I was soon awakened by a gentle tap on my arm. I slowly opened my eyes. It was pitch black, with faint flashes of green, yellow, and red from the various buttons.
“G?” I heard David whisper into the headset. “You awake?”
“Mhm.” I mumbled and shifted in my seat trying to stretch my aching legs and back. I turned my head and saw the rest of the group asleep.
“Sorry, I hate waking you up, but we’re about to fly into London, and I thought you’d ought to see this.” I stiffly leaned forward to get a better view. The city was a huge bright section of country compared to the rest of the dark country. As we approached, I could make out features of the huge city. The streets were decorated with streetlights and the roads had the intricate designs of headlights whizzing down the freeways. Huge skyscrapers and buildings had their windows lit up, almost like twinkling stars. Near the center of the city, I saw Big Ben towering over small shops and restaurants.
“Oh my…” I gasped. “It’s beautiful!”
“I thought so too. Well, we’re about to land. May as well wake the others up so they don’t get jarred.” David flipped the switch and spoke softly into the mic.
“Hey y’all. We’re going to be landing soon. You’re going to want to wake up.” Soon the rest of them were awake, rubbing their eyes and yawning. Within the next few minutes, we approached the landing strip outside of London. David radioed into the station, requesting permission to land. Approval crackled over the mics and we made our decent. Soon we were screeching to a halt on the runway and taxying to the hanger. David pulled the small plane up to a vacant garage and slowly maneuvered into the darkness. Mr. Lenn got out and disappeared into the dark abyss, looking for the lights. After a few moments a loud hum echoed in the steel garage and bright white lights lit up the entire building. I squinted at the presence of the light, but glad to be on the ground. We stiffly climbed out of the plane and Josh yawned,
“Wow…I think I set a personal new record of in-flight napping.” I shoved his arm and rolled my eyes at his humor. As we started unloading the plane, the faint noise of car engines caught our attention. Carmen quickly spoke up.
“Mr. Lenn?? I think we have a problem…” her voice trailed off. We all looked out of the door and saw multiple black SUVs swiftly coming towards us. He quickly motioned for us girls to step back and closer to the plane. The boys naturally stood in front of us, but did not block our view. The SUVs pulled up in front of the hanger and several men in black suits stepped out of the cars. Carmen and Mia grabbed my hands and the boys stepped a little closer to us. Mr. Lenn walked up to the group of men and started talking. I strained my ears to hear what they were saying, but it was only a muffled conversation.
“Can you hear what’s going on??” Mia whispered to me. I shook my head no shrugged my shoulders.
“No! I can’t understand a word.” The men had surrounded Mr. Lenn and one man was talking very seriously to him. After a few moments, the head leader looked over in our direction then back at Mr. Lenn. He thought for a moment then stuck his hand out for Mr. Lenn to shake. After a firm handshake, Mr. Lenn quickly made his way over to us.
“That was Mr. Webster. He is the head of the London Police Department. He and his men want to escort us to our hotel. We’ll be staying there for a night before getting moved into the safe house tomorrow. Grab your things quickly.” And with that we all hurriedly grabbed our bags, blankets, and backpacks. Soon the men were loading our belongings into the SUV’s and we were climbing into the seats. As the convoy made its way down the busy streets, I watched as the tall buildings, busy sidewalks, and famous destinations whizzed past. Never had I ever thought that I would be in London, England…let alone with my best friends…and also on a case involving a murder. After many twists and turns down the bustling roads, we pulled up to a 12-story hotel building.
“Woah, I never thought I would ever stay in such a fancy hotel!!” Josh stated as we walked into the lobby. I stopped dead in my tracts. The floors were a pure white marble, massive golden chandeliers hung from the cathedral height ceiling, an onyx black grand piano sat in the corner of the lobby, and fresh flowers sat in crystal vases on each table. Mr. Webster led us to the check-in counter and were assigned rooms on the top floor. Mia, Carmen, and I were staying together, which made us cheer for excitement. The boys were going to share a room, and Mr. Lenn had one to himself. We rode the glass elevators up to the top floor, and were given our bags to take into the rooms. Carmen bounded into the room and let out a squeal.
“Grace!! Mia!!! LOOOOK!!!” she said running to the window and throwing open curtains. We quickly dropped our things on the beds and ran over to her side. We had a large balcony with a small table and chairs and a breathtaking view. Mia quickly opened the sliding glass door, and we stepped out into the fresh summer night air. The three of us leaned against the railing and gazed as the city lights that were across the river. Suddenly we heard a noise come from the room beside us accompanied by a few yells. The balcony door flew open and out tumbled Bryant with Josh close behind.
“Heyyyy! THAT’S CHEATING, DAVID!” Bryant snapped looking back into the room.
“Just because you’re the oldest doesn’t mean you get to just kick us out!” Josh argued. We girls just looked at each other with wide eyes before snickering at the little comedy show.
“Looks like we’re going to have some obnoxious neighbors.” I whispered to Mia. She snorted and nodded her head in agreement. I walked over to the railing that separated our two balconies and teasingly said,
“Am I gonna have to call downstairs with a noise complaint?” Josh and Bryant looked up at me with a blank face.
“Yeah, you might have to if David Lenn doesn’t stop being such a hot shot.” Josh mumbled back.
“I guess that’s what you get for having a brother.” I said shrugging my shoulders. Bryant looked up at me and huffed.
“Well of course you’re on his side!? It’s only because yo-” I quickly glared at him and he shut his mouth. Just then David walked out.
“What in the world is all the commotion about!?” he said sarcastically. The boy’s jaws dropped open in shock, and Carmen, Mia, and I started laughing.
“Oh yeah…yeah sure. You have NOOOO idea what the commotion is about.” Josh said rolling his eyes. I quickly caught my breath and shook my head.
“David? Try to give the little guys a break, ok? They need a little bit more help than we do.” Mia and David busted out laughing, and Bryant jumped up. He stood right in front of me and glared down at me.
“Little…little, huh?? Ok then. What does that make you? A dwarf?” David and Josh both “ooo-ed” at the burn and everything turned silent. I thought for a moment and nodded my head.
“Well…you’re not wrong on that. But I could come back with a nickname, but I’ll save that for later.” I winked at him and he quickly shook his head.
“Oh no you don’t!!! You promised that would stay between me and you-”
“Unless,” I cut him off, “you pushed me too far.” I smirked back at him. He thought for a moment then sighed.
“Fine. You win.”
“Good. Now may I have my personal bubble back?” The others laughed as Bryant stepped back from the railing.
“I swear one of these days you’re going to be the death of me, Grace.” Bryant huffed.
“Maybeeeee…but you couldn’t live without me.” I said with a big smile. After a moment Bryant smiled back and nodded his head.
“Fine, I agree with you on that one.” I snickered and turned back towards our room.
“I probably should unpack and get some sleep. Goodnight, boys! See ya in the morning!” They all said goodnight along with the nickname they called me. Mia and Carmen followed me back into our room and I finally looked around. Our room was decent size with two queen beds with blue and white bedding. We had a white couch and two chairs sitting in front of a small fireplace and a tv hanging over the mantle. I sat on the edge of the bed and just looked into space.
“Soooo…who’s sleeping with who?” Carmen asked jumping on the other bed. Mia sat beside me a started thinking. Soon her eyes lit up with an idea.
“What if we move the table out from between the beds, push them together, and make one huge bed! That way we don’t have to keep switching beds!” Carmen and I loved the idea and within 15 minutes we had both beds shoved together and that whole side of the room was rearranged. We quickly changed into our pajamas and hopped onto the bed. I pulled out my phone to check my messages while Carmen and Mia fixed the pillows and sheets to their desires. A message from Bryant popped up. I clicked on it and busted out laughing after reading it. Mia and Carmen quickly were right beside me looking at the screen.
“Do we need to call downstairs with a noise complaint?” I quickly typed back no and told him to go to sleep.
“You treat him like a brother, huh?” Carmen said as she got under her blanket. I smiled and nodded my head.
“More like an ANOYING brother!” I said sarcastically.
“What about Josh?” Mia said eyeing me.
“Oh, he’s my crazy big little bro. There’s a big difference!” Carmen then asked,
“Who do you like more?” I thought for a moment pondering the question.
“Honestly, I can’t choose. Both are so unique and I love each of them for who they are. Josh understands me and can make me laugh no matter what I feel like. Bryant listens to me and always has good advice and gives a good slap-in-the-face when I need one.” I said chuckling. “It’s like asking Mia who is her favorite brother!”
“Josh of course!” she said without missing a beat. Carmen and I started laughing and I threw a pillow at her face. She placed the pillow in her lap and replied.
“No, no, I get what you mean, Grace. I love both of my brothers equally.”
“Exactly. The same reason goes to why I can’t choose between Josh or Bry.” Carmen looked over at the clock and exclaimed,
“GIRLS! It’s 3 in the morning!”
“ALL NIGHTERRRR!!!!” Mia exclaimed.
“Ohhhhh no you don’t!! Well, you two can, but I’ve got to get some sleep!” I said throwing my blanket over my head. All of a sudden, the lights turned off and the girls giggled and snuggled down next to me. Within a few minutes we all had drifted off to sleep.
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