The Fight for Faith (Hard Time Series Book 6)

Trapped Inside

It had been a few weeks since Stef and Lena initiated the adoption of Baby Stef and Faith in hopes of creating more stability for their two grandchildren. In that timeframe, Callie had caused a constant ruckus from inside the walls of Chowchilla.

Sadly, she was still unwell and pretty much a full-blown drug addict with no sign of seeking treatment or committing to the rehab program that Chowchilla offered. It wasn't the best program, but if you worked it, it was certainly better than nothing. Ironically, it was the same one Stef forced Tracey to attend before she allowed her to enter the Lion's Den.

At this time, the family was keeping a distance from Callie, and Lena had refrained from visiting her along with Jude and Tracey. As much as Lena wanted to be there for her daughter, at this time, she couldn't, and her wife, along with her grandchildren, were her priorities.

But Callie was still calling Pete daily with no signs of giving up. On top of that, she was harassing Wilson as well and demanding to press charges against Stef and Lena for the most ridiculous accusations. She had written them numerous crazy letters as well, one's the women never opened and she would call over and over to the point Stef told Baby Stef to stop answering the home phone. Which she did and Lena changed the number.

Her accusations seemed to be getting more and more outrageous and elaborate, and there was no truth to any of it. Including the one where she accused Stef of wanting to marry her and live like Bonnie and Clyde in the Florida Keys.

Chuckie was still pretty much a no-show, and it had been well over ten months since Callie had seen him. In fact, she had not heard or seen him since the day she got arrested outside the diner.

But, in her mind, he loved her, and she loved him deeply, and she believed that he was just out there working for them and saving money up for them to live in the Keys.

At one point, Chuckie promised to get Faith back for them, but what his motivations were no one knew. Plus, his plan to get Callie pregnant again failed, for she had a miscarriage a few weeks after she entered Chowchilla ten months ago.

There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Chuckie would show up one way or another, and Mike and Jude were just waiting. Waiting for him to surface, but what they didn't know was that Pete was as well.

When Callie first met Chuckie, it was at a wild party, and he saw someone vulnerable, desperate, and a naive girl that he could easily weasel his way into. And he had.

He had managed to convince her that she didn't need her medication and began selling it for profit, which he pocketed and spent on drugs for them.

Every month, Callie refilled her prescriptions, sometimes twice a month, saying she lost her pills and needed them to be refilled as soon as possible.

Her disability checks all went to Chuckie as well, even if the man convinced her that Stef and Lena would try to take them and that they were getting money for Baby Stef, Andrew, and Faith None of this was true.

But, Callie believed everything he said, everything, and he had poisoned her mind terribly against Stef and Lena to the point that Callie couldn't remember one good thing about them. Not a thing, and mixed with him constantly giving her drugs, she had become incredibly dependent on him not remembering any part of herself.

To top it off Chuckie was very abusive physically and he didn't bat an eyelash when he'd toss her across the room, beat her on the street, whip her with a rope, and threaten her any way he could.

He had Callie believing she was nothing without him and never was. Which, of course, was not true, but she believed it. She believed every single word of it, and he fed into her crazy ideas. He enabled and manipulated her terribly to the point he had been hooking her out five, six times a day seven days a week at one point.