User blog:Metool Bard/Fanfiction: Missing Linc (Chapter 24)

Chapter 24: Confrontation: Virginia O'Donnell
“Holy shamoley. Th-this is insane.”

That was all any of us could say after Lisa told us about what they found in that trailer. I mean, OMG. I-I’m literally struggling to wrap my head around it. So this whole thing, from the stolen football signals to Lincoln getting kidnapped, was just a big publicity stunt to promote the movie? If that’s true, then not only is Dirk O’Donnell a massive creep; he’s also out of his ding-dang mind!

“Are you sure about all this, Lisa?” I asked.

“I’m still analyzing the script, but thus far, it seems to confirm my suspicions,” said Lisa. “In the meantime, I believe the O’Donnells have a lot to answer for.”

“That’s for sure,” I agreed. “Time to move onto Phase Two. Leni, you’re with me. Lisa, keep looking through that script.”

“Roger that,” said Lisa.

“Um, okay,” said Leni nervously.

I sighed and took out my phone. I wasn’t really looking forward to this, but it was the only way to get answers. I shot Ginny a quick text, telling her to come outside. Leni and I then stepped out of Vanzilla and waited.

In a matter of moments, Ginny emerged from the trailer. When she saw us, she tried to hide a gasp by clearing her throat. She then gave me and Leni a stern look.

“I-I thought I told you not to call me again,” she growled.

“Well, technically, you didn’t say anything about texting you,” said Leni.

Before you ask, she said that with a completely straight face. It’s kinda fascinating to see Leni take a comment that’s supposed to be sarcastic and be so literal about it. I just decided to play along.

“She’s not exactly wrong,” I said with a shrug. I then sighed. “All kidding aside, you know why we’re here, Ginny. If you have any information about Lincoln, we could really use it.”

Ginny turned away and started fiddling with her ponytail. “I-I’m not exactly sure how I can help you there.”

Leni frowned. “Ginny, it’s not nice to lie.”

Ginny flinched. “I-I’m not lying.”

Wow. She’s not even trying to hide it at this point. It’s… actually kinda pathetic. Still, we’re not gonna get anywhere if she keeps denying everything.

“Look, just humor us for a bit,” I said. “If it turns out you’re telling the truth, this’ll be the last you see of us.”

“You promise?” asked Ginny.

I nodded. “Promise.”

Ginny took a moment to compose herself and straighten out her ponytail.

“Fine. But be quick about it,” she said. “My dad’s probably gonna call me back any minute.”

I don’t know if that’s true or if Ginny just wanted an excuse to run away. There’s only one way to find out.

“Let’s start with the movie,” I said.

Ginny tilted her head. “Why that?”

“Because I’m convinced that there’s a connection between it and Lincoln going missing,” I answered. “Again, just humor me for now. Anyway, we didn’t get a chance to learn that much about it at the meetup. Could you tell us a bit more?”

“Wh-what else do you wanna know?”

“Tell us about the production,” I said. “I’m guessing this has been in development for a while, since it’s been several months since Lincoln won that Ace Savvy contest.”

Ginny blinked. “I don’t see how that’s gonna help, but o-okay.”

She started fiddling with her ponytail again. I think at this point, it’s safe to assume that whenever she does that, anything that comes out of her mouth isn’t true. She clearly knows more than she lets on; she’s just afraid to say it. The ironic thing is that she’s just making things worse by forcing me to drag the truth out of her like this. Well, not much I can do about that. I already said I’d do whatever it takes to find Lincoln, and I meant it.

Testimony: Movie Production

“It’s true that this project has been in development for quite some time,” said Ginny. “Initially, my dad and Bill Buck has major disagreements over the script. But last week, we ended up deciding to start promoting the movie. My dad held a few conferences around Michigan to spread awareness, and I did some online promotion. All of that led up to the premier of the trailer last night.”

So far, that’s not a whole lot of new information. I feel like that’s by design, though. Ginny really wants to sell the point that this won’t help us find Lincoln, but I don’t think she expects us to buy it. Well, she’s right. I’m not buying it for a second. Time to see what she’s really hiding.

“What kind of disagreements did your dad have with Mr. Buck?” asked Leni.

“Dad wanted to make some major revisions to the whole thing, but Mr. Buck was steadfast,” said Ginny. “He said it would stray too far from the source material.”

“And which side were you on?” I asked.

Ginny blushed and twiddled her fingers. “I’m… actually with Mr. Buck on this one. I already made it clear at the meetup that I was going to make sure my dad didn’t turn this movie into something it’s not supposed to be, and I’m sticking by that.”

“And I’m sure your dad knows this, right?”

Ginny perked up. “Pardon?”

“Well, it’s just that you’re promoting the movie right now,” I said. “That means the dispute was resolved, right?”

Ginny shrugged sheepishly. “Um, technically? You really don’t understand how stubborn my dad is.”

I furrowed my brow. “That literally doesn’t make sense. If there’s still a dispute over the script, how is this thing still in production?”

“It’s… complicated,” said Ginny, rubbing her arm. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Hmm. Something about the production is clearly making her uncomfortable. Still, should I press her further or hold off for now? Before I could decide, Leni changed the subject. I’m not that surprised; Leni probably doesn’t want to push Ginny too hard.

“So, like, you and your dad have been promoting the movie all week?” she asked. “That must’ve been really hard work.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” said Ginny, rolling her eyes. “We had to do this whole balancing act of spreading awareness, but not so much that everything would be leaked early. I kept telling my dad that it was almost impossible in this day and age, but of course, he didn’t listen. He never listens to me.”

Is it just me, or did she sound kinda… bitter about that? I mean, I guess that makes sense. From what little I’ve seen of Mr. O’Donnell, he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would listen to anyone. That’s definitely gonna be important later. But right now, something else just came to mind.

“You said that your dad didn’t want everything to be leaked early, right?” I asked.

Ginny sighed. “Yeah. All about building suspense and stuff. Which I’m all for; don’t get me wrong. But considering how much information gets passed around on social media, I’m not sure how it’s feasible.”

I smirked. “You have no idea how right you are.”

Ginny blinked. “What do you mean?”

“We had a friend of ours do a bit of digging while we were at the meetup,” I said, taking out my phone. “It turns out the information about the movie was leaked. And guess when it came out?”

“Wh-when?”

“Around the time you and your dad started promoting it.”

“Eep~!”

Ginny flinched and began twirling her ponytail around her finger.

“Th-that can’t be possible,” she muttered. “I-I made absolute certain that this wouldn’t happen.”

“Didn’t you just get through saying that it wasn’t possible?” said Leni.

“Th-that doesn’t mean I didn’t try!” Ginny protested.

“Well, apparently, you didn’t try hard enough,” I said. “Because it’s right here on a popular Ace Savvy blog. Tell me, are you familiar with Gin Rummy Prime’s Stacked Deck?”

“W-well, of course. It’s one of my favorite Ace Savvy blogs,” said Ginny. “Then again, I’m one of the only people I know who actually likes Gin Rummy Prime. I know he’s technically a villain in the Casino Multiverse arc, but his whole backstory is just so heart-wrenching and relatable. He wants to desperately to live in Ace’s world, but he can’t because…”

I could tell she was just stalling, so I cut her off. “Let’s try to stay on topic. If you’re a fan of this Gin Rummy Prime blog, then how did this slip under your radar?”

Ginny gulped. “I-I don’t know. I-I guess I just didn’t notice.”

I shook my head. “But see, that’s not all Gin Rummy Prime posted. They also talked about the Full House Gang movie long before the leak. A lot of it was the behind-the-scenes stuff you mentioned earlier, with how your dad and Bill Buck had a disagreement over the script. How could some random blogger have access to that kind of information? I can literally think of only one possibility.”

“Wh-what’s that?”

“It’s that you’re Gin Rummy Prime!”

“Nnngh!”

Ginny recoiled, tangling her fingers in her ponytail. She didn’t need to say it; I could tell I was right just by the look on her face.

“Wait, that doesn’t make sense,” said Leni. “If you’re Gin Rummy Prime, then why don’t you like being called Gin?”

“N-none of your business!” Ginny snapped.

Leni flinched and backed off. Personally, I think that’s the last question on my mind. I need to confirm this.

“Ginny, there’s something you should know,” I said. “We actually got a call this afternoon from someone named Gin Rummy Prime. They’re the ones who told us to come out here to save Lincoln. That was also you, wasn’t it?”

“Y-you can’t prove that,” she whimpered. Of course, she was fiddling with her ponytail while she said that. I sighed.

“Don’t try to hide it. We already know,” I said. “Lisa found your phone in your room, and it had a voice synthesizer attached to it. She also traced you and Gin Rummy Prime back to this location. You clearly know what’s going on, so why not just be straight with us?”

Ginny shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me,” I said.

Ginny didn’t respond. She just kept looking down at her feet and squirming in place. Something’s really got her scared, but what? Before I could say anything, Leni ventured forward.

“Ginny, it’s okay,” she said. “We didn’t mean to make you upset. So, I just wanna ask you one more question. After that, we’ll leave you alone.”

I gave Leni a blank look. “Leni, what’re you doing? I don’t agree to this.”

Leni gave me a stern look in return. “Lori, do you trust me?”

Okay, that’s a loaded question. There are things I would trust Leni with, absolutely. But there are also things that I wouldn’t trust her with (like knowing which clothes are mine, for instance). But the crazy thing is I don’t know if this is one of those things. Yeah, Leni’s not as dumb as she appears, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s still a bit of a ditz. Then again, she has been surprisingly on the ball throughout the investigation.

…

Dang it. We don’t have time to argue about this.

“Fine. Whatever,” I said. “But I reserve the right to jump in if I think you’re on the wrong track.”

“Don’t worry, Lori. I got this.”  Leni then turned to Ginny. “Okay, Ginny. Here’s my question. Did you submit an entry to the Ace Savvy contest Lincoln won?”

Wait, that was her question? I mean, I guess it’s not the worst question I can imagine for this situation, but I’m not sure what we’re gonna get out of it, or if we’re gonna get anything at all. Ginny squirmed a bit, her face turning red.

“I-it’s a long story,” she rasped.

“Well, tell us,” said Leni. “I promise we won’t hate you.”

I… don’t know why she felt the need to make that promise, but apparently, it was enough to convince Ginny. She straightened up and cleared her throat.

“Okay,” she said. “But after this, no more.”

“I promise,” said Leni with a nod. She then gave me a wink and a thumbs-up. I literally don’t know where she’s going with this, but if I interrupted now, we’d just end up in a big fight. That’s not gonna help Lincoln. Let’s just hope she’s actually onto something here.

Testimony: Entering the Ace Savvy Contest

“We did actually enter the Ace Savvy contest,” said Ginny. “We agreed to just use my name for the entry, seeing as the whole thing was my idea. My dad just did the promotion, though I’m not sure why. I guess he just really wanted to show off my work. Of course, we didn’t count on your brother and his friend to be so talented. However, I have no problem with the outcome. I said as much on my Gin Rummy Prime blog, after all.”

Hmm. Call me crazy, but I think I’m starting to see what Leni’s going for here. Considering what we learned about Mr. O’Donnell, I find Ginny’s story a bit hard to swallow. Leni seemed to be thinking the same thing. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before addressing Ginny.

“You keep saying ‘we’ a lot,” she said. “Did you and your dad enter the contest together?”

“You could say that,” said Ginny sheepishly.

“Then why didn’t your dad enter his name with yours?” Leni asked. “There wasn’t any rule against it. Lincoln and Clyde entered the contest together.”

Ginny shrugged. “Like I said, I was the one who wrote the comic.”

“But then, what did you dad do?”

Ginny squirmed a bit. “Um, he promoted it.”

“That’s it?”

“Trust me. In the art world, promoting the product is just as important as the product itself.”

Leni furrowed her brow and shook her head. “I dunno. That doesn’t sound fair.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, like, you made the coloring book,” said Leni. “You came up with the story; you drew all the pictures. All your dad did was show it off to people. So why are you giving him credit for your work?”

Actually, now that Leni brings it up, that doesn’t really make sense. In fact, that leads to another problem.

“My question is why did your dad feel the need to promote it at all?” I said. “All of the entries in the contest were sent directly to Bill Buck. The only person anyone had to impress was him.”

“Yeah, well. Try telling that to my dad,” Ginny groaned. “I told him it was a bad idea.”

She’s starting to sound bitter again. There has to be more to this story. And seeing as Leni has this pained look on her face, I think she’s figured it out. She sighed.

“Ginny, please stop lying like this,” she said. “You’re only hurting yourself.”

Ginny did a double take. “Wh-where did that come from?”

Leni took out the comic she found in Ginny’s room. “Is this the book you entered into the contest?” she asked.

Ginny turned away and bit her lip. “Kinda?”

“What do you mean by ‘kinda’?”

“I-I don’t wanna say.”

Leni frowned. “Ginny, do you happen to know someone named Lord Tetherby?”

“Y-yeah. He was one of my dad’s financial backers.”

“Well, my sister Lisa visited him earlier today,” said Leni. “And she saw an Ace Savvy book in his museum. Lord Tetherby said it was a failed submission in a contest, and that it was made by Mr. O’Donnell. And you know what else?”

“What?”

“Lisa says it looked nothing like this. And Clyde insists that the only O’Donnell to enter the contest was you. Your dad forced you to make something different, didn’t he?”

…

I think I just realized what Leni’s trying to do here. Let’s see if I can’t piece this together.

“I don’t think that’s all her dad made her do, Leni,” I said. “Because along with that comic, we found her dad’s script outlining everything about Lincoln’s kidnapping.”  I turned back to Ginny. “You knew he was behind this all along, and you helped him carry out his plan. But you felt bad about it, so you posed as Gin Rummy Prime to bring us here. You wanted us to find that comic and your dad’s script so that we could save Lincoln. Am I right?”

Ginny’s breath hitched as she began to tremble. She tried to speak, but she just kept hyperventilating. It almost looks like she’s about to cry. Just like before, she didn’t need to say anything. I could tell just by looking at her that I figured it out.

“But, like, I don’t get it,” said Leni. “You could’ve just been honest with us from the beginning. We would’ve helped you. So why all the secrets and stuff?”

Ginny sighed. “Because that’s what Gin Rummy Prime would do.”

…

Well, that answered… nothing.

“What do you mean that’s what Gin Rummy Prime would do?” asked Leni. “Aren’t you Gin Rummy Prime?”

Ginny scoffed. “I wish. Gin Rummy Prime may be all cryptic and underhanded, but he still tries to do the right thing, even when it’s hard. I’m not like that.”

“What do you mean you’re not like that?” I asked. “You said it yourself. You’re going to make sure your dad sticks to the source material.”

Ginny let out another bitter laugh. “You really think I meant that? I have no control over my dad’s script! Nothing I do matters to him! If I’m not following his script to the letter, then I’m the one doing something wrong!”

Wow. I-I don’t know what to say to that. I figured Ginny and Dirk bickered and argued all the time, but so does our family. I literally didn’t think their relationship would be this… toxic.

“So, I was right then?” said Leni. “This book isn’t the one you entered into the contest?”

Ginny shook her head and blushed. “Nope. My dad said it didn’t fit his script, so he submitted his own comic under my name. It was supposed to show Bill Buck that his grimdark stories would be plausible in an Ace Savvy setting, but of course, it didn’t work. You have no idea how humiliated I was when I found out.”

Leni gasped. “O-M-Gosh, that’s horrible! You shouldn’t have to put up with that.”

Ginny laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. I shouldn’t have to put up with that. And if I was someone strong like your brother or Gin Rummy Prime, I wouldn’t put up with that. But I’m not those heroes. I’m just… me.”

She fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands. “My life has always been controlled by my dad’s stupid scripts. I try to fight it, but he won’t listen to me. He never listens to me. I-it’s like I don’t even exist. No, worse. It’s like I’m nothing but another one of his actors meant to play the role he wrote for me, and if I refuse, I get punished. And the worst part is that I didn’t have anyone else to turn to. At least, not until I found out you guys were trying to find your brother and clean up this mess we made.”

…

Let me tell you something. In a large family like mine, we have our fair share of fights and disagreements. Sometimes, it can get pretty crazy and kinda brutal. But let me make this clear: none of us would ever, ever ever ever, treat each other the way Dirk O’Donnell has been treating his daughter. I mean, OMG. I-I just wanna hug her right now. But Leni, being Leni, beat me to the punch.

“There there. It’s okay,” she cooed. “You’re stronger than you realize. I mean, like, you had the courage to reach out to us.”

“But that doesn’t matter. I still followed the script. I still helped my dad hurt your brother,” Ginny whimpered. “This is all my fault.”

“That’s not true. We know you didn’t want to hurt our Linky,” said Leni. “Everything’s going to be okay now. You don’t have to do what your dad says anymore.”

“She’s right,” I said. “We’re not going to let your father get away with this.”

“Cut~!”

A loud familiar bellow killed the mood in an instant. We looked up to see Dirk O’Donnell standing in the doorway, giving us a slow clap.

“Bravo, Gin. Bra-vo,” he said snidely. “Such emotion. Such drama. You really have what it takes to be in my pictures. But there’s one small problem.”

I raised an eyebrow and folded my arms. “Let me guess. We’re off-script.”

“Completely!” Dirk snapped, his demeanor shifting in an instant. “How many times do I have to tell you, Gin? Just follow the script, and everything will turn out perfectly. This shouldn’t be that hard!”

He then glared at me and Leni. “As for you two! You shouldn’t even be in this scene! I have half a mind to call the police and report you for trespassing!”

“You do that, and we’ll tell them everything about your little publicity stunt,” I retorted.

Dirk snickered. “Please. They aren’t going to believe you. You’re nothing but a bunch of children playing detective, and it’s way past your bedtimes. Leave now, or I’m calling the cops.”

“Dad, please. That really isn’t a good—”

“Cut!” Dirk barked, interrupting Ginny. “You are treading on thin ice, Gin! Don’t make this any worse!”

“Don’t talk to her like that, you big bully!” Leni snapped.

Dang. I’ve seen Leni get mad before, but it’s not every day I see her get this mad. She literally looks like she’s ready to sock Dirk in the nose. Personally, I don’t blame her. I have the same urge.

“How I talk to my daughter is none of your business,” Dirk growled. “Save your bluster for a scene that actually matters. You have nothing to use against me. It says so in the script. Now clear off, both of you.”

If he thinks we’re just gonna up and leave, he’s sorely mistaken. Time to call in the cavalry. I took out my walkie-talkie.

“Full House Gang, this is High Card,” I said. “We’re moving on to Phase Three. I repeat: Phase Three is a go.”

No sooner had I said that then the rest of my sisters piled out of Vanzilla and stood by my side. Heh, this is feeling like a real showdown, huh? Just us and the mastermind behind everything. As Ace Savvy would say, it’s time to deal out some justice.

…

Yeah, that still sounds completely hokey. You get my point, though. We’re ending this once and for all…

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