Grand Theft Autumn

Chapter 18

Pete's POV

Actually, I was pretty stupid. Why didn't I think to do this before?

I was at the Glenview library, at a computer. I had the journal with me, and was looking through it.

Opening Google, I typed in 'Glenview, 2005'. You have to start somewhere. Hitting enter, I briefly considered praying. If I was going to take a religious approach, I probably should have started praying a long time ago.

Links showed up, but the one on top caught my attention.

'Abandoned Warehouse Shooting Leaves Two Dead'. This must be what I am looking for. I clicked the link and waited for it to load. It was an old article, made in 2005. I skimmed it.

'Authorities were called when gunshots and screaming were heard in the abandoned warehouse. When police arrived at the scene, the place was deserted. All that remained was about $1,000,000 worth of drugs, potentially illegally obtained weapons, and two dead bodies.'

There was a few photos of a warehouse. One of the pictures showed a assortment of guns and drugs. I continued to scroll down the article.

'Neither of the bodies have been identified. One of the bodies is a male. has blue hair, aged around 20, 5'3, with a gunshot in the abdomen. It is presumed that the 'John Doe' died from blood loss. The other body (Who police are calling 'John Roe') is a male, brown hair, 6'3 and died from multiple stab wounds. If you recognize these descriptions, please go to the police.'

I sat back in my chair. The one who was in his twenties. That must be Lukas. I wrote down the link on a separate piece of paper.

'There are no suspects at the moment. Police suspect a drug deal gone wrong. The weapons have been recovered, and searches for the people involved are in process. People are skeptical that if they will find them.

Local Ryan Moe states, "Now, I don't know much 'bout drugs, but I do think one thing. They are sneaky. I don't believe that the search is worth it, they aren't going to find anything. If they have hidden this from us for God-knows-how long, then they can hide again." Ryan Moe was later arrested for drug possession for two years with bail set at $300.'

Not being able to help myself, I snorted. That was ironic. Looking around me, I noticed how empty the place was. There was a girl who kept glancing at me nervously, but when we made eye contact, she glanced back down, her face burning.

Oh, God. I hope that she isn't a fan of Fall Out Boy. I hunched my shoulders a little more, and put my hood on.

Deciding to continue my search, I searched up 'Lukas Freighner'. Hitting enter, I looked around me. It has been a day since I had seen Natasha.

'Local Gets Shot and Killed At 20, Killer Still At Large'. Clicking the link, I tapped the table impatiently. The librarian glared at me.

'Local was found dead by gunshot in abandoned warehouse shooting. Lukas Frieghner,' I read, and sat back. So it was Lukas. 'Was 20 years old when he died from a shot to the abdomen.' There was a photo of Lukas.

He was short, but was grinning broadly. He had blue hair, and had his arms out. Not going to lie, he was pretty cute.

'Lukas was survived by his sister, Natasha Frieghner.'

There was another photo, of Lukas with a girl. She looked a little different, but it was certainly Natasha.

Natasha was Lukas' sister? Why didn't she tell me this? I guess it explains how she recognized the journal. She must have known Patrick then. 

"The autopsy showed that there were no drugs in Lukas' system. Lukas will be buried at the local graveyard.'

The graveyard. Some pieces were falling together now.

Shutting off the computer, I got up to leave. As I stood up, the girl who was staring at me stood up as well, knocking over some books.

Her face turned beet red as she scrambled to pick them up. I considered walking away, but I went to help her.

"Oh- uh- thanks," She said as I handed her the book. "Hey- um- I saw you looking up Lukas Frieghner." She whispered. We walked together out of the library.

"Yeah, I was." I confirmed, warily. The girl looked around us, obviously skittish. What was she so scared of?

"I am just telling you now, don't. Don't go down that road." She said. I shook my head, but the girl grabbed my arm, "No. You don't understand. Don't talk about him. Don't ask about him."

"Wait, wait, wait." I said. "Do you know what happened to Lukas?" I asked. The girl looked at me like I was insane. "Hey. If you answer my questions, then I will stop poking around about him." A flat out lie, but she didn't need to know that.

"Fine." The girl said. "What do you want to know?"

"Who was he?" Start out easy.

"Lukas Friengher. Sweetest kid on the block. Nice to everyone, loved all." The girl said. She continued to glance around us.

"How did he die?" The girl's face closed slightly.

"He was shot. Bled out. Didn't you read that in the article?" A name popped up in my head. I could ask it, just for kicks.

"Who is Ryan Moe?" The girl laughed.

"One of the town's biggest drug addict. He is insane. Went to jail a few years back, but someone paid bail for some weird reason. He isn't anyone of interest, seriously." The girl explained.

"How is Patrick Stump related to any of this?" I asked. The girl's eyes went wide, and she took a step back, letting go of my arm.

"Is Patrick back?" Her voice went low. I didn't know if I should say yes or no. "Oh, God." She seemed to forget that I was here. "If he is back then that means..." She mumbled to herself.

"That means what?" I demanded, alarmed.

"Anna!" Someone shouted. The girl's head whipped towards the noise. "Time to go home, come on!" The girl (Anna) turned to me, worried.

"Okay, now don't look into it anymore." Anna looked terrified. "I shouldn't have told you any of this." Then, in a flash, Anna was gone.