A Break in the Case
Finally after months of no progress, there is a break in the Zack Roscoe case. A young man picked up for drug possession by the DEA asked for a deal. He is going to testify that he deals drugs for Zack Roscoe and that he works out of the Odyssey Club. The decision is made to arrest and turn Veronica Mars first. Agent Howard tells the group that his request for a warrant for the Odyssey as well as Veronica Mars' condo has been granted. He believes they once they have her computer and any other important papers, they will have enough to charge Miss Mars and if she doesn't give up Roscoe, she will go to prison.
Logan is really worried. He knew this day would happen. The other agents on the team are all sure that Veronica is dirty but Logan has trouble reconciling her obvious guilt with the look in her eyes when she told him she wasn't doing anything illegal. The truth is, he doesn't believe that Veronica would knowingly allow Zack Roscoe to sell drugs in her club despite the money trail and the fact the DEA identifies her club as a place for Roscoe's drug deals. The DEA claims that Veronica has a private room for Roscoe that is swept for bugs and has protection from normal surveillance techniques. Agent Howard hopes that they can force Veronica Mars to allow bugs in that area of her club.
On Wednesday they serve a warrant at the club and Veronica's condo. When Logan arrives, the place is crowded with agents. They are going through each piece of paper and all her electronics. Her office and condo are a disaster. The agents haven't been careful with her things. Most of her pictures have been removed from the wall and the backs have been ripped out. Her books are all over the floor, most careless opened and examined.
He looks over when Veronica is escorted into her condo. She has already seen the club, her office and she looks over the ruins of her home. She does a good job of keeping her thoughts from her face but Logan can see she is upset as she looks at the deliberate carnage of her personal things. Some of the men are smirking at her. To them, there is nothing worse than a dirty former agent.
With Veronica is her head of security and her lawyer. Veronica turns to her lawyer and says something very quietly to him. He nods. Agent Howard goes over and interrupts their conversation. Her head of security automatically steps between them and Logan can see that he is aware of the history between them.
Logan standing close by hears their conversation. Agent Howard deliberately steps on one of her pictures that is now lying on the floor. The glass breaks and he ruins the picture underneath. He says loudly, "I am going to have to ask you to leave while we search."
Veronica's lawyer formally tells the lead agent, "Miss Mars has offered to open up the safe in her office and den. The one in her den contains her collection of vintage newspapers, maps and other papers of historical value." He opens his briefcase and states, "Here is her certificate identifying her as a collector and a member of the Los Angeles Historical Society."
Agent Howard looks at the paper in surprise. He looks over at Veronica but she is not meeting his gaze. He knows deep inside Veronica Mars has a plan. By identifying her papers as part of a collection of possible historical significance, she has made their job that much harder. Any mishandling of the items in her safe will earn his department unwanted attention from historical societies from all over California. He frowns but waves towards the den. The former agent walks with her lawyer carefully stepping over books and pictures to a bookcase. She depresses a latch and the bookcase swings out. There is a floor to ceiling safe behind the bookcase. Veronica easily unlocks it and opens it. The safe is the size of Logan's walk in closet and he can see it is filled with filing cabinets and boxes from floor to ceiling. His mouth drops open. He looks back at Veronica and she is not meeting his gaze.
Sorting through all these papers is going to take days. Veronica's security officer says, "Here is the combination to the safe here and for the one in the club's office. He hands him a slip of paper with the codes on them. He adds, "I will leave a few men outside to guard the club. When you are done, let them know and they will lock up."
The lawyer meets Agent Howard's gaze and tells him meaningfully, "The value of Miss Mar's collection is intangible. Some of it has been appraised but a lot of it has not been viewed by an expert. Much of the correspondence, maps and letters are irreplaceable. Exposure to hand oils and the air damages them. I trust that you will treat her collection in an appropriate manner." He turns to his client and says formally, "Miss Mars, let's go. I will request a complete inventory of items the FBI removes."
Veronica nods and takes a last look around before she carefully walks out of her den. She hesitates as she sees the picture of her father, her and Back Up on the beach giving it one last look before she walks out of her condo.
The agents in the room look at the safe and each other in consternation. Logan looks out the window and sees her get into a limo accompanied by her security officer. The limo drives off.
Logan wonders where she is headed to tonight. She cannot come back here and she needs security around her so she will probably have to stay at a hotel. He hopes she doesn't go to one of Roscoe's places.
Logan is right in that it takes two long, frustrating days for agents to just box up the papers in the safe alone. They still need to be inventoried. Logan helps box the things they are taking and is half annoyed and half impressed. He knows that Veronica has played them. She knew she was going to be raided and she made sure she had hundreds of thousands of pages for them to look through to see if they might be pertinent. This is her 'fuck you' to Agent Howard.
After they sign out, the building is locked and two security are left to watch the building. He imagines that all the locks will be changed after a cleaning company is done.
Logan enters his house and bends down to greet his dog. He is so glad to be home. He was one of the crew assigned to look through and inventory all of Veronica's papers. It was a long and tedious process. He ended up staying at a hotel near FBI headquarters. The hour drive to and from his house seemed too long. He had small bag of clothes with him in the vehicle so he was able to shower and change. He walks into the kitchen and stops. Standing in front of the oven is none other than petite blonde he has been mentally cursing the last few days. Exasperated he barks, "I thought I told you to never come here again."
She looks up from the oven for a brief second and states, "My place is not an option right now."
"Go and stay in a hotel or with your father," he suggests irritated. Seemingly unaffected by his mood, the tiny blonde lifts the pan out of the oven and puts it on the top of the stove. She then reaches in the oven and pulls out a loaf of garlic bread before she shuts the oven door and shuts it off. He looks over and sees that she has set the dining room table for two. Incredulously he asks, "Do you really think we are going to have a quiet dinner together?"
She looks at him like he is the one being unreasonable and quietly tells him, "I imagine you could use a home cooked meal after eating take out the last few days."
His voice rises as he asks her incredulously, "You have been here the whole time?"
She reaches into the fridge and gets out the small bowl of salad and dressing and walks to set them on the dining room table. She answers quietly, "Yes. I can't believe you hire a dog walker to exercise and feed Lariot."
Really annoyed he snaps, "It is none of your business."
Cooing at his dog she says, "It's OK. I paid the dog walker off and I made sure he was walked and fed; didn't I Lariot?" The dog excited to be petted, wags his tail and tries to kiss her. Looking up at him she assures the angry agent, "Don't worry. I told your walker I was Trina and at the last minute, I was able to look after your place while you were working." Meeting his gaze she adds, "She was very understanding. I left her the usual fee in the mailbox. She never saw me." Logan honestly doesn't know what to say about the invasion of his privacy. She stands up and walks over to the sink to wash. Then she adds, "What do you want to drink with dinner?"
Nonplussed he tells her, "A water will be fine."
She nods and pulls a pitcher out of the fridge and walks over to the table. Waving to the other chair, she says, "You might as well eat. We can fight during or after dinner if you want."
He walk over to the sink and washes and then walks over to the table to sit. He has to admit, it smells delicious. He always loved her lasagna. Although he is angry at her for the last few days of sixteen hour shifts, he can't blame her for messing with them. In a way, they deserved it after trashing her home and business; making her lose days of income while they were there and then probably another few days while repairs in the club are being done. He will never admit it but seeing how Veronica made his fellow FBI agents angry actually made him a little happy. They were all so quick to believe she sleeping with Zack Roscoe and was involved in drugs. None of them believed in her or had any loyalty to a fellow agent.
Truthfully, Logan is deeply discouraged! He read the transcripts of the interview with the drug dealer who the DEA got to turn against Roscoe. He directly implicated Zack Roscoe and he also clearly and repeatedly stated that Veronica Mars knew about the drugs being sold out of her club. He also told the agents that Veronica Mars was insistent that none of the dealings be done out in her club where there could be undercover police . All dealings had to be done in the private area of her club where security only let Roscoe's people and there was no possibility of audio or visual surveillance. He talked about she was former FBI and she knew how to keep her building and that private area secure. Apparently Veronica's rules about the drug deals worked. In the two years that this dealer had been using her club to sell drugs, he has never been picked up by any law enforcement. In fact, he was caught in an unrelated sting by the DEA and made the deal to give up Roscoe and Mars to shorten his own sentence.
Logan stretches his neck to relieve the tension. It has been a horrible day! He listened to the proof that Veronica knew about the drugs in her club and he was suspended by Agent Howard who somehow found out about his secret investigation into what happened on March 5, 2007. Agent Howard called him in to his office and told him he knew about his investigation into Veronica's hospitalization and he was off the team and suspended for a week. Essentially his career in the FBI may be done or at the very least, compromised.
The icing on the cake of his day is that Veronica has been staying at his home. He is upset she came into his home uninvited but technically the FBI did the same to her. Of course she is cooking him a great meal and he was cataloging and taking things from her home. They took her computer first. Agent Howard was thrilled that the FBI will be able to arrest Veronica Mars and Zack Roscoe.
Sitting across from her he feels the anxiety rise in his chest. In the next few days she will be arrested and the case the FBI has made against her is strong. She will probably go to jail. He thought he had hardened his heart against her. After all if she is laundering money and helping a drug dealer sell drugs from her club, then she deserves to go to jail but the thought of her in prison physically hurts him.
The food is delicious. Surprisingly, Logan does enjoy dinner. Veronica talks about funny things that happen at the club and Logan talks about things that have happened to him in the FBI. He tells her why he joined and how much he likes it.
He asks her about becoming a club owner. She shakes her head and says, "Logan, I want..." She stops and then she starts again, "I need to tell you how I became a club owner. You are probably the only person who will understand it." She looks torn and then tells him, "Right now is not the right time. You are investigating me. My lawyer does not want me talking to you about the club or any associates I have from owning the club." Reaching across the table, she grasps his hand. "I know that the DEA arrested Henry Lopez and he turned on Roscoe and implicated me. I also know your team is going to arrest me this week."
Logan pulls his hand from hers and asks, "How do you know that?"
Biting her lip she quietly shoots back, "You know how I know that."
"There is a mole in our operation," he hisses, "Agent Howard is right."
She doesn't change expression. She says steadily, "I told you the race was fixed and not in your favor."
He stands and swears, "Son of a bitch!"
Veronica stands as well. She walks over to him unafraid of his anger. "I also heard that you have been removed from the active part of the investigation by Agent Howard."
Open mouthed he comments, "You know everything about the operation?"
Nodding slowly she agrees, "What I need to know." She puts her hand on his arm and very slowly rubs it soothingly, "Logan, I know you are upset about being removed but it is a good thing."
"I went undercover for nothing. How can that be a good thing?" he spits out really angry. "Now I have been removed from a case by the lead agent. It's on my record."
Although she is not afraid he will ever hurt her physically, she is a little wary of his anger. She knows how upset she would be if she was taken off a case by her superior in the FBI. It is a huge setback especially if the agent is as well respected as Agent Howard. The weird thing is part of her is deeply touched by the fact that he checked up on Agent Howard and the situation that caused her to leave the FBI. Somehow he got caught and now his career is in jeopardy because Logan is protective of her even though they aren't together and she is under investigation.
Her eyes soften as she looks at him. He looks really pissed off and she feels badly that she is the cause. She has so much respect for him and feels so much for him. "Logan," she tries to soften her voice and defuse the situation, "This is one of those times that I can't be totally honest with you right now." Stepping closer she adds softly, "I would tell you if I could." She sees that his anger is not dissipating. Regretfully she tells him, "I won't ask you to trust me but I hope that you will trust in your knowledge of me that you have developed from our past together."
"Are you fucking kidding me Veronica?" he yells really annoyed that she is playing the past card. "You own a club that has known ties to a drug lord. There is evidence you knew about his selling drugs in your club. You have a lot of money in your personal account and the club account that is deposited monthly from a foreign bank. The FBI thinks you are dating a married crime boss. Now you are asking me to overlook all that because we used to know each other?"
The disappointment hits her harder than she thought it would. She figured he wouldn't trust her but deep inside a small part of must have hoped he would. She looks away putting up her mask of indifference but not before Logan saw her pain. She can't be mad at him because she knows if the tables were turned, she probably wouldn't trust him either. She now knows how much she hurt him when she didn't trust him when they were younger.
He hesitates. He used to know her well; better than anyone. He would have passionately defended her to any criticism of her moral compass but these last months of seeing her books, seeing her with criminals and her shifty manner have eroded his trust in her decisions. In his FBI career he has interviewed so many people that were truly shocked to find out that a person they trusted was lying to them. Yet looking at the pain she is masking that he didn't trust her, he sees that it matters to her that he believe in her. The irony of the moment is not lost on him. He was hurt when they were younger that she didn't trust him. Toning down his anger, he merely tells her, "You have made it difficult to trust you; you know that don't you?"
She nods and then looks up at him with something like hope in her eyes. "Maybe we would table any discussions about crime, policing and the future? Maybe we could just deal with today?" She searches his face for clues about his thoughts and finds that he is upset but is not going to show her anything else. Giving it one last try, she points out, "You are off work for a few days and my lawyer wants me to stay away from my condo and the club while the repairs are being done..."
A little disbelieving, he asks, "Are you saying we should stay here together and pretend that all our issues don't exist?"
She shakes her head and answers quietly, "I guess not."
When she goes to walk away, he quickly puts his arm out grabbing hers, "Veronica, it sounds nice, wonderful even; but it is not really realistic."
This time she nods her agreement. She sadly admits, "I just wanted a respite; a calm before the storm of our lives." Pausing she looks at him and adds, "Why do there have to be so many people in the world?"
He feels a little of his upset deflate at her words. He understands the reference to his frustration with all their issues when they first started dating. Reluctantly the corner of his mouth rises. Only someone who knows him well can get past his barriers so quickly. He reaches up with his other hand and brushes the bangs away from her face and admits, "We might have done better back then if we took a few days away from all our issues and just spent time together."
Smiling a little tentatively, she tells him, "I am not sure it would have helped keep us together in the long run but it would have been a great memory to look back on in the dark times."
He thinks about it and knows that it is not possible but part of him wants to have a couple of days with Veronica away from everything; no FBI, no club, no future arrest, no facing the consequences of being suspended by Agent Howard. They could just be together. It sounds amazing actually.
Stepping closer she leans into him and relaxes when he puts his arms around her. Her voice is muffled but he can understand her as he says into his chest, "I know it is selfish and shortsighted but for the next forty eight hours I just want to be the Veronica that you know. I want to be that girl again and spend time with the Logan I know. Life has gotten so fucked up!"
His heart skips a few beats at the fatigue and pain in her voice. He is bone tired as well. His plan was to get away from LA. He was going to call Dick and see if he wants to go to Mexico to surf with him. His suspension, this case and the stress he has been feeling because he is investigating Veronica have worn him down. He holds her close to him and thinks about her desire to hide from the world with him for the next two days.
The thing is, this is Veronica asking. She knows the rules even better than he does. Lifting her chin he says, "I think you know there is only one way we can do this." She looks at him and waits for him to tell her what they have to do. He lists, "No talk of FBI or your club. No telephone, internet or television. Nobody but us for forty eight hours. We stay here and just be Logan and Veronica. There is no past and no future; just the present."
"It sounds nice," she says quietly.
Finally he smiles at her and agrees, "It does sound nice!" Bending so they eyes are level, he tells her quietly, "When our time together is over, it never happened."
Sadly she nods, "To the rest of the world, it never happened." She reaches in her pocket, pulls out her phone and shuts it off. Decision made, Logan looks at her, pulls out his phone, opens it and depresses a button. When it is answered, Logan instructs his head of security that no one is to come in the mansion gates for the next forty eight hours; no exceptions. He tells him that he will be there but out of touch. He hangs up and then turns his phone off.
Veronica explains, "I told my second to handle everything for the next few days. I warned my dad that I will be out of touch for a while."
"Good," he nods his understanding. Their gazes meet. Logan takes a deep breath and suggests, "Let's clean up dinner and see if there is any ice cream in the freezer. We can watch a movie in the media room."
A genuine smile crosses her face and she asks, "Do you have the South Park movie?"
Laughing he tells her, "I do but after that I call Easy Rider."
Giving him a fake grimace, she pretends to reluctantly agree, "Well there better be lots of toppings..." She walks over to the table and picks up their plates. Logan picks up the pan of pasta and the salad. They walk together into the kitchen.