Cassie slammed the door behind her. Picking up a shirt off the floor, she pulled it over her shoulders. The shirt she wore earlier wouldn’t close as she had ripped off the buttons. Tears streamed down her face and she stumbled toward the bed where she grabbed the blanket off and wrapped it around her shoulders. Walking over to the corner, she slid down the wall and brought her knees up. Wrapping the blanket around her, she laid her head on her knees and let shame and guilt wash over her.

Shame because of the word cut into her skin and guilt because of what she’d done to Robbie. She knew she shouldn’t feel either sensation but she could still remember her mother’s soft words. Do onto others as you would have do unto you. She could no longer see her sweet face but she did remember the sound of her voice. It never made sense since she had done to Robbie what he’d done to her, really.

Suddenly, she was pulled from her misery as someone grabbed her hair. For a moment, she couldn’t believe someone could just show up here in the room. Before he hauled her to her feet, her hands wrapped around something heavy. With the blanket hiding her body from him, she kept her hand hidden.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” The stranger asked. “Are you one of the bitches we came here to find?” Cassie struggled but he just tightened his grip until he had her on her tiptoes. “Now, now, none of that. Which bitch are you, Cassie or Peaches?” Then he shrugged. “You better be worth all this.”

“Who are you?” Cassie gasped. “How did you get in here?”

“Never mind that now.” He pulled on her hair again. “Ellie wants me to carry your sorry ass back to Boston…she’s willing to pay big bucks to get you back.”

Cassie sneered at him. “You’re one of her flunkies?”

The man grabbed her chin. His fingers bit into her skin and he wasn’t bothered when she hissed in pain. “I ain’t nobody’s flunky, bitch.”

Cassie narrowed her eyes. “Don’t touch me.”

The man laughed at her. ”Hell, I’ll do more than touch you bitch. Ellie said to bring you back to her alive, but she didn’t say anything about bruised and beaten.”

Just then, another man stuck his head in the window. “Come on Jeb, hustle it up. They’re bound to make another trip around the fence line soon.”

Jeb turned to glare at the man. “Get the fuck away from the window. Get back to cover. I’ll be right out with this bitch.”

As soon as the other man disappeared from sight, she raised the wrench. “I fucking don’t like people touching me!” She screamed as the wrench hit his skull.

Jeb dropped to one knee. Blood ran down the side of his face and when he looked up, he snarled. “I’m gonna enjoy beating the hell out of you, bitch!”

Cassie threw the blanket off her shoulders. Backing away a step or two, she held the wrench up with one hand and motioned for him to come after her. “Come on you bastard, come get me.”

Jeb rushed her and Cassie sidestepped him. She brought the wrench down on his back.

He fell onto the bed. He got back up and came at her again. He grabbed her by the arm and brought her close to him.

Cassie could feel the heat from his body and smell the stink of his breath. She shuddered in revulsion and stomped her foot down on his, when he grunted but didn’t move away, she brought her knee up then slammed him in the groin.

Jeb bent over in pain but still held her by the arm.

Cassie growled, “Let me go, you bastard.” Raising her hand up, she hit him in the head again with the wrench.

Jeb grunted and slid to the floor.

She raised her foot and kicked him several times in the ribs and back, but Jeb didn’t feel them. He laid there unconscious and bleeding.

Cassie raised her foot again to kick him when she heard pounding on the door. Her rage began to fade when she heard Deke calling her name. Dropping the wrench, she hobbled over to the door and slid the lock open. Throwing the door open, she fell into his arms.

Deke’s arms wrapped around her as he viewed his bedroom beyond her. He saw signs of a struggle complete with blood pooling around the man laid out of the floor. The window was open and there was a smear of blood on the bed. He could see the bloody wrench on the floor beside the man.

Cassie wrapped her arms around Deke. She was babbling as she pushed her face into his chest. ”I told him not to touch me. I told him. I told him.”

Deke leaned back so he could see her. “Are you okay baby? Did he hurt you?”

Cassie shook her head. “I told him not to touch me.” She kept repeating.

Deke turned with her in his arms. He saw Gator standing behind him. “Clean this mess up, get him the hell out of here.”

Cassie lifted her head. “There is another guy outside. He poked his head in the window and told this guy they had to leave.”

Zipper and several others took off for the main door.

Deke half carried Cassie out to his table. When she sat down, he knelt beside her and asked, “What the hell happened in here?”

Cassie shook her head. “I was sitting in the corner with my head down. I didn’t see him at all then he grabbed me by my hair and yanked me up. I didn’t even realize I had the wrench in my hand until I hit him with it.”

“Did he say anything?”

“Only that Mrs. Pierce promised to pay him to return us to Boston.”

Deke looked enraged. “What happened then?”

“He got mad at me when I called him a flunky. He grabbed my chin and I told him not to touch me again. He said he was going to enjoy hurting me and I kinda lost it.” Cassie shook her head. “I told him but he wouldn’t listen.”

Deke smiled and he had to chuckle. “Yeah…I’ll bet he wishes he would’ve listened.” He stood and walked her out to the main room.

They watched as Gator dragged Jeb’s body through the main room and out the door. Deke looked over at Lance. “Are we going to have a problem here?”

Lance shrugged. “I didn’t see anything.”

Deke gave him a nod, then glanced back at Cassie. “Are you gonna be okay if I leave for a little bit? I have some business to take care of.”

Cassie looked over at Peaches and nodded. “We’ll be fine.”

Deke got to his feet and turned to Wiley. “Watch over them.” When Wiley nodded, Deke turned to follow his men out the door.

Deke strode over to where his men were standing in a circle. Pushing his way through their line, he viewed the two men inside.

Jeb was just coming to, but the other man was on his knees and sobbing. Someone had given him several deep bruises on his face and neck. “I had nothing to do with what happened. I never hurt the girl.”

“But you came here thinking you were gonna snatch her away from us, didn’t you?” Deke growled. “You would have hurt her given the chance.”

The man shook his head. “We were supposed to grab the girls and take them back to Boston, that’s all. That crazy dame wanted them alive. I have no idea what Jeb or Michael were going to do with them.”

Deke looked at Gator. “Then your name is Joey, right?” Deke then dropped his gaze at the man. When he nodded Deke asked, “Where is Michael?”

Joey turned his head and stared at the woods beyond the gate. “We had to leave him in the woods. Jeb won’t go back and carry him out. Mike shot at one of your guys last night and got hit by return fire. He got it good and he couldn’t meet up with us. I don’t know if he’s even alive anymore. He wasn’t looking so good the last time I saw him.”

“So, Jeb’s the type of man who’d leave a man behind, huh?” Deke scoffed. “What a nice guy.”

Joey shook his head. “He’s not a nice guy,” he stated with a shudder.

“Shut the fuck up, moron.” Jeb growled. Raising a hand to his head, he groaned. “What the fuck did that bitch hit me with anyway?” He didn’t bother looking around as he sat up. When he finally did raise his eyes he caught Deke’s cold gaze and gave him the finger.

Deke grabbed his hair and hauled him to his feet. “How does this feel asshole?” Deke felt blood running down his wrist as he shook the man he was holding.

“Fuck you bastard!” Jeb tried to spit in his face but Deke slammed his fist onto Jeb’s jaw.

Jeb groaned as Deke allowed him to fall to the dirt. He turned back to Joey. “What were you guys promised to grab the girls and take them back?”

“Mrs. Pierce promised us a hundred thousand dollars, but I think she promised Jeb something in addition to the money.”

“What makes you think that?” Deke wanted to know.

“As we were leaving, she took a ring off her finger and put it in his pocket,” Joey admitted. “Then she told him to have fun.”

Deke sneered at him. “Why are you giving up this info on your friends?”

Joey spit on Jeb. “These guys aren’t my friends. I wanted nothing to do with this case. I didn’t like it when Mrs. Pierce explained what the mission was and I hated having to deal with him.” he kicked out at Jeb. “I don’t know the girls’ story but I hated that bitchy Pierce woman.”

“But you still came after her,” Deke stated.

“And now I’m gonna die for my stupidity?” Joey growled. “Will you tell her I’m sorry?”

Deke knelt beside the man. “What are you sorry for?”

“I overheard Jeb talking to Mike the first night we were on the road. He told him a little about the girl. If she had to endure all that shit, she didn’t deserve to have to go back.”

Deke got to his feet. Glaring at Gator he said, “Keep them alive and feed them to the sows.”

Gator nodded as he grabbed Joey and a couple of the others grabbed Jeb. They dragged him away.

Joey had stopped whining and walked to his fate like a man.

“Find Mike’s body and take him with you,” Deke called out.

Gator nodded and kept on going.

“Wait a minute,” Deke called out. He walked up to Jeb and searched his pockets. He fished a ring out of the front left pocket. It was gold and had a large diamond setting. He sneered and put the ring in his own pocket. He walked slowly back inside. He was tired. Tired of the bitch who threatened his woman and tired of the bullshit that came with her. If he could, he would ride to Boston and break her dammed neck.

When he got back to the table Cassie wouldn’t look at him and Peaches looked like she was going to cry. Lance Sullivan seemed uncomfortable and Wiley was pissed.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Deke demanded.

“The badge wants the girls to go back to Boston with him. Says he can protect them,” Wiley sneered.

Deke shook his head. “That ain’t gonna happen, not in this lifetime.”

“They will be in no danger,” Lance insisted. “I can protect them from Mrs. Pierce.”

“You don’t know that for certain and I’m not willing to risk their lives.” Deke stabbed his finger in Lance’s chest. “We can keep them safe here. You go back to Boston and end that bitch or I will.”

Lance nodded. “With this stuff, I can go a long way but we need some of it decoded before we can go forward.”

“Then decode this shit and get on it!” Deke shouted. “But until this is done and that bitch is either in jail or dead, the girls stay here. They are under our protection and will remain so.”

“But I can’t be in two places at once.” Lance got to his feet. “I need to be wherever they are.”

“Why?” Deke sneered. “Don’t you think we can protect them?”

Lance seemed to slump where he stood. “You don’t understand. I’ve been working this case for eleven years. I told myself that if I ever did find the girls I wouldn’t leave them until the case was finished. They became so much a part of my life I have to see this through.”

“But you didn’t even know us,” Cassie told him.

“Maybe not, but I got to know you a little, by working the case.” Lance shrugged.

“You have no idea what we went through!” Peaches cried. “You have no idea what went on behind the walls of that house.”

Lance snorted. “I can’t say that. There have been rumors for a long time about the Pierce household.”

“What kind of rumors?” Cassie asked as her face paled.

“Shortly after Robbie killed himself, Walter Pierce began drinking. He did a lot of drinking at a local bar. He told some pretty wild stories to the friends he made there. One of these friends, Jeff White, came to the police with these tales. He didn’t know if he could believe them or not but he claims he wanted someone to know what was going on.” Lance stared at Cassie briefly. “We began our investigation two years ago.”

“And how close are you to nailing this bitch?” Deke demanded.

Lance looked down at the evidence in front of him. “This should be everything we need.”

“Then get on it and get it done.” Deke barked.

“I need to go back to Boston to finish this, but there’s a problem.” Lance ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m not sure who I can trust in Boston. I was looking through the book earlier and I know who some of those initials belong too.”

“You know what those sales mean?” Deke asked.

Lance nodded. “Yeah and that’s another reason we want her. She’s involved in a kiddie porn ring that goes nationwide.” He shrugged. “The FBI have been sniffing around. Apparently, Boston is a pick up and drop off point. We just didn’t know who or where they were operating from. This ties in with what the FBI thought.”

Deke looked disgusted. “How did she sell those kids without anyone knowing it? Why did no one not notice them being gone?”

Cassie snapped her head around to Deke. “Because nobody gave a shit!” she yelled. “We were all throw away kids, nobody wanted us, and there was no one to care.”

“That’s not true.” Lance shook his head. “Someone cared.”

Cassie got to her feet. “Do you know how I came to be in her house?”

Lance shook his head.

“My mother died when I was three years old. My father was a drunk and a junkie. He couldn’t handle a small kid, even his own daughter. When things got bad, he took me to her house and she gave him money to keep me. Social Services didn’t even know I was there. Every visit they made, she kept me hidden. There was never a file on me because they didn’t know I existed. So if that’s the case, how did you know my name?”

Deke frowned and looked over at Lance. Reaching behind his back, his fingers wrapped around the butt of his weapon. When he brought in out in front of him he pointed it at Lance. “How about you answer her question? How did you know her name if no one else was aware she was there?”

Lance slowly raised his hands. “When Eleonore Pierce’s son Robbie died she came in and began shouting about Josette Rearden and Callie Blake. Now, we had a file on Callie but we had nothing on Josette. She brought us a file on Josette. Claimed the girl was in her care for a friend. She told us the girl had only been in her care for a couple of months. The file told us the girl was troubled with a violent history. The file held some reports from another county. We had nothing else to go on.”

“So, this bitch hands you a phony file and you fell for it? What does that make you, besides fucking stupid?” Deke scoffed.

“Not so stupid.” Lance shook his head. “I realized something was wrong with the file and I did a background on the info. Josette Rearden didn’t exist. The file was fake. That made me wonder why she would go to that much trouble. We did a background check on the Rearden name and found her father. Then we found her mother’s grave and asked the old man some questions. We sobered him up first but he claimed his daughter was living with a friend and he couldn’t care for her.”

“So, the bastard didn’t tell you he sold me to Mrs. Pierce?” Cassie asked.

Lance shook his head. “Your father was so messed up, he didn’t remember where you were. He didn’t know the name Eleonore Pierce at all.”

Cassie shook her head. “He was always high or drunk. He blamed me and Mom for his own failures. Even when I was three I knew that much. I remember the fights they had. I’d wake up to their screaming at each other. I doubt the man could remember his own name at times.”

“That doesn’t explain the sales,” Deke reminded them. “How do so many kids disappear without someone noticing?”

“They didn’t,” Peaches whispered. “That was the big secret in that house. When she sold one of the kids she replaced them with another throw away kid.”

“What?” Lance sat down with a thud.

Cassie nodded. “You found Josette Rearden but you won’t find Callie Blake.”

Everyone turned to look at Peaches. “Aren’t you Callie?” Deke finally asked.

Peaches shook her head.

Cassie held out her hand to Peaches. Their fingers entwined. “No, she came after Callie disappeared. She was five years old but she’d been through a trauma and couldn’t remember who she was. She couldn’t even speak when she first got there. It took months before she spoke.”

“Did she ever remember her name or anything about what happened to her?” Lance asked.

“No I didn’t,” Peaches answered. She looked over at Cassie. “But that never made a difference to Cassie. She didn’t care who I was or what happened to me before I came to the Pierce house.”

“So, we still don’t know where Callie is,” Lance stated.

“Oh, I know where she is,” Cassie admitted.

“You do?” Lance frowned.

“Yup.”

“Where is she?” he demanded.

“She’s buried in the woods behind the house. Along with four other kids who never were reported as missing.”

“What happened to them, babe?” Deke asked.

“They pissed off Mrs. Pierce, that’s what happened.” Cassie growled.

“Do you know where they are buried?” Lance asked.

“Yes, I know where the bodies are. That’s one of the reasons she wants me back. She has to make sure I don’t talk to the police.”

“We need to get on this before she has a chance to move the bodies,” Lance said.

“She can’t,” Cassie replied.

“What do you mean?” Deke asked. “Didn’t she bury them?”

Cassie nodded, then grabbed Peaches’ hand. “She did but I dug them up and reburied them where she wouldn’t find them again. I couldn’t leave them all alone out there. At least this way, they would be together.”

“But you were just a kid when all this happened.” Deke felt stunned. “How could you do all that when you were a kid yourself?”

Cassie shrugged. “You just have to find a way to get it done. I did what I had to do.”

“Mrs. Pierce never knew what Cassie did. Once she buried the bodies she never went back to them, she never checked on them. It was Cassie who got up at daybreak to make breakfast for everyone. Mrs. P always slept until noon. When one of the kids had a bad dream it was Cassie who sat up comforting them,” Peaches told them.

“I’m not a saint,” Cassie protested.

“No, you aren’t but you are a very good person.” Peaches countered. “All the kids except for Robbie looked up to you. That was the reason she beat you so much. You had control where she didn’t.”

“This means you’ll have to come back to Boston and show us where the bodies are,” Lance stated.

Cassie shook her head. “I can give you a map, but I’m never going back. Even if you put that bitch in jail, my life is still in danger. The people associated with her are dangerous. I will never be free to simply live my life. I’ll always have to watch my back.”

“No baby, you won’t,” Deke spoke up. “We’ll protect you, I’ll protect you.”

Cassie shook her head. “I can’t allow you or your men to put their lives in danger for me.” She wrapped her hands around his face. “I don’t want anyone to die for me.”

“You aren’t leaving here,” Deke stated. “We won’t let you go.”

“I don’t want to leave.” Cassie glanced at Peaches.

For a moment, neither said a word then Peaches got to her feet and ran to the kitchen crying.

Reva frowned and followed her.

“What is it?” Reva asked the sobbing girl.

Peaches just cried harder.

Reva wrapped her arms around her shoulders and rocked her for a moment. Peaches laid her head on the older woman’s shoulder. “Are you okay hon?” Reva asked.

“No, but I will be,” Peaches finally whispered. “Cassie made sure of that.”

“What are you talking about?”

“She’ll make sure Lance Sullivan will find out where I came from. She always promised me she would do that. Find out who I was, I mean,” Peaches told Reva.

“She’ll be there when he does that,” Reva assured her.

“No she won’t,” Peaches whispered hanging her head. “She’s leaving soon and this time, she won’t be back.”

Reva’s heart stopped. “How do you know?”

“I just do. I always know.”

“You have to tell Deke,” Reva told her.

Peaches shook her head. “It won’t make any difference. He can’t keep her here. She won’t put anyone’s life on the line. She doesn’t think she’s worth someone else’s life.”

“Well, she’d be wrong about that. These boys will protect her. They may belong to a motorcycle club but they are all good men.”

“If Cassie don’t want to be found, she won’t be found,” Peaches whispered with certainty in her eyes.

Cassie turned and stared at Lance Sullivan. “After you deal with the bitch, I want your promise that you will find out who Peaches belongs to. I want you to find her family and return her to them. She deserves that much consideration. She can still make something of her life.”

Lance nodded. “I can do that.”

“You’d better because if you don’t, I will come after you,” she assured him. “Even if it’s from beyond the grave.”

Deke wrapped his arms around her. “Baby, that bitch isn’t ever going to touch you.”

Cassie rested her forehead on his chest. Then she tipped her face up to his. “Will you promise me something?”

Deke nodded.

“Please make sure Peaches is okay when this is over. Help me keep my vow to her.”

“You both will get through this. I promise you that.”

Cassie patted his chest. “Thank you.”

Before Deke could say anything, Wiley came to the door. “Boss, I think you need to see this.”