Chelsea stared at the round table in the middle of the room. The hum around her didn't penetrate the buzz in her head as questions continued to pummel her mind.

What had she missed?

How did the Calderones know about the storage unit?

How did they know she would have Caroline and Angie with her?

How did they know about the protection detail?

How did they take out the protection detail so easily?

How did they know where the safe house was?

The last question pushed the niggly suspicion into a blooming feeling of dread.

"Oh my ..." squeezing her eyes shut, Chelsea leaned on the table, "... no .... please don't let it be."

"Chels?" Bevis whispered from next to her, "Are you okay?"

"What?" Chelsea shook her head, looking around, "Um... yeah... I'm.... fine."

"Are you sure?" Bevis asked, "You were groaning."

Glancing around at the busy room Chelsea pulled Bevis to one side, whispering urgently, "Can you get into the security footage for the storage unit?"

"Me?" Bevis frowned as Chelsea shushed her and continued in a whisper, "Can't you get into the system?"

"If I do, whoever sold us out will know," Chelsea said, glancing around, "we have been compromised."

"Is that serious?" Bevis asked, looking around the room, wondering what Chelsea was looking for or at.

"Yes, it is serious," Chelsea sighed, "more than you will understand."

"Where do I get into the system?" Bevis asked, worry creasing her brow and racing through her heart, "I'll do it. If you've been compromised, so have my parents."

"Exactly! Plus, the evidence is in danger," Chelsea said, "who brought the real box in?"

"No one," Bevis said, "Jake collected the box from the ..." she hesitated and cleared her throat, "... collection point."

"At least that is in safe hands," Chelsea said, slowly looking around the room, "there are three people here that shouldn't be ..." her words slowed as she shook her head, "... and three people who were and are no longer."

"Who?" Bevis asked, surveying the room and seeing no one out of place.

"The protection detail were killed," Chelsea said, "a detail of three, and yet we have a full house of staff."

"Do you think they use the credentials to enter the building?" Bevis asked. "Why?"

"Could be for several reasons," Chelsea sighed, "perhaps to keep tabs on the investigation, pass on what we know ..." she paused, "... get to your parent, yourself and the evidence."

"Where are my parents?" Bevis asked.

"They were in the conference room ..." her voice trailed off as her gaze stopped at the room's windows, "... they are not there."

"Where are they?" Bevis asked.

"I'm not sure," Chelsea said, striding to her terminal and pulling up security footage; glancing at her watch, she shook her head, "right in front of us."

"Who took them?" Bevis asked as Chelsea transferred the footage and camera access to her phone, "Chels?"

"I don't know," she said, working quickly on her phone, "but we'll know soon enough ..." Chelsea looked at Bevis seriously, "... let's hunt some bad guys."

"Something I've never done before," Bevis said, sighing as she followed Chelsea, "where do we start?"

"Follow them," Chelsea said, grinning at Bevis, "another adventure Bev."

"I'm getting the feeling that when you say adventure, you mean diving into trouble, dangerous situations and confronting people who are armed in some way and want to kill you."

"Not always," Chelsea said, "the river rafting was an adventure."

"Perhaps for you," Bevis said as they turned the corner and saw three men pushing her parents along the corridor, "my father looks hurt."

"He is," Chelsea said, pulling her weapon from her holster and pushing the large red emergency button on the wall near them.

Alarms blared as gates slammed down, locking everyone in. The three men turned towards them, aiming their weapons. Chelsea shoved Bevis out of the way as she sank to her knees, sliding across the polished floor and shooting at them. Two fell to the ground, one holding his shoulder, the gun dangled from his shoulder, the other holding his knee while gasping in agony. The third tried to take cover behind Bevis' parents but floundered as he couldn't find them; Bevis noticed her mother draping her father's arm around her neck and walked him into a nearby room, closing the door as the gunfire started. Cleverly getting them out of harm's way and hiding them simultaneously.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Everything passed before her gaze in slow motion; the third man turned toward the windows of the room her parents had hidden in and started firing. Bevis felt white hot rage explode through her; without thinking, feeling or understanding what she was doing, she ran the length of the passageway, picking up a fire hydrant not far from the man and swung it with all her pent-up rage, frustration and fear connecting with his exposed mid-drift. He doubled over, clutching his torso and abdomen as she let out a guttural cry of fury; she brought the makeshift weapon down on his back and head, then swung it a third time, connecting with his face. Their eyes met for a moment, his filled with astonished surprise and her own cold raging anger. Panting, Bevis held the hydrant ready, but he stared at her blankly before crumpling to the floor. Slowly lowering the dented metal container, Bevis looked through the shattered window at her parent's fixed, wondering gazes. Dropping the now heavy metal object in her hand, she opened the door entering the room, kneeling next to her father, taking in his efforts to stop the bleeding on one side of his chest.

"Did they hit anything fatal or important?" Bevis asked, pulling an emergency first aid kit from her jacket pocket. No one answered; looking up from the container in her hands, she met two fixed gazes, "What?"

"When did you learn to do that?" her mother asked, the words hushed in the space between them.

"I didn't," Bevis said, looking down at the first aid kit again, "how bad is it?"

"I need a hospital," her father whispered, smiling as she met his approving gaze, "you did well, my little Bev."

Smiling at the approval of her actions, Bevis sighed, "I don't always do well," she shook her head, "but no one shoots at my family … especially when they're unarmed …" rolling her eyes and clearing her throat, she met her parents gazes, "… I … don't like bullies. Never have," she finished in a whisper, "let's get that covered and hopefully we can stop the bleeding until we get you to a hospital."

Patching up her father, Bevis noted her mother's silence after the first question, "Is that comfortable?"

Looking up at her father, she found him smiling at her, "You know how to staunch a wound?" chuckling, "Something tells me you're used to getting hurt …" he shook his head, "… life taught you more than I ever could."

Bevis shook her head, "I would have been happier if you had taught me," Bevis said, looking at her mother, who stared fixedly at her, "are you okay, Mom?"

"I never wanted you to follow our path," her mother said, "I wanted you to have a normal life."

"I figured that out as the years went by and lately, with all the stuff that's been happening," Bevis said, "in a way, I did have something like a normal life, but it was always overshadowed by this life."

"I'm so sorry, Bev," her mother whispered, "I wish it could have all been different but wishing never makes it so."

"No, rarely," Bevis said, turning as Chelsea entered the room.

"I've got medics coming now; we have a hospital wing here so your Dad can be safely attended. Still got the old faithful have you?"

"Thanks, Chels," Bevis said, pushing her feet as she slid her first aid kit into her jacket pocket, "of course I do … never dress without it. Meet my Mom and Dad, Chelsea."

Looking at the couple, Chelsea smiled, "Nice to finally meet you in person," she said, glancing over her shoulder, "looks like the medics are here. Bev and I will wait outside."

Chelsea walked Bevis out of the room as the medics knelt beside her parents. Ensuring they were out of earshot, Chelsea looked Bevis in the eye, "What the heck was that?"

"What?" Bevis asked, confused. Chelsea's gaze became earnest, and her eyebrows rose, "oh that …" Bevis shrugged, "he was shooting at my parents."

"You know I had that," Chelsea said, "it would have been helpful to question him, get information from him."

"Can't you?" Bevis asked, glancing past at the bodies; a sheet covered the entire body of the man she had assaulted, "oh … my … I just wanted him to stop. Are you going to arrest me?"

"No, that won't accomplish anything," Chelsea said, rubbing her hands over her face, fatigue tugging at every cell of her body, "I need you to get into that security footage," looking around she pushed open an office door dragging Bevis with her and closing the door, "use this machine … here is the website of the storage unit and you need to login and pull up the security footage from your storage unit."

"I don't have the login information," Bevis said as Chelsea pushed her into the seat, "how can I … hey that's my phone."

Chelsea's fingers flew over the phone's screen before returning it to Bevis. The text message she had received lay open on the screen, "Try the number sent to you."

Bevis looked at Chelsea, "I've never seen you like this before," she sighed, turning to the computer and slowly typing the information in, "looks like you were right. There ..." she said, pulling up the camera's from the storage unit, "… have at it."

Rising from the chair, Bevis moved toward the window, blindly staring at a freshly dawning day. It felt like a lifetime ago she had been at Jason's cabin; a small smile tugged at her lips. Jason. The man had been her anchor through all this, and she still hadn't worked up the nerve to tell him how she felt.

"Who's the coward now?" she whispered, the rays of the sun sprayed the sky with hues spreading from pink to dark orange, "When will I ever be able ..." shaking her head, she glanced at Chelsea, "… I'm always out of my depth."

"Got it," Chelsea said, watching the screen intently, "who is that?"

Bevis moved to stand behind her, watching the screen from the storage room. Memories and emotions flooded back, making it hard to breathe. Clenching her fists and closing her eyes, Bevis reminded herself to breathe evenly and deeply. Silence filled the room as calm followed her consistent inhalations. Opening her eyes, she found Chelsea watching her.

"You okay? Are you going to pass out?" Chelsea asked.

"I'm fine," Bevis said, "what did you find?"

"This is the person who took that box you switched," Chelsea said, smiling up at her, "good job on that," Bevis smiled and pointed to the screen, "who is that?"

Chelsea looked around, focusing on where Bevis pointed, "Who?"

"Go back a bit," Bevis said, waiting as Chelsea queued the footage and let it roll again, "there...see just in the shadows."

"Good catch," Chelsea said, sending her fingers flying again, "hmmm ... I know that face ..." quickly copying it, she Chelsea dragged the snapshot across the screen into another program Bevis hadn't seen, "... no way."

"What?" Bevis asked.

"She works with us," Chelsea said, "they both do. But neither are in the building ... they didn't come back with us."

"Maybe they went home," Bevis said, "perhaps they are wherever the box is ... that reminds me," Bevis pulled out her phone opening an app her father had downloaded for her, "yes there is it ... I have an address."

Chelsea looked at the address on the screen, "That's where the box is?"

Bevis nodded.

"That is the Calderone compound," Chelsea said, "we got played .... while we were inside thinking her sister was the head of this diabolical family, they had people taking out our protection detail, capturing our prisoners and stealing evidence."

"They had people who looked very similar to your people," Bevis said, narrowing her eyes at the screen, "not sure how it happened, but this camera popped up ..." she handed her phone to Chelsea, "they look like those two but not that close ... probably why they are staying in the shadows and not hanging around for long. I wouldn't want to be spotted if I'm not the person everyone knows from the office."

Chelsea looked at the screen, "Yeah, you're right, close, but no cigar," she chuckled "and there is the box."

"Chels, if these are the people who are on that footage," Bevis said, leaning her hands on the desk and meeting her friend's gaze, "where are the people they were replacing?"