Chapter 15

The Aftermath

Earlier that morning, Gia got Rachel to the hospital in Martinsburg to be checked out. The news media were all over the front of the hospital, cameras were set up, and police were everywhere, controlling the mass of yelling reporters. Pulling around the back to the emergency exit, Gia managed to miss most of the reporters.

As Gia went around to the passenger side to get Rachel, a photographer jumped out around the back of the Hummer and flashed a picture. Striking like a snake, her leg shot out and kicked the camera out of the photographer’s hand.

“Hey, bitch, that camera cost fifteen hundred dollars! You’ll pay for that!”

“Yeah, yeah, send me the bill, jerkoff” she said nonchalantly as she picked up Rachel.

Gina and Maria were there to meet her in the waiting area. Gina ran to hug her blanket wrapped daughter.

“Mom!” squealed Rachel. “I’ve missed you!”

Biting her lip to keep from crying, Gina hugged her daughter “Oh, baby, I’ve missed you sooo much!”

“Mom, it was like the worst thing I’ve ever been through!” Rachel began sobbing as she held her mother.

Joining her daughter in her tears, Gina could only whisper “It’s okay, honey. It’s all over. Shhhhh. Shhhhh. Don’t cry. we’ll talk about it later”

Gina held her daughter and looked at Gia. “Thank you” she silently mouthed. Gia smiled at her and nodded.

“How’s Garrett?” asked Rachel “Is he okay?”

“He’s just fine, honey” answered Maria. “He’ll come to see you later. Right now, we need to get you checked out”

Quickly, Gina and Maria led Rachel into the ER. Gia was close behind. A Doctor was working on one of the kidnappers. He saw the two women with the girl and called a nurse over to them. The ER was covered up, but they made room for Rachel. “Have a seat right here, sweetie” said the nurse, showing her to a seat.

The thug that was being worked on winced as the doctor treated a nasty looking cut. “Shit, man! Watch what the fuck yer doin” He saw Rachel and grinned evilly. “Hey doc! See that little cunt over there? They told me she was a dude! I say no way! Hell, I’d tap her right...OWWWWW!”

“Sorry about that” said the doctor with a look of disgust “The more you talk, the more this hurts”

Rachel hugged her mother tighter “Mom? I need to go now. I can’t stay here. These men....” She looked up at her mother with fear etched on her face, her eyes wide with terror.

Maria was about to say something to the man when Gia stopped her. “I’ve got this, get Rach out of here”

With the cool assurance of a trained killer, Gia walked over to the skinhead. “Listen asswipe” she whispered “Recognize me? I’m the one who put you in here”

The criminal’s face went white with recognition.

“Yeah, you do!” she continued to whisper “Keep it up, and you won’t be tapping anything, because I’ll have your dick”

“Nice work, Doc” she smiled as she left. There were no more comments.

Maria and Gina took Rachel into the desk area. Gina told the nurse “Look, my daughter was just brutalized by the men in that room. Isn’t there someplace else we can go. the nurse then realized that the girl in front of her was the object of the assault.

“Ma’am, I’m terribly sorry. We weren’t thinking. This place is just so crowded right now. Let me get a doctor”

The nurse returned with the doctor that was working on the noisy thug. Shaking Gina’s hand, he kneeled down to Rachel and said “ Hello, I’m Doctor Good. No jokes please” Rachel giggled.

“So you’re Rachel, huh?”

“Yes” came the quiet reply.

“Let’s get you to a nice private room where we can check you out, okay?”

“But Doctor, the patients in the ER....”

“Screw ‘em” came the curt reply. “They’ll live. If hadn’t been for their damn foolishness, we wouldn’t be working our butts off tonight, would we?”

Dr. Good gave Rachel a thorough examination. Physically, she was fine, save for two electrical burns from the stun gun. He treated those and wrote a few things down on her chart. “She’s okay, he announced. I am concerned about the anesthetic used to subdue her. I suspect it was chloroform, based on her description. I could hold her overnight, but I think she would be better off at home.

A detective from the State Police Came to take Rachel’s statement. She told him everything she knew, and what had happened to her. She remained calm while describing the events that happened after she was abducted. The detective thought she was a little too calm.

“Mom. Can I get out of this silly outfit? It’s like, totally freezing in here, and I need something else to wear”

The detective agreed. “We really need that for evidence, ma’am”

“I’ll see if I can dig up some scrubs for her. It shouldn’t be a problem” Gia offered. She left the room to try to get them

After a quick drive to the hospital, Brianna found Maria and Gina with Rachel.

After hugging the two women, she asked Rachel how she was doing.

“Fine, I guess. I’m pretty tired. I didn’t like, you know, get any sleep last night”

“We’re going to get you out of here as soon as possible. I’ve got to take care of some things first, and then you and your mom and Grandmother are going to come and stay with me for a few days, If it’s all right with them”

Gina looked at her mother. “I don’t suppose we have a choice, unless you want to stay at a hotel for a few days”

Shaking her head, Brianna said “I won’t hear of it. I have plenty of room and it’s a secure location. I have security in place already” She paused. “While I don’t think that there is any further threat from any would be kidnappers, the media may be another matter. I don’t think you want Rachel bothered by reporters”

“Absolutely not!” Gina said with determination. “I won’t have her harassed any further”

“Great, it’s settled then. I’ll have my car pick you up when this zoo settles down a little bit”

“Do you have a pool?” asked Rachel.

Smiling, Gina said “Don’t take advantage of our host now, honey”

“It’s no trouble at all, Gina! She couldn’t take advantage of me if she tried. Yes, Rachel, I have two pools, both indoors and out. Do you have a bathing suit?”

“No, but Mom and I can go shopping for one!” giggled Rachel. “Can my friends come visit me?”

“Any time they want. You can even have another sleepover if you want”

Bouncing up and down on her chair, Rachel couldn’t contain her excitement. “Like, this is sooo cool! a pool! Two pools!” Rachel jumped up and gleefully clapped her hands together as she jumped up and down.

As Rachel was doing her happy hop, Maria noticed her granddaughter’s skirt was riding up, showing the not too modest panties that Buford had forced her into.

“Young lady! Remember your modesty! We can see your bottom!”

Rachel stopped and pulled her skirt down, blushing furiously. She looked down, her knees together, and her feet slightly apart. “I never had this problem before” She said, smiling coquettishly.

Gia came into the room as the women all started laughing with Rachel. “I see I missed the joke”

“There’s no joke” laughed Rachel. “I just learned a lesson in modesty. Keep your hands down when wearing a short skirt”

Gia laughed along with the others. “I see. Well, here are your scrubs, panty girl”

“Hey! It’s not like I chose this, guys!”

Rachel got changed and they put the clothes in the paper bag provided by the police. Gia went out to the detectives to give them the evidence.

Stan Harrick was in the hospital, arranging for the transport of the prisoners who were well enough to go to the jail. Tank came up to him, carrying a large cup of coffee.

“The tech boys at the scene did some work on Buford’s laptop and traced the people who were watching Rachel get abused. DPS is rounding them up now”

“Good. I hope they toss them so far back they have to pump the sunshine to them” replied Stan.

“Steve asked me to keep an eye on the Harris family for the next few days. He said he’s got some thinking to do. Don’t blame him, really. This op got messed up big time. Those rubes should have never been able to get anywhere close to the kid. It’s not like a Steve Marshall operation”

“Everybody makes mistakes now and then” said Stan. “I don’t see what he was so upset about”

Tank took a long sip of his coffee. “In our line of work, mistakes get people killed. If Rachel hadn’t taken care of Buford, she would have been raped or worse before we got to her. Steve takes that very seriously”

Stan shook his head in agreement “If anyone will get it figured out, it’s Steve. If you ask me, I’d say he’s got a large distraction in the form of a tall, blonde attorney. Don’t quote me, though”

Laughing, Tank replied “I thought the same thing, but I don’t even know if she’s on the market” he paused, looking out a window at the rising sun. “I’ve got a long day of debriefing the boys in blue. “Take care, Stan. Nice working with you”

“Anytime, Tank, anytime”

Brianna had briefed the press with the bare bones of the story, keeping Rachel’s name out of it. By ten o’clock in the morning, a very sleepy Rachel walked out of the hospital with Tank and Gina at her side. They got into the stretch Lincoln limo and drove to the DiMaggio estate, just outside of Austin. Rachel was asleep three minutes into the ride.

“So, Gina, how are you holding up? asked a yawning Tank.

Gina sighed. “I’ll be doing a lot better when all of this craziness goes away. I never would have thought that Rachel’s choice of gender would cause all of this. What causes people to go so nuts over someone wearing a skirt instead of jeans?”

“The animals who got this started were nuts to begin with. Buford probably had thing for transsexual girls and couldn’t rationalize it with his upbringing or whatever. It doesn’t really matter at this point, does it?”

“No, I guess not, but I would like to know what I could do to protect her from the Dan Bufords of the world” she sighed.

Tank looked out the window, paused and said “The best you can do is to prepare her for the fact that there are a lot of people out there who don’t have her best interests at heart, and will in fact try to use her or hurt her whenever they can. Teach her to look out for those people. Eventually, this will all go away. Time does heal these sorts of things”

“I’ve heard that before, Tank, and I’m waiting for that time to come”

“Please, Gina, call me Jim. I’ve always hated the nickname Tank. But, in my line of work, having the last name Abrams and being rather large, well, you get stuck with these names pretty much naturally”

Gina looked down at Rachel, whose head was in her lap. She was stroking Rachel’s hair as she slept. She really hated nicknames anyway, especially with some of the names her daughter had been called in the last few weeks. “Okay, Jim. I prefer that name anyway”

They arrived at the twenty-eight thousand square foot mansion that Brianna lived in. It was a Tudor style house, with ornate stone work around the outside. Gina woke Rachel up as they drove up the long lane to the main house.

“Look where we’ll be staying for the next few days, honey”

“Oh my gosh, Mom. It’s huge!” I can’t wait to see my room! Do you think it’ll be big?”

“I think whatever is in that house is big, Rachel” answered Gina.

“I HAVE to see the pool, Mom! I want to go swimming right away” Rachel said with an excitement that only a tween girl can come up with.

As they got out of the car, Gina told Rachel “Easy, girl. I want you to get some sleep first”

Rachel stamped her foot and pouted. “But mom, I just got some sleep! I want to see the house, and my room, and oh! I’m hungry. Do I have a bathing suit, mom? I have a million things to do. Oh darn it! I need my phone! Mom! Are you listening to me?”

Rolling her eyes, Gina looked at Jim as if to say help.

Smiling, Jim said, “You’re on your own, Gina. I can’t help you with a girl in overdrive” he laughed as he walked inside.

“Mom, I need some clothes. We have to go back to the house. I have absolutely NOTHING to wear. Mom! I have no underwear, and I need a bra”

“Rachel! Calm down. I know what you need, let’s get you settled in”

Rachel toned her enthusiasm down a bit “Ok, mom, do you know where I’ll be?”

“No, but Travis does”

“Who’s Travis? The butler?”

Gina smiled at Rachel. “I suppose that’s one way to put it. He runs the house for Brianna. Just call him Travis, he’s a very nice man”

As if on cue, a slim middle aged man appeared at the door. “Hello, Gina. Hello, Rachel, I’m Travis. Come on in”

Travis Collins was the household manager, and had worked for Brianna for 5 years. He was originally from New York City, and had been in the Austin area for 15 years. He was educated at Princeton, and was a consummate professional. In addition to running the household, he managed some of Brianna’s investments. She paid him well, and he was worth every penny.

“Where are we staying, Travis?” asked Gina.

“Your room remains the same, Gina. Rachel will be staying across the hall in the Princess Bedroom.

Rachel’s mouth dropped. “Princess Bedroom? Does that mean what I think it means?”

Travis grinned and gestured upstairs. “Well, why don’t we go up and see if you like it?”

They walked up the elaborate cherry staircase to the end of the long hall. Large double doors opened into the bedroom. It was done in a rustic pink, with cream colored carpeting. One wall was accented with an antique striped pattern wallpaper A large armoire decorated one side of the room, with a antique desk and makeup table on the other side. The centerpiece of the room was a king sized four poster bed with light pink curtains draped around. The bed spread was a floral pattern in cream and light pink. A large bathroom and walk in closet were off to the back of the room.

Rachel gasped. “Oh wow. Mom, it’s beautiful! It is a princess bedroom!” She walked around the room, delicately touching the furnishings, as if in a trance.

Travis sighed loudly “Okay, Gina, I guess she doesn’t like it, Let’s take her to the western bedroom”

Whirling around, Rachel gasped again. “I LOVE it! Don’t you DARE try to move me somewhere else!”

Travis and Gina both laughed heartily “Okay, okay” Travis smiled “I guess you can have this one. However, Rachel, you need to go to bed for a three hour nap to keep it, or it’s off to the cowboy room for you”

“I’ll go right now!” she paused, thinking “but I don’t have any pajamas, Mom”

“What you have on now will be fine, dear. The shirt you have on is big enough to be a tent. You can sleep in that until we get your clothing situation straightened out”

“I’ll leave you two alone. Gina, when you are done, please come see me in my office”

Rachel took off the too big scrub pants and let the shirt down. It came down around the middle of her thighs. After turning the bed down for Rachel, Gina gave Rachel a kiss. “I’ll be right outside if you need me, okay”

“Okay, mom. I love you”

“I love you too. Have a nice little nap.

Gina left Rachel’s room and went down to Travis’ office.

“So what did you need, Travis?”

“I need you to give me Rachel’s sizes for the clothing you think she’ll need. Your house will probably be under police lockdown as a crime scene at least for the next couple of days. And we can’t very well have her running around naked, can we”

Biting her lip, Gina looked upstairs. “I can’t leave Rachel now. We’ll have to shop later”

“It is already handled. I have someone lined up to shop already, and the clothes will be here when she wakes up. That will give you a chance to get some rest yourself”

“How will you know what to buy?”

“You’ll tell me what she likes to wear and the buyer will take it from there. Believe me, they know what they are doing. She will also want a swimsuit, I suppose?”

Gina gave all of the pertinent information to Travis, and he made the call. Rachel would have some clothes when she woke up.

Rachel was walking out in the country. She had on a lovely yellow sundress. She was barefoot and her long hair was flowing in the breeze. She saw a swing hanging from a branch in the large oak tree by the brook. Running down to it, she jumped on and began swinging. She loved swinging, it was so much fun and gave her a flutter in her tummy that she liked.

The mockingbirds were singing and she couldn’t have been happier. She swung backwards and the swing froze at its peak. Rachel screamed, being startled at the sudden change in momentum. She looked behind her and Mr. Buford had hold of the swing.

Rachel screamed in terror and jumped down off the swing. She turned to face her tormentor and tried to scream at him, but her voice wouldn’t come in anything but a whisper. “I stopped you” she whispered “you’re gone”

He looked at her with dead eyes and said calmly “I’ll never be gone, whore. You’re mine and always will be”

She turned and ran from him, but she couldn’t seem to get any speed, like she was running underwater. She felt him gaining, coming ever closer. She could feel his hot breath on her neck.

He grabbed her dress and ripped it off her. She was in nothing but her bra and panties. Suddenly her arms were bound behind her. “Let’s see if you’re a real girl, slut”

Struggling for all she was worth, she couldn’t get away. She tried kicking, but her feet were tied to the ground. Rachel tried to scream, but all that came out was a whisper. His filthy hand reached down slowly, grabbing the waistband of her panties. He started to pull.....

A bloodcurdling scream came from Rachel’s room. Jim was close by and ran in to her room. He came in to see Rachel sitting bolt upright in her bed hands clawing and pushing away at some non existent assailant. She screamed again. “MOMMMMYYYYY! HELLLLP MEEEEEE”

Jim got to her bed and got her arms under control. Gina was in a second later. She ran over to Rachel’s bed and held her along with Jim. She still wasn’t awake. “MOMMMYYYY!”

“Rachel! I’m here! I’m here, baby! Mommy’s here!”

Rachel finally awakened from her nightmare. Looking around at her surroundings, she saw Jim and her Mom. She burst into sobs. “Mom,h-h-h-he’s back! He took my c-c-c-clothes off! I hate him!!!

“Shhhhh, Shhhh, baby. It was just a dream. He can’t hurt you anymore” Gina was blinking back tears of anger at the bastard who hurt her baby. Hell was too good for him.

Jim left the two alone. Brianna had come back to the mansion. She was up and in to the room in two minutes. “A nightmare, Gina?”

“Yes, Bree” she answered quietly while the traumatized girl sobbed into her shoulder.

“I’ll leave you two alone”

“Mom, he said I wasn’t a girl! I AM a girl! No matter what anybody says! I hate boys! I hate MEN!”

“Honey, not all men are like him. You like Jim and Steve and Ice, don’t you? What about Garrett?”

“I don’t care! They don’t count!”

Sensing that this wasn’t the time to argue about the subject, Gina changed the course of the discussion “All right, honey. It’s okay. It’s over for now” she held her daughter for the next 10 minutes while she cried herself out.

After Rachel had finished crying, Gina suggested she come to the bathroom with her. Drying her eyes, Rachel went into the bathroom with Gina. “I know exactly what you need, honey.”

“What’s that, Mom?”

Something that helps me out when I’m feeling low. A nice hot bath!”

Gina drew the bath for Rachel and put some lavender oil in the water, along with some lavender scented bubble bath. The tub was huge, and swallowed Rachel in the middle of it.

“Now you just stay in here until the water cools off, and close your eyes and think about good things. Nobody’s going to get you here, okay”

Looking very contented, Rachel sighed “Mmmmmmm. Okay, mom”