Justice Deferred

By: Alex P.

Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction and while the main characters may remind you of a pair of ladies that until recently were in a popular TV series, that is as far as it goes. This a piece of fiction any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. Please don't copy this all or in part without asking. Also don't use any character without permission (like anyone would want one of my demented people)

Sex Warning: Now here's a surprise there is sex in here and for those of you that don't know there is a loving relationship between two women, that at times gets kind of graphic. It goes from an R rating to an NC-17 on occasion. If any of that bothers you, or you are less then 18, or if you live in one of those places where this material is illegal then you should delete this now and go elsewhere please.

Violence/Language Warning: Yes there is some of both. Actually there is some rather nasty references to violent acts, sexual and otherwise, Hey it's set mostly in a prison what did you expect nuns. Again if this bothers you delete it and move on.

Misc. Warnings and further Butt Covering: Many of the places in this story do or did exist (sadly Auggie's closed long ago, and yes there is a Chillicothe Correctional Center, women's facility) but it has been many years since I've been to any of them and they are liable to have changed greatly from the way I have written them here. How about we just call it artistic license and part as friends ok.

Feedback: Hey I live for that stuff, so PLEASE!!! send any and all comments and/or constructive criticism to: keeper444@webtv.net I'll be glad to get it. Flames will be cheerfully eaten and a curse placed upon the senders genitals, so send that to if you want.<beg>

Dedications:

First of all to my Niki who encouraged inspired and even helped me with this story and believe me it wouldn't exist without her. Thanks again my angel, you do truly compete me, I thank the Goddess every day for having brought us together.

Now last and certainly not least to the wonderful and talented person that beta-ed my demented addle brained scribblings and made them into a readable form, Cheryl Hill. Thanks kiddo you are the greatest!!!

Chapter 1

Guard Captain Paula Nichols stopped on her way through the security booth and glanced at the unblinking monitors. All but two showed empty cells - D Block was already at breakfast and wouldn't be back for at least another 30 minutes.

Paula watched one of the monitors as a tall black-haired woman stretched out on her bunk like a jungle cat waking from a nap. It was easy to see every muscle in the long graceful body ripple under the soft, smooth skin, especially when Cam, as everybody called her, was only wearing a tank top and boxers. Like now.

The guard could feel herself being irresistibly drawn to the sensual beast on the screen. When she felt the pull the strongest, the prisoner leaned back in her bunk and raised the most incredible pair of sky blue eyes. Almost as if she knew Paula was watching, she looked directly into the camera and, with a mischievous smirk, winked.

Paula jumped back like she'd been stung. Realizing her mistake, she tried to regain her composure before either of the junior guards in the room noticed that she was flustered by the prisoner's actions.

"Hey, Cap is it true what we heard?" the newest guard asked.

"What's that Pat?" Paula knew what she was asking, but she wanted the rookie to admit she was sticking her nose into something only the warden and Paula, herself, were supposed to know.

High profile prisoners, like Cam, had special release times that were kept secret to help avoid a media circus at the gates. It was meant to give the prisoner a chance to get away before any reporters showed, but Paula knew that the rule was really there for the warden. He wanted the prisoner gone, with no press coverage, in case the prisoner had something bad to say about his facility. The man didn't give a tinker's damn about the women in his charge; he just didn't
want any bad publicity.

"Well, you know Cap," the kid said sheepishly, knowing she was busted, "Is Brusard really gettin' out?"

"Yep, she is," Paula answered looking again at the dark haired woman on the monitor. "She's done her full time and today she gets out free and clear, no paper. She turned down parole so that when she gets out they have to leave her alone."

The kid decided to push her luck and ask another question. "Why do they have her on a suicide watch? She doesn't look the least bit suicidal to me."

Paula sighed. "All the big newspapers are all over 'the innocent girl that did her time' angle. Couldn't let anything happen to her now that she's served her time."

At 5'8", the heavily muscled guard was confident about her own abilities and, even more importantly, aware of her limitations. She'd seen a lot of so-called tough guys, guards and prisoners alike, go down hard because they let themselves get in over their heads. Paula knew that she had her share of respect from the inmates, but she was smart enough to know that the real reason her mission would go smoothly was prisoner #77531. Camilla Theresa Brusard was probably the most respected person inside the prison walls; she was definitely the most feared.

Cam Brusard was the stuff of jailhouse legends. She was a loner from day one, avoiding any affiliation with the gangs that flourished in the prison environment. She earned her respect the hard way, by taking down one of the most dangerous women when she was first incarcerated. Physically she was an impressive 6'1" in her sock feet, with a narrow waist and broad shoulders. Sculptured muscles that a body builder would envy she had earned after spending hours on the
free weights in the prison gym, but the amazing woman was still extremely feminine.

Long, black hair that shone like a raven's wing, finely chiseled features, the high cheek bones of a super model and an incredible pair of blue eyes that were said to change colors with her mercurial moods.

But she wasn't perfect; her long, thin, aquiline nose was slightly crooked thanks to a riot right after she'd arrived in the prison and there were many scars marring her smooth skin, souvenirs of her life on the streets. In spite of these imperfections, or maybe because of them, Cam was one of the most beautiful women anyone in Chillicothe Correctional Center had ever seen. But she never traded on her looks to get her way - she didn't have to; she was an advanced student of several martial arts and ws quite capable of taking care of herself.

Even her pre-prison life was fodder for the legend. Cam was born the only daughter of a Louisiana fire-and-brimstone, evangelical, Southern Baptist preacher, who believed in beating salvation into his too pretty, and far too independent daughter. Her mother, the eldest daughter of a prestigious, but poor Creole family, ignored her at best. Her life had been hard and lonely.

At the tender age of 13 Cam discovered that girls were far more appropriate sexual companions for her. She learned this with the help of the very curvaceous older daughter of a deacon in her daddy's church. Apparently, Cam's lessons were progressing quite well judging by the way that the deacon's daughter was screaming her name.

Unfortunately, the choir loft that they were in had excellent acoustics and the lessons were interrupted by two very outraged fathers.

No one ever heard what happened to the deacon's daughter, but Cam's father beat her with the buckle end of a belt until her legs and back were raw, bloody masses of flesh and she was nearly unconscious. When his strength gave out, he picked her up by her hair and threw her through the front door into the dew covered grass, telling her to be gone by the time he came back or he would have her taken to the girl's reform school.

Somehow she managed to drag herself away before her "loving" father had time to call the local police to come get her.

So from the time she was 13, Cam was on her own. Moving from one city to another, she hid in alleys and little known shelters using her taller than average height to make people believe she was at least 16. For more than a year Cam used all her considerable intelligence and kept the juvenile authorities from catching her.

She managed to avoid innumerable pitfalls on the streets that threatened to swallow her. Eventually though, everyone's luck runs out and one night in Houston, right after Cam had arrived in town, hers did. She became the target of a vicious predator in the form of a pimp going by the name of "Grease". She was 14.

Grease's specialty was young runaway girls: he'd grab his prey off the street and take her to an old warehouse where he and his associates would take turns beating, torturing and raping the girl until her will was destroyed. He'd get them addicted to heroin as well, using ever-increasing doses of street grade heroin. It usually took two days to break them. Grease would keep the girls as virtual slaves until they were too old or too ill to suit his purposes, at which time he'd throw them out on the street to die.

Cam underwent three days of Grease's indoctrination process before her captors let their guard down enough for the young girl to escape, killing one of them in the process. When her escape was discovered her captors tracked her down, finally managing to trap the girl in a blind alley.

He wanted her death to take a while so that her battered body would be a lesson to anyone else that might challenge his authority. Her body limp, the last of her strength used up during her escape, Grease picked the cowering teen up by her long, matted hair and began slamming his fist into her body.

The sadistic pimp was so intent on making sure the girl suffered that he didn't pay attention to anything going on around him. He didn't notice that he had acquired an audience: two hulking, dark figures attracted by the commotion in the alley. They had followed the sound of fists on flesh and the pitiful mewlings of the quickly weakening girl until they came upon the scene of the assault.

Cam was never clear on what happened that night in Houston; the severe trauma she'd experienced left large gaps in her memory. In fact, most of the previous three days were blurry sensations of pain, fear, and humiliation. But that night those feelings were suddenly replaced by warmth, comfort, and the security of being wrapped up in huge, strong arms.

Cam's next memory was waking up warm and clean in a nondescript hotel room. As she opened her eyes she saw the back of a tall, very thin man dressed all in black. His size, 6'7" and 180 lbs, was intimidating enough, but when he turned around he nearly scared her to death. His hair was cut short and he was clean-shaven, but the most striking thing about him was his white hair and white eyes - eyes that held no color at all save the pupil. He was a true albino and he reminded her of every psycho ax murderer in every horror movie that she had ever seen.

She shrank back into the covers on the bed staring at the man before her. Cam was so frightened she could feel tears stinging her eyes, but using every bit of will power she had, she was able to hold them back.

Not saying a word, she moved her eyes around the room, noticing 2 other large men who were both staring back at her. The first was about 5'10" and 220 pounds or so. He had dark hair and a full bushy beard with intense hazel eyes. The other man was taller by about 4 inches and heavier by about 100 pounds. He, too, had dark hair and a full beard, but his eyes were flat, and grey.

The entire situation was just too much for her after her ordeal at the hands of Grease, and the tears she had stopped before began to fall. Cam was sobbing uncontrollably, a thousand horror stories from the street flying through her mind - she was sure that she was about to live all of them. Then the strangest thing happened.

Cam felt herself being pulled into a warm, comforting embrace. Someone began rocking her, stroking her hair, talking softly to her reassuring her that she was safe and that no one would ever hurt her like that again.

Slowly opening her eyes to see who her compassionate savior was, Cam was shocked at her discovery. The shortest of the three men had come over sat down on the side of the bed and was now holding her in his arms. She was wrapped in the blanket that had been covering her and in a soft voice he was promising the frightened girl that they meant her no harm, and that they were going to take care of her.

These three men, dressed as they were in their biker jeans and leathers, and for whatever reason, took care of her various injuries and kept her fed as she recovered. And as she overcame her instinctive fear of the three men, she saw past the exterior that the world saw.

Cobra, the albino, had been trained as a nurse, and had been rendered mute when someone triedto cut his throatand only succeeded in cutting out his vocal cords, but the tall slender man found his home the first time he touched a computer. There was nothing that he couldn't make that box do. Mountain, the biggest of the three, was a former Marine - a Vietnam vet with a wicked sense of humor that the outside world rarely got to see. Cutter was the one who had held her when she was scared. He was a Vietnam vet as well and he was also the most reserved and serious. He never gave a full out smile - the most he ever managed was a smirk and that only rarely. And they turned out to be three of the most important people in her life.

Once she had healed the three men offered to take her in to their home. Knowing by now that they were kind and could be trusted implicitly, Cam accepted and left the streets, riding into her new life on the back of a tricked out 1947 Harley Knucklehead, holding on to a huge shaggy biker.

When she moved in, anything Cam wanted, she had only to ask and the three men would get it for her. Although they didn't appear to be, the three bikers were astute, accomplished businessmen. They had taken their combined assets and, through very careful, informed investments had amassed a major portfolio of businesses.

Combining that with the royalties from some innovative security programs they'd written, the three men had formed a corporation and were quite able to care for Cam financially.

However, more important than that, they gave her a loving, supportive and caring "family" that accepted her for what and who she was without hesitation or reservation. Cutter was considered the head of their little family. Cam loved Mountain and Cobra very much, but the bond between the tough street kid and the serious biker went far beyond what was between her and the other two.

Anyone that saw Cutter and Cam together could see that - even the other two uncles admitted it. Cam flourished and before long she was back in school making straight A's and excelling at basketball and softball.

The boys were determined that she learn how to protect herself anytime it was necessary, so they enrolled her in martial arts classes. Mountain and Cobra were, themselves, second degree black belts but Cutter's rank was a mystery, whenever he came to the dojo her instructors bowed to him.

All three of the men would spar with her whenever she asked, teaching her things her instructors never dreamed of, making sure that she would never again feel helpless or defenseless.

They made it their mission to see that Cam spent the rest of her childhood in comfort and safety. When she was still having nightmares about being taken away from her new family, the men used their wealth and connections (not to mention the best lawyers money could buy) to obtain permanent legal guardian status so that she never had to worry about being removed from her home with them.

It was then she began calling them her uncles. It was also the first time she called Cutter "Daddy".

Thinking of her darling uncles, the dark woman on the monitor smiled slightly and unconsciously rubbed the "Black Rose" tattoo on the inside of her right forearm. Her mind traveled back to her 18th birthday.

Her uncles had been planing for her combination graduation and birthday party for nearly a year. It started out a modest gathering of a hundred or so of their friends, but as those things often do, it got a little out of hand.

People came from all over the country (some even further) to celebrate Cam's first adult party. The party lasted for over a week and by the end, they'd lost count of how many people actually showed up.

There were roast pigs, whole half beefs cooked on spits over open fires, crawdads and gumbo, not to mention untold gallons of beer, pop, punch, wine and other hard liquors. Her uncles even brought in live bands and any other entertainment they thought their beloved niece might like.

Cam's actual birthday was on the final evening of the party. Her uncles had made her promise to remain stone cold sober for the evening and out of love and respect for them, she stuck to pop all day. Finally, shortly after 8pm and at Cutter's instruction, everyone that was able gathered in the backyard of the main house to see what was going to happen next. That night, in front of everyone, Cam received the two gifts that she had wanted more than anything since she'd been granted her greatest wish of signing the custody papers on her 16th birthday.

The first gift was a 1955 Harley Electra Glide FLHTI, fully restored and dressed. It was even painted her favorite dark purple with black trim. Her Uncle Mountain had mixed the colors especially for her so no one would ever have a bike the exact same color.

Until now she'd been riding a 1951 Vencient "Black" Shadow that her uncles, Mountain and Cobra, had given her on her 16th birthday. It was a beautiful and special bike and she'd cared for it to the point of obsession (the same as her uncles did theirs). But she'd always had her heart set on the Electra Glide ever since she'd seen a picture of one in one of her uncles thousands of biker 'rags'.

The second gift was from her "Daddy", it was more special than any other thing they'd ever given her - even more special than the permanent custody papers on her 16th birthday. Those were meant to give Cam the sense of stability that she needed to thrive and feel safe in her new home. The gift they offered her on the evening of her 18th birthday was a symbol of her acceptance in their family as an adult.

When Cam had first moved in with her uncles, her Uncle Mountain had rolled up his right sleeve and showed her the inside of his right arm - the Black Rose tattoo. The fact that he had a tattoo had never seemed that big a deal - he and her other uncles had several, as did most of the men and women in their circle of friends. That night she learned that every tattoo that the three men had held some meaning to them. Uncle Mountain explained the special significance of the Black Rose - the meaning that it had to the people that lived in their circle and the responsibilities of those that wore one. The Black Rose was a symbol of their commitment to the family; anyone that saw it knew exactly who they were and what they were capable of.

When her uncle Cobra came out onto the back porch with their friend Stainless Steve, the tattoo artist, Cam knew that, after tonight, everyone would know that she was a part of a family and could be counted on no matter what. It would also mean that she should be treated with all the respect that was owed to anyone in the Black Rose family.

On the night of her 18th birthday, when Cutter offered her the right to wear the one of a kind Black Rose tattoo, it was a visible symbol to all that Cam was a member of their family and that they were proud enough to tell the rest of the world. It was an offer she gladly accepted.

It was also the reason she had spent six years in prison.

Chapter 2

Waiting for the guard escort, she was sure would be there soon, to arrive, Camilla Theresa Brusard sat on her small 6x4 bunk and surveyed the place that had been her home for the last six years.

The beautiful woman let out a quiet chuckle as she compared this tiny cell to the life she was about to return to. Thinking about her former life led her mind down the twisted, convoluted path that had brought her to this point in her life.

After her high school graduation life was looking good for Cam. Her excellent grades and her athletic abilities had the college recruiters banging on her door scholarships in hand. She was offered full rides to some of the most prestigious colleges and universities from both coasts.

Her uncles wanting their niece to have all the opportunities they never had a chance at, offered to take all her expenses even if she did chose to take them up on their scholarships.

Finally when the day came for her to choose, she surprised everyone by choosing to attend a small state university, in the nearby town of Springfield.

As she had in high school Cam excelled in college. A Dean's List student, a stand out on the volleyball and softball teams, she graduated with honors. Then she went to grad school and earned not only an MBA but also a masters in computer science, her family was proud but not surprised when she graduated Manga cum laude.

Upon graduation Cam received several attractive offers from some major Fortune 500 companies, but turned them all down when her dad and her uncles came to her, and offered her a place in their corporation. Instead of a job for wages they brought Cam in as a full partner.

Each man split his share until they each owned one fourth of the corporation. The only difference between them all was Cutter, he held final say on any major decisions. With all three men in full agreement Cam went to work instituting several changes using the knowledge she'd learned in school.

A few didn't work or had to be modified but for the most part her ideas were both profitable and efficient. It also allowed her uncles to increase some of their pet projects.

Mostly they were the driving-force (financially) behind many of the major improvements within their little community. They supported job programs, food pantries, job training, day care centers, and the three men's pet project a shelter for abused children and women, all anonymously of course.

Knowing the way the town felt about them they were sure their assistance would have been thrown back in their faces. It wouldn't have been the first time. Only the four of them, their accounting department and the IRS knew the origin of the donations. Life was going pretty smoothly for the tall dark woman, she had her work and when that was boring she would go with her uncle Cobra to his state of the art computer center in a specially built building at the farm where they lived. Cobra's building was a very modest appearing building about a half-mile away from the main house where actually only Cutter and Cam lived.

The two would spend hours there writing programs and working on their computers. Cobra had contacts in nearly every computer company, many used him as a consultant.

Most people considered the 6'7" mute albino that always dressed in black leather to be some kind of uneducated freak, a serious mistake they didn't make twice. Among those that knew computers they considered him one of the best R&D people in the business. Her Uncle Mountain had a place a little further down the road.

His building was also deceptively plain on the outside. Inside was a mechanics dream shop, all the state of the art equipment was in there and a few that Mountain had invented himself. If it had a motor he could fix it. Every member of Cam's family had a great many strengths and they seemed to each compensate for the others weaknesses. It's what made them so good at what they decided to do, and it's what made them a family.

So when Cam needed help or a job or any event in her life it was little wonder that she always returned to the three that loved their little girl more than anything, in fact their family was the only thing they loved more than their bikes.

Yes, life was looking pretty good for Cam and her family, but as everyone knows, nothing in this life stays perfect forever. Eventually the pendulum swings back the other way.

At the beginning of the fiscal year rumors began going around that a corporate raider, called Kreelcorp was going to make a run at CCMC Inc, Cam and her uncles' company. No one knew much about Krellcorp's owner, D.C.Kreel, but he or she was a ruthless raider, completely without morals or scruples. They were known to take over a business, pillage it for anything of value, sell it then let the business go bankrupt so they could write it off as a loss at tax time. This was done with absolutely no regard for any damage that may be incurred by the people or the community that depends on the business.

None of Cam's uncles were worried really they owned or controlled over 85% of the stock and the rest was owned by guys they'd ridden with for years. Their attorneys had carefully drawn up all their incorporation papers so that all their personal assets were well insulated from the company. In fact since someone had to be fiscally responsible on the board it was her dad, Cutter, that stepped up as head of the family.

He was the only one that could be hurt by the company failing. His only two protected assets were his part of the farm and his bike.

So even when they learned that D.C.Kreel was known to resort to illegal methods if the legal failed to take over a business a nervous Cam's uncles weren't really worried.

Around this time Cam met Deb. It all began on a strangely quiet night; Cam, Mountain, and Cobra were sitting around Mountain's bike shop slamming down a few beers, lying about all the women they'd had or would have, telling old war stories and horror stories from their years on the road. Actually since Cutter wasn't there Cam convinced Mountain to tell some of his and Cutter's war stories.

Mountain had been a Marine Recon and Cutter had been with some "No Such Alphabet Agency" and while he'd done a lot of solo spook stuff, he had been on some with a Marine escort and that's how he and Mountain met.

It was a companionable night but the peace and quiet didn't last. They got bored then Mountain challenged Cobra to a knife throwing contest and before long Mountains fourteen inch Arkansas toothpick was flying across the room and embedding in the back wall, followed closely by Cobra's ten inch K-bar and then came Cam's Green River Special.

This didn't occupy them long and as always Mountain won. Finally one of them came up with the idea to go to the little club in town. The little out of the way strip club was called Auggie's South and a favorite hangout for most of the local bikers.

So at ten thirty they were on their bikes and roaring through the warm, clear, night air headed to their favorite watering hole, hoping some of their friends would be there.

Auggie's was a rowdy little bar that was owned by a friend from the uncles wilder days named Gigolo Jim, in partnership with Cutter separately from CCMC. The uncles also owned the building.

Cam had been coming to this place since the day she turned 21, she liked the noise and rowdy camaraderie of the bikers that hung out there. She also enjoyed the easy way everyone there had accepted her for what and who she was.

Cam could bring a date there, pick up a date there, even get laid in the parking lot just like one of the guys without anyone caring if she was with a woman or a man, well they might notice if Cam was in the parking lot with a guy.

In fact after getting some personal attention in the parking lot with a particularly vocal young dancer, Cam walked into the bar and received a standing ovation from the entire crowd.

That night all eyes turned towards the three as they walked in, the usual greetings were exchanged as they made their way through the crowd to their usual table. Suddenly a familiar voice called out across the room so loudly it could be heard over the roar of the crowded bar and the jukebox.

"Cammy!" came the cry from across the room followed closely by a bouncy little red haired dancer, who without a thought launched herself into the tall dark woman's arms.

The girl was someone Cam had once dated but she decided she liked boys better (a certain albino boy anyway), Cam was fine with it and actually enjoyed the little dancer, Kat's, antics. She was obviously working because she was wearing a small lace and satin bra in bright red with a matching thong and ruby red six inch spike heel with red sequins. Cam shook her head. Cam knew she wouldn't wear an outfit like that on a bet, but she also knew it was really doing something to her that got her blood flowing.

"How ya' doin' Kitty-Kat!" Cam asked laughing at the audaciousness of this tiny red head, she let her large strong hands slide down the girl's back to Kats' small but deliciously curvaceous rear and gave the firm globes a good squeeze.

"It's good to see you tall, dark, and gorgeous." the diminutive dancer purred softly as she snuggled in closer to Cam's ample chest. "You...ah...ridin' tonight?"

Cam could hear her Uncle Mountain and Gigolo laughing at her dilemma. She just rolled her eyes at them, smiled down at the double handful in her arms.

"Better be careful little kitty-Kat." Cam whispered dramatically teasing the girl "You wouldn't want to offend Uncle Mountain or Uncle Cobra by holding out on their hugs ya' know."

"Coby's here!" Kat cried out excitedly and gently pushed away from Cam, "Where is he?"

Cam let the girl know where her uncle was and released her knowing how her uncle felt about the tiny red head. She wanted to ask Kat how she could miss six foot seven inches of albino dressed like the road warrior, but she just shrugged and went on to their table. Where a cold pitcher of beer and her regular shot of Bushmills was waiting for her. Cam smiled content and looked around the room, this was her "place", she belonged. She shook off her jacket and sat down at their corner table. It was situated so that even if all four were there they all could sit with their backs to a wall.

As the night progressed Cam sipped her beer and relaxed enjoying the show. Not just the dancers but the patrons as well. Probably ninety percent were actual riders and their friends, there were a few wannabes around but as long as they were smart enough to stay in their own circles there'd be no problems, with the guys anyway.

No, the real trouble here were the women, most of these were paired off with a rider and they were viciously territorial and they saw every un-attached female that walked in the door as a potential threat to their territory.

There were a few gays around and most of the real lives didn't care about gay and lesbian issues as long as the beer is cold and they were left alone to drink it.

Everyone in the bar knew her and that she was gay and that several of her lesbian friends came to the bar, the gays were pretty nervous at first, and one of Cam's friends kind of slipped and asked for her at the bar.

The guy behind the bar was Gigolo Jack and he asked if there was a problem, like all her uncles' friends he was very protective of Cam, so he asked the woman why she wanted Cam. The woman looked at the short skinny man and told him they were gay and would there be trouble if they came in to drink. Cam still chuckled at GJ's answer;

"Lady is your money green?" the woman looked at him like he was crazy and nodded. "Well then lady I own the place and as long as the money's green you are more than welcome here. Hell lady I don't give a damn who or what you fuck. Just don't do it in here I ain't zoned for it."

After that they figured out as long as you loved to ride and you loved your bike more than most people you'd fit in here. It was funny but Cam noticed that most of the straight bikers got along just fine with the lesbians, she'd seen several nights that several of her friends and some of the guys would close the place sitting together drinking their beer and talking bikes.

At one time she had worried about fights when some drunken idiot would decided that all a lesbian needed was a "good man", but after the guys took a couple of them out to the parking lot and beat some sense into them that kind of stupidity stopped. No now the biggest worry was attached females, and unattached females.

Some of them saw every single female that walked through the door as a potential rival for their partner. Sometimes all it took was for one fairly pretty woman to walk in the door and the tension of the whole bar shot up. When Debra breezed through the front doors of Auggie's South around midnight Cam knew a good looking woman was in the bar even she saw the tall beautifully built platinum blonde. The tension in the air was so charged you could almost hear it crackling with electricity.

Automatically her sky blue eyes began scanning the crowd looking for potential trouble. From spending years with her uncles and their friends had taught Cam what to look for, the kind of mix of people that would explode into violence, the real trick was to prevent it.

Since she was well aware that the guys working security were friends of theirs and that her uncles would not hesitate to jump right in to help their friends maintain order.

They also knew that she had learned the skills to cover their backs. Actually the head of security a bandy legged little riding Bro of uncle Mountain and Cutter called Bounce, would call on Cam to help keep some of the rowdier women reigned in, which she always did.

Cam's eyes surveyed the room until she got to the near end of the bar between the stage and the bar. The first thing she noticed was an absolutely drop dead gorgeous tall blonde she'd never met before, standing next to a table full of riders all attached and they were some well known very tough lesbian riders.

Uh oh Cam thought looking at the woman carefully If that looks as good up close as she does from here, I'm in trouble and so is she.

Looking for the cause of the sudden rise in tension, Cam's light blue eyes wondered to a gorgeous platinum blonde that was standing near the bar and obviously unattached. Bingo the cause.

The second thing Cam noticed was that the blonde Goddess was obviously and openly flirting with a cute little rider named Bobbie and little Bobbie was not only enjoying the attention, she was flirting back outrageously, which normally wouldn't matter but tonight wasn't normal.

Tonight Bobbie wasn't alone and the woman she was with was a stocky full time ironworker named Pam. Now Pam worked twelve-hour days day in and day out in a foundry, feeding a blast furnace. Bobbie always said the only thing hotter than that furnace was Pam, in a loving mood.

Cam knew there was one more thing hotter than either of those, Pam after a few drinks and pissed.

Cam had seen her go off one night, before she met Bobbie, it wasn't pretty, and although Cam knew they could take her down if a fight broke out, she also knew they couldn't do it without putting Pam in the hospital for a long time, and Cam really didn't want to do that. Pam and Bobbie had an on again off again thing for quite a while now, and Cam knew also that Pam was hoping to finally work up enough courage to ask Bobbie the "C" question tonight.

The last thing Cam wanted to see was some stranger ruining her friend's shot at something nice in her life. With a signal to her uncles and Bounce, Cam moved in to see if she could defuse this thing before it destroyed more than blood, bone, and bar fixtures. Moving quickly Cam wove her way through the crowd easily, as Bounce had taught her long ago, she stopped just before she stepped into the situation, to let her back-up get into place. When everything was ready the deceptively small biker signaled that they were ready for her to make her move.

"PAM! BOBBIE!" Cam yelled boisterously acting much drunker than she was, "How the hell are ya'?"

Cam threw her long arms around the two women she'd known and liked since she had first come to town, and gave them a bone-crushing hug.

"Pam, when ya' gonna break down and buy that pretty Panhead, Uncle Mountain's still holdin' for ya' and put something classy between your legs for a change." Cam bellowed diverting the powerful iron worker's attention away from the blonde bimbo flirting with her date.

"Hey!" Bobbie yelled slapping Cam across her rock hard abdomen. "I'm here, and I'm classier than any old bike, even that gorgeous Electra Glide you ride, Stretch"

"Don't get carried away there half-pint." Cam snarled reminding them of an angry panther "Remember who you asked to pleeeeeease have that belt drive on in time for the annual Lake Perry run."

While Cam was playfully scolding Bobbie, the little biker slid over, and wiggled herself on to Pam's lap, putting a huge smile on Pam's face. Cam was amazed how that smile turned the normally plain looking woman into one of the prettiest woman Cam had seen that night. Then Bobbie spoke up and put the final ending on any trouble.

"Alright, but I do too got class." Bobbie pouted and snuggled deeper into Pam's chest, "And 'sides I like it between her legs."

The whole table cracked up laughing at their friend's blatant proposition. That's what Cam had been waiting for, when Pam heard what her date said all thoughts of flirty blondes were gone and the anticipation of future passions took their place, the jealous iron worker's smile was so big Cam was afraid the top of Pam's head was going to fall off.

Cam signaled Bounce who immediately brought a pitcher of beer and a round of Irish Whiskey for Cam and the table. She raised her glass and waited for the rest at the table to join her. Cam's light blue eyes looked around the table and noticed they were all couples. Then with an impish gleam in her eyes, Cam gave the toast.

"Here's to gettin' somethin' classy between your legs." Cam shouted then slammed the potent liquid down her throat. The others at the table howled in laughter at the normally serious woman's sudden unexpected show of humor then follow Cam's lead.

Good-natured bantering quickly took the place of the tension. Having calmed the table Cam turned her attention to the cause of the problem.

Turning her full attention for the first time to the tall beautifully built platinum blonde. Cam let her eyes boldly examine the woman's perfectly proportioned body. A slow sexy smile worked its way across Cam's full sensuous lips as she focused her lustful gaze on the blonde's big liquid chocolate brown eyes.

She watched as the newcomer did some examining and appraising of her own. Judging by the way the tip of her delicate pink tongue flicked over her slightly parted lips, the blonde liked what she saw too.

"Hey ladies" Cam said with a slow sexy drawl directed to the table of friends "Why don't one of you show some manners and introduce me to your friend?"

"We don't know her," Pam said gruffly as she held her lover a little tighter, not being one to forget an affront easily "She just came over and butted in. She'll have to intro herself."
"Oooo, baby you're just so butch." Bobbie giggled as she caressed the hard look from her lover's face.

Cam stepped away from the reconciled lovers and approached the unknown woman, while wondering if the woman had any idea how close she had come to being seriously hurt.

"Well if I must do so myself then, dear lady may I introduce myself." Cam asked and bowed turning on her well-known Cajun charm, she continued when the fascinated blonde nodded, "My name is Camilla Theresa Brusard, but please call me Cam."

Taking the offered hand, Cam bent and lightly kissed the blonde's palm, smiling to herself when the woman didn't resist or pull away. Instead the tall blonde smiled coyly and looked deep into the azure pools of Cam's eyes.

"My such Southern charm and grace in such an unlikely place." the blonde said softly yet Cam heard every word clearly as the woman smiled sweetly obviously taken with Cam. "I am Debra Charlton Stringer, but I would be flattered if you would call me Deb, my chivalrous stranger and these are my friends Gerry and Steph."

"Ladies, I am most honored to make your acquaintance." Cam continued with a slightly triumphant smile, knowing that she had defused the situation and was getting to know a fascinating woman in the bargain. "Please do me the honor of joining me at my table, I'm sure my uncles would have no problem making room for such charming company."

Offering her arm to Deb, who happily took it, Cam led the small party to her table where Bounce had seen to it that drinks for Cam and her guests were waiting for them. The night progressed nicely, but not long after Deb's two companions plead fatigue and excused themselves. The intriguing blonde started to rise and join them, but Cam persuaded her to stay, promising to personally see Deb safely home. They said their good-byes and left the bar.

It wasn't long after that Cobra was leaving with the little red haired dancer, Kat, draped all over him. Judging from the look on his face and the way she was attacking his neck, their destination wasn't hard for Cam to guess.

As he was saying goodbye, Cam let him know she would be staying in town. They maintained a small apartment above the bar, so that if they over indulged or were just tired they didn't have to drive anywhere. She also gave the message to Mountain when he took off with some of his friends, headed for his shop, Cam noticed that Pam and Bobbie went with him.

Cam chuckled knowing that the iron worker was going to spend some time drooling over the fully restored to stock Panhead, that Mountain was holding for her, and Bobbie was wanting to visit her bike that was at the shop so Cam and Mountain could change it over to belt drive.

Cam wasn't sure exactly when it happened but somehow, she was in the small living room of the apartment, in the throes of a long intense sex act, that began as they were climbing the stairs on the way up, and ended up covering almost every room in the apartment.

Other than that it was an extremely pleasant blur until she woke up at noon, the bright midday sun blasting into the room, she tried covering her eyes but her head was still pounding. The up side was there was something soft, warm, very comfortable and very nice curled up against her side. Also there was a head covered with medium length platinum blonde silky soft hair laying on her abdomen. All in all not a bad way to wake up Cam decided as she began
gently stroking Deb's hair.

Cam looked down and looked into a pair of beautiful brown eyes that were looking sleepily back up at her.

"Hey babe, how ya' feel?" Cam asked quietly

"I feel great, I'd be perfect if not for this head ache." Deb quipped and flinched at the volume of her own voice "Does the damn sun have to be so bright?"

"That I can fix." Cam informed her suffering friend as she got out of bed and went around closing all the blinds and curtains.

The pair spent the next four days there getting out of bed to order in food, take nature breaks and to make some private phone calls so that no one would send out search parties to disturb them. Deb also made calls to her office to make sure her business was running smoothly.

When Cam tried to ask Deb what she did for a living, the blonde would become evasive and divert the tall brunettes' attention, which wasn't really all that hard.

Cam on the other hand was easily persuaded to talk about almost everything in her life, for some reason she couldn't resist this woman who was fast becoming a part of her life. The only thing she steadfastly refused to discuss was family and their business.

No matter how infatuated, the young woman never forgot the first rule of her family, never discuss their business with anyone outside the family. It was during this time that Kreelcorp made their first run at the family's companies.

On the morning of the fifth day, Cam was awakened by the ringing of the apartment's private phone. She leapt from the bed trying to answer the phone before it's loud ringing woke her companion. Her valiant attempt was thwarted when Deb's cell phone began ringing too.

Deb came awake instantly and answered it, as she began talking to her caller Deb walked out of the room after giving Cam a sheepish grin and shrugged her shoulders. Cam turned her attentions back to her own call. It was her Uncle Mountain, he told her that she was urgently needed back at the farm.

He said that there was an emergency involving the business and her input was absolutely needed. Not being one to ignore her family's call for help, Cam agreed to be there as soon as she could and hung up.

Now all she had to do was figure out a way to leave without hurting her new lover's feelings, or make her feel that Cam was giving her a brush off.

Her answer became easy when Deb returned to the room talking angrily on the phone. She finished her conversation by slamming the phone shut and throwing the offending object against the wall shattering the delicate device.

"Damn, I can't believe those incompetent idiots!" the blonde snarled viciously "They can't get anything right."

"Problems babe?" Cam asked the agitated blonde "Can I help?"

Deb looked over at her and blushed hotly embarrassed knowing that Cam had witnessed her sudden loss of control.

"No hun, nothing too bad, I can fix it." she began she looked over at her lover regret clouding her eyes, "but it means I have to go into the office, so I guess I have to leave our little paradise. I don't know when I'll be able to see you again and I really want to see you again. I don't want to loose what we started here."

Cam pulled the now weeping woman into her arms and held her close, trying to comfort her, with tender caresses.

"Look I have the same problem." Cam explained softly "That was my office on the phone, and they need me. I'm not sure what the trouble is or how long it will take me to fix it. I tell you what, I'll give you my card with my private numbers and if I don't hear from you, than I'll meet you down stairs tonight around nine. How's that? I don't want to loose you either."

The statuesque blonde agreed happily and after sharing another hug the two women began searching for the clothing they hadn't seen in four days.

They parted company at the bottom of the stairs with one last bone crushing hug. Both insufferably happy, knowing that they would see each other again that night. For two very different reasons however.

Chapter 3

When Cam got home, Cutter and her uncles gave her time to take a shower and put on clean clothes before they called her into Cutter's study.

His study and the office that Cam kept at the other end of the sprawling main house were also the corporate headquarters for the family, holding every modern device they needed to run the entire corporation from the farm if necessary. Plus a few things that Cam and her uncle Cobra had invented that even Bill Gates hadn't heard of yet. Theirs was in all probability the most secure system in existence, all thanks to a throwaway child, an albino mute that had grown up being called a freak by even his own family, and two old battle scared bikers that had served their country only to have their country turn its back on them.

Their remarkable talents and their phenomenal successes were in large part due to the trust and support of each other in the family they had formed.

Despite her expectations, neither Cutter nor Cam's uncles said a word about her disappearing for four days or teased her about her latest conquest. That in itself told Cam that this meeting was about something serious. It was.

Once all four executive officers were comfortable, Cutter began by relating the particulars of Kreelcorp's run at them, and the manor in which they were stopped. Several different strategies were put into place to forestall their newest rival's anticipated next assault. Then Cobra took over and using the shorthand sign language that only the family and a few close friends could understand, he explained how the night before several attempts had been made to hack into their secure central data base.

The hackers, using simultaneous attacks on the computer links to and from several of their smaller subsidiaries. They had penetrated far enough to activate the special security programs that Cam and Cobra had put into place.

With an evil grin the proud R&D specialist made sure that Cam knew that his experimental "Black Ice" program had been activated and was working perfectly.

Not only had the hackers been repelled but their signal carried back an especially virulent virus that Cobra had designed that not only would fry the hacker's hard drive and software but the virus would also go after any other system that was linked to them and was receiving information from them. It was something Cobra had been working on for some of Cutter's friends in DC. As of right now only CCMC Inc. corporate computers were equipped with the necessary filters and of course all of their personal computers.

As always their "family only" security policy had saved them from being invaded by outsiders. The problem was that with the take over fight and with the sudden interest in hacking their top security files were too coincidental for any of them to doubt that it was an accident or bad luck. They just couldn't prove it.

Once a battle strategy was formulated and decided on the unlikely looking business executives went on to their own concerns and to carry out their part in the defense of everything they'd built over the last thirty-something years.

When the other two had left for parts unknown to make their preparations, Cam stayed behind to talk to Cutter. She wanted to tell him first about the new facet in her life, and with her surrogate father's enthusiastic blessings, she decided to stay in town until this latest crisis was handled. Then after everything had calmed down she would bring her prospective partner out to meet the family.

Cutter was deliriously happy for his "little girl" he had watched her over the years drift from one woman to another and it tore at the "tough" biker's heart to see the sad and lonely look in her eyes when she saw one after another of her friends find someone to commit to and build a life together.

He had spoken to one of his friends that had a Ph.D. in psychology who told him that the betrayal by her first lover and then her fathers rejection, might have made it impossible for her to trust anyone enough to have a relationship. The man had spent many sleepless hours worried about his adopted daughter so naturally he was overjoyed that Cam had finally met someone she trusted enough to bring out to meet her family. Cutter, had given up on the God of the Christians long ago, he couldn't accept a god that preached love then allowed his followers to commit the atrocities the Christians had in his name.

He also found it impossible to believe an all-knowing and compassionate god could hate anyone for simply loving another just because that person was the same gender. To Cutter and his friends love is love, it was that simple. As long as both were reasonably old enough and both consented how could it be wrong?

No Cutter wasn't a religious man by any definition, but he sent up a prayer to any god that might be listening to watch out for his little girl and to protect her fragile heart. He gave her one of his patented lung crushing bear hugs and sent Cam off to take care of what she had to do so she could get ready to meet her new lady at Auggie's that night.

The biker was smiling so big his face hurt, as he got on the phones and called Mountain, Cobra and Gigolo to talk about this new love in Cam's life and what they could do to make tonight special for them. He punched the keys and realized he was humming, something he hadn't done in at least twenty years.

I'm getting as bad as an old woman gossiping over the back fence Cutter scolded himself as he waited for Gigolo to answer but hey if I can't brag about my little girl than who could.

The attacks both legitimate and other wise intensified over the next few weeks, and to make matters worse D.C.Kreel and company was living down to their less than honest reputation. Suddenly from out of the blue, pressures were being added to Cam and her uncles' troubles from other sources.

Several state and local agencies initiated investigations into both their business and personal lives. There was nothing to find, but it was irritating, and focused attention on them and some of the charities they supported, something they had hoped to avoid.

All four were getting tired of having to defend themselves from not only business rivals, but also from the very people they had always been quick to help in the past. Through all this Cam and Deb managed to spend every free moment they were able to find together trying to build some kind of lasting bond. It wasn't easy and they often found themselves either mobbed by reporters or they were being harassed by the local "Good Christian" folk.

A couple of times things had very nearly gotten out of hand, and if they hadn't been rescued by Pam and Bobbie, someone might have died. Cam's two friends had pulled the couple out of a drive-thru at MickyD's when they were trapped by reporters, and got them safely to Auggie's. Cam had already had a reporter by the throat and he was
turning purple when they got her to release him.

The big ironworker was beginning to actually like the tall gorgeous blonde, now that she was with Cam and not flirting with Bobbie. Besides she made Cam smile and that was something that was long over due.

Cam was ashamed of her loss of control and apologized profusely to her lover, although Deb kept telling her that she understood. They wanted to believe that this was as low as their enemies would go in their attempt to break the families bond, they couldn't have been more wrong.

When illegal but peaceful means and public outrage didn't separate them and give Kreelcorp access to the company. D.C. Kreel and associates became frustrated and began to get nasty. Their attacks became personal. It is said that a thief trusts no one because they assume everyone is like they are, well that had been Kreel's problem.

The unscrupulous amoral business person had no concept of the complete trust and honor shared by the four owners of CCMC Inc. and so decided that there had to be secrets that they kept from each other, and there was no way that lowly bikers would go as far as sacrificing themselves for the others. Kreel saw their unconditional love and trust for each other as a weakness and was determined to exploit it.

The rival corporation had used bribery and political pressure to attack the company and it's owners, but that had failed and the family made the mistake of thinking a person like D.C.Kreel was too civilized to stoop to physical attacks while trying to steal what was theirs.

At one time or another all four were attacked by unknown assailants when they were alone. First Cam was the target of a physical beating, a terrible and nearly fatal mistake by the four men that came after her. The police called it a gay bashing and charged the men with assault when they got out of the hospital.

Then Cobra was stabbed as he was leaving his dancer girl friend's apartment one night. Mountain was run off the road by a black panel van as he was traveling a backcountry road and ended up spending the night in a ditch, with a severely broken leg.

He was found the next day by Cam and Cutter who got worried when the big man didn't get home in time to pick up his "real" daughter by his second marriage for their weekly visitation. They knew there was no way he would miss that, so they went looking for him. Both men were hospitalized and very nearly died.

No sooner were the two men brought home than little Kat showed up at their door demanding to take care of her "Coby". At her insistence and with Cobra's permission she was moved into Cobra's place over his computer shop. When Cobra was in the hospital recovering from his stab wounds the feisty little redhead refused to leave his side even fighting the nurses over visiting hours. It was clear to Cam and Cutter how much the little dancer cared for their friend and loved her even more for it. Even to the point of taking orders from her about Cobra's care.

Cobra was loving ever minute of it. Then Cutter was out of town on business and he was arrested on some kind of interstate conspiracy charge and was held by Federal agents without bail. Still the business held out against Kreelcorp, even when they tried blackmail first with Cutter's freedom (he sent a message through his lawyer for them not to give in to Kreelcorp) failing that they threatened to expose Cam's sex life to the public.

Even more frustrating to the owner of Kreelcorp was the fact that someone as low as the four bikers refused to give in and quietly surrender to their obvious superiors. When it became public knowledge that Cam had actually laughed at their attempts to blackmail her that was the final straw.

Secretly, D.C.Kreel decided it was time to show that lowlife biker trash bitch just how a person of their stature dealt with scum like her and her "uncles".

Chapter 4

Weary from the constant fighting to save what was theirs from the people that would steal it and gravely disheartened by her surrogate father's arrest and incarceration, Cam let Deb talk her into taking a four day weekend to get away from everything and recharge herself.

She finally broke down and with the strenuous blessings of her uncles, the two women packed up the camping gear in Cam's '49 Ford Apache pickup and took off for a secluded spot that Deb knew of where no one could find them. Her uncles had not only agreed with Deb that Cam needed a break, they took it a step further and forced her to leave both her cell phone and her pager, so she would have an uninterrupted time with just her, her gorgeous caring girlfriend and whatever nature supplied.

The happy couple waved to Cam's two uncles and Kat as they took off down the road. Due to a late start and heavier than normal traffic it was too late to go on to the camp site and set up so they opted to find a room in the nearby town for the night, then go on to the camp grounds in the morning.

Cam was never able to figure out what exactly happened or how it was accomplished, but three days later Cam was sitting in the Benton County Jail facing charges of assault, possession of a controlled substance (crystal meth) and resisting arrest.

Somehow Cam had ended up in a seedy little "No Tell Motel" she had no idea how she got there, nor why the Benton County Sheriffs Department had sent ten deputies after her, but she was pretty sure she'd be able to beat these charges, once she was able to fire the scrawny little rat faced Public Defender and brought in her own attorneys. She was amazed that anyone that incompetent would be able to pass the bar exams.

She was feeling fairly confident as she entered the courtroom, as soon as the judge was seated and her case was called. Then she began to get a very bad feeling about the entire process.

First the judge made a snide comment about the way she was dressed, then when he was told that she was caught in a motel room with another woman, the elderly judge began a heart felt lecture on the invasion of perversion that was running rampant throughout his beloved county.

She knew she was in deep trouble when after she entered her plea of not guilty she heard the judge snort derisively and mumble "yeah right, sure you are pervert" under his breath for her and several others to hear it. Cam was even more worried at the hearty chuckles that answered his remark.

When Cam asked to fire the P.D. and bring in her own lawyers, the judge disallowed it saying they didn't need outsiders sticking their nose into Benton County business.

The judge also ruled that Cam be held without bail until she stood trial in two or three weeks, he wasn't sure when he'd be free, he wanted to try this case personally.

As she was taken even the deputies were amazed how the judge had just ridden rough shod over her rights, One of them whispered that to her, and let her know that they had been notified to not allow her to use the phones. She looked at him her face pale as she reviewed the forces arrayed against her.

"I am SO screwed." was all she could say. She was silent and stared straight ahead and was in shock, her mind drawing a blank for a reason to why these people hated her so much. Her answer came from a very unusual source.

Cut off from her uncles and without her usual support system Cam went into a tail spin falling uncontrollably into the deepest darkest depths of depression.

For the first time in over eleven years Cam was completely alone and lost, again. All she could do was sit on the bunk in her cell and stare off into space, not even acknowledging any ones existence. It was obvious to the jailers and officials that if something wasn't done soon the tall, dark, gorgeous, prisoner would be either very sick or more likely dead.

The young woman's heavily scared Id had apparently received one more injury than it could take and was shutting her down, she simply no longer cared. After three days in this condition when her visitor came with something for her to care about.

The guards came for her and escorted the zombie like inmate to the visitor's room. They sat her down at a table then left her there. The door at the other side of the room opened and Deb walked into the room. As soon as her eyes found Cam the tall thin blonde burst into tears and ran to her still seated lover and wrapped her arms around the unmoving woman and held her close.

The stimulus of the woman she loved crying hysterically and calling for her somehow reached Cam in that far away dark place where her mind had gone to hide. Cam slowly became aware of her surroundings and immediately took her crying lover into her arms trying to calm her so Deb could tell her why she was crying. It took a few minutes for Deb to regain enough of her composure to tell Cam what was going on while she was sitting in jail unable to protect her lover. Guilt spread through Cam while she listened to what the officials were doing to her lover.

According to Deb the authorities were scaring her by refusing to let her leave town and making her pay for the room they wouldn't let her leave, and every time she asked why or what she had done all they would tell her was the charges against her were pending.

One of the Sheriff's Deputies told her that if she wanted to know why they were keeping her in town, she should go ask that dyke slut she was apprehended with.

After telling Deb to calm herself and promising her that she would take care of everything, Cam called for the guards to come and let Deb leave. The guard complied knowing that the prisoner was ready to cooperate with his superiors. Cam was soon led back to her cell.

Depressed and feeling protective Cam decided to give the prosecutor what ever plea bargain he wanted. It was in this mood that Cam was in when to her surprise the D.A. himself strolled into her cell.

At first she put up a defiant front but the greasy overweight lawyer could read her like a book and to wax etaphorically he played her like a well-tuned fiddle. The first thing he did was assure Cam that the arraignment was just a preview of the real trial, she would face the same judge and she'd already seen the jury pool.

In other words she would be convicted and get the maximum sentence. He was so cocky that he as much as admitted that some major money had changed hands to be sure that she was put away for a long time.

Still showing the brave front Cam asked if he was there for a reason or just to gloat. That was when the greasy official revealed the real reason he'd come to her cell.

It appeared that whoever was paying for her bogus incarceration wanted to hurry up and get it over with, so he came to offer her a deal and get himself a substantial bonus. She started to tell the evil fat SOB to go get a flying fuck when she saw him smiling at her like she was a pork chop.

It was then that the D.A. played his trump card. The way that Cam was set up she was as good as convicted and was on her way to a long prison stay, but if she would agree to a plea bargain, then they could deal on certain terms.

If she refused not only would she receive the maximum sentence in a max-security prison, but he would also go after her little girlfriend, using the same methods and he would see to it they went to separate facilities so that they would never see each other again.

Under those conditions Cam had no choice but to give in to his demands. After some heated discussions, Cam and the corrupt official finally worked out a plea that they could both accept.

According to their agreement in return for a guilty plea on the possession charge and agreeing to wave her appeal rights, the prosecutor agreed not to even charge Deb with a crime allowing her to leave town.

Cam would be sentenced to three to six years and he would not oppose her parole. Once it was all written down legally on paper, signed, and notarized it was only more three days before Cam was being processed into Chillicothe Correction Center, or CCC, by the guards, a lot of worse names by the "residents", where the tall, raven haired, blue eyed, uncommonly beautiful, frightened young woman would spend the next few years of her life, alone.

Chapter 5

While Cam waited for the guard to bring her clothes and escort her to the Admin. building to process out, she thought back over the last six years.

Her thoughts tried to bypass the long mind-numbing tedium of the day to day existence in this Hell on Earth but instead went over the highlights of her time as a resident of CCC.

More importantly how she had been changed by the highs and lows of her time here and how some of the changes were for the better and some were definitely not good at all.

At first everything had gone pretty much as Cam had expected. There had been the usual advances by some of the other inmates, the ones that had simply accepted her and over time become some of her closest associates.

The others, the ones that had been foolish enough to attempt to force themselves on her paid dearly for the attempt.

One notable incident occurred in the showers shortly after Cam had been put into the general population. A woman called Val had caught the tall beautiful new fish taking her shower and with the help of two of her followers had attempted to take Cam by force. By the time the incident was over Cam had needed stitches in her lip and her thigh where a knife made of glass and masking tape had been stuck into it and broken off. Val and her accomplices were put in the infirmary for broken bones, various deep cuts, and bruises that went all the way to the bone, and in Val's case a severe concussion. After that things had gone fairly smoothly.

Cam had earned her rep as someone best left alone, and she settled into a daily routine. She had been behind the walls for nearly a year when she was called to the warden's office, where she was introduced to a short stocky man that was very impressively dressed from his expensive custom tailored Italian suit, to his hand made western boots. There was something very familiar about him, but Cam wasn't able to figure out what.

He was introduced as her new lawyer, after saying and answering some coded phrases; Cam was assured that he was sent by her uncles and Cutter. For the first time since the beginning of this whole mess Cam was starting to feel like she was gaining a little control at last.

He began by telling her he was using every available resource to obtain a review of the circumstances of her conviction, and the plea agreement. A plus for the man was he didn't lie to Cam or try to give her false hopes.

He truthfully told her that the plea bargain she'd signed with the Benton County Prosecutor was pretty much iron clad and so far they hadn't been able to find any loopholes in it. Since there were no witnesses to support her claim of coercion, her best hope for release was parole.

She understood and accepted his opinion, and respected the man for his honesty. She told him he was the first honest lawyer she'd seen since the beginning of this ordeal. Before he left the strangely considerate and familiar man went over a system of complicated codes and conveyances so she could communicate with her family.

The usual messages were to be in the form of personal ads in some of the "biker rags" she was already getting sent to her every month by subscription. Also he informed her that her uncles, through the lawyers, had deposited the maximum amount in her account, so that she could get anything she wanted or needed. For her part Cam reissued her no visitors and no mail orders as the mail was opened and read by the
authorities prior to her receiving it and visits were recorded.

He also gave her a list of emergency numbers so she could contact one of her several attorneys, at any time she needed them. He as much as told her that his entire firm was at her service, large or small 24/7. It turned out that this short stocky little man was a long time friend of Cutter, who, he assured her, was out of federal lock up and the firm was in the middle of a false imprisonment lawsuit on his behalf.

The lawyer gave her a predatory smile that transformed him into an entirely different man than the one she met and one she wouldn't want to cross. It was then she recognized him as the man Cutter had always called "the Sargent-Major."

Once she remembered his connection with Cutter, her confidence in the deceptively calm man went way up. It told her this man, like Cutter, had some unusual contacts in D.C. He gave her his card containing all of his private numbers, and informed her that any papers she received from him were considered confidential.

Not only must the prison officials let her have them, they were not allowed to know the contents. As the lawyer was preparing to leave, he gave her a message from Cutter and her uncles, the gist of it was to watch her back. That when Kreelcorp had gone after her, a fact Cutter discovered when a representative of the corporation tried to blackmail them regarding her freedom, (insinuating that they had taken her freedom and they could, if they wished, restore it) they had gone way too far over the line.

According to the message, her uncles and Cutter was going to show that bastard how they took care of their own, and that going after his little girl was the last straw. They were not only going after Kreelcorp and it's owner D.C.Kreel, but they weren't going to stop until every single person involved with hurting their family, and also everyone involved with putting his little girl in CCC, had paid dearly.

Cutter had made it very clear to the lawyer that absolutely no expense was to be spared in his vendetta against the business rivals, and Benton County. In his own final warning and in Cutter's own words;

"Take cover WC cause I'm cuttin' loose the dogs."

It was only two weeks later that the first and most successful attack against Cam came.

Lulled by the lack of news about her family's war with their enemies Cam wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, and allowed herself to be bracketed in a crowd by two other women with shivs.

She was stabbed five times before she was able to break away from the crowd, most of which had no idea what was going on. Bleeding heavily Cam staggered away a few feet before she collapsed fortunately at the feet of the newly promoted Sargent of the Guards, Paula Carson.

If the well known, and respected guard hadn't been there, Cam's assailants would have finished the job and Cam would have died right there in the exercise yard. Paula stared slack-jawed down at the beautiful woman laying at her feet in a quickly expanding pool of her own blood.

True to her training, Paula had quickly shook off her surprise, knelt down, and began doing what she could to stop the bleeding, as she called on the radio for immediate medical assistance, and extra guards to clear the yard.

That was the first meeting between the guard that was on the fast track to promotions and the prisoner that was destined to become a prison legend in her own time.

They had just barely been able to save Cam that time, but despite loosing her spleen and a kidney, the black haired beauty recovered quickly. Paula had visited the unusual prisoner every day, and found her to be a bright, intelligent woman, both well read and well educated. They had many interesting and lively conversations, and in time they had developed a mutual respect for each other, becoming as close to friends as a guard and an inmate could get.

The prison officials had done everything in their power to find the women responsible for the attack, but as was expected they had no luck. Everyone knew exactly who had stabbed Cam and why but without proof there was nothing anyone could do. When Cam was returned to general population in D Block, prisoners and guards alike, watched to see how the woman would retaliate for her injuries. When two weeks went by with nothing happening, the two women began getting cocky.

Everyone finally gave up figuring that the supposedly tough chick had lost her nerve because of the attack and her near death. Nobody blamed her, it could have happened to any of them, and they decided the whole incident was over, except Paula.

She had gotten to know Cam fairly well and she was sure something was going to happen. The woman was just too smart to exact her revenge when she knew everybody expected it, and there was a good chance she'd get caught.

She remembered a comment Cam had once made while she was still in the infirmary. Cam told her that in prison you didn't have to be a stand up guy, but you do have to stand up. Thinking of that Paula tried to warn her superiors that the incident was far from over, but they ignored her. Paula was right.

Late one night, when Paula was off duty, the quiet of the darkness was shattered by a blood curdling scream of abject terror and agony, that came to a sudden gurgling stop. All the lights came on and the guards came charging into the cell block. What they found caused the most hardened veteran among them shudder in fear and get a little queasy.

Laying on the floor of the community day area, were the two women that had stabbed Cam, or what was left of them at least. One was dead, the other was alive but unable to move or speak or communicate in any manor. There wasn't a mark on them with the exception of a few small bruises on the neck of the woman still living.

When the coroner examined the dead woman his report said every major organ in the woman's body had been ruptured, apparently, one at a time, he also added that it was a long and horrendously painful way to die. He was a Vietnam veteran, and commented that the last time he'd seen a body in this condition, was when he examined the body of a Vietnamese official that was a suspected traitor. At the time it was suspected that his death was an assassination.

The doctor's report on the woman left alive was just as bazaar and mysterious. The first and most obvious was the reason she was unable to speak it was because her vocal cords were destroyed not hurt, or injured, not even cut, they were destroyed beyond any possibility of recovery, or medical repair.

There were no apparent injuries to explain the unusual condition, only two small bruises on her larynx. She would never speak again. Her paralysis was caused by severe compression of the spinal cord, also of unknown cause.

All readings showed that the woman was aware and able to tell what was going on around her, but was completely unable to communicate, in any manor. There was nothing found to explain the cause of the injuries and also no way of finding who had caused them.

The guards had responded instantly to the sound of the screams, but no assailant was found, another mystery was that the bodies hadn't fallen from the second tier where they lived. The bodies had been placed where they were found and carefully arranged. Recognising the victims as the women responsible for the Brusard stabbing the guards hurried to Cam's cell on the third tier, but all they found was Cam sitting on her bunk in the lotus position eyes closed, and unresponsive until the guards called her name.

They also checked and found that the cell door was locked and not tampered with.

The tall exotic beauty smiled slightly when she heard of the condition of the two women then expressed an obviously insincere concern for their misfortune. The mystery was never solved but after that Cam's wish to be left alone was honored.

When Paula brought up the incident in a private conversation, all Cam would say was that she heard that the women had become cocky lately, and had made many enemies. As far as she could see karma and justice had been served and she refused to discuss it further.

As Paula walked through the cell block, she recalled her contacts with the beautiful mysterious inmate, and all the time she'd spent trying to understand the strange way the raven haired beauty reacted to things. Something that would devastate the usual prisoner caused the woman only a moments thought, but things that most prisoners wouldn't even notice would cause Cam to withdraw from everyone until she had considered her reaction thoroughly.

She could count on one hand the number of women the exotic and mysterious woman spent any time with, and none of them had ever been intimate with her, and nearly every woman that Cam had been intimate with was never allowed close to her again. In fact for a while Cam was never with a lover for more than twice then she would ignore them as if they no longer existed.

She also recalled when Brusard had first come to her attention she was known as untouchable, not that she didn't get offers, a woman as beautiful as Cam could have anyone she wanted, man or woman, prisoner or guard.

She was untouchable because that was the way she wanted it. From what was said Cam was being faithful to someone on the outside, Paula remembered thinking how rare that kind of loyalty was.

Then after getting some news from her attorney Cam had gone into her cell and orders from the warden specifically stated that she was to be left alone until she indicated that she was prepared to re-enter the population. She had stayed in her dark cell listening to those old blues CDs she loved for over a week, no food only water.

Then word came that she was requesting a clean uniform and a shower. After that Cam was like the D-block's own answer to Casanova. When Paula had asked her what happened all Cam would say is;

"Lovers are never what they seem."

Something bad had happened to her but only the warden knew and he wasn't talking. Cam never laughed after her self-imposed isolation.

She walked around with an amused smirk as if she knew the punch line to some cosmic joke and she wasn't sharing. No one was ever allowed to get close to the walls she had erected around herself.

Well... Paula thought smiling ...no one that is until Cheryl Killian.

Chapter 6

The big champagne colored SUV came to a smooth stop at the full service pumps. An over eager teenager came blasting out of the fuel shack, anxious to get a closer look at the big four wheel vehicle, with the European luxury car name. He also wanted to see what kind of person went to Mercedes to buy a truck. He was also wondering what
CTBS-BB on the vanity plates meant.

The youngster waited for whoever was driving the obviously new SUV to tell him what they wanted. He let his eyes wander appreciatively over the clean graceful lines of the well-made vehicle. Try as he might the kid was unable to see inside the SUV, the tinted windows were too dark. He took a step closer only to jump back a little when the driver's door opened startling him out of his daydream.

He was totally unprepared for what he saw, from the status name on the vehicle the gas jockey expected either some self-important, power-suit wearing executive or a snotty city yuppie, he'd seen enough of both in his short six months employment at the truck stop at the junction of I-35 and M-340. He and his hormones were completely caught off guard
when the driver stepped out of the Mercedes.

It was the most amazingly beautiful young woman he'd ever seen. She was short, just barely reaching five feet four, dressed in very short jean cut-offs and red tank top that showed off her very fit yet softly curved body that actually tended toward muscular. She gave the boy a bright friendly smile that would stay with him for days as she
asked him to fill the SUV.

The golden haired woman with the sparkling emerald eyes stretched out her tired muscles trying to relieve their cramping from driving since early that morning.

As she watched the hormonal teen filling the gas tank the deceptively young looking woman let her mind wander over the amazing twists and turns of her life till now that brought her to be here going to the one place she swore she'd never return to no matter what.

If what she'd learned over the last two weeks was true, someone very special would be there today, and if she stayed on schedule and got there on time, a certain gorgeous blue eyed brunette had some very hard questions to answer, and if she was lucky she would be able to ask a very important question of a certain Ms. Camilla Theresa Brusard.

Her name was Cheryl Anne Killian, a third year lawyer working for a highly prestigious law firm, and recently received an unprecedented promotion to partner and assistant legal representative of one of the largest, most lucrative clients her firm handled.

She was barely five foot four inches tall golden-blonde hair with red highlights, bright emerald green eyes, and some said a pixie-ish face. You know the type big eyes, perky up turned nose, full sensuous lips that were always on the verge of smiling, and if you were lucky to be on the receiving end of one of her megawatt smiles you'd swear you'd just been blessed by the gods.

She was wearing a tight red tank top tucked into a pair of very tight, blue-jean cut offs and sandals with long black laces that wound a criss-cross pattern up her well sculpted legs to her knees. Her outfit was specially chosen for this occasion. It was her fervent hope that the way it showed off her well muscled yet softly curved body, well enough that a certain lady would find her irresistible.

The top molded to her like a second skin accentuating her full firm breasts, her perpetually hard nipples threatened to tear through the already stretched thin cotton material. The top was molded to her flat hard abdomen curving enticingly into the top of her cutoff that were skin tight showing off her perfectly shaped rear. The cut-offs were so short that part of her beautifully shaped cheeks peaked out the back.

All in all it was an outfit to create thousands of desirable and creative ideas in anyone that saw her.

Cheryl was living the good life, as a partner she was guaranteed at least a mid to high six figure salary with bonuses depending on her billings. Not only that, she had a very hefty nest egg in stocks CDs and various investments plus money in the bank, thanks to a litigation that had been handled by the very law firm she was with now.

Cheryl had a candy apple red Porsche Boxster and the Mercedes SUV she was driving today, a nice five bedroom four bathroom house in an older but nicer part of the city, as well as a nice little two bedroom cabin in Kirbyville Mo. by the lakes and the Mark Twain National Forest on a secluded lot far from the road and civilization.

Everyone that knew Cheryl seemed to like her, helped no doubt by her genuinely friendly attitude. Even though she had just been jumped from associate to partner in less than three years there wasn't a single one of her former co-workers that had anything bad to say about her.

Yeah, Cheryl's life was good; money, job, houses, cars, friends, but it hadn't always been so nice for Cheryl. In fact only three years ago she was at the lowest point of her life, with no way out, and just when the little blonde was about to give up on life and her dreams she was rescued from the most unlikely quarter.

Cheryl had found a bright shinning ray of hope at the bottom of a very dark pit of despair and until just lately she had only suspected who her benefactor was. And now Cheryl was on her way to find a certain stoic, tall, dark, foul tempered and drop dead gorgeous lady that had better be ready with some answers, but in order to see her Cheryl was
headed to the one place on Earth she'd sworn she would never go back to again. It was the site of the worst moment of her life; it was the place where she'd learned the hardest lessons of her life.

It was where Cheryl found that there were truly evil people in the world. It was also where she had seen the purest, most caring, loving most unselfish heart she'd ever known, where she was taught the difference between lust and true love.

It was the Chillicothe Correctional Center, or CCC, a hellhole and the place that held the other half of her soul

If there was anyone who had reason to be bitter about life, it was Cheryl Killian. In fact she had more reasons to be the hardest coldest, angriest, person you'd ever imagine.

Cheryl Anne Killian was born in an underfunded, understaffed county hospital in the boot-heel of Missouri, and as with most of her life she came into this world the hard way. Five weeks premature and breech, both mother and daughter nearly losing their lives in the process.

Unable to cope with the special needs of the critically ill mother and infant, the hospital transferred them to a larger and better equipped more up to date facility.

After several weeks the two were allowed to go home to the tiny two bedroom trailer just outside of Cape Gerardo, but within a few months baby Cheryl was back in the hospital. She was diagnosed with a malformed heart valve due to her premature birth.

Two years and several operations later the constantly ill child was out of the hospital and well on her way to becoming a regular healthy little girl.

Her parents were thrilled that their little girl was healthy at last and both were more than happy to work two jobs to pay off the mountains of medical bills incurred to get her that way. Life settled down for the Killian family, they were poor hard working people whose day to day lives had little, if any, impact on the world.

Jason Killian and his wife Katie had lived on a small piece of land left to him by his family, and though the trailer was old and they were dirt poor the place was always neat and picked up. Their clothes were almost all second hand but always clean and patched, Jason worked at a small custom sawmill and his wife worked at the local garment factory as well as a waitress part time at a truck stop close to them. When Katie found out she was pregnant, Jason had gladly taken a second job at an assembly plant and when Katie began having trouble with her pregnancy he agreed completely with her decision to leave both her jobs and just take in some piece work from the clothing factory, so she could stay home and rest when she needed to.

When the baby came early and the medical bills began piling up the Killians still didn't complain. Jason took extra work as a handy man, and his beloved Katie went back to waitressing as soon as she was allowed.

By the time their beautiful little girl was healthy, the property and the trailer were mortgaged to the hilt and their medical insurance was max-ed out, and they still had a mountain of bills, but every time they saw their happy, outgoing, sweet loving little girl, the Killians felt like the richest two people in the world.

Little Cheryl inherited her parents' outlook on life and had soon put all the bad memories of doctors, hospitals, and illness behind her and attacked the world as only the innocence of a child would allow. Her sharp mind and curious nature led the gregarious child from one adventure to another. Each one bringing her a joy and wonder that brought great pride and fulfillment to the lives of her loving parents.

When she started school Cheryl was the kind of student teachers dream about; smart, friendly, popular, respectful, eager to learn and always happy to help. As things go, life was as close to perfect for the unassuming little family as it could get, but as everyone knows the gods, never allow human perfection to last.

One sunny Sunday afternoon the happy little family was on their way home from a day in the country when the combination of an old car, old shocks, used tires, and unpaved roads, sent another twist into an innocent child's life.

It was as simple as a sharp rock, a blown tire, a broken tie rod and the old 65 Chevy was on its side in a ditch and on fire.

Nine year old Cheryl was thrown from the car and flew through the air only to slam into an old oak tree shattering her pelvis and breaking both legs in several places. Unfortunately the girl didn't hit her head or pass out right away and unable to move, the child was forced to lean against the tree and listen to the screams of her parents as they burned
to death in the old car, a sound that would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.

Long after the screaming stopped pain, shock, and exposure finally won out and the comforting black velvet curtain of unconsciousness enveloped the tortured little girl.

Cheryl woke up two weeks later, the first memory she had after hearing the agonized death screams of her family was the waves of unbearable agony sweeping over her body. She tried to move into a less painful position where she fell back and cried out as white-hot knives of excruciating pain lanced through her legs, and her shattered pelvis.
In response to the child's screams of pain several nurses and doctors came rushing into her ICU room. As the others tried to sooth and calm the frightened and tormented child one of the nurses filled a syringe from a vial of demmeral and morphine and injected the liquid into her IV line.

Within seconds, very long seconds, the medication was racing through her little body and within minutes the scared and hurting nine-year-old was in a deep sleep.

All the nurses got together and talked over the girl's condition and the lack of family and from then on one of the off duty nurses was in the room with her at all times, so that Cheryl never had to wake up alone again.

Cheryl woke again the next morning and saw the nurse sitting in the chair next to the bed dozing, she realized that the nightmare she had convinced herself she had, was real. The little girl began weeping and sobbing uncontrollably; she would fall asleep with tears streaming down her cheeks and would wake up sobbing for days as the nurses tried their best to console her.

Cheryl grieved horribly for several days, then without warning she withdrew from everyone.

She would read, answer questions, eat when told to, and later cooperated with her physical therapist, but that was all. It was as if the friendly, big-hearted girl had died in the accident along with her parents leaving a quiet hollow shell behind.

After several long months of intense therapy, Cheryl was allowed to leave the hospital and was placed with a foster family. The older couple tried everything they knew to help the girl come out of her shell, but it was to no avail. The state finally broke down and sent the almost eleven year old to a psychiatrist where after four years of therapy the only break through that Cheryl had was when she and the doctor discovered she was gay.

That revelation was more than the older couple could handle and social services placed Cheryl in the home of a lesbian couple that had been together for over twenty years. It was here that Cheryl found a new home. Her new foster mothers spent many hours with the young teen and helped her over come some of the biggest problems she'd faced.

One of the most important things the women did for Cheryl was using contacts within the system that the two women had cultivated, they were able to locate a warehouse were one of the Killians creditors had stored some of the families personal belongings when they had repossessed the family's old trailer.

The couple obtained permission and took Cheryl to the warehouse and spent four days searching through the contents of the building until they located several small boxes of the family's meager possessions.

They loaded the boxes into their truck and took them home for Cheryl to go through whenever she felt she was able to face the memories contained in those cardboard time capsules.

It took her a long time to wade through the repressed emotions each family treasure held for the girl. Eventually the old Cheryl began to return. It was in stages, sometimes excruciatingly small stages but with the love and support of her foster mothers, Cheryl worked her way through her overwhelming grief and her own true nature that was begging to reappear. The once quiet and withdrawn girl became the person she was before the accident.

After that the rest of Cheryl's high school years went by without incident, she was even accepted by many of her classmates as a gay student and when prom time came Cheryl was able to find a girl to take to the prom.

Graduating at the top of her class Cheryl received scholarship offers from several diverse colleges and universities, but she chose the pre-law program at UMKC, and entered the adventures of her college years with a bright outlook. She did plenty of extra curricular activities and did volunteer work at a local homeless shelter.

All in all the generous, compassionate young woman was a regular poster for the foster care system, their shining example of all the good that is in the system, but not everything in the petite golden haired girls life was so bright and wonderful.

No matter how fantastic her life seemed to those on the outside or how many people she helped or all the programs and community service groups she volunteered for it seemed that there was something missing, even those that were close to her noticed that it seemed that Cheryl was always searching for something.

There was a hole in her life no matter how much or how hard Cheryl tried it would not be filled. It didn't appear that the young woman could find love. She tried relationship after relationship but she wasn't getting any closer. It would always start out the same she'd meet some woman and no matter how hard they would work at it or how much they professed their undying affection to the young woman, Cheryl just wasn't able to find the one true love she was searching for.

Sure she cared for everyone she went into a relationship with and she was always faithful but eventually one or the other would break it off, usually it was Cheryl that ended up walking out on the other.

She was always nice even when they weren't but as she told her last college girlfriend, Cheryl refused to struggle and subject herself or anyone else to a loveless relationship simply because she was afraid to be alone.

It was like her life was a giant jigsaw puzzle that was missing one key central piece, no matter how she tried to work around it the picture lacks detail and definition, the was no flavor, and she refused to put herself through the hell of someone's cold feet on her back and their hair in the sink if she couldn't have that deep all-consuming passion for her partner, just as her parents had for each other.

Eventually Cheryl simply decided that she was just one of those people destined to go through this lifetime without ever discovering her one true perfect love, her match, her soulmate. Sad? Yes. Discouraging? Certainly. But as far as Cheryl could see, inevitable.

Chapter 7

Driving down the highway Cheryl let her mind go back to her law school days, her first years of law school, where her life began its journey toward her life's work, fulfilling a dream she'd had since she was a very mature 13, and a hysical therapist had inquired what she to do when she grew up. Before her life took an unintended and life altering turn.

It had been a ploy to help a tired and hurting little girl get her mind away from the continuous agony of the mandatory treatments so she would be able to walk normally again. Cheryl remembered the surprise, when without hesitation she told the heavily muscled giant of a man, that she wanted to be an attorney. It was like a revelation, in that split second,
Cheryl knew exactly what she would do, what classes to take so that she would have an easier time getting into a good pre-law program in college, and after that a decent law school.

It would appear that way back then fate was setting her on the path to her destiny and the other half of her soul.

Cheryl graduated from the university Suma Cum Laude, and immediately took her LSATs. She almost got a perfect score. As a result the hard working student was offered full scholarship to some very prestigious law schools.

Because she was an orphan and was a ward of the state, they covered the expenses that her scholarship didn't, as long as she remained in an in-state university, her foster mothers had also set aside some money for Cheryl's education, and since there was still some left they offered to cover the cost of an off campus apartment, as they had for her last three years of college.

She took a job managing a small bookstore so she would have money for the incidentals. Cheryl went to Columbia in June after a short vacation with her mothers to Arizona, where they did the whole tourist bit. She was very aware of how much easier it was to find a nice place to live than it would be in July. After a careful search Cheryl found
herself a big old well-maintained Victorian house right next to the law school, and within walking distance of her job.

The only draw back was the cost was a little higher than she'd wanted to pay, but she didn't think much of her odds of finding some place as near perfect as that one. Since Cheryl had gone through a service she was already approved and after giving the woman real estate agent a check for a damage deposit and first and last months rent she got the keys from the agent.

Cheryl began moving herself in, one of the reasons she had gone through this particular agency was they handled all the incidental details of moving in, they got the utilities, phone, even cable turned on for her, so that all she had left to do was unpack her things and settle in.

Wanting roommates with similar interests Cheryl registered with the university and by the end of august she had found three room mates to help her defray the cost of her home.

Two of the new tenants were upper class undergrads that, like Cheryl, had grown tired of the noise and distractions of the dorm and needed some place with a reasonable cost. Both were very nice, quiet small town girls like herself and she was glad to welcome them.

The third new roommate was somewhat different, Cheryl was leery of her from the start, she wasn't sure if the slightly wild young woman would fit in but she let her own kind nature over ride her instincts and allowed the young Greek woman to move in.

The girls' name was Kelly Antropos, the only child of a Greek import/export billionaire, whose father never allowed his daughter to want for anything.

Rumor had it that the wild young woman would never have graduated college let alone be in law school if her father wasn't so generous with his check book. From the start the spoiled woman was trouble, she treated the two undergrads as if they were her personal servants.

She was constantly having them run her errands or doing her share of the household chores. Cheryl noticed and tried to talk to Kelly about it, but within a week she was right back at it.

Cheryl then tried to talk to the two younger girls, but they either didn't care or they were too afraid of the Greek woman's explosive temper to do anything about it. All she really succeeded in doing was make Kelly mad, and she burst into an impromptu lecture about how Cheryl should mind her own business.

Properly chastised Cheryl fell back to her usual defense, sticking her nose in her books, concentrate on her studies and ignore the entire thing in hopes that it would resolve itself. Her only worry was when it was going to be her turn. As it turned out Kelly Antropos wasn't interested in another servant.

From the very beginning Cheryl had been up front and open about her sexuality, she made sure that all three of her housemates understood that she was gay so that there weren't any problems later on. Her reasoning was that she had gone through all the trouble and heartache of coming out she wasn't about to go back in.

It had been a little awkward at first and she had answered some strange and sometimes hilarious questions from the two younger room mates but after a while they figured out that Cheryl wasn't all that different from them except for who she dated.

Everything went smoothly for the room mates and with the exception of a few clashes that are inevitable in this situation the only thing that really bothered the young blonde was Kelly's apparent attitude that because she was rich she could get away with anything. She seemed to believe that her having money made her somehow superior to
everyone else, but since she and Cheryl seldom interacted things went rather smoothly.

Cheryl's days were pretty full between school work and studies she barely had time to sleep, much less worry about her lack of a social life.

Kelly on the other hand breezed through using her wealth and clout whenever she ran into a rough spot. Even when an instructor was unimpressed the administration was and they would step in and smooth over any ruffled academic feathers.

Most of her time Kelly spent partying and indulging her baser appetites, bedding a constant parade of bodies men and women in and out of her rooms.

There were some embarrassing moments when the wild woman and her latest partner didn't make it to her rooms and Cheryl or one of the others would walk into the living room or kitchen or wherever and find their promiscuous room mate and company sprawled out usually nude.

Cheryl as usual tried to ignore Kelly's rude and inconsiderate behavior and just passed it off as not her problem. Opting for peace and quiet instead of trying to solve the problem. It even worked, for a while.

Life was running pretty smoothly for Cheryl until the middle of her last year. When her room mates left for the Winter break she had the house to herself, the young blonde spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with her foster mothers, but the rest of her time off from school she spent putting in extra hours at her job for a little extra spending money and to help ease the pressure on her over her bills.

It was also a good time for Cheryl to actually go out and socialize more than once a month. After work and on some weekends she would go to a small local bar called "The Rose" that was a favorite gathering place for the younger
gay community. Mostly college kids free from the close observation of home and able to expressing their sexuality for the first time.

Cheryl made a lot of friends during her time in Columbia, and found some of her old friends as well. That particular long Winter break was a pretty good time for the normally quiet young woman. She was enjoying herself for a change, even dancing from time to time with one of the many women that approached her.

With her soft ethereal beauty and pleasant intelligent personality she soon became quite popular actually finding she had more dinner, movie, and dancing date offers than she knew what to do with. Things were really beginning to look up for the one time "poor little orphan girl" and for the first time since moving to Columbia she was as close to being happy as she had ever been. That all changed two days after Christmas, after stopping by The Rose for a couple of drinks and a few turns around the dance floor with friends Cheryl was surprised when she returned home to find Kelly's Jaguar sitting in the driveway and lights on in the living room. She walked in the front door hoping not to find her roommate having another fling in the front room, when she was met in the front hallway by an agitated Kelly.

"Where the hell have you been!?" the Greek woman growled

"I-I was at work." Cheryl stuttered stunned by her volatile roommate's sudden intense concern.

Cheryl hung her coat on the rack and walked past the obviously angry young woman, anxious to get to her rooms and away from Kelly. She also was a little perturbed by her room mates insinuation that she should answer to the rich woman for her whereabouts like a child.

"Bullshit!" Kelly spat out, her dark brown eyes flashing with anger as she roughly grabbed the blonde's upper arm and spun her around. "I can smell the liquor from here you've been out whoring around, haven't you?"

"Like you have any room to talk." Cheryl snapped back confused and getting madder at the dark haired woman's suddenly possessive behavior.

Without warning Kelly slapped the young blonde and threw her to the floor of the living room. Cheryl tried to get up to protest this uncalled for treatment but Kelly backhanded her and told the now bleeding woman to stay where she was.

Then Kelly informed her that from now on Cheryl was going to be her girlfriend and that she was going to stop her running around and acting like a whore.

The strong aggressive woman then helped Cheryl to her feet and pulled her into a vicious kiss that was more about dominance than affection. Then told Cheryl to go to bed they would talk more in the morning.

Already hurt and more than a little frightened of being hurt worse Cheryl quickly retreated to her third floor rooms locking the door and sitting up all night afraid to sleep in case Kelly might come upstairs and start again.

The next morning Cheryl came down stairs to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and bacon cooking. A subdued and contrite Kelly had made her breakfast, and when at Kelly's invitation she entered the dining room Cheryl found the table set with a vase full of beautiful flowers in the center of the table.

Kelly bade her to please sit at the table, and after she was seated Kelly brought out a large serving tray. The young Greek woman had pulled out all the stops. Bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice; Cheryl was grateful but leery of the other womans' motives.

Kelly began by falling to her knees next to the stunned blonde and took her hand, holding it while she begged Cheryl to forgive her for her appalling actions the night before.

She claimed that when she arrived and found that Cheryl wasn't home that she got worried and called the book store and when she learned that her room mate had left much earlier she became insane with worry, believing that something terrible had happened to Cheryl.

Then when Cheryl came home, and she learned that she was safe, and had been at a bar drinking, the combination of worry and concern had made her lose control. She swore that if the petite blonde would just give her a chance she would do everything in her power to prove that not only was she sorry and she would do whatever Cheryl needed to show that it would never happen again. Actually Cheryl was touched by the young Greek's appeal.

"Come on Kelly get up." the compassionate blonde said softly "There's no need for this, I accept your apology and you're letting this fabulous meal get cold"

"I am sorry about it all Cheryl I really am." Kelly insisted as she rose to here feet and went to her chair next to Cheryl "I swear on the gods of my ancestors that I will never again strike you. I care about you very much my dear and I hope that even though I behaved abominably last night that you are able to get past it and give us a chance at what could be a beautiful relationship."

"Kelly please," Cheryl said taking the dark eyed woman's hand "I am truly flattered by your offer and even without what went on last night there would be no chance of an 'us' ever happening. I am not the kind of person that will lead someone on or have a fling. I can't be with someone if I don't have deep feelings for them. It just isn't any good
for them or me if I don't have that emotional bond with them. I'm just not that way"

Kelly was not about to give up that easily and she spent the rest of the day trying to convince Cheryl to become her lover. Several times she would begin to lose her temper but true to her word the frustrated Greek woman would go to another room and cool down for a while.

Only to return a few minutes later and begin her crusade all over again. Finally Cheryl grew tired of the constant attempts and sat Kelly down and gave her a long itemized list of reasons why they would never be lovers. After that she went up to her rooms to watch TV hoping that Kelly would understand and forget the entire ill-fated endeavor.

She just wanted to put the entire affair behind them and let things get back to normal. She shut and locked the door to her upstairs rooms and as she went to bed that night she was sure that Kelly had finally given up her idea of being her girlfriend.

Cheryl couldn't have been more wrong, Kelly was a spoiled rich brat that had always gotten everything she wanted and right now she wanted the small golden haired beauty in her bed and she would let nothing stop her from having her way. Not even Cheryl herself.

Chapter 8

For the rest of the holiday Kelly continued to try to persuade Cheryl to try and build a relationship with her, but the small blonde steadfastly refused to even consider it. Cheryl soon became concerned over the dark eyed woman's obsessive behavior.

The more Cheryl turned her down the harder Kelly pushed her to be her girlfriend, and Cheryl was beginning to get the creepy feeling that the woman was coming into her room at night while she was asleep.

To her dismay the night after New Years Cheryl woke suddenly in the middle of the night and found Kelly sitting in a chair next to her bed.

When Cheryl demanded she leave Kelly just stared at her like she'd grown another head and said she was only watching over the woman she loved as was her right.

The next day Cheryl moved all her belongings into the spare rooms in the finished basement. She figured she would be safe as the basement rooms were like a separate apartment. It had it's own bathroom and kitchen and it had its own outside entrance and could be closed off from the rest of the house, thus giving Kelly no chance to come into her rooms without breaking in.

When the two younger room mates returned at the end of Winter break they were curious about the new living arrangements but were told by Kelly that their other normally outgoing and friendly roommate wanted the extra privacy.

She explained the locked inner door the same way, Kelly assured them that there was nothing unusual going on and began using them as her servants just as she had before.

Kelly changed tactics but still kept trying to pressure the pretty blonde into being with her while Cheryl continued to steadfastly refuse to even consider it. Everywhere Cheryl went sooner or later Kelly would show up, and if Cheryl happened to be sitting with friends or talking to another woman, Kelly would create an embarrassing scene calling the beleaguered young woman a cheap slut and a philandering whore and any other nasty name that came to mind.

Finally Cheryl quit going out socially all together hoping that would put an end to the Greek woman stalking her.
The black haired psychotic beauty began showing up at Cheryl's job, her classes, even at her table in the law library.

Cheryl was a nervous wreck, never knowing where her stalker would show up next. She couldn't sleep or eat and she nearly jumped out of her skin every time someone said her name above a whisper, but still she stood her ground refusing to give in to Kelly's constant harassment.

Finally in an effort to help the frightened young woman some of her friends got together and confronted the fiery tempered frustrated suitor, and told her in no uncertain terms that if she didn't stop harassing their friend they would be forced to take steps to stop her.

When Kelly tried to call their bluff they threatened to call the authorities, while in truth it was a hollow threat because none of them had actually seen the belligerent Greek woman bothering Cheryl, except for once or twice at the bar, and that really wasn't enough for the authorities to act on, but they knew Cheryl and they believed what she told them and how she looked.

Kelly was livid, not only had the peasant refused her, but Kelly was convinced that Cheryl had sent her barbaric friends to threaten and insult her. Kelly knew better than to create an incident that might get back to her father, so she quit trying to get the beautiful little blonde to be her lover.

After a couple of weeks passed without any contact from Kelly, Cheryl breathed a sigh of relief thinking the incident over and that her life could now continue as before.

Kelly was seething in fury at being spurned by the little green eyed blonde, and while it was true that she no longer wanted the woman as her lover, her Greek blood was boiling for revenge for the wrongs she perceived Cheryl to be guilty of.

Never before had anyone refused to give Kelly what she wanted and she was not about to let some American peasant be the first.

To top that the blonde was responsible for Kelly being threatened and insulted by even more of these barbaric Americans. It was more than the proud spoiled Geek heiress was willing to tolerate, so Kelly stopped pursuing the blonde and turned all her energy and considerable wealth to seeing that the young American peasant was properly punished for her transgressions against a superior such as herself.

Sometimes Kelly forgot that her great grandfather was once a peasant olive grower himself.

The next couple of months were a time of quiet and Cheryl was beginning once again to spend time doing things other than study, work and sleep, she actually began to go out with her friends and even went so far as date a few times nothing serious, just having food and fun with someone. Since little Cheryl was not only a sweet and friendly young woman with a brilliant and outgoing personality, she was actually a very good dancer.

It wasn't long before word got around the Rose and soon the one time wallflower had more date requests and perspective dance partners than she knew what to do with. She was finally letting herself have a good time and was meeting some very nice and interesting women.

Then one night as Cheryl was escorting a friend out to her car they were attacked by four young men wearing ski masks. Both women were severely beaten.

The woman friend was battered and bruised and required several stitches to close some deep cuts but was released and allowed to go home after giving a statement to police.

Cheryl on the other hand had put herself between her friend and their attackers and so had received the brunt of the assault. Besides a multitude of deep bruises and cuts, some of which requiring stitches, the little blonde also suffered three broken ribs, her right arm broken in two places a fractured jaw and skull and a severe concussion.

Her injuries kept Cheryl in the hospital for nearly a week. The police took her statement as well as from a witness that had been passing by and had seen the assault in progress.

The young man had scared off the attackers and had called the police, he was the one that had heard the attackers yelling dyke and whore and fag and several other slurs that had police writing the attack off as another gay bashing. While they said they would investigate they actually wrote it off as a hazard those people faced for living their lifestyle in public and never really followed through.

If they had the might have been surprised at the person behind the attack and the reasons that were truly behind the beating outside the Rose.

Having gotten her moneys worth out of the young thugs she had paid to give Cheryl a beating, Kelly then used the blonde victims hospital stay to set the next phase of her plan into motion.

Kelly had decided that for Cheryl's crimes against her the young woman was not only to be punished she was to be destroyed, everything that the orphan had worked and sacrificed to gain the vindictive Greek woman was going to
have taken from her including her future and her freedom.

Cheryl had been home from the hospital for two days and was getting ready for bed when her outside door burst open and her little apartment was suddenly full of men holding guns and yelling at her to lay down on the floor.

When she was slow to move because of her injuries one of the men grabbed the small blonde and threw her on the floor. She cried out in pain when her broken ribs were jarred as she hit the hardwood floor.

The rest of the night was a blur as she barely remembered a man's voice reading her rights and asking if she understood, the confused blonde nodded numbly as she watched the men tearing up her rooms, searching for some unknown prize.

The next thing she knew someone was leading her out of the house and loaded into a van and taken downtown to the central police station where she was finger printed, her picture taken and she was left sitting in a cold grey room that held a table and two other chairs.

She noticed a mirror on one wall and looking into it, Cheryl brushed her finger