Chapter 1

Holden and I stood facing each other in our uniforms, our stomachs and chests pressed together. We had our hands behind our backs. Melissa squatted down beside us, touching my hip. “See, I’m talking about a rope running from Holden’s hands to yours, through your crotches, holding you together. It wouldn’t mess up what you need to do to breathe, would it?”

I frowned. “That would put such a big limitation on the number of different moves we could make.”

Melissa nodded. “I know, but you could use it bang your pussy against his cock, you know, rough sex. And you could still do a lot of hot stuff with your legs.”

The intercom crackled to life, in Tina’s voice. “Amy, could you come to the Dean’s office?” Tina sounded oddly subdued.

I blinked in surprise. I looked at Holden and Melissa. “Okay, you guys, help Jana practice her new thing. I’ll come straight back after I see the Dean.” I kissed Holden—standing so intimately close, it was hard not to—and gave Jana and Melissa quick kisses as well, then headed out the door.

Tina directed me straight into the Dean’s office without a word. The Dean was frowning. I hadn’t felt a need to worry about anything, but I was now getting to that point. “Yes, Sir?”

“Amy ... your father has been taken to the hospital with chest pains. The obvious guess is a heart attack.”

I gasped, and felt the bottom fall out of my stomach. “Is he ... do you know anything about how he’s doing?”

The Dean shook his head. “Nothing more than I’ve told you. Your father’s secretary called. I’ve contacted the hospital, and ... well, you don’t just ask whether someone is a patient, since they won’t answer that, but I asked them to put me through to Preston Cameron’s room, which they did. So he is there. No answer, but I think that’s a good sign. I would think a doctor or nurse would answer, unless they’ve left him alone resting.”

Or they’re too busy with him to answer, I thought. Of course, the hospital wouldn’t say anything about his condition.

I sat in thought a few moments, letting my initial nagging thought blossom in my mind. “Do you know whether Andrew knows about this?”

The Dean rested his chin on his hand. “You’re wondering about the possibility that this is a trick of his?”

I nodded.

The Dean shrugged. “I thought from the first that was possible. The secretary who called me gave her name as Sally Baldwin. Are you familiar with her?” When I shook my head, he went on, “Well, she may be relatively new. You haven’t been in contact for over three years. At any rate, I checked on the Cameron Industries Web site. It does indeed list Sally Baldwin as his corporate secretary, at the same phone number from which this morning’s call came—she sounded appropriately upset, by the way. I called at that number, and the same woman answered. I asked her if she had any more information, which she did not. At any rate, the original call really did come from your father’s secretary. And we do have that indirect confirmation from the hospital that he is a patient there.”

He seemed to hesitate. I looked at him expectantly.

He frowned. “I don’t know whether this means anything. I saw, on the Web site, that Andrew is a vice-president. You weren’t aware of that, were you?”

“I knew he was going into management. I never knew where he ended up.” I thought about it. “I suppose this means he has more money at his disposal than I’d imagined. Something pretty significantly bigger than any allowance he’d be getting from Dad.”

The Dean nodded. “My thought as well. One wonders why he hasn’t been back to one of the parties to rent you for an evening. He couldn’t afford it three years ago, but I should think he can now.”

I gave him a sour smile. “Not that you’re actually wondering that, right? Presumably he’s saving up for something bigger.”

The Dean sighed. “That would be my guess.”

I looked down, and after a long silence, said in a tiny voice, “I have to go see him. He’s my dad.”

The Dean nodded. “I know. Normally, I’d approve this visit without a thought for any student beyond first year. But this situation is ... unusual, to say the least...”

I jerked my head up, stricken. “Please, Sir. I really mean it.”

He looked at me for a long moment, then nodded. “Let me make some arrangements. We’ll do this under a little heavier-than-ordinary security.”

“Thank you, Sir.” My gratitude was heartfelt. “Should I wait here while you do that?”

He shook his head. “Go on back to your room, and pick up some things for a possible overnight stay, just in case.”

“Yes, Sir. Could ... could I bring a friend along?” I’ll probably ask Melissa, I thought to myself.

After another long moment of thought, he shook his head. “Given the potential risk, no. There will be other Academy personnel there with you, but I don’t want to put another student out there.”

I nodded. “Yes, Sir.” I stood. “I’ll be right back.”

I returned to the our Family’s room with a wan smile and an overnight bag, wearing long pants and a buttoned blouse. Melissa’s jaw dropped. “Amy?? What’s up?”

I sighed. “My dad’s in the hospital. They think he may have had a heart attack.”

All three drew closer, and Melissa reached out to stroke my arm. “I’m sure he’ll be okay, Amy. These days they really...” She stopped, frowning. Hesitantly, she went on, “Have you thought...”

“Yes!” I was instantly contrite for snapping at Melissa, and hugged her. “I’m sorry, sweety. I’m a little edgy. Thank you for thinking about it. But yes, we’re onto the possibility this is some elaborate trick by Andrew. The Dean is making some security arrangements.”

“Well, that’s good then. And I really hope your dad’s okay.” he smiled. “I was just remembering what you told me: that he let my dad cut off Miranda’s head. That was so nice of him.”

I smiled back, as I always did when remembering Miranda’s hanging. “Yeah, that kind of surprised me. But he has it in him.” I narrowed my eyes, my face turning serious. “I was going to wait and tell you before my hanging, but it’s not like it’ll be a surprise to you. You know, if anything happens to me, you get Miranda’s head, right? Nobody’s going to argue with you. But I just want to be sure you know that’s what I want.”

Melissa nodded briefly, stunned. I looked intently into each of their faces in turn. “And if anything happens, I want the three of you to be the leaders. Everybody will be looking for that from you.”

Holden gave me an intense look of his own. “Amy, nothing’s going to happen to you! It’s fine to be ready and take precautions, in case, but I hate to see it worrying you this way. You’ve got enough to think about.”

I stroked Holden’s cheek and kissed him. “Thank you. But I want a promise on that from all of you.”

Melissa and Jana nodded, and, at last, Holden.

I hugged each of them. “I’ll see you guys again in a day or so, okay?”

I walked out of the Academy entrance to the steps in front of the circular drive, my eyes sweeping up and down the street. Totally unnecessary vigilance, I told myself. Bill is standing right here, while we wait for Sid to bring the limo around. Nobody can grab me without Bill doing something about it. Karl is already down at the hospital, establishing security arrangements, and Ms. Bennett is there too, arranging for a room for me. Bill will stay with me, and even come with me to the restroom, at least two big men will guard any room I’m in. Daddy’s going to wonder if I got elected president while he wasn’t paying attention.

And it’s probably all for nothing, I reminded myself. So much time has gone by since I graduated, so many months while Andrew could have executed any plan he might have. I’ve been off the campus several times, and nothing’s happened. Holden’s right. It’s fine to be careful, but quit worrying about it.

Though this does smell like a setup.

But Daddy really is sick. Was it part of Andrew’s plan to wait for Daddy to have a heart attack? That makes as much sense as waiting for the Academy’s student area to hold an open house for the general public. Y’all come and wander around the dorms. Kidnap any student you take a fancy to.

I tried to clear my mind, took a deep breath and smelled the fresh breeze of early Spring.

There, the limo’s already coming around the corner. That didn’t take long. Less time than usual.

Sunlight glinted off the tinted windows. Hard to see in, but easy enough to see out. Bill opened the door for me.

I slid in quickly, tossing my bag onto the far end of the seat, and heard the thump as Bill threw my door closed. There was an unexpected sound, the driver floored the accelerator, and the limo roared away from the curb. What??? I looked up. My breath suddenly caught in my throat.

There were two women in the front seat, a brunette and a redhead. Neither one, obviously, was Sid.

Alarm swept through my brain. I reached for the door handle and pulled. The door was locked. I looked for the lock release. It was gone.

At that instant I shouted, “No!! Shit!!” I turned around and looked through the rear window. Bill, his mouth open in shock, took a few running steps trying to follow the limo, stopped, and jerked his cell phone out of his pocket.

My heart pounded. All of the Dean’s plans had involved making sure I could get safely to the limo, and safely from the limo into the hospital, staying safe while in the hospital. We never thought! We never imagined this! The words ran in a loop through my brain.

As the car skidded to take a right around the corner at the end of the block, I had one last view of Bill shouting into his cell phone, and the Academy limo, the real one, careening into view a block away. I saw Bill run toward it, but he and the Academy car were lost to sight before he got in.

The thought “cell phone” ran through my head. I lunged to my left, for my bag with the cell phone the Dean had given me. I froze at the sound of the first word either woman in front had spoken: “Don’t.”

I looked up, and saw the redhead in the passenger seat, turned sideways and watching me intently. She held an odd-looking gun, the muzzle pointed right at my belly. We all swayed as the car swept around another corner to the left. I looked quickly out the left-hand window. The Academy limo was not in sight yet. Bill and Sid wouldn’t have seen where we’d gone.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, I said, proud of keeping the quaver out of my voice, “You can’t shoot me. You need me alive.”

The woman smirked. “This isn’t a killing gun. It fires tranquilizer darts. Want to spend the rest of the trip awake or asleep?”

The answer seemed pretty obvious to me. Any hope of escape would be gone as soon as she fired that gun. And it obviously wouldn’t take much encouragement for her to shoot. She’d probably been told to avoid it if possible, but shoot if needed.

The redhead reached toward me with her free hand. “Give me the bag.”

Aside from the cell phone, there was nothing in the bag but extra clothes and toiletries. I shrugged and handed it forward. I realized that the phone could serve as a secondary tracking device, in case anything went wrong with the one inside me. It was better that I hadn’t managed to get hold of the phone. As soon as she saw it, she’d no doubt switch it off.

And yes, I thought, I’m being tracked. The Dean knows I’ve been taken by now, and he can find out exactly where I am. So stop worrying.

I sat back and folded my arms across my chest, trying not to look as hopeful as I felt. No point giving anything away about the tracker.

The limo slowed now. After two more turns, we seemed to be in a warehouse district. The driver reached for a button and pushed it, and the large door of one warehouse began opening as I watched. The car swung in that direction, entered the warehouse, and stopped beside a van in a huge empty building.

Both women swung their doors open. The redhead with the gun used a key to open my door. “Out.”

I weighed the odds on attacking her. The driver had taken out a dart gun of her own. I couldn’t get to both of them before one shot me.

The redhead opened the rear of the van and waved her gun. “Love to stop and chat, but we’re on a tight schedule. Get in the box.”

I looked into the back of the van, and saw what she was referring to. The box was something like a coffin, but larger. Its lid was open. I gasped and froze. There was a foam-rubber cushion with a body-shaped depression, with straps at the extremities. Judging from the thick metal construction of the box, I knew what it was for.

Andrew had planned meticulously for anything that might possibly go wrong. He had no way to know I’d be carrying a slave tracker, but he’d given me one years ago, so he was aware of the possibility.

Trackers weren’t foolproof, and were designed mostly with runaways in mind, not stolen slaves. The signal was weak; there was a limit on how much battery power could be packed into such a tiny device. A slave could be tracked within a building, but the signal could be blocked.

The box I was looking at was designed to hide me from detection. Once sealed inside, I would be off the tracking screen until the box was reopened. If, however, the box were opened in an underground dungeon, deep enough with a thick door...

That settles it for sure. I’m definitely going to Andrew’s dungeon.

Good, then, I told myself. I don’t need the tracker for that. Andrew doesn’t realize anyone besides me knows it exists, and it’s the first place the police are going to look.

In the distance, I thought I heard a siren.

The two women looked at each other in alarm. The one from the passenger seat shouted to the other, “Get in! Drive! We can’t let them see the van.” As the latter ran for the driver’s door and threw it open, the first pointed the sleep gun at me. “Lay in the box. Now!”

As the van’s engine started up, I nearly bolted for the still-open warehouse door, but stopped myself. If the police found me here, I’d get back to the Academy, but these kidnappers probably couldn’t be connected with Andrew. Andrew had surely been very careful, and these two may have been hired by intermediaries, and never even have met Andrew. I needed to be found in the dungeon. Then Andrew would be toast.