Summary: Veronica must decide whether to stand by her husband, the sheriff, or her first love, and brother, Duncan Kane, as history repeats itself. Slightly AU future fic.
Spoilers: Anything in season 1 is fair.
Rating: PG-13/R for incest, mainly in later chapters.
Pairings: Veronica/Duncan, Veronica/Leo
Disclaimer: I don't own VM, and am in no way affiliated with those who do.
Chapter 6- Elly
I was in my room, doing my homework, when I heard. Dad came home late, but that wasn't unusual. As sheriff, he has to work overtime a lot. He looked tired, and sad, but he always looked tired, and he often looked sad when he got off late. For some reason, he hated to miss dinner, though Mom has always been a horrible cook. This time, though, he called us all into the kitchen. He only said four words. "We have a lead."
Mom sat down, and started playing with the salt shaker. I had never seen my mother turn down the perfect opportunity to ask a question before, unless she already knew the answer, and then she always had a sly, confident air about her. She clearly did not know the answer to any questions she could think of, and she could always think of questions. It was almost as if she didn't want to know, but that was impossible. I tried to think of anything Mom might not want to know. "Is it Uncle Duncan?" I finally asked.
"No," Dad smiled wanly, "it's Meg's sister."
But I had said the magic words. Mom immediately perked up, returning to her usual, inquisitive self. "Lizzie?" she asked.
"That's the one. We have someone who saw her lurking around the Kane estate close to the coroner's time of death."
"Motive?"
"Money. I did a little research, and it just so happens that if Duncan, Meg, and Lilly all die, then the entire Kane fortune is split between her, and you."
"Me?" I didn't understand why Mom was surprised. Of course the money would go to her. If Duncan died, she was the last Kane. "But I signed away my right to the Kane fortune."
"Duncan and Meg added you back into their wills. Duncan gave me permission to look, and to tell you, if it would help the case. The only problem is, how would Lizzie have known?"
"Meg would have told her," Mom said, her voice strong, and certain. "Meg wouldn't have even thought there could be a reason she shouldn't."
I drove over to my uncle's house right after. I asked him if he thought Lizzie could have killed Lilly, and he didn't answer for a while. When he did, he seemed cautious, not as sure as my parents that it was possible. He told me that Lizzie had never struck him as particularly greedy. He said he would have thought Lizzie would con a man out of his money, and enjoy every second of it, but not kill her niece for it.
I'm not like my mother. I didn't ask him about "Type 4 Epilepsy." I hugged him, and left quietly, to drive around Neptune. I parked in the lot of the Camelot Motel. I didn't know what made me choose it, but I did. I slid down in my seat, trying to get comfortable.
Maybe I'm more like my mother than I'd like to think. I saw Lizzie leaving one of the motel rooms, her hair and clothes mussed. I hopped out of the car, and jogged to meet her.
"Do I know you?" she asked disdainfully. Right. I had never met her, only seen pictures.
"I'm Elly."
"Okay, look, Elly, I don't know why you're following me, or how you know who I am, but you really have to stop."
"You don't know? Really?" My voice was the same timbre as my mother's.
"You're Veronica's daughter, aren't you?" That must have been a tough one. I favored my mother, and her family. My face and build was Kane, with slight traces of my father's Italian and Greek heritage, and his dark hair.
"Not only am I Veronica's daughter, I'm also the sheriff's daughter."
"Which makes sense, considering Veronica is married to the sheriff."
"So, I'm guessing you know why I'm following you."
"No, I was never so good at following along with Veronica's little mind games, and yours seem to be exactly the same."
"Why didn't I ever see you visit Lilly?"
"Is this part of the same game, or is it a new one?"
"It's a question. I was over at Aunt Meg and Uncle Duncan's quite a bit. Why didn't I ever see you there? Or at Meg's funeral?"
"I was in Europe when my sister died. I didn't know until it was too late. And I never liked Duncan."
"Really. Huh. Why not?"
"He was obviously not over yo- his first love. He never loved Meg the way she deserved."
"You knew his girlfriend?" I asked, excited. "Lilly and I had a game where we tried to guess who she was, and why he wouldn't ever tell us."
"Obviously I knew her. I went to school with them. Now, if you'll excuse me," she said, ducking into her car. She paused, with the door open, "Why were you following me?"
"I wasn't. I was just driving around, trying to clear my head, I stopped here, I saw you, I came to meet you." It wasn't even really a lie, but her eyes said quite clearly that she didn't think Veronica's daughter was capable of running into someone by accident. As she drove away, I realized that, if she was guilty, she would know I was onto her, and run. The daughter of Leo and Veronica D'Amato was not someone you wanted trailing you, especially if you had killed her cousin. I ran to my car to follow her, but she was gone.
