User blog:Metool Bard/Fanfiction: Missing Linc (Chapter 22)

Chapter 22: Ante Up
After calling Lisa, I called Mom and Dad to let them know we were coming home. I actually feel kinda bad for not checking in with them sooner, but we were just distracted by the whole investigation thingie. Luckily, even after we drove all the way to that fancy mansion place to get Lisa, we managed to get home by lunchtime. Good thing, too. I’m totes starving.

The twins were actually the first ones back, so they got to decide the lunch menu. They originally wanted chicken nuggets, but in the end, they both agreed that was a bad idea. I agree with that, too. That’s one of Lincoln’s favorite foods; eating it would just make us sad. They settled on heating up Lana’s leftover tater tot bake instead. After lunch, Lisa went back upstairs to listen in on the radio thingie while the rest of us waited for the others to get back.

It was around three o’clock when everyone returned. Lynn and Lucy were the last to arrive, but they were a lot earlier than expected. Lynn said something happened at the game, and that she’d explain during the debrief. I was about to ask her when she started wearing briefs, but then I remembered Lisa telling me that’s not what that word meant. See? I learn. There’s more to my head than just air, y’know.

Once we were all gathered (and after Luna and Luan both took a much needed shower), we met in Lori’s room for a sibling meeting. Oops, I mean debrief.

“Alright, time to see what we’ve got,” said Lori. “First thing first. This is just a hunch, but I’m guessing you all heard about this new Full House Gang movie being made?”

Everyone in the room nodded.

“That’s actually why Chandler threw that party at the sewage treatment plant,” said Luna. “He wanted to convince Lincoln and Clyde to get him a part in the movie by doing something special for ‘em.”

“Don’t ask us how he thought it would work; we still have no idea,” Luan added.

“That’s not all,” said Lana. “Turns out Lola was right about Lindsey Sweetwater. She wanted to use the movie and Lincoln’s disappearance to make Lola look bad.”

“But, like, how did she learn about the movie?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s where it gets interesting,” said Lola. “See, there were rumors at our school, but she got official confirmation from a couple of boys that she had major dirt on.”

Lynn stroked her chin in thought. “Let me take a crack at this. The boys she talked to were Papa Wheelie and Flat Tire, and the dirt she got on them was that they stole the Royal Woods Roosters’ football signals.”

Lola blinked. “Um, yeah. How’d you know?”

“Polly Pain told us all about it at the game,” said Lucy. “She managed to steal a note promising those two blackened souls that they’d have parts in the movie if they stole the signals.”

Luan nodded and blew some bubbles out of her bubble pipe. “Sounds like Rusty’s story checks out.”

“Rusty’s story?” Lori asked.

“We actually bumped into Rusty Spokes confronting Papa Wheelie and Flat Tire at Chandler’s party,” Luna explained. “We didn’t know what it was all about at first, but that all changed once Chandler tried to take me and Luan on a tour of the sewage tunnels.”

Ew, gross~! No wonder they needed a shower when they got home! Sheesh, what was that Chandler guy thinking?!

“See, Chandler managed to come across a skeleton key floating by in one of the sewage tunnels last night,” said Luan. “He thought it would open any lock, so he tried to get us access to a super-dangerous tunnel. However, it turned out the key was only meant for Royal Woods Middle School. When Papa Wheelie and Flat Tire saw that we had it, they tried desperately to take it from us.”

“Meaning it’s plausible that they flushed the key down the toilet in order to dispose of any evidence connecting them to their misdeeds, hence why it ended up at the sewage treatment plant,” Lisa mused. “Lucy, you mentioned that they were promised parts in the Full House Gang movie if they committed this felony. Do you happen to know who hired them?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Lucy. “But we do know where those signals ended up, right, Lynn?”

Lynn nodded. “That’s actually why we got home so early. I dunno how, but someone sold our signals to the Hazeltucky Hockers. And you’ll never guess what they wanted in exchange.”

“What?” I asked.

Lynn’s face suddenly darkened. “They wanted Lincoln.”

…

That… doesn’t make sense.

“But, like, Lincoln doesn’t belong to them,” I said. “He belongs to us. He’s our little Linky.”

“I think we’re all aware of that, Leni,” said Lori. “Still, are you saying what I think you’re saying, Lynn?”

Lynn sighed. “I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, Lori. Someone bribed the Hockers’ star players so that they’d kidnap Lincoln.”

…

Oh. OH~! O-M-Gosh, that’s horrible!

“That also matches up with what Rusty told us,” said Luna. “He said Papa Wheelie and Flat Tire were gonna nab Lincoln for Lindsey Sweetwater, but someone else beat ‘em to the punch.”

Lisa furrowed her brow and began pacing back and forth. “Hmm. I believe it’s safe to presume that whoever commissioned Papa Wheelie and Flat Tire to steal the Roosters’ strategic notes was also the one who commissioned the Hockers to apprehend Lincoln.”

“But who would do something like that?” asked Lola.

“I believe I may have a theory, though fair warning: it’s still a work in progress,” said Lisa. “During my investigation, Lily managed to find an interesting lead that brought us to the home of the wealthy tetherball tycoon, Lord Tetherby. There, we discovered that Tetherby had a connection to the director of this new Full House Gang movie, a man named Dirk O’Donnell.”

“What was this connection?” asked Lori.

Lisa adjusted her glasses. “Simply put, Mr. O’Donnell would often go to Lord Tetherby for financial backing on his projects.”

“So, wait. That limo-riding snob is funding the Full House Gang movie?” Lynn said with a scoff. “Now I’ve heard everything.”

“Ah, but that’s where things become intriguing,” said Lisa. “As it turns out, Mr. O’Donnell did seek financial assistance from Tetherby for the movie, but Tetherby refused. Not only that, but he made a concerted effort to sever all ties with Mr. O’Donnell.”

“I can see why he’d do that,” said Lori. “Leni and I actually bumped into him at an Ace Savvy meetup at the library, and he was not what I’d call pleasant.”

“Um, what were you doing at an Ace Savvy meetup?” asked Luan.

“It was my idea,” I explained. “We talked to Clyde about the whole thing, and Lori figured there was some connection between Lincoln disappearing and the movie. So we went to the meetup to find out more about the movie.”

Lisa nodded. “It seems you were correct to do that. There are many threads in this tangled web, but they all seem to tie back to the Full House Gang movie in one way or another.”

Web? Does that mean there’s a spider in here?! As if this couldn’t get any worse! Before I could scream, Lori placed a firm hand on my shoulder.

“Relax, Leni. There aren’t any spiders,” she said. “Lisa, maybe try using a different metaphor next time.”

“Noted. My apologies,” said Lisa. “But back to the matter at hand. I wasn’t able to get much out of Tetherby, but I have reason to believe that whatever Mr. O’Donnell’s scheme was to promote this movie, it couldn’t have been legal.”

“So, you think this black-hearted director is the one who had Hank and Hawk go after Lincoln?” asked Lucy.

“It’s possible,” said Lisa. “However, I must reiterate that this is just a theory. There are still some questions that need to be answered.”

“Like what?” I asked.

Lisa turned to Luan. “Luan, you mentioned that the two delinquents you met at Chandler’s party received a skeleton key that let them break into Royal Woods Middle School. Did they happen to mention where they got the key from?”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t that helpful,” said Luan. She took out a soggy notepad. “They said some woman gave them the letter with the key. They described her as a goth or punk or something.”

…

Wait. Goth or punk? I think Lori and I met someone who dressed like that. But it couldn’t have been her, could it? I mean, like, I know there was a lot of stuff she wasn’t telling us, but why would she do something so mean? I-it’s not the vibe I got from her, y’know?

“Is something wrong, Leni?” said Lori. “You look a bit shaken.”

I sighed. I really don’t wanna say it, but I have to. Lincoln’s more important.

“Lori, we met someone who dressed in a rebellious style, remember?” I said. “I wouldn’t really describe her fashion choices as goth or punk, but it’s close enough.”

Lori’s eyes went wide. “Hang on. You’re not talking about Ginny, are you?”

“Ginny?” asked Luna.

“Virginia O’Donnell. She was at the meetup to promote the Full House Gang movie,” Lori explained. “She also happens to be Dirk O’Donnell’s daughter.”

Lisa stroked her chin in thought. “Hmm. That still begs the question as to how Ms. O’Donnell got her hands on that skeleton key.”

“B-but it just doesn’t seem like something she’d do,” I said, twiddling my fingers. “When Lori and I talked to her, she was so nice. I mean, I don’t think she was being completely honest with us, but I couldn’t imagine her doing something like this.”

“Well, one way or another, looks like this Virginia O’Donnell is the key to solving this mystery,” Luan said with a laugh. “Get it?”

…

Okay, that was kinda funny. Luan tries so hard to put a smile on everyone’s faces, even during times like this. You have to admire her dedication.

“Puns aside, I believe Luan is correct,” said Lisa. “Lori, do you happen to have a way to contact Ms. O’Donnell?”

“Yep,” said Lori. “Principal Huggins gave me her phone number.”

“Excellent,” said Lisa. “One moment, please. I believe I have a device that can help.”

Lori raised an eyebrow at her. “Have you tested it yet?”

Lisa let out a weary sigh. “Must you be so skeptical of my inventions? Look, it’s merely an enhanced version of the same technology 911 dispatchers use to track the location of cellular devices. Nothing about it should be dangerous.”

She says that, but her inventions have caused us a lot of problems in the past. I don’t blame Lori for being careful. After a moment’s consideration, Lori sighed.

“Fine. We might as well give it a shot,” said Lori. “But if this breaks my phone, you’re paying for my upgrade, got it?”

“Duly noted,” said Lisa nervously. “I’ll be right back.”

She zipped off to her room and returned with one of those chip thingies and her laptop. After some hesitation, Lori handed over her phone.

“Lana, could you assist me with this part?” Lisa asked. “I need to install this chip next to the SIMs card, and fine technical work is not my forte. Stubby fingers and all.”

Lana shrugged. “I’ve never really worked with phones before, but I think I can take a crack at it.”

“You two better know what you’re doing,” Lori warned.

Lisa swallowed. “Right. Lana, do exactly as I say.”

“Got it,” Lana said, swallowing as well. Yeah, it’s never a good idea to get on Lori’s bad side. Actually, I could say the same about all of us. Or maybe that just applies to people in general. Whatever, it’s not important right now.

After a bit of tinkering, Lana handed Lori’s phone back to her. Lisa opened up her laptop and booted up a program. It looked like the same screen on her tracker thingie.

“Alright, Lori. Go ahead and call Ms. O’Donnell,” said Lisa. “My device should pinpoint her location.”

“Right,” said Lori, dialing the number. “I’m gonna put her on speaker, too. Everyone else, stay quiet.”

Luan opened her mouth, probably to tell a joke. But after getting a dirty look from Lori, she zipped her mouth shut. Yeah, maybe save it for later, Luan. There’s a time and a place and all that.

Lori set the phone on her nightstand as it started ringing. After three rings, there was a click.

“Hello? Who is this?”

“Hey, Ginny? It’s me, Lori Loud.”

Ginny gasped. “H-how’d you get this number?”

“Principal Huggins. Look, we really need to talk. Any chance we can meet up later this afternoon?”

Ginny sighed. “Lori, I already told you that’s not gonna be possible. I’m sorry, but I’m just swamped with work right now. You know how my dad is.”

“Well then, how about we come to you?” Lori suggested. “Trust me, I wouldn’t be asking this of you if it wasn’t important.”

We could hear heavy breathing from Ginny’s side. I can picture her just hyperventilating on the other end. Something clearly has her worked up.

“I-is this really so important that we have to meet in person?” she asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Lori said with a sigh. “Listen, I get it. I really do. You’ve got a lot on your plate, helping your dad make this movie and all. But you know that Leni and I are trying to find Lincoln, and I just thought…”

“You thought wrong.”

Ginny tried to sound angry, but I could hear her voice wavering. Lori raised an eyebrow.

“Ginny? Are you okay?”

Ginny cleared her throat. “Listen up, High Card. You may think you’re some hot shot detective, but you’re just playing pretend. You’re not going to find anything, so you might as well just f…  Just f-f-fol—”  She let out another sigh. “Dang it. I-I can’t do this.”

“Can’t do what?”

“Nothing. Look, I gotta go. Please don’t call me again. I mean it.”

With that, she hung up.

“Well. That was… a thing,” said Lana.

Luan blew some bubbles out of her bubble pipe. “Is it just me, or did that last part sound scripted?”

“What last part?” asked Lori.

“The part where she called you High Card. It sounded like she was reading off of something,” said Luan. “Trust me, when you’ve been in theater as long as I have, you can tell when it’s someone’s first time reading from a script.”

So, wait. Did she, like, expect us to call her? We didn’t even get her number; Wild Card Willy gave it to us after she left.

“More importantly, I’ve managed to trace the source of the call,” said Lisa, typing away on her computer. “It seems that Ms. O’Donnell is… all the way in Hazeltucky.”

“Well, that makes sense,” said Lori. “Her dad said they were going home right after the—”

Just then, Lori’s phone rang.

“Um, you expecting a call, dude?” Luna asked.

“No,” said Lori, checking her phone. “It’s an unlisted number. Probably just spam or something.”  She shrugged and hung up. “Now, as I was saying, the O’Donnells told us that they were—”

Her phone rang again. Lori growled and checked it.

“Unlisted number again,” she groaned, hanging up. “We literally do not have time for—”

And it rang again. Okay, this is just getting spooky.

“Telemarketers are not usually this persistent,” Lisa mused. “Lori, I suggest you answer it this time, and put them on speaker.”

Lori blinked. “Why?”

“Call it a hunch,” said Lisa, adjusting her glasses.

Lori shrugged and did as Lisa asked. “Yes, hello?”

“Hello, High Card.”

The voice on the other end sent chills up my spine. It sounded like some kind of alien or robot. But the only robots I know are the ones built by Lisa, so maybe…

…

No, that’s just dumb. Why would aliens need to hire a couple of football players to abduct Lincoln? Nngh, get it together, Leni.

“Who is this?” asked Lori.

“A friend,” said the alien robot thingie. “You’re looking for Ace Savvy, right? I can help.”

Lori raised an eyebrow. “How do you know that?”

“I have my ways. Listen, you’re dealing with a very difficult foe here. They think they’ve covered their tracks, but that’s only because they stacked the deck against you. But I know the Full House Gang has overcome greater odds. Don’t give up now. You’re closer to the truth than you realize.”

Um, okay? So the alien robot thingie’s on our side. That’s nice. I think.

“You do realize that you’re literally not making any sense right now,” said Lori. “How are we supposed to trust you?”

There was a pause. “Perhaps this will convince you,” said the alien robot thingie. “You may call me… Gin Rummy Prime.”

…

Wait a second. That’s the blogger who first leaked the Full House Gang movie! Lori caught onto that, too.

“Gin Rummy Prime? As in the Ace Savvy blogger?”

“The very same,” said Gin Rummy Prime. “Listen, you’ve noticed that the O’Donnells play their cards close to their chest, correct?”

“Um, I guess,” said Lori. “But how do you know about—?”

“Again, I have my ways,” said Gin Rummy Prime. “The thing is you need to slap those cards out of their hands. It’s the only way to save your brother.”

“And how’re we supposed to do that?”

“You’ll find what you need at O’Donnell’s studio in Hazeltucky. That’s all I can tell you for now.”

Lori raised an eyebrow. “Okay, let’s say I believe you. What do you get out of this?”

“Justice, High Card. Justice for Ace, for O’Donnell, and for…”

Gin Rummy Prime trailed off after that. What did they wanna say?

“And what?”

“I have to go. Good hunting, High Card. And remember, no matter what, don’t fold. Instead, I’d go all in.”

Gin Rummy Prime hung up after that.

“Whoa. That was creepy,” said Lucy.

“You’re telling me,” I said. “Like, how’d that guy know all that stuff?”

“And who even was he?” added Lola. “He sounded all funny.”

“That’s because they were masking their voice with a voice changer,” said Lisa, typing away on her computer.

“Um, what’re you doing, Lis’?” asked Lynn.

“Tracing the call,” said Lisa. She then paused and narrowed her eyes at the screen. “Hmm. Most intriguing."

“What is it, Lisa?” asked Lori.

“The call originated from Hazeltucky. Not only that, but it appears to be at or at least near the same coordinates we traced Ms. O’Donnell to a few minutes earlier.”

Huh. So, like, Gin Rummy Prime also lives in Hazeltucky? And the O’Donnells are his or her neighbors? This is getting weird.

“You think you got something, Lis’?” asked Lynn.

“The theory is still a work in progress,” said Lisa. “All I’ll say for now is that there’s most likely a reason our enigmatic informant wishes to remain anonymous.”

“Still, should we even trust this guy?” said Lana. “We know nothing about them.”

“Trust me, Lana. I don’t like this any more than you do,” said Lori. “But we literally don’t have any other leads. If this is our best chance to rescue Lincoln, I say we go for it.”

“And how’re we supposed to do that?” asked Luan. “Mom and Dad aren’t stupid. They’re gonna raise some eyebrows if we all go galavanting off to Hazeltucky for no reason.”

But, we’re not going to Hazeltucky for no reason. We’re going there to save Lincoln. We just can’t tell Mom and Dad about it, or we’ll get in trou—

Oh~. Now I get it. Dang it, what are we gonna do?

“It appears we’ll have to make this a covert operation,” said Lisa.

Huh. I think I know what that means. We did it a couple of times before.

“That’s the thing where we sneak out of the house while Mom and Dad are asleep, right?” I asked.

Lisa gave me a blank look. Did I get it wrong?

“That’s… exactly correct, Leni,” she said.

Oh, phew~. I was worried for a second there.

“That still sounds pretty risky, Lisa,” said Lori.

“I will conceded that much. We’d be operating under a massive time constraint,” said Lisa. “And considering the distance between our home and Hazeltucky, it’s very possible that we’ll all end up grounded after this; perhaps worse.”

“But on the other hand, our Linky is worth it,” said Lola. “We can’t just leave him in the hands of some meanie-faces.”

Lori nodded. “Alright, we’ll put it to a vote. Everyone who thinks we should sneak out and see this mystery through, raise your hand.”

All of our hands shot up at once. Well, that was easy. Normally, we have a hard time agreeing on, well, anything. But I knew all along that this was something we could all get behind.

“Wow. I don’t even know why you bothered, Lori,” said Luan. “Looks like it’s unanimous for once.”

“Right,” said Lori, clearing her throat. “Lisa, take a look at the coordinates you traced from Ginny’s phone and from Gin Rummy Prime. I want exact addresses to those places by dinnertime.”

“Copy that,” said Lisa with a salute. “I shall also draft up an investigation plan for once we reach the coordinates.”

Lori nodded and turned to Lana. “Lana, you’re on radio duty. We still need to be on the same page as the police. I don’t wanna risk getting grounded if they solve this thing before we do.”

“On it,” said Lana. She then dashed out of the room.

“Everyone else, get everything you think we’ll need,” said Lori. “I expect everyone to be ready to move by 9:30.”

“Alright, sounds like we got a game plan,” said Lynn, pounding her fist into her palm. “This is gonna be so satisfying.”

“The wheels of justice move slowly, but they move,” said Lucy. “If the O’Donnells are indeed caught beneath those wheels, the spirits foresee great pain in their future.”

“We’re comin’ for you, little bro,” said Luna. “The heat is on, and it’s on the street.”

“If those bozos really think they have us beat, we’ll just have to up the ante!” Luan said with a laugh. She then sighed. “I know, it’s not my best material, but I can’t help it. These comic book card puns are contagious.”

“Poo-poo!” Lily cheered

Lola sighed. “I really hope Linky’s okay.”

I smiled and placed a hand on Lola’s shoulder. “We all do, Lola. Don’t worry, we’ll find him. And we’re all gonna give him a big hug.”

Lola looked up and smiled back at me. “Yeah. And we’ll put those meanies in their place too, right?”

“Sure,” I said. I mean, like I said, I don’t really hurt people out of hate. I try to be tolerant of everyone. But this is, like, totes different. This jerk hurt our little Linky, and we need to give them what-for. Maybe even what-five (if that’s a thing).

“Okay, everyone. Let’s get moving,” said Lori. “Dismissed.”

We all went back to our rooms. Well, I almost left, but Lori reminded me that her room is also my room. I guess I just have a lot on my mind right now. I’m sure we all do. I don’t know what we’re gonna find in Hazeltucky, or what Ginny’s deal is, or why Gin Rummy Prime is helping us. But whatever happens, if it means we rescue Lincoln, it’ll all be worth it…

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