"This is beginning to feel a little like stalking" Wallace murmured.
Bringing her best friend so far into her world was not part of the plan, now here she was on a dead suspects door step with stolen keys and face to face with Vinnie Van Lowe the Neon Sign of Bad Decisions while my fiancé is trying to find Dick by facing off with Satan.
"You realise there is no reward for information about this case… more like potential felony charges and a year inside," Veronica told Vinnie crossing her arms over her chest. She was here for business, why was her father's rival crashing in her investigation. Whatever it was, she was sure it would come back to bite her. "What do you think you are doing?" she asked levelling him a glare as he began rummaging through a duffle bag he placed on the hood of her car.
"Oh come on, I had a vision, if there is a lock… then Lamb Chop here must have the key… Let's crack this piñata and have us some fun…" Vinnie shrugged handing her a small electronic device. "No strings attached fun."
"Like a ménage tois?" Wallace asked in alarm. "I think we need to set some more ground rules for stake-outs."
"Nope and no strings? With you it's always more like a bungee cord," Veronica quipped, mentally kicking herself for going to see Vinnie about possible connections to Steve Botando and that bug in Landry's phone. Turning the small black instrument over in her hands she gave it a quick once over, it was an EMF reader of some kind.
Was he expecting to hold a séance to reach Steve Botando?
"CIA prototypes. Nah, I'm just kidding… I acquired them when I busted a rigged beauty pageant contest a few months back, some of those girls will do anything to win… Paranoia and diet pills… including using hi-tech toys to prove their competition is seducing the judges," he explained.
"Veronica, can we make like a tree and leaf before the neighbours decide to get so captivated by that Hawiian shirt they use it to pick us out of a line up? No offense." Wallace said casting a quick look at the older man. It was blue with martini glasses on it, and stuck out like a nail jutting out of a board.
Life was just a game to guys like Vinnie.
"None taken, I know This shirt, is an asset… without it, I'd be walking around naked" Vinnie said pinching the fabric under his leather jacket.
Who the hell wore a leather jacket during a heat wave in the Sunshine state? Wallace thought grumpily.
"Come on Baby Mars, what happened to 'it takes a village'?" Vinnie grinned.
"I'm pretty sure The Idiot isn't on that list," Wallace retorted under his breath.
"Shouldn't talk so negatively about yourself kid, you seem smart, any good with a basketball?" Vinnie winked.
"You promised me no part of tonight's plan involved torture," Wallace deadpanned fixing Veronica with a look that screamed you-are-killing-me-here.
"I'd kind of like to know what the plan is?" Vinnie shrugged. "This is our first mission together!"
"And this is the only time this week you will hear me use the word, abort! No, uh-uh, you wanna hear it in Spanish?" Wallace said shaking his head at Veronica and turning back to the car. "Can we go get Mac before he comes up with a secret handshake?"
"Or a theme song!" Vinnie grinned as he plucked another device out of his bag. "You're boyfriend always this uptight?"
"Veronica…" Wallace implored.
"How did you know we would be here?" she asked finally as his amusement faded.
"Eli Navarro" he said simply, any trace of the jovial teasing persona disappeared. "He fixed my car a few months back when a client got me looking too close at the Fitzpatricks. He was a good kid and violence begets violence…. It's easy to forget sometimes that you're just a kid… Everyone has their secrets, everyone tells their lies… and then there's you Baby Mars. I don't often go pro-bono… but this time, I'm gonna make an exception."
Veronica swallowed hard and blinked away the glistening sting in her eyes.
"You're mission should you choose to accept it…" he offered with a humourless lopsided grin.
"OK" she nodded clutching the device in her hand.
"There are snacks in the bag kid," Vinnie winked at Wallace as he started up the drive.
"What? Ugh then why the hell bother? Sounds like we'd have more fun WITHOUT Dick," Madison sighed rolling her eyes when Logan explained to her that Dick's dad was back in town and that he was missing.
This kind of shit was why she'd opted to go to college out of state… between Lily and that bus crash and all the scandal with Cassidy and Gina Goodman's dad, was it any wonder she spent so much knocking on heaven's door with little white lines?
Better everyone see her the way she chose, than the way she saw herself. If there was a God somewhere, she wouldn't be stranded here in all this misery.
"His stupid family drama almost ruined my summer trip to Italy. Did you two finally break up? Best just to leave him to sulk, he'll come back in a few days. He always does. He's irritating that way." Madison said.
"Wow she really IS a bitch" Parker whispered quietly after
"And yet the people who matter love that about me," Madison snarled turning with the pink iphone X. "What I don't get is why they like you." she glared at Parker.
"Probably because she doesn't dress like a prostitute," Logan sighed holding out his hand. "Phone?"
"Right, whatever" she said rolling her eyes.
Glaring at him she slinked her way through the crowd with a feline grace before turning to look through the contents of her bag to locate her phone.
"Please take all the time you need," Logan quipped. That bitter cruelty was all Madison, not nature, not nurture, it was just the core of who she was, a darkness so entrenched even his best friends sunny disposition and loyal streak hadn't been able to weather it.
What did it say about him that Dick had left him too?
"Well?" Parker asked a few minutes after Madison unlocked her phone and scrolled through her apps.
"Oh I know exactly where he is," she nodded.
"And?" Parker demanded expectantly.
"And I know where and the rest of you can suck it," she gloated.
"Madison…" Logan warned.
"It looks like he's heading towards Amity Hall just off campus," she said rolling her eyes.
Scrubbing a hand down his face Logan tried to think where exactly that was silently cursing himself for the academic disregard that he couldn't even recall the location.
What the Hell would Dick want in Amity Hall?
