Hi guys:

We are getting to the juicy and fairly severe aspects of this particular tale.

I would love to read a review or two about the story's direction.

Chapter 44

You don't screw with a woman in love

The area around the cabin is thick with trees. Even during a winter, visibility on a clear day is still obstructed. The end of the summer's growth hems in the usual path to the residence.

"Do you like this place?" She asks in a tone reminiscent of Tia's past.

Hope sits chained to the wall in the cellar. After two days of imprisonment, the young girl realizes screaming for help is a waste of time.

"It was some deal, I understand the owner was so happy to finally rent it. It is a bit run down, off the beaten track." Tia walks to her prisoner.

"I wonder what your precious Agent Torello would think if he could see you now?" Pushing a laugh through a smirk. Tia's lip rises causing her nose to wrinkle. "You filthy little slut. Your face matches your morals."

"Agent Torello? He's here too? Oh no, he's not hurt. What did you do to him?"

Hope rushes to the arrogant figure before her. The young teenager is thrown back as she reaches the limits of her bonds.

"In the mud again. You will rip those wrists right off if you keep doing that." Said through a chuckle.

Hope lies on the dirt floor. Her face is dark with grime from the stay in the damp and partially muddy ground. Golden Blond hair is peppered with muck as she worsens her situation by wiping soiled hands on an already smudged forehead.

"He is innocent. This doesn't concern him." The young woman pushes on her hands to stand. "If you hurt him, I'll…"
"Shut up!" Screams Tia. "He wouldn't give you the time of day. You're a kid. A nothing. He is a man." Another sneer shrouds the older woman's face.

"How to you know?" Hope spits out the words. "You don't know him or me. I love him. If you want him? If that's the reason you took me you are mistaken. We love each other." Hope stands defiant She now sneers at her nemesis and sports an expression empty of fear.

"What do you mean?" Tia rushes the girl and grips her throat. "He said, he loves you? He told you that?"

Hope gasps for air until Tia throws her to the ground.

"No, he didn't. But He will." Answers Hope through a round of rapid breaths. "And he would never want someone like you."
Tia steps back. A smile emerges on the woman.

Hope finds the strength to speak.

"Is that why you are here. To get rid of the competition?" Hope moves back to the damp wall.

"Wrong little girl. I want your mother. The Queen of the Seas." Tia's eyes roll as her head looks to the ceiling.
"She will rip your head off when she finds you." The young teen's hands move about causing her chains to clang. "And my father will rip the rest of you to shreds." A short laugh ends her sentence.

"Your father? Your real father is some drone of the great Queen Ryn."
"Ben is my father. He has proved his love of me. He saved me from you and your evil minions."

"He is nothing but a sex slave or a plaything for your mother till she tires of him."
Hope moves as if ready to strike. She halts her legs from getting any closer to her captor. She realizes it is useless.

"Well, you have a bucket to use, if the opportunity arises." Tia begins to chuckle. "Or if it is too painful to hold." The chuckles morph into a ruckus, almost hysterical cackle.

"Goodbye, little Hope. She had better come for you or you will never see the light of day again."
Tia kicks her booth on the first step loosening a strand of sludge. Then brushes some caked mud off the hem of her blue jeans.

Hope is helpless, as she watches the woman giggle her way up the wooden stairs.

Bristol Cove

Sitting in her SUV, Maddie leaves another message for Joe.

"Please, this is the third one. Joe, it is important. I must talk to you. It has…"

She needs to stop shaking in order to continue.

"Please, it has nothing to do with us. I mean…you know what I mean. Please…"

The beep shoots through her ears as if an arrow ripping across her brain.

Tossing the cell phone down on the passenger seat, she turns the ignition. Maddie intends to go to the Naval Facility where he works.

With teeth gritted, she thinks of Joe and the possibility of his betrayal.

It can't be. I'll ask him straight away. He can't be involved. He can't, not with that monster, Tia.

The SUV is speeding out of town and onto a two lane highway. Then, a sudden gust of vigor courses through her veins.

"I don't give two squats about security or passes or appointments."

She turns off the road at the direction of the GPS.

The young woman is too pre-occupied to notice a black car following her from a distance, or the two men in the front seat.

"And those signs with the words, use of deadly force authorized mean nothing to a woman in love."

She looks at her rearview mirror.

"That's right, little Maddie. I'm in love."

She smiles at her reflection.

"And…"She inhales for the pronouncement.

"You don't screw with a woman in love."

Note to the reader:

That's correct. You better not.

Joe better look really cute when Maddie corners him. She may make Tia's tirades look mild in comparison.