Blind Loyalty - M J Marlow (i am reading a book .txt) 📗

Judge and his family are looking out for you. They have good reasons for telling you to stay away from your father.” He looked at his watch as the all clear sounded. “You’ll be wanting to go to your next class. I’ll show you where it is.” Joanna knew he was only trying to be kind to her, but she was annoyed. Everyone was telling her what to do. Did they think she couldn’t make a decision on her own? She went to class and thanked Mr. Dunne for his concern. Then she sat in the back with Sarah and tried to figure out what she could do to make people stop making decisions for her. The class was French and she already knew French. This left her plenty of time to realize that she was not feeling well. Her head was pounding and her body aching. “Mademoiselle Leighton,” Miss Dearborn’s voice cut into Joanna’s thoughts. Joanna looked up to see the tall elegant woman with white blond hair and blue eyes standing next to her. “You are not paying attention.” “That is because Mademoiselle is mute,” Sarah told her teacher. “She has taken a vow of silence, Madame, because she is angry at being taken away from her father.” She looked over at Joanna, hoping her words would get a rise out of the girl. Instead, she saw how pale Joanna was. She was shaking like a leaf in the wind. “I don’t think she’s feeling well, Miss Dearborn. May I take her to the Nurse?” “Oui, Mademoiselle Winbourne,” Miss Dearborn nodded as she also saw how pale and shaky her new student was. “Take your cousin to the Nurse.” She went to write out the hall pass for them and Sarah took it as they left. “Then come right back here. We are going to have a quiz on vocabulary.” Sarah could see that Joanna was not feeling well. By the time they got to the Nurse’s Office Joanna was shaking so badly she could hardly stand. Joanna assured her she’d be fine and Sarah returned to class, taking time to call her mother. Joanna was out cold when Lora arrived. She did not hear the conversation going on around her or see Rachel arrive. When she came back to consciousness and found herself in her room at the Winbourne house instead of in school. Rachel was holding up the vial of pills James had given to Joanna and frowning. “How did he get these to you, Joanna?” Rachel asked bluntly. “My vitamins?” Joanna didn’t understand what the problem was. She always took those vitamins when Father asked her to. “Didn’t you bring them?” Her head felt strange. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep. But Rachel was not ready to stop badgering her about something she could not remember. “Your father slipped you these pills, Joanna,” Rachel said as she sat down on the bed. “They are not your vitamins.” Joanna could not believe her father would do anything to hurt her. But she saw Rachel’s face. Rachel frowned as she shook the vial. “This is a drug that causes short term memory loss, Joanna. If you had continued taking them, it would have left your mind permanently handicapped.” “Father would never give me anything like that!” Joanna shook her head in denial. She sat up and pushed Rachel away so she could stand up. He was her father. “He wouldn’t hurt me, Rachel! Why do you have to say such hateful things about him?” She knew Rachel cared about her welfare, but this was too much! “Why would he do such a thing?” “You can’t testify,” Rachel said as she held the girl, “if you are so crippled you need to be committed to a mental institution.” She felt Joanna stiffen a moment. “I’m sorry to be so blunt, Joanna, but you need to know what your father is capable of if you are going to be safe.” “I don’t believe you, Rachel,” Joanna said coldly. She saw the shock on the woman’s face and she didn’t care. “My father told me…” “You are not this stupid, Joanna,” Rachel broke in and she shook her like a terrier would a rat. “Your father just tried to drug you into a coma! What part of that behavior is acceptable?” Joanna blinked up at her for a moment as Rachel’s hand inadvertently pressed the release spot on Joanna’s wrist and the control James had established over her mind shattered. She burst into tears as she realized what a fool she had been. “Are you ready to learn the truth now?” Joanna nodded and Rachel kissed her on the forehead. “That’s my girl!” Joanna wondered just what Rachel was going to show her as they got in the car and drove away from town. The woman did not speak and Joanna was still dealing with the after effects of the drug. When they started heading up into the mountains, however; she began to pay attention. The car headed directly for the edge of a cliff and Rachel did not stop. Joanna knew something was going on so she remained quiet. Rachel would never hurt her; she was certain of that. The car appeared to go over the edge but remained level. They plunged into darkness and the headlights went on, showing the interior of an immense room. Several other cars were parked along the lane they were driving. Rachel found a spot and stopped. “Welcome to the Aerie, Joanna,” Adam said as they got out and went towards the elevators where he was waiting. He looked larger than usual and his face seemed carved of stone. “Rachel tells us you’re ready to hear about the man who calls you his daughter. Why now?” Joanna took out the vial Rachel had given her. She saw the muscle in his jaw clench. Adam nodded and they went to the elevators. No one spoke as they descended and Joanna did her best to keep her curiosity under control. They came out onto a floor and went down a corridor to the door at the end. Adam knocked and a man’s voice called out for them to enter. Adam opened the door and let Rachel and Joanna go in first. As offices went, this one was very sparse. There was a desk and a few chairs and book cases. Pride of place went to the security screens and a laptop computer and printer. Joanna saw the silver-haired man turn from the wall of monitors and she was stunned. This man was related to her father somehow; they shared the same facial structure and storm gray eyes. The man looked at her appraisingly, but he did not react as she backed away as he rose to his feet and ran to Adam. “Sorry to startle you, girl.” Braxton came around the desk as Adam made Joanna sit down. “You have a vial for me.” He held out his hand and Joanna approached him warily to put the vial of pills into it. He opened it and tipped one out. “He was using these on her?” he asked as he kept his eyes on Joanna. “The bastard is going down!” He slammed the vial on his desk and his features softened as he looked at Joanna. “I am your father’s cousin, Joanna. I have been trying to stop him from hurting people for a very long time now.” “Am I going to find any more cousins and uncles and aunts crawling out of the woodwork,” Joanna frowned at him; “who suddenly ‘care’ about me?” Here was another family member she had no knowledge of! She looked at him coldly and saw him remain completely impassive. “How long have you known I was being hurt and done nothing to help me?” “I see James hasn’t succeeded in breaking your spirit,” Braxton smiled in relief. “That’s good.” He reached out to touch her hand and she snapped. “Leave me alone!” She pushed him away and got to her feet. She headed for the door. She was leaving. “I don’t want any part of your personal war!” “You are not at all what I expected,” Braxton’s soft voice halted her. She could hear respect in his voice and she turned back. “I did not know he was hurting you, Joanna, until Rachel found and sent to me the information that our former operative was compiling.” He held his hand out to her and she went to him. “You had someone on the estate?” Joanna was stunned. “The woman was placed there when you turned four,” Braxton nodded and continued talking. “She said nothing of what was happening to you. When she died, all she left us was the key to a safe deposit box that Rachel did not find until recently.” He looked quite annoyed. “When she finally got a chance to open it yesterday, she found that it contained a detailed record of everything he’s done to you since your mother died.” He put his hand on her shoulder and looked at her kindly. “Are you ready to see your life as you would have known it if your father had not been hiding it from you with his drugs?” Joanna nodded and Braxton was impressed. Despite what his cousin had been doing, this child was brave and determined. She would have the truth! He knew that had a great deal to do with the fact that she did not remember what her father had done. He went to his desk and pulled up the ‘film’ he’d made from the recordings his operative had made. Every last beating this child had endured and more was about to be displayed for her. “You don’t need to do this, Joanna,” he said as he keyed up the program. “Up until now, you’ve been spared the evil that he…” “I need to remember,” she said firmly. She needed to know. Her father was hiding things from her and she was tired of it. The image of the book came into her mind again and was accompanied by pain. “ I need…” There were answers in that book, she was certain of it. Something her mother wrote about in her – her… White hot blinding pain struck her mind as the transmitter was keyed by the word ‘remember’ and triggered the punishment cycle. Joanna turned white as a sheet collapsed. James turned off the tape recorder and frowned. Someone had found the release point and freed her from his control. She had very nearly learned the truth about him. If he had not had her tagged before she had left the house, Joanna would know now every nasty thing he had done to her for the past ten years. He could never allow that to happen. It was becoming apparent to him that letting her go to her mother’s family had not been a good idea at all. He would have to make arrangements to send her away where they could never touch her. “Antoine,” he said as a speed dial number he pressed was picked up even before it rang once. “It’s Leighton. The girl is nearly ready for transport. Send the scout to begin compiling a file on her for the buyers.” “Is she to go into the general slave stock?” the man asked dispassionately. “Or is she prime?” “She is most definitely prime,” James replied. “A great deal of expense has gone into educating her. If she were not my ‘daughter’, I would keep her for myself.” Charles moved away from the door, frowning. Leighton was planning on sending the girl into the slave market. He could not allow that to happen. He went to his room in the separate house he had been given as his own and unlocked his safe. He pulled out a CD and put it into a mailer. He addressed it to the Judge and slid it into the interior