02

Chapter 1

I'm going off the rails... Ozzy brought Ike fully awake as she reached for her phone. "I'm already off the rails, Ozzy maybe you should try it." She said, answering the phone.

"It's your quarter." She sighed.

"Is this Ike?" The faint female voice asked from the other end.

"I'm in a shit load of trouble if its not, aren't I?" It was too early for someone to be playing twenty questions like this with her.

"Ummm..."

"Yes genius, this is Ike. I suppose there is a reason for you to be calling?"

"Right, well I found someone that might need your help." It was just then that Ike realized the female on the other end of the line was English, not American.

"And this person is?" God it was like pulling teeth, she thought as she waited for the girl to continue.

"Right, well then, it's one of the girl at our facility to tell you the truth, I think she needs to be saved."

"Why don't you save her yourself?" There was something strange about this situation, why was she calling her if she was there with this girl?

The girl sighed. "I would love to save her, but if I help her, I will be killed too. I got your number from an associate that says you're the best. Now, if you'll take the case, I will fax you everything I have on what is going on here."

Ike was half tempted to hang up the phone, tell the woman, girl, whomever to take a hike, but if she was referred to her then it must be important.

"Send it."

The documents sat haphazardly across the small kitchen table, although the information was through it was the photo of the virtual child she couldn't help but look at, it was as if someone had photographed Ike ten years ago and just now sent the photo.

It was her eyes.

Her hair was filthy, stringy, and wilted, her eyes were strong. Ike could see the girls fear hidden in their violet pools of strength. Her form was tight, athletic strong and muscular. If it wasn't for the dark room and rags the girl wore she would have swore she was well taken care of, but this room wasn't the Ritz Carlton and her clothes weren't Gap. "What could you have done that was so wrong?" She asked the picture.

Ike picked up the letter that had accompanied the documents and found out that the girl had been promised a star-studded career in gymnastics. She had been told that if she came to England and trained at the Bobbihead facilities, she would become a part of the English Olympic team, something she had tried so hard for in the states but always came up short. Ike couldn't blame her for wanting that, the blame solely fell to her parents; even Ike could see that it was a fake name for a fake company. Dumb asses, she thought as she continued through the note. The girl's name was Angelique and she was fifteen. If you can't help her, I don't know how much more she can survive. The author closed the note with a curt "yours truly" and her name. Ike sighed and picked up the phone dialing the only person she could almost trust; Justin Soars-with-Eagles.

It was about five years ago that he fell into her life. Ike left her boarding school; her middle finger held high. She was tired of all the rich bitches tormenting all of the other students, tired of the teachers telling her that she should act properly, tired of being asked what would your mother and father think. Like her parents would care what she was doing or why she was doing it. Looking back it made her laugh.

She could remember the day before she made her dramatic exit from school.

The decision had been made cutting her hair would show them how she felt about their repression. It wasn't so much a hair cut as it was becoming a skunk. She sheered all but six inch strip of hair then dyed it black and green. The uniform she so despised was cut and ripped. Along the seams she placed safety pins to hold together the rips and cuts, on the breast pockets were Dead Kennedy and Anthrax buttons. The cute little tie she was supposed to wear had become a small hangman's noose. Her skirt was split up the side and a pretty garter matching the school colors kept all the boys at bay when she sat down.

Usually her make-up consisted of muted colors, but on that day it was bold and heavily painted on. She went gothic chic, white powder highlighted black eye liner and lips.

She had made it to her third class of the day before someone had said anything about her look. Of course Mrs. Klauss, didn't like her to begin with so when she told her to go to the office, she picked up her books walked to the front of the classroom told the teacher to Fuck Off and proceeded to walk away from her mother and father's life. She had better things to do with herself and this school with these people was not on her list any longer.

She drifted for a time, going town to town in third world countries helping the people stand up for themselves. Although her pranks were petty, people began to sit up and take notice with their citizens and she hoped with just a small kick in the ass their lives were better now.

It was on one of these little "missions" that she was captured by gorilla fighters in the jungles of Ecuador. Ike had been beaten within inches of her life and she feared that all of her childishness would cost her. She was afraid that she would never be able to talk with her mother, ask her if she was proud of her, better yet if she ever loved her.

On the third day of being stuck in a three by three cell, a man arrived at camp, he spoke the language and acted like one of the gorilla's, but Ike could see there was something different about him, something not right. He was tall, his skin was caramel and beautifully tanned, his hair was long and black, nothing like the men who surrounded him at that moment. Her eyes fluttered shut, she was dehydrated and starved, any sleep whether it was welcomed or not felt right to her and that scared her even more.

Ike jumped startled by the man's laughter. She had not been sleeping long when he came to her cage. The gorilla fighters were showing mister tall dark and deadly around the camp, of course she was the main attraction because of her tough beauty.

"Hello, sweet cheeks." He said smiling down at her.

"Fuck you." She wheezed.

He chuckled. "So you are an American. I was afraid they were mistaken." His voice was like liquid velvet soothing her.

Ike looked down as a small slip of paper fell between the slats of the wooden cage. She looked back up, but the man was gone. The gorilla fighters had taken him to another part of their camp, showing him the other prisoners they had caught. Ike picked up the scrap of paper, 9pm, be ready, was written on it. Ike looked back up trying to track the man but couldn't see him any longer. Her eyes drifted closed again as blissful sleep wrapped its tendrils around her.

Loud shouts, gunfire and explosions brought Ike out of her stupor. Men screamed orders as others fell, their bodies riddled with bullet holes. Behind her the main outpost exploded sending wood, shrapnel, glass and other debris toward her small cage.

"Hello Sweet Cakes, you miss me?" The man from earlier said; kneeing before her cage.

Ike pushed herself as far as she could into her cage. "Stay away. I can take care of myself." She said feebly.

"And you're doing a bang up job sweet heart, but you might want to climb out instead of scooting yourself farther into that cage." He said hold out a hand for her to take.

"I. Don't. Want. Your. Help!" She said slapping his hand out of the way.

"Look," He said, lifting her out of the cage. "You're too weak and if you haven't noticed there's a war going on around you."

"No thanks to you." She pouted.

"Fate is an evil twisted bitch, isn't she?" He chuckled.

For the first three months Ike stayed with Justin, she recuperated from her stay at casa Gorilla. During that time she tried to talk with her parents but each time they tried to get her to come home, get back into school and live the life they wanted, not her own.

After that he began to train her, she needed to be able to go into a camp like Justin had and not be detected. She needed to learn how to fight, create distractions, and rescue her target or take them out. He also trained her in weapons and explosives, each day taking her to the range, or test area with a different weapon. Her favorite weapon was the 9mm, but when it came to explosives, it had to be C4 or nothing at all.

Her nights were filled with passion. Justin made it easy for her to fall in love, but she held back. It was mutual though, never mixing business with pleasure. It worked for a while, but there was only so much training Ike could do in a day. So she made a pact with Justin, there would be no feelings involved, the sex would be just that sex.

Nothing more; nothing less.

"Hello Sweet Cakes. You miss me?" He asked already knowing it was Ike on the other end of the line.

"Never." She smiled.

"Awe, come on now, I know better then that." He laughed.

"Well," Her husky laugh swirled through the phone line. "Just a little."

"Now that's what I'm talking about. What can I do for you, hot stuff?"

"I've got another case. A fifteen year girl is being held against her will in a gymnastics facility. It would seem she came to them of her own free will, on a promised she would gain a spot on the English Olympic team, fame and fortune would fallow. Instead she cooks, cleans, and washes clothes for the star athletes. If she tries to leave she is severely beaten and left to tend to her own wounds. The contact says that the last beating was just a few days ago, she fears if the girl is not rescued she will die."

Justin was quiet; it wasn't like him to just not say anything about a case. "Fuckers!" He drawled. "Sons a Bitches; how can you do that to an innocent child. That's just, well that's just fucked up. Count me in!" He sighed.

"Great, I need to make contact with our little helper. I'll call you back when everything has been arranged." Ike rang off.

She called the contact back and went back through the file looking for the interior map of the structure they would be entering. When she found it, she started marking off the entrances and exits of the building in a red Sharpie and then in blue she marked out the windows that could be used for an easy escape. She then studied the faces of the husband and wife who owned and ran the Bobbiehead.

Chapter 2

Two hours later Ike was sitting on a plan bound for Liverpool, England. Justin was also on a plane headed to the same place. They agreed to meet at gate 2B which was where Justin's plane would land and then set out toward their hotel. By Ike's calculations they would be there by five am, which would be enough time for them to shower, change and go over their plan one more time. She hoped, anyway.

Exiting her plane she walked over to customs to retrieve her belongings, after showing her identification and all of the proper documentation for her equipment, she carried her things to the nearest arrival and departure screen. Their flights should have been two hours apart but when she looked up his flight number, it was on final approach.

Ike walked down the hall over to gate 2B, there she waited as the throngs of people exited the concourse and made their way to loved ones. Her stomach flipped and rolled while she waited for him to exit, yes it had been almost five years since she had been with him, but that chapter of her life was over and their friendship was just that; friendship.

He saw her first as he walked through the door; her hair was still short, only this time the stripe had been replaced with a mod pixie cut. As their eyes connected in the middle of the crowd, she smiled and his heart melted. It had been way to long since he last saw her.

The last time they were together, she made him promise to let her go. She wasn't ready for any type of a relationship, even though he was.

The day he found her, despite the mud and blood he fell in love with her. Her fine muscular body had been replaced with skin and bone. She was so small and so weak he thought she would die. For the first two weeks after he rescued her, it had been touch and go, the doctor had begged him to take her to the hospital where they could hook her to I.V's and breathing machines. He couldn't do that to her, any time he felt like he should, he thought about the small wooden cage she had been in when he found her and all thoughts of a hospital were gone.

Now here she was standing before him all signs of her ordeal in Ecuador had long ago healed. She was all business even though it broke his heart, but he was proud of her. In five years, she had come into her own, she was well respected in their small community, and from what his informants told she was doing pretty well for herself; financially speaking.

"Hey sweet cheeks, Long time no see." He smiled and held his arms wide for her to hug him.

"Hey yourself." She said smiling, wrapping her own arms around him. His scent was intoxicating. Sandalwood and honeysuckle, two very different smells but combined worked well for him.

They walked down the terminal, arms wound around each other, only moments before they had been wore out, the flight was almost seventeen hours, but with Justin by her side some of the weariness had been forgotten.

They checked into their rooms separately, it was better that way. When they touched in the airport, all of her feelings came back; it was like her body craved his. She wanted to feel his fingers skim along her body, his kisses trailing a path across her skin. She shivered. It was only a physical response, not a mental one. Yes, she cared about him, but that was all, she couldn't risk her heart on someone who might just walk away. Women flocked to him for God sakes, she thought. She watched him; she saw what he did.

"All set?" He asked stepping away from the check in counter.

She nodded and walked over the bank of elevators, she was tired and ready for a couple of hours down time but she knew it would have to wait until that afternoon. They needed to go over everything, plot out their steps, nothing could go wrong. The doors opened and they headed for their rooms, Justin was the next room over, the only thing standing in the way of him coming into her room was the connecting door, which Ike locked from her side.

"Give me twenty and then knock." She said unlocking her door.

Justin nodded and entered his own room. He had a feeling she was edgy; she was always edgy before a mission. There was something about this one though something that made her itchy, tense even. He hoped when he got into her room she would explain it all to him.

Ike stepped into the tub, the water jets caressing her skin; it was just what she needed to ease the tension that was forming in her neck. She was tired, way beyond tired. She had only been home for ten hours when the girl from the gym called. Of those ten hours she has been home, four had been spent sleeping. Not much considering she had been up for over thirty two. As she exited the shower she could see her big comfy bed teasing her with its plush goodness. Fuck you, she sighed. She was in no mood to be teased or questioned. All she needed to do was keep going for the next few hours and then she could let sleep blissfully take her away until the following evening.

Exactly twenty minutes later Justin was tapping on her door. "You still awake in there?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm up." She said opening the door for him.

He could see the dark circles under her eyes and he frowned. When was the last time she slept, he thought. Slowly he entered the room and looked around. Their rooms were identical except for the giant king size bed that took up the corner of the room. The bedspread was goose down and if he took a look at the sheets that were under it he was sure they would be eight hundred-count Egyptian cotton. She may have denounced her family's money, but when it came to anything touching her skin, she only wanted the best.

Ike walked back over to the small table next to the dresser; on it was the folder pertaining to the case. They sat down across from each other and Ike pulled out the most important information first.

Her picture.

"This is who we are looking for, her name is Angelique. I am not sure when this picture was taken but, I can tell you it's most likely recent, see the cast, that just happened a week ago." She said handing him the picture.

Justin sighed. Change the hair and the eye color and it was like looking at Ike all over again. The girl was tough, he could see it in the way she set her jaw. Her clothes like Ike's, were filthy and she was painfully thin. All the emotions he felt the day he found Ike came back to the surface. He hated the people who kept this girl hidden away, his body wanted to trample them, kill them before he could ask the simple question of why. Why would you want to harm a child like this? Oh sure when he had found Ike, it was because of her own stupidity, but this girl didn't do anything but dream of a better life.

"What's your plan?" He asked, his eyes glowing with vengeance.

Ike sat back and smiled, she knew that look, it was her favorite. That look meant that anyone who was stupid enough to be involved with keeping a child like this, was definitely in trouble.

"Here's what I was thinking." she pulled out the map of the gym. "The cover story is this, we have a child who is brilliant but we can't seem to get any of the coach's in the states to look at her. We heard about them and decided we wanted our daughter to train with them. If they ask where she is, we tell them simply that she wanted to stay at home and work out her routines while we went in search of a facility for her." Ike then pointed to the one of the red X's she marked out. "This is a side entrance, if what our contact says is true, they never monitor that door, this will be our way in after dark tomorrow night. We need to find out where Angelique is and how close it is to that door." She then pointed to another red X. "This is the husband and wife's living quarters, I want it locked up tight, while we are getting Angelique and the other girls out of there, but when the girls are safe, we'll go back for them."

Justin watched her as she spoke nodding at the right times, he knew her plan would work, hell the majority of the time they always worked. His role was simple enough, there was nothing in her plan to make these people suspect anything, which was a good thing.

"Have you talked with your contact lately?" He asked.

"Yes, right before we took off, I called her again to see how Angelique was doing. She explained that the girl was refusing to eat and will not come out of the room she's being kept in. The contact told me she would greet us at the door and would introduce the owners to us at that time. She said that she would also take us on a tour of the gym if we wanted and she would show us exactly where the girl was being kept."

"Do you have any plans for the owners?"

"The plan for the owners is simple and sweet. We're going to rough them up a bit, make them wish they had never opened up shop and treated kids in this manner, then we will call the cops. While we wait for them to come, if the place goes boom, well that's just too bad." She said with a smirk.