Wrong Place, Wrong Time ✔️

Chapter 20: Wedding

"STOP HER!" Mantennii boomed. Several people grabbed at me, but I managed to dodge them all with the grace of a drunken bumblebee.

Risking a glance back, I saw Blake and Wyatt ushering Marigold and Jacob out of the church. The boys gave me a quick thumbs up and I smiled, filled with relief.

Once outside, I saw the paparazzi swarming the place like moths drawn to a flame. In the centre of all the hubbub was a helicopter, with Issac as the pilot. The boys whooped in delight when they saw me and Nick quickly reached out to help me into the copter. His twin handed me a headset and I put it on, the smile on my face never faltering.

"Let's go!" Kit shouted and Isaac nodded, manning the helicopter off the ground.

When we were about twenty feet high, several men in black surrounded us and began shooting. Issac swore violently and tried to get us out of their aim.

"Nick! Try and take them out!" He ordered, furiously tapping on the console.

Nick nodded and took out a rifle from a brown bag. He pointed it at the men, then growled in frustration. "I can't get a clear shot!"

"Let me try!" I demanded, wresting the weapon out of his hand. Freedom was tantalisingly close- I will not let it slip out of my fingers. "Move over!"

"Wait, Ree, do you know how to-"

I loaded and aimed the gun, my index finger pulled against the trigger as I fired, all of my shots hitting their mark. The shooters went down like sacks of potatoes, but I made sure to injure, not kill.  I lowered the firearm once we were out of range and grinned, turning to the shell-shocked boys.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" I asked, touching my cheek anxiously.

"I-wha- you shot them." Nick gaped. "With perfect aim."

"Yeah it's a hobby I picked up." I shrugged, dismantling the weapon with practiced ease and shoving the parts in the bag. "Now... I have some questions. First up, where'd you get all these weapons and this helicopter? And second, is there a McDonald's nearby? I'm kinda hungry."

X

An hour later, I was sitting on the curb outside McDonalds, eating a happy meal while Caleb played with the toy I got and the other boys munched on their own burgers.

We'd touched down in the car park and walked up to the- shockingly- empty Drive Thru. If the staff were surprised to see a bride flanked by five dudes in leather jackets with weapons, dismounting a helicopter, they didn't show it. I guess they've seen weirder things in their time. 

"So what now?" I asked, sipping my Coca Cola. 

"I... don't actually know." Zack admitted bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't think we'd make it this far." 

"Understandable." I nodded. "Bloody useless, but understandable." I cleared my throat and wiped my hands on a tissue. "So... questions; how do you guys have the money to buy a helicopter? How do you know how to shoot? And finally, why the hell did Mantennii come to you when he needed your help?" 

"Have you heard of Alonzo Valencio?" Zack questioned randomly. I nodded. He chuckled sardonically and continued. "Yeah, thought you might. Well, there's no use in hiding it now. I'm his son." 

My jaw dropped and I waited for him to say he was kidding. "Wait, what?! You're his son?! Holy crap this is huge." Alonzo Valencio is one of the most powerful men in the world. He is famed for his enormous businesses. It is well known he has connections with the Mafias, but is not directly involved with them. 

"Yep." Zack laughed. "When I turned sixteen, I set up a small group, just for fun ya know? I imagined myself doing good but in reality, I was just a big-headed teenager with his head stuck in the clouds." 

"Still are." Nick coughed not-so-subtly. 

"Shut up." Zack punched him in the arm while the rest of us laughed. "Anyways, the five of us had known of each other since we were born- our parents' were pretty close. But we only really became friends when I was around twelve-ish and they became the first members of the group. We met Blake and Wyatt a year later.

 At first, it was pretty fun, but then word started to spread. We were being contacted by all sorts of spy agencies, mafias, rich people, you name it. The business boomed exponentially and dear ol' Dad finally started to take notice. He sends cheques and weapons every month and helps us recruit new men and women- as if that would make up for missing my entire life." He took a deep breath and looked away. 

Ethan reached over and patted him awkwardly on the back. Caleb offered him a fry while his twin and Kit had matching looks of sympathy and understanding. 

"We've been tracking Mantennii for a while now- trying to expose his crimes." Ethan continued. "Now, we have enough evidence to send him away to jail for a very long time." He shot me a dry look. "Does that answer your questions?" 

I nodded. "Holy crap." 

"Holy crap indeed." Kit agreed. 

Caleb subtly tried to steal one of my fries, but I slapped his hand away, hugging mine closer. In retaliation, he squeezed a ketchup packet and it exploded all over me. I gasped and chucked what was left of my drink at him, but missed and hit Ethan instead. I covered my mouth to hide a laugh at his murderous and shocked expression. 

"You're dead." He growled, throwing his salad at me. The others joined shortly after and the empty car park was soon filled with our shrieks of laughter. 

Although I was covered in food, wearing a wedding dress and feet-killing heels, with no plans for the future, there was no where I'd rather be than here. 

End of chapter 20. 

@MoondanceShadows   did I capture our idea right?? I had to watch the ad again to remind myself of what it looked like 😂

I hope you guys liked it! 

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)