"This is so freaking cool. First, we have to squeal away from the library with thugs chasing us, and now we're holding a clandestine meeting in the morgue's parking lot," Johanna declared as Phineas got back into her car. "Who was that? Did you bribe him? Wait, you didn't buy an organ or something, did you?"
"Give me that," Phinn ordered, snatching the wannabe influencer's phone out of her hand.
After leaving Dillingday Library with Scarface and Stringy Hair on their heels, Phinn had directed Johanna to drive toward the cluster of buildings that held the law and order for Edgewater. She'd initially inquired if they were headed toward the police station to report the men who chased her classmate, but Phinn scoffed at that notion. Instead, he directed her to park on the street near the old armory building. Once parked, he watched for a signal before slipping between the rows of cars in the parking lot.
"Hey! Give that back. What are you--"
"Deleting this meeting. You might not know who I met, but...Dammit, Zay! I told you to wait in the car!" Phinn exclaimed after ending the recording and checking what she'd already taken.
"My subscribers demand to know!"
"And somebody who wants to know might recognize who I met. There are consequences for him if this gets out. He'd be fired at the least," Phinn explained.
"Not my fault. He shouldn't be handing information to you," Johanna spat back before asking, "What's in the folder?"
"Nope. Better you don't know. The less you know, the less danger you're in. Now, drive," the bespectacled teen directed.
"Danger? Ha!" the chestnut brunette derided, but she did restart her car. "Stop thinking your life is a movie, Farris."
Amazed that he got himself into this situation, Phinn regretted not having a driver's license yet.
That's a deficiency that I should address in the near future.
Then, he decided to teach his obnoxious classmate a lesson. With a glance in the side mirror, he dropped a bombshell.
"If you so desire a need to be proven correct, then pull over and tell the two men following us that my life isn't a movie."
"Following us? Where?" Johanna questioned, glancing in the rearview mirror and looking over her shoulder.
"The black and tan Trans Am that will be turning the corner in three...two...one," Phinn counted down. As expected, the Mask Brothers' car came around the corner to resume following him.
"Holy...what in the...," Johanna trailed off, fumbling to pick up her phone with her right hand while using her left to steer.
Phinn snatched the phone out of her hand with a sigh. Of course, Johanna's first instinct was to record her experience.
"Careful. We don't want them to know we know. People in my imaginary life tend to get violent."
"Bullshit! You guessed that car was going to turn behind us," Johanna declared, doubting the teen detective. "I'm not falling for one of your scare tactics."
"Very well. Don't take 64th Street to city hall. Let's drive the scenic route through the side streets and see if they follow us. Just don't freak out and alert them," Phinn warned, pointing at the side street.
Muttering under her breath, Johanna drove the scenic route. At first, she started to brag about seeing through him as the Trans Am took its time following them. However, once it finally appeared, Phinn semi-complimented their staying farther back. As she grew unsettled, Johanna shot back to ask if he was impressed with their followers.
"Hardly. They made it quite clear Friday night when they blatantly followed me and Bandit around the park and my neighborhood. One can't attempt to intimidate a person only to try and hide afterward," Phineas commented contemptuously.
"Hold on. This guy or guys has followed you since Friday night?" Johanna double-checked, unconsciously stepping harder on the pedal.
"Careful. Keep it slow," her passenger recommended. "Oh, they've switched off and on. They followed Jake all day on Saturday. Clearly, they also tailed us yesterday based on what happened. And, yes, there are two men in that vehicle."
"What happened? What do you mean? Who are they?" Johanna rattled off, staring at the rearview mirror.
"As for now, we're calling them Red Mask and Blue Mask. Those are the colors of the ski masks they wore on Thursday night when they broke into the historical society. And what--"
"Those are the people who broke...Wait, how do you know that?" the brunette questioned.
"Because I saw them," Phineas revealed nonchalantly. That he thoroughly enjoyed dropping these bombshells on his classmate was evident to anyone who knew the teen. Although anti-social, the junior sleuth had a flair for the dramatic. "And they also wore those masks last night when they broke into Tarr Manor while I was inside. I must admit that we didn't put two and two together until they fled from us and hopped into that Trans Am. We had a few other suspects up for the car owners."
"Ohmigawd! Why didn't we alert the police? We drove past the police station after leaving the morgue!"
"Ah, such naivety," Phinn remarked. "The police won't help without direct evidence. Besides, most cops hold a strong dislike for Jake and myself. In fact, our presence, which allowed us to save Regina Tarr last night, led to a threat from Deputy Chief Reyhall. If we're caught meddling in the treasure hunt again, we will be sent to the juvenile center out in the boonies."
"They threatened Jake? I mean, I can see them...or everyone not liking you, but Jake?!"
"Nice and predictable," Phineas responded sarcastically. "Ah, we're early, yet the lot is nearly full. I'd recommend we grab a spot. Parking on the street might not be safe."
"Not safe?!"
Actually, there were only two available parking spots left. Johanna took one while the Mask Brothers vanished for the moment. A sizeable crowd gathered outside the front doors of city hall. News vans from channels 5, 9, and 23 sat near the front of the parking lot. As expected, Phineas spotted Hollie Kittler and Stone Barrington conducting interviews while a healthy dose of police officers conducted crowd control.
"I guess we'd better get in line," Johanna suggested. "At least I'll be safe. No thanks to you."
"Oh, we're not waiting in line. I prefer to get a good seat. We'll go around to the side entrance," Phinn said, nodding with his head toward the south side of the building.
"Duh, won't the door be locked? They have the front doors locked."
"No door is ever truly locked. You just need to know who to ask to leave it ajar," Phinn stated, typing a message.
"Ohmigawd! Are you bribing another person?" Johanna shrieked. Despite sounding outraged, she still started recording.
"I rarely bribe. Many people like me or feel grateful for past help," the teen detective replied. Opening the car door, he stepped out. "Okay, let's go."
"Wait, shouldn't we wait for Jake?"
"Why? He's busy on a stakeout."
"But...You promised, Farris!" Johanna exclaimed, hopping out of the car. Several line waiters glanced over at the loud shriek.
"Did I? I believe I said Jake might join us. He still might. I'm not Nostradamus," Phinn proclaimed, walking briskly toward the side of the building.
"Don't play semantics with me, liar!" Johanna yelled, rushing after her classmate.
*********************************************************************************************
"Who's that?" Andre asked in between bites of his chicken sandwich.
"Beats me," Jake replied, watching as a pickup truck parked in front of Tarr Manor.
The two teens sat three houses down on the side of the narrow street closest to the front door. Activity around the mansion had been nearly non-existent during the first few hours of the stakeout. Jake recognized a couple of Regina's friends and neighbors from last night. Andre provided commentary on the hotness levels of the three female friends. One nosy neighbor apparently came over to check on her briefly. While leaving, the prying woman rubbernecked as she passed Andre's SUV.
The only other excitement had been Phinn's messages about The Factfinders. Andre had whistled when Jake brought up Sophia Swann's picture. His interest deflated considerably when Jake relayed that the whole mystery-solving group was a bunch of prudes.
"Trust me. I've tried with Sophia," Jake recounted. "Plenty of times."
They'd spent those first two hours discussing stakeouts and the neighborhood. The grandeur of the bygone era stubbornly clung to the ivy-covered facades of the mansions that lined the avenue. Their once gleaming white exteriors were now a faded shade of ivory, hinting at tales of forgotten opulence and the good old days. Jake pointed out the Victorian and Queen Anne-style mansions. Their turrets and towers reached toward the sky but also provided deepening valleys of shadows as the sun moved westward.
"Those shadows could work later tonight, especially as we get closer to dusk, either for us or anyone else watching the mansion," Jake noted.
The guys had taken a brief break to Jake's discomfort. Andre insisted he needed dinner as he'd skipped lunch already. Jake might have continued his stakeout from the bushes if it had been dark out. However, with the summer sun setting late, the stocky detective reluctantly agreed to make a quick run to Count Chick-O's.
"Looks like a workman of some sort," Andre added, noticing the man's attire and clipboard.
"That's Jace, the brother," Jake pointed out when Jace Tarr answered the door. He jabbed the hand that held a chicken tender forward while gesturing.
"Whoa! Watch it!" Andre exclaimed, scrambling to grab a napkin. He swiftly wiped the dashboard before additionally wiping the windshield after a survey. "You flung your barbeque sauce all over my ride."
"Honey barbeque," the other teen clarified.
"Oh, excuse me. Does the honey part mean it's better? My baby might be older, but she ain't ancient like your piece of shit. Show some respect," Andre complained.
"Sorry. But you should show some, too. Unless your baby likes salt poured on the floor mat?" Jake pointed to where Andre had sloppily tipped the French fry box over.
"Fuck!"
"What are you doing?" Jake questioned as Andre opened the car door.
"Dumping the salt in the street," he replied, pulling the mat out.
"Everyone will see you," Jake alerted. Fortunately, Jace and the workman had gone on the extended portion of the front porch with their backs to the SUV.
"I'm not leaving that in here and spreading it around," Andre said, putting the clean mat in the car before getting back in himself. "See? Already done."
Jake watched Andre finish off the remaining French fries from the holder before pulling out a second one. Shaking his head, Jake worried that his teammate might need a bathroom break eventually. He'd gone with a light meal of a chicken tender pack, fries, and a small drink. Andre had added the second fry and sandwich to the same meal while substituting in an extra-large drink. Usually, Jake's issue was getting Phinn to eat or drink anything on a stakeout.
