"Brock?"

Abner Brockman, Brock to anyone who knew him, gave a start and opened his eyes, barely able to turn his head as he lay in the hospital bed. His eyes focused on his friend and partner, Cade Candlewood.

"I got here as soon as I heard," Cade told him, hiding his shock. Brock was bandaged from head to foot with tubes sticking everywhere. "Shotz, Brockman. If I had thought Marlett would –"

"Wasn't ... Marlett," Brock whispered painfully.

Cade stared at his partner. "Wasn't –?"

Brock closed his eyes and swallowed. His hand slowly made its way up and under his pillow. He brought out a half sheet of paper, and after a quick glance at it, handed it toward his partner. "Woke ... this morning ... with that ... in my hand," he told him.

Cade's eyes skimmed the note, and then with a "Dear God!" he read it again.

Hello Brockman-

Feelin bad? Saw your partner's car blow up last night. Too bad he didn't live through it. Heard he was a close personal friend of yours. Rough losing a close personal friend, isn't it? I should know. You killed mine.

Tit for Tat, Brockman

"Must ... have thought Erickson ... was you," Brock said.

"Any ideas?" Guilt was choking Cade. If he hadn't gone ... If it hadn't had been for his grandmother's funeral ...

"No," Brock whispered. "I've been ... racking my brain." Brock raised his eyes to his friend. "You might ... want to lay low ... for a while."

"Does the chief know?"

Brock managed to shake his head, "Hasn't ... been in yet. Cade ..."

"I'll see that he knows, and I'll take care," he assured his partner.

Brock closed his eyes in relief.

Guilt again shot through Cade as he watched the pain flit across his partner's face. Brockman was more than a partner, more than a friend to him. They were comrades; closer than most brothers. Too close for him to have let this happen to him. He cursed silently and stared down at the note in his hand.

Who?

The why was self-explanatory; revenge. Cade glanced around the room, looking for the telephone. There wasn't one. That would have to be remedied. Now.

"Brock?"

"Yes?" He didn't bother to open his eyes.

"I'm going down the hall to find a phone. I'll see that one is put in here today."

Brock barely nodded his head and Cade strode purposely out of the room. The telephone he found immediately at the nurse's station and pulling rank, used it to call in to their chief, explaining the note and his gut feeling that this wasn't going to be the end of it. Brock's room would be secured.

He hung up the phone and smiled devastatingly at the nurse behind the desk. "We need a phone put in Room 308 immediately," he told her. "We're also going to need –"

"Mister?" he was interrupted as a younger nurse grasped his arm and shook it.

He whipped around, staring at the frightened, upset young woman. "What is it?"

"Your friend," she cried, "In room 308. He's says he needs you now. He's quite agitated. He –"

But Cade was already running, the nurse running after him.

"I'm sorry! All I did was deliver a letter! If I knew it would upset him like this ..."

"Brock?"

Cade was in the room and by his bed in seconds. His heart caught in his throat. Brock lay clutching another note in his clenched fist, stringing curse after curse. The look on his face was a mixture of anger and terror ... and of total helplessness.

"Brock!" Cade called again, more forcefully.

The curses cut off and Brock focused on him. "Susie," he choked out. "He's after Susie!"

"Susannah?" Cade whispered. He grabbed the note from Brock's hand and read:

Are you hurting, Brockman? I sincerely hope so. I did my best to make you as uncomfortable as possible short of killing you. But I don't want to kill you. Yet. I want you to feel as helpless as I did when you made it impossible for me to protect my sister. You heard they terrorized her in that prison, didn't you? Tortured her? Raped her time after time?

Tit for Tat, Brockman Terror -- Torture -- Rape bye bye

"Cade!"

"Where's Susannah living?" Cade interrupted tightly. "Brock!" he demanded, "Where did Susie move to?" God in Heaven! He'd tear the man limb to limb himself if he touched Susannah!

"Trendex," Brock managed, shutting his eyes, "221 Trendex. In ... Langley."

Cade was out of the door and down the hall before Brock realized he was gone. His first call was to the Langley police. Assured that they would put Brock's sister under protective custody immediately, he made his second call to the airport. The third was again to their chief.

"I leave in forty minutes," he told Brock coming back into the room. "Don't worry. Susannah should be in protective custody by now. I'll call as soon as I have her."

Susannah Brockman gave herself one last critical look in the mirror mounted near her front door. Golden brown eyes stared back at her. Her rich, brown hair tumbled just past the shoulders of her trim, 5'4" frame in soft waves. She readjusted her bangs.

"Come on, Susannah!"

Susannah grinned as she grabbed her purse and headed out the door. She pulled her door shut and locked it then carried her duffle bag down to her friend's car. Becky Weaver already had her trunk open. They plopped in the duffle bag then climbed into the car. Susannah glancing back, waved goodbye at her neighbor who was just picking up her newspaper. "See you in three weeks!" she called out.

Diana Heber grinned and waved them off.

Susannah turned back to her friend. "My phone died a terrible death this morning. Got yours?"

"Yes. What happened to yours?"

"Who knows? It simply won't turn on. Think Gloria will be ready?" she asked as she slipped on her seatbelt.

"Not likely," Becky returned with a slight giggle as she pulled out of Susannah's drive. The girls, Gloria included, were heading out of state. Gloria's family was having a family reunion and both Becky and Susannah had agreed to drive her home, taking a traveling vacation as they did so.

They would be gone three weeks; three glorious weeks of vacation. They planned to take their time driving Gloria home for her family reunion, exploring the countryside as they went then doing more exploring as they drove back home to Langley after it was over.

Susannah had welcomed the vacation. She had thought fleetingly of visiting her brother but had dismissed it just as quickly when Becky and Gloria had suggested this traveling vacation.

It would have done little good to visit her brother anyway. He was on a hard case at the moment, one that would take up most of his time; time he wouldn't have to visit with her.

Besides, spending time with Brock would also have meant spending time with Cade, something she didn't want to do.

She flushed with the thought of Cade Candlewood; of how she had embarrassed herself thoroughly, throwing herself into his arms and practically begging him to make love to her. She had been barely eighteen at the time, and deeply in love with Cade.

Cade, already twenty-three then, had refused her point blank. His rejection had been brutal and painful, and had hurt terribly. And she had never forgiven him for that in the passing years.

Not that she was vocal about it. Cade Candlewood was her brother's closest friend and it would hurt him to know that there was a rift between her and Cade. So she avoided her brother's best friend whenever it was possible. When it wasn't, she attempted to be civil for her brother's sake. The fact that her brother and Cade lived several states away and were both working in a special division of some security branch of the government, helped keep her run-ins with Cade to a minimum. The two men were generally busy with this case or that case, keeping visits short and far between.

The arrangement was fine with Susannah. Though she missed her brother, he was generally bossy and over-protective and still treated her as a kid when he was around despite the fact that she was now twenty-four. And Cade? Well, Cade treated her just the same which was insulting.

And more than enough reason to look forward to this trip with both Gloria and Becky.

Gloria, to their surprise, was ready and waiting when they drove up to her apartment. "Too excited to see home again," she said ruefully, handing them her bags. They packed them in the trunk beside their own and then headed out.

"This is going to be great," Becky stated in contentment as she headed her car onto the freeway.

"Where are we heading first?" Gloria asked from the backseat, hardly able to contain her own excitement.

"Grandon," Becky replied, having been the first one to pick a destination. "Where we'll pop over and visit the Pioneer museum."

"I thought we agreed to tour the Border Gardens?" Gloria asked in surprise.

"We did," Becky returned, "right after we tour the museum."

"Well," Gloria said, "Just so we get to indulge in one of their outside garden teas." It was a well-known fact that Gloria loved gardens; gardens of any kind. She could, in fact, sit enjoying one for hours which is why it had been her choice of Border Gardens.

Susannah looked to Becky. "Did you get the reservations for tonight?"

"Oh, yes," Becky returned. "We have reservations at the Prairie Cabins, just outside of the small town of Prairie Town."

"A cabin?"

"It's an inn, Glory," Becky corrected her with a giggle, "One with all the modern conveniences despite its name."

"It better be," Gloria grumbled good-naturedly.

But the worry of the Prairie Cabins dissipated as they went on. All three of them were in high spirits as they eventually reached Grandon. It was almost noon, and they stopped for a quick lunch before they traveled through the large city looking for any sign of the museum. They eventually found it at the south end of town.

The museum was like a trip back into the old west; pioneer life, to be exact, for there were a host of artifacts from the era, from covered wagons, to washboards to homemade furniture. There were also diaries and journals and a multitude of pictures depicting the old lifestyle of the pioneers.

The girls took their time going through it, taking pictures and marveling at the lives their early ancestors had lived. "I don't think I would have made it," Gloria stated on a sigh. "Having to grow all your own food and worry about Indian attacks or having to walk miles just to visit a friend."

"I think the hardest would have been the food preservation," Becky added. "I can't imagine life without a refrigerator."

"Or having to make your own clothes," Susannah said knowing she couldn't sew a straight line if her life depended on it.

Becky giggled. "It means we just aren't pioneer stock."

"In that case, let's leave this all to the past and go sit and enjoy a modern garden," Gloria suggested with a hopeful grin.

"All right," Becky said handing her the keys, "Let's head over to your Gardens. You're driving."

"Great!" Gloria said happily. "Someone give me directions."

Once again settled in the car, Susannah reached onto the dash and grabbed the map and the itinerary all three of them had formed. Susannah herself had taken the time to write up all the directions from highway to highway for each of their destinations. She had also taken the time to plot them onto the map.

"Take the freeway west to Lexton," she instructed Gloria. "Then we'll veer down 83."

"Will do."

It took another two hours to reach the gardens. Hot and tired from the long drive, they sat down and enjoyed a late afternoon tea before touring the gardens themselves. Though neither Becky nor Susannah were garden enthusiasts, they were amazed at the gardens regardless. Border Gardens covered several acres of meandering paths winding around a shallow creek and through trees and bushes and flowers; flowers of every type and color and fragrance.

"It's so beautiful," Susannah said with a touch of awe as they walked around the meandering paths.

"Definitely," Becky agreed, "I wonder how long it took to develop all this."

"Well, the brochure says it was started about twenty years ago and they're still developing it," Susannah returned.

"How can they add to it?" Becky asked in surprise. "It's perfect already!"

"I'll say!" Gloria murmured as she snapped another picture. Both Susannah and Becky grinned at each other. Gloria was definitely enjoying the gardens. She was roaming through it all, taking her time in order to see everything as well as taking lots of pictures of the expansive garden and the variety of flowers it held.

Not that Susannah and Becky didn't take snapshots of their own though theirs were more of the gardens as a whole rather than individual flower arrangements growing throughout. It was close to six o'clock before they finally headed back toward the entrance.

"Anyone hungry?" Becky asked.

"Not super hungry," Gloria answered.

"Well, we could have a light supper here, or go on and eat when we get to Prairie Town," Becky suggested.

"Well, in that case," Gloria said her face brightening. "I'm starving! Let's eat here."

The girls ate at the outdoor restaurant there at the gardens then headed down the highway to Prairie Town, where they checked into their motel for the night.

"Wow!" Becky said looking around. "It really does look like one of those old cabins!"

Prairie Cabins indeed looked like a set of cabins. Though totally surrounded with logs on the outside and wooden walls on the inside, the buildings were fashionable and up-to-date with all the amenities one expected in a modern motel. Gloria gave a sigh of satisfaction.

Susannah grinned at her. "I take it you're happy with it?"

"Perfectly," she said. "Come on, girls. Let's get settled!"

Cade Candlewood waited impatiently for the seatbelt sign to go off. Though the plane had been a direct flight and had taken barely an hour, he knew time was of the essence. Thank God the Langley police had listened; had understood. They would have Susannah in custody by now. But he wanted Susannah in his protective custody! Only then would he feel her safe from that monster after her. His eyes glued anxiously to the sign above his head. It finally blinked and went out.

Cade grabbed his bag and stood, impatiently pushing his way through the throng of other passengers disembarking. He ignored the cries and insults that were sent his way.

Two uniformed police officers and a plain-clothed detective were waiting for him just outside the plane. Cade made a bee-line for them. The detective stepped up. "Agent Candlewood?"

"Do you have her in custody?" Cade asked immediately.

"I'm afraid we have a problem with that," Detective Alcott answered with a heavy sigh.

"What?" Cade's heart froze. "What do you mean a problem?"

The detective took his arm and began leading him out of the airport, the officers behind them. "I think we'd better take you to the house so you can see for yourself."

There seemed nothing out of the ordinary when they pulled up to Susannah's small house. The lawn had been recently mowed; the flower beds were clean and he could see Susannah's car parked in her carport. And the house itself looked quiet; peaceful ... until Cade walked through the front door that was held open for him.

Susannah's home had been totally demolished. Everything she had owned was strewn on the floor, broken or ripped apart. Clothes, knick-knacks, phone, photographs, books, CDs and DVDs, dishes, food; everything. Not one item appeared to have remained intact. The television and stereo system had been destroyed. The cabinet doors ripped from the cupboards. Her mattress cut in pieces with a knife. The furniture broken. Even the toilet seat had been ripped off.

A sickening dread filled Cade as he took it all in. The detective stepped up. "The only thing he didn't seem to damage was her car," he informed him quietly. "We believe he may have been afraid of being seen if he attempted it."

"Forget the car!" Cade bit out. "Did you find Susannah?"

Jeremy Alcott slowly shook his head. "But I don't think he did either," he said. "According to the neighbor, your girl apparently left with a friend yesterday morning for a three week vacation; female friend. Destination unknown."

Cade's heart jumped. "She see her leave?"

"Oh, yes, about 8:00 am. Even waved goodbye. Reported that both girls seemed happy and excited as they left. Overheard them say something about picking up another friend along the way."

"So when did this happen?" Cade asked his hand sweeping to the destruction.

"Apparently yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Heber, the neighbor, said a man showed up around two stating that he was Miss Brockman's brother. She told him what she told us, that your girl had left with friends on a vacation. The man questioned her about where, and she told him she didn't know. Mrs. Heber thought he had left after that, but wasn't sure as she herself had left for a hair appointment. I have a feeling that he took the time to do this as a message for your girl."