"Christoper Mars." Chris stated as he looked at the girl, a little put off by her attitude. Hopefully she wasn't like this to the clients that walked in.
"Oh. I'm sorry. I...I didn't know." Penny said tripping over her own words. "I, I just tend to put my foot in my mouth. It's a nervous habbit, especially around new people."
"It's just funny how people treat you once they find out that you're the kid of the woman that killed herself." Chris said with a bit of chuckle.
"I didn't mean it like that." Penny stated. "I...you're Mr.
Mars' grandson, and I should have just said hello like a normal person."
"I'm not that into normal anyways." Chris said with a smile.
The door opened, and a much older Cliff came walking in. His eyes went directly to Penny's until, he noticed Chris. "How you holding up, C?"
How are you holding up? If one more person asks me that question, I'm getting it tattooed on my forehead.
Chris just shrugged. He had known Cliff most of his life when he'd come to visit on those rare occasions, but learned about him mostly from the stories his mother used to tell him.
"Same here, kid." Cliff said.
"Mr. Mars is on a case until tomorrow." Penny interjected. "I assume that's why you're here."
"That I am." Cliff said pulling out a folder. "You'll have to excuse my niece here, she was never really taught any manners." Cliff said with a smirk.
"You two are related?" Chris asked.
"Unfortunately." Penny said with a sigh. "What do you got?"
"Well, I have a potential case. Wife suspects husband is cheating on her. Wants pictures for a bigger piece of the settlement." Cliff said with small laugh. It was funny how things haven't changed over the years.
"Why didn't she just come to us?" Penny asked.
"She wanted to be discreet. And felt that if she were seen walking in here, people would begin to talk." Cliff replied.
"Who is it?" Penny inquired.
"Madison Sinclair-Echolls." Cliff stated.
"Logan Echolls' wife?!" Penny said shocked.
"Logan Echolls. Isn't he that big action star?" Chris asked.
"I think my mom dated him once."
"Correct." Cliff stated. "So, as soon as Keith gets back, let him know what's up." Cliff got up and headed out. "See you later kids."
Chris grabbed the file and began reading it over.
"Hey! That's private." Penny whined.
"I'm family." Chris argued. "So, wanna go track down a famous movie star?"
Penny looked to Chris, her eyes wide. "No way. It's against the law. Plus, Mr. Mars will kill me if he finds out."
"It's just a few pictures. How much trouble could we get into?" Chris said trying to coax Penny with a smile.
"No." Penny stated as she took the file and placed it in one of the locked filing cabinets.
Chris nodded. "Okay. Well, I'm heading home. Have some unpacking to do, but I'll see you at school tomorrow, yeah?"
"Yeah." Penny stated as she organized the desk.
"Bye." Chris said as he exited the office, a small smile could be seen on his face as he exited the office.
Echolls Residence - Evening
Logan Echolls. Big wig Hollywood action star living in Neptune,
California. Sure, it's nothing new. But it does make it easier for someone to locate such a person. Why anyone would wanna model their life after the father that killed your girlfriend?
Mom told me millions of stories of her high school years as a private eye.
Chris watched as Logan got into his car and drove off, Chris tailing behind him.
One thing my mom taught me was how to tail a car. It was as easy as she said it was, but then again, she probably thought I'd never be in the position to have to tail anyone. This life was not what she wanted for me. Hell, it's not what I wanted for myself either.
Logan's car stopped at Goon's, a bar just outside the city limits.
Great. Well, mom never told me how to pull a fake i.d. out of my ass, so maybe pictures of some license plates could help draw a conclusion of who Mr. Echolls was meeting with.
Chris snapped a few shots of the cars in the lot. Thankfully it was a slow night, and there weren't many cars. Chris sighed. Chris leaned back in his seat, and hoped that Mr. Echolls would walk out with the mistress that Mrs. Echolls so desperately wanted to find. Chris' eyes closed slowly, and within a few minutes, he was asleep.
Outside Goon's - Early Morning
Chris' eyes opened quickly as he realized he had fallen alseep.
All the cars were gone, most importantly, Logan's car was gone.
He sighed heavily as he started his car, and took off on the road.
Chris came to a stop light and slowly stopped behind another car. The light turned green, and he stepped on the gas slowly only to come in contact softly with the car in front of him.
"Dammit." Chris said aloud as he turned off his car, and got out. Checking the other person's car first, he noticed that it didn't even scratch. Relief washed over him.
Two people got out of the other car. A boy and a girl, both around Chris's age. "Sorry about that. The light was green.
There isn't any damage."
"Maybe not to my car, but I have to say, I'm a little shaken up." The boy stated, a smirk on his face while the girl just chuckled. They were obviously intoxicated.
"Well, maybe you should get a blanket." Chris stated, annoyed already with this guy.
"You're new." The boy stated.
"You're quick." Chris quickly retored.
"You know who I am?" The boy asked.
"Didn't ask." Chris stated.
"I'm Lincoln Echolls and that..." Lincoln pointed over to the girl. "...is Claire Casablancas."
"Good for you." Chris stated.
The cheating spouse has a kid. Wonder if they'll fight over which one has to take him.
"We introduced ourselves, your turn." Lincoln stated.
"Chris. Chris Mars." He said just wanting to get out of here.
"The girl friday's kid?" Lincoln laughed. "Yeah. Sorry to hear about your loss, Dude. You must be a real piece of work if you're mom had to kill herself just to get away from you."
Chris face turned to stone.
"My dad and your mom actually dated for a while." Lincoln stated. "She said she was a real wild one. Could go for hours." And before Lincoln could even laugh, Chris had sent a right hook to his jaw causing him to fall on the ground.
Chris then noticed two other boys get out of Lincoln's car and walk towards him. Holding him by both arms, Lincoln stood up and sent a punch to his stomach.
"Alright boys. Let's give the new kid a propper introduction"
Lincoln said with a smirk as the boys dragged Chris into Lincoln's car. One of the boys tossed some keys to Lincoln, and he walked over to Chris' car and got in, and followed his own car.
Neptune High School - Day
Laughs and chuckles filled the atmosphere as Penny Jenkins makes her way up the path towards the enterance to Neptun High School. As she makes her way through the crowd, she comes to the flagpole, where she finds Chris duct taped to it.
Penny sighed heavily as she made her way over to him, pushing a boy who was taking a picture with his cell phone. "Two days in Neptune, and you're already making enemies."
Chris rolled his eyes and looked down at Penny. "Can you just get me down, please?"
Penny pulled out a pocket knife and began cutting him down. "Go Pirates." She shouted, as the crowd began to disperse at the sound of the first bell rang.