Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars. I have Rob Thomas to thank for my obsession.
Author's Note: After some advice from my lovely reviewers, I decided to add the beginning of a mystery to this chapter. (I'll continue my A/N at the end of this chapter.
Dedication: To wishing4epicluv, jacedes, and vmarslovahhh18, for their continued support. Your reviews mean a lot to me.
Veronica smiled as she woke up to the smell of bacon and pancakes radiating from the kitchen. It had been a long time since she had a home cooked breakfast and an even longer time since she got to share it with her dad.
"RISE AND SHINE!" Keith yelled as he barged into her room, opened up the blinds and ripped off her blanket on his way back to the kitchen. "IT IS 9AM AND YOU MUST WAKE UP!" Veronica let out a small groan.
"I'm up Dad. I'm up!" Veronica insisted as she wiped the sleep from her eyes, rolled out of bed and headed to the kitchen.
"Pancakes, bacon and orange juice my dear." Keith said as she sat down. He placed a plate, filled to the brim, in front of Veronica. Her eyes widened at the amount of food on the plate "You must get your energy up, Eli is going to brief you on the cases that have come into Mars Investigations since you've been gone."
"Sounds like there's a lot?" Veronica inquired as she stuffed pancakes into her mouth.
"Mostly small cases that Eli took care of that just need your stamp of approval and one big case that I'm sure you'll be interested in," Keith said sitting down to join his daughter.
"Really? What is it? Embezzlement? Crime Ring? Drug Traficking?" Veronica hadn't worked on a case since the end of summer so her detective juices were flowing.
"None of the above. Wait until you get to the office. Eli will give you background information and any new leads." Keith said. "I let him do a little background on the case under my watch but now that you're back, the case is all yours."
"I can't believe how much I like hearing that. All mine. ALL MINE." Veronica said in an evil voice.
"Calm down Dr. Evil. This case is big. Bigger than you think so I'm going to be helping you out." Keith said as he got up and put his plate into the sink. "But I have to get going now. There's been a string of robberies at Neptune High and Principal Clemmons has his panties in a bunch. I'll call you when I get a chance." Keith walked over and gave Veronica a kiss on the forehead.
"Oh Principal Clemmons. Tell him I said hello! I'm sure he misses me." Keith laughed as he walked out the door. "See ya later Dad." She said, stuffing down the last of her breakfast. She quickly headed to her room, got dressed, grabbed her laptop and headed straight to the office.
What could be so big? Is it the Castle? Or maybe its Gory? Veronica thought as she walked toward her car. Whatever it is, I'll give it my full attention. No boyfriend and no school equals a lot of time to solve cases.
The door to Mars Investigation was still locked when Veronica finally got to the office. She unlocked the door and flipped on the light. The office stood exactly the same as when she left. Veronica walked behind her old desk, sat down and put her feet up.
"Excuse me miss," a voice said, walking into the office. "That desk belongs to me now. See the nameplate. 'Eli Navarro, Assistant.'"
"Just reminiscing." Veronica smiled as she got out of his chair. "Assistant? Man, that's a step up from my old job . I was just 'Receptionist.' I didn't even have a name. I must be paying you good."
"Damn right you are." Weevil smiled. "Now go get settled in your office. We have a lot to go over today."
"Ah yes. This infamous 'big case' I'm going to be so interested in. Give me five minutes and I'll buzz you in." Veronica teased.
"Buzz? If you had a buzz system, I'd expect to be paid a hell of a lot more," Weevil said as Veronica opened the door to her office. Inside she found a few balloons tied to her chair, which she had assumed was Weevil's attempt at decorating, two potted plants, one from Wallace and Alicia and the other from Mac and Parker, and a small, rectangular box sitting on her desk. Veronica slowly opened the box to find a nameplate and a note.
"Dear Veronica, I thought this would be a good time to tell you again how proud I am of you. Although this PI business now belongs to you, I know you have much brighter things ahead of you. Be careful and remember, school comes first. Love, Dad."
Veronica reached for the nameplate which read Keith Mars and placed it into the bottom drawer of the desk. She carefully inserted the new name, Veronica Mars, P.I. where his had been.
Veronica Mars, private investigator, at your service. She thought as she leaned back into her chair, putting her feet on the desk. This is the life.
Weevil knocked on Veronica's door, snapping her out of the enormous ego trip she was on.
"Can I come in? We have a lot of cases to go over." Weevil said, holding a large pile of case files.
"Sure Weevil, step into my office. Grab a chair, make yourself at home." Veronica said.
"You are already way too used to this boss thing." Veronica smirked. "Okay, I'll give you a run down of the cases that have been all but closed and then we'll talk about the big case." Weevil spent the next hour and a half telling Veronica of the numerous pre-nuptial agreements broken, missing persons found and bail jumpers captured. As Weevil talked, she signed the files which were solved and paid for, so she could give her full attention to the big case.
"You ready for the big case?" Weevil asked, holding only one case file.
"Yes! Give it to me so we can stop calling it 'the big case'" Veronica said anxiously.
"Alright. " he said handing over the file which was labeled Manning.
"Manning?!" Veronica questioned. "What could the Mannings want with us?"
"Not the Mannings, Lizzie Manning. She wants us to prove that Grace is being abused so she can take custody of her and send her parents to jail." Weevil said.
"Tell me more." Veronica said, intrigued.
"About a month ago, I was hanging out in the office and I could hear someone standing in the hallway, poking their head in every time I looked down. Finally, I got annoyed so I went to the door and saw Lizzie Manning standing there so I convinced her to come in." Weevil explained. "Lizzie told me that she moved out when she turned 18 and has been trying ever since to help get Grace out of the house. After losing Meg, Lizzie said that her parents took out all their anger and sadness on Grace, locking her in that closet for days without food and water. She's willing to pay us double the daily rate if we can prove Grace is being abused and a bonus if she gets custody."
As soon as Weevil finished talking, Veronica's mind immediately went to Duncan and Lilly, his daughter.
"So if the Mannings get sent to jail, that means that Duncan could possibly come home?" Veronica thought out loud.
"I was waiting for you to bring up Duncan. Your dad said that if the Mannings are prosecuted, the charges against Duncan will be lessened. He may still have to serve a month or two in jail but a judge will be more likely to push probation and fines than jail time." Weevil said.
Veronica immediately began browsing through the information that Weevil had gathered about the Manning case in the last month. Lizzie had given them several copies of pages from the notebooks Grace was forced to write and photos from the small room that she was put into. Weevil had done background information on both Stewart and Rose Manning, gathered their phone and email records and Grace's school and medical records.
"I can't believe all the information you got Weevil. You're almost as good as me." Weevil rolled his eyes. "Now all you need is a good head tilt and a few flirty smiles and you'll have assistant extraordinaire written all over you."
"Come on V. Who needs a head tilt when you got guns like mine?" Weevil flexed. "Well, I know you want to jump into the case as soon as possible so need me to do anything today?" Weevil asked, picking up the cases that needed to be filed away.
"Set up an appointment for tomorrow with Lizzie Manning and if any cases come in that may take more that a few days, turn them away. I want to focus all my energy on this case." for Meg .. And Duncan. Veronica said.
"Okay boss. Make sure to call your dad after you go over the case file. He found some.." Weevil said. Before he could finish his sentence, the phone began to ring. Weevil headed to his desk.
"Mars Investigation. Eli Navarro speaking." Weevil answered. "She was just about to call you. One second Sheriff Mars." He put the phone to his chest. "Veronica, your dad on line one."
He knows me way too well. Veronica thought as she reached for the phone.
"Mars Investigation. Veronica Mars, Private Investigator, speaking." She greeted proudly.
"Hello Miss Mars. This is Sheriff Keith Mars. I'd like to have a word with you about the Manning case. If you could please come down to my office as soon as possible." Keith played along with his daughter.
"Absolutely Sheriff. I'll bring the case file as well as all the information my assistant, Mr. Eli Navarro, acquired along with two sandwiches from the deli." Veronica offered.
"Sandwiches? Why Miss Mars, I think bribing the local Sheriff is against the law." Keith said.
"I'm not bribing the local Sheriff, I'm bribing my dad. Double meat, extra cheese?" She asked.
"Double meat, extra cheese. Man love meat. Man love cheese" Keith grunted.
"Don't club yourself to death there, cave man. I'll be over in about 15 minutes. Bye Dad. Love you." Veronica said.
"Bye sweetheart. See you soon." Keith said. Veronica hung up the phone and re-opened the Manning case file. Veronica wanted to carefully look through it before leaving to meet Keith at the office. Since it had been almost two years since she and Duncan had gotten caught by Mr. Manning going through Grace's room, Veronica had all but forgotten about Grace. After losing Meg and Duncan, Veronica wished now more than ever she would have followed up on the case, for Meg. Not only did Veronica hate the fact that the Mannings were the reason Duncan had to leave but she had absolutely no tolerance for child abusers, none.
Veronica finished studying the case file, cover to cover, before looking up at the clock.
CRAP! She thought as she noticed that an hour had gone by since she promised to meet Keith at his office. Veronica flipped through the phone book for Tiny's Giant Sandwich shop and placed the order for two sandwiches to go. Just when she was about to grab her bag and run out, she heard the outside door to Mars Investigations open.
"Hey Weevs." she heard the familiar voice say. Veronica walked closer to the door to listen in. Standing in front of Weevil's desk was none other than Logan.
How does he know I'm working here? Veronica thought to herself.
"If it isn't my favorite 09er. I feel like I've seen you more this past year than I had ever hoped to see you again." Weevil said.
"Gee Wiz, I can feel the love." Logan said. "Hey, is Veronica here?"
"Lemme check." Weevil said, noticing Veronica peeking out the door. "Hey, V! You here?"
"Yeah." Veronica said as she scurried back to her desk.
"Your assisting skills are superb." Logan commented as he walked toward the door to Veronica's office.
"V, I'm going on my lunch break." Weevil said as Logan opened the door. "I'll be back in about an hour."
"There's a lunch special at Taco Town. Don't eat too many!" Logan said as Weevil walked out of the office.
"Logan!" Veronica shunned his snide remark.
"Sorry. Old habits die hard." Logan said, sitting down across from Veronica. "So, how's the PI business treating you?"
"Great," Veronica said doubtfully. "But I know you didn't come all the way down here to ask me how business is going. What's going on Logan?"
"You know me too well Veronica Mars. I just came down here to ask if you wanted to have dinner tonight." Logan paused. "It's just, I haven't seen much of you this summer and I just wanted to catch up, in person."
"Umm.." Veronica hesitated. "Yeah. Sure. Of course. What time?'
"8? I can pick you up here or at home. Whatever." Logan offered.
"At home. I promised my Dad I wouldn't work too hard today. He wants me to enjoy home before we start back to school next week. But speaking of my Dad, I promised I'd meet him for lunch at his office over an hour ago so I better get going." Veronica said, grabbing her laptop and the Manning case file.
"Alright then, I'll let you get going. See you tonight." He said, smiling back at Veronica as he walked out of her office.
What am I doing?! She thought as she grabbed her bag and headed out the door. The entire way to the sandwich shop, Veronica thought of ways to cancel on Logan. Lead in a case, Dad already made dinner plans, etc. But she couldn't bring herself to pick up the phone and call him.
I need music to drown out all this thinking! Veronica turned on the radio. The song blasting through her speakers was none other than I Hear the Bells, the song that was playing during the infamous speech Logan had gave Veronica the night of the Alterna-Prom. Veronica's mind flooded with memories of the past and instantly, she stopped trying to think of excuses. For the first time, she had finally felt like she could let go of the past and start to work on a future with the boy who always saved her.
A/N: So, Duncan may be back in the picture soon? Don't worry, I am a huge LoVe fan but that doesn't mean he won't try to get Veronica back. Who knows?! I know all of you LoVe shippers are dying out there with the slow pace in the LoVe relationship but I find it unrealistic when they just automatically get back together. I promise a longer chapter next week when I'm finally on spring break. In the mean time, please review this chapter and let me know if you like the mystery or not so I know where to go for next chapter. Thanks!