A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Hopefully the next installment doesn't take so long to get done! Enjoy!

Chapter 26

Duo watched Chase leave the hospital. Heero had told him to get information and he was going to. But first, he had to know where to go to find it. He tailed the lawyer, careful not to be noticed. As they reached the parking lot, Duo ducked behind a car and peeked around. Bingo. He made a mental note of the make, model and license plate of the car that Chase got into. As Chase pulled out, Duo jumped on his motorcycle and followed from a safe distance. After a while, Chase pulled off onto a residential street, which Duo intentionally missed. He'd made sure to tuck his braid into his jacket and wear a helmet that hid his face so Chase wouldn't recognize him. Duo circled the block and caught sight of Chase heading back onto the main road.

"So he thinks he can lose me, does he?" Duo decided to be more careful this time around. He stayed back farther and turned onto side streets twice. The second time he sped through the back streets until he was able to get back on the main street just ahead of Chase, making it look like he was someone completely different. He slowed ever so slightly to let the lawyer pass him.

Duo smirked to himself as they neared the area known as "Snob Hill." It was where the rich people lived. There were mansions with gates and alarm systems and guard dogs. It was right up Duo's alley.

Chase drove up to a mansion, put a code into the pin pad and went through the gate. Duo made sure Chase wouldn't see him before heading up to the pin pad and taking a thermal picture of it on his phone. He smirked as five numbers showed up hotter than the rest. He put the phone away. He'd figure out the pin later. The dullest number was pushed first and the brightest was pushed last. All he had to do was put them in order from dullest to brightest and the code was his.

He parked his motorcycle a few houses away and found a tree that would let him look into the yard. He climbed into the top branches and staked the joint. He found the security cameras, noted the six large Dobermans and the armed guards at the door.

"What the hell?" he muttered to himself. He understood paranoia, but the armed guards seemed a bit much. He pulled out his phone and entered the address and notes of what he observed.

"Good afternoon," Chase greeted the guards. "Is Mr. Decart in?"

"He's in. Is he expecting you?"

"Sort of. We didn't have a set appointment, Mr.…" Chase looked at the guard's nametag, "Um…Tiny."

Tiny looked down his nose at the lawyer. "You might have to wait but go in."

Chase nodded and quickly went inside the large mansion. He waited in the opulent parlor for almost an hour before he was shown into the den.

Decart sat in an overstuffed easy chair with a large glass of bourbon. "Chase, I hope you have good news for me."

"In a way…" Chase answered, not overly anxious to tell his boss something he didn't want to hear.

"Out with it."

"It's the girl I was supposed to train for you, sir. She's very sick…possibly dying."

"How is that good news?"

"She hasn't identified either of us yet. If she dies there are no witnesses."

"Donovan, Donovan, Donovan…" Decart said as he shook his head. "That is not what I wanted to hear. You were supposed to train the girl and hand her over. You should have kept her healthy enough to survive what I might have done to her. From the sounds of things you failed miserably."

Chase kept his mouth shut. He knew better than to argue with Decart.

"Carter! Get in here!"

The door opened and Jason Carter, Decart's personal assistant, entered. Carter was 27, well built with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. Chase remembered this young man. He'd been loaned to Chase to help with some of the girl's training. Decart had sent Carter to make sure the girl knew what he liked.

"What can I do for you, Master?"

"Enlighten us, boy…do you enjoy working for me?"

"Absolutely, Master," Carter purred.

"When did I find you, boy?"

"I was eight, Master."

"Did you like me at first?"

"I was afraid of you because I didn't understand what you wanted."

"How long did I wait to show you what I wanted?"

"You showed me as soon as you brought me here, Master."

"How often did I expect you to perform?"

"Every day, Master."

"How long was it before you needed me?"

"I'm not exactly sure of the date but I believe it was before my tenth birthday."

Decart gave his servant an appraising look before turning back to Chase. "You see, Chase, the way to train a personal assistant is to start young and train them every day until they cannot live without you. That is where you went wrong. You started with someone too old and then tried to use a combination of kindness and threats to train a girl who was far too headstrong to be cooperative."

"Yes, sir, you're right. I made a mistake." Chase knew that was what Decart wanted to hear. Chase hated admitting he was wrong, but it was a small price to pay for keeping his legs in one piece.

"This mistake of yours needs to be watched. If she doesn't die, we need to reclaim her. I'll leave that up to you if you think you can do it right this time."

"I won't fail you again."

"See that you don't. Now…about those nosy Preventers…what do you know about them?"

"Colonel Une is fairly easy to manipulate. I don't anticipate any problems with her. Her agents, on the other hand, are quite troublesome."

"Find out what you can about them. We need to find a weak point to exploit."

"I'll see if I can find anything," Chase promised.

"I want you to come to me before you act, Chase. We can't afford any more screw-ups. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now get out of my sight."

Chase nodded and immediately left, grateful that he'd escaped more serious punishment…this time.

Duo watched the house for two hours. Nothing happened. Well, not exactly. He knew where the gardener shouldn't step if he wanted to avoid fresh dog presents.

Duo sighed. It looked like Chase wasn't leaving his house any time soon. He'd have Heero run a check on the address later. It might bring up a lead. He really wasn't ready for a stakeout, so he decided to call it quits. He was about to climb down the tree when he spotted Chase leaving the house.

Duo hurried down the tree and got on his motorcycle. Chase pulled onto the street and Duo followed. Duo wasn't sure if Chase had noticed him or not. He wasn't trying to lose him. Still, Duo was careful to stay several car-lengths behind. Chase pulled into another neighborhood. This one wasn't nearly as nice. Duo watched him pull into a gated community. Duo pulled up to the gate and took a thermal photo of the pin pad. This one had metal buttons so they didn't absorb the heat. Duo frowned. There was a "call" button. He pushed it.

"Can I help you?" a tinny voice answered.

"Yes. I was interested in purchasing property in this neighborhood. Is there anything available?"

"You'll have to contact Mr. Whitaker. He's head of the home owner's association and he handles such inquiries."

"Um…thanks. I'll do that." Damn. Now what? Duo started his motorcycle and circled the block, looking for another access point or a weak spot he could manipulate.

"Shit, shit, shit," Trowa muttered under his breath.

"TROWA!" This wasn't the first time Cathy had gotten after him for his language. It had been years since he had apologized for his word choices, though.

Trowa looked up at Cathy. "You have no idea how much I just screwed this up. She'll probably never come out of there. I knew I should have made her sit it out. I don't know how bad this flashback is going to be for her."

"I'm not sure it was a flashback," the Manager said softly. "You did not see the look on her face. I don't think she knew about the girls."

Trowa stared at the manager for a moment before letting off a string of profanity that would have made a sailor blush. Cathy covered her ears and glared at her brother.

When Trowa was done he looked at Cathy. "Sorry, Cathy…I just can't believe I gave her something else to have nightmares about."

Cathy shook her head. "I hope you don't talk like that in front of her. She'll probably think she's in trouble."

Trowa sighed. "You're right. The sooner I leave the better off she'll be."

"Do not be hasty, Trowa," the Manager said. "Things might not be so bad as you imagine. Let me see if she will come out and we will go from there."

Trowa nodded, but he was sure she would hole up in the bathroom and refuse to come out.

Duo muttered to himself the entire way home. He was still grumbling when he let himself into the apartment he and Heero shared.

"What's got you mad?" Heero asked as he came out of the office.

"I tailed Chase all afternoon and I've got nothin'."

Heero frowned. "He just drove around without going anywhere or doing anything?"

"Well…no. He went to this really ritzy joint but he only stayed there for two hours and then I lost him when he went into a gated community."

"The great Duo Maxwell didn't just go in anyway?"

Duo rolled his eyes. "I didn't want to draw attention to myself…yet. Besides, if Chase realizes I'm tryin' to tail him it'll make getting the info we need harder."

Heero pulled Duo into his arms. "I'm proud of you, Duo. You're being sneaky while still following the rules."

"Screw the rules. I just don't want the bastard to get wise and run off before we can get him in jail."

Heero gave Duo a peck on the lips. "We'll get him. So what about that 'ritzy place' you mentioned? Any leads there?"

"Mmm…possibly. I've got the address here. One of us can look that up while one of us calls Mr. Whitaker about getting access to the gated community."

"Mr.…Whitaker?" Heero repeated slowly with a frown.

"Yeah. That's who runs the Home Owner's Association there. Apparently he's who you talk to about getting in."

"Mr. Whitaker is the name of Chase's client. The one he said owns the house where we found the girl."

Duo looked at his boyfriend. "Shit."

The Manager knocked gently on the bathroom door, but the girl didn't open it. He tried the door and found it unlocked. The scene before him tore his heart in half. The battered girl had her knees pulled up and she was crying softly. The arm of her pajamas was soaked with tears. He knelt down and tentatively touched her shoulder. She flinched and slowly lifted her head to look at him.

"There, there, petit, do not cry. You are safe here," he told her softly. "Come now, dry your tears and come back out, yes?"

To the Manager's relief, she nodded. He gave her a gentle smile and helped her stand up. He waited patiently as she rinsed her mouth out and wiped the tears from her face. When she was done, he set his hand on her shoulder and guided her back to the kitchen.