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“Why the hell would that make a difference to me? From what she told me, all of her siblings ignored her and didn’t lift a finger to help her when your dad forced her into a sham of a marriage with a polygamist who beat her and raped her for years.”
He did look away this time. “You’re right. We didn’t. In my defense, I had no idea how screwed up my family was until after I got away from them and into the real world. Once I did, I tried to get my other siblings to leave, but they wouldn’t listen. Cassia was just a kid when I left. In the end, I had to accept there was no way to change their minds. She was too closely guarded even then to get a chance at grabbing her.”
“You expect me to believe you left and then came back. Cassia said all her siblings were ten or more years older. Her brothers all lived in the commune and were just like her dad. They believed that women are less than second-class citizens and to have more than one wife was a man’s right. Just like it was a man’s right to beat, abuse and rape his so-called wives. Her sisters believed that was their place. If you left, why didn’t she ever tell me that?”
“Because I didn’t know he’d left. Benedict was the one closest to me in age. He’s ten years older than me. When I was ten and he was twenty, he was told it was time for him to take his first wife. I didn’t know that. When he refused, he was beaten and told he would do as he was told. For years, I’ve been told he died from a farming accident. We had a closed casket funeral for him because he was supposedly so badly mangled. That was all a lie. He escaped the commune.”
I stared at her in amazement. She was really buying into this crazy story. If he hadn’t been at the commune, it only could mean he’d moved on to another one just like it. It wasn’t unusual for cults like that to form more than one site.
“Babe, he’s full of shit. If he was gone all those years, then he has obviously moved away to start another faction of the Church of Converts. He’s here to trick you into going with him so he can take you back to your dad or Reuben. I’ll die before I let either of them get their filthy hands on you again.”
“I can prove it. I can show you where I’ve been for the past thirteen years. When I couldn’t get my brothers to talk to me or believe there was a better way, I moved to Colorado. I kept tabs when I could on the commune and went back more than once to try and talk to them. I had to be careful or else they would’ve killed me for real if they caught me. It wasn’t until recently that I heard the South Dakota compound had been disbanded and the leadership died. I went looking for my family. I found my dad in Utah and that’s how I found out Cassia had escaped three years ago and they were still intent on finding her. I sent Heath to track her down.”
“And he just happened to know where to find her? And if this is true, why not come and tell her this story yourself? Why have a guy stalk her then kidnap her? I’m not buying it.”
“I said I can prove it as well as explain why I couldn’t come myself. Sit down and we’ll talk.”
“No, I think we should get out of here and leave you to rot.”
“Please Blade, if you care for me at all, listen to him,” she pleaded.
I brought both hands up to either side of her face. I stared into her eyes. “I love you more than my own life, Cassia. You know that.”
“Then you’re not out anything by listening to him and checking out what he says. I know you have the ability to do that. Smoke and Everly can do it. I assume that’s how you found me, isn’t it? Don’t hurt them. If you want, take them back to the compound and talk. If you find out they’re lying and working for my dad or Reuben, then I won’t say another word. You can do whatever you want to them, but I can’t let you kill them without knowing for sure. Please.”
I couldn’t say no to her. Call me a pussy, but I couldn’t do it. Sighing, I looked at my brothers “Pack their shit and let’s get out of here. You try to get away or alert anyone and we’ll kill you and leave you to rot and be fed on by the animals. No one will know what really happened to you.”
None of my brothers argued. They tied Heath and Benedict up and gagged them then they quickly searched the cabin and packed up their stuff. I helped them bundle them into their car before heading back through the woods to our rides. Jake was going to drive them back. Cassia was riding with me. I couldn’t let her out of my sight. We’d send Jake and Lance back to get the crash truck.
It was a troubling ride all the way back to Dublin Falls. I was dreading having to kill her brother. All Cassia had ever wanted was for her family to care for her. Even if he was lying, it would hit her hard to have a glimmer of hope be snuffed out.
Blade: Chapter 18
We’d made good time back to the compound. I’d taken time to get Cassia settled into the apartment. She’d wanted to be in on our discussion with Benedict and Heath, but I told her that wasn’t going to happen. She hadn’t been happy, but she did give in. Her last words to me were to plead with me to really give them a chance to prove they weren’t here to hurt her or take her back to her dad or ex. I reluctantly gave her that.
We had them out at the Hole, which was the building we kept on the back acreage of the compound. It was the place we took people to extract information from them and to torture if needed. Not everyone who was taken there was killed, but there hadn’t been many who had walked away from it. It was way back here so people and our families didn’t just randomly see it. When not in use, it was locked up. We cleaned it, but anyone going inside would know it was used for something less than fun. We cleaned it thoroughly between sessions, to get rid of any DNA evidence. We found a mixture that destroyed it. Contrary to belief, plain bleach wouldn't do it.
Torture might not be my favorite thing, but at times it was necessary, and I had no problem in helping to do it. Although guys like our sergeant-at-arms, Menace, and some of the others were experts at it and made it seem like nothing bothered them. I knew they had the ability to turn that on and off. Maybe it was because of their military training, I didn’t know.
Since we weren’t one hundred percent sure that they weren’t lying, we didn’t string them up, instead, we tied them to chairs. They were looking around the room. Surprisingly, neither of them looked to be too awfully scared. I expected them to be ready to piss themselves. They looked calm. I glanced at my brothers. A few of them were staring at them. They were wondering the same thing too, I could tell.
Smoke had come with us and brought one of his laptops. It was connected to his more powerful computers back at his house and the clubhouse. How, I didn’t know or try to understand. Computers were his thing, not mine. All I knew was it was more than just Wi-Fi enabled. It actually would save data and such to the ones back in those two spots.
I pulled a chair up and straddled it backward, resting my arms across the back so I could watch our two prisoners. “You said you could prove your story. Start talking. You first, Benedict. Tell us where you have been living for the past thirteen years in Colorado and our brother over there will verify if it’s true or not.”
“I wandered around for a year or two before I ended up in Colorado Springs. Since then I’ve been attached to the Fort Carson Army base.”
I worked not to react to that piece of information. If he was on active duty in the military, that complicated things a bit, especially if he was dirty. The military didn’t like to lose people and not know what happened to them. We could make it appear that he went AWOL, but it was a risk.
“Run it and see if he’s telling the truth or not, Smoke,” Terror said.
“You might have trouble just finding that information. The military keeps their records pretty secure. If you look in my wallet, you’ll find my military ID.”
“Yeah, for most people that would be true, but our brother Smoke has his connections. He’ll be in that system in less than five minutes. Your ID doesn’t mean shit. Those can be faked,” Menace told him.
I saw Benedict look at Smoke as if wondering if we were lying or not. We weren’t. Hell, half the computer security systems in the military had been designed by Smoke and if not him, Everly.
“There is no mention of a Benedict Parrish being in the military in Colorado,” Smoke told us a couple of minutes later. I went to stand when Benedict spoke again.
