Unfortunately for Veronica the deputy driving the car was a member of the class two years below hers at Neptune High and back in the day was quite a fan of the notorious Veronica Mars. When he wasn't re-hashing her high school greatest hits, he was filling her in on all the changes that had taken place in the Balboa County Sheriff Department since she had left. He kept yammering away through the entire booking process and Veronica more than once had to bite her tongue and not ask him to shut up. It was a relief when she was finally placed behind bars and he had to leave her with a more laconic deputy to watch over her. A few minutes later Logan was escorted into the cell beside hers. They were the only ones in either of their cells.
Veronica sat on a bench in the front of her lockup with her knees pulled to her chest and her head resting on them. Her back was against the concrete wall that separated her cell from Logan's, but she could tell from a steady shuffling sound that Logan was wearing down a path in his. She tried to block out the sound, but it just wouldn't go away.
"You know Logan, the first thing they teach you in interrogation techniques is that the guilty party always pace." Veronica finally threw out into space. Her ears picked up on Logan taking a couple more steps before the tell-tale sound of Logan plopping down on the bench on the other side of the wall. Veronica looked up to the ceiling and mouthed "Thank you."
"That's seriously the shit they taught you at your fancy spook school. No wonder it took so long to find Bin Laden."
Veronica rolled her eyes and sighed. "One- spooks are spies. That's more CIA and NSA, not the FBI. At the Bureau, we prefer the term agents. Two- no, that's not the shit they teach us. Who do think instructs us? Scooby Doo? I just told you that because I need you to stop pacing before I go insane and bash my head in on the wall."
For a moment they both sat in silence but then there came a chuckle from Logan's cell.
"What's so funny?" Veronica asked.
"Just this. Feels like old times being behind bars and you lecturing me from the other side," Logan replied, eliciting a small smile from Veronica. "Although, this is the first time you were behind the bars as well...you always seemed to get away with everything."
"Not every time," Veronica laughed. "Remember when Lamb arrested me for aiding a prison break through cookies."
"Right, how could I forget?" Logan said. "I may still have that picture somewhere. What did you bake in them anyways, a file?" Logan asked.
"Nope, just peanut butter," she answered. This earned laughs from both of them. "At least Lamb usually had a flimsy reason to lock us up, it wasn't just incompetence," she finally sighed.
Silence took over again for a few minutes and then Veronica heard Logan stand up and lean against the wall. "Do you think he made it out?" he asked, his voice reminding Veronica of someone wanting to find out if their loved one was going to make it through surgery.
"I hope he did," she said trying to sound comforting, but it didn't even come out convincing to herself.
"But you don't think he did?" Logan called her bluff.
Veronica turned her head so her cheek was resting against the wall and her voice could be better heard by Logan. "If I was an agent working this case...I would be telling his family members that it would be highly unlikely and they may want to consider making final arrangements," she was brutally honest, but then she softened her voice and added, "But this is Duncan Kane we're talking about. This wouldn't be his first successful disappearing act."
"Right," Logan said. For a moment the two of them sat in a comfortable quiet.
"Of course he's not the only one good at disappearing," Logan broke the silence, the tension back in his voice.
Veronica narrowed her eyes, "Here we go again," Veronica muttered just loud enough for Logan to hear it.
"Well, if the shoe fits..." he replied bitterly.
"For the last time, I didn't disappear," she sighed exasperatedly.
"No you just left and made your friends do the dirty part of telling me." Logan took an angry pause before saying, "You should have just stayed gone, Veronica."
"Consider me gone then. I didn't return to Neptune to get involved in yours and Duncan's bullshit." Veronica said, resting her head back on her knees.
"I'm afraid, Veronica, that isn't going to be an option," a new voice entered their conversation.
Author's Note - Sorry this chapter is a bit later than I promised. This last week some real world stuff emerged that is requiring a lot of my attention these days. The good news is that I have more chapters written so I will be able to continue the updates, but the bad news is that I may have to space my updates out more so I don't run out before I get back to a place where I can do some serious writing. Thanks again for all the follows, favorites, and reviews. I really appreciate each and every one of them.