Lives Ruined, Bloodshed

Chapter 24

Saturday morning started with a run. Logan coaxed Veronica out of bed, and the two of them went for a run. They ran a total of eight miles, stopping halfway for a small makeout as the sun rose behind them. And when they raced back to Keith's house, Veronica happily declared herself the winner when she reached the porch first, making Logan laugh as he collapsed on the grass panting.

Veronica found herself unable to contain her smile; everything just felt so normal. Keith was up and making breakfast as they came in, and sitting around drinking coffee while stealing pieces of bacon just felt right.

Veronica disappeared to shower first but made a quick phone call to Walsh. There was nothing new on the Kimberley's case; it seemed that they were at a stalemate for the moment, which meant Veronica was going to use her weekend to think about anything else but work. Then when she got back on Monday, she could take another look with fresh eyes. So, Veronica showered and dressed, before getting Logan to agree to go with her shopping. She still needed more things to survive while she was in Neptune – since everything she owned was in Virginia – and she had the idea that maybe they could have a look at the local real estate and see what was available.

With both of them dressed, they said goodbye to Keith and headed out to Logan's car. He took them back to the same mall that Veronica had been at the other day, and they walked through the centre holding hands. She felt a little silly like she was a teenager, but she couldn't bring herself to let go.

They went to a few different stores. Logan bought Veronica a pair of bright blue fuzzy socks with the cookie monster on them, telling her she could wear them to bed because her feet were cold. And Veronica had Logan sit outside her changing room while she tried on a few pairs of pants, tops, and a few dresses. Veronica took great pleasure in modelling for Logan, enjoying his small remarks. And when he slipped into the dressing room with her, she struggled to bat his hands away from pulling up the dress she had tried on.

They ended up in the food court, sitting side by side while sharing a plate of fries. Veronica had devoured the chocolate thick-shake she had ordered while Logan sipped at his coffee.

"What do you say to lunch at Dick's?" asked Logan.

Veronica turned to look at him, looking away from the cute teenage couple that was very much absorbed in each other a few tables away. "Why? What does he have planned?"

Logan said, "He is having a BBQ. He's invited a bunch of people over."

Veronica narrowed her eyes. "And these bunch of people would be?"

"Mac, Wallace, a few people you don't know…."

"And?" she pushed, knowing he was avoiding something.

He sighed. "And Gia, Luke, Carrie."

Veronica nodded her head slowly. "Was that so hard?"

"I know you don't like Carrie—"

"I have no issue with Carrie, personally. I hate the way she treated you. I don't like how she is trying to manipulate the situation." Veronica picks up a fry and pops it into her mouth.

Logan placed his hand on her thigh and said, "I just don't want you to be uncomfortable."

Veronica smiled and leant towards him. She gave him a quick kiss and said, "And I appreciate that. But I will be fine, as long as Carrie doesn't try to kiss you; I can promise I will be the best girlfriend ever."

Logan grinned and squeezed her leg. "Great. We should go then. He wants me to grab some beer on the way there."

Veronica frowned. "Great idea. Send the one friend who doesn't drink to buy the alcohol."

Logan chuckled. "I don't mind. Besides, we can get something for you, so dealing with people is a little easy."

Veronica laughed and let Logan pull her up.

They arrived at Dick's house with a slab of beer and two bottles of wine and found Mac was already there. Veronica gleefully hugged her friend before pouring them both a glass of wine.

"So, Dick said you have another case already," said Mac.

Dick had moved outside to fill some buckets with ice for the drinks while Logan cleaned and prepped the grill.

Veronica said, "Yeah, a couple were murdered."

Mac frowned. "Sounds horrible."

Veronica nodded. "It is. But sadly, nothing I haven't seen before."

"What make's this a case for the FBI?" asked Mac.

"Nothing in particular; sometimes the local PD will ask for assistance if they don't have enough hands," she explained.

"Is it going well?"

Veronica shrugged. "Yeah, it's okay. We are kind of stumped at the moment; I'm tossing up between two suspects."

"Well, I have faith you will catch the person responsible."

"That I will." Veronica smiled. "How's your job? Any more overseas trips coming your way?"

Mac shrugged. "I don't know. I think for the meantime, I'll be dealing with a few of our local clients; it seems there have been a few problems with the communication channels between my company and them."

"That doesn't sound good."

"It's nothing bad, more just annoying. Instead of picking up a phone or meeting face to face, they tried to sort everything via email, and it's a lot harder explaining to the client what to do in dot points."

Veronica smirked. "Well, I have faith you will fix it."

Mac laughed and opened the fridge to pull out ingredients for a salad. "Oh, I will."

Dick came in from outside and stepped into the kitchen. He smiled brightly at Mac, pressed a kiss to her cheek before opening the fridge and pulling out the meat. He said, "Mac, I got you the veggie burgers. Did you want me to cook up the vegan sausages too?"

Mac nodded. "Yeah, sure. If I don't eat them, I'll take them home."

Dick grabbed two more things from the fridge before taking over a portion of bench space.

The doorbell rang, making Dick pause. Mac squeezed Dick's arm and said, "I'll get it."

Veronica smiled as she watched Dick follow Mac out of the room with his eyes. It was still an odd pairing, but it was very easy to see how much Dick loved her. It was a look Veronica had never seen on his face before.

"Dick?" she said.

Dick turned. "Yeah?"

"You know if you hurt her, I know how to kill you and make sure no one ever finds your body." She smiled at him sweetly, liking how his face turned white, and he swallowed.

"Yeah, of course."

Veronica nodded. "Good."

"But I'd never hurt Mac, Ronnie. I love her."

Veronica said, "Good."

Mac walked back into the kitchen with Wallace and another woman that she didn't know.

"Hey, Wallace," said Dick, "and Shae, good to see you."

Veronica narrowed her eyes slightly but smiled.

"Hey, Dick," said Wallace. "And Superfly, look at you. I don't remember the last time you looked so relaxed."

Veronica shrugged. "I'm finding my zen."

Wallace looked at her concerned, then to Dick. "What did you do?"

Dick frowned. "It's all Logan. The guy has her screaming down the house."

Veronica's mouth fell open with shock. She grabbed the tea towel beside her and used it to whack Dick, making him jump and let out a small scream.

"You two, behave," said Mac.

"I will if he will," said Veronica.

Dick chuckled. "No promises."

Veronica shook her head and turned back to Wallace. "Who's your friend?"

Shae was a very pretty woman, dark skin, black hair and green eyes, and from the way Wallace was looking at her, Veronica knew he was smitten.

"This is Shae," said Wallace, "a friend of mine."

Shae smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Veronica. Wallace has told me a lot about you."

Veronica cringed. "God, that sounds concerning. What exactly did he say?"

Logan walked back into the house, catching Veronica's question and said, "I'm sure he told her how much he appreciates you as a best friend." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest.

Veronica squinted her eyes. "Yeah, that makes it more concerning."

Shae laughed. "I swear, he told me all about how you two met."

Wallace smiled. "I even admitted to being tapped to the flag pole and the events that followed."

"Ah, yes," said Logan. "The bong in my locker."

Veronica scrunched her nose. "Yeah, I should have put it in Dick's locker."

Dick glanced curiously. "Wait, Veronica was the one who got you suspended?"

"How do you not know that?" asked Mac.

Dick shrugged.

Around an hour later, almost everyone had arrived. Logan was standing at the grill with Wallace and Daniel, aka Tooth. Logan had excitedly introduced Veronica to one of the guys on his squadron before embarrassingly facing Daniel's detailed explanation of all the times Logan had brought up Veronica. It had made Veronica smile.

There were a few other people, Veronica couldn't recall everyone's names, but they were mostly friends of Dick. She also saw that Gia and Luke had arrived; Gia had her arm around Luke as they spoke with a few people. And Veronica tried to stay away from them by keeping busy. She helped Mac finish the rest of the food; the salads were waiting to be served once the meat was cooked, and Mac had laid out snacks and drinks for everyone.

Veronica was in the kitchen, pouring herself a new glass of wine when the front door of Dick's house opened, and Carrie walked in. The look on Carrie's face when she saw Veronica made it clear that she was less than impressed to see her. Veronica did what she said to Logan she would do, and she smiled.

"Hello, Carrie."

"Veronica." Carrie walked towards her and leant against the other side of the island counter. "So, you and Logan."

Veronica nodded. "Yeah, me and Logan."

Carrie looked dismayed. "I have to say I'm surprised he wanted to give you another chance. After what you did to him last time."

"And what was that exactly?" she asked.

"You broke him. I had to pick him back up."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "You did no such thing."

"And how would you know? You've been gone for nine years."

"Logan told me everything. Including what you did to him."

Carrie frowned.

"And somehow, I think what you did to him was a lot worse than anything I ever did."

"I made a mistake."

"We all do. Some of us just try not to rub it in other people's faces."

Carrie's jaw clenched.

"Now, I promised Logan to be nice, so I will. As long as you remember that he is mine and not yours." Veronica picked up her glass, intending to walk back outside to find Logan.

"For now," said Carried.

Veronica gripped her glass. "Excuse you?"

"Logan will get bored; I mean, look at you." Carrie scoffed. "You are a nobody."

The words shouldn't have bothered Veronica. She hadn't been self-conscious about her own appearance or even her personality in a long time. She had grown comfortable with her matured body and knew that Logan liked it as well, but the comment still stung. Veronica said, "Better a nobody than a talentless addict."

Carrie glared at Veronica but didn't say anything. Veronica took her silence as a victory and walked back outside. Logan had stepped away from the grill that now had Daniel flipping the burgers and was talking to Dick. Veronica reached him and stepped under his arm that he then placed around her. Logan pressed a kiss to her head and frowned when he noticed her face.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Carrie's here," she said, taking a sip of her wine.

"Oh."

"Yeah, and while I tried to be polite, she was anything but," she explained.

Logan glanced at Dick, who took the hint and left them alone. "What did she say?"

Veronica scrunched her nose and sighed. "Nothing that I should really care about."

Logan turned her around, so she was facing him; he grasped her shoulders and said, "Tell me, please."

Veronica relented. "She told me that you would grow bored with me. She insinuated that my physical appearance was less than appealing and that I was a nobody."

Logan shook his head, a smile on his lips. "I find your body extremely appealing." He took her wine from her hands and placed it on the railing before he pulled Veronica against his chest. "I think you are incredibly delectable, every inch of you."

Veronica smiled. "Is that so?"

He nodded. "Shall we sneak off to my bedroom so that I can show you? Because I've been admiring the way your legs look in those shorts, and all I can picture is having them wrapped around me."

Veronica's smile grew. She lifted her hands to cup Logan's cheeks and kissed him. "Now that sound's like an idea, but I think Dick would be pissed if we ditched his little get together."

Logan sighed. "Fine. I'll just ravish you later."

Veronica kissed him again. "You better."

"Also," he said, "you aren't a nobody. You are a badass crime fighter that looks incredibly hot when you have your gun strapped to your side."

Veronica bit her lip and said, "You know, I have some handcuffs in my bag."

"You do?"

She nodded.

Logan squeezed her waist, his hand slipping beneath the bottom of her shirt. "Are you sure we have to wait?"

Veronica giggled. "Yes, now behave."

Logan rolled his eyes and nodded. "Fine." He pressed another kiss to her lips before leading her back towards Mac. But before they could reach her, Carrie appeared.

Carrie smiled brightly at Logan. "Hey, Logan."

Logan smiled tightly. "Hi, Carrie."

"You look good today," she said.

He nodded. "Thank you, you look nice yourself."

Carrie smirked and tilted her head. "I try."

Veronica felt an overwhelming urge to punch Carrie, but she took a deep breath to calm herself. "I let you two chat," she said. Logan looked uncertain, but Veronica kissed him firmly before walking over to Mac.

She sat down beside Mac on a couch, tuning into her conversation with Shae. But she kept her eye on Logan and Carrie. Veronica noticed how Carrie would step closer to Logan and also how he would step back. It annoyed her to see how actively Carrie was flirting with Logan, but she was trusting Logan, and with every second, she felt good about that trust.

Veronica was listening to Shae explain a recent case she had handled – Veronica had been intrigued to learn Shae was a lawyer – when her phone rang. She apologised as she pulled it from her pocket and then excused herself when she saw Walsh's name. Veronica stepped inside and walked into Logan's bedroom so she could take the call privately.

"Hey, Walsh," she said as she sat on the bed.

"Mars, there's been a disturbance at Brooke Henley's apartment," explained Walsh.

Veronica asked, "Is she alright?"

"I believe so. I'm just leaving home to head over there now. Can you meet me there?" asked Walsh.

"Yeah, of course. Do you think this is related to our case?"

"Well, considering the other person in her apartment was Jenson Kimberley, it may be," said Walsh.

Veronica felt a little light bulb click on. Jenson had held back about his relationship with Brooke when they had interviewed him, the same with his affections for Mandi. It was possible that Jenson, trying to keep Brooke quiet, could have gone over with the intention of scaring her, maybe even killing her.

"Make sure Jenson is kept there, same with Brooke. I think we need to talk to both of them again," said Veronica.

"Alright, I call the uniforms that got sent out."

Veronica stood from the bed and grabbed her bag. She had brought an overnight bag along with her gun and badge – because she was always prepared – and pulled out some pants to change into. As she was pulling her pants up, the bedroom door opened, and Carrie walked in. Veronica glared at her. "Do you mind?"

Carrie returned the glare. "Do you? Why are you in here? Trying to find a way to make yourself more interesting to Logan?"

Veronica stood to button her pants and grabbed her gun holster. She slipped it on over her shoulders and said, "No, I have to go and do my job. You know, something that actually helps people."

"Whatever you tell yourself to sleep at night." Carrie stumbled and reached to grasp the door frame.

Veronica scoffed; Carrie was drunk. She grabbed her gun from the bed and slipped it into the holster before grabbing a pair of new boots she had bought from one of her shopping bags. "Carrie, I don't know why you think slinging childish insults at me is going to achieve, but let me tell you something." She pulled on the first boot. "No matter what you do, Logan is with me. So you can drink yourself into oblivion or take as many drugs as you want, but no matter how many times you cry wolf, Logan isn't coming back to you." She pulled on the second boot and used the tie on her wrist to pull her hair back into a high ponytail.

"Logan just needs to remember how good we were, and he'll come back," said Carrie.

Veronica shook her head. "No, he won't."

She pushed past Carrie and walked out of Logan room. She needed to borrow a car since the SUV was back at her dads. Logan was walking in from the deck as she exited the bedroom.

He took in her clothes and asked, "Work called?"

She nodded. "Yeah, sorry. One of our suspects got into it with another witness, so I gotta go."

Logan sighed. "Alright, should I save you food?"

She smiled. "A burger would be nice, but I don't know how long I'll be." She grasped his cheeks and kissed him. "Also, can I borrow your car?"

Logan nodded and pulled his keys from his pocket. "Of course. That way, you'll have to come back to me."

Veronica chuckled. "I would be anyway."

Veronica parked Logan's BMW just up the street from Brooke Henley's apartment. She walked down and spotted one police unit standing on the street before she headed upstairs. As she stepped out of the elevator, she heard the yelling and spotted Walsh standing near Brooke's front door, looking exhausted.

Walsh's eyes widened with relief when she saw Veronica. "Thank God, I might murder these two."

"What happened?" asked Veronica.

Walsh sighed. "Well, where do I start? According to Miss Henley, Jenson Kimberley admitted to Miss Henley that he had actually been sleeping with Mandi while they were still together."

"Shit."

"Yeah. So Miss Henley started throwing things at Mr Kimberley, which is when the call came through. The two officers arrived and found them having sex on the floor." Walsh smiled, but she looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Alright then. What are they yelling about now?" asked Veronica.

Walsh rolled her eyes and shrugged.

Veronica turned and stepped into the apartment and could see Jenson Kimberley on the couch, in his boxers, with a paramedic attending to deep cuts on his hands and forearm. Brooke was standing in the kitchen in a dressing gown while a uniformed officer blocked her way.

"I can't believe you were fucking her," yelled Brooke.

"I was in love with her," said Jenson.

"You were supposed to love me!"

"I do love you."

"If you did, you wouldn't have fucked my best friend!"

"Okay, enough!" shouted Veronica.

Brooke and Jenson both appeared to want to argue, but they both fell silent. Veronica walked over to the paramedic and asked, "Does Mr Kimberley need to go to the hospital?"

The paramedic shook his head. "No. The cuts are deep, but they don't need stitches."

"Alright, thank you." Veronica looked at Walsh. "I'll talk to Miss Henley if you want to take Mr Kimberley down to the office and maybe get him some clothes."

Walsh nodded. "Sure, no problem."

Once Jenson had been clothed and escorted out of the apartment, Veronica sat down with Brooke had her kitchen table.

Veronica said, "Would you like to explain this to me?"

Brooke sighed and rubbed her face. "After you told me about Mandi and Tristan, I was heartbroken. I called Jenson because I was worried about him and thought he could use a friend. We went out for coffee, and then last night we had dinner, and he spent the night. Then this morning, he dropped the bombshell that he and Mandi were having an affair for months before I broke up with him."

Veronica nodded sympathetically. "That must have been hard to hear."

"Yeah. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Mandi had this way with guys; she just seemed to lure them in."

"Miss Henley, would it surprise you to know that Mandi was having more than one affair?"

Brooke shook her head. "No. But she didn't always tell me everything."

"Do you think Mr Kimberley, Jenson, would he get angry if he found out that Mandi was sleeping with someone else that wasn't her husband?"

"I'm not sure. He never really had a temper. I know Tristan did, but not Jenson."

"Did Jenson mention anything about knowing that Mandi was seeing anyone else?"

"No. He just apologised profusely, but that just pissed me off." Brooke dropped her face into her hands. "I can't believe I slept with him."

"Sometimes our emotions make us do this that don't make any sense," said Veronica.

Brooke glanced up. "Maybe I need therapy."

Veronica kept in the laugh that wanted to come out. She said, "Miss Henley, are you sure there isn't anything else about Mandi? She never mentioned any other affairs?"

Brooke shook her head again. "No. I'm sorry."

"That's alright. Thank you for your time." Veronica stood from the table and let herself out.

Jenson may not have ever shown a temper, but sometimes things could set people off. Mandi was sleeping with her stalker – which was weird – and now it seemed she was having an ongoing affair with Jenson. Veronica found herself considering if a third affair was too far fetched. Could Mandi have also been sleeping with her ex, Freddy?

Thank you so much for reading.

I would love to hear what you think. Even if it's as simple as a 'can't wait' all feedback is appreciated.