Chapter 3: Snacks, Whacks, and a Drop

A whirlwind of activity had overtaken Wedison Park as the citizens of Edgewater enjoyed the early evening pre-fireworks festivities. An excited buzz filled the atmosphere, accompanied by the sweet aroma of sugary treats from temporary stands and the tantalizing smell of sizzling meats from the assembled food trucks. Children's laughter mingled with the distant clanks and cheers from the carnival games, and the occasional bark of a dog eagerly chasing a Frisbee.

“You wanna play Frisbee?” Jake asked, looking down at the leashed dog.

“Please. Bandit doesn’t play nonsense like that. Do you, buddy?” Phinn questioned sweetly.

“He’s my dog,” Jake reminded.

“But Bandie loves me more.”

Growling in frustrated agreement, Jake followed as his best friend walked his family’s bulldog down the hill at the west end of the Wedison Park. The sloped terrain was considered prime seating for tonight’s fireworks show down by the shoreline. Yet, Phinn’s mother and her network of gossiping neighbors always managed to score some of the most desirable spots year after year. A point that still amazed Jake’s mother, often raising her suspicions about who they bribed.

Located on the other side of the harbor from the Kelpie County Historical Society, Jake glanced over at the building they’d been currently banned from. Continuing his scan, the sociable athlete thought they’d head to their left and visit with classmates and friends seated next to the harbor, in the second most desirable location.

However, Bandit had other plans, which Phinn gladly followed.

The hungry bulldog turned around, yanking the scrawny teen in a westward direction, toward the parking lot and street where a couple of rows of food trucks and tents were located. Chuckling, Phinn allowed the intent dog to lead him, weaving around people until they reached the pavement. Throwing up his hands in defeat, Jake jogged after them.

“Don’t overfeed him, Phinn,” Jake warned. “Mom will blame me.”

“Would I do that?”

“You always do that!”

Bandit ignored the banter, pulling Phinn until he cut in front of the line for El Monstruo’s food truck. A locally owned chain with several locations in Edgewater, Phinn’s iffy stomach wouldn’t allow him to risk eating Mexican food, not with only portable toilets nearby. So while people in line grumbled about his effort to cut in front of them, the relatively disliked teen detective bent down to talk to the wiggling dog.

“Sorry, buddy. Tacos and burritos are off the menu today.” A whine followed. “Well, unlike you, I can’t just relieve myself anywhere. How about a burger? You want a hamburger? Wanna burgie?”

The high-pitched bark led several of the grumblers to laugh. It didn’t hurt that Jake arrived to apologize for his dog’s rude behavior.

“It’s not that Phinn can’t control him. He just doesn’t bother trying.”

The two teens moved down the line until they found a food truck run by an ex-cook from SmokeStone, who’d taken the first step to someday opening his own restaurant. A burly man with a thick beard and a hairnet, he worked the grill like a maestro. His eyes either beamed with pride over controlling his own setup, or the billowing smoke from several racks of ribs irritated his face. While Jake ordered a pair of bratwursts and fries for himself, Phinn grabbed a bacon cheeseburger and fries to go along with a plain hamburger for Bandit. Immediately, Jake gave his oldest friend a dismayed look.

“That’s a lot of cholesterol.”

“I doubt I’m dropping dead of a heart attack at eighteen. Besides, you’re one of them who nags me constantly about adding some weight,” Phinn reminded.

“Not with crap.”

“Oh, please. As soon as the football is over, you’ll be ordering the same burger,” Phinn shot back. Well aware of Jake’s increasing health consciousness as the start of football practice approached, Phinn knew it would worsen significantly over the next month.

“Okay, we need a place to sit—Whoa!”

Grabbing Phinn’s drink before he dropped it, Jake balanced the two bottles and his cardboard tray as Bandit yanked Phinn toward another section of tents nearby. On a mission, the bulldog pulled Phinn straight into the oversized party tent.

“Hey, no minors allowed inside…Oh, it’s you,” an ash blonde beauty said.

“Don’t mind us, bar wench. I believe we’re technically allowed inside, or at least this fella is, since he’s family,” Phinn told the eye-rolling twenty-three-year-old as he placed his tray on the makeshift bar. Then, he lifted Bandit onto a barstool, where the dog swiftly placed his paws on the bar to wag his tail at the busty blonde.

“Sorry, Lexi,” Jake apologized, hurrying inside the beer tent.

“You’re allowed to stay. You are too, sweetie,” Elexis Zamora told Bandit, patting his head before turning her attention toward Phinn. “You’re not. No, no, don’t argue. The family rule doesn’t apply to you, Phineas.”

“Ah, but the dogsitter rule does,” Phinn declared, already breaking the plain hamburger into small pieces. “Besides, we’re merely making a pitstop to eat our food. Bandit requested this establishment.”

“Fine, fine. You can deal with your dad when he catches you,” Elexis laughed after the bulldog barked in agreement with the know-it-all teen.

“Also, don’t feel any need to gloss over the awkwardness of this moment. Jake fully recounted the pepper spray incident and your healing technique,” Phinn stated, biting most of a fry before handing the rest over to his wagging sidekick.

“Dude!” Jake squealed.

“What awkwardness? Your best friend made quite an impression,” the sultry bartender proclaimed, purring.

Jake blushed at the remark. It had only been a couple of weeks since he’d fulfilled a four-year-old fantasy by sleeping with the sexy bartender. Still, considering the craziness of their last case, it felt almost like months since that wild night. Guilt washed over the teen as he worried that he should’ve called her at some point.

“Uh, Lexi, I’m sorry that I didn’t call, but we—”

“Shhh!”

Phinn caught the warning in her eyes, but Jake’s attention had dropped to her abundant cleavage during his apology.

“Boy Magnum!” a familiar voice roared with just a touch of a slur.

“Hey, Hank!” Phinn greeted Hank Hickey first.

The state championship-leading quarterback and one of Marvin Magnum’s closest friends, a hard life had turned the friendly man into a bit of an alcoholic. Yet, Jake and Phinn liked the colorful man immensely. In particular, Phinn liked how easily they could convince Hank to cause drunken distractions during several past cases.

“Everyone, take notice! Marvin’s boy and his best pal have graced us with their presence before Hollywood drags them away to fame and fortune!” Hank announced, getting a few cheers and claps, but mostly confused looks.

Bandit alerted Hickey to an omission he’d made.

“Oops! Sorry, Bandit. I nearly forgot their Scooby-Doo, everybody!”

“We’re still waiting to hear the story down at Magnum’s. You'd better stop in soon,” Lexi warned Jake about his celebrity-filled case.

“Boys, you know you can’t be in here,” Marvin said, walking over with a tagalong. He shot a glance at Elexis.

“I told them that, boss. But you know the kid.”

“Yes, I do know Phineas and his ways,” Marvin stated knowingly about his next-door neighbor.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Magnum. Bandit and I are almost finished. It’s your talkative son that’s slowing our meal down,” Phinn replied, gesturing at his partner.

“Wha? This wasn’t my idea, Dad! Bandit wanted to see you,” Jake responded while his father scratched his dog’s head.

“What’s this? Minors in your beer tent, Marv? Perhaps I should notify the EPD. I hear that Deputy Chief Reyhall is their biggest fan,” Marvin’s tagalong said, unable to keep the laughter out of his serious voice by the end.

“Ah, fuck Reyhall!”

“Phineas!” Marvin admonished, scanning the tent for any EPD personnel or off-duty cops.

“Don’t mind the kid, Marv. I’ll uphold the barkeep brotherhood and not report this gross violation of the law,” Gomer “Gabby” Gibson vowed before chuckling.

The proprietor of his own corner tap, Gabby usually didn’t skip out on his business, but this year was the fiftieth anniversary of his North High squad’s state championship. So he followed up the parade appearance by seeing the fireworks firsthand for the first time in decades.

“You better not gossip about this, Gabby,” Marvin warned the older man.

“Me gossip? Never!”

Anyone within hearing distance laughed at the notorious gossip’s denial.

"I do have business with your son and his friend. I was there when they found that body at Deke's motel, but I never heard the whole story. This seems like a great time as any to fill in the holes for my recounting," Gabby said, shooing Marvin away.

A quick meal turned into a twenty-minute discussion of the Phantom Diver case with Gabby, and occasionally a hard-working Elexis, firing off questions. Eventually, a restless Bandit had the pair of teen sleuths outside again. With his tummy full, the bulldog allowed Jake to lead them past the food trucks as they searched for friends.

“Ohmigawd!”

“It’s Jake!”

Swinging his head around, Jake cringed as he spotted a clique of incoming freshmen and sophomore girls huddling around a table by the edge of the food trucks. Spotting a strawberry blonde, Phinn grinned madly as Jake raised a hand to wave at Stacy Pellinger. The daughter of business owners located across the street from Magnum’s Sports Bar, Stacy had a long-term crush on the handsome athlete.

A wave of giggles filled the air after Jake’s greeting before a trio of snickers drowned out the tittering.

“Pretty popular these days with the jailbait, huh? Should we expect a cheering section this fall?” a muscular teen with shaved hair inquired, smirking.

“Fuck off, Grogan,” Jake shot back at his fellow linebacker and semi-friend Shane Grogan. “Wait, didn’t you actually get caught with–”

“That’s a lie!” Shane interrupted.

“Nah, the fresh meat is for loser boy,” a handsome golden blond with stylish hair corrected. “Magnum needs to get Farris laid soon. It’s getting embarrassing.”

“Good one, Rick,” a short teen with dark-brown hair chuckled, sounding like a lackey or minion to the popular womanizer.

“Dammit, Haldorn, are you still letting Valance lead you around on a leash?” Phinn challenged. “Bandit has more sense than you. He’s never almost ended up in juvie or sent to Hilltop because of Rick’s moronic plans.”

“Hey, setting you up for the cops to find in Old Man Mauldin’s house was all my idea!” Todd Haldorn defended.

“Seriously? You’re taking credit for that?” Jake challenged, causing the underclassmen clique to switch from giggles to high-pitched laughter.

“Shut up, bitches!” the pint-sized bully screamed.

“Whoa, easy, man. Let’s not offend the ladies. I can see some potential talent in their ranks,” Shane scolded his irate friend.

“You’re the one saying seriously? Damn, Jake, how did you let Farris drag you into a cult meeting down in redneck country?” Rick Valance questioned, smirking at his self-proclaimed rival.

“Oh, please, Owl Boy. We all know that’s not hair gel oozing down your face, but jealousy,” Phinn replied. “You wish you had the celebrity attention that Jake got down in Lumlow. And my boy here didn’t just sleep with one of those gorgeous women.”

"Phinn," Jake hissed, blushing as the younger girls' mouths dropped open in astonishment.

“Don’t worry, freak. I’m not going to insult you by thinking you’d fucking a living person,” Rick shot back.

“Whoa! Phinn totally got laid on the trip! And you’ll be pissed to know that it was–Oww!” Jake exclaimed as Bandit bit his ankle. “Dammit, Phinn!”

“Holy shit! Your own dog bit you!” Todd snickered.

”And he’ll maul any of you that get in his way,” Phinn vowed.

However, his threat failed spectacularly as the bulldog yanked his leash free from the teen’s hand to scamper over toward the girls. Jake groaned as his family pet proceeded to slobber his admirer’s face.

“Crap,” the stocky sleuth mumbled before raising his voice. “Sorry about that, Stace. Bandit, here! Come here, boy!”

“Nice try, Losereas. Come around and I’ll show what a real dog can do,” Todd threatened, referring to his pitbull.

“Yeah, Toby ain’t no joke,” Shane said, rubbing his arm subconsciously.

“Later, bums,” Rick declared, slyly raising a cup of beer to his mouth.

As Jake struggled to get Bandit away from his adoring fans, Phinn watched as the three departing teens all snuck drinks before tossing the empty cups into a garbage can. Curious as to where they got their purloined beers, he fingered one of his fake IDs in his pocket. If they have fakes, they certainly aren’t as good as the ones I make.

“Dagnabit, Bandit! Don’t lead Stacy on that way,” Jake admonished the bulldog once they’d started down the hill.

“Dagnabit?”

“Mom told me that I shouldn’t swear at him,” Jake revealed. “And can’t you keep him under control?”

“As you pointed out, he’s your family dog,” Phinn replied innocently.

“You didn’t need to have him bite me!”

“Nor do I need you revealing my secrets to spite Rick.”

“Fine!” Jake snapped, stopping to rub his ankle. “That hurt, buddy.”

The bulldog responded by wagging his whole body before veering sharply to their right.

“Hey, I wanted to go toward the harbor,” Jake declared, gesturing in the opposite direction.

“I guess the boss wants to check out the craft tables and Arcade Alley,” Phinn replied, shrugging.

Two long aisles sat on the southern portion of Wedison Park. The section closest to the open grounds featured various arts and crafts tables, along with a few odds and ends of delicious treats a customer might find at a farmer’s market. With many of the vendors running their tables as a side business or hobby, the boys knew they considered the 4th of July a test run for next month’s larger Waterfest.

With Bandit leading the way, they bypassed the craft aisle, heading around an opening that welcomed them to the second wide aisle that loomed ahead like a neon-lit gauntlet. Approximately seventy-five yards long, the long walkway featured an assortment of carnival-style games on both sides that beckoned visitors with the allure of a prize just within reach.

Bandit paused his frantic sniffing to turn his head to the side toward a ring toss game. The cheers and cries of grade-school-age children winning or losing prompted him to look up at the stall. Unfortunately, the small dog couldn’t see the lines of colorful bottles on display. Instead, he only saw kids tossing the rings before clapping or screaming. Confused, the bulldog moved on, spotting a more familiar sight.

“Come on! I wanna shoot a few hoops,” Jake told his friend and dog, already moving in the direction of the Mini-Basketball Challenge.

“The games are rigged, you know,” Phinn stated loudly, drawing several glares or dirty looks from the game operators around them.

“Whatever. I can do this,” Jake boasted, waiting in line as several junior high school students took their turns.

When his turn came, Jake handed over a couple of bucks to get his three shots. He promptly sank the first shot through the net. Grinning and winking at his best friend, Jake managed to clank the next shot off the rim and in.

“Whoa!”

“What do we have here? Is Jake Magnum gearing up to join our team?” AJ Joyner asked, walking over with a couple of basketball teammates from last year.

“Naw, I’m just fooling around,” Jake replied, spinning the mini-ball around between his hands. Suddenly, the hoop challenge loomed tall and proud with the added pressure of his classmates watching his third and final shot.

“Ooh! Tough luck, Jake,” AJ said after the football star badly missed the attempt.

“No, no, I got this,” Jake insisted, handing over another dollar bill plus the leftover change from before for three more attempts.

About as bored as Phinn, Bandit dragged him across and down the aisle to another game and a pair of slim legs. Immediately understanding that the bulldog smelled the girl’s scent, Phinn allowed his little buddy to barrel into the tanned ankles.

“What the…Bandit!” Allison LeClaire squealed. “You little devil. You cost me my game.”

Despite her words, the petite gymnast delivered them in fake anger. Well-acquainted with the bulldog from her neighborhood, the sandy-haired blonde leaned down to meet the excited yipping. Giggling, she avoided the face-licks while following the leash toward the person who held it.

“Oh, I should’ve known! You’re naughty when Phinn lets you do whatever you want,” Allison teased, looking at Bandit but talking to her longtime classmate.

“Hey, Allie.”

A sinister cackle interrupted the bubbly girl’s reply, drawing her and Phinn’s attention to the whirling carousel of lights in the stall. With fiendish delight, Piper Alessi brutally smashed the plastic club down on the sneaky critter.

“Easy now,” the Whack-A-Mole operator told the ultra-competitive gymnast, who ignored him by delivering another wicked blow to a mechanical mole that popped out during the game of hide and seek.

“Die, vermin!” Piper yelled, causing Phinn to roll his eyes, Bandit to bark happily, and Allie to blanch.

“Pipe, behave!” Allie admonished.

“Never! I’m going to blow your score away,” the light auburn-haired girl responded, throwing her entire tiny body into the next whack.

Phinn noticed that the operator didn’t scold the attractive girl this time. The carny’s gaze appeared locked on Piper’s jostling C-cups under her small top. The teen assumed the display would bring Jake over quickly, and it did.

“Damn.”

“Hiya, Jake!” Allie brightly greeted. “Layla’s looking for you.”

“Your cousin?” Jake squeaked while mimicking one of the moles by popping his head around people to find Allie’s older cousin. “Um, why?”

“Well, duh, you’re a big shot now, mister. Layla wants to score an interview about all the famous people you helped this week,” the gymnast revealed, picking up the bulldog so that he could watch Piper. “She’s not the only one. Abby wants to hear the juicy gossip.”

“She does?” Jake gulped, appearing unsteady for a second.

“Smooth. Real smooth,” Phinn whispered. “Dare I say suave?”

“Shut it,” Jake hissed, causing Bandit to bark and Allie to giggle.

“Hit me again!” Piper interrupted, slapping more money down.

“Look, you need to play a little nicer, girl. I can’t–”

“Hit me again!” Piper demanded, jabbing her finger toward the game operator. “I’m planning on winning that elephant, and you’re not stopping me.”

“Okay, okay,” the man said, holding up his hands defensively.

“This is why I can’t take her to Zapperoni anymore,” Allie divulged. “They threatened to call the cops on her next time.”

“That’s only because Crystal thinks I tried to steal Mitchell Norwood. Like I want to date his ass,” Piper yelled over her shoulder.

“Watch it. Mitch is right over there,” Jake gestured toward the hoops challenge. “I think he’s trying to score some votes from the basketball squad for the fall.”

“I see you didn’t last long over there. How many did you miss?” Phinn teased.

“You can try next time in front of AJ and his boys,” the stocky linebacker grumbled.

“Ha! Got you, sneaky bitch!” Piper cheered, slamming the mallet down on a mole.

Phinn raised his hand to hide his grin. Not only did he find Piper's intensity amusing, but the cynical investigator also noted Jake's awe, Allie's horrified expression, and the way Bandit tilted his head to watch the weird sight.

“Look at this crazy bitch. Trying to impress Mitch, psycho?” Crystal Baker challenged.

“Eww! He’s a terrible kisser,” Piper squealed, not even bothering to turn her attention away from the game. “You’re welcome to be the First Girlfriend of North High if he wins.”

“So you did kiss him?” the dirty blonde waitress from a Chuck E. Cheese knockoff exclaimed, sounding as if this were her aha moment.

“Well, yeah, in eighth grade,” the incoming senior admitted, taking out another mole that barely appeared. “His tongue is like a Slinky while his arms grope you like an octopus. I heard he hasn’t improved a bit since.”

“Oh! Win that octopus, Pipe,” Allie suggested, spotting the pale purple sea creature high on the row of stuffed animal prizes.

“I’m getting the elephant for me!” Piper reminded.

During the entire interaction about Mitch Norwood, Phinn watched as Jake never budged an inch. Outside of an initial flinch upon hearing Crystal’s voice, his usually brave partner suddenly froze as if a supernatural being had appeared on the horizon.

In some ways, a great terror did loom, heralded by Crystal. One of her closest friends happened to be Johanna Zay, who strolled over with her cousin Hillarie Hayslip and another brown-haired girl. Not recognizing the brunette, Phinn assumed she attended South High, like Hillarie.

“Hello, boys,” the influencer greeted.

Once a wannabe influencer, the chestnut-haired self-promoter had seen her views and subscribers increase dramatically over the last few weeks since she started assisting the teen detectives in their case, or was granted exclusive access. Despite the deal to deliver celebrity interviews in exchange for wiping out their debt to her, Johanna still smirked as Jake finally turned his head to glance over.

“Are you going to win me a prize, Jakey?”

“Whoa! The deal is off. You agreed to the changes,” Jake reminded.

Phinn shook his head. Of course, Johanna remembered. The new deal had been sealed only a few days ago. Still, the meddling influencer had cut a different deal with Corky to act as official publicist for the Busybody, Inc. Fan Club.

“What deal?” Crystal asked, her attention diverting away from Piper to glance at Johanna and Jake.

“Nothing,” the chestnut-haired influencer swiftly replied.

Smirking, Phinn put two and two together. Johanna had likely bragged about her dinner and a date with Jake to Crystal, but she’d never explained that Phinn had arranged the agreement. Now that Jake’s wish had been granted, the date had fallen to the wayside. The revelation gave him a smidgeon of power over the new thorn in his side.

“Oh, it’s not nothing,” the bespectacled detective began, causing the influencer to glare at him. “Johanna agreed to a deal with Corky involving the fan club he runs.”

“Oh, right,” Crystal nodded. “So, are you back from running around? Jo’s waiting for you to take her out.”

“What? But we–”

“Have been discussing the possibility of changing it to a double date,” Johanna lied, cutting off the perplexed linebacker.

“Really? I know Luke and Andre aren’t seeing anyone. Are they here?” Crystal asked, her face turning predatory.

“Girl, weren’t you just freaking out about Mitch?” Piper asked, slapping more money down on the counter.

“Say, have you guys met Wendy? She’s Crystal’s cousin from up north, and she’ll be here for the next two weeks,” Johanna introduced the unfamiliar brunette with a wink at Phineas.

“Nice to meet you,” Jake greeted, half-waving. “No, Luke’s family usually watches the fireworks from their boat. Andre joined them.”

“Wait, that boat?” Piper asked, almost missing a mole when she turned half-around to grin at Allie.

“Not that one!” Jake denied as Johanna cooed and Hillarie swooned.

“Are you banned from the Ridleys’ boats, hun?” Johanna teased.

“No! And don’t call me that,” Jake shot back. “It’s because Phinn can’t–”

“Okay, time for me and the innocent doggie to leave,” Phinn declared, holding his hands out to Allison. “Bandit doesn’t like to hear O-R-G-Y talk.”

“Good idea! You and Bandit can help me win the octopus at a different game,” Allie announced, grabbing the leash handle from Phinn. “Jake, make sure that Piper doesn’t get arrested.”

“Wha…why me?” the confused heartthrob asked, as Johanna moved closer to sell the lie to her friend.

“You know, you wouldn’t need to be embarrassed if you’d taken up my offer years ago to teach you how to swim,” Allie reminded, skipping over to Balloon Bust with Bandit. “At least, you wouldn’t be frightened to go out on a boat.”

“I’m not scared,” Phinn insisted before relenting. “I had a bad experience during a case a few years ago. Nearly drowned after falling off a fishing boat.”

“I know. Dusty told me,” the sandy blonde revealed, handing over some money to the game operator. “Now be still, Bandit.”

Phinn didn’t bother to offer to take the leash. Allie knew that he’d slip away while she threw her darts at the balloons. Instead, he waited for his kind, caring classmate to get to the point.

“Did you see that, sweetie?” the dart-thrower asked, watching as the popped balloon’s guts spilled out confetti.

“He can’t see that high.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, Bandit,” Allie apologized, motioning for Phinn to pick up the bulldog.

Now with an attentive, wagging audience, the bubbly gymnast bounced on her feet as she paid for three more rounds. Eventually, after earning a moderate amount of tickets, Allie decided to move on to another game.

“You know, you should be trying to win a prize for a lucky lady,” Allie prodded.

“Fine. I’ll play that crossbow game over there,” the antisocial teen agreed, jerking his thumb over to a game where you used a plastic crossbow to shoot suction-tipped arrows at a target. He figured that pointing and shooting shouldn’t require much effort.

“I didn’t mean me,” Allie giggled in her musical way. “I meant that Johanna wanted to fix you up with Crystal’s cousin.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

“Would a double date be so bad? She’s pretty,” Allie said, stopping them in the center of the aisle to turn around.

Jake shot a dirty look and mouthed a threat at Phinn. He’d been roped into displaying his strength to Johanna’s foursome with a game of High Striker. With a giant mallet, Jake struck the bottom of the game, sending a puck high up before it failed to reach and ring the bell at the top. The stocky tight end turned red as Crystal mocked him for being a weakling.

“Jake! What are you doing? You promised to keep Piper out of trouble. Get back over there!” Allie ordered, saving Jake, but not before he slammed the mallet down hard enough to ring the bell.

“Not going to take a turn to impress the visiting cousin?” Allie teased.

“Hell, no. Going on a date with somebody’s visiting cousin is only a step down from claiming you had a Canadian girlfriend while on vacation,” Phinn scoffed.

“Hmm, I hear you traipsed around in the woods with Leighton Ledford for almost a week,” the inquisitive blonde noted.

“That’s different. Leighton was a client,” the brainy detective stated, as if that ended the discussion.

“No sparks? Nothing?”

“Don’t start. I don’t need another person attempting to play matchmaker for me,” Phinn warned. “It’s bad enough that my mom is in cahoots with Johanna.”

“Please! I can barely manage my own horrible dating…Wait, did you say your mom and Johanna are working together? Oh, you poor, poor boy.”

“Thanks,” Phinn replied sarcastically.

“Still, you should test the waters, Detective Boy. Don’t let senior year go by without trying out something new, like dating,” Allie warned, watching as her best friend raised the stuffed elephant into the air triumphantly. “Even Phineas Farris must like one girl in our school.”

Before Phinn could reply, he spotted the school’s dream girl down by a dunk tank. With shoulder-length honey brown hair, hazel eyes, and medium-to-large breasts, Harper Townsend caused minor heart palpitations in the usually cold teen.

Forget it. Harper’s been dating Scott Isaak for years. Sure, the worthless bastard will head back to college this fall, and I could easily frame him for cheating. But I won’t do that. No, I have standards. No doubt, I can easily name five ways it could be done within days.

“Hmm, watcha looking at, Phinny?” Allie asked teasingly, moving over to follow his gaze.

Suddenly, a bright copper head of hair appeared before them.

“Hey, Phinn! Oh, hey, Allison. Wow, are you two hanging out together? Where’s Jake?” Corky rattled off.

“Keeping Piper out of jail,” Phinn replied dryly, taking three steps away so that Allie couldn’t guess as easily.

“Cool! I guess he has experience doing the same for you,” the bright and eager twelve-year-old remarked, kneeling to pet Bandit. “Are you playing any games?”

“Phinn’s about to win me a prize with that crossbow one over there,” Allie revealed, bumping the **** player with her hip.

“Oh, wow! Violet looked to be killing it earlier on that game,” Corky recounted about the drama club actress. “Yeah, I almost forgot. She wants to meet with you to discuss the Busybody, Inc. costumes for Waterfest.”

“The what?” Allie blurted out.

“Not my thing. Jake can deal with Violet,” the annoyed investigator stated before Corky launched into a description of the re-enactment that he and Jake had planned for the town festival.

“Thank god! I finally found my real friends,” Jake proclaimed, stomping over with Wally and Kody at his sides.

“I’m not in the mood.”

“Well, I’m not in the mood either after you put my date back in play with Johanna,” Jake growled, causing his dog to return the favor.

“Geez, he really does like Phinn better,” Wally cracked.

“He loves me. It’s just that Phinn spoils him rotten!”

“Look, I only said that to help Johanna save face in front of Crystal,” Phinn clarified. “I bought you some goodwill from her for the moment.”

“Me? You bought it for you!”

“Check out this bad boy!” Piper announced, throwing her elephant at Jake, who fortunately caught it.

“If you’ll please excuse me. I promised to win some more tickets for Allison,” Phinn announced.

“You should win the octopus for her,” Piper directed.

“I merely offered to help add to her ticket total. I don’t oversell my promises,” Phinn noted, causing Jake to squeeze the stuffed elephant in anger. “Except on cases, of course.”

However, as they approached the crossbow game, the carny operating it began lowering the metal shutter. Hurrying ahead, Allie stopped him and said they wanted to play.

“Sorry, kids. The game got too hot. Some girl with a smart mouth and amber hair ran off a record-winning streak. We need to shut it down and check for tampering,” the twentysomething man reported. “Not that I can see how she cheated with this simple game.”

“Hang on. That sounds like–” Wally started to say as Allie rejoined them.

“Violet,” Phinn nodded.

“You guys should’ve seen her. She was like Green Arrow out here,” Corky boasted, acting out a series of crossbow shots.

“Green Arrow doesn’t use a crossbow,” Phinn corrected.

“Close enough, nerd boy,” Piper declared, punching the scrawny sleuth in the shoulder.

Suddenly, Jake’s expression turned alarmed, and his skin paled.

“Duck!” he yelled, diving to the ground between two game stalls.