Disclaimer: I do not own Veronica Mars. Rob Thomas has that pleasure and should act on it by making a movie/mini-series soon! I also do not own R. Kelly (nor would I want to, ew!) .
Author's Note: I know I said I would update weekly but this week in school just about killed me. I had a story to write for my creative writing class that sadly kept me away from this one but I'm back and I promise I'm going to try my hardest to get back on the one update a week schedule! I don't know if I like this chapter but I did include everything I wanted to so I hope you like it. Read and Review please!!
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So here I am, stuck in a closet. I should be panicked, really, but for some strange reason, all I can think of is the R. Kelly, Trapped in a Closet videos. I'll admit it, one day I let Wallace convince me to watch them and they weren't half bad.. but that's not what I should be focusing on. I should be scared because I didn't tell anyone where I was. My friends, my Dad, Logan, they all told me to be careful and what did I do, I got myself trapped in a closet. "And now I'm in this darkest closet, tryin' to figure out, just how I'm gonna get my crazy ass up out this house."
Veronica could hear right out of the tiny room in the closet to every other room. Stewart was in Meg's old room, lecturing a barely conscious Grace about her sins and trying to coax her back into the small room set up in there. Veronica was getting anxious and decided that the best strategy would be to freeing herself from the constraints Stewart had placed on her and calling for help. The rope around her hands was tied lightly, seeing as it was only a ribbon that Meg had once wore in her hair, and Veronica was able to pull out the knot with a quick tug. She lifted the blindfold off of her eyes and removed the tape from her mouth. Trying her hardest not to make any noise, Veronica reached for her phone, which was still in her back pocket, but instantly, her phone began to ring, it was Logan. Before she could silence the loud ringer, Stewart came rushing into the room, yelling at the top of his lungs. He quickly unlocked the door of the small room and reached in and ripped the phone out of her hands, throwing it across the room.
"You little bitch," He yelled, grabbing an old jump rope from the corner of the closet and tying it around Veronica's hands. He then replaced the piece of tape over her mouth. "Now you've lost your only chance of escaping. You're dumber than I thought."
Stewart chained the closet back up and walked back to Meg's room without noticing that Veronica had answered the call on her phone and it had landed softly on a pillow by the window.
--
Logan quickly reached for his house phone and dialed the number for the Neptune Sheriff's Department.
"Leo D'Amato please," He said in a quick, deep voice, disguising himself to avoid small talk with Inga.
"Deputy D'Amato is not currently in the office. I'll transfer you to his cell," Inga said into the phone.
"D'Amato here," Leo answered as he pulled into the White Pines Subdivision.
"Leo, It's Veronica. Stewart is holding her hostage. I have her on the line," Logan spewed into the phone.
"Slow down. Can you hear anything? Any noise of struggle?"
"I can't hear anything. Wait, I can hear talking but it doesn't sound like it's in the room Veronica is in."
"Alright Logan, I just pulled close enough to the Manning house to get in. I have to call Keith though, I may need back up. But stay on the line with Veronica, call me back if anything changes,"
"Okay. I will. Leo, please, don't let her get hurt."
"I made you a promise Logan." Leo said, hanging up the phone. He exhaled sharply before dialing the Sheriff.
--
Veronica began to make a will in her head, something she always did in a life or death situation. When Aaron stuffed her into the cooler three years earlier, Veronica decided to leave her photographs to Wallace, his walls were too bare for her taste and her unicorn collection to Mac, she'd find it ironic and tacky. Now, she thought of what she would give Logan, what could possibly summarize their relationship, the ups and downs. Her mind drifted back to their first kiss and suddenly the bitter metallic taste of duct tape left her mouth and she could now taste that kiss on her lips.
God I love him. I wish I could just get out of here to tell him that, over and over. Veronica thought. We're going to be together forever, I know it. I swear, we're going to be one of those families, the ones with 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE.
Suddenly, she wanted to fight back. Veronica had made a promise to her friends and to Logan to be safe but if she couldn't keep that one, the least she could do was fight back to stay alive.
--
Keith had made a quick stop at home to grab lunch before heading back to the office.
"Veronica?" He called out, expecting the small blonde to pop out of her room and continue with the story she was so desperately trying to tell him earlier that morning. Instead, all he encountered was silence but he ignored it, expecting her to be at the office or at Logan's that was until the phone began to ring.
"Hello?" Keith answered as he reached for the lettuce and mayonnaise in the refrigerator.
"Keith, it's Leo. Veronica, she's in trouble." Keith dropped the food from his hands as his mind drifted back to the conversation he had with his daughter earlier in the day.
"Dad, I know you're in a rush but I wanted to talk to you about the Manning case. I'm going to start surveillance today, which may include actually letting myself into the Manning house and I just wanted to make sure you were on board with the plan, maybe sending someone along with me, just in case."
"Uh, okay but can we talk more about this later? I really have to go."
"I'm on my way to the Manning's and I'll call for back-up" Keith said, hanging up the phone. He ran quickly to the car, only slowing down enough to make a call for back-up.
--
Leo reached into his glove compartment and pulled out his gun. He got out of the car, tucked the gun safely in the back of his pants and grabbed his cell phone. Tracing the steps he knew Veronica must have taken, Leo made his way through the back gate onto the Manning property. The door was slightly ajar to suggest this was her way of entry. He pushed it open quietly, pulled out his gun and made his way up the stairs. Before reaching the top, he could hear the voice of a man screaming in the room at the top of the stairs.
"God does not approve of this. You have lost your chance at heaven," Stewart yelled at his daughter.
"But it was Meg, Daddy. Meg was an angel. God sent her to me." Grace whispered.
"Meg is dead and it's your fault. God blames you." Leo paced up the last two stairs and rushed into the room.
"Police! Hands up!" he yelled, pointing his gun at the man who was standing over his daughter. Stewart pulled his hands from his pocket as to surrender but instead pulled a gun, the one he used to push Veronica into the closet, out.
"Did you really think a gun would scare me? Big bad officer. I didn't hear any sirens. No back-up. You're just as stupid as the blonde one."
"Put the gun down," Leo said. Stewart continued to point the weapon in his direction.
"Grace, go downstairs," Stewart said to the fragile girl. She crawled slowly out of the room, past Leo who had moved only slightly to allow the girl through.
"PUT THE GUN DOWN!" Leo yelled.
"Or what?"
"You don't want to know what," he threatened.
"Is that a threat? I don't like threats." Stewart said, firing a single shot in Leo's direction.
--
Veronica began to hear sirens, faintly, but she could hear them. Tears were now streaming down her face. The shot, the one single shot after hearing Leo's voice from the other room was enough to break her.
What have I done. Veronica thought. Not only have I put myself and a little girl in danger but also a friend. What have I done?!
There was no sound from the other room. Only sirens, lots of sirens but no other sound. Another shot rang out. Veronica was forgetting why she wanted to survive.
--
Keith arrived just as the three squad cars he had called were also. He ran to the front door, which was ironically unlocked, and two other officers followed him, the others instructed to enter through the back door. Upon reaching the stairs, Keith found the small girl, laying at the foot as if she had fallen across the landing. Grace lifted her head slowly and pointed up the stairs. Keith looked back at the two other officers instructing one to tend to the helpless girl and the other, Deputy Sacks, to follow him. Gun drawn, he reached the top of the stairs, running quickly into the room at the top.
Leo was standing over Stewart Manning, who was laying in a pool of blood, gripping his shoulder.
"What happened? Where's Veronica?" Keith yelled.
"He shot at me." Keith noticed the bullet hole in the doorway behind Leo. "I shot back. The bastard wouldn't tell me where Veronica is."
"She might be in the little girl's room. Lamb's report said something about a small room in a closet in Grace's room," Sacks said. Keith and Sacks rushed into the next room and finds the small room chained up.
"I'M HERE BABY. I'M GETTING YOU OUT." Keith screamed, searching the floor for the key. Veronica whimpered as her father and the deputy searched for the key that she knew was in Stewart Manning's pocket but was unable to speak.
"Where are the damn keys?!" Keith yelled in frustration. Leo ran in from the other room and handed two small keys to him.
"These were in his pocket. He pulled them out right after I shot him, he was trying to swallow them." Leo said. Keith quickly unlocked the padlock and unchained the door. He pulled out a frightened Veronica from the tiny, dark room. Pulling off the tape from her mouth and untying the rope from her arms, Keith pulled her tightly into a hug.
"Oh, my baby, you're safe. You cannot do that to me again. You can't," Keith sobbed as he stroked Veronica's hair. The blonde girl continued to cry into her father's arms.
I won't do that again. She thought.
--
Several ambulances arrived at the Manning house along with many news channels. They snapped pictures as Stewart Manning was quickly loaded into an ambulance, handcuffed to the gurney and escorted by a deputy and even more as Grace was loaded into another with Lizzie, who Logan had called. Veronica sat patiently in the backyard being checked out by an EMT as her father gave a formal statement about the event that had just occurred. After she refused to go to the hospital for a closer look, the EMT made his way back to the front of the house.
"I'm guessing no permanent damage?" Leo said, passing by the frustrated EMT he walked through the gate and sat next to Veronica.
"Physical no, emotional, let's say I might rethink this whole PI and FBI girl thing I've got going on," Veronica said, swatting Leo in the arm.
"Ouch, what the hell was that for?"
"For being as stupid as I am." Veronica let out a small smirk. "Wait, how did you know I was.."
"Logan. He came to the office this morning. He was worried about you. That guy really loves you."
"I could kill him. I could kill you. But I won't. I'll say thank you though. Thanks for being stupid enough to come save me."
"You know, you're not very good at apologies."
"Okay fine, I'll apologize by inviting you and your lovely wife over to my boyfriend's for dinner next week. Is that better?"
"Yes. Kate will want to meet the woman who I almost died for."
"That may be a little awkward especially if she knows I'm your ex-girlfriend."
"Let's just keep that and the fact that I was in a band that played in a run-down garage secret. There are something's that the woman you're madly in love with doesn't need to know." Leo laughed.
:"Only if you promise to tell the man I'm madly in love with that I didn't get locked into a closet. That'd be great."
"A little too late for that." Leo said, pointing to Logan, who was standing at the gate.
"So I'll see you for dinner next week?" Logan said, grabbing Leo in a hug. "Thank you."
"It was no problem. But I do expect steaks." Leo said sarcastically as he made his way out of the gate to the media frenzy awaiting the hero's comment. Logan walked over to Veronica and sat down next to her.
"What happen to your promise?" he asked, looking at the red marks across her wrists from the rope.
"Okay so I hate myself. No, no wait I don't. I saved a little girl today. Granted I put myself and two others into danger but I saved her."
"But.."
"I'm not done yet. I'm making a new promise to you today."
"Go ahead.." Logan said.
"I promise that I'll stop being selfish and start thinking about how others would feel if they lost me. I promise that I'll think before I do anything that could put me in harm's way. And lastly, I promise that if I ever do have the impulse to do something stupid, I'll let the authorities handle it. Is that good?"
"Perfect." Logan leaned over and kissed Veronica. The metallic taste that lingered on her lips from the tape was now replaced with Logan's lips. He wrapped his arms tightly around her.
"I love you." He mouthed.
"I love you." She whispered back. With his arm wrapped around her, they stood up and walked to the front yard. Keith met them at the gate, wrapping his arm around her other shoulder as they walked to his car.
This is what I won't ever almost lose again.
A/N2: So I hope I did justice to the whole scene. REVIEWS ARE LOVELY! Next chapter preview for waiting so long: Veronica will deal with the frustrations of not being the 'act than think' but rather the 'think than act' girl. Relationships in the group will get closer And someone from the past may be returning sooner than you think.