The Boy in the Black Hoodie

Chapter Twenty-Three

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Jim's POV

That freaking little piece of Scheiße! How the Hölle did he manage to escape? It was impossible. Ah, well, at least we still had his father. If we had lost HIM, I don't know what we'd do.

I shook my head to clear out my thoughts. I needed to work here. If we were ever going to succeed, this plan would need to be completed. It was our first real attempt to conquer anything. I mean, all we were taking was a small town, but you gotta start somewhere. Gorman, Texas. That was the first town we would take. Tiny little place. So small, not many people would take notice of our arrival. Almost nobody has heard of the place.

I drummed my fingers against the desk. This was extremely boring. I was getting nothing done; my thoughts kept interrupting me. I focused on the computer screen. It had a list of special events in Gorman. It looked like the Peanut Festival was coming up soon. Perfect! I jotted down a few notes before pulling up a tab on the Peanut Festival.

One of the favorite competitions of Gorman's Peanut Festival is the crowning of the Peanut Queen...

Now this was getting us somewhere. I delved deeper into this Peanut Queen stuff. It turns out, the Peanut Queen competition is a fashion contest of sorts. Just what we needed! There was only one problem.

To be eligible for the competition, you must be a female attending Gorman High School...

It was a perfect idea, we just needed someone to win it. The WIO had plenty of teenage girls who could, but none of them went to this scrappy little town's school. Nonetheless, we had ways. I'm sure we could find someone who went there to join us.

I walked to Ned's office to tell him what I had found.

"Hey, Ned," I said.

He was at his desk. He turned to see who had entered. When he saw me, he grinned.

"Hey, man. Sup?"

"Got a way," I told him, slapping the notes down in front of him.

He sifted through them. A few minutes later he looked up, smiling.

"Great idea. As for who, I've got the perfect little girl."

~~~~~

Tessa's POV

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Strange, I didn't usually get texts this early. I mean, who would text me at four in the morning.

Hey, Tess. It's Ned. Remember me? Hopefully, you do. We need to talk. Be ready for me. I'll be there in a few hours.

It took me a few minutes to figure out who Ned was. Then, I remembered. He was the guy who my mom used to work with. Before she was mysteriously murdered. He had come to talk with my dad a little. That was a few years ago, though. I think I was fourteen.

He hadn't really told me any details. I didn't know where he was taking me, why he was taking me, or how long I would be gone for.

I decided to prepare for a long trip. Which meant, I would be packing more than half my stuff. I always over packed. If I was going on a weekend trip, I would pack about eight days worth of clothes. Yes, it was that bad.

Okay, now where are those jeans? Wait a minute, will I need those capris I just threw? I'd better take them just in case. Oh, look, my green tank! I'll bring that, I might need it. Ugh, this is way too much stuff! But, I don't want to be short-handed.

It took me about two hours to finish packing. I had about three and a half bags stuffed. Hey, you never know when you might need something.

About three hours later, Ned arrived. In a private jet. Like last time. This was sure to catch the attention of the whole town. They would be talking about it for weeks. Being such a small town, this kind of thing rarely occurred.

Ned exited the aircraft. Another guy was beside him, and four other men stood at attention behind them. All were dressed in the same black suit, complete with sunglasses. They approached me. Ned reached his hand out, and I shook it.

He spoke, "It's good to see you again, Tess. This is Jim."

He pointed to the guy beside him, who nodded at me. I nodded back.

Ned continued, "Let's go. We have much to talk about. Oh, and I hope you have a passport. We'll be going to London."

London? Sweet!

"Yeah, I've got one."

"Good."

We entered the jet. It was really nice.

Now this, I could get used to.

"Just sit back and enjoy the ride. It'll be awhile," Jim said.

*****

Hello, everyone! Just so you know, Gorman is a real town, and the Peanut Festival is real as well. No, I'm not kidding. I used to live there when I was like five. Oh, and I did one of the WIO guy's POV like some people asked. Keep the requests coming! And please remember to vote if you are liking it! It makes me want to write more if I know people are enjoying what I post. Thanks, everyone! :) :P :D