AN: Wow! You guys were super quick reviewing :) So here is the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it.
"It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it." – Amelia Barr
Chapter 18
Two days later, Wednesday, found Veronica headed north on the I-405, and stopping at Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Westminster to change cars. There was no way she was going to the FBI in her own car. The Keating case, combined with the threat on her family, meant stealth was imperative.
As Veronica drove her mind moved at a million miles an hour, reliving the last two days.
Once at the office on Monday evening Veronica had called Casper in L.A., arranging a meeting for Wednesday morning so they could discuss the progress on The Keating case, and the threat on the Echolls family. Casper had promised to pull up all the information on her old cases and to have it ready for her when she came.
Just as she had finished Logan had called on his way back from Garden Grove, where the security company was and they had made their way to the Casablancas' to get their children.
Logan had sorted everything out with the security company, American Shield Private Security, and they were coming first thing in the morning.
This was what Logan and Veronica told the children to start with.
They had sat them down in the lounge room and talked calmly, but seriously to them.
"Things are going to be a little bit different tomorrow morning," Veronica had begun. "You're all staying home from school in the morning because the people from the security company are coming to speak to us. We're going to have to make some changes around here for the moment. There has been a threat directed at our family, but it's nothing any of you need to worry about. Mom and Dad are taking care of it, and we've got the best people possible helping us. All you need to do is obey us and be sensible, and otherwise, do what you normally do."
"And as a treat, we're having dessert three nights this week," Logan had added with a smile. "Your mother decided a sugar overload from ice cream was the best thing we could give you."
The had children grinned, relieved by Logan's joking. Nothing could be too seriously wrong if he was making jokes. Aubrey wasn't entirely set at ease, as she knew the full story, but there was nothing else she could do but listen to what her parents had said.
So the head of American Shield Private Security had come out on Tuesday morning, had introduced the new and increased protection detail to the whole family, had told them what to do in the case of an emergency and explained the added security that was being added to the property.
Oliver, Tom and Violet had taken the information in with wide eyes, and Aubrey had been oddly quiet, though reassured by the measures being taken.
It had been painful for both Veronica and Logan, listening to the way their children would have to live for who knew how long. Even though Veronica and Logan had tried their best to reassure them, and told them not to be afraid, the constant presence of security would frighten them to some degree or other.
Just after lunch time, when the kids were safely at school, and the meeting with the security company over, Mac had called Veronica to let her know that she'd decrypted all the information Veronica had given her.
Veronica had rushed straight to Mac's, thanked her briefly and profusely, then headed straight to her office to start sifting through the contents.
Nothing in it pointed towards Brandon being the threat on the Echolls family, as Veronica had thought would be the case, but there was quite a bit of information pertaining to Brandon's activities with the white supremacists. There were meeting times and places, and some contacts, though there was no list of members, unfortunately. The information would need to be thoroughly sifted through, and discussed with Casper, which was one of Veronica's purposes in heading to the FBI office in L.A..
When Veronica pulled into the secure parking lot at the FBI that morning, after pressing her finger to the print reader, she was wearing a wig, one giving her a brunette bob. She and Casper had decided that it would be best if she continued to wear a disguise when she came up to L.A.. Veronica was too recognisable without changing her appearance.
Briefcase in hand, Veronica made her way up to the fourteenth floor, her heels making no noise on the carpeted hallways. She took as many back passageways as possible so that as few people saw her as possible.
Up on the fourteenth floor she walked to the third meeting room, entered a code, then allowed her fingerprint to be scanned.
The lock then clicked and allowed Veronica to open the door.
She went in and set herself up at the desk and Agent Casper joined her a few minutes later.
"Sorry I'm late, Echolls," he apologised. "Now, where should we start?"
"We should start with The Keating Case, it's your priority, and help you give me with my personal problem should come second," Veronica said professionally.
"Right, begin then," Casper ordered.
"Well, as I said when I called last night, Cindy Casablancas decrypted the contents of Brandon Keating's hard drive, she was unaware of what she was doing for me specifically, as requested. I spent yesterday afternoon going through the it's contents and I can tell you that it has provided me with quite a few leads," Veronica began.
"Excellent, Echolls," Casper said briskly. "What did you find?"
"I found calendar entries which appear to be meetings Keating has attended over the last several years. He hasn't used a specific name for the group the meetings are held by, but it's almost certainly pertaining to his white supremacy activities. In the calendar section there were several entries for upcoming meetings, over the next couple of weeks. I will be following up on these leads with the assistance of the information I have from my bugs in his house and my bugs on Madison Sinclair," Veronica elaborated. "The contents of the hard drive can be turned over to you to be thoroughly combed through by your agents, and will of course be evidence when it goes to court. When I've finished my involvement with the case I will naturally give you all my findings and anything information I have received electronically, via the bugs."
"Good, Echolls. What specifically will be your next move? Will you require backup?" Casper asked.
"No, I think not. I'm not planning on doing anything reckless or visible. I intend to bug the venue of their next meeting and record what happens in it. Once we have that we should have enough evidence to arrest people. I'll give you the evidence and you can bust them at their next meeting," Veronica explained.
"Excellent, you're moving along very efficiently," Casper replied, pleased. "As far as I'm concerned everything is under control with the case. Now, what can we do to help you with the attack on your family?"
"This is going to be a lot to ask, but I wanted to ask first up if you, or rather The Bureau, would be able to provide a couple of agents to devote to the case. I need help going through all my past cases to see who is still behind bars, and who is out, et cetera. Also, even though Logan has hired a lot of extra security, it would be really good if I could have an undercover agent assigned to Neptune to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. My eldest, Aubrey, seems to be the main target at the moment, so having an agent on her would be desirable. The agent doesn't need to know that I'm back with The Bureau, just that there has been a threat on an ex agent's family," Veronica suggested.
"I think we'll be able to work something out," Casper began. "First of all, we've already got all the information from your previous cases. We have them in two sections, those still in gaol, those on parole. You of course will be the best person to go through them, but I think we can probably spare an agent to give you to help. They should stay here to do that, but you will be free to call them, as Detective Echolls, not Agent Echolls, and liaise with them."
"Thank you," Veronica said in relief.
"Of course. We'll take care of arranging all that and I'll call you to give you the specifics," Casper promised. "You're free to go now, I'm sure you have a lot to take care of at home."
"Yes, I really do," Veronica agreed grimly. "Thanks Casper."
"Good luck Echolls. Call if you need anything, and that's not a courtesy offer, I mean it. If you get in too deep, with anything, call for backup, don't revert to your rash, rookie ways of old," Casper warned sternly.
"Yes sir," Veronica promised seriously.
With that Veronica left the L.A. FBI office and headed back to Neptune.
Veronica wanted very much to go straight home, to tell Logan that she was working on finding out who was behind the attack, but she knew she had to go to the office, to continue with life as if everything was normal, otherwise the enormity of the situations before her would get the best of her.
At the office Veronica worked on some normal cases she had, made calls, looked through case information, then spent a little time beginning to plan for attending the next meeting Brandon was going to. She would monitor all his contact with Madison, and anyone else possible, up until the next meeting, which was in twelve days time. The reason she needed to monitor his contact with everyone was to try to ensure that she knew if he was actually attending the next meeting. It was almost useless to her if he wasn't, because getting definitive proof that he was an active white supremacist was a key part of her case. The finer details of what to take, when to go, what to drive and if she actually would need back up would be worked out later.
The close of business came and Veronica packed up, said goodbye to Lucy, and headed home.
At home she found the house oddly silent. All the cars were there, so Logan couldn't be out with any of them, and they should've all been home, including Aubrey, as cheer practice should've finished.
"I'm home!" Veronica called as she stepped inside. "Where are you all?"
"I'm in my office, Ronnie," Logan supplied, and various calls of 'Hi Mom' drifted from different areas of the house.
The faint voices reassured Veronica and she made her way to see Logan first.
"Hi Sugarpus, how was your day?" Logan asked as Veronica walked in to his office, setting her briefcase and purse down near the doorway.
"Full on," Veronica answered. "I picked up all the old case information I needed in L.A. and I'll spend quite a while sifting through it."
"That's good," Logan said grimly. "I hate that you have to do it, but seeing as you have to I'm glad you're getting into it quickly."
"I'm just hoping that it's some idiot coming after me and we'll be able to catch them quickly," Veronica replied.
"Well, the sheriff's department seems to think it's no idiot," Logan mused. "No fingerprints, nothing at all to give us any idea of who left that hideous thing in Aubrey's locker. I had a meeting today with Adams to discuss tighter security for Neptune High. I don't want to be unreasonable, but I think allowing me to pay to have state of the art CCTV installed is a fair request. He's going to speak to the board, and if they okay it, then I can go ahead and I'll have it done over the weekend. I'll take care of the middle school and elementary school next week if I'm successful with the high school."
"That sounds good. It's the simplest way to take care of the kids without worrying them unnecessarily," Veronica remarked. "I'm going to put my things away and see the kids, then I'll see about dinner."
"Don't worry about dinner, Rosie's taking care of everything tonight," Logan told Veronica.
Veronica smiled tenderly at him, kissed him, then left his office.
She stowed her work things away, locking her gun up for the night, then went to see the children, stopping first in Aubrey's room.
Aubrey was sitting quietly at her desk, headphones in, apparently doing homework.
Veronica found Violet reading silently on her bed, and the boys studiously building Lego. These activities accounted for the odd silence of the house.
After speaking to her mother Violet didn't feel inclined to return to reading, so she left her book on her bed and wandered into Aubrey's room and flopped down on the bed.
"Why didn't you get changed, Aub?" Violet asked, observing that Aubrey was still wearing her cheer practice clothing, with a large sweater thrown over the top.
"They're comfy," Aubrey answered absently.
"Aubrey, please take out your headphones and talk to me," Violet requested.
Aubrey obliged and turned to look at her sister patiently. "What is it, Vi?" she asked.
"I want to know what happened to you at school. I know that the threat or whatever it is has something to do with you. You've been so, so quiet, and Mom and Dad keep looking at you oddly. Are you okay?" Violet asked, her little face lined with unusual worry.
"I'll be fine, Vi," Aubrey said softly, standing and moving to sit on her bed with her sister. "Yeah, the threat was targeted at me, I won't lie to you about that, but it's not really me they want, they want to hurt Mom. I'm not going to tell you exactly what happened, but nothing physically hurt me, and Mom and Dad are doing everything to make sure nothing else happens, and Mom is the best."
"And Dan will look after you," Violet added cheekily, apparently reassured by her older sister's words.
"He seems to be very keen on that, actually," Aubrey remarked dryly. "Maybe he and Daddy can bond over that."
"Dad, bond with your boyfriend? Unlikely," Violet said with a giggle. "I'm glad you're the eldest, that way I can pick up tips from you about how to avoid freaking Dad out when I have a boyfriend."
"Which won't be for a few years, Miss Barely-Twelve-Years-Old," Aubrey teased.
"Yeah, but at least I'll have plenty of time to study you," Violet retorted. "Actually, any plans for this weekend that you need to ask Mom and Dad about so I can watch?"
"Actually, yes, I should check with Mom and Dad about going out with Dan Saturday night. It's just for a party with friends, but with the heightened security they might be wary," Aubrey mused.
"So go ask them now, get it over with, I'll come, for moral support," Violet offered, standing up, taking Aubrey's hand and pulling her off the bed.
The two girls walked quickly down the stairs and found Veronica and Logan sitting on the couch watching the news together.
"Oh good girls, I was about to call you to set the table for dinner," Veronica said.
"Sure Mom, but Aubrey needs to check something with you first," Violet began.
"Oh?" Veronica said, an eyebrow raised. "Will you be speaking for her, or does your sister still have the power of speech."
Logan made a quick analysis of the situation and said, "Speak Aubrey, I'm not going to flip out, whatever it is. Actually, there may be a few exceptions, but you get the idea."
"Well, it's just that Dan and I wanted to go to a party this Saturday, just with some school friends. I know you'd normally be fine with it, but I was just worried because of the whole security issue," Aubrey explained.
"Look, we'd both feel better of course if you stayed home and we could wrap you in cotton wool, and if your boyfriend was say, 100 miles away, but it's not realistic," Logan began. "We want to you keep living like normal, which is why we increased the security we already had. So you can go, provided your mother agrees, and you will of course have to have security with you. They'll be out of the way and following normal procedure as was explained to you yesterday."
Aubrey looked hopefully at Veronica.
"Of course you can go," Veronica allowed.
"Thanks! And Daddy, are you busy on Saturday morning? I thought we might go for breakfast," Aubrey suggested, almost shyly.
"Your shout?" Logan teased. "Of course we can darling. Will you want to sleep in after the game on Friday night?"
"Not really, nine should be enough of a sleep in," Aubrey told him.
So Saturday morning found Logan and Aubrey having breakfast at a beach front café.
"So, you probably guessed I asked you to have breakfast with me because I wanted to talk to you about something," Aubrey said slowly, picking at her omelette.
"Yes, I did," Logan said, grinning. "So why don't you spill."
"Well, it's just, Mom and I had a talk the other week, and I told her how I felt about how you feeling about me dating Dan," Aubrey said in a slightly jumbled way. "She said I should tell you."
"Tell me what?" Logan prompted gently.
"We don't talk anymore Daddy, not really," Aubrey said sadly. "It's like you're scared of something I'll say, that I won't be me anymore. Like you're scared to know me now."
Logan felt his heart ache as his looked at his daughter's face and heard her words. "Well, as your mother would tell me, I've been a real jackass. I'm sorry I've made you feel that way, and it's nothing to do with you, or how much I love you. It's because of me, I've been too stupid and scared to accept the fact that you're getting older. Thank you for telling me how you feel, and I want you to feel free to tell me anything, anything really. Even about Dan."
"Really?" Aubrey asked hopefully.
"Really," Logan said sincerely, and he had meant it.
But when Dan picked Aubrey up that night, and Logan watched his little girl look at him adoringly he knew he would have to work hard, very hard, to be ready to hear whatever Aubrey had to say about her boyfriend. Logan watched how comfortable they already were together and he could just see Aubrey slipping away in front of his eyes. Well, he would have to work hard to make sure that he didn't lose her, and if and when Dan broke her heart, her daddy would be their to pick up the pieces.
"Goodnight, Daddy, Mom," Aubrey said cheerfully, taking Dan's hand on her way out.
Logan followed them to the door and watched them walk down the path.
"Hey, Curtis! Come here a minute," Logan requested, calling to the security guard who would be following Aubrey that night.
"Sir?" Curtis asked.
"Just, just take care of my baby girl tonight," Logan said eventually. "She is your priority, if it comes down to it, you take care of her first, not the boyfriend. In fact, if you're faced with the choice of killing the boyfriend or not killing the boyfriend, kill the boyfriend."
"Yes, sir," Curtis said obligingly, then left to follow Aubrey and Dan to their party.
Aubrey and Dan's evening went off without a hitch, and Aubrey was safely home in bed by her curfew of midnight. Things weren't normal, but at least they were all safe, for the time being.
AN: Thanks for reading!
Up next, we check in with some other characters, other than the Echolls and we see how V is progressing with solving The Keating Case, and the threat on her family.
Next chapter will go up after 6 reviews or 6 days :)