Chapter 15

Akron, Ohio

"Stand by, everyone! Condition Red!" Paul Brown's voice rose only slightly in the command center. The urgency of the message he had just sent was, however, not lost on the rescue team.

"If it were not for the good work and dedication of our sister, Martha, we would have never caught this sacrilege. There were three people involved in this hurtful situation. They will pay tonight."

"God Damn it PAUL! Get in there!" shouted TC over the communication net.

"Not yet, just a few minutes more," replied Paul. "We have to see what is in that last room."

"Sister Shawn," said Bill.

Everyone in the com center jerked in fear. "How did he know," asked Jim.

"Sister Rhonda," continued Bill. "I am sorry that this has to happen on your night. We had to have your ceremony before the punishment so that you can be with us in this deed. We will now take the evil ones to the attitude room. Release our new members."

An audible sigh swept through the command center as the team relaxed somewhat.

Zack and another man grabbed Paul Smith before he could move and pushed him to the door. Martha and Janet released Rhonda and Shawn. Bill moved to the wall of the room and pressed his hand on a sensor that looked like a hand imprint. The wall slowly started to sink into the floor as servomotors on each side complained about moving the weight of the solid metal walls.

Somewhere in Ohio

Sally and Heather were alone again. Ratso and Sleazy had driven to a pay phone to make the last demands for the delivery of the ransom money.

"This will be over quickly, Heather. My Uncle Paul will give them the money. Then he will track them down and kill them after they let us go."

Heather was gently crying in humiliation. She was raped and subjected to acts of sodomy and sadism repeatedly through the evening. The more she pleaded for mercy, the more she was abused. After Sally realized that Heather was going to be beaten anyway, she refused to cooperate with any other oral sex acts.

"Heather, please stay here with me, we have to work together. I need you. This is better. Take a deep breath, and think about all the people who are looking for us right now."

"Sally, I am so glad they have done nothing to you. I do not understand why they are doing this, but I am thankful for them leaving you pretty much alone. I am stuck, I cannot figure out how to get out of here. Do you have any ideas?"

"I might be able to get this strap undone, but it is going to take more time than we have. I'm afraid we are going to have to depend on Dad and Uncle Paul to get us out of this mess. I know they will, but I'm still trying to get loose."

"Good, me too."

Heather was still face down on the bed and Sally could see the damage the perverts had done to her back. "My God, Heather. That has to hurt. I'm sorry I couldn't stop it."

"I know you tried, Sally, and I will never forget what you had to do to stop the beatings. You know that they were going to beat me anyway."

"Yes, but I'm still sorry. You know, I might have an idea about how to play this. I saw this movie once. Listen!"

CAK- Akron Canton Airport

As Callie stepped down from the private jet, she felt the muggy night grasp at her throat. She was scared. Ester grasped her hand and said, "This is going to work out, Baby. You'll see."

Mitchell got out of the car and approached the people getting off the plane. He first went to the pilot and thanked him for getting Callie there so quickly. He then turned to the two women. "Hi, Callie, I'm glad to see you, I just wish you were here for pleasure."

'Thank you, Mitchell. I'm glad you are the one who came for us. I would like you to meet my friend, Ester."

"How do you do, Ester?"

"I'm fine, thank you."

Mitchell did not waste any more time. "Let's get back to the house. We are expecting the final call at any moment. I checked in as the plane was landing, and they have not heard anything yet. Did you bring any bags?"

Ester looked at Mitchell. "You can put our bags in the trunk, and be quick about it!"

"Ester, this is not the driver, this is my ex-father-in-law. He is one of the good guys in my relationship with the family."

"I'm sorry, Mitchell. I guess I am a little bit on edge because I care about my best friend."

"Do you normally talk to servants like that?" asked Mitchell.

"I don't usually talk to anyone like that. Like I said, I'm on edge."

"OK. We'll just let it pass."

As they drove back to Paul's house, Mitchell brought the two women up to date on what was happening and answered their questions as they came up.

Callie asked, "Who is Heather?"

"She is the sister of Paul's current heart throb. Sally and she seemed to be getting along fine, so they took a pony ride."

"Any chance that she could be behind this kidnapping?" asked Ester.

"I don't think anyone even considered that possibility. Paul only met these girls a few days ago. You know, it could be a setup, but the Akron Police don't think so."

"The current theory is that Heather's ex kidnapped her and Sally just got in the way. When they realized who Sally was, they tried to get some extra money out of the deal."

"Who is Heather's husband?" asked Callie.

"You ever hear of the Bill Burton Ministries?"

"Yes. You are not going to tell me that someone in that group was Heather's husband?" asked Ester.

"Not just someone, but Bill Burton himself."

"No shit!" said Callie and Ester together.

"Yeah, I read about her," said Callie. "She was whoring around, got caught, and tried to make up some story about Bill Burton having sex with this male choir director. What a dumb slut, but I shouldn't expect much more from Bob."

Mitchell winced at Callie's words, but didn't say anything to start the old argument again. Instead he continued, "Right now, Paul and the Akron Police have the Ministry staked out and have someone on the inside trying to find Heather and Sally."

Ester asked, "I thought Paul was your ex brother-in-law. What is he doing at a police stake out?"

Mitchell answered for Callie. "Paul is also an auxiliary commander in the Ohio State Police. He has that status because he has instructed police academies, has a 5^th degree black belt, and does a lot of technical and developmental work for various law enforcement agencies. In fact, they are using a brand new invention of Paul's to monitor the situation at the ministry building."

"I want to meet this guy," sighed Ester. "He sounds dreamy."

"You will," said Callie. "You will. I hold that son-of-a-bitch as responsible as Bob for what happened to my baby. I trusted them when they said they would take care of her. What do they do? They send her out with some shiftless slut."

"Listen," interrupted Mitchell. "This is not the time to go around pointing fingers. If you are going to take that attitude, I'll drop you off at a hotel and let you know what happens after everything is resolved. We have to stand together on this."

"You're right, Mitchell," replied Callie. "I'm just upset. Forgive me?"

"No problem. I just didn't want you to create any more problems than we already have. We are all walking an emotional tight rope, and our balance is not always solid."

When the car pulled up to the door of Paul's house, Rosa came out to greet the visitors. "Welcome Miss Callie. I am so upset about what happened. I am so sorry."