Chapter 11

I held Julie tight, close against my chest as she sobbed. She and I were the only ones, except maybe Megan, that were close to Samantha. Once she quit crying, I began to extract details from her.

Several months ago, Samantha had started seeing an older man on the sly. Julie thought he was about my age. At first, it was just a friendship. It was interesting that Samantha kept it secret, even then. Then it began to evolve into more. From the best Julie could tell, the sex had started after he started forcing her to take drugs. As she was giving me the details, I figured Ecstasy was probably one of the drugs. That would also explain, true or not, Samantha's reputation around school that she put out. At some point, Julie seemed to think when Sammi and I started to get closer, she tried to break off the relationship, but it was too late. He began to force her to take other drugs, higher doses of the ones she was on, and began to threaten her with the death of her loved ones if she left. I assumed that meant Julie. He also began at this time to force her into bondage; handcuffs, blindfolds, and started forcing her into multiple sex partners and selling her services to others he would bring along. Most of this information Julie had uncovered in the last few days.

"Do you know where Samantha is now?" I asked her. Maybe we needed to talk to her, confront her, get this out in the open and find out for sure what was going on.

"She's with him now, I'm pretty sure. She left a little while ago. We have to go get her." Ah yes, Julie, the girl who lived in a world where everything was simple. She was right, but it probably wouldn't be that simple.

"I think maybe we should tell the police about this," I told Julie. Her reaction was not what I expected. She grabbed me, holding on tight as she started talking to me frantically.

"NO! We can't go to the police! He said he would kill her if she told anyone. We don't have enough to get the police to do anything and then he will be free to kill her or make it worse. Besides, I don't want her to have a record." She looked at me, trusting and panicky at the same time. "You can do something about it. You used to be an FBI agent. You know what to do." Pretty little Julie, who had never asked me for a thing in her life, looked at me sadly, and begged me. "Please? For me? And for Sammi? Please? I'll do anything you want, just please?"

I was surprised. That Julie called her Sammi. I thought only I called her that. It showed how close the two of them were; that was a special name for Samantha. I was also surprised that Julie would think Sammi would have a record. She had done nothing wrong. I was touched that Julie would trust me enough to beg me to help, to know that I could. I knew I couldn't let either of these girls down. Besides, Julie was right. We didn't have enough to convict him and it would be worse for Sammi afterward. There were also his threats about her loved ones. That could involve my other girls! No choice; Julie was right; I had to do something.

"Do you know where they would be?" Julie nodded her head yes. "Ok, tell me where, then you go home and wait for me." Julie shook her head no.

"I'm going with you," she stated calmly, as if there could be no argument. "I know where they are, and I won't tell you; I will show you." She smiled at me, as if she knew I was going to argue with her. She was right.

"Julie, there is no was I am taking you into this situation. You have no idea what these types of guys are like. I won't take the chance that you would be hurt. Tell me and go home." That came out sounding a little harsher than I intended, but I couldn't take the chance of this precious little girl getting hurt. She smiled at me again. I was finding out that Julie could be really insistent.

"I won't get hurt. You should know by now that your girls can take care of themselves. I have a better idea of what this guy is like than you do; I watched what he did to Sammi." Her eyes were moist with tears again. "Either I go with you or we don't go and poor Sammi is left there with him. She will probably die today." My heart lurched as she said that calmly.

"What do you mean? Why would she die today?" Somehow, I knew Julie was telling the truth, at least as she knew it.

"She said she couldn't take it anymore. She was going to tell him today that she wasn't doing this anymore after today and if he ever bothered her again, she was going to the police. She said she couldn't stand the thought of doing this anymore and her Daddy finding out about it. She knew you would be so disappointed in her. She really thinks he will just let her go today and leave her alone! And they call me simple and naïve!" Julie was crying again. What a choice! Except I had no choice. I did something I seldom do; I said a quick prayer. I didn't like the way this was shaping up. The last time I had done something this spontaneous and unplanned, a pretty girl had died a nasty death. Not my fault, but still. I still saw her face in my nightmares. I hoped I wasn't going to add one or two faces to that gallery.

"Ok, you win. But I need to know where she is. I want Victoria's help on this. We need backup, Julie." I saw she was debating on whether to believe me or not. I pushed the issue. "You said I would know from my FBI days what to do. I have to have backup, in case something goes wrong. Trust me, honey." I touched her cheek gently, trying to convince her. She smiled, rubbing her cheek against my hand.

"He doesn't need anyone but me," she said in a quiet, distracted voice, as if talking to herself. "But he doesn't know that. It is what the FBI would do. It is consistent." She seemed to come out of her funk. "Ok. But we have to go now. She will have to join us there. And she can't know what it is about. We are running out of time." She seemed awfully sure about this. But then, she had figured all of this out when we had missed it all. I dialed Victoria's cell phone number. She answered on the first ring.

"Victoria... I need your help. Don't ask questions; I can't answer them. Wait half an hour and then meet me at the following address." I repeated the address Julie gave me. It would take that long for us to get there. "I need you as backup. Be prepared for trouble. No, I can't tell you what it is about yet. Just be there for me, ok?" That was a needless request. I knew she would.

Once we got out of the woods, I hailed a cab, to get us there faster. I had the cab drop us off a couple blocks away, to minimize any connection to us if anything went wrong. I really felt uncomfortable with this. There was no way I should be taking my 13 year old daughter/friend into a situation like this. This wasn't a fantasy story. She had no business being here, but I had no choice. Megan and Victoria were going to kill me when they found out she was with me for this. I couldn't blame them.

When we got to the 6^th floor of the warehouse Julie led me to and opened the door, I forgot all about that. He was so sure of himself he left the door unlocked. My rage built to incredible heights as I took in the scene.

A man about my age was sitting in a chair, in the middle of the room, facing away from us. Samantha was sitting in his lap, naked, obviously with his cock up inside her. She was handcuffed, with her hands behind her back. There was a blindfold pushed up on her forehead, obviously having been used earlier but not in use now. Another man was behind her, his arms around her, playing with her breasts, his cock obviously buried in her anus. They were fucking her hard. Samantha was responding to their movements, moving against them, apparently physically enjoying what they were doing to her. At the same time, she was crying steadily. Her eyes were glazed, but I could see shame, disgust, fear, and lust in them. She was the only one that looked up at us when we walked in the door. Sorrow joined those emotions in her eyes. Drugged as she obviously was, she recognized me and I saw her mouth move, as she whispered, more like mouthed, the words to me.

"Oh, Daddy, help me please!" She sobbed.

The man behind her, facing us, saw us as I moved into the room. He pulled out and backed away, moving in front of a large window, as he shouted a warning to his friend. The man on the chair looked behind him, saw me, and dumped Samantha off his lap, onto the floor, getting up at the same time. He turned to face me and backed away towards the wall. Both men were fully clothed, just having their zippers open. He looked at me, contempt in his eyes. I told Samantha to stay down on the floor.

"Who are you?" He asked. "Come to rescue the little slut, have you? She won't go with you; she wants to stay with me. She likes the things I do to her." He smiled viciously.

"I am her Father. She will come with me, whether she wants to or not. She won't stay with a dead man." My voice was icy calm. I felt detached, almost as if someone else was talking. Samantha looked at me, her eyes pleading.

"Please, Daddy, take me home! I hate him and everything he makes me do! Please!" I was amazed that she could say that; usually people on the drugs I assumed he was giving her would say exactly what he thought she would. I saw his face darken with rage and he pulled out a gun.

"Daddy," Julie said softly, as she touched me in the back. She didn't sound scared, more like supportive. My rage boiled over, my mind filled with white hot anger. Anger at myself for bringing Julie into this dangerous situation. Anger at myself for not having brought a gun, to protect her. Anger at them for what they were doing to my little girl. I was not a prude. I understood about sex with girls this age; hell, I had done it myself. It was not the ideal, but you couldn't stop a young teen with raging hormones from doing what she wanted. You could help them to understand what was best for them. But, damn it, you didn't force them or drug them!

He raised the gun and pointed it at Samantha's head.

"I was going to kill her today, anyway. Now I guess I have another pretty little girl to use, after I kill you." He looked at Julie, his eyes roaming over her young body. She looked back at him, calm and unworried. She whispered to me.

"Don't worry, Daddy. The powers are activated when they are needed." She touched my back again, gently.

The man started to pull the trigger on the gun. My rage boiled over, and I watched in fascination as a wall of white energy boiled out from inside me, slamming into the two men.

The white energy pushed the man near the window through the window, shattering it as he went through. He was so surprised he didn't even scream. I heard the sickening thud about a second later as he hit the ground.

The white wave hit the second man about the same time, melting the gun and slamming him into the wall so hard it cracked the plaster. He slid to the ground, unconscious.

Julie and I ran over to Samantha. She had passed out by this time. I looked at her pupils, dilated and unresponsive. I looked at the drugs scattered around the room. One I recognized as Ecstasy. The syringes lying around told me what the other one probably was, and a taste told me my fears were correct; heroin. The stupid fool; that was a deadly combination. But then, he was planning on killing her anyway. I checked Samantha's pulse; she was fading fast. I was afraid she wouldn't make it to the hospital. We were way out in the boonies. It would take a while for an ambulance to get here. I looked out the window, to find that the cab was gone. He had probably taken off when the body flew out the window. Victoria hadn't shown up yet. I was too late. With a heavy heart, I took out my cell phone to call for the ambulance. I guess the police were going to get involved after all. Then, I felt Julie's soft touch on my arm.

"It's ok, Daddy. Don't call; I will take care of it. Just don't tell anyone, ok?" She smiled at me confidently. For some strange reason, I stopped worrying and watched her.

Julie knelt down beside Samantha. She looked at her carefully, and then asked me to kneel down on the other side of her. She took one of my hands in hers, one of Samantha's hands in her other hand, and motioned for me to hold Samantha's free hand. Then she looked at me, love in her eyes.

"Daddy, do you love me?" She asked quietly. She looked at me calmly. I suddenly had the strangest feeling that I had done this before. I knew what to say.

"I love you, Julie."

"Daddy, do you trust me?" She asked, still looking at me. I answered her instantly, knowing what the right answer was. It was the truth.

"I trust you, Julie. Save my little girl, please!" I had no idea why I said that. I couldn't imagine what Julie could do for Samantha now.

Julie tilted her head slightly to the side, closed her eyes, and seemed to be somewhere else. I felt a strange feeling in my mind, like a white light had separated itself from my mind and was holding itself apart. Then, the room practically exploded.

Pink lightning exploded from all the corners of the room, arching over to where Julie was and entering her body. The whole room, and all three of us, glowed pink. It didn't touch the unconscious man, however. The pink lightning entered Julie, and then crossed over to me. I saw it enter my body, then exit as a white light. The white light then entered Samantha's body. I watched as Samantha began to improve right before my eyes. Finally, she was breathing deeply, in a deep, restorative sleep instead of the coma she had been in.

I looked at Julie, eyes wide in amazement, awe, and shock. She saw me looking at her and drew me to her, hugging me tightly.

"I'm sorry, Daddy, but she was so far gone I wasn't sure I could help her soon enough. I had to use you too. I'm sorry; I would have preferred you find out about me under better circumstances."

To say I was stunned was an understatement. I knew the girls had powers from what Megan had told me. But they needed to be activated, either by events or by love. This was no activation by events, I was sure of that. Where did she get this? I looked at Julie and knew instinctively that she knew what I was thinking.