DISCLAIMER: Characters of Veronica Mars, the canon events of their storylines, and recognizable dialogue belong to Rob Thomas.

A/N:

Chapter 4 occurs during a modified version of #1.12 "Clash of the Tritons."


Chapter 4

When I stepped out into the bright sunlight (after spending some quality time with Sheriff Lamb), I was about to take Cliff up on his offer to drive me back to the school to get my car, but something changed my mind: Weevil.

He was sitting on a bench talking on his phone, which he quickly hung up when he saw me exiting the building. "I heard you might need a ride."

Looking a bit relieved, Cliff said, "Actually, I 'm late for an appointment. So that works for me." He started to walk away and then, turned back around. "I won't tell your dad about this if you don't. The part about me not giving you a ride, that is."

I just nodded before turning my attention back to Weevil. I asked, "How inflated are the rumors? Anywhere near the truth?"

"There are some pretty wild ones. But I'm gonna go with: someone tipped them off that you were allegedly making fake IDs, you were arrested, and got suspended for three days. How'd I do?"

"Not bad."

"One of the boys saw them taking you out of school. I would have paid to see you in cuffs."

"You can't afford my rates."

His eyes widened at the implication.

Without acknowledging what I was sure he was thinking, I asked, "Do you know of anyone at school who is making and selling IDs?" When he shook his head, I added, "Can you ask around?" I knew that I would end up asking Wallace too, but it couldn't hurt to have Weevil checking with his contacts, which was a decidedly different list than Wallace's.

"You mean as a favor? Sure." Handing me a helmet, he added, "Anyway, about that ride…"

[

[

I had put a bug in the stapler Miss James had on her desk so I could listen in on the grief counseling sessions she was doing with people who were close to Lilly. Being suspended meant I had lots of free time to listen to what the device picked up.

I was not expecting to hear Weevil talking to Miss James. And I certainly wasn't expecting to hear what he had to say.

He had asked me about what happened with Jake Kane at the Christmas party. I guess if I was gonna ask him about Lilly, I'd need to tell him about some things, including Jake Kane.

Later that night, I was placing a camera in a glass display case at the school, positioning it so that it would show me who was going in and out of the locker that was connected to the person selling IDs. On my way out of the school, I saw a motorcycle next to my car. I slowed my walk, stalling for a little time to think.

"V, what are you doing breaking into the school this fine evening?"

"I admit to entering … and exiting. But there was no breaking involved."

"Seriously, though. What are you doing?"

"I set up a camera that will hopefully give me the evidence I need to get the charges dropped."

He commented, "So … surveillance, not B&E."

After nodding, I began to tread lightly, "Speaking of surveillance … there's something I want to talk to you about. Do you mind if we sit in the car? 'Cause I don't think this will be a short conversation. I mean, if you have the time."

"Veronica, I will make the time."

He had an odd look on his face and a strange tone in his voice. Plus, he called me by my full name. Weird.

"Why exactly?"

"Me, you, parked car, deserted lot at night…"

"I've got enough false rumors floating around about me. I don't need you adding any." I pointed my index finger at him and gave him my best glare as I got in behind the steering wheel.

He got in the front passenger seat and said sarcastically, "So, how was your day?" Seeing my face, he dropped the attitude and asked, "What is it?"

"First … hear me out before you get mad."

"Why would I get mad?"

I avoided that for the time being. "Second, remember how you trusted me with Duncan's laptop after I trusted you enough to tell you … you know. Well, you asked about Jake Kane and I'm ready to answer that question, but I need to follow it up with a question of my own."

He settled back against the door, looking prepared to listen with minimal interruption.

"I'm not sure where to begin really. I guess for starters … I don't think Abel Koontz killed Lilly. I've been doing my own investigation. I don't have enough pieces, yet. But the ones I have … they don't fit … which is why I went to visit Koontz in prison … a few weeks before the poker game mystery."

Weevil was trying to look like he was not personally interested in what I was saying.

I continued, "He implied – strongly implied – that Jake Kane is my father. I knew that Jake and my mom dated in high school. Not that long ago, the two of them met at the Camelot. And we both know what that usually means. Anyway, I had a DNA test run on my dad and I, but when the results came, I couldn't look at them. Shredded the envelope without opening it."

"V, I don't even know what to say to that."

"It gets more complicated. I found photos my mom left in a safe deposit box. Surveillance photos of me. They were taken by the head of security at Kane Software. You wanted to know what that was about, that night at the Echolls' Christmas party. I was asking Mr. Kane about the photos."

"What did he say?"

"He acted like he didn't know about them. But then, he stormed out of the room. When he found his wife, he grabbed her by the arm. I don't know what he said to her, but it did not look amicable."

After a moment, he interrupted the silence. "You said you wanted to ask me something."

"Yeah, so … the camera I just put in the school is not the only surveillance I'm doing right now. As part of my investigation into Lilly's death, I put a bug in someone's office." I waited to see if he would put it together on his own. "There are some inconsistencies in some of the info I've collected. And there's always the possibility that somebody would consider something insignificant that might actually be important. But they might let it slip in casual conversation ... or in a counseling session."

His reaction was instantaneous – fists clenched, jaw set, eyes wild, breathing erratic.

Calmly, I pointed out, "This is why I asked you not to get mad until you heard everything."

"There's more?"

"Well, not really. If you remember what you said when you met with Miss James, then you know what I heard. I want you to know that I wouldn't tell anyone what you said. And if you ever want to talk about it, like you said to me ... you know where to find me. Also ... now that I know you had a connection to Lilly, I thought …"

"That I might want to help you find out if they got the right guy?"

"Yeah."

"I'm assuming that means you don't think I did it."

"No, of course not." I leaned toward him to place a hand on his arm. "Would I be sitting here alone with you in a parked car if I thought you killed my best friend?"

[

[

It was quite a fun-filled week – a few more days of suspension meant a few more days of listening to the counseling stylings of Miss James via her stapler.

In other fun, I got photographic proof of a secret society.

After cracking the case of the horrible, no good, very bad fake IDs … and serving up the guilty party on a silver platter, I went back to my regular (though, far from normal and never boring) life.

After school, I found Weevil waiting by my car.

"I heard the charges got dropped. That mean you caught the guy on candid camera?"

"It was a little trickier than that, but yeah, I got him. In the process, I managed to piss off the wrong people, got locked in the trunk of my car."

"What?! Who?! And why the hell am I just hearing about this now? Why didn't you call me?"

"I'm fine. Wallace came and got me. It was more of a prank than anything. A bunch of nitwits didn't like that I found out about their super-secret club."

He was looking at my wrists. "They tied you up."

I could almost see the smoke coming from his nostrils. "Weevil, I'm fine. Really. They didn't tie the rope very tight. They even left my cell phone in my pocket. As soon as I got loose, I called Wallace. When he got there, the keys were in the lock of the trunk. If they truly meant to hurt me, they didn't do a very good job of it."

"I can't stand idiotic assholes who do stuff like that to women." He shook off the tension and anger, but asked again anyway, "You're sure you're okay? Nothing you need me to do?"

"No, I'm good, but now I know who to call when I need a bodyguard."

And just like that, my favorite flirt buddy was back. He smirked and cocked an eyebrow. "Be happy to guard that body of yours anytime, V."

He didn't actually promise. It was more like an offer. But in the days to come, he did keep that unofficial promise.


A/N:

Thanks for reading! Until next time ...

~Jen

5 July 2016