A Hostage to Delusion, M J Marlow [short story to read TXT] 📗

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