One Angry Veronica
13 Weeks Along
She and Eli sit alone during lunch.
"You need to tell him." he whispers. "Even his mom thinks that he will be able to take the news." He can feel all the eyes on them.
"How do I tell him this? It's bad enough that her parents are keeping this from him by keeping him away. How do I...?"
"Hey, lovebirds hope I'm not interrupting." Duncan says as he joins them. "What's going one? Where is everyone?" he asks looking around.
"I saw Meg."
"Oh.."
"Duncan, she's pregnant."
"I know."
"Wait, what. She has been trying to figure out how to tell you and you already knew." Eli says his voice getting louder as he stands and towers over Duncan.
"Eli.." she whispers pulling him to sit down.
"There was a letter to her aunt. She wanted to move and raise the baby with her." he tells them.
"Did you know at all before that?"
"No. I'm glad I didn't to be honest. I don't think I would have been able to stay sane if I had known."
"Ronnie, DK." Dick says sitting down. "Ronnie, you might want to cut back on these ice cream dinners. You seem to be getting a belly."
"Of course I have a belly, Dick. I'm pregnant." she announces not caring anymore on who knows.
"Oh than, I guess I should put you down for a 'no' for my New Year's Eve bash, right?"
"That would be a good idea." she replies trying not to snarl at him.
"Well I know Duncan won't be there now that Meg is awake."
"What?" Duncan asks.
"Meg woke up, man. Why are you even in school? If my woman was awake after months of being out of it I would be there."
"You would need a woman first, Dick." she says.
Dick shrugs and walks off.
"I need to see her."
"I still have the visitor pass from when I went to get Koontz's stuff. Just give me an hour and we'll be good to go." she says grabbing her things and leaves Duncan to stare after her.
Eli stays at the table and with a nod. Felix gets up from the PCH table and joins her, throwing an arm over her shoulders as he does. Thumber takes Felix seat at the table. All the boys watch their 'sister' and glare at the 09er with their leader.
"Be lucky that she considers you a friend." Eli says coldly.
"What?" Duncan says looking startled.
"If you weren't, I would be putting you in the ground for what she has been going through the past few days debating how to tell you about Meg."
"I..I..Think she noticed that she told Dick that she's pregnant." Duncan stammers trying to change the subject.
He just glares at him and gets up to join his boys.
"Thank you for getting here so quick. I must have sounded like a crazy person on the phone." Woody says as he invites Keith into his office
"If's fine. It seemed important."
"Very. Sheriff Lamb called me not that long ago. The tapes of Lilly Kane and Aaron Echolls have been stolen from the evidence room."
"All the tapes." he asks flabbergasted.
"Originals and copies. The worst part they were in separate safes."
"Any signs of a break-in?"
"No. I fear it was an inside job."
"This is going to put a huge dent in the prosecution's case. This kind of thing isn't going to stay under wraps for long."
"I know, that's why I want to hire you to get the tapes back."
"I'm only a private investigator. I don't have the staff or access."
"It's not going to be a private investigation. I want you to do it as an official independent inquest of the city."
"You sure I'm the right guy for this. With my history with the department."
"That's why you are prefect. Please Keith."
"Alright."
Meg wakes up to find Duncan, Veronica and Eli in her room. Felix, Thumper and the est of the boys are watching for her parents to give them time to visit with her.
"Hey." Duncan says softly when she looks at him. He gabs her hand and kisses it.
"Surprise." Meg says with a smile.
Meg looks at her and notices the bump.
"Surprise." she says with a grin.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Duncan asks.
"I was scared. Your mom isn't the easiest person to get along with. I wanted to have a back up plan if..."
"Don't worry about Celeste." she says. Duncan and Meg look at her like she is crazy.
"What are we going to do?" Duncan asks.
"I don't know. My parents want to put the baby up for adoption. Have any of you heard about the Levi Stinson Sanctuary House?"
They all shake their heads no.
"It's adoption contracts are all about religious indoctrination and tough-love discipline, a virtual license for abuse. I don't want our baby growing up like that."
"Don't I have any say in the matter?" Duncan asks.
"Yeah, the sinner that knocked up their daughter. They want you gone. They've got lawyers digging up your medical history, blackouts, and violent outbursts. All I want is to have this baby and be safe."
Only Eli sees her sending a text about that.
A nurse comes in and starts trying to get the thee of them to leave.
"Val, that it is okay." Meg states.
"We'll go so that you can get some rest." Duncan says brushing a kiss on her forehead.
"Ronnie, can I talk to you before you go?"
She nods her head and Eli gives her a kiss before leaving the room with Duncan.
"How far along are you?"
"Around thirteen weeks. I'm scared out of my mind. I want to be mad about you not telling me but I'm glad that I didn't know. I wouldn't have been able to keep it from Duncan."
"I'm sorry. Part of me wanted to escape to my aunt's first before I told anyone."
"I get it, Meg."
"I need you to promise me something."
"What is it?"
"If anything should happen to me, do not let my parents send my baby away and no matter what do not let them keep him or her."
"I promise."
"Hey, honey and company." her dad says as she, Eli, Thumper and Felix enter the house.
"Sheriff." the boys say.
"How's your day been, honey?" he asks he as she sits on the couch. Eli sits next to her as Felix and Thumber sit on the floor.
"Could be worse."
"Would it help if I microwave some enchiladas that Letty sent over."
"Maybe."
"What about some ice cream to go with it?" he asks.
"Why are you being so nice?" she asks.
He hands her some mail, apologizing.
She opens it up as her dad asks what kind of ice cream she wants.
She throws the paper at Eli and stomps off to her room.
"What did I do?" Eli asks looking at the paper.
"What's up with Blondie?" Thumper and Felix ask
"She got jury duty." Eli says.
"I'll go get more ice cream." Keith says.
Of course, I get picked for jury duty.
She takes her seat.
"We need to pick a foreman." one of the jurors says. "Any nominations?"
No one says a thing.
"Well, this is an open-and-shut case. I say we nominate that young lady for the job."
She looks around to see that he is suggesting her for the job.
She is unanimously voted in.
Sheriff Lamb explains to him how the security at the department has been upgraded.
One of the main features being the trading out of traditional keys for passcards that are reset every few days, that "level one clearance" is only for senior staff, and there is no nighttime access without his written permission.
He informs Lamb that he will need full access to all of Lamb's staff, including full personnel files and pretty much all of the information available for everyone.
Lamb agrees.
She suggests that they review the facts of the case.
A juror begins.
The two defendants, both twenty-one years old and 09ers, are Robbie McKinnon and Hunter Hayes who are charged with aggravated assault on Anissa Villapondo.
The prosecution's story is that Anissa missed her bus after getting off of work at a car wash in downtown Neptune, decided to hitchhike, and was picked up by McKinnon and the way, they smoked marijuana.
Which another juror, an older Latina woman, interjects belonged to the 09er boys.
The same guy continues.
Anissa and the two boys decided to rent a motel room to "party" more.
The Latina grandma also points out that the Ecstasy that the three intended to use also belonged to the boys.
The businessman continues.
Noting that once the three arrived in the room McKinnon and Hayes allegedly asked for sex.
Another juror, a black woman, notes that Anissa claims that McKinnon and Hayes got so aggressive at that point that she became frightened.
The businessman picks up.
Hayes supposedly drew a gun, and subsequently forced Anissa back into the room and kicked her.
The jurors pass around pictures of the crime scene, with blood stains on the bedding and the wall and bullet holes in the ceiling.
The businessman explains that Hayes reportedly placed the gun on the bedside table and climbed on top of Anissa, who fought back, grabbed the gun, and fired two shots into the ceiling.
She picks up the story here.
The boys ran off and the police picked them up the next day based on Anissa's description and the security tapes from the motel.
The businessman says that Anissa claims that after the beating she staggered out to the balcony and threw the gun over the gun was never found.
She begins on the defendant's version of the story.
That Anissa was a hooker who offered them a three-way for $80, but before they could get started a young black man, her pimp, burst in and fired the shots into the ceiling, ordering them to get out. The boys told the police that the pimp thought Anissa owed him money and they assume that he was the one who beat her.
Another juror, a man with a mustache, notes that Anissa is a criminal, convicted for forgery when she was fifteen and is on parole for being the armed lookout during a liquor store robbery.
She continues with the final facts.
After the attack Anissa called an old boyfriend, Anquan Simmons, who says that she asked for his help, but when the police arrived he was still on the line.
She notes that neither of the defendants have criminal records.
The businessman interjects that neither do they have any guns registered to their names.
After the shots the hotel manager claims that he saw a young black man with a gun run through the parking lot and jump over the six foot fence surrounding the motel.
She moves on to the defendant's ace in the hole, Carnell Myles, who identifies himself as Anissa's pimp, turned himself in and his story matches McKinnon's and Hayes's perfectly.
She stands and asks if they're all ready for a vote.
Everyone agrees, and vote.
However, when she counts the votes there are ten for innocent and two for guilty.
Deputy Sacks is sitting down talking to him about the security upgrades, including magnetic keys.
He repeats what Lamb had said before about only senior staff having the keys. He asks Sacks if they ever lost a card.
Sacks tells him that they have, but they found it and it's no good, because they changed the codes. That Inga has the codes in her drawer and she can make another card right there, but only for Level 1 clearance, senior staff only.
"Okay, I know that no one really wants to be here." she says holding her cup of tea. Her morning sickness came out in full force this morning, but after a call to Letty she had her tea to help.
"I'm suppose to be meeting with a outsourcing company in Bangalore. Do you want to explain to them why the CEO is missing?" the businessman says.
"On top of that why don't you explain to the spots fans of Neptune why Madison Harwell is missing from the airwaves." another juror says.
"As a divorced mother of two taking unpaid leave from her crap job, she wants to get on with it." a woman juror claims.
"Alright." she says placing her tea on the table as they all sit down.
"Would the holdouts like to reveal themselves so that we can know who you are?" the businessman asks.
The Latina grandma knitting raises her hand.
"I'm the one holding back your quarterly earnings." she says as she exchanges a look with her and nods.
"Is it the racial stuff that affecting your vote?"
She shoots the question back at him. He seems to have forgotten that thee wee two holdouts.
"Why they should see the defendant's story as even remotely credible?" he snorts.
"I've never heard of a ho that works her ass off all day in a car wash before hitting the streets." grandma replies.
The rest of the jury looks like they agree with her.
"Let's discuss it." she says.
Deputy Leo comes into the interrogation room.
Tells him that security around the department is a joke.
"Lamb told me security was impressive."
"Lamb would think so, since he locks himself out pretty often." Leo says.
They laugh at the joke.
"Someone must have figured out what those tapes would be worth on the open market." Leo mentions.
"I'm an idiot; I was so hung up on Aaron Echolls that I didn't realize how much the tapes are worth."
"Good celebrity porn is scarce these days." Leo says.
He places a call to an journalist that he knows.
The journalist promises to keep the disappearance about the tapes on the DL and that if he hears anything he will let him know.
She is collecting dirty dishes from tables when she runs into Thumper, Hector and a couple of the newbies, Arturo and Juan.
"What's up guys?" she ask.
"Let me take that." Thumper says taking the bucket full of dishes out of her hands.
Juan starts grabbing stuff on the tables she hadn't gotten to yet.
"Are you guys here for our new Cranberry Walnut Crumb Cake. It's true. It's Cran-tastic." she says with a smirk.
"No, mama." Thumper says.
"We were just wondering about your case." Arturo says.
"I can't talk about it." she says turning to wipe down a table.
"We know. It's just she's from the 'hood, V. You know we like to take care of our own." Hector says not meeting her eyes.
"Guys, if it's found out that you are taking to me about this. I can be removed from the jury and..."
Understanding clicks in their eyes, Thumper gives her a quick hug and they leave.
Back with the jury, she grabs the remote for the TV in the room and starts up the tapes from the motel parking lot security camera.
They watch the tape, which consists of a man running down the motel stairs and jumping over a fence.
"See, this supports the manager's story about a black guy fleeing with the gun." the businessman speaks up.
"The motel manager says twelve minutes had passed between when he heard shots and when he saw the running man. Why a man who just beat a girl and shot his gun would stick around so long before getting away?" the grandma asks all of them.
Keith sits as Logan walks in.
"I adore what your designer's done with the men's room. That Hefty bag over the busted urinal adds a delicious wabi-sabi feel." Logan says taking a seat.
"It's Don's thing. We went more mid-century modern back in my day. Thanks for coming by. I'm guessing by your blithe spirits that you have no idea what's up." he replies.
"No. But it feels like they request my presence here weekly, so..."
"The tapes of your dad and Lilly have been stolen from the evidence room."
"Oh you have got to be kidding me. This is a joke right?"
"I hate to ask this. I need to know if you father has said anything about the case?"
"Other than he is being framed. I don't speak to him."
"You did share a cell with him not that long ago."
"And Felix can tell you what was said since he was there as well."
Inga chooses that moment to knock on the door and tells him that Lloyd Blankenship is on the phone.
He excuses himself from the room.
Lloyd tells him that his acquaintance at 'The Instigator' has been contacted about the tapes. That the bids are coming in fast, and the current high is half a million.
He thanks him and asks Lloyd to keep him posted.
Deputy Sacks enters and leaves a folder on the desk without seeing him sitting there.
He looks through the folder and takes a few papers from the inside flap, folds them up, and puts them in his back pocket.
"Sorry about the interruption." Keith says as he comes back in.
"Can you seriously imagine me conspiring to save Daddy dearest? Lilly's killer?" he says.
"I'm just making sure I have every pertinent bit of information."
"I'll tell you what, dude: if I hear anything pertinent, I'll get back at you." Logan says standing to leave.
"The name's not "dude," it's Mr. Mars." he says shaking his head, suddenly happy about his daughter's choice in boyfriend.
The working mother enters, snarkily remarking that her kids asked if they would still get leftover tater tots in case she got fired.
She rolls her eyes for a second. "We can't leave until we have agreed on a verdict."
The knitting lady chimes in, "All I wanted was for us to take this job as a jury seriously. I feel satisfied we have; if we vote again and nobody crosses over to my side, I will change my vote."
Everyone seems relieved.
"Is there anyone for continued deliberation?" she asks.
The jurors look at each other; the Latina lady raises her hand, while the businessman demonstrably keeps his folded.
Finally, the black woman raises her hand as well, to the groans of the remaining jury.
She raises her hand as well, causing even more protesting sounds.
Looking annoyed, the businessman rises and turns his back to the group.
Keith enters the apartment to find his daughter, cooking.
"I'm sorry, I was looking for my apartment, but I seem to have stumbled upon some sort of magical winter wonderland instead. Why, perhaps this elf can help me." he jokes as he gives her a kiss on the cheek.
"I wanted at least an hour of holiday for us. I don't even have enough time to bring my presents to Eli's house. Do you think if you have time you could run them over? Knowing Letty you won't escape without some leftovers."
"No problem honey. You know, elf, we might not be the richest family in town, but we can afford normal-sized birds once a year or so."
"Game hens. They were just so cute. Plus this way, we won't have to eat our leftovers on New Year's."
"Well, that's smart thinking. Come on, what do they taste like?"
"I don't know. Dense little turkeys?" she says with a smirk.
After dinner he offers an early look at one of her Christmas presents.
He covers her eyes and brings her into her room.
"Tada." he says showing off her laptop with a bow on it.
"My laptop?"
"Mac helped. It now contains the most up-to-date hardware. You should test it out."
She obliges and discovers a fetching new desktop background: two six-year-old articles concerning Carnell Myles, Anissa Villapondo's alleged pimp.
She closes the door behind her, "Okay could one of the more sports-savvy members of the jury remind me why the name Carnell Myles sounds so familiar?"
Something suddenly dawns on Madison: he explains that Carnell was "Matrix Myles," a vastly talented cornerback at San Diego State who got drafted by the Bengals.
When the professor asks how Carnell ended up being a pimp, Madison tells them that Carnell blew out his knee the first day at training camp.
She just smirks.
The Latina grandma, exchanging a grin with he that luckily no one notices, asks how an ex-athlete with a bum knee could have managed to jump that wall.
The rest of the jurors look at each other.
"Sacks!" he calls.
Sacks appears a the door.
"Where is the email list?"
"In the flap."
He opens the folder, "The flap is empty."
"I put the list in there."
"Can you get me a copy, please."
The businessman tells them that Robbie McKinnon's father is a sports agent and asks why this should be so important for their case.
"It sheds a different light on his involvement." she says.
"What his father paid of Myles to take the fall for his son?"
"It happens." she says dryly.
"Why would anyone accept twenty years for assault fot money?" one of the juos asks.
"Please he would have gotten six months or less. All the courts would see is a pimp handing one of his girls." the grandma says sarcastically.
"Is this theory any crazier than a pimp, beats up his girl, than turns himself in to keep a rich kid out of jail."
Madison pipes up, saying that there is still the gun which can't be linked to the defendants.
The man with a mustache endorses him, saying that they all saw the gun in the hands of the guy running away from the motel.
She thinks for a moment and then realizes that the gun must have belonged to Anissa.
Everyone looks at her in astonishment; the businessman leans back, declaring in a mock tone that this should be good.
She explains that since Anissa has a firearms rap, parole would forbid her to keep a gun and speculates that when the boys attacked Anissa, she pulled the gun and they fled. Because of her parole, she needed to get rid of the gun before the cops arrived or face prison for sure. Being too beat up to lose it herself, she needs a friend to do it.
Anquan Simmons, the black woman throws in.
She finishes that Anissa called him after the attack and that he must have been the one who was seen jumping over the wall.
The businessman is not very impressed by this speculation and asks her if she has anything apart from her imagination that ties the gun to Anissa.
She claims that process of elimination shows that Myles, who obviously did not run from the crime scene, didn't have the gun; neither did the boys, who wouldn't have needed to hide the fact. This leaves Anissa and the mysterious wall jumper as possible owners. Since neither prosecution nor defense have proposed that the man was in the room the whole time, the gun must belong to Anissa.
He comes out to ask Inga something but is diverted when she hands him a piece of paper.
"What is this?" he asks looking at it.
"A anonymous email I just received."
It contains an offer of $50,000 for the tapes.
"Anyone else get one."
"Everyone."
He sits at Inga's compute and drafts a response to the email. Accepting the offer to purchase the tapes and requests delivery and payment details.
The jurors are watching the video clip of the man running from the scene again. The man leaps over a fence.
Madison quips that is it not too shabby for a man with a surgically fused knee.
She agrees.
She holds up the picture of Anquan Simmons for her fellow jury members.
The black woman juror opines that it would be easy to mistake Simmons for Myles.
She calls for another vote.
Two jurors raise their hands to acquit, the businessman and a man with a mustache.
The businessman snipes at Madison, asking if he wants to miss more ball games.
Madison snaps back, calling him Daddy Warbucks, and starts to say that she has laid out a good case.
Before he can finish, the bailiff interrupts.
The judge wants to see her.
The businessman obstreperously declares that he will never vote for conviction, no matter what, and that she should tell the judge that the jury is hung.
It doesn't take long for him to receive a response to his email about the tapes.
"Sorry dude, I already have the tapes."
He knows immediately who it is from and mutters that it is "Mr. Mars."
She returns as the jurors are putting on their coats in anticipation of leaving.
The working mother asks what happened.
She tells them that the judge asked if the jury was deadlocked, to which she had responded "no."
There are groans around the room.
She goes on to deliver the news that the judge has said that the jury is not going home until they reach a verdict.
There is considerably more muttering and the faint hint of swearing.
The Latina lady returns complaisantly to her knitting.
Logan watches the screen, tearfully, looking devastated.
Eventually, he rises from the sofa and retrieves the tape and its label.
He returns to the ottoman, where other tapes are neatly lined upon it, together with a lighter and a degausser.
He runs the degausser over the tape, which he then adds to the rest.
He collects all the labels and bends down, holding them over a metal bin.
He uses the lighter to set the labels on fire and drops them into the bin.
As he watches the labels burn in the bin, there is a knock on the door.
He wipes away the tears and opens the door.
"For that experience you paid fifty grand?" Keith says entering the room.
"Yeah, all that matters is that the world wide web won't be hosting mpegs of my old man defiling the love of my life."
"You realize that you just might have helped your old man?" he asks.
"Myself, and others, have seen the tapes, so we testify to the contents." he quips.
"This is a serious crime." Kieth says.
"Yeah? Uh, where's the evidence?"
"I believe those are the tapes right there."
"Yeah, those are blank."
"Blank tapes made you cry?"
"Yeah, I thought I'd saved the Daria marathon on them."
"Right. And most people have a tape degausser just hanging around on their coffee table. Well, at least tell me this: how did you manage to buy those tapes for a tenth of their market price?"
He shrugs. "Why, sir, I've always depended upon the kindness of strangers." he says with a wry smile.
She is annoyed with the businessman.
He has derogatory, calling her Barbie, and accuses her of making sly digs ever since she came back into the room.
"Why won't you admit that it's ossible that I am right?!" she nearly yells.
"I will never send two boys from good families to jail on the word of some Mexican whore." he yells at her.
The man with the mustache thinks for a minute, then slowly stands and announces that he is changing his vote.
The businessman is disbelieving and mockingly asks if God just spoke to him.
The man with the mustache is deeply offended and protests that the comment is out of line.
The businessman insincerely apologizes and proclaims that he too is changing his vote. He adds that even lying hookers deserve a little holiday cheer.
"Are you serious?" the Latina grandma asks.
"I am, but only because I am convinced that the boys will successfully appeal. I will sleep confident that another jury won't kowtow to some high school cheerleader."
"Yeah." she snarks in a fake cheer. "Thank you for the lesson in civic responsibility."
He has the grace to look uncomfortable.
A little later, as the jurors are leaving, the black woman approaches her after the elderly lady has thanked her.
"You did a superb job, given you age. Thank you. Do you have any plans for college?"
"At the moment, I am trying to concentrate on finishing high school and giving birth." she says placing a hand on her stomach.
"You would be a good fit at Hearst." the woman says.
"Did you not hear the about to have a baby part. Besides Hearst in a little pricey."
"I heard and we have generous scholarships and grants, even for young mothers. Think about it." she tells her with a smile.
Leo is typing away at a computer when he calls him into the interrogation room.
"Tell me about your little sister." he says.
Leo starts smiling brightly and states a few facts about his sibling, Tina, whom he seems to genuinely love. He ends his tale somewhat soberly with the revelation that she is afflicted with Down Syndrome and has some trouble at school because of this.
"Is that why you stole the tapes?" he asks.
Busted, Leo sits down, putting his face in his hands. "I'm sorry. Tina has been having a hard time at school. I just wanted to send her to a private school to help her."
"It's rough, but I can't see how that justifies damaging the case against Aaron."
Leo points out that several people, Veronica among them, saw the tapes and can testify about their content. He stresses that he didn't steal the tapes to get rich; he almost gave them back until he got the email.
"I can't let you get away with this."
"I know." Leo says quietly.
Leo hands in his weapon and badge to Sheriff Lamb.
Keith receives a phone call. Shakily he thanks the caller for notifying him.
She and Eli are cuddling on her bed when her dad comes in.
"I think those noisy neighbors are moving out." she says with a smile as he sits down on the bed with them.
"Veronica, I just got a call from the hospital."
"Dad..." she whispers, sitting up.
"Meg...there was a complication. A blood clot. She didn't make it honey."
Tears running down her face, "The baby?" she whispers.
Eli wips the tears out of his eyes and tightens his hold on her.
"The baby is okay. It's a little girl."
The three of them sit thee and cry, over a life ended and a life just starting.
She and Eli sit on the couch, waiting for the ball to drop.
Her dad had gone to bed a little while ago.
Thumper, Marisol, Felix, Mac and Cassidy have found spots on the floor as well.
She had called Duncan but it was going straight to voicemail.
Someone knocks on the front door.
She opens up to a smiling Wallace, who wishes her a happy new year.
She hugs him.
Wallace chuckles, relieved and returns her hug.
He joins the others but sits on the sofa with her and Eli.