Disclaimer: I really don't own anything even remotely releated to this show...not even a collectible- just some boxed DVD sets.
A/N: An apology. I love my job. I really do but I work with people and peoples is unpredictable and demanding. So, apologies this next part has taken so long. Nexr, I received the the most wonderul PM of my entire life. (I have it saved and I read it when the people I work with annoy me more than usual...and all of the sudden there are rainbows, puppies and kittens!) Thank you- you know who you are. It made my life...well, at least as a writer of fanfic and devout fan of V.M. Also, the reviews just amaze me. I'm very humble and grateful and would like to thank the Academy... Lastly, I am seriously almost done. Three chapters left to write and two to edit and Epilogue that I love! Keep reading and reviewing if you will.
Be sweet and read!
Kane House
"She's alive."
How much had Logan drunk? Duncan pondered worriedly; chasing Logan around the living room as Logan moved from corner to corner. "Who's alive, Logan?" Duncan spoke slowly again. He'd been asking the same question for the past fifteen minutes. No other words but "She's alive." and Logan's frantic behavior.
Duncan had only seen this one other time. When Logan's mom had committed suicide, Logan went off on the same tangent proclaiming her well and safe. This innocent rare part of his friend clung so deeply to false hopes that it scared Duncan now. Logan had been through a lot the past few months; how much more could he take?
Logan walked over to the window, looked out and then turned to meet Duncan's gaze. "My daughter…she's not dead."
"WHAT?!?" Duncan all but screamed. Far fetched was the understatement of the year for Logan's latest theory.
Logan ignored Duncan's reaction and went and sat on the couch. He looked at the floor as he placed his elbows on his knees and leaned forward; holding his hands firmly together in a nervous excited format. "I went to the Memorial today. January Grant was there…"
"Logan, please tell me she didn't plant this idea in your head…" Duncan moaned as he sat across from Logan in the loveseat. The girl had been nothing but trouble since her arrival and if she was causing Logan's latest outbreak; he'd have plenty to say to her.
"She was there looking at the Memorial. She asked me where was the grave and why was it gone. She asked and then she told me she was adopted. She was adopted in London in October 2009. She didn't know her parents; the information was more than sealed but erased. She told me all of this and I told her about the grave. I told her and she cried…"
Duncan shook his head. "I don't understand Logan…"
Logan looked from the floor to Duncan and back down. His words were direct and full. "January Grant is my daughter. She didn't die. Veronica gave her up for adoption and never told a soul. She gave her up to the Grants. That teenage girl is our daughter."
"There. Is. No. Way." Duncan answered.
"Duncan it fits. The time of her birth. The place of her birth. It all fits. Look at her!" Logan's voice began to rise and he turned his attention to Duncan. "She's got Veronica's height, hair, and stubbornness. She's got my eyes, my nose, and my wonderful ability to make good first impressions. She's got our blood type."
"How do you know that?"
"That's how she found out- she was adopted. She has a rare blood type, the Grants don't. Veronica and I… we do…have rare blood types."
"Logan, the Grants are her parents. Not you or Veronica…they have raised her. They are all she knows. What are you going to do with this information? Are you going to tell her?"
Logan stood with force and fury. "She's my child! I want her to know that I didn't know…that I wouldn't have given her up…that…"
Before Logan could finish, a presence entered the room and stayed in the doorway. The voice spoke finishing Logan's tired. "That you left her mother for another girl. Is that what you were going to say?" Veronica Mars asked Logan. She stood at the frame, leaning and arms crossed. It was a classic pose for her; familiar as the damaged tone in her voice. "What were you going to tell her Logan? That I am horrible rotten person because I never told you I was pregnant? That I made a decision to give…" Her voice cracked with pain and frustration. "Our daughter up for her to have a better life?"
"You never gave me a chance."
"You made your choice. You chose Hannah. Not once did I fault you for that Logan. Not once did I even begrudge the fact you chose someone else. But I didn't want your pity…"
"GOD VERONICA! WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT PITY---WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A CHILD!"
"MY CHILD! You waved every right when you left me. What would you have done Logan? You and Hannah were already making plans to get married. Duncan was gone raising his own daughter and living a new life. My dad had just remarried. Everyone's life was moving on and do you honestly think you would have given all of it up to raise a baby? Logan we were kids." She pleaded her case.
"Why the lie?"
It was the first time Duncan had spoken since Veronica had entered the house. Veronica didn't move- she just closed her eyes and let them brim over with tears. "That was my Dad. He…" She paused. Breathe, she reminded herself. "He didn't want to believe that there was a part of our family living…out there in the world without us. He wanted to believe and me to accept she was dead. The thought of her was buried beneath a small tombstone. He wanted to punish you- all of you- for getting to stay in Neptune and move on while we would always be held in one moment."
"The picture…" Logan whispered.
"I was as much in that picture as all three of you. It was the first and last time I saw that grave. It was then I grew-up and I was able to move on."
"So glad for you…so glad you could go on knowing what YOU DID!"
"I DID GO ON! AND SO DID YOU! ALL OF YOU!" Veronica was in full-accusation mode-with the voice level to prove it. "ALL OF YOU HATED ME FOR WHAT I DID! I HATED MYSELF! You…you got to believe she was dead. You got to believe she was in a better place- that she never once had to face the reality of her mother, right? RIGHT?!? Well, me…I got to know for all these years our daughter was alive and well and I wasn't there. I wasn't there for ANYTHING and neither were you…I wish I could have believed she was dead. IF ONLY…" The screaming had been resolved to full sobs, her body leaned over herself in complete surrender. The weight of the world had come crashing down on them all.
Maybe it was the first time in their lives that these three people had ever longed to go back to the simpler days of their youth. High school was one bad day compared to the years they had been living as a result of it.
Where do you go from here?
Cups of Stone
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons. T.S. Eliot
There is not enough espresso in this wide world to sort out my mysteries today. I am sitting in Cups of Stone with a double shot, laptop open, and a muddled mind. I have lost all my objectivity in every matter concerning my life and the thing is kiddies, I don't know how I got here. I mean I consider myself a fairly logical and linear person and for all that's in me, I can't retrace my steps that led me to a coffee shop- alone.
When the puzzle pieces don't fit- step back and take a look at the box.
It's my grandmother's adage. As a successful detective, it was practically her mantra. She always told me when a crime became messy and she became over-involved and nothing seemed right she would step away and try to see the crime as a whole instead of clues and facts. And that's exactly what I need to do.
I focus on the screen in front of me and create two separate folders. There are two separate mysteries and I need to see them away from each other and distinctly whole. The first and most pressing is the kidnapping of the cheerleaders.
What do I know?
Four cheerleaders from two different schools and one distinct area have disappeared. The girls only have three things in common: they are all cheerleaders. They are all middle-class members of society. They all had begun or were in the process of dating someone new to their lives.
The cheerleaders had been gone beyond 72 hours which meant this was no longer a case of abductions but ladies and gents, a genuine serial killer. When you deal with serial killers- the case is put under a whole new light. If the girls were meeting someone that they hadn't let their families in on- most obvious candidate is someone they met over the Net. If this is the case, online predators are a dime a dozen. Serial killers are online tend to be males in their late 30's to early 50's with a history of sexual and physical abuse. This "killer" was methodical in his abductions- in simpler terms- there was method in his madness. The cars left behind with the jewelry were clean of prints and any other foreign matter. In fact, the cars were so devoid of the human clues- it was oddly…surgical, medical even.
The jewelry left behind, according to the information Scott whored to me, was a tie to something in the killer's past. This was a symbol of hate or revenge. It was also a way to mark or brand his victims. According to Keith if this was a case of murder then the stakes were higher. Killers usually spiral out of control until they are caught or are so "proud" of their deeds they fumble and confess. This led to the horrible thought that there just might be more killings. Macbeth was right; you just can't kill one- especially if the voices in your head are obnoxiously loud.
Okay that was that case. Moving on…
The second mystery was the saga of the missing tombstone.
I downed the rest of my espresso in hopes it might give me the strength to follow this lead. I had a picture of Logan Echolls (a.k.a. Confusion Boy), Duncan Kane (a.k.a. Super Kane), and Cindy Casablancas (a.k.a. Weird Chick) looking at a grave of Logan's still-born illegitimate daughter with Veronica Mars (a.k.a. Poser Photographer). Veronica and Logan had been an item and conceived and Logan knew nothing of it till after the fact. The grave was gone and replaced by a memorial to a seemingly mediocre mother by Logan himself.
Alright, perhaps it is the double-shot talking, or my wonderful internal instinct but something tells me the two are connected. These two seemingly random cases are connected. Screw Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, something tells me I can do it in one person. One person connects both these cases and it's so much closer than I can see.
When all else fails- ask the most two random questions you can and jump from there.
My uncle taught me that safe rule. He said as an officer when he was stuck he would ask the weirdest questions he could and then answer them. The questions he said were pure gut no material-facts-induced questions. Yeah, instinct wasn't always perfect but it never failed to lead him on the right track. And what can I say- my instinct kicks ass! Seriously.
Before I can ask the questions, my phone vibrates again. This would be the 17th missed call from Adopt-a-Rents. 17 missed calls from them, 3 missed calls from Alex, 5 missed calls from Isa, and even 2 missed calls from Lalie and George. (No doubt some people are desperate enough they will call friends millions of miles away to use to get in touch.) I don't plan on actually calling anyone back…yet. Soon enough- when I'm ready but right now I'm just not.
Two questions- I just need two questions…
GUT!
I move to Google and quickly type in my first question; well, tags more precisely.
Athens, TN (Where Heathe's creepy surgical dad is from…) Cheerleaders (Because he seems like the type to you know…well, ewww….)
Athens, Tennessee Cheerleaders Scandal- 10027 hits
On June 2nd, 2020 a noted Knoxville plastic surgeon was convicted of three accounts of a lesser charge on statutory rape. The court came to a standstill when Mr. Mitchell's son…
Second question-second tag…whatever!
Veronica Mars (Really, who the heck is she?) Hearst College (The place where the relationship between her and Logan ended and possible conception occurred…)
Veronica Mars Hearst College 2007- 2003 hits
Famous photographer Veronica Mars attended Hearst College and developed her love of photography there. She left the school before the 2009 semester to study abroad in the Hearst College Abroad Study program in London, England. Her work…
Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn't. Mark Twain
I shut my laptop quickly and throw it in my bag; grabbing my keys and tossing in my cell. Two questions and I have solved everything; I know the truth and right now, where that might take me…well, the possibilities are endless.
And knowing me, dangerous, too.
Kane House
Several hours later in the living room in the Kane house, the room was less volatile but the tension was as thick as the California fogs. It was heavy and made breathing in the room difficult and very hard to see anything in the midst of it. Duncan sat on one corner of his over-stuffed and over-priced less than comfy couch. Logan sat on the over-stuffed matching loveseat. Veronica was leaning against the illustrious and out-of-place fireplace mantel. Ironically, they formed a distinct triangle or maybe it was a subconscious move on all their parts. Their lives had been spent a part of bizarre triangle- no one of them ever catching up with the other.
"You got the DNA test?"
"Yep."
"And…"
"She's mine." Veronica punctuated the last word. A slight dig but inevitable in her train of thought.
"Funny, you needed a test. I didn't."
"The test was a confirmation for what I already knew. Funny too, she didn't bitch me out the first time she met me."
"Why don't you call her now and ask her what she thinks of the great Veronica Mars?"
"Sure and I'll be glad to mention how you were so anxious to find out what happened after the grave…"
"Could you two shut up?!?" Duncan yelled. He rubbed his temples, in a move that disturbingly reminded him of his father. His headache was only growing. Hours had passed and it was bits of fighting, jabs, and desperate silence. Who was he kidding? It was classic Logan and Veronica. When the two weren't making out and going at it like rabbits- they were bickering, fighting, and throwing down all out war. It'd been this way since the beginning, should he honestly expect anything different years later? You could grow-up, you could mature, but one thing Duncan Kane now knew for certain you can never escape your past. Logan and Veronica's past was a walking-talking and yes, generally annoying teenage girl who by the cruel and warped sense of God managed to re-locate herself to the very place where she was conceived and into the lives of her birth parents.
"What are we going to do?" Logan asked, arms crossed- more ready for battle than a solution to their problem.
"What do you mean Logan? What are we going to do? She's by all legal means the daughter of the Grants. She doesn't know we exist. We can't just storm into her life…"
"Like hell we can. I wanna see my kid!"
"Then you should have thought about that before you slept with me, dumped me and then slept with Hannah!" Veronica retorted, angrier than ever.
As the two continued to wage all out war and come nowhere near an answer- a thought formed in Duncan's head. He wondered if maybe, being she was their kid, she hadn't caught on that she could possibly be related to them? Logan saw it. Veronica saw it. She could be just that brilliant- as his own daughter and son pointed out. If she knew… if she knew that Logan and Veronica… "LOGAN! VERONICA! SHUT-UP AND SIT DOWN!"
Hannah and Alex entered the Kane house quietly. They didn't want to surprise her dad or mom with this new development. This had to be done tactfully and intelligently. Alex shut the door behind him with the greatest of ease and almost tip-toeing followed Hannah down the hall towards the foyer and living room. The pair stopped suddenly, nearly tripping over each other when they heard the "elevated voices"- two of which DID NOT belong to anyone in Hannah's family.
Hannah immediately recognized the voice of Uncle Logan. The female voice was new. But quickly identified when her father yelled for Veronica to shut-up, too. So this was the infamous Veronica Mars in their house- in their house- WHAT WAS GOING ON?!? Both stopped shy of the entrance way into the living room and eavesdropped like the good teenagers they were.
Duncan's voice carried through the entire house. "DID YOU TWO IDIOTS EVER CONSIDER MAYBE SHE KNOWS?!?"
"Doughnut, you're kiddin' right…" Logan replied sarcastically.
"Logan, this is your…child. And while the two of you haven't raised a teenager, let alone a teenage daughter- I have. They tend to figure out things you'd rather them not know…" Duncan sighed, as he flopped down in the chair remembering the fight he'd had with his daughter the night before. "They are perceptive and persistent. Especially if this girl has your DNA…"
Hannah felt her arm slowly being squeezed by Alex. She turned and saw a similar look in his eyes that was in her own--- January Grant was the biological daughter of Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls. And yes the Apocalypse is comin', Hannah thought with a mixture of bewilderment, amusement and maybe, even a little fear. This girl that had plagued her life since the moment she stepped in the newsroom was either a biological lotto winner or genetic catastrophe- depending on your views of the two adults with her dad. Hannah was leaning that it was a steady mix of both.
Hannah whispered to Alex, the boy that probably knew January the best, "Do you think she knows?"
Alex was on another world. He'd been trying to reach January all day and come to find out she'd had a major blowout with her parents…the adoptive ones- it seemed. They had fought about a date with Heathe and her safety and her involvement in the Kidnapping story. She hadn't answered but she had left the message detailing the fight. He had no idea where she was… but he'd lay his last dime that if Logan and Veronica knew--- January was only steps behind if not already there. "Hannah I need the keys to your car." He didn't ask his cousin, with whom he had just begun to form the tentative bonds of a relationship with or even say please, he simply demanded. He wasn't the type to demand. He was the classic cool and slightly aloof Asian-American computer geek…till now.
Hannah didn't say anything but simply pulled the keys out of her pocket and handed them to him. No warnings or threats if he hurt it- if he needed it probably a very good reason and besides it wasn't as if her dad couldn't afford to buy her a new car. He bolted out of the door, slamming it behind him, completely forgetting they had been covert mode. Hannah tried quickly and desperately to play as if she had just walked in but she wasn't fast enough and Uncle Logan was standing eye to eye with her. She stood a little straighter as she came into the focus of all three adults.
"How much of that did you hear?" His voice somber and scary.
"Pretty much all of it."
"What do you think about it?"
The question shocked Hannah her somewhat as it came from her grave father.
"Doesn't matter what I think. You should be more worried about who was with me and what he thought…"
"He?" Duncan asked.
"Alex Guam was with me. He's January's best friend and if my skills as a reporter are worth anything I believe he's sure she knows."
This time both Logan and Veronica collapsed on the couch at opposite ends. The fighting was worthless if she knew.
"What do you think she will do?" Veronica asked, in a voice off-kilter for herself. It was a voice full of fear and sadness. She never let that show.
Hannah took the scene in and guffawed a little at them. Did they have any idea who January was? Did they have any clue what a teenage daughter would do when she finds out her birth parents are…well, them? "You're kidding me? You don't know what she'll do? She's January Grant. She's going to hunt you both down along with all the gory details and lay it out for the world and Neptune to see."
Logan leaned back and for the first time looked a little relieved. "Yup. Definitely our kid."
Mitchell Outside
If I show you then I know you
Won't tell what I said
Cause two can keep a secret
If one of them is dead…
-The Pierces
You know how some things sound good at one moment and then the next you're outside the house of a possible serial killer…
Eh?
Maybe you don't. For me, going to meet Heathe sounded like a good idea in my head. I figured if I could solve this case, take it to the press, and leave it with the proper authorities then I could worry about the fact that my biological parents were in Neptune. Okay, let's be real, that my sperm and egg donor were Logan Echolls and Veronica Mars and I was none other than Dead Baby Girl Mars-Echolls or Echolls-Mars…
Yeah, I'm not bitter.
I stood outside my car, outside the Mitchell house, waiting for Heathe. I knew better. I should've called Keith. The police. The F.B.I. would have been good… C.I.A. might have worked too. Nope, I carry my bag and my handy-dandy taser and assume that will be enough to fight off a guy who's kidnapped and most likely killed high school cheerleaders.
Not only am I bitter but apparently I am also incredibly stupid.
Heathe saw me from the door and gave a quick wave to me. I tapped my foot. C'mon Sociopath, we don't have all day, I thought as I waited. I had figured it out and I planned that this was going to go down smoothly. I knew the secret. I had leverage and a taser.
Heathe finally came to my driver's side where I was standing casually. Sort of casually.
"January, you look great."
I smiled. "Thanks Heathe. Are you ready?"
"Yeah but I was thinking maybe we could take my car…"
I paused. "Ummm…I'd really prefer if I drove. I get car sick easy and you know that whole Type-A personality thing…" I shrugged and laughed off.
"I promise I'll drive slow." He bantered flashing his smile that melts even me, a little.
"Could we just take my car? I'd feel so much better with my Hummer." I was getting worried.
That's when he caught it- he knew I knew. The gig was up-the game was over and I had all of about one minute do what I did. I threw my hand in my purse and hit dial as Heathe sucker punched me and grabbed me and drug me to his car.
His voice sneered loud and clear over my speakerphone, I hoped. "How did you figure it out? How did a pathetic little 09er tramp figure it out?"
My voice, slightly altered by his arm around my neck and being drug, spoke, "I'm not a frak'n cheerleader, you moron! Some girls might find sociopaths attractive; I tend to think they deserve fifty to life."
He laughed, not at my wit but the laugh of homicidal maniac. Oh boy, I sure know how to pick 'em.
"Where are we going Heathe?"
"We're going for our date. I'm a Southern gentleman," He drawled. "Ladies first." And with that he shoved me in his car to the passenger side. My body slammed over the insides and into the door. I turned towards him ready to leap out the door but he'd managed to lock me inside. I was riding in the car with my life possibly at an end and all I could think of was the tombstone. The stupid tombstone in the stupid picture in my stupid room….and how I hoped that I wouldn't be under it.
I also hoped Alex was getting every crazy word Heathe had spoken since I dialed his number and that he was smart enough to call Keith Mars or the police or maybe not the police since Heathe was the son of the Sheriff.
Oh, and how next time when I was confronting a possible serial killer I wouldn't go by myself. Bad idea.
Mars Inc.
"C'mon January, pick up…" Keith Mars mumbled into the phone. His voice was edgy and laced with fear. It took a lot for Keith Mars to feel fear; as much as he faced. The fear only rose as he was taken to January's voice mail. Keith hung up the phone.
He dialed the next number. It wasn't one he wanted to dial but in this course he had no choice.
"Grant residence."
"Yes, I need to speak to Mr. or Mrs. Grant…either one…it's an emergency." His voice raced. God, he sounded like a meth addict waiting for his next fix.
A moment later, a woman's voice replaced the male curt one. "This is Mrs. Grant."
"Mrs. Grant, this is Keith Mars. I apologize we're only now talking but I need to know where January is."
"Why?" Her own voice growing slightly worried.
"I pulled-up information about a friend of hers and I am concerned for her safety with this friend."
"Oh…" She choked back- her breath held in apprehension. "You're talking about Heathe Mitchell, aren't you?"
"How did…is she with him?"
He could hear the woman begin to sob, trying desperately to talk. Her voice was quiet and full of regret about something. "Last night January asked to go out with him. We told her no and we had a fight. She… she…we fought and she left this morning for school. I haven't seen her since… Mr. Mars what's going on?"
"Do you think she went out with him?"
Pause. "Yes."
"This is very important Mrs. Grant and I need you to stay as calm as possible- do you know where they were going?"
"No…she…just told me they were going to meet at his house and she was driving. That's it…" Her voice cracked at every word. There was no doubt she was crying and no doubt Keith had to remain cool and calm for her.
"Mrs. Grant I need you not to call the police. I'm sure you know who Heathe's mom is. I need you to stay by the phone and wait in case she does call. I need you to call your husband, make a plausible excuse to get him home but not suspiciously. Then I need him to be ready too. Can you do this for me?"
Mrs. Grant was silent and Keith assumed she had nodded in agreement and replied with what little was left. "Of course."
"Good. Now I am going to make some calls and we are going to find January, alright?"
"Okay."
"Stay by the phone and stay calm." Keith simply replied as he hung up.
He ran his fingers over his head and took his fist to his desk. DAMNIT! He'd failed again. He'd fail to see the big picture and protect and innocent girl. An innocent girl like his daughter…he picked up the phone quickly and dialed. Three rings and an answer- the voice on the other end seemed less than thrilled.
"Dad this really isn't a good time…"
"Sweetie, I need your help. I think January has been kidnapped."
In the background he could hear the squeal of tires. "WHAT?!?"
"She had me check-up on one of her friends and honey, it's bad. This kid's file has teenage killer screaming all over it. She didn't come home and her mom thinks she went out with this kid. I'm guessing he's not stupid and he might figure she knows it's him."
Keith Mars did not expect what he heard next.
"Where was she last?" The voice of Logan Echolls shot out.
"Is that Logan Echolls?!?"
"You know Dad, now is not the time to tell that plot twist- what I need to know is where she was last?"
"They don't know. Sweetheart, what aren't you telling me?"
"January Grant is biologically mine and Logan's kid."
There was a long pause from Keith. "I'm calling Eli and Wallace. I'll meet you at the Grant house in five. Veronica… we have to be careful. This kid that kidnapped her makes Cassidy Casblancas look like a boy scout. I'll see you soon." His voice was sober and cut and did not mince the words. He wasn't sure in this exact moment who he was more angry at: Veronica for not telling him sooner what she thought, Logan for knocking Veronica up in the first place and coming back into her life, January for most likely walking into this knowing the kid was the villain, the kid himself for being a serial killer, the Grants for not keeping better tabs on their daughter or worst of all himself- for not seeing a damn thing.