Lives Ruined, Bloodshed

Chapter 25

Veronica arrived at the San Diego field office just before two. She had sent Logan a message to let him know she probably wouldn't be back until dinner and had also sent a message to Mac to ask if Carrie had behaved herself. While she trusted Logan completely, after Carrie's little drunken attempt to make her insecure, she wouldn't put it past Carrie to try something when she wasn't around.

The office was mostly vacant as she walked in. Most of the agents were home for the weekend, leaving a skeleton crew available just in case people were needed. Veronica greeted a few agents who had become familiar faces over the last couple of days and made her way towards the interrogation room. She opened the door to find an annoyed looking Walsh. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was frowning at Jenson.

"I wouldn't hurt Mandi," pleased Jenson, "she was my sister-in-law."

"And your lover," said Veronica. She stopped beside the table, the door swinging closed behind her.

"Okay, fine. Yes. Mandi and I were having an affair, but we were in love," he claimed.

"How long did this affair go on for?" asked Walsh.

Jenson said, "About a year. Tristan went away to open an extension of our real estate company in San Fransico. He was gone for a week, and Mandi was lonely. It just happened."

"You just happened to sleep with your brother's wife?" asked Veronica.

He claimed, "I fell in love with her. If you'd met Mandi, you would understand."

Veronica sighed and said, "I've been getting to know a lot about Mandi, and I find that she isn't who anyone thinks she is."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Veronica opened a file and showed Jenson a photo of Perry Armstrong. "Do you know this man?"

"No."

"This is Perry, another affair of Mandi's."

Jenson's eyes widened. "What?"

Veronica nodded slowly. "Yeah. According to Perry, he regularly met up with Mandi to have sex, normally in public. It seemed Mandi had a bit of a voyage kink."

Jenson's mouth popped open. "No, he's lying."

"I think not. We have records that confirm their meetings."

"She wouldn't."

"I think she would." Veronica took a seat across from Jenson. "Do you know this guy?" She pulled a picture out of Mandi's ex, Freddy.

"Was she sleeping with him too?" snarked Jenson.

Veronica shrugged. "Not that we can prove. He's her ex from college. Tristan or Mandi ever mention him?"

He shook his head, burying his face into his hands. "No. But she wouldn't; Mandi loved me."

"Really? Because she was meant to love your brother as well. But it seemed that just one person wasn't enough. She needed your brother, as well as you, and let's not forget Perry Armstrong."

"You're wrong!" he yelled.

Veronica kept her voice calm. "She didn't love you, Jenson. She loved the attention. You weren't enough man for her, and you were never going to be."

"No!" Jenson slammed his hands on the table.

Veronica stood and looked him in the eye. "She had you so convinced that you tried to get her to admit it to your brother. You told Tristan about your affair, but it didn't go quite as you planned. Tristan knew. He knew about all her affairs, and that pissed you off. Your brother didn't care who his wife was fucking, and she didn't really care about you. So you killed them. You beat your brother and then stabbed him."

Jenson shook his head, his eyes watering.

"And then you raped Mandi. You took her one last time before you strangled her."

"No…" Jenson sobbed. The tears fell, and he dropped his head onto the table.

Veronica sighed. She might have pushed a little hard. She collected up the photos and nodded for Walsh to follow her out of the room.

"Do you really think he did it?" asked Walsh.

"Not so much now," she said. "But it is possible. He has no alibi, and people do crazy things when they're in love."

"He just seems more heartbroken than anything."

"Let's hold him for now, see if Ollie comes up with anything more for us."

Walsh nodded and moved to head back into the room. Veronica didn't know for sure if Jenson was their guy. What evidence they did have could point to Jenson, especially with his lack of alibi, but thinking back to the damage done to both Tristan and Mandi didn't really fit with Jenson.

Veronica pulled out her phone and found Ollie's number. She dialled.

"Agent Mars, you call me on my weekend. I think I like you a little less now," answered Ollie.

Veronica smirked. "I apologise for interrupting your you time, but I wanted to ask you to check a few more things out for me on the Kimberley case."

Ollie sighed. "I guess, for you, I can do that. But you owe me pizza."

"Done," said Veronica. "Lunch on Monday is my treat."

"Fantastic. Now, what do you need?" she asked.

"Jenson Kimberley, he is Tristan Kimberley's brother and business partner. I need you to do some digging and see if you can confirm any corresponding dates between him and Mandi Kimberley."

Ollie started typing on her computer. "He was screwing his brother's wife? Wow."

"He wasn't the only one screwing her. It seemed Mrs Kimberley got around."

Ollie scoffed. "It's women like her that give women like me a bad name."

"And what kind of woman are you?" asked Veronica.

"That is for me to know and you to ponder." Ollie giggled. "Anything else?"

Veronica smiled and said, "Yeah. See if you can find out if he was doing anything the night of the murder. He claims he was home watching a movie but can't prove it. Check CTV, bank accounts and such, see if anything places him at home or even elsewhere."

"Sure thing, boss."

Veronica paused and frowned. "What did you just call me?"

"Oh, nothing. Just something I heard around the water cooler."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Parker's been going on about how he overheard Whitaker talking about you running the San Diego office. He was pissed, which made me happy."

Veronica rolled her eyes. You never could escape gossip.

"So, is it true?" asked Ollie.

"Is what true?"

"That you're going to run the field office?"

Veronica grinned and teased, "That is for me to know and you to ponder."

Ollie laughed. "Nice one, Mars."

"Let me know how you go, bye Ollie."

Veronica left the office early than she thought. Sending a quick message to Logan to let him know, she jumped back into his BMW and drove back to Dick's condo. She already knew, thanks to Mac, that Carrie had done exactly what she suspected. Once Veronica had left Dick's, Carrie tried to drape herself all over Logan – who had tried to avoid all physical contact – in an attempt to lure him back. Mac had also mentioned that Logan had taken Carrie inside at one point but didn't know what had happened. Only that Carrie hadn't come back outside, and Logan seemed pissed. Veronica wanted to know exactly what had been said, but she didn't want to push it. She hoped Logan would simply tell her.

Veronica parked Logan's car in the driveway before letting herself inside Dick's house. There was no music playing, but Veronica could see the fire flickering out on the deck. She placed her stuff on the kitchen island, where a pile of dishes were still waiting to be done, and walked out the open doors.

Mac and Dick were snuggled together on one side of the fire, and Logan sat on the other.

"You're back," called Mac.

"I am," said Veronica. She walked around and sat down beside Logan, whose arm slid around her and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"There's leftovers if you're hungry," said Logan.

"I'm starved," she said.

Logan pressed another kiss to her shoulder and hopped up. Veronica smiled after him as he headed into the kitchen.

"Sucks you got called away, Ronnie," said Dick.

"It happens," said Veronica. Not that she had ever really been called away from many events. Most of the time, she was at home watching movies or out running.

"Well, next time you tell them that we need some Ronnie time too," said Dick.

Mac rolled her eyes, and Veronica laughed.

"I had no idea you liked my presence so much."

Dick shrugged. "You being here makes Mac happy, and Logan. And if they're happy, then I'm happy."

Veronica smiled. "Glad to know I make you happy, Dick."

Logan came back outside and handed Veronica a plate of food. She moaned in appreciation and took a big bite of the burger. Logan took his place back down beside her and put a beer for her by their feet. He said, "How'd it go?"

Veronica sighed. "Two witnesses got into a domestic."

"Was it bad?" asked Mac.

"No," said Veronica. "More ridiculous. The brother of one of our victims was having an affair with our other victim while he was engaged to her best friend."

"Shit, seriously?" asked Dick.

Veronica nodded. "Yep. The best friend called the brother, worried because his brother was killed, and then they hooked up, which led to the brother telling her about the affair. That resulted in several things being thrown and broken, and apparently another round of hate sex because the two uniforms that showed up found them going at it."

Dick laughed. "Seriously? Maybe I should become a cop, free porn."

Mac scoffed, disgusted and smacked him on the stomach.

Dick groaned. "I was kidding."

"It wasn't funny," said Mac.

Logan smirked.

Dick pointed at Logan. "He thought it was funny."

Mac gave Dick a pointed look, which he pouted at before sagging into his seat. Veronica couldn't help but think he looked like a child that got put in timeout.

"So, nothing to help your case?" asked Logan.

"Maybe," said Veronica. "Waiting on the tech to get back to me with some info." She put down the now empty plate and grabbed her beer. She snuggled into Logan's side and sighed. "How was the rest of the afternoon?"

Logan seemed to tense but said, "Yeah, fine."

Mac noticed the look and stood up. "Dick, I think we need to get those dishes done."

Dick frowned. "Can't they wait—"

"No. Now." Mac grabbed Veronica's plate and headed inside, dragging Dick as she went.

"Love her subtly," said Logan.

Veronica smiled and chuckled. "What happened?" she asked, placing her hand on his thigh and rubbing it.

Logan sighed and said, "After you left, Carrie got a bit handsy."

"Really?" Veronica said with more surprise than probably necessary.

Logan's eyebrow popped up. "Mac told you?"

She shrugged.

"Of course she did. I handled it. I told her to cut it out."

Veronica nodded. "I know. I didn't think you'd let her go too far."

"Really?"

Veronica pressed forward to kiss him. "Trust. That's what I promised you."

"I know, I just—I heard what she said before you left."

"What about how you remembering how good you two were?"

"Yeah."

"Logan, you have been with other women; I have accepted that. I've even accepted that you have loved other people. But I have also learned that the reason we lost so much time, that I even have to know any of that, was because I couldn't trust you – along with other things – but the trust was a big one. So that is what I am doing, trusting you like you're trusting me to be honest and not bottle up my feelings," she explained, her hand cupping his cheek.

Logan smiled. "Right, of course." He kissed the palm of her hand.

"So don't be worried about what other people say to me about us, because all I care about is the fact that right now I know I love you, and I know that you love me. Carrie's attempts to hurt me are little more than a child blowing bubbles. Harmless."

Logan nodded. "Alright, I get it. I still told her to cut it out, though."

"You did?"

"Of course. After you left, she kept making comments about you, snide comments. I heard her trying to make it out like you had ditched me because your job was more important, so I set her straight," he explained.

Veronica pulled him in for a kiss. "Thank you."

"You are welcome."

"Hopefully, the message will sink in."

Logan shrugged.

"If you two are talking about Carrie, I don't think so," said Dick. He was walking back towards them with a fresh beer.

"Why?" asked Veronica.

"Carrie doesn't let things go. Never has. Hell, she brought up the whole teacher thing from junior year the other day. And then that set her off because of Susan," said Dick.

"What happened to Susan?" asked Veronica.

"You didn't hear?" asked Logan.

Veronica shook her head.

Dick sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "The year after you went to Stanford, Carrie invited a group of us out on her dad's boat. There was me, Luke, Gia, Carrie, Susan, even that Cobb guy. I found out from Luke that the only reason Cobb was even there was because he was the guy with the drugs."

Veronica frowned but didn't interrupt.

"We all got wasted, took whatever Cobb had, and I ended up crashing. I don't know what happened after I crashed, but I got woken up by Carrie the next morning freaking out. No one could find Susan; she was gone."

"Are you saying Susan drowned while you were all asleep?" asked Veronica.

Dick nodded. "Yeah, at least that's what they determined. They never found her body, and no one ever saw what happened."

Veronica bullshit alert started blaring in her head. She didn't think Dick was lying; he was never one to be able to hold in something for very long, so he believed the story. But there seemed to be something wrong about that, a boat with five other people, and no one saw or heard anything. She didn't believe that for a second.

"Carrie never did move on from Susan's death," said Logan. "Even when we were dating, she'd have nightmares or cry in her sleep."

Veronica sighed. "Sometimes it hard to let go." She thought about Lilly and how hard it had been at sixteen to lose her best friend. After that, she had lost a lot more, but Lilly had left a small hole in her heart that had never healed. But it seemed that Carrie's wasn't just a hole; it seemed more like a gaping wound. Maybe she knew more about what exactly happened to Susan than Dick knew.

"What are you churning up in your brain?" asked Logan.

Veronica smiled and tried to pretend he hadn't busted her. "Nothing important."

Logan smirked. "Somehow, I doubt that."

Veronica kissed him to change the subject. She didn't want to bring anything up unnecessarily.

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.