Hoboken, New Jersey
February 5, 2014
William Campbell paced around the empty and darkened warehouse, anxious and extraordinarily angry. It was midnight…they were supposed to meet him an hour ago. What could be taking them so long? There was a very good chance the Grimauldi's would be doing their rounds right about now. There was a very good chance the whole plan could go horribly wrong because of their tardiness.
In the beginning, it didn't seem like such a bad idea hiring Jimmy "Arms" Moretti and Gianni Esposito to do his dirty work. They were all muscle, of course, and that was just what he needed to pull off his absolutely genius scheme. He hadn't counted on, however, the two men being complete shit heads. William felt as though he'd hired Dumb and Dumber with the amount of dangerous mistakes the two made. First it was kidnapping the wrong girl, then it was buying the wrong sized tarp…the list went on and on.
William continued pacing, his footsteps echoing off of the damp walls. It was 12:15. God, could they get any later?
Suddenly, one of the old bay doors rolled up and in came Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, hauling the Grimauldi girl and the machine behind them.
"What the hell took you so long?"
Gianni dumped the girl on the floor. "Arms was hungry, so we stopped at Burger King for a Whopper and lost track of time, I guess."
William's eyes bugged out of his head. "You risked the entire mission for a hamburger? An unconscious girl in your backseat and a giant time machine sitting in the flatbed of your truck, and you stop for food?"
Jimmy lugged the time machine in and parked it a few feet from William. He ripped the blue painter's tarp off of the hunk of metal and then turned toward his boss. "Yeah, but we were real careful."
"Inconspictuous just like you said, Bill." Gianni chimed in.
"I said 'inconspicuous.' I swear, you were dropped on your head as an infant," William huffed. "But enough of this chit-chat. We must get started."
He looked down at the girl laying on the floor. "Are you positive this is her?"
"Yeah, yeah. We found her in London, the year 1965, just like you said." Gianni said.
"Excellent," William sighed. Finally, something had gone smoothly.
He grabbed a fist full of black curls and brought the girl's face to his. She certainly was Rosanna Grimauldi.
"She's pretty ain't she, Willy." Jimmy called.
"Yes, Arms, she is, but we aren't here to fawn over a time traveling spy, are we?" William said, and then carefully placed the girl's head back onto the floor.
He checked his watch again. It was 12:30 and if they kept waiting, they'd miss their window. They needed to begin soon.
William walked over to the time machine. "Gentlemen, after years of careful planning, we're finally going to travel back to the year 1967 to kill Paul McCartney!"
"…That's all we're going to do?" Jimmy asked.
"Yeah, that seems a little lame to me." Gianni chirped.
"Wha-no! That's not all! By killing Mr. McCartney, I'll be able to take over his life and garner his wealth and fame, all while screwing over businesses like Grimauldi's by killing off their spies, too."
"But what's in it for us?" said Gianni.
"Stop thinking of yourself, Esposito! We have work to do…" William said.
He turned to the time travel panel and pressed a few buttons. The door to the machine slid open with a hiss and revealed five seats. William dragged Rosanna to the first seat and stuffed her in it.
"Take your places, boys." He called while sitting down.
Jimmy and Gianni sat as William pressed a few more buttons.
"Hello, William Shears Campbell," the machine said. "Where to?"
"London, England, July 1, 1967." He called.
The door to the machine shut and overhead straps enclosed the passengers in their seats. The time machine began to tremble on its own.
"I'm going to be freaking sick!" Jimmy cried as William Campbell's time machine was zapped forty-seven years into the past.
So, that was chapter one. I hope you enjoyed it!