Sixteen hours have passed since the shocking news about the lunch treasury robbery. Fillmore and Ingrid watched the television as the local news reported the story live.
"Once again, the X Middle School treasury was robbed yesterday. The police believe the robbery took place sometime late last night."
"This just in - our man at the scene is now with one of the security guards working that night. Smith?"
"Thank you Chang. I'm Alex Smith standing here with one of the victims from the crime. Sir, please tell me what you can remember that night?"
"I walked into the storage room to get something. I noticed that the lights were off, but I didn't think much about it. I thought one of the other guys must have turned it off. When I went to turn the light on, I was attacked from behind and knocked out."
"Did you see your attacker?"
"No, I was completely blind-sighted."
"Who do you think might be behind such a crime."
"Well, there were the rumors about school kids at X robbing the place,
but after the way I was hit, I doubt the attacker was a kid."
"You saying the person who attacker you had the power of a man?"
"Either that, or the child must have been real strong."
"Thank you sir for taking the time to talk with us."
"No problem."
"Chang, back to you."
"Thank you Smith. During the breaking story Principal Folsom gave a statement to the media."
Video switched to Folsom standing outside the school's main entrance. She was surrounded by local media cameras.
"Citizens of X Community. Our great community is known for its very low crime rate. This robbery of our school has come as a shock to us all.
Please have faith in the police. They will get to the bottom of this and bring these criminals to justice. School will be closed today to let the police do their job. Rather school will be closed or delayed tomorrow depends on how much time is needed for the police to conclude their investigation. Thank you."
Folsom walked back into the school ignoring the reporter's questions.
"Well, at least there is some good news about this." Ingrid said.
"Maybe for most of the X students." Fillmore replied.
"Once again, we will update you if any breaking news in this case comes forward. I'm Rachel Chang for Channel 7 News."
Ingrid turned off the television with her remote.
"What now?"
"This might be a stretch, but I think the robbery has something to with what happened to Pete and Jimmy."
"You mean you think Roger might have something to do with the robbery?"
"Something between those three just doesn't add up is all I'm saying."
"To be honest, I never thought Roger as the type." Ingrid said.
"Yeah, well Jimmy's sudden attack on Roger raised my eyebrows." Fillmore pushed his glasses up his nose and continued. "Then there's Jason. The security guard said the man that attacked him was strong. The only student I can think of with that kind of power is him."
"Not to mention he was also involved in the fight, helping Roger."
Ingrid added.
"Precisely."
"So do we start investigating Roger?"
"Not yet, first we need to convince Folsom to put use back on the case.
This might be hard since the police will now be all over the place.
Folsom might believe they are the only ones who can solve this case."
"Maybe they are Fillmore, but I doubt it. The police will likely begin looking for adults, not kids."
"Yes, I believe in the end it's up to us to get the lunch treasury money back."
RING! RING! RING! The living room phone suddenly sounded off.
Ingrid got up off the couch and answered the phone.
"Hello? Oh, Hi Joelle."
Fillmore's turned and looked at Ingrid slightly surprised.
"Did you hear about what happened?"
"Yes the treasury was robbed after all."
"Don't feel bad, Ingrid. Remember, you were taken off the case."
"I know and now I might demand to get put back on it."
"After all, I like to finish what I started and this crime is no exception." Ingrid said.
"Did you hear what Folsom said?" Joelle asked seemly wanting to change the subject.
"You mean about us not having school?"
"Yeah, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today?"
Ingrid thought about it some. "Sure, why not."
"Really? Cool. I'll come over and pick you up in an hour."
"I'll be ready"
"Okay bye."
"Bye"
Ingrid sat the phone down and turned only to see Fillmore's staring a hole through her.
"What?"
"Since when did you and Joelle become so chummy?"
"Well, I figured since you two are getting along, that maybe we can become friends." Ingrid answered shrugging her shoulders.
"That's very big of you Ingrid. Thank you."
"It's no big deal. After hanging with her some, she seems pretty down to earth. Not like the average girls of her type, if you know what I mean."
"Yes I do, it's one of the things I like about her most." Fillmore then got up from the couch. "Well, I won't get in the way. Go out and have fun. I'll do some digging on the case. After all, we need a reason for Folsom to let us take a second look at the lunch treasury."
Fillmore walked to the front door and opened it. "Tell your Dad I said goodbye."
"Good luck, Fillmore. I hope you find something convincing."
"Me too." With that, Fillmore closed the front door and left the Third residence.
*X*
In a secret location, the guilty party had already unloaded the money from the stolen school bus. They were currently counting the money and celebrating.
"Man that job was too easy." Tank said.
"When you take time to do the proper planning and your homework, any difficult job becomes easy." Specks explained.
"I guess that's why this guy we're working for is the best." Mole agreed.
"You definitely can't argue with success. I just hope Bolts keeps his mouth shut and doesn't make a mistake."
"Relax, Specks. Bolts is just a victim like everyone else. I saw to that.
The police won't suspect anything from him."
"I hope you're right, Tank."
"So when do we make the drop to the boss?"
"I have to wait for him to call me with the proper drop point."
"It shouldn't be too long now. He's probably waiting for the heat to die down some. After all, the streets is crawling with law enforcement right now."
"Why can't we just take the money for ourselves." Mole wondered.
"Right, blackmail him with it." Tank agreeing added.
"That's not a smart idea guys. This man is not to be messed with. I've heard stories about what happens to people who cheat him. Trust me, you don't want to end up like them." Specks said.
Tank and Mole look at him.
"Besides, he is giving us a nice percentage of the money. It's not like he's giving us peanuts. Just stick to completing the job."
BUZZZZZZZZZZZ!
Specks cell phone went off.
He immediately took the phone out his pocket and answered it. "Yes"
"A job well done", said the muffled voice on the other end.
"I told you, you can count on us to do the job right."
"Indeed you did, but your job isn't complete yet. I need you to safely drop the money off at the warehouse in Caret Avenue."
"What about our cut?" Specks asked.
"Don't worry. One of my people will be waiting for you there. Once the money is counted. You and your men will receive the money you earned.
Don't leave your current location until dark. You will have a better chance then. Understand?"
"I understand, sir. Look forward to receiving your money tonight."
"Believe me young man, I do."
The signal went dead.
Specks realizing that was the end of the call, puts his cell phone back into his pocket.
"Okay guys listen up. We gather the money and take it to a warehouse in Caret Avenue. One of the boss's men will count and divide the money among us."
"I don't like it." Mole began. "It could be a setup."
"I doubt it. This guy has a reputation of being on the up and up. I never heard one story about him turning on his hired help after a job."
"Did he tell you what warehouse?" Tank asked.
Specks looked at him suddenly. "No, he didn't, actually. I guess he wanted us to find it ourselves."
"So when do we leave?" Mole wondered.
"At night. The boss believe our chances of being spotted would be less,
and frankly, I agree with him."
Okay, we just wait and then we'll get paid! Tank shouted, excitedly.
*X*
Ingrid was waiting outside when she suddenly saw Joelle's car pull up into the drive way. Ingrid couldn't help but feel jealous at the nice wheels.
Some people are born with everything, Ingrid thought. Then she was reminded of Joelle's story of being poor and going to a dangerous school. She suddenly felt a little guilty.
"Are you going to just stand there?" Joelle said, giggling.
Ingrid suddenly snapped out of her thoughts. "Sorry," she said as the teenager got into the car.
"Ingrid this is my Dad, Frank Richards."
"Nice to meet you Mr. Richards." Ingrid greeted smiling.
"Please, call me Frank, and I'm glad my daughter has made another friend. She really seems to be getting along well in X Middle School."
"Yes, she is nice to be around." Ingrid replied while holding her breath.
Joelle looked at Ingrid from the corner of her eyes, before turning to face her. "So, where do you want to hang out?"
"I don't know. How about the ice cream shop?"
"That's near the school. The road might be blocked off by police."
"It's a shame what happed at that school." Frank Richards injected.
"They won't get away with it. They'll be captured." Ingrid said, confidently.
"HAHAHAHA! Ah, the innocents of youth." Franks commented.
"Nothing innocent about it, sir. My partner and I will catch these guys,
if they're students."
"Partner?" Frank asked while driving the car.
"Yes. Fillmore is my partner in the safety patrol at school."
"The same Fillmore my daughter has for a boyfriend?"
"Yes daddy, Fillmore and Ingrid solve cases at their school, just like I use to at my old school." Joelle confirmed for her Father.
"I guess it no surprise my daughter would make friends with the people in her old field." Frank said, proudly.
"I have faith in them daddy. Fillmore and Ingrid will catch them."
"Personally, I find it hard to believe school children are capable of doing such a thing. It had to be a group of adults."
"What kids are capable of doing today might surprise you um, Frank."
Ingrid said with no hint of doubt.
"HA! HA! Maybe you're right young lady."
*X*
After waiting fifteen minutes to get pass the road block near the school, Ingrid and Joelle finally arrived at the ice cream shop. After ordering from the front counter, the girls sat down at a nearby table and began to enjoy their ice cream. Frank Richards brought a double scoop vanilla cone and went back into his car to enjoy it.
"What was being on the safety patrol like at your old school?" Ingrid asked Joelle while eating her ice cream.
"It wasn't anything different than what you and Fillmore are doing now.
When students broke the law of the school, it was my job to enforce it."
Joelle explained.
"How many juveniles did you bring to justice?"
"Around seventy five to eighty. It was a very bad school after all."
"Seventy five? Not bad Joelle." Ingrid smiled. "Did you have a partner?"
"When I first started I did, but he moved away, so I ended up patrolling the school all by myself until around the time I left the school myself."
"Wasn't it dangerous patrolling a school like that?"
"I suppose, but I'm a lot tougher than I look Ingrid, believe me."
"I guess I really have no choice." Ingrid said shrugging her shoulders.
"Heh heh" Joelle giggled.
"Do you have a case you remember above any others?" Ingrid then asked.
"Well, there was this one unsolved case I didn't have time to finish. It was about all the teachers having their books stolen. Because of this,
the teachers couldn't teach for months. I was working hard, but couldn't come up with anything. According to the evidence I gathered, the crime was orchestrated by a criminal mastermind."
'Hmm,' Ingrid thought to herself. "Did the case ever get solved?"
"I don't know. If it did, I was already gone before it happened. All I know is that the school had to order brand new teachers editions which set the poor school back quite a bit."
"Well, I hope it did get solved and the people responsible captured."
Joelle smiled. "You know, you're not that bad, Ingrid. You remind me a lot of myself, when I was wearing the belt."
Ingrid smiled back. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"Now I have a question to ask you, Ingrid." Joelle said winking.
"Sure, what do you want to know?"
"Just how much do you hate me for taking Fillmore away from you?" Joelle gave Ingrid a knowing look.
Shocked by the question, Ingrid accidentally spilled some ice cream on the table.
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, come off it Ingrid. I've encountered this strategy before. Jealous girl tries to befriend competition to destroy it."
"I don't-"
"The reason I've asked you to hang with me today was to get something straight between us. I'm not the type for mind games, when I find someone challenging me, I like to meet that person head on."
Ingrid looked at her for a moment. "He doesn't belong with you." her voice cracking with emotion.
"But he belongs with you?" Joelle asked grinning. "If you feel that way,
why didn't you claim him when you had the chance?"
"Because I didn't realized it then." Ingrid said challenging.
"Bull, you realized it, you just didn't think anyone else would be interested in him."
"So what if I did. Where is this going, Joelle?" Ingrid asked getting defensive.
"That depends on you, Ingrid. Either you can accept Fillmore and me together, or you can be a thorn in both our sides, which in the end, you lose Fillmore anyway."
Ingrid thought for a moment, then looked down in sadness.
"Sorry, but you snooze you lose girl." Joelle then added.
"I won't give up on him." Ingrid looked Joelle straight in the eye.
Joelle stared back, then smiled. "Suit yourself, but I never lose at anything."
"Neither do I" Ingrid replied, smiling back.
Both girls held the stare for nearly two minutes.
"Then it's settled," Joelle said as she got up for the table with an empty ice cream tray in her hand. "And for what it's worth, I do like you and hoped we could be friends."
Without realizing it, Ingrid agreed. "Maybe if it wasn't for Fillmore,
we just might have been."
Ingrid got up from the table with an empty tray as well. Both girls threw the plastic trays into the garbage and walked back to the car without saying a word.
*X*
Later that evening a school bus was seen driving through the highway in X community.
The bus was filled with the money, and all four heist members. Specks was driving, Tank was back with the money, Mole was sitting just couple of seats behind Specks and listening to music from his Y-Pod. Bolts was sitting in the middle of the bus and currently complaining.
"You guys never told me about getting assaulted."
"Would you stop bitching already!" Tank shouted. "You took one for the team, and as a result, we got the money."
"You could've done that without knocking me out!" Bolts shouted back.
"If you don't quit acting like a baby, I'll give you something to cry about."
"Just try it big man, I'm ready for you now." Bolts said, while standing up.
"Alright, both of you stop it. We're here." Specks said.
The bus pulled into a driveway with a warehouse. The warehouse had the lights on bright as if people was still working late hours.
Mole took his Y-Pod from his ear and asked a question. "Are you sure this is the right place?"
"We'll soon find out," Speck answered while getting up from the drivers seat. "Tank got started on unloading the money."
"Got it"
Tank opened the back door of the bus and started to throw the bags of money on the floor. When he was done, the rest of the gang walked towards the warehouse entrance. Specks opened the door and walked inside the warehouse. Soon, his partners followed him, money in hand.
Speck discovered that no one else was present and decided to shout.
"HELLO! IS ANYBODY THERE?"
After a second of silence a voice spook.
"I'm glad you made it gentlemen, and let me be the first to say,
congratulations on a job well done."
A human figure then walked into the light from the shadows.
"Huh?" Mole asked shocked.
"You!" Tank shouted.
"What the?!" Bolts shouted as well.
Specks just simply smiled. "It was a piece of cake... Joelle."
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