Another Love~J.J. {1}

~19~

The Last Picture Show

* * *

        "I'm sorry, but the Twilight Drive-In? It's a blight that's become a cesspool, and a hangout for criminals...and transients, and the deal's done. Andrews Construction is scheduled to demolish the lot on Monday." Mayor McCoy told Jughead and Lia. Jughead had asked Lia to join him on his journey to try and figure out who bought the Drive-In and Lia knew she had time before her meet up with Betty, Veronica, and Archie at Pop's, so here she was, sitting in a chair while Jughead talked to the Mayor. 

        "Mayor McCoy, when I was a kid, my family and I would go to the drive-in all the time. We couldn't afford tickets for everyone, so my sister Jellybean and I would hide in the trunk until we parked. We'd sneak out." Jughead explained, chuckling softly before he continued. It's like my home."

        "That's a very sweet sentiment, Mr. Jones. But the future of Riverdale is at stake." Mayor McCoy replied. 

* * *

        "Ms. Grundy showed up in Riverdale a year ago, out of thin air. There's no record of her before that. Her Facebook, her Linkedln account, they were all created one year ago. Before that, she's a ghost. She doesn't exist. The only Geraldine Grundy I could find was a woman who died seven years ago." Betty told Archie and without realizing it, Lia too. Lia's eyes widened as she listened to Betty, not really surprised that she was able to find out all this information but more surprised that Ms. Grundy was lying about her identity.  

        "How...Where did you find all this?" Archie asked.

        "The deep web. The dark internet. Check it, it's all online. Simple googling." Veronica joked. 

        "And did you cyber-stalk Ms. Grundy before or after you interviewed her for a fake article?" Archie asked, making Betty look down with a bit of shame. "Why are you doing this, Betty? I'm not in any danger." 

        "You don't know that." Betty replied

        "Yeah, I do, I'm with her. I know what we have, and you don't." Archie snapped. 

        "She taught Jason Blossom. Did you know that?" Betty questioned, making Lia look at her while her thoughts ran wild.

        "She's taught a lot of people, Betty. What's your point?" Archie asked. 

        "My point is, you don't know anything about her, Archie. Doesn't that worry you?" Betty responded and Lia wondered if her crush on Archie was still there.

        "Betty, let this go." Archie ordered. 

        "Archie, please-

        "If you're really my friend, you'll let this go." Archie cut her off, looking at Lia with a hurt expression before looking at Betty sternly.

        "Okay. I'm sorry. I'm done. I'll stop digging." Betty apologized, watching as Archie left. 

* * *

        "So much for letting this go." Veronica whispered as she, Lia, and Betty all made their way over to Grundy's car, Betty holding a crowbar and beginning to try and pry the door open. "Are we really breaking into Grundy's car right now? How do you even know how to do that?"

        "My dad and I fix cars together. Thank God, she drives an old-

        Betty was cut off however, but the door popping open and she looked at Lia and Veronica with a smug expression while Lia smiled at her, knowing that she was very happy with herself. Betty hopped into the driver's seat and unlocked the passenger door, allowing Lia to hop in first and climb into the back seat so that Veronica could sit in the passenger seat. 

        "Okay, before going any further, if I'm committing a felony, I need to at least ask the question. Are you doing this because you still have feelings for Archie, or..." Veronica trailed off and Lia was glad she asked it because she was wondering the same thing.

        "No, Veronica. We're doing this because Grundy has Archie under some kind of sexual spell, and he won't listen to reason. We're looking for anything that proves Grundy isn't as clean as she says she is." Betty said as the trio began to search the car. Lia's foot slipped, hitting something hard and the two girls up front looked back at her as she dove down and grabbed a metal box underneath the driver's seat. Lia handed it to Betty and watched as she tried to open it but saw it was locked. "Bobby pin."

        "Okay, Ms. Gyver." Veronica replied, taking a bobby pin out of her hair and giving it to her. Lia watched in awe as Betty picked the lock, soon the metal clasp popping open. 

        "I learned that from the Nancy Drew detective handbook." Betty smirked. 

        "Okay, go." Veronica urged and Betty opened the box, grabbing the thing on top first. 

        "Oh, my God." Betty and Veronica whispered and Lia quickly took what was in Betty's hands to look at it. She scanned it, seeing that it was a driver's license but instead of 'Geraldine Grundy' it said 'Jennifer Gibson'.  

        "'Jennifer Gibson'"? Who the hell is Jennifer Gibson?" Lia asked. 

        "That's not the only thing." Betty said and Lia looked to see her holding a gun. 

        "Oh, God."

* * *

        "Please don't tell me you're still on this crazy witch hunt." Archie stated as he walked up to his house, seeing Lia, Betty, and Veronica all waiting for him. 

        "It's not a witch hunt, and it's not crazy." Lia corrected.  

        "We were just in Grundy's car-

        "What? You were in her car?" Archie cut Betty off in disbelief. 

        "Yeah, and thank God we were." Veronica said, catching Archie's attention. 

        "We found a gun. And an ID with the name Jennifer Gibson. This is proof Ms. Grundy is not who she says she is." Betty told Archie which made him do a double take. 

        "Then who is she?" He asked. 

        "Obviously some sketch-queen named Jennifer Gibson." Veronica replied

        "Archie, what if she had something to do with Jason's murder? She taught him, she made you lie about him, we know she was at the river, she has a gun." Betty explained, trying to show him that Grundy was a possible murder suspect. 

        "So does Dilton Doiley, but you never thought he killed Jason." Archie countered. 

        "Open your eyes, Archie. Jason was her student last year. Everything about her is a huge, boldfaced question mark." Lia snapped and Archie sighed angrily. 

        "Okay, whatever her name is, she's not a killer." He said. 

        "You didn't ask her, did you? About her name? And why there's no record of her before last year?" Betty questioned. Archie looked away, not meeting any of the girls eyes. "Why not?

        Lia didn't hear Archie's answer however as her phone had started to go off and she walked off to answer it. 

        "Hey Juggle, what's up?" She asked. 

        "I forgot to ask if you wanted to watch Rebel Without a Cause with me in the film room." Jughead stated, making Lia laugh. 

        "Of course I will Jug, I figured you'd ask since that's what we used to do." Lia answered. 

        "Great, see you at school." Jughead responded. 

        "See you." Lia finished, hanging up the phone and going back over to where Betty, Archie, and Veronica were supposed to be but no one was there and Lia figured they had all just gone home.