Everything that Glitters Ch. 03

There is no sex involving anyone under the age of 18. If you haven't read the first two chapters this will be nonsensical. Ch. 1 is in Loving Wives where stories about cheating wives abide; Chapter 2 in Romance, because it isn't about a cheating wife; neither is this chapter.

The end of Chapter 2: "Cal, this is Zane; I need your help!"

After he called his friend Cal Cook in Arizona, Zane called Elle, who called Sue, and then Zane called Brad. David, Sue, and Elle came to his house to stay with Casey. Zane grabbed his go bag, his gun satchel, his briefcase, and was waiting at the door when Brad pulled up in his pickup. They headed for the Gillespie Country Airport in Fredericksburg, the nearest field that could handle the private jet Cal sent to pick Zane up. The plane would arrive an hour and forty minutes after its departure at 11:20, so they circled back to town for hot coffee from Stripes, and stopped for another cup when they got to 'Fritztown'.

Their wait was only about 25 minutes, but it seemed longer because Zane didn't want to talk about it. When the sleek plane circled to line up with the runway, Brad turned his lights on and off to signal they were waiting by the terminal. The Embraer Phenom 300E landed smoothly without even a yelp from the tires, and quickly taxied back to the pickup. Zane thanked Brad and ran to the plane. The steps were already being lowered, and they were back in the air in less than five minutes.

The 300E had sufficient range to make it back to Albuquerque before it had to refuel. An hour and forty minutes after they left Albuquerque International Sunport, they were on the ground in Caldwell, Idaho.

Cal was there with a large and strangely diverse entourage. There was a man in an expensive suit, a couple of nerdy looking girls, and five large and dangerous-looking men dressed in forest camo.

"It's always good to see you, my friend, but not in these circumstances. How are you holding up?" Cal inquired with a concerned look.

"I'm pissed! Cassie spent the last two years getting shuck of her asshole daddy, shaking her drug and alcohol addictions, straightening out her life, and recently began developing a new relationship with Casey, and then this happens! I haven't had much time to do anything but think, but I have an idea about where she was taken."

"You mean the EMS compound outside Ketchum?" Cal chuckled, clasped his friend on the shoulder, and continued. "My team and I HAVE had enough time. Sandy and Jada have been through everything Entertainment Management Services and your idiot ex-father-in-law have available online, and my security team contacted friends in Idaho to learn more about the EMS compound where she was taken.

"I'll circumvent all the questions at this time and give you the full update when we're in the Suburban. Let's go."

Cal and Zane sat in the second seat; Sandy and Jada in the third, and one of the suits was in the front passenger seat. The driver, Steve, was the leader of the security team; two of the other four members of the team were in a highly modified Land Rover that was clearly designed to go off road in mountainous terrain, and the other two were in a modified Jeep pickup towing an enclosed trailer that Cal said contained ATVs.

"How well armed are we? I'm not sure these guys give a fuck about laws and such."

Cal patted Steve on the shoulder and said reassuringly, "Zane, we wouldn't want to engage the Israeli army, but short of that, I'm sure we'll be adequately prepared, weapons-wise. Remember: I do business in dangerous places with dangerous people."

He chuckled, "My team is the best in the world, or at least that's what they claim when it's time to negotiate their contracts!"

"Now, tell me about Cassie. I've been hearing for two years that she had reverted back to Good Cassie, but it seems you now have first-hand knowledge of that?"

"If you've been hearing about her for two years, I have two questions: one, why didn't you tell me, and two, then you know about her epiphany, right?"

Cal nodded and explained, "I heard that she had given up booze, drugs, and, shall we say, indiscriminate sex, but I had no firsthand knowledge or even firsthand sources. It was all tour scuttlebutt, which isn't worth much. Besides, I figured the same friends who ratted her out were keeping you informed.

"Did I hear about her 'come to Jesus' moment? Yes, but again it was third hand or worse. The bigger issue is how did you come to find out? Did she tell you? Do you believe her?"

Zane responded, "She approached me at Prescott and I let her see Casey while she was sleeping. A few stops later, at Casper, she approached me again, and this time she and Casey bonded a bit.

"Somewhere in there, she talked at length to Carole, and Carole told me and our parents her story. Frankly, I was skeptical, but she spent a lot of time with us at Cheyenne, and I have to admit, I was favorably impressed. She is totally off drugs and alcohol, and most importantly, she's forsaken Asshole Albert... or at least she had!

"I'm sure his goal is to pimp her out like he did before. I'm also sure he's already gone through all the money she made while he had his hooks in her, so he needs to sell her for all he can get.

"That damn EMS bunch seems beyond shady; in fact, I'd say they are only interested in pimping her too!"

"Oh, they're shady!" Jack, the lawyer in the front seat interjected, "But their interest has always been in the 'clean and sober' Cassandra, not the strung out one. Sandy or Jada can inform you about the emails and documents they intercepted, but, from a legal standpoint, they are walking on quick sand and they know it.

"The signature on the 'personal services contract' Mr. Collins presented to them is obviously either a poor forgery, or the signature was secured while Cassandra was not in control of her faculties. It is therefore invalid, and I'm sure their attorneys have told them that. Yet, they seem to believe they can secure a valid contract from her in the next few days.

"Sandy, Jada, what do you want to add?"

Jada looked up long enough to mumble, "Umm, probably just that we have all the correspondence between 'Asshole' and the EMS director, Donovan Talbott, and, from what we've seen, we believe they intend to market her in as the Sexy Queen of the Rodeo. You know: wearing sexy clothes in sexy poses in sexy situations, and stuff like that. They also mentioned Lady Godiva, whoever that is."

Jack stated, "And for that, they need two things: Cassandra's signature on a contract that permits the use of her image in any way they choose, and a willing model. Based on what I've been told, I doubt she will agree to either, which means dear old daddy is probably trying to get her hooked on drugs and sex again, as we speak. The Asshole ordered several kinds of drugs from one of his suppliers, and it arrived yesterday. Once he gets her hooked again, he thinks she will backslide to sluttery - or so he told EMS."

Sandy added, "She not the first they've exploited, or the worst! We found out some terrible things when we were digging around in their files. A lot of girls and a few guys have gone from advertising to minor film and TV opportunities, and then on to modeling in the nude, stripping, and porn films.

I don't know why they are so fixated on your wife, though; she's certainly good looking in a 'rodeo star next door' kind of way, but she is hardly the voluptuous babe they seem to favor."

Zane shrugged his shoulders, knowing he couldn't explain Cassie's appeal to a young woman with tats, piercings, and multi-colored hair.

Cal fixed that by stating, "Sandy, if you were a man you wouldn't ask that question. Cassie may not be voluptuous, but everything is in the right places in the right amounts, and topped with that 'girl-next-door-of-your-dreams' face surrounded by a headful of honey-blonde hair that gleams.

"Think Farrah Fawcett, not Kim Kardashian. Believe me; she adorns thousands of posters in thousands of bedrooms for a reason!"

"How long until we get there?" Zane interrupted. "I'm afraid tonight might be the night they... misuse her, and it's already pushing dawn."

It was Steve's turn to chuckle. "Well, since we knew we would barely arrive by dawn, we had some Idaho operatives we work with create a little disturbance at the compound about thirty minutes after the red Escalade arrived, again around 1:30, and again at 3. Based on audio surveillance, they're running too scared to do anything else to your girl.

"Amazing what happens to your scheme when flares light up your compound, smoke grenades go off among your poorly trained security staff, and a flash-bang explodes in the room next to your 'safe room'."

He laughed. "Strangely, in spite of believing they're under attack, they haven't called the law. Wonder why?"

The caravan began climbing a winding mountain road, hemmed in on both side by huge trees.

Steve said, "This is the road to the compound, so we need to start getting ready. How's the tech surveillance going, you guys?"

"Nothing much to report," Sandy answered. The satellite we're connected to is slow, but we can tell she's still in a room away from the others, and the targets are still nervously chattering about what to do while hiding in their 'safe room'. Ha! As if Steve and his men don't know how to get past a steel door!"

"So, Steve, what's the plan? I brought my gun bag."

"Zane, if you have to dig in your gun bag, we've screwed the pooch. There are five of us plus the five locals; they have eight 'guards', and I say that derisively. There are some disciplined and well-trained militia groups hiding in the woods up here, but these are members of one of the wanna-be groups that congregate up here to 'avoid government spying'. Of course, as soon as they organize and get set up, the government begins watching them from the air, and eavesdrops on everything they say or send electronically; but, hey, they are living 'off the grid and free from government interference', right?

"Excuse my sarcasm, but I know some of them and... well, 'deluded' is a good term. Anyway, we could just kill them, but we brought horse tranquilizer darts to use if they don't just surrender. You don't need to worry about our end of it; it's Jack who has the job to do.

"Jack needs to get your wife -- ex-wife, I guess, although you seem deeply concerned about her welfare -- Jack needs to get her released from the fake contracts, and get new ones drawn up to protect her from her perverted sperm donor's clutches, forever!"

"Let's see how it goes, but I don't see my job as being any harder than Steve's," Jack replied. "Asshat Albert is an imbecile, and EMS is straight-running idiots for going along with him. I see criminal and civil charges, leading to millions in damages, and jail time for the shady executives involved."

"Ya know, we don't need all this legal mumbo jumbo if that son-of-a-bitch in dead, right?" Zane asked casually.

Jack immediately replied, "I didn't hear that! Or rather, I heard a hypothetical question. Is that what you asked, Zane?"

"Sure, if that eases your conscience; it was hypothetical."

"No, we don't need as much legal mumbo jumbo if he isn't involved, but EMS still has contracts with her that will require revision or annulment."

"Well, Jack, what if the upper management of EMS was to meet an untimely end, say tonight? Hypothetically speaking, of course! I mean, fire happens up here in this drought, right?"

Jack's eyes got wide; Cal laughed, and Steve answered with a grin, "He's right: that could happen. These buildings are made of old logs, so it wouldn't take much of a spark. But let's see how this plays out.

"If everything works out just fine, we can take the new documents and the lady back down the mountain. If we're having problems that can't be reconciled, y'all can all go down the mountain with the lady and we'll stay around a bit. Does that sound okay, Zane?"

Zane remained assertive. "Let me be blunt, then: I doubt that the Asshole is never going to leave her be, and I'm not going to permit it anymore! Whatever else she is or has been, she's Casey's mother, and none of this shit would have happened if he hadn't interfered in our marriage!

"When I saw the smirk on his face while Cassie was explaining how she was going with Daddy to conquer the world, but she would be back every chance she got, I knew! I should have killed him then, but as they say, it's never too late to do the right thing!"

Cal sighed, put his hand on Zane's shoulder, and said, "Let's go with Steve's plan for now. Let's go up there, get them all in the same room, have a come-to-Jesus meeting, and see what happens."

Zane snorted, but sank back into his seat and crossed his arms. That FedEx package he got at the ranch a day after they got back from Cheyenne was in his jump bag. That would be a big, fat skunk in the room for them EMS boys, and for The Asshole!

***

The tranquilizer darts weren't needed, much less the weapons. The guards were so scared they were bunched up talking outside the main building when a bunch of red dots appeared on their clothing. They heard a voice from the darkness telling them to lay their weapons down, walk two steps, and lie down face first with their hands above your heads, or die! They immediately complied, and the "security force" was neutralized without a shot of any kind being fired.

Two minutes later, the suburban drove right up to the headquarters, three passengers got out, and they walked up on the porch by the front door. "Open it or I will!" Steve commanded.

No one came, so he fired a burst into the handle. He added a second, unnecessary, burst to send a message, and when they got to the "safe room", he warned those behind it to either open the door or move as far away as they could before he blew it open.

Steve slapped the door like he had placed C4 on it; they heard distressed voices, and the door slid open.

Steve and two other members of their security team entered first, with ARs ready. Zane was right behind them, with pistol drawn and ready.

He glared at the men four men and one woman huddled together in the corner. "Where is Cassie?" he asked in a menacing voice. The tallest of the slick-looking bastards pointed to a side door, and Zane moved toward it.

Cal asked, "Anyone in there with her? Zane's wanted to kill someone ever since he loaded up with us, so if anyone gets in his way..."

Slick answered, "Just a nurse. He gave her a sedative, so she's sleeping off an overdose of something her father says she took before her brought her up here."

Steve beat him to the door, opened it, and jumped inside with his AR at the ready. Zane came in a half-second later with his pistol in hand. He saw Cassie with a gag in her mouth, tied spread-eagle to the bedstead with her blouse unbuttoned and her pants pulled down enough to expose a cheek of her ass and her pubic hairs.

"Hey, mother fucker! Get away from her!" they heard Zane yell, then the sound of a brutal slap, and a male cried out in pain; he cried louder after another loud slap. Suddenly a man sailed out the door and fell right at The Asshole's feet.

Steve told Zane, "I'm an army-trained medic; I'm going to untie and examine her."

Zane was only a few steps behind the "nurse" he had tossed out of the room. When he tried to stand, Zane stomped on his back and warned him to be still.

Standing less than a foot away, Zane looked into the face of his nemesis with a malevolent grin. He put the barrel of his pistol under Albert's chin, pushed it up until his head was leaning back, and said, "You have ten seconds to tell me what you gave her, Asshole. If you don't, I'll blow your fuckin' head off and ask this bitch, because I'm sure he was involved!

"8...7...6"

"Don't shoot, Zane! It was just something she wanted! Just a little of the drugs she used to take all the time!" Albert burbled to the sky. Zane let him lower his head and told him to keep talking.

He continued so fast his words ran together. "You know, after Cheyenne she fell off the wagon and started using again pretty heavily, and one of her friends called me and told me to come help her, so I did! But she was coming down off something and was getting hysterical! I brought Jody along to help -- he's a nurse you know -- so when she started begging, we gave her a shot of a couple of her favorites to help her, and..."

Zane began laughing uproariously. Gesturing to Cal and the others he asked, "Can you believe this guy? You are so full of shit, Albert! YOU REALLY ARE JUST A GIANT ASSHOLE THAT IS COMPLETELY FULL OF SHIT!

"You say she was using all the time after Cheyenne? Well, Casey talked to her mommy every night after we left, and I listened in! She was cold sober EVERY SINGLE TIME!

Lindsey was traveling with her, and Lindsey says she's not taken a sip of a drink, much less been using drugs! YOU AND JODY KIDNAPPED HER! Then you drugged her, and brought her here to SELL to these PERVERTED VULTURES!"

He removed his steel-toed boot from Jody's back and kicked him in the ribs; hard, but not hard enough to break a rib. "Isn't that right, Jody? You and Asshole here kidnapped and drugged her? You best tell the truth, or I'll kick you so hard it will drive your ribs right into your lung!"

Jody muttered something; Zane nudged him in the ribs and said, "Speak up! I already caught you in there with her blouse open and pants pulled down! I WANT to hurt you, so don't give me an excuse!"

"YES! Okay, we grabbed her at the Caldwell rodeo! She wouldn't stop fighting and screaming, so I gave her a mix I make special for Al; it's just Easy Lay and Special K, but it really makes them nice and compliant. We must have given her a little too much or maybe it was a bad mix, because it kind of made her go crazy! I gave her a sedative to calm her down, I've been watching over her since we got here to make sure she is okay, and I was just trying to bring her around, not do anything sexual to her!"

"Right! After all, you're a nurse! You would never do... Aw, fuck it!" Zane kicked him in the ribs quite a bit harder, and said, "The next mother fucker that lies to me dies! Am I clear?"

There were three slick-looking men and a woman who looked just as slick. Slick #1, who had been the only one who had spoken, said, "All this violence is unnecessary. We know why you're here and we're willing to negotiate, but we have a signed contract with Miss Collins and with her father, so let's take seats around our conference table and have a conversation. You can make your case then, in a civilized manner."

Zane removed his gun from under Albert's throat, said, "Lay down right there by your Buddy, Asshole. Hands above your head. If you wiggle, I'll shoot you in the spine... assuming you have one!"

He then walked across the room to Slick 1 and pressed the pistol into the soft area behind his ear. Slick grimaced, but didn't move. "Signed contracts? Lots of fucking luck with that, Slick! I doubt it will take the jury ten minutes of deliberation when we sue your ass for the total value of your company plus your gross value! That signature looks like someone totally strung out on Easy Lay and Special K - whatever the hell those are -- signed it under duress! Or maybe you just forged it!

How do I know? Oh, people who know what they're doing have been in ALL your business over the past ten hours or so! We'll just compare the signature on your fake documents to the notarized signature of a sober Cassie, and I'm guessing even the most ignorant jury in the world will see the difference!

Besides, that CIVIL jury will already have the testimony from the CRIMINAL trial to review. You'll already be doing 20 to life for kidnapping, false imprisonment, and purposeful infliction of bodily harm with coercion for administering illegal drugs to an unwilling female when the jury awards Cassie every damn thing you've ever owned!