I know Lincoln said that we should wait until after school for a plan of action, but I don't think any of us were willing to wait that long. Heck, I could barely concentrate on my lessons, I was so stressed. Dr. Lopez did say that if I wanted a career in journalism, I'd have days like this. I never imagined things getting this intense, though.

After some negotiation, we decided to meet in the Action News Team studio for lunch and touch base. One glance around, and I could tell at least most of us saw Katherine Mulligan's broadcast. If not the broadcast, then at least the threatening post on our social media. I figured I'd bring over some brain food bran muffins. I always make a point to tailor my treats to our general mood. Hopefully, this'll get our juices flowing so we can figure out what to do.

"I still don't get it," said Stella. "I know we have more influence with Katherine Mulligan promoting us and everything, but our broadcast still has a very limited audience. There's no way Incognito Labs saw it."

"Oh, they have their ways. Most people in the conspiracy do," Zach said grimly.

"You say that like you knew this would happen," said Rusty, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I knew it would happen, alright," said Zach, stroking his chin in thought. "I just didn't think they'd strike so soon."

Hmm. Yeah, I figured Zach would be already onto something. This kind of conspiracy stuff is firmly his territory; that's why we launched the Tangled Web segment to begin with. There are plenty of people who dig this kinda thing, and as a junior ARGGH! cadet myself, I can see the appeal.

"I'm still a bit lost," said Liam, scratching his head. "Rusty mentioned something happened on the news last night, right? I was too busy tending to the cows to watch it."

"I saw what happened. I think my dads are still traumatized," I said, adjusting my glasses. "Katherine Mulligan followed up on our piece and went to this abandoned warehouse trying to find more answers. She stumbled upon… something. I'm still not sure what it was, but it chanted this weird nursery rhyme at her before attacking her."

"And my dad hasn't heard from her since," Rusty added.

Zach nodded sagely. "Bold move of her to go right into the viper's den like that. She's gustier than I gave her credit for. But here's what's bugging me."

"How she found that place in the first place?" Lincoln suggested.

Zach gave Lincoln a finger gun salute. "Bingo. The window of time between our broadcast and hers is too short. I've been digging into Incognito Labs for months, and she found one of their warehouses in a few hours? No offense to Mulligan, but that seems fishy."

I furrowed my brow. "Well, when you put it like that, yeah, it does seem weird. But this isn't like when she was getting scoops from Rusty via Mr. Spokes's phone. We have no idea where she got her info from."

"Exactly. And that's where we need to start digging," said Zach. "And we'll have to be quick about it. We don't know how much danger Mulligan is in right now, or if she's still alive."

If she's still… geez, Zach! Did you have to be that morbid?! I almost choked on my bran muffin! Thank goodness I've still got my inhaler here.

"Y-you really think they'd do that?" Lincoln asked nervously.

"Not on purpose," said Zach, adjusting his glasses. "Katherine Mulligan is practically a household name here in Royal Woods. Offing her while she's in the middle of a broadcast would just garner more attention to Incognito Labs, and that's the last thing they want. But we should still operate on the assumption that her life is very much in danger."

"Which means we can't waste any time," Lincoln said firmly. "The moment the bell rings, we're taking a trip to the TV station."

"Since my dad is dating Katherine, I don't think they'll have any problems with us asking a few questions," said Rusty with a smirk. "We're practically partners! And they probably wanna figure out what happened to her just as much as we do!"

"Maybe, but we're still a bunch of middle schoolers poking our noses into some really dangerous stuff," said Stella. "I can imagine a few adults raising some eyebrows."

I had to smile. "That hasn't stopped us before. We'd done a lot for this town, and I think people recognize that. We may be young, but we can get results."

"Not to mention you've got the Master of Persuasion right here," said Lincoln with a cocky grin. "I can get us in, no problem!"

"Sounds good to me," said Liam. "I'm ready to tear those Incognito jerks a new behind!"

"Easy there, Cow Pie Kid. One thing at a time," said Zach. "Let's first establish what our partners know. We meet up right after lunch and ride our bikes straight there."

That might mean we'll be late to meeting up with Leni and her friends at Gus's Games and Grub, but I'm sure they'll understand if we tell them we're doing official Action News Team business. Regardless, we all agreed and finished up our lunches. I think my bran muffins went over pretty well, though that was hardly a topic of conversation. Y'know, I was kinda nervous at first, but I think we've got a solid plan of action. Not that I doubt my best bud Lincoln or anyone else on the team. When we put our minds together, there's nothing we can't do!

"Sorry, kiddos. No can do."

Well. That… didn't go how I thought it would. News Man Tucker did come out to greet us, but I didn't expect him to turn us down cold like that.

"Mr. Tucker, we're just as concerned about Katherine Mulligan as you are," Lincoln insisted. "It's in our best interest to work together and hopefully find her."

News Man Tucker sighed. "Again, this is not something you should concern yourselves with. We're not making any statements on the matter until we figure out what's going on."

"That's exactly what we're trying to do, though," I argued. "We're the Action News Team, and it's our story that got her into this mess. We have to help her."

"I… appreciate the sentiment, I guess. But you all are still kids," News Man Tucker countered. "I'm not putting you all in danger for her. She wouldn't want that. It's best that you let the grown-ups handle things."

"Whoa there, partner," Liam snapped. "Just 'cause we're kids don't mean we ain't got the grit for a story like this."

"Yeah. Like we said, we're the ones who broke the story in the first place," added Stella. "I know we can help if you'll just share some information with us."

News Man Tucker snorted. "I'm sorry, but we are not making any statements on the matter. That's final."

"C'mon! Throw us a bone, dog!" Rusty pleaded. "The life of my future mom is at stake!"

…

I'd comment on this, but really, we've already played all of our other cards. I never thought News Man Tucker would be such a tough nut to crack. And if this doesn't sway him to our side…

"I said that was final, kiddos. Now please, just go home."

…nothing will. Before anyone could protest, he slammed the door on us. Dang it, I was so sure our plan could move forward. I guess that would just make things too easy. But as Dr. Lopez says, don't just go for what's easy. You need to think about what's worthwhile.

"Anyone else think he was too quick to shoo us away?" Zach pondered. "He knows who we are and what we've done. That whole 'we're just kids' stuff was a load of bologna."

"You ain't wrong," Liam agreed. "You think he's hidin' something?"

"He isn't the only one."

Huh? That didn't sound like Zach. We all turned to see an oddly-dressed woman sauntering up to us. At a quick glance, I started to recognize her. Torn black jeans, a lavender sweater vest, neon green fingerless gloves, brown hair styled in a ponytail, and little pearl earrings. I've only started to follow her blog, but I never thought I'd get the chance to see her in person. What's she doing here?

"Ginny?"

Heh. Seems like Lincoln recognized her right away, too. Not that surprising. The two of them do have a bit of history.

"You know this girl?" Stella asked.

"Yeah. It's a long story," said Lincoln sheepishly. He then cleared his throat. "Guys, this here is Virginia O'Donnell, professional Ace Savvy blogger. Or she was when I last saw her."

"You can just call me Ginny," said the woman, taking out a magnifying glass. "Or Gin. Both work." Her lips curled into a wide smile. "Good to see you again, Ace Savvy. And you've got One-Eyed Jack with you, too. Guess you guys are also interested in this case."

"We… kinda have a stake in this," I said, trying my best to keep it together. "I just… wow. I've been following your blog for months, Ms. Ginny, ma'am. You're probably one of the most insightful voices in the community right now."

Ginny chuckled. "Thanks. I've been trying to rebuild my brand since getting out of juvie. It hasn't been easy, but I'd say it's paid off."

"Wait, you were in juvie?!" Stella exclaimed. "Why?! What happened?!"

Ginny's smile vanished as she fiddled with her ponytail. "I'm… not really comfortable talking about that. I'm sure Lincoln can give you all the details later."

I bet five bucks Zach already knows, anyway. He's usually one to keep on top of these things. But for those who don't know, Ginny here was actually forced to help her dad kidnap Lincoln about a year ago. Her father, Dirk O'Donnell, was this crazy movie director who put together this convoluted plot to promote his new Full House Gang movie and prove that the good guy doesn't always win. Yeah, I don't know. I'm just going off what Lincoln told me after the fact. Long story short, Lincoln's sisters figured out his scheme and took him down. Ginny turned herself in for her role in the crime, but it looks like she got out.

"Like I said, it's a bit of a story," said Lincoln, clearing his throat. "Oh, Ginny! I should introduce my crew here! These here are my friends, Zach, Liam, and Stella. Of course, you already know Clyde."

"I do indeed," said Ginny. She then raised an eyebrow and took a look through her magnifying glass. "Hmm. Pressed suits, notepads, and you look like you're ready to film with your phones. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were breaking into the journalism business."

Zach whistled. "She's good."

"I have an eye for these things," said Ginny, tapping her chin with her magnifying glass. "So, this is what you meant by having a stake in this, huh, Jack?"

Jack? None of us are… oh, she means me.

"Yeah, pretty much," I said. "Um, you can just call me Clyde, ma'am. This is an Action News Team investigation, not an Ace Savvy one."

"Ah, gotcha," said Ginny with a laugh. "Sorry, I really love getting into character sometimes. So, what's your angle here?"

Huh. That's… actually, what do we say here? We still don't know what business she has here, or if we can even trust her.

"Group huddle!" Lincoln proclaimed.

Ah, right. Yeah, that's probably the best way to do this. Just like Lincoln to think on his feet. We all got into the huddle.

"You sure we can trust this girl?" Zach asked Lincoln.

"It is weird of her to show up right when we start investigating," Lincoln mused. "But I can vouch for her character. Just like Ace Savvy vouched for Gin Rummy Prime."

"She looks like one of them detective types," Liam added. "Maybe she can lend us a hand!"

"I dunno, dog. Has this really gotten to the point where we need a detective?" Rusty asked.

Stella deadpanned. "Rusty, the top reporter in Royal Woods was attacked on camera and has gone missing. How exactly is having a detective in our corner a bad thing?"

Rusty blinked. "Okay, fair point."

"If Lincoln trusts her, I do, too," I said. "Let's find out what her angle is. Maybe we can help each other out."

Everyone agreed, with Zach mulling over it for a bit. Finally, he shrugged.

"Alright, Lincoln. I'll let you take the lead on this one," he said. "I'm trusting you here."

"When have I ever steered you guys wrong?" said Lincoln with a smirk.

…

I don't think there's a good answer to that question, but we know what he's getting at. I think Lincoln's instincts are solid on this one. We all nodded and broke the huddle.

"Well, here's the thing," said Zach. "Did you happen to see Katherine Mulligan's broadcast last night?"

"I sure did. That's actually why I'm here," said Ginny, twirling her magnifying glass in her hand. "I don't just blog nowadays. I'm also doing private detective work. And when I saw this story, I knew my services were required."

"So, someone hired ya?" Liam asked.

Ginny furrowed her brow. "Well, that's the strange thing. I was hired by the studio to investigate, but when I got here, News Man Tucker turned me away. He said he had no idea what I was talking about."

Hmm. How curious. I think Zach was right before; something's very off with News Man Tucker. There's no reason for him to turn us away as well as a detective hired by the very studio that employs him.

"I see," said Zach, knitting his brow. "Maybe we can help each other out, after all."

"Oh?"

Lincoln took out his phone. "We're the ones who broke that story about Incognito Labs," he explained. "In doing so, we put out a call-to-arms to all journalists to get to the bottom of their shady practices. And the morning after, we all got this message from an anonymous blogger."

Ginny looked at Lincoln's screen through her magnifying glass. "'Curiosity killed the cat'. Whoever did this sure loves the creepy nursery rhyme angle," she mused.

"We all got the same vibes," I said with a shiver. "I'm never gonna be able to hear about those three adorable kittens who lost their mittens the same way again."

"Save it for Dr. Lopez, McBride," said Zach sternly. "Right now, we need to figure out our next move."

"What next move?" asked Rusty. "We have no idea where that warehouse Katherine found was, and the studio isn't gonna tell us."

Ginny knit her brow and tapped her chin with her magnifying glass. "I think before we do anything, we need to figure out what the studio's hiding. Or more precisely, who's the one trying to keep us from investigating."

"You don't think it's News Man Tucker?" Zach asked.

Ginny shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. All I know is that I'm getting a lot of mixed signals. Why would the studio hire me only to just turn me away?"

"Yeah, and why wouldn't they trust us? We're practically partners with Katherine Mulligan!" Rusty chimed in.

"Well, we're not gonna get those answers standing around," I said. "Let's do some sleuthing around here; see what we can find."

"Sounds like a plan," said Ginny. "I'll find a way inside; you guys see if there's anything out here."

Stella raised an eyebrow. "How're you gonna get inside?"

Ginny smiled and winked. "Gin Rummy Prime always finds a way."

Before we could ask what she meant, she took off around the side of the building. I don't remember Lincoln telling me she was so… gung-ho about detective work. I know she's a big Ace Savvy fan, but seriously, it's like looking at us whenever we took on a case. And she's practically an adult! Ah, whatever. One thing I learned is you can like whatever you like and no one has the right to say otherwise. For now, let's try to figure out why the studio doesn't want us to find their star reporter…