"I don’t know," C. J. replied, "Sure he has a gun, but that’s not too bad."

"Enough," the man demanded, "Come with me and neither of you gets hurt. There’s no way I can miss from here." The girls looked at each other. He was right.

"You," he said, pointing at Vicki, "get your friends keys. You’re driving." Vicki took C. J’s keys and climbed into the driver’s seat. He took the passenger seat and gave her instructions.

"You’re not too smart, you know," Vicki asked, "Giving us clear directions to where you’re taking us. We could led the cops right back here."

"I don’t think you would do that," the man told her, "Not if you want to make it back to the ice-skating rink…or your houses." Vicki glanced back at C. J. and caught her eye. C. J. made a slight gesture and Vicki went with it.

"So," C. J. asked, "how did you get mixed up in this? I mean, this business must be pretty tough."

"Let’s just say that I have my reasons," the man replied, "You’ll find out soon enough when we reach our destination."

"What I don’t understand," Vicki said, "is how Michael fits in with your plans." The man seemed startled for a second, but quickly regained his composure. She had hit a soft spot.

"How do you know about that," he asked, looking at her.

"It wasn’t too hard to figure out," C. J. replied, "Once we saw his picture, it was almost too easy." She didn’t dare mention the meeting from the night before. Who knows what would happen then?

Frank and Joe walked into the alley and climbed up the fire escape. The room from earlier was dark and the window was tightly closed. A perfect time to look around.

"How are we getting in," Joe asked, "This window is locked tight."

"How about the front door," Frank asked his brother, "It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out which one it is. It’s on the right side of the building. You stay here, I’ll be right back."

"Why am I staying here," Joe started to ask, but it was too late. Frank had already climbed down the fire escape.

Joe had waited ten minutes for his brother to return when the doorknob in the room started to turn. Seconds later, Frank walked in the room and opened the window for Joe.

"Let’s check this place out," Joe said when he got in, "There must be a clue around here somewhere." The two split up and looked around the area.

It was nearly forty-five minutes before they found anything. "Joe," Frank said somewhere nearby, "I think I found something. Come here."

Joe walked over and looked at the picture Frank was pointing to. Four people, two parents and two sons were in the photo. The parents were unmistakably younger versions of Jim and Laura Ice. The two boys looked remarkably alike with their green eyes looking into the camera.

"This might be the only thing he has about his family," Joe said, "Who would keep a picture of them, only to try and hurt them?"

"Maybe that’s why he keeps it," Frank suggested and Joe shot him a disbelieving look, "He might not want to do this, but maybe he’s being forced to do it."

Suddenly, the light was flipped on and someone walked in the room. Michael Ice stepped back when he saw them, "What are you guys doing here?" He looked unsure of what to do.

"Don’t worry," Frank said, "We’re not on their side, but we know something’s going on." Michael still didn’t know whether to trust them.

"Why should I believe you," Michael asked, "for all I know, my boss put you up to this."

"First, we don’t know your boss," Joe replied, "and second, we know Justin, your brother. We’re trying to help them." He pointed to the picture, "Where did you get this?"

"Steve had it with him," Michael answered, "It was in one of his boxes in his room. When he was gone one day, I went inside and found it. It’s all that I have of them."

"Do you know why they’re doing this," Frank stepped up, "It could be very important."

"All I know is that they have something against them. They said something about a revenge plot for helping catch one of their gang a while ago." The two brothers glanced at each other. Mr. Ice didn’t seem like that at all.

"What keeps you doing this," Joe asked, "According to what I’ve heard, you’re not doing this willingly. What are they holding above you?"