Broc:

'Your destination is on the right.'

The GPS says as Mike and I pull into the strip mall. It's nearly evening but we can clearly see our men already watching over the place.

Once we found the place we sent the address to our local organization to shake down the store owner. The owner was an older man who was obviously on their payroll. He knew nothing about their operations, but he reaped the benefits of them running kidnapped girls through his shop. Neither Mike or I had patience for that shit and decided scum like him didn't need to live on this earth.

Once we took care of that, we found all his notebooks detailing 100's of girls who have stopped here before and how much he was paid. After looking around we found a small door that lead to a staircase. Up stairs was a make shift hospital. This must have been why they stopped here. Devin was pretty fucked up, I'm sure he had to get some kind of treatment. We brought in our crime scene guys and they worked diligently to find any more clues.

When Mike and I made the once through, he made the suggestion that we eat in the car while we wait. I wasn't really in the mood to eat, but I knew I wouldn't last much longer without food. I agreed and as we sat in the car, I watched Mike look out around the strip mall, thinking. He was always thinking.

"Where do you think they went from here?" I ask him, realizing that I needed to break the tension between us. I know right now I'm not his favorite person, but we both respect each other and have the same goal in mind.

"I think they went out the back, travelling down that dirt road. It probably leads to some main highway somewhere."

I nodded in agreement, "Makes sense."

"I've been thinking..." Mike started, he looked at me almost unsure about what he was about to say, "I don't think this is just about the Diaz Family trying to get back at you. I don't know that they took Summer just because of your business you know?"

I furrowed my brows, "Why else would they want her? They know my family has plenty of money for a ransom, they could get a pretty price for her, a bidding war with her could bring in a lot of money to them..." I stop eating wondering where he's going with this.

"True, but you could easily get her back or go after anyone who buys her." I sat back thinking about what he just said. There's a lot of truth in that. My father has many friends in high places.

"Ok, then why take her?" I start looking out the window trying to put the pieces together differently.

Mike throws a fry in his mouth, "Because of her brain. Someone may have found out about her designs, or maybe they found out about what a great shot she is... I don't really know... Just a thought. The more I look into the Diaz family, the more I wonder about their investors you know? This gang is disorganized, their drug and weapon sales rarely go off without a problem, but with the girls, the seem so well managed. It's almost like someone else is pulling the strings." He watched my reaction as I went from shocked to angry and shocked again. I never once thought outside of this stupid gang family trying to mess with my families business.

Fuck I was one selfish asshole.

"So who would be pulling the strings?" My voice rising.

Mike shrugs, "I don't know, but look what Brittany just sent us..." I looked down at his Ipad and looked at the photo, the man in the picture looked like Mike. I looked back from him to the photo to him again.

Mike rolled his eyes, "I know, I know. The guys looks like me."

We both sighed, "So who is he?" I tried to stay calm again.

"I don't know, but I do know that your father and my mother have always told me to stay away from anything concerning my father's crime family. I knew my father went above and beyond to keep us out sight. I figured why waste my time you know?" Mike had his hands on the wheel, knuckles turning white. I knew how he felt.

"Fuck our parents. FUCK THEM. They want to keep secrets from us? Why? To protect us? Now we've got this big huge giant problem and we're still missing so many fuckin' pieces that I bet they could fill in!" I slammed my hand on the dash and Mike punched the steering wheel. We both smirked at each other and shook out our hands.

"I'm going to call my mom, You call your dad. It's time we get some answers." Miked pulled out his phone and I pulled out mine. I got out of the car and began pacing outside the car waiting for my father to answer. It's possible he's sleeping, but I doubt it.

"What?!" My father yells into his phone, "Oh sorry Broc, It's just been a little crazy here. So what's the update? Did you get anything from the tech store?"

I took a deep breath to deal with the anger bubbling up inside me, "Father, you are going to tell me EVERYTHING there is to know about Fredrick's family business. NOW!"

There's a long silence as I hear him whispering to some people in the background, probably asking people to leave the room, "Listen, Broc, there's a lot to this ok? I don't know how everything is run now as they keep their business incredibly private with many many government officials on their payroll..."

I groan, "Father..."

He sighs, "Ok, ok. That family is different. They believe woman are born to be kept by their masters. Men are born to be dominant woman submissive..."

"...They treat the woman born into the family as slaves. They are born and trained from a young age to serve their parents, then their masters. They aid in the business usually through finding other woman and training them to serve the family in one way or another..."

What the fuck was I hearing?!

"...When the woman turn 16 their father's choose a master for them. Then men are trained from a young age to manage and keep the family weapons and any other black market merchandise coming through their compound. They live all together, mostly. I know Fredrick left when he was 16 and started working as a hit man. He met his wife around that time too and they left together. The only reason he stayed alive was because his father ran the family empire and refused to have his own son killed. They mostly deal in woman, young woman, sold into slavery basically."

I was shaking at his words, I scrubbed a hand down my face trying to take in all this bullshit.

"Father, tell me you kept some tabs on some of these people." I pleaded.

"I'm sorry Broc, but once Marissa severed ties with us, the only thing I kept tabs on was Summer and Mike for a bit. Mike's built a very nice organization I must say..." He was beginning to trail off obviously not understanding why this was so important.

"Father! Listen to me, what if it's not the Diaz family after Summer to get to me. What if it's Fredrick's family trying to get Summer back?" After the words left my mouth I heard my father groan.

"Damn it!" My father yelled into the phone, "His brother took over and the last I heard, NO ONE escapes the family business. Ever. I know there was a lot of bad blood between Fredrick and his brother. Fredrick met Marissa and his brother also had eyes for her. Of course they were young and when Fredrick left, it wasn't like they let them go easy. I don't know if they ever contacted Mike, although while he worked with us it would be difficult for him to get close. They must have found out about Summer somehow. Probably from the designs."

I began pacing behind the car while I was processing what my father was saying.

This was actually a good thing. Maybe now we can go after Fredrick's family and find Summer.

As soon as I hung up the phone, I heard the car door slam behind me.

Mike looked like he was ready to punch something, hopefully not me.

He rubbed his hands down his face and leaned on the back of the car. I did the same. "Broc, this is some fucked up family bullshit." I chuckled. He chuckled. Maybe we were going crazy for laughing at a time like this.

"Yeah. My father told me they sell women, treat them like slaves, girls are raised this way to serve their masters and the men are trained killers." I say as I look over at him watching his reaction.

Mike Shrugged, "My mom said the same thing. She also said my dad had a twin brother. That man is the photo is probably my cousin. She thinks the reason they want Summer is because Darrion, my uncle, is trying to get back at my mom for not choosing him. Also because she's smart and has a brain like my dad. She doesn't believe they will sell her but they will force her to be a slave as they feel no woman is allowed to hold a position of power ever."

"You think there's something out there?" I wanted to know what he was thinking.

"Yes." He said simply.

I keep thinking about Summer and how she got wrapped up on this whole mess. I know she's strong, but I wasn't sure how long she could hold out. One of Mike's men came running out of the tech shop towards us yelling to get out attention.

"Mike! The police are on their way, he's one of ours, but he's cautioned us that he had to have his camera on him. These new ones are harder to crack I believe it's best we move now." Mike nodded in response.

"Thanks Kip. Gather everyone up, those on team A head back to headquarters with the evidence, Team B will head to the hotel and await further instructions."

Kip nodded in response as we loaded ourselves in the car. I turned to look at Mike. He was so confident in his men, and they treated him different than any of the other gang leaders I've met.

Same with Sean, now that I think about it. They didn't seem to follow him out of fear, but instead out of friendship.

As we pulled out of the strip mall, Mike called Sean and Brittany to tell them about the new meeting point. A cafe not far from here.

"Hey Broc, I'm curious. How are things with you and your dad? I know your family moves a ton of product, but you don't strike me as the next leader of the family business..." He looked over to see me glaring at him, he smirked back, "No offense!" He chuckled.

I shrugged it off realizing he was spot on, "I never really wanted to lead the family business. That was always my brother's ambition. I've never really enjoyed my father's leadership style I guess you can say. Lot's of fear and intimation. It creates so many enemies. My father lives in fear that someone just might come in and try to hurt his family. I mean, I get that's just the nature of the business but I don't know that it has to be that way you know? I'm not attracted to the power, more the money." I said laughing as Mike laughed as well.

"I get that..." Mike said as we pulled into the cafe, "I've never wanted the power either, just the money."

Once we meet up with Brittany and Sean. We discuss the location of the commune. Brittany is beyond confident that this is the place. Even with all the tech at our disposal we can't gauge how far down this place really goes. The place is heavily guarded and probably filled with many young girls and woman so we can't risk moving in guns a blazin'.

I'm starting to get anxious as I hear Mike arguing with Brittany about how some minor part of the plan, "Hey Guys!..." My voice was louder than I expected, "Listen, can we just move on from this?" Everyone was glaring at me and it was only then that I saw their bags under their eyes. Brittany really needed to rest, her eyes looked so red. Her hair was a tangled mess. Sean was so tense, keeping his arm around Brittany knowing full well what she needed but there was no way she was going to rest until Summer was back. Mike's normal clean cut face was full of stubble that he was scratching at. I doubt I looked any better.

My heart sank, "I'm sorry." I gritted out.

Everyone around the tabled nodded as we finished our food in silence. I think we all needed the food, and the quiet for a moment. I saw Brittany begin to snuggle up to Sean, trying hard not to lean too close otherwise she'd fall asleep on his shoulder. I smiled. Soon that could be Summer and I.

We agreed on the plan, the next rally point and agreed to rest up before early tomorrow morning. I tried to push for it to happen sooner, but I knew it would take that long to gather the resources and get everyone in place.

The ride to the hotel was silent. I don't think Mike and I had anymore to say, all we could do was rest and wait.