Arabella Academy: Perfectly Imperfect

17. The Tenacious Three... And A Plan Gone Wrong

It is when our plans go wrong that wonderful unforeseen things are allowed to occur.

~Anonymous

***

Marcus, Michelle and Jeff met at the town square the next day as planned. Jeff, being as nosey as he was, had created a WhatsApp group for them and called it 'The Tenacious Three'— but not after a furious texting war between them. Michelle protested that it was not a safe way for them because it was susceptible to hackers, but the two boys argued that it was a safe way for them to catch up with each other.

"Boys!" Michelle sighed as she lay her phone down to sleep.

Each one of them was now beaming, adrenaline rushing through their veins. This was the first time they were going to do something as dangerous as this, and maybe open a gateway for many more. Marcus felt thrilled. Finally, a proper mystery that he would try to solve. The others were mere ones,like trying to figure out who took the teacher's phone, which offered no enjoyment as the current one was. Jeff felt like he was in one of those spy movies he usually watched alone; because his religious father didn't allow such obscenities in his house. He claimed that they were demonic movies filled with satanic rituals that hypnotised one into Illuminati, but that didn't stop Jeff, the 'lost sheep', from going out of his way to pirate them on his phone and watch them in the dark of the night.

Michelle had packed lunch and brought it with her. Their plan was to use the lunch as their ticket inside the police station. Michelle was to say that her dad had forgotten his lunch at home and thus she had brought it to him. Then they would get access to his office after which Marcus would detour and enter Timothy's office. The problem of Timothy was Jeff's to solve. He would remain outside and start throwing stones at Timothy's car which was just outside his office window hence triggering the car's alarm. That would attract his attention and make him go out of the office, giving Marcus the window he needed to enter the office, find the document about the Dragon Pearl and leave. Then they would regroup behind the police block where they go to Marcus' house for a debrief.

They arrived at the busy station armed with nothing but the plan and a box of lunch. Marcus and Michelle went inside to find a rather overjoyed secretary. She greeted them with enthusiasm and asked them what they were looking for. Michelle replied that she had brought her dad lunch which he forgot. The secretary told them that her father had left with Timothy on an assignment, but suggested that they could wait for him in his office. Michelle and Marcus were about to thank her when a policeman passed their way and winked to the secretary sheepishly. The secretary acknowledged that by blushing profusely and pushing her breasts up much too vigorously. That is when Marcus and Michelle figured out the reason behind the secretary's joy and looked away hurriedly, each too embarrassed by their dirty minds.

They went ahead and approached the sheriff's office but just before turning the corner, they quickly disappeared behind a door that had Timothy's full name and position on it.

They entered to find a rather oddly organised office. There was a wall by which all investigations done had been alphabetically arranged by year since the town began. The desk was also tidy with not a speck of dust.

"This is not how they describe police offices to us in movies," Marcus remarked, somewhat admiring the organisation.

Without wasting any further time, they went ahead and searched the office for any document that may contain information about the Dragon Pearl in it. They were busy searching the desk when a car alarm from the outside interrupted them. They then remembered that they had forgotten to tell Jeff that Timothy wasn't in. Ignoring him, they then went back to work opening the drawers to check for the document. Marcus went to a cabinet that was against the wall and on trying to pull it open, found out that it was locked.

"Michelle! Here," he signalled to Michelle and they both looked at the cabinet trying to figure out where one could hide a key in an office.

Michelle suddenly had an idea. She pulled out a hair clip from her hair and straightened it out. She then entered the clip through the hole and began working on it. They were almost opening it when a voice stopped them in their tracks.

"What are you two doing here?"

The two turned around slowly to find a confused Stevens. He wasn't expecting to find those two there, or trying to break into a police officer's cabinet for that matter. Marcus and Michelle both froze and stared at him, horrified. They also did not expect him to be there. This was not how the plan was supposed to go.

"Didn't you hear me or what? What are you two doing here? Are you breaking into a cop's office?"

Michelle was about to cook up an excuse when they heard Timothy shouting and laughing from afar. They all turned their heads at once, fear all too visible on their faces. It was evident that none of them was planning on meeting with Timothy that day.

Marcus suddenly remembered Rocco's statement and he turned to Stevens, who was also in shock.

"We need to leave Sir, your life may be in danger."

Stevens did not wait any longer.

"Come on, follow me," he whispered to them and led them out of the office. They then walked stealthily to the back of the hall where he took a turn to the right and they followed. Stevens then opened a door to what happened to be the supplies closet and they entered. There was another door at the back of the room. Stevens hurriedly opened the door and they ended up in an alley just behind the station.

They all breathed a sigh of relief once they were out. After a few seconds of catching their breath, Marcus realised something was awfully wrong.

"Excuse me, sir. How did you know about this exit?"

Stevens realised what he had done and looked at the two speechless. He was about to give the silliest answer when they were interrupted by a gasp from behind Marcus.

"What are you doing with this murderer?!"

It was Jeff. He was shocked beyond belief at the sight of the three. His expression then changed to one of anger and he stomped up to where Stevens was and confronted him.

"What did you do to Sheila, you cold-blooded murderer?"

Stevens was surprised by Jeff's outburst at first. But then his face changed to another expression, a dangerous one. It was then that Jeff realised the mistake he had done and backtracked. Marcus then knew that they had just revealed to Stevens that they knew something that they were not supposed to know.

They were just about to turn and run for their lives when two men appeared from the back. The three then realised they were surrounded. Marcus looked at both of the men and realised that they were the same men who came to see Stevens the day before Sheila's death.

Jeff and Michelle, out of impulse, tried to run away by dodging the two men but they were grabbed by them and their mouths covered by a cloth. Marcus saw the two slowly falling and he knew that at this point things were bad. He calculated that he had a slightly more chance of escaping if he tried Stevens side. He then tried to break off into a run but Stevens grabbed him and tried to stop him from screaming by covering his mouth with his hand, but Marcus bit it forcing Stevens to let him go but not before returning him back to the circle of the three.

"You son of a bitch!" Stevens exclaimed and gave Marcus a blow that sent him flying to the ground. Marcus started seeing the world around him spin.

"Fuck," was the last word he said before he dropped, unconscious.