Casey's Rise Ch. 11

"That's wonderful!" Casey exclaimed, tearing up slightly, "but what can we do about those protesters now if they come back? I expect we haven't seen the last of them."

"Unfortunately, we can't legally stop them from being there for the time being, but hopefully they'll lose interest eventually. What they're doing with waving posters about is about all they can do. Take heart that they're in a minority and they're never going to get anywhere, and once the new harassment laws come into place, then the police can step in to stop it. It won't be hard to make a case for nudist harassment then, which will overrule any right they have to hold a protest outside of these premises."

"Oh ok. It's a pity we can't do more yet. They're upsetting for the girls and the guests."

"I think what you did today with your security presence, and that very large man you had with you, should deter them from stepping out of line, and hopefully that encourages them to quit and go home in due course," the Judge assured her.

"Oh, that was Alberto. He works for Joe," Casey replied. "I have to thank you for lending him to us today, Joe. He really was helpful."

"Is good," Joe replied while raising his glass to Casey before turning to Jolene. "Jolene, we go for a walk together, yes?"

"Sure, Joe. Lead the way," Jolene replied with a smile.

Casey continued talking to the remaining men for a while, before eventually checking on Greg and Cassandra and getting something to eat. Afterwards she checked on the girls doing cam shows in their quarters before heading back to her apartment to finally get a well-deserved shower and some time to herself. In the meantime, Joe walked with Jolene along the poolside and then towards the dimly lit car park. Jolene was surprised when she felt his hand take hers.

"You really are a wonderful woman," Joe began. "I have not felt such happiness in many years."

"Thanks, Joe," Jolene responded. "I too have been very happy with our arrangement."

"You like, yes?" Joe asked.

"Very much so, Joe. You have awakened something within me that I didn't even know was there."

"I am very pleased to hear that," Joe replied with a smile as he turned to face her. "May I kiss you?"

"I would like that very much," Jolene replied as she took him into an embrace and their lips met. Joe had a strong smell of cigar smoke and expensive aftershave about him. The effect was overwhelmingly masculine. At the same time, he exuded power and danger. Jolene found him thrilling to be with. As she lost herself in the kiss, her thoughts turned to the times she had spanked and whipped him.

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

Jolene broke away from the kiss to see Cassandra standing a short distance away with her eyes wide open in disbelief and her fists clenched.

"Cassandra, oh God! Let me explain," Jolene begged as she stepped towards her.

"Get the fuck away from me, bitch!" Cassandra spat. "Pa, how could you? What the actual fuck!"

"Cassandra, wait!" Jolene shouted after Cassandra as she practically ran from the scene. It was clear she was more than a little distressed by what she had just witnessed.

"Let her go," Joe instructed as he put his hand on Jolene's arm, preventing her from running after Cassandra. "I will talk to her when the time is right. I know my daughter. She needs some time first before she will listen."

"Oh God, Joe. What have we done?"

"It will be ok, but you must give her time."

Casey and Greg were both shocked as Cassandra stormed in crying in a fit of rage.

"Cassandra! What happened?" Greg asked with more than a little concern.

Cassandra didn't reply but instead threw herself face down on the bed and started punching a pillow with surprising fury.

"Cass! What is it?" Casey asked, not enjoying seeing her lover in such a state.

At last Cassandra sat up and looked at Casey.

"Your fuckin' psycho sister! She's gone too far this time. We have to sell her!" she blurted.

"Why, what has she done?"

"I saw her kissin' Pa!"

"Really?" Greg responded in shock. "I didn't see that coming."

"Me neither," Casey admitted. "I know they've been talking, but he's twice her age and her former father-in-law. It sounds very odd. Is Jolene trying to manipulate him, do you think?"

"What else could it be?" Cassandra responded. "The bitch has to go now! She's just goin' to fuck everything up if we keep her around here."

"Cassandra, you need to calm down," Casey pleaded. "At least let me talk to her and get her side of the story to see what she's up to."

"No, I won't fuckin' calm down!" Cassandra spat. "And you know there ain't no point talkin' to her. The bitch lies her ass off when it suits her."

"C'mon, Cass. Wasn't your father the one who invited her over to his house in the first place?" Greg pointed out. "That's probably when whatever is going on first started."

"Whose side are you two on?" Cassandra demanded. "You all gangin' up on me? Fuck! I seen what I seen. Don't you believe me?"

"No, we believe you, Cass," Casey assured her. "I just think we all need to get together and talk about it before we do anything rash."

"Well, you can count me out of that. I ain't talkin' to that bitch no more," Cassandra responded. "And if you won't do nuthin about her, then I'm outta here! You can all live in your own stink together. One big happy family of psychos and suckers! Here's your fuckin' key, Greg. Take it and wank yourself silly for all I care!"

And with that Cassandra tore the chain holding Greg's key from her neck and threw it at him before storming out of the apartment. A short time later Cassandra's Porsche was seen spinning its wheels as it left the car park.

"Jesus Christ! What are we going to do now?" Greg asked Casey.

"There's not much we can do for the time being," Casey replied with tears running down her face. "Hopefully she just needs some time to cool off, and then she'll come back a bit more rational so we can talk."

"God, I hope so," Greg replied. "I've never seen her that worked up before."

"Me neither," Casey replied.

****

Sleep didn't come easily to Casey and Greg that night, so Greg decided to leave Casey sleeping the next morning when he got up to check on the girls handling the breakfast shift. Cassandra still hadn't returned and wasn't answering her phone. He was worried, but there wasn't much else to do than focus on the task in front of him, which was keeping the resort running. He hoped that things would work themselves out with Cassandra, and nothing else would go wrong in the meantime, but as he was supervising the clean-up after the breakfast shift, one of the girls burst into the kitchen looking for him.

"Greg, we have major problems outside! You better come and see," she announced.

"Why, what's going on?"

"Those protesters are back and there's way more of them. They're blocking our gate and not letting anyone in or out!"

"For fuck's sake. It never ends," Greg responded while rolling his eyes.

Outside, things were a lot worse than he anticipated. There were people everywhere holding posters, chanting, and banging drums. Sure enough the gates were being blocked, and behind them he could see a news crew on the scene. Some distance away, he could see Bernstein being confronted by Ellie. Ellie was standing defiantly and pointing her finger at Bernstein's chest, but the noise from the protesters prevented him from hearing what was being said.

He was about to go over to her when before his eyes a black van without license plates pulled up and four men wearing masks got out, grabbed Ellie, and bundled her into the van before speeding away! In a panic, Greg fought his way through the crowd to try to get to her, but his efforts were in vain. The van was disappearing down the street, and Ellie with it!

He looked around and saw Bernstein smiling at him. So, she was behind this? Fine. At least Ellie was physically safe, but it was time now to pull out the big guns. He texted Casey and Jolene. Within minutes they were beside him as he explained everything that had just happened.

"She was really abducted?" Casey asked in shock.

"Yep, black van, no license plates or distinguishing marks," Greg explained. "But I turned around and Bernstein was smiling at me, so she's definitely behind it. She wouldn't be smiling if she'd just witnessed her granddaughter being snatched off the street and she didn't have something to do with it."

"So have you called the police or what?" Jolene asked.

"Not yet," Greg replied. "I wanted to see what you guys reckoned first."

"Oh my God. I hope Ellie is ok," Casey continued with a worried expression on her face as she looked up and down the street, as if hoping to see Ellie or the mysterious black van.

"I'm sure she's not in any immediate danger, Casey," Greg assured her. "We just need to find out where they've taken her, and how we get her back now."

"Ok, we still need to deal with all of these dickheads anyway," Jolene announced as she gestured towards the noisy protesters standing with their arms linked across the driveway. "I'll call Joe and get Alberto back here. Greg, you call the police and report Ellie's abduction, and see if they can get these idiots to fuck off. In the meantime, I need to get back to reception. With both Ellie and Cassandra away, I'm the only one who knows the systems, and we probably have a lot of worried guests right now."

"No worries, Jolene," Greg replied. "Onto it."

"What can I do?" Casey asked.

"Casey, you come with me," Jolene suggested. "We need your face at the front desk to keep the guests and the girls assured that we're all ok and everything's running as normal."

"How am I going to do that when I'm freaking the fuck out?" Casey asked in more than a little distress.

"Well, like they say. The show has to go on. We have a resort to run and that has to come first."

"You're right, Jolene," Casey realised as she pulled herself together. "Ok, Greg, let me know when the police and Alberto get here. Let's not let these motherfuckers get in our way!"

A short time later, two squad cars arrived, and the protesters moved apart to allow them into the resort car park. Alberto was also on duty but made himself scarce at the sight of the police presence.

Greg explained everything he had seen to a constable as Casey came up beside him.

"Can you get our girl back?" Casey asked.

"Mr Campbell was just explaining that the person abducted is in fact indentured to you, ma'am, and she is not in fact a free citizen?"

"That's correct, sir, but what difference does that make?" Casey asked, sensing some reluctance in the constable's manner. "We saw her snatched off the street. It's clearly a kidnapping, which is still illegal isn't it?"

"Well, um... technically it's actually theft, ma'am," the constable explained. "We will of course conduct enquiries, but a two-year Indent has less value than a motor vehicle, so it barely even qualifies as grand larceny. Our superintendent is unlikely to approve the resources for a full-scale investigation, and with such little information to go on I don't like your chances."

"You're kidding me?" Casey asked in surprise. "But she's still a person, surely? That's got to count for something?"

"Not according to the law, ma'am, unfortunately," the constable replied sadly. "However, you do have a right to recover your property using reasonable force, if necessary, if you catch my drift."

Casey noticed the constable winked as he said that last bit. She guessed there may be a legal loophole they could exploit, assuming they could find where Ellie had been taken.

"Ok, but what about all these people blocking our gates? Can you at least get them to disperse and stop interfering with our business?"

"Unfortunately, we can't make them move on. They do have a legal right to protest in the public space, but with that being said they don't have a right to enter your property or block access to it," the constable responded. "We can clear them out of the way for the moment, but we have limited time we can stay here. I suggest you hire a private security force."

"We have some on the way," Casey replied without realising Alberto had already arrived. "Jolene and I will put our security uniforms on as well. Are we allowed to use Tasers?"

"As long as they are used defensively and not offensively, yes," the constable confirmed. "You can't just Tase people willy-nilly, but the law says you may use reasonable force to defend your property, and as a woman it's not hard to make a case that you were threatened and felt your life was in danger."

Thankfully the protesters calmed down considerably after the police pushed them back and warned them that they would be arrested if they blocked the gates to the Crescent. The Tasers had arrived that morning and Casey and Jolene stood guard with their hands on them in their thigh-holsters, which along with Alberto's presence seemed to be enough to keep them back. Insults and chants still filled the air, though.

"Tell me, Jolene," Casey began once there was a suitably quiet enough moment to talk. "What is going on with you and Jo?"

"Um... well, we were trying to keep it on the down low," Jolene began explaining, "but we've been seeing each other."

"Cassandra thinks you're up to your old tricks again and trying to use him to your advantage."

"Oh shit!" Jolene responded. "Oh God, yes, I can see how she might jump to that conclusion, but it's not like that. We've just been enjoying each other's company. Fairly innocent stuff really. There's nothing really I can gain from him anyway. I'm an Indent so I can't own property, so he can't give me gifts or anything. And he has no say in how we run our business so I can't use him for a leg up. There really is no more to it than we just like each other."

"What can you possibly have in common, though?" Casey asked. "He's twice your age and nothing like the type of man you'd normally be interested in. He's not even particularly handsome."

"Um... he gets me, Casey," Jolene replied. "Emotionally, he's like me, and he's awoken something within me that I didn't realise was there. I've never met anyone like him. He stimulates me and arouses me. I think I might be in love."

"You? In love?" Casey asked, feigning incredulity.

"I know, right?" Jolene laughed. "I didn't think it was possible either, but there it is."

"Have you had sex with him?" Casey asked, impressed that Jolene seemed to be being quite open about her sociopathy for once.

"Um... yes, but it's not really like that," Jolene replied. "Um... you know the kind of relationship you have with Greg, how he likes you and Cass having control over him? It's kind of like that, but a bit more physical. Don't you dare tell anyone, though. It's something very private for him that he wouldn't want to get out."

"The damn patriarchy again," Casey scowled. "Men and women trying to live up to standards they don't fit. No problems. This stays with me. So, what do you mean by 'more physical'?"

"Um... well let's just say he's kind of a masochist, and it turns out I might be a sadist," Jolene admitted. "Together we've found an outlet for those things without hurting anyone who doesn't want to be."

Casey's eyebrows raised at that, and she paused for a moment to think about it before she continued.

"I guess that explains why you got all bossy and spanky with Cassandra and I?" she asked.

"Look, I can't apologise enough for that," Jolene responded, biting her lip. "I misjudged both of you, but yes, you're probably right. While I didn't know it at the time, I liked the power, and I was getting off on it. Maybe I was so drunk on that power that I didn't see things clearly enough to realise that neither of you wanted to be treated that way. I thought you would. In my mind at the time, I thought it was the right thing to do, just as I thought I was doing the right thing by you to force you into this life to begin with. I fucked up, Casey. I hope one day you can forgive me for it."

"You're already forgiven, sis," Casey replied. "That doesn't mean I'll ever forget what you did or forget what you are. That's why I'm asking you these questions now. I know they're quite personal, but I need to know the truth, so I know what to tell Cassandra if or when she comes back."

"Oh, Joe's confident she'll come back," Jolene assured her. "She's hot-blooded and just needs time to cool off. God dammit! I just assumed she didn't like seeing me kissing her father. It didn't occur to me that she'd think I was scamming him."

"Well, I wasn't completely sure of that either," Casey admitted, "but now I think I believe you. I guess I just have to wait for her to show up, and hope I can convince her as well."

"Anything I can do, just let me know," Jolene replied, putting her hand on Casey's shoulder.

"Thanks, Jo. I will."

By nightfall most of the protesters had gone away again, so Alberto called it a night, and Casey, Greg and Jolene went back inside.

Later as Casey lay in bed, she worried about everything and wasn't able to sleep. There was still no word from Cassandra, and she wasn't answering her phone or replying to texts. The protesters were growing in number and getting rowdier. Ellie had been snatched in broad daylight in front of them all, and the police seemed unwilling or unable to do anything about it. At least twenty guests had checked out in fear of what was going on. The protest had been broadcast on the evening news, so now more guests were likely to be scared off. All of the Crescent girls were frightened, and Casey didn't know what she could tell them. What the fuck had she gotten them all into? This was turning out to be one giant shit-fight. She needed a plan. They needed to find Ellie and bring her back. Cassandra needed to be found and brought to her senses as well. Those protesters had to go. Right now, though, all she wanted was to walk away from it all somehow, but she knew that wasn't an option. She still had twenty-five naked girls in her care that she'd promised a scholarship. Fuck! Why was this all happening? She felt alone and beaten, everything was fucked up and there wasn't a solution for any of it.