"You are so full of shit," Frankie Hernandez laughed heartily, shaking his head as he looked a Sal Valetta, his business partner and owner of the Mermaid Inn, a small dive found down on the Neptune Plazza Boardwalk known for its illegal backroom high stakes gambling. Many of the profits that were too large to be filtered through the bar, were brought here to The Dirty Nickel Laundromat to be distributed amongst the various employees. Frankie was known as the Cleaner, he often handed out the wages to the lower level members of their little organized crime family along with their smalls and clean uniforms, and the next weeks shipment of whatever they happened to be pushing that month.
"Because you and I are too much alike," Sal said smugly. "Don't you think? You'll be the luckiest son of a bitch alive if he can pull that off," he chuckled turning to leave again, referring to the plans that Frankie had set in motion to try and broker a deal to corner the High School Drug trade in Neptune. Most of those fat cat customers they wanted to buy their products were the wealthy trust fund kids of the 09ers, get them hooked early… and you are set up for life. A man's got to retire sometime, if he could set up the right influence, broker a deal between the Runners and the supplier, he could take a small cut and sit back risk free, he didn't want to be dealing with this forever.
They were smart enough to try and keep that poison out of their own neighbourhoods, no point having an unreliable workforce… not to mention addicts got desperate for a fix and if they fell out of favour, they might blab to the wrong person. So keeping your guys clean worked to your advantage. The only barrier he had so far was this Navarro kid who'd taken over the PCHers in the last few years, he was hard line anti-drug, not even just in his own neighbourhood, but in the school as well. It was time for a regime change, but these young bloods were loyal sons of bitches, and he was their leader. The only way to replace him would be to get someone on the inside who was Loyal to them, someone greedy enough to want the power… who could be easily gotten rid of once the changes were fully established. You didn't keep a traitor like that around after he'd served his purpose, but for now, that Eduardo kid was lapping up all his praise, directing an ego like his into position took finesse… he had to think it was all his own idea… and the meetings between the Fitzpatrick's were going well.
You didn't easily walk away from the kind of coin that could be made from claiming an untapped resource like Neptune High School. New customers rolled in every year, and once you had them… you usually kept them. They just graduated to the University Clientele, then it was Tourist and Club Scene… and even the ones who married and had kids eventually ended up trying to reclaim their glory days in the Rusty Knot strip club before divorcing and having their drugs delivered to their homes along with their pizza's and dry cleaning.
"Here, I'll walk you to the door," Frankie replied in an almost amused tone as his friend walked away. His gaze meandered at the tumbling machines and the few regular faces he knew who worked as domestics in the fancy 09er estates. It wasn't much of a throne, but it was his kingdom that had managed to stay in business long after Cormac Fitzpatrick and that influx of Italian mobsters and even that punk kid London Sinclair whose fate had ended up looking like a Greek tragedy.
People might think he was small time… but him and Sal endured… he'd take endurance over burning out like some uppity little second rate bitch any day.
"I expect to see you at the Knot on Friday, free crabcakes and you know my Nora misses your ugly face, although I can't imagine why, you ugly bastard" Sal called as he headed towards his car.
"I'll think about it if I can wash the smell of you out of my office, asshole!" Frankie chuckled before he turned to go back inside.
Logan stared at the entrance to The Dirty Nickel as they watched the large Hispanic man turn back inside and move towards his office. They had decided to drive Veronica's car to the meeting with Weevil and Felix and leave his back at the school parking lot because his drew too much attention.
He recalled the day he'd first brought it home.. a yellow attention-seeking monstrosity he believed she had called it, although he couldn't deny that it did attract unwanted notice if they were supposed to be having some kind of cloak and dagger meeting. She just hadn't gotten around to telling her boyfriend that she was going to be attending it alone. She was a master tactician, and as tenacious as a Jack Russell terrier but sometimes, she had to do the hunting by herself… especially when being near him made her feel like she had been plugged into an electrical socket.
"You should stay here" Veronica told him gently.
"Absolutely not…when exactly did this become an exclusive invitation?" he protested but she silenced him with a kiss that drew him in until she pulled back, the wicked promises in his eyes told her he wanted to forget the mission completely and take her someplace to ruffle her up. She worried that this latest development between them was going to have her acting like a blushing, mumbling idiot for a few months.
"You aren't dressed for espionage… and they won't talk as freely if you are around. Someone.. probably you or Weevil will turn this into some kind of dick measuring contest and we don't need that right now… we need answers" she explained, making sure to put extra emphasis on the 'We' but she could see the defiance in his eyes. Logan and Weevil had been sworn enemies since the first moment they met but she didn't know how to convince him that his presence was more of a hindrance than a help at this point but she loved him for wanting to be with her.
"And we will get them even if I have to beat it out of someone" Logan promised, slumping back into his chair, the scratches on his back starting to ache a little, her heart somersaulted at the dejected look on his face.
Why was she so insistent on sideling him when he needed to protect her?
"Here..." she said, holding up a small earpiece device and showing him the small clip she had buttoned onto her coat lapel.
"You want to jam out to some tunes now?" he grunted unhappily as she winced a little. "You know right now I'm feeling more like your bodyfriend instead of your boyfriend" he added taking the small gadget that she offered.
"It's an earpiece… you'll be like those cops in the listening van and I'm going undercover, I can hide in plain sight" she said, pointing at the bag with the rest of her glitter covered clothes. He looked into her fathoms-deep clear blue eyes and nodded.
Sometimes you had to break the rules to protect what you love. Even if they were your own.
"And I can't..." he sighed, disappointed walloped him.
She was still benching him…
He couldn't deny the truth of her logic, but that didn't mean he liked it.
"Nothing about can hide Logan Echolls... you were born to stand out" she encouraged, he was every inch the image of propriety and class.
"Correction… Born to be Outstanding" he joked, putting the earpiece in place.
"You'll hear everything as if you were right there with me…" she promised, the trust between them had to start somewhere, and if he could bend for her this little, then perhaps she could ease into letting him help out with the rest of it as well.
"Okay" he nodded. "You go be all inconspicuous" Logan told her as he brushed a few tendrils of golden blond hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear, pulling her mouth back to his for a slow searing kiss like he was a shameless pleasure-seeker.
"Maybe we should get you a handlebar moustache?" he teased kissing along her jawline to her throat. "I could get a newspaper… cut some holes in it like those 1950's batman episodes" he continued as he nibbled her ear and she moaned, he was doing his best to keep her side-tracked. Lips against lips, the tip of his tongue tracing the seam in between hers until she let him in, keeping his hands from reaching under her shirt felt like nibbling on crackers when a whole banquet was on offer. He'd wanted to distract her… Slow and naughty, with a soundtrack in her head and a sharp need to press her thighs together.
He had battled with himself on whether or not he was going to try and convince her to drop this whole thing, but he couldn't do that. He had to get justice for Lilly, he had to help make up for his stupidity over the last year. He had to protect her, and the safest thing for her would be when the monsters that had shattered their lives were behind bars.
She just had to learn that although he would sit this part out… she wasn't doing any more of this solo…
She tipped up her chin and pierced him with her gaze.
"Promise me you won't leave the car unless I call for you" she said, lifting a brow.
"You're a demanding little thing." he retorted, mourning the absence of her perfect lips from his.
"Logan…" she sighed, her pretty caramel-coloured hair framed her face as she looked into his desire-darkened eyes. "If you have trouble hearing me… the last 60.00hz on the dial on the radio should be able to pick up the chatter if you park a little closer…"
"You can't blame me for being worried Veronica" Logan told her firmly. "We don't know how deep thing goes, or how many people are involved… all we know is someone apparently thinks it's worth paying millions to hush up and even killing someone over."
"Trust me.. I haven't forgotten" she promised, looking towards the laundromat in front of them, thinking of how the Kane's could have been involved… of how all roads could lead back to Duncan made her want to hyperventilate. A person could get anything in this city, any day, any time, and it was usually because of places like this. Her stomach gurgled and she looked at her cell phone, checking the time. "Thank you, for wanting to be with me. It's very gallant." She whispered, kissing his cheek before she got out of the car.
Gallant? It felt like a God damned necessity and it was taking everything in him to stay buckled in his seat as he watched her walk towards the entrance.
6.55pm.
Almost time.
"So you're the detective huh?" a taller Latino boy in a black shirt and trousers said as he nodded in her direction as she wandered into the laundromat and he stood playing the slot machine. He must have been about twenty one. Definitely not one of the PCHers from her school, although his tattoos suggested that he had once been affiliated with the gang.
"Jill-of-all-trades really…" Veronica replied as she cast a wary glance at the short Asian woman whose head twisted in her direction at the word Detective, her dark eyes assessing her before turning back to fold her laundry.
"Well that's okay, I'm not sure I have a type" he said, but despite his smile, everything about her body language read that she wasn't quite as certain as she'd like him to believe.
"You're very smooth." She smiled back politely and it was a few minutes later she learned his name was Cory and he was in college, he was actually an old friend of Mateo's, one of Daisy's friends from her old neighbourhood.
"Becca shouldn't be long" he told her as he handed over a small cup of lukewarm coffee. She wished he would say something. Blink. Instead he just continued to stare at her in that calculating way that she was used to dealing with from Weevil, only on Cory, it was much more menacing.
"Thanks, it's nice of you to wait with me" Veronica replied as she sipped on the beverage.
He grinned. "I'm going to call my mom later and tell her she did a good job raising me. She'll be delighted. She'd lost hope by the time I was in high school. Thought I was a selfish brat. Not without reason, I must confess."
"What do we have here? You flirting with my girl Core?" Weevil interrupted as he entered the Laundromat with Felix and Havier flanking him on either side. It almost made her laugh how much their little procession looked like a wolf pack as the two of them surveyed the area for possible trouble while Weevil's eyes locked onto his target.
Her.
"You think they are all yours little man… you have ever since your Abuela told you girls were made from candy" Cory chuckled as he pounded Weevils fist in greeting and nodded at Veronica.
"Where's Becca at?" Felix asked from behind him.
"Late" Cory snorted, the annoyance with her tardiness was written all over his body language.
What was he even doing here to begin with?
"She'll be here" Weevil soothed as he slotted into the seat opposite Veronica. "So what did you find out?" he asked her.
"You mean since the five minutes ago when you told me I was taking this case?" Veronica retorted.
"I thought you said she was going to be helping you dawg?" Havier asked Felix as he took up a seat on top of one of the washing machines, almost knocking the basket of garments belonging to a young African American woman who had a shy 6 year old boy clinging to her hips as he looked up at the older boy.
"I am, but it takes longer than a totally occupied afternoon to get any kind of information" she snapped back.
"Yeah, because painting your nails is so time consuming" he retaliated, hinting at the slight sparkles that could still be seen on her fingernails.
"There's phone records to sort through, timelines to draw up.. plus I still have no idea why I'm meeting Becca here… and Daisy was my god damned friend! So how about you shut up?" Veronica growled.
"Hey get off the washer!" Frankie called over and Weevil gestured for Havier to get down with a simple nod of his head.
"So why are we meet here?" Veronica asked,
""Sorry. My fault. Braving the mean streets and then I had to drop Cadence home" Becca Walker called as she bustled into the shop, carrying a large bag of laundry and dropped it at her feet, wrapping Felix up in a hug as she did.
The scene in front of her couldn't look more like the mismatched cast of some horrible horror movie plot that was trying to go for gold in the diversity department. Everyone sort of made sense, Daisy was Becca's roommate at Hearst, Weevil was Felix's best friend and Daisy had dated his brother and she'd worked for her father at the Mars Investigations office… wherever Weevil went, Hector or Havier went… everyone had their connection to this case… everyone but Cory.
So what was his deal?
"How do you guy's even know each other?" Veronica asked Cory as her gaze flickered over to Becca.
"He's my Brother" she explained.
"Step-brother" he corrected.
"Like it makes a difference" she glared before turning her big brown eyes to Veronica like she was some lost little sister and pulling her in for a hug.
"How's the baby murdering business?" he retorted and it took Veronica a few minutes to recall that she worked in the Neptune Women's Free Clinic just off campus.
"Bite me" she grumbled over her shoulder.
"Hi Becca" Veronica replied, a lump beginning to form in her throat as she remembered why they even needed this meeting in the first place and guilt gnawed at her insides.
"Hey Veronica" she answered quietly before she turned and tossed a ticket stub in Cory's direction. "Here, now you have clean sheets… fricking washing service and you still can't even do your own damn laundry" she complained at him before she looked back at the petite blond sitting opposite her and a heavy silence fell over them.
"It was my fault" Becca declared finally, big pools of tears filling her eyes as she sucked in a heavy breath.
"Shhh Becca… don't say that… you didn't know what was going to happen" Weevil argued.
"I got her involved… this is on me…" Becca sobbed. "Look Veronica… we brought you here because it was safer than meeting at the house or at your dad's office… you never know who could be listening… I mean here we all just look like people getting their laundry, you know?"
"What are you talking about? What was your fault?" Veronica asked, her heart was now racing and her palms were starting to sweat.
"Daisy wasn't killed in a mugging gone wrong" Becca cried, wiping the angry tears away as she reached into her bag and pulled out a small red tablet.
But surely that was obvious since they had brought her here to look into her death?
"She Was Assassinated… by Supreme Court Justice Kelvin Bancroft" Becca declared, handing the small device to Veronica .
Supreme Court Justice Kelvin Bancroft?
Did that mean this was something related to one of Cliff's cases?
Exactly what else was on this tablet that Daisy was looking into without her knowing about that could have gotten her killed?