A/N: So as I realize that there are a lot of flashing back and forth between pretty much everyone in this chapter. I hope you can follow it! Getting down to the wire here-not quite finished. Enjoy!

P.S. Thanks for all the follows/favs/reviews. Thank you. I really appreciate that people take the time to read this.

Muldoon pulled a jump drive out of the nightstand's drawer. He palmed and then stuck it deep into his pants pocket along with the other one he had found in the bathroom. From a different part of the apartment, he heard a scraping noise, like furniture being dragged. He looked back at the door and wondered if Jake Kane was about to burst through it. When nothing more came of the noise, Muldoon slammed the drawer shut and stood up.

"Doonie…"

He jerked around, glancing around the room in every direction. There was no apparent evidence of anyone anywhere. But he distinctly had heard a voice.

He swallowed.

With a just few keystrokes, Mac had opened the mic up for Dick to work what magic he could on the infamous Muldoon. She glanced over at him and rolled her eyes. Dick's gleeful expression proved he was having way too much fun with all of this.

"Doonie…"

The form of Aidan Muldoon circled around, and on the footage, they all could see a slightly panicked expression growing on his face as he scrutinized every corner and every shadow.

Dick's grin grew wider. "Doonie, what ya doing?"

Aidan couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. The room looked exactly like it had when he had entered ten minutes before, nothing looked out of place. Yet he was definitely hearing voices. Or, more precisely, a voice.

"Doonie, why do you like unconscious women?"

"Because they can't talk back," he answered defiantly, folding his arms across his chest. Aidan felt skittish and sweaty, and when he ran a forefinger along his temple it startled him to see that his hand was shaking. He felt like he might black out, and his breathing was erratic. Maybe the drugs hadn't worn off as much as he had believed. Quietly, he muttered, "No one is in here but me. No one but me."

"Oh, buddy," the voice cackled, " you're not alone."

Aidan's mouth went dry.

Clinton sat across from the Mars Investigations building. He watched Keith Mars exit his office building and lock the door behind him. Waiting ten minutes after Keith had jumped into his car and pulled out of the parking lot, he approached from a back alley. He found a side door and quickly picked the lock and entered the building.

The Mars Investigations office was on the top floor of the warehouse-type building, and so he made his way slowly up the stairway, listening for anything suspicious before he opened the door and stepped out onto the top floor's hall. He let his eyes adjust to the darkness before crossing over to the Mars Investigations door. Cautiously, Clinton reached out and tested the knob. Locked.

It was evident that Aidan Muldoon was becoming more and more disturbed with every little thing Dick said. The three women hovered over Dick, who sat at the monitor, speaking into the speaker in a controlled, even voice. Veronica was impressed at how measured Dick's words were. Aidan was visibly disturbed by what his 'ghost' was asking him. Every time Dick started to talk, Aidan would jerk his head side to side, his eyes wildly tracking the spans of the room.

Dick sensed Aidan's paranoia was culminating and so he demanded into the mic, "Tell me about Dick Casablancas."

"Di..Dick Casablancas?" Aidan repeated, loathing the sound of fear in his voice. Unconsciously, his fingers began to scratch at the backs of his hands. He felt rooted, anchored to the spot, incapable of moving. In his mind, he tried to reconcile the fact that he had everything he needed from this room and that he should leave, but it didn't matter. He felt like something otherworldly was pinning him down.

The voice came again; lower this time. "Tell me about Dick Casablancas. Were you going to rape him, too?"

He swallowed. "Rape? They were all willing!"

"Tell me about Dick Casablancas."

The demand didn't feel right. Feeling confused, Muldoon covered his eyes and pushed his fingers deep into his eye sockets. He breathed in deeply before yelling out, "Go away. GO AWAY!"

"Not until you tell me what I want to know!" The voice was forceful this time.

He felt the prick of hysterical tears threaten to emerge. "Go away!"

"Feeling a little crazy, Doonie? Tell me what I want to know and then I'll leave you alone."

Veronica pushed Dick's shoulder and he grinned up at her. "Jealous?" He mouthed.

She made a face and he turned back, satisfied with her reaction. Into the mic, Dick said slowly, "Doonie, tell me about Dick Casablancas."

The man on the screen looked nauseous.

While Dick dealt with Muldoon, Veronica turned to watch Jake Kane. He didn't seem to be faring any better than his counterpart.

The voice kept talking, not giving Jake even an inch to breathe. Every time he moved backward or forward, the voice would start up again. He felt like he was going insane. The more Jake tried to tune it out, the louder it seemed to become. And it sounded like a voice from beyond the grave.

"Mr. Kane, why are you here? What do you think you'll find?"

He chose to ignore the question, instead stepping to the right.

"I can see you. You can't hide from me. You can't run anymore. Everyone knows what you are."

That wasn't something Jake could ignore. He opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out.

"Mr. Kane, you used to be so wholesome and pure."

I'm still pure! Jake felt himself argue internally. No one knows anything!

"You're just a sad, sad little man, Mr. Kane."

It surprised Veronica by how badly she felt for Jake. He looked pathetic; his movements were jerky as he made his way toward the door in an attempt to escape the words that Logan was flinging out at him.

She needed to snap out of it. This was the man that ruined, ruined her father's reputation and any chance of him ever being Balboa County Sheriff again. Years ago, Jake had consciously tampered with a crime scene, causing the wrong man to be pursued and imprisoned while a murderer roamed free. Veronica herself almost died when the truth was exposed. Jake's predicament was a direct result of his own poor choices.

Resolute, she bit her top lip and kept watching.

Clinton's foot rammed painfully into a file cabinet and he yelped. Holding a hand out to steady himself, he blindly reached for purchase against a wall. He'd entered the first office and was now making his way to the back office, choosing to wait to turn on lights there. The dimness was nearing total darkness, making the journey across the room difficult. The only good thing about running into the cabinet was that he now knew he was near the inner door.

Sure enough, Clinton fumbled against the wall and quickly found the doorknob.

The men on each screen were both in their own personal levels of hell. It was more than obvious that neither of them knew what to do or how to escape. As much fun as it was to watch, Veronica knew it couldn't last much longer. One of them would be bound to make a break for the front door eventually.

Just as they were watching Jake Kane take a large step away from the computer and head toward the bedroom door, Veronica's cell phone vibrated, alerting her to a call. She quickly pulled the phone out and read the display: Dad.

She turned and headed straight for the door, answering the phone as she walked. She waited to say anything until she was out of the room and well out of earshot of the microphone to the computer. The last thing she wanted was for Aidan Muldoon's paranormal experience to be interrupted by a phone call.

Lightly closing the door, she put the phone to her ear and said, "Hi, Dad."

"Honey." He answered unhurriedly.

She felt an inkling of unease. Usually the slower Keith spoke, the worse news he had. "Dad?"

"Can you tell me why there is a light on in our office, when not ten minutes ago, I shut them all off behind me when I left to go grab dinner?"

The bottom of her stomach dropped. "Just a minute, Dad. Don't do anything." Veronica swung the door back open and marched over to the screens. Her eyes stopped on each of the camera shots from inside of the apartment. Only two obvious intruders. That meant one man was unaccounted for, and neither she nor Deidre had even noticed. They'd all become wrapped up in what they were watching on screen.

On a pad of paper, Veronica scrawled 'Where's Clinton?' and pushed the paper in front of Deidre, tapping the agent's shoulder aggressively and motioning for her to read it. Veronica watched Deidre comprehend what was written there. Veronica didn't wait any longer before heading back out to the outer office. She heard Deidre's chair scrape and the quiet padding of feet following her.

Veronica waited until Deidre came through the door and shut it behind her. Into the phone, she asked, "Where are you at, Dad? Tell me what you are seeing."

The computer was impossible to crack. He'd never been much of a computer hacker, not like he wished he were. Not like he needed to be in this situation. Clinton opened the top drawer and shuffled through it, looking for a random piece of paper that might have passwords written on it.

Veronica stepped up beside Mac and leaned down to whisper, "We have to go. You have to keep whatever is happening in the apartment together for us. Whatever you do, don't leave here. Clinton's at the office." She turned away, but paused and turned back. "Oh, and if you talk to Logan before I do, tell him he's an ass."

It really was too much fun screwing with people's minds. Dick leaned in and said into the microphone, "Mister mister, what's the dealio bro?"

Mac elbowed him. Under her breath, she muttered, "It's a good thing he doesn't know what you sound like normally, dude."

Dick shrugged, barely looking at her, his attention still on Muldoon. "Doonie, you need to come clean before I can leave you alone."

Muldoon was starting to look less rattled. His expression had hardened and was now closed off. "It doesn't matter. Dick Casablancas is a thief and a crook. And a man-whore!" He yelled out.

Mac murmured, "Takes one to know one. Pot, meet kettle."

Dick ignored her quip and asked into the mic, "How does that matter?"

"He ruined us! Ruined everything we should have had and we had to start over. OVER!" Muldoon turned around and stomped to the door. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

Mac leaned over and typed in a code. "Keep it up, Dick, were going to follow him through the apartment. Neither of them has found the computer in the living room. If we make sure your voice is there, it will spook them both even more."

On the other screen, Jake was still trying to make his way out of Veronica's room. He, too, was about to open the door. The crazed expression on his face was proof that Logan was having a heyday with the computer tycoon.

"Jake is all but out of Veronica's room. Get your words straight, Dick, this has to go just right. Let them hang their own noose," Mac warned. "We've got them on home invasion and tampering. But we might as well try to get as much of a confession as possible."

Jake's ears were ringing. The buzz of the voice was incessant and he detested it. Hands over his ears, Jake began to hum in an attempt to drown out the sound of the voice. He couldn't stand it. It felt like it was bouncing off the walls and off of the furniture. It wouldn't go away.

Jake hated the voice. He loathed its condescending tone telling him how he, the Great Jake Kane, was once was a loved and respected man. How the community wouldn't take well the fact that Jake Kane was once again targeting the Mars family, Veronica specifically. How Lilly would roll over in her grave. How Duncan would hate it, because he had once loved Veronica.

An unrestrained sob emitted from his throat, almost like an animalistic keen. Knowing it was coming from his own throat didn't make him able to stop it, however. The mere mention of Duncan made his blood run cold. How dare anyone think that everything he had ever done wasn't for Duncan? Jake's hopes for his son had been so high and then it had all been ruined by women. Women like Veronica Mars.

Jake gulped a deep breath. He needed to get out of this room. He just couldn't take any more. If he could cross over to the door he might be able to ignore the voice long enough to get out of the room, down the hallway and out of the apartment. Screw finding more evidence or planting it, Jake was done. He couldn't concentrate. Muldoon and Clinton would just have to finish this on their own.

Both doors opened at the exact same moment and the men piled out into the hallway, both as if running from a ghost.

Dick leaned in to the speaker and waited while the two men on screen gathered their bearings and made their way through the short hallway and into the living room. They both looked wildly at each other, almost as if shocked to find the other still there.

Muldoon gave Kane a strange look, one that wasn't quite definable to Dick. He then swept himself around and headed out to the living room. Kane took one last long glance at Veronica's door and then followed Muldoon.

Muldoon entered first with Kane right behind him. Mac and Dick watched the two of them step guardedly through the room, both acting skittish, both trying to appear calmer than they actually were. It was obvious that neither man wanted to convey weakness in front of the other. Dick figured it was partially an act for their own selves as well.

Dick cleared his throat. Might as well nail the hammer into their coffin. With that thought, Dick said into the mic, "Hope you both found what you were looking for." He held back a laugh when both Muldoon and Kane circled around, eyes searching for the source of the voice they heard. "But you know, it really doesn't matter; that list has doomed you to hell, boys."

The two women parked quite a ways down the street from Mars Investigations and then approached by foot through a back alley. Deidre had her gun drawn and at the ready, and had given Veronica a Taser. Veronica had always used a stun gun, in fact, had always carried one standard, but Deidre had insisted she carry the Taser tonight. A Taser, when aimed, shot out probes that attached to the target. Once attached, the probes would emit an electrical shock every ten seconds to keep the target incapacitated. Since Veronica's own gun was still with the FBI, the Taser was the next best thing.

Relief swept over Veronica at the sight of her dad sitting low in the back seat of his car, in the very back and shadowy part of the Mars Investigations parking lot. He had his camera out and was taking pictures of what was unfolding upstairs, which so far had only been a murky figure going once or twice across the view of the window.

Veronica was grateful that it was Keith and not she who had been the one to realize that someone was inside their office. Because Veronica knew, and likely Keith knew as well, that if it had been her to suspect someone was breaking and entering, she would have walked straight through the front door to confront the intruder—in this case, Clinton.

But because it was Keith, he had patiently waited for Deidre to meet him while Clinton rummaged around their office, planting things and looking for whatever he desired. Keith had taken what pictures he could to obtain the proof of someone breaking in. But, most importantly, Keith had not called the sheriff's office.

Now the three of them sat in the car, staring up at the lit window of Mars Investigations, while Keith confirmed that how he had locked the office and then the building behind him while he ran to Mama Leoni's for takeout. When he'd returned, Keith immediately noticed that something seemed amiss. Choosing not to walk in on an intruder, he had driven away and looped back to park in the back lot of the building and then called Veronica. He suspected at once that it must have something to do with the FBI and their case.

"OK," Deidre said, finally breaking the silence. "Keith, I think you and I should go up together. We can play it as if Veronica disclosed during questioning that she had obtained information that is critical to the case, which she kept here at the office. He'll buy it because he thinks Veronica is still being questioned. It stands to reason that she wouldn't be allowed to leave and that I would call you to let me in to find it. Clinton will try to hide, and I will apprehend and arrest him as soon as we walk in. Cut and dry."

"Cut and dry?" Veronica repeated. "And where will I be?"

"Veronica," her dad said warningly, "Don't make me cuff you to the steering wheel."

"Psh," Veronica scoffed. "You taught me long ago to carry the spare key. I know all the magical ways to get out of cuffs. Besides, when there's a will, there's a way." She felt her dad's peeved stare burning into the back of her neck, but she ignored it.

Deidre took her gun out from her shoulder holster. "All you need to do, Veronica, is just stay right here. It will be over in less time than it will take to climb the stairs. There aren't a lot of options inside the office, right? Can you leave any other way than the front door?"

"There is a back entrance to the building right there," Keith pointed across the lot to a service door. "The front door and the service door are the only two exits of the building. The only door into the office is the main door which is the one that you used this afternoon. If Clinton wants to exit any other way, it would have to be through a window, and I don't think that would be a very fun jump."

Veronica was forced to sit and watch while her dad followed Deidre toward the front of the building. Keith had the keys to the door, and Deidre wanted everything to seem as if Keith was just obeying the FBI's request. So off they went to begin the charade.

Her eyes were fastened to the lit window. There hadn't been a shadow or any sign that anyone was in there, but she knew Clinton must still be in there. He'd have tried to gain access to the computers (which, because Mac hadn't taken off the security, it would be next to impossible), probably attempted to get into the safe, and possibly gone through the file cabinets.

Mentally, Veronica added up the time it would take for all that to happen. Her stomach churned. It was quite possible that Clinton was about to leave. If he left through the service entrance, Keith and Deidre would miss him.

Veronica opened the door and stepped out of the car.

Muldoon and Kane stared at one another in horror. Neither could quite process that what they were hearing was real. No one else was in the room with them, but the voice was not letting up. It kept droning on and on about how neither of them were going to get away with attempting to set up Veronica Mars. The way the voice kept saying 'Veronica Mars' made Jake recoil. It was a different voice than the one that was in Veronica's room, but it still knew just as much.

Jake had finally had enough. Clinton had warned them to be careful when they left, but Jake didn't care anymore. It was time to leave. He struggled past Muldoon, abrasively pushing by him. Jake's sudden shove caused Muldoon to stumble into an easy chair, but that didn't give Jake pause. He took three long strides and he was to the door.

Just as he opened it, the voice came again, "We'll see you in hell, Kanesy." Sneering, Jake took one look back before he was finally able to step free of the bondage of the room. Euphoric, Jake kept his eyes down cast, just to ensure that he wouldn't stumble.

That's why he was utterly shocked when he heard a rather shaky voice command him, "Stop, don't move!"

Dick's goodbye quip to Kane had been simple enough, but for Muldoon, he wanted something special. Dick could tell that Jake had left the outside door open because the darkness from outside now filtered into the apartment and shadowed the remaining intruder.

He opened his mouth and leaned into the speaker, readying himself for one last jab. But before he could give the final blow, he paused. Dick saw movement at the top of the screen where the front door was. He and Mac both sat, stunned, when a cop burst through the door, gun drawn. Muldoon, reacting poorly, grabbed a lamp and threw it forward, hitting the officer. He used the momentary break in the officer's concentration to make a run for it. The officer yelled a warning, but Muldoon didn't slow down. A shot rang out and Muldoon dropped.

Mac reached out and typed in a code to mute their side of the speaker. She pulled her hands back into her lap. Eyes wide, she turned to Dick. "What the hell just happened?"

The air was crisp and warm, as it usually was on a late June evening in Neptune. The sound of cars passing by on the street and the hiss of bus brakes were loud in Veronica's ear. She stood just around the corner of the service door, waiting. The light above her was burned out, which she figured Clinton must have broken it.

Veronica knew if Clinton didn't surface through the door then Deidre would never need to know that Veronica had ever left the confines of the car. But, if Clinton did attempt escape as Veronica suspected, she'd be ready to apprehend him and Deidre would have to forgive her.

Waiting always seemed so prolonged when anticipating something that might not happen. She double checked the Taser for power. Looking it over made her aware of what it would be used for. Her stun gun had always been something she'd used to protect herself, but to use a Taser was more calculated. It required thought and aim. Although it would be more useful when trying to apprehend someone, it felt more like a gun than she liked.

Guns were not her favorite weapon. She'd never liked them despite the fact that, as the daughter of a former sheriff, she was used to having them around. The first time she'd been forced to use ii9one was against Aaron Echolls. That night had been a fight for her life, and because of that, it had seemed natural to pick it up and brandish her father's discarded gun against her attacker. It was as if she had been on autopilot at the time, but her dislike of the weapon had only intensified after that incident.

Just thinking about the time when Logan had pulled a gun in the River Styx gave her chills. She had felt helpless and out of control that day. It had scared the hell out of her. The panic she'd felt in that moment, knowing that the Fitzpatricks could point and shoot as just as easily as Logan could…it still gave her chills.

And then when she'd started back at MI with her dad earlier this year, Keith had demanded that she carry and learn to shoot a gun. He'd gifted her with a little semi-auto. Weevil had given her some pointers, and she'd tried to become more comfortable. But she still preferred to shoot her camera and always would.

Now, however, without her gun, Veronica wished she had the option of it. The Taser felt weak in comparison. If Clinton saw her first, he could get a shot off, a real shot, and it would be over. He'd escape into the wild blue yonder and Veronica would be left for dead. In a situation like this, she preferred real ammunition over voltage, no matter her comfort level of them.

A whine at her feet caused Veronica to look down. There stood a medium sized whitish-brown shorthaired dog staring up at her. He was filthy but cute as he looked up at her with big brownish-gold eyes, his head cocked to the side. Veronica reached a hand down towards the creature and his nose directly sniffed her fingertips. After a thorough examination, the dog licked the palm of her hand.

"Hey, Buddy, what's your name? Aren't you a cutie? Where did you come from?" She asked quietly, feeling her heart squeeze a little at the warmth of his tongue on her hand. "You look a little lost." She eyed him more closely, noting the lack of a collar. "We've got to be a little quiet for a bit longer." The dog tilted his head to the other side and one ear perked up straight. Veronica felt the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile.

She jumped when the service door abruptly popped open and out barreled Clinton in a dead run. He didn't pause or look around; he just shot straight out the door and took the corner widely, blowing right past her. Veronica slammed herself back against the brick building in surprise.

Rebuking herself for allowing the dog distract her, Veronica pulled herself from the wall at the same time lifting the Taser up to aim. Curse her doubting mind! All she could concentrate on was whether or not the Taser was reliable and that she should have asked Deidre how far it would shoot. And then if she missed, how Clinton could turn around and take a shot, and God! This was probably a mistake! When had she become anxious?

Clinton was running further and further away from her. As far as Veronica could tell, he had no idea that she was there. She tracked him with the Taser and fired.

Nothing happened.

She shook the weapon in her hand in frustration. "Are you fucking kidding me!" She pointed again and pulled the trigger. Again, nothing happened. Exasperated, she muttered under her breath, "What the freakin' hell!" In a last ditch effort, Veronica pointed the Taser in front of her and began running after him. Loudly, she called out, "Clinton! There's no use in running!" She couldn't believe her bad luck. She had checked the Taser for a charge more than once, yet it still didn't work.

Clinton looked back over his shoulder right before he reached the front of the building. In the dimness, Veronica could see him sneer at her as he yelled out, "You know nothing, little girl!" And he disappeared around the front corner, turning in the opposite direction of the Mars Investigations building.

Pushing past the dog that was following her, she continued to run down the side of the building after Clinton. She slowed as she approached the corner and cautiously peeked around it, holding the Taser close to her chest. The darkness afforded her nothing, and Veronica was forced to step further out onto the sidewalk. Just as her feet settled on the pavement, she felt a jolt and everything went black.

Veronica opened her eyes just as Clinton bent down and attempted to pry the Taser from her fingers. She was grateful that somehow even after knocking her out, Veronica had somehow managed to keep a firm hold on it. He hadn't yet noticed that she was conscious. Covertly, Veronica gauged if there was any way to assault him, kick him, scratch him, anything but he was to the side of her and already straightening. If Veronica could turned just right, she might be able to scratch him, but she figured that would only serve to make him even angrier.

Veronica moaned as if she were just coming to. She felt Clinton's shadow skim over her. And then she felt...oh, hell, she felt both of his feet pin her hands down to the ground. There was no way she would be able to do anything to protect herself with her body pinned down.

"You think you've got me in a corner, do you, Veronica Mars?" Clinton's voice hissed, making her jerk in surprise. "You pathetic little nothing. No one knows shit, and you can't prove a damn thing. Krause-D'Amato's about to find everything you've held back. You know that, don't you, bitch? It's too fucking late for your words and whatever the hell you think you have on me."

She tried to roll to her side, but each of his feet was crushing into both of her palms. She gasped.

"Nice try," he said with finality, his feet beginning to twist harder into her hands. "No one is gonna believe a damn word that comes out of your pretty little mouth."

"Please…" Veronica heard herself plead, wheezing from the pain. "You're going to crush my hand! Please!"

Instead of relenting, he pushed down even harder. She let out a scream.

Dick and Mac watched the screen, speechless. A Balboa County Deputy Sheriff stood in her apartment, reading Aidan Muldoon his rights. In the doorway they could the form of Jake Kane. He looked as if he were a witness to a crime and not a suspect.

"How is Jake not cuffed?" Dick asked incredulously. "And who the hell called the cops?"

Mac shook her head, just as confused. "That's a good question."

Through the monitor's speaker, Muldoon was concocting a story about having had to break into his girlfriend's apartment because she was out of town. The next words out of his mouth were how he was going to sue the county for wrongful assault with a deadly weapon. But the deputy continued reading Muldoon his Miranda Rights, ignoring everything coming out of Aidan's mouth. The officer leaned down to check the wound at Muldoon's shoulder. He then called for backup into the CB at his shoulder while he reached for cuffs at his belt. Jake still stood at the doorway, appearing shell-shocked.

"Ten to one, Jake Kane used his clout to yet again get out of a jam. Veronica will be so surprised." Mac commented.

They were both quiet when a second officer entered the apartment.

"This keeps getting better and better." Mac sighed. "It's Lamb." She grabbed her phone and speed-dialed Deidre. To Dick, she said, "Someone has to get over there now or they're both going free." The agent's phone went straight to voicemail. Mac hung up and grabbed her purse. "We have to get there. Now."

Veronica felt the pressure on her hands lessen but the throbbing pain remained and she continued to scream. She opened her eyes in confusion when she heard a ferocious growl and then another, deeper scream. It took her a second to realize that the scream was emitting not from her own throat, but from Clinton's. All at once, the weight of Clinton's feet lifted from off her and Veronica rolled herself away from him, panting from the pain. She pulled up to rest on her elbows, opening her eyes. Horrified, she watched the scene played out in front of her.

The dog, the seemingly cute and innocent pup she had been talking to not five minutes before, was now a ferocious looking beast. He was snarling and growling angrily as he aggressively lunged at Clinton. The man's arm was up in front of his face, attempting to ward the dog off. His efforts were unsuccessful. His scream was full of terror.

Guardedly, Veronica kept her eye on the dog as she pulled herself up to a standing position.

"Help me!" Clinton screamed through the snarling. "Please, call him off! Call him off!"

"I can't call him off!" Veronica told him frantically, "He's just a stray! I have no idea what to say to him!"

"Just try!" Clinton's blood-curdling response was terrifying, "Just try!"

"Heel, boy. Down!" Veronica ordered the dog feebly. Really, she wasn't sure if she wanted the dog off of Clinton. The animal had just saved all the bones in both of her hands from being crushed. Unthinking, she heard herself order, "Be cool!" an old adage she used to say to Backup, the old family dog. She immediately regretted saying it but the dog surprised her by relenting in his attack. Lifting his head, the dog looked back at Veronica and then stepped away from Clinton's prone form. The dog locked its gaze back on Clinton before sitting next to her.

Dumbfounded, Veronica stared down at the dog.

"That's not your dog?" Clinton groaned, rolling from side to side on his back. "How is that not your dog?"

"I'm telling you he's not my dog," Veronica said. She looked down at where the dog was keeping guard, staring down Clinton at her feet. It didn't surprise her to hear the rushing of feet behind her. She knew that her dad and Deidre must have heard the scuffle and come running.

Clinton's eyes remained fixated on the dog before him as he lay on the hard cement of the sidewalk. Veronica kept her eyes on Clinton and her hand on dog's head, not moving even when Keith came to stand beside her on one side and Deidre on the other.

"I guess you didn't stay in the car." Keith noted drolly.

Breathing hard, Veronica replied, "Yeah, I guess I didn't."

"Who's your friend?" Her dad gestured to the dog, whose eyes were still trained on Clinton.

"I don't know if I'd exactly call him my friend," Veronica answered, following Keith's gaze. "More like…he provided some much needed assistance when the Taser refused to work." Absently, she rubbed at her palms. "He was all the ammo I needed."

"Ammo?"

"The Taser didn't go off," she explained while the two of them watched Deidre cuff Clinton and read him his rights. "If the dog hadn't attacked Clinton, both of my hands would have been crushed and he would be long gone. This little guy saved the day." She pet the dog's head in affection.

"Huh." Keith said quietly. "Good thing you had ammo."

The dog looked up at Keith and wagged its tail.

A/N: the reason that this chapter was unable to wrap up the mystery/suspense is because I decided to put in Ammo (the dog). I really hope you enjoyed Veronica's savior. :) He was an essential part of this chapter. Also, I researched also the differences about a Stun Gun and a Taser. I found that it is very typical for a Taser to not go off even when charged. So very likely, that could happen in a real-life situation.

Happy Halloween!