So, chapter five is FINALLY here! I know, I know, I took forever to get it up. Sorry about that. But, you know, it's up on May 1st just like I said it would be! Oh yeah. I met my own deadline for the first time in ages. So, anyways, hope you guys enjoy it.

This chapter is dedicated to sleepuntiltomorrow, who motivated me to actually write this by reading and reviewing each chapter. Thank you so much Em! You. Are. Awesome.

I don't own Kickin It.

Kim

There's a newspaper article hanging on my wall, just above my desk. It's old and ripped, and the tape that I used to stick it up there hasn't really been sticky in months.

It's the article covering Jack's disappearance.

I'd read it a hundred times at least, and I could probably have recited it from memory if that had ever interested me.

I hadn't even looked at it since Jack reappeared.

But on Sunday morning, I woke up, and the second I rolled out of bed I knew I had to look at it.

It was ripped and wrinkled from almost two years of constant abuse (ripping it off the wall, crumpling it up and throwing it across the room in a fit of anger) and stained with tears.

I pulled it down off the wall and spread it out on my desk.

"Local Karate Champion Disappears, Police Searching for Answers."

Beneath that, in smaller print, the few details the police had gathered were listed along with some basic information and a huge, blown-up photo of Jack just after our first win as a team.

I read it over a few times, not finding anything, and then—one sentence seemed to pop out.

"…the family moved here shortly after Janet Anderson's estranged ex-husband was released from jail."

Released from jail—released from jail. Jail.

Jack's dad was a criminal.

Suddenly Jack's reaction to the project made sense.

His dad was a criminal.

Three hours of Internet research later, I still hadn't figured much out. There was nothing more than that he was a criminal who had been released from jail shortly before Jack had moved here.

I collapsed into my desk chair, groaning loudly. I had a lead—but there was no name, no dates, no more information. I could call Milton, but I wasn't sure how much help he would be. He was an academic genius, but things like Internet research and subject narrowing and—I prayed to god it wouldn't come to this—hacking.

No, I was better off going to someone with a bit more knowledge. But who?

A moment later, I knew who. I groaned and grabbed my phone.

"Truman? Yeah, I need to cash in on that favor."

Truman was one of the few people who hadn't really changed since Jack's disappearance. He had gotten taller, thinned out a bit, and lost that nasally quality to his voice, but he was still fundamentally the same: obnoxious, rude, and (though I hate to admit it) smarter than most people.

And right now, he was the only who could help me.

"Soooo…" Truman sat down at the park table, smirking at the laptop screen. "What exactly did you need help with?"

I frowned and pulled up an archived copy of my article, the phrase highlighted in blue.

"I want to know about this."

Truman raised an eyebrow, glancing at me with something similar to concern. "Kim…that's what Google is for."

I glared at him. "Dammit, Truman, I already tried that. I'm not stupid."

Truman had already opened a new tab and searched 'Jack Anderson family tree,' shaking his head at the results.

"Alright, Kim. What's the joke? Where's the info?"

I shot him a look. "Ass. That's the problem. There are noresults. I mean, he's in jail and he was released shortly before Jack moved here, but that's all I've found. Everything!"

Truman frowned and bent over the laptop, muttering to himself. A minute later he straightened up, shaking his head. "So, okay, this is weird. There are ghost files and stuff, photos and information, like someone has systematically removed them from the web."

He paused, looking up at me with a worried frown. "Someone wanted to keep this information secret, Kim. And whoever did it is smart."

He shoved the laptop back towards me. "I've got some stuff at home to—let's call it recover—the info, but it'll take a while. I'll email it to you once I'm done."

He stood.

"And Kim? Be careful. Because anyone who's willing to go through all that trouble to stay anonymous—they're not good guys."

I sat on the bench for a while afterwards, enjoying the warm sun and the cool spring air.

Be careful.

And I wondered why anyone would try to disappear like that—and what it had to do with everything else that had happened.

By the time I had gotten home, showered, eaten dinner, finished all of my homework, watched two episodes of 'Glee', and written out every one of my ideas for getting Jack back on paper, Truman still hadn't sent me the info. The old me would have assumed that he had simply double-crossed me—but no, I knew it wasn't that simple. Truman wasn't the nicest person around, or the most trustworthy, but we had an understanding.

Just because he's gone now doesn't mean he's gone forever.

He had been the one who brought me back down to earth after Jack disappeared, and he had been the one to convince me that I shouldn't just give up.

And then there was the small matter that he owed me big time, and while he didn't like it, he also wouldn't go back on his word with me.

"Kim!"

I sighed and rolled over in bed. "What?"

"Come HERE! It's important!"

I groaned and stood up, pulling a robe on over my PJ's and sliding my feet into my slippers.

I trudged down the hall, moaning loudly. My mother stood at the door to his room, frowning worriedly.

"Kim." She sounded annoyed, and worried. "Kim. I—who have you been talking to?—they threatened us! Me, your dad, you."

She was holding a sheet of paper in his hands, shaking it. "Read it." She thrust it at me, frowning.

I read it aloud, my voice shaky. "Quit trying to find answers where there are no questions. You don't know what you're dealing with, so stay out of it. This is the big league, you aren't ready for it yet. We can find your mom, your dad, you, whenever we want, we can hurt you, and we can hurt them. Stop searching for answers. Or we will end you all."

OOH! The plot thickens. This chapter had seriously been unexpected, and half the stuff that happened in here wasn't supposed to, but then the entire story got a whole new plot and then I decided to do some hacking and ghost files (thank Artemis Fowl, the Lost Colony for that-Eoin Colfer is a genius) and then I brought in Truman, and then I added in the threat to end it on an interesting note...and it spiraled. So, as per usual, please review.

And I challenge you guys to figure out what crime Jack's dad was in for. First person to guess correctly will get a prize.

Next chapter: either Jack, Julie, or Jerry. One of them.