Title: Risk Factor
Author: Ella :)
Characters/Pairings: Veronica, Logan, and all of your favorite (and some not so favorite) Marsverse characters.
Rating: T
Spoilers: 3x20 The Bitch Is Back
Word Count: This chapter is 5842 words.
Summary: Not long into the FBI Veronica gets assigned to a case that may just change her life
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em. Sometimes wish I did, though.
Chapter Title: Appendage
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Friday 25 February 2011 – House of Leesa McMahon – McMahon's Rest, Montara, CA – 7:30am
The first thing Leesa McMahon notices when she wakes up is that the weather is unusually cool for the California coast, even in winter. Trying not to wake her three month old baby, Leesa pads into the kitchen to fix herself some breakfast. As the kettle starts to boil she hears a loud crash coming from the living room. She glances at the clock on the stove and is hit with a rush of panic. Her parents aren't supposed to be arriving for another six hours. Grabbing a kitchen knife from the utensil draw, she makes her way to the living room. That's when she hears the giggle.
She places the knife on the bureau, sighs in relief and walks into the room. Sitting underneath the end table is her five year old son Lucas. Surrounding Lucas is an entire shelves worth of Leesa's CDs.
"Luke, honey." Leesa approaches her son and scoops him out from under the table. "What has mommy told you about scaring her like that? You nearly gave me a heart attack."
Lucas grabs the collar of his mom's shirt and buries his face in it, masking his giggles. "'m sorry mommy."
Leesa smiles, dropping a kiss on her son's forehead and placing him back down on the floor. Grabbing the knife in her right hand, and her son's hand in her left, she heads back into the kitchen. Lucas climbs up into his seat and sits down at the table, while his mother fixes him breakfast.
While her son starts eating his cereal, Leesa puts on her work boots and hauls a large bag of dog food from the pantry to the sliding glass doors separating the kitchen from the backyard. Lucas drops his spoon on the floor and jumps out of his chair. "Mommy! Can I help feed the puppies?"
"Sure, sweetie." Leesa opens the door and Lucas bolts out past her and heads straight for the dog pen. Keeping one eye on her son, Leesa lifts the dog food and makes her way over to Lucas.
"Mommy! It's open!" The joyous cries of her son brings a smile to her face, even if the news he was shouting doesn't. If the gate to the dog pen was open, chances were that Tess was loose again. And that was never a good sign. Tess was forever escaping the pen and gallivanting around town, rummaging through the neighbors garbage cans.
Walking into the dog pen, Leesa locks the gate behind her before pouring food into the dog bowls. Four wriggly puppies waddle over to the bowl and begin to munch. Leesa smiles at their tails wagging. She stops smiling as soon as she hears her son's voice.
"No! Tess, no! Put it down, Tess. Put. It. Down." Lucas' voice is coming from inside the dog shelter. "Naughty! Naughty! Naughty! Tess!"
Frowning, Leesa follows her son's bellowing and sees him squatting down in front of Tess, attempting to pull something out of her mouth. Relief washes over Leesa as she realizes that Tess isn't shredding someone else's trash. That relief disappears the second she sees what Tess and Lucas are fighting over.
Clutched in her son's small hands is a finger. A finger connected to the arm on which Tess is currently chewing.
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Friday 25 February 2011 – Apartment of Veronica Mars, Los Angeles, CA – 8:00pm
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." Veronica mutters as she searches through her travel bag for her keys. Through the door, she can hear the phone ringing, and with a quick glance at her watch she knows it's her father for their scheduled call. She can't miss this one. She missed the last.
Of course. I've had the most annoying day possible but by all means God, hide my keys so I miss another call from my dad.
Upon giving up the search, Veronica pulls her lock picks from her bag and goes to work on her lock. It takes all of thirty seconds before she's through the door and running towards the kitchen where the phone is.
Or not. Perfect!
The phone's not on the receiver. Groaning in frustration, she flies into the lounge area trying to locate the phone by following the ringing. She's just flung the cushions off the couch when the ringing stops and her father's voice fills the house.
"You ever hear the one about the idiot Sheriff and his band of loser flunkies?" Keith's voice rings out loud and clear, a chuckle evident in his voice. "Long story short the idiot Sheriff screws up a case and the ADA asks the slick, handsome and brilliant PI for assistance. Pack your stereo kid, Daddy's going back to work."
Veronica stares at the machine, a grin splitting across her face. She shakes her head at her dad's jovial statement and continues searching for the phone.
"Anyway, I'm heading out to do some surveillance and wanted to catch you beforehand. I'll talk to you later, honey. And hey, who's your daddy?"
Ugh. I hate it when he says that.
She spots the phone peeking out from under the television cabinet and dives across the room. As soon as she pushes the talk button and starts to blurt out a witty retort, she hears dial tone. Keith's hung up. She missed the call. Again.
Veronica throws her travel bag down on the cushion-less couch, hits the redial button on the handset and stalks into the kitchen. Grabbing a frozen container of macaroni and cheese, she sighs as her dad's voice politely asks her to leave a message.
"Hey pops." She places the frozen meal in the microwave and makes a mental note to get groceries in the morning. "Sorry I missed your call but I swear the circumstances where completely out of my control. I mean I know I've been a pest in the past but all the gods were against me today. My flight was delayed three hours, I had to sit next to a screaming child, the cab driver kept hitting on me, and then I had to climb twelve flights of stairs because the elevator's out of service. Anyway, enough about me. Congratulations on the new case. Or, commiserations, you know, depending on how you look at it. I'm about to indulge myself with a typical Veronica-esque gourmet meal and head off to bed. I'll hear from you on Saturday. Stay safe, love you."
As she disconnects the call, the microwave informs her that her dinner is ready. Placing her iPod in the speakers, she grabs her meal and plops herself onto the couch. It's been a long day and she deserves some quiet time.
Ever since she graduated from Hearst and was picked up by the FBI her life has been one non-stop episode of CSI. Of course, Veronica's happier than she's been in a long time. She's surrounded herself by loving friends and family, and has the job of her dreams. The only regret she has is that to get to this place she lost three of her greatest friends to dire circumstances, and the others to other parts of the world.
She stretches out on the couch and kicks off her shoes. The trip to Seattle had taken a lot out of her and it wasn't even work-related. She'd flown over to visit her best friend and his fiancé in order to give them a belated engagement gift and celebrate with them. Of course, their engagement was to be kept on the down-low in case the press caught a whiff and started publishing various stories about the two. She missed him. A lot. But he was happy now and that was all she could have ever asked for.
As the iPod starts playing Beth Waters' Blue & White, a loud beeping is heard from her cell phone. It's a reminder. Sighing, she glances at the clock and tries to figure out what the time is in Australia.
Scooping a mouthful of solid cheese into her mouth, Veronica picks up her phone and dials one of her oldest friends.
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Saturday 26 February 2011 – House of Duncan & Annabelle Kane, Hurstbridge, VIC (AUS) – 2:00pm
Duncan Kane has had a hard life. When he was sixteen he got told his girlfriend could be his sister, but he slept with her any way. When he was sixteen his sister was murdered and his own parents thought he did it. When he was eighteen he found out that his ex-girlfriend was pregnant and he was the father. When he was eighteen his ex-girlfriend died and he had to kidnap his daughter from her mother's abusive parents and once again flee the country.
It wasn't all bad though. When he was twenty one his daughter's aunt filed charges against her parents and his kidnapping charges were dropped. He was a free man. When he was twenty-one he met and married the love of his life, Annabelle Walters, a young nurse from Melbourne, Australia. At the age of twenty-two Annie gave birth to twin boys and Duncan's life was perfect. When the kidnapping charges were dropped, Duncan was able to return home to California but instead chose to remain in Australia where his whole world lived. He was comfortable now. He had a lovely wife and three lovely children. His best friend lived only an hours drive away and he could now communicate with everybody else he had left behind. His life was complete.
Here he was now, on a Saturday afternoon cleaning dishes with his wife after enjoying a wonderful summer barbeque with his family. Five years ago, if someone had told him he'd be spending his time washing dishes and playing Barbie with Lilly Jr. and Tonka trucks with the twins, he wouldn't have believed them. And not because he preferred race cars to dump trucks.
Duncan Kane. Soul heir to the entire Kane fortune. He had a maid to tie his own shoelaces and here he was cleaning up a one year old's mashed peas. In the words of his beloved sister: the Donut a family man? Who would have thunk it?
He hears a squeal and feels a tug at his leg. He looks down to see the oldest of the twins grinning up at him, mashed peas between his fingers. Shaking his head at the two perfect green hand prints on his leg, he towels off his hands and bends down to pick up little Joshua. He's heading out onto the patio, his son in his arms when a beeping sounds from the office. It's the phone. Placing Joshua next to his brother, Duncan turns to his wife and drops a kiss on her forehead.
"I'll get it. It's two o'clock so it's probably Veronica."
"Say hi for me ok?" Annie smiles at her husband. "And tell her about July."
"Sure thing." Duncan nods and then re-enters the house. He enters his office, sits down in his chair and picks up the phone. "DK speaking."
There's a chuckle on the other end of the line and he smiles when he realizes that it is indeed Veronica. "Do you always have to answer my calls like that?"
"How else would you have me answer them? In Pig-Latin? Uncan-Day Ane-Kay."
"Duncan Kane, sarcastic? What is the world coming to?"
"Veronica Mars, mocking me? What a surprise!" he counters, leaning back in his chair comfortably. "How've you been Miss Mars?"
Veronica sighs before replying. "Alright, I guess. I just got back from Seattle. Worst. Flight. Ever. There was this little kid sitting next to me and he would not stop screaming. I've never in my life wanted to kill a child but I swear to god, I could have ripped that kid's throat out. Why do people pro-create?"
Duncan's about to answer her when Joshua crawls into the room and under the work bench. "Considering I've got three children I'm probably not the best person to ask, Veronica."
Realizing her mistake Veronica's eyes widen in horror. "Oh god, Duncan, I'm sorry. I didn't mean – oh, well, yeah I did mean but – your children are gorgeous." Her eyes drift to a shelf where the Christmas card Annie and Duncan posted to her three months earlier is displayed proudly. Annie is sitting on a couch holding the twins while Duncan is standing beside her, a four year old Lilly on his hip, her blonde hair in pigtails.
"Thank you." He chuckles at her backpedaling and ducks his head under the bench to make sure his son isn't playing with anything electrical. "And I know you don't actually kill small children. You just, how can I put this nicely? Oh, right, hate them with every fiber of your being?"
"That's not true!" Her indignant response is so loud it almost bursts Duncan's ear drum. "I don't hate them. They just annoy me. Besides, I did alright when I visited last summer."
"Veronica, the second you got here you agreed to take Lilly to the beach, which we live four hours away from, and then when you finally settled on the pool, you took her out there in the cold and you both got sick." Duncan frowns at the memory of the two of them spending a week lying in bed under layers of blankets.
"How many times do I need to apologize for that? I'm really sorry. But in my defense, I did just get here from sunny California. How was I to know it was going to be so cold out?"
"I dunno, perhaps when you stepped out of the airport and screamed 'God Duncan is this Australia or Alaska?' at the top of your lungs, I figured you got the message." Noticing Joshua reaching for a stack of papers he bends down and redirects his son towards the teddy bear lying in the middle of the room.
"I don't think I like this new and improved confident Duncan. I think I liked you better when you didn't talk back to me and took everything I said as law." Her words stung a little but her tone held no malice. He decides not to bite and makes the decision to change the subject.
"Suck it up Veronica, I can practically hear you pouting." Just as she's about to respond he cuts her off. "How was Seattle anyway?"
"The city? Not as bad as everyone makes out. The people? Yeah, them I could have done without. Although it was good to see my BFF again. Who would have thought that living only seventeen hours away could put a strain on communication?"
"Weird, huh?" He replies nonchalantly, attempting to calculate how long it takes to fly from where he is back to California. It's then that he remembers his wife's words and decides to tell Veronica the good news. "How about we combine the two major topics of this conversation and I tell you a secret?"
Veronica frowns at his suggestion and attempts to piece together their conversation. "Wallace and children?" Her eyes widen at his suggestion. "Suzanna's having a baby? And you know before I do? Huh. Well, consider his BFF status revoked. I wonder what Parker's doing at the moment…"
"No, Veronica, Suzanna is not having a baby." Duncan says the words slowly so he knows she understood. "At least, not that I know of."
"Good. Because I don't think Parker would be able to get me free front row basketball tickets to rub in my colleagues faces."
Duncan smiles. "No, I suppose interior decorators don't really have a lot of pull with the world of NBA. Besides, not what I was talking about. Annie, the kids and I are planning on spending July in Neptune. How would you feel about a visitation?"
"Hmm…" Veronica pretends to mull it over. "Spending the only leave I've got holed up in my apartment working while pretending not to be, or returning to the town I despise almost as much as children to spend time with all my friends and family." There's a pause before she answers. "Yeah, that's a toughie."
"I'll let you know our arrival date when we've booked the flights." Duncan catches a glimpse of his wife walking past his office door and towards the house's main entrance.
"Wonderful." The blonde lets out a contented sigh and shifts on her couch, stretching her legs out in front of her. "It's been almost a year since I've seen you guys. The boys must be getting big."
Just as Duncan starts to respond he hears a familiar voice from the foyer and Annie's reply informing him that Duncan's in his office. "They are. They grow up so fast." He nods his head at Logan as he enters the room and drops to the floor next to little Joshua. Duncan smiles as his best friend waves the small bear in front of the baby, eliciting a joyous cry from him and a wide grin from Logan. "Can you hang on a second?"
Frowning at the sudden change in conversation, Veronica sits up. "Sure."
Duncan covers the mouthpiece of the phone and turns to Logan. "Hey man. It's Veronica. Do you wanna say hello?"
Shaking his head, Logan's grin remains in place as the younger twin crawls into the room and heads straight for him. "Nah dude, I'll talk to her tomorrow."
"Ok."
Shaking her head at the muffled conversation on the other end of the line, Veronica can't help but feel a little hurt. She hasn't seen Logan in almost two years and while they've become close friends and speak every weekend, she still feels a little upset that he's turned down the opportunity for a conversation.
"Hey, sorry about that." Duncan lifts the handset back to his ear and apologizes. "Logan just arrived."
"So I heard." The response is short and she knows that Duncan's recognized the change in her tone. "Covering the mouthpiece doesn't work as well with digital phones, Donut. I can hear everything going on over there."
Duncan lets out a sigh at the bite in her voice and watches as Logan starts to tickle his son's feet. As he's started to learn over the years, the best course of action when Veronica gets prickly about a subject, is to change it. "For a second there I thought you were going to make a joke about which Logan."
Smiling wryly, Veronica stands up and heads back to the kitchen with her empty dinner container. "Thought about it. I mean, what possessed you to name your son after Logan? Lilly Junior? I understand, but Logan Junior? Duncan, do you really think the world needs another gremlin like Logan?"
"Firstly, I object to you calling my son a gremlin, and I'm pretty sure Logan objects to you calling him one too." He glances over at his best friend who simply nods. "And secondly, I never thought I'd see you guys again and wanted to make sure I had something to remember him by."
"A kid?" She snorts. "Couldn't you just steal a sweatshirt or something? And what about me? Named any of your kids after me Duncan?"
"Considering the relationship we once had I decided it would be a little creepy if I named one of my kids after you. Besides, I'm pretty sure little Joshua would have objected to being called Veronica."
She grins at his reasoning and lets out a yawn. "Whatever." There's another yawn and she glances at the clock, deciding its time to call it quits. "Hey, I'm practically falling asleep on the phone. I'll hear from you next week, alright?"
"Sure thing 'Ronica." Duncan nods. "9pm your time." They disconnect and he drops the handset onto his desk before sliding off his chair and joining Logan, Logan Jr. and Joshua on the floor. Joshua crawls over to his father and bites him on the knee.
Logan turns to face them and laughs as Joshua spits up on Duncan's pants. "I dunno man, if he causes you this much distress maybe you should have named him Veronica."
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Saturday 26 February 2011 – Apartment of Veronica Mars, Los Angeles, CA – 3:00am
A shrill chirping forces her eyes open and she lets out a frustrated groan when her clock informs her of the time. Switching on her lamp, Veronica leans over and grabs her cell phone, pressing the talk button.
"Mars." Her voice is groggy and she blinks at the change in brightness, silently hoping her exhaustion isn't relayed through her tone of voice.
"Mornin' Mars." The gruff voice rings in her ears she frowns as recognition forms in her brain. She sits bolt upright and runs her other hand through her hair.
Mitchell Sheldon? If my boss is calling me at three in the morning it's got to be important.
"Be at the office in one hour. We've got a case." And with that he disconnects. She frowns, realizing this was going to be her first official FBI case.
A case? What kind of case? If Sheldon's the one calling me then it's no Mickey Mouse case. This one requires the entire team.
Pushing her covers off, Veronica swings her legs over the side of the bed, stands up and heads for the shower.
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Saturday 26 February 2011 – Los Angeles FBI Offices, Los Angeles, CA – 4:00am
She arrives dead on four and as soon as she enters the main briefing room all of her confidence disappears. Seated around a large wooden table are the other eight members of Sheldon's team, and standing in front of a large board stands the man himself.
"Mars. Right on time." Sheldon nods in her direction and motions to the empty chair. "Take a seat and we'll get started."
"Lord knows we've been waiting long enough." The exasperated voice comes from her right and Veronica whips her head around to see Harry Blue smirking at her. Taking her seat she shoots him a glare.
"Agent Mars was the last person to get the call Harrison." Sheldon turns to Harry and frowns at him in displeasure. "She arrived at the time given to her. It's nice to know that one of my newbies doesn't feel the need to constantly kiss my ass."
Harry blanches at Sheldon's tone and Veronica shoots him a look of satisfaction. She's been competing with Harrison Blue since her junior year at Hearst when he was the other university student who'd been offered an internship. She hated him on sight, and when she discovered he was a student at Stanford her hatred grew. It grew even more when she found out they'd been assigned to Sheldon's team together.
"Seeing Harry getting humiliated was totally worth waking up at three in morning for." Brooke Swann, the agent sitting next to Veronica whispers before taking another sip of her coffee. "It just never gets old. You'd think by now he'd realize you're the favourite of the newbies."
Veronica smiles at Brooke and hangs her coat over the back of chair before taking her seat. "It must be my wonderful personality." Upon hearing Brooke snort, her smile widens.
Brooke Swann was only three years older than Veronica. They'd met during the summer after Veronica's sophomore year when Brooke was assigned a case involving someone from Veronica's past. By the end of the case the two had formed a tenuous friendship which, over the years, had blossomed into a solid friendship. Brooke had been a member of Sheldon's team for three years and was the one who introduced Sheldon to Veronica's file. Brooke Swann was the reason Veronica was on this team. No doubt about it.
"What have we got, Boss?" The voice of Agent Jeff Braidwood snaps Veronica out of her thoughts and back to the reason she's sitting at LA headquarters at four in the morning.
Sheldon steps to the side of the board and motions to a family photo of a young blonde woman holding a small boy. Both are grinning at the camera. "Leesa McMahon, Montara, California, woke up yesterday morning and headed outside with her son Lucas to feed the dogs. Imagine her surprise when she found her son playing tug-o-war with her cattle dog. Their chose of rope? This." He presses a fat finger against the board, pinning up a photograph of a human arm.
Not the ideal object you want your son to be playing with in the backyard.
"Local Sheriff's Department conducted a search of the immediate area and found no other body parts. Their computer guy matched the tattoo on the wrist to that of a missing girl." Two more pictures are added to the board: a close-up photograph of the small butterfly tattoo, the initials BH inked into the wings, and a photograph of a young brunette girl. She couldn't have been more than twenty.
"Nineteen year old Kimberly Rose Hutchens was last seen eight months ago leaving her boyfriend's house at five in the evening with the intention of heading straight home. She never got there."
Nineteen. You'd think after all the death in my life I'd be used to this hollow feeling. I'm not. Nobody so young should have their life taken away.
"Local PD stopped looking for her three months ago. Her severed arm appears in the hands of a five year old and suddenly the case reopens." Sheldon pulls a case file out of his briefcase and drops it down on the desk.
An older agent, Alan Wittlesea pulls the case file towards him and starts passing documents around the table. Veronica looks down at the police report and frowns.
Connecticut?
"I don't get it." Harry's voice cuts through the silence. "Why do we got this case? Why aren't the local cops handlin' it."
Looking up from the report Veronica's frown deepens. "Because she went missing in Woodbury, Connecticut. Correct me if I'm wrong, Agent Blue, but I'm pretty sure that's on the other side of the country, and once a case crosses state lines…"
"…it becomes federal." Harry finishes, clearly sulking at the fact that Veronica had once again obtained the upper hand.
"That's right." Sheldon nods, taking a step towards the bench.
"Who were the suspects?" Agent Eliza Winton looks up from the missing persons flier and aims her question at Veronica.
Glancing down at the police report, Veronica flips the page over and skims the suspect list. "Ex-boyfriend Rowan Pike –"
"It's always the creepy ex-boyfriend." Will Lenovo leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. "Can't deal with being dumped, gets pissed, and kills her."
"Shut up Lenovo." Veteran agent Anthony Hodgkinson shoots him a disapproving look before turning back to Veronica. "Who else?"
Veronica looks down at the papers again. "Current boyfriend James Pickett, and the stepfather Raymond Wykes. James was the last person to see her and she never got along with Raymond. Couldn't stand him, apparently."
"Any reports of abuse?" Special Agent Jayne Laidlaw, Sheldon's second-in-command lowers her glasses and turns to face Veronica, who shakes her head in response.
"Naturally," Sheldon begins, "as the case has been reopened, these suspects need to be re-interviewed. Mars, Lenovo, you've got the parents. Swann, Hodgkinson, you've got the lovers. Try and find a connection to California. Laidlaw will supervise. Your plane leaves LAX in forty minutes. The rest of you are coming with me to Montara."
As people stand up and start heading towards the door Brooke taps Veronica on the shoulder. "I wish they would have told me it was going to be an overnighter." She lifts her small bag up and waves it in front of Veronica's face. "I would have packed something."
"I've always got a suitcase in the back of my car." Veronica smiles. "You can borrow something."
"Were you in the boy scouts or something Veronica? You're always prepared." She grins in admiration before heading out the door.
Veronica's face falls.
No, not boy scouts. But when you've been caught off guard as many times as I have, you tend to learn.
As she heads out the door she takes one more look at Kimberly's smiling face.
What happened to you Kimberly Rose Hutchens?
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Saturday 26 February 2011 – House of Logan Echolls, Seville, VIC (AUS) – 10:30pm
As he drags himself through the front door he wonders why he didn't just take Duncan up on the offer of the spare room. Granted, they live only one hour away but when you've been up for over twenty-four hours submitting last minute college applications, one hour's travel can just about kill you.
Logan makes his way into the kitchen and drops his keys on the counter. He pours himself a glass of water and glances at his answering machine. The little red light informs him he's got four messages. Pressing the 'play' button, he takes a sip.
"Hey Logan, it's Charlie. Heard from Trina yet? She left a wonderful message on my machine. Man, if we could sell that girl's energy, we'd put Prozac out of business. Call me when you've spoken to her."
Despite his complete exhaustion Logan manages a smile. Listening to his older brother bitch about his sister was one of the best things in his life. Normal, like a real family. Something he never thought he'd ever have. After losing Trina after his senior year at Neptune High, when she hit a major down spiral, Logan never bothered to make contact. He'd given up hope of ever establishing a normal relationship with her. So when he discovered he had a brother he was determined to make a clean start. When 'Charlie' turned out to be Norman Phipps, Logan began to realize it was hopeless – his only other family member had handed him over to the press on a silver platter. Reverting back to his nature, Logan retaliated by blowing the real Charlie's cover, only to discover that he didn't betray him. Desperate to make amends Logan left messages on his brother's phone. Charlie never called back.
It wasn't until halfway through sophomore year at college that Charlie decided to contact Logan. Logan's sure he has Veronica to thank for it all, but she denied everything. Not wanting the opportunity to slip away, he agreed to meet Charlie for lunch. The two became closer, and when Logan made the decision to move to Australia, and Trina finally made contact, Logan decided to introduce his brother to his sister.
His eyes stray to the photograph hanging above his fireplace. Logan, Charlie and Trina, taken in Trina's condo the previous summer. Trina insisted on having a family photo, and while Logan found the whole idea completely dorky, that photograph was one of his most treasured possessions, and was given the prime position on the mantel – between a photograph of him and his mother, and another of him with Veronica, Lilly and Duncan. His whole family. Nowhere in his entire house was there any trace of Aaron.
The next message began to play. "Hey little brother." Trina's jovial voice rings out. "I was just wondering if you got the invite yet? It's just a formality really as I know you're already going to be here but I was hoping to get your opinion on them. I wanted them to be tasteful you know, nothing too over the top because that's not who I am anymore." There's a snort in the background and Logan realizes it must be Todd. "Shut up, TJ you know it's not!" Trina's snapping confirms it. "Anyway, love you, miss you, wondering if you and Charlie'll still be able to foot half the bill for the reception. Call me."
Logan shakes his head at his sister's subtle hint for money. The funny thing is, he was actually proud of her. After a shaky attempt at a Hollywood lifestyle, mooching off her family name and her daddy's demise, and a quick stint in a rehab facility, Trina had really started to grow up. She'd gone to a community college and obtained a certificate in costume design and fashion and was now working for a production company in Neptune. It was surprising considering her inherent allergy to work, but she really enjoyed it and soon it became the one thing in her life she loved more than money. Until she met Todd Flynn, a theatre director, and pretty soon they were engaged. As a wedding present Logan and Charlie offered to pay for the reception but Trina adamantly refused, saying she was moving past the 'trivial things in life' and was determined to break the hold Aaron's money had on her. When Todd's latest production went bust Trina recanted her refusal but would only agree that her brother's pay for half the reception.
Quickly deleting the message, Logan takes another sip of his water and waits for the next one to play.
"Hey dude, it's me." Logan's eyes shoot open as the voice of Dick Casablancas wafts from the speaker. "Uh, listen man, I know we haven't spoken in like three years but I was hoping to maybe see you in May. Ronnie gave me your number after she had Mackie give her mine. I'm, uh, I'm graduating, dude. I'd really like you to be there. If you don't want to that's totally cool. I'd hate me for not callin'."
Logan looks down at the floor and closes his eyes, hearing the pain in Dick's voice. It had been almost three years since they'd spoken. After Dick's dad was released from prison, after serving only half his sentence, he was killed by Enrico Oliveras as revenge for his nephew's death at the hands of Cassidy. Dick was a mess. He relapsed into his alcoholic tendencies and began reliving the effects of Cassidy's actions. The last time Logan had spoken to him, Dick walked out of the suite at the Neptune Grand announcing he needed 'fuckin' space, man' and never came back. Three days later Logan got a text message saying Dick was fine but that he wasn't returning to Neptune.
As his brain began waging a war as to whether or not he would actually attend Dick's graduation, the fourth message began to play.
"Hey Logan it's just me." Veronica's voice sounded tired and sad. "Just wanted to let you know that you should have taken Duncan up on his offer to talk to me yesterday, as I have to cancel our call for tomorrow. I landed a case. It's a big one." There's a rush of static before her voice becomes clear again. "…boarding a plane to Connecticut. I'll give you a call when I've got time. Bye."
Frowning, he deletes the messages and starts replaying them in his mind. Dick's made contact and wants Logan to be at his graduation, and Veronica's got no time for him because she's about to put herself in, what's likely to be, serious danger, because let's face it: she's Veronica Mars.
Logan walks into his room and flops down onto the bed. Fuck. There's no way he's getting any sleep tonight.