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

the place of the horror he saw an anger building. He was glad he was not James Leighton at that moment. From the records, the man who had called himself her father spent every night in her bed after that. He did everything short of having intercourse with her while she lay drugged and helpless to stop him. “How could I not remember this?” Joanna cried. “It was bad enough he was beating me. But he was molesting me, too?” She could feel the reaction hitting. “I’m going to be sick,” she moaned and ran for the bathroom. Aidan came to her side and rubbed her back, as she was ill. He felt the same way but he maintained control. He wet a towel and laid it across the back of her neck. They sat back down as the recording of her in his surgery telling her father everything she had thought she was hiding from him began. His hands pet and stroked her body as she helplessly recited for him everything she had done while he was gone from the estate. She was stunned as she realized she was his spy. It hadn’t been any of the servants who had betrayed her. She had betrayed herself. Damn the man! How could any person be so vile? “I never had a chance,” Joanna whimpered as the file ended and she was left feeling like the biggest fool in history. She had actually believed he cared for her, as a daughter. All she had been to him was a tool, a puppet he was preparing for another master. She heard the door open and she didn’t look over her shoulder. She knew who it was. “I want him stopped, Father,” she said stiffly. “He has to be stopped!” “Then we will begin your training tomorrow,” Adam told her. “Aidan,” he turned to the boy as he pulled out his wallet and handed over fifty dollars and the keys to his Jeep, “take my daughter to a movie; something funny and mindless. But make certain you get her home early. There’s a storm moving in and you don’t want to get caught out in it.” Joanna sat next to Aidan an hour later with a tub of popcorn in her lap and a large soda in the arm of the seat she was occupying. The movie was really funny and she was sorry it wasn’t doing what her father had hoped it would. She could not get theimages of James molesting her out of her mind. Aidan put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him, glad of the comfort he was offering her. He was a good friend and he seemed to know what she needed before she did. “If you want the boy to live, darling,” James’ voice sounded in her head cold and vicious, “you’ll stay away from him. You belong to me, Joanna, and I will not have anyone else touching you.” Joanna put her hands over her ears but the voice continued. James told her in gruesome detail exactly how he would deal with Aidan if she did not get rid of him as her friend immediately. Joanna shook her head and started shaking. It wasn’t happening. He couldn’t be in her head. He was not here threatening to harm her friend. She had to be hallucinating. “Joey?” Aidan looked at her worriedly as he watched her eyes fill with fear. “Is something wrong?” “Tell him, darling,” James said, “and he’s dead.” “No, Aidan,” Joanna shook her head. “I’m just cold,” she told him. She hid her face from him so he could not see she was lying. He pulled her closer and she ignored James’ voice and let Aidan hold her. Was this some kind of auditory hallucination triggered by theimages she’d just seen? He couldn’t possibly be in her head. The thought of him being here in the theater with them was even more unnerving. The movie ended and she clung to Aidan’s hand. “Something’s wrong, Joey,” Aidan said as he extricated his hand and rubbed feeling back into it. “You’re terrified.” She started to deny it and he shook his head. “I can tell, Joey. You have to tell me what’s going on if I’m going to help you.” Joanna shook her head and fell silent. She was not going to risk his life. He meant too much to her. And how could she even begin to explain to him that she was hearing her father’s voice in her head? He would think she had lost her mind. She was certainly beginning to believe she had. The drive home was uncomfortable for both of them. The snow that had been threatening was falling now and it was hard to see where they were going. They were all alone on the two-lane road surrounded by thick trees and miles from any assistance. The road was becoming slicker by the moment and Aidan was having a hard time keeping the vehicle on the road. He finally gave up and pulled over. “We need to find someplace to wait out the storm, Joey,” he said as he tried his cell phone. “Dad? It’s Aidan.” He listened. “Joanna and I are stranded out on I-7 heading into town. The road’s too slick to travel now.” He looked at where they were stopped. “I can’t see a mile marker where we’re stopped, but I remember seeing 35 about five minutes ago.” He smiled and nodded as he heard his father’s instructions. “I remember it. Thanks Dad. We’ll be waiting for you there.” He hung up and turned to Joanna. “Our hunting cabin is about a mile up the road and east of here. If we hurry, we should reach it before the storm gets any worse.” He found the turn off and they drove along the back road slowly, praying they would get to the cabin. The back road was even slicker than the main road and they slid several times on their journey. By the time they found the cabin they were both soaking wet and bone tired. Aidan opened the door and turned on the lights. Joanna stepped inside to find herself in a very nice cabin. It had a great room and two bedrooms with their own bathrooms. There was a staircase to a loft above the great room where twin beds and a bathroom were waiting. “This is not a hunting cabin, Aidan,” Joanna frowned. “It’s another home.” “Mom had it built this way,” Aidan told her. “She said if we were going to go out and slough around in the wilderness, we deserved to come back to a comfortable cabin.” He looked sad for a moment. “She would have liked you.” He saw her state. “We’d best find some dry clothing and get warm. Then we can see if Dad remembered to stock the pantry. After that little trek, I’m starving.” Joanna went into the bedroom Aidan told her his sister had used and closed the door. She stripped and went into the bathroom to find it fully stocked with towels and a thick warm robe on the hook on the back of the door. She took a long hot shower and slipped into the robe. In the dresser she found thermal underwear and socks and put them on. They were a bit big on her, as Bridget was taller and more full-figured, but Joanna kept the robe on as well and went out into the main room to find that Aidan had made a fire and was now making scrambled eggs. She found plates and silverware and cups and set the table. It was very cozy, she thought; almost like they were a couple and this was their home. Three days went by as the storm grew progressively worse. Aidan checked in with his father and Joanna knew the man was passing the message along to her family that they were safe and well. She was enjoying this time with Aidan. They played cards, they put on music and danced or just sat back to listen, and they talked about their plans for the future. Joanna was not surprised that Aidan wanted to pursue a career in micro-technology. As for her, she was only sixteen; she had time to think about the future. “Dad says the storm should be breaking in a few more hours,” Aidan told her the fourth morning as he brought in a load of wood and stacked it next to the fireplace. “We can start shoveling back out to the Jeep after breakfast.” He saw her look at the pile of logs. “We always leave it ready in case someone needs to borrow it during a storm,” he told her. “Wilderness rules.” He lifted his head as he heard a familiar sound. “Someone’s gotten through!” he smiled and went to the door. He froze as he came face to face with the business end of a gun. Then he looked up at the man holding it and his face went white. “Leighton!” “Hello, darling,” James purred as he moved past Aidan as if he was not there and saw Joanna go white with shock. “Did you miss me?” He nodded to his men. “Make young Murphy comfortable, gentlemen, while Joanna fixes us something to eat.” The men grabbed Aidan and shoved him down onto a chair. They bound his wrists behind his back so he could not move. “Father…” “Come along now, darling,” James broke in as he shoved her towards the stove. “My men and I have been out in this nasty weather looking for you. The least you can do is fix us some breakfast before we leave.” Joanna got out the carton of eggs and some bacon and the loaf of bread. She scrambled them some eggs with bacon as one of the men set three plates on the table. She saw him get out coffee and the smell of it filled the cabin as she finished cooking. She started to move off and James yanked her back. He made her sit in his lap and held onto her wrist with one hand as he ate. When he was done, he looked at her and then at Aidan. “You have made yourselves very cozy here, Joanna,” he said coldly. “I trust you haven’t been doing anything improper.” His eyes went cold as he looked at her defiant expression. “I warned you what would happen if you let him get close to you, girl.” He shoved her away and she fell to the floor, eyeing him coldly. James smiled as he saw her expression. “You remember now, don’t you?” “Everything, you vile bastard,” Joanna hissed at him. She slapped his hand away as he reached down to help her up. “Don’t touch me!” “You don’t realize how unique you are, Joanna,” James said to her. “The drug I designed was supposed to remove your memories permanently. You weren’t ever supposed to remember.” “I would have preferred not to,” Joanna spat back at him. He got up and she backed away, shaking her head. “Stay away from me!” “If you value young Murphy’s life, my darling,” James said as he yanked her up and twisted her arm up behind her so she was pinned against his chest; “you will not fight me.” He kissed her and Joanna felt ill. “Let go of her you bastard!” Aidan snarled and tried to pull free. One of the men backhanded him and Joanna cried out in protest. James yanked her back as she tried to help her friend, his hand going to her throat. “Your mother couldn’t give me sons, Joanna,” Leighton said nastily as he held her against him. His other hand moved down to her abdomen and she whimpered. “You will give me the sons your mother denied me.” “No!” Joanna shook her head. “I would never agree to such a vile thing!” She tried to pull