A/N –I couldn't help but think how publishing this next chapter on Black Friday, which always sounds so ominous was fitting somehow. Of course the title of the story is Lightning Rod for Trouble, which was selected for a reason too just like the first story. I'm really interested to see all the reviews when people get done with this chapter. I know there have been some that are tired of Alexis, but she is still a part of their lives so she isn't going to just vanish completely. Her part in the story will take a different course after this chapter, which some may be interested in and others may not. I hope everyone sticks with me until the end, but completely understand if some decide not to.
As always, thanks to everyone who has given me wonderful support and feedback on the story. I really appreciate every review/comment that people leave me.
Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.
Chapter 13 - Enlightenment
Logan dutifully made breakfast for Veronica and Abigail before he had to leave for work. He had an urgent meeting come up that Felicia couldn't get him out of in the afternoon, in addition to his morning meetings, but luckily Heather had called the night before to tell him how she did on her latest writing assignment. When he mentioned Abigail being with them and trying to figure out logistical issues, she told him that she only had morning classes on Tuesdays, so she could watch Abigail when she was done so Veronica could go to work too.
He was making chocolate chip pancakes because he knew they were Abigail's favorite and Veronica would never complain about anything that involved chocolate. He smiled as the two of them sat across the breakfast bar watching him flip the first batch. Each had the same eager look on their face, trying to patiently wait for the pancakes to be done, but their expressions really gave them away. Veronica had already retrieved the maple syrup and powdered sugar from the pantry and the butter from the fridge. Abigail sat with her fork already clasped in her hand, while Veronica at least had the self control to not grab her utensils yet.
"I wonder if this is how zoo keepers feel at feeding time," he teased them as he brought a plate with the completed first batch over to them. Veronica rolled her eyes at him, but Abigail was too focused on grabbing the first pancake off the top of the stack to pay any attention to what he'd said. He stood there for a minute, completely amused at their excitement over their breakfast before turning back to the stove to make another batch.
He finally finished cooking and sat down to eat his own with them. "So what do you two ladies think you'll do with yourselves this morning?" He asked between bites of his own delicious pancakes.
Veronica gave him a quick almost panicked look and shrugged. "What do you think Abby?" She asked her. Logan was a little surprised that she seemed to be a bit hesitant now about how they'd spend their morning. She hadn't mentioned anything to him up to then about being worried about spending the morning watching her.
Abigail had her mouth full of pancake and shrugged too. "We could play dress-up," she said as she finally swallowed the food and took a drink of her milk.
Logan thought he saw Veronica actually shudder at that thought, but she put on a smile and nodded. "Sure, or maybe we can come up with something else too."
Logan put the left over pancakes in the fridge and the dirty dishes into the dishwasher before giving Veronica a kiss good bye and patting Abigail on the head. "Be good for Veronica, okay kiddo?" Abigail smiled sweetly at him and nodded her head.
Once Logan had left Veronica turned back to Abigail again. "So what do you want to do now?"
"Do you not want to play dress up?" Abigail asked, clearly already setting her mind on that activity.
Veronica shrugged. "I don't know if I have much stuff that we could use for dress up."
Abigail gave her a puzzled look. "Do you not have pretty jewelry like Aunt Lexi?"
The mention of jewelry perked her interest since the case had still been frustrating her and she felt like she was missing something simple because expensive jewelry wasn't an area that she had any expertise in. "Does Alexis…" Veronica saw Abigail give her a confused look. "I mean Aunt Lexi…" she tried not to cringe saying it, but Abigail did seem less confused by using the name she was more used to. "Does she let you play with really fancy jewelry when you go to her house?"
Abigail nodded, "Yeah, she has lots of pretty jewelry. And sometimes when Stephie watches me, we play with her really special necklaces too."
Veronica's eyes popped open. "Stephanie Whitman? Has she watched you at Aunt Lexi's house?"
Abigail shrugged, "I don't know who that is, but Stephie has watched me, and she's a lot of fun. We play dress up and then have tea parties. Can we do that? Have a tea party and dress up?"
"Well I don't have that many fancy necklaces, but maybe we can find something."
Abigail smiled and hopped down from the stool at the counter grabbing Veronica's hand. She dragged her towards the stairs. "Let's go look at them," she cheerily said as she pulled on her hand. "Hats and scarves are fun too. Do you have those?"
"Um…" Veronica thought about it as she followed her up the stairs. "Yeah, I might have some scarves at least." Her hat selection had been pretty sparse since she went away to college.
Abigail seemed happy enough with the few necklaces that Veronica did own. She really liked the new peridot one that Logan had gotten her from Sylvia so Veronica let her wear it while they had their tea party. She also found a couple fancy silk scarves that she'd either been given as gifts or bought over the years, so they draped those around themselves as well. Abigail ran into her room and found a princess dress that her mom had packed and put that on too. She at least didn't force Veronica into putting on a fancy dress too.
They returned downstairs, with a couple of the dolls she brought too and sat around the coffee table in the living room. Of course Logan didn't actually have a tea set, so they just got some coffee cups and saucers to use. Since they'd just had breakfast, they just pretended they had something to eat and drink while they played. Abigail seemed to be having fun at least, even if Veronica wasn't quite sure exactly what to say or do since tea parties also weren't one of her areas of expertise.
They were just putting the cups and saucers they were using into the dishwasher when Heather arrived.
"Heather!" Abigail screamed as she saw her and ran over to give her a big hug.
"Hey there Abby," Heather said as she knelt down to hug her. "I can't believe how big you're getting. Are you having fun with Veronica? Nice princess dress there sweetie."
Heather gave Veronica a smile as Abigail nodded her head. Heather and Abigail took a seat at the breakfast bar to watch while Veronica finished up the dishes.
"Hey, you're friends with Stephanie Whitman right?" Veronica asked as she finished and came around to the other side of the breakfast bar. She had been thinking all morning about Abigail's comment earlier and wondered if Stephanie really could have something to do with the missing necklaces.
Heather shrugged. "Sort of I guess. I haven't talked to her since graduation though. We hung out more when I was dating Bradley since he was good friends with her boyfriend Jake."
"Do you know if she has a Facebook page or something? I wanted to show Abby a picture to see if that's who babysat her at Alexis's house a few times."
Heather gave her a puzzled look. "I'm pretty sure she does. Is there a special reason you want to know that?"
"Um... It's sort of related to a case I'm working on."
Heather's eyes got larger. Veronica's laptop was in her bag near the door and she brought it over to the breakfast counter to start it up. She searched for Stephanie's page and found it was set to private only and her profile picture was a cartoon character, not even her own picture. "You wouldn't happen to be friends with her on here would you, so we can look at her pictures?" Veronica asked Heather hopefully.
Heather smiled and nodded. "I think so, let me login and try."
Veronica smiled happily as the pictures all appeared after Heather logged on. "Is this Stephie?" Veronica asked Abigail once the pictures were loaded.
Abigail nodded her head and smiled. Veronica wasn't terribly surprised since Stephanie seemed to be popping up so frequently and she seemed to be a very popular sitter. She did wonder though if she had actually gotten expensive jewelry out of Alexis's safe or if Alexis even had a safe. Using a 5 year old to get information for a case wasn't really that reliable, so that meant she'd need to go talk to Alexis. Well that's sure to be a fun conversation.
"So kiddo, what do you want to do now? Looks like I missed the tea party." Heather said with a big smile on her face. She gave Veronica a little wink.
"Can we play some video games?" Abigail asked excitedly.
Veronica made a little face. I get tea party and she gets video games, how's that fair.
"Sure Abby," Heather said as she stood up from the stool. "We'll get out of Veronica's hair so she can go solve some cases. Does Veronica want her necklace back?" Heather must have remembered the peridot necklace she'd worn to karaoke.
Abigail nodded and turned so Heather could take it off. She handed it back to Veronica with a little smile. "Thanks Abby," Veronica said as she put it around her own neck.
"Let's go play now," Abigail said as she hopped down too and took Heather's hand to lead her back to the game room.
Veronica said a quick good bye as they wandered off, and then grabbed her laptop and headed out to the BMW. Veronica stopped at the Sheriff's office before she walked over to City Hall. She headed into Leo's office to see what progress they'd made on Corina's case since she'd last spoke with him. Leo said he finally did get Roger to agree to go in front of a judge to request approval for the phone taps, so at least that was starting to move along.
"Did you ask about getting a warrant to search Gavin's place too? Nothing really shakes someone up like deputies searching through your belongings." Veronica asked with a devious grin on her face.
Leo returned her look with his own mischievous smile. "Yep, I asked him to request that too given Gavin was the second to the last person that we know of who saw her alive, especially with the suspicion around her missing keys. Of course the fact that Gavin lives with his mother will make that even better for rattling Liam's cage."
Veronica gave him a bigger smile. "Maybe we'll find out how much influence Stella actually has over Liam too."
Veronica checked the latest log of the tip calls and didn't see anything new to help their case, so decided to walk over to City Hall. She stopped by Logan's office first and Jenny said he would be in a meeting for a little while longer. She said she'd stop back by in a bit and headed to Alexis's office. Her assistant wasn't at her desk but Alexis's door was open so Veronica went over and knocked lightly. Alexis was looking at her laptop and glanced up when she heard the knock. She had a less than friendly look on her face but raised her eyebrows at Veronica. "Are you here to lecture me too?" she asked in a slightly annoyed tone.
Logan must have finally had his talk with her. I'll have to check with him about how that went later. I'm guessing not well from her expression. Veronica shook her head, "no actually I was hoping to talk to you about a case I'm working on."
Alexis looked a little surprised and gestured to the chair in front of her desk. Veronica tried to put on a friendly smile and took a seat. "Abigail mentioned something this morning that I wanted to ask you about."
"Oh that's right, Cassie told me last week that she was going out of town again and bringing her to Logan's. How's that going?" She leaned back in her chair and gave Veronica a questioning look with a tinge of smugness.
Of course she knew and we didn't get a heads up at all. "It's going great so far," Veronica replied with a smile. "So anyway, I'm working on this big jewelry theft case and she mentioned playing with your jewelry when Stephanie Whitman was watching her."
"Oh… well we've worn some of my necklaces when I'm there to, so Abigail would know where my regular jewelry is in my closet. I'm not surprised she'd talk Stephanie into getting into it with her."
"She said they played with fancier ones when Stephanie was there. Do you have more expensive ones locked up in a safe?"
Alexis had a puzzled look on her face. "Yeah, but they couldn't get into it." She smiled and laughed after a moment, "Stephanie's not some master jewel thief, Veronica. I've known her for several years. She'd never do something like that. She's just a kid still in high school."
Yeah, you'd be surprised how much trouble high school kids can get into. Veronica shrugged. "She's been a sitter for all the families I've talked to so far."
"Well she is great with kids and does sit for a lot if families around town so that's not surprising." Alexis added, her expression seemed more skeptical now.
"Do you have any pictures of the jewelry you keep in the safe that I could show Abby?"
"Um... I suppose. I usually wear them to events at Hearst so they would be in their pictures. You can go to their online archive and check."
Veronica nodded and smiled. "Thanks for the help." She stood up and was about to the door when she stopped. I'm going to regret this I'm sure. "Hey, about Saturday night and Casey..." Alexis's smile fell. "I really think Kennedy put something in his drink. I don't know why she did, but I really think he was setup for some reason."
Alexis sighed. "Yeah, he's left me a few messages apologizing and saying basically the same thing."
Veronica kept the cringe she felt hidden. "I know he likes spending time with you and I just thought I'd mention it." She started to walk out again when Alexis called her back.
"I have a box of toys that Abby left the last time she stayed with me. She'd probably like to have them while she stays with you and Logan. Logan can stop and pick them up later if he wants to."
Veronica gave her probably the friendliest smile she had ever managed before. "Thanks. I'll let him know… and I know she'd like to see you sometime soon too while she's here." Alexis gave her a small smile and nodded before Veronica turned again and left.
Veronica stopped by Logan's office again before she left City Hall. Jenny gave her a friendly greeting. "Logan's free right now, but he does have another appointment arriving any minute."
"Thanks Jenny," Veronica replied as she headed into his office. Logan was looking down at his laptop when she walked in the door. "You're next appointment is here Mayor Echoll's" she said in a fake nasally voice, as she gave him a sly smile and closed the door behind her.
He looked up and gave her a lascivious smile. She walked over while he turned his chair toward her. She carefully climbed into the chair so she could straddle his lap. "Mmm…" he moaned as he grabbed her hips and pulled her even closer. "What a nice surprise." He gave her a deep kiss as she ran her hands along his shoulders and up into his hair. They finally broke apart a bit breathless and rested their foreheads together. "I wish all my appointments were this much fun." She laughed a bit and gave him another quick kiss.
"Did you come over to City Hall just for a quickie with me?" He asked in a lecherous tone.
She shook her head and leaned back a little farther from him. "No, actually I came to talk to Alexis."
A surprised expression crossed Logan's face. "Okay… do I dare ask why?" He gave her a questioning look. "Was security involved?" He gave her a little wink.
"Actually it was related to my jewelry case."
Logan's eyes opened larger. "Did someone steal one of her necklaces?"
Veronica shook her head. "No it was something Abby said this morning. She said that when Stephanie watched her at Alexis's they played with her fancier necklaces."
Logan furrowed his brows. "You think Stephanie has something to do with it? She's just a high school student you know." She raised an eyebrow at him and didn't need to say a word. "Okay… I suppose that doesn't mean much around Neptune does it?" She smiled and nodded her head. "Still Veronica, you've got to admit it seems a bit far fetched."
She sighed, "Maybe, but she's been a sitter for all the families I've talked to so far. And all those families didn't mention her until I asked, so she could have worked for the families I haven't talked to yet too."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out," he said confidently as he pulled her back for another passionate kiss. He finally let out a deep sigh and pulled his head back. "I really do have another appointment coming any minute."
"I know, and I should get back to my office too." She gave him another kiss then climbed off his lap. "Oh, Alexis also said she had a box of Abby's toys at her house if you want to stop and pick them up later."
"Sure, I can stop and pick it up on my way home. Did you need me to pick up dinner too?"
Veronica shook her head. "No, Abby said she wanted spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, so I'll stop and pick up a loaf of French bread and make it when I get home. Oh, and I invited Heather to stay and have dinner with us too."
"Sounds good." He stood up and pulled her toward him for one more deep kiss. "Thanks for stopping by. It definitely made my day so much better." She smiled and nodded and then walked with him toward the door. She gave him one more quick kiss before she opened the door to leave.
"I love you," he said quietly as she was about to walk out of his office.
She turned back to him and smiled. "I love you too. See you in a few hours."
She stopped at a coffee kiosk on her way back to the Sheriff's office. As she was paying for the coffee, her phone chimed with an incoming text and she saw it was from Mac. She asked if Veronica still wanted to go scouting for other possible camera feeds for her case. Mac had just finished up another appointment near the Sheriff's Office and said she could pick her up in a few minutes. Veronica popped back into the Sheriff's Office to let Leo and Norris know where she was off to, and then headed back out front to wait for Mac. Mac pulled up a few minutes later and Veronica climbed in and they headed toward Corina's apartment complex.
Once they arrived they parked near Corina's unit, and then got out of the car and started walking on foot to search out possible security cameras located nearby. There were two ways to exit out of the complex, so they picked one direction and started walking. They used their phones to take pictures as they walked of possible options. There was a coffee kiosk nearby, that of course would have been closed in the middle of the night, but Mac noticed there was a camera mounted on it. The girl working at the kiosk, didn't know much about the security system, but gave them the name of the man who owned the booth that she worked for. Mac wasn't sure the angle would give them the view they'd need, but it was at least a possibility.
"So how are things going with Abby?" Mac asked as they walked along after leaving the coffee kiosk.
"Well she's only been here for a little over one day, but so far things are going good. She's a pretty well behaved little girl." Veronica shared as she hunted for potential cameras. "She definitely has Logan wrapped around her little finger."
Mac laughed and gave her a look, "What?" Veronica asked with a look of indignation on her face. "Are you implying I also have him wrapped around my finger?"
Mac laughed a little harder and nodded her head. Veronica shook her head and grinned, "Well this is the first morning he's actually made chocolate chip pancakes, so I think she wins."
"Right…" Mac said, still smiling at her. "Maybe we should just call it a tie?"
Veronica smirked at her and nodded. "Okay, maybe we both have him wrapped around our fingers the same amount. Although I didn't get a piggy back ride up to bed last night!"
Mac laughed even harder and shook her head. "By the time she leaves in three weeks, you'll be all ready for one of your own."
Veronica scoffed, "Taking care of a five year old is nothing like taking care of a baby! Not to mention we've just barely gotten back together. I think talk of children is way too premature at this point."
"Fine," Mac relented, but kept a little grin on her face. Veronica just shook her head at her.
"So how are your wedding plans coming along?" Veronica asked, trying to change the subject.
"You know, it's not too late to plan a double wedding!" Mac said with an uncharacteristically amount of glee in her voice.
"Oh my god!" Veronica blurted out. "Have those pregnancy hormones completely ruined your mind! Stop suggesting all these completely crazy ideas!"
Mac laughed again. "It's like I've been possessed or something isn't it?" Veronica nodded vehemently in response. "But it really is fun to see your reactions too." She gave her a little wink. "The planning is going well. We've decided to use the yacht club since an outdoor wedding won't be feasible in the winter time."
Veronica smirked back at her. "Ah yes, a wedding at the yacht club. And then I suppose you'll retreat to your floating mansion to start your honeymoon." Mac actually blushed slightly which made Veronica giggle a little. "Should I have Logan hang empty beer cans off the back of the yacht and make a big "Just Married' banner to hang off it too?"
"Um…" Mac thought for a moment, "I think the yacht club has rules about that sort of thing, so no. But you're actually right, we were going to take the yacht out after the ceremony and probably head down toward Mexico for a short honeymoon trip. I'm hoping my morning sickness is all over by that point, because I really don't want to be on a boat when I'm already feeling queasy. Hey, you and Logan could take his yacht down too and we could meet up a few days into the trip and spend some time together at some of the more enjoyable ports." She smiled deviously again, "You never know, you might both get so swept away by the romance of our wedding that you'll want to elope and get married down in Mexico." She giggled a bit more, "Actually Dick is an ordained minister, so he could marry you, anytime, anywhere."
Veronica stopped walking and gave her a horrified look. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. Mac doubled over laughing for a moment, and then stood back up. "Sorry, I shouldn't have threatened you like that. But your expression was almost as good as when Logan and Dick were worried Carmen's water was going to break all over their feet."
Veronica finally spoke, "You were joking right?"
Mac slowly shook her head. "Actually one of his fraternity brothers asked him to marry him and his fiancé, so he went online and got ordained so he could do it for them." Mac tried to keep from laughing by biting her lip as Veronica's eyes got even wider. "Anytime, anywhere…" she whispered again, drawing a gasp from Veronica. Mac couldn't help laughing again.
Veronica shook her head. "If I start having horrible nightmares about Dick marrying me and Logan, I'm going to make you regret this!"
Mac kept chuckling, "You'd better be careful saying 'I do' around him. You never know what you might be agreeing to."
"You're absolutely horrible!" Veronica said with a laugh. Mac shrugged and gave her a mischievous grin.
After walking for a good hour, covering both directions someone could have left the apartment complex, they had compiled a list of about a half dozen possible camera options. Veronica said she'd talk with Leo about how he wanted to proceed. Mac thought there were a couple options that would be better than the others, but the question would be how long they kept their historical videos and if they could get access.
"Of course if you want…" Mac said suggestively. "I could do a little freelance poking around and let you know that ahead of what you hear from Leo."
Veronica gave her a scolding look. "Remember… baby… born behind bars… not a good thing?" Mac just smiled smugly and nodded.
As Mac dropped Veronica off at the Sheriff's office, she said she'd get in touch with them later to figure out if there were still some times Logan would need help with Abby. Logan was trying to clear off as much of his schedule as he could and thought he would have a better idea after work.
As she walked into the station, Leo was talking with one of the deputies, so she decided she'd wait for them to finish and then cover the camera information with him. She headed back to her own office and booted up her laptop. Stephanie's Facebook page was still up on her computer. Only a high school student… that didn't stop Caitlin and Chardo from credit card fraud or Weevil from steeling most of the carnival funds, not to mention all the other illegal things kids at my school had gotten involved in. She was clicking through some of the pictures in Stephanie's albums when one caught her eye.
"I'll be damned!" She grabbed her case file and flipped through to find the picture of Mrs. Bennett's amethyst necklace. Stephanie's picture on her laptop was similar to the one she'd seen in Grant's office of her in the gorgeous purple gown and Stacey in the blue one, but in the picture on her private Facebook page, Stephanie was wearing Mrs. Bennett's necklace with the giant amethyst stone. Stacey also had on a gorgeous sapphire necklace that she wasn't wearing in the other picture either. She looked at the date of the posted photo and frowned as she compared it to the dates in Mrs. Bennett's case file.
She printed off the photo and grabbed the photo from the case file and went to talk to Leo.
"So I have some interesting information for both the cases I'm working on," she announced as she walked in and closed the door behind her. "First, on the jewelry case, take a look at these." She laid the two pictures down on his desk. "This is Stephanie Whitman, Grant's daughter. She's wearing Mrs. Bennett's necklace in this photo from her Facebook page, but it wasn't in a similar copy of the picture in her dad's office. Neither was the sapphire one that her friend Stacey Davenport is wearing. The only problem is this picture was taken before the last time Mrs. Bennett remembered wearing it to an event."
Leo nodded thoughtfully at her as he studied the photos.
"But if she had a way to get it once, maybe she returned it and then stole it again later." Veronica continued, sort of just bouncing her thoughts off of him.
"She's just a high school student though right?" Leo finally asked.
Veronica rolled her eyes at him and gave him her best 'are you serious' look.
He smiled back at her, "Okay, this is Neptune after all." She smiled and nodded in agreement.
"I think I'll talk to Mrs. Bennett first. Maybe she just lent it to her for the dance." Veronica suggested to him. Leo agreed that he thought that sounded like a good idea.
"And what have you found on the missing person case?" He asked as she picked up the two photos.
"Mac and I did some surveillance around the apartment complex and found several security cameras on private buildings that could have picked up some back ground shots of who was in the area that night."
Leo nodded his approval. "Let me see the list and I'll send some deputies out to talk with the owners and see if they'll cooperate and let us have access to the footage without warrants. It will speed things up if they are willing to do it without getting the warrants since I already have Roger working on the phone taps and search warrant for Gavin's place." Veronica handed him the list that she made with Mac, and told him to keep her posted before she headed back over to her office.
She sat down at her desk and looked up Mrs. Bennett's number in the case file. A young woman answered the phone and let Veronica know that Mrs. Bennett was out of town until the following day. Veronica left her name and number and asked if she could please call her as soon as she was back. She really hoped this might be the break in the case she was waiting for, although she knew there was a chance that Mrs. Bennett had let the girls borrow the necklaces for the dance.
Next she went on to the Hearst Newspaper site and searched their archives for photos of Alexis. She started with the most recent articles and found the two from the events that she went to with Logan. He of course was in the pictures too. She was wearing two different necklaces in those two photos so printed them out to take home and show Abigail. She searched back and found a couple other photos too with one other necklace. She couldn't help but notice in the pictures prior to her arrival, Logan was definitely more affectionate with Alexis in the way he had his arm around her and they leaned in together during the shots. She shook her head and reminded herself that it didn't matter now because that was before she came back.
She checked in with the deputies manning the tip line to see if they had anything new come in since the morning. She wasn't really surprised that nothing had, so she was really hoping they'd be able to get something off the security cameras that they'd spotted today. She finally decided to call it a day after that and headed to the grocery store to get the things she needed to make dinner.
Logan had left City Hall after his last meeting and wondered all the way to Alexis's house how seeing her there was going to go. She was certainly not happy with him when he'd tried to talk to her the morning before about Tommy and his concerns about her getting out of control with drugs again. Maybe if he apologized for that, they could have a more civil conversation about it. He'd checked in at her office before he left and her assistant Jayne had said she'd already left for the day so he was expecting her to be home when he got there.
He braced himself for another argument as he walked from his car up to her front steps. He was hoping though that since she'd been the one to suggest he drop by for the toys that she was in a better mood now. Of course knowing her, it could also be a ruse to get him to come by so they could have another fight about it. She was never one to back down from a fight, even if she knew she was wrong. Once she picked a side, she stayed committed to that until the bitter end. That was one of the reasons she'd been so successful in college and in her job.
He rang the door bell and waited for her to answer. After a couple of minutes with no answer he rang it one more time in case she was out by the pool in the back and didn't hear it the first time. He waited another two minutes and she still didn't answer. He let out a frustrated sigh. He actually did have a key to the house that she'd insisted he take at some point after she bought the house and they were still frequently hanging out together. He decided to just try the door knob first because she was horrible about actually locking the door when she came home. It was something they had fought about frequently because he had always been worried that someone might just come in to rob her or worse. Her house was located near a beach path that had a lot of traffic and while there was a fence around the back yard, there were still a lot of people that could easily try the front and find the door unlocked. At least the gate that led from her back yard to the beach could only be opened from the inside unless you knew the electronic key pad combination to open it from the outside. That had given him some comfort, as well as the fact that it automatically locked when it was closed given her inability to remember to lock things. She had a security alarm system too, but she always seemed to be pretty lax about actually turning it on. That was another thing they would occasionally argue about.
'Of course the door isn't locked,' he thought to himself as he turned the knob and opened the door. He shook his head angrily as he walked in and called her name. He didn't hear her moving around the house and she didn't answer either. He glanced into the living room and home office that was off the entry way. He saw her purse was sitting on her desk in the office along with her brief case, so he knew she had to be home. He also saw a box next to the desk that had 'Abby's Toys' written on it in Alexis's familiar hand writing. Maybe I should just take the box and go and not actually talk to her. Avoid the possibility of getting into another argument. He momentarily glanced at some of the pictures she had on a shelf next to her desk. There was one of Alexis, Abby and himself. Abby was probably around two when it was taken. It was shortly after they'd gotten engaged and they'd gone to Catalina with Charlie, Cassie and Abby. He sighed and decided he should at least see if there was anything else she wanted to send along for Abby before he left. Maybe she'll be more rational about things today.
He called her name again, but still didn't hear a response. He turned toward the kitchen and noticed the French doors that led out to the back patio from the kitchen were open. He decided as he walked toward the kitchen that she was probably out swimming and didn't hear the doorbell or him calling for her if she was doing laps with her head underwater. She used to frequently take a swim when she got home from work, and so he wasn't surprised that she'd be out doing that. Swimming and surfing always seemed to put her in a better mood, so hopefully they could have a more rational conversation about things than they did the day before.
He walked through the open doors looking over toward the pool and then froze for a second, unable to move. Alexis was laying on the ground next to the pool in a puddle of blood. His mind finally got control of his body again as he pulled out his cell phone dialing 911 as he ran over toward her. "I need an ambulance…" he said as the operator came on the line. Oh god, please don't be dead Lexi. Not again… not like Lilly.