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. No harm or insult is intended to any real-life organizations or to any participants in the meetings of these organizations. Again, this fic is not intended for those under the age of 17.
A/N: Beta-ed by Kazy and Poniesforall. All mistakes that remain are my responsibility.
Once again, sorry about the delay in getting this update posted. The fic has gotten so large and complicated that it takes me longer to make sure I'm getting things right (hopefully). I do appreciate hearing that people are enjoying my story! I have been pretty busy in real life and took longer than usual to respond to reviews the last time around; I would like to emphasize that I do respond to every review that is left here because I enjoy the interaction with my readers, and your opinions are very important to me.
Last time on The Year of Living Dangerously Part II-Just the important stuff from chapters 95-99:
( for the whole overblown "previously on", see my journal.
vanessagalore•livejournal•com/74326•html )
OKAY--A LOT HAPPENED LAST TIME. SERIOUSLY BIG SPOILERS AHEAD--THIS SUMMARY REFERS TO THE UPDATE POSTED 10/20/08; GO BACK AND READ THE LAST CHAPTER IF YOU MISSED IT. HOLD ON--HERE WE GO....
Leo reviews his notes from the interviews he has conducted with all the witnesses in the murder of Kendall Casablancas. He wonders if Logan and Veronica helped Duncan flee the country with his daughter, and if Kendall could have been blackmailing the three of them. He thinks that Kendall's murder could have been a conspiracy between the three of them. Once again, Leo interviews Tina, the manager at the Neptune Grand; he presses her for information about Duncan Kane and discovers some evidence that seems to point to Duncan and Kendall having a relationship.
Keith discovers that Logan slept in Veronica's bedroom the night before, and he is furious. He berates himself for allowing the situation and for never noticing that something was wrong with Veronica when she was raped. At Mars Investigations, Wallace brings Keith up to speed on his progress working on Shawn's murder and shows Keith the organizational chart of the Fitzpatrick crime family that he has been compiling. Keith later visits Hannah's mother, Ms. Denenberg. He confirms that she is willing to pursue her lawsuit against no matter how painful the press coverage or how intense the pressure that will be exerted by the tough-love school. Keith tells Ms. Denenberg the story of Hannah's escape and where she was living, for at least a while before she turned up in Los Angeles.
Logan makes contact with his therapist. He tells her about his time undercover, how hard it was both for him and Veronica, and how both of them experienced psychological problems. He expresses his guilt for sleeping with Veronica the night before and obsesses that, if Veronica examines her rape more closely, she will blame him because he provided the date rape drugs used on her. He worries about the impact of Kendall's murder on top of everything else. He talks about needing to take care of Veronica and focusing his efforts on getting her well again, but the therapist reminds him that he has been traumatized as well and also needs to be taken care of. When Veronica wakes up, she and he discuss the morning after Alterna-Prom. The converation is a good start on finally exploring how they feel about what happened.
Logan informs Veronica about the partial fingerprint that was found in Kendall's room; they decide to say that the print could have been left any one of the many times when Veronica was in the hotel and agree not to mention that Duncan was having an affair with Kendall. Leo takes them in for questioning and interviews them separately.
Leo shows Veronica the meticulous notes he has compiled on the relationship between Logan, Veronica, Duncan, and Kendall. Someone has told Leo about the public breakup between her and Duncan that identified Kendall as the problem. Leo has circumstantial evidence that points to Kendall and Duncan having an affair shortly before her murder. He also brings up the old kidnapping case and the fingerprint evidence.
Logan is quite the jackass during his interview. Leo asks him about his relationship with Kendall and whether he knew about Duncan's affair with her. Leo probes Logan's period in Texas, questioning why he needed to hide. He insinuates that Kendall was blackmailing the three of them about Veronica's involvement in the Manning babynapping, and there was a conspiracy to murder Kendall to protect Veronica from being prosecuted.
On the morning of her family's fake funeral, Mac tells her FBI handler about Gory Sorokin, although she omits some of the details that would incriminate Veronica or her father. Alan runs a record check on the name and finds that Sorokin was paroled several days before the package bomb was delivered to Veronica's and Mac's dorm room. They find out that Sorokin was stopped that morning on a routine traffic stop, but was let go. An alert is issued on Sorokin's car.
At the funeral for Mac's Family, the security is intense. The agent who is portraying Mac arrives and is escorted into the church; Keith, Logan, and Veronica are a distance away and don't detect the substitution. They are confronted by Carrie Murray and her half-brother, Norman Phipps, apparently seeking another salacious story. There are gunshots; Norman is killed, Carrie is injured severely, and Keith has a minor injury. Leo is there, charged by the FBI with ensuring Veronica's safety, and he makes sure that Logan and Veronica are safe. Mac has a freakout watching the whole thing unfold on video monitors.
They find out that Gory is the shooter, and he mistakenly shot the blonde Carrie and Norman because Veronica and Logan were both in disguise. Gory is apprehended. Veronica tells her father the story of the sex tape with Piz, the angry confrontation with Gory, and Gory's threats against her and Logan. She admits she used evidence against Gory's father and uncle to safeguard her and Logan's safety; however, Gory's relatives have been convicted of these crimes, and her blackmail evidence has become useless. Gory began targeting her while Logan was in Texas, hoping to get Logan to come out of hiding by killing Veronica. When he was unsuccessful, he bombed the MacKenzies' house, hoping to get both Veronica and Logan to show thermselves.
Duncan comes over to the Sunset Cliffs apartment, and they look at the picture he took of Kendall arguing in the park. The man she is arguing with is Dr. Tom Griffith.
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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Most Crime Is Personal, Not These Weird Conspiracies
They compare notes on Dr. Griffith.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring.
Keith: Enrico Colantoni. Duncan 2.0: Chris Carmack.
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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED: "MOST CRIME IS PERSONAL, NOT THESE WEIRD CONSPIRACIES"
Tues. 3/17/09 evening: Sunset Cliffs Apartment, Neptune, CA
Veronica clicks on the email from Duncan's phone. When the picture finishes loading, she gasps. "What's Kendall doing talking to Tom Griffith?"
Logan reacts almost violently; he lunges toward the bed and swivels the laptop around to see the picture. "Fucking Tom Griffith was talking to Kendall?"
Duncan nods. "Not just talking, arguing. You're sure it's him?"
"Yes, definitely," Veronica replies. "You didn't recognize him?"
Logan says quietly, "That all happened after Duncan left. Even after Hannah's murder, most of the photos in the paper were shots of Hannah, not her father. Griffith's been in the news again lately because of the Briar Hill investigation."
"I saw him on CNN the other night, disputing the charges against Peter Klein," Duncan says. "Did you know that he knew Kendall?"
Veronica says distantly, "We knew that they both had a connection to the Fitzpatricks. Logan, in my desk, second drawer, find the DVD labeled 'Justin Timberlake videos'."
Logan looks at her questioningly before retrieving the disc for her. She slips the disc into the DVD drive of the laptop and a large photo of Justin Timberlake loads on the screen. She clicks on the graphic, and a username/password dialog box appears. Veronica types a long string of characters into each field, and a window opens with several hundred folders.
"Case files from spring 2006," she explains briefly. At Keith's quizzical look, she adds, "What? You thought I had a collection of Justin Timberlake videos?"
Keith shakes his head and sighs. "Veronica, what am I going to do with you?"
"It's just a few cases I worked on my own. Mostly things like background checks on parents for fellow students." She clicks on a folder labeled 'Echolls Witness Investigation' and opens a subfolder marked 'Thomas Griffith, M.D.'
"I don't understand," Duncan says.
"It was around the time when you and I were trying to find which of Meg's baby-sitting clients were the ones she was worrying about. Of course that was really the Mannings," Veronica explains. "The anonymous witness who supposedly saw Logan killing Felix on the bridge came forward, do you remember? A Dr. Thomas Griffith."
"I knew it wasn't the real witness, and I asked Veronica to check him out," Logan adds.
Duncan nods that he remembers. He explains, "Right, I...I'm sorry, I'm a little fuzzy about that. I was worrying about Meg and...."
"It's all right. Veronica followed Dr. Griffith and saw him go into Liberty Cigars. Keith told her that place was a front for dealing drugs," Logan relates.
"I remember that. Veronica, I really wish you wouldn't take these chances." Keith sighs. "I guess it's not worth discussing at this point."
Veronica tries not to look at her dad. She explains, trying to keep her voice matter-of-fact, "We found a connection between Griffith and Danny Boyd, one of the Fitzpatrick flunkies. Apparently, Dr. Griffith was sanctioned for repairing what looked like a knife wound. You're supposed to report wounds like that to the police."
"And Liam Fitzpatrick wasn't too happy about us looking into that," Logan recalls. Veronica glares at him, and Logan says firmly, "Veronica, your dad needs to know everything. We need his help." He turns to Keith and says, "Veronica followed Danny Boyd into the River Stix, and Liam and a couple of his stooges were there. Liam was about to mess up Veronica's face to scare her off, but I got worried when Veronica didn't come back out, and I went in the bar. I pulled a gun on him and got him to back off, and we got the hell out of there."
Keith's face looks nauseous. "Veronica, goddammit." His hands grip into tight fists, and he stands up and tries to walk off some excess energy.
"Logan, stop being an ass. He's completely exaggerating, Dad," Veronica tries to explain futilely. "Danny Boyd said that Griffith is 'like a friend of the family.'"
Keith says intensely, "You didn't think to talk to me about this before I sent you undercover at the school? That the Fitzpatricks were involved with the father of the girl we were investigating?"
"Dad! I'm sorry," Veronica protests. "It didn't have anything to do with the school–"
"You think it didn't have anything to do with the school! What if there's a connection between the Fitzpatricks and the school? Did you think of that?" Keith yells. "Veronica, don't you think I needed this information?" He looks at her, unable to continue and unwilling to say something he won't be able to take back.
"Dad," Veronica says, her voice faltering. "I'm so sorry—"
"Veronica, I put myself on the line for you! Do you understand what I risked to try to keep Vinnie quiet?" he says, attempting to control his voice without success. "All I care about is your safety, your future; I would do it again, but Veronica!...the Fitzpatricks, fuck." The entire room is shocked into silence when Keith swears, uncharacteristically and emphatically. Keith massages his forehead, obviously distraught by the new information.
"Why are you so convinced that the Fitzpatricks are involved in this?" Veronica finally asks in a whisper.
"Because Vinnie told me they 'own' someone, either a cop or a federal agent, someone who could have had access to the serial killer files. Knowing that there's proof that the murdered girl's father was connected to the Fitzpatricks makes me think they're involved. And Wallace got confirmation of a mole from the old leader of the PCHers," Keith answers tensely.
"Wallace got confirmation?" she queries. "What are you talking about?"
"He's been looking into Shawn's death while we were away. Weevil's been helping him. The rumor is that someone in law enforcement was involved with Shawn's murder, too."
"You think Griffith is involved in his own daughter's death? The guy's a fucking cokehead, but his own daughter?" Logan asks incredulously.
"Cokehead?" Keith responds, whirling around to face Logan. "What are you talking about?"
"Griffith was supposedly a very successful plastic surgeon, but Hannah told me that her parents were always fighting about money before they got divorced. Weevil asked around for me and found out that Griffith had tried to buy some coke from one of the PCHers. When Griffith first tried to break us up, I told Hannah to look around, hoping she'd find some drugs or something around the house. She told me she found some coke in her dad's bathroom," Logan explains.
Duncan shakes his head. "I'm completely lost. This doesn't make any sense. You were going out with the daughter of the guy who was testifying against you?"
Veronica comments softly, "Logan started dating Griffith's daughter to try to compel Griffith to withdraw his testimony about what happened the night Felix was killed." Logan looks away, unable to meet her eyes. "Hannah was...innocent and naïve. She was just a freshman, and...Logan played up his bad boy reputation, showing her father that he had something to lose if Griffith testified against him."
"Veronica told me about your blackmail scheme, Logan," Keith says, rubbing his forehead. "And when Ms. Denenberg first came to me, she told me that Logan had tried to convince Hannah that her ex-husband was involved with the Fitzpatricks. But Ms. Denenberg didn't believe it, at the time or now. And I guess I thought it was just part of Logan's plan to blackmail Griffith."
At the word 'blackmail', Logan flinches visibly. "You know that I was desperate," he says defensively. "I didn't know what to do. I knew Griffith wasn't the witness, but there wasn't any way to prove it. Getting in trouble is about the only thing I'm good at. And Veronica didn't want to help me."
"Logan!" she protests.
"It doesn't matter anymore," he replies hollowly. Logan turns away, obviously upset by the conversation. He sits down, his head drooping and his body slumped in distress.
"Veronica, I want to know everything there is to know about Griffith and the Fitzpatricks," Keith demands.
"There's not much to know. I saw him in Liberty Cigars, and we know he was disciplined by an ethics committee for stitching up Danny Boyd's knife wound. I swear, Dad, that's all I know," Veronica demurs, still avoiding looking at her dad.
"And Kendall?" Duncan asks.
"Kendall's had a relationship with the Fitzpatricks for years, from long before she married Richard Casablancas. She took a rap for Cormac Fitzpatrick in 1999," Keith says.
"Back when she was still Priscilla Banks," Veronica muses.
"Wait...Kendall was with me when Dr. Griffith agreed to recant his testimony," Logan says suddenly.
"What?" Veronica asks.
FLASHBACK: Logan opens the door of the suite to Dr. Griffith. Kendall has gone to freshen up in the bathroom.
Dr. Griffith says bitterly, "All right, Logan, you win. I'm serious. This stops now." He walks past Logan into the room.
Logan, surprised, finally finds his voice and replies, "Sure, come on in." He checks the hallway before shutting the door; he turns around to follow Griffith, who stares at him angrily. Griffith is about to speak when Kendall reenters the room.
Smarmily, Kendall comments, "I see you have company....I'll let myself out, but, um..." She kisses two of her fingers and places them on Logan's lips. She adds, "Think about my offer."
Involuntarily, Logan grins in response. Kendall sashays to the door, making sure that both men are appreciating her figure. Logan turns back to Griffith, unable to stop himself from leering.
Griffith says angrily, "Mark my words, some day that smirk is gonna get wiped off your face."
Laughing, Logan retorts, "Oh, please. Let the lying cokehead plastic surgeon lecture me on karma."
"It certainly caught up with me. It ends now," Griffith replies. "I'll make my testimony go away."
"What about the Fitzpatricks?" Logan asks sarcastically.
"Let me worry about them. You just stay the hell away from my daughter," Griffith orders.
Logan stares at him, deciding whether to believe him.
Griffith reiterates, "I assume we have a deal?"
Finally, Logan nods in response and immediately regrets it. His face betrays his realization of just how low he has stooped to save himself. "That confirms that Griffith was involved with the Fitzpatricks. I wish I had known about this before. And this means that Kendall knew you met with Dr. Griffith about his testimony," Keith wonders aloud.
"Well, at the time I didn't think she knew who he was," Logan says thoughtfully. "But...he was certainly shocked to see her."
"Shocked because you were sleeping with another woman besides his little girl or shocked because he knew who she was?" Veronica asks. Logan shoots her a glance of distress. She continues relentlessly, "Maybe even shocked because she might have overheard him and would rat him out to the Fitzpatricks?"
"Maybe," Logan admits with a pained look on his face.
"What exactly did Kendall hear?" Keith presses.
Logan thinks a moment. "I think all she could have heard was, 'All right, you win. This stops now.' Then Kendall made her entrance, showed off her ass, and left the room."
"And maybe listened from the hallway," Veronica comments shrewdly.
"I wouldn't put it past her," Keith agrees. "So Kendall finds out that Dr. Griffith made a deal with Logan. She threatens to tell the Fitzpatricks."
"We know she never told them, because Griffith is still alive," Logan comments wryly.
"Unless they killed Hannah for payback," Keith muses.
"Three years later? No, no way. The Fitzpatricks aren't known for their patience," Veronica contradicts.
"You guys are missing the obvious," Duncan interrupts.
"What are you talking about?" Veronica says, turning to him.
"Plastic surgery, Veronica. Kendall had a lot of plastic surgery done. Griffith is a plastic surgeon," Duncan says logically.
The realization dawns on Keith, Logan, and Veronica simultaneously. Veronica says slowly, "When Kendall needed plastic surgery to disappear, she remembered someone who had a very good reason to help her out. Someone who had a big secret to keep from the Fitzpatricks."
For several minutes, they are silent, stunned by this new insight and its implications.
Finally, Logan says, "So we give Leo the picture and tell him everything we know about Kendall and Griffith. Let him figure it out."
Keith and Duncan start shaking their heads. Keith says, "With this vendetta Leo's on...it's not going to be enough. He's going to ask why Duncan thought to take a picture of someone he just saw in the hallway at the Neptune Grand. He'll keep nosing around and find evidence that Duncan was involved with Kendall, and Duncan very well might lose his custody case."
"So what's the alternative? We let Leo arrest us for conspiracy and hope the evidence isn't stong enough to convict us?" Logan replies bitterly.
"I won't let you and Veronica be arrested," Duncan says strongly. "If necessary, I'll come forward and tell what I saw. Maybe it won't matter. My attorneys have been working hard to find evidence against Mrs. Manning, and with Lizzie's testimony, maybe it'll be enough."
Keith says, "I'm not just worried about the three of you being arrested in connection with Kendall's murder. I'm worried about Veronica and the kidnapping charges. I don't want anyone looking too closely at her involvement. Duncan, with your immunity agreement for kidnapping, you could now be compelled to testify against Veronica. At the very least, innuendo about the kidnapping could mean Veronica's career with the FBI is completely over. Although I have to say, at this point, I'd rather you give up on that career path anyways." Veronica trades a worried glance with Duncan. Keith stands up abruptly. "I want to think about this. I'm taking Backup out for a walk." The others watch wordlessly as he strides out of the room, whistling for the dog to come.
Veronica finally breaks the silence. "Logan, what did Leo ask you today?"
He sighs in response. "He asked me to confirm that I had a sexual relationship with Kendall in the past and asked if I'd had any contact with her recently. He wanted to know if I knew she had changed her appearance. Then he wanted to know why I left town back in January."
"Why you left town?" Veronica echoes.
"He insinuated that I was setting up an alibi," Logan explains.
"But that's ridiculous. You and I..." She glances at Duncan. "Logan and I met with Leo in his office the day before my dad's hearing."
"It looks bad, because I withdrew a lot of cash and hired someone to take my place. Not the actions of an innocent man, Veronica."
Veronica swallows compulsively. "I guess...."
Logan adds, "Leo threatened to tell the paparazzi that I used to be involved with Kendall."
"Oh, Logan," she says, rattled by this new facet of Leo's vendetta. Veronica tries to cover up her own distress and reassures him. "Logan, it doesn't matter. Who cares if you slept with her a long time ago?"
"Veronica, he's actually figured out a lot. Leo has realized that you could have used Kendall to make your breakup with Duncan look real," Logan relates.
"And he has my fingerprint from Kendall's room. If I try to deny that I talked to Kendall recently, he can use the print to cast doubt on my statement." She turns to Duncan. "You don't have an alibi for the night of Kendall's murder?"
"I was home alone," Duncan replies. "I didn't even make any phone calls." He laughs without humor. "There's no one to call. I don't have friends any more."
"Duncan, of course we're your friends," Veronica answers. "We have to trust each other; that's the only way we're going to get through this."
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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Countergambit
Keith comes up with a plan.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring.
Keith: Enrico Colantoni. Duncan 2.0: Chris
Carmack. Backup: Lefty.
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CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ONE: "COUNTERGAMBIT"
Tues. 3/17/09 evening: Beach near Sunset Cliffs Apartment, Neptune, CA
On the beach near the Sunset Cliffs apartments, Keith lets Backup off the leash and finds a stick to throw. The dog is ecstatic after his time in the kennel and barks madly, pursuing the stick as it flies down the shoreline. Backup retrieves the stick and races back to Keith, shaking his head and pretending to be reluctant to give up the stick. Despite his foul mood, Keith laughs at the dog's antics. He gets the stick away from the dog and throws it again, to the dog's delight.
I've got to get this right. Somehow I have to protect my daughter and her friends. Goddamn it, Leo. Keith stares out at the ocean, realizing that all of them are victims of their own mistakes along with terrible bad luck. The pressure feels incredibly intense: today his daughter and his boyfriend escaped assassination only because of their altered appearance. And like his daughter's rape five years ago, Keith reflects that he was almost completely out of the loop on a mobster's plot against his daughter. What else did I miss? How else did I let her down? Why didn't I see these things? I knew she was in trouble, and I took care of the evidence for her. But...I yelled at her! Why didn't I find out what was really going on? The Russian mob...some kid putting a sex video of my daughter on the internet...why didn't I see how she was hurting, how she was taking chances with her life? I should have insisted she tell me what was going on....
What is it about our relationship that she always hides things from me? I always thought...I always felt we had a wonderful relationship–that we shared everything.
Suddenly, Keith thinks he hears something...or someone. He turns in place, listening carefully. The dog is romping at the end of the surf, oblivious to Keith's nervousness. Keith calls loudly, "Backup, come!" and Backup whirls around and hurries to his side in alert mode. He and the dog stand together, ostensibly alone on the beach, but Keith cannot shake the uncertain feeling that grips him. He says in a low voice, "Backup, find and bark!" and the dog responds as he was trained. Backup launches himself across the sand, patrolling at high speed and searching for anything unusual. He quickly sniffs a pile of driftwood and the remains of a beach bonfire, then moves on, examining a garbage can and circling a padlocked lifeguard shack as Keith watches and listens tensely, debating whether to draw his gun. After ten minutes of intense searching without results, the dog returns to Keith, who praises the dog lavishly and gives the release command, "OK." Backup stays close to his owner, sensing Keith's uncertain mood. The dog puts his nose to the ground, exploring all the delightfully noxious odors in the sand.
Keith calms his pounding heart and tries to reassure himself that it's just another false alarm after an incredibly stressful day. While waiting for a doctor to treat his flesh wound in the emergency room, Leo had approached and explained that the shooter appeared to have been aiming for Veronica and Logan. He remembers thinking that no amount of law enforcement training would allow you to take that kind of news calmly. Just the recollection of Leo's nonchalant recital of Sorokin's arrest and questioning causes Keith's heart to speed up to dangerous levels of anxiety. Keith wasn't sure, but he thought it was possible that there was the tiniest crack in Leo's unsympathetic facade as he related the details of Sorokin's evil plan to murder Veronica and Logan. Keith had thanked the sheriff profusely for his quick actions that had secured Veronica and Logan in his squad car and possibly saved their lives. Leo had mumbled, "Just doing my job" and turned away, but not before Keith had detected a look of...what was that, embarrassment?...no, probably just exhaustion and stress.
Their meeting today in the hospital emergency room was their first encounter since the dismissal of the arson charges against Keith, and he is appalled at the change in Leo. Even during the tumult of his arrest and questioning, Leo had treated Keith well, as a colleague rather than a scumbag. The interrogations he had conducted were polite, even when Keith refused to say a word in response to the questions. Keith knew that the sheriff had also argued against the enhancement that was added to his charges, but the prosecutor had insisted due to the use of accelerants. Now, the sheriff's animosity at the Mars family is only too apparent. Keith remembers that Leo had tried to take his dismissal after the sex tape scandal professionally and had appeared grateful and penitent when Keith had rehired him a year later. Was it just an act? Was Leo really as bitter and vengeful under the surface then as he is openly now?
He sighs loudly and seeks out a driftwood log in order to sit down. Keith stares at the ocean, with the waves roughly lapping at the shoreline and the dark, unfathomable water beyond seeming to mirror his uncertainty and tension. Putting this afternoon's awful events out of his head, he tries to focus on the new information about Kendall and to create some possible scenario that might save his daughter and her friends from Leo's vendetta.
For the millionth time, Keith wishes desperately that Veronica and Duncan had come to him for help when they were concerned about Meg's baby. There were so many better options that fleeing the country; why didn't they trust me to help them? He ruefully admits that he's not being honest with himself; truth be told, he would have simply advised them to let the grownups and the courts sort it out, and Veronica knew him well enough to have surmised that. Keith knows that, to some degree, Duncan's actions were honorable and selfless, but the ramifications to his daughter's future seem overwhelming and insurmountable.
And Logan...Keith remembers that Logan was completely out of control at the time of his affair with Kendall. Unparented and practically unloved, Logan was acting out and flailing desperately. He needed a dad, but all I saw was the hurt Logan was causing Veronica. I HAD to put my daughter's well-being ahead of his. He thinks about how easy it would have been for an experienced master manipulator like Kendall to have seduced Logan in the boy's fragile state. It would have been simple for the older woman to twist Logan's brain and keep him off-balance in order for Liam to set Logan up to be the patsy...except Logan had outsmarted Liam, turning the sexual power play upside down by pursuing Griffith's daughter.
Griffith...how much of this is his fault? What the hell was really going on here? Goddamn Fitzpatricks. He stands up and walks toward the shoreline, the adrenaline surging through him just thinking about his old nemeses.
When I think of the chances I took to get Vinnie out from under the Fitzpatricks...I'd do it again to protect Veronica's future, but, goddamn!, I hate those methhead lunatics. Keith tries to retrace his steps over the last two months to see where he could have possibly changed his actions to prevent the current situation with Leo. If I hadn't helped Vinnie, then Vinnie would have told what he knew about Veronica to make a deal for himself. But I shouldn't have let Veronica blackmail Leo; I should have just taken the rap. Keith knows that even a relatively short prison term might very well have been a death sentence for him, serving his time with all the vengeful criminals he had incarcerated as sheriff. Maybe I should have fled the country. Maybe Vinnie would have helped ME. Keith chokes on a bitter laugh, thinking of his PI rival and his specialty of playing both sides against each other for maximum profit. Vinnie probably would have sold my whereabouts to Liam for a tidy sum.
He shakes off the bitter reflections and tries to focus on the problem. I have to get Leo to look at Griffith and the Fitzpatricks for Kendall's murder. Maybe if...maybe if I get enough evidence that he can't ignore it.... He sighs loudly, thinking about all the times he had tried to put away the Fitzpatricks. Now, his lack of success makes sense, with the added information that the Fitzpatricks have a connection in law enforcement ready to assist them whenever necessary.
He begins to formulate a plan. I don't know what else to do. We can't all just run away, and we can't wait around for Leo to file charges based on rumor and innuendo–especially innuendo that will ruin Veronica's future and probably ruin Duncan's chances for custody. Keith tries to think of anyone who might owe him a favor from the old days; he comes up with several names, fellow law enforcement officers and several attorneys who he had dealt with in the past. And...Weevil and Wallace. They've been nosing around the Fitzpatricks. I want to pick their brains, too. Keith walks up and down the beach, trying to anticipate every detail and every possible problem in advance.
Tues. 3/17/09 evening: Sunset Cliffs Apartment, Neptune, CA
When Keith returns, he finds the three old friends sitting in the kitchen sharing a frozen pizza they had discovered in the back of the freezer.
"You know what they say, when the going gets tough, the tough start eating," Veronica remarks with her mouth full of food. Backup immediately goes to her and begs for a treat; she obliges with a bit of pepperoni from her slice. Veronica can't help noticing that her dad looks beaten and exhausted; he seems to have aged ten years overnight. Keith smiles in response to her quip, but she sees that the smile does not reach his eyes; she feels incredibly guilty for her role in causing all these problems.
Keith grabs the last slice and begins to eat. "I'm glad you're keeping your strength up." He looks at them seriously, commanding their full attention. "I'm been doing a lot of thinking. Here's what we're going to do. Duncan, you are going to concentrate on your custody case. I assume you have good security at your new house?"
Duncan nods.
"I'd like you to also consider hiring a security guard for the next few days," Keith suggests.
"Dad, what are you planning?" Veronica says nervously.
"I'm being cautious. Veronica, you and I have made too many mistakes. That ends right now. We tell each other everything, and we protect ourselves," he says strongly.
"You two are not the only ones who made mistakes," Logan interjects.
"No, we're not. You're not going to make any more mistakes, either. You're going to be protected as well. You've told us everything, Logan? Everything you know about Hannah and her father and about your relationship with Kendall? There wasn't any pillow talk with Kendall, speculations about Veronica helping Duncan leave the country?" Keith asks.
"No! Nothing. I never talked to Kendall about Veronica," Logan swears. "You have to understand, conversation was the last thing I had in mind when I was with her. I did say...I suggested she should go after Duncan because after all he had a lot more money than I did at that point. Of course, now...."
"Hey!!" Duncan interrupts. "Are we comparing portfolios?"
"Whip it out, dude. My investments would trounce your investments," Logan replies.
Ignoring Logan's comment, Keith says to Duncan, "What happened after Logan suggested Kendall should pursue you?"
Duncan answers, "She was waiting for me in my bedroom naked. I got rid of her, and I laughed about it with Veronica the next day. Kendall didn't give up, though. She tried to sell me one of Big D's cars and practically gave me a lap dance in the process."
"You're sure that there's no way that Kendall knew anything about the kidnapping?" Keith inquires.
"Duncan and I were very careful when we talked about it," Veronica swears. "We didn't want Logan to know either. He was...part of the plan. He had to be in the dark for it to work. Dad, when we questioned Kendall, she didn't say anything about the kidnapping, remember? She definitely would have thrown that in our faces if she knew anything about it."
Keith rubs his forehead and sighs. "You're right. Speaking of that...session...I want to compare our thoughts and make a list of everything Kendall told us that night."
"Wait, you said you want Duncan to concentrate on his custody case. What are we going to be doing?" Veronica asks curiously.
"We're going to try to find out more about Dr. Griffith. Now that we know there's a possible connection between Hannah's father and Kendall through the Fitzpatricks, if we can find proof of it...."
"Proof of what?" Logan asks.
"I don't know," Keith admits. "But if there's concrete evidence of something to do with Kendall, maybe we can get Leo to back off and focus his investigation on the Fitzpatricks."
"What are we going to do about my custody hearing on Friday?" Duncan asks. "Mrs. Manning has subpoenaed Veronica. You know that she's going to try to force Veronica to testify about breaking into the Manning house."
"I'm going to try make Veronica's testimony unnecessary," Keith says reluctantly.
"What? What are you planning?" Veronica asks anxiously.
"If we can come up with proof that Griffith and the Fitzpatricks are connected to Kendall's murder, I'm going to ask Leo to get Duncan immunity on that old breaking and entering charge in return for solid information on Kendall's murder. If Duncan has immunity on that felony, Mrs. Manning can't use it against him in the custody case. Duncan can testify about what you and he witnessed that night at the Manning house. It will substantiate the blackmail evidence that Lamb collected against the Mannings, and Mrs. Manning will be forced to drop her suit. Once Duncan obtains custody, he can testify about his relationship with Kendall and what he witnessed in the park."
"What makes you think Leo cares about the truth at this point?" Veronica asks despondently. "He hates us."
"He was humiliated when he had to drop the arson case against me. I think I can convince him that he can salvage his reputation with a big bust against the Fitzpatricks. I was never able to put them away. If he can get a solid conviction against them, he'll never have to worry about being reelected again. And...I think I can make him see that this vendetta is going to blow up in his face. He doesn't want to make an enemy out of me," Keith says intensely.
He pauses, then adds, "And if we're successful, we're going to take a trip up to Rio Linda and see if we can find out how Hannah Griffith went from living up there, happy and safe, to murdered in Los Angeles."
"Rio Linda?" Veronica asks.
"It's a suburb outside of Sacramento," Keith explains. "Your last day at the school, Epstein and I interviewed the teacher who helped Hannah escape from Briar Hill. She had gotten a postcard that she was pretty sure was from Hannah, postmarked Rio Linda." He gets his briefcase and locates the postcard, still protected by a plastic bag. He hands it to Veronica, who looks at it, frowning. Logan looks over her shoulder, curious.
Veronica muses, "Postmarked August 5, 2006. 'Thank you for everything. I am safe and happy because of you.'" She turns it over and looks at the beautiful meadow pictured on the front. "Logan, when did Hannah make contact with you that summer?"
"July, I think. It was a little while after our trip to Catalina."
Veronica nods. "You said the FBI were looking at your cellphone records to determine where that call originated."
"They didn't share that information with me."
"It's not in the file that Mike gave me. From three years ago, they probably would need a court order to access those cellphone records. You didn't save your itemized bills from then, did you?" Veronica asks.
Logan shakes his head 'no'.
"It would be helpful to know where Hannah was at that point," she adds. "What else did the teacher say, Dad?"
Keith says, "The teacher, Michelle Weisz, told us that she quickly became convinced that Hannah didn't deserve to be at the school. Hannah didn't appear to have a drug problem or psychological issues, and the more she protested, the worse the school treated her. Ms. Weisz was a new employee and was suspicious of Klein's methods. She helped Hannah get off the grounds of the school by hiding her in the trunk of her car and misdirecting the search parties looking for Hannah. Ms. Weisz dropped Hannah off at the bus station in Montpelier and later tried to get another student out of Briar Hill unsuccessfully. She quit not long after, and since then she's devoted her life to rescuing students from the tough-love schools."
"Dad...did you ask the teacher if she thought Hannah could have been blackmailing Peter Klein?" Veronica asks.
"Yes, honey. We asked her if Hannah could have witnessed anything like a payoff. What she said gibes with what we witnessed while you were there: the students are far too controlled to accidentally see something like that. And you know that the typical student experience at Briar Hill is not...."
"You can't blackmail someone if the world believes that their methods are successful," Veronica finishes his thought. With a slight quaver in her voice, she continues, "That's why we had to document everything so thoroughly."
Logan finds her hand under the counter and squeezes it. She looks at him. "That's why I had to keep going, I couldn't let him do his sick therapy on any other girls. I had to. I couldn't let you guys stop the operation," she adds tremulously.
Upon hearing her voice break, Duncan regards her in shock. "Veronica! Are you all right?"
She shakes her head, unwilling to respond. Finally she manages, "I'm all right. Stop looking at me like that. It was hard, okay? I'm still...." She looks around at the worried faces. "I would do it again," she swears. "Even if we only helped one girl to avoid that...I would still do it again." Veronica tries to pull herself together. "Dad, why Rio Linda?"
Keith shrugs. "At first, I thought the proximity to Sacramento meant something–that maybe she was trying to find Maria's family to...I don't know, to expose Maria's abuse, perhaps." Veronica looks puzzled, and Keith explains, "Maria had been at the school about nine months when Hannah arrived. The teacher told us that at the time Maria was insisting that her father had beaten and abused her, and then covered it up by sending her to the school. She would be sentenced to Observation Placement repeatedly for supposedly lying, but she stuck to her story for a long time."
"I suppose eventually she gave up and told them what they wanted to hear," Veronica says softly. "Nine months of no one believing her and being punished for telling the truth."
Keith nods. "So Hannah heard all of Maria's stories. Hannah knew that she was telling the truth about not being a drug user; maybe she suspected that Maria's stories were true as well."
Logan says thoughtfully, "Wasn't the school concealing Maria's true identity? How would Hannah have known that Maria's name was really Frazzino and Maria was from Sacramento?"
Veronica comments, "That's true...it's not like the girls can have a heart-to-heart talk there. It's always about working your program and admitting your flaws, and you're constantly supervised. It's the perfect place to hide a victim. But what if after Hannah escaped, she saw a photo of Maria, in some publicity about the Assemblyman, and recognized Maria? Logan, do you think Hannah would have wanted to...I don't know, investigate something like that?"
"I don't think so, but...we don't know how her experience at the school changed her," Logan says, thinking aloud. "Maybe she wanted to expose the cruelty of the school, and Maria seemed like the perfect opportunity. Or she wanted to punish her parents by showing them and the world the kind of place the school was."
"Dad..." Veronica begins hesitantly. "Are you thinking that there's a connection between Hannah's murder and Kendall?"
Keith says, "I don't know. But if Hannah truly was the victim of a copycat murder, I would say the only two possibilities for a motive would be her knowledge of something from her time of the school–"
"Or something about her dad and the Fitzpatricks," Veronica finishes. "And the timing...."
Keith nods. "Hannah was killed shortly before Kendall showed up in Neptune. Maybe it's a coincidence. But with the possible connection between Hannah's father and Kendall through the Fitzpatricks...." he shrugs. "And you can't forget that it still looks likely that someone in law enforcement is involved, someone that provided the actual details to make it look like one of the serial murders."
She nods thoughtfully. "I still don't understand why Rio Linda. Did you tell Ms. Denenberg that's where Hannah was?"
"Yes. She didn't have an explanation as to why Hannah ended up there," Keith replies.
"What about Hannah's friends?" Logan asks.
"I'm sure the FBI questioned them. And Ms. Denenberg had employed a private detective when Hannah first escaped from the school. I'm certain the PI would have talked to Hannah's friends here in Neptune," Keith says.
Logan scoffs. "Veronica, do you remember Hannah's friends from the funeral?"
She nods.
Logan continues, "They said, Hannah 'never did anything wrong, and she was punished as if she was a criminal.' They looked at Dr. Griffith as if they hated him."
"They would have protected Hannah's secrets, if Hannah had asked for their help," Veronica agrees. "Did you get to know any of those girls when you were seeing her?"
"Barely," Logan says, shaking his head.
"Dad, I think it's worth a shot. Maybe they would talk to me and Logan if we tell them about what we did at Briar Hill," Veronica proposes.
"All right. But I want to make it clear that we are going to share every bit of information we get, from now on. Is that understood?" Keith says sternly.
Veronica and Logan both nod in response.
Keith continues, "And we're not taking any chances. If we're right, they've killed twice, and they won't hesitate to kill again. Any ideas you have, you're going to run them by me first. We're going to watch our backs and err on the side of caution at all times. No going off your own, Veronica. You either, Logan...Duncan. Agreed?"
"You really think we're in serious danger from the Fitzpatricks or some rogue FBI agent?" Duncan asks incredulously.
"I hope I'm wrong. But I don't want to worry about you in case we stir up a hornet's nest," Keith responds evasively.
Tues. 3/17/09 evening: Sunset Cliffs Apartment, Neptune, CA
They spend the next two hours trying to remember everything Kendall said when they confronted her at the Neptune Grand. Between the three of them, they have managed to recreate everything that was said that night. Veronica prints out several copies of the notes she has been taking on her laptop, and they look over the document.
1) Kendall claimed that she hooked up with Duncan by accident--she was just looking for company, and he was suitably attractive. When she realized he was Duncan Kane, she began to plot a con to take his money. As a backup, she began to videotape their sexual encounters for a possible blackmail scheme.
2) Kendall was searching Mars Investigations looking for the money from the painting, which she had heard had been resold in the private market. She said she assumed Keith had taken the painting.
3) Three and a half years ago, when Kendall mentioned to Liam Fitzpatrick that Logan was flirting with her, Liam instructed her to sleep with Logan and keep tabs on him. Liam thought Kendall could help ensure that Logan was convicted of killing Felix, thereby keeping attention away from the Fitzpatricks' drug dealing arrangements with the PCHers.
4) Kendall bragged that Aaron had promised her 200,000 dollars for obtaining one of Duncan's hairs from the shower in the Neptune Grand. She had met with Aaron to collect her payoff the day Aaron was murdered, but he was killed before she could get paid. When she came out of the shower and found him dead, she bolted, abandoning her fee.
5) Kendall and Liam were working together to siphon funds from Richard Casablancas Sr.'s real estate scams. The total take was five million dollars, and Kendall's cut was half of that amount. Kendall never trusted Liam and expected him to screw her over. The money is deposited in a joint bank account in the Caymans; passwords from both principals are needed to access the funds, or a survivor must produce a death certificate for the other accountholder.
6) When Cassidy Casablancas killed himself, leaving the entire assets of the Phoenix Land Trust to Kendall, Kendall decided to forget about the money from Casablancas Enterprises and go on the run with Cormac Fitzpatrick. Cormac then double-crossed Kendall and shot her, leaving her for dead in the desert.
7) Kendall was back in town to try to somehow acquire Liam's password to the joint account. She had changed her appearance to hide from Liam. She claimed that she had come back to town now because Liam was in prison on the racketeering charge. With the indictment against Liam now thrown out due to evidence problems, Keith warned Kendall that she needed to leave town immediately.
"Okay, my head doesn't hurt as much anymore trying to understand what the hell she was up to," Duncan remarks.
"It was mostly about money. She had a stupid arrangement with Liam that practically guaranteed that he would try to kill her one day," Veronica comments.
"You think Liam killed her?" Duncan asks. When Veronica nods, he says, "So why was she arguing with Griffith in the park?"
"She was probably trying to blackmail him again," Logan theorizes.
"About what? Do you think Liam would still be angry about Griffith recanting on his testimony?" Veronica says. "It seems a long time to be mad about it. It never came out that the PCHers were working with the Fitzpatricks, even when Weevil was arrested."
Duncan interjects, "Have you guys seen any of Griffith's interviews? The guy is completely crazy. He's still insisting that Briar Hill was the best place for his daughter."
Veronica sighs. "I know. It makes me so mad. But Duncan, a lot of the parents refuse to believe the truth about what their children go through at the tough-love schools. There's a lot of psychological reasons why they want to believe they did the right thing for their children."
"I don't believe it," Logan retorts. "I can't believe that guy has any good in him."
Keith points to number four on their list, Kendall's involvement with framing Duncan for the murder of Lilly Kane. "I have another idea. If what I'm planning with Leo doesn't work, I think we should say that Kendall was trying to get Logan to pay Aaron's debt to her and was threatening to expose the scheme to the tabloids."
"That's crazy. Everyone knows I hate my dad and wouldn't pay a cent to cover up what he did," Logan protests.
Keith shakes his head. "No, everyone doesn't know that, Logan. You're obviously not eager for more paparazzi attention, especially about Lilly and your dad. The thing is, if we force that issue–Kendall's helping to frame Duncan for Aaron–Leo's involvement with the sex tapes could resurface. He won't be willing to take that chance, and he'll have to drop the investigation."
Logan, fuming, replies, "I don't want anyone to think that I would pay money to cover up what that bastard did."
"Logan...it's just in case. And it would be a bluff. We'd be taking a big chance that Leo would call our bluff. We're only going to do that if we have no other option," Keith says reassuringly.
Veronica suddenly realizes that Keith is much more worried than he's letting on. "Dad...do you think...are you really worried that Leo might be able to get enough evidence to arrest us?"
"No, honey, of course not," Keith lies. "Everything's going to be fine."
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Coping Mechanism
Keith and Veronica come to an agreement.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring.
Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWO: "COPING MECHANISM"
Tues. 3/17/09 evening: Sunset Cliffs Apartment, Neptune, CA
Duncan leaves after Keith makes a phone call arranging for a security guard to meet Duncan at his house. Veronica asks Logan to get her laptop, and she begins to google information on the town of Rio Linda. "Hmm. Population ten thousand...median home value 305,000 dollars...cost of living 8% higher than the U.S. average...close to average per capita educational spending and average employment level...slightly lower income than the U.S. average. Wait a second...violent crime and property crime are twice the U.S. average."
Logan comments, "Makes sense the crime would be high, if the cost of living is 8% higher and the income is lower than average."
She surfs to another website. "Okay, here's a comment somebody left calling Rio Linda a 'cow town'." She shakes her head and closes her eyes in fatigue. "Why Rio Linda?"
Keith replies, "Veronica, I think you should get to bed. You're exhausted. We'll work on this in the morning." He glances at Logan, who looks away, embarrassed.
Veronica notices the exchange and says, "Dad, can you help me get ready for bed?" She slides off the barstool and moves toward the bedroom with her dad close behind. After they enter her room, she says, "Shut the door, okay?" and sits down the bed. Keith complies and walks toward the bed, intending to help her remove the sling, but she shakes her head, 'no', and motions that he should sit down next to her. "Dad...."
"What's up, honey?" he asks.
"You know that I'm twenty-one years old now, right?" she says gently. "I'm...Dad, I'm a woman and..." Veronica closes her eyes, trying to find the words. "I'm in love with him. I need him."
"Veronica–"
"Let me finish. I know you think he pushed me to be together last night. It's not true. I pressured him. I begged him to sleep with me; he didn't want to because he was worried about me too."
"What? Veronica, what are you talking about?" Keith replies, confused. "I don't understand. You've been through a terrible experience, and–"
"Yes, it was terrible. I know you think...I know you think you saw what it was like at the school...but you can't know. Logan knows, he was there, he was affected too. He knows what it's like to not know your own mind anymore. And I trust him...I always had trouble with trusting him before, but...knowing that he was willing to do that for me, to put his own sanity in jeopardy to protect me...."
"Veronica, please, I'm just so worried about you. I'm concerned that...I'm...." He sighs and closes his eyes. "Veronica, I'm feeling very guilty that I didn't take care of you properly when you were...assaulted, that you didn't feel like you could talk to me about it. I don't want to do the wrong thing again. I'm concerned about you, that's all."
"I know I should have told you about the rape a long time ago," she says hesitantly. "It's just...what do you say, do you just sit down at dinner and say, 'By the way, Dad, someone raped me a few months ago because I was stupid and drank a drink that I didn't watch being poured?'" Her words begin to rush out uncontrollably. "I couldn't tell you–I was embarrassed that I let that happen to me. Not being able to remember everything from that night somehow made it worse; I was imagining the worst. Everyone at school was laughing about me, and I didn't know what I did that night to make them say those things. And I knew, I knew you would go crazy, you'd interrogate every male at Neptune High and.... I knew everyone would be talking about it and it would never end and...." She breathes in deeply, shuddering.
Keith regards her silently, waiting.
"I couldn't tell you," she finally says. "Even when I found out more about it...especially when I thought it was...well, it looked like Duncan and I had both been drugged, and for a long time I thought we had just ended up together in a bedroom and...." She stares blankly at the wall. "I told myself over and over again, it wasn't really rape, neither of us were sober enough to consent or to protest, it was just...chemicals and hormones mixing together." Veronica looks at her dad and says softly, "I think part of me wanted to get back together with Duncan again because that really made it 'not-rape'. It was just...a really bad first time, and going out with Duncan again was like...a do-over. I was fixing it."
"Veronica, I'm just regretting that you didn't have a mother to talk to. That was my fault, I drove your mother away with my obsession. And I wasn't paying attention to you. I should have seen...I've been trying to remember...that was when you cut your hair, you started dressing differently–harder, tougher. You threw yourself into your schoolwork and cases at the office. I didn't even ask, I just assumed it was boy trouble or a delayed reaction to Lilly's murder or the breakup with Duncan."
"That was part of it, Dad; you weren't wrong," she agrees.
"I should have seen that you were hurting," he protests. "I should have tried harder to find your mother. You needed your family, not an ex-sheriff with an obsession."
"Daddy," she says quietly, leaning against him. "You're always there for me. I know that."
"And then this sex video," he says compulsively. "Why didn't you tell me about that?"
"Dad...come on. Look how you're reacting to Logan sleeping in my bed. You would have gone berserk."
"The Russian mafia, Veronica," he says flatly. "How could you take such a chance?"
"It was my problem, and I wanted to try to fix it myself," she says, almost under her breath. "Besides, you lost your job for me. I felt so guilty. You had a chance to go back to being the sheriff, and I blew it for you."
They remain silent, each of them lost in their thoughts. Finally, Keith says, "I know you're a woman. I know you're in love with him, and he's not the same boy who was...who made so many mistakes in the past. I still think it's too soon for you. I'm afraid...because you said you couldn't remember that last day. I'm worried that...sex...will trigger some bad memory for you. Can't you see how dangerous it is? You're still just a few days out of that experience. You're still traumatized."
"I'm going to remember everything eventually, Dad," she vows. Veronica says emphatically, "I don't want to not know anymore!" She tries to calm herself. "I can't stand feeling weak and victimized. I want to be strong Veronica again. I want to know what happened to me and understand it."
Keith thinks, What if there's no way to understand it?
Veronica continues, "Logan loves me without condition, without restraint. He's unable to not love me. That used to terrify me, that he could love me so strongly. I couldn't understand how he could be that way, because I'm not like that. And I knew love doesn't last, or I thought I knew that. I used to say 'I'm never getting married.' It seemed like we were spending our lives proving that true love doesn't exist, and here was this boy who was telling me that he would love me forever, no matter what. It made me want to push him away, to test him. I looked for flaws and found them to prove to myself that I shouldn't love him back, that I was right...that true love doesn't exist. But...you said it yourself, 'a good person is one who is there for you when you need them the most.' He's there for me now. When he holds me, it should make me feel weaker–that I need this man to hold me and protect me–but it doesn't. It makes me feel safe and strong again. Knowing that he loves me makes me strong again."
Veronica's words assail him with additional guilt. While she was trying to deal with her mother leaving, I had her spying on cheating spouses, showing her over and over again that love is fragile and breakable–that your lover always leaves. I never thought about what that would do to a teenager just learning about love. And then on top of that, she had to cope with her...assault. I should have known something was wrong! What the hell was I thinking? No wonder she's holding onto him, trying to pretend that she's okay. I know Logan loves her and would never hurt her on purpose, but if she starts remembering what that fuck Klein did to her.... He tries to reassure her, "He'll still love you in a few weeks when you're stronger, Veronica. Please...I really want you to–"
"Dad, when I'm asleep in his arms, I don't have nightmares. I can shut my eyes, and I don't have to worry about seeing Peter Klein's face in my dreams or imagining Gory aiming a rifle at me," Veronica responds decisively. "I'm not backing down on this, Dad."
"My house, my rules. Sometimes you don't know what's best for you, Veronica," Keith says firmly. "I'm putting my foot down."
"Dad, you're not listening to me. I need him to feel safe." A sudden thought strikes her, and she adds, "And he needs me. ...Dad, we're both struggling. You have to find a way to be okay with this, or we'll find a hotel room."
"Veronica!" he says, shocked. "With everything that's going on, this is not the time–"
"You're right. It's not the time. I want to be able to keep my eye on you too and not worry about the crazy Fitzpatricks sneaking up on you. But I don't know how I can express it to you better than I have already. I can't help how I feel, Dad. I need him right now, more than I can tell you." She pushes herself off the bed. "We'll check into the Camelot for tonight and find something better tomorrow." Veronica walks to the closet and retrieves an overnight bag from the floor.
"Veronica, stop."
She walks to the bureau and awkwardly begins to pack some clothes into the bag.
"Veronica, please stop and talk to me," Keith begs.
She stops, her back still toward him. "Dad, you can't make my rape go away, and neither can I," she says softly. "You can't turn me back into your little girl again. It's part of who I am now."
They stay frozen in a tableau of uncertainty and regret for a long minute before Keith breaks the silence. "All right. But if he hurts you...Veronica, I will never forgive him."
"Dad, it's okay to tell him how you feel–that you're worried about me. Just remember that I love him, and it was my decision to sleep with him last night," she comments gently. "He understands how you feel, Dad. He feels the same way. He wishes he could erase the bad things that have happened and the stupid things he's done, and he's worried about screwing up again. You said it yourself: we all made mistakes. But I don't think it's ever a mistake to love somebody."
He stands up from the bed and goes to her, kissing the top of her head. Keith takes the overnight bag out of her hands and places it on the floor. "You'll always be my little girl. ...Who's your daddy?"
"You are," she responds, turning to him and smiling through tears.
He wipes the tears from her cheek with his thumb and kisses her forehead. "It's not easy to be your father, Veronica."
"Ah, come on, you're doing a great job," Veronica replies lightly. "You make it look easy. I turned out okay, don't you think?"
"You turned out great."
She leans into him, hugging him tightly with her good arm as he strokes her back. "I love you, Dad."
"I love you, Veronica."
Tues. 3/17/09 late: Sunset Cliffs Apartment, Neptune, CA
Keith leaves Veronica's bedroom, shutting the door behind him. She hears the murmurs of a brief conversation in the living room, and Logan comes in the bedroom, his face flaming red. He sits down on the bed, completely unable to speak, and Veronica joins him. He mutters, "You are so spoiled."
"What?"
"You have your dad wrapped around your little finger, Veronica. I can't believe you...what did you say to him?"
She replies, "We talked about me being a grown-up and making my own decisions."
"Veronica, I don't ever want to have to talk about having sex with you with your dad again," he says morosely.
"What exactly did he say?" she persists.
"'If I find out you hurt her by pressuring her to have sex, I'll track you down and kill you like the dog you are.'"
"He did not say that," she protests.
"Okay, he said, 'If you hurt her, I'll never forgive you.'"
"Okay. Nothing wrong with that. You're not allowed to hurt me," she says smugly. He glances at her, still upset at the thought of his discussion with Keith. Veronica adds, "I told him I need you, that you make me feel stronger."
She leans against him, and he puts his arm around her. Logan says, "You don't need me to be strong, Veronica. There's not a woman in the world who's stronger than you."
"Come on, help me get undressed," she says, changing the subject.
As he releases the straps on her sling and eases it off her shoulder, he comments, "You know, I think you might be milking this injury a little bit, Veronica. Undress me, dress me, wash my back, shave my legs. Humph," he says, pretending to be aggrieved at her presumption. "'Please' and 'thank you' would be nice."
"Please take off my clothes...baby," she replies teasingly.
He helps to ease her shirt over her head and admonishes her, "You know there's no way we're having sex tonight. I think the look on your dad's face killed any chance of me having an erection for about a week."
She whispers, "Well, then you'll just have to satisfy me some other way, if Little Logan is feeling self-conscious with my dad listening." Veronica suddenly yawns, the long day finally taking its toll on her.
"Okay, if you're going to name my penis, do you think you could come up something a little more virile than Little Logan?" he mutters.
"I'm too tired to come up with anything else." She closes her eyes in fatigue. With one finger, he pushes gently on her chest and eases her backward onto the bed. Logan pulls her slacks off and finishes undressing her. She mumbles, "I'm just going to close my eyes for a minute."
He finds the pajamas she wore the night before and brings them to her. She wakes up enough to help him get her pj's on and the sling secured around her shoulder. Veronica slides under the covers, already dozing as he gets ready for bed himself. Logan gets into bed, his front to her back, carefully cuddling against her. He strokes her hair, pushing the loose curled strands behind her ears, and she sighs in contentment. He says, "I keep thinking...if you didn't have this red hair, if I hadn't changed the way I look...."
"I know," she whispers. "Please...don't say it. Hold me tighter. Please."
He presses himself closer and puts his arm around her waist; he kisses her neck and breathes in her scent, grateful despite his embarrassment that she had talked her father into allowing them to be together. Logan says quietly, "I need you too...I need you to help me feel strong too."
She sighs in response before drifting off to sleep. I wish...I wish it could always be like this.
Now, if you want to have some fun, I have a little poll up on my journal about the fic and what you think about my "previously on's"--go tell me what you think.
vanessagalore•livejournal•com/72624•html#cutid2
THEN: hit your back button, and leave me a review! (hint) Your comments and critiques not only help me learn, but they help spur me to write faster and better. These last chapters are kicking my ass, and your encouragement really does help.
Thanks for reading.
-VanessaGalore