A/N: Sorry this took so long. My muse demanded I spend a little time on Sandrock's Lullaby. But to make it up to you, this chapter is nice and long. Now...on with the show!

Chapter 28

Duo hit the call button. While he waited, he adjusted his sash. He'd seen this in a movie and hoped it would work.

"Do you have an appointment?"

Duo cleared his throat and said in a falsetto, "Hello! I'm selling cookies to support orphans in the Sudan. Would you be interested in purchasing some?"

"Wait a moment while I speak with the Master, Miss."

Duo was surprised that had actually worked. He was careful not to let his guard down. The gate opened and Duo made sure to smile instead of smirk as he walked up to the front door pulling the wagon full of cookies. He was greeted by the two armed guards he'd seen over the fence.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"I'm selling cookies to support orphans in the Sudan. Would you like to buy some?" Duo asked, keeping his voice high and batting his eyelashes.

"How much?"

"2 credits a box."

"You won't raise much money that way."

Duo shrugged. "Maybe not. But every little bit helps."

A man with dirty blonde hair came to the door. "The Master is expecting her." He looked at Duo. "Follow me please, Miss."

Duo followed the man into the house, his senses on high alert. He looked at the elegant décor and couldn't help but wonder how much it all cost.

"Please wait here. The Master will be with you shortly."

Duo nodded and looked around the parlor. There was a plush loveseat and two overstuffed armchairs. He looked carefully for any sign of video cameras and found six of them. One wall had a mirror, which he used to adjust his padded bra and straighten the Girl Scout uniform he was wearing. He'd pulled his hair out of the braid to add to the illusion. He had to admit that he made a decent looking girl. He wouldn't win any beauty contests but it would do for this part of the mission.

"I'm so sorry to keep you waiting."

Duo turned at the smooth voice. The young man who'd led him into this room was standing just behind an older gentleman. The older man was wearing a light gray suit. His graying hair was neatly combed and he had a mustache.

"It's no problem Mr.…um…"

"Whitaker," the older man supplied.

Duo worked hard to keep from reacting to the name. Chase worked for this guy.

"Jason informs me you're doing some kind of fund-raiser?"

Duo nodded. "Oh, yes. I'm selling cookies to raise money for orphans in the Sudan. Would you like to buy some? I've got chocolate chip, peanut butter, snickerdoodles and frosted sugar cookies."

Mr. Whitaker coolly looked Duo up and down. Duo suppressed a shudder. This man was a predator, no two ways about it.

"Snickerdoodles, I think. I'd like fifty boxes."

"Fifty? Oh…um…I've only got five with me. I can get more, though."

Mr. Whitaker smiled making Duo feel like a piece of meat about to be torn apart by a wolf. "That's just fine. I look forward to our next meeting. Jason, retrieve the cookies and see that she is paid."

Mr. Whitaker left the room and Duo followed Jason to the front door, where his wagon of cookies was waiting. He handed over the cookies and took the ten dollars.

"When can we expect delivery?" Jason asked.

"It might take a few days to get that many from headquarters, but I'll ask them to rush the order," Duo told him.

Jason smiled, making Duo just as uneasy as Mr. Whitaker did. "That will be just fine. We'll see you in a few days then."

Duo nodded. "Thank you. I'm sure to get the cookie badge now!" Duo headed off the property as quickly as he thought he could manage without arousing suspicion.

As he walked around the block to where he'd left his motorcycle, he assessed the situation.

Mr. Whitaker owned the place they'd found the girl. Chase was after the girl. She recognized him, so did she know Whitaker as well? If she did know Whitaker, had he given her a false name as well? Well, that was likely a dead lead.

The surveillance system was impregnable, even for Heero, which was saying something. The mansion was very expensively furnished. Duo wondered what the cover story for the man's income would be. Whatever it was, Duo was certain it would be a doozy.

The man wasn't just slippery, he was slimy. Duo felt like he needed a shower after only five minutes with the guy. He wondered if he ought to have tried to leave a bug. He was due back to deliver more cookies. He could do it then. For now, he had to get home and see what the others had found.

Cathy pulled the girl outside. She was aware that the girl might not like it, but if what Trowa had said was true, the girl needed to be encouraged to interact. And besides, if it got to be too much for her, Cathy would bring her back. Cathy needed to see where the girl was at. Letting her cower and hide in the trailer wouldn't do her any favors.

"That's the clown's tent. They get dressed and warm up for their tumbling stuff in there. That one's the sideshow tent. I'll introduce you to the performers that work there later. You might not be up for that today. They're perfectly nice but meeting people who shake hands with their feet might be more frightening for you than we want to deal with today. That's the ticket tent. Usually we roll up the sides when the weather's nice. That's the Big Top. That's where we perform the shows. I'll show you that later. First I want to show you the animals. Do you like animals?"

Cathy didn't wait for the girl to answer. She was pretty sure she wouldn't. Cathy had an ulterior motive anyway. She wanted to get the girl occupied with the horses so she could talk to Trowa a little more. She was glad to see that Trowa and the Manager were still discussing the tiger cubs.

"Here we are." Cathy led the girl into the tent. "There are the tiger cubs Trowa was talking about."

The girl clung to Cathy's arm but peeked out from behind her at the big cats. They were rolling around in their cage, play-fighting while the Manager and Trowa looked on to make sure their play didn't evolve into an actual fight.

"The lions are there. They're Trowa's favorites. They love him and sometimes he'll sleep right in the cage with them. But don't try that. Most of those lions were raised by Trowa so they consider him part of their pride. And here's Princess." Cathy showed the girl the smaller cage with a poodle nursing six puppies. "She just had puppies but they'll be trained to do tricks with the clowns just like their mom. The other dogs in the act are over there." The dogs were whining at the gate to their enclosure. They wanted to be pet. Cathy bent down to pet the dogs but the girl hung back, seeming to be afraid of the yapping mass. Cathy wondered if she'd had a bad experience with dogs.

She led the girl over to the corral. "Have you ever ridden a horse? Here. Have some oats." Cathy handed the girl a feed bag. "You can feed them out of your hand but make sure you hold your hand out flat so they don't nip your fingers."

Cathy watched as the girl held out the bag. It was nice to see her willing to try something. The girl pulled back as the horses came closer but Cathy kept her from running off. She took the bag of oats from the girl and grabbed her wrist. The girl flinched but relaxed as Cathy gently brushed her hand across the velvety nose of a dappled gray horse named Buttercup. Cathy couldn't help but laugh at the girl's awed expression. Cathy could tell the girl hadn't had a lot of interaction with the big animals but she seemed to be enjoying it. Rocky, a young bay gelding, butted his head against the girl's hand, also wanting to be pet.

The Manager left the animal tent and glanced over at the girl as he passed by. He smiled at her child-like fascination with the horses. He hoped that the animals would help the girl to heal. Animal therapy was very effective in abuse cases. He let his mind wander as he walked. He had to come up with something to tell the rest of the performers about her. Trowa had asked that he keep her true identity a secret. Perhaps he could say she was a cousin to Trowa and Cathy. Yes…that might work. He headed off to his trailer to make a few notes.

Cathy looked around as the girl pet the horses. Seeing Trowa come out of the animal tent, she called out, "Oh, Trowa, I needed to talk to you for a minute."

Trowa changed course and headed towards the horses. "What is it Cathy?"

Cathy didn't think it would be a good idea to ask her questions in front of the girl. Besides, she seemed to be enjoying herself and Cathy didn't want to pull her away just yet. "We'll be right back, dear. You take your time and get to know the horses. You'll probably get to help with them so it'll be good if you're comfortable around them."

Convinced that the girl would be fine on her own for a few minutes, Cathy and Trowa walked a few yards away so they could talk.

Paul Johnson headed for the horse enclosure. His job with the circus was to take care of the animals. The lion tamer generally handled the lions and tigers, except when Trowa was available to train them, but Paul handled the horses, dogs and sea lions.

The sea lions were smart, almost too smart, which made them easy to train. Mostly they did simple tricks like balancing balls on their noses and doing 'synchronized swimming' in the tank. The tank was kept in a smaller tent and the show was designed for a smaller audience. The sea lions seemed to love the attention. They were usually kept in the small tent rather than having two separate tanks filled all the time. But there was a spare tank in case they needed to isolate one due to illness.

Usually the dogs and horses were trained easily enough, but Paul had been having issues with Goliath, a very spirited Friesian. He was supposed to run around the ring while one of the acrobats balanced on his back but every time someone got on his back Goliath immediately stopped. Paul had checked the saddle and blankets they used on the horse for any burrs or discomfort, but it appeared to be a perfect fit. He planned to spend a little time with the horse and see if he could figure it out. If the horse couldn't be trained, he would end up being replaced. The Manager would make sure he was sold to a reputable stable, but Paul didn't want to give up on the black horse. Goliath had the pedigree to be a great show horse. His line went all the way back to the original Barnum and Bailey Circus horses. Paul was convinced all it would take was a bit more work.

Paul frowned as he approached the corral. There was a street urchin attempting to feed the horses something. He hated it when people did that. The horses were on a very strict diet. A sick horse couldn't perform.

He marched up to the girl and grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to turn and face him. "Just what do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

The girl pulled away from him, but had nowhere to go. She pressed into the fence, attempting to put distance between them. Paul scowled as she looked everywhere but at him.

"Well?"

She didn't answer. Paul could tell she knew she was in trouble and was trying to get out of it.

"Answer me!"

"Johnson! Leave her alone."

Paul looked up to see the Manager hurrying over to him.

"But Manager, she's messing with the horses!" he protested. Usually the Manager backed him up in situations like this. The animals could become difficult and uncooperative if they were teased and harassed by everyone that came to the circus. It would affect performances if the animals were not in an agreeable temperament.

"She has my permission to be here. You leave her be and get back to work. I'll discuss it with you later."

Paul glared at the girl before walking away. He clicked his tongue and Goliath came over at his signal. Paul watched as the Manager spoke to the girl. Now that he looked, he could see the bruises that graced the girl's face.

"Are you all right, petit?" the Manager asked.

The girl nodded slowly, still looking like she knew she was in trouble.

The Manager hated that look. She wasn't in trouble and she shouldn't have to feel like she was. "Don't be afraid," he assured her. "Johnson gets a little big for his britches sometimes. Why don't we find Cathy, yes?"

Cathy was likely somewhere speaking to Trowa. The Manager knew she hadn't intended for the girl to find trouble, but it found her. He was beginning to understand what Trowa meant when he said that the girl would be a handful without meaning to be.

Paul furrowed his eyebrows as the Manager gently led the girl away. Had he missed something? Usually the Manager made an announcement when new members joined up so she hadn't been hired on…had she?

He shook his head and led Goliath to the gate so he could get to work. The Manager had said he'd discuss it later, so he would. Until then, Paul would work with Goliath.

"Anything to report yet?"

Quatre and Wufei were at Heero and Duo's apartment at Heero's request. He'd filled them in on what Duo had discovered when he followed Chase and his own suspicions about Mr. Whitaker. Heero was compiling their data so that they could put together a plan of action when Duo returned with further intel.

Wufei shook his head. "I've found nothing on Donovan Chase in the database. Do you suppose it could be another alias?"

"It's possible," Quatre said. "I haven't found anything on him either. He didn't attend law school anywhere and he isn't associated with any law firms that I can find. Nobody heard of him before his press conference."

Heero swore. "I hate chasing ghosts. Wufei, did you run the plates on the vehicles at the house yet?"

Wufei nodded. "None of the cars are registered to people that exist. Chase and his associates have put a lot of thought into covering this up. Catching them is going to be harder than we thought."

Heero's phone rang. As he answered it, the doorbell rang. "Can one of you get that?" Heero asked, covering the mouth piece on the phone.

Wufei nodded and got up to answer the door.

"What should I call her, Trowa?"

Trowa shrugged. "She won't give us anything to call her."

Cathy frowned. "Well…where is she from originally?"

"We don't know that either. Before you get upset, let me tell you what we do know. She won't talk because she's so terrified of Chase. She's been communicating by writing and she told Quatre there was no way we could keep her safe if she did talk. From what Sally got her to write down, she's nineteen and was kidnapped five years ago. Sally said that her examination of the girl revealed that she hadn't been raped, but judging from her condition she was beaten regularly. With how bad her nightmares are I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been tortured. Sally said the girl told her that the reason she was beaten was because she wouldn't let Chase rape her."

Cathy covered her mouth with her hand.

"I told you before that there was something worse than walking in on a girl being raped. Well…the worst part was…that girl…that girl was dead while a man was defiling her. He said she was alive when he started. Had we just gotten there sooner…"

Cathy wanted to throw up. "Oh, Trowa…Trowa promise me you're doing everything to get those monsters behind bars."

"We are, Cathy."

"I mean it, Trowa. You can't let them get away with this! You'd better nail him or I'll go after him myself! I can't believe anyone could do something like this! It's absolutely unforgivable!"

Trowa hated it when Cathy got worked up. Sometimes you couldn't get her to calm down even when there was nothing to get worked up about.

"Cathy, calm down. I know how you feel and we're doing everything we can."

"Don't tell me to calm down! What if that had been me?" Cathy knew she was getting worked up. But boys didn't have to worry as much about being abducted and sold into sex rings. Cathy knew what it was like to be stalked. It was terrifying. Cathy usually carried one of her throwing knives for protection. She was able to defend herself. That poor girl had only been fourteen! She'd probably been scared witless. Most girls that age worried about learning how to put on makeup, not being beaten or the possibility of being raped every day.

A throat being cleared made the siblings jump.

"Ahem. Sorry to interrupt," the Manager told them, even though the look on his face said he wasn't really very sorry.

Trowa and Cathy felt guilty as they realized he had the girl with him. She was looking at the ground.

Cathy quickly went over to her and lifted her chin. "What's wrong, hon?"

"She had a run-in with Johnson and I think he scared her," the Manager explained. "Don't worry, I'll deal with him. Cathy, maybe it's not a good idea to leave her to herself right off. At least until the others know she's supposed to be here, yes?"

"Of course, I'm so sorry, I didn't even think of that." Cathy really felt bad. She hadn't thought that leaving the girl with the horses would pose any kind of problem.

The Manager looked at the girl. "And you come to me if anyone gives you trouble, okay?"

He waited for her to nod before leaving them. He had to have a little talk with Johnson.

Duo smirked to himself as he rang his own doorbell. He'd seen this in a movie and couldn't resist. Wufei opened the door, much to Duo's delight.

"You guys want some cookies?" he asked, barely keeping his face straight.

Wufei shut the door in his face.

A/N: Okay...so...five points if you got the movie reference. ;P