DISCLAIMER: I don't own any rights to Veronica Mars. This story is written as a tribute only. No celebrity endorsement is implied by product placements. All real persons' names are used in the sense of "wouldn't it be cool if this person had this gig?" The institution discussed in this fic is not a real institution. All opinions regarding real-life organizations expressed in this fic are the opinions of the characters only. You may or may not agree with the conclusions of the characters, and no harm or insult is intended to these real-life organizations, or to any participant, past, present, or future, in the meetings of these organizations. Again, this fic is not intended for those under the age of 17.
A/N: Beta-ed by Poniesforall, who is also my assistant casting director, and Kazy. All mistakes that remain are my responsibility
Previously on Veronica Mars: The Year of Living Dangerously Part Two:
vanessagalore•livejournal•com/51276•html
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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Night Terrors
Veronica manifests ill effects due to
the operation; Mac's discovery has
unexpected consequences.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring.
Klein: Clancy Brown. Tony: Romany Malco.
Maria: Gina Mantegna. Kavner: Eric Bana.
Dr. Kinny: Dan Castellaneta. Epstein: Scott
Grimes. Leo: Max Greenfield. Mac: Tina
Majorino. Alan: Ned Vaughan.
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CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN: "NIGHT TERRORS"
Mon. 3/9/09 late night: Briar Hill Academy, Manchester Center, VT
Veronica wakens to find a hand over her mouth. Panicked, she looks around to see Logan holding a finger to his lips. She nods, and he takes his hand away. He motions with his head toward the door and helps her to climb down quietly from the top bunk to avoid waking the other girls sleeping around them. He takes her hand and leads her out of the room silently.
She wonders, How did he turn off the motion detectors that keep the girls in their beds at night? Already, Veronica has been awakened in the middle of the night several times when a girl inadvertently set off the alarm by her bed, causing a loud blaring siren to sound and turning on all the lights in the room. On her first night, she heard one of the younger girls sobbing because she had wet the bed after not being allowed to get up to use the bathroom.
Veronica looks at Logan questioningly, but he just puts his fingers to his lips again, cautioning her to keep quiet. He pulls her along down the hallway to Klein's office and takes out a card key, unlocking the door and escorting her inside. Once inside, he turns her to him and kisses her, taking her breath away.
She pulls away and whispers, "What..."
He shakes his head, saying, "Shhh..." and begins to kiss her again, stroking her hair. Logan guides her backward to the desk and lifts her up, positioning himself between her legs and insinuating his hand underneath her sweatshirt. He trails his hand lightly across her torso, and she closes her eyes, just enjoying the simple familiarity of his touch. She wraps her legs around his waist and gives in to his demanding kiss, opening her mouth to his tongue. He strokes her spine with his fingernails, making her shiver, and he unclasps the hated bra with its listening device. Logan pushes the bra up and takes her breasts in his hands, flicking her nipples with his thumbs.
She moans a little, and he breathes in her ear, "We have to be quiet...shhh." She nods and just breathes hard as he caresses her and begins to suck passionately at the junction of her neck and shoulder. He bites her gently, and she throws her head back, feeling her arousal taking charge of her whole body. Veronica starts to unbutton Logan's shirt, desperate for the feel of his skin. She tugs his shirttail free from his pants and runs her fingers across his chest. Logan presses against her, making clear his own arousal. She tries to pull down her sweatpants, but he takes over, lifting her slightly off the desk and hurriedly drawing down her pants and underwear. He touches her gently, and she hitches a little, trying to grant him easier access. Veronica presses her mouth into his chest, holding back a groan as he runs his fingers across her opening, slicking her wetness and finally plunging in.
She opens her eyes to look at Logan and sees a movement out of the corner of her eye. Klein is sitting in a chair, sipping a drink and watching them with interest. Veronica gasps; she tries to get Logan's attention, pointing at Klein and pulling away from Logan. Logan shakes his head and finds her mouth again, kissing her and stroking her relentlessly. She struggles against him, whispering, "We have to get out of here!"
The door opens behind them, and several male employees enter and grab Logan. They begin to take him down to floor as Logan struggles against them. Veronica tries to pull up her sweats quickly and goes to Logan. She manages to punch one of the men holding Logan before Klein comes up behind her and puts her in a hold. One of the men puts a pair of handcuffs on her as she struggles against Klein. When she feels Klein ease up on his grasp, she whips around and strikes him forcefully in the face with her bound hands. Klein is knocked off-balance by the unexpected attack, and Veronica wrestles free. She gets past the other men and runs into the hallway, screaming at the top of her lungs, "California! Help us!" She turns the corner and runs smack into the guard named Tony, who tackles her, forcing her to the ground. She struggles under him, still screaming, "Help us!"
One of the men comes to help Tony, and together the two men manhandle Veronica back to Klein's office. Logan has disappeared, and Klein has taken a seat behind his desk, pressing a tissue to his bleeding nose.
"What are you doing to Logan?!" Veronica yells.
Klein regards her impassively. He motions with his hand, and the men pull her down to the floor and brutally search her. They find the bug, removing it from her bra and handing it to Klein. Klein takes the bug and puts it on his desk; he smashes it with a paperweight, then leans back in his chair to look at her again. One of the men drags a chair over and forces her to sit in it.
She repeats, "What are you doing to him?! People know we're here; you can't get away with this! Let us go now, before they send in the cops."
"I don't think so," Klein says calmly. "We did a routine bug sweep this afternoon and found a few new items. 'Repeaters', I think they're called. Did you really think we wouldn't check for bugs? And then of course we realized that Kavner had to have been the one to put them in. He's been terminated, of course."
Veronica stares at him. Terminated?
Klein continues, "We're assuming you have people listening on the bugs. I promise you, if you tell us who's listening and where they are, we won't kill your friend– what did you call him...Logan? We won't hurt your friend Logan if you tell us who's monitoring you. We know you're not the cops or federal agents."
Veronica quickly backpedals, "There's no one monitoring us. It just goes to a recorder."
"I don't believe you. I heard you calling for help. And you just said 'People know we're here,' and I don't think you were making that up." Klein looks at her, allowing his words to sink in. "And Connie, or whatever your name is, don't think we haven't noticed that you've been intentionally provoking us. Getting evidence, I presume."
Tony adds, "And we also noticed your friend Roger, I mean Logan, was going easy on you. Do you think we're stupid?"
Veronica looks from Klein to Tony and back again. "I don't think you're stupid," she lies. "Just evil."
Klein picks up the phone and says quietly, "Bring him in."
The door to the office opens, and two men bring in Logan, whose face has been beaten. One eye is swollen shut, and his lip is split and bleeding.
A siren begins to sound, and Klein says, "The whole school's on lock-down because of you. Now tell us who's monitoring you and where they are, or we're going to keep hurting Logan."
"NO!!" she yells. Got to protect Dad, got to help Logan... The siren continues to blare, and one of the men begins to punch Logan in the gut. Logan sags, held up only by the two men who grip his arms tightly. He lets out a moan as the man continues to hit him.
Veronica wakens to find Maria shaking her viciously. Maria shouts above the sound of the alarm, "Connie, shut the fuck up, you woke everyone up with your yelling, and now someone's set off the motion detectors!"
Veronica's heart is pounding; she's still in the dream in her head, still sees the men beating Logan and Klein's furious face demanding answers. "I'm sorry," she says, trying to will the dream away. "I'm sorry, I just had a really bad dream."
She sees Kavner at the doorway to the sleeping quarters. He shuts down the alarm and looks at her. In the sudden silence, Kavner says, "Everything okay here? Someone said there was a commotion in here." Veronica realizes he's checking on her. Dad probably heard me on the bug and told him to check on me.
Maria replies, "Just my fucking newcomer having a bad dream." She turns back to Veronica and asks, "Who's Logan? You were screaming his name." She sneers, "Probably your druggie boyfriend."
Veronica thinks, If you only knew, thinking about Logan's drunken exploits and over-the-top antics in high school. Then she panics, realizing someone might recognize him now after hearing his name. She feels the terror spreading through her body, an actual physical sensation of heat and pain. She says merely, "I'm sorry. Please, I'm really sorry," hoping to gloss over the incident and keep his identity safe.
"Don't let it happen again," Maria warns. "If you keep doing this, we can arrange to have you sleep in Observation Placement."
Kavner nods and leaves. Maria glares at Veronica one more time before getting back into her bunk below Veronica's.
Mon. 3/9/09 late night: Rented house, Manchester Center, VT
It was Epstein's shift when Veronica was heard on the bug yelling, "What are you doing to Logan?" and then an alarm began to sound, obscuring all the voices. Epstein quickly woke up the other two men and texted Kavner that something was going on. The three men listen carefully to the bug; they can't make out any of Veronica's words over the loud blaring of the siren. Suddenly the alarm stops, and they can hear the conversation again.
MARIA: JUST MY FUCKING NEWCOMER HAVING A BAD DREAM. WHO'S LOGAN? YOU WERE SCREAMING HIS NAME...PROBABLY YOUR DRUGGIE BOYFRIEND.
VERONICA: I'M SORRY. PLEASE, I'M REALLY SORRY.
MARIA: DON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN. IF YOU KEEP DOING THIS, WE CAN ARRANGE TO HAVE YOU SLEEP IN OBSERVATION PLACEMENT.
For a moment after the voices stop, the three men just stand in silence, waiting to hear if anything is going on. Keith thinks despondently, We should have put video in the sleeping quarters too.
Epstein breaks the silence. "It sounds like Veronica was having a nightmare. It's...unfortunate...that she screamed out Logan's name."
Keith turns to Dr. Kinny. "What do you think? I'm getting worried about her. I really can't stay objective about this; should we pull the plug?"
Kinny purses his lips. "I really don't know. It's obvious she's under stress and worried about the operation."
Epstein interrupts, "We're so close. The only thing we absolutely need to document is the use of restraints. The school has always maintained that they don't use stress positions or restraints as punishments. They have said repeatedly that restraints are only used to defuse a violent situation even though my clients have witnessed their use as a long-term punishment. And you know that we could use some more evidence of the psychological abuse in the group therapy. It's really the most egregious violation by the school, the attack therapy that they practice. And it's the hardest charge to prove without documentary evidence. The school maintains that it only uses traditional therapeutic techniques with the girls."
Keith closes his eyes and thinks a moment.
Epstein adds, "She didn't use any of the code words. I think she's okay."
Kinny contradicts, "But she was shaken up. It sounded to me as if she wasn't fully in control there. She's being affected."
Epstein fires back, "Of course she's being affected. We expected that. It's why we're here trying to document the school's abuses. We're not just doing this for a court case; we're trying to shut down all these schools. If there's real, verifiable evidence, maybe we could finally get effective legislation."
"Jim, I'm afraid you don't understand the psychological factors at work here. Even if Veronica knows that she can be extracted at any time, she will still begin to unconsciously become stressed by the situational forces at the school. She may not be able to communicate her desire to terminate the operation."
"It's only been three days! She's an experienced professional, used to stressful situations and aware of the psychological effects," Epstein retorts.
Keith holds up his hand. "Let's see if Kavner can make contact with her, assess her condition, before we make up our mind. I don't think there's an immediate danger. We'll decide in the morning." He picks up the cell phone and sends a text to Kavner.
'NEED TO ASSESS V'S CONDITION. PLEASE MAKE CONTACT & ADVISE ASAP.'
Mon. 3/9/09 late night: Neptune, CA
On a quiet residential street in Neptune, the neighborhood is rocked by an explosion and subsequent fire. Two cars are parked in the driveway, and the neighbors gathered around assume that all the residents of the house have been killed. The fire chief thumbs the switch on the radio attached to the shoulder of his jacket and informs Chief D'Amato that Samuel, Natalie, and Ryan MacKenzie are presumed dead. The fire continues to rage out of control as the firefighters pump water onto the blaze.
Chief D'Amato sighs and puts the radio down on his nightstand. He thinks for a moment, then picks up the phone to dial the ADIC of the Los Angeles Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is put on hold for a few minutes, then is directed to proceed immediately to Mercy Hospital and speak to the agent there.
Mon. 3/9/09 late night: Hotel, San Diego, CA
Mac is awakened by loud and persistent knocking on her hotel room door. She checks the bedside clock, thinking, Jeez, four a.m., and goes to answer the door.
Her handler, Alan Sheffield, rushes into the room. He obviously dressed in a hurry; his shirt is buttoned wrong and he's not wearing a tie. Mac thinks, I kind of thought he slept in that FBI dark suit and tie.
"Mac..." he starts hesitantly.
Mac realizes that something is very, very wrong. She sits down on the bed and looks at Alan.
"There's been an incident at your parents' house." At Mac's expression, Alan rushes to say, "Everyone's okay. Everything is going to be fine. Apparently, they were all at the hospital. Your brother Ryan had a ruptured appendix, and your parents went with him in the ambulance to the hospital. They performed emergency surgery, and he's doing all right. But, Mac, someone blew up your parents' house. Whoever triggered the explosion must have thought everyone was at home because both cars were in the driveway."
Mac sits stunned on the bed.
"We've had an agent assigned to your family. When they went to the hospital, he followed the ambulance. Luckily, the Neptune Sheriff contacted us right away, and we made contact with our agent in the hospital. Your family has been apprised of the situation, and we're making sure that no one in the hospital leaks the fact that your family survived. Mac, this changes everything. Apparently this is retaliation for the arrests we made this morning."
Mac blurts out, "I want to call my mom." After all is said and done, Mom is "Mom", and Mrs. Sinclair is...Mrs. Sinclair.
"We're going to set that up, as soon as possible, I promise. But, Mac, this is an opportunity. We're going to take your whole family into witness protection and let the whole world think that your family was killed. We'll have an agent dress up like you and attend the funeral pretending to be you. Hopefully, they'll make an attempt to kill you as well."
"You mean...you're setting a trap?" Mac says shakily.
"Right. But that means we can't tell anybody what really happened. Anybody, Mac. Not your friend Veronica or that guy who keeps sending emails–"
"Dick sent more emails?" she asks. "You didn't say anything."
"Mac, it's for his own protection," Alan answers. "You can't tell anybody."
"What about after...after the funeral? I thought you said I might be able to leave Witness Protection if they were able to make the arrests."
"Everything's changed. Apparently, this is a much bigger deal than we thought. It looks like the Russian mafia was running a lot more than an identity theft scam from those servers. We've identified a plot to hack into the FBI's computers and sell various secrets to terrorist groups. You and your family are in grave danger. The Russian Mafia believes in revenge, and right now it looks like they've put out a contract on your whole family. I don't see any way around it; you're all going to have to be placed in WITSEC. For everyone's safety, you're going to be on your own and the rest of your family will be together. You'll be able to say goodbye to them before they are placed."
Mac protests, "What about my friends? Will I be able to see them?"
Alan replies, "It's not safe for you or for them." He sighs. "Mac, I know this is hard. Try to get a little sleep. The next few days will be difficult...a lot of meetings and discussions. But you need to remember that everyone just wants you to be safe." He starts to walk to the door, then turns around and says, "You did a brave thing by helping us. You probably saved a lot of lives identifying those servers for us."
Alan leaves, and Mac crawls back under the covers to lie awake for the rest of the night.
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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Pathological Reaction
Veronica gets a new punishment during
group therapy; Wallace has some bad
news for Keith.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring.
Kavner: Eric Bana. Maria: Gina Mantegna.
Tara: Kirsten Prout. Megan: Anna Lynn
McCord. Alyssa: Christina Hendricks. Shari:
Jessalyn Gilsig. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Wallace: Percy Daggs III.
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CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT: "PATHOLOGICAL REACTION"
Tues. 3/10/09 afternoon: Briar Hill Academy, Manchester Center, VT
Veronica sits in group therapy trying to pay attention as Alyssa gives another long lecture on working the steps. Her mind wanders to earlier that day; at breakfast, she observed that Kavner seemed to be watching her more than usual. Finally, during chores, when she and Maria were scrubbing the floor in the group therapy room, Kavner managed to get her alone by telling Maria that 'Connie' had done a bad job on one section. He untied Veronica's tether and grabbed her arm, dragging her over to the opposite end of the room that was supposedly already cleaned. Kavner pointed to a section of the floor and berated 'Connie' for doing such a lousy job. Veronica apologized and said she would try harder. Kavner then pretended to watch her re-do the floor, making sure to position his back to Maria. Under his breath, he asked if she was really okay. Veronica whispered, "Yes" while still continuing to mop. Kavner explained that Keith was worried and considering shutting down the operation. Veronica whispered emphatically that she was fine and there's no way she was going to stop now. She turned a little so that Kavner could see her eyes and said defiantly under her breath, "Don't you dare stop now. I want to shut these bastards down." Kavner nodded and said aloud, "That's better, Connie. I want to see you cooperating more." Veronica nodded, and Kavner motioned that she should go back to work with Maria.
Throughout the rest of the morning and through lunch, Veronica fretted that her dad was going to pull the plug on the operation just as she was beginning to really document what was happening at the school. I keep saying the code words; why is he so worried? When Logan comes on shift at two o'clock, she catches him looking at her with concern. She tries to shake her head unobtrusively to make him stop; he looks away, but does seem to get the message and resumes his poker face. Dammit...is Logan telling Dad that he's worried? He knew what it was going to be like, and he promised me that he was going to be able to keep it together. After checking in with the previous shift, Logan disappears; once again, Veronica feels frustrated that she can't communicate with him whenever she wants.
Alyssa wraps up her talk on working the steps. She pauses for a moment and then asks Tara to come up front. Tara stands up reluctantly. Veronica watches closely, not only worried for her, but also curious as to what's going to happen. Alyssa sits down, saying, "Tara, turn around and tell everyone who you are and why you're here at Briar Hill."
Tara turns around to face the other girls. She swallows, obviously reluctant to begin. She glances at Alyssa, who says, "C'mon, Tara. Let's go."
Tara speaks in a quiet voice, barely audible to the other girls. "I'm Tara. I'm..." she pauses, looking again at Alyssa, "I'm an alcoholic and I'm here because I let my boyfriend talk me into doing something stupid," her voice begins to rush and get louder "and the judge said I had to come here if I didn't want to go to juvenile detention."
Alyssa sighs. "Come on, Tara. You know that's not all."
"We broke into somebody's home and drank all their booze," Tara continues dully. "I was a really bad girl. I was stupid. I let my boyfriend make all my decisions. We had sex in the people's bedroom and raided their medicine cabinet for prescription drugs."
Megan begins to pump her fists in the air. Alyssa points to her, and Megan jumps to her feet. "Tara, you're not being honest. You're blaming your bad behavior on your boyfriend. You know you're responsible."
Tears begin to stream down Tara's face. Tara protests, "I never did anything wrong before. I just did one stupid thing! Why can't you believe me?"
Now all the girls begin to pump their arms in the air, asking to be called on. Alyssa recognizes one girl, who stands up and says accusingly, "I think you went out with a bad boy because you wanted to be bad. You wanted to have sex and get high. Just because you never got caught before doesn't mean you never did anything wrong. I think you have a denial problem."
Maria is called on. She stands and adds, "I agree. You're a drunk and you're in denial, Tara. You can't get better until you tell us what's really going on."
"I am telling you!" Tara says, crying openly. "Why won't you believe me? I don't want to drink anymore, I just want to go back home as soon as possible."
Alyssa says, "I don't think that's going to be possible, Tara. You haven't made any progress here in group."
"I know that I shouldn't have gone out with him! He was really exciting, and I wasn't thinking straight. Please, I'm telling you the truth! I won't even date anymore. I promise," Tara says futilely.
"I'm very concerned about you, Tara," Alyssa says. "The whole incident was just a cry for help. I think there's a lot you haven't told us. Tell us about your drinking, Tara."
Tara looks around wildly. She takes a deep breath and says hesitantly, "I've been drinking my parents' liquor for years. I used to pour a little in another bottle and put water in to replace what I took. And then I would go out with my friends and get drunk." She stops talking, with a 'so-there' expression on her face.
"Finally, we're getting somewhere," Alyssa comments. "What else?"
Tara thinks for a minute, then adds, "I used to pay one of my neighbors to buy booze for me."
Alyssa asks, "What did you do to thank him?"
"I had sex with him. Yeah, I had sex with him, so he'd buy booze for me and my friends to party with," Tara says hurriedly.
Alyssa stands up and goes over to Tara. "Tell us about the sex."
"There's nothing to tell, it was just sex."
"Did he force you, or did you offer it?" Alyssa queries.
"No, I offered, because I really wanted to get drunk." Sensing Alyssa's impatience, Tara continues, "Yeah, I...uh, I gave him blowjobs because that's what he wanted. And, uh, I really enjoyed doing that for him."
Alyssa stares at Tara.
Tara says compulsively, "I swear, I'm telling you the truth." She begins to cry again and says in a quivering voice, "Why won't you believe me? I'm telling you the truth. I admit it, I'm a drunk, and I had sex with guys to get booze."
Alyssa shakes her head. "Tara, I feel so sorry for you. You can't make progress here in therapy until you dig deeper."
"What do you want me to say? I'll say whatever you want, just please, let me go home in ninety days," Tara says impulsively.
Veronica thinks, Uh-oh, bad move. She waits for the explosion.
Alyssa replies sternly, "You can't just make up stories. You have to tell us everything. You have to look at your flaws. Your moral inventory is a joke, Tara. There's no way you can get better until you adjust your thinking. You're in your head. You need to get right."
Tara stares at her, completely confused. "I'm in my head?"
"Sit back down. I'm afraid I'm going to have to let your parents know that you're still resisting treatment. We're going to have to add another month to your treatment plan."
"NO!!" Tara screams, sobbing. "I'm doing everything you're asking me to do. Please, don't do this!"
Several oldcomers stand up, ready to take Tara down if necessary. Tara sees them and says quickly, "I'm sorry. You're right...I still have a long way to go. The program is always right." She turns to Alyssa and says, "I'm sorry. I'm trying. I know I'm not doing it right, but I'm trying. Please, don't..." She looks at the other girls.
Alyssa sighs. "Sit down, Tara. We'll try again tomorrow."
Tara walks back to her seat next to Veronica, sobbing and shaking. For a moment, Veronica forgets where she is and what her mission is, and she impulsively hugs Tara, who is completely distraught. Tara shakes her head, 'no, don't', but Veronica ignores her and holds her tightly, patting her back.
Maria is furious. She yanks on Veronica's tether, pulling her out of her seat and away from Tara. "What the hell are you doing?"
Alyssa runs over and starts screaming at Veronica. "What are you doing? You're enabling her to stay in denial. You know the rules; you don't interfere with another girl's treatment." She pulls Veronica to her feet and yells at Maria, "Untie her now." Maria complies, and Alyssa drags Veronica out of the room.
Alyssa manhandles Veronica, shaking her violently as she maneuvers her down a hallway to the office of the school's teacher, Shari. Alyssa explains the situation as Shari stares at Veronica. Veronica glares back belligerently.
Shari says, "She actually hugged the other girl? Christ. You really think you're someone special, don't you?"
"What was so wrong about that?" Veronica replies defensively. "She was crying. Tara was upset! How the hell is she supposed to get better if you just yell at her all the time?"
Shari looks enraged. "You know the rules, Connie. You don't talk to anyone except your oldcomer. You especially don't talk to another newcomer."
"I didn't say anything!" Veronica protests. "You guys are fucking morons."
"It looks like you're going to be with us for quite a long time. You just earned an extra two months on your treatment plan," Shari says with a controlled fury.
Alyssa interrupts, "What about now? I don't want to let her get away with this. I think she's being intentionally disruptive. I heard she woke up all the girls last night; she pretended to have a nightmare."
Veronica starts to laugh bitterly. "Pretended to have a nightmare? Oh my god, you guys are insane. I had a nightmare, because this IS a nightmare. This school is a total fucking nightmare!"
Shari says angrily to Alyssa, "This one is unbelievable. I'll take care of it." She grabs Veronica's arm and drags her across the hall to a small room with a single desk and chair. She pushes Veronica down into the chair and puts a blank notebook and a few pens on the desk. "Write an essay. 100,000 words."
"On what topic?" Veronica replies combatively. "This is bull!"
"Okay. 150,000 words. Do you want to go for 200? You're a whiner and a complainer, Connie, and you think the rules don't apply to you. Each time you fight us we'll add another month to your treatment plan. When are you going to accept that you need this?" Shari shuts the door, locking Veronica inside the windowless room.
Shit. Veronica writes a few sentences.
'This is total bullshit. How is anyone supposed to get better here? I hate this school.'
She stops writing and counts the words. Fuck!! Sixteen words. At this rate, I'll be here for days. This is what happens when you don't follow the plan, Veronica. She taps the pen against her lips, thinking. Of course, maybe I could... She smiles. That'll work. She starts sloppily writing one sentence over and over again and waits for someone to check on her progress.
'Fuck you Briar Hill. Fuck you Briar Hill. Fuck you Briar Hill. Fuck you Briar Hill. Fuck you Briar Hill. Fuck you Briar Hill. Fuck you Briar Hill. Fuck you Briar Hill. Fuck you Briar Hill. Fuck you Briar Hill. Fuck you Briar Hill.'
Tues. 3/10/09 afternoon: Mars Investigations, Neptune, CA
Wallace peruses the mail that has accumulated since he checked the office on Saturday. One envelope is marked registered mail, and he opens it first. He reads through it two times, not believing what his eyes are seeing, then he picks up the phone and calls Keith in Vermont.
"Hey, it's Wallace."
Keith says, "Hey, what's up?"
"It's been an interesting day so far." Understatement of the year, he thinks. He sighs and plunges in. "Mac's house–her family's house–was blown up last night. Her whole family is presumed dead. They're not disclosing any more information than that, but we know she was working on the Russian mob identity theft thing and..." his voice trails off.
After a moment of shocked silence, Keith replies, "Oh my god. And we can't even talk to her. Poor Mac."
"Right. I thought you should know. You probably don't want to tell Veronica while she's undercover, right?"
"Right. She can't be distracted right now," Keith agrees.
"Uh, see, that's the other thing. There's a letter here. Rose Manning is suing Duncan Kane, and she's subpoenaed Veronica to testify in a hearing next week."
"Testify about what?" Keith asks brusquely.
"I'm assuming she's going to bring up the time that Duncan and Veronica broke into the Manning house."
Keith sighs. "And the statute of limitations hasn't run out for Duncan on that. He can still be prosecuted for burglary. It sounds like a legal maneuver to try to force Duncan to drop his custody battle. I have to say, this sounds more like Stewart Manning than Rose Manning."
"Yeah, I agree. Guy's a real lowlife."
Keith thinks a moment. "I'll call Cliff, see what he has to say. And Duncan." He sighs again. "Damn!"
"Exactly," Wallace says. "So, uh, how's Veronica doing? Weevil was asking about her too. Can you get her a message that everyone's thinking about her?"
"I don't think so. Wallace, I'm not gonna lie. This is a bad situation at the school. Veronica's doing great, but...I can't say I'm not worried about her every minute of the day. We just heard over her bug that she got assigned an essay as punishment. 150,000 words."
Wallace tries to suppress a snort, but finally gives up and laughs. "Go, Veronica! Way to be a bad girl!"
Keith laughs too. "It's a side of her I haven't really seen."
"But you know she's just a teenaged rebel," Wallace adds. "You only know the half of it. Now, don't be tellin' her I said that."
"Of course...Thanks for calling, Wallace, and watching the shop for me."
"Anytime, Keith." Wallace hangs up the phone. He notices a CD on the desk labeled 'Mac's Bluetooth finder'. Wallace vaguely remembers that Veronica had said 'Mac's helping Keith with something too, a program to hack into a computer using the wireless keyboard'. He pops the CD into the desktop computer and clicks on its icon. One file is labeled 'READ ME'.
'Mr. Mars, The program will automatically seek out any Bluetooth devices in range. It will compute the PIN number and make a secure connection. All entries on the target computer will be mirrored to your computer. I suggest you test it on one of your own devices first. Mac.'
Wallace looks at the date modified information on the 'READ ME' file, February 1, 2009. He scans Keith's appointment book for that date; on January 29, Keith was in Lompoc with Vinnie. There are various appointments having to do with the trust attorney case Keith was working on at that time. He turns a few pages and looks at February 3. That was the day that Keith was completely unreachable, the day after he had me look at the ground penetrating radar scans. The page has a large 'X' drawn on it with no details listed. I think that's the day he pulled off something with the Fitzpatricks.
Wallace decides to try to run the Bluetooth discovery program. He clicks on the button labeled 'SEEK ALL DEVICES' and a box opens listing four devices: Wallace's cell phone, his laptop in the other room, Keith's laptop, and the office printer. Wallace highlights the entry for his laptop. He gets his own computer and opens a new text file, typing a couple short phrases. On the office computer, he reads:
command N
This is a test of the Bluetooth discovery program. Mac is a mo def computer genius. return
Cool! He laughs a little and types again.
Gonna bitch-slap those Fitzpatricks. return
Wallace ejects the disk and loads the program onto his own laptop. He shuts up the office and takes a drive to St. Mary's to test the program.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
I'll Destroy You Worse
Veronica's solution to her situation;
and boy oh boy is Logan pissed; Logan
confers with the monitoring team.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring
Keith: Enrico Colantoni. Klein: Clancy Brown.
Tony: Romany Malco. Epstein: Scott Grimes.
Shari: Jessalyn Gilsig. Dr. Kinny: Dan
Castellaneta.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE: "I'LL DESTROY YOU WORSE"
Tues. 3/10/09 evening: Briar Hill Academy, Manchester Center, VT
Veronica has filled pages of the notebook with 'Fuck you Briar Hill' in the past few hours. Her hand is cramping, but she shakes it out and keeps going. She stopped once to count the words on a page. 534 words. 150,000 divided by 500 is...300 pages. I've filled...let's see...40 pages. She smiles grimly and continues writing.
Finally, the door is unlocked and opened, and Shari, accompanied by Logan, enters the room. "Hello, Connie. Let's see what you've gotten done."
Veronica hands over the notebook, smiling sweetly. "I think I'm learning a lot from this exercise," she comments. She ignores Logan, though she wonders where he was during group therapy that afternoon.
Shari turns pages in the notebook, growing more and more infuriated as Veronica just smiles. "What the hell is this?" she demands.
"I asked you what topic, and you didn't reply, so I thought it might be appropriate to express my feelings," Veronica says smugly.
"Your feelings? Listen up, Connie; you seem to be intent on making your life difficult here at the school. Do you not understand that you're here to change your behavior?"
"I'm not changing anything! There's nothing wrong with me, I'm sick of hearing you guys tell me and everyone else that we're fucked up. All I did was hug another girl."
"Again with the attitude! Most of the girls see Briar Hill as an opportunity to change their lives for the better," Shari replies. "Connie, the sooner you start cooperating the easier it will be for you." Shari takes the notebook and rips out the pages that Veronica has filled with 'Fuck you Briar Hill.'
"What are you doing?!" Veronica screams.
"You're starting over. Since you obviously need more guidance, I want the essay to be on what you want to get out of your time here at the school. And I'll be checking on your content. If it's not on topic, you'll start over again. It's up to you...if you keep this up, you can write essays for the next month. Or the next year. And we'll restrict your food rations until we see you cooperating with us," Shari says.
"This is bullshit! You can't restrict my food! That's illegal! It's child-abuse!" Veronica fumes. She seems to make a decision, meeting Logan's eyes for a milli-second. She grabs the card key around Shari's neck, shoves her aside, and tries to make a run for it past Logan. Shari is caught off-balance and stumbles to the floor.
Even knowing she was planning something, Logan is caught by surprise. Shit...I'm going to have to chase her! He's shocked to realize that he's furious with her for acting this way. He recovers quickly and follows her, running to the best of his ability on his still-uncertain leg. Veronica has sprinted down the hallway to the front door. She is fumbling with the card key in its reader as he catches up to her. He grabs her upper arms and restrains her as she struggles against him. He says angrily, "What the hell are you doing, Connie?"
"I'm getting the fuck out of here, asshole!" she spits at him, shoving him hard.
"You know, we have been pretty tolerant of your wiseass remarks, but you are pushing it! You're going to get hurt if you keep this up!" Logan tightens his grip on her arms, and she yelps in pain. I've got to do this; fuck! why is she making me do this to her? Why can't she just behave?
"You call this tolerant, you fucking nazi? God damn you! Let me out of here!" she cries. Twisting her body, she elbows Logan in the stomach and manages to get one arm free. She somehow manages to get the magnetic card in its slot, and the door lock clicks open.
Veronica has one foot out the door, with Logan holding on to her. Tony rushes up to help Logan. Tony gets Veronica's arm twisted behind her and pushes her down to the ground. Tony physically sits on her back, keeping her arm painfully twisted. Veronica begins to sob. "No...please...let me go!" Logan helps Tony to hold her in place by pressing his body's weight against her kicking legs. He grabs her legs tightly, forcing her to stop kicking. Veronica finally begins to quiet down with the two men holding her completely immobile.
Shari has joined them. She says to Tony, "Turn her head so she can see me." Tony forces Veronica's head around so she can see Shari.
Shari kneels down and says, "Connie, your behavior is completely unacceptable."
"Fuck you!" she replies tearfully.
Shari sighs and stands up. Klein has joined them, alerted by the commotion. Shari consults with the headmaster quietly.
Veronica screams, "I want to call my dad! If he knew what was going on here..."
Shari turns back to Veronica, kneeling down and getting right in her face. She yells, "Listen, princess, you don't deserve the right to make a phone call. Telephone privileges are earned. And you have resisted every step of the way. You received observation placement within the first twenty-four hours; I think that's a new record, Connie. You've given up your right to be with your family and to live free in society. Until you accept your treatment, you're going to find your behavior restricted."
"I know my rights! I want to call my dad. This is fucked up!" Veronica yells.
"That's it! Do you have some sort of auditory processing problem? You're expected to live by our rules here." Shari turns to Tony and says, "I want her in restraints until she learns how to respect the program." Tony nods that he understands.
Klein watches, not saying a word, as Tony and Logan haul Veronica up and take her away. She continues to struggle and scream obscenities at the school, at the guards, even at a fellow student they pass in the hallway. At one point, when Veronica is sure that Logan is looking at her and Tony can't possibly see her face, Veronica clearly winks at Logan, who stares at her angrily. She is stunned by his reaction and quickly looks away.
They lead her to the end of hallway to a locked room. Tony unlocks the door, and he and Logan push Veronica inside. When she sees the single chair, fitted with restraining straps for wrists and ankles, Veronica begins to struggle again.
"She's really a devil, isn't she?" Tony remarks.
"Yeah, I know, she sure is," Logan replies.
"Fuck you," Veronica spits at him.
Tony says, "Grab her hand." Logan takes Veronica's right hand and holds it while Tony cinches the strap around her wrist. Veronica manages to land a few good kicks on Tony while he works to attach the other restraints. One of her kicks lands on Logan, and he responds by holding her leg painfully hard, bruising her. She gasps and stares at him. He meets her eyes and looks away.
Tony points a finger in her face. "You better learn to behave, or you'll sit in your own filth. Remember that I don't have to take you to the bathroom if you act up." He grabs her chin. "You understand?"
Veronica stares back, quiet but defiant.
As Tony and Logan leave the room, Logan says quietly, "How long will you keep her here?"
"Well, that depends on her. At least twenty-four hours, based on the way she was behaving back there. We take escape attempts very seriously here," Tony explains.
As Tony shuts the door, Logan meets Veronica's eyes for a second. She still looks determined and completely pissed. Dammit, Veronica, stop pushing them! Dammit to hell. He clenches his fists in frustration as they walk down the hall.
When Logan has calmed down a little, he asks Tony, "Dammit, why do they have to do that? I mean, make us hurt them. Why can't they just behave?"
"Roger, they're not here because they're good girls. You'd better get used to it," Tony responds.
Logan exhales loudly, trying to release his tension. Knowing that this is a perfect opportunity that may never come again, he tries to calm himself. He cautiously asks, "Has anybody ever actually escaped?"
"Just twice that I know of–well, really only once. About three years, a girl disappeared. We think she convinced a new teacher to help her escape. The stupid teacher didn't get it, thought we were mistreating the girls or something; she was always running to Klein with her concerns and suggestions. So, with the teacher's help, the girl got away, and we were never able to track her down. We think she hid in the trunk of the teacher's car, and the teacher drove her off-campus. The teacher quit about a month later, but we didn't make a connection between them at first. The only way we found out about it was through another student, who admitted in group that the teacher had approached her about helping her to escape. By this time, it was six months later, and the teacher had disappeared–changed her name and dropped off the face of the earth."
Logan thinks angrily, Why weren't Hannah's parents told about this? For that matter, why wasn't the FBI told this? Aloud, he says, "And you never found the student?"
"No. We sent detectives to all her back-doors, but she was too smart–she didn't go to anyone she had named to us. I think I heard a rumor that she turned up dead a while ago. She'd been hooking on the streets in Los Angeles. It didn't surprise me; most of the girls who drop out of the program start using again and end up dead or in prison. After Hannah–that was her name, Hannah–after Hannah escaped, we revamped our whole security. We got the guard dogs, beefed up the fence on the perimeter, and added more guards to our staff."
Tony continues, "I told you that Maria let a girl escape about a year ago." Logan nods, and Tony adds, "It was her first time supervising a newcomer, and Maria let the girl get the drop on her. The newcomer hit Maria over the head with a chair and knocked Maria out. That was before we had the card key system on all the doors. The girl got into the woods. We sent the dogs after her, and we finally caught her after a few hours. Both she and Maria were assigned to Observation Placement for forty days and had six months added to their program."
"Maria had the same punishment as the girl that ran?" Logan asks incredulously.
"Look, Roger, it might seem rough, but life is tough on the outside too," Tony says defensively. "I don't know, man, sometimes you really don't seem to get it. If you're a druggie, you'll do anything for a fix. You have to follow the rules if you want to get better."
Logan replies quickly, "No, I totally get it. This is the last resort for most of these girls. I understand what you're talking about. Just, you know, I hate the way we have to come down hard on them. It really pisses me off that they make us do this."
"Don't forget that these girls are dangerous for a second. These are not your average teenagers; they're girls in serious trouble that need serious help. That girl Connie could have really hurt you tonight."
"I know," Logan answers, rubbing his ribs where she nailed him with her elbow.
"You've got to trust me; the program works if you work the program. I'm proof of that. Do you know how many times I had to be taken down before I started to behave myself? I lost count at twenty. I thought I was really smart at that age, but really I was just dumb. Listen, Roger, you're doing really well. Just keep paying attention. You're off shift now, right?" Tony waves goodbye as Logan heads for the employee's quarters.
As Logan walks the path to the employee's quarters, he takes deep breaths, trying to relieve his stress and anger. He tries to focus on the operation, but keeps coming back to the tense confrontation with Veronica. The physicality of his reaction to her 'misbehavior' shocks him. Finally, he is calm enough to review what he learned from Tony. He thinks, I think we know a little bit more about Hannah's escape now. We need to find out who the teacher was. Ruefully, he realizes that another break-in to Klein's office will probably be necessary. As soon as he enters his room, he pulls out his cell phone and texts Keith: 'WE NEED TO MEET. I'M ON MY WAY.'
Tues. 3/10/09 late evening: Rented house, Manchester Center, VT
Keith, Epstein, and Dr. Kinny are reviewing the transcript of the school committing Veronica into restraints when Logan shows up at the house.
"Hey Keith," he mumbles when Keith opens the door. Logan walks into the living room where the three men are gathered around the computer screen.
Epstein is ecstatic; he keeps pointing at various sections on the transcript and reading them out loud. "This is incredible. Shari says, 'We'll restrict your food rations until we see you cooperating with us;' then a little while later, she says, 'I want her in restraints until she learns how to respect the program.' and we have that guy Tony threatening to make Veronica 'sit in her own filth'. Keith, your daughter is unbelievable. It's almost like she hands them a script to read with everything we need them to say to win our case."
"That's one way to put it," Logan says. "You might also say reckless and foolhardy. She had the two of us, me and Tony, physically restraining her."
Dr. Kinny interrupts, "How does she seem? Is she all right?"
Logan grimaces. "Yeah, she's all right. She's better than I would be. But sometimes it seems like she's determined to get hurt. She's not cooperating at all."
Kinny watches Logan closely as he speaks, focusing on his non-verbal cues.
Logan continues, "She works in the code words all right. And she even winked at me once when Tony couldn't see her." He sighs deeply. "She tried to give me a heads up before she bolted, but she still caught me by surprise. She definitely could have made it out the front door before I got there, but I think she pretended to fumble with the card key and let me catch her." Logan fusses with his hair, and paces a little around the room. Kinny notes his stressed demeanor and tone and glances at Keith to see if he is paying attention.
Logan blurts out, "Listen, the reason I'm here...Tony told me a little about Hannah's escape from the school." Logan relates Tony's story: that Hannah was possibly helped by a teacher. "Do you think it's worth breaking into Klein's office again to get the name of the teacher?"
Keith thinks for a moment. "It's not really our prime objective," he finally says. "Maybe I could try to get some information from the Worker's Compensation database–try to match up the date the teacher left with the date we know Hannah escaped. I don't want you taking the chance of going into Klein's office again unless we know he's going to be off-campus."
"Right," Logan agrees.
"So we can hold off on that for a while. I've learned a lot since the last time we met. It turns out Maria's father is Vincenzo Frazzino, the speaker of the California Assembly. He's got a lot to lose politically if the world finds out he has a juvenile delinquent for a daughter."
"Do you think he was abusing her?" Logan asks hesitantly. "You know, the cigarette burns. Maybe she was," he drops his head, "you know, acting out, to pay him back for hurting her...maybe she was trying to ruin his career."
Kinny frowns at these words. He taps his chin thoughtfully, processing Logan's remarks.
Keith sighs, avoiding looking at Logan directly. "We can't know for sure, but it makes sense. Frazzino's put out the story that his daughter's studying abroad."
"If you sue the school, it's going to come out," Logan realizes. "It's going to be a political shitstorm."
"That's not all. In Montpelier, we saw Klein meeting with someone; we think it might be evidence that Klein is making payoffs to the Vermont Education Commissioner. Mike Fields' colleague, the FBI agent from Boston, is going to review our evidence tomorrow and see if there's enough evidence to open a federal probe."
"That's great, that means we can end this earlier," Logan says hopefully.
"Exactly. What's the situation with Veronica now? Can you get in to talk to her?"
"Maybe. I don't know. I have to be careful about volunteering too much. Kavner said the guys have been calling me an ass-kisser. That's why I wasn't at group today. What did Veronica do that she got assigned an essay? No one was talking about it," Logan wonders.
"It looked like Tara got very upset when Alyssa was prodding her, and Veronica hugged Tara when Tara sat back down. Alyssa accused Veronica of interfering with Tara's program."
"Jeez. She got in trouble for hugging another girl?" Shit, I was manhandling her because she hugged Tara.
Keith says, "For hugging another newcomer. It's insanity, I know."
Epstein pipes up, "It was genius on Veronica's part. If we show that video to a jury, our case is won."
"What was in Tara's file by the way?" Logan asks distractedly.
"You were right. She has dyslexia and ADD, and the school has taken her off her meds. Logan, you know, you've really contributed a lot to this operation. I'm glad Veronica suggested you help out."
Logan nods and stands up to leave. Kinny follows and pulls Logan aside. Logan looks at him questioningly.
"How are you doing?" Dr. Kinny asks.
"What do you mean? I told you, I helped them put Veronica in restraints; you know, I'm just trying to act like the other guards. She's doing a great job. It's going well; now maybe we can wrap this up."
"I mean, how are you feeling? Did you have to hurt her while you were pretending to be a guard?"
Defensively, Logan says, "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just trying to act like the other guards." He flushes and looks downward, avoiding Kinny's eyes.
"You know, I bet it's pretty intense to be in that situation...stressful."
Logan repeats, "I don't know what you're talking about. I have the easy job; Veronica's the one you should be worried about. She's the one suffering in restraints right now."
Kinny nods. "Yeah, that's true. But you know, she actually has some control over this situation."
Logan looks at him, puzzled.
Kinny continues, "She can provoke them however she wants. If she's feeling confident, she can act out and move the operation forward; but if she's feeling a little frightened, she can try to cooperate a little more and get a little respite. She's got code words to use to bring in the cavalry." He pauses, looking at Logan sympathetically. "Logan, you don't have any code words. You're on high alert at all times. You have to react in pretty horrible ways when Veronica screams at you or acts like a juvenile delinquent. You have to be a brute to do this job."
Logan stares back. He finds a chair and sits down heavily. He mumbles, "I was so angry at her when she tried to escape. I knew I'd have to hurt her to get her under control, and that the other guys would hurt her worse if I didn't control her. I don't understand why she has this death wish." He looks up at Kinny and adds, "She thinks she's doing this for me, trying to solve Hannah's murder. I don't want her to do this."
"What do you think about the school itself? About the tough-love discipline?"
"It's fucking horrible, all right? And I know, it's a good thing we're doing here." Logan lapses into silence again.
"You'd do anything for her, right?" Kinny prompts.
Logan nods. Kinny finds a chair, brings it over, and sits next to Logan.
"I don't think she's just doing it for you, Logan. I think she's the type of person who identifies with a victim and makes their cause her own. And she's strong and well-prepared. She's going to be all right. And you're doing a great job too."
Logan blurts out, "Keith told you...about my dad, didn't he? What he did."
"No, he didn't. But even an academic in their ivory tower is sometimes exposed to the wild rumors on 'The Tinseltown Diaries'. Don't you think I was curious about the boy who streaked through my classroom? Who also managed to get himself arrested a month later for taking a baseball bat to a police car? I followed your father's trial in the media, and I can read between the lines...Are you going to be all right? It's okay to be angry about the situation, you know."
"Is it all right to be furious with the woman I love?" Logan says spitefully, then sighs heavily, running his hand through his hair.
"It's all right to say that you can't do this anymore."
Logan turns to him furiously. "No! It's not all right. You don't know her! She never gives up. She'll stay in there for years if necessary, and if I'm not there, she'll get hurt even worse. I have to do this. And..." he glances over at Keith in the adjacent room, who has looked over at this angry outburst. In a quieter voice, he continues, "I could never disappoint Keith. He trusts me to keep her safe." Almost to himself, with a tone of disbelief, he repeats, "He trusts me."
"Listen to me. You won't do Veronica or Keith any good if you fall apart. And don't underestimate how difficult your job is. I want you to promise me that you'll let us know if the pressure becomes too intense."
"What are you, friends with my shrink or something?" Logan snipes.
"Don't deflect. I'd like you to promise me," Kinny repeats.
"Okay. I promise," Logan lies. There's no way I'd quit if Veronica's still undercover.