(Frank's POV)
I've just spent the last ten minutes typing away at the computer, trying desperately to track Jenny via her mobile phone. But so far, nothing. Either her phone is off or the person who has taken her and Livi has taken the phone. I've tried Livi's phone but hers is in Mrs King's office. Sighing heavily, I turn on my swivel chair away from the computer screens and I rub my eyes. I'm so tired, but there's no way I'm gonna give up. I'm gonna find you, Jenny and Livi. And when I find the person responsible for this, I'm gonna…
SWOOSH!
The elevator doors open and Oscar, Rose and Carrie run up to the computers.
"What's going on?" I ask.
"We found a clue on who has taken Jen and Livi," says Carrie.
"It's a piece of cloth that was caught on the door to the assembly hall," says Oscar. "Rose is gonna run some tests on it."
Rose scans the piece of black cloth with her Spy-Pod and types furiously on the keyboard.
"I've got something," she says.
A profile with photo pops up on the screen. The photo is a burly-looking man in his late-forties, with a bald head that has a few strands and stubble.
"His name is Jeremy Baxter," says Rose. "He and his brother, Kyle, have been involved in armed robberies, arson, assaults and kidnapping. They're also members of a website called Rent-a-Thug."
"No prizes in what that website is about," says Carrie, crossing her arms over her chest.
"He's left his email address on the website. I can hack into it and see if there's anything that can tell us where he and his brother kept Jenny and Livi."
As Rose starts typing away, I stand up and head to the lab. I go to the mini fridge and grab myself a can of Coke. I drum the top of the can with my thumbs.
"Don't worry, Frank. We're gonna find them," says Oscar, leaning against the pillar with his arms cross.
"Don't be silly. I'm not worried," I say.
Oscar slightly raises one eyebrow at me.
"I'm not!"
Actually, I am worried. I'm very worried. There's one part of me that can't help thinking that something terrible has happened. But there's another part of me thinking that Jenny and Livi are OK.
"I've got something!" Rose hails.
I place the Coke can on the table top and leave the lab.
"Baxter has been hired by someone called Ellis Molinelli. They've been emailing each other for some weeks," says Rose. "Anyway, the last email that Baxter received from Molinelli was the on the morning of the kidnapping. It says that once Baxter has Livi and Jenny, he and his brother should bring them to the Rembrandt Hotel in Knightsbridge."
"And that's where we're gonna go," says Carrie.
"Hold on. Jenny and Livi can't see us like this," says Oscar. "If they do, we'll get relocated or worse, we'll get kicked out of MI9. We're gonna need a disguise."
"And I've got just the thing," I say, retreating back to the lab. Oscar, Carrie and Rose follow behind. I root through the cupboards until I find what I'm looking for. It's a small black matchstick box. I turn to Oscar, Rose and Carrie and I slide the box open revealing red and blue disk-shaped tablets. "Behold – Age-Deceiving Pills," I say. "These pills have the ability to change the outer appearance of the person who takes them, making them either older or younger. The red pills render the user older, while the blue pills make the user younger."
Oscar, Rose and Carrie each take a red pill and they pop it in their mouths. Within seconds of ingesting the pills, there's a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the three of them attained adult forms of themselves. Oscar looks incredibly lean, very muscular and fairly athletic. His hair is now dark and short, but straight and he has facial stubble. Rose has an hourglass shape: wide shoulders and hips, and a distinctively narrow waist. Her eyes are now slightly smaller and her dark hair is now cascaded around her shoulders instead of her waist. Finally, Carrie looks waif-like and slim but slightly more athletic. Her facial features are the same, but her hair is long, fantastically plaited and tied in a high ponytail that falls to her shoulders.
"Whoa!" says Oscar in his deep voice. "We must have aged about ten years!"
"I look so sexy!" Carrie says excitedly, posing like a model.
"This is incredible, Frank!" says Rose, completely gobsmacked. "How long will we look like this?"
"The effects usually last for about half a day," I say.
"Twelve hours?! I can't go home like this!" Rose exclaims.
"Don't worry, you and Carrie can stay with me until the effects wears off," says Oscar. "Right now, we've got some friends to save."
"And some kidnapper's butts to kick," says Carrie, cracking her knuckles.
"Be careful, agents," I say.
Nodding their heads, Rose, Oscar and Carrie leave HQ.
"Hold on, Jenny and Livi. Help is on the way," I say to myself.
(Jenny's POV)
"Mmmmmmmm!"
What is that?
I freeze. I turn around and my eyes darts from the basin to toilet to shower and bathtub, the bathtub covered by the blue shower curtain.
"Hello?" I call.
"Mmmm!"
I stand up and slowly tiptoe to the shower/bathtub.
"Hello?" I call again, more softly this time. Reaching the shower/bathtub, I pull back the curtain and gasp at the sight I see.
It's a girl. She's lying in the bathtub with some brooms, mops and sponges, her wrists and ankles bound together with white cloth and her mouth is covered up with gaffer tape. The girl looks about the same age as me. She has a pretty, oval face with big, dark eyes, and piles of frizzy brown hair that she swept straight back and kept in place with a long, pearl-white hairband. She's wearing a white waist apron over a black pencil dress, with three quarter length sleeves and white collar, and white plimsolls.
"Oh, my God," I say. I carefully remove the tape from the girl's mouth.
The girl gasps for air. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" she says. She has a high-pitched voice. She sounds like a mouse.
"Are you OK?" I ask, as I untie the cloth from her wrists and ankles.
"I-I-I think so."
"What's your name?"
"I'm April. April Fields. I'm the housekeeper of the Rembrandt Hotel."
"Hotel?"
"Yes, we're located in the exclusive area of Knightsbridge. Who are you?"
"I'm Jenny Brownstone. What happened?"
"This room hasn't been cleaned in days and this morning, Mrs Chamberlain, the head housekeeper, said that whether the guest liked it or not, the room was getting cleaned and picked me to do it. So when I got in the room, the first thing I saw was those pictures on the wall. I was so shaken; I didn't hear the door open or footsteps entering the room. A cloth was put over my mouth and I was bundled in here, all tied up. The man said that if I screamed for help, he'd kill me!"
"Well, I'm here now. Don't worry, April, I'll get us out of here."
"How?" she asks, climbing out of the shower/bathtub.
"Hmmm… that's a good question." I look around the bathroom to see if I could use something to break me and April out of here. I spot a white cabinet sitting next to the shower/bathtub. I open the cabinet and it's filled with white towels and bath oils, soaps and bubbles of all scents… along with cleaning products such as detergents, disinfectants and bleaches, and some rubber gloves. Those bald football-headed bullies must have stashed them in here. I take out the cleaning products and start reading the labels on the back of the bottles.
"Er… what are you doing?" April asks curiously.
"I'm looking for hydrochloric or hydrofluoric acid," I reply, still reading the labels.
"Huh?"
"Hydrochloric or hydrofluoric acid is a highly corrosive compound that can burn through anything – clothes, skin, even doors," I say, nodding to the door. "So one of these cleaning products might contain one of the two compounds."
"Then it looks like you might need a helping hand."
April joins me by the cabinet and starts reading the labels. After a few minutes, she finds something that contains hydrochloric acid. It's Cleenol Acid Toilet Cleaner – a strong hydrochloric acid based limescale and stain remover. That's good enough for me.
"Great. Now before I melt away the door handle with this, we're gonna need to open that bathroom window as wide as possible, as well as cover our noses and mouths as this kind of acid can form acidic mist that can have corrosive effects on human tissue when inhaled, with the potential to damage respiratory organs," I say, putting on the yellow rubber gloves and twist the cap of the bottle.
April goes to the window above the toilet and opens it widely. I hand her a towel from the cabinet, which she places over her nose and mouth. I do the same as I remove the cap from the toilet cleaner. Careful as I can be, I take the bottle to the door. Reaching the door, I pour the bottle all over it and the handle, being extra careful that the liquid doesn't get on me. When I finish pouring, I back away from the door as the acid starts to eat away at that it. Within seconds, the hydrochloric acid burns a hole through the door, as well as the chair that jammed the handle.
"April, pass me the mop," I say, with the towel over my mouth.
She passes me the mop and standing in front of the basin, I use the mop to open the door and push the chair away.
"Let's go," I say, dropping the mop and exiting the bathroom, being careful not to step in any acid puddles. April follows after me. We leave the bedroom, closing the door behind us. We remove the towels from our mouths and breathe in fresh air. "Right. First things first… call the hotel manager. Tell him or her that there's been an incident and they should call the police… and maybe an ambulance."
"That's a good idea. Except for one tiny problem…" April says, pointing behind me.
I turn to see one of the football-headed twins standing several yards from where me and April are standing, his face angry and red.
"So… Phil Mitchell wants to play, does he?" I say, taking off my shoes and kicking them to the side. "Well, all I can say is bring… it… on!"
I beckon my hands to signal the football-headed twin to come here. With a smirk on his face, the twin comes charging towards me and April. I start charging towards the twin. As we draw nearer, the twins' hand is balled into a fist, ready to strike me but I gain the upper hand by throwing the towel I have in my hand in his face. While he's distracted, I smash my elbow into his stomach not only knocking the wind out of him but causing a powerful, blunt damage.
"Oomph!" the twin grunts, clutching his stomach. As he's doing that, I raise my right foot upward, and then lower it, striking him and knocking him to the ground. "Uuuh…" he groans.
I finish the twin off by striking the side of his neck with a karate chop, which instantly renders him unconscious but otherwise unharmed.
"That's fixed you," I say, dusting off my hands.
"OMG. That was awesome!" April squeals, catching up to me.
"Thanks. You better stay with baldy and call the hotel manager from here. If he wakes up, kick him really hard in the stomach."
"You got it, Jen." April goes to the unconscious twin. She takes out her mobile phone from her waist apron and calls the manager.
"By the way… does this hotel do weddings?" I ask April.
"Yes. The Rembrandt Hotel has a long and proud reputation as a Knightsbridge wedding venue."
"What room would a bride, groom and witness be in?"
"That'll be the Victoria Suite. It's located next to the lobby."
I take off. I stop to pick up my shoes. I look over shoulder and call to April, "Thanks, April!"
I run along the corridor, making for the elevator. I press the 'G' button of the elevator and down it goes, so fast that I feel my stomach going up. I leap off the elevator as soon as it opens. It's a relief to step out on ground level at last. I run wildly across the lobby, with everyone in the room staring at me. But I don't care. Don't worry, Livi, I'm coming. I turn the corner of the lobby and reach the doors of the Victoria Suite.
I burst through the doors open and I march into the room. "I object!" I cry out.
The registrar stares at me like I'm a crazy person. Ellis who is about to kiss my drugged-up sister, stares at me in disbelief that I escaped and got past his henchman, while his other henchman stares at me in anger.
"What is the meaning of this?" the registrar asks.
"I'll tell you, Mr. Registrar." I point to Ellis. "That Italian stallion bastard kidnapped me and my sister. He's drugged her and is forcing her into marrying him against her will!"
"What?!" says the registrar, shocked. He looks at Ellis. "You told me she was drunk because she was nervous and needed a drink to calm herself down!"
"And to think that you were stupid enough to fall for it," Ellis says to the registrar.
"Molinelli, you've got about a fraction of a second to unhand my drugged-up sister or things are gonna get physical up in here!" I say.
"You're too late, Jenny! Livi and I are husband and wife, and there's nothing you can do about it," says Ellis.
"We'll see about that!" I say.
Ellis turns to Kyle and jerks his head towards me.
Kyle stands up from his chair and takes off his jacket. I dump my shoes under a chair and I take off my jacket, along with the necklace and bracelet, pushing them under the chair. Kyle cracks his knuckles and his neck vertebrae. I just crack my knuckles. Adrenaline pumps through my body as I ready myself for his attack.
"Grrrrr!" he growls and charges towards me, his hand balled into a fist ready to smash my face in. Just as he takes a swing at me, I sidestep him, narrowing dodging the attack, causing Kyle to punch a hole in the door with his giant fist.
"Whoa!" I say, astonished by the twins' strength.
Kyle looks pissed as he sees me still standing in one piece. He cracks his knuckles once more and lunges at me but I do a backflip, kicking him harshly as I do it. I land on my feet like a cat while Kyle lands on his arse like a chump.
"Don't just sit there, lei l'idiota stupido! Get up!" Ellis shouts.
Kyle gets up and shakes his head. "ARRGH!" he shouts and launches into a flurry of punches that moves faster than the eye can see but I dodge all of his attacks. "You… Stop movin'!" he growls, still throwing punches.
I see my opening. I take a left jab counter-punch to Kyle's chest, making him stagger. Then I jump into the air, turning my body and hitting him with a rising uppercut.
"PIGYAAH!" Kyle screams, crashing into a stack of chairs in the corner of the room.
The impact causes the chairs to fall on top of Kyle, knocking him out.
"In the words of LL Cool J: 'Mama said knock you out'," I say, shaking my hand to numb the pain. I turn to Ellis, who's looking very miffed plonking my semi-unconscious sister on a chair and rolls up his sleeves, but the registrar goes to my sister's side. "Right. You have a choice, Molinelli; we can do this the easy way or the hard way."
"The hard way! AARGH–!" Ellis says as he charges for me.
"For fuck's sake!" I mutter.
Ellis lunges at me; however, since I can't be arsed to fight him, I just give him a single powerful punch to his jawline sending him flying, his arms and legs kicking out wildly.
"GYAAH!" he screams as he lands on table and smashes it in half.
I go to the smashed table and see Ellis lying motionless, his glasses broken in half; his left cheek is in various shades of blue and purple, and his arms and legs spreading wide.
"Lei ha preso il colpo il fotte fuori… il biatch!" I say to unconscious boy, clenching and unclenching my fingers while using my free hand to stick up my middle finger at him. In English, that roughly translates to: "You got knock the fuck out… biatch!"
I sigh in exhaustion, and I go over to Livi and the registrar. I sit by Livi's side and I hold her hand. There's a siren, the police are here. There's commotion in the lobby.
"Could you inform the police that the kidnappers are in here?" I ask the registrar.
The registrar nods his head and leaves the room while I comfort Livi.
"It's over, Livi. You're gonna be OK now," I say, squeezing her hand.
I hear the door open. I turn to see three black-uniformed officers enter the room and pose in an martial arts stance. The officers are two girls and a boy. I can't help but think that they look familiar. Like I've seen them before.
"This is MI9!" says the boy, but is stunned to see Ellis and Kyle lying unconscious.
"What happened here?" the dark-skinned girl asks, relaxing herself from the stance.
"Never mind that. Could you give us a hand here?" I ask in a loud voice.
The Indian girl runs up to me and Livi, the boy pulls Kyle from the pile of chairs in the corner of the room and the dark-skinned girl leaves the room to get help.
"What happened?" the Indian girl asks me.
I nod my head at Ellis. "That stupid Italian bastard injected my sister with morphine."
"What's your sister's name?"
"It's Livi."
"Livi? Livi, can you hear me?"
"Unhhh…" Livi groans.
The Indian girl checks Livi's breathing, opening her eyes, shining a torch. "Your sister is breathing. Since its morphine, she'll be right as rain in three to six hours, but we'll need to take her to hospital and check her over," she says.
"OK. Thanks." I stare at the girl like she'd grown another head. She looks so familiar.
"Is something wrong?" the girl asks.
I blink at her. "No. No, sorry. It… It's just you look very familiar. You look like someone I know. The same goes with the other two…" I dismissively shake my head. "Sorry. Sorry, I'm being silly. It's been a long day. Take no notice of me. I'm sorry."
"It's OK. The best thing you can do is try to forget about today."
"Easier said than done."
The doors open and the paramedics arrive. They move Livi onto a stretcher and they wheel her away. I follow behind, picking up my jacket, shoes and jewellery on the way out. I walk through the lobby and it's turned into a circus: the guests are talking to the police, the police are talking to April, the registrar and the hotel manager, and two policemen are taking away the football-headed twin that April was keeping an eye on. Outside the hotel, there are people crowding. Some are taking pictures with their phones while others are possibly Tweeting. The paramedics lift Livi into the ambulance. I climb in and sit beside her in the van. The siren starts and the ambulance drives off to the hospital.
(Frank's POV)
I hate the hospital. My heart starts pounding as soon as I get off the bus and see the big red building with its tower and chimney and endless odd extensions, like a perverted version of a fairy castle. People always go on about hospital smells but its hospital colour that I can't stand. There are hideous orange plastic chairs in the waiting areas. I shudder at the sight of them and I walk over to the reception area.
"Can I help you?" says the receptionist.
"I'm looking for Livi Brownstone," I say.
"Ah yes. She's upstairs, in the room at the end."
I thank the receptionist and I make for the stairs. When I get on the first floor, I down the corridor and into the ward where three policemen are standing in front of three curtained cubicles. Probably the Baxter brothers and Ellis Molinelli who ordered them to kidnap Jenny and Livi. I proceed down the ward, walking past patients who look pale and are lying listlessly on their pillows or patients who are sitting upright on their beds and having meals or talking to their loved-ones until I reach the cubicle at the end.
I approach Livi's bed. She's lying on her back, fast asleep like a baby. She looks so peaceful.
"Frank?"
I look round startled. It's Jenny.
"Hi," I say. "I… I just came to see how you and Livi are."
"Oh, I'm fine. So is Livi. They're gonna keep her here overnight, so she'll be out of here tomorrow," says Jenny. "D'you wanna have a seat?"
I nod and take a seat by Livi's bed while Jenny sits on Livi's bed, taking her hand and running a thumb over Livi's knuckles.
"So… where's Mrs King?" I ask.
Her lips curl up in a smile. "Probably scaring every doctor and nurse in this hospital demanding to know why no-one is treating Livi," says Jenny.
I chuckle but at the same time I fidget in my chair. I feel very uncomfortable in my surroundings. I catch Jenny watching me.
"Are you OK?" she asks.
"Yeah. I'm fine, it's just…" I sigh. "I hate hospitals. They give me the creeps."
"We could go somewhere else to talk…"
"No, no, it's OK. I'm fine, really."
There's a little silence. I really don't know what to say in situations like this.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" I ask before I can stop myself. I slap my forehead. "D'oh! That was a stupid question. Of course you don't want to talk about it. You and Livi want to forget that today never happened…"
"Frank, Frank, it's OK," says Jenny, taking a seat next to me. There's a tiny pause. "It was pretty scary, though. And all because he got rejected."
Jenny spends the next hour telling me everything that happened in the Rembrandt Hotel. From Ellis Molinelli's story, to when he injected morphine into Livi, to when the Baxter brothers locked Jenny in the bathroom along with one of the employees of the hotel, to her quick-thinking escape plan to stopping the wedding and defeating Ellis and the Baxter brothers.
"So what is gonna happen to Ellis and the marriage?" I ask.
"Well, since Ellis kidnapped, drugged and forced Livi into marrying him, the marriage is void so it never happened. As for Ellis, the MI9 officer told me that he'll probably be deported back to Italy where he'll face trial there," says Jenny. She puts her hand on her cheek and sighs. "God. To think that a simple school Christmas party results into someone being put into hospital. And there was no alcohol involved."
"The most important thing is that Livi is gonna be OK thanks to you. She's lucky to have you as a sister."
Jenny takes hold of my hand. "Thanks, Frank. I really appreciate that." She speaks softly, looking into my eyes.
I look back at her, and then wished I hadn't. It's like looking into a mirror. Her eyes are cloudy with lust. Every nerve in my body is screaming at me to give in to her unspoken invitation.
Jenny's hand reaches out and caresses my face. "You're really something," she says quietly.
My head moves closer to hers so our faces are only inches apart. Just when I'm about to make my move, I suddenly hear someone squeak in a little mouse voice.
"Hello?"
Damn.
I pull back and turn to see Livi awake. She starts to sit up.
"Livi! You're awake!" Jenny cries. She is by Livi's side now. She takes Livi's hand and squeezes it, staring at Livi as if she was a ghost coming back to the living.
"W-where am I?" Livi asks, looking around.
"You're in hospital, Liv," Jenny tells her, looking greatly relieved. "How are you?"
"I'm not sure. I feel weird, like I can't feel anything properly yet. Where's Ellis? What's happened to him?"
Jenny wrinkles her nose but she answers, "Ellis is in hospital – in police custody. He can't hurt you anymore. Also, the marriage is void, so it never happened."
Livi sighs in relief. She turns her head to me. "Oh, hi, Frank."
"All right, Livi?" I say, trying not to sound disappointed that she interrupted me and Jenny's almost-romantic kiss.
Livi stares at me, and then looks at Jenny.
"I didn't interrupt anything, did I…?" she asks.
Jenny and I stare at Livi dumbstruck, our faces growing bright crimson. We don't know what to say, what to do.
"O… M… G!" Livi says giddily, clutching the sheets at her chin, trying in vain not to scream. "I knew it; I knew it, I so knew it! You two s-o-o-o-o-o fancy each other like crazy."
Before Jenny and I can protest, Mrs King arrives at the foot of Livi's bed.
"Livi! Oh, thank goodness you're all right," says Mrs King.
"Hi, Aunt 'Mione," says Livi, a smile locks on her lips and her brown eyes sparkle.
"I'm glad to see that you're back to your optimistic self." Mrs King sees me. "Oh. Hello, Frank."
I nod. "Mrs King." It's bad enough that I feel uncomfortable about being in a hospital and having Livi tease me about my feelings for Jenny, but now I feel even more uncomfortable with Mrs King here. I stand up and stretch. "Well, it looks like I better be off now."
My eyes sweep over to Jenny's approvingly as I smile.
"See you in the New Year, Jen," I say.
Jenny gazes back into my eyes. "You too."
It takes all of my willpower to walk out of the ward and down the corridor. I get to the stairs when someone calls my name.
"Frank!"
I turn to see Jenny jog-shuffling in her hospital slippers towards me.
"Jenny. Is something wrong?" I say.
"No. No, everything's cool. It's just… well…" Jenny shifts from one foot to the other, her eyes searching the carpet below.
"Jen?" I gaze at her with concern.
Then it happens.
Jenny reaches her face to mine and gives me a kiss on the cheek.
I stand speechless as she pulls back and looks at me with those eyes again. I feel like I'm about to pop.
"Merry Christmas, Frank," she says, colour rising to her cheeks.
I blush, trying to swallow with a throat suddenly dry of saliva. "M-m-m…" I clear my throat. "Merry Christmas, Jenny."
She smiles, turns and heads down the corridor. I can't resist staring at her hips as they sashay. Jenny doesn't turn around, but something tells her that my eyes are on her the whole way.
I touch my cheek where Jenny kissed me. I can't take it in. I can't believe this happened. It's like a dream come true. I don't breathe until I get outside the hospital.
I grin triumphantly and march to the bus stop. I feel like singing and dancing and punching the air. It may not be a kiss on the lips that I wanted but I'm satisfied. I think Jenny and I may be halfway there into becoming a couple.