed her to be happy as well.
“George and Gloria are out of town for the next week,” he said as he nuzzled her neck. “We are going to spend our honeymoon at their place, honey. Then we will be going to the ranch in Arizona.”
Cassie knew she was not being offered a choice so she didn’t say a word. He opened the car door for her and she got in. Her life was not hers. She was going to spend the rest of her time on this earth as this man’s property. Resentment mounTed in her mind and she knew that her decision to run was right. She would call the detective and tell him to warn her son’s parents of the danger facing them and them she would leave.
“Did I ever tell you that you have very expressive features, honey,” Adam smiled as he helped her out of the car at the diner. He clamped his hands on her arms and he kissed her in full view of the customers in the diner. “You run,” he said to her coldly, “and my brother will suffer a horrendous accident.”
“You wouldn’t hurt your own brother!” She looked up at him in disbelief and saw he was not lying. He knew Aaron cared about her and he did not like it one bit.
“Those were Dad’s words,” Adam told her as they headed to the diner, “not mine.”
Cassie got out her keys and Adam took them from her and unlocked the door. The table in the dining room had been set for them with candles. A bottle of wine was chilling in an ice bucket next to the table.
“Dad wanTed to do something special for us,” he whispered into her ear as he held her to him. “Go put on the gift he bought you.”
Cassie went into her bedroom and saw a gift box on the bed. She opened it and saw an emerald green nightgown and robe that were so sheer she might as well have been naked. She turned as the door opened and two of Jonathan’s employees walked in. They pulled out her suitcases and starTed packing her clothing.
“What are you doing?” Cassie demanded as she saw what they were doing. “Those are my clothes!”
“You won’t need these old rags,” Marsha Winters laughed as she tossed things into the suitcase. “They’re being donaTed to Goodwill. Adam is going to give you whatever he thinks you need from now on.”
“He’s waiting for you, Cassandra,” the other girl, a blond Barbie clone named Gillian Anderson, snapped. “Do you need help getting undressed?” Her sly look made Cassie sick. “He was really gentle with you at the joining ceremony.”
Cassie took the nightgown and robe into the bathroom and put it on. She came out to find them waiting for her. They made her sit down and combed out her hair. Then they sent her out to Adam who was waiting by the table for her. He pulled a chair out for her and nuzzled her neck once she was seaTed.
“You aren’t leaving me anything,” she protesTed as she watched her clothing being taken away. She was glad now she’d stashed her backpack and a change of clothing inside the empty space behind her closet.
“You’re my wife now,” Adam said as he raised her hair so he could nibble the nape of her neck. “If you need clothing, I will provide it to you.” He looked at the nightgown and she could see the lust building in his eyes. “Dad is going out of his way to insure you stay with me, Cassie. He knows you’ll find it very hard to run away wearing only a nightgown.”
“Why is he so insistent we remain here, Adam?” Cassie asked him. “What could he do if we left without his permission?”
“If we try,” Adam told her sadly, “he will activate a document your Grandmother had on hand. It declares you mentally incompetent and gives your husband full control of you.” He looked towards the kitchen where Gillian was waiting. “Serve and then leave us alone.”
Cassie watched as Gillian put the dinner on the table. He kept his hands and lips moving as the woman worked and she was ready to hurt him for doing this to her. He ran his hand down her arm and she felt something silky against her wrist. Before she could register what he was doing, he had bound her wrists behind her back.
“I want to do everything for you tonight, Cassie,” Adam said as he sat down in the chair next to hers. He cut her meat and lifTed a piece to her lips. “Eat.”
“That bastard is cutting her off from everyone and everything,” Henry frowned as he lowered the binoculars. He was still incensed at being sent off on a wild goose chase last night so that Garrison could force the girl into marriage. “It’s time for us to step in and…” He quieTed as a car pulled up and Eric got out. “The would-be champion.”
Eric stormed up the stairs and pounded on the door. Marsha opened it and he pushed past her to look for Adam. He saw his brother trying to make Cassie eat from his hand and he saw red. Eric slapped the fork out of Adam’s hand and slugged him across the jaw.
“Damn it, Adam!” he screamed as he untied Cassie. “She is a human being, not a pet!” He pushed her towards her room. “Get changed, Cassie. I’m getting you out of here.”
“You’re not taking my wife anywhere, Eric,” Adam said coldly. He was shocked when Marsha hit Eric over the head with a lamp. “What are you going to do with him?”
“Your father left orders that Eric was to be jailed for being drunk and disorderly,” Marsha told him, “if he interrupTed your honeymoon.”
“Don’t put him in jail,” Cassie hung her head. “I’ll convince him to leave me alone.”
“It’s not our decision,” Adam sighed as Eric was taken away. He tied Cassie’s wrists again and ran his tongue over her lips. He enjoyed her whimper of protest mingled with fear. “Now let’s get back to dinner.”

There was a wool jersey dress in cerulean blue and beautiful lingerie waiting for her when she woke up the next morning. Adam brought in a pair of black thigh high boots and made a great production out of zipping them onto her. Once she got dressed, Adam took her to the jewelry store where he bought her a golden choker with diamonds along the front. He fastened it around her neck and kissed her until her knees buckled. She came to in the manager’s office where Adam continued the attack.
“No one is ever going to say nasty things about you again, honey,” Adam said as he kissed the tip of her nose afterwards. “Samantha has a gown waiting for you that I want you to wear when we got to Toledo. I’ll take you for the fitting.”
Cassie could only go along with him. Her mind was complete mush after his attack. She didn’t love this man, but he could make her body do things that made her feel wonderful as they happened and then deeply ashamed and disgusTed with herself when the glow faded. She had to get away from him before she lost all control of herself. Her shame turned to outright pain as she remembered the look on Eric’s face when he had caught them in the balcony. He was going to hate her now. She had lost her only true friend.
“The town is looking forward to the reception when you get back from Toledo, Cassie,” Samantha, the centenarian who owned the local dress shop, sighed and clapped her hands together. “I understand you are moving to Arizona.”
“That’s what I’m told,” Cassie sighed. How could people be so blind? Couldn’t anyone besides Eric see how much she haTed being forced to stay married to Adam?
“I’m going to be late for work, Samantha,” Cassie said to the woman. “Help me out of this, please.”
“Work?” Adam laughed as he came in just then. “You quit, Cassie. Don’t you remember?” He winked at the woman. “Her mind has turned to mush this week, Samantha.”
“Who can blame her?” Samantha smiled back at him. “She’s lost in the delight of being your wife, Mr. Garrison.”
Cassie fled into the changing room, red-faced. She got changed and he was waiting for her. He took her to the house and kept pulling her along until they were in the study. Jonathan smiled at her and she shivered. He reminded her of a shark circling around a wounded fish.
“Cassandra,” he smiled as he pulled a folder out of his drawer and opened it. “We just have a few legal concerns to deal with and I’ll let you two get on with the honeymoon.”
Cassie saw the nuptial agreement he was asking her to sign and she read it slowly. She could get her own back a little by annoying them over this. She really didn’t care about their money. They could have it all. The clause she balked over was the one that staTed if she ever left Adam, he would retain custody of any children she gave him.
“You expect me to abandon my children to you if I leave?” she turned on them. “That makes me nothing but a – a brood mare for you.”
“Did you think it would ever be anything else?” Jonathan looked at her. “We all know you are not in love with Adam. You are just a convenient body for Adam to enjoy. Any children you bear for him are more properly raised in this home where they can have every advantage.” He shook his head as he had an uncomfortable thought. “I wish I could have left you alone, Cassandra, but your avaricious grandmother made that impossible.” He looked at her coldly. “You can blame her when you go see her next week to give her the happy news.”
“You think I will allow my children to be raised to think they can be manipulative, self-serving bastards like you and your older son?” Cassie snapped. She tried to stand up and Adam held her down. “You can’t make me do this! I am not letting you blackmail me any further!” She saw only amusement on their faces as Jonathan grabbed her arm and twisTed. “You’re hurting me!”
“Sign the document, Cassandra,” Jonathan told her. “It protects our future children from your lack of maternal instinct.” He stroked her cheek. “You should have known our son was alive, darling.”
“You bastard!” Cassie hissed at him and tried to slap him. Jonathan twisTed her arm again and she whimpered in pain. She picked up the pen and signed it. He released her and she picked up the document and ripped it in half. Jonathan slapped her across the face and promised her another document would be ready for her to sign quite soon. “Don’t bother,” she said as she took off the rings and threw them at Adam. “I am not staying married to your son! I hate you both!”
She ran from the room and hurried towards the front door. She was opening it when Adam caught her. He leaned on it and it shut fast against her. She turned to glare at him and he merely shook his head. This girl was so gloriously stubborn, he thought as he pulled her to him and kissed her. She put him to shame with her refusal to accept what she was ordered to do.
“You’ll learn to appreciate all the spoiling you will get as my son’s wife,” Jonathan laughed as he saw Adam take her towards the stairs. She tried to get loose and he twisTed her arm up behind her back and forced her upstairs to his suite.
“This will be our place when we visit Dad during the holidays.” He shoved her inside and locked the door behind them. “If you want to change the décor, it is allowed as long as you discuss it with me first. I won’t have anything too feminine in here.”
“Why are you so insistent on being married to me, Adam?” Cassie asked as he kept her moving towards the bed. “You could have anyone you want…”
“But I want you, honey,” Adam finished for her as he shoved her down on the bed. He laid his fingers on her lips. “We’re married now, Cassie. Please stop fighting now. I’ll be a good husband to you.”
Cassie pulled away from him; suddenly very frightened of him and this strange marriage she was trapped into. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, claiming her lips roughly. He was not at all gentle when he forced himself on her this time. When they returned to the diner she was bruised all over. Adam left her to run an errand and she took a long hot bath. The phone rang as she was combing out her hair and she picked it up.
“Cassie Baker,” she choked out, failing to hold onto her control.
“Oh honey,” Gloria crooned as she spoke over the line. “It can’t possibly be as bad as you think it is.”
“No,” Cassie whimpered. “It’s worse.” She told Gloria everything then. “What am I going to do, Gloria? Adam’s father has trapped us into this marriage. I am never going to be free of them!”
“You need to tell that detective everything then,” Gloria told her; knowing that she was slitting her own throat by speaking this way, “and ask him what you should do. I think it’s time you let your father help you.” Cassie wished it were that simple and she said so. “You know your grandmother, do you really believe a word she said to you?” Cassie began to realize how she had been manipulaTed and anger replaced despair. “They sent a man to find you, honey. I think that shows they want to meet you at least.”
“I can’t think right now,” Cassie said, feeling some of the fear easing away through the woman’s concern. “You and George have been like parents to me, Gloria. Thank you.”
“Do you need any money?” Gloria asked her the practical question. “I have about $400 saved up that you can borrow. It’s hidden in our secret cupboard with an emergency kit.”
“No, Gloria,” Cassie replied; “you are doing enough by encouraging me to run. Mr. Garrison is not going to take that kindly.” She didn’t need money; she had stolen the money her grandmother had accepTed for turning Cassie into a slave. It was something she had never told anyone, and she was not going to risk losing it by admitting she had it. “I’m just going to make certain Oliver is all right and then I’ll be back.” She haTed herself for lying to the woman, but she could not be certain that Gloria was not going to tell someone what she had said. “I can’t take away his future so I’m going to do as Adam asks.”
“Wait until morning,” Gloria advised her. “You need some sleep.” Cassie nodded. “You are far too emotional right now. Take a sedative so you can sleep.”
Cassie did not argue. When Gloria had that tone in her voice, then no one argued with her. Cassie knew Gloria was right. She was still shaking from the news she’d been given about her son. Once she was certain that Oliver was all right, she would go somewhere she could have a life of her own choosing.
“I love you, Gloria Baker,” Cassie choked. “I hope someday I’m half the woman you are.”
“Go find out about your boy, Cassie,” Gloria nodded. “You know you always have a home with us.”
Gloria hung up. She recognized the panic in Cassie’s voice. She was going to run. She went to her purse and made a phone call she had not wanTed to make. But Cassie was more than just a job to her. She had to do what she could to help the child. The detective had given them his card when he had stopped at the diner before she and George had been told they were going on vacation. Gloria had retrieved it from the trashcan after George had tossed it.
“Mr. Evans?” she said softly so Cassie and George couldn’t hear her. “This is Gloria Baker. Cassie has been forced to marry Adam Garrison. She is going to run.”
Cassie jumped as someone knocked on the door. She put her backpack and the stack of clothing next to it back in the hiding place in her closet before she opened the door. She wiped the tears off of her face as Adam walked in. He set down the bottle of wine and raised her eyes to his.
“Thinking about our little boy, honey?” he guessed as he saw the tears. “Run a bath. I’ll join you in a moment.”
Several hours later, while Adam was sleeping off the sedative Cassie had slipped into his wine, Cassie pulled out her backpack and got dressed. She took his car keys without a moment’s hesitation and drove out of town. She dumped his car and went the rest of the way on foot, spending what was left of the night in the motel near the bus station. With every minute that passed with her unmolesTed, her hope began to rise. She was going to be free!

Dekker and Belinda waiTed in the sun room at the end of the floor Justine’s room was locaTed the next morning. She could see that her husband was on edge and almost wished she had come alone. She watched him rise to his feet as an orderly brought Justine to them.
“Dekker, my dear grandson,” Justine smiled as she saw who her visitors were. “And this must be your lovely wife, Barbara.”
“There is no need to be catty, Justine,” Dekker said to his grandmother. “You know full well what my wife’s name is.” He saw her deflate. “We need the name of the man who raped Cassie and got her pregnant.” He saw her bit her lips. “Don’t lie to me, Justine.”
“Pretty Cassie,” Justine smiled as she went to sniff some of the roses hanging in a basket. “How is the darling girl these days?”
“She is safely away from you, Justine,” Belinda told her. “How could you do such a heinous thing to that child?”
“Oh the poor baby,” Justine crooned. Her expression told them that she was amused by their tale, not worried. Her eyes went cold then. “You really expect me to care? The little bitch nearly caved my skull in when she ran away from me.”
“Dekker!” Belinda cried as her husband leapt to his feet to throttle the woman. “Don’t! Leave the hateful bitch alone.” She looked at Justine in disgust. “She’s just a senile old woman. She wouldn’t remember what happened to Cassie three days ago, much less three years ago.”
“Jonathan Garrison bought her as a birthday present for his oldest son, Adam,” Justine snapped. “He was twenty-one.” She saw the look of triumph on Belinda’s face and she shrieked. “You manipulative little bitch!” she hissed as she came at Belinda with her claws out.
“Takes one to know one,” Dekker laughed as he pulled Belinda behind him. “Thank you for your help, Grandmother dear. Have a nice day.” They walked out as Justine cursed at them. They could see a nurse running that way with a needle while the orderly held the shrieking woman. “You were perfect, darling,” Dekker said as he embraced his wife. “I knew bringing you along was the right choice.”
“You told me to stay out of it, Dekker,” Belinda laughed at him as he opened the door of their car for her. “I’ve heard of Jonathan Garrison. His family owns a town in Ohio somewhere.” She pulled out her laptop case and fired it up. Belinda never went anywhere without it. “Thank God for wireless internet,” she said as she got on and typed in the man’s name. “How appropriate,” she said as she saw the results. “Garrisonville Ohio is about forty miles west of here.”
“That’s where Cassie is living,” Dekker frowned. “Henry was just there.” He hit a number on his speed dial. “Henry. It’s Dekker. The name of the man who raped Cassie was Adam Garrison. He’s the father of her child.”
“He’s what?” Henry’s voice came over the speakers.
“The bastard who got my sister pregnant when she was fifteen,” Dekker repeaTed. “My grandmother sold Cassie to Jonathan Garrison. My sister was his son’s twenty-fifth birthday present.”
“Bitch!” Henry snarled. “So essentially your grandmother sold your sister to this bastard Garrison so he could present her to his son like a toy? Adam Garrison married her three days ago, Dekker.” There was silence on the line, and when he spoke again, his voice was filled with amusement. “She sedaTed him and gave him the slip last night. Your sister got on the bus to Toledo early this morning.” He could feel the tension in Dekker. “She’s coming to check on the boy, so be careful not to spook her. The woman has the feeling that’s Cassie is getting ready to run.”
“Of course I’ll be careful,” Dekker nodded. He hung up and turned to Belinda. “Cassie is on her way, Belinda,” he said to his wife. “You were right. She couldn’t stay away once she was told her son was alive.”
“I still think it was a very underhanded thing to do,” Belinda frowned at him. “She’s coming here thinking the boy is hurt.” She thought of their friend. “I’m surprised Henry went along with it.”
“He was told only to use that line,” Dekker replied, “if Cassie proved reluctant to come home.” He looked stern. “Dad wants to meet her, Belinda. How am I supposed to tell him his own daughter doesn’t want to see him?”
“Poor Dekker,” Belinda laid her hand on his cheek. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” She kissed him and they drove home, where their nephew and his adopTed parents were waiting. “She’s on her way,” Belinda told them and saw their worry. “Cassie is not looking to take her son away from you,” she told them and saw them relax. “But we would like you to consider letting the rest of us into his life when he’s older. He is our family, too.”
“We’ll wait to talk to Cassie about it,” Steve Parker nodded as he saw his wife’s face. “We never asked her to stay out of Oliver’s life, Doctor Yates. She never had that choice.” He could see something in Dekker’s eyes. “How did she end up pregnant at 15 in the first place?”
“That’s Cassie’s story to tell,” Dekker said tightly. He went to the liquor cabinet. “I need a drink!”
“Bad?” his wife Amy asked Belinda.
“Worse,” Belinda nodded. “You and your wife are going to need to stay here where we can protect you until the man is in custody.” She saw their fear and understood it. They had just found out the biological mother of the boy they thought of as their son was alive. “We can’t take the chance that he won’t decide to come after your child,” she assured them. “It shouldn’t be too much longer.”

Cassie stepped out of the hair salon she’d gone into and smiled. She had been promising herself to get her hair done for a very long time; getting married was a perfect excuse to have it done. It was now cut shorter to just below her shoulders and she enjoyed the way it moved as she did. She put on her sunglasses and hefTed her backpack over her shoulder and walked away from the car. She had her money in the backpack.
She felt free for the first time in years. There was still some fear about going back where all of her problems had begun, but she knew it was the right thing to do. Oliver might not be her son anymore, but she wanTed to know he was all right. She saw the bus station and got a ticket to Toledo. From there she would rent a car and drive the rest of the way to Centerville. She bought a book and settled into a seat in the back. She was reading when someone sat down next to her.
“Hey, Cassie,” Adam said as he smiled coldly and put his arm around her. “You took off before I could pick you up.” He grabbed her hand and looked at her sternly as he put the rings back on her finger. “I wish I could let you go, baby,” he said as he leaned close, “but Dad said I had to bring you back.” He winced as she bumped against his arm and she saw the bandage on his wrist. “It’s nothing,” he said as he pulled it away before she could check. “He was just reminding me who was in charge.”
“Why?” Cassie snapped at him. “I was coming right back.”
“Liar,” Adam ran his fingers along her lips. “I’d like to see that our boy is all right before we try to figure out a way to get away from my father.” She looked at him in shock as she heard him actually saying that he would help her escape. She had been so wrong about Adam. “I don’t want to live under his thumb anymore, Cassie.”
“Is it possible, Adam?” Cassie said softly, her head going down. “I want to believe you mean it so please don’t be playing games with me.”
“That’s my good girl,” Adam nodded. He pulled a blanket out of his backpack and covered her with it. “Try to get some rest,” he said into her ear and she shivered as his breath warmed her cheek. “Dad has a car waiting for us at the station in Toledo. Got any money?”
“In my backpack,” Cassie shuddered as his stroking sent her mind and nerves into a tailspin. She had told him the truth before she could prevent the words from being spoken. “Stop it!” she moaned as he kissed her until she was dizzy. “Please don’t do this here.”
“Tell me how much you like it, honey,” Adam said as he locked eyes with her. “Come on, Cassie. Don’t lie. I can tell you like this.”
“I don’t like this,” Cassie sobbed as he stopped what he was doing. “Don’t you understand, Adam? My Grandmother sold me like a – a cow or a horse so you could do what you wanTed with me! I don’t want to belong to you!”
“That’s not important, honey,” Adam told her. He cupped her chin in his hand. “You are my wife, Cassie, and I don’t want to let you go.” He put his arm around her shoulder. “Get some rest now.” He kissed her gently and looked into her eyes. “You’re going to have a good life, honey,” Adam said to her. “I will be the best husband ever.”
“Adam please don’t do this to me,” Cassie whimpered. “I want a life of my own.”
“Please don’t give up on us quite so soon, Cassie.” His hand moved under her t-shirt and she burst into tears. “Oh honey. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t tease you like that in your condition.”
“My condition?” Cassie asked in confusion.
“Of course,” Adam smiled at her. He stroked her lips. “I didn’t use protection with you at our joining.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Angela took a blood test when you went to her, Cassie, and she said you were fertile. There is a good chance that you are carrying my child.”
With the word ‘child’ Cassie could hear the bars of her cage door slamming shut. There was no way she could leave him if that were true. He would have a weapon he could use against her for the rest of their lives together. She would not do anything to hurt a child. Adam pulled her closer. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep. She was surprised when the bus pulled to a stop.
“Welcome to Toledo, honey,” Adam smiled at her. He took both of the backpacks in his hand and clamped his other hand around her wrist. They left the bus station and he found the car waiting where he had been assured it would be. They were driven to the best hotel in town. “The bridal suite, please,” he said as he smiled at the desk clerk. “My wife and I are eager to begin our honeymoon.”
“I can see that,” the clerk smiled. If the bride was looking a bit anxious, she could put that down to nerves. The woman finished the registration, accepTed the cash for the room and handed them one key card. “You young people won’t be wanting to leave the room tonight,” she blushed and giggled like a schoolgirl.
They went up in the elevator and Adam actually carried Cassie over the threshold as if it was really their honeymoon. He kissed her the entire way to the bed. She was limp as he dropped her down on the mattress and did not fight him as he had sex with her. She was past all hope of refusing when Adam sent her to the skies and she fell. She was suddenly very certain that she was in danger of falling for Adam Garrison.
“You are so lovely, my wife,” Adam sighed afterwards, as they lay wrapped in each other. “I should have taken you with me that night instead of letting your grandmother talk me into leaving you behind.” He ran his hand along her abdomen. “We would have Oliver now if you hadn’t tried to run away.”
“Your father gave him away to punish us!” Cassie whimpered. The tears were coursing down her cheeks then. “He never intended there to be consequences when you raped me, Adam!”
“I told him I didn’t want to do that to you,” Adam said gently. “No one ever says no to my Father.” He stroked her cheek and she could see the shame and regret in them as he remembered that night. “He drugged me so I couldn’t stop myself from hurting you like that.”
“She sold me to your father!” Cassie remembered. “I told her I didn’t want to go to you and she dragged me into your room kicking and screaming.” She could see he wasn’t listening to her. “You remember that?”
“You were so frightened, honey,” Adam told her. He held her to his side so she couldn’t move. “You were given to me and I could not stop myself from taking you.” He wrapped one of her dark curls around her finger and was silent for a moment. He pulled her on top of him. “Make love to me, honey, the way it should have been if you had been willing.”
Cassie knew she was lost as far as her body went. He had only to touch her now and she wanTed to give him what he was asking her for. Despite the beginnings of their relationship, she knew she had lost. She was falling in love with the man who she had been forced to make her husband.

Eric pulled over at a rest stop and made a phone call to Cassie’s brother in Centerville. Once he would have felt like a traitor calling the man. But Cassie needed her family. It was time his father and brother were stopped from ruining her life. He got himself a snack and some water and headed for his car. The detective he was about to call next was leaning on it waiting for him.
“They’re in Toledo,” he told Henry bluntly. “My brother may have forced her to marry him, but I am not going to rest until she is free of him.”
“And you’re jut going to charge in there like the cavalry,” Henry smiled at the young man, “and rescue her?”
“It’s my fault she’s in this fix,” Eric said. “I knew how to reach her family and I just sat back and let my father and brother turn her into a slave.” He saw Henry’s face. “What else would you call it? She was lied to and told her baby had died. She was turned over to a family that discouraged her from contacting her family. My brother forced her every chance he got. She was not allowed to refuse.”
“You actually care about her, don’t you, boy?” Henry asked in amazement.
“I love her, Detective Evans,” Eric correcTed him. “If she can ever forgive me for lying to her and standing by while she was abused by my family, then I am going to marry her!”
“Then let’s go get her, boy,” Henry nodded. He nodded to a man waiting down the block. “David will drive your car. Mine is faster.”

Cassie wondered how he could keep going. They made love lingeringly before dinnertime came and he was energized and demanded more while she felt like a limp dishrag. Cassie was growing more and more confused. This was the man who had raped her when she was fifteen, and now she was his wife a year later.
“You look puzzled, honey,” Adam smiled as he reached over to stroke her cheek. She tried to pull away from him and he yanked her back. “It’s only natural that I’d want you. You and I are married now.” He got up and went to sit in a large chair by the phone and patTed his lap. “Come sit in my lap, honey. I want to pet you.”
“No,” Cassie shook her head and backed away from him. “Adam, you can’t do this…”
He yanked her off the bed and forced her into his lap. He kissed her on the cheek and made a phone call to a Judge that his father knew in town. He was really going through this nonsense, Cassie realized. She was going to spend the rest of her life in Adam’s cage.
“Judge Daniels, please.” He nibbled at her neck as he waiTed. “Judge Daniels, this is Theodore Garrison. My father asked me to call?” He listened to what the man had to say. “We’ll be waiting for you. We’re in the Bridal Suite.” He hung up and hugged Cassie. “He has the agreement for you to sign.”
“I don’t want to,” Cassie reminded him. “You know that!” She blushed as he looked at her with his intentions clear in his eyes. “You don’t care what I want, though, do you?”
“Of course I do!” Adam frowned and looked at her in anguish. “But we’re trapped here, Cassie. My father’s men are just outside and his Judge is going to be coming to make you sign that agreement.” He held her tight. “I would never hold you to it.” He opened the nightstand and showed her the condoms. “I am not going to give him grandchildren to destroy the way he’s tried to destroy Eric and I.”
“You’re taking a big risk confiding in me,” Cassie said to him. “How do you know I won’t break and tell him what you’re up to?”
“Because you are my fierce and loving wife,” Adam said to her. “You give me strength and remind me that some things are worth fighting for.” He kissed her fiercely. “I love you, Cassie.”
Cassie couldn’t stop herself from responding to his touch. She was losing all control where this man was concerned and her confusion was helping him win out over her reserve and her fear. What his hands were doing to her made her feel things she did not want to feel for this bastard. She sighed and she moaned and he kissed her until her head was spinning.
“A dress is hanging in the closet, honey,” Adam laughed when he drove her over the edge and she was limp. “The Judge should be here soon.” He picked up a water glass and put a pill into it. “I am going to sedate myself. Eric should be here soon to get you away from here.”
“But you can’t stay behind,” Cassie protesTed, even as he drank the drugged water. “Your father will kill you!”
“Remember, my little love,” Adam said as he hugged her close, “some things are worth fighting for.” He stroked her cheek. “Get dressed and be ready to go with Eric.”
He smiled as she did as he told her but then he passed out from the sedative he’d slipped into the water. There was a knock on the door and it was not Judge Daniels standing there.
“Hello Cass,” he smiled at her as she rushed into his open arms. “Adam asked me to help.”
She changed and left the dress lying across the bed with the rings on top of it and a slip of paper that said ‘I don’t want you’ on it. When the Judge arrived, Adam was out cold.

Adam woke up and found his father seaTed beside the bed, scowling. He had talked to the Judge and heard his side of things. Adam told him that he had fallen asleep and Cassie had run. He begged his father to leave her alone. He wanTed Cassie to have time to think about things and realize that she belonged with him. Jonathan was just as insistent that she would be brought back immediately. They argued for several minutes and then Jonathan finally snapped.
“You will do as you’re told, Adam,” Jonathan frowned. He was angry. “We should have the documents Justine had prepared declaring the girl mentally incompetent in a few hours. She can not file for divorce then.”
“She is my wife, Dad!” Adam snarled, his fists clenched in anger. “I won’t let you do that to her.”
“Of course you will,” Jonathan smiled cruelly, “or I will drive the pretty thing into an insane asylum.” He saw Adam flinch. “You don’t want her to spend the rest of her life in a straightjacket, do you boy?”
“Of course not,” Adam replied. “Isn’t it enough that she’ll be declared incompetent? As her husband, I will be her legal guardian and we will have access to her inheritance.”
“You’re starting to care for the girl!” Jonathan was surprised. He saw Adam’s slow nod. “Very well, son. We’ll hold off on committing her for now. I’ll have a nurse hired for her to help you keep her under control.” He looked at Adam sternly then. “From now on you will do as you are told if you want to keep her with you. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Father,” Adam lied. He went to pour himself a drink and his expression was harsh. His knuckles were white as he gripped the glass. “I’ll do as you ask.”
“I never doubTed it, son,” Jonathan nodded.

“What do you mean he’s vanished?” Henry snapped into his phone as he took a call from the people who were tracking down Adam Garrison. “He has to have left a trail somewhere.”
“Sorry, Chief,” his brother replied. “Adam closed out all of his accounts and took the cash with him. The person trailing him lost him at a bus station. He could be anywhere from Florida to Iowa by now.”
“Damn!” Henry cursed. “He’s probably tracking Eric and Cassie. “Did you find his car yet?”
“It was parked near a beauty parlor about a block east of the bus station where we lost him,” David told his brother. Henry heard a slapping sound. “We didn’t even think of asking about Cassie. I feel like a green kid, Henry. Let me check it out.”
Henry ended the call and shook his head. Rookie mistakes from seasoned detectives were not going to find Adam Garrison. By now the monster probably had the child believing she was falling in love with him. If they didn’t find them fast, Cassie was not going to want to leave Adam or press charges against him for what he had done to her. He saw Dekker coming into the office as his phone rang.
“Evans,” he said as he waved Dekker in. “David,” he nodded and put the call on speaker. “What did you find out?”
“Our sister was a step ahead of me as usual,” David said ruefully. “She showed Garrison’s picture to the hair stylists around the airport and one of them remembers him.” He paused. “We have him leaving on a Delta flight to Indianapolis.”
“Tell your twin she gets a bonus for pulling your ass out of the fire, brother,” Henry smiled and looked at Dekker. “Call us when you get anything.” He hung up and nodded to Dekker. “Taking some time off?”
“I came bearing gifts,” Dekker replied. He went to the door and waved to someone. A moment later, Agent Julie Benson walked in with Eric Garrison and Cassie. “Young Mr. Garrison wants to help us track down his older sibling. He feels he owes it to Cassie.”
“I should have seen this coming,” Eric nodded. “Our father is obsessed with keeping her under his control.” He clung to Cassie’s hand. “Adam and I won’t have that delusional bastard hurting Cassie!”
“Are you willing to press charges against Jonathan Garrison now, Cassie?” Julie asked the girl. Cassie looked uncertain. “What he did to you and his son is only becomes a crime if you say it isn’t what you wanTed.” Her phone rang and she answered. “What? Is this right?” Julie hung up and looked at Henry. “Justine Dekker was just found dead of an overdose at the sanitarium.”
“Wonderful! No personal testimony backing up the earlier rape.” Henry slammed his fist down on the intercom. “Molly, call David and Delia. Tell them to meet us at this address.” He read it off for the woman in the outer office. “Tell them to hurry.”
“Cassie, you come with me,” Dekker replied. “I’ll concentrate on Justine. Her records will have to be confiscaTed before her murderer destroys them.”
“I’d like to talk to Cassie for a minute,” Eric asked as Dekker turned to go. Dekker nodded and Eric took Cassie into an empty office. Eric closed the door and locked it. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her.
“I thought I was going to die when I heard Adam call you his wife,” he told her. “He forced you to agree, didn’t he?
“I don’t know if I want to stay married to him, Eric,” Cassie whimpered. “But I have a feeling your father is going to do something nasty if I try to leave your brother. He could hurt Oliver or you to get me to come back to him.”
“Oliver?” Eric frowned. “The baby they stole from you?” Cassie nodded. “If he does that he would be facing kidnapping charges for sure, Cassie.” He cupped her chin in his hand and looked into her eyes. “Don’t let them bully you. You should be married to a Garrison who loves you! Not one who wants to control you!” He saw her look at him in confusion. “Damn it, Cassie. How can you not believe I love you?”
“I do, Eric, but I don’t trust myself. I – I have to go,” Cassie choked and turned on her heel. She paused a moment. She yanked open the door and rushed out of the office to follow her brother. As they drove to Justine’s house, she sank back and prayed, surprised with herself when she realized she was praying for the chance of a life with Adam.

Cassie stood on the porch of the house that had been her prison for ten years of her life. She could feel ice forming in her blood as Dekker unlocked the door and stepped in after her. It was just as she remembered it. She ran her finger along the wedding band on her finger and the thought of Eric kept her from running in fear.
“Gloomy place,” Dekker’s voice made her jump. He patTed her on the shoulder and they went into the office. Some of the patrol officers were waiting there with boxes. “Just get it all packed. We’ll take it to my office and go through it there.” He watched Cassie go to the closet. “You don’t need to be here, Cassie.”
“It’s going to remain a nightmare,” Cassie replied, “if I can’t face it.” She opened the door and shivered. “It’s just a closet,” she choked out as she saw the shackles built into the ceiling. “Such a simple thing and Grandmother turned it into a torture chamber.” She opened the hatch in the back and pulled out three fireproof safes. “She hid what she felt was most important in here.”
“How did you know that was there, Cassie?’ Dekker asked as she moved her hand around and found the envelope with the keys inside.
“I kept my eyes open and my mouth shut,” Cassie said softly, “just like Grandmother told me to.”
“I don’t think she realized just how much you saw,” Dekker smiled and found Justine’s will. “She left you everything, Cassie. No wonder Garrison wanTed you to marry his son. You’re a very wealthy young woman.” He paled as he saw the next document. “Bingo!”
“What is it, Dekker?” Cassie asked him, knowing it had something to do with her.
“You don’t need to see it,” Dekker told her. “You’re safer that way.”
“Safer?” Cassie laughed. “I spent ten years of my life being abused and manipulaTed by a woman who was supposed to love me; and the next four months as a slave, Dekker. I don’t know what ‘safe’ is.” He took her in his arms and she had a sense that he was going to make certain she got a chance to learn. “I shouldn’t have run away that night.”
“You were scared,” Dekker squeezed her and then stepped back. “And you were just a kid.” He ruffled her hair and grinned at her. “Not that you aren’t still a kid!”
Cassie blushed and saw the police officers smiling at the interchange. She had no real memory of being Dekker’s sister. Justine had done her best to erase her memories of her life before the age of five from Cassie’s mind. She had been cheaTed and she knew it.
“There’s another room Grandmother never let me go inside,” Cassie said as she left the office and went upstairs. She walked past the room where Adam had raped her and she began to shake. She couldn’t make her feet move as she saw herself being shoved into that room.
“What is it, Cassie?” Dekker asked gently as he put his hands on her shoulders. “Can you tell me?”
“I was only fifteen, Dekker,” Cassie whimpered while she stood frozen in place. “I thought they were joking when Mr. Garrison offered Grandmother money for me. But then she came to my room later and told me Adam wanTed me in his bed and I wasn’t allowed to refuse.” She turned her head into his chest and he held her as she cried. “She forced me into the room and held me while he took off my clothes. I kept saying no and they just laughed at me. Then he shoved me onto the bed while she locked us inside and he raped me!”
“He’s going to pay for that, Cassie,” Dekker said tightly. “We’re going to find a way.”
“Adam was as much a victim that night as I was, Dekker,” Cassie nodded as she found the strength to get past the room. “Grandmother caught that night on tape and hid it. If she was thorough, there will be footage showing Adam being drugged so that he was forced to rape me.”
“You’re starting to care for Adam Garrison,” Dekker frowned as he heard her statement. He saw her blush. “Honey, you’re only a kid. You’re too young to be married.”
“I was too young to have a baby, too, Dekker,” Cassie said softly. “I need to show you something.”
She took him into a room filled with security monitors and other equipment. Cassie knocked on a wall and it opened up to display bookcases. She pulled the one out from the night of her birthday and put it in the machine. She left while Dekker watched the conversation at the dinner table, Jonathan’s argument with his son and the drug being forced on Adam, and the subsequent rape.
“This is going to hang them both,” he nodded to Cassie and took her downstairs. “I’m taking my sister with me, gentlemen. Keep up the good work.”
They went outside and got in the car. They continued the conversation they had on the way to the house and Cassie learned more about the family she’d been stolen from. Everything was good until they got down the hill. A car came out of a side road and Dekker’s car was slammed up against a tree. Cassie’s head hit the window and she blacked out. Dekker got out and someone hit him across the back of the head. As he blacked out he saw two men in ski masks take the tape. He memorized the license number of the car before he blacked out completely.
“Thank you, Davis,” Dekker said when he got a call at home later. “I know it was a long shot.” He hung up and turned to his father. “The car was found abandoned near the airport.” He slammed his hand into the wall. “Damn! We find evidence to nail those bastards and it gets stolen from us!”
“Grandmother made backup copies,” Cassie said as she came into the kitchen. She had taken a shower and put on clothes Belinda had loaned her and felt much better. Belinda trailed in behind her with the first aid kit and made Dekker sit down. “But I never knew where she hid them.”
“Your Grandmother was an extortionist, Cassie,” Grant frowned. “She was blackmailing people for money, wasn’t she?”
“She tried to teach me how,” Cassie said as she poured herself some milk, “but I didn’t want to learn. I think that’s why she decided to sell me. I wasn’t doing what I was told.” She turned as someone else came into the kitchen and paled. It was Amy Parker and Cassie’s son, Oliver. “I need some air.”
“Cassie,” Amy called after her, “you don’t need to run.” She looked at Grant. “That man hurt her terribly when he told her Oliver was dead.”
“He has a lot to answer for,” Grant nodded. He saw Amy watching Cassie. “Don’t worry, she’s not going to steal your son.” He saw Amy flinch and knew she had been worried about that. “Don’t push her, Mrs. Parker. My daughter has a lot more to deal with than seeing the child she thought was dead all these months.”
As Cassie sat in the swing on the back porch, Jonathan and his men pulled up the road leading to her brother’s home. He marched up to the front door with his men, Doctor Hilliard, and the family attorney, Grayson. Cassie heard Oliver wail and headed back into the house to find her family and the Parkers in the living room.
“Here she is,” Jonathan smiled as he rose from the couch. “The reason we are here.”
“What are you doing here?” Cassie asked him. She saw a document on the coffee table and her father’s stunned look. “What’s going on?”
“We’ll fight this, kitten,” Grant said softly as he handed the document to her. “Your grandmother blindsided us.”
“Mentally incompetent?” Cassie choked as she read the words. She turned on Jonathan. “What game are you playing now, Mr. Garrison? I’m no more incompetent than you are!”
“That’s not what the doctors who examined you every year from the age of five said,” Jonathan smiled at her gently. “It’s time for you to come home now.”
“No!” Cassie shook her head and backed away from him. “You can’t do this.” She looked at her brother and her father. “It can’t be legal!” They could not say anything to her. Cassie dropped the paper and she tried to run. “I’m not going!”
“Now honey,” Jonathan said with a show of extreme patience and concern. “There is no need to distress yourself. We’ll get you home and you’ll feel a lot better.” He caught her arm and she screamed. “Doctor?”
“No needles!” Cassie sobbed as she saw the woman ready one. “Please don’t drug me,” she begged as the needle bit into her vein. “Daddy, please…”
Her legs buckled and Jonathan picked her up in his arms. Her struggles grew more labored as they went out of the house and she was out cold by the time they got her in the car. Her family watched as it drove off.
“I don’t care how Henry does it,” Grant said tightly, “but I want Cassie out of their hands as quickly as possible.”

Cassie woke up and heard the door open to the bedroom she’d been kept prisoner inside for the past week. She had contracTed a virus and been seriously ill the first two days and was still having a hard time getting her strength back. She saw the nurse bringing her lunch and struggled to sit up. Once the tray was set down on her lap, Cassie saw the nurse settle into her corner and pick up a book.
“Do you know who did it yet, Connie?” she asked as she toyed with her food.
“This is Nora Roberts, Cassie,” Connie smiled over at her. “Just when you think you know, she changes tracks.”
“Isn’t that frustrating?” Cassie asked as she struggled to keep her energy up enough to eat. She still suffered from headaches and bouts of nausea that kept her from being able to eat properly. She got about half of the lunch in before she gave up and set the tray aside.
“I find it exhilarating,” Connie replied. She came over and patTed Cassie on the shoulder. “You’re doing better. You got half of it in before you had to stop. I’ll get your medication now.”
Cassie nodded. She liked the woman who had been hired to tend her. Connie was very firm, but gentle, as she helped Cassie through the day. For the first two days she could barely move she was so ill as she fought off the virus. But her body was beginning to recover now and she was just exhausTed.
“How is my pretty wife today?” Adam smiled as he came into their room. He came over to the bed and kissed her on the lips. He saw the tray. “Only half, honey? You can do better than that.” He picked up a carrot stick. “Come on, honey. For me?”
Casey did not argue with him. It never did any good to argue with him. He had been so caring this past week as she was ill. She flinched as he touched her lips and he frowned.
“Still hurting, honey?” Adam asked.
“You startled me,” Cassie said to him; “that’s all.” She laid her hand on his arm. “Please let me out of this room, Adam. I feel like I’m in prison.” The door opened and Connie was there with a pill and a glass of water. “Thank you, Connie.”
“I’ve asked Angela about that,” Adam replied. “She agrees with me that we can start letting you outside, as long as we take certain precautions.”
“Precautions?”
“Connie,” Adam said without taking his eyes off of Cassie, “you can go now. I’ll be spending time with my wife.” The door closed and Adam smiled and held his hand out to her. “I have something I need to say to you, Cassie.” He turned as Angela came into the room. Cassie watched as the woman put her hand on Adam’s shoulder. “It’s time we stopped this nonsense.”
“I don’t understand,” Cassie shook her head. “What is going on here?” She looked from her husband to the doctor and fear flooded into her mind. “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”
“What an imagination!” Adam laughed and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead again. He grew quiet and Cassie could see the anxiety on Angela’s face. “I should never have let him force me to marry you, Cassie. It was wrong.”
“If this is some new game you’re playing, Adam,” Cassie snapped, “I’m not falling for it.” She tried to pull away and he held on easily. She saw his expression mirrored in Angela’s and quieTed. Something was going on here but it was not meant to harm her. “Please tell me what’s going on.”
“I certainly owe that to you,” Adam smiled briefly. He looked at Angela and the woman nodded. “Cassie, you know I was drugged the night I raped you. I would never have gone along with their plans otherwise.”
“I wouldn’t have believed you, Adam,” Cassie told him truthfully, “if I hadn’t see the tape my grandmother made of that night.”
“It’s true, Cassie,” Angela told her. “Our father was determined to pay Justine back for all the years she had been blackmailing him.” She saw Cassie’s look. “He was going to destroy her and he saw you as the perfect tool.”
“I went to Angela,” Adam told Cassie, “the morning after I’d attacked you and she took a blood test. The results of that test are being kept in a file as evidence.” He stroked Cassie’s cheek. “We are going to make him pay, honey, and we’re asking you to help us help you.”
“He is Jonathan Garrison,” Cassie struggled to hold back the tears. “He had the whole town gang up on us, didn’t he?” Adam nodded and she believed him then. “Why are you doing this now?”
“Because despite my best intentions,” Adam said to her as he looked into her eyes, “somewhere along the line I fell in love with you, Cassie.” He saw her eyes and knew the truth. “I am not going to keep you married to me if I’m not the man you want.” She was stunned by his admission. “Will you help us put an end to this nightmare?”
“How?”
They filled her in briefly, asking her to continue to play the angry unwilling wife for now. Then Adam picked her up in his arms and carried her to the office. He sat her down on the couch and she watched as a man in coveralls rolled a black cube in on a cart. He lifTed it into the corner of the room and opened the top to fiddle with some controls. Then he took what looked like a simple gold cuff bracelet out and brought it over.
“Howard is going to put a bracelet on you, my honey wife,” Adam said as the man brought over the cuff and fastened it onto her right wrist. It was four inches wide and the fastening was invisible under her inspection. “Isn’t it pretty?”
“It’s more than a piece of jewelry, though,” Cassie frowned while she looked the thing over. “What new torment have you designed now?”
“The cuff is programmed to set off an alarm here in your office,” Howard said to Adam, “and in the Sheriff’s Office if your wife wanders off. Like the choker you put on her earlier, it also has a GPS built into it so that you know where she is every minute.” Howard waved a device that looked like a penlight over the cuff and Cassie heard it beep. “We’ve given her a half mile in any direction from the alarm unit, so she can get some exercise but not get off the property without your knowing about it.”
“Have I told you today how much I hate you, Adam Garrison?” Cassie glared at him. She tried to get to her feet and he held her down. “You’re hurting me, you bastard!”
“Isn’t she a lovely little bitch, Howard?” Adam laughed as he ran his finger over the choker. Cassie tried to slap him and he caught her arm and twisTed it behind her back. He kissed her roughly as she struggled to get free of him. “Behave yourself, my pet, or I’ll put you back in your cage.” He set her on her feet and slapped her on the backside. “Go get some air, honey.”
Adam watched as Cassie left the office and smiled. Howard looked at him in confusion as he put away his tools and prepared to leave. Adam went to the window and saw her heading for the corral.
“You really think she will stray?”
“I know she will,” Adam replied. “My pretty Cassandra is a strong-willed child who hates me with every fiber of her being. She is not going to stop until she finds a way to get free of me.”
“So that’s why you tagged her?” Howard smiled. “Smart thinking, Adam.”
“It pays to be at least three steps ahead of her,” Adam replied. He went to sit behind his desk and pulled out his checkbook. He handed Howard the check. “Thanks for your assistance, Howard.”
“For this kind of money,” Howard smiled as he saw the figure, “you can count on me for anything, Adam.”
Cassie was climbing the rails of the corral fence when Howard drove away. She watched the man go and looked at the hateful device and sighed. Adam and Angela were afraid their father would move on her if he ever realized they were not going along with his plans anymore. This cuff was their way of protecting her. She looked at the horses and a black one came over and blew in her face.
“You are a handsome animal,” she laughed as she stroked its nose.
“I can saddle him,” a man spoke up behind her, “if you’d like to go riding, ma’am.”
Cassie turned and saw a man with wavy brown hair standing there. His smile was warm and gentle. His green eyes were narrowed from working out of doors and his skin was tanned and weathered. He was wearing a light blue denim shirt and levis. There was a large buckle on his brown leather belt.
“I can’t go riding,” Cassie said with regret. “I’m not allowed off the property.” She saw his confusion. “I don’t know how to ride.”
“Mrs. Garrison,” the housekeeper came running out of the house. “You have a phone call.”
“You’re his wife?” the man asked in astonishment. “But you’re just a kid!”
Cassie shrugged and ran for the house. As she got to the stairs she had an attack and tripped. She hit the stairs and hit her head. The man came running and had her on the swing, looking at her in concern.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” he looked at her in concern. He saw Edna. “She needs tending. She fell and hit her head.” He caught Cassie as she starTed to black out. He picked her up and carried her inside. “Mr. Garrison,” he said as Adam came running. “Your wife had a fainting spell and hit her head on the stairs.”
“Edna,” Adam said as he took Cassie from the man. “Find Connie and call Angela.” He nodded to his man. “Thank you, Marcus. Honey,” he crooned as he carried Cassie away, “I knew it was too soon to let you out. I’d die if anything happened to you.”
Cassie struggled back to consciousness and found Connie taking her blood pressure and pulse. She remembered coming in to take a phone call and then nothing. Had she ever taken that call? She saw Adam seaTed nearby looking worried as Angela talked to him.
“Is someone sick?” she asked. She tried to sit up and fell back as she was hit with a dizzy spell. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Your blood pressure is running high, Cassie,” Angela told her. “How is she doing now, Connie?”
“Still a trifle high, Doctor,” Connie told her. She stroked Cassie’s hair. “You shouldn’t have been running across the yard like that, Cassie. You’re not ready for that level of exercise.”
“Edna said I had a phone call,” Cassie said. “I got exciTed.” She looked at the woman standing in the doorway. “Who was on the phone, Edna?”
“Phone call?” Edna frowned. She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Garrison. I don’t remember any phone call. Mr. Garrison takes all the calls.”
‘But you said I had a call,” Cassie frowned at her. Everyone looked completely mystified at her statement. “Please don’t play games with me. It’s cruel!”
“Calm down, Cassie,” Angela said as she readied a needle. “I’m going to give you a little something to bring your blood pressure down. Then I want you to try and get some rest.”
Cassie bit her lip to keep from shrieking and winced as the needle bit into her vein. She didn’t know why Edna was lying. She had told her there was a call for her. Cassie was certain of that. So what was going on?
“It’s all right, honey,” Adam said as he came over and stroked her hair. “You’re just a little confused right now. You’ve been so sick and you pushed yourself too far on your first day out.” He saw Cassie’s eyes drift close and looked over at his sister worriedly. Angela shook her head slightly. It seemed there was a spy in their midst. “You sleep now and let us take care of you.”
They left Connie to watch over Cassie and went out into the living room. Edna sank down into a chair and smiled. Adam and Angela played along as she laughed in triumph. They were well on their way to convincing everyone, including Cassie, that she was not in her right mind. Her inheritance would be his to control as she soon would be. He haTed having to keep up the pretense but he knew the longer their father believed they were toeing the line, the safer Cassie would be.
Marcus heard all of their plans and he frowned. That poor darling girl was being tortured so these bastards could have her money? He knew he couldn’t tell the Sheriff, that man was already being lied to about the girl. So he had to find someone he could trust to help him rescue the child.
His plan to call, however; was postponed for a week as he watched the way Adam and Cassie behaved towards each other when they thought no one was looking. They were not captor and captive. These young people were truly in love with each other. It was the hatred on Edna’s face as they came back from a picnic hand in hand that made up Henry’s mind. That woman was a threat.

“Henry?” Delia asked as she came into this office three days after Marcus had contacTed his friend in the FBI. “Do you know a man named Timothy Nighthorse?”
“Hell yes,” Henry beamed. He punched the only button lit. “Hey Stud! How are things in your neck of the woods?” He nodded and his smile died as his friend told him exactly what he’d been told. “This is incredible! We’ve been looking for her for over two weeks, Tim,” Henry finally said. “Is this man certain that’s what he heard?” He was frowning. “We’ll be leaving as soon as we can get the jet fueled. See you soon.” He hung up and looked at Delia. “Timothy Nighthorse and I served together in Army Intelligence, Delia. He got a call three days ago from an old friend of his named Marcus Owen.” He was going deadly now. “Seems he works for a man named Adam Garrison out in Arizona. The man has a very young wife named Cassandra who this man learned is being slowly driven insane so her husband can keep control of her inheritance.”
“Bastard!” Delia hissed. “So do we call her family?”
“Not until we’re certain it’s her,” Henry told his sister. “We’ll go in two at a time and see if there aren’t jobs for us in town and on the ranch.” He had his fingers steepled under his chin. “Marcus is the foreman at the ranch; he might be talked into finding places for some of our men.” He looked up to see Eric standing in the doorway. “Eric.”
“I know Marcus Owen,” Eric told them. “He’s been the foreman at the ranch for over twenty years. If he says Cassie is in trouble, he is not exaggerating the severity of her situation.” He sat down and his phone rang. He saw the number and frowned. “Angela? What’s up?”

Cassie was sitting on the porch swing knitting when Adam brought out the paper. He was smiling in a way that made her melt and she moved her knitting basket so he could join her on the swing. He put the paper in her lap and she saw Eric’s picture with a pretty red-haired woman.
“Garrison and Grant,” Cassie read the names under the picture. “Eric Garrison and Delia Grant were married Friday, July 23rd at St Michaels in Centerville, Ohio. The couple plans to travel around the country before settling down in Centerville.” She was shaking when she finished and she looked up at Adam in distress. “He’s married?”
“His wife and him are going to be spending a couple days with us, honey,” Adam smiled as he stroked her cheek. “You didn’t honestly think he was going to wait for you forever, Cassie?” Adam laughed. “You are such a child.”
“Yes, I am,” Cassie agreed. She knew she had to tell him the truth about her feelings for his brother, but he had warned her honesty had to be curbed while they had a spy in their midst. “How soon are they going to – to be here?” A horn honked and she saw an RV pull up to the house. Cassie got to her feet and headed into the house.
“Be nice, honey,” Adam said as he caught her arm and pulled her back. “Eric is my brother, after all.” He leaned in closer and whispered. “It’s a ruse, Cassie,” he assured her. “It had to be something that the spy would believe.”
He held Cassie to his side and she watched as the woman stepped out of the vehicle. Eric got out behind her and put his arms around her waist so he could kiss her neck. Delia giggled and blushed and Cassie found herself wishing they weren’t pretending to married. Something in the way Delia was acting told her it was not all faked.
“Cass!” Eric smiled as he brought the woman with him. He kissed Cassie on the forehead like he would a sister. “Adam,” he held out his hand to his brother. “It’s good of you to take us in like this.”
“You’re my brother,” Adam took his hand and smiled. “Cassie would never have forgiven me if I hadn’t inviTed you in.” He looked at the distress in Cassie’s eyes. “Isn’t that right, honey?”
“It’s good to see you again, Eric,” Cassie smiled briefly. She looked at Delia. “Delia,” she nodded. “Come inside and we’ll have Edna fix you something.”
Edna was laying out lunch so it was simple enough to add two more places. She handed Cassie her medication and a glass of water and Cassie took it without thinking. She sat in silence and listened to Eric and Delia talk about how they’d met and how happy they were and it drove the knife in deeper. She picked at her food and looked at Adam in mounting distress as she realized that she had been drugged. She could feel the tears coming and her head was pounding.
“Connie,” Adam called to the nurse sitting near Cassie. “Something she ate doesn’t seem to be agreeing with Cassie. Get her medication.”
“Medication?” Eric asked. “Cassie isn’t ill, is she?”
“She’s still recovering from a virus she caught on our trip out here,” Adam said as he helped Cassie to her feet and kissed her on the forehead. He laid his hand on her abdomen. “We can’t be too careful with the future mother of my child now, can we?”
Cassie burst into tears and she ran for the bedroom, pausing to lean on the wall as the dizzy spell hit her. The nurse got her arm around Cassie’s waist and helped her inside, closing the door. Eric had to control his anger and his concern.
“Are you certain she shouldn’t be in the hospital, Theodore?” Delia asked as she turned to the man. “She’s so pale.”
“Cassie has always been delicate,” Adam replied. “But it’s not her physical distress that worries me the most,” he admitTed as part of the lies. “She is getting more and more confused with each day.” He looked very distraught. “I actually had to have her fit with a GPS unit so we know where she is if she takes it into her head to wander.” He looked at Eric. “She should settle down now that you are both here.”
“She looks far too fragile to wander any distance,” Delia spoke up, gripping Eric’s hand to warn him to keep calm. They heard a crash from the bedroom and they were on their feet behind Adam. They opened the door to see Cassie running out the doors. She’d broken the pane near the lock and gotten the door open.
“Cassie!” Adam shouTed after her. “Come back, honey. You’ll get hurt!”
He ran back inside as Eric and Delia followed Cassie. They saw her taking off as if she was being pursued by demons and they picked up speed. They spotTed her one moment and then she was gone. They heard her scream and then silence.
“She’s straight ahead of us,” Adam said as he joined them. He was looking at the locator. They followed the beacon and came to a large hole in the desert floor. “Cassie!” he cried as she sank down at the edge and tried to see. “Can you hear me, honey?”
Cassie tried to answer but she was still having a hard time breathing from the fall she’d taken. She was glad she hadn’t fallen far and that she’d landed on her back, but it still hurt. She struggled to sit up and used the wall to get on her feet. As she opened her mouth to answer, she was struck by a bout of nausea that doubled her over and left her weak. When it passed, she was totally confused. She looked around the cave she had fallen into and terror flooded through her.
“Don’t move, honey,” Adam called down to her. “We’re coming down to help.”
Cassie stumbled to her feet and looked up but she couldn’t see anyone. She looked around and saw the tunnel in front of her. Adam had to be there, her confused mind told her. She stumbled forward, leaning on the wall to help guide her along. She called out for him.
“Cassie, stop!” Adam cried as he got out his cell and called the ranch office. “Marcus,” he barked at the man. “Cassie’s had an accident. She’s fallen into the tunnels. Get the Sheriff and Earl Bennett out here. We need to find her before she hurts herself!” He hung up and looked at his brother. “Edna is working for Dad, Eric. She must have slipped Cassie the drug he sent to the woman while we were eating and Connie didn’t have time to administer the antidote.”
“You’re talking like you aren’t in line with his plans, Adam,” Eric frowned. “When did that happen?”
“When I starTed to realize that I was in love with my wife,” Adam told his younger twin. He saw Eric pale. “When this is over, Eric, I plan to give Cassie her freedom. She should never have been forced to marry someone she didn’t love.” He laid his hand on Eric’s shoulder. “But I’m warning you now I don’t want to let her go.”
“You won’t be competing with me, Adam.” Eric looked down into the hole. “I hope she didn’t break anything falling down there.”
“She wouldn’t have walked away if she had,” Delia replied as he joined him. She looked at the edge and frowned. “Someone tampered with the ground around this opening. She was meant to fall.”
“So Edna has an accomplice?” Adam snapped. “I am going to break the woman’s neck!”
“Hold off on that,” Eric said as he put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Let’s get the search going first?”
Twenty minutes later, the Sheriff and several men arrived. They had spelunking gear with them. Eric and Delia were given extra gear and went down with the first team. The Sheriff looked at Adam.
“Not going, Garrison?” he asked the man, hiding his censure.
“I need to organize things at the ranch,” Adam replied. “The search teams will need food and lodging until she’s found.”
He turned and left and the Sheriff watched him go. He turned to his deputy who was setting up a base camp nearby. The look on the younger man’s face mirrored his own thoughts. Adam Garrison was a piece of work. He was beginning to believe the report he’d been sent about the man’s wife. The claim of mental incompetence had been faked. It would appear that this man was using the same collar to keep his young wife in check her grandmother had meant to use.

Cassie was growing more and more confused as she felt her way through the dark tunnels. She had no idea how long she had been wandering. All she knew was that she had fallen several times now and her knees were skinned, her palms were scraped, and her head was pounding. She kept hearing voices calling out to her and wondered if she weren’t going insane after all the torment Jonathan had put her through.
Cassie looked around but all she saw was darkness. A cramp hit her and she fell to her knees, crying out in pain as her knee hit a rock she had not seen. When she got up, she could not put her full weight on her leg. She hobbled on, lost in the darkness and shaking with the pain of the withdrawal.
They’ve addicTed me to that damned drug, she realized as the cramps and the headache grew worse. I am going to collapse here in this dark place and no one will ever find me. She was sobbing as she forced herself to move. She nearly passed out in relief when her eyes began to notice a change in the light. She stumbled out into a large carve and saw the opening.
“What have we here?” a tall lanky teen laughed as he looked up at the sound of her falling into the light as he and his friends had stopped for a drink. He helped Cassie up on her feet and saw all the scrapes and bruises. “Are you all right, kid?”
“I fell,” Cassie whimpered. She gripped his arm tight as the cramps began in earnest. “Please – help – me.”
“Ed!” the boy snapped as he picked Cassie up and carried her over to a shady spot. “Call the Sheriff and tell him we found an injured girl.” He saw his friend stay put. “What’s wrong with you? She needs help!”
“Don’t you know who that is, Ben?” Ed Carson asked, his eyes wide with delight. Ben shook his head. “We’ve found ‘his’ wife; that bastard who nearly shot us because we strayed onto his property.” He saw comprehension dawning. “He was dragging her into the house against her will, Ben!”
“We can’t give her up to him,” Ben nodded. He watched Cassie thrashing and moaning. “She’s sick, Ed. We have to take her somewhere.”
“I’ll tie her to you and we’ll take her to our camp,” Ed decided. “We have first aid supplies there. If she gets any worse, then I’ll go get my sister.”
Ben nodded and Ed picked Cassie up. He set her on the back of the four-wheeler Ben was on and taped her wrists in front of him so she could not fall off. Cassie’s eyes shot open and she looked at them in confusion.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she begged them as she tried to pull free. “Let me go!” She screamed as a pain shot through her and passed out again.
“Ed,” Ben cried in alarm as he felt her shaking. “She’s really sick. We have to get help now!”
“Tomorrow,” Ed replied as he saw the sun. “It’s going to be dark soon. We’ll barely get back to camp as it is.” They drove to their camp and the sun was setting as they got a bedroll down and laid Cassie on it. Ben starTed to prepare dinner and Ed went to get on the portable radio.
“You found her!” Howard said in relief as he stepped into their camp. “Thank God!” He saw the boys eyeing him warily as he crouched down next to Cassie and patTed her cheeks. “Mrs. Garrison? Wake up.” Cassie’s eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him in confusion. Then fear filled her eyes and she tried to get away from him. “I’m not going to hurt you, ma’am.”
“You’re going to take me back,” Cassie cried as she continued to struggle. “I won’t go back to him! I won’t!” She watched as he took something out of his pocket. “What are you doing?”
“Taking off the cuff and the choker, Mrs. Garrison. “He won’t know where you are once those come off.” He saw that she was not convinced he meant to help her and he nearly laughed. Of course he wasn’t going to help her. He had other plans for her. He removed the items and set them down. She relaxed only a bit. He took out a pair of tweezers and she flinched as he caught her and pulled something out of her ear. “He is one devious bastard that husband of yours.”
“What is that?” Ben asked as he and Ed watched the man closely.
“He’s been planning on driving her insane,” Howard told them. “So he put this in her ear to convince her that she was hearing things. Of course, when she asked about them, they would tell her she was imagining things.”
“I knew he was a jerk!” Ed nodded. “We should call the Sheriff…”
“No,” Howard broke in as he handed Cassie a bottle of water. “Garrison has the Sheriff in his pocket.” He looked at the boys. “If you want to help her, kids,” he said as he picked up the cuff and choker, “take these and put them in one of your packs. Run them around the desert for as long as you can while I get Mrs. Garrison to the hospital.”
“That’s not true!” Cassie shook her head. “My husband loves me! He would never do anything to hurt me!” She finished off the water and tried to get on her feet. She cried out in pain as she forgot her damaged knee. “Ow!”
“Let’s get you some help, Mrs. Garrison,” Howard assured her as he picked her up in his arms. He carried her to his jeep and put her in the back on a pile of blankets. “You try to get some rest now. We’ll be at the hospital by the time you wake up.” He pulled is wallet and handed the boys each a hundred. “Thanks, kids.”
Cassie tried to stay awake but the sedative he’d put in the water sent her under quickly. Howard got into the jeep and wondered if he was wrong to let the boys live. They would not see which direction he took once he cresTed the ridge. It was getting dark quickly now and they would be remaining in their camp.
Even if they describe me, he chortled to himself; the authorities will be looking for Howard not me. He pulled off the false face and dumped it in his toolbox. He haTed having to use the girl to get to Jonathan through his son’s wife, but it was time the bastard paid for what he had done to his sister, Howard Grayson had decided. Whether Cassie lived or not was beside the point.
“I think we just did the wrong thing, Ed,” Ben said as he put down his binoculars. They had followed Howard a few minutes after he had left and watched what he did. “Did you see?”
“Him taking off his face?” Ed asked. He nodded and shuddered. “I think we’ve just helped that man kidnap Mrs. Garrison.” He went to the radio. “We have no choice. We’ve got to call the Sheriff now.”

Cassie woke up and she was in darkness again. She tried to reach out and found out that she was in a very small place. Panic flooded into her mind as memories of a closet came to her. She felt around and found the door. She pulled herself up on the knob and shuddered as her knee reminded her that she had been injured.
“Hello?” she called out as she tried to open the door and found it locked. She knocked on it. “Is anyone out there?” There was no answer and she sank back in the corner, shaking. “Please,” she whimpered. “Tell me what’s happening.” She heard a scraping noise and saw light appear at the base of the door as a slot was opened. A tray came in with a sandwich, an apple, and a bottle of water on it. “No, please,” Cassie cried as the slot closed. “Let me out!”
“Eat your dinner,” Justine’s voice sounded from over a speaker. Cassie looked around in shock and then up and saw it in the corner.
“Who are you?” Cassie demanded as she pounded on the door again. There was only silence in response. “Why are you doing this to me?” There was no answer. Cassie sank back into the corner and brought her legs up to her chest so she could rest her chin on her knees. She winced as her body protesTed. “Please.”
“Eat your dinner, Cassandra.”
“You’re not my Grandmother!” Cassie protesTed. “She’s dead!”
“I admit you did hurt me, dear,” Justine laughed, “but it was not as dire as you imagined it. You always were an over-imaginative child.” There was a silence. “Eat your dinner. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“You can’t leave me in here all night,” Cassie gasped. “Let me out!”
“You did a bad thing, Cassandra,” Justine replied evenly. “You must be punished. Now be a good girl and eat your dinner. If I have to tell you again, you will remain in the closet for another day.”
Cassie felt for the tray and unwrapped the sandwich. She bit back a sob as she ate and struggled to control the old fears that had been her constant companion as she was growing up. Justine had never made an idle threat. If Cassie did not do as she was told, she would remain in this closet. She finished the meal and the drug in the water took effect.
“Worked like a charm,” Howard Grayson smiled as he saw the sleeping girl. He covered her with an afghan and removed the tray. “Pleasant dreams, child.”
He closed and locked the door and went to the office where he could watch her sleep. Such a pretty girl, he found himself thinking. He could see she was having a nightmare but he let her be. If she screamed, they were the only ones who were going to hear her. He recorded her as she begged and pleaded before finally settling deeper and falling silent.
“Thank you, Cassie,” he nodded as his partner made a phone call. “That was just what we needed.”
“Mr. Garrison, please,” Justine said as her partner sent the anti-tracking program going. “I have something that belongs to you,” she said. Howard played the tape he’d just made. “Your father paid for only one night, Mr. Garrison,” Justine laughed coldly. “You owe payment for the five months you kept her from me.” She laughed as Adam cursed. “I’m thinking $15 million should just about cover it. I’ll call with the drop off location tomorrow at noon.”
“Well done, love,” Grayson smiled as he stroked Justine’s cheek. “That should get the wheels rolling.”
“They hurt my granddaughter, Howard,” Justine nodded. “I am not going to rest until Garrison and his bastard son are dead!” She looked at Cassie and her expression softened. “She is such a beautiful child. I’ve really missed her.”

Adam hung up the phone and looked at the FBI officers who had set up the trace. The man on the monitor shook his head. Whoever had taken Cassie was not stupid. He listened to the man talk about the call bouncing from location to location while the trace had been working and shut him out. All he could think of was Cassie being held by someone who was not above torturing her as her grandmother had.
“Someone is impersonating her grandmother to keep her docile,” Henry Evans spoke his thoughts aloud. “It has to be someone who knew her and knew about the bargain between her and Jonathan Garrison.” He looked at Adam. “Can you think of anyone who hates you enough to do this?”
“Anyone who knows our family,” Jonathan spoke up as he watched Adam sit down in shock, “would not dare make such a move!” He met Eric’s hard eyes. “I wouldn’t put it past a member of the family,” he said snidely. “Is this your doing, son? You can’t have her yourself, so you hire someone to steal her for you?”
“I would never do anything to harm Cassie,” Eric said tightly. “Besides,” he said as he put his arm around Delia’s waist; “I have a wife now.”
“Delia Grant?” Jonathan sniffed. “She is no more your wife than she is mine!” He saw Eric flinch. “Did you think I wouldn’t check her background, Eric? I keep a better watch on my sons than you think.” He looked at Delia. “You are a psychiatric nurse-practitioner who moonlights for your brother, Henry Evans, when he needs someone to strong arm hospital administrators.”
“You lied?” Adam hissed and looked at his brother. “You came to the ranch to take her away from me!” He was on his brother with a roar and had to be pulled off. “She’s my wife, Eric! Don’t you understand that yet?” He pulled free and glared at Eric. “She may think she’s in love with you right now, but she’ll get over it. It’s just a childish infatuation.”
“Adam,” Jonathan said calmly but with a warning in his voice, “I think you need to get some rest.”
“Shut up, Dad!” Adam turned on his father as he and his siblings had planned. “I am so tired of you telling me what to do! Cassie wouldn’t be in this trouble if it weren’t for you and her bitch of a grandmother!” He sank back down in the chair and glared at Jonathan. “They drugged me, Eric; did you know that? And once I raped her, I was sunk. I couldn’t say no to him after that.”
“Shut up, son,” Jonathan’s voice went even softer.
“Why, Dad?” Adam snapped. “I’m tired of all the lies!” He looked at the agents. “Justine made millions with her extortion schemes. She left everything to Cassie and my father was determined to have it.”
“I’m warning you, Adam,” Jonathan hissed as his control began slipping.
“I didn’t want to hurt the girl,” Adam ignored his father’s warning, “but he slipped something into my drink that night and I was rabid for her by the time her grandmother forced her into my room.” He put his head in his hands and groaned. “She was so terrified and she kept begging me to stop, but I couldn’t. And once it was over, Dad had me on a leash. I had to do what he asked or he would let the authorities have me.” He looked up at his father. “Well, Dad; I am finally calling your bluff. If Cassie lives through this, I am going to divorce her and let her press charges for rape and kidnapping.”
“No!” Jonathan screamed. He was on his feet with the nearest agent’s gun in his hands. “No one betrays me!” he shouTed as he turned the gun on Eric. “This is all your fault!”
Eric found himself falling as Adam tackled him and the first bullet hit his brother instead of Eric. He watched as his father was shot down and disarmed. He was still cursing as he was taken out in cuffs. He got up onto his feet and went to Adam’s side. His brother gripped his arm and looked up at him.
“I’m sorry, Eric,” Adam choked as the pain hit him. “I knew you liked her but he wouldn’t let me off the hook. He said he’d hurt her and you if I didn’t keep you apart. And then,” he admitTed the truth, “I found I wanTed her for myself.” He coughed and his face went white. “Tell Cassie I’m sorry.”
“Get him to the hospital,” the lead agent ordered. “Under guard. We’ll worry about charges later.”
“I love her, Eric,” Adam said as he was lifTed up and put on a stretcher. “But she has never felt the same way about me.” He gripped Eric’s arm tighter. “Find her, little brother. Bring her home safe.”
“You can count on that, big brother,” Eric smiled at his brother briefly. “Don’t you dare die on us, you hear me?”

Dekker didn’t know why he decided to drive past Justine’s house. Something about the way she had died had been bothering him. So he pulled up the driveway and stopped as he saw a car parked in the garage. No one was supposed to be here. He got on the radio and froze as someone knocked on his window.
“Hello, Dekker dear,” Justine smiled at him as he poinTed the gun at his head. “Please turn off the car.” Dekker did as he was told and she walked around to get in the passenger side. “Pull into the garage, dear.” She smiled when he did as she asked. “Such a good boy,” she patTed his leg. “Now if you continue to behave, I will take you inside to see your little sister.”
“You have Cassie here?” Dekker choked. “How?”
“You’ll get your answers soon enough,” Justine promised him. She motioned for him to get out and she followed him as they went in the back. “Put your gun and your cuffs on the table. I won’t have you distressing the child with the sight of such things.”
Dekker did as she asked and she motioned him towards the stairs. He opened the door she indicaTed and stepped inside. He froze as he saw his sister sitting on the window seat with a large Teddy bear in her arms. She looked over and he could see she’d been crying. He could also see that Cassie had been forced to dress like a child. Her hair was up in ponytails with ribbons tied in bows. She was wearing a white pinafore over a blue dress with a lace collar and had on ankle socks and black patent leather shoes.
“What the hell are you doing to her, Justine?” Dekker snapped as he turned on his own grandmother. She slapped him.
“Language, Dekker,” Justine shook her head. “You will not talk like that in this house. Your sister is an innocent child.” She motioned him to a chair. “Take off the belt and hand it over to me, boy.” Dekker did as he was asked. “I’ll have lunch set up for you.” She smiled over at Cassie. “We’ll have a piano lesson after you’ve eaten, darling.”
“Yes, Grandmother,” Cassie nodded and turned back to the window.
“Dekker, dear,” Justine smiled at him. “Try not to upset your little sister. She’s had a hard time lately and she needs to rest.”
She left the room and Dekker heard the lock being engaged. He watched his sister in silence and waiTed for her to acknowledge him. But she did not turn to him and she did not speak.
“Are you all right, Cassie?” he finally asked her as the silence began to unnerve him.
“Grandmother says I am wounded,” Cassie said in a soft voice. “She says it is all my own fault. I should never have disobeyed her.” She clutched the Teddy bear to her tighter as the tears fell and finally looked at him. He could see how lost and frightened she was. “Is that right? I got hurt because I told her I didn’t want him touch – touching me?” Her eyes widened as Dekker got to his feet. “You’re not going to hurt me, are you?”
“Of course not, Cassie,” Dekker said as he sat back down. “I would never hurt you. I’m your brother.”
“Grandmother told me you didn’t want me,” Cassie whimpered. “She said Daddy couldn’t take care of me and that’s why she brought me here.”
What was wrong with his sister, he thought as he pondered her words. She was talking as if the past seven months had not taken place. Her eyes did not show any sign of her having been drugged. Had her mind snapped after all the abuses she’d suffered over the years? He began to think that his grandmother’s claim that his sister was mentally incompetent might not be off the mark. Then he shook himself.
“I don’t know what she did to you, Cassie,” Dekker told her gently, “but I am going to get you out of here.”
“I can’t go anywhere,” Cassie shook her head. “I’m being punished for hurting Grandmother. I’m under house arrest until she says my debt is paid.” She looked up as the door opened. “Lunch,” she smiled and set the bear aside to go get the tray someone Dekker could not see was holding out to her. “Thank you, Edna.”
“You’re to leave the blue cup to your brother, Miss Cassandra,” Edna said to the girl. “Step back now so I can lock the door.”
“Of course, Edna,” Cassie nodded and did as she was told. She carried the tray to the table in the alcove and set it down on the table. “It is nice to have you here, Dekker,” she smiled at him happily. “It gets really lonely in here.”
“How long have you been under house arrest, Cassie?” Dekker asked as he sat down across from her at the table.
“I disobeyed her the night of my birthday, March 17th,” Cassie thought over the timeline. “It is,” she frowned as her mind refused to supply a date for her. “I was ill for a very long time,” she said finally. “I don’t know how long I’ve been locked in my room.” She grew very sad. “I have nightmares about babies and being hurt over and over and being in the desert.”
“Are you sure they’re nightmares, Cassie?” Dekker prodded
“What else could they be?” Cassie frowned at him. “I’ve been here in my room. I’m sure I’d remember if I had a baby.”
He could see she was growing anxious so he distracTed her by telling her about their father and all the other things he’d told her once before. They finish the lunch and he knew he’d been drugged. He could feel his head starting to spin. He stumbled to his feet and headed towards the door as Cassie went got her Teddy bear and went to lie down.
“You ran a risk bringing him in here,” Grayson said to Justine as they watched Dekker fall. “If he remembers…”
“He won’t,” Justine broke in. “We’ve already seen how well the drug has worked on Cassandra. She doesn’t remember anything past the night Garrison’s brat hurt her. Dekker won’t remember he was here or that he saw her.” She turned to Edna. “Help Howard get my grandson back to his car and roll it down the hill. If he lives, the drug will keep his memory locked. If he dies, we won’t have to worry, will we?”
“You are such a cold-hearTed bitch, Justine,” Grayson laughed. “No wonder I adore you.”
“Save your flattery Howard,” Justine sniffed, “for someone who will appreciate it. Get going. We can’t afford to have him waking up before the car is on its way, can we?”
Grayson and Edna left the office and she watched them as they carried Dekker out of the house and put him in his car. She watched the cars leaving and turned her eyes back to the monitor that showed Cassie sleeping. Justine went to the room and let herself in. She saw Cassie’s eyes open and the girl smiled at her.
“Come here to Grandmother,” Justine smiled as she sat down in the rocking chair. Cassie sat in her lap and leaned against her as Justine stroked her hair. “Tell Grandmother what your big brother said to you, child.” Cassie did as she asked and Justine smiled and kissed the girl on the forehead. “You’re such a good girl, Cassandra. I’m going to let you out of your room but you are still under house arrest and not allowed outside.”
“I am not allowed outside,” Cassie nodded. “I really am sorry I hurt you, Grandmother.” She said as she nestled closer to Justine. “I love you.”
“As I love you, Cassandra,” Justine smiled and continued stroking Cassie’s hair. “Go back to bed now, dear, and finish your nap. I’ll see you at dinner.”
Cassie kissed Justine on the cheek and got up. She went to the bed and held the Teddy bear to her chest. Justine watched as her granddaughter fell asleep with a smile on her lips. If only she’d had access to the drug before this, she thought as she turned to go; Cassandra could have been well on her way to becoming a granddaugher worthy to take over her business.
“We’ll start your new lessons in the morning, darling,” Justine smiled from the doorway. “By the time I am through with you, my precious Cassandra, you will make me look like an innocent child.”
“That is never going to happen,” Grant Yates said as he came into the room. Two police officers were standing behind him. “Justine,” he said as he watched them take Justine into custody, “these gentlemen will take you downtown. Your associates have already been taken into custody.” He went to pick Cassie up in his arms. “The charges are kidnapping and attempTed murder.”
“You have no proof!” Justine hissed as she was put into cuffs.
“We had the house wired with a very high tech security system while you were gone, Justine,” Grant smiled at her coldly. “The moment you arrived, the security cameras activaTed and the security system sent out an alarm. The FBI has been monitoring you ever since.”
“And you waiTed until Cassie was here,” Justine said snidely, “before you moved in?” She shook her head. “I could claim that the kidnapper dropped her off here when I paid his ransom, you know?”
“You could,” Grant nodded. “But the FBI has a recording of the ransom demand originating from your home phone, Justine.” He heard Cassie whimper and held her closer. “It’s all right, kitten. Daddy’s here now and we’re going to get you well.” He glared at Justine. “This time an insanity plea is not going to work, old woman. You are going to spend the rest of your life in prison for what you did to my daughter.”
“Daddy?” Cassie opened her eyes as he carried her out of the house. “You came for me!”
“Yes, kitten,” Grant nodded, biting his lip to keep from crying. “And now we’re going home where we belong.”

Three Years Later

Cassie sat in the pew with her family, holding her newborn nephew in her arms as they waiTed for the music to begin. It had been three years since she had finally made her way back to them. All the threats were gone: Justine Dekker and Jonathan Garrison were in jail. Howard Grayson had turned state’s evidence and was living somewhere with a new life and Cassie had just graduaTed from college. The only sad note was that before Justine had been caught she had ordered the deaths of Steven and Amy Parker and Adam had died from the bullet he had taken to protect his brother, Eric.
“Andrew Yates!” her sister-in-law’s voice hit her ear. “Sit still!” She turned to Cassie. “Can’t you do anything with your son? He’s an instigator!”
Cassie looked to the end of the pew where her own son. Oliver was crouched in the foot well playing with his toys and teasing his cousin Andrew. She handed the baby, Jason, back to Belinda and snapped her fingers. Oliver looked up at her with his deep blue eyes and golden blond hair and her heart caught in her throat. He was Adam all over again.
“Oliver,” she shook her head and held out her hand. “We’re in church.” Her son came to her and stood at her knees, his head down. “We talked about how people behave here, didn’t we?”
“Yes, Mommy,” Oliver nodded seriously.
“I don’t recall saying anything about teasing your cousin,” Cassie said patiently. “This is your Uncle Eric’s big day. We need to be on our best behavior.” She patTed the pew between her and Belinda. “Come sit here.”
The music starTed as Oliver took his place and they watched as the bridesmaids and groomsmen came down the aisle. Angela smiled as he passed them on the arm of her husband. Cassie nodded and caught Oliver before he could go to his aunt. Then the bridal march began. They all rose and watched as Delia Evans Grant came down the aisle on her older brother Henry’s arm.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this,” Belinda leaned over and touched Cassie’s arm.
“How can I not be?” Cassie asked her. “Eric was my first love, not the love of my life. He and Delia belong to each other.” She looked at her brother-in-law and they smiled at each other in complete understanding. “I’m truly happy for them.”
“Your time will come,” Belinda smiled and turned back to watch.
Cassie didn’t disagree. She was convinced that her time had already come and her husband had been taken from her before she could tell him that. She thought of Adam then and wished he was here to see his twin getting married. She caught Oliver as he starTed to take off and sighed.
“I’m taking Oliver out where he won’t disturb people,” she whispered to Belinda. “Do you want me to take Drew?”
Belinda nodded and Cassie got the boys and Oliver’s toy bag and went down the side aisle. She saw a man near the back of the church and her heart did a strange flip. Just before he had turned to go, she had caught sight of his face. He had dark-hair and his eyes were brown, but something about him had reminded her of Adam.
“Mommy,” Oliver yanked on her hand. “If we be good, will you get us some scream?”
“All right, Oliver,” Cassie nodded. She looked away and when she turned back the man had left. Just a trick of the light, she sighed. Adam was gone now; no amount of wishful thinking was going to bring him back.
They went out of the church and around to the back. The tent was already set up for the reception. The caterers had been warned and they had two small cups of chocolate ice cream with marshmallow sauce waiting. Cassie set the boys at a table and looked out at the park. She froze as she saw the man. He was looking right at her and the boys and there was an expression of longing and regret on his face.
“Rocky road,” Oliver’s voice cut through her shock.
“Rocky road!” Andrew repeaTed, giggling.
“Without the bumps,” Cassie smiled and turned back to the boys.
“If only life came without those,” a familiar voice sounded in her ear. She whirled around and saw the stranger standing nearby. “Handsome boys you have there, Mrs…”
“Garrison,” Cassie finished for him. “Only one of them is mine,” she continued as she felt herself drowning.
“You don’t look old enough to have children their age,” the man continued as he maintained a polite distance. He did not introduce himself to her and she wondered why.
“I am,” Cassie answered. She felt something cold hit her hand and looked down to see a glob of ice cream. “You’re supposed to be eating it, boys; not using it for missile weapons.” She took the cups away from them. “Bad boys don’t get scream.”
“We’ll be good, Mommy,” Oliver’s lower lip began to tremble. “Sorry.”
“Please, Aunty Cassie?” Andrew looked about to break. “We sorry.”
Cassie set the cups down and turned away to get control of herself. How could she have been so hateful? Her grandmother used to do that to her and she had sworn she would never act that way if she ever had children of her own.
“Bannister!”
The man nodded to her and turned away. He had a radio to his ear as he ran. Cassie was confused then. This man had made her feel like she was with Adam; had reminded her of Adam. How could he not be Adam? She turned back to her task and did not see the man who had been taking photographs of her and the stranger.
“Do you think it’s him?” the man said as he sent the photos over the wireless connection to his unit and made a call.
“It would be good if it was,” the man at the other end said. “We’ve been watching his ‘widow’ for three years now.” There was a pause. “I’ll check the name Bannister and see what comes up.”
“Should I keep an eye on the girl?” the camera man asked. “Don’t mind. She’s really easy on the eye.”
“Look but don’t touch,” the other man replied tightly. “We’re after the husband not her.”
“Gotcha, Boss,” the camera man said. He heard the bells ringing. “I’d better move. I need to take some shots of the happy couple coming out of the church and at the reception or my cover is blown.”
He moved away from the tent and Cassie finally noticed him. One of the photographers, she sighed. Maybe he got a picture of the man she was talking to. She made a note to ask him about it when she got a chance and watched the boys take their empty cups to the trash can. They were going to be good men. Her smile died as she saw the Mayor of Garrisonville coming towards her.
“Mrs. Garrison,” the tall broad-chesTed man nodded to her as he stopped by the table. He looked at Oliver. “He’s looking more like his Daddy every day.”
“I assume you have a reason for crashing the wedding, Mr. Tremont?” Cassie said tightly. “Oliver, don’t go far.”
“Yes, Mommy.” Oliver nodded and took Andrew by the hand. She watched them as they went to watch the caterers set out the desserts.
“I’d better watch them,” Cassie said as she rose, “or they’ll get into the cake.” She looked down at his hand on her arm. “Don’t do this here, Mr. Tremont,” she told him. “I’ll meet you at the fountain in fifteen minutes.”
Tremont nodded and left the tent. Cassie sighed and got herself under control. She had hoped that when Adam died, she would never have to think about Garrisonville again. But Eric had been disowned, so she was the sole heir of her father-in-law and her late husband. That left her with certain obligations that she was certain Tremont was here to remind her of.
“Whoa there,” she heard Dekker’ laugh as he caught his nephew and son reaching for the cake. “Not until after dinner.” He saw their faces and he was stern. “No,” he shook his head. “You’ve already managed to talk your way around one adult.” He looked at Cassie and she blushed and lowered her head. “We’ve got pizza for you two and we’ll bring some cake home for you.”
“Pizza!” Andrew cheered. “Molly is coming to play with us?”
“Molly is here,” the tall lanky teen with thick red hair and a face peppered with freckles laughed. She crouched down and the boys ran to her screaming. “So jelly bean pizza?”
“Silly Molly!” Oliver laughed. He wiggled loose and went to hug Cassie. “Bye Mommy.”
“You be good for Molly,” Cassie called after them as they took off with the teenager. She sank back in the chair with a sigh. “Dekker,” she said as her brother joined her. “Tremont is here.”
“I can run him off, Cassie,” Dekker frowned as he heard the news. He put his hand over hers. “You don’t have to go there. Find someone to act as your agent.”
“That won’t work,” Cassie shook her head. “I need to go, Dekker. It’s not going to be a closed chapter in my life until I can face it.” She saw his frown. “I’ll be taking David with me.”
“He’s your personal security force now?” Dekker teased. He saw her blush. “He’s certainly been spending a lot of time finding ways to be useful to you.” Cassie shook her head and he knew she was still hanging on to the past. “It’s been three years, kitten. You have a right to move on…”
“Not yet,” Cassie looked up at him and he saw her struggling not to cry. “Please don’t push, Dekker. I’m not ready.” She got up on her feet. “I need some air. I’ll be over at the fountain.”
Dekker frowned and watched as she left the tent. David appeared as if out of nowhere and he relaxed. That man would go to hell and back to keep Cassie safe. He didn’t need to worry about his little sister. But he did. She had gone through hell her entire life and she was still trapped in the memories of what had happened. She needed to find a man who would love her.
Cassie and David went to the fountain and he knew she was worried. There weren’t many expressions and moods of hers he missed now. He had made a study of Cassie Yates Garrison when he became her friend. He knew there was no hope of his ever being more until she got past what she had suffered, but he was a patient man. He could wait.
“I’m not being fair to you, David,” Cassie sighed as she looked up at him. “You should be spending time with someone who can give you what you want.”
“You’re my friend,” David smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m always there for my friends.” His eyes went cold. “Tremont is here,” he said to her. “You want me to stay?”
“Close,” Cassie nodded. “I promised you a dance.”
“Two,” David said gently as he stroked his cheek. He kissed her on the forehead. “Don’t let him bully you.”
Cassie smiled nervously and turned to go talk to Tremont. He was standing over by the hedge that hid the park from the street lighting a cigarette. He smiled at her and motioned to the bench.
“I’m not staying that long,” Cassie said tightly. “What do you want, Mr. Tremont that is so important that you would intrude on a family event?”
“A Garrison needs to be at the ceremony, Cassandra,” Tremont said firmly. “You are the only one left.”
“That’s not true,” Cassie told him. “Eric and Oliver…”
“A disowned son and a bastard?” Tremont broke in. “The town is no more accepting of them than Jonathan was. It has to be you.” He looked past her to where David was watching. “You can bring your guard dog, if it will assure you we mean no harm, Cassandra, but the bastard is not welcome.”
“Oliver is my son,” Cassie snapped at him. “The next time you call him a bastard, Mr. Tremont, I am going to hurt you.” She turned to go and he held her back. “I’ll be there.”
“You have to come with me,” Tremont said as he tightened his hold on her arm. He raised his other hand and two men joined him. “Handle the dog,” he ordered as he yanked Cassie along with him. “No fuss now, Cassandra. We don’t want to hurt you.”
“But I want to hurt you!” Cassie snapped and struck him. The heel of her hand went up to his nose and he screamed in pain. She ran then and saw a car pulling up to the curb. The man who’d been watching her pushed open the passenger door.
“Get in, Mrs. Garrison,” he said as he looked past her. “Hurry!”
Cassie hesitaTed and he nodded behind her. Tremont was coming after her. She didn’t know this man, but she knew Tremont. She got into the car without an argument and the man drove away before Tremont could get to the car. She watched as the car turned the corner and went past the church. Only then did he panic.
“Let me out,” she demanded as she tried to open the door. “You can’t take me away from my family!”
“That’s what Tremont wanTed,” the man said to her. “If I let you rejoin your family now, he’ll just come after you again.”
Cassie couldn’t argue with his logic. She knew Tremont and she had seen how desperate he was getting. Then she thought of David and she tried again.
“David…”
“Your friend is all right,” her rescuer told her. “My men stepped in to help him when we saw what was happening. He will be brought to you and we will turn you over to him.” A flash of pain crossed his face. Cassie felt that flash of memory and connection and wished she knew what was going on. “You’ll be back with your family by morning.”
“Morning?” Cassie squeaked. “I can’t be gone that long. Oliver needs me…”
“Your son has people to care for him in your absence,” he broke in firmly. “My way insures you get back to him.” He could see that she was not buying his explanation and he shook his head. His Cassie! Always so damned intractable when she wanTed her own way. “If we go there now, you will be taken and these men will not hesitate to hurt your boy to do so.”
“Why are you helping me?” Cassie asked him after a few moments of silence. “I don’t know you.”
“I knew your husband,” he replied; it was only a partial lie after all. “We were friends in college.” He saw her disappointment. She was too perceptive; she had felt their connection as he had. “We drifTed apart when I went into the FBI.” He was silent. His phone rang. “Bannister.”
Cassie turned to look out the window and frowned as she saw a car following them too closely. It began to pick up speed and her rescuer noTed it and told his people where they were. He tossed her the phone.
“Keep calling out directions,” he asked her. “I need to concentrate on losing them.”
Cassie nodded and did as he asked. She called out their turns and hung up as the man took the turns quickly and expertly. There was no way this was Adam. He was not this good a driver. Cassie was disappoinTed, but she found that she was also growing quite intrigued by this strange man. They left town and two cars pulled in behind them, making their pursuer peel off.
“They’re gone,” Cassie sighed and turned to the man beside her as they continued out of town. “You can take me home now.” He didn’t say anything to her but kept driving away from town. Cassie did not understand what was going on. He had told her he would let her go home and he was getting further away. “Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere we can keep you safe,” Adam told her calmly. He haTed lying to her like this, but her safety was more important. “If I had told you that you were being taken into protective custody, you wouldn’t have gotten into the car, Mrs. Garrison.”
“What?” Cassie gasped. She shook her head and tried to get out of the car again. “You can’t do this! I need to get back to my son!”
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Garrison,” Adam said honestly. “We need to keep you safe. Were you aware that the whole town of Garrisonville has been tasked with bringing you back there?”
“Yes,” Cassie nodded. “They need me to sign some documents…”
“They are going to murder you, girl,” Adam told her bluntly. He saw her pale. “The town blames you for what happened to their benefactor and his son.” He continued on. “They are going to make you sign documents turning the Garrison fortune over to James Tremont.”
“He can have it!” Cassie snapped. “I don’t want to have anything to do with Garrisonville. I just want to go back to my family.”
“We’ll get you home, Mrs. Garrison,” Adam said to her fervently. “It’s just going to take a while.” She glared at him and he wanTed to kiss her. “Trust me.”
“Why?” Cassie spat at him. “You’re just as bad as they are! You didn’t give me any more of a choice than they ever did about what I wanTed to do!”
Adam kept quiet. He knew she was right but he was only concerned with keeping her safe. Tremont was going to kill her if he could not keep her out of his hands. He would die before he’d let that happen. He was glad he had a few loyal friends left in Garrisonville. They had let him know what had been happening there since his ‘death’ and the arrest of his father. Tremont hadn’t wasTed any time taking over.
“Tremont could always keep you like a pet, Mrs. Garrison,” he said into the silence. He wondered why he hadn’t thought of that before. It would cement the man’s position in town far more if he forced Cassie to marry him. She was the Garrison heir and any man married to her would automatically have control of the fortune. “It would mean you would never see your boy again.”
“Why can’t these people just leave me alone?” Cassie cried. “Why hasn’t anybody ever done anything to stop them?”
“That’s what we’re trying to do now, Mrs. Garrison,” Adam told her. “We should be at the safe house in eight hours. Why don’t you try to get some rest?”
Cassie glared at him but put the seat back and closed her eyes. Adam reached back for the blanket and covered her with it. She frowned but did not open her eyes to look at him. He smiled and shook his head. Cassie might be older now but she was still the same stubborn female he loved with all his heart. He glanced over at her repeaTedly as they drove, drinking in her delicate features and noticing the changes three years had wrought. At 15 she had been pretty, but now she was exquisite.
“Oh Cassie,” he sighed. “If only I could tell you the truth.”

James Tremont sat in the chair behind the desk in the Garrisonville City Hall and listened to his men tell him how they had lost Cassie. He was growing increasingly incensed by their failure and he wanTed to hurt someone.
“I don’t need to tell you how crucial it is that she be brought here, do I?” he asked them in a voice filled with menace. “So I don’t care how you do it. Find her and bring her here before Friday.” He leaned up and glared at them. “Because if Cassandra is not here on Friday in time for the ceremony, then you had better find a hole to crawl into because your lives will be forfeit.”
The men hurried out of his office and he slammed his fist into the top of his desk. How the hell had she managed to give them the slip? And just who was helping her? She had not shown up at her family’s home after the attempt at the church, and the cars following her had lost her just outside of town. It was a good thing he wasn’t counting entirely on his men to find the girl.
“Tremont,” he said as he picked up the phone when it rang. “Tell me.” He smiled as he heard the report. “Do what you have to. I want her here in Garrisonville by Friday.” He slammed the receiver down and his smile widened. “I’ve found you, darling.”
He pressed the intercom button. “Marsha, spread the word. The festival is on for Friday as scheduled. Cassandra will be coming home.” He picked up the photograph of Cassie and smiled as he traced her lips with the tip of his finger. “I hope you’re enjoying your little trip because soon you will be back here where you belong and you will never leave Garrisonville again.”

Cassie sat in the rocking chair on the porch of the cabin she’d been brought to. She shivered as the night air hit her bare arms and pulled a blanket around her body. It had been two days since he had stopped here and the car had been taken away. She looked at the forests surrounding her and knew she’d get lost if she tried to run. She had been allowed to call her family every day so they knew she was all right. That had gone a long way to helping her trust the man.
“Hot chocolate?” he asked as he came out onto the porch with two mugs. “With extra chocolate syrup and marshmallow.”
“How did you know that?” Cassie looked at the man in shock as she accepTed the cup from him. She took a sip. “Mmm.”
“Adam told me,” he answered her. “He was really very fond of you. Every time he deigned to take my call, you were all he could talk about.” He saw that she was very pleased to hear this from him, and then she starTed to cry. “Hey there, kid,” he said as he set her cup aside and crouched down to raise her eyes to his. “You shouldn’t cry. Your husband loves you. That’s something to celebrate, not mourn.”
“But he died before I ever got a chance to realize that I loved him back,” Cassie whimpered. She did not see the look that appeared on his face because she was on her feet and blinded by tears. “It’s not right. He never knew.”
“Hush now,” Adam said as he pulled her into his arms and held her as she cried. “It’s all right.” He wanTed so badly to tell her the truth it was killing him. But he couldn’t drag her into what he was facing, not after all the things she had already suffered because of him. He heard something that shouldn’t be there and pushed her towards the door. “Inside quick.”
Cassie didn’t argue. This man was a trained agent. His attitude told her there might be danger and she trusTed him. She heard a gunshot and ran inside to make a call for help. A man was standing there holding the phone and smiling coldly.
“Looking for this, princess?” he said as he took out the battery and threw it out the open window. “There are a lot of people who want you to come home, darling. We’re not going to keep them waiting any longer, are we?” Cassie backed away from him, looking towards the door. He laughed at her. “Your handsome protector is not going to help you now, baby. He’s dead by now.”
The door opened and Cassie watched as two men came into the cabin dragging Adam between them. She tried to go to him and the first man grabbed her and shoved her to the men.
“Take her.”
“What about wonder man here?” one of the man asked as he taped Cassie’s wrists together.
“If he tries to come for her,” the man laughed, “he’ll have to go through an entire town to get to her. Let him try.”
“Let me go!” Cassie screamed as the man who had bound her wrists hefTed her over his shoulder. “Put me down, you bastard!”
“Feisty little thing,” the man laughed as he slapped her on the backside. “Are you certain we can’t have a little fun with her before we turn her over?”
Cassie stiffened at his words and then redoubled her efforts. She managed to get off his shoulder but the other man caught her before she could get up and run. He slugged her across the jaw and she collapsed into the darkness. They carried her to their jeep and drove off, pleased at how well their snatch and grab had gone. They did not see the men who had been watching them from the shadows. They went into the cabin and roused Adam.
“They have her,” Henry told him as he helped Adam up. He heard the man curse. “I know, Adam. I wish we could have done this without her, but it just wasn’t going to happen that way.”
‘If anything happens to her, Evans…”
“I will hand you the knife to slit my throat with,” Henry finished for him. “It’s time for you to come back to life, my friend.”
“She is never going to forgive me for this,” Adam said sadly as he let the medic tend to his head wound.
“Give the girl some credit, Adam,” David said as he felt his hopes dying. “She has been mourning you for three years. No one could get past her memories of you.”
“And when this is over,” Henry added, “you will be free to make new memories with her and your son.”
“Then let’s go get my wife,” Adam nodded.

Cassie woke up to find herself lying in a familiar room. She was in the Adam’s old room in Garrisonville. She sat up and say the long nearly sheer white gown she had been dressed in. Her hair hung loose around her. A pair of shackles was on her wrists with a gold chain holding them together. The door opened and she looked over to see Tremont coming inside. Two men were standing guard outside.
“You open your eyes just in time, darling,” he laughed as he grabbed the chain and yanked her off the bed. “It’s time for the ceremony.”
“Let go of me, Tremont,” Cassie protesTed and yanked back on the chain. “I am not letting this happen again.”
“I want you to fight me, darling,” Tremont laughed at her. He yanked her out of the room and the two men fell in behind her. “I quite enjoyed the little show you put on when Garrison laid you at the lake. I am looking forward to participating in your encore performance.”
“You vile bastard!” Cassie hissed at him. Tremont turned on her and slapped her across the face. She glared at him and he slapped her again. “You can beat me bloody, Tremont, but I am not going to agree to this!”
“The prisoner is too chatty,” Tremont said as he got her downstairs. He looked at Marsha and Gillian who were wearing blue gowns like hers. “Give her the drug.” He held her arms as Marsha brought over a bottle of water. She opened it and shoved it into Cassie’s mouth after Tremont made her kneel and yanked her head back by grabbing her hair and pulling. “That’s better,” he nodded as he saw some of the fight go out of her. He yanked her to her feet and shoved her to the girls. “Bring her.”
“No,” Cassie whimpered as she tried to pull loose. She was too weak now to fight the two women and they got her outside. She saw the townspeople lined on either side of the drive and down the hill into town. They eyed her coldly as she was forced along and she knew they would not help her. They never helped her.
There was a post waiting in the town square with a thick iron ring set near the top. Cassie was backed up to it and her arms were raised over her head. Gillian took out a pair of cuff and fastened them between the chain on her shackles and the ring in the post. She tried to pull free, but she was going nowhere.
“You see the woman who seduced the son of our benefactor,” Tremont said as Marsha handed him a whip, “so that he betrayed his father and this town. She will be punished.” He nodded to Gillian and she turned Cassie so that she was facing against the post. She heard the fabric being ripped and felt the night air on her bared back. “Ten lashes.” He turned and the whip flew. Cassie bit her lip to keep from crying out. She was not going to give them the satisfaction. She was shaking from the pain when he was through and nearly on her knees. “She was given everything and she chose to betray us.” He raised Cassie’s eyes to his with the butt of the whip. “As Mayor, I have it in my power to save you from further punishment, girl. You will marry me.”
“Go to hell,” Cassie choked out past the weakness and pain.
“You are a stubborn child,” Tremont laughed and ran the butt along her arm. He saw her shudder in response and he was decided. “I choose her to be my bride,” he said to the others. “Bring her.”
Cassie was freed from the post and taken down to the lake surrounded by the townspeople. When they got there, it was a repeat of the night Adam had taken her as his wife. She tried to fight as they stripped her and forced her to her knees in front of Tremont. She heard the priest say the words and cried out in protest as Tremont starTed to remove her rings.
“No!”
Cassie and the others froze and looked at the chair Jonathan would have occupied if he were not in prison. Adam sat there, his eyes blazing in anger as he looked at Tremont. She recognized Henry and David and sobbed in relief.
“You can not take another man’s wife, Tremont,” Adam said coldly as he rose to his feet. “Especially not my wife.”
Cassie flinched as someone put a coat around her and looked up to see Delia crouching down next to her. She tried to get up but she was too weak from the sedative. Delia got her up and helped her to Adam. He nodded to the chair and Cassie sat there and watched as her husband faced Tremont.
“You have taken much upon yourself since my father was imprisoned, Tremont,” Adam continued as he flexed his hands. “The rule passed to my wife and you presumed to sit in judgment on her?” He looked around the townspeople. “And you sheep let him do this!”
“You betrayed your own father for that girl,” Tremont protesTed as he stood his ground.
“My father broke the law,” Adam replied. “Garrisonville is not exempt from the laws of this country, Tremont. Cassie was bought like an animal and raped. Our child was stolen from us and she was kept in this town against her will. When she ran, she was hunTed down and imprisoned.” He looked at Cassie in apology. “Despite all of this, a miracle happened. Cassie and I fell in love. I will not let anyone hurt her again.”
“You don’t speak for this town anymore, Adam Garrison,” Tremont snarled. “You lost your voice when you betrayed your father.”
“Cassie is my voice,” Adam replied calmly. “You had no right to lay your hands on her!” He nodded to the men suddenly surrounding the clearing. “These men and women are members of the FBI. They will escort you to the diner where you will wait. They will question you individually. Anyone who was directly involved in harming my wife, will be arresTed immediately.”
The townspeople were herded away and Cassie was left alone with her husband. He crouched down before her and removed the shackles from her wrists. His hand came up to cup her cheek and she sighed as her body remembered and responded to his touch.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Adam said as he met her eyes with pain and regret showing. “We were late.”
“It was only a little beating,” Cassie choked. Her back was stinging from the whipping. “You got here before the worst could happen.” She cupped his face in her hands. “I knew it was you,” she cried and threw her arms around his neck. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I was under orders,” Adam told her. He saw her puzzled look. “The FBI has been looking to stop what was happening in this town for a long time. When I was ‘shot’ they offered me a deal. I could play dead for a while, go through Quantico and become an FBI agent; all under an assumed name so that I could help bring these people down, or I could go to prison for rape and kidnap.” He saw her nod. “I couldn’t go to prison, Cassie. I would never have seen you again and I would have died a slow death being separaTed from you like that.” He was anxious. “Do you hate me for lying to you?”
“It sounds like you had no choice, Adam,” Cassie choked out. “I was so unhappy. I realized that somewhere along the way I had fallen in love with you and I never got a chance to tell you before we were separaTed.”
“So tell me now,” Adam smiled at her in relief.
Cassie got to her feet and he rose to his. She took his hand and led him to the pads then she removed the coat and pulled him down with her. They were still lying wrapped in each other’s arms when the sun rose the next morning; the first day on their true life together.

Epilogue

“Oliver Yates Garrison!”
Cassie smiled as she heard her husband out in the yard with their son. She had heard the crash and knew something had happened. Given that Adam was teaching Oliver how to throw she could just imagine which window was in need of repair. The back door crashed open and five year old Oliver ran in, looking upset.
“Window or flower pot?” she asked him as he dropped his glove and looked like the world was ending.
“Flower pot,” Oliver said. “I didn’t mean to, Mom…”
“You’ll get better, son,” Adam smiled as he came in and ruffled Oliver’s hair. He came over to hug Cassie and looked down at her heavily pregnant body. “It’s getting harder and harder to hug you, woman. Isn’t that baby ready to be born yet?”
“You heard Angela,” Cassie laughed. “Another couple of days and Oliver will have a little sister.” She winced as a pain shot through her back. “Ow!”
“Is she kicking you again, Mom?” Oliver asked, utterly fascinaTed by the thought of a baby being inside of his Mom. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out the Tupperware container of vegetables.
“How long?” Adam asked her as he saw her shake her head.
“Since about two p.m. yesterday,” Cassie admitTed to him. She saw his look. “I didn’t want to say anything. I thought it was just twinges from the weight I’m carrying.” She laid her hand over his as he starTed to lift the receiver. “Everyone is coming to dinner, honey. I’ll be fine.” She bit her lip and sat down as another pain struck.
“You’re not fine!” Adam grimaced and made the call. They heard the ring on the front porch. Grant was there. “Dad,” he said to his father-in-law. “Cassie is going into labor.”
“Let’s see what’s going on,” Belinda said as she handed ten-month old Jason Morgan Yates over to Dekker. “Come on, Cassie,” she smiled as she took Cassie into the bedroom. “Angela? Delia? Can I get a hand from you?”
Delia nodded and caught Cassie’s other arm as her knees buckled. They got her into the bedroom just as her water broke. The door was shut firmly and Oliver and Andrew were sent to the playroom with Jason.
“Looks like it’s up to us to get dinner on,” Eric said as he saw the stunned look on Adam’s face. “Hang in there, brother. She’ll be just fine. She’s got all those superwomen in there with her.”
Adam nodded and decided to keep his son and Dekker’s children occupied in the playroom. He winced as Cassie starTed to scream and Grant came into the playroom to take over for him.
“Go be with you wife,” he said to his son-in-law. “She’s going to want you there, no matter what she says to the contrary.”
Adam went to his wife’s side and six hours later their daughter was born. He let Belinda clean her up and then stroked the tiny girl’s cheek as she nursed. When Cassie had drifTed off to sleep, he carried her out to the rest of the family.
“Kathryn Margaret Garrison,” he said proudly as he held her up for them to see, “meet your family.”
“Give her here,” Grant smiled at the tiny child named for his mother and his wife. He watched Adam return to the bedroom and did not need to see to know his son-in-law would be holding his wife in his arms for the rest of the night. “Hello there, princess,” he smiled down at the infant. “Welcome to our family.”

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 11.01.2010

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