Disclaimer: Veronica Mars and the characters therein do not belong to me. Neither do the Oprah Book Club or the New York Times bestseller list.

Chapter 1

The number was still stored in his phone. "I really hope she hasn't changed her number," he thought. It had been 2 years since they'd last spoken. No time for worrying about that now, he pressed send and waited as a phone rang. "Well, it's not a disconnected number. That's a start."

"Hello?" "Mac, it's Wallace. How are you?" "I'm well, and it's nice to hear from you, but is it wrong if I ask why you're calling at Noon on a Wednesday?" "Yeah, I know it's been a long time. I'm sorry for calling out of the blue like this and bothering you at work, but you're the first person I thought to call. I don't have much time to talk. My flight to Johannesburg leaves in 45 minutes, and they're about to start boarding."

"What's going on Wallace? Is everything okay?"

"I think so, but I just had a weird experience and I need to you confirm that I'm not loosing my mind." "Okay, but you are scaring me a bit."

"Have you read, 'Candy from Babies'?" "I never pegged you as a member of Oprah's book club, Wallace. How on earth is this important?" "I know, I know, but I needed a book at JFK and there was a giant display in the bookstore, so I decided to take a chance. But back to my question, have you read it?" "No, I haven't. I've heard some of the buzz, but that's it, why?"

"Okay, I don't want to bias you with my conspiracy theories. Will you do me a favor and buy a copy today and then send me an email when you're finished. I won't have much cell phone access outside of cities, but I will have access to e-mail. I still have the same Gmail account, do you have that address?"

"I do, Wallace, and I'll go buy the book, but you are really freaking me out. Are you sure you're okay? Where are you now?" "I am, Mac, and there's no need to panic. I'm at Heathrow after flying in from New York. Hey, they're boarding my flight, I have to go. Please send me an e-mail in a few days. Thank you, bye." "Bye, Wallace."

Mac hung up the phone thoroughly confused. "What on earth could be in this book that's so important to Wallace?" she thought. Well, she should get out of the office more anyway. It wasn't healthy to eat at her desk everyday; a little sunlight would do her good. She could walk down to Whole Foods and make a salad at their salad bar for lunch, and then hit the bookstore around the corner. She looked at the clock again and decided lunch could wait for another hour, because she needed to get back to her current programming puzzle. She wasn't paid to ponder Wallace's mysterious request.

--

"Oh my God," Mac thought for the eighth or ninth time that afternoon. She was only a third of the way through the book and she knew why Wallace had called her. She hadn't been able to put it down since sitting in the park to eat her salad and flip through the book. She'd called her office and taken the afternoon off. Hooray for personal leave. She wanted to call Wallace now, but it was only 4 hours since he'd called her. He'd still be on the plane. She might as well keep reading, but it was definitely time for a more comfortable perch. She'd head home and pick up something for dinner along the way, knowing she wasn't going to want to leave the house until she'd finished the book.

"Finished," she whispered as she put down the book later that night. It was inescapable. The current Oprah Book Club selection, New York Times bestseller, and mystery/thriller hit of the summer, "Candy from Babies," and its main character were based on Veronica.