Chapter 3
Christian slammed his fist on the table. "We have to get those two back NOW!!!!"
"That's what we're trying to do, Boss, but we can't find them anywhere. It seems like they just disappeared from New Jersey." Said a boy, timidly.
"Well you obviously aren't trying hard enough because they are still missing. Now we've been able to dodge the policemen, but I know that they gave out our names, and I want them back now before they cause anymore information." Christian told the boy.
"But what if they left the state?" the boy suggested.
Christian rolled his eyes, "'left the state?' You have to be kidding. Do you think that 2 girls with no money would be able to leave New Jersey without one of my boys seeing them? Heck, they wouldn't be able to even get out of here without being caught by the police again."
"Well, what if the police still have them in jail? You know, to get more information out of them?"
"No, the policemen would have had to bribe those girls to get the information, and the way they would was giving them their freedom. Do you know who they might write to, or contact? You know, like a relative, or friend?" Christian asked, pacing.
"What I know is that they don't have any relatives, but I'll go check on who their friends are, right away, Boss."
"Good, now you may be dismissed, and I want that information back as soon as possible. No dawdling." Christian said, piercing his blue eyes at the small boy.
"Yes, Sir, right away, Boss. I'll get right on that now." The boy told him, shaking all over.
"Good." With that the boy left, and Christian continued to pace, racking his mind for a way to find Kaitlin and Ashlee.
He closed the door to his "office", if you could call it that. It was a small, barren room, with a concrete floor, and a desk in the middle. He had two chairs in front of it, like many people have in front of their desks, although he rarely asked people to sit, he just let them in, yelled orders at them and then ordered them to leave. A picture of his dad was on the wall, next to the Liberty symbol, which matched the one that he, and others in the gang wore on his arm. A small filing cabinet stood in the corner, all the drawers neat, except for the last one, which had papers sticking out of it, in every which way. He sat down behind his desk, and pulled out a cigarette. He was about to call someone in, when he saw something on his desk, out of the corner of his eye. Picking it up, he realized it was the room assignments for the month. "MATTHEW!" He yelled. In an instant a boy came into the room.
"Yes, sir?" Matthew looked like the typical gang member. He was tall, and very strong, from working out, and he was wearing a loose fitting shirt and black pants. The band with the Liberty symbol on it was on his upper arm.
"What in the heck is this?" Christian demanded, showing him the paper.
"That would be the room assignments for the month, sir. They changed since we moved the headquarters because of the cops, we figured you would want a copy, sir," Matthew answered.
"You figured? Don't you think that you should check with me and see if I want a copy first? Anyway, where were Kaitlin and Ashlee staying?" Christian asked, standing up and throwing the copy of the chart back down on his desk.
Matthew thought for a minute, trying to get a look at the chart. "Room four, sir."
Christian nodded. "I want a full search on that room. Go send someone to find that boy I sent out, and tell him there has been a change of plans. Then come back here, and he and I will go over to the old headquarters and search their room. I will not have anyone screwing this up. The police still know too much, we are still in danger."
Matthew nodded. "Yes, Sir," and then he left.
Christian sat back down and lit his cigarette he had dropped when finding the chart, and waited for Matthew to come back. He didn't have to wait long. Soon the boy and Matthew, were back in his office. "Good, let's go. Now we're looking for anything, anybody that they might have talked to before or after going," he told them as they walked to their old headquarters. It wasn't very far away, and they continued for a few minutes in silence. When they reached the old headquarters, Christian walked inside, and then turned to Matthew. "Alright, take me to their room."
Matthew led Christian, and the boy, to room number four, and unlocked it, leading them in. The room was fairly clean, only a few sheets of paper lay on the desk, and the beds were unmade. But other than that, the room was spotless. "Matthew, search the closet. You boy, check under the beds, and I'm going to check the desk."
"Uh...sir my name is Christopher, sir," the boy said, walking over to the beds.
Christian ignored him and continued to rummage through the desk, "Found something," he said when he opened up the second drawer on the left. "Here's their address book... Not too many people in here. Now I want you guys to take this and ask everyone in here if they know where they are. But don't ask people in the gang....like skip Ben, Blake, and Christina..." he flipped through the book trying to find a name that didn't look familiar. "Here ya go. Go talk to Richie. I've never heard of him before," Christian said passing the book to Matthew and Chris.
"Yes, sir," Chris said, taking the book.
"I'll meet you back at headquarters," Christian said, and he left them standing in the middle of the room holding the address book.
"Alright, well let's go find this Richie person," Chris said looking at the address. "He doesn't live too far from here so it shouldn't be too hard to find."
"Fine, but when we get there, I do all the talking. I usually do stuff like this alone, and I'd rather keep it that way, but since Christian wants you to tag along, you'll do what I tell you to," Matthew said icily.
"Now that you've said that, let me get something straight. I was not told to take orders from you. So unless I am told to do so, I will not. So really, you can order me around until you're face is blue and it won't make one bit of difference," Chris replied, in the same cool tone.
"Let's just get this over with." Matthew grabbed the address book out of Chris' hands and stalked out of the room, with Chris close behind him. They walked to Richie's apartment in a stony silence, and it only took a few minutes to find. Matthew walked up and knocked on the door loudly, and a short boy with brown hair and brown eyes opened it.
"Heya, is there anything I can do for you?" he asked a little surprised to see Matthew standing there, even though he had no clue who he was.
"Yes, we are cousins of Kaitlin and Ashlee's, and we were wondering if you knew where they were. They mentioned you were good friends, and I thought you might have an idea of where they are."
"Cousins? Really? I didn't know they were related..." Richie said absentmidedly. "Sure, I got a letter from them the other day, come on in. Want something to drink?"
"No that's okay, can we just see the letter?" Chris asked him.
"Sure, you can keep it if you want, I have the address in my address book..." Richie said rummaging through some papers on the desk trying to find the letter. "I'm sure they'll be happy to hear from you."
"Oh, they'll be dying to see us," Matthew said with a grin, "We can't wait to see them...we haven't talked to them in a while actually. We stopped talking to each other a few years ago."
Richie nodded. "Here it is! I knew it was here somewhere. Anyway, here you go... when you see them tell them I said hi."
"We will. We'll be sure and tell them," Chris said, taking the letter. "Thank you." They both left the apartment.
"Idiot," Matthew mumbled. "That has got to be the dumbest guy I've ever seen."
Chris shrugged. "Oh well, worked to our advantage. Look at this! They're newsies, up in Manhattan. Go by the names Firefly and Mystery. How dumb is that?" He burst out laughing.
"Shoulda guessed it would have been something dumb like that," Matthew responded.
They brought the letter straight to Christian who read it and grinned. "Guess what, boys? We get to go to New York. Manhattan to be exact, for a little visit with our friends Mystery and Firefly." He put out his cigarette, and leaned back in his chair, throwing the letter back down on the desk.
Christian slammed his fist on the table. "We have to get those two back NOW!!!!"
"That's what we're trying to do, Boss, but we can't find them anywhere. It seems like they just disappeared from New Jersey." Said a boy, timidly.
"Well you obviously aren't trying hard enough because they are still missing. Now we've been able to dodge the policemen, but I know that they gave out our names, and I want them back now before they cause anymore information." Christian told the boy.
"But what if they left the state?" the boy suggested.
Christian rolled his eyes, "'left the state?' You have to be kidding. Do you think that 2 girls with no money would be able to leave New Jersey without one of my boys seeing them? Heck, they wouldn't be able to even get out of here without being caught by the police again."
"Well, what if the police still have them in jail? You know, to get more information out of them?"
"No, the policemen would have had to bribe those girls to get the information, and the way they would was giving them their freedom. Do you know who they might write to, or contact? You know, like a relative, or friend?" Christian asked, pacing.
"What I know is that they don't have any relatives, but I'll go check on who their friends are, right away, Boss."
"Good, now you may be dismissed, and I want that information back as soon as possible. No dawdling." Christian said, piercing his blue eyes at the small boy.
"Yes, Sir, right away, Boss. I'll get right on that now." The boy told him, shaking all over.
"Good." With that the boy left, and Christian continued to pace, racking his mind for a way to find Kaitlin and Ashlee.
He closed the door to his "office", if you could call it that. It was a small, barren room, with a concrete floor, and a desk in the middle. He had two chairs in front of it, like many people have in front of their desks, although he rarely asked people to sit, he just let them in, yelled orders at them and then ordered them to leave. A picture of his dad was on the wall, next to the Liberty symbol, which matched the one that he, and others in the gang wore on his arm. A small filing cabinet stood in the corner, all the drawers neat, except for the last one, which had papers sticking out of it, in every which way. He sat down behind his desk, and pulled out a cigarette. He was about to call someone in, when he saw something on his desk, out of the corner of his eye. Picking it up, he realized it was the room assignments for the month. "MATTHEW!" He yelled. In an instant a boy came into the room.
"Yes, sir?" Matthew looked like the typical gang member. He was tall, and very strong, from working out, and he was wearing a loose fitting shirt and black pants. The band with the Liberty symbol on it was on his upper arm.
"What in the heck is this?" Christian demanded, showing him the paper.
"That would be the room assignments for the month, sir. They changed since we moved the headquarters because of the cops, we figured you would want a copy, sir," Matthew answered.
"You figured? Don't you think that you should check with me and see if I want a copy first? Anyway, where were Kaitlin and Ashlee staying?" Christian asked, standing up and throwing the copy of the chart back down on his desk.
Matthew thought for a minute, trying to get a look at the chart. "Room four, sir."
Christian nodded. "I want a full search on that room. Go send someone to find that boy I sent out, and tell him there has been a change of plans. Then come back here, and he and I will go over to the old headquarters and search their room. I will not have anyone screwing this up. The police still know too much, we are still in danger."
Matthew nodded. "Yes, Sir," and then he left.
Christian sat back down and lit his cigarette he had dropped when finding the chart, and waited for Matthew to come back. He didn't have to wait long. Soon the boy and Matthew, were back in his office. "Good, let's go. Now we're looking for anything, anybody that they might have talked to before or after going," he told them as they walked to their old headquarters. It wasn't very far away, and they continued for a few minutes in silence. When they reached the old headquarters, Christian walked inside, and then turned to Matthew. "Alright, take me to their room."
Matthew led Christian, and the boy, to room number four, and unlocked it, leading them in. The room was fairly clean, only a few sheets of paper lay on the desk, and the beds were unmade. But other than that, the room was spotless. "Matthew, search the closet. You boy, check under the beds, and I'm going to check the desk."
"Uh...sir my name is Christopher, sir," the boy said, walking over to the beds.
Christian ignored him and continued to rummage through the desk, "Found something," he said when he opened up the second drawer on the left. "Here's their address book... Not too many people in here. Now I want you guys to take this and ask everyone in here if they know where they are. But don't ask people in the gang....like skip Ben, Blake, and Christina..." he flipped through the book trying to find a name that didn't look familiar. "Here ya go. Go talk to Richie. I've never heard of him before," Christian said passing the book to Matthew and Chris.
"Yes, sir," Chris said, taking the book.
"I'll meet you back at headquarters," Christian said, and he left them standing in the middle of the room holding the address book.
"Alright, well let's go find this Richie person," Chris said looking at the address. "He doesn't live too far from here so it shouldn't be too hard to find."
"Fine, but when we get there, I do all the talking. I usually do stuff like this alone, and I'd rather keep it that way, but since Christian wants you to tag along, you'll do what I tell you to," Matthew said icily.
"Now that you've said that, let me get something straight. I was not told to take orders from you. So unless I am told to do so, I will not. So really, you can order me around until you're face is blue and it won't make one bit of difference," Chris replied, in the same cool tone.
"Let's just get this over with." Matthew grabbed the address book out of Chris' hands and stalked out of the room, with Chris close behind him. They walked to Richie's apartment in a stony silence, and it only took a few minutes to find. Matthew walked up and knocked on the door loudly, and a short boy with brown hair and brown eyes opened it.
"Heya, is there anything I can do for you?" he asked a little surprised to see Matthew standing there, even though he had no clue who he was.
"Yes, we are cousins of Kaitlin and Ashlee's, and we were wondering if you knew where they were. They mentioned you were good friends, and I thought you might have an idea of where they are."
"Cousins? Really? I didn't know they were related..." Richie said absentmidedly. "Sure, I got a letter from them the other day, come on in. Want something to drink?"
"No that's okay, can we just see the letter?" Chris asked him.
"Sure, you can keep it if you want, I have the address in my address book..." Richie said rummaging through some papers on the desk trying to find the letter. "I'm sure they'll be happy to hear from you."
"Oh, they'll be dying to see us," Matthew said with a grin, "We can't wait to see them...we haven't talked to them in a while actually. We stopped talking to each other a few years ago."
Richie nodded. "Here it is! I knew it was here somewhere. Anyway, here you go... when you see them tell them I said hi."
"We will. We'll be sure and tell them," Chris said, taking the letter. "Thank you." They both left the apartment.
"Idiot," Matthew mumbled. "That has got to be the dumbest guy I've ever seen."
Chris shrugged. "Oh well, worked to our advantage. Look at this! They're newsies, up in Manhattan. Go by the names Firefly and Mystery. How dumb is that?" He burst out laughing.
"Shoulda guessed it would have been something dumb like that," Matthew responded.
They brought the letter straight to Christian who read it and grinned. "Guess what, boys? We get to go to New York. Manhattan to be exact, for a little visit with our friends Mystery and Firefly." He put out his cigarette, and leaned back in his chair, throwing the letter back down on the desk.