Chapter 27

DENNIS STOOD STUNNED at the door as Brenda and his mother drove away. His father was in the hospital—could be dead. He had to stay home with his sister, and the eight remaining beautiful women of his team. He just didn’t feel like being with them.

“I don’t get it,” he mumbled. “Dad was working. He never drinks when he has a job. Why would he go out there last night?”

“He was trying to stop Lee Smith,” Amy said quietly.

“What? Stop him from what?”

“The night I came here when my brother was going to rape me with his friends, I overheard their plans. Lee was supposed to kill your father this weekend so they could come and take you and me to sell as sex slaves,” she said. She hung her head as if she were the one responsible.

“And you didn’t say anything?” Dennis asked in disbelief.

“I told him about it. That’s why I’m sure he went to stop them. Maybe Lee lured him out there. I’ll bet he went out there to turn the tables. The policeman said there was a dead body nearby. It has to be either Lee or my brother or Harry,” Amy said.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this? Did you think I wouldn’t want to know? Or just that I’m too little and handicapped to do anything to help?” Dennis was getting more and more upset. He should have known. He should have been there with his father.

“That’s not it at all, Dennis,” Amy protested. She tried to hug him but he turned away. He couldn’t hug any of them. Wouldn’t. “I talked to a special agent who planned a drug raid. He said we’d be safe because there would be agents watching us. And he told me I shouldn’t tell anyone about it. I’d already told your dad. And Brenda. She told me to keep my big mouth shut, too.”

“You all had me believing you cared about me. You still think I’m invisible and incompetent.” Dennis cried.

“Dennis, stop, please,” Natalie said.

“Please don’t hate me, Dennis,” Amy pled. “I did what I thought was right and followed the agent’s instructions. I didn’t do it to hurt you. I love you. If you want to suck on my nipples, here they are,” she said pulling her shirt off. “If you want a blowjob, here’s my mouth. If you want to fuck, grab one of those rubbers and do me. Or skip the rubber. Who cares if I get pregnant? Fuck me! But please don’t hate me. I love you.” Amy collapsed on the floor and Judith rushed to her. Natalie finally got her arms around Dennis.

“We all love you, Dennis. We’d never intentionally hurt you. We’re all here for you. Please, lover. Don’t hate us.”

Dennis drew a shaky breath and turned to face Amy who was on her knees. He dropped to his knees and held out his arms for the girl to lean into. When she didn’t move, he collapsed toward her and she grabbed him, holding him to her chest.

“I don’t hate you, Amy. I don’t hate anyone. But my daddy...” The flood finally broke and tears flowed from his eyes as he sobbed.

“I know. I know,” Amy whispered. “I should have told you. I wanted to. I should have. I love you so much.” With the tension broken, the other girls gathered around and reached out to touch and comfort him. Amy shifted her body slightly and pressed her nipple against his lips. Dennis sucked on it hard enough that she gasped, but held his head against her as the other girls watched their small friend cradle their boyfriend against her chest. “Brenda taught me how to comfort him,” Amy whispered to the other girls.

Natalie stripped off her T-shirt again and lay down next to Dennis to join Amy in holding him. Dennis pulled back from Amy’s nipple and looked up at her.

“I’m sorry I hurt you when I sucked. I love you. I love you all.” He turned his head toward Natalie. “I love you.”

“I know, baby. I know. Here are my breasts, you can suck on them, too. Please. Show us you love us.” Dennis turned further and found Natalie’s nipple with his lips as he looked up at her face. His sucking was no longer as frantic as it had been when he latched on Amy. He raised a hand to lay it on Natalie’s other breast and all was quiet. Then he drifted off to sleep, with her nipple in his mouth and only an occasional half-hearted suck.

“That’s so sexy,” Diane whispered.

“It’s not sex,” Roberta said, pointing at Dennis’s mid-section. “He has a nipple in his mouth and he isn’t even hard. I’d like to hold him like that, too.” Most of the girls had been crying during the whole intense exchange. Roberta stripped off her nightshirt and knelt beside Amy, who was still crying. She pulled the smaller girl to her chest and held her as Amy took comfort from her breast. All the other girls began to move and lie down, mostly in pairs. Leanne hugged Judith as Diane cuddled in opposite Natalie to hug Dennis. Daniella pulled Rosie down to her bedroll and the two began to kiss. The actions were all quiet and devoted to comforting each other as sleep finally claimed them.

Roberta woke first and glanced over at Peg, who was becoming restless on the couch. She grabbed her shirt and Amy’s and got dressed. She nudged Natalie and handed her a T-shirt. Natalie, Dennis, and Diane had rolled slightly apart in their sleep and lay on their backs. Diane still had an arm around him.

“People will wake up soon,” Roberta said, pointing over her shoulder at Peg. “Remember rule number three.” There was some shifting around as girls all straightened themselves and then mostly went back to sleep. A phone buzzed and there was a scramble to find the wayward device. It was in Amy and Brenda’s bedroll. Where they had started the night before. Amy scrambled to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Amy, it’s Mom. Your brother got shot last night by some awful drug dealer. He’s in the hospital in Ames. Some government people came to our house and tried to tell us he was making a drug deal. That’s simply hogwash. Jerry wouldn’t do such a thing. Your father and I are on our way to the hospital to put them straight and make sure Jerry is well-cared for. Can you stay with your girlfriend for a while?”

“Yes, Mom. It won’t be a problem.”

“I know how upset you must be to find this out. Don’t worry. We’ll make sure Jerry gets better and comes home to us.”

“Yes, Mom. Sure.”

“Okay. Go back to sleep. We love you.”

“Love you, Mom.”

She disconnected and threw her phone down on the bedroll.

“Jerry was shot in the drug raid last night,” she said to the room. “And my parents still believe he’s innocent and could do no wrong. She thinks I’d be upset over losing Jerry. I hope he dies.”

Dennis sat up and reached for Amy to hug her.

“Maybe it’s all over now,” he said. “I wonder if they got Harry, too. I hope so.”

“Harry wouldn’t have left the drug deal. He was probably arrested.”

“We should make breakfast and clean up the house. Then we’ll call Brenda and see how things are going,” Natalie said.

“I want Cocoa Pops,” a sleepy-eyed Peg seemed to rouse at the word ‘breakfast.’

The girls got ready to leave after breakfast, but Amy and Natalie took it upon themselves to stay with Dennis so he wouldn’t be alone with his sister to wait for news. Amy’s phone rang again, just as there was a knock on the door.

“Hello?”

“Amy, it’s me, Brenda. How are you, baby?”

“Okay, I guess.”

“You don’t sound sure. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I had a big fight with Dennis last night. Natalie and I are still here but he isn’t saying much to us,” Amy said sadly.

“Let me talk to him.”

“He just went to answer the door. I’ll ask him to call you. How is his father?”

“That’s what I was really going to talk about. We waited since we got here just sitting in the lobby. About an hour ago they let his mom in to see him and just said he’s in a coma. We’re coming home as soon as she gets out of the bathroom.”

“Good. I’ll ask Dennis to call as soon as whoever it is at the door is gone,” Amy said.

“I love you, baby. See you soon.”

“Love you.”

Brisco finally got free after the night cleaning up the C-Store. The FBI agents had taken care of the children, the bodies had been removed by the coroner, and their two prisoners—the sheriff and the van’s shotgun rider—were in jail in Des Moines. Then they showed up at Jack DeWalt’s house, the owner of the C-Store. He’d already skipped and it took a while to get the information on his car and put an APB out for it. The fact that he ran confirmed to Brisco that he’d known about the drug operation all along. He was wanted as an accessory even if they couldn’t pin dealing on him.

Brisco held his side where a bullet had grazed his vest. He was going to have a beauty of a bruise from that. The last thing on his list was to visit Dennis and Amy. He relieved the agent who had stood watch all night and went onto the porch to knock at the door. In a minute, it opened a crack and the boy looked out.