Chapter 2

"Enough chatter for now ladies. Get your cute little asses in gear and follow me - we have to move quickly!" I told them as I took off at a slow trot towards the little maintenance building I had parked the van behind. I had wanted the van to remain out of sight while the Torch and Wurtz were arriving earlier.

I hit the remote to unlock the van, directing Dawn to get into the front passenger seat. I told Patty to get situated on the cot and while she was doing so, I stored the weapons I had brought with me in the locker I had installed in the van for the purpose. Not wanting to be seen driving around in camouflage clothing I had brought a set of clothing to change into - though I hadn't been planning on doing so with an audience before. "Oh well! These two have seen it all before anyway," I thought to myself as I stripped out of my camo shirt and pants and dressed in my street clothes. I didn't have time for modesty and had already wasted precious minutes deciding what to do with these two.

The area where the meet had gone down was pretty remote; but with all of the weapons fire and explosions it was still possible that someone might have heard something. Sarah had loved to go hiking and I knew this forest preserve quite well. One of my reasons for locating the van where I had was that there was a small maintenance road leading away from the area and by using it I could avoid leaving by the main entrance where I was more likely to be spotted.

The only windows in the van were up in front so I didn't have to worry about people seeing into it, but even so I had taken a few extra precautions. If you looked inside your first impression would be that it was sort of a one man RV. There was the cot on one side with some overhead storage and on the other there was what appeared to be a little kitchen setup. In reality the cupboards above hid the monitors and electronics I'd been using for surveillance while the area underneath the countertop and fake sink hid my weapons locker. It wouldn't have withstood any close scrutiny; but I was doing everything I could to avoid that.

There were two steel posts embedded in concrete on either side of the little maintenance road with two lengths of steel cable stretched across the road and joined by a paddle lock in the center to block the road from being used by the general public. I had cut the lock holding the two lengths of cable earlier when I had parked the van. Now, after driving the van over the lowered cable and past the point by several feet, I hopped out and hooked it all back up with a different paddle lock. These roads were often unused for months at a time. Sooner or later somebody would notice the difference but not right away.

I drove slowly over the loose gravel until I reached the other end of the maintenance road. As expected, another cable was blocking my path. I pulled out the heavy duty bolt cutters I'd shoved under the driver's seat, got out, and made short work of the lock. Again, after driving past the cable barrier, I hooked it all back up with another paddle lock. As before, I'd sprayed both of the metal locks I had used on the cable barriers with an acid based solution and though they'd only received the treatment a day earlier, they didn't look new anymore. Now that we were on a paved road I drove at the posted speed limit heading away from the forest preserve as quickly as possible hoping that the care I'd taken to cover my tracks would serve its purpose.

Both of the girls had purses with them when I encountered them, and now that we had some time to talk I asked them more about themselves. Dawn was seventeen and Patty was sixteen. The torch had supplied them both with fake identification stating that they were both eighteen. Dawn showed me her license which stated that her name was Michelle Smithers. She told me that her real name was Dawn not Michelle. Patty appeared to be calming down and drifting off to sleep so most of my conversation was with Dawn.

I decided to pretty much stick with my original plan. Before I had headed out of the house two days earlier, I'd arranged to have my mail held. I didn't have any pets and didn't mess with newspapers, preferring to get my information from the internet, radio, and television so there would be no newspapers building up outside to let anyone now I wasn't around. The sophisticated alarm system I had designed and installed myself also controlled all of the lights and other electronics in the house. At different times during the day it would turn on some music or switch on the blender to create some noise when I was gone. During the evening it would turn on lights in a logical but somewhat random pattern as if I was moving through the house stopping from time to time in different rooms. I didn't really expect that anyone would be watching the place; but if they were I didn't want them to know I was away.

When my father died I'd inherited several hundred acres of forested land upstate about three hours away from the city. Sarah had loved the beauty and serenity of the place and we'd spent quite a bit of time and money adding onto the original cabin my grandfather had first built on the place. The large Cedar framed log home that now graced the property had every comfort and amenity of home.

When we reached the little town that would be our last stopping point before our final destination, Patty was out like a light and Dawn wasn't much better off. I told Dawn I needed her to wake up and she took care of getting Patty up as well. Once we were all out of the van I hit the remote lock button and led the girls into the little burger joint to grab some food and hit the restrooms. It was about nine at night and we still had another hour to go so I wanted to get everyone fed and comfortable while there was an opportunity to do so.

As I was pulling out of the restaurant parking lot I saw another wonder of the modern world, there was a newly constructed WalMart SuperCenter this little town had somehow merited. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to get some fresh produce and groceries. I had both girls grab a cart and told them to grab any toiletries they might need for the next two weeks as well as enough clothing for the same period of time. Telling them we'd meet up at the checkout counter in about a half an hour and I'd pay for everything.

This may sound awful, but if I have to take two young women shopping, I'd prefer to do it when the store is going to close within the hour; that way we can leave without me being the bad guy. I'd even done the same thing with Sarah; but she'd wised up to my tricks pretty quick and instead of getting mad about it just thought it was humorous. If she really wanted to do any serious shopping, she'd just go with her mom, sister, and Sally. Rob, Pops, and I would usually use the time to catch a game on the TV and drink a few beers.

I tried not to think too much about what I'd lost. I didn't want to drop into the doldrums again like I had when Sarah had been taken from me. I was moving through the aisles in the food section fairly quickly and soon had a full cart of groceries. When I got up to the counters I was pleasantly surprised to find both of the girls there. Looking into their carts I could see that they had done a pretty good job of listening earlier as both had quite a few outfits, underwear, and toiletries in their carts. We headed into line together and kept the cashier busy for a while.

Once the van was loaded and ready to go again we pulled out. This time Dawn 'stole' the cot and Patty sat up by me. We talked in relatively quiet voices for the rest of the trip. She wanted to know where we were headed and when I told her it spurred a fresh set of questions about the cabin and what it looked like. I'd never really known much about foster kids before; but if these two were any representation I guess I'd have a chance to learn.

Later on that night, after I'd gotten the two girls situated in the guest bedroom, I had a bit of time to think about things. It really bugged me that there were creeps out there like the Torch and his crew who'd willingly hurt young kids. I can understand the thrill of young pussy that might make some fella with some cash pay a bit of it for the joy of enjoying some tight snatch; but if he knew how the little filly he was putting it to was being used and hurt - I'm guessing that quite a few of the guys might be singing a different tune.

Earlier, when I'd put the Torch, Chief Wurtz, and the other slimes out of action I hadn't felt the slightest qualms about doing so. Now that several hours had past I still had no regrets. During my stint in the military I learned that there are some really bad people in the world out there; yet there were sometimes soldiers on the other side who were just obeying orders - just like I was. If I could put a bullet into them to protect my fellow citizen's freedom from an enemy they might not ever see face to face, I could certainly do the same to some slime who was willing to become a young kid's worst nightmare.

I took a hot shower in the large and lavish bathroom we had built in the master suite. I'd done a lot of work over the last few weeks and I was happy to be putting it behind me - at least for now. I was going to enjoy a bit of R and R and then decide whether or not to continue in my job or just chuck it altogether and pursue something else. Money wasn't the issue anymore. I just didn't want to get to bored or sit around so much that my ass began to spread. I drifted off to sleep sometime after midnight.

I must have been more tired the night before than I thought. When I woke up I found myself surrounded in warmth, sandwiched between two gorgeous young ladies. I sleep in the nude and apparently they both slept the same way. Dawn's honey blond hair smelled like a bouquet of roses. I wondered how they had slipped in without waking me. I also wondered why they had done it. My thoughts were cut short by an immediate need to make a fluid offering to the ceramic gods so I just concentrated on getting out of bed without waking the two sleeping beauties up.

Once I'd emptied my bladder, I got washed up and headed for the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and make some breakfast. They'd already seen me nude, and I don't really like to wear clothes around the house, so I just upped the thermostat a bit and busied myself making breakfast.

My grandfather had built the original "cabin" as more of a large hunting style lodge. Sarah and I had expanded it to about four times its original size and the structure now contained about six thousand square feet of usable space so I guess I should have expected the reaction both of the girls gave me the night before. They couldn't believe that I'd referred to this large and luxurious home as a "cabin" and wondered what just how big a place had to be before I'd call it a house. Now, as I made egg and cheese omelets, fried some bacon, and toasted a few bagels, I chuckled as I remembered their comments about it all.

I didn't know exactly when the girls were going to wake up. I had no idea just what kind of life these girls really had and no concept of what they'd recently been through; but it must have been pretty harsh. I didn't really want to wake them up; but I didn't want to have them sleep the whole day away either. I took a tray out from one of the lower cupboards and placed three mugs, a hot carafe of coffee, a bowel of sugar, and a small pitcher of cream on it and carried it to the bedroom.

I sat the tray on the bedside table, fixed myself a cup of coffee the way I liked it, and then sat down in a nearby chair and just gazed upon the two lovely creatures who had stumbled into my life; Dawn with her honey blond hair and fair skin and Patty with her black hair and pretty oriental features. I guess the smell of the coffee finally performed its intended function as Dawn soon opened her eyes and looked in my direction.

"Would you care for some coffee this morning?" I asked her with a smile.

I saw her start to smile back; but then her expression hardened a bit and she asked "When are you going to want us to pay you for all of this?"

"Right now honey! Right now!" I told her.

"What do you want me to do?" Dawn asked with just a hint of fear and uncertainty in her voice.

"Just smile honey! I just want to see your beautiful smile," I replied.