A Hostage to Delusion by M J Marlow (free children's online books txt) 📕

going to die when I heard Adam call you his wife,” he told her. “He forced you to agree, didn’t he?
“I don’t know if I want to stay married to him, Eric,” Cassie whimpered. “But I have a feeling your father is going to do something nasty if I try to leave your brother. He could hurt Oliver or you to get me to come back to him.”
“Oliver?” Eric frowned. “The baby they stole from you?” Cassie nodded. “If he does that he would be facing kidnapping charges for sure, Cassie.” He cupped her chin in his hand and looked into her eyes. “Don’t let them bully you. You should be married to a Garrison who loves you! Not one who wants to control you!” He saw her look at him in confusion. “Damn it, Cassie. How can you not believe I love you?”
“I do, Eric, but I don’t trust myself. I – I have to go,” Cassie choked and turned on her heel. She paused a moment. She yanked open the door and rushed out of the office to follow her brother. As they drove to Justine’s house, she sank back and prayed, surprised with herself when she realized she was praying for the chance of a life with Adam.

Cassie stood on the porch of the house that had been her prison for ten years of her life. She could feel ice forming in her blood as Dekker unlocked the door and stepped in after her. It was just as she remembered it. She ran her finger along the wedding band on her finger and the thought of Eric kept her from running in fear.
“Gloomy place,” Dekker’s voice made her jump. He patTed her on the shoulder and they went into the office. Some of the patrol officers were waiting there with boxes. “Just get it all packed. We’ll take it to my office and go through it there.” He watched Cassie go to the closet. “You don’t need to be here, Cassie.”
“It’s going to remain a nightmare,” Cassie replied, “if I can’t face it.” She opened the door and shivered. “It’s just a closet,” she choked out as she saw the shackles built into the ceiling. “Such a simple thing and Grandmother turned it into a torture chamber.” She opened the hatch in the back and pulled out three fireproof safes. “She hid what she felt was most important in here.”
“How did you know that was there, Cassie?’ Dekker asked as she moved her hand around and found the envelope with the keys inside.
“I kept my eyes open and my mouth shut,” Cassie said softly, “just like Grandmother told me to.”
“I don’t think she realized just how much you saw,” Dekker smiled and found Justine’s will. “She left you everything, Cassie. No wonder Garrison wanTed you to marry his son. You’re a very wealthy young woman.” He paled as he saw the next document. “Bingo!”
“What is it, Dekker?” Cassie asked him, knowing it had something to do with her.
“You don’t need to see it,” Dekker told her. “You’re safer that way.”
“Safer?” Cassie laughed. “I spent ten years of my life being abused and manipulaTed by a woman who was supposed to love me; and the next four months as a slave, Dekker. I don’t know what ‘safe’ is.” He took her in his arms and she had a sense that he was going to make certain she got a chance to learn. “I shouldn’t have run away that night.”
“You were scared,” Dekker squeezed her and then stepped back. “And you were just a kid.” He ruffled her hair and grinned at her. “Not that you aren’t still a kid!”
Cassie blushed and saw the police officers smiling at the interchange. She had no real memory of being Dekker’s sister. Justine had done her best to erase her memories of her life before the age of five from Cassie’s mind. She had been cheaTed and she knew it.
“There’s another room Grandmother never let me go inside,” Cassie said as she left the office and went upstairs. She walked past the room where Adam had raped her and she began to shake. She couldn’t make her feet move as she saw herself being shoved into that room.
“What is it, Cassie?” Dekker asked gently as he put his hands on her shoulders. “Can you tell me?”
“I was only fifteen, Dekker,” Cassie whimpered while she stood frozen in place. “I thought they were joking when Mr. Garrison offered Grandmother money for me. But then she came to my room later and told me Adam wanTed me in his bed and I wasn’t allowed to refuse.” She turned her head into his chest and he held her as she cried. “She forced me into the room and held me while he took off my clothes. I kept saying no and they just laughed at me. Then he shoved me onto the bed while she locked us inside and he raped me!”
“He’s going to pay for that, Cassie,” Dekker said tightly. “We’re going to find a way.”
“Adam was as much a victim that night as I was, Dekker,” Cassie nodded as she found the strength to get past the room. “Grandmother caught that night on tape and hid it. If she was thorough, there will be footage showing Adam being drugged so that he was forced to rape me.”
“You’re starting to care for Adam Garrison,” Dekker frowned as he heard her statement. He saw her blush. “Honey, you’re only a kid. You’re too young to be married.”
“I was too young to have a baby, too, Dekker,” Cassie said softly. “I need to show you something.”
She took him into a room filled with security monitors and other equipment. Cassie knocked on a wall and it opened up to display bookcases. She pulled the one out from the night of her birthday and put it in the machine. She left while Dekker watched the conversation at the dinner table, Jonathan’s argument with his son and the drug being forced on Adam, and the subsequent rape.
“This is going to hang them both,” he nodded to Cassie and took her downstairs. “I’m taking my sister with me, gentlemen. Keep up the good work.”
They went outside and got in the car. They continued the conversation they had on the way to the house and Cassie learned more about the family she’d been stolen from. Everything was good until they got down the hill. A car came out of a side road and Dekker’s car was slammed up against a tree. Cassie’s head hit the window and she blacked out. Dekker got out and someone hit him across the back of the head. As he blacked out he saw two men in ski masks take the tape. He memorized the license number of the car before he blacked out completely.
“Thank you, Davis,” Dekker said when he got a call at home later. “I know it was a long shot.” He hung up and turned to his father. “The car was found abandoned near the airport.” He slammed his hand into the wall. “Damn! We find evidence to nail those bastards and it gets stolen from us!”
“Grandmother made backup copies,” Cassie said as she came into the kitchen. She had taken a shower and put on clothes Belinda had loaned her and felt much better. Belinda trailed in behind her with the first aid kit and made Dekker sit down. “But I never knew where she hid them.”
“Your Grandmother was an extortionist, Cassie,” Grant frowned. “She was blackmailing people for money, wasn’t she?”
“She tried to teach me how,” Cassie said as she poured herself some milk, “but I didn’t want to learn. I think that’s why she decided to sell me. I wasn’t doing what I was told.” She turned as someone else came into the kitchen and paled. It was Amy Parker and Cassie’s son, Oliver. “I need some air.”
“Cassie,” Amy called after her, “you don’t need to run.” She looked at Grant. “That man hurt her terribly when he told her Oliver was dead.”
“He has a lot to answer for,” Grant nodded. He saw Amy watching Cassie. “Don’t worry, she’s not going to steal your son.” He saw Amy flinch and knew she had been worried about that. “Don’t push her, Mrs. Parker. My daughter has a lot more to deal with than seeing the child she thought was dead all these months.”
As Cassie sat in the swing on the back porch, Jonathan and his men pulled up the road leading to her brother’s home. He marched up to the front door with his men, Doctor Hilliard, and the family attorney, Grayson. Cassie heard Oliver wail and headed back into the house to find her family and the Parkers in the living room.
“Here she is,” Jonathan smiled as he rose from the couch. “The reason we are here.”
“What are you doing here?” Cassie asked him. She saw a document on the coffee table and her father’s stunned look. “What’s going on?”
“We’ll fight this, kitten,” Grant said softly as he handed the document to her. “Your grandmother blindsided us.”
“Mentally incompetent?” Cassie choked as she read the words. She turned on Jonathan. “What game are you playing now, Mr. Garrison? I’m no more incompetent than you are!”
“That’s not what the doctors who examined you every year from the age of five said,” Jonathan smiled at her gently. “It’s time for you to come home now.”
“No!” Cassie shook her head and backed away from him. “You can’t do this.” She looked at her brother and her father. “It can’t be legal!” They could not say anything to her. Cassie dropped the paper and she tried to run. “I’m not going!”
“Now honey,” Jonathan said with a show of extreme patience and concern. “There is no need to distress yourself. We’ll get you home and you’ll feel a lot better.” He caught her arm and she screamed. “Doctor?”
“No needles!” Cassie sobbed as she saw the woman ready one. “Please don’t drug me,” she begged as the needle bit into her vein. “Daddy, please…”
Her legs buckled and Jonathan picked her up in his arms. Her struggles grew more labored as they went out of the house and she was out cold by the time they got her in the car. Her family watched as it drove off.
“I don’t care how Henry does it,” Grant said tightly, “but I want Cassie out of their hands as quickly as possible.”

Cassie woke up and heard the door open to the bedroom she’d been kept prisoner inside for the past week. She had contracTed a virus and been seriously ill the first two days and was still having a hard time getting her strength back. She saw the nurse bringing her lunch and struggled to sit up. Once the tray was set down on her lap, Cassie saw the nurse settle into her corner and pick up a book.
“Do you know who did it yet, Connie?” she asked as she toyed with her food.
“This is Nora Roberts, Cassie,” Connie smiled over at her. “Just when you think you know, she changes tracks.”
“Isn’t that frustrating?” Cassie asked as she struggled to keep her energy up enough to eat. She still suffered from headaches and bouts of nausea that kept her from being able to eat properly. She got about half of the lunch in before she gave up and set the tray aside.
“I find it exhilarating,” Connie replied. She came over and patTed Cassie on the shoulder. “You’re doing better. You got half of it in before you had to stop. I’ll get your medication now.”
Cassie nodded. She liked the woman who had been hired to tend her. Connie