Chapter 3
The building where the gym was located seemed bright and cheerful. The picture she received from her contact did not do it justice and it made Ike uneasy. What if the contact was wrong, what if this girl was really training, what if she got hurt and it truly was an accident, she thought. The what if's were staggering.
The further they walked into the building the more Ike's nerves got the better of her. Something was not right, something didn't fit. "Something's wrong." She said.
"I know; I feel it too, what do you think it is?" He said looking down at her.
There was a women sitting behind the reception desk, her head was down in concentration. This was her contact, she was sure of it. Squeezing Justin's hand they walked up to the counter and waited while she finished up her call.
"Yes sir, tomorrow at four pm, we'll see you then." The girl said hanging up the phone.
She looked up and stumbled back, "What are you doing here?" She said, returning to her work.
"Oh I don't know I thought I would come by, may be sign up." She paused. "What the fuck do you mean, what am I doing here?" Ike was seething mad.
The girl stepped toward the counter top and whispered. "Look, you can't be here right now, it's too dangerous. You don't even realize how much trouble I can get into just for calling you." The woman was exasperated.
Ike reined in her anger and then asked, "What is going on here? One minute you're telling me that you need my help and now this is about you, how much you can get into trouble." She stepped back. "I am so out of here." Ike started for the door, but stopped and turned back toward the girl. "If I was you, I would think about what you're saying, because come hell or high water, I will be back and I will take you down with this place."
Ike stomped out of the building leaving the girl to stare at her back side. Something was not right. Something had happened in the last twenty hours, but Ike was not going to let it stop her from getting in.
"What do we do now?"
"We wait. There was something about the girl's action; she kept checking the hallway to our right. We need to get back to the hotel and check the building's diagram again, we're missing something small, I just know it."
"Do you think she will help if we come back?" He asked, holding the door to the hotel open for her.
"I'm more then sure of that. She's scared, someone got to her, I think the owners know." Ike opened her door and walked back over to the table and picked up the interior diagram.
"Holy shit! We were right on top of her. The girl was only ten feet from that counter, that's what she was looking at, that's why she was so nervous." Ike threw the photo back down and paced the room. "We need to get back in there, and we need to do it now!"
"Let's go." Justin said.
Ike went over to her bag pulled out her 9mm, and two C4 cakes. She was tired and pissed off, if she couldn't get the girl the nice way, she would get her the hard way, so what if there wasn't anything left of their filthy gym.
Across the room Justin was also loading up, the waist band of his pants held two pearl handled .38's, on his hip sat a six inch hunting knife, and on the other hip sat his equalizer, a taser gun. Shooting over fifty thousand volts of electricity into your target, will not only cause them piss themselves; which he had to admit he liked, but they would talk about anything you wanted them to talk about.
He crossed back into her room to see that she too was ready for a fight, any signs of her being tired were gone. She picked up her jacket and headed out the door.
They rode the elevator in silence, now was not the time for talking, it was a time for reflection. They both knew what needed to take place, they were going in hard and fast taking down anyone that got in their way. The girls were to be lead out of the gym and their parents notified.
The streets had been calm when they first headed out that morning, now only an hour later they were bustling. Shops were opening as people began to make their way to work or school. It was not the best time for the invasion they half ass planned, but what could she do, Angelique needed them; she needed to be saved.
Walking back into the gym, the girl still sat behind the desk, it had been quiet when they were first there, but now they could hear the girls training. Shouts of triumph echoed down the halls as one of the girls landed a perfect dismount, music played as another worked on their floor routine and there was Angelique, a cast on one arm and a basket of clothes in the other. She was gaunt, her skin was grey and flat, the clothes she had been wearing in the picture, still hung from her body. Ike was sure if she got close enough, she would smell horribly.
Ike nodded to Justin, it was time for them to take this bitch down. "Alright, now that you have had some time to think things through, are you ready to help?" Ike asked the girl behind the counter.
"I can't." She pleaded. "You don't get it, it was wrong of me to step in like I did. I should have left well enough alone. There is nothing else left to be said. And if you know what is good for you, leave and never come back here." She walked around the desk and grabbed Ike by the arm, trying to escort her out of the facility.
Big mistake.
Ike pulled the gun from her waist band and gabbed it into her ribs. "Oh I don't think I'll be leaving without the girl. You called me, sorry for it or not, I'm here. Now either take me to where they are keeping Angelique or I will kill you," she snapped her fingers. "just like that."
The girl's eyes bugged out of her head, as she felt the gun push farther into her side, "She's in the laundry room, down the hall and to the right, you can't miss it. Now please let me go. I won't interfere, I promise."
"The time for promises are long gone, you promised you would help us get in here unnoticed, but you fell through. Do you really expect me to just walk down some hallway because you say so? I don't think so sweetie, you're coming with me."
Ike yanked her in the direction she said to go, at the far end of the hall was a set of stairs and a door under them; Ike could hear the machines spinning inside. She walked cautiously toward the opened door, if anyone was in there with Angelique, Ike would use the girl as a shield, the loss of life didn't bother her.
"Angelique, my name is Ike, I'm here to take you home." Ike said softly.
"Yeah right, I've heard that before, hell I've even tried to get out myself and look where it got me."
Ike couldn't see her just yet but she could hear the defeat in her voice. "There is always a way out, always hope."
Trust on the other hand was different.
