(Frank's POV)
I look at my phone for the umpteenth time and no reply. It's been nearly two hours since I left that message on Jenny's phone and she still hasn't replied back. I'm starting to get a bit worried now. What if something has happened to her? I shake my head dismissively. Of course nothing bad has happened. I'm just being stupid. Jenny can take care of herself. I need to distract myself. I'll go and see how Oscar, Rose and Carrie are doing. Putting the mop in the bucket, I wheel the mopping cart to the assembly hall.
Upon arriving by the door of the assembly hall, Oscar and Carrie come out.
"How are you guys getting on?" I ask them.
"Apparently, our suspect says that he doesn't remember vandalising the HSBC bank last night," says Oscar. "He says that he was at home playing on his PSP while listening to music on his headphones."
"He says that he must have blacked out because the last thing he remembered was looking at the clock by his bed which read eleven o'clock and he says that he didn't wake up until half past eight this morning," says Carrie.
"He blacked out…?"
"While he was listening to music. Remember, Frank, everyone in that CCTV footage were wearing headphones."
"So who was he listening to?" I ask.
"Some DJ called DJ Mega J," says Carrie. "He hosts this pirate radio station called Swaggerbeatz FM."
"Rose went to HQ to check out the Swaggerbeatz website," says Oscar.
There's a buzzing sound. Carrie pulls out her pencil communicator and answers it. "Hey, Rose. OK. OK then." She hangs up. "Rose has hacked into Mega J's email account. His real name is Jerome Harris, nineteen years old and his address is 24 Swete Street, Plaistow."
"I say we should go and pay Mr. Harris a visit," Oscar suggests.
"Be careful, agents," I say cautiously.
Nodding their heads, Oscar and Carrie walk off.
Before I can wheel the mopping cart to the storage cupboard, I hear Mrs King call my name, "Frank!"
"Mrs King!" I say, quickly turning around.
"Have you heard back from Jenny yet?"
I shake my head. "Sorry, Mrs King."
Mrs King crosses her arms over her chest. "Ohhh. I'm really worried about her. What if something has happened to her? I'll never forgive myself."
"Mrs K, this is Jenny we're talking about. I'm sure that whoever goes up against Jen will be eaten for breakfast. That person will have to think twice before they challenge Jen," I tell Mrs King assuredly.
"Hmm. I hope you're right, Frank."
Mrs King walks off, still feeling unsure about what I said. I'm feeling unsure about what I said. I pull out my phone again to see if Jenny has replied. Nothing. Sighing, I wheel the mopping cart off to the storage cupboard.
Oh, Jen, I hope that you're OK.
(Jenny's POV)
After nearly an hour and a half of clinging onto Kenzie's leather jacket for dear life, we finally reach our destination.
"We're here," says Kenzie.
I climb off the seat of his motorcycle and look at the building. It's a three-storey 1970s terrace house. I turn my attention back to Kenzie.
"Thanks for the lift, Kenzie," I say.
"No problem," he says. "By the way, Zeke wanted me to give these to you."
Kenzie reaches in the pockets of his jacket and pulls out a gold lipstick tube and a rectangular black box.
First, he holds up the lipstick tube. "This is the Lipstick Stun Gun. A concealable weapon shaped and sized like a lipstick tube." He gives the lipstick tube to me and opens the black box. It's a black velvet choker necklace with a silver cat head-shaped centrepiece. "Next, we have the Voice Alterer. This gadget allows you to change your voice. Push together the cat ears of the centrepiece and it'll activate the speaker and microphone."
"Wow!" I say as he hands me the choker.
"Oh, and I have one final gift to give you."
He goes into his pocket again and takes out a piece of paper, handing it to me. I look at the card. It has his name and his… phone number. I look at Kenzie, feeling hot and red as he uses his hand to do an impression of a phone.
"Call me," he mouths.
With a wink, he takes off. I stand on the pavement and watch him roar around the corner. My heart feels almost sick witch excitement, and my insides are still shaking. He fancies me. I mean he really fancies me. I sigh and shake my head as I put the paper and the Lipstick Stun Gun in my pocket. After placing the Voice Alterer choker around my neck, I head into the council flat.
After reaching stairhead of the third floor, I decided that I needed a change in outfit. I look around to see if anyone was around. Knowing that the coast is clear, I open my wristwatch communicator and press the blue button above the keypads and change into my catsuit.
Coming out of the stairwell, I make my way to the end of the building, reaching a red door that was slightly open with a gold plated '24' on the door. I gently push the door open and quietly enter the flat.
Closing the door behind me with ease, I walk down the short, small corridor as there is no-one in the kitchen and the living room is empty. I look up the staircase by the living room door. It seems that Harris is hiding upstairs. I start to creep slowly up the stairs, trying not to make a sound. Reaching the landing, I see that the bedroom door by the staircase is the only one is open. I cautiously enter the room. The room is medium-sized, with white wallpaper and a dark blue carpet and various posters of rap stars plastered on the wall. There's a large tan-coloured wardrobe opposite the door and a single black-framed bed with a navy blue duvet in the corner of the room by the window with a tan-coloured bedside drawer that has a black alarm clock. And opposite the bed are the audio sources, the mixing and transmission equipment and filters used to make Jerome's pirate radio station, Swaggerbeatz FM. And speaking of Jerome, I spot him sitting on his black swivel chair, facing the window.
"All right, Harris. How's about you turn that cornrow head of yours and face me so I can see what your face would look like when I cuff you?" I say to Jerome. He does nothing. He says nothing. He's still sitting on his chair, with his back to me. Sighing deeply, I walk over to Jerome. "Maybe I didn't make myself clear, Harris. I said tu-"
I stop mid-sentence when I spin his chair around. His wrists are tied up with a piece of white cloth and his mouth is gagged with a tennis ball.
"What the…?" I ask, removing the tennis ball from Jerome's mouth.
"Behind you!" he says.
I quickly turn around but it's too late. The figure behind me smashes a plate over my head, knocking me out.
Ouch…
xxoOoxx
I wake up with a groan. The side of my head is pounding and I feel really dizzy. I try to massage my temples but I can't move my hands. They're tied behind my back. I can't move my legs either. My ankles are tied up as well.
"Uhhh… son of a bitch!" I groan.
"Ah, good. You're awake," says a voice.
I lift my head and see a slender twentysomething black guy with a diamond earstud in a tight white T-shirt to show off his toned body sitting by the radio equipment opposite the bed I'm sitting on.
"I take it you're not Jerome Harris," I say.
"Nah…" he says. "I'm his cousin, Jamal Frazier."
"Cousin?"
"My mum is the sister of Jerome's dad."
"I see… Uh, listen, Jamal. How's about explaining to me why you used your cousin's equipment to hypnotize the teens and young adults of London into attacking the HSBC banks. And maybe at the same time, you could untie me while you're telling me the story."
"I'm not gonna untie you. But I will tell you why I'm doing this." Jamal turns to the window. "My sister, Imani, used to work at the HSBC Tower in Canary Wharf. Five years she worked there. She was hard-working, organised and she loved to learn and develop her skills. Then… the recession comes in and her and 4, 000 other people are made redundant. Losing her job meant that she couldn't afford to live in her luxury flat in Cabot Square that was near her workplace, so she gave it up. She moved back to me and mum's place where she does nothing but drinks and smoke dope all day and all night. And because of that, her and Mum argue. I mean really argue. Mega throw-glass-at-the-wall-and-have-a-neighbour-call-the-police arguments."
"Well, that explains why all the HSBC banks across the city got trashed," I say. "But how did you hypnotize the people into doing it?"
"Covet hypnosis. I can hypnotize others without them knowing."
"That explains the blackouts. You used Jerome's radio equipment into hypnotizing everyone without them knowing they were being hypnotized."
"Exactly. That is until Jerome had to butt in and disrupt my broadcast. So I had him tied and gagged. He's being like that since last night." I turn to Jerome. The tennis ball is back in his mouth and now he's blindfolded with an eye mask. I turn back to Jamal. "Now, I've finished my transmission. While you were unconscious, I hypnotized anybody who listens to Swaggerbeatz FM into attacking the HSBC Tower."
"What?!" I say.
Jamal looks at the alarm clock on the bedside drawer. "Yeah. Right now, anyone who listened to my transmission will be making their way to Canary Wharf to tear down the place where my sister worked her arse off for five years. Now that's one problem done..." He then turns to me and smiles evilly, "another one to go…"
Jamal stands up and walks over to me, but I stop him in his tracks.
"Wait!" I say.
"What?" he says, now slightly annoyed.
"Remember that scene in the A-Team movie where Brock Pike was in that car with Agent Lynch and his men, and Pike told Lynch to have his hands tied to the front and not the back because Pike had his hands tied to his back and he uncuffed them and attacked Lynch's men?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
I show Jamal my hands – untied. While he was talking about his sister, I managed to successfully free my hands. If only the idiot had handcuffs instead of cloth.
"This is what happens when you monologue, Jamal," I say, with an impish grin on my face.
"You fucking bitch!" he says, making a grab at me.
My hand flies out, hitting his face. He screams and staggers, clutching his head. I untie my ankles and reach for the Lipstick Stun Gun in the canister of the utility belt. Jamal steadies himself and turns to me looking P-I-S-S-E-D. The left side of his face red with anger as well as with blood.
"Wh-why you–!" Jamal takes a swing at me, but I dodge it. I remove the lid of the lipstick tube and as Jamal takes another swing at me, I jab the stun gun below his ribcage.
"GAAAHHH–!" Jamal screams, as the volts charge through his body.
After five seconds, I pull the Lipstick Stun Gun from his ribcage. With a dazed look on his face, Jamal drops to the floor, his muscles twitching uncontrollably.
"Never come between a girl and her lipstick." I blow the smoke from the electrodes of the stun gun and cover it up with the lid. I turn my attention to Jerome. I go over to him and remove the eye mask from his face and the tennis ball from his mouth, and I untie his hands.
"You OK?" I ask Jerome.
He nods. He looks at Jamal's twitching body. "What about him?"
"Oh, he'll be right as rain in a few hours. Right now, I need your help in operating the equipment. I'm gonna reverse the hypnosis that Jamal put on the people who listen to this station."
"How? Everyone heard Jamal's voice, they won't listen to you."
"You're gonna have to trust me, Jerome."
Nodding his head, Jerome walks over to his makeshift radio station and hands me the microphone and the headphones. After flicking switches and pressing buttons, Jerome nods his head to me, signalling me to speak.
I push the cat ears on centrepiece of the choker and the speakers and microphone come on. "Hello, everyone. This is Jamal Frazier speaking. Listen to my voice; you are now under my control. You are to stop where are. Do not attack the HSBC Tower. I repeat, do not attack the HSBC Tower. Return to whatever you were doing before I made the transmission. Oh, and to any young listeners, you are to stay in school and study hard. Say no to drugs and alcohol. And remember: safe sex is the best sex. Use a condom. Over and out."
Jerome stares at me astonishment as I remove the headphones.
"Bu – you're voice – how did you – what!?" he stammers.
"I know. That's one of the perks of being a crime-fighter: the awesome gadgets," I say. "Now, back to the chair. I have to tie you up."
"What? Why?"
"MI9 think that you're the mastermind behind all of this. However, if they see you bound and gagged, and see Shakin' Stevens on the floor here, you'll be home free. Even though MI9 will confiscate your radio stuff as pirate radioing is illegal."
"You have a point there. But what makes you think that Jamal will be here when MI9 arrive?"
I take out the Lipstick Stun Gun and remove the lid, jabbing it in Jamal's upper hip.
"Aieee!" he babbles.
Removing the stun gun from his hip, I watch Jamal drool on the carpet while his body continues to twitch.
"Happy?" I ask Jerome.
"Very." He walks to the swivel chair and sits on it. "Still, I can't help but feel sorry for him."
"Hm. But hypnotizing the city's kids into attacking the HSBC banks will not get his sister her job back," I say as I tie Jerome's ankles and wrists with the white cloth. "It's not too tight, is it?"
Jerome shakes his head.
"OK, good." I pick up the tennis ball. "Now before I pop this in your mouth, I want you to promise me that when this whole thing blows over, you'll get a decent education, a job and help out your family."
"Believe me, after seeing Jamal act the way he was acting, I promise to even go to church every Sunday."
There's banging outside. "Open the door! This is MI9!"
"Time for me to bust a move," I say, placing the tennis ball in Jerome's mouth. I make my way to the window and open it wide. Climbing out of the window, I turn to Jerome and give him a wave, and then I jump. As I fall mid-air, I open my wristwatch communicator and press the green button above the keypads, activating the Rocket Go-go Boots that were fitted on the toe and heel.
I quickly pull myself up in the air before I ended up like pancakes. While flying back to St Hope's, I open my communicator to check if I have any missed calls or messages.
"You have twenty missed calls and one voicemail," says the automated voice.
"Let me hear the voicemail," I say to the communicator.
There's a beep and the voicemail comes on.
"Oh, hi, Jenny. It's Frank. Listen, er, your Aunt Hermione… Mrs King, has just, er, called me to call you to see, or hear that you're OK. She said that you had a right pop at her when she pulled you away as you were blocking the policemen's path and for letting them take Scoop, Homie and JJ away. She's a bit worried about you so, er, just call her… or me. You can call me back just to say that you're OK. OK? Bye."
Shit! I completely forgot about Aunt Hermione. I feel so mean for yelling at her at lunchtime. I need to make it up to her. Better get myself down to Westfield.
(Frank's POV)
My phone rings. I quickly pull out my phone and see Oscar's name on the screen. Shoot, I thought it was Jenny.
"Oscar," I say, trying not to sound disappointed.
"Hi, Frank," he says. "Just wanted to let you know that we've caught the guy behind the hypnosis attacks. It wasn't Jerome Harris; it was his cousin Jamal Frazier."
"I see. Well, good work agents."
"Yeah, that's just it. It wasn't us who caught Jamal. It was the Cat."
"Of course. Right, well, bring Jamal in and I'll see you and Carrie tomorrow."
"OK. See you tomorrow, Frank."
I hang up and drag myself down the corridor. I look at my watch. It's just after quarter past five and she's not back. I've gone from worrying to panicking. Rose kept on telling me that Jenny is fine and that I shouldn't worry or panic, but I can't help it. I care so much about Jenny that if anything has happened to her I'll…
I stop in my tracks as I turn a corner. I see Jenny slump against the wall outside the door of Mrs King and Mr. Flatley's office, with some shopping bags by her feet.
"Jenny?" I say.
She sees me and starts waving. I go up to her and pull her into a hug. The sweet smell makes me suddenly clutch her tight.
"Hey, whoa! Easy, Frank!" she says.
I realise that I'm hugging her a little too tightly. I pull away, my face going bright red. "You're an idiot, you know that? Mrs King and I were worried sick. Where were you? Why didn't you call or text?"
"Sorry," she says quietly, looking very embarrassed. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to worry you or Aunt Hermione. After I ran out, I went to clear my head. I felt really guilty about what I did, so I went to Westfield to buy Aunt Hermione a present. Knowing that you were worried about me, Frank, I brought something for you, too. I hope you like it."
Jenny passes me a blue bag, which I take. I open the bag and pull out a fluffy grey medium-sized teddy bear. It has a blue nose and a matching blue ribbon around its neck.
"Do you like it?" Jenny says.
"I love it," I say, admiring the bear. I look at Jenny. "Well, I suppose I can't stay angry at you."
"Phew, thank God for that! Though, you do look cute when you're angry."
I can feel my face getting even redder. Jenny giggles and I can't help but give a little chuckle myself. I just couldn't help it. Every time I look at Jenny, she makes me smile. She's the best.
"Jenny?"
Jenny and I stop laughing. It's Mrs King. She doesn't look like her usual stern self. She looks composed, content and… glad. Glad that Jenny is back, safe and sound.
"Ah, hi, Aunt 'Mione," says Jenny, as she turns to face Mrs King.
"I'll, er, leave you two alone," I say, walking round the corner. I don't get too far from Jenny and Mrs King. I can vaguely hear them talking. Leaning against the wall, I look at the teddy bear that Jenny gave me and I sigh at it.
"Oh, just ask her out already!"
I jump and turn to see Rose standing there, her backpack over one shoulder with her hand holding the strap while her other hand is placed on her hip.
"Rose! You startled me!" I say, clutching my chest with my free hand. "How long have you been standing here?"
"Long enough," Rose replies. "So… are you gonna ask her out?"
I hesitant. "I-I don't know, Rose. I'm scared that she might say no."
"Frank! Are you being deliberately irritating? She obviously likes you."
"Do you really think so?" I hiss, delighted.
Rose sighs. "Honestly, Frank, you are such a goofball. Ever since Jenny came to this school, you've being acting like a lovesick puppy."
"I haven't!"
"Of course you haven't. Oh, hi, Jenny."
"Nice try, Rose. As if I'm gonna fall for that one."
"Hi, Frank!" I hear Jenny say.
I push off from the wall. "Jenny, hi! Hi!" I say, sounding like a complete idiot. I feel my face going red… again.
"I just wanted to say that Aunt Hermione as forgiven me after I showed her the present I brought for her. It's a beautiful silver pearl and crystal spiral flower brooch. Anyway, her and I are gonna be pushing off now. So I'll see you tomorrow, Frank." She nods at Rose. "Bye Rose."
"Bye, Jenny," says Rose.
"Bye, Jenny," I say, giving her a little wave.
Waving back, Jenny walks off, clonking a little in her shoes down the corridor. I can still smell her sweet perfume. It's heaven. I turn to Rose, who's slowly shaking her head.
"Really, Frank. You are such a schoolboy," she says. "I mean, you do like her, right?"
"I don't think I like her, Rose." I look at the teddy bear once again. "I think… I think I'm falling in love with her."
I am. I am. I am.