Frankie's POV

My heart was in my throat as I pretended not to watch the clock on the wall. Mikey was supposed to meet me here at the public library in 5 minutes. Bert and I both agreed that it was best to meet in a public place, and this one was perfect. It didn't have too much traffic. Bert was covering the outside while I sat at an inside table pretending to read a book. Mikey was to come in and sit at the same table in the back. I had texted him the final details this morning. Due to the fact that people were looking for me, I had tried to hide my appearance somewhat. I had my long hair pinned up in a bun and stuffed in a baseball cap. That hat was pulled down low over my face. I had hoped it would be enough.

"Hey, it's good to see you." I jumped in surprise. I had been anxiously watching the door, but somehow I missed Mikey's entrance.

"Geez! You almost gave me a heart attack. I don't know how I missed you come in. It's good to see you too." I got up to hug him tightly, a hug which he returned enthusiastically.

"So, what's going on?"

"I can't really fill you in here. You can stay with me awhile right? The others won't worry about you?" he shot me a very guilty look and swallowed hard.

"Yeah, about that. There's something I need to tell you. I couldn't exactly come alone."

"What do you mean, couldn't?"

"Well, I wasn't sure exactly how much I was supposed to tell Gee and the others. As soon as I told them that you were safe and I needed to go help you, he insisted he come along. He wouldn't let his little brother go alone. Once Billie found out about it, he insisted that he goes well. Honestly, I'm surprised Brendan didn't throw his flag in there too. He's still pretty messed up though and he knows it."

Hearing how much Brendan was hurting made my heart hurt so much, even though none of this was my fault. I'm sure the look on my face told Mikey everything.

"Well, let's get out of here. The sooner we resolve all of this the sooner I can get back. Where are the guys?"

"Ray's truck. Parked across the street." Oh shit.

Bert 's probably had them already. I ran out of the library without another word or glance over my shoulder. The truck was parked in the public parking lot across the street. It was easy to tell from where I stood that it was now empty. Bert had told me he would be covering the perimeter of the library as inconspicuously as possible. I didn't see him anywhere. Originally, we were to walk outside and start walking lazily toward this little momument. Bert would see us within a few minutes. I guess we just stick to the plan.

"What's going on, Frankie?"

"This is part of why I said to come alone. I wish you'd given me a heads up that you brought extra people sooner. Bert is covering the perimeter. I think he took the guys. I'm sure they looked suspicious."

"Whose Bert? D'ya really think he took them? Would he hurt them?"

"No. He's not a bad guy. He's a guy being forced to do things he doesn't want to do. It's part of why I need your help. He's one of the men that kidnapped me."

"What? Are you insane? We should just escape and run."

"You don't know all the facts yet." Mikey made a noise that sounded much like hurumph, there was a long moment of silence then a voice from behind spoke up.

"It would mean a lot to me and Mike if you did. We didn't want to kidnap her at all. Its been tearing me apart but he said he'd kill her otherwise. My little sister, she's only 10, is my whole world. We've got to get off the street before we're seen, Frankie."

"Where's my brother and Billie?" Mikey's tone was accusatory.

"At the diner down the street. I told them they had to get off the street before they were seen. M's men aren't stupid. They see them drop you off and stay with us... They don't realize yet what they're stepping into by coming here. I told them all to order something to go and before you ask, I had them take my car. Less likely to be recognized, ironically. So we should get going."

"Bert, you did have the guys order food for 5 people to go, right? We can't keep her tied up and sedated forever, even if we want to. If we don't wake her up soon, she's going to pee on herself. I'm surprised she hasn't already." Bert and I both got evil grins on our faces. #1 in her humiliation?" Mikey gave me a strange look, a mixture of his confusion of the situation and his repulsion at what I said. But he said nothing.

"It should be interesting. Gee and our fave 'guest' together again." Bert and I laughed. I didn't realize we were heading towards the truck until we were beside it and Bert was whipping the keys out of his pocket. I gave him an incredulous look.

"What? I lent them my car, so they gave me the keys to their truck in return? We had to get to the diner somehow." Now I'm the 1 that's laughing and Mikey is the one giving me the incredulous look. I can only imagine what he must of thought. This must look so strange, like Stockholm Syndrome at its finest. But Bert and Mike are as much victims as I was. In fact, there had been quite a bit of oppression going on. Lindsay went above and beyond as far as an awful, cheating girlfriends go. Mikey needed an escort to every class in high school and was still beaten daily. I'm not sure yet which kids are doing it but I sincerely hope it was the jocks on Lindsay's videos. We were going to free ourselves and make our oppressors pay for their sins.

Notes