"Hold on," Jake said, shifting to look at Chelsea more directly, "how can your family be involved?"

"Hey, don't look at me like I've been keeping secrets," Chelsea said, "this is the first I've heard about it ..." she frowned, "I wonder ..." she pulled a long necklace from around her neck, at the end were several items, the one she took hold of was a battered flash drive, "Dad gave me this before he and Mom moved away."

"What's on it?" Bevis asked.

"No idea," Chelsea shrugged, "... when I asked him, he said memories and to never lose it," she shook her head, "I assumed it was old family pictures or movies he had changed from film to digital. But if not ..." she detached it plugging it into her machine, waiting while it opened.

"Didn't you say your parents never got on with your Dad's family?" Bevis said, her mind whirring as thoughts flashed through it.

"Yeah, they never agreed with something that happened decades ago," Chelsea said, "Dad refused to speak of it, but Mom once said that my Great Grandfather, who still worked back then, and my Uncle did something dishonourable, my Grandfather and Father didn't agree and as a result my uncle was cut off from the family, and my Father never went near my Great Grandfather again ... I don't think he even went to his funeral."

"I wonder what he did that was so bad to be cut off," Jason murmured, "I don't know about anyone else's family, but in ours, that only happens when you cross a moral line ... I mean really badly ..." Jason shook his head, glancing at Jake, "... right Jake?"

"Yeah, like take the side of the enemy or coverup a murder, kill someone, become violent toward someone who is under our protection," Jake said, ticking the list off on his fingers, "... or turning your back on someone who is under attack on our land."

"Those are really specific," Bevis said, "how does this fit in with Chelsea's discovery?"

"Perhaps it was along those lines," Jason said, "one never knows."

"Dad had similar moral lines," Chelsea said, looking down at the documents popping open on her screen, "oh man ... these digital scans are old. I wonder ... if he kept the originals, and if so, where are they?"

"He must have," Jake said, "where did he get the documents to scan?"

"Point," Chelsea sighed, "but he never told me where to find them if I needed them."

"Perhaps he took them with him," Jason said, "you know ... wanting to protect you."

"Maybe," Chelsea murmured, frowning down at the screen, "it looks like my Great Grandfather and Uncle were the ones who took the statement from your ancestor ... there was a start to an investigation, apparently evidence was found and logged and then ..." Chelsea paled, "Oh my ..." looking up at the trio staring at her, "there was a fire and all the evidence was lost but not before the investigation hit pay dirt. My Grandfather was able to pull that evidence and the linking documentation before that fire ..." Chelsea shook her head, "he must have known what they were going to do. The report from the fire department advised the fire was deliberately started, an investigation into the department was underway when my Great Grandfather retired, and nothing was ever pinned on anyone."

"What is the evidence?" Jason asked.

"It has a link," Chelsea said, her flying fingers pausing, "oh .... now I know why he gave me the strong box."

"Oh, that is the one you asked me to hold onto ..." Bevis said, "it's in the compartment in my cupboard."

"You have a compartment in your cupboard?" Jake asked, smiling,

"Yes, I do," Bevis said, "when things started going missing, and other things started moving around, I made a secret compartment under my cupboard floor and put all my valuables there ... including Chelsea's strong box. I didn't want it going missing."

"That means you'll have to get it yourself," Jake said, looking at Jason, "we can go with you, but you'll need to pull that up yourself."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"It's going to have to be soon," Chelsea said, "apparently the building has been bought from Brad.... sorry, Frank."

"That was quick," Bevis said, "then let's do this."

"If you're going, I'm coming with you," Chelsea said, "there is a modicum of protection in numbers."

"Okay, let's make it happen," Jason said, "I'll chat with Dad and Bevis and Chelsea can get ready to go into the city to extract Bevis' personal possessions."

Bevis stood in the middle of her apartment floor. The furniture, appliances and everything that wasn't personally hers was gone, a box sat on the kitchen counter with her name on it, and Chelsea headed in that direction to retrieve it as Bevis and Jason moved into the bedroom. It was easy to see the surveillance cameras now that everything was bare. Looking around, Bevis took in the empty space.

"I don't know what I was thinking when I took this apartment," she whispered, "it's not even close to what I would like to live in."

"Why did you?" Jason asked.

"Brad," Bevis sighed, "he insisted I take it ..." she shook her head, "should have followed my instincts."

"Always good to do that," Jason said, looking around as Bevis headed to the cupboard, "It seems to fit more high-end people ..." he glanced out the window taking in the dark sedan parked across the street, "... is there a back way out?"

"Back way?" Bevis asked, frowning, "Not that I know of ... why?"

"If there is no back entrance, then I know why Brad, or should I say Frank picked this building," Jason said, covertly taking a picture of the two men in the front seats and the licence plate and sending them to Jake, "you're an easy target with nowhere to go."

Bevis paused while pulling her possessions from the floorboards and looking over her shoulder, "What aren't you telling me?"

"It would seem there is a surveillance team outside," Jason said, moving around the room, "they may not have seen you, but they certainly have seen me, and there is interest."

"What are we going to do?" Bevis asked, lifting a heavy gym bag from the space in the centre of the cupboard floor and putting her personal items inside, "I have everything."

"The strong box?" Jason asked as Bevis zipped it shut and pointed at the gym bag.

"There's no way I'm going to walk around with a strong box in my arms for everyone to see."

"Good point ... and good choice," Jason nodded as his phone dinged, "Ah... Jake said there is a back entrance ... and we need to move now."

"Okay, let's go," Bevis said, moving into the living area, nodding to Chelsea, who scanned her and frowned, "I'm not taking the clothes, Chels. I don't know what he bugged or didn't bug."

"Fair enough," Chelsea said, nodding to Jake, "let's roll."

The two men pulled out baseball caps and pulled them low over their foreheads, covering their eyes almost completely. The four of them left the apartment heading for the back door of the apartment building; as the back door was pushed open, two people, a man and a woman, walked in, chatting loudly between themselves. Jake and Jason adjusted their baseball caps and placed their hands on the women's backs, driving them to keep walking. They made it out the doorway, crossed the narrow street, and began walking down the opposite pavement before they heard shouts from inside.

"I think they have discovered we're not there any longer," Jake said, "we need to walk a little faster."

"You could," a familiar voice said, "or you could just get in and let's get moving."

"Candy," Jake said, frowning as the side of a windowless panel van opened; he quickly urged everyone to get inside, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm your extraction," she said, sitting in the driver's seat, starting the engine and putting it into gear as Jake closed the door, and the two men burst out of the back entrance, guns in hand. They stopped looking around.

Candy pulled her baseball cap lower over her forehead and pulled out into the one-way traffic, ensuring they could not see her face as she drove by.

"That was close," Bevis said, "too close ... who were those men?"

"Chelsea, any idea?" Jake asked as he pulled up close-up shots from the van's onboard camera.

"That one, I don't know, but this one ..." she pointed at a bald, clean-shaven burly man, "this one is a Calderon brother ... two spots away from the head of the family."

"Why are they sending Calderon’s to do the job?" Jason asked.

"Brad or Frank, should I say is in military custody," Chelsea said, "they don't have anyone on their books in the military prepared to risk their career over something like this or anything they do. They sent the big guns to deal with this."

"I have a question," Bevis whispered, huddled at the side of the van on the floor, her knees close to her chest and her cold hands burning an icy path through the fabric of her jeans to her skin, "if I'm no longer a target and Brad ..." she shook her head, "Frank is in custody ... why were those men at my old apartment building?"