And down the stretch they come . . .

Disclaimer: Rob Thomas owns 'em, Rob aka Mediancat owns Vanessa Mencken, Justine London, and Jessamyn von Esterhaus.

X X X X X

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah; she was shot at, but not shot. She was coming out of a clothing store and a bullet caught her purse. She ran back into the store and another one shattered the window."

"Thank God. I mean, that she's not hurt, not --"

"Yeah, I get that," he said. "Looks like you were right, though."

"And boy I wish I wasn't."

"Me, too."

"Did they get who did it?"

We got to the scene of the shooting twelve minutes later; the Neptune Sheriff's Department was already there.

Lamb gave me an aggrieved look as I stepped down from Logan's X-Terra. "Why are you here?"

"Better philosophers than I have tried to come up with an answer to that one," I said. Them before Lamb's head could explode, I said, "I was with him when he got the call, okay?"

"If I said no, would you turn around and leave?"

"Keep hope alive, Deputy," I said, and then followed Logan over to his mother.

Lynn Echolls -- still inside the store, which apart from an annoyed clerk had been evacuated -- seemed shaken, but more annoyed than anything else. "I think I need to hire a bodyguard."

"What, as cannon fodder?" Logan said. "What you need to do is hole up on the estate."

"Yes, Logan," she said, "Because being on the estate worked so well for Veronica the last time." She took a deep breath, "Sorry for snapping at you. And sorry for bringing up any painful memories, Veronica."

I pointed to my left arm. "As long as I can't use this thing for more than carrying keys and typing, memory's not really an issue."

"Of course it isn't. But I'm not going to go into hiding, Logan. That's what this person wants."

"I think they want you dead, Mom."

"So far they've taken three shots at me and missed with all three," she said. I cleared my throat. "Missed me with all three," she emended. "I'm not entirely sure whoever this is is trying to kill me."

"Or they could just be a really lousy shot," I said. Both Lynn and Logan glared at me. "I'm just pointing out the obvious here. While I admire your sentiments, Lynn, you really do need to protect yourself."

"So, what? Lock myself in my safe room?"

I looked at them. "Your house has a safe room?" Then I shook my head. "Never mind. Of course not, Lynn. But you do need to be a lot more careful. Only tell people you trust where you're going. And, while you don't need to never leave the estate, but maybe you do need to leave it a little less often?"

She sighed. "You're right. But I'm not going to stop talking about Aaron. I'm not going to start canceling interviews or anything. I still want people to know what he did."

Logan said, "We wouldn't ask you to do that, Mom. But perhaps a few more radio call-ins and a few less personal appearances."

Deputy Leo came in. "Mrs. Echolls?" he said.

"Yes?"

"The Sheriff has a couple of more questions and then we can let you go home for the moment. He's right by his car." He looked over at me as Lynn walked outside. "Veronica," he said.

"Deputy. Heard you were in on taking down a group of dognappers."

He smiled. "Yeah. Heard you had something to do with it too." I must have looked confused, because he said, "Ms. Manning filled me on your 'supervisory role.' Don't worry. The Sheriff will never hear about it from me."

"While you're here --" I said.

"Yes?"

"I'm guessing you didn't catch the shooter," I said, "Or there'd be a lot more commotion."

"No, we haven't."

"One more thing? And notice how I'm asking you openly this time as a mark of respect?"

"Yes, I do."

"Was it the same rifle as last time?"

"No, that one's still locked up in the evidence locker. Unless you've found a way to steal it, that is." The grin took part of the edge off his words. "Still a .22, though. At least from the caliber of the bullet."

"The shooter didn't leave the rifle behind this time?"

"No such luck."

"Thanks, Deputy."

He nodded and left. Logan commented, "You two seemed friendly."

"I used him shamelessly when I was still investigating Lilly's murder," I said. "I still feel kind of bad about it."

"He doesn't seem too horribly pissed off at you."

"Which either makes me the most charming woman on the planet or him one of the more forgiving men."

"Considering how my feelings about you have changed, I'm voting for option one," he said. "Anyway. Mother dearest needs to get home. Do you think you can get your Dad to come pick you up there? I'm not quite sure I want her to be by herself right now."

"Understandable."

We exited the shop. It seemed like Lamb was done with Lynn, so we got ready to follow her home.

I couldn't resist a parting shot at Lamb as I left. "Maybe this time you can actually try to arrest the right person. Might be a nice change of pace."

He glared at me but didn't say anything, turning back to bark some orders through his police radio.

"One thing is interesting, though," Logan said as we followed Lynn away from the scene of the shooting.

"Only one?"

"This second attack didn't happen until after Dick was cleared."

"Good point. What does that mean, though?"

"How should I know? You're the detective. I'm just the chauffeur." I stuck my tongue out at him. He said, "Don't stick that thing out at me, Machiavelli, unless you're ready to use it."

The tongue stayed out.

"I'm holding you to that promise," he said.

"I'm looking forward to it."

When we got to the estate, after we made sure Lynn was safely inside, I told Logan I was going to go outside for a minute before I called my father. I went out and stood where I'd been on the porch at the moment I'd been shot.

Trina was just pulling in. "Veronica, hi," she said as she stepped out of her car. "What are you doing?"

"You heard about what happened to Lynn, right?"

"Someone tried to kill her again when she was clothes shopping," Trina said. "I heard it on the radio on my drive home."

"So I'm conducting an experiment," I said. "Could you help?"

"Happy to. What do you need me to do?"

"Be me," I said.

"I'm a little tall for that," she said. "But I'll try."

"Just come over and stand right where I am."

"Not one of my more challenging roles," she said, but since she came over and stood there without complaint, I restrained myself from making any obvious wisecracks.

Dr. London had said that I'd been shot at from somewhere between 9 and 10 o'clock the way I was facing. I turned to my best guess of what 9:30 was and started walking. There was a small grove of trees in that general direction -- a little bit of semi-wilderness on an otherwise perfectly manicured landscape -- which would have provided the only concealment for whoever took the shot. I walked over into the trees, as far back as I could, and mimicked firing a rifle as best I could essentially one-armed, aiming a couple of inches below Trina's shoulder. (She was a bit taller than I was.) I moved from position to position until I found a spot that gave me a clear 'shot' and still left me as hidden as I could be..

It took me about ten minutes, during which Logan came out to see what was going on. Trina, apparently in the spirit of my impromptu reconstruction, told Logan to stand next to her, more or less, where he was standing during the press conference. This had actually made my task a little easier.

Whoever had done this had taken some time setting up the shot. I already knew it wasn't a spur-of the-moment thing -- very few people casually cart around rifles -- but this meant whoever had done this had gotten her early enough to study the scene -- and to do it without being detected by the other few hundred people who were soon to be wandering around.

It wasn't a breakthrough. But it was a piece of the puzzle.

I walked back to the porch and thanked Trina.

"Happy to help, Veronica," she said. "I'd like to know who keeps trying to kill my stepmother, too."

Then Logan and I went inside and I called my father.

X X X X X

"You were at the crime scene?" Dad asked in disbelief after he picked me up.

"I was in Logan's SUV when his mother called him," I said. "Did you want him to drop me on a random street or would you have been okay with him simply throwing me out as he slowed down to take a corner?"

"He could have dropped you off at home first. Or at the office. "

"It wasn't on the way and under the circumstances I wasn't about to ask him to take a detour."

"I guess not."

"All I did was see how Lynn was and ask Deputy Leo if they'd caught the person," I said. "And took a couple of shots at Lamb along the way, of course. Verbal shots. But you can hardly hold that against me."

"It's actually a point in your favor, sweetie," he said. "Anyway, I'm glad Lynn's okay."

"Me too. Believe me. Logan's trying to convince her to stay inside the house as much as she can and Lynn is saying how she'll be damned if she'll be intimidated into not speaking out."

"I think calling this intimidation is understating the issue."

"Well, go ahead and call her yourself. You're the professional; maybe you'll have more luck than Logan is."

And he went and did just that.

X X X X X

The next morning, it was a switch from the Mac-Logan-Dad triumvirate: Duncan dropped by to pick me up.

He seemed to be in a good mood. "So, you really think Meg did a good job?"

"How long have you known me, Duncan?" I asked. "Would I lie to her to make her feel better? Especially under these circumstances?"

"No," he said. "I just wanted to be sure."

"Well, consider yourself sure. She doesn't seem to think she's ready for her big move, yet; so the next case that comes up around here she's also going to take lead on."

"Good."

"So, are things going well between you and Meg?"

"I'd say so," he said. "She may not be quite the sweet and innocent girl she was when I started dating her . . . but you know what? I like that in her."

"And here I thought you were all about the fluffy and pink."

Duncan looked thoughtful for a second. "Try to take this in the right way, Veronica," he said. "And remember that I love Meg."

"I will," I said. "Go on,"

"She's kind of a combination of the you that used to be and the you that you've become. You know? She can be fluffy and pink when he wants to be -- and can be a detective, too, when she needs to, cynical and suspicious. But that's not her all the time."

"Ah. So I'm cynical, suspicious and bitter all the time. Thanks ever so much."

"Veronica --"

"Relax, Duncan," I said. "I know what you meant. And I kind of sometimes tend to agree with you. There are times I wish I could be a bit fluffier and pinker -- but I think that ship has not only sailed, it's reached its destination and the crew are all out looking for hookers."

"I think the world's a little better off with you the way you are," Duncan said.

"Maybe. But I think we both know what it took to get me this way."

"Yeah."

The rest of the ride to school was spent in an amiable if somber silence. Duncan helped me out of the car -- I can make it in and out myself but I'm not going to stop anyone who wants to be gallant about it -- and I walked in.

And there, right in front of me, was the person I'd been waiting a couple of days to talk to.

I walked up and put my right arm around her shoulders. "Hi, Vanessa," I said. "Can we talk?"