CHAPTER TEN
A key was waiting for her on the kitchen island along with a note from Dick, "Ronnie, going to TJ for the weekend." She didn't want to think about Dick in Tijuana for an entire weekend- all of Mexico could be in trouble. The Greek yogurt and fresh strawberries for breakfast left her unsatisfied. She fixed a bowl of Cheerios with bananas and made some toast too. This is why your jeans don't fit, Veronica. She ignored the thought and slathered her toast with butter and jelly.
When the bell rang she considered ignoring it too, but a peek around the corner revealed Wallace and Mac standing at the glass door. She shoved the toast in her mouth and opened the door.
Wallace frowned at her, "you're not dressed yet."
"Am I supposed to be?"
"You're taking us to the airport."
Crap, she'd forgotten. "Gimme five minutes." Did she really not own one pair of sweatpants? She pulled on the biggest pair of jeans she owned, left the button undone and covered it with one of Logan's button-down shirts. Tiny and petite worked for crawling in cabinets to hide, but not for hiding baby weight. She was going to have to make time today for a wardrobe update. "Okay let's hit the road, jack."
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"
Before Mac finished asking the question she was shaking her head. An extra night in Beaverton was not going to happen. To be honest, she didn't want to go at all. She was already about as welcome as a nun in a strip club. "I'll be there first thing in the morning. Tonight I have to see a man about a horse." They exchanged the 'Veronica's crazy look' they'd perfected through the years, which she pretended not to see. "Did you get a chance to call Parker?"
Mac nodded, "I spoke with her last night. She said she is going to fly up tomorrow morning too. Maybe you two can go together?"
And maybe pigs would fly and hell would freeze over. She caught sight of Mac's expression in the rearview mirror, "you didn't."
"It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"So did bell bottoms and New Coke." Two and half hours trapped on a plane next to Parker. Did she have time to buy a parachute while shopping for new clothes? "You didn't talk to her about Logan did you?"
"Why would I?"
"No reason." Despite Parker's assertion to the contrary, Veronica didn't believe she wasn't bitter about Logan. Nine years later and she was still smarting from their breakup, which begged the question, why? While she and Logan talked about their years apart, two weeks wasn't enough time to cover much ground, especially when they were busy with other things. Veronica smiled at the memory of 'other things.' They certainly didn't talk about Parker. "When did Parker leave Hearst?"
Wallace shifted in his seat to look at Mac, "middle of our sophomore year?"
"That sounds right. She went home for Christmas and didn't come back."
"I know her and Logan split up right before I left, but did they get back together after the summer?" Both of her friends looked like they would rather be some place other than in the car with her. "I'm guessing by your silence and uncomfortable looks, the answer is yes?"
Mac caved first, "they got back together before the summer. They went to South America together."
"I thought that surf trip was canceled?"
Wallace shrugged, "all we know is Dick, Logan, and Parker went to South America that summer and when they got back, Logan and Parker were together right up until she left for Christmas."
"Yeah, what he said."
The longer relationship helped put things in better perspective. It wasn't unreasonable then for Parker to get ideas about a future with Logan after dating him for a year. It was, however, a little unreasonable to put the blame on Veronica for the breakup when she hadn't been at Hearst for months at that point. She pulled up to the departure gates. Wallace got out of the car and Mac leaned over into the front seat, "you are going to come tomorrow right?"
"With bells on." Even with the reassurance, Mac appeared doubtful. "I promise."
Mac shut the car door, paused and turned back. Veronica was afraid she was going to ask for a blood oath to guaranty an appearance tomorrow. Instead she said, "I left that stuff on Sacks on your desk for you."
"Thanks." Once they disappeared into the airport, Veronica pulled away from the curb, but rather than heading to the office, she turned in the direction of the mall.
After three stores and multiple trips to the fitting rooms she was frustrated and ready to quit. Everything she tried on was too big in some places and too tight in others. Her cell phone rang, a picture of Logan in uniform appeared on the screen, "was your spidey sense tingling?"
"I think we both know that's not my super power." He was in playful, seductive mode.
"Cocky much?"
"You're getting warmer."
Heat suffused her cheeks. "Well your super power has made it so none of my clothes fit."
He chuckled, "you're making this too easy."
"Didn't anyone tell you you're supposed to let the easy ones go?"
"Oh, I always walk away from the easy ones, it's the challenges I love."
Veronica smiled, "said the pot to the kettle." She pushed the clothes off the dressing room bench and sat down. "I miss you."
"When you say things like that I'm tempted to go AWOL. I have access to planes you know." He sighed, "we're almost halfway there."
"Hey, why did you and Parker break up the second time?"
"I'll take totally random questions for a hundred, Alex. Why are you asking me about Parker?"
"I saw her the other night and, well, she still seems rather bitter."
"Please refer back to my earlier comment- easy ones, Logan walking away." Veronica waited. "No? Okay, she was angry because she knew I still loved you and I would never feel the same about her."
"That was the first time. What about the second time, just before Christmas?"
"It was the same reason. She was hinting about us getting serious and asking me to come to Denver with her for the break and I was a dick to her."
"Not you."
Logan ignored her commentary, "I told her I was never going to feel that way about her. Actually, it was more like, uh, I've been using you as a distraction to get over Veronica and it's not working for me any longer, but hey thanks for playing, sorry there are no parting gifts."
That solved her personal Parker mystery. "Nice."
"What do you want me to say Veronica? You just disappeared without a word. You were the only person in my life that mattered to me, hell, you were my life and you were gone. I was messed up for a long time."
I was messed up for a long time- yeah, me too. "I'm sorry Logan."
"You don't have to apologize. I wanted to be a better man for you Veronica and now I think I am. We're here, together, we're having a baby, and that's all that matters to me."
"To me too, Logan. I love you, and I'm glad we found our way back to each other." She swiped at the tears cascading down her face, "and for the record I always thought you were a good man."
"That makes one of us." He fell silent. She thought she lost the connection until he asked, "how are you feeling?"
"Hungry. All the time."
"And you're getting fat, huh?"
"You did not just call me fat."
"Hmm, I think I did and I can't wait to see it, I'm sure you're beautiful."
"Remember you said that when I'm the size of a house and you don't want to touch me."
"I'm always going to want to touch you." His voice dropped to a husky whisper, "in fact, if you have a few minutes I will tell you in great detail what I would like to do to you."
Her pulse quickened. "A few minutes? Is that all it's going to take?"
"I'm very good at what I do." Woof.
"Overconfident flyboy."
"Scared?"
Veronica swallowed. "No, but I'm in a public fitting room."
"I can work with that."
"I'm hanging up now. I love you, stay safe."
He laughed, "Chicken."
Phone flirting with Logan was better than mood altering drugs. With a renewed vigor for shopping, she managed to piece together a few new outfits, even managing to find an outfit for the funeral tomorrow. Armed with some flattering shirts and cute empire-waist babydoll tops, she was ready to face the maternity section for jeans with stretch panels and maternity leggings.
Once her shopping spree was over, she headed back to the office for the information Mac left her on Jerry Sacks. Corruption was difficult to investigate. There were no crime scenes, and no eye-witnesses to interview. By nature it was a very hush-hush crime with no reason for anyone benefitting from the spoils to start blabbing about the scheme, but something made Jerry come forward. She wasn't sure if it was just an attack of conscience or if he was afraid of imminent exposure. Veronica was rooting for imminent exposure because it would mean there was a mistake made somewhere along the corruption chain. A mistake she could find.
Mac was efficient and organized with her file on Sacks. Not that Veronica would expect anything less. Five years of tax returns, six months of bank statements, property records, and as an added bonus, she'd retrieved his personal emails going back three months prior to his death. Veronica started with his most recent tax return.
Your average California Sheriff's Deputy made around fifty grand a year to start and, figuring in pay increases for years of service, the seventy thousand reported on Sacks' income tax return was not unusual. She scanned his Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, and stopped short at the real estate taxes. A third of his salary, twenty five grand, was spent on his annual real estate taxes. Veronica whistled. That amount of money meant his house had to be valued for around two million dollars. Pretty nice digs for a deputy without an 09er trust fund. She skipped down a few lines to the home mortgage interest and found a big, fat zero. No mortgage interest meant no mortgage. So Jerry was living in a fully paid-off, two million dollar house.
She pulled out the file on Lamb to check his tax return. There were no real estate taxes or mortgage interest, because Lamb didn't itemize, instead choosing to take the standard deduction. Veronica frowned. She was positive Lamb owned a house. Flipping through the file she found a copy of the real estate deed. In the consideration section of the deed was the amount of two hundred thousand dollars. On a first pass she could see why she missed it. Two hundred thousand dollars was a perfectly reasonable amount for Lamb to pay for his house. Thanks to her recent foray into the joys of purchasing a house, she realized the only problem with the amount was that real estate in Neptune wasn't that cheap.
Veronica found the deed for Sacks' house. The street name was very familiar to her. It should be. She'd spent four years of her life going to sleepovers and swimming in the pool at the house just down the road. So how much did Sacks pay for the privilege of being neighbors with the Kane family? Two hundred thousand dollars.
Was this how they were being paid off? With prime real estate sold on the cheap? What she needed to do was talk to someone with more real estate experience. She copied down the addresses for both Sacks and Lamb. Maybe when she was out house hunting with Dottie she could get a fast education from the agent on housing values and Prop 13 real estate taxes.
What she needed to do now however was get something to eat. The pizza she had at the mall was hours ago and the mixed nuts she'd been munching on were not enough. Her life was beginning to resemble a never-ending quest for food. She was insatiable. Note to self, never utter that phrase around Logan.
If she timed it right, she could get something to eat and be back here for her date with Weevil. It was a little chilly, but rather than go back inside for a sweater, she retrieved the cardigan from her new purchases. With the addition of the cranberry sweater, her new 'shabby pregnancy' fashion style was complete. Vogue was sure to be calling her for a cover photo shoot any day now.
She headed to The Promiscuous Fork for their coconut jalapeno rice and the best Fork'n Chicken Sandwich Ever made with habanero pesto and roasted green chilies, then topped with cheddar and bacon. Eating for two was more like eating for twenty-two. Her joke of being as big as house was going to come true sooner rather than later if she didn't stop fantasizing about food. Pregnant women talked about 'baby brain' and apparently hers didn't involve forgetting things it was just a big Zagat's guide to all the eating establishments in Southern California.
On her way to the restaurant she drove past the Kane house. Next week was the anniversary of Lilly's death. The proximity to the date was probably the reason for the increased thoughts about Lilly. Sometimes she allowed herself to indulge in the alternate universe fantasy where her best friend wasn't murdered and the trajectory of all their lives was different. Where would they be now if Lilly hadn't died? That was a feature she would like to see in the Neptune Navigator.
She stopped in front of the address for Sacks. It was a new construction. Modern and boxy with multiple levels and an over abundance of windows. Set back from the road and protected from trespassers with a Magnalock security gate, it was impossible to get a full view of the house, but it looked enormous. A for sale sign touting 'exclusive listing and by appointment only' was discreetly nestled in the pristine landscaping. Veronica pulled out her phone and sent a quick email to Dottie. Think we can add one more house to our Sunday afternoon? She added the address and hit send.
Her daydreaming and detour meant taking her food to go and eating it in the car on her way back to Weevil. He was leaning against his car waiting for her when she pulled into the parking lot. She locked up and went to join him.
"Look at us, it's like we never left high school. You dating Logan Echolls and snooping into other people's business. Me, riding with the PCHers and saving your ass."
Veronica knocked on the hood of his Impala, "you, still driving the same car."
"It's a classic."
"That's what we are my friend, you and me- classics." Once they were settled in the car, she turned to Weevil, "tell me about Nico Benedetti."
"You've got your basics, prostitution, drugs, gambling, and loan sharking. The average mafia boss, but think more Rico Suave than Al Pacino." He glanced at her, "okay, my turn, what's the point of our impossible mission?"
Veronica waggled an imaginary cigar, "there's this dirty rat, see, and he's fixin' to send me up the river to the big house."
"Is that Jimmy Cagney or Mugsy?"
"Have you been watching Bugs Bunny again? Aw, that's so cute, Weevil and his cartoons."
"You're not going to be laughing when we're taking a swim with cement shoes."
"Touchy, touchy. There's a witness, Charles "Charlie" Gallagher who is trying to place me at a crime scene. He's got a serious gambling problem and I'm guessing someone is using his debt as leverage to make him lie."
"So just ask him."
"Sure. I hear you're in debt to the mob and they're forcing you to lie, want to tell me about it?"
"Sounds better than this little road trip to death."
"Road trip to death, wasn't that a movie?"
"Yeah and it didn't end well."
The former Seventh Veil was still in the seedier section of town, but gone were the neon lights advertising 'nude girls,' and the silver sign above the door was now a brass plaque engraved with the words, Nico's Lounge. Inside were walls of exposed brick and a gleaming walnut bar. It reminded her of a 1920's speakeasy with the small linen-covered tables, dance floor and live jazz music.
Weevil grabbed her hand and pulled her through the room like they were being chased by the hounds of hell. A large man with a neck as thick as the Great Wall of China held out a hand to stop their progress. "You can't go back there."
"We need to see Nico, my girlfriend is in trouble." Weevil jerked her forward so the linebacker could see her. "Tell him."
On cue, Veronica started to cry. "You're hurting me baby. It's not my fault; I didn't know it was fixed."
"You see what I'm dealing with?"
His eyes traveled between the two of them, "wait here." He disappeared into the office.
"A little over the top don't you think?"
Weevil shrugged, "you get what you pay for."
"I'm not paying you."
"Exactly my point."
The door troll returned and told them they could go on in. Rico Suave was an apt description for Nico Benedetti. Tall, dark and packed with machismo. His black hair was an expensive cut, but not as expensive as the cut of his navy blue Brooks Brothers suit. He wore a white silk dress shirt open at the collar revealing a small gold cross and a deep even tan. You could put lipstick on a pig, but it was still a pig.
"Please sit," he gestured toward the two club chairs. "How can I help you?"
Weevil got them in, now Veronica took the lead. "I'm in trouble and I need a loan."
"Why did you come to me? I run a respectable business here."
Veronica almost snorted. What is it with the clichés in this town? Did everyone spend their weekends watching GoodFellas and The Godfather? "I, um, uh…"she stammered, "a mutual friend, Charlie Gallagher, said I could, um, said that, uh, you could help me."
"Charlie Gallagher is not a friend of mine."
Veronica nervously jumped out of her seat. "Oh my God, I don't know what I'm going to do if you can't help." She started pacing around the office, randomly adjusting the pictures on the wall and rearranging the items on his desk.
Nico reached out and grabbed her hand, "why don't you sit down, Miss?"
"Rory. Rory Gilmore."
"Why don't you sit down Rory. I didn't say I wasn't going to help, I just said, Charlie wasn't a friend of mine." He pulled a black ledger book with a red spine from his desk drawer. "How much did you say you needed?"
"Oh thank you so much Nico," she breathlessly panted his name. "You are literally saving my life." She tilted her head and gave him a soft smile, "ten thousand dollars. Is that too much for you?"
He opened the ledger book and grinned, "I think I can handle that."
Veronica leaned closer to him, "I'm sure you can."
"The interest is twenty percent a week."
"Twenty percent?" She leaned further over the desk allowing her shirt to gap open affording him a view of her newly swelling breasts. Veronica slid her hand over his, "do you think we could work something out for that interest?"
"I'm sure we could come up with something."
Weevil grabbed her arm and pulled her off his desk. "Hey man, that's my girlfriend you're talking to."
Nico stood up, "I wasn't the one trying to negotiate." His emphasis on the word 'negotiate' clearly translated to sorry your girlfriend's a whore.
Weevil started dragging her toward the door, "well thanks, but no thanks."
He didn't let her go until they were out on the street. "Wait." Veronica pulled a pen and paper from her bag. She wrote down, 500L s. 75c $ 350k.
"We don't have time for you to write your shopping list. It's milk M, I, L, K. Let's go Veronica." He pulled her across the street and practically shoved her in the car.
She handed him the paper, "while you were learning how to spell milk, I was perfecting my upside down reading skills. Now I just need to figure out what it means."
Weevil held the paper near the window, illuminating it with the street lights. "Maybe you should've spent more time in Petty Crime 101. It means Charlie Gallagher owed him five hundred large, that's five hundred thousand dollars for those in the remedial class. The s means he sold the debt for seventy-five cents on the dollar and walked away with three hundred and fifty thousand. Does that help?"
"Yes and no. It confirms Charlie was in trouble, but I still don't know who was pulling his strings. Good thing I also had the foresight to plant a bug in Nico's office."
"Is that what all the redecorating was about?"
"Hey, a girl's gotta do, what a girl's gotta do."