Drake’s POV
We were lucky enough to get out of that building on time. As soon as I recovered from the shock waves, I ran towards my sister to make sure she was okay. Then we got into the cars and headed back to the city to meet with Liam and the others. Some of the guys were rummaging through the city, trying to find Austin, while the others were searching for my sister’s children.
Liam and the guys got to the warehouse and secret hideouts on time, but they couldn’t find her kids in any of those buildings. They found some boxes of weapons that were smuggled into the country just recently and some pretty young girls that were being prepared to be taken to the underground slave market. It means that they were at the right place, but there were no kids in those buildings. Just some teenagers and young adults that were ripe for the slave market.
I was so distressed, I could see my sister giving up already, resigning herself to her fate. I was on the phone with Liam for almost forty-five minutes and I kept trying to push them in different directions to find the kids. But it was all to no avail, they just weren’t there, and I felt myself getting nervous because I don’t know what I would do if I find out that he has killed those kids. For his sake, and for the sake of his entire family, I just hope that he hasn’t done anything stupid because I’m going to go all out on him this time, and his entire family will not be spared as well. They will all pay for what he has done.
“Block every airport, I need a roadblock on every boundary. Austin foster must not leave the city. Search his warehouses properly, search those Safe houses for hidden doors. Remember the ship, remember the way Austin had hidden compartments in that ship that he uses to smuggle his goods. Search for hidden doors and hidden compartments. That bastard is so sneaky, we can’t let him get away this time.
I need the guys to create roadblocks and search every car, I need them found as soon as possi…” I have graduated from being nervous to full-blown panic. It is so upsetting to see her this way, it’s so frustrating to think of what she has been through and what that bastard must have done to her kids. At the same time, I still had to check up on Mia and make sure she is doing okay.
I couldn’t keep up with all this, no matter how strong you think you are, you must still have your breaking point. And right now, I am so damn close to getting to mine. I was at that point where I don’t even care who gets hurt in the process, I just want those kids to be found as soon as possible. I am ready to turn this city upside down to find them, and that is exactly what I was planning to do. I’ve already made up my mind and I was just instructing my boys on what to do when I heard her lovely voice,
“It is not a car you should be searching for, it’s a bus.” she muttered softly, cutting my sentence short. She has not said a word to me since I got back to town, it has been abuses and insults all this while. Even when I arrived at Austin’s house, she still wasn’t nice to me. She has been fighting me all along, she has not spoken in a nice manner to me and did say a word to me all this while that I have been on the phone with Liam and the guys. So don’t blame me for being so surprised, I just can’t help it.
“What?” I asked back, sounding surprised as I turned to gaze at her intently. I’ve been trying to avoid her eyes as well, I just don’t want her to see how scared I was, she could develop a panic attack, and I simply can’t add that to the pile load of crappie things that I’m going through right now. I just can’t deal with it, at least not right now. What the hell am I even saying, I meant to say that I can’t deal with it at all, no now, not ever!
“Austin did not use a car to get them out of there, he used a fucking bus. I was still in there when he gave them the order to move my kids into two separate vans. That was right before he sent me out there to get you to leave his house without causing a scene. So it’s a van you should be searching for, and not a bloody car or helicopter.” She started, sighing deeply at the end of her statement. You would think that she has finally lost her mind. She is acting as if she doesn’t care anymore.
“Jesus Christ, Casey!
What the hell is wrong with you, and what are you thinking about?
Why the fuck did you keep this to yourself, why didn’t you say it all this while?
You could have saved us so much stress, we could have caught them already, we could have been looking out for those vans all along, what the hell were you thinking?
These are your kids, and their lives are in danger, Casey. I don’t know what is going through your mind, I can’t pretend to understand what you are feeling right now, but you need to work with me on this.
Time is not our friend today, we need to work together to get this done. Every minute counts and every detail is important. I need to know whatever you know that could be of help in this case. You need to come clean with me, I need to know every damn thing.” I scolded her angrily as I redialed Liam’s number again. This time I have a bit of confidence because I know exactly what we are searching for.
“Do you know the color of the vans, have you ever seen those vans?” I asked her, but she has gone back ignored me as usual and I thought she has gone back to her usual silent treatment and I wanted to yell at her this time because it was getting so annoying. But she beat me to it when she said,
“Don’t you fucking yell at me, Drake. You think I don’t want to save my kids, you think I’m hiding details from you just to frustrate your efforts, right?
You know what?
I’m going to pretend that I didn’t nust hear you saying those nasty words to me. And if you must know, I’ve been working so hard to locate my kids, even before you got back to the city. I’ve done many despicable things because I wanted to keep my children alive and save them from their damn father. I even lost the only guy that ever truly love me. There he is, lying cold in the trunk. He died because he was trying to help me escape that bastard!
I went through hell, just to get my kids out safely. So you have no right to si
I went through hell, Drake. I stayed back and endured that shit just to get my kids out safely. So you have no right to sit there and judge me because you have no fucking idea what I’ve been through.
I know Austin more than you do, he is a fucking monster, and I know there is no way in hell that he would leave that van lying around for you to find. They are long gone, and there is no way I can get them back, not when he is this furious. Just call back your boys already, we need to plan very well if we ever want to outsmart him. There is nothing we can do, he has won this round, we let him outsmart us, and now my kids are gone.” She let out sadly, resigning herself to fate. I refuse to believe that!
“You don’t know that yet, and trust me, you don’t know these guys more than I do.” I asserted firmly.
“I just got new intel, we are looking for a van, two vans actually. The kids were taken out in two separate vans, he moved them out of the safe houses before you arrived. I need you to view every nearby camera around the warehouses and the safe houses as well and check the satellite image from a few hours ago. We need to find the vans first then we can trace them to…”
“Oh my God!
Did you just say vans?” He asked.
“What, did you see them?” I inquired curiously. I could hear him sighing and groaning in frustration and I wondered if he knows something that I don’t know.
“Yes, boss, I did see them, but I let them go because I thought it was just some random shipment of goods, I didn’t bother with them because we weren’t there for his worthless shipments. We were there for the kids, and that is what I focused on.
I can’t believe the kids were right in front of me, yet I let them go! This is so fucked up man, why didn’t you call sooner, how did you even find out about it?” He asked in anger and frustration. I could hear him swearing and cursing at no one in particular and I share the same sentiment right now, but there is nothing I can do about it, at least not yet.
“Don’t worry about my sources, Liam. Just find those buses. Send word out to the street, I need every fucking guy on our payroll out there searching for those buses. You no the drill man, leave no stone unturned, do whatever it takes. But find them, Liam. I’ll be with you shortly.” I instructed him firmly, stressing the importance of this mission. I’ve failed her once, I can’t fail her again.
As for Austin, It seems he has fallen off the surface of the earth. His Helicopter could not be traced or found anywhere in this city. You would think that he has magically disappeared into thin air. Some said he has left the city and that he is hiding out in the Bratva headquarters. But I know better than to believe that, I know that dude, he never backs down from a fight and I’m sure he won’t give up so easily. Besides, there is no way he would run back to his fellow comrades at the Bratva headquarters. He is no longer worthy to be called a Bratva captain because he has defaulted to their rules and regulation.
He knows the rules, he knew he was not supposed to do anything to attract attention to himself and the organization. When the DEA and FBI started chasing him around the world, they had to cut him off because the heat was becoming unbearable and the cops were beginning to pry into the private affairs of the organization. They ceased all communication with him, and they suspended him from their social and private gatherings. In other words, he was excommunicated from the organization, and that made him as pissed as hell.
I guess he felt betrayed by them because their oath of initiation clearly states that they will never abandon a brother in need. But in his case, they did. And that made him furious. He never went back to them and even when his membership was revoked, he still didn’t bother to relinquish his Bratva soldiers to them. He kept them by his side, and he has been using them to fight his personal wars all this while. The reports of his atrocities have been forwarded to them and now they have to do something about it before they get in trouble as well. I bet the cops would pay another visit to their headquarters if only they know that they have a special connection with Austin Foster.
It’s time to pay a visit to my good friends at the DEA, ill use them to force the Bratva to search for Austin for me. I’m sure they’ll know where to find him, they just need to look harder. But first, I need to talk to the Bratva Pakhan, I need to know his take on the matter, I want to know what he has been doing all this while and why he hasn’t found Austin yet. If he wants to save his ass while my family takes the heat of his stupid mistakes, I’ll fucking turn the tables around and bring the heat right to his doorstep.