Note: I don't own VM. Just a big fan.
Veronica cried for a few more minutes before pulling herself together. "That's over. Now it's time to move forward."
Logan eyed her warily, unsure where her tenacity was coming from. "Okay. What does that entail?"
"A stake out," she said firmly.
He gawked at her. "Really?" She nodded decisively and he smiled. "I'm game. What do we need?"
"Usually I'd take my car, but we can't. We also can't take yours. It sticks out too much. Let me call around and see if I can find one to borrow." She opened up her cell phone and started thinking of who she could call. Wallace didn't have a car and Mac's was bright blue. That might stand out too much. She tapped her lips with her fingers while she thought.
Logan watched her, smiling. "Veronica, we have more than one car. I'm sure my mom would let us use her BMW."
"Oh good. I'll grab my laptop and camera while you ask her." She left the room before waiting for his answer. Apparently her new resolve to get over this mother issue made her single-minded.
Lynn agreed and gave Logan her keys. He went up to his room to get a sweatshirt and met Veronica in the foyer. She had her messenger bag slung across her body and was studying a piece of paper. She looked up when he approached and held her hands out for the keys.
"Nope. I'm driving. Where to first?" He swept past her and out the front door before she could argue. He held the passenger door open for her and climbed into the BMW, banging his knees on the steering wheel. Cursing under his breath, he adjusted the seat and got comfortable. He hadn't driven his mom's car yet and it was very nice. He still preferred his SUV though.
Veronica snapped her seat belt and turned on the dome light so she could read the paper again. "I don't know if we'll be able to get photos of both of them tonight. Let's start with Jon Schultz. He's the daytime manager and lives near my old house." She gave Logan the address, which he punched into the built-in GPS, and pulled out of the driveway.
As they drove through the dark, Logan watched Veronica out of the corner of his eye. He was a little unnerved with how she was handling the situation with her mom. What a rollercoaster. First she's abandoned by her alcoholic mom then to find out she's dead then she's not really dead but she's never coming home. Veronica was tough and she'd get past it, but Logan thought she'd push all of her emotions way down so that she didn't have to deal with them. He knew from experience that denying pain and grief wasn't healthy.
They finally reached Schultz's house and Veronica instructed him to park a few houses down so she could get a good shot. "Do you see anything suspicious?" she asked.
"Not really. A manager at a sports store probably doesn't make a ton of money. He lives in a small house and drives a used Ford Focus. What can you see in the house?"
"Older television, hand-me-down furniture, burgundy carpets." She snapped some photos of what she could see through the living room window. The lights were on in the house but she hadn't seen Schultz yet. She noticed the garbage can sitting by the curb, conveniently in the shadows of a large tree. "Come on, let's go sleuth." She opened the car door and slid out before he could say anything. Thrilled, he got out and followed.
Veronica opened the garbage can and began rooting through the top bag. Logan gaped at her and asked, "Where did you get the latex gloves?"
"Standard issue PI gear," she said dismissively. "Old Navy catalog, old cable bill, coupon for that new Mexican restaurant. Ooh, I'm taking that one." Logan rolled his eyes. She dug around a little more and didn't find anything more interesting. "Let's sneak around the side and see if we can get a better picture of the inside."
They moved to the side of the house to look into the kitchen. Schultz was washing dishes in a white sink with his back facing them. The laminate cabinets were painted a crisp white but the countertops had seen better days. A small kitchen table was pushed up against the wall with mail spread out on its surface. They snuck down some more and looked into a small bedroom with two twin sized beds and a toy box. The room was clean but unoccupied. The next room was obviously Schultz's bedroom, with a worn quilt on the made bed and mismatched dresser and night stands. She took a few more pictures and made her way to the garage.
The backyard had a worn swing-set and a nice flower patch along the back fence. They made their way to the side of the garage and Veronica scowled when she found the door unlocked. She eyed the windows but was too short. She thrust her camera in Logan's hands and said, "Take some pictures through the window. See if there's any really expensive tools or anything suspicious. I don't think we're going to find anything though."
Logan stood on his the tips of his toes and looked into the window of the garage. "I can't see anything. It's too dark. I'll just sneak into the garage to –" Veronica yanked on his hand and shook her head violently.
"No breaking and entering."
"But the door is unlocked…"
"Doesn't matter. If we take photos in there without having gotten permission to be in there, we can't use them as evidence. Just get what you can through the window."
Logan huffed out a breath and began taking pictures of what he could see. A child's bike was leaning on the wall, a worn table with tools was next to the door, and large Rubbermaid containers full of books and households items were on the floor.
The light in the kitchen flicked off, leaving the backyard in complete darkness. Veronica grabbed his hand and dragged him to the other side of the garage and into the alley. They walked down the alley to the next street then turned onto the street the car was parked on. As soon as they got into the car, Logan turned and grinned wide at Veronica. "That was fun!"
She laughed and nodded. "It can be entertaining. What did you see in the garage?" Logan told her and she shook her head. "It's not him stealing. I guess he could be hiding it in some secret off shore account but most people who steal want the instant gratification of spending it." Veronica pulled out her laptop from her bag and powered it on, connecting her camera and downloading the photos from the memory card. She opened up her email and saw one from Mac asking her to call when she got a chance. "Mac wants me to call her. It's only 10:30pm, let's head over to the other guy's house." She gave Logan the address and opened her cell phone.
Mac answered quickly and explained what she'd found by snooping in their computer records. Schultz spent his time online pursing a Bachelor's degree, watching girl-on-girl porn, and Skype-ing with his kids. Jeff Kirkland, the bookkeeper for the store, has been emailing with a guy selling a boat on Craigslist, booking a Vegas vacation, and playing Texas Hold 'Em. Veronica promised Mac she'd figure this out and hung up. She replayed the conversation to Logan.
"I don't think its Schultz. He looks like a good guy, trying to get his life together and take care of his kids, the porn notwithstanding," Logan remarked and Veronica agreed. "The other guy may be a little more suspicious. Can he afford a boat and a vacation at the same time? Does he have gambling debt?" Veronica didn't know and made a mental note to look into his background further.
They pulled up to a small townhouse condo and she pointed to the right side. "That's his address. Doesn't look like he's home or awake. No car in the driveway and no backyard. All the windows are closed up so I can't even get pictures of the inside." She sighed and put her camera and laptop back into her bag. "This is a bust. Let's go back to your house and we'll start fresh tomorrow."
Logan leaned over and gave Veronica a quick, hard kiss on the mouth before putting the car into gear.
"What was that for?" she asked.
"You're so sexy. I needed to kiss you."
She quirked an eyebrow. "You needed to?"
He nodded solemnly. "Yes. Don't complain or I'll feel the need to do some other reprehensible things to you."
Veronica's body tingled with intrigue. She remembered how good it felt earlier to kiss him and touch him. "Well… I guess I shouldn't complain then," she said lamely. He smirked at her and grabbed her hand.
The pulled into Logan's driveway a few minutes later and made their way into the house. Lynn was already in her bedroom so Logan left her keys on the kitchen counter. He grabbed two bottles of water and tossed one to Veronica.
"So what's the next step?" he asked.
"I need to dig deeper into Kirkland's background. I also found something odd in Mac's dad's background. He got a big settlement in the early 90's. With a settlement that big, I bet it hit the news. I was thinking the library might have copies of the newspapers from back then." She drank from her bottle and looked thoughtful.
"I'll go with. This has been fun, watching you in detective mode." He waggled his eyebrows at her.
"It suits me, I guess. It's kind of a loner activity. And it pays the bills, so that's a plus."
Logan felt a small wave of shame. She wasn't a loner by nature. She was bright and charming and charismatic. At least she used to be, before he set out to ruin her. Veronica noticed his expression and frowned. He shrugged and mentally shook off the mood. Stalking towards her predatorily, he grinned when she eyed her potential exits. He trapped her in his arms and drew her up for a big, loud, messy kiss. She melted against him and he smiled.
After a few moments, she broke apart and cleared her throat. "It's late. I should be uh… going to bed." She finished her bottle of water and threw it in the recycling bin. He nodded and felt a jolt of awareness that she'd be sleeping in the room next to his. She grabbed her bag and they walked up the stairs, shooting each other sly looks. He stopped in front of the guest room she'd be sleeping in and gave her a quick peck on the forehead.
"Good night Veronica. Sweet dreams." He walked towards his room and opened the door. Before walking in, he looked back to see her standing where he left her, watching him. He winked and blew her a kiss before she blushed and quickly entered her room. He laughed and sat down on the bed, wondering how he got so lucky to have her back in his life.
The next morning, Veronica woke up bleary eyed and confused. It took her a few long moments before she remembered she was at the Echolls house. A wave of panic and grief over her mother's abandonment washed through her before she purposely shoved it down. Time to move on, soldier. After staggering into the bathroom and feeling a bit more human after a shower, she checked her cell phone and saw a text message from her dad saying he'd be home that afternoon. She smiled as she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen.
Logan and his mom were standing near the counter, both drinking a cup of a coffee. Logan smiled at her when she walked into the room then poured another cup of coffee and handed it to her. She sipped it and sighed in content.
"What are your plans today?" Lynn asked.
"Library to do some research. How about you?" Logan replied.
"Christmas shopping and lunch with my agent. I'm thinking about getting into producing or writing."
Logan's eyebrows rose. "Not acting?" She shook her head. He thought and said, "I think you'd be good at either or both." Lynn beamed at him.
"Well, I'll be off. Be careful you two. Aaron is out of the hospital. One of the sheriff deputies called me last night to let me know." She kissed Logan's cheek and gave Veronica's arm a squeeze before sweeping out of the room.
Logan and Veronica stood in comfortable silence, sipping their coffee. Feeling even more human after the caffeine, she hopped up on the counter and grabbed an apple from the bowl, taking a big bite out of it. He smirked in amusement before coming to stand between her legs and kiss her apple sweet lips.
"Hi," she said cheekily.
"Hi," he grinned and rubbed his nose against hers, vaguely remembering it was called an Eskimo kiss.
"Ready to face the day, Captain? Defeat dusty books and conquer old microfiche?"
"Ooh, have you decided to wear the black leather then, Black Widow?" She laughed and shoved at his chest. He feigned falling back and came back forward to tickle her ribs.
Squirming, she cried out, "No leather! At least not to the library. I'm not ruling it out entirely." Logan gaped at her and she laughed.
"Duly noted. What are we looking for at the library?"
"Mac's parents won a big settlement sometime in 1992. I'm hoping the newspaper will show it. Articles that old aren't online so we're stuck looking at old copies." She slid down the counter and put her bag on her shoulder. "Time's a-wasting. Let's solve this case and collect our bounty."
Logan took Veronica's hand and spun her into his arms, dipping her back and placing a kiss on her lips. "I am at your service." She laughed and they walked out of the house before stopping short before Logan's car.
"You aren't supposed to be here," Logan said to the man leaning against his car hood. Veronica pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911.
"Dispatch, what is your emergency?" the tinny voice on the phone said.
"Get Sheriff Lamb. Aaron Echolls is breaking his restraining order."