Chapter 10

I run from my car to the house like I'm still running from Logan. I park it in the driveway like I have since my dad got it for me several months ago. He says I can park it in the garage, but that feels like defeat to me, like I've given up on my mom ever coming back. But at this point, I know I don't want her too.

He's not home when I get there. I actually was cutting it close, and had I stayed at the beach with Logan, he might have beat me home. Unless he has a lead on a case or a problem deputy, my dad is home at six on the dot. It's 5:20 now. I forgot to factor in the drive home for my date with Logan. It's just as well that I ran away. The world wouldn't have ended if my dad learned I was out, but he would eventually find out about Logan and ask to meet him. If I didn't agree, he would conveniently start showing up at Neptune High, inventing reasons and clues for cases.

I de-Bettify upstairs in my room, making a mental note to not wear knee-high socks tomorrow. Logan will find me, and I need to make myself as unappealing as possible before I close this case. Two days of work, and all I basically know is who's on the basketball team and both mascots are missing. And of course, that Logan Echolls has the dreamiest eyes in the entire county.

Walking into the kitchen, I decide I'll have Italian piping hot ready when dad comes home. A ringing phone thwarts my best intentions.

"Have you forgotten how to text, Q" I ask Mac.

"You lie less on the phone than in writing, Bond. Just trying to keep you honest." I roll my eyes even though she can't see. "Where's the fire?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw you run away from your date. It was like the end of 'Seven.' Did he tell you where the body was?"

"I can't believe you were still spying on us!" I huff. "He didn't say anything; it was something he did that made me realize something." I pause. Mac knows about the guy from the soccer field. She's the only person who knows about him.

"Veronica, what was it? I promise not to tease you about it."

"It's him, Mac."

"It's who?"

I take a deep breath. "Logan is my soccer crush." I hear her gasp.

"Are you sure? How do you know?"

"He touched my nose briefly, and it felt exactly the same. I realized when I looked into his eyes that they were the same dark chocolate I had fantasized about for years." I understood how ludicrous that was as the words came out of my mouth. I have been fantasizing about a guy I met one day for several years now. For all I knew, I was never going to see him again.

"For years? Veronica, I thought you stopped thinking about him when you started going with Richie."

Another deep breath. "No. I just stopped talking about him."

"Poor Richie never had a chance. You're in love with this guy."

Love? "Mac, I barely know him. How can I be in love with him?" I've never been in love before, have I?

"I don't know how, but you're showing all the signs. My dear Bond, this is why you shouldn't fraternize with the assets."

"We're not in the CIA, Mac."

"For all you know, he could be the thief and playing you." She's right. He could have been onto me from the beginning. Wallace may have even realized my scheme and told him if there was anything in my file about Pan. They could both be setting me up. "Back to the case, Bond. We can strategize your love life later. What have you got?"

The question I was dreading. "Very little, I'm afraid."

She's silent for a beat yet surprisingly conciliatory when she starts up again. "Let's work through the knowns. Who's on the basketball team?" I tell her the names, and she latches on to Wallace. "Don't you find it suspicious that he plays several roles in your ongoing drama?"

"It could just be a coincidence."

"You're the one who told me there are no coincidences in PI work!"

"I know, I know, I know, Q!"

"Then, why are you covering for him? You don't even like this Wallace guy." I never said that. He seems to dislike me, but that's honestly understandable given my shakedown of him. Nothing a few snickerdoodles can't fix.

"He seems like he has a kind heart." The real reason I'm making excuses for Wallace is if he's involved, I worry Logan is too. Then, maybe it all really was a ruse.

"Awww, Bond, you're going soft on me. So who does Wallace hang out with?"

Avoiding the inevitable is pointless now, but I still make an effort. "The other jocks I guess."

"Anyone out of the ordinary? Maybe a secret friendship?"

I sigh, "Logan, all right?" All signs point to Logan.

"Besides their acquaintance, have either of them done anything else suspicious?"

"Logan took two apples to go at lunch today. I'm assuming goats eat apples?"

"Are you kidding? I saw Billy go through an apple like it was crack. You know, if goats got addicted to crack." Splendid, I'm dating the goat-napper, who specialize in amassing goat crack. "We can use this to our advantage, Bond. You need to get over to his house this week. I wouldn't be surprised if the Echolls have stables he's hiding him in."

I suspect getting over there isn't as much of a problem, but maintaining control once there is. "I don't want to use him, Mac, not for a case."

"What if he's using you? We don't know how much he knows. Besides the case, he could just be a regular, run-of-the-mill player."

"But what if he's not? Even if he took Billy, what if he really likes me as much as I like him? He'll never forgive me once he finds out all I did."

"One programming line at a time, Veronica. Ohhh," she groans. "It's family dinner again. I've got to go. I wouldn't be surprised if my mom wants me to make the soy milk from scratch for bonding time. We've got two days left to finish, Bond. You can do it." She hangs up without waiting for my reply.

I get back to making dinner and hear a new text buzzing. My dad says he has a lead and will be out late. Donner party of one—again.