Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 1008 : New Directions

*Leo*

The warehouse felt empty in a way it hadn’t before. It used to be a symbol of progress, our foundation here in LA. Now, it was nothing more than a shell.

A broken, beaten, battered, crumbling shell.

Franky stood with me, scanning the damage with the same look I was sure I had.

Frustration and resignation.

The attack changed everything. The building wasn’t the same. And neither was the operation.

This place was almost like a second home to me once.

I sighed and placed my hand on some rebar sticking out of a broken plaster wall.

It was a fortress once.

“I really thought this place was gonna work out,” Franky muttered, kicking a loose piece of debris. “It was supposed to be a new start.”

“I never thought I’d see this place look so... defeated.”

Franky scoffed. “The news from the contractors isn’t great.” He held up a pile of papers.

I assumed they were quotes and estimates for the work it would take to get this place functional again.

I sighed and glanced over the wreckage. “It’s not worth fixing anymore. Too much has been compromised. We need to cut our losses.”

Darion rushed over to us, his face bright like a kid on Christmas morning. “I’ve been working on a plan for the space. We can turn it into something amazing, Leo. Just trust me.”

“Oh, you have?” I arched an eyebrow.

Darion handed me a blueprint schematic.

“Just hear me out. The last floorplan was functional but it wasn’t optimized. With new, state of the art construction and technology, we can have this place operating at 150%!”

“Is that so?” I glanced over the schematics.

The plans were sound but I wasn’t sure the cost would outweigh the benefits. Darion’s proposal came with hefty fees.

“This is ambitious. If we had an operational warehouse we wanted to convert, it might make more sense.” I handed the schematics back.

“Oh, come on, Leo, give it another chance. It’s a lot easier to do this kind of construction from the ground up rather than remodeling. This place is a tear down! So, let’s tear it down and rebuild.” Darion grinned.

I looked around again. My stomach curdled at the thought of letting this place go. Maybe Darion was onto something. “I know you’ve put in a lot of effort, Darion, but—”

Suddenly, the sound of creaking wood interrupted us. A loud crack echoed through the warehouse. Part of the ceiling began buckling.

“We have to move!” I yanked Darion to the side and pushed Franky in the opposite direction.

Crack!

Debris rained down on us and a huge slab of concrete and rebar smashed onto the floor where we were just standing.

The floor shook and a puff of white dust flew into the air.

“Franky? Is everyone okay?” I shouted. I waved the dust away from my face but it clouded my vision.

“I’m good, Leo,” Franky’s voice floated through the mess. “Everyone else is accounted for.”

As the dust settled, I stood by the shattered piece of concrete. Rebar stuck out at odd angles and the debris had spread out across the floor.

Small chunks of metal and plaster broke loose from the ceiling and trickled down with littler pitter pats as they landed around the warehouse.

I looked up at the gaping hole. I could see clear blue skies and clouds drifting by.

“That’s it,” I said, voice steady. “We’re done here. This place isn’t safe. It’s not worth the risk.”

Darion’s face fell, disappointment flooding his features. “But we can fix it. We’ve put so much work into this place. It’s our future.”

I held up my hand, stopping him before he could say more. “I’m not gambling with this, Darion. We’re moving to a new location. This place is compromised.”

He hesitated, but after a long pause, he nodded. “Alright. I get it.”

It stung to see him like that. Darion had been so sure of himself, so determined. But I knew he would bounce back. He always did.

I clapped him on the back. “Let’s move the operation. Get things organized. We’ll start fresh somewhere else.”

Darion straightened up, regaining his composure. “Right. I’ll make the calls.”

He hurried off to begin organizing the move.

Franky stayed behind, watching me as I took in the warehouse. The whole thing felt like a step backward, and that bothered me more than I cared to admit.

“You sure about this?” Franky asked, his voice low. “I know you were invested in this place.”

“I am,” I said, walking toward the edge of the warehouse. “But we can’t keep pouring money into something that’s falling apart. Especially if Snow is costing us business.”

Franky nodded. “Do you think Darion’s ready to take over? To lead everything?”

I glanced at Franky, a slight smile tugging at my lips. “He’ll get there. Just needs time.”

Franky raised an eyebrow. “Time, huh? You sure about that? He’s still learning, Leo.”

I shrugged. “He’ll figure it out. He’s got the right instincts. We just have to keep pushing him.”

Franky didn’t say anything else, but I could tell he was still uncertain. I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t sure either, but Darion had potential.

He’d worked hard, proved me wrong, and made a big comeback. Both in his studies and in his role here.

Not to mention, I wouldn’t be alive without him.

We walked toward the office, where Darion was already making arrangements.

I could feel the weight of everything pressing down on me. We had a new headquarters to find, but that wasn’t our only problem.

“Franky, what do we know about this new guy leading the Angels?” I asked, urgency creeping into my voice.

Franky’s expression turned grim. “Not much, but word’s getting around. I hear he’s got people scared. And he’s dangerous. A lot more dangerous than Andre ever was. And there’s this new drug... ‘Snow.’ It’s spreading fast.”

“Is that all we have? We can’t get a name, a picture, nothing?” I queried, throwing my hands out.

“We’re working on it, Leo. I’m guessing he’s staying hidden because he wants rumors to spread about him,” Franky explained.

“Right, a regular Boogeyman.” I scoffed and shook my head.

“Jack Frost and the Boogeyman working together.” Franky chuckled.

“Right. This feels like a Grimm Fairy Tale more than real life these days.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Keep digging. We need to know everything about him as soon as possible.”

Franky nodded. “I’ve got our best people on it.”

“Any update on Snow?”

Franky’s face fell. “We’re working on that, too.”

“And?” I pressed, setting my hands on my hips.

“We’ve had it analyzed by a lab we own. It isn’t like any chemical composition they’ve seen. They’re still trying to figure out what some of the components are.”

“What about the market? And the buyers? Do we know anything about them?”

“I’ve traced it back as much as I can,” Franky said. “Snow originates from Angels’ territory. They’re definitely the first to release it.”

I pursed my lips. “You’re sure? It’s that easy to track?”

He gave a humorless laugh and rubbed his chin. “It’s easy to track whose been hooked on it. They show some pretty disturbing similarities.”

My blood ran cold. “Like what?”

“Violent outbreaks, psychotic breaks, flat out losing their minds, frenzied states. This thing is bad news.”

This wasn’t just a gang war. It was something worse.

“It’s worse than that,” Franky added. “Snow is highly addictive. Buyers are clamoring for more. It’s unlike any other product we’ve tracked in both it’s addictiveness, demand, and side effects.”

“What the hell’s the point of releasing a drug like this?” I asked, my voice tight and frustrated.

Franky shook his head. “We don’t have all the answers yet, but the Angels are making bank off it. They’re in control, and the people are desperate for more. It’s spreading like wildfire.”

“We need to stop it,” I said, my jaw tightening. “We can’t let this get worse.”

Darion joined us outside the dilapidated office.

“Okay, everyone knows what their assignment is. We should have a new location up and running in no time...” he trailed off. “What’s going on?” 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

I clapped Darion on the shoulder. “I’m going to need you to help me with a special project. High level. The kind that will tell me if you’re ready to take over here.”

Darion’s face lit up. “Anything. I can do it.”

“It’ll be dangerous and put you right on our enemy’s radar,” I warned.

“Hey, I can handle it. I’ve handled a lot.” He held his arms out to the destroyed warehouse.

“Right.” I nodded.

“What do you need me to do?” Darion’s voice grew serious.

“First, we need to track down a Snow dealer. Someone who’s in with the Angels but will squeal easily,” I explained.

Darion nodded. “I can get a team assembled for that.”

“Hang on,” Franky grunted. “I’ve got a lead. One of their dealers. We can track him down, get some answers. Find out who’s behind all this.”

I nodded. “Good. Let’s make it happen. Now. But Darion, I want you running point on this.”

“Got it!” He bounded off, a little too much pep in his step.

“Are you sure you want him to have that much responsibility? This could be our one shot. As soon as the Angels find out what we’re up to, they’ll double down. We might not get another chance.”

I held my hand up. “I know. We’ll get a seasoned team together and give them our gameplan. If Darion does anything to sidestep that or fumble it, they’ll know what to do.”

“That’s a little devious.”

“Hey, he needs to have the confidence that he can do these things. The wisdom and experience will come with practice.”

“Fair enough.” Franky already had his phone out.

As he made calls to some of our most trusted operatives, I walked to the door of the warehouse.

Since the explosion, it had nearly tripled in size and was leaning dangerously to the left.

I placed my hand on the shaky frame. Yeah, I’d miss this place.

“I’m going to meet with the team and get Darion situated,” Franky called from behind me.

I waved over my shoulder.

Franky was right. We had to tread carefully here.

Right now, the new leader of the Angels didn’t consider us a threat. Whether that was arrogance or ignorance, I couldn’t say.

Snow was dangerous, that much was clear. We needed to know who this leader was, what his motives were, and we had to stop his plans.

But if the Angels caught a whiff of us sniffing around they could close ranks.

“Get it done, Darion,” I muttered to myself. “We don’t have time to waste.”

I just hoped we wouldn’t regret it.