Visit her mother's law firm in hopes of getting a lead.

She had to find her mother. Marissa had always been there for her, and they had grown particularly close over the last few years. It tormented her every single night to think of what was happening to her in custody of the Scions.

The law firm at which Marissa had worked was only a few miles away, very near the campus where she took her final case. Rachel took off in that direction, hoping to find her mother's former coworkers and try to find some basic information about where she Marissa may be being held.

It was mid-afternoon, and the law firm was still open. The usual secretary, Zoe Aaronson, was still manning the front desk. She was a young woman around thirty-years-old with short black hair and fair skin. As Rachel entered the firm, Zoe looked up.

"Oh... Rachel! I'm so sorry about your mother. She was always so nice to us, and I was sad to see... her... leave us."

Rachel knew immediately that Zoe knew something, something she had never bothered to share with Marissa's loved ones. "Do you know where she is?"

"I... I don't know if you want to hear this."

"Please, you have to tell me!"

Zoe paused and then continued. "One of our lawyers recognized her at a brothel on the far north side of town. She is being used as a gagged prostitute, clearly so she doesn't tell anyone her story. And..."

"And what?"

"She's one of the women that can be specifically ordered for darker fetishes."

Rachel assumed immediately that it means chains and whips, that kind of thing. "My mother would never do those things!"

"It doesn't matter what she wants anymore," answered Zoe, averting her eyes from Rachel with sadness evident in her voice.