DISCLAIMER: Characters of Veronica Mars, the canon events of their storylines, and recognizable dialogue belong to Rob Thomas.

A/N:

This chapter contains bits of #2.11 "Donut Run" and #2.12 "Wallace and Rashard Go to White Castle."

Chapter 15

That first week back at school had actually been less exhausting than the holiday break had been for me. Between jury duty (and all that came with it), working at Java the Hut, and not seeing Eli, I was glad when vacation had ended.

Dad had apparently noticed the difference as well. The following Saturday morning over breakfast, he reopened the discussion about me getting a P.I. license. He obviously knew that I was working on Logan's case for Cliff, as well as being on standby for Eli.

"Honey, I think you were right—"

"Wait! What?! Come again."

"It is probably time for you to quit your job at Java the Hut. I talked to your doctor about the fatigue you're experiencing after long days. He agreed that a desk job would be preferable to being on your feet for hours. Besides, you're doing plenty of walking at school."

"So … what you're saying is … I can get my license. But I'm only allowed to do background checks … and any investigating I can do at school."

"That about sums it up. For now, anyway."

"I'll take the deal."

"You should give two weeks' notice the next time you're at work."

"Consider it done."

[

[

At lunch on Monday, I was telling Wallace about the fact that I'd be quitting my job at Java the Hut. He and Jackie exchanged glances.

"What's up? Are you planning a surprise party for me?"

Wallace gestured for Jackie to answer me.

"I just put in an application there. Any chance you can put in a good word for me?"

"Why would you need a job?"

"The truth is …" she began.

I had known there was something she was hiding from the time I laid eyes on her. Shortly after meeting her, curiosity had gotten the better of me, and I had done a background check on her. So, I was fairly certain I already knew what she was about to tell me.

She continued, "I am living the lush life here with my father, but back home with Mom … well, the budget is tighter than tight. I had no spare time to party with the rich and famous. I was too busy working at Brooklyn Dan's Diner with Mom … trying to help her make ends meet … which they almost never did."

Although she had left out one key detail, it took a lot of courage for her to come clean about that much. I could tell by the look on Wallace's face that she had already told him what she was now telling me. For that I was grateful. I did not want to have to be the one to break his heart and shatter his illusions. However, if she didn't tell him the rest of her story soon, I would do what had to be done.

"Did you put your experience on the application? Or …?"

Pulling a face, she admitted, "I didn't want to put it down … until after I told you. I didn't want you to think I had lied to get the job."

I decided I would do her a favor and help out the manager at the same time. I felt bad that I was quitting when they already needed to hire one new person. Two favors, one stone.

"I'll try to talk to the manager when I get to work tomorrow. Give her an explanation as to why you didn't put down your experience. Come by about two hours after school lets out – we usually have a lull. I can't promise anything, but if she's willing to talk to you, she should have time then."

She practically leaped across the lunch table to give me a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Veronica!"

Her volume and actions had attracted the attention of most of the people eating lunch. Glancing over at the PCHers table, I caught Eli looking over at me with his "I'm pretending I don't care" expression.

[

[

Wallace and I didn't see Mac as often these days. Her plate was not just full, it was overflowing. School. Running Neptune Trading Post. Tutoring Eli. Freelance web design. Being Q to my Bond. Spending time with both her families.

In addition to all that, she'd been hanging out with Cassidy Casablancas. Even after she had finished helping him with his FBLA business presentation materials. When she talked about him, she had a spring in her step, a twinkle in her eye, and a delirious smile on her face. And she sighed at the mention of his name. The girl's got it bad.

Even though we weren't together as much as we used to be, we checked in with each other a couple times a day. Until this mess was over, we had to remain vigilant. Although to watching eyes it might not have looked like there was much activity going on, Mac, Eli, and I – and to a lesser extent, my dad and Wallace – knew otherwise.

[

[

Later that week, Logan invited me to his suite at the Neptune Grand. He said he needed to talk, but didn't want to be seen in public. I was hesitant, but if this was related to Felix's death, I wanted to know whatever he knew.

Standing at the door, I heard voices inside. I knocked and waited for him to answer.

"Nice of you to drop by," said Logan as his gestured for me to enter his suite.

As I glanced around the living room, I expected to see luxurious furnishings. I was not expecting to see Eli.

Deciding to play this off with humor until I got a read on the situation, I said, "I didn't know you two were a thing. Oh ... you're weren't hoping for a threesome, were you? 'Cause that's gonna be a hard pass from me."

"Look," Logan interrupted my riff, "I knew neither of you would come if I told you what I had planned." Watching Eli's reaction, he said, "Come on, man. You know we need her help."

"No argument here," Eli said.

"Veronica?" Logan was trying to take my temperature.

Looking at Eli, I asked, "When did the two of you start working together?"

"Remember our fight at school? Since that day."

Shaking my head, I said with a half-smile, "Fake fights and clandestine alliances are becoming your thing."

He smirked. "Yeah. Guess they are."

Logan watched the exchange. "What am I missing here?"

I could have asked the same question. This would explain the gaps in the recordings. But why didn't he want me to know that they were working together? And what else was he keeping from me?

Eli and I held each other's gaze, trying to decide who would answer Logan's question and what that answer would be.

"You trust him?" I finally asked.

He nodded.

I stepped toward Eli as I said to Logan, "The breakup was fake."

When I was one step away from him, Eli moved to embrace me. Then, he kissed me. Deeply. Neither of us cared that Logan was standing right there. We were both just happy to be in each other's arms.

"Gotta say ... I didn't see that coming," Logan said. "Look, I've got a guest room. Let's get down to business. Then, the two of you can move this reunion in there on the nice clean sheets."

Eli shot him a look that seemed to ask: Are you serious about that offer?

Smacking his arm, I asked them both, "What do you need?"

"V, you know I wouldn't ask this kind of thing unless …"

"Ask already."

Logan just stood back and watched our exchange.

"We need you to bug the confessional at St. Mary's."

"I will not bug a confessional. Video maybe, but no sound."

"How soon can you do it? You got time?"

"As a matter of fact, my social calendar has been pretty empty lately."

He touched the side of my face, as his eyes apologized for something beyond his control. Just before he began kissing me again, he said, "I'm here now."

Apparently, the snogging made Logan uncomfortable. "If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go down to the restaurant and leave you two to ... well, it looks like you don't need instructions. You seem to know what you're doing."

As he headed for the door, Eli asked, "Hey, man, you got any condoms?"

"You didn't come prepared?" Logan scoffed.

"Thought I was just meeting with you. Didn't think I'd need them."

Logan darted back into his room and returned with a box. "Enjoy yourselves."

When he shut the door, I turned to Eli and asked, "How much time do have? "

"For you? I'll make time."

Leading him into the guest room, I giggled. There was a club chair in the far corner. I pointed at it and said, "Sit."

He raised his eyebrows but complied with my demand.

As I knelt before him, waves of emotion and hormones were set loose in my body. The first time I had done this was when we spent the night at the B&B. It was something I never thought I would enjoy, but the look on his face as he watched me made me feel powerful and desirable, loved and trusted. That feeling was something I couldn't get enough of.

Moments after he came, he picked me up and tossed me onto the bed, growling, "My turn. Or rather, your turn."

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the boy could seriously kiss. The things he could do with his lips and his tongue are unreal. When he turned those talents loose on the more sensitive areas of my body, I couldn't be held responsible for my actions or the things I said.

Each time he voiced his enjoyment with an extended "mmm," I thought I would dissolve into a puddle. Sensations rocketed through my nervous system, causing me to shudder and tremble.

After I'd climaxed twice, I grabbed his shoulders, pulling his face to mine. My hungry eyes bore into his as I said, "Condom. Now."

"Yes, ma'am."

Considering our time apart and our recent quickies, I would have expected our time together to be more urgent, but once he was inside me, he took his time finding just the right pace, hitting just the right spot.

"I wanna stay right here – inside you, looking into your eyes … all glazed over like that."

"Mm-hmm."

He laughed as he said, "Your brain is so fried right now."

"Mm-hmm." I couldn't argue with what he had said. Coherent thought was a distant memory at the moment.

After he thrust one last time, he lowered his head to kiss my neck and shoulder. "Miss you so damn much."

Agreeing with him, all I could manage was "Mm-hmm."

He laughed at that.

Finally able to put together a sentence, I said, "You're pretty proud of yourself right now, aren't you?"

"Not gonna lie. I am."

We showered and put our clothes back on. When we walked out into the living room, we found that Logan had already returned.

Without looking at us, he said, "You're gonna want to stagger your exits. There's a kid down in the lobby."

"A kid?"

"If I had to guess, he's hoping to earn himself a spot in the PCH Bike Club by bringing back juicy info."

Eli looked at me as I said, "I got this," as I pulled out my phone. "Hey there, Candy. It's Veronica. You busy right now? Where are you? Gotta quick job for you. Need to get someone out of the Neptune Grand with a bit of misdirection. Text me when you get to the parking garage, take the stairs at the back entrance to the second floor then grab the elevator to the tenth. You're looking for a handsome guy with a shaved head wearing a leather jacket. Answers to the name of Weevil. How much to let him walk you out the front door and see you safely to your car? Very reasonable. I'll give him the cash. Thanks for doing this on short notice."

The two guys were watching me as I put my phone into my pocket.

"Candy should be here in about fifteen minutes. When she texts, you'll take the stairs down one floor to meet her."

"And I'm supposed to pretend …"

"That you and she just had a rendezvous. If the kid tells Thumper and he asks, you tell him you helped some housewife whose car broke down. And she wanted to thank you for your assistance." Seeing the look on his face, I added, "She's an actress we use for honeypot scenarios. She'll hang on your arm as you take the elevator down and walk through the lobby. Probably give you a kiss at her car."

"You okay with that?"

"Better than Thumper figuring out that the three of us are working together."

Pulling some cash out of my bag, I handed it to Eli. "Give her this before you get on the elevator. And call me later, if you can."

"While I'm with Candy, what are you gonna be doing?"

"I'm gonna stay here for a while." Seeing Eli look back and forth between the two of us, I gave him my most reassuring look. "Come here." I reached for him. Pulling him in for a kiss, I did my best to distract him until Candy's text came through.

Logan sat on the other side of the living room groaning. "Seriously?! I'd say, 'Go get a room,' but you already did that."

Once Eli left, I sat down on the couch and tried to get some homework done. Logan insisted on calling room service to get me something to eat. By the time I was finished eating, more than an hour had passed. I packed up my things and prepared to leave.

"So … this thing with you and Weevil … it's serious."

"Yes."

"I mean, you told me that it was, but seeing the two of you together – up close and personal – it's … obvious that you're in love with each other. You weren't even like this with Duncan."

Since I didn't know how to respond to that, I just nodded and smiled as I put my bag on my shoulder. "I'll let you know when I have something for you from St. Mary's. Probably better if you come to my dad's office next time I see you."

"You gonna include Weevil in the meeting?"

"I'll get the info to him. I have my ways." Between his tutoring sessions with Mac and the email accounts I set up, I could easily get anything to him without raising suspicion. With my hand on the doorknob, I turned and said, "I'm sure you realize that you shouldn't tell anyone—"

"That you two didn't actually break up? Yeah. I got that."

[

[

It was fairly easy to place a camera in the confessional at St. Mary's. It was more difficult to figure out how they worked the exchange. But I did eventually see it.

Then, I set up a time for Logan to meet me at Dad's office. I had emailed the video file to Eli and put him on speaker phone while the three of us talked. That was not my only meeting today.

As Logan was leaving the building, Mac was on her way in for the next conference call with Eli. He was about to confront Thumper with everything he knew.

Over the past year or so, Thumper had repeatedly mentioned that he thought it would be a good idea to have working relationship with the Fitzpatricks. Not exactly an alliance, but an understanding. Weevil and Felix obviously did not think that was a good idea. Thumper clearly thought that he could make that happen if he had enough of the guys on his side and he could get the leaders out of the way.

We didn't know for certain how many of the PCHers were on his side. The meeting would either go very well or horribly wrong. There would be no in between. We needed to be prepared for anything.

As long as we all came out of this alive, I would consider it a win.

Father Fitzpatrick had quoted the book of Romans to me when I was in the confessional. It included a phrase about vengeance, but also said something about overcoming evil with good. That's certainly what we were trying to do.

Before placing the camera, I had said a prayer asking God to forgive me for what I was about to do. At this stage of the plan, my prayer was for wisdom and protection.

A/N:

Thanks for reading! Until next time …

~Jen

24 July 2018