jesterladyfic (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jesterladyfic) wrote2008-10-31 01:42 pm
jesterladyfic) wrote2008-10-31 01:42 pm
Tyranny of the Urgent: Chapter Twenty One: There Was No Slippage
This chapter's title comes from Eugene Peterson
Veronica sat with her back tensed and her head held high. It made her sick to be in the same room with Aaron Echolls. It made her feel like crying to be in the same room with Logan Echolls. It made her uneasy to be in a courtroom at all. All in all, today was not a good day for her.
Logan kept looking over at her with a puppy dog look in his eyes that she couldn’t ignore and hated him for. It was like he was making her out to be the bad guy when he’d approached her and then rubbed her face in it with Kendall.
They hadn’t spoken since then, though he’d tried once or twice. Rather half heartedly, she thought. Now they were here united in their effort to incarcerate his father. Some bonds just last.
“The prosecution would like to show the tapes now, Your Honor.”
“Proceed, Counselor.”
***
Logan swallowed hard as they wheeled a TV into the room. It almost made him wish he’d destroyed the vile things when he’d had the chance. But his father’s smug face as he smiled at Veronica made him glad he hadn’t.
The TV flashed static for a minute and then the sight that still ran endlessly through his head came on the screen. He stared pointedly at the wall. Several gasps came from the jury and he took a quick glance at the screen. His father smiled at the camera. Logan resisted the urge to vomit and looked away. Veronica caught his eye. She was watching him with something akin to sympathy. But there was still too much hurt in her eyes.
He really needed to talk to her. She kept dodging him and he didn’t know how to broach the subject. He was going to do it no matter what, but it was much harder than it might seem.
“That’s all, Your Honor.”
“Thank you. We’ll adjourn and reconvene tomorrow at 10 am.”
Logan tried to talk to Veronica afterward, but her dad swept her away and he was left with the knowledge that his dad had asked to see him before he testified.
He walked to the visitor section of the courthouse and picked up the phone while staring at his father sitting on the other side of the glass.
“Hello, son.”
“You know, if you would've given Lilly the performance you gave today, she might've given you the Oscar,” Logan said, desperately trying to stay calm.
“I wanted to talk to you before you testify. I think it's in your best interest that you don't talk about what you’ve seen.”
Logan laughed slightly.
“What, because I want so desperately for you to be free so we can be a family again?”
“Logan, we’re already a family. I'm gonna win this, son. Don’t make the mistake of putting bad blood between us when I’m going to be free.”
Logan shook his head at the veiled threat.
“Aw gee, Dad. You're always looking out for me. Thanks for the advice.”
He was done protecting his father.
“Logan, I’m warning you.”
“I don’t suppose this father/son chat has anything to do with these?” Logan held up listening devices identical to ones he’d seen Veronica using dozens of times. “I found them in my room. It seemed like an odd place for them. I can think of only one person who would have put them there and only one person who would have wanted them there. Maybe the same person who would have had access to my BFF’s hair from when he stayed in my extra room.” Aaron didn’t say anything. Logan gave him a little wave and stood up. “See ya in court, pops.”
***
Veronica watched Weevil walk away with a look of helplessness. She felt horrible for letting him down. But she just didn’t have the time.
A gunshot rang out and she immediately dropped to the floor. She saw Gia standing, frozen in shock, and pulled her down behind a table.
The shooter was Lucky, out on bail, out of a job, and obviously upset. He jumped up on one of the tables and started waving his gun around.
“Look at this. You're like animals.” He threw some food at a girl on the floor. “Somebody's gotta clean this up, you know. But not me. No, they fired me. I guess I'm good enough to drive an armored troop transport truck to Tikrit, but not to polish the floors at Neptune High. Hey, anybody want to cut out of here? Might try to jump State Canyon. Who wants to go for a ride? What, no one? Where's my girl? Huh? G-G-G-Gia?”
Gia stifled a frightened shriek. She crouched down to avoid being seen. Lucky started to scan the cafeteria. Veronica’s eyes widened in shock when she saw Wallace sneaking up behind Lucky. He tackled him and sent them both hurtling over the staircase ledge.
Veronica craned her neck to get a better view and her entire world lit up in agony as she saw Wallace on the receiving end of the gun. The trigger was pulled.
Wallace blinked in surprise to find himself still alive. Then another shot went off. Lucky crumpled to the floor next to him, blood seeping out of his back. Veronica ran to Wallace and hugged him fiercely.
“You’re never allowed to die,” she told him sternly.
Wallace tried to breathe.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” he answered with a shaky smile.
She smiled back, her eyes flooded with tears.
***
“Nobody likes a blonde in a hamster ball,” Veronica reminded her dad. He squeezed her knee and she understood his feelings. Days like these may run a little more than average in the Mars family, but they were definitely the bad days. “So, Woody’s trying to say that Lucky was all torn up because of Iraq?”
“That and he was let go from being a bat boy for the Sharks.”
“So, what is the Sheriff going to do about it?”
“He looked into Lucky’s apartment and found he’d sent a whole lot of emails to Woody.”
“Saying?”
“He trashed the files. I need the attachments. Luckily, your old man’s still got some PI chops and snatched those babies from Woody’s server.”
“I could have had Mac do it for you,” she offered.
“Who do you think did it for me?”
“What, did I lose middle man status now?”
Veronica crossed her arms in horrified defiance.
“She’s not speaking to you. Or something like that. I didn’t get the particulars,” Keith said with a bemused air.
Veronica rolled her eyes.
“So, what did you find out?”
“She said she’d give you the info at school tomorrow.”
“What through mime?”
***
Veronica slammed her locker shut and almost fell over when Wallace bumped into her playfully.
“I just took my last high school test ever. Done, over. I'm outta here," he said, waving his arms for emphasis.
Veronica opened her history book and started to study.
“And you decided to celebrate by torturing me?”
“What, you got one more?”
“Three. Nothing like having your future rest on how much you know about the ascendancy rules of Babylon.”
“Well, I gotta go clean out my locker,” he said.
“You got that salmon I left in there for you, right?”
Wallace shook his head at her nonchalance.
“You better enjoy this, cause this is as nostalgic as I get.” Veronica looked at him fully. “I just wanted to say...it was worth getting taped to a pole. Gonna miss you.”
“And my stupid-ass face?”
They laughed together.
“I gotta go grab my stuff, then I'll pick up my lady, do a little celebrating.” He walked away and she watched him go with a smile. He turned around to face her, walking backwards. “This conversation never happened!”
“Sure it did,” she said quietly to herself.
“Veronica.”
She saw Mac approaching her.
“Mac, did we make up?”
“Yes, we made up, are you happy?”
“Slightly.”
“I have those emails for you. There’s some stuff you need to hear.”
The two headed into the nearly vacant computer lab and Mac played some audio files for Veronica. Veronica’s mouth fell open.
“Do you hear those voices in the background? Are they speaking French?”
“Forget about the French, listen to what they said!" Mac said and played it again.
“We have to tell people what Woody did to the three of us. It's gonna come out someday. A couple of the Sharks had to know about it. They'll come forward. Things like this don't stay secret.”
“Woody's a pervert. He's sick! What he did to us is wrong! We were just kids.”
“There were three of them,” Mac said, sounding horrified.
“Didn't it just sound like two guys? Like Marcos?”
Veronica had spent enough time listening to his voice that she would know it anywhere. The pieces were starting to come together for her.
“Those gaps in the audio,” Mac pondered. “I think another speaker was edited out of this recording.”
“A couple of the Sharks had to know about it? Lucky was a batboy for the Sharks...”
“And that's when he met Woody,” said Mac.
“Did Lucky's emails say anything about being molested?” Veronica asked.
“No, it's hard to say,” Mac said, pulling out a hard copy of the emails. “Look, it's a lot of crazy ramblings, stream of consciousness ranting about war and the life of a soldier. It's hard to make sense of them.”
“I’ll handle that part.” Veronica took the pile. “Can you just work on finding out what was on those audio clips before they were edited? I have to tell my dad about this.”
“Woody may already know someone was on his server,” Mac admitted. “He had some heavy duty sensors in place. It’s possible I tripped one of them.”
“Thanks, Mac. Don’t worry about it. I’ll still come to you for all my espionage needs. In the meantime, I think you should go out to the quad area. Might be someone you want to see.”
Mac raised her eyebrows inquisitively, but Veronica just smiled and gathered her stuff. She was glad to help Mac out with Beaver in return for the Butters incident. But now, she had to go to her dad. They were all due in court and she didn’t know if there would be time to do anything about Woody until after, but it was the best she could do.
***
Keith stepped up to the witness stand and prepared to give his testimony. Veronica entered through the courtroom door and gave him a smile. He returned it and sat down.
“Veronica called me to let me know she was coming home. When she didn't show up when she should've, I drove the route I knew she would've taken. I saw her car, stopped, got out; I heard a commotion in the back of a nearby house and went looking for Veronica. Then I was jumped.”
“Well, Mr. Echolls testified that after Veronica lost control of the car and crashed it, they knocked on the door of a nearby house, asked the owner to call a tow truck, and Veronica and Aaron waited on the man's porch. You arrived, saw your daughter in a compromising position, and started a physical altercation with Mr. Echolls. And this version has been confirmed by the occupant of the house.”
“Objection.” The prosecutor jumped to her feet. “The homeowner has disappeared, and despite being subpoenaed, has never been questioned by the prosecution.”
“Sustained.”
The judge nodded at Keith to continue. He told the story of the rest of the night, how he had gotten the upper hand on Aaron whereupon Aaron set fire to the gasoline soaked freezer.
Aaron’s lawyer twisted everything Keith said and brought up many of Veronica’s indiscretions, some of which Keith had known nothing about. Veronica winced as she saw her dad’s face and knew they’d be having a discussion later. But, for then, despite a few tense moments when his answers became something resembling verbal hatred, Keith gave his testimony and got off the stand whereupon they had a ten minute recess.
“So, been to any good murder trials lately?” she inquired weakly.
Keith hugged his daughter who had such strange moral qualms. Duncan joined them a moment later.
“You make it look so easy,” he said nervously.
“You’ll do just fine,” Keith assured him. “You’ve had plenty of experience in here of late.”
“Unfortunately, that’s true.”
“How is the baby trial going?” Veronica asked. “Is Cliff battling his hardest for ya?”
“He does pretty well,” Duncan admitted. “I think everything hinges on Aaron’s trial. If he’s convicted, we’ll probably get Lilly. If he isn’t, I’m going to get arrested.”
“You know I can’t talk about it, son,” Keith said sadly. “But I hope for the sake of everyone that Aaron is put away for good.”
“You and me both,” Veronica muttered, glaring at Aaron as he was brought back into the courtroom.
“All rise.”
Duncan’s hands shook slightly and Veronica put her hand on his arm to calm him. He smiled down at her and went back to his seat beside Logan.
“The prosecution calls Duncan Kane to the stand.”
Duncan rose and took his place, swearing on the Bible.
“Tell us the events of that night, Mr. Kane.”
“The Governor was at our house that evening. I wasn’t in a party mood and so I went upstairs to my room. I noticed someone in Lilly’s room and went to see what was happening. Someone was opening the air vents in her room and I grabbed them. It was Veronica. I started to yell at her and ask her why she was there. She said she didn’t- that she had reason to believe Logan might have been the killer and she was looking for proof of his innocence. We looked in the air vent and found the sex tapes. We played them on the viewer in my room. They were the same tapes we viewed here. It seemed logical to us that it was Mr. Echolls who had killed my sister over the tapes. He was at the party and so Veronica was going to take the tapes to her dad to turn over to the police while I watched Mr. Echolls. She left and I couldn’t find him, so I called Veronica. When we hung up I got worried and got my dad to go and drive out to where she would be. We got there when the police did. Mr. Mars was badly burned, Veronica bruised, and Mr. Echolls in a stretcher. The owner of the house was getting treated for a blow to the head.”
Duncan said it all at once and then fielded questions from the prosecution and defense. Veronica was proud of the way he answered the questions about his relationship with her, with Meg, about his illness and new daughter. Aaron’s lawyer was very good and by the end, the jury was probably convinced Duncan wasn’t safe, but that he was also telling the truth as far as he knew it.
Now if Logan and I can just not screw it up, we’ll be all good.
***
“Do I look like someone who knows quadratic equations, huh?” asked Weevil impatiently.
“I'm just, I'm just trying to see what you already know,” Cassidy said, shifting in his seat.
“Zero. You want your car fixed? Teach me.”
Weevil pounded the paper for emphasis and Cassidy tried hard to think.
“Okay. Okay, so let's say that you and your buddy, you want to buy a twelve pack of a certain item. Say, like, um, like spark plugs, for x dollars, and you want to find out how many of another item, like, um, I dunno, like oil, that you can get for the same amount, except oil is y times as much as-“
“If this is your idea of terms I'll understand, I'm going to kill you.” Mac swallowed a smile as she pretended to do her homework at the table across from them. She had to hand it to Veronica; she knew a good laugh when she saw one. Or orchestrated one. “Or myself,” Weevil continued. “It's a toss-up. Screw it, man, I'll just cheat.”
“No, but...what about my car?” asked Cassidy.
“You know power buffers, right? Well, let's say your door panel is a summer home, right, and you need to clear out the south lawn to make a tennis court, so what you got-"
Mac decided to intervene before Weevil's scathing replies burnt down the quad.
“F-O-I-L. That's all it is. First, outside, inside, last. All algebra, it's just the formula.”
She swung her legs around so she was facing them.
“Now can you teach me that?” Weevil asked, sounding impressed.
“You'll still fix his car?”
“That's the deal.”
Mac sat down next to them and folded her hands.
“Okay. Say you and your buddy buy a twelve pack of spark plugs...” She tried hard not to laugh as Weevil looked about ready to kill her. “I'm just kidding.” She took the pencil and bent over the paper, chancing a glance at Cassidy. He was smiling at her in the way he used to and she grinned back. It felt really good. “Here's the quadratic equation.”
***
“Can you tell us about your father?”
Logan smiled sarcastically.
“He’s a really bad actor. Likes to be in control. Has to have the perfect image.”
“And how would you say this affected your childhood and your relationship with him growing up?”
“I never really had one. I was too busy having my picture put in the paper to play and he was too busy signing autographs to have time for me.”
“Could you elaborate more on what that was like?”
“Well, he doesn’t know anything about me. Not anything most parents would know, my birthday, for instance.”
Veronica was very uncomfortable watching Logan testify. It was heartbreaking in a way. She also knew what was coming. She’d never had the guts to really ask Logan about Aaron’s abuse, but she knew she was going to hear more now than she wanted to.
Logan showed his right arm and a circular scar.
“Cigarette lighter when I was nine. I had forgotten to bring a note home from my teacher.” He pointed to somewhere just above his hairline. “We can get a doctor in here to examine if you’d like, but that’s from when my head smashed into the counter at twelve. I had smarted off to an executive producer he brought home. Nine stitches at our private family doctor. No emergency rooms for Aaron’s kids.”
It went on like that for awhile. It made Veronica sick to her stomach and she could see that it was taking its toll on Logan as well. He had worked hard his entire life to cover up what his father did to him and now he was baring it to the world for Lilly, for her, and for doing what was right.
The defense tried to make it seem like Logan was exaggerating, that as a child he had an overactive imagination, that he was just manifesting the frustration of his dead mother. The lawyer did it quite well, but the scars spoke for themselves.
***
Logan didn’t look at Veronica when he finished testifying. He didn’t look at his father. He didn’t acknowledge Duncan’s look of sympathy. He went to the restroom and retched, wishing the memories could be ejected as easily as the contents of his stomach. He splashed his face with cold water and sat down on the marble floor for a few minutes. He needed to get his bearings. By the time he got back into the courtroom, Veronica was on the stand.
“I did not proposition Mr. Echolls, he hid in the backseat of my car and threatened me. I crashed the car hoping for a chance to escape from him. I saw him knock the owner of the house unconscious and then he hit me and I blacked out. When I woke up I was in the freezer and he was going on about how I was like Joan of Arc who was crazy. I could hear my dad through the walkie talkie he’d placed in the freezer with me and then nothing but sounds of a struggle. I started to feel hot and could tell that the freezer was on fire. My dad opened the lid and pulled me out. I put out the fire on his clothes and I went to try to find a phone so I could call the police. I found Mr. Echolls in the road with the driver of the truck who had hit him.”
***
Veronica could hardly believe the tricks Aaron’s defense pulled. All of her dirty laundry was aired before the entire court and her embarrassment factor rose increasingly to have so many strangers and so many friends know the intimate details of her private life. Why they needed to know things like the results of her latest doctor's appointment, she didn't know.
But she remained true to the facts and she could tell the jury believed her. At least she hoped so. But after all they had seen how they could not was beyond her. It was the question she asked herself as she was let off the stand and avoided Logan’s and her dad’s eyes.
***
“Okay, you put another X on that paper and we're gonna have a problem," said Weevil, growled more like.
Mac smiled sweetly.
“I'd put little smiley faces, but I don't know if that's gonna sell wrong.”
Cassidy piped up from behind her.
“I told you that you went too fast on bouncing equations.”
“I didn't go too fast,” Mac protested.
“You plowed right through! I didn't understand what you were talking about!”
“No surprise there,” Mac retorted playfully.
“What, are you saying you're smarter than me?”
“No, I wasn't.” Mac twisted around in her chair to address him better while Weevil rolled his eyes and blew out a sigh. “Here's what that would've sounded like: I'm smarter than you. Hear the difference?”
“You don't really believe that,” Cassidy said in disbelief.
“Then why'd I get it tattooed on my hip?”
“Well, if this is what you need to do to feel better about yourself...”
“If I get you an A, will you shiv him?”
Mac turned back to Weevil though all her attention was on Cassidy.
“Hey, I got an idea: how about you two geniuses go work out your aggression in some coat room, and then come back here and teach me algebra, huh?” Mac blushed and looked down and then up again. Cassidy was watching her and grinning. “Never mind, I’m just going to go and retake this elsewhere,” Weevil said, grabbing the test and leaving. “When I come back be ready to teach instead of flirt, okay?”
Mac pulled out her computer and ignored Cassidy while she started to work on the audio files for Veronica.
“Maybe he’s right,” Cassidy said softly.
“About?”
“Us needing to work something out.”
“I thought you weren’t interested in that,” Mac said carefully.
“Maybe not then, but I am now. If you think that would work,” Cassidy said slowly.
“Perhaps. What did you have in mind?” Mac asked.
***
Cassidy took a huge breath before speaking.
“Well, Logan’s having a big bash after grad. If you wanted to go we could go. Maybe, since we were already there, we could get a room?”
Cassidy studied his hands. This was a huge step for him. He worked hard to keep other people at bay. He had worked especially hard in Mac’s case, but she kept creeping back in again. He wondered if he could keep up the pretense of being upset with her instead of just scared of what might happen. He didn’t think so and he was relieved that this opportunity had thrown them back together. He’d never thought of himself as being able to have someone special after everything that had happened. Mac made the odds vanish.
“I’d like that.” Mac grinned. “If your car’s fixed by then.”
“I can get another,” he reminded her.
He pulled a chair up beside her and gave her a soft kiss which she returned. She smiled and deliberately turned back to work on her computer as if not to spook him. He looked over her shoulder and froze.
“What’s that?”
“Just something Veronica wants me to unravel. Why?”
Cassidy swallowed hard.
“Nothing. No reason.”
***
With my day’s trialing at an end, maybe I can go home and get some quality study time in. Life doesn’t stop just because Aaron Echolls murders your best friend.
Logan jumped in front of Veronica as she tried to exit the courthouse.
“Not now, Logan,” she said.
She did not have time for another emotional episode.
“When? I know you, Veronica. You’ll say not now until the end of time. I’m not leaving.”
“Then I will.”
She made to side step him, but he moved to block her.
“I didn’t sleep with her!” he blurted out.
Veronica winced as people in the hallway stared at them.
“Could you say it louder so more people in Neptune can hear you?”
“I’m sorry.” Logan lowered his voice. “We need to talk.”
“Fine.” Veronica gave in and led the way to a small alcove where they had a modicum of privacy. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Our history exam. What do you think I want to talk about?”
“If you’re so anxious to, then spit it out so I can go study for that exam,” Veronica said, exasperated.
“Listen, I wasn’t with Kendall after you left that night. I was very drunk and passed out in my room. When I got up the next morning I remembered something had happened between us and so I called Kendall because I wanted to tell her it was over. She was nearby so she dropped in. You got there just as she was leaving having been fully clothed for her entire visit.”
“Oh,” Veronica said. Her brain was too tired to take in all that information. “I see.”
“See what an idiot you’ve been?” asked Logan bitterly.
“Excuse me?”
“When are you going to realize that I mean what I say, Veronica?”
“When you do what you say,” she postulated.
He reached out and pulled her toward him, locking their lips together. He devoured her mouth and then let go as they both started to breathe faster.
“There. I did. You happy now?”
Veronica’s brain shut off entirely for a few seconds and then kicked back on in overdrive.
Amazing kiss. History exam. Big trial. Kiss. Woody’s the murderer. College. Logan. Wallace. Logan. My dad. Logan. Trial, exam, bus crash. Logan.
“You win,” she finally said. “But not yet. I can’t do this right now. I have to ace my finals to get the Kane scholarship. I’m working overtime at the office. I have the trial to worry about and I’m working on the bus crash. There is a you and me, but the you and me can’t be a you and me until much later from now.”
“When is that?”
“When I’ve had time to process things.”
“Veronica, you can’t hold off on your feelings forever. You’re this close to letting go. Why won’t you?”
“You’re a scary concept, Logan. I don’t know how to fit your complexity into the already complex.”
“Stop over analyzing. Stop trying to work a case. This isn’t a job, it’s life. I’m here and you feel it. I feel you too.”
“I promise to feel you-" she stopped, hearing her poor choice of words. He couldn’t seem to help his grin. “I promise, we will be, later. After a huge discussion, some making out, and probably a few bitter diatribes.”
“I’ll be waiting by the phone,” he said lightly.
He kissed her forehead and walked away.
Did I just make a semi commitment to Logan? Did I just lose my mind? He wasn’t even drunk this time. I’d kinda like to run after him, but I can’t. I just can’t be with him right now.
***
Weevil paced nervously, making Mrs. Rotchen glare at him from her position at her desk.
“I will be done when I am done, Eli.”
Weevil muttered under his breath and continued to pace.
“Congratulations,” she said, handing him the paper. It had a B across the front. “Good work.”
Weevil whooped and kissed his cross necklace in joy.
***
“I’m sorry, sweetie, Woody’s gone,” Keith said grimly.
“What?” asked Veronica.
“He’s not at his house or office. His wife says he hasn’t been home for the last day.”
“He found out Mac got the emails. He knows we know,” Veronica said in realization.
“You find out anymore?”
“Woody’s Little League team was called the Sharks. Two of the boys from the team were on the bus. Marcos and Peter. I’m going to identify the rest of the team and figure out which one was edited from the tape. Then maybe he can testify against Woody.”
“You give me the evidence and we’re going to follow it through all the way, honey. There’s no way he’s getting away with it.”
“Didn’t we say that about Aaron too?” asked Veronica numbly.
“The trial is going our way, Veronica.” Keith put his hands on her shoulders. “Now, I gotta go and try to find Woody. Will you be okay?”
“I have one final test and then I’ll be peachy so long as Angie Dahl forgets everything she ever knew.”
“Which isn’t much?” Keith asked knowingly.
“Get to work!” she said, kissing him as he went out the door.
***
“It was the cow comment, wasn’t it?”
Kendall lifted her head from looking through her purse to see Logan leaning against her Porsche.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m guessing you got all indignant inside and since you were rather hard up for cash it wouldn’t be too hard to say yes to a murderer who was willing to pay to get out of his sentence and maybe frame his ungrateful son at the same time.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She tried to brush him aside so she could get in her car.
“At least you got to do the fun parts,” he continued. “Sleeping with me couldn’t have been all bad. At least nobody else ever thought so.”
“What, the little girls? Of course not,” she said scathingly.
“Are you going to tell me why, or shall I just flash some cleavage to get what I want?” he asked blithely.
“Logan, I don’t know where you’re coming up with this. Since we are, as you were so kind to inform me a few days ago, over, I’m going to ask you to move the hell out of my way.”
Logan moved, but further into her field of vision.
“Aaron will give you up so fast your head will spin, my dear. Don’t make the mistake of covering for him.”
“As I recall, your father is going to jail,” Kendall said pointedly.
“At which point, Kendall, he’ll use every trick in the book to take everyone down with him.”
She tried not to flinch, but she could tell he'd seen it.
“What’s in it for me?” she asked after a moment.
“Shorter sentence. Won’t have to live with Dick anymore. Probably have some money when you get out. Since Mr. C’s still AWOL, you two are legally bound,” Logan said easily.
“You have no proof about any of this.”
She turned and opened her car door.
“I have proof.”
“Prove it,” she demanded.
“Just tell me why you did it.”
Kendall laughed and flipped her hair.
“You wanna know why? I needed the money. You wouldn’t do it the easy way, so I went elsewhere. Your dad wanted you in prison and Duncan Kane right along with you. I just helped it along a little. Though I do think it was a little excessive to try and reframe you after he failed the first time with the Mexican kid.”
“Thanks.” Logan turned to walk away and then turned back. “By the way, I think you dropped this.”
He dropped a bug into her hand and left.
Kendall’s face filled with horror and she yelled after him.
“Who else heard that?”
***
Logan drove to the school to clean out his locker. By now the Sheriff department had overheard him and Kendall and would be coming for her. It was sad that so many big events were happening and he was only just graduating high school. He needed to find Veronica.
She was studying outside her last exam. She looked beautiful and he ached to kiss her. But that would not be appropriate.
She looked up and saw him. A mix of pleasure and exasperation crossed her face. Like it usually did when she saw him.
“Logan, I told you to back off! I need time!”
“Try to keep your ego in check, Mars,” he said as casually as possible. “This isn’t about you.”
“Then what is it about?”
“Kendall. My dad hired her to help frame me.”
“What?”
“Yup, I can pick em. Anyways, my question is if you ever found the guy who stole the briefcase?”
“I sent Weevil after him.”
“I need to know if he’s connected to my dad or to Kendall. They’re picking her up right now.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I just wanted to tell you,” he said.
“Thanks. So, uh-"
Logan’s phone beeped, interrupting them.
He picked it out and read the message on the screen.
“Veronica, the verdict is in.”
“I have to take this test,” she said like she was on autopilot.
“It’s the trial of our lives," he pointed out.
“It’s my future," she said.
“Yeah, I know you can’t wait to get out of here,” he said, trying to sound light.
He waved and headed out of the school, hopefully to see his dad sentenced.
***
Veronica entered her class and tried to focus on her test. The words blurred before her and all she could see was Aaron’s smug face. She wanted to see him put away more than anything. Was she willing to sacrifice everything?
Goodbye Kane Scholarship.
***
“Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict?”
“We have, Your Honor.” Veronica squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Her dad gripped her hand on one side and Duncan held her other hand. Across the room, she saw Logan swallow heavily. “On the count of murder in the second degree, we find the defendant...guilty.”
Please let that have been what I just heard.
“On the count of aggravated assault, we find the defendant...guilty. On the count of statutory rape, we find the defendant...guilty.”
Veronica shared one emotion filled look with Logan across the room before her dad crushed her in a hug. She turned her triumphant gaze on Aaron and saw his face as he realized he would never be free again. It was the look she had been waiting a year to see.
Veronica sat with her back tensed and her head held high. It made her sick to be in the same room with Aaron Echolls. It made her feel like crying to be in the same room with Logan Echolls. It made her uneasy to be in a courtroom at all. All in all, today was not a good day for her.
Logan kept looking over at her with a puppy dog look in his eyes that she couldn’t ignore and hated him for. It was like he was making her out to be the bad guy when he’d approached her and then rubbed her face in it with Kendall.
They hadn’t spoken since then, though he’d tried once or twice. Rather half heartedly, she thought. Now they were here united in their effort to incarcerate his father. Some bonds just last.
“The prosecution would like to show the tapes now, Your Honor.”
“Proceed, Counselor.”
***
Logan swallowed hard as they wheeled a TV into the room. It almost made him wish he’d destroyed the vile things when he’d had the chance. But his father’s smug face as he smiled at Veronica made him glad he hadn’t.
The TV flashed static for a minute and then the sight that still ran endlessly through his head came on the screen. He stared pointedly at the wall. Several gasps came from the jury and he took a quick glance at the screen. His father smiled at the camera. Logan resisted the urge to vomit and looked away. Veronica caught his eye. She was watching him with something akin to sympathy. But there was still too much hurt in her eyes.
He really needed to talk to her. She kept dodging him and he didn’t know how to broach the subject. He was going to do it no matter what, but it was much harder than it might seem.
“That’s all, Your Honor.”
“Thank you. We’ll adjourn and reconvene tomorrow at 10 am.”
Logan tried to talk to Veronica afterward, but her dad swept her away and he was left with the knowledge that his dad had asked to see him before he testified.
He walked to the visitor section of the courthouse and picked up the phone while staring at his father sitting on the other side of the glass.
“Hello, son.”
“You know, if you would've given Lilly the performance you gave today, she might've given you the Oscar,” Logan said, desperately trying to stay calm.
“I wanted to talk to you before you testify. I think it's in your best interest that you don't talk about what you’ve seen.”
Logan laughed slightly.
“What, because I want so desperately for you to be free so we can be a family again?”
“Logan, we’re already a family. I'm gonna win this, son. Don’t make the mistake of putting bad blood between us when I’m going to be free.”
Logan shook his head at the veiled threat.
“Aw gee, Dad. You're always looking out for me. Thanks for the advice.”
He was done protecting his father.
“Logan, I’m warning you.”
“I don’t suppose this father/son chat has anything to do with these?” Logan held up listening devices identical to ones he’d seen Veronica using dozens of times. “I found them in my room. It seemed like an odd place for them. I can think of only one person who would have put them there and only one person who would have wanted them there. Maybe the same person who would have had access to my BFF’s hair from when he stayed in my extra room.” Aaron didn’t say anything. Logan gave him a little wave and stood up. “See ya in court, pops.”
***
Veronica watched Weevil walk away with a look of helplessness. She felt horrible for letting him down. But she just didn’t have the time.
A gunshot rang out and she immediately dropped to the floor. She saw Gia standing, frozen in shock, and pulled her down behind a table.
The shooter was Lucky, out on bail, out of a job, and obviously upset. He jumped up on one of the tables and started waving his gun around.
“Look at this. You're like animals.” He threw some food at a girl on the floor. “Somebody's gotta clean this up, you know. But not me. No, they fired me. I guess I'm good enough to drive an armored troop transport truck to Tikrit, but not to polish the floors at Neptune High. Hey, anybody want to cut out of here? Might try to jump State Canyon. Who wants to go for a ride? What, no one? Where's my girl? Huh? G-G-G-Gia?”
Gia stifled a frightened shriek. She crouched down to avoid being seen. Lucky started to scan the cafeteria. Veronica’s eyes widened in shock when she saw Wallace sneaking up behind Lucky. He tackled him and sent them both hurtling over the staircase ledge.
Veronica craned her neck to get a better view and her entire world lit up in agony as she saw Wallace on the receiving end of the gun. The trigger was pulled.
Wallace blinked in surprise to find himself still alive. Then another shot went off. Lucky crumpled to the floor next to him, blood seeping out of his back. Veronica ran to Wallace and hugged him fiercely.
“You’re never allowed to die,” she told him sternly.
Wallace tried to breathe.
“I’ll keep it in mind,” he answered with a shaky smile.
She smiled back, her eyes flooded with tears.
***
“Nobody likes a blonde in a hamster ball,” Veronica reminded her dad. He squeezed her knee and she understood his feelings. Days like these may run a little more than average in the Mars family, but they were definitely the bad days. “So, Woody’s trying to say that Lucky was all torn up because of Iraq?”
“That and he was let go from being a bat boy for the Sharks.”
“So, what is the Sheriff going to do about it?”
“He looked into Lucky’s apartment and found he’d sent a whole lot of emails to Woody.”
“Saying?”
“He trashed the files. I need the attachments. Luckily, your old man’s still got some PI chops and snatched those babies from Woody’s server.”
“I could have had Mac do it for you,” she offered.
“Who do you think did it for me?”
“What, did I lose middle man status now?”
Veronica crossed her arms in horrified defiance.
“She’s not speaking to you. Or something like that. I didn’t get the particulars,” Keith said with a bemused air.
Veronica rolled her eyes.
“So, what did you find out?”
“She said she’d give you the info at school tomorrow.”
“What through mime?”
***
Veronica slammed her locker shut and almost fell over when Wallace bumped into her playfully.
“I just took my last high school test ever. Done, over. I'm outta here," he said, waving his arms for emphasis.
Veronica opened her history book and started to study.
“And you decided to celebrate by torturing me?”
“What, you got one more?”
“Three. Nothing like having your future rest on how much you know about the ascendancy rules of Babylon.”
“Well, I gotta go clean out my locker,” he said.
“You got that salmon I left in there for you, right?”
Wallace shook his head at her nonchalance.
“You better enjoy this, cause this is as nostalgic as I get.” Veronica looked at him fully. “I just wanted to say...it was worth getting taped to a pole. Gonna miss you.”
“And my stupid-ass face?”
They laughed together.
“I gotta go grab my stuff, then I'll pick up my lady, do a little celebrating.” He walked away and she watched him go with a smile. He turned around to face her, walking backwards. “This conversation never happened!”
“Sure it did,” she said quietly to herself.
“Veronica.”
She saw Mac approaching her.
“Mac, did we make up?”
“Yes, we made up, are you happy?”
“Slightly.”
“I have those emails for you. There’s some stuff you need to hear.”
The two headed into the nearly vacant computer lab and Mac played some audio files for Veronica. Veronica’s mouth fell open.
“Do you hear those voices in the background? Are they speaking French?”
“Forget about the French, listen to what they said!" Mac said and played it again.
“We have to tell people what Woody did to the three of us. It's gonna come out someday. A couple of the Sharks had to know about it. They'll come forward. Things like this don't stay secret.”
“Woody's a pervert. He's sick! What he did to us is wrong! We were just kids.”
“There were three of them,” Mac said, sounding horrified.
“Didn't it just sound like two guys? Like Marcos?”
Veronica had spent enough time listening to his voice that she would know it anywhere. The pieces were starting to come together for her.
“Those gaps in the audio,” Mac pondered. “I think another speaker was edited out of this recording.”
“A couple of the Sharks had to know about it? Lucky was a batboy for the Sharks...”
“And that's when he met Woody,” said Mac.
“Did Lucky's emails say anything about being molested?” Veronica asked.
“No, it's hard to say,” Mac said, pulling out a hard copy of the emails. “Look, it's a lot of crazy ramblings, stream of consciousness ranting about war and the life of a soldier. It's hard to make sense of them.”
“I’ll handle that part.” Veronica took the pile. “Can you just work on finding out what was on those audio clips before they were edited? I have to tell my dad about this.”
“Woody may already know someone was on his server,” Mac admitted. “He had some heavy duty sensors in place. It’s possible I tripped one of them.”
“Thanks, Mac. Don’t worry about it. I’ll still come to you for all my espionage needs. In the meantime, I think you should go out to the quad area. Might be someone you want to see.”
Mac raised her eyebrows inquisitively, but Veronica just smiled and gathered her stuff. She was glad to help Mac out with Beaver in return for the Butters incident. But now, she had to go to her dad. They were all due in court and she didn’t know if there would be time to do anything about Woody until after, but it was the best she could do.
***
Keith stepped up to the witness stand and prepared to give his testimony. Veronica entered through the courtroom door and gave him a smile. He returned it and sat down.
“Veronica called me to let me know she was coming home. When she didn't show up when she should've, I drove the route I knew she would've taken. I saw her car, stopped, got out; I heard a commotion in the back of a nearby house and went looking for Veronica. Then I was jumped.”
“Well, Mr. Echolls testified that after Veronica lost control of the car and crashed it, they knocked on the door of a nearby house, asked the owner to call a tow truck, and Veronica and Aaron waited on the man's porch. You arrived, saw your daughter in a compromising position, and started a physical altercation with Mr. Echolls. And this version has been confirmed by the occupant of the house.”
“Objection.” The prosecutor jumped to her feet. “The homeowner has disappeared, and despite being subpoenaed, has never been questioned by the prosecution.”
“Sustained.”
The judge nodded at Keith to continue. He told the story of the rest of the night, how he had gotten the upper hand on Aaron whereupon Aaron set fire to the gasoline soaked freezer.
Aaron’s lawyer twisted everything Keith said and brought up many of Veronica’s indiscretions, some of which Keith had known nothing about. Veronica winced as she saw her dad’s face and knew they’d be having a discussion later. But, for then, despite a few tense moments when his answers became something resembling verbal hatred, Keith gave his testimony and got off the stand whereupon they had a ten minute recess.
“So, been to any good murder trials lately?” she inquired weakly.
Keith hugged his daughter who had such strange moral qualms. Duncan joined them a moment later.
“You make it look so easy,” he said nervously.
“You’ll do just fine,” Keith assured him. “You’ve had plenty of experience in here of late.”
“Unfortunately, that’s true.”
“How is the baby trial going?” Veronica asked. “Is Cliff battling his hardest for ya?”
“He does pretty well,” Duncan admitted. “I think everything hinges on Aaron’s trial. If he’s convicted, we’ll probably get Lilly. If he isn’t, I’m going to get arrested.”
“You know I can’t talk about it, son,” Keith said sadly. “But I hope for the sake of everyone that Aaron is put away for good.”
“You and me both,” Veronica muttered, glaring at Aaron as he was brought back into the courtroom.
“All rise.”
Duncan’s hands shook slightly and Veronica put her hand on his arm to calm him. He smiled down at her and went back to his seat beside Logan.
“The prosecution calls Duncan Kane to the stand.”
Duncan rose and took his place, swearing on the Bible.
“Tell us the events of that night, Mr. Kane.”
“The Governor was at our house that evening. I wasn’t in a party mood and so I went upstairs to my room. I noticed someone in Lilly’s room and went to see what was happening. Someone was opening the air vents in her room and I grabbed them. It was Veronica. I started to yell at her and ask her why she was there. She said she didn’t- that she had reason to believe Logan might have been the killer and she was looking for proof of his innocence. We looked in the air vent and found the sex tapes. We played them on the viewer in my room. They were the same tapes we viewed here. It seemed logical to us that it was Mr. Echolls who had killed my sister over the tapes. He was at the party and so Veronica was going to take the tapes to her dad to turn over to the police while I watched Mr. Echolls. She left and I couldn’t find him, so I called Veronica. When we hung up I got worried and got my dad to go and drive out to where she would be. We got there when the police did. Mr. Mars was badly burned, Veronica bruised, and Mr. Echolls in a stretcher. The owner of the house was getting treated for a blow to the head.”
Duncan said it all at once and then fielded questions from the prosecution and defense. Veronica was proud of the way he answered the questions about his relationship with her, with Meg, about his illness and new daughter. Aaron’s lawyer was very good and by the end, the jury was probably convinced Duncan wasn’t safe, but that he was also telling the truth as far as he knew it.
Now if Logan and I can just not screw it up, we’ll be all good.
***
“Do I look like someone who knows quadratic equations, huh?” asked Weevil impatiently.
“I'm just, I'm just trying to see what you already know,” Cassidy said, shifting in his seat.
“Zero. You want your car fixed? Teach me.”
Weevil pounded the paper for emphasis and Cassidy tried hard to think.
“Okay. Okay, so let's say that you and your buddy, you want to buy a twelve pack of a certain item. Say, like, um, like spark plugs, for x dollars, and you want to find out how many of another item, like, um, I dunno, like oil, that you can get for the same amount, except oil is y times as much as-“
“If this is your idea of terms I'll understand, I'm going to kill you.” Mac swallowed a smile as she pretended to do her homework at the table across from them. She had to hand it to Veronica; she knew a good laugh when she saw one. Or orchestrated one. “Or myself,” Weevil continued. “It's a toss-up. Screw it, man, I'll just cheat.”
“No, but...what about my car?” asked Cassidy.
“You know power buffers, right? Well, let's say your door panel is a summer home, right, and you need to clear out the south lawn to make a tennis court, so what you got-"
Mac decided to intervene before Weevil's scathing replies burnt down the quad.
“F-O-I-L. That's all it is. First, outside, inside, last. All algebra, it's just the formula.”
She swung her legs around so she was facing them.
“Now can you teach me that?” Weevil asked, sounding impressed.
“You'll still fix his car?”
“That's the deal.”
Mac sat down next to them and folded her hands.
“Okay. Say you and your buddy buy a twelve pack of spark plugs...” She tried hard not to laugh as Weevil looked about ready to kill her. “I'm just kidding.” She took the pencil and bent over the paper, chancing a glance at Cassidy. He was smiling at her in the way he used to and she grinned back. It felt really good. “Here's the quadratic equation.”
***
“Can you tell us about your father?”
Logan smiled sarcastically.
“He’s a really bad actor. Likes to be in control. Has to have the perfect image.”
“And how would you say this affected your childhood and your relationship with him growing up?”
“I never really had one. I was too busy having my picture put in the paper to play and he was too busy signing autographs to have time for me.”
“Could you elaborate more on what that was like?”
“Well, he doesn’t know anything about me. Not anything most parents would know, my birthday, for instance.”
Veronica was very uncomfortable watching Logan testify. It was heartbreaking in a way. She also knew what was coming. She’d never had the guts to really ask Logan about Aaron’s abuse, but she knew she was going to hear more now than she wanted to.
Logan showed his right arm and a circular scar.
“Cigarette lighter when I was nine. I had forgotten to bring a note home from my teacher.” He pointed to somewhere just above his hairline. “We can get a doctor in here to examine if you’d like, but that’s from when my head smashed into the counter at twelve. I had smarted off to an executive producer he brought home. Nine stitches at our private family doctor. No emergency rooms for Aaron’s kids.”
It went on like that for awhile. It made Veronica sick to her stomach and she could see that it was taking its toll on Logan as well. He had worked hard his entire life to cover up what his father did to him and now he was baring it to the world for Lilly, for her, and for doing what was right.
The defense tried to make it seem like Logan was exaggerating, that as a child he had an overactive imagination, that he was just manifesting the frustration of his dead mother. The lawyer did it quite well, but the scars spoke for themselves.
***
Logan didn’t look at Veronica when he finished testifying. He didn’t look at his father. He didn’t acknowledge Duncan’s look of sympathy. He went to the restroom and retched, wishing the memories could be ejected as easily as the contents of his stomach. He splashed his face with cold water and sat down on the marble floor for a few minutes. He needed to get his bearings. By the time he got back into the courtroom, Veronica was on the stand.
“I did not proposition Mr. Echolls, he hid in the backseat of my car and threatened me. I crashed the car hoping for a chance to escape from him. I saw him knock the owner of the house unconscious and then he hit me and I blacked out. When I woke up I was in the freezer and he was going on about how I was like Joan of Arc who was crazy. I could hear my dad through the walkie talkie he’d placed in the freezer with me and then nothing but sounds of a struggle. I started to feel hot and could tell that the freezer was on fire. My dad opened the lid and pulled me out. I put out the fire on his clothes and I went to try to find a phone so I could call the police. I found Mr. Echolls in the road with the driver of the truck who had hit him.”
***
Veronica could hardly believe the tricks Aaron’s defense pulled. All of her dirty laundry was aired before the entire court and her embarrassment factor rose increasingly to have so many strangers and so many friends know the intimate details of her private life. Why they needed to know things like the results of her latest doctor's appointment, she didn't know.
But she remained true to the facts and she could tell the jury believed her. At least she hoped so. But after all they had seen how they could not was beyond her. It was the question she asked herself as she was let off the stand and avoided Logan’s and her dad’s eyes.
***
“Okay, you put another X on that paper and we're gonna have a problem," said Weevil, growled more like.
Mac smiled sweetly.
“I'd put little smiley faces, but I don't know if that's gonna sell wrong.”
Cassidy piped up from behind her.
“I told you that you went too fast on bouncing equations.”
“I didn't go too fast,” Mac protested.
“You plowed right through! I didn't understand what you were talking about!”
“No surprise there,” Mac retorted playfully.
“What, are you saying you're smarter than me?”
“No, I wasn't.” Mac twisted around in her chair to address him better while Weevil rolled his eyes and blew out a sigh. “Here's what that would've sounded like: I'm smarter than you. Hear the difference?”
“You don't really believe that,” Cassidy said in disbelief.
“Then why'd I get it tattooed on my hip?”
“Well, if this is what you need to do to feel better about yourself...”
“If I get you an A, will you shiv him?”
Mac turned back to Weevil though all her attention was on Cassidy.
“Hey, I got an idea: how about you two geniuses go work out your aggression in some coat room, and then come back here and teach me algebra, huh?” Mac blushed and looked down and then up again. Cassidy was watching her and grinning. “Never mind, I’m just going to go and retake this elsewhere,” Weevil said, grabbing the test and leaving. “When I come back be ready to teach instead of flirt, okay?”
Mac pulled out her computer and ignored Cassidy while she started to work on the audio files for Veronica.
“Maybe he’s right,” Cassidy said softly.
“About?”
“Us needing to work something out.”
“I thought you weren’t interested in that,” Mac said carefully.
“Maybe not then, but I am now. If you think that would work,” Cassidy said slowly.
“Perhaps. What did you have in mind?” Mac asked.
***
Cassidy took a huge breath before speaking.
“Well, Logan’s having a big bash after grad. If you wanted to go we could go. Maybe, since we were already there, we could get a room?”
Cassidy studied his hands. This was a huge step for him. He worked hard to keep other people at bay. He had worked especially hard in Mac’s case, but she kept creeping back in again. He wondered if he could keep up the pretense of being upset with her instead of just scared of what might happen. He didn’t think so and he was relieved that this opportunity had thrown them back together. He’d never thought of himself as being able to have someone special after everything that had happened. Mac made the odds vanish.
“I’d like that.” Mac grinned. “If your car’s fixed by then.”
“I can get another,” he reminded her.
He pulled a chair up beside her and gave her a soft kiss which she returned. She smiled and deliberately turned back to work on her computer as if not to spook him. He looked over her shoulder and froze.
“What’s that?”
“Just something Veronica wants me to unravel. Why?”
Cassidy swallowed hard.
“Nothing. No reason.”
***
With my day’s trialing at an end, maybe I can go home and get some quality study time in. Life doesn’t stop just because Aaron Echolls murders your best friend.
Logan jumped in front of Veronica as she tried to exit the courthouse.
“Not now, Logan,” she said.
She did not have time for another emotional episode.
“When? I know you, Veronica. You’ll say not now until the end of time. I’m not leaving.”
“Then I will.”
She made to side step him, but he moved to block her.
“I didn’t sleep with her!” he blurted out.
Veronica winced as people in the hallway stared at them.
“Could you say it louder so more people in Neptune can hear you?”
“I’m sorry.” Logan lowered his voice. “We need to talk.”
“Fine.” Veronica gave in and led the way to a small alcove where they had a modicum of privacy. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Our history exam. What do you think I want to talk about?”
“If you’re so anxious to, then spit it out so I can go study for that exam,” Veronica said, exasperated.
“Listen, I wasn’t with Kendall after you left that night. I was very drunk and passed out in my room. When I got up the next morning I remembered something had happened between us and so I called Kendall because I wanted to tell her it was over. She was nearby so she dropped in. You got there just as she was leaving having been fully clothed for her entire visit.”
“Oh,” Veronica said. Her brain was too tired to take in all that information. “I see.”
“See what an idiot you’ve been?” asked Logan bitterly.
“Excuse me?”
“When are you going to realize that I mean what I say, Veronica?”
“When you do what you say,” she postulated.
He reached out and pulled her toward him, locking their lips together. He devoured her mouth and then let go as they both started to breathe faster.
“There. I did. You happy now?”
Veronica’s brain shut off entirely for a few seconds and then kicked back on in overdrive.
Amazing kiss. History exam. Big trial. Kiss. Woody’s the murderer. College. Logan. Wallace. Logan. My dad. Logan. Trial, exam, bus crash. Logan.
“You win,” she finally said. “But not yet. I can’t do this right now. I have to ace my finals to get the Kane scholarship. I’m working overtime at the office. I have the trial to worry about and I’m working on the bus crash. There is a you and me, but the you and me can’t be a you and me until much later from now.”
“When is that?”
“When I’ve had time to process things.”
“Veronica, you can’t hold off on your feelings forever. You’re this close to letting go. Why won’t you?”
“You’re a scary concept, Logan. I don’t know how to fit your complexity into the already complex.”
“Stop over analyzing. Stop trying to work a case. This isn’t a job, it’s life. I’m here and you feel it. I feel you too.”
“I promise to feel you-" she stopped, hearing her poor choice of words. He couldn’t seem to help his grin. “I promise, we will be, later. After a huge discussion, some making out, and probably a few bitter diatribes.”
“I’ll be waiting by the phone,” he said lightly.
He kissed her forehead and walked away.
Did I just make a semi commitment to Logan? Did I just lose my mind? He wasn’t even drunk this time. I’d kinda like to run after him, but I can’t. I just can’t be with him right now.
***
Weevil paced nervously, making Mrs. Rotchen glare at him from her position at her desk.
“I will be done when I am done, Eli.”
Weevil muttered under his breath and continued to pace.
“Congratulations,” she said, handing him the paper. It had a B across the front. “Good work.”
Weevil whooped and kissed his cross necklace in joy.
***
“I’m sorry, sweetie, Woody’s gone,” Keith said grimly.
“What?” asked Veronica.
“He’s not at his house or office. His wife says he hasn’t been home for the last day.”
“He found out Mac got the emails. He knows we know,” Veronica said in realization.
“You find out anymore?”
“Woody’s Little League team was called the Sharks. Two of the boys from the team were on the bus. Marcos and Peter. I’m going to identify the rest of the team and figure out which one was edited from the tape. Then maybe he can testify against Woody.”
“You give me the evidence and we’re going to follow it through all the way, honey. There’s no way he’s getting away with it.”
“Didn’t we say that about Aaron too?” asked Veronica numbly.
“The trial is going our way, Veronica.” Keith put his hands on her shoulders. “Now, I gotta go and try to find Woody. Will you be okay?”
“I have one final test and then I’ll be peachy so long as Angie Dahl forgets everything she ever knew.”
“Which isn’t much?” Keith asked knowingly.
“Get to work!” she said, kissing him as he went out the door.
***
“It was the cow comment, wasn’t it?”
Kendall lifted her head from looking through her purse to see Logan leaning against her Porsche.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m guessing you got all indignant inside and since you were rather hard up for cash it wouldn’t be too hard to say yes to a murderer who was willing to pay to get out of his sentence and maybe frame his ungrateful son at the same time.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She tried to brush him aside so she could get in her car.
“At least you got to do the fun parts,” he continued. “Sleeping with me couldn’t have been all bad. At least nobody else ever thought so.”
“What, the little girls? Of course not,” she said scathingly.
“Are you going to tell me why, or shall I just flash some cleavage to get what I want?” he asked blithely.
“Logan, I don’t know where you’re coming up with this. Since we are, as you were so kind to inform me a few days ago, over, I’m going to ask you to move the hell out of my way.”
Logan moved, but further into her field of vision.
“Aaron will give you up so fast your head will spin, my dear. Don’t make the mistake of covering for him.”
“As I recall, your father is going to jail,” Kendall said pointedly.
“At which point, Kendall, he’ll use every trick in the book to take everyone down with him.”
She tried not to flinch, but she could tell he'd seen it.
“What’s in it for me?” she asked after a moment.
“Shorter sentence. Won’t have to live with Dick anymore. Probably have some money when you get out. Since Mr. C’s still AWOL, you two are legally bound,” Logan said easily.
“You have no proof about any of this.”
She turned and opened her car door.
“I have proof.”
“Prove it,” she demanded.
“Just tell me why you did it.”
Kendall laughed and flipped her hair.
“You wanna know why? I needed the money. You wouldn’t do it the easy way, so I went elsewhere. Your dad wanted you in prison and Duncan Kane right along with you. I just helped it along a little. Though I do think it was a little excessive to try and reframe you after he failed the first time with the Mexican kid.”
“Thanks.” Logan turned to walk away and then turned back. “By the way, I think you dropped this.”
He dropped a bug into her hand and left.
Kendall’s face filled with horror and she yelled after him.
“Who else heard that?”
***
Logan drove to the school to clean out his locker. By now the Sheriff department had overheard him and Kendall and would be coming for her. It was sad that so many big events were happening and he was only just graduating high school. He needed to find Veronica.
She was studying outside her last exam. She looked beautiful and he ached to kiss her. But that would not be appropriate.
She looked up and saw him. A mix of pleasure and exasperation crossed her face. Like it usually did when she saw him.
“Logan, I told you to back off! I need time!”
“Try to keep your ego in check, Mars,” he said as casually as possible. “This isn’t about you.”
“Then what is it about?”
“Kendall. My dad hired her to help frame me.”
“What?”
“Yup, I can pick em. Anyways, my question is if you ever found the guy who stole the briefcase?”
“I sent Weevil after him.”
“I need to know if he’s connected to my dad or to Kendall. They’re picking her up right now.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I just wanted to tell you,” he said.
“Thanks. So, uh-"
Logan’s phone beeped, interrupting them.
He picked it out and read the message on the screen.
“Veronica, the verdict is in.”
“I have to take this test,” she said like she was on autopilot.
“It’s the trial of our lives," he pointed out.
“It’s my future," she said.
“Yeah, I know you can’t wait to get out of here,” he said, trying to sound light.
He waved and headed out of the school, hopefully to see his dad sentenced.
***
Veronica entered her class and tried to focus on her test. The words blurred before her and all she could see was Aaron’s smug face. She wanted to see him put away more than anything. Was she willing to sacrifice everything?
Goodbye Kane Scholarship.
***
“Foreman, has the jury reached a verdict?”
“We have, Your Honor.” Veronica squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Her dad gripped her hand on one side and Duncan held her other hand. Across the room, she saw Logan swallow heavily. “On the count of murder in the second degree, we find the defendant...guilty.”
Please let that have been what I just heard.
“On the count of aggravated assault, we find the defendant...guilty. On the count of statutory rape, we find the defendant...guilty.”
Veronica shared one emotion filled look with Logan across the room before her dad crushed her in a hug. She turned her triumphant gaze on Aaron and saw his face as he realized he would never be free again. It was the look she had been waiting a year to see.