Lives Ruined, Bloodshed

Chapter 28

Veronica pulled up to her dad's house at nine. She was hungry and tired and sore.

The rest of their afternoon had been busy after identifying Mandi's third lover. It seemed that Frederick Hammond, Mandi's ex from college, had actually been having an ongoing affair with Mandi for the last few years. Mandi's bank records show the same charge for the room at the Sunrise, going back at least two years, and with the camera surveillance, they could confirm at least seven different dates that showed the two of them together. Knowing that he had lied about his relationship with Mandi made him Veronica's number 1 suspect, and they had to bring him in.

And it hadn't exactly gone smoothly.

Veronica had gone with Walsh to Freddy's address. A pair of uniformed officers met us out the front and followed us in. Veronica had led the charge, calling out for Freddy to surrender, but it seemed that he wasn't in a particularly cooperative mood. Making a run for the backdoor, Freddy had smashed his way through it with Veronica right behind him. She had been tempted to shoot him in the leg, but that would get her in a lot of trouble. Freddy took off through his backyard, jumping the fence into the small alley that ran behind his house. Veronica followed, vaulting herself up while thanking herself for staying fit and wearing sensible boots before chasing after him.

Freddy dodged and weaved through the streets, sliding over a car that almost knocked him over but misjudged and ran straight into a dead end. Veronica, while glad he was cornered, knew he wouldn't just give up.

Veronica aimed her gum and said, "Put your hands up, Freddy."

He scoffed. "Or what? You shoot me when I've done nothing, and you'll be the one they fry."

"No, but if you don't surrender and you try something, I'm within my right to shoot you, so go ahead. Take your chance," she snapped.

Freddy huffed and held up his hands.

"Behind your head," she said.

He did so.

"On your knees."

Freddy knelt down as Veronica lowered her gun and pulled out her cuffs. In hindsight, Veronica felt stupid that she didn't see it coming. As she grabbed Freddy's arm to handcuff him, he grabbed her arm and twisted. Veronica gasped as he pulled her against his chest, his grip going to leave her with a nasty bruise.

"Stupid bitch," he muttered.

Walsh came around the corner at that moment, with her gun out. "Let her go, Freddy," she warned.

Before he could respond, Veronica reacted. She threw her head back, her skull connecting with Freddy's nose, making a loud crunch, before slamming her foot down on his foot and then twisting her arm to elbow him in the stomach. Freddy cried out and released her. Veronica grabbed his arm and twisted it as hard as she could behind his back before slapping on the cuffs.

Walsh took Freddy from Veronica out to the cars that were now pulling up on their location. Walsh handed Freddy off before checking on Veronica and insisting that they have her arm checked out. A bruise was already forming around her wrist, and the aching throb probably meant it was sprained.

And she was right. A doctor had assessed her wrist, wrapped it and told her to be careful for the next few days. It was a nuisance but nothing she hadn't dealt with before. But now, as Veronica sat in her car, she realised she was going to have to explain what had happened to Logan and her dad; that would be fun.

Pulling herself out of the car, Veronica walked up and let herself into her dad's house. Keith and Logan were sitting in the living room watching a baseball game. Veronica smirked, knowing Logan wasn't a big baseball fan and that he was watching it for Keith's sake.

"Hey, honey," called Keith, "catch any bad guys?"

Veronica smiled. "Oh, I caught him alright."

Keith and Logan turned to look at her, and both noticed her wrist. Logan lept up from the couch. "Are you okay?" he asked. His face twisted with worry.

Veronica reached out for him with her good hand and nodded. "I'm fine; it's just a sprain. A couple of days, I'll be right as rain."

Logan frowned. "Did you have a doctor—"

"Yes, now stop pestering. I'm hungry and tired." She patted his cheek and turned towards the kitchen.

Logan followed, as did Keith. Logan directed Veronica to one of the stools as Keith walked into the kitchen and pulled out leftovers to reheat for her. Logan sat down on the stool beside her and pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

Veronica sighed and smiled. She leaned into his chest and kissed him gently. "I'm fine. I did worse the guy I arrested."

Keith asked, "This your murderer?"

Veronica nodded. "I'm pretty confident. I just don't have any evidence that he is responsible. All we can prove is that he was having an affair with one of the victims when he said he wasn't."

"What are you going to do?" asked Logan.

"Walsh and I will take a crack at him tomorrow, see if we can get him to confess. We have forty-eight hours to find something, or we have to let him go," she explained.

"Can't you arrest him for assault?" asked Logan. He looked down at her bandaged wrist.

Veronica smirked. She could, but at this point, she didn't want Freddy Hammon charged with assault. She wanted him charged with first-degree murder.

"Maybe you should go back and see if you've missed something," said Keith. He slid a bowl of hot curry across to her, along with water and some painkillers.

"There's nothing there," she said. "The crime scene was cleared. He left no trace."

"What about the neighbour? Neighbours useless?"

Veronica sighed. "A few uniforms questioned them and found nothing."

"Well, maybe, you should take your own look. After all, those cops don't have your eyes." Keith smiled.

Veronica grabbed the painkiller and smiled. Her dad was right. And the uniforms probably only spoke to the neighbours; they didn't look to see what else might be useful.

"You know," she said, "you should work in law enforcement."

Keith chuckled, as did Logan. Keith said, "I'm too old for that crap now."

Veronica snorted. "Please, you're not old. Just lazy."

Veronica finished her food before joining Logan and Keith on the couch. She nestled herself into Logan's side as the baseball game continued. She didn't really pay much attention to what was happening but could hear her dad's comments to know enough. Veronica was just happy to stay tucked into Logan's warmth. Logan kept his arm around her, his hand stroking against her side, his lips occasionally pressing a kiss to her head.

Eventually, Veronica decided to go to bed. She kissed Logan, who said he probably join her soon and said night to her dad before heading to the guest room. She stripped and brushed her teeth before pulling out her phone to plug it in to charge. As she sat on the edge of the bed, she noticed a missed call from Jimmy on her phone. Glancing at the open door, Veronica stood to close it before calling Jimmy back.

"Hey, Mars," he answered.

"Hey, Jimmy. Sorry, I missed your call," she said.

"That's alright; I figured you were busy. I just wanted to give you an update," he explained.

"What have you got?"

"Well, the basics. I've sent you an email with the breakdown, but basically, Richard Casablancas hasn't done too much except run a nightclub. Gia Goodman is a social light from the looks of it and is engaged to Luke Halderman, who is in politics. Carrie Bishop, aka Bonnie Deville, is a drug addict and an alcoholic who recently has been in and out of rehabs, in between chart-topping songs. And then there's Stu Cobbler; this guy is more normal, I guess, compared to the others. He has a normal job, working at a tech place in Neptune where he supposedly fixes computers and phones, but he has an abnormal amount of money coming in. I would guess he's probably dealing drugs from the amounts."

"Nothing else seems odd?"

"The whole friendship between Goodman, Halderman, Bishop and Cobbler seems odd. Casablancas doesn't seem to associate with Cobbler when the others do. It seems that Goodman spends more time with him than she does her own fiancé, and they have apartments that are really close by to one another."

Veronica frowned. Maybe Gia and Cobb were having an affair. But she remembers how Gia couldn't have cared about anyone in high school unless they were relevant. Hooking up with a nobody like Cobb seemed very out of character; she was more likely to have an affair that would at least be shocking if it came out.

"Can you do some more digging for me?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course. Anything you want me to look at in particular?" he asked.

"Dig deeper into Gia Goodman and Stu Cobbler. Maybe see if you can access their emails and such."

"You want me to hack it?"

Veronica felt bad about asking Jimmy to access the data, but it was important. "Yeah."

"You won't be able to use any of it," he reminded her.

"I know. I just want to see what I can work out, something is going on, and it's bugging me. I'll work out logistics later if it even comes to that."

"Alright," said Jimmy. "I'll hit you up when I find something."

Veronica plugged in her phone and kicked her sheets down to the end of the bed. The room was stuffy, and she had already turned on the ceiling fan, hoping that would help. She laid on her side, keeping her injured wrist on her hip, and tried to fall asleep. But her mind continued to wonder; about the Kimberley's, Carrie and Susan, and what would happen if she took the job and moved home. Her life suddenly seemed so busy, with so many things to consider that Veronica didn't really have a moment to really consider her anything. The only time her mind would calm down was when Logan was with her; his touch helped her relax and only think about him.

The bedroom door opened and closed; Logan smiled at her softly as he pulled his shirt over his head and then took off his jeans. He walked around the bed to lay down behind her and pulled her back against his chest. He kissed her shoulder and her neck before letting out a small sigh.

"How was the rest of your day?" he asked.

Veronica said, "Productive. How was yours?"

Logan smiled widely. "I got to fly today, so that was fun."

Veronica stroked his cheek. "I bet. You'd probably look hot in a slight suit if they're anything like what they look like in Top Gun."

He nodded. "Yes, they look the same. But Top Gun is very different to what I do."

"Yeah, but I didn't watch Top Gun for the planes."

"The hot guys?" he asked.

She grinned. "Yep. But don't worry, you beat Tom Cruise." She tapped his nose.

Logan smirked. "I'm glad." He pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Did you talk to Carrie today?" she asked. Veronica hated herself the moment she asked, but it seemed her brain wasn't going to let her just not mention her.

"No." Logan sighed. "She did call me, though and left a message. She apologised for her behaviour."

"Do you believe her?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I want to believe she's sorry, but the Carrie I see these days isn't the one I knew."

"I'm sure she's in there somewhere."

"I hope so. But I think it's buried under whatever is weighing on her."

Veronica said, "Maybe it's Susan. Whatever happened to her…maybe not knowing, is what has caused Carrier to not be able to let go."

"Maybe. She never talked about Susan; if anyone ever brought her up, she'd always leave the room or the conversation, sometimes I would find her crying uncontrollably."

Veronica thought that sounded like guilt. Unable to bear whatever had happened.

"She used to have nightmares," continued Logan, "she'd wake up sweating, screaming Susan's name. I tried to get her to tell me, but she'd always refuse. Normally that's when she'd fall off the wagon; she'd come home so wasted she could barely comprehend the world around her." Logan's hand stroked Veronica's stomach.

Veronica shifted to roll slightly so she could look at Logan. She touched his face and kissed him. "You did everything you could."

"I know," he said. "I just wish someone could help her."

If that wasn't permission or at least a subtle request for her to go snooping, she didn't know what it was.

"Maybe while you're digging into Susan's case, you can find a way to help Carrie," he said.

Veronica's mouth popped open, and she pulled back. How did he know? She frowned and went to ask, but he smirked.

Logan said, "I know you, Veronica. I knew from the moment that Dick opened his mouth that you would go searching."

Veronica snapped her mouth shut and sunk into the pillows. She felt kind of annoyed that he'd busted her, but she also felt bad for lying to him. "I'm sorry," she said.

Logan smiled and shook his head. "Don't be. You wouldn't be you if you didn't look for the truth." He kissed her again. "But since this technically won't be a part of your normal job, I request that you keep me involved."

She nodded. "Absolutely."

"Good. Now, what have you learnt so far?"

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.