Chapter Forty-One

At the current Mars Investigations office the next morning, coffee had already been brewed. Cliff lounged on the corner of the reception desk that Veronica had worked at so many years ago. Keith was seated in the office chair behind the reception desk with his elbows on the wood surface in front of him, his hands clasped together vaguely near his chin. Logan was pacing and Veronica was perched on the arm of the sofa watching him. Mac and Wallace had bowed out of the morning meeting but had said they'd catch up later.

They were waiting on Luke. Having all arrived at an insanely early hour, Veronica and Logan updated Keith and Cliff on Luke's mysterious yet insistent offer.

"So we really have no idea what to expect," Veronica was saying in conclusion, spreading her hands in the universal gesture of the unknown.

"When is he supposed to be here?" Keith asked, looking at the time.

Before Veronica could respond, Logan interjected, "Oh, and don't forget the security footage from the club."

"Security footage?" Keith asked. Looking back and forth between them, he hoped that some of what they were saying would start to make sense soon.

Turning to Keith first, Veronica said, "We snagged the security footage from the club. Not likely to be anything there but figured we might as well be thorough. There was an awful lot of weird stuff that went down the night of the reunion." Then she looked at her own cell phone to check the time and answered in annoyance, "And he's five minutes late."

Cliff seemed unaffected by the conversation. He lounged casually and reached for the newspaper on the desk behind him, perusing the personal ads.

As Luke entered the office, the bell over the door jingled and all the occupants of the room looked up. Having all their eyes on him made Luke incredibly uncomfortable but he gave a valiant smile and asked, "The attorney's here?"

"Present and mostly accounted for," Cliff answered dryly.

Looking relieved, Luke spoke directly to Cliff when he asked, "If anything I say in here ends up coming to the point of me looking like an accessory to...whatever...can you get me immunity?"

Raising a dark brow, Cliff asked smugly in response, "Have you intentionally done anything that you'd need immunity from?

Keith and Logan both looked very impatient and put out by this whole thing. Luke noticed also that Veronica eyed him with a wariness that said she very well remembered the drug situation from TJ. He'd come forth with information then as well. Granted, his motive had been to get the dealer he was running for off his ass but still. He hoped that little encounter might make her more likely to check into his info rather than brushing it off like the sheriff had.

Speaking more to Veronica than anyone, Luke answered in a mumble, "It probably depends on whether anything I did do had anything to do with Carrie's death or not."

Veronica's eyes narrowed and sharpened. She smoothly left the arm of the sofa she'd been sitting on and approached Luke. When she was within a couple feet, she demanded without hesitation, "And what actually did you do?"

Luke glanced at Cliff and Cliff waved his hand as if to say that Luke should just get on with it and they'd deal with details later. Taking a deep breath, he looked back at Veronica and said, "I think I may have been one of the last people to see Carrie alive."

"You said that already," Veronica replied with cold impatience. "What makes you think it might be true?"

"Because Sean and Cobb and I were with her when the fight broke out," Luke answered.

"Ok," Veronica shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, "And? That's pretty vague. We don't even know if the reunion or the fight have anything to do with her death. Hell, we don't even have a freaking murder scene yet so how does your little revelation help us out at all?"

Now Luke looked nervously back toward Logan and said, "It's a long story, and complicated."

Logan tensed at Luke's words even though he had no idea what they might mean. His dark eyes bore right through Luke, his stoic jackass mask firmly in place. "You make it sound like you're about to tell us some twisted fairy tale of doom," he quipped darkly.

Seeming to weigh his next words, Luke looked over at Logan again before saying with care, "Sordid and twisted sounds about right."

His fists clenched at his sides, knuckles white as he fought to restrain himself, Logan spun on his heel and walked away a few strides before turning again and coming to stand directly behind and to the right of Veronica. Now it was his turn to demand with clenched jaw, "What. Do. You. Know?"

Exhaling slowly, Luke gave an apprehensive chuckle and said evenly, "I'm telling you who I was with and when because those of us that were with her that night at the reunion were the same ones she used to set you up to date her."

"WHAT?!" Logan blew up with Veronica echoing him less than two seconds behind. "How the hell would Carrie use the three of you to set herself up with me and WHY?"

"Because you ignored her and she took it as a challenge," Luke replied.

Logan's hand went through his hair as he turned away, blowing out a hot breath of air. Before he turned back around, Veronica reached for his other hand and gave it a squeeze. When he was at least slightly more in control and gripping Veronica's hand as if his - or Luke's - life depended on it, he answered Veronica's questioning gaze with a slight nod.

Keith was watching and listening with hardened eyes, ready to take notes if anything Luke said made any sense. He shared a look with Cliff, who was leaning in fascination toward the tawdry story he imagined was about to unravel.

"Start at the beginning," Veronica ordered, glaring at Luke in a way that let him know that if he didn't come clean on anything and everything he knew, he'd be a dead man.

"Ok, so, apparently Carrie had a thing for you in high school, man," Luke started, aiming his remarks directly at Logan as he explained. "But I guess just when she thought she was gonna make her move, you went all protective pit bull over something that happened with Veronica."

"I remember," Logan said evenly, "But how the hell does that have anything to do with us dating or her being killed?"

"Dude, what I'm saying is...I think the manipulative crap she pulled to get you to date her might be what got her killed," Luke explained.

"Is any of this making any sense to you?" Logan asked Veronica irritably as he rubbed at his neck with the hand not attached to hers.

She squeezed his hand again and shook her head, "Not yet, but he's just gotten started." She paused before giving Luke a single nod to say, "Keep going."

"Well...me and Cobb and Sean all hung out with Carrie, Susan, and Shelley back in the day. We went our separate ways a lot of the time after college but still hung out every now and then. Carrie'd call us her boys," Luke reminisced. "Anyway, once she got all popular and gained a superstar alter-ego, I guess she ran across you somewhere one night."

Behind Luke, Keith had taken out a recorder and turned it on while he still took notes the old fashioned way as well. Meanwhile, Cliff swung his leg in a 'tap, tap, tapping' motion against the office desk while he continued to listen closely. He was still waiting to hear something scandalous.

Logan couldn't remember having run across Carrie anywhere other than maybe at a party or two in passing prior to them starting to date. "What did I do that was apparently so memorable?" Logan asked dryly.

"She never really did tell us but it totally pissed her off. I guess she thought you should have fallen at her feet and when you didn't, she decided to make it her mission to win you." Luke looked at Veronica now, a bit apologetic as he said, "Seemed like she figured that since Veronica hadn't been around in years and she was a star herself, Logan here would be easy pickings."

Remembering all the manipulative crap his dad had pulled his whole life, Logan found himself wanting to smash something. The woman he was accused of murdering, the woman he'd been dating had actually played him and been successful. That's one he couldn't even credit his dad with. "So she never gave a damn about me," Logan said in a strained tone, "Go on. What else?"

"No, Dude. That's just it. Carrie always had a plan for every possibility. She was interested and wanted to make sure she had her shot so she had me, Sean, and Cobb do some research for her and lay some groundwork on bringing her closer to you." Luke explained, "But then once she got her shot, I think that's where she messed up."

"What do you mean?" Veronica asked, "And what groundwork?"

"Well, for one, she had us figure out what Logan was wrapped up in. Where his time and money were being spent. She said if she knew that, she'd know what made him tick and how to 'get to him'," Luke replied. Shrugging, he said, "I kinda think she really just wanted to know what all the fuss was about and kept saying she didn't appreciate being rejected twice."

Logan let out a bitter, enraged laugh and Veronica knew she needed to get him out of there for awhile, let him cool off before he committed murder for real. Glancing back at her dad and Cliff, she asked quietly, "Can you two handle this for a bit? I think Logan and I need a breather."

Keith gave a nod and Cliff gave a rare sympathetic glance. Logan was set like stone. Veronica didn't actually think he'd heard a word she'd said about getting them out of there. She could also tell that while he wasn't outwardly acting out like he used to, he'd channeled all that rage and emotion inward. If he wasn't imagining the most violent, bloody, and painful demise that he could come up with for the already dead woman, she would have been shocked and amazed.

Touching his arm gently, Veronica looked up at him and said softly, "Come on, Logan. We need a time out."