Kidnapped
Alex, Clover and Sam giggled as they walked, arm in arm down The Groove, smiles on their faces, and bags in their hands. The three friends look around for their forth friend, finding the towering figure of Josh buying a cup of coffee from a petite blonde girl who was attempting to flirt with the stoic young man. Clover groaned to herself as she watched.
'I swear, Josh could very well be gay, the amount of girls that try and flirt with him, but he never reacts.'
Sam giggled slightly at her blonde friends exasperation,
'Maybe he just knows what he likes and they don't fit the bill.'
Josh stood, slowly drinking his coffee in a book store, breathing in the musky scent of the older books he was surrounded by.
'Good Afternoon sir,' A good natured elderly man stood by Josh's elbow. 'Can I help you with anything?'
Josh looked over the leather bound tomes.
'You wouldn't happen to have a copy of The Castle of Otranto would you?'
'Ah yes, The Castle of Otranto, noted as the first in the Gothic Fiction genre, I do have a few copies, but I think they are all in Italian.'
Josh just smiled
'Oh, but is there any better way to read a book but in its mother tongue sir?'
Josh walked out, a small black leather bound book slipped in his pocket when his phone started to ring.
'Hello?'
'Josh, its Alex, Sam and Clover have been kidnapped!'
Josh threw his empty coffee cup in a bin as he stormed purposefully down the main straight, his long coat flaring out behind him.
'Where are you Alex?'
'I'm behind Fabien's Shoe Boutique, they're looking for me.'
'Right, are you well hidden?'
A strangled whisper reached him
'I am, but they're close to me. Please hurry.'
'Don't worry Alex, I'll get you, Sam and Clover.'
Alex brushed away tears as she watched the boot clad feet in front of the dumpster she had taken refuge under, she held the phone closer to them so Josh could hear them talking.
Josh listened to the voices carefully, noting the familiar accent. Alex's voice cut through his concentration.
'I think they're goin…'
She screamed out, the sound of her phone dragging along the floor with her. The sound of heavy breathing began to pull from his phone.
'I don't know, nor do I care, who you are buddy, but you just kidnapped three of my friends. I don't care what you want, I don't give a shit if you want a ransom, unless you let them go, I will find you, and I will kill you. Am I clear?'
A gravely voice chuckled slightly.
'Good luck buddy.'
The phone cut off with a click.
Josh picked up the remains of what was Alex's Cell Phone next to a dumpster, a large grey monstrous box with room enough to hide his friend with ease. Josh pulled out his phone again and pressed a button, bringing out a hologram of a ginger haired man with overly large glasses.
'Ports, I want you to get the last phone call received on this line, and I want it analysed as quickly as possible.'
'Yes Sir, I'll get right on it myself sir.'
The hologram cut off and Josh ran past many people, pushing them aside and screeching away in his car with a cloud of white smoke from tortured wheels.
'I just finished it Sir. The man at the start is you obviously, the woman is WOOHP super spy Alexandra Morrison, and the last voice is unidentified I'm afraid, I can however tell you that, judging by his accent, he is an Irish man, from Ulster.'
Josh nodded his head distractedly as he slid a pistol in to an armpit holster.
'Thanks Ports, can you inform WOOHP for me that three spies have been kidnapped, assistance is welcome, but this job is purely IHPO.'
'I'm sending the message right now sir, and Sir, good luck.'
The centre panel of Josh's car slid away to reveal a screen, Jerry looking out sternly.
'Josh, I have just got a message from IHPO that I have lost three Super Spies. I want to offer you all the services that I have to offer. We have already checked our biometric international scanner satellite, but we turned up nothing.'
Josh scowled down at Jerry.
'I've had a look at the schematics for that device Jerry, a fucking Faraday Cage can beat it. I know roughly where they are, and I will get them back, but if all you can do is passive searches that risk their lives, then I will kindly ask you to fuck off.'
Alex groaned as she began to stir, her eyes scrunched up as thoughts assault her mind. She, Clover and Sam had been kidnapped.
'Oh looky here Shamus, the darkies waking up.'
Alex opened her eyes fearfully, looking at her bound and unconscious friends and then her kidnappers.
'You won't get away with this, we have friends who will find us no problem.'
'We're counting on it Girly, we want to be paid after all, but they won't find us here, oh no, this room is lined with a copper mesh, no signals get in, or out of here, and the steel doors there, well, you won't be breaking that down any time soon either.'
Sam began to groan quietly.
'Oh, the pretty little red head is coming round, I was looking forward to you, that big tough guy our employer wants to have killed will come a running to his doom for you I think.'
Josh looked over the man stood before him,
'Aye, what will you be wanting for Brother?'
'I want to know who this is?'
Josh, talking with a very thick Irish accent, pulled out a tape recorder from his pocket and pressed play, the same gravely voice ringing out again and again.
"Good luck Buddy."
'I know who he is, but what do I get in return Brother?'
Josh pulled out a pistol, levelling it with the man's head.
'How about your life, for my information?'
'All…All right Man, he's Shamus McClelland, a small time Merc, he works out of an old farm a few miles south out of the town. The Guarda have been keeping an eye on him for a bit now, word is he's gone big time.'
Sam eyed the man in front of her nervously, tugging away at her bound wrists in a vain attempt; they were bound by steel cable.
'I always liked pretty little Red Heads such as yourself you know? I think I'll keep you when we kill the big guy. Oh I'm going to have some fun with you.'
Sam squirmed fearfully under the intense eyes of her captor as they ran down her body. The rolling wave of revulsion and nausea travelled up from her stomach.
'Josh will get you, there's no way he can't find us.'
The man just chuckled as he walked away.
'I'm counting on it. We can't have a party now without the guest of honour, now can we?'
Josh smirked as he looked at the decrepit farm house in front of him, he reached for his phone and pressed a button, his black hair fading in to blonde and his green eyes turning brown. With sure and steady steps, he walked to the door and pounded on it.
The door opened to reveal a young muscular boy, no older then sixteen, who couldn't with hold the shudder at the man in front of him.
'Who are you?'
The blonde man fixed his cold brown eyes on the young man, who shuddered again.
'The names Patrick O'Sharnon, Tell Shamus I've heard some unfortunate news and I need to see him.'
'No one sees the boss until we finish this job. Get lost.'
Before the young boy can even react, the cold steel of a pistol is pushed under his jaw.
'I don't give a fuck about what sort of petty job your boss is doing, he'll see me, whether you are alive or not, so back off and let me in.'
Patrick walked in to the dimly lit room, looking around with a sneer on his harsh face.
'Shamus! Where are you Shamus?'
A pistol is placed to his head, the hammer slowly pulled back.
'Who the fuck, are you?'
Patrick batted away the gun with his hand and turned to face the man stood in front of him.
'I'm someone you don't need to know about, tell me where Shamus McClelland is.'
The man, with his greasy blonde hair smirked at Patrick.
'I'm Shamus.'
Patrick snorted before levelling his gun with the man.
'Nice try retard, but for lying to me, I'm going to kill you.'
The men in the old farm house flinched at the ringing gun shot, and watch in fear as Patrick walked out with a cold look in his eyes.
'I need to know where Shamus is, now tell me before I kill more of you.'
Shamus sighed as he looked at the radio next to him, Antony was supposed to radio him every hour on visitors. At fifteen minutes late, Shamus was starting to think Antony was dead when the radio crackled in to life, Shamus snatched it up and pressed down the send button.
'Ant, is that you?'
A cold voice cut through the static.
'Your men proved to be very uncooperative Mr McClelland. I guess it's hard to find good help these days.'
'Who are you?'
Shamus listened to the cold laughing on the other end.
'The names Patrick O'Sharnon, and I'm looking for you to give you a little warning. The job you just took, it's going to end up with you killed. They have one of the best agents in the world after you.'
Shamus snorted.
'I had a look at the guys these girls work for Pat, they don't kill.'
Patrick shook his head before lifting the hand set again.
'It isn't a WOOHP agent after you. It's IHPO, they are killers, and the one after you is the best of them all. If you don't let them go, you will be dead within a few hours.'
Shamus snorted as he cocked his shotgun.
'I can take what ever this fucker throws at me.'
Patrick sighed.
'On your head, so be it.'
Shamus swore loudly as he threw his radio against the wall. He had lost half of his entire operation to one man by the sound of it. He stormed in to the room he had his bait kept in and looked at the blonde one.
'The guy that you're bringing here, is he from the lot you work with?'
Clover smirked as she looked at him, her eyes roving once on her two friends, both of whom had similar smirks.
'Josh is on a transfer from IHPO. You, sir, are FUBAR, as I believe Josh would say.'
Patrick smirked as he looked at the warehouse in front of him, he reached in to his coat and pulled out his pistol, screwing on a suppressor before walking to the door and kicking it open, shooting the man sat near it before he could react.
Shamus looked up when he heard a banging, he swore again as the girls let out cold laughs. He stormed out of the room, grabbing his shotgun and slamming the metal door shut.
Patrick walked calmly in to a room where what looked like the remains of a radio lay near one wall. A man with a shotgun barged in, stopping short at the sight of a man sat calmly.
'Who the fuck, are you?'
'Ah, you must be Shamus?" I thought you might pay more attention to my warning in person.'
Shamus levelled his shotgun with the man who just scoffed.
'If I were going to kill you; you'd have no idea I was here until you feel a gun to the back of the head.'
Warily, Shamus lowered his shotgun before leaning against the wall.
'What do you know?'
'You took a job to get rid of a spy currently working with WOOHP, based somewhere in East Los Angeles, the target is known to live with three young women the same age as him and are known to not put up a lethal fight. The target however, is known to have killed.'
Shamus faced the wall, punching it in a rage.
'The target is an expert at infiltration, you could have spoken to him in the last hour and not know it.'
Shamus looked up, noting that the voice he heard had just lost its accent.
'The target is exceptional at getting near his target without them knowing.'
Shamus spun around, looking at Patrick, but he was vastly different; the blonde hair and brown eyes were gone. His hair was as black as the night sky, his eyes were a dark green, cold and staring, a silenced pistol aimed at his face.
'I told you I'd kill you.'
Sam looked up as the door opened, expecting her captor. She let out a cry of joy when she saw Josh instead. His eyes were cold, but a faint smile on his face as he looked at her.
'I'm getting you all out of here.'
Sam sighed as she sat up in her bed. They had been back in Beverly Hills for two days now. She stood up, intent on getting herself a drink before trying to go to sleep again. As she padded down the stairs, she noticed that a light was on in the living room and cautiously made her way in.
Josh was sat on the sofa, a lamp on the table beside him, quietly reading a small leather book and a glass of amber liquid in easy reach, he only wore a pair of baggy jeans.
'Hey Sam, what's the matter?'
Sam walked over and sat beside Josh, looking at the pages of his book.
'I can't sleep, nothing much. What have you got there?'
Josh looked at the Red Head beside him.
'I've got something my partner would always suggest for a sleepless night: A good book and a good stiff drink.'
Sam watched as Josh picked up his glass, smelling it slightly before sipping it and sighing inn contentment.
'Twenty five years old, finest single malt Scotch from my, admittedly small, collection.'
Sam sighed as she looked out of the window at the low hanging moon.
'Aren't you too young to drink Josh?'
Josh just snorted in derision as he looked over at Sam with sad eyes.
'I'm old enough to kill, so I'm old enough to drink. Besides, this is in memory of my old partner. He was killed in a plane crash this time last year. He would always have a nightcap before he went to bed. It's such a shame he went out on such a low as well. A few months before that, he lost his sister in a car accident, and he had the higher ups keeping an eye on his mental state. They were going to pull him from active duty when his plane went down.'
Sam sighed as she rested her hand on Josh's shoulder.
'I'm so sorry to hear that.'
Josh finished his drink and took the glass away, as he went, Sam grabbed his book to see what he was reading.
'You could have asked you know.'
Sam looked up at Josh sheepishly before setting his book down again and sitting back.
'I didn't know you could read Russian Josh.'
Josh nodded as he grabbed his book, putting a book mark in it and looking at Sam as he sat down.
'I picked it up when I was thirteen, spent a year based in Siberia, one of the local girls from the near by town helped me work on it. I got so much ribbing off my team for that, but I can tell that they were all just jealous, the "girl" was a twenty years old and had them all drooling.'
Alex yawned as she walked in to the living room, she walked by the side of the sofa and squealed. Josh was lay flat on the sofa, a faint smile on his lips as he slept calmly, his thick arms wrapped around Sam, who lay asleep on his chest, his bare chest. The entire scene was almost too adorable to stand. Sam looked almost too comfortable on Josh's chest, and Josh looked far more relaxed then she had ever seen the young man. She grabbed her X Powder and snapped a quick picture just as Josh started to open his eyes.
'Good morning Josh, are you comfy?'
Josh turns his head away from her.
'Go 'way 'lex. M'comfy.'
Clover walked in and giggled as she saw Sam and Josh.
'Aww. Don't they make a cute couple? Josh must be very nice to sleep on from the look on Sam's face.'
Slowly, Josh opened his eyes, finally awake.
'Ugh, why do I feel like a side show attraction?'
He looked down to see a head of red hair lay on his chest. He gently shook her shoulder, trying to wake her up, however, Sam just buried her face in Josh's chest and mumbled
'Leave me 'lone, s'too comfy.'
Josh's face was bright red as he shook a bit harder.
'Sam, you do know that Clover and Alex are stood right next to us?'
Once again, Sam was too asleep to respond properly.
'Clove' an 'lex can go away, I'm too comfy.'
Alex couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing, finally waking Sam up properly. She looked over her friends, burying her face back in to Josh's chest, this time out of embarrassment.
'I can't believe I fell asleep on you again Josh, I'm stunned you can sleep like that.'
Sam smiled as she felt a laugh rumbling out of Josh's chest.
'Are you kidding Sam, I barely feel you on there.'
Sam stood up, not looking any one in the face as she walked off, no one could see the soft smile on her face, but they all heard Josh sigh happily as he grabbed his book and said something in Russian.
'It's the best way to sleep.'
