Chapter 9

Maggie watched us talk for a few more minutes and then ran them out. She took my vitals and told me to rest. I took a pain pill and then a short nap. Three hours later I woke with Racheal once more asleep at my side.

With news that the Senator might be involved I decided that we need to tighten security a little. We would go to three of us on duty at all times. I didn't think we could afford any mistakes.

"Are we still going to stay here?" Rachael's voice quivered a little as she asked the question.

I smiled at her. "For now we are safe here. We may need to move on short notice but I think we'll be okay. The phone we are using is an encrypted satellite phone which means even for Mavros it'll be nearly impossible to track. We won't use it much so that will make it even more difficult for them to find."

I stroked her cheek to reassure her. It was an assurance I didn't know if I trusted. Maggie came in and said, "I think that Becca will be coming around soon. I don't want to give her another sedative. I can't accurately judge her condition as long as I keep her doped up."

I nodded. "Jerry, bring her back in here and lean one of the rifles next to the bed so I can reach it."

He did as I asked and then left the room. A few seconds later he returned cradling Becca in his arms like a small child. The contrast between his dark skin and her porcelain hue was striking. He gently laid her next to me and Rachael sat down next to her sister. Then they all quietly filed out of the room.

"When she wakes up send for me and I'll check her over." Maggie said quietly as she pulled the door up. Rachael and I sat quietly together and waited as I stroked Becca's hair. After about thirty minutes Becca started to rouse from her slumber with a moan. Rachael had a glass of water on hand ready for her sister. Finally Becca came awake with a start and began to franticly look around the unfamiliar room.

Rachael spoke, "Gently then, Becca everything is fine."

At the sound of Rachael's voice a panicked look crossed Becca's features. "You must run sister if master finds..."

My voice cut sharply through the room. "Roger is not your master and you would do well to remember that fact."

At the sound of my voice a calm look came over Becca's face and for the first time she looked at me. She looked both relieved and troubled at the same time. "You ... you said before that Mas ... Roger wasn't my master. Are you my master?"

The look on her face nearly broke my heart and my resolve. I had thought about this and decided that I had no choice but to try to be what she needed me to be. I didn't think I could do pain but the Marine Corps certainly taught me how to be a dominant person. "I am your master. You will address me as Sir in public and you may call me Master in private, if you wish, but it is not required."

The look of abject adoration that came over her nearly broke my heart. I could see in her sister the strong beautiful woman she should have been. Now the drugs Winslow had exposed her to have nearly reduced her to the status of a "pet".

It made my resolve to deal permanently with Winslow that much more firm. If I ever got near him again I would end his life. Some might do it slowly and take their time, but I look at him the same as I do a rabid animal. My father had taught me to deal with such things.

He once said "You find a rabid animal, you track it, you run it to ground, and you kill it quickly. That way none of its sickness infects you. You do it as quickly as you can because the longer you take with it the more chances you or someone else take of being infected by it."

That was my plan for Winslow. I might want to take my time and make him suffer, but that would only make me more like him than I would like to admit. That was something I could not tolerate. Deep down, in the darkest recesses of my soul, I had long ago locked away the monster that hides within all men and women. I had walled away the monster that I feared to unleash on an unsuspecting world. Winslow's actions came dangerously close to unlocking that cell and if that happened I didn't trust myself to keep the others safe. Winslow's death was a foregone conclusion in my mind. What he had done had earned his death, it would be quick but I wanted it to be very, very slow and painful.

I looked at Rachael, "Take Becca and see that she showers and uses the bathroom. Then bring her back to me and we will let Maggie look her over. After that we will see what else is needed."