NOT AGAIN!!! I'm so sorry this is so late. Like I said in my announcement, school is just really stressful right now and I have my first AP final coming up in two weeks that I'm currently dying about. Thanks for sticking with me, though! This one might be boring but it's really important. I hope you enjoy it!! Vote and comment ahah!

Because Jawa was training for the upcoming Olympics, he was in California as well. His training center was only about a half an hour drive from Chip's house. On the drive there, Erica spoke about some cool experiences she had as a celebrity. Meeting idols, movie stars and more. I merely made up some cool stories about life in Washington DC. She pretended to go along with them, but I could tell she didn't believe me at all.

Finally, we reached the training center. It was beautiful. It was a huge warehouse with sleek, modern designs inside and out. We walked in. Inside, there was a giant pool, many training bikes, tracks, treadmills and more. It was super cool. There were many people there, but I couldn't see Jawa.

Erica asked the receptionist where he was.

The receptionist smiled warmly at us. I don't think that she knew that it was Erica Handler, however.

"Hi! Jawa is unfortunately training in one of our private rooms today. He likes to train without spectators for his focus and to keep his training regimen a secret, due to the nature of the fierce competition of the Olympics. Thank you for stopping by, though! You can watch some less-commonly known athletes train in the main area if you'd like!" She droned on like a robot. She probably had to say this a dozen times a day.

Erica smiled at her, "But we'd really like to meet him. Could you let him know that Erica and Ben are here to see him?"

The receptionist's smile tightened. It was clear she found us quite annoying for challenging her.

"Of course," she said through gritted teeth, "But I cannot guarantee anything."

Erica gave her an icy smile back. It was very tense. "Thank you so much," Erica said passive aggressively.

The receptionist placed a call. She spoke quietly so we couldn't hear what she was saying, but her annoyed and hardened facial expressions said it all. After aggressively slamming the phone down, she waved us through.

"He's training upstairs and to the right. Have a great day." She snarled with tight lips.

"Thank you," Erica said condescendingly and I followed her upstairs.

We went to a large door with Jawa's name on it. Knocking quietly, we opened the door. Inside was one of the largest workout gyms I've ever seen. It was full of every equipment or machine I could think of. Jawa was working individually with a really ripped trainer, doing a medicine ball routine. We stood quietly as we waited for his reps to finish.

He stood up and noticed us. His eyes widened in shock at seeing us. He started walking over to us.

Jawa looked so healthy. He had a ripped upper body, with defined thighs and strong calves. He had short-cut beard and dark, thick hair that was all messy from the sweat. Jawa looked like he was in great shape and very handsome.

"Oh my god. Wow, it is... wow. Um... good to see you both," He seemed a bit flabbergasted. His trainer looked awkward standing behind him. Jawa shook my hand and gave Erica a wave. Jawa then dismissed his trainer and everyone else with us.

"It's great to see you again, Jawa." Erica said.

"You too," he said, nodding,"How long has it been since the award show? Three years?"

She nodded.

"And Ben, my man," he gave me a bro shake, "What's up? I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

I told him a brief description of my life, leaving out small parts that make me seem like a loser.

"But we're not here to just catch up," I said, finishing my thoughts.

"Oh really?" He said, raising his eyebrows and looking at Erica.

"We have information," Erica said. She then explained the whole Joshua thing. I could tell while she was explaining it he was not in.

Sure enough, when Erica finished the description, he said:

"Guys, I wish I could. I really do. But the Olympics are in a few weeks. The biggest opportunity of my life. I can't just leave now. But feel free to contact me if you need anything. Anything but going with you guys. I'm sorry."

"No, I understand," I said, a bit sadly. Erica was emotionless.

"I'm so sorry. But I have to train and get ready for the Olympics. Go team USA!" With that, we said our goodbyes.

Erica and I left the training center. As she drove out, I said,

"Well, that's that."

She sighed, "Yeah, that's that. Is this a good idea? Ben, we are all busy nowaday. What if Zoe and Mike both can't come? Do you really want to do it all by ourselves?"

"Yes," I said, without thinking. I just wanted to spend time with Erica and solve this case. There is no way Joshua being in the House of Representatives is a coincidence. And there is no way he turned his life around. Just ten years ago, he tried to kill me. People don't just move on from that.

Erica gave me a doubtful look but kept driving to the airport. We were heading to Illinois, to meet Zoe there.

We got to the airport and she parked her Mercedes in the lot, claiming someone will pick it up for her. We grabbed our luggage and walked inside the terminal. The airport wasn't too crowded. At the kiosk, Erica got our boarding passes. And she got us first class. It was going to be my first time going on first class and I was kinda excited. I offered to pay but she just waved me off, saying she could afford it. Erica claimed there was no way she was sitting in economy (a real rich-ass Hollywood thing to say in my opinion) but she didn't want me to spend my money (seeing that I'm homeless) so she just paid for me. I protested a little, but not that much.

I was afraid someone would recognize her, but she kept her baseball cap low on her face with sunglasses on. And everyone there was too stressed and worried about their own stuff to worry about us. When we got security, the TSA woman was a bit star-struck, but luckily kept it on the down low so no one else recognized her.

Getting through TSA and getting to the gate was a breeze. We got on the airplane and claimed our first class seats next to each other. We even both got a glass of wine!

During take off, we talked more about our lives. I was lying a bit more about details. She kept asking me about relationships or friendships or my social life. All things that were non-existent. And what was I supposed to say when she just spoke about hanging out with Jennifer Lopez after her show?

She could tell I was lying. It was obvious she knew and was getting annoyed at my lies.

"Ben," she said, cutting into my fake story about a raging college party, "I know you're lying. There's no way you did Molly. I can tell. If we're going to go on this mission and are going to be working together, we at least need to be honest with each other. No more lies, and let's not talk about life. Let's just talk about the case and the future. You're going to see Zoe again. Are you nervous?"

"Why should I be nervous?" I asked. It didn't occur to me to be nervous meeting Zoe again since she'd always been nice and sweet to me. But now Erica was getting in my head and I was starting too.

She gave me a deadpanned look, "Why would you be nervous? Maybe because you used to like her and she's married with kids now?"

"I didn't like her that much!" I protested, "I liked you a lot more." The words spilled out before I could stop them. My face turned red.

Erica smirked and chuckled a little bit, "Ha don't worry Ben. It's okay. I sort of liked you too in high school." My ego boosted a hundred points and I beamed.

She shook my head at me playfully and changed the subject. After a while, I fell asleep while she read the in-flight magazine.

Before I knew it, the pilot was announcing we were landing. I was still tired from my nap on the plane, so I felt like I was sleepwalking. But we got our bags and rented a car. Erica could tell I was super sleepy and took charge. As Erica drove us to Zoe's house, I slept.

I woke up again to Erica shaking me awake. We were parked in front of a cute, suburban house. It was white and darker blue with a pouch and a swing. The porch railings were white and the whole two story house had white trim. There were bikes and sports equipment on the front lawn. It was a very stereotypical american house.

Then it hit me:

We were at Zoe's house.

Ok I know that was boring. Not gonna lie, I was bored writing it. These last few chapters were boring but had really important details in them so thanks for bearing with me lol. Also, some may be disappointed Jawa and Chip won't be joining them for now. (Hint hint wink wink). Erica and Ben have a layover at Zoe's house where there will be a Zoe sub-plot that I think will be interesting.

Again, I am so sorry for the long wait. I cannot promise a quick or even week update this week either. I'm so sorry. I have four lacrosse games this week and mid-terms are not this week but the following so it's gonna be a grind. Thanks for sticking with me. Have a great day and thanks for reading this one! See you soon!