Jude stared at the rest in disbelief. Five of his men are gone. They are the men he personally assigned to stalk Jenna. And now, someone suddenly kidnapped them, leaving two injured survivors to warn him. Just how powerful was this person, to have that kind of confidence?
"That's exactly what I'm telling you, Joshua" another person spoke, his name is Kaseem. "A big problem is coming"
"It means there's someone even more powerful and scarier than Archie." Kaseem banged the table. "I'm telling you," he added.
Joshua swallowed his saliva. "That can't be..." he muttered. Ever since Israel had retired, Archie and his closest allies had been a constant thorn in his side. Adding another unknown player into the mix would be nothing short of suicide.
"That's not what we should be worrying about," William said. "We should be worrying if Archie has a hidden child." Joshua glanced at William coldly. "What secret child?"
William burst into laughter. "Yo, I'm kidding."
The others exhaled in relief, but Joshua isn't buying it. What if Jenna were pregnant back then?
He suddenly remembered the brief glimpse of a figure at the president's birthday party. He couldn't see the face, but he'd felt the deadly chill, the overwhelming aura radiating from that young boy. Dressed in white. His style was almost like Archie himself. Could it really be a coincidence?
Because, is not possible for a kid to carry that kind of aura. Maybe he was just overthinking.
But then there was Rapunzel00...the mysterious agent who infiltrated his father's security systems with ease, slipping in and out like a ghost. She would've been the perfect agent to deal with Archie. But she had vanished without any traces. Some said she had retired. Why on earth would she do that, when he needed her most?
" Please, who is this person?" Jude finally asked. His voice cracked with urgency, his cousin was among the missing men for goodness' sake! How will he explain this to the boy's father?
"I asked my father, he said he's the CEO of Smart Toys company," Joshua explained. "My father's men dug up that information... but then..... they vanished."
Jude adjusted his chair and glanced at William. "We're doomed"
Since then, Mr. Patrick has been doubling securities. Many soldiers followed him around, everywhere he went, as old and dangerous as Sen Patrick is, he was nervous to face this person! Some people are just born to scare others.
"If we can get this person on our side, it'll be easy to destroy Archie, Esteban, and Norman at once," Kaseem suggested. The rest nodded quickly in agreement.
But Joshua's mind kept pacing back to that figure he'd seen that night. "No" he shook his head. If it was really him, then things were about to get out of his control.
"This person already teamed up with Rapunzel00! And I'm very sure he's the reason why we are unable to track her" Jude hissed. "I just want to scare him by kidnapping her, so he can side with us. Who knows he's even crazier and smarter than us!"
The thought of his fellow CEO, from another company, suddenly becoming a mystery to other CEOs, even the powerful CEOs like Sen Patrick and his son is nervous. This made his blood boil, Jude wanted to be in that position too, and that was the reason why he hated Esteban! He wants to remove him from the big boss of Entertainment!
"What if Archie managed to reach him first, and forge an alliance?" Jude mumbled. Archie will be difficult to bring down and become unstoppable.
"About Archie's wife..." David, who had been quietly typing on his laptop, finally spoke, turning his toward Joshua. "I don't know where Archie's father took Jenna eight years ago," he said.
Joshua feared that man too much to even think of hurting Jenna, because he knew Israel favoured her so much.
Even Sen Patrick, secretly feared him. His greatest nightmare was to ever cross paths with that man. So, living Israel out of their plan is what Joshua took seriously. Archie is whom he wants to take down.
" Ok, what's the plan, we must do something on his award celebration day!" Jude frowned. He hated the way his friends were handling things! " Don't tell me y'all afraid of Archie?"
Kaseem burst into laughter. " I can't believe you hated me and want us to die early! Jude"
" What's wrong with you, ehh Jude?" David looked at him in disbelief.
" I don't know where you got the confidence to attack the Hindleys in their household. Don't you know that, they have many dark secrets? If they decide to kill you and seize your body, no one will question them." Kaseem raised a brow, and the rest nodded. There was something about them that made people feel small, intimidated and nervous.
"Scientists have been investigating them for years, but found nothing," William laughed.
Jude shook his head, disappointed "It's just an award ceremony, we will act as if we are happy. I will find someone to take the blame if...."
" I am not! interested!" Kaseem dramatically raised his two hands.
" For real? Kaseem"
David rolled his eyes. "What did you expect him to say?" he mocked. Although, He hated the way people overhyped that family, he's not confident enough to follow whatever Jude was planning.
" The eight major families will be there" William reminded him.
"Don't you know that Hindely's family secret is deeper than the ocean?" Kaseem said. " You don't know because your family is a small entertainment industry, you will know much About Hindely's if you are in Esteban's position" he added.
Jude glared at him, he just rubbed salt on his wound, losing the 'Big Boss' title to Esteban is a huge blow, making him a joke to his family. Only when he snatches it back will he be the pride of his family.
"Humph! As if they're the only ones in this," Williams cut in. "The Wilson children are always stealing another person's face with positive DNA.
"Doppelgängers," David corrected.
"Who cares!" Jude sneered. The Wilsons are popularly known as having blonde hair, no matter whose face they wore. That alone was strange.
"That's nothing new," Joshua said. "They grow old, sick, and sleep like everyone else. It's just a gift." The Wilsons' Family case was one of the world's biggest coincidences, happening since the 80s. Nothing much.
"Yeah, I know," Jude muttered, "but it's still creepy. I once met a man in Korea who looked exactly like me."
"It's normal" Joshua said calmly.
"What about witches?" Kaseem laughed. "Oh, you mean the long-haired witches? Rapunzels?" Jude snorted.
" The Sharons," Joshua corrected. "That's Jenna's family from her mother's side. They all had ridiculously long hair. Nothing special."
"You think Rapunzel Pink is from that family?" Jude asked. Joshua's eyes narrowed. " I'm one hundred per cent sure"
" Just wondering if she's Rapunzel00" Kaseem said. David glanced at him coldly, making him wonder why he was mad at him.
Joshua frowned and faced Jude's bodyguard. " Where did you that the accident happened?"
The boy tried to remember the location but, he couldn't... " I think her driver had noticed us earlier than we thought....I..."
" useless!" Jude spat in disgust. "About my plan...."
"Alright, that's enough for today," Joshua cut Jude off. He didn't understand why he was so hellbent cause trouble under the Hindleys' noses.
Jude nodded in understanding ' Why am I even telling them? I will do it myself!'