User blog:Metool Bard/Fanfiction: Missing Linc (Chapter 18)

Chapter 18: Connecting the Disconnect
Once we were outside, we climbed back into Vanzilla, both for privacy and so that Clyde could hear both of us. I texted him to call us in a couple of minutes, so it shouldn’t be long until…  Yep, there he is. I activated FaceTime and answered his call.

“Hey, Clyde,” I said. “You got something interesting for us?”

“Kinda,” said Clyde. “I’ll try to explain what I can. How’s it going at the meetup?”

“Okay, I guess,” said Leni. “We met this nice girl named Ginny. She’s helping her dad work on the movie.”

“I see,” said Clyde with a thoughtful nod. “So she’s related to Dirk O’Donnell.”

“You know him?” I asked.

“Not really. I only heard of him once I started looking into the Full House Gang movie like you said,” Clyde explained. “Apparently, it’s been in development for a while, and most of that is because of disagreements over the direction the movie should take.”

“Disagreements between whom?”

“Bill Buck and this Dirk O’Donnell guy.”

That already sounds a bit off. Ginny said at the meetup that she was going to do everything in her power to make sure the movie stayed true to the source material. Did Dirk O’Donnell want to take Ace Savvy in a different direction?

“You wouldn’t happen to know what other stuff this guy worked on, would you?” I said.

Clyde sighed and brushed the back of his head sheepishly. “That was a bit of a snag. I tried to look up his other movies, but I can’t get around my dads’ parental blocks. I’m guessing he made stuff I’m too young to see or something.”

Hmm. On the surface, that doesn’t seem too strange. Luna likes rock ’n roll, but I’ve heard her experiment with other genres all the time. Maybe this director made so many mature films that he wanted to try something more kid-friendly. But there’s still the disagreement he had with the comic’s creator, Bill Buck.

“What direction did Mr. O’Donnell want to take the movie?” asked Leni. “North? South?”

“That’s not what Clyde meant by direction, Leni,” I sighed. “Still, that’s a good question. Did you get any specifics about the disagreement?”

“Funny you should mention that,” said Clyde. “While I was researching the movie, I found an Ace Savvy news blog called Gin Rummy Prime’s Stacked Deck.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Gin Rummy Prime?”

“Yeah, the alternate universe counterpart of one of Ace Savvy’s biggest foes, Gin Rummy. He was introduced back in Casino Multiverse #1, where Ace Savvy discovers Earth Prime, which is supposed to be—”

“Um, I’m sure this is fascinating and all, but we literally don’t have time for this, Clyde,” I interrupted.

“Oh, right. Sorry,” said Clyde sheepishly. “Anyway, the blog does talk about the troubles with the movie’s development. Apparently, Dirk O’Donnell kept wanting to deviate from the source material, and Bill Buck said it was too far removed from what Ace Savvy is supposed to be.”

“Well, they had to reach some sort of compromise, didn’t they?” said Leni. “I mean, like, the movie is being made right now. There’s a trailer and everything.”

“I wondered about that, too,” said Clyde. “But no matter where I looked, there was no official statement made about how the issue was resolved. All that happened was that last week, the plans for the movie were leaked online by Gin Rummy Prime.”

That’s probably when all the rumors started. “Do you happen to know who runs this Gin Rummy Prime blog?”

“‘Fraid not. They’re using the character to maintain their anonymity,” said Clyde with a shrug. “You know how the internet is.”

“Um, like, I don’t get it,” said Leni. “Why would someone lie about their identity online?”

Ay yi yi. It’s amazing that Leni spends so much time blogging about fashion and uploading her selfies, yet she doesn’t quite grasp internet culture. Heck, I remember when she first got internet privileges, she literally doxxed herself. I wish I was making that up.

“I’ll explain later,” was all I could really say to that. “Anyway, Clyde, think you could send us a link to this blog?”

“Oh, sure. Anything for you, Lori,” said Clyde.

In a matter of seconds, I received a text containing the link. I opened it up and took a look. I have to say, it looks pretty well-made. I mean, some of the design choices are very weird. For example, the title banner has four cards with each of the four suits you’d find in a deck, but instead of a spade, there’s a sword. Like, huh? Why go against the theme like that? Still, it’s clear someone put a lot of time and effort into designing this page.

I scrolled through the blog and reached the article Clyde was talking about. Just like he said, there was a lot of back-and-forth about how much to change, but nothing about a resolution. Not even the leaked info about the movie posted last week had anything to say on the matter. So what happened? Why is the movie being made if Bill Buck and Dirk O’Donnell never reached an agreement on the script? What exactly did they decide to do? I don’t think we can get those answers here.

“I know you said that you couldn’t access Dirk O’Donnell’s film library because of the parental blocks,” I said. “But what about anything on the man himself? We’ve literally never heard of him before.”

“Yeah, and Ginny said there were these nasty rumors about him,” added Leni. “She said they weren’t true, but I think she’s lying.”

Clyde furrowed his brow. “Hang on a sec.”

The screen went dark, and we heard typing in the background. A few minutes later, Clyde showed up on screen again.

“Okay, here’s what I got,” he said. “Says here that Dirk O’Donnell is a small-time director from Hazeltucky. He’s most well-known for directing this movie called Transgression Town. Huh, I never heard of that…”  He sighed. “Dang it.”

“What?”

“Parental block.”

Oof. I knew Clyde’s parents were strict, but this is a bit much.

“Well, we can always ask Chaz about that later,” said Leni. “He’s always been a big movie buff.”

That or you could, y’know, look it up on your phone? Then again, Clyde is still on the line. If O’Donnell’s movies are as risqué as I’m led to believe, I don’t wanna risk exposing him to that kind of stuff.

“Anything about those rumors Ginny mentioned?” I asked.

“I’m looking into it now,” said Clyde. We heard him typing away on his laptop for a bit. “Hmm. I found a few complaints about him from actors talking to the tabloids. Something about him being too intense and demanding.”

Huh. Usually it’s the prima donna actors who get described like that (at least, if my Tiger Beat magazines are anything to go by). I never thought I’d hear that about a director.

“How intense are we talking about?”

“There’s one quote here. It’s the only one I can find that’s not behind a parental block,” said Clyde, clearing his throat. “'The guy doesn’t believe in makeup or stunt doubles. It’s like he actually wants us to get hurt.’”

…

Yeesh. That… is pretty intense. But hang on. Principal Huggins said something about Ginny going against her father’s vision. What kind of vision entails not taking care of your actors? There has to be more to this.

“Holy smokes!”

Clyde’s sudden exclamation caused me and Leni to jump. “What is it, Clyde?”

“I just checked back on Gin Rummy Prime’s blog, and there’s something here about the Full House Gang! I’m sending it to you now! Check the date!”

In a flash, the link appeared on my phone. I opened it up and looked at the date.

“April 15th,” I said. “What’s so special about that date?”

“That’s the day after Lincoln and I won the contest!”

…

Okay. Now it feels like we’re getting somewhere. I read the article aloud.

“‘It seems two young boys from Royal Woods, Michigan have done what a professional director could not: they have taken the comic world by storm. Just goes to show you that you don’t need to be dark and gritty to tell a good story.’”

“Wait a second. Did Mr. O’Donnell enter that contest, too?” asked Leni.

“I just checked the entrants list from the contest. His name isn’t on here,” said Clyde. “But Virginia O’Donnell is.”

Well, if that’s the case, the blog post doesn’t make much sense. Maybe it’s talking about some other project Dirk O’Donnell worked on?

“Clyde, see if you can find anything about Dirk O’Donnell in relation to Ace Savvy,” I said. “Stuff that isn’t about the Full House Gang.”

“On it,” said Clyde. After a few clacks from his keyboard, he got back to us. “That’s weird. I’m not coming up with anything. All I found are a few comments from Bill Buck on how he respects Dirk O’Donnell’s approach, even though it’s vastly different from his.”

That seems to line up with what Ginny said about her father and Bill Buck being friends. Even so, this is very strange.

“Anything about what Dirk O’Donnell said about Bill Buck?” I asked.

“Let’s see…  Yep, he had stuff to say about Bill, but it isn’t exactly flattering,” said Clyde. “He said jokingly that Bill Buck doesn’t take his stuff far enough. Something about how his stories being predictable and safe even when extreme stuff happens.”

That’s still not a whole lot to go on. Not only that, but there’s literally nothing directly tying to Lincoln’s disappearance. Even so, it’s the best lead we’ve got so far. We need to see where it goes.

“Alright, keep us updated, Clyde,” I said.

“Will do, High Card,” said Clyde with a salute. “One-eyed Jack, over and out.”

We ended the call there.

“We should probably get back to the roundtable discussion,” said Leni. “I’ve got a few questions for Ginny and Chaz.”

I tilted my head. “I understand why you want to talk to Chaz, but why Ginny?”

Leni twiddled her fingers. “Well, I wanna know more about her dad, but every time we talked about him, it made her upset. Plus, she entered that Ace Savvy coloring book contest, too. Maybe she knows more about all this than she’s saying.”

…

Y’know, on the surface, that doesn’t seem like a strong connection. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t pick up on Ginny’s anxiousness, too. If Leni thinks she’s hiding something, there’s a good chance that’s the case. Leni has always been good at reading people.

“Alright, let’s head back,” I said.

We got out of Vanzilla and made our way back to the library. We were about halfway across the parking lot when I was blindsided by a car zipping past and pulling into a parking space. I pulled Leni out of the way just in the nick of time.

“Um, hello?!” I yelled angrily. “You could’ve literally hurt us!”

The car door opened, revealing a rather distinctive-looking gentleman. He was tall and lanky, and had a broom mustache. He was dressed like one of those snobby art dealers. Y’know, with the fancy blue suit, the beret, and the heavily-tinted shades? At least I think that’s how snobby art dealers dress; I don’t know that many art dealers.

“Pardon me, madam,” he said gruffly. “I didn’t mean to scare you; I just didn’t see you.”

…

Okay, if you didn’t see us, maybe don’t wear heavily-tinted shades while you’re driving. Sheesh, even Leni could tell you that, and she doesn’t even have her license yet! Actually, looking at his car, I can see that the windows are heavily tinted, too. I’m surprised he saw anything!

“I-I’m sure it was just an accident, Lori,” said Leni, trying to drag me away. “C’mon, Wild Card Willy is probably getting worried about us.”

I could tell that Leni just wanted to avoid a confrontation, but I’m honestly too angry to care. I need to give this guy a piece of my mind!

“Listen, buster! You can’t just speed through the parking lot like that!” I yelled. “There are other people besides you, y’know! How about next time, you take off those stupid shades and actually—?”

“Dad?”

I was interrupted by a familiar voice. We turned to see Ginny approaching us. The gentleman grunted.

“Ah, hello, Gin,” he said, his tone becoming more pleasant.

Ginny let out an aggravated growl. Leni gulped.

“Um, she doesn’t like to be called that,” she whispered to the gentleman.

“I-it’s fine,” said Ginny, but I could tell it wasn’t. “M-maybe I should introduce you. This is my dad, Dirk O’Donnell.”

…

Well, this is awkward. I’m still kinda peeved, but I don’t think I should blow up at the guy while his daughter is standing there. I took a few deep breaths to calm down.

“I’m… sorry about that, Mr. O’Donnell,” I said. “I should’ve handled myself better.”

Dirk said nothing. He simply grunted and nodded. He then turned to Ginny. “Friends of yours?”

“Oh, we just met,” said Ginny. “This is Lori and Leni Loud. They came to the meetup to learn more about the Full House Gang movie.”

Dirk lowered his shades and looked at us. “So you two inspired the great Lincoln Loud, hmm?”

“You know Lincoln?” asked Leni.

Dirk stared at Leni blankly. “Why would I not know him? I’m adapting his comic to the big screen.”

“Oh. Right,” said Leni sheepishly. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“Don’t mind Leni. She’s a bit… spacey,” I said, putting it as delicately as possible.

Dirk nodded. “So she is. I can’t imagine why she would fit into a crime story like Ace Savvy.”

Um, wow. Rude much? She’s literally right there. Of course, Leni did not take the insult well. But before she could object, Ginny intervened.

“Dad, you can’t just say that right to her face,” she scolded. “I’m so sorry about this, guys. My dad isn’t exactly well-known for his tact.”

Dirk pressed his shades against his face, causing them to shine. “Are you attempting to lecture me, Gin?”

Ginny’s eye twitched. “N-no…”

“That’s what I thought,” said Dirk. “Now then, has One-Eyed Jack shown up?”

Ginny shook her head. “No, Dad. His parents thought it would be best if he stayed home.”  She then raised an eyebrow. “Something about a kidnapper on the loose.”

Dirk stroked his chin in thought. “Now that can’t be right. It goes against the script.”

Um, what script? Did he expect Clyde to be here?

“Dad, I keep telling you that your script is bogus,” said Ginny.

“Cut!” Dirk barked, making a slashing motion across his throat. “You know the rule, Gin. If you want a say in production…”

“…don’t question the script,” Ginny said with a pout. “Dad, I’m not a kid anymore. I know that rule’s a load of…”

“Cut!” Dirk barked again. “I will not have that attitude in my masterpiece, young lady.”  He then bowed to us. “I apologize for this. Gin here has become more rebellious in recent years.”

If that’s the way you treat her, I can see why she’d want to rebel. I mean, no offense to Ginny or anything, but her dad’s a major creep.

“I should probably explain. My dad treats every stage of production as a film shoot,” Ginny explained. “That includes promotional stuff like the meetup. He also hates it when things don’t go according to plan.”

“I can see that,” I said. “But Ginny’s right, Mr. O’Donnell. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but our brother Lincoln went missing last night, and Clyde’s parents said he had to stay home. You’re gonna have to change your script.”

Dirk snorted angrily before letting out a sigh. “I suppose there’s no getting around it,” he said. “Gin…”

Ginny flinched again. She really doesn’t like being called that, does she?

“Could you please stop calling her that?” asked Leni. “You’re making her uncomfortable.”

“I-it’s okay, Leni. Trust me, you don’t want any part of this,” said Ginny in a strained tone. “Look, I think Dad wants to go over the script with me so that we could figure out what to do going forward. Do you mind giving us some privacy?”

Part of me wants to stick around and eavesdrop, ‘cause I literally don’t trust this guy like at all. But I guess I shouldn’t jump to conclusions yet. Maybe he just has trouble getting along with people. Still, I can see where Leni’s coming from. I’m starting to feel bad for Ginny, too.

“Right, sure. We were just heading back, anyway,” I said. “Seeya later, Ginny.”

“Y-yeah. Seeya,” said Ginny.

With that, we made our way back to the library. Well, I can see why the tabloids called Dirk O’Donnell abrasive and difficult. He certainly rubs me the wrong way, and I really don’t like how he talks to his own daughter. Still, one problem at a time. We still need a lead on Lincoln, and all we have is a bunch of guesses with no way of knowing how they connect. Let’s hope Leni’s hunch about Chaz is accurate.

***

“Ah, girls! Good to have you back,” said Principal Huggins. “Any news on Lincoln?”

I guess he believed that was what my phone call was all about. To be fair, he’s not entirely wrong.

“Nothing yet,” I sighed. “What’d we miss?”

“We were just discussing how Dirk O’Donnell is gonna handle this,” said Chaz. “It’s still a big departure from his previous work.”

“Actually, I’m curious. What was his previous work like?” I asked. “I’ve never heard of this guy before.”

Chaz blinked. “You haven’t? You really need to check out more flicks, Lori. The guy’s pretty well-known for his gritty crime stuff. Y’know, this isn’t even his first comic book movie.”

“It isn’t? But Ginny just said his other work wasn’t meant for kids,” said Leni.

“Neither was the first comic he adapted,” said Chaz. “Transgression Town. It stands as one of his greatest masterpieces in cinema. Really heavy film noir stuff, if you’re into the kinda thing.”

“So, like, is that how he knows Bill Buck?” asked Leni.

Chaz shrugged. “Honestly, I wouldn’t know. Transgression Town was published independently, while Ace Savvy is syndicated.”

Leni tilted her head. “Syncopated? Isn’t that when Luna plays her music with weird beats?”

“Syndicated,” I corrected. “It means the Ace Savvy series is owned by a company that publishes his books.”

“Oh. I see,” said Leni. She averted her eyes and blushed. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, Leni,” said Chaz. “I know you’re not into this stuff like we are.”

Well, that’s one way to put it. I have to say, it’s nice to see Chaz be so patient with her. That’s a good sign for their relationship going forward. But we can’t get sidetracked now.

“So Dirk O’Donnell has a thing for mysteries,” I mused. “Apart from the fact that his work is more mature, it sounds like Ace Savvy would be right up his alley.”

“That’s what we’ve been talking about,” said Chaz. “Becky thinks that Ginny can keep her word and make sure her dad doesn’t go too extreme, but I’m not so sure. The man does not like other people interfering with his vision.”

Yeah, that became pretty apparent after Leni and I bumped into him a few minutes ago. Speaking of which, maybe I should ask about that.

“Principal Huggins, was Mr. O’Donnell himself supposed to come to this meetup?” I asked.

Principal Huggins furrowed his brow and stroked his chin. “I don’t think so. At least, Virginia never mentioned anything about it. Why?”

“‘Cause he just drove up to the library,” said Leni. “He’s out in the parking lot with Ginny right now.”

Several gasps and murmurs were heard around the table. Principal Huggins still seemed to be lost in thought.

“So that’s why Virginia left so suddenly,” he mused. “What could this mean?”

I’m starting to think that Leni and I aren’t the only ones playing detective at this meetup. I don’t know if Principal Huggins is just getting into character or if he’s really trying to help us solve our own mystery, but either way, I’ve never seen him like this before.

“What about you, Wild Card Willy?” asked Leni. “Do you know anything about Mr. O’Donnell or his work?”

“I’ve seen one or two of his movies,” said Principal Huggins. “His work isn’t exactly my cup of tea, and to be frank, I do have concerns about how he’ll handle Ace Savvy.”

“But he’s got Ginny to rein him in, doesn’t he?” said Becky.

“There’s only so much an assistant editor like her can do,” Chaz argued. “I’m sure she’s gonna be working really hard, but knowing Dirk O’Donnell, it’s gonna be an uphill battle.”

“Oh, c’mon, Chaz. You don’t really buy all those rumors about him, do ya?” said Joey. “I’m sure he’s just a regular guy like you and me.”

Having just met him, I can confirm that he’s literally not like that. If anything, I’m siding with Chaz on this one. Ginny does have her work cut out for her.

“I’m afraid Leni and I are a bit out of the loop here,” I said. “What exactly are these rumors about Dirk O’Donnell?”

Chaz’s face darkened. “From what I heard, he’s a man of extremes. According to the tabloids, he’s gotten into a lot of trouble with actor’s unions over how he’s been treating them. They say he’s dedicated to making the drama as authentic as possible.”

I’m immediately reminded of that quote Clyde read to us while he was researching Dirk. I don’t think I’d trust someone like that to make a kid-friendly movie. I mean, what, if a character dies in his movie, does he expect the actor to literally die for real?

…

Okay, maybe that was a bit too extreme. There’s no way anyone’s that crazy. Still, I think we can safely say that he’s pretty intense. I’m still not sure what that has to do with Lincoln, though. I think we need to shift gears a bit.

“Actually, Leni and I were doing some research on the way back here,” I said. “Does anyone know about this blog called Gin Rummy Prime’s Stacked Deck?”

“Well, of course,” said Principal Huggins. “That’s where I first found out about the Full House Gang movie.”

“Same here,” said Becky. “Of course, I first dismissed it as a wild fan rumor, but that was before the trailer aired.”

“Any idea who runs the blog?” I asked.

“No one we know,” Chaz said with a shrug. “Then again, Ace Savvy blogs like that are a dime a dozen. I know Principal Huggins here runs one himself.”

Principal Huggins blushed. “I-it’s just a little hobby of mine. Clyde convinced me to look into it to better connect with my fellow fans.”

Huh. That’s actually kinda sweet of Clyde to do that. I remember back when Principal Huggins tried to sabotage Lincoln’s entry into the contest, he told us how those comic books were practically his only friends when he was a kid. It’s the same reason Lincoln and Clyde rewrote their story to include Wild Card Willy as a good guy.

…

Hang on. The contest! We need to address this.

“Um, Principal Huggins? Do you remember the Ace Savvy contest that led to the Full House Gang?” I asked.

Principal Huggins cleared his throat. “Of course I do. I’ll never forget your brother’s generosity to have me share the honor of meeting our hero, Bill Buck.”

“Did Ginny mention that contest at all while we were out?”

Principal Huggins furrowed his brow. “Now that you mention it, we did discuss the original comic at some length.”  He then chuckled. “Actually, she complimented me on my addition to the entry. She certainly has an eye for quality storytelling.”

I know Principal Huggins was probably just blowing his own trumpet, but honestly, I liked that part of the Full House Gang comic, too. Though really, it’s more that I’m impressed that he, Lincoln, and Clyde managed to cobble together such a satisfying ending in such a short amount of time.

“She did get a bit antsy when we talked about her dad’s entry, though,” said Chaz. “Y’know, Dirk O’Donnell actually entered that contest himself.”

…

Wait, that literally can’t be right. Clyde said that Dirk’s name wasn’t on the list of entrants. Ginny’s was.

“What’re you talking about, Chaz?” asked Leni. “I thought Mr. O’Donnell was a movie director, not a coloring book artist.”

“Comic book, Leni,” I corrected with a sigh.

Leni blinked. “Right. What did I say?”

I could only groan at that. Seriously, reasoning with Leni can just be impossible sometimes.

“I can see how you’d be confused. Not a lot of people know about this,” said Chaz. “But as a movie buff, I recognized O’Donnell’s signature style in his entry.”

“You mean it’s online somewhere? I didn’t think any of the other entries would get published.”

“None of the other entries had the financial backing that Dirk O’Donnell does,” Chaz replied. “He had this big advertisement campaign and everything. Not a lot of people saw it because it was only promoted alongside his movies.”

“I honestly don’t know why he bothered,” said Principal Huggins. “Bill Buck was going to have the final say in what entry won that contest. There wasn’t a need to seek public approval.”

That’s the least of my worries right now. My question is if Dirk O’Donnell submitted a comic into that contest, why wasn’t his name on the list? And what about Ginny? None of this is making sense, and what’s worse, I don’t know how this’ll help us find Lincoln. All I know is that there’s gotta be a connection to the movie, but we can’t seem to find it.

“I hope we’re not interrupting anything.”

I know that voice. We turned to see Ginny walk in with her father right by her side.

“Ah, Mr. O’Donnell. We weren’t aware that you were coming,” said Principal Huggins.

“Neither was I, but I suppose some revisions to the script can’t be helped,” said Dirk. “Speaking of which, we should be heading back to Hazeltucky soon. Does anyone else have any questions about the movie before we take off?”

Yeah, like a million. But I don’t think I can ask them everything right here and now. Let’s see, what would be the most useful thing to ask them?

…

Alright, I think I got it. Here goes nothing.

“Ginny, I take it you and your dad are pretty big comic fans,” I said. “I wanna hear your thoughts. What do you both think about the Full House Gang?”

Dirk grunted. “It’s… adequate. I admire your brother’s ability to mimic Bill Buck’s style, but in doing so, he robs the story of the gravitas it could’ve had.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “That’s my dad. Always so hard to please,” she sighed. She then smiled. “As for me, I think it’s nothing short of a work of genius. I wish I could write like Lincoln does. And I already told Mr. Huggins about how Wild Card Willy’s emotional arc really tied the whole thing together.”  She gave Dirk a sideways glance. “Just goes to show you that a good story doesn’t have to be dark and gritty.”

…

Hang on. That phrase is ringing a bell. Didn’t Gin Rummy Prime say something like that on their blog when they were talking about the Full House Gang? Call it a hunch, but I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

“Did you guys enter that contest, too?” asked Leni.

Dirk and Ginny looked at each other. Wow, Leni. That was a bit… direct. After a pause, Dirk cleared his throat.

“No further questions, I’m afraid,” he said. “We must be off.”

“It’s a simple yes or no, though,” said Leni. “Did you guys enter the…?”

“Cut~!”

Dirk’s exclamation prompted a chorus of shushing from the library’s patrons. I don’t know what else he was expecting, honestly.

“Dad, volume!” Ginny hissed. “We’re in a library!”

Dirk lowered his shades and glared a Ginny. “Do not patronize me, Gin. I know full well what I’m doing. This is still my script, after all.”

Chaz gave Joey a look. “A regular guy just like you and me, huh?”

Joey had no retort for that. Ginny let out a sigh and approached me.

“My heart goes out to you and your family,” she whispered. “I hope you find your Ace Savvy soon.”

…

Okay, how does she know Lincoln role-plays as Ace Savvy? Actually, now that I think about it, how did she know Clyde role-plays as One-Eyed Jack? She knew exactly who her father was talking about when he mentioned that character’s name. In fact, did he know Clyde role-plays as that character? I’m starting to suspect that these two know more than they let on.

“Thanks, Ginny,” I said. “Listen, is there a chance we can meet later and talk?”

Ginny frowned. “Unless you’re willing to drive all the way out to Hazeltucky, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Lady, I would literally drive to the freaking moon for Lincoln if I had to. I mean, why else would Leni and I show up to this meetup? We didn’t exactly make our investigation a secret when we got here. You know what this is about.

“Can we at least give you our numbers?” asked Leni. “Y’know, if you change your mind.”

Ginny averted her eyes and fiddled with her ponytail. “Well, I…”

“Gin? We’re off.”

Before Ginny could finish her thought, Dirk took her by the arm and dragged her away. Ginny gave us a pained look as she left. Dang it. There goes our biggest lead.

“Well, that was certainly unexpected,” said Principal Huggins. “I suppose if there’s no further Ace Savvy business to discuss, we can adjourn. Same time next week?”

“Deal me in.”

“Of course.”

“Chaz abides.”

Principal Huggins nodded. As we started to leave, he leaned down and whispered in my ear.

“I have Ms. O’Donnell’s phone number,” he said. “She’s actually the one who called me to arrange her appearance at this meetup. I can write it down for you if you want.”

I had to take a second to let all that sink in. I guess we’re on the same wavelength on this. I… guess that’s cool.

“That’d be really helpful, Principal Huggins,” I said. “Thanks a lot.”

“Don’t you worry your purdy little head, High Card,” said Principal Huggins in a thick Western accent. “Ol’ Wild Card Willy’s got your back.”

Well, maybe “cool” isn’t the right word to describe it. Normally, I’d cringe at how weird it is to see a grown man act like such a dork, but then I remember that I’ve lived with my dad for seventeen years. Grown men acting like dorks has always kinda been a part of my life.

Principal Huggins wrote down the phone number on a slip of paper and handed it to me. After saying our goodbyes, we left the library.

“So, now what?” asked Leni.

I sighed. “Well, we can’t call Ginny now; it’d be too soon. And I’m not sure what else Clyde can do at this point. Maybe we should go back home and see if anyone else found anything.”

Leni tilted her head. “Are you sure that’s smart? Like, we left with Lisa and Lily. Aren’t Mom and Dad gonna wonder why we didn’t come back with them?”

…

How is it that Leni remembered that when I didn’t? Ugh, dang it, we did not think this through.

“Lisa still has her phone, right?” I said. “Call her up and tell her we’re on our way to pick her up.”

“Got it,” said Leni.

We hopped into Vanzilla and drove off. Well, we might not know where Lincoln is, but I have a feeling I know who does. I can’t really prove it, but I think Ginny and Dirk are hiding something. For now, let’s just regroup and see where we’re at. I hope the others found something we can actually use…

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