Page 26 of Fear and Desire

Dan almost went for his throat.

Lawson turned to Pearson and pointed at the chair. “Sit. Down.” Pearson sat, scowling.

“Yes. Because they’re human beings who deserve dignity, not bait!” He took a long, slow breath and resumed his list of demands. “Sixth. You will notify their families within an hour of their release, you will provide transportation for them to get here, and you will arrange for hotel rooms for as long as the women are at the hospital. Seventh. We willnotpressure them to talk until they’re ready to, which might be days. Or weeks. They’ll see their families immediately if they want to, which might be different for each woman. They’ll receive psychological counseling as soon as they want, and you will arrange for it to continue once they get home. And last: because this Agency decided to keep these women prisoners at a great cost to their physical and psychological health, the Agency will financially support every woman until she’s ready to step back into her life, even if that takes years.”

Pearson sputtered. “Who the hell are you to make those demands?”

Dan walked over to Pearson and stood over him. The room was deathly silent. “I’m the guy who can upset all the apples in your cart,” he hissed. “And I’m theonlyone who appears to care about these women.” He looked up at Lawson.

The AD nodded. “Agreed.”

Danreturnedlatethatafternoon. Josh knocked and entered his office.

“How’d it go, boss?”

“Exactly like you’d expect if you got two crowns without anesthesia.”

“Ow. That bad?”

“I think it’ll be better now.”

“I hope so.”

16

Laura:

Laurawassotired,and the pain pills had worn off enough that her feet hurt with every twitch. She just wanted to be left alone to sleep, and for a while, she was.

Then the door banged open. “Laura!” Dan’s voice rang across the room. Laura turned over slowly, her mind reluctant to obey anyone, even him.

“Get over here, now!”

She wanted to cry. There was no sympathy in his voice, and while she knew she shouldn’t expect any, it hurt nonetheless. She slid to the floor, crawled out of the cell, and knelt quietly at his feet.

“Follow me.” He slammed the door shut, turned, and walked down the hall. She had to rush to keep up with him on her raw and painful knees. To her dismay, he opened the door to the corral. She hesitated to crawl across the hard-packed dirt of the yard until he leaned over and smacked her butt. She yelped and hurried out the door.

“Go! Keep going! All the way to the road.”

She gaped at him. Was this more punishment?

“Now.”

There was no room for hesitation with that voice. She put her head down and concentrated on crossing the vast distance ahead of her. It was probably only fifteen meters, but her knees caught every pebble along the way.

She got to the large wooden gate at the entrance and waited. A guard leaned against a post and observed her silently as he chewed on a toothpick.

Dan tossed her work shoes onto the ground. “Put them on. We’re going for a walk.”

She looked up at him, her eyes wide. He looked back at her, silent. She slipped them on, wincing as the inside of the shoes compressed her swollen feet, and grabbed a post to haul herself up. The pain was like knives stabbing her feet, and her knees almost buckled.

He nodded towards the road. “Go.”

She took a few tentative steps and stopped, arms crossed over her chest. “Dan, I can’t. It hurts!”

“There is no Dan here. I am Master 1. And you will walk, now, standing straight up, or I will put a leash on your collar and drag you down the road. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered. She took one step, and then another, each one shooting an arrow of agony up her legs. She bit her lip and made faces and kept up a continuous whimpering, but managed to walk to the edge of the driveway and start down the road.

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