Jake parked the car on the edge of the sandy road. To anyone who didn't know their lands, it appeared they had stopped in the middle of nowhere, but he knew better. Jason always joked that they would never find anything if they couldn't use GPS. Stepping out into an open field where the beautiful view and the mountainside extended as far as the eye could see. Flowers filled the space in a spray of colours he would ordinarily take time to enjoy. Today, he gave it a moment of appreciation before swinging his backpack onto his shoulders. He followed his father toward a cave entrance.

"Do you think we'll be welcome," he asked Josiah as they entered the cave and moved into the gloom penetrated with gas torches in protruding metal holders, reminding Jake of ancient times and period piece movies.

"If we're not, it could be embarrassing," Josiah said, "somehow, I don't think they would expect us out here. But we can only hope that we're remembered."

Jake grimaced, "Guess we should get back to making our rounds."

"We haven't in the last few months because of the increase of refugees," Josiah said, "but you're right, we do need to do our drive-through."

A sound drew their attention as they rounded the corner, as a tall man holding a rifle stepped out of the shadows, aiming at them.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Jake and Josiah of the family," Jake said, slowly moving toward the startled man, allowing the light to move fully across their features.

"Oh wow, you two scared me," he said, "we're a little tense at the moment."

"Good to see you, Stuart," Josiah said, stepping forward and shaking his hand, "how is the family?"

"We've moved our families in here with us so we get to see them, and they are currently well," Stuart said, glancing at Jake, "this is Jake ..." extending his hand and shaking Jake's hand, "... you haven't been around a lot lately ... like Jason. Where is Jason?"

"He's at the house with Candy," Jake said, "any word about the ... ah ... contestants?"

"That's one way to put it," Stuart said, "at the moment, it's a standoff. Brother against brother."

"Casualties?" Josiah asked.

"I heard there were some, but I don't have details," Stuart said, motioning toward an archway further down the passageway.

"We'll go and look," Josiah said, moving past him.

"You two should be somewhere safer than this," Stuart said, making them pause and look at each other before looking at him again, "we can't afford to lose you to this family."

"We know what we're up against," Jake said, smiling tightly, "we cannot afford to be anywhere else."

Josiah sighed, "Thank you for caring, Stuart, but this is why we have this land. Our mandate is to protect it, and the people living on it … not hide somewhere while others do our jobs for us."

"But if you die, what will happen to everyone else?" Stuart said, worry riding every word.

"The line is strong," Josiah said, "we will not fall."

Turning, they entered the bustling oblong rock cave; people sat at computer stations working busily, leaning over maps on tables, or searching for various things in paper files.

"Jo, what are you doing here?" an older man asked as he looked up from a map on the table.

"What do you think I'm doing here, Henry?" Josiah said, "Give us an update and status report."

Henry nodded, motioning for them to join them, "It seems at the moment there is a cease-fire between the two brothers, but the casualties on both sides are high. The ranch, land, river and mountain range are holding ... over on this side," he pointed at a section of a map, "is another road where we're moving units into place to take them from the other side should the fighting start again."

"What does he want?" Josiah asked.

"He demands speech with you," Henry said, "so far, we're not listening to any demands."

"Why does he want to speak with me?" Josiah asked, "he knows I won't budge, and there is nothing they have on me."

"Apparently, they have Caroline," Henry said, "is it true?"

"It was," Josiah said, "but my information tells me she is now with The Nisim and is protected."

"The …" Henry blinked rapidly, "… it's true."

"Of course it's true," Josiah laughed, "don't tell me you thought it was folklore as well."

"Frankly, I don't know what to believe," Henry said, glancing over their shoulders toward the back, "something is happening … come with me."

Jake followed his father and Henry down the room's length, taking in the busy people and their various tasks. Slowly moving down the room, Jake listened to snippets of conversations until he reached the clustering group of people around his father and Henry. Jake gently moved through the gathering group and took in everything happening. Murmurs of concern rippled around him.

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"What's going on?" he asked his father.

"Looks like a force is coming in," Josiah said, "but it's happening on all sides except the Nisim land."

"That can only mean trouble," Jake sighed, "are there any kind of signatures?"

A short blonde woman tacked out in black fatigues handed him a list filling the length of a page, "That is all of them."

Jake looked through them, nodding his thanks, "Not all of these belong to The Calderone."

"No, some belong to the military, and others belong to other gangs," the blonde said before walking away.

"Why would other gangs be involved?" Jake murmured, frowning. Looking around, he found an empty desk; pulling out and opening Chelsea's laptop, he quickly got to work filling in blank spaces. The suddenness of his occupation drew Josiah's attention.

"Son, what are you doing?" Josiah whispered, bending over Jake's shoulder.

"Chelsea started this structure," Jake said, "filling in pieces of the Calderone business tree, who they coerced, bribed, manipulated, blackmailed and so on."

"Heavens, it looks massive," Josiah shook his head, "you think there is something to do with who is bringing in the attack now?"

"I bet my life on it," Jake said, pausing as he read a message popping up in the corner of the laptop screen, "Oh my …. she killed her brother's girlfriend because he wanted to leave the family business and marry her."

Josiah shook his head, "She is one sick woman," he paused, bending closer as another message popped up, "Oh heavens, there's footage of it and what she did with the body."

Jake swallowed hard, "Her brother cannot be pleased."

"Well, apparently not," Josiah said, pointing at the screen's corner, "he is going to show us how to stop her once and for all after his shower."

"Hmmm, let's hope we don't need to replace any shower tiles," Jake said, "if I discovered that kind of information, I wouldn't be thrilled."

"Neither would I," Josiah said, "in fact, I would be angry enough to end her myself."

"Do we let him?" Jake asked.

"I would say no," Josiah said, "but it may end up being out of our hands."

"Who is his father?" Jake asked, "He doesn't look like any of the men in the Calderone family … it could be that his bloodline isn't even Calderone."

"Bloodwork will prove it, but for now, we'll see what he does," Josiah said, "I need to check out the ammunition stock."

Nodding, Jake went back to work. He would be eternally grateful if this could end now … today … forever. If this was all at an end, there was a possibility of living an everyday life ... more normal than what they had all lived until now. Looking around, he noticed one or two people watching him. Meeting their eyes, he waited until they looked away and continued working. Pulling their photos from the security footage, he began to run them in the recognition program. He wasn't allowing anyone to infiltrate what they were doing. The people on this land were family, and no one messed with this family.

Pouring the steaming inky brew into the coffee cups, Candy took a moment to relish the smell of freshly made coffee. Allowing a gusty sigh to exit through open lips, she pushed the coffee pot into the space in the peculator.

"I take mine black," Eitanne said behind her, causing her to gasp and spin around, "sorry …" he grimaced, "… didn't mean to scare you."

"I didn't hear you come in," Candy said, resting her hand on her chest, "black, you say … easy enough," picking up a cup, she handed it to him before adding cream to her own and sugar to Jason's. "Are you feeling better after the shower?"

Eitane nodded while sipping his coffee, "It made me feel … cleaner and more decided."

"Decided on what?" Candy asked.

"A way forward to get rid of … her," Eitan said, "I have the journals… all of them. While changing, I was going through one and found a picture of my mother with this man." Handing a picture to Candy, "I don't know who he is, but on the back, my mother wrote "the man who holds my heart", and I want to know if he is still alive."

Nodding, Candy moved toward their working area, "If there are any pictures of him or records of any kind … we'll find him."

Nodding, Eitan followed her, "I don't know if it's me just being fanciful, but he looks a little like me."

Candy moved toward their workstations, handing Jason a cup of coffee, "Didn't you want Eitan's help with something?"

"Yeah, I came across this line of code embedded in the footage, but it doesn't bring up anything," Jason said, pointing to a section on the screen.

Eitan looked over his shoulder, frowning, "Well, I'll be damned. You'll need a password for that camera. May I?"

Jason moved out of his seat, allowing Eitan to take his place and pull up the code, adding a string of words to it and hitting enter. The screen flickered a little before it opened with footage of a room filled with cages and areas lining the walls with prison bars. Jason frowned, rubbed at his eyes and bent closer.

"Those are people?" Jason said, glancing at Eitan's blank face, "Did you know about that?"

"I heard her refer to the dungeon as her freakshow, but I didn't know …" he licked his dry lips, swallowed hard, closed his eyes, breathed in deeply and exhaled, looking at Jason as anger flared darkly in his gaze, "I didn't…. I would never allow … she has to be stopped."

"There is a punching bag in the corner," Candy said, pointing vaguely toward the opposite corner as she continued working, "we all use it. Come back in five, and I'm sure you'll feel better."

Jason looked at his sister suspiciously as he stepped aside, allowing Eitan to pass him; he waited until the other man was out of earshot before bending to meet her gaze at eye level, leaning on the desk, "What are you not wanting to tell him right away?"

Candy brought up a screen, "The man from the picture with his mother," she handed the photo to Jason, "what are his ... " she indicated the corner where Eitan violently punched at the bag, "... first two names?"

"Eitan Chacham," Jason said, "why?"

Candy glanced in Eitan's direction before bringing up a document, "It's a birth certificate."

Jason moved to the back of Candy's chair, leaning over her shoulders and placing his hands on the desk, "Are you sure?"

"I double-checked," Candy said, "I sent this picture to the Nisim family, and they confirmed who that man is."

Pushing away from the desk, Jason paced, "Do you think The Calderone family knew?"

"Jason, they had those journals," Candy said, turning toward her pacing brother, "they must have known."

"Where is the father now?" Jason asked as he continued pacing.

"He is a nomad," Candy said, reading quickly, "and works for a company at …" her words trailed off, "Jay, look at this."

Jason moved quickly to read what Candy had found, "Oh dear God," he ran his hands over his face, "we need to find him … now."