Miss Atomic Bomb (Jughead Jones)

Part 24

Lara

"I don't know if I really want to mess with all of this, Liv." I whispered to her.

Jack knew a lot of people and was capable of a lot of things.

"Just think about it Lara.  Marina is a good person and this might help us learn about Jason Blossom or something." Olivia said.

"Why would I care about Jason?"

She shrugged, "I don't know."

And with that, she walked away.

Marina

"So how are you holding up?" Veronica asked me.

I narrowed my eyes, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're trying to solve Jason's murder, while helping Betty with Polly, while trying to keep an extremely obvious relationship with Jughead, while dealing with other stuff that I know is going on but you don't necessarily tell me about."

"Do you mean my mom?"

"Well, basically."

I shrugged, "Well what do you want to know?"

I took a bite out of the sandwich I brought as the two of us waited for the search for Betty to start.

"Whatever you'll tell me."

I sighed, "Well I was in the car with my mom when we got into a car crash. She passed away and I basically got diagnosed with PTSD."

"Understandable." She nodded.

"And then my Dad tried all of this really shitty therapy, but I got him to stop, and now I'm here."

Veronica glanced back over at me, "Well thanks for telling me, but you never answered my question."

I opened my mouth to respond, but was cut off by Jughead and Betty as they began the "search."

"Okay, the Sisters of Quiet Mercy are due north. The getaway car was west, on the Old Route 40." Betty explained.

Jughead jumped in, "The closest bus station is east, headed towards Sweetwater. If Polly wanted to leave Riverdale without anyone seeing her, she probably would've left through right-"

"Right here. Eversgreen Forest." Betty shrugged.

Everyone broke off into smaller groups and began searching for Polly.

I walked through the crunchy leaves next to Jughead.

"I just feel horrible for Betty.  I don't know how else to help her."

He grabbed my hand and smiled, "All we can do is be here for her." His expression darkened, "Also, we need to talk."

I looked up at him in confusion, but wasn't able to respond.

The Blossoms stood in front of us with Sheriff Keller.

"Alice Cooper, where is she? Where's Polly?" Mrs. Blossom snarled at her.

Mrs. Cooper's eyes narrowed, "You think if I knew that, I'd be out here with the mosquitoes?"

Cheryl held a blank expression and stared directly at us, "Face facts, Mommie Dearest, Polly killed Jason."