Destiny Rocks (redone)
Ch 9 (Dec)
On a tour bus headed for Neptune…
A large slap-like sound emanated from the whiteboard waking everyone still groggy from last night's escapades.
"Must you do that this early?" Mark groaned. Their bus was traveling on a bumpy road, and everyone was ready to puke. He attempted to roll off the couch but landed on the coffee table and floor. A large bang sounded and echoed through the room. Too tired to care, he simply covered his face with a hand and rested the other arm on his knee. "I think I'm gonna-…" he gagged.
"Not in here you ain't," Terry said. A few curse words followed his rant as he looked for a receptacle for Mark. He threw him the ice bucket they'd taken from the last hotel they'd stayed at.
Veronica stared at the lazy bunch and guessed they'd partied a little too hard after last night's show. It was clear some wouldn't be able to stand, let alone focus. While this was not their battle, she thought they'd be ready for her this morning.
"I could get some drums and jam…" she stood and crossed her arms in typical Veronica fashion. She gave them all the stink eye and lowered her head so she could gaze up at them. This wasn't what she'd had in mind for this morning. "Are we gonna do this or not?" When people said they would do something she kind of hoped they would.
"Time to nail these dicks to the wall", Maria said a little too rapidly, her speech slurring still. Her enthusiasm caught everyone by surprise though and they all stared over at her with blank faces.
"What?" She asked with a shrug. "More coffee," she murmured and blinked a few times.
"You'd like that," Tony murmured with a secret smile.
"C'mon, I'm all for retribution here." Maria swayed as she made her way to the instant coffee and pretended to salute the rest.
Mark complained, "I dropped outta school, fool. Can't you make this remotely intriguing? I'm here for the music, booze, and sex."
Veronica replied tartly, "and your drunk, haven't written a song worth a damn in a few months, and you probably have aids. I'd say you scored big."
"I did, but I forgot her name. Why are you such a bitch?" He smiled at the thin line that crossed Veronica's mouth.
"Consensual sex is one thing, but you know…fighting the big guy here. Bitch is my middle name, asshat," she remarked and turned back to the board. "Don't forget it."
"Like any of us could," he tried to hold back a wave of nausea. He looked reluctant having mentioned sex. Lord knew Veronica was square as a box, but that was because of the guys who'd hurt her like that.
Maria handed him a coffee and gave him what he could only deam as 'the shit eye'.
"I'm sorry…I forget she's been through it. You know, she doesn't act like us damaged pieces of shit." Mark yipped when he nearly vomited at the cold coffee and the ice pail was not ready, "Dude, it's not empty!"
"And I am the maid, when?" Terry shot back his way. Mark ran to the bathroom and everyone cringed when he barfed.
"That's just nasty," Terry added. "Bring the bucket next time," he hollered.
There was another hurling sound as a response. After a beat, Mark reappeared seemingly back to himself. To Veronica he started, "Couldn't you at least like wear one of those short shirts and knee-high socks-" a pillow landed on his face effectively shutting him up. Mark always loved some deviant type remark to bait Veronica, and this was no different.
Her left brow rose, and she didn't move.
Tony rolled his eyes watching these two. It was apparent Mark had a thing for the small blonde, but she was not interested. Normally, he took such actions as foreplay between people, however, there was pure hate in Veronica's eyes. No love there, he thought and silently laughed. Mark would screw anything with a hole, so there was that.
"Mark, I know you've heard the phrase 'barking up the wrong tree', dog."
Sensing her hostile mood, Maria slid him a warning glance. She'd thrown the pillow pretty precisely, with thin lips. It seemed to be her normal expression these days. Inwardly, she sighed but understood her friend's mission a little better than the boys seemed to. No one liked to be on the receiving end when a man got too crazy for his own good. Being the weaker physically of the two sexes was enough to make anyone wince when he got to have his way with you as a result of it.
Veronica stared at him with a bored expression and inwardly loved that she'd nailed him in the face with the pillow also, all too familiar with his antics. "Please," she stated like a spoiled brat with a pinched face. "Shall I curtsey too? Don't answer that."
"You sound like a popular bitch," he whined. "Don't start that shit here."
Maria got up and strolled over to Terry next, plopped on the couch with her raccoon eyes barely open. "My head's pounding," she added. "You know she went days on end with no food, no clothes and walking in her own piss and was dragged to school that way? I'd say she is entitled to be a bitch to anyone who can't keep his sex jokes to himself. You've not been on the receiving end of that. At least," she amended, "you can fight back or get loose easier."
"Hey my ol' man always had his boot up my ass or his fist in my face. I get it." He groaned and moaned a sorry that didn't seem too heartfelt. "We all got our shit."
Maria watched Veronica's shoulders relax somewhat. Terry took got up and grabbed some pills and then took a seat and passed out Advil.
Everyone agreed and groaned in unison. Veronica had seemed to chill out since the commotion died down. "We're gonna get that bastard," she told Veronica.
"Having a life and identity back would be good."
Veronica did a once over Maria. Her leggings were full of holes, and Veronica wondered just what the hell she had been doing last night as she looked her over. Probably rubbed the ground in her favorite position, she ventured. Yeah, I don't need that mental image.
Her eyes met Terry's, who was mid sip on his coffee, and he shook his head no and shrugged. Whatever, she thought and got down to business.
"This is all the information I have gathered so far. You said you'd help, so here it is." Her tone shifted in such a way that it was almost softer, and yet still guarded. She flipped a board over that had post-it notes and pictures scribbled over it. Everyone noticed the effort behind it and stared, even when the blonde refused to look up. "It's more than sex trafficking. Its drugs, and maybe secret society crap like you see on tv."
Mark added, "Why does being rich mean those idiots can't just be honest like the rest of us freaks?"
Maria rolled her eyes, "No one in their right mind would trust a deviant to run anything, moron."
Terry yanked his head in her direction signaling the end of hangover time to the others. He was their sort of leader in the band, so what he said usually went. His presence was dominating and almost threatening. "Been at it a while, Veronica. That's a full board." He sipped his coffee again. He held the wince inward, as it tasted like pure ass.
Veronica had an image of the guy from office space come to mind. Yeah, Bill Lumdbergh. She wondered if he'd ask her to come in on Saturday's.
"A promise to help is a promise," Maria managed a small smile. "Let me grab another five-pound bottle of Aleve or Ibuprofen or some shit. I'll think clearer. I hope."
Veronica met her gaze and laughed, head tilting down with a small smile on her lips. Her father had always told her she was too demanding of other people. Terry had an expressionless face but took his time too really see the connections. He was looking over her handiwork. She knew this was her thing, always had been, and always would be. Her lip twitched thinking of how she and her father used to do this type of thing together.
Brent surprised Veronica by making some loud sound behind her. A loud shriek caught everyone's attention and their hands flew to cover their ears. Veronica smacked him as she turned to toss him backward. "Dude!"
"Where's my car?" He asked as an old homage to the movie line. When she glared longer than he liked his shoulders fell. "Yes?" Brent responded somberly.
Her eyes got wide and her finger pointed at him, "Don't do that."
Brent gave her a wide-eyed expression and held his hands out in a defenseless gesture. "I didn't mean to piss you off. I was going for 'boo'."
Mark stated, "That's not hard to do, but she is. Don't bother messing with that one. I've tried."
"Oh my god," she said beginning to tap the marker in her hand. Without thinking, she punched Brent in the arm again and he made a face.
Despite his unease, he resisted another easy 'Becky, look at her butt' line when her terminology led to an easy joke. Veronica moved passed him unaware her hits had upset him. "At least one person isn't hung over. That's something."
Mark looked at Brent and then shook his head as Veronica was oblivious. Brent and he had both been beaten growing up.
Veronica moved passed Mark with a glare. "At least one person isn't hung over. Sorry Brent, been a little crazy today."
Mark slapped his knee frustrated. She apologizes to him, he thought irritated. He readjusted himself. He didn't particularly like her per se, but she had this way of making him horny.
"Hey, I've been nursing coffee since five a.m. I'll have you know," Terry stated proudly.
"Oh? Have you slept yet?" She countered. "That counts."
His eyes shadowed a small fraction, and Veronica wondered what that was all about. "Don't do that."
"Same back at ya," she said critically. The others sometimes thought she and Terry had a quiet understanding where they could catch one another's drift well. Half the time Veronica was sure that he was either going to yell, or thinking of some other bat crazy thing. No one stood up or countered him as she did.
Mark, who'd stood and walked beside Terry, slapped him on the shoulder, "I think this could get interesting. She doesn't even realize it." His index finger wagged between Veronica and Brent, and the men shared a knowing look. Veronica's eyes narrowed to cat slits as she stared him down.
Behind her, Brent smiled and shrugged trying to garner her attention away from the conversation. "It's all good."
"But is it really man?" Mark started with a sour face and a hand over his private area. "I mean have you even tried the flavor?" he indicated Veronica as she turned away. "I think it's a case of you see it and like it, then you try it on and go 'hell no'." Veronica seemed to catch on, but Mark held up the shitty coffee Maria had and shrugged. When she turned back around, his eyes got hide and he air humped the box.
"Ugh," Terry mocked, "can you do that over there. I'm not into guys."
"Shut it, Mark," Veronica all but growled oblivious to the fact she was their subject matter.
"I didn't even say anything!"
"Primitive strike," Veronica started. "Plus, god knows what you gave the box of coffee after that…air hump."
Everyone started laughing. Mark grimaced, face pinched, and made a fist and a pointing finger gesture at her. He alternated between the two. Terry waved him off when he began to strangle air. "Just take more Advil-we have 900 pound bottle."
After a second of silence, Veronica glanced back to Brent who shared a look with Maria. She laughed to herself about the exaggeration on the size of the bottle. It had been their thing to grossly overstate the size of things.
"Oh, hey. Your phone was ringing," Brent tossed it to her and tapped the tip of her nose. "Don't beat me like that. I was just trying to have some fun." He rubbed his arm. "For a girl, you pack a mean punch." He calculated her size- to -punch ratio and gave her a funny look.
"Looks are deceiving, in my favor too." Her hands landed on her hips as she leaned back on one foot and looked him up and down also. "For a girl who had a cop and P.I. father, you do well to remember that." She scrunched her face up in a silly manner and gave him the fake stink eye.
Mark pretended to gag and groped his throat as Terry hid behind his mug and ducked down hiding a smile. Man, Brent wanted a piece of ass, but it's not gonna happen, Terry thought to himself. Brent actually liked her, whereas Mark couldn't stand her, but would bone her anyway.
"Deplorable. Oh, snap," Mark stated with a zig-zag motion of his head and shot an invisible bullet toward Brent.
Brent then moved toward Veronica and put a hand on her arm. She instantly stilled. He returned Mark's comment with a middle finger, "Dick."
Mark indicated both, "Bitches."
"That's what the last guy said," she muttered. "Learn more adjectives, please. You've been using the same one all morning."
Don't touch me, she thought trying not to shudder in front of the others. Touch was still a thing for her. Brent seemed more touchy-feely than the rest. Of course she saw the lust he tried to hide in his eyes, however, every time she tried to think about anything related to sex, she couldn't stop the wave of panic that surged.
Regardless, people could tell something had…changed.
Brent observed how Veronica had subtly transformed the last week or so. She was like a flame compared to the ember of a girl he'd met not long ago. The one that got you sober, he reminded himself. After a moment, he let Veronica go and sat next to Maria who was chugging water as if it were the last glass of it on earth. He chewed the inside of his mouth, and Maria slapped him on the knee.
His eyes widened as he took her in, "What?" he whispered and flipped his hands up and outward. "Why do you women keep hitting me?"
"See, they shouldn't have to be hitting on you…pussy." Mark shook his head and rolled his eyes waving Brent off the way they often verbally sparred.
While Veronica was a petite and a cute little package, her eyes told another story. Brent had a thing for her, badly, but Maria knew it wouldn't end well. He must have touched her, she thought as she looked at her friend. If there were a white sheet ghost in the room, there'd be a competition going for who was whiter.
Maria had also realized the change. It stirred something inside of her-something she didn't think the girl was ready for. Her eyes caught Terry's and she got the warning he was flashing at her with his eyes. Veronica was too volatile to handle her flavor of spice and sex. Nor did she seem like an anything goes type of girl. Maria didn't have a preference for what she liked, but she considered the younger girl. Terry and she had just talked about that last night.
I think I have a thing for her, Terry.
It's just the strength. It's not the same as dominance. The girl is a loose cannon, Maria. She got you cleaned up, and she demands your attention, I get it, but she's not like we are. Maybe you care because she straightened you out-like Brent does?
But you could teach her to harness that, Terry. Look, all I am saying is that maybe it will help her direct that frustration into a medium. Girls have needs too, and she can't express that.
Maria, the girl had a normal life-most of one anyway-and she is far from broken. When the right guy comes along, it'll happen. Could she be like us? Sure, but I can tell she isn't gonna be. Do you want her to have that life after what those men did to her? She's more than we will ever hope to be. She has a cause, she has a past…she is fire and ice.
Everyone in the room could tell Veronica was sexually frustrated, even if she didn't see it. I warned her that would happen, Maria thought with recomposing. She allowed her body to sit up straighter, reminding herself this was more about saving a life, than her own personal desires. I should want to help her, not bang her, Maria scolded herself. Still, she wasn't immune to the feisty cat that her kitten had grown into. What a little leather wouldn't do for…
Veronica was probably straight-only. Deflated, Maria visibly sagged as she allowed herself to come to this realization. Dammit, she thought.
Brent.
Now he had it bad for the girl, no lie. She could see it in the way he practically looked into her. Even a moment ago, he had gotten angry that Veronica had swiped at him, but the smaller girl had no idea that Brent had also been abused-beaten within an inch of his life. His vice was getting drunk, but the bastard had a one in a life time voice. Veronica had changed him for the better. Especially the way she could write a fucking killer song. Brent's voice was sex and pain, but god could he move you to tears.
She had no idea what her lyrics had done for him, but Maria garnered that he would blurt it out and cause a scene. It was apparent that even though she struggled, Veronica was not about to let this 'thing' go. Maybe when she got what she wanted, they could approach her. Maybe? She did a once over the board with the post it notes.
While Brent whispered, Maria remained very open and general. Veronica had honed in on her father's skill a little too good lately. It was like she remembered shit visually, heard when she looked like she was lost in thought, but sharp none the less. It was creepy. Rather than give into paranoia, she used it and harnessed it into a really cool gift. She always had this master plan and some Nancy drew type of scenario cocked up in her little brain.
Veronica looked at her cell, and her eyes widened when she saw a particular number, "Oh, thank god!" All eyes went to where she stood and watched as she hit call back.
"Hey," came a sort of soft whisper-like voice.
Instantly, Veronica's laid-back stance changed to one of unease, "MAC?!
That seemed to wake everyone up. Mac was the one Veronica had been waiting on.
Somewhere on the bad side of town in Neptune…
Logan stared at his cell phone, and then ducked down when he saw Thumper ride in on his bike. No shit, he thought with mild shock. That explained why Mac's video never went live. Wonder if she knows, he thought to himself and frowned. What did Thumper have to do with this shit anyway? Felix was Weevil's boy, but there had been some recent discord at school that had left Logan a little too curious for his own good.
Meg had gone missing also, for a while now actually.
He'd made a list, not a week ago after Duncan proved to be less and less inclined to help. If he loved Veronica as he said he had, why didn't that motivate him to help find her killer? Logan's mind flashed an image of Lily smiling happily, and he had to shake it off. She was gone. He whispered to himself, "I'm here for Lily, that dumbass could at least do it for his sister." They'd all treated Veronica bad, and she'd died.
The sad thing was, he remembered how Veronica had always been so girly and sweet around Duncan. He'd remarked about how god awful the two were around one another. Lily didn't seem to want to hear it. Veronica's whole entire personality changed when Duncan had left her.
She became bitter, sharper, and edgier. Her mouth- once fun and sweet- was quicker than a whip and equally as sardonic as his. They would banter and verbally spar unmatched by any who tried. That was the real Veronica, Logan told himself. Lily was fun-loving and free, but something about Veronica had always just remained out of reach.
You had a moment, he thought to himself, where you thought about it. His lip twitched up as he scanned the area. Of course, Lily had gone on a rampage by then and destroyed what was left of Veronica's life, socially. All Veronica had done was warn her about his kiss with her new bestie after Veronica had fallen from their crowd. He'd done no better for the fun of it, riddled in guilt from his own shit life at home.
With her parents dead, she had little to look forward to. The damned brat had still kept her grades up as if to snub every last one of them.
Then that man had adopted her. Rather than flourish, she'd turned into someone else. I knew, he thought hating himself. On some level, I recognized that look in her eyes. It was the same one I had, Logan thought after dad beat me. His eyes flicked from side to side as he took in his surroundings a second time. I knew my friend, and I should have been able to tell sooner. This feeling of regret, he'd had it often and hated it.
Nothing Veronica had done had been aimed at him. Still, when Lily started telling people Veronica was a slut, he'd joined in. And the way she looked at him burned inside and out. It's because you wanted her to fail, he thought. She always seemed too perfect. Lily publicly humiliated Veronica. Madison passed around some pretty bad rumors also. When Veronica came to school smelling that bad…
Lily must have believed it, for she left your sorry ass, Logan. His mind went crazy as he remembered the beginning of the end. She must have known something was up, but after that night, she'd never come back for him. They'd always gone back to one another until then out of habit. They were each other's end-until the end had come once and for all.
And he'd made it his entire effort to see Veronica also had no one after that. Madison was a plastic bitch, but none of that mattered to him. She'd drugged Veronica at the party. He'd faulted Veronica, and not his own drunk ass mistake, for losing Lily for good. Her reputation sunk after that. That utter hate needed an outlet, and he'd been precise at executing the pain. Yet, the girl was well matched in the art of verbal spat. It was almost comical.
Then her father had died. That weird guy adopted her…
Things seemed ok for a time, but then she began to smell…Logan shook himself. Fuck man, he thought and ran a hand through his hair. He hated when women got hit, just like his father also did.
The except for all people leaving her was Mac and Weevil. He'd cut her down and kicked her while she was there along with the rest of the school. No matter what he did, those two kept coming to her side. He figured that Weevil was getting something from her if she was good enough to still be seen with by that point. It grossed him out knowing Weevil would do a girl that smelled like day old piss. People moved out of the way when she passed by them. As much as he hated Weevil, it only grew more intense after that.
I am doing what she used to do, he thought with irony standing here scoping this out. It wasn't as easy as she made it out to be. Being all detective like, yeah, not his shindig.
For a short time, she'd taken up helping her dad in his P.I. business, and then her family had died. Word had gone around the school as she helped people find their dogs, getting information on people's parents, and god knows what else. He never understood the sheer work that went into this P.I. crap. But that had been short-lived. Now that he knew what had been happening to her, it was hard to stomach the role he'd played in the life she'd had. I mean we were friends, all of us, he reminded himself. He shook his head and continued to watch.
While he'd always thought she was beautiful and smart, she'd never really caught his full attention. She was funny and stuff, but also Duncan's girl so she'd been off limits. When they were kids...she'd not been in his crowd, but damn she'd been hot. Duncan had beat him to it, but then he and Lily clicked so there was that. He liked rougher women, not sweet ones.
The twelve-year-old girl in soccer attire wasn't the same one after a series of events that shit on her life. If we only knew what a shit storm this would have been, she told himself and nodded 'no'. Worse yet after her parents had died and Lily turned on her, there had been nothing to live for. Of course, he'd seen Duncan just drop her on the drop of a dime, and his friend never told him why. Bro's before ho's he'd thought, but Duncan still watched her like a teenage boy in heat. It made sense now, of course.
Maybe that's why he was so out of it. Veronica was gone, Lily had gone missing…
Something about that Duncan's mother though, had Logan feeling like it was just the icing on the cake. A little too convenient to separate the two. She hated Veronica with a strange sort of passion he never got. Look where that left Duncan now. Oh for fucks sake, he shook himself. Time to zone in. He crept between the cars.
The night was cooler and crickets chirped in the distance as he scoured the area for entrances and exits. He hadn't thought ahead when he'd followed Thumper, wearing his usual plain shirt and a plaid over shirt that hung loose. At least his jeans were worn. He carefully tapped the gun nestled on his side for reassurance. Not too far off, he could make out his vehicle. His eyes returned to where a now visible Liam came out of The River Styx.
Great, just great, his mind raged. Biker gang meets Fitzpatrick gang. Not a good mix.
He snapped pictures. Something changed hands, and a few words were exchanged also. He had no idea what they said. Logan heard 'church' but not much else. He snapped a few more pictures and waited as both groups dispersed before carefully sneaking back to his truck. It took almost an hour of hiding and crawling around the cars, a few buildings littered with smokers or drug addicts. If he could guess what that was, he'd put his money on drugs.
Mac, though. He wondered if there was something going on with that as well. He remembered her face when he'd caught her in their extra home.
This had once been Veronica's thing. What the hell comes next, he thought unsure. Where oh where are you, Mac? he thought as he made his way back to his vehicle. Once inside, he laid low until the biker passed. He was on a side street where he was hoping he wasn't visible. After about ten minutes, he peeped his head up and looked around, with trepidation, he made his way out of that hell hole. Mac was in some serious shit.
Back on the bus…
"You are where?!"
Mac pushed the phone away from her ear at the volume of Veronica's voice and stared at it like it'd grown horns. "I followed Mrs. Kane. They have an extra house…long story short," she said cutting to the chase, "is that I have a lot of information for you. And I managed to hack into Kane software." She smiled at her own genius. "They've got shit one everyone, V."
There was a silence on the end of the other line, and then finally, "is it good?"
Mac smiled, "oh it's good. It's the gold mine. Skull and Bones on crack." Her hands flicked out even though she was alone, her eyes bugged out. "Everything has been decrypted and uploaded to the FTP using two different computers, different Wi-Fi, and cd, and locations. I chopped some of the data so I could send smaller amounts up over a longer period. Also, I changed the contents from the USB drive to CD, but it depends on how good the tracer is. I've got copies and this shit bouncing all over. I even hid the code, attached a virus when intercepted without the key with a three-minute delay. I have back up of the backups and more backups."
"You are too smart for your own good. Ok, stay there, change burner phones if you can. I got everything up on this board and I will see what options we've got to move you safely. And Mac," Veronica said in a small voice, "thanks. We'll get our lives back soon. I promise you."
"Don't mention it, but get me and Weevil out of this shit quickly. I know you are laying low," she looked around nervously, "but I'd like to get back to the life of the living and hit the showers. I don't get to get on stage and wear tight clothes and take on a new identity."
The phone went dead and Veronica looked around the room full of curious faces, "it's time to bring down some pieces of shit. Who is with me?"
Terry stated, "I got you on this." They all stood in unison when the shit was ready to hit the fan.
"I got a plan," Veronica finished. "And my gun is aimed."
