CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
There was a nine hour time difference between California and Switzerland. Too late to call the clinic now. Veronica put the address book away and pushed the luggage back in the closet. It was time to share her suspicions with Logan, but she didn't know how to tell him and honestly she didn't want to tell him. Would it be better coming from me or if he found out on his own? She'd tried to convince him to let it go, but he seemed determined to see this through and how many phone calls would it take before he learned what kind of therapy Kleine Schritte offered; one, two?
The crowd in the lobby was gone and so was Conner. It appeared to be business as usual at the front desk. Veronica retrieved her car from the valet and headed for the office with thoughts of Trina, Logan, and Aaron to keep her company. Not just thoughts, the same thoughts she'd been trying to avoid. Logan's dig about Trina's sexual promiscuity made that day at the Sunset Regent, yeah, well to be fair when didn't you have a boy over. Him standing in her office asking for help to find Dylan Goran, Trina's leech-of-the-week boyfriend…he beat her up; Trina taken advantage of and abused.
Veronica stopped for coffee for Mac. The shop was next to an In-N-Out, but the smell and the thought of food roiled her stomach. No lunch today.
When she arrived at the office, Mac was behind her desk and she grinned the minute she saw Veronica. "How did it go at the Grand?"
"It was pretty quiet. Boring really." She put the coffee on her desk, "I don't think you even deserve this latte." Mac was studying her face for any hint of sarcasm. Veronica kept her features placid until Mac actually started to look worried and then she smiled. "I love it when a plan comes together." She cued up the video on her cell and handed it to Mac.
Her face lit up with glee at the video footage, "I almost tapped in to the security feed, so I could watch it myself. Now I'm sorry I didn't." She gave her back the phone. "Were you able to talk to everyone?"
"Everyone I wanted." Before putting her phone away, Veronica sent Logan a text: meet me at the office when you're ready. "Did you get the information on Kip Williams?"
"It's on your desk." She shuffled through the files in front of her, opened one and pulled out a sheet of paper; her expression turned sour. "That original million dollar deposit into Clarence Wiedman's personal account? I found the source." She was staring at the page, not saying anything.
"Well don't leave me in suspense." Mac gave it to her. It was a copy of a wire transfer dated October 3, 2006, one million dollars to Clarence Wiedman from Duncan Kane. "Why would Duncan…" Veronica stopped talking. She folded the piece of paper and put it in her purse. "What about Julie's financials?"
Mac had been her friend long enough to not question the change of subject, "also on your desk."
"Great, thanks." She wandered into her office, dropped her purse on the desk and herself into the chair. It was all swirling around her head: the case, Trina, Kleine Schritte, talking to Logan, breaking in to the crime scene, Duncan, 2006; she didn't know where to start. Veronica booted up the computer and found the file on Kip and the financials for Julie.
Julie's credit report was stellar. All her bills were paid on time and her score was high. Tax returns showed she owned an apartment in Manhattan, a house in Los Angeles, and a pied-à-terre in Paris. Income for last year included the money she was paid by Echo Films for starring in the movie and interest earned from various investment accounts. She wasn't poor, but she didn't have the resources to finance an entire film on her own. Unless she was willing to make a small budget picture, but somehow Veronica didn't think the words Julie Hanson and small budget went together.
She skimmed the credit card statements. All the charges were…she couldn't use the word normal…two thousand dollars at Hermes, weekly charges at the Spa at the Beverly Wilshire, nine hundred dollars at Christian Louboutin, five thousand dollars at Dolce & Gabbana. Veronica put them away and picked up the bank statements. The automatic payments and withdrawals were for more relatable items; phone bills both home and cell, insurance, union dues, and Porcellian Security.
The computer was up and running. She tossed the bank statement on her desk and went to Google; typing in the words, adult manifestations of childhood abuse. There were about 322,000 results. The links all had titles like the long shadow of abuse, the lingering trauma, survival, support, impact, warning signs. She clicked on a link from Psychology Today and started reading. Each link was more depressing than the previous one and after the tenth article she couldn't read anymore. She copied and pasted the two most relevant links into an email and sent it to herself for later.
She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. Cigarette burns and broken noses. "Bastard," the word hissed from her mouth and she shook her head. It didn't even come close. A bullet to the brain was better than he deserved. She suddenly had the urge to call her dad. He picked up on the first ring and his Keith Mars sounded rushed. Veronica bit her lip, "busy?"
"Never too busy for you." Now that he was on the phone, she didn't know what she wanted to say, thanks for being a great dad, thanks for not being an abusive fuck, thanks for loving me. "What's wrong Veronica?"
"Nothing…I just wanted to tell you I love you."
"Music to my ears." The words were sweet, but the worry was evident. "Are you sure you're okay honey?"
"I'm fine; having a bad day and thinking we need some daddy daughter time. Got any escaped fugitives we could track down or cheating spouses to spy on?"
"No, but we could always go to the zoo?"
She laughed, "you and the zoo. Do all the wild animals bring out the primal male need to hunt?"
"Now Veronica, you know it's that I like to make faces at the monkeys and eat funnel cake." She smiled. "Maybe we can bring my beautiful granddaughter with us. Unlike her mother, she won't try to steal my ice cream."
"I wouldn't be so sure. Logan thinks her eyes glaze over anytime you mention something with sugar."
"That doesn't surprise me at all." His voice softened, "I love you kiddo."
"I love you too." She shut off the computer and pulled the file for Kip Williams closer. "Did you find your witness?"
"At a bar across the border."
She felt a sharp stab of disappointment at his location, "so no lunch and aquarium?"
"I could come home right now if you need me to." And he would too. No questions asked. He would drop everything and put her first.
"No, Logan's meeting me at the office and we're going to spend the afternoon together." She conveniently left off the part about breaking the law and unpleasant conversations. Better that he picture an idyllic afternoon of happy couple time. "I'll call you tomorrow and we'll make plans for the zoo."
"Let's bring Logan with us so you can steal his ice cream."
She hmphed, "I'll have you know, I don't need to steal his ice cream, he happily turns it over to me."
"A man in love will do many dumb things, including surrender his ice cream."
Veronica rolled her eyes, "a man in love huh? What about you? Have you been giving up the ice cream lately? Maybe to someone we both know?"
"Did you just say you have to go?" She could hear the smile in his voice and an answering one spread across her face. "You have a good afternoon with Logan, honey, but you make sure you call me tomorrow and I mean it Veronica, I want a phone call."
"I promise."
"Who's your daddy?"
"You are." Veronica hung up in a considerably better mood.
She turned her attention to Kip Williams. His financials were a lot less impressive than Julie. His credit report showed a few delinquencies and a couple of credit cards were marked "settled for less than owed." The bank statements were as boring as his tax returns. His occupation on the most recent return was listed as gaffer and made her think of Frank's words he's new, didn't really hang out with anyone on set. He wasn't new to this movie. According to the paperwork Trina gave her, Kip was hired at the start along with the rest of the crew. Veronica flipped through the previous tax returns. Occupation: gaffer, occupation: electrician, occupation: security guard. She searched through the file for his W2 statements.
Her fingers stilled and she picked up Julie's bank statements again. When she saw the transactions for Porcellian Security, she'd assumed they were payments for Julie's security detail. The weekly amount of five thousand dollars wasn't a lot of money for round-the-clock protection. Rumor had it that Britney Spears spent half a million dollars a year on security and 50Cent closer to a million. Julie Hanson didn't have their level of fame so five grand a week didn't seem unusual. No, the problem wasn't the amount, it was that they weren't automatic withdrawals, they were weekly deposits.
"Prison stripes? That doesn't fill me with confidence for our afternoon caper." Logan was lounging in the doorway. Veronica frowned in confusion at his statement and he pointed at her black and white striped shirt. "Should I put our attorney on speed dial?"
"You mean he isn't already?"
"Number one with a bullet." He started across the room, "now here is plan." His Russian accent was terrible, "pogarogapogadog."
Veronica grinned and shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm Boris; you're Natasha."
"I can't hear word you say, darlink."
"That's better." He leaned over to kiss her and she pushed him away, "please Natasha. This is kiddie show," her Russian accent was flawless.
Logan gave her a very chaste kiss on the cheek and leaned against the desk. "What is our plan?"
"The access road," she got up and went to the filing cabinets. When they were breaking Lilly out of the house, they didn't need to worry about alarm systems and security codes because they had an inside man. Today would be different, but she was also a different girl with new toys. She pulled out a jammer to block the perimeter alarm. It worked by radio frequency and prevented the alarm from wirelessly calling the police. Then she took out a powerful magnet to disable the contact sensors. She added her lock pick set, a screwdriver, and a computer device she could plug into the keypad to turn off the entire system.
He frowned, "do I even want to know what these things do?"
"Probably not," she stuffed them in a black duffel bag, "you're just the getaway driver."
"Except that I'm going inside with you." Veronica nodded in agreement and handed him the bag. "Hey, is everything okay?" He placed his hand on her cheek to keep her from turning away and his eyes were probing.
She thought she was doing a pretty good job at keeping everything light and easy, but apparently not good enough to fool Logan. "Did I agree too quickly? Was I supposed to insist you remain in the car?"
"When have I ever listened to that instruction?"
"Uh, never." He kissed her forehead. "How did things go with Dr. Feelgood?"
"He said I'm truly fucked up, that we are both twisted people who were made for each other and that I should be eternally grateful that my soul mate is as warped as I am." Her mouth dropped open in mock outrage. "I may be paraphrasing a bit."
"Ya think?"
"Veronica we're about to break into the house of my dead ex-girlfriend, who incidentally was murdered by my dad, in order to prove that my sister isn't a killer. It's not exactly a Norman Rockwell painting."
"Dude, you're harshing my mellow." She collected all the financial information, shoved it in her bag and slung her purse over her shoulder. "Ready?"
"After you fearless leader."
Mac was on the phone and she barely acknowledged their departure, offering a slight wave before frowning at the phone and muttering, "it's not a good idea."
Veronica paused and Logan pushed her through the door, "leave her be Mars."
"But she might need my help."
"Don't worry; Mac's a pro at dealing with Dick." He grinned, "that sounded very dirty."
"Only to you." She frowned at him, "how do you know she's talking to Dick?"
"Because he passed me a note in study hall and asked me to find out if she liked him, liked him," he shook his head. "I heard her call the restaurant and ask for him while I was standing in your doorway."
"Hasn't he left for New York yet?"
"Finally. There's the disdain and animosity that's been missing from your voice. God's in his heaven, all's right with the world."
Her eyes widened in surprise, "did you just quote poetry?"
"You might need to elevate your game, if you want to keep up with me." He slid behind the wheel of the car and tapped his temple, "it's not all cartoons and esoteric pop culture references in here."
"Don't you worry; I can keep up with you just fine."
"No doubt." They took a less direct route to the house, which had them circle around the reservoir and approach the property from behind. The entrance to the access road was obscured with bushes and unless you knew where you were going it would be impossible to find. Logan made the turn without hesitation and he winced when something scraped the undercarriage of the BMW. "This was a lot easier in the X-terra."
"Yeah but the obnoxious yellow wasn't exactly covert."
"It did have a roomy backseat." He leered at her.
"Just keep your eyes on the road." Road was a euphemism. The unpaved, dirt path led around the property and put them right at an unused service gate near the maintenance shed. Trees and thick foliage kept them from being seen from the house and the neighbors were too far away. The path widened to a small circular clearing and Logan made a u-turn so they were facing in the right direction for their getaway before parking the car directly behind the shed. "How many times did you do this?"
"Countless," he muttered the response; his demeanor now sullen and melancholy. He stared through the windshield, but Veronica didn't think it was the shrubbery holding his interest.
"You don't have to come in with me." She turned on the jamming device to block any alarm calls.
He didn't respond. Climbing out of the car, he slowly pushed the door closed so it wouldn't make any sound and turned to the double gate. It was protected by a smart code, digital lock; the same lock that had always been there. Logan started punching in numbers and Veronica's hand darted out to stop him. "What?"
"They're probably not the same."
He glanced at her and back at the gate. It wasn't in use back then and it certainly didn't look like it was in use now. His smirk said you think the rich folks pay any attention to this area of the house? He finished punching in the numbers and the lock clicked. Smug satisfaction crossed his face as he pulled open the gate. Veronica shook her head; he was impossible to live with when he was right.
Logan took the duffel bag from her and started toward the house; his feet automatically following an invisible path that kept them hidden from sight. Sense memory. When they reached the end of the landscaping there was fifteen feet of open space between them and the house. They stood there side-by-side waiting for a girl who was long gone to push open the window and whisper, what took you so long? Well, don't just stand there, come help me.
Veronica shook off the memory. She took off at a run, crossed the open space and pressed her body against the house. Logan however, casually walked across the grass laughing at her. "The house is empty remember? I think the subterfuge has gone to your head."
A small smile teased the corner of her mouth, "maybe."
She moved along the house to the door she wanted. It was a standard solid wood door with no windows or sidelights. Logan leaned against the house watching as Veronica ran the magnet along the seam to disable the alarm contacts and then picked the lock. It took her less than five minutes to align the tumblers. He pushed himself off the house and followed her inside. "Is it wrong that this is a total turn-on?" She rolled her eyes. "What? You're sexy when you're stealthy."
Veronica unscrewed the panel on the alarm pad and connected her favorite and highly illegal toy. It bypassed the circuitry and the green disabled light flashed on. "Remember, don't touch anything."
"You mean I shouldn't leave my fingerprints at a crime scene? What a novel idea." The sardonic tone wasn't lost on her. He shoved his hands in his pockets and followed her through the maze of rooms. When they reached Lilly's bedroom, Veronica stopped short so suddenly, Logan plowed right into her. "What the fuck…how?"
Lilly's room was exactly that, Lilly's room. The furniture was slightly different, but it was close and it was arranged the same way. A large mirror on the desk leaning against the wall, a framed photo of Logan and Lilly, the same bedspread and throw pillows, even the pictures on the wall were identical. "Crime scene photos maybe?"
"That's just sick." Veronica silently agreed with him. Julie's fascination with Lilly Kane crossed the line from research to bizarre when she started sleeping with the movie counterparts for Logan, Aaron, and Weevil, but this…this was truly disturbing. "Let's get this over with."
She moved further into the room. "You take the closet and I'll look through the desk and remember…"
"I know, I know, don't touch anything." He pulled his sleeve down over his hand and twisted the knob to the walk-in closet. "What are we looking for?"
"I'll know it when I see it."
His voice was muffled inside the closet, "that clears it right up, thanks."
The picture of Logan and Lilly was one she hadn't seen for a long time. Veronica picked up the frame and put it in her duffel bag. Trespassing and stealing from a crime scene, Lilly would be proud. Daily sides of the script were stacked on the desk, along with a full copy of Blood Lilly. Still need to read that. There was a note card, like the kind that came with flowers, which read congratulations, but without a signature. Probably not from Perry.
She moved to the bedside tables. There were some trashy paperback romance novels. Veronica picked up each one and shook them to see if anything was tucked between the pages, but nothing fell out. She knelt on the floor and checked under the bed. It was hard to concentrate. Thoughts of Lilly wouldn't leave her alone.
'Look Veronica Cosmo Girl has 493 ways for us to have fun this summer and it's going to tell us how to meet cute guys.'
'You already have a cute guy; how many more do you need?'
'I'll remember to tell Logan you think he's cute.'
"There's nothing in there, but clothes and…are you okay?"
Veronica wiped the tears from her face and stood, "there's one more place to check." She started to drag the desk chair over and stopped, she couldn't do it. This was too much like that night. "Here," she took the screwdriver out of the bag, handed it to him and nodded toward the air vent.
Logan didn't need a chair. He unscrewed the cover and pulled out the contents; the stolen canisters of film.