A/N – I originally wrote this part with a 3am instead of 2am in the first paragraph. I've always hated 3am after reading the heartbreaking LoVe Story '3 AM' by Trixx (FF) /Synful_Trixx (AO3). I don't think I've cried so much over a 7000 word story before. It was so wonderfully sad. It seems nothing good ever happens at 3am, so I changed mine to say 2am instead. If anyone who hasn't read 3 AM wants a gut wrenching LoVe story, I highly recommend it, but be sure to grab lots of tissues! I went to find it again and was in tears just reading part of the ending again to be sure it was the right story.
As always, thanks for all the support and for continuing to read along. I really do appreciate all the comments/reviews that people take the time to leave. I'd love to hear everyone's theories too on who attacked Alexis.
Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.
Chapter 15 - Comfort
Veronica woke up and realized Logan wasn't in bed. She rolled over and looked at the clock and saw that it was only 2am, so she climbed out of bed to go search for him. She quietly headed downstairs and found him sitting on the couch with a glass on the table in front of him and a bottle sitting next to it. She stood at the base of the stairs and quietly watched him for a moment. She hadn't actually seen him drink anything stronger than a beer since she'd been back. It hurt her heart to think of how much pain he must have been in to get the scotch or whatever was in the bottle out tonight. She walked over and knelt down on her knees in front of him, resting her forearms on the top of his legs as she gazed lovingly up at him. He looked sadly down at her for a few seconds, and then leaned down so he could kiss her. She expected to taste some sort of alcohol on his lips given the glass and bottle, but didn't. She put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him deeply back. After the kiss he kept leaning in to her with their foreheads touching. His breath was a bit ragged and he closed his eyes and took a deep steadying breath.
"Nightmares?" She asked quietly. He nodded and sighed. He reached down and pulled her up into his lap as he sat up straighter again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he burrowed his head into the crook of her shoulder. She gently ran her fingers through his hair. "It's not your fault you know?" She could feel him nod slowly against her. "You may have even saved her life by finding her when you did."
He sighed again and lifted his head up so he could look at her. "But what if she never wakes up? I just wish… I wish I'd found her as soon as I got there. I stopped in her office first and debated about whether to just take the box and go. If I had looked for her as soon as I got there, it would have been better."
Veronica looked lovingly at him and shook her head. "You can't feel guilty about that Logan. What's important is that you did get to her when you did and got the paramedics there quickly."
He nodded, but didn't look terribly convinced. He rested his head against her shoulder again and she kept massaging her fingers through his hair. She finally felt him exhale a deep breath and could feel that he was starting to relax a bit. "Come back to bed," she whispered against his ear. "I could help you relax more than a glass of scotch." He sat back up and opened his eyes to look at her again. He leaned in and kissed her then nodded. She climbed off his lap and picked up the bottle and the glass and took them into the kitchen, standing on her tip toes to put the bottle on top of the fridge where Abigail wouldn't be able to grab it. He stood at the edge of the room waiting for her. She reached out her hand and took his, and then led him back up to bed.
She had him lay back down and then she crawled in next to him, placing soft kisses on his lips and running her hands through his hair again. She gently massaged his scalp and down along his neck too. He exhaled and ran his hands up and down her body slowly. "We can just kiss and cuddle, or whatever you want to do," she whispered in his ear as she nuzzled her face against his cheek. She really did want to provide him with as much comfort and support as he needed. He let out a deep sigh, then brought his mouth over to hers, kissing her deeply before he pulled her on top of him. His hands continued to caress up and down her body while they kissed. She could sense he was thinking about more than just kissing and cuddling. Soon he had pulled her shirt up over her head to rest her body against his already naked chest. He finally rolled them over so he could rest over her and started kissing down her body starting at her neck. "I love you so much," he whispered against her skin as he placed kisses all over her body. She told him she loved him too and when he came back up to kiss her mouth, she ran her hands up and down his back in soothing patterns. Sometimes when they were together it was fast and passionate, while other times like now were slow and loving. She hoped he really did believe how much she loved him and also that what happened wasn't his fault. When they were finished, he pulled her close to him and pulled the covers up over them. After a few minutes of lying there peacefully together, she reminded him that they did have a couple of guests in the house, and so unfortunately they should probably put some clothes back on. He sighed but reluctantly agreed and released her so they could get dressed again. She curled back up against his chest and held him tightly as soon as they were back in bed. She hoped he'd at least get a few hours of sleep since she had no idea how long he'd been down on the couch alone.
When she woke up again it was 6am and they were still wrapped in each others arms. She tried not to move because she didn't want to wake him up if he was asleep. She laid there quietly for a few minutes, and then felt his fingers slowly stroking her shoulder. She lifted her head up and looked at him. He gave her a small smile and pulled her up closer so he could kiss her. "Did you get some sleep?" She asked as their lips parted.
He nodded, "Yeah a little."
She traced his face with her fingers, running them gently over his forehead, her thumb stroking across his eyebrows. "Do you want to talk about it? I'm here for you if you need anything at all."
"I know," he said in a quiet voice and tipped his head up so he could kiss her again. "It was just so horrifying you know. When I found her… of course the first thing that flashed through my mind was Lilly." Veronica nodded and kept stroking her fingers gently over his face, moving them down from his forehead to his cheeks. He took a deep breath and then looked at her sadly, "Why do things like this keep happening to us?"
"I don't know." She replied as she shook her head. She placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
There was a soft knocking on their door. "Come in," Veronica said loud enough for whoever was knocking to hear. Abigail poked her head through the door and smiled.
"I'm so glad you're back," she said as she ran over toward the bed.
"Hey kiddo," Logan said with a small smile. Veronica had scooted off of him so she was resting more on his side. Logan reached out his other arm so Abigail could climb up and give him a hug. "Sorry we were out so late last night. Did you have fun with Heather?"
Abigail nodded. "Is everything okay?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.
Logan sighed and looked sadly over at Veronica. "Aunt Lexi had an accident and she had to go to the hospital and we were there with her."
"Is she going to be okay?" Abigail asked with wide worried eyes.
"I sure hope so Abby. The doctors are all taking really good care of her." He said in a somber voice.
"Can I go and visit her there?"
Logan shook his head, "Not today. Maybe in a few days if she's feeling better though, okay?"
Abigail nodded and gave him a small smile. "Do you have to go to work today?"
Logan shook his head again, "No I was able to get the rest of the week off from work to spend with you, but I'll need to go and check on Aunt Lexi too. Maybe you can go and visit Mac and Dick for a little while today."
Abigail smiled and nodded. "Okay."
He asked her if she wanted to watch cartoons for a little while before they went down for breakfast. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV as Abigail climbed under the covers too and got comfortable on the pillows. Veronica sat with them too, mostly just leaning up against Logan with her eyes closed. He'd wrapped his arm around her and was holding her hand, and she gently traced soothing circles on it with her free hand. She finally heard her cell phone go off around 7am, and leaned over to see who had sent her a text that early. It was Leo saying he needed talk with her and Logan as soon as possible. She made a worried face, which Logan noticed and raised his eyebrows at her. She held the message up so he could see it and he frowned as he read it.
She sent a text back asking if he could just stop by the house since they had Abigail with them and Heather would be leaving right after breakfast for class. She went and took a quick shower, followed by Logan while Abigail stayed snuggled up in their bed watching cartoons. Once they were ready, they went down to the kitchen to wait for Leo and make breakfast. Logan busied himself making eggs and bacon while Abigail helped make toast. Heather had woken up too and she helped Veronica get the table all ready. They'd just sat down to eat when Leo arrived.
Logan gestured to the office and the three of them went in to talk, leaving Heather and Abigail out finishing their breakfast. Logan closed the door behind them so the girls wouldn't overhear whatever Leo needed to talk to them about.
"So," Leo started as soon as the door was closed. "We put out a quick news release last night to ask for any information in Alexis's case." Veronica and Logan looked at him anxiously and nodded. They could tell there was something wrong as soon as he'd arrived. Leo turned to Logan and gave him a concerned look before he spoke again. "Did you have a fight with Alexis Monday morning in the parking lot at City Hall?"
Logan looked shocked, "Wait, what?" He shook his head. "We were talking and I guess she was a bit mad, but I wouldn't call it a fight." He paused for a moment before he spoke again. "How did you even know that?" he asked in disbelief.
Veronica cringed a bit. With everything else going on, she'd forgotten to ask him about whether he'd talked to her after the comment Alexis had made when she stopped by her office.
Leo shook his head and sighed, "A 'concerned citizen' reported it when they saw the news release."
Logan shook his head and blew out a frustrated breath. "Great." He gave Leo a panicked look. "You know I didn't do this right?" His voice took on a whole new level of anxiety.
Leo nodded. "I know you didn't." He sighed before he continued. "But it just makes it even more important for us to figure out who did." He looked between the two of them again. "I wanted to give you both a heads up, in case the 'concerned citizen' starts sharing their story with the media. Roger would probably need to officially look into it then."
Veronica narrowed her eyes at Leo, "And who is this 'concerned citizen'? Is it someone we know?"
Leo sighed and nodded at Veronica. "Matt Barone," he answered then looked back at Logan, "apparently he was arriving at City Hall at the same time and overheard you two."
Logan ran his hand nervously through his hair. "Oh that's just wonderful." Veronica reached over and placed her hand on his arm trying to sooth him. He gave her a worried look.
"We'll figure it out Logan," she said in the most comforting tone she could. "Were there any actually helpful tips yet?" she asked Leo.
Leo shook his head. "No not yet, but hopefully as it's reported on more today we may get something. Surely someone had to have seen something near her place from the beach." He gave them both a sympathetic look. "None of the neighbors we interviewed last night saw anything either. There also haven't been any other reported burglaries in her neighborhood, so it makes the likelihood of it being a random robbery lower, though not completely out of the question." He paused again. "Do either of you have any other ideas about who could have done this? I know you didn't know last night Logan, but I was hoping with some time to get over the shock of it all, you may have thought of something."
Logan sighed, "Well it's no secret that she's not always the nicest person and has definitely made a few enemies. But assault or attempted murder?" He shook his head.
"Like I mentioned yesterday, she did get into a fight with Kennedy at Growlers Saturday night, and Kennedy did threaten her." Veronica reminded Leo and then she looked at Logan. "Is Kennedy that unstable though?"
Logan shrugged. "I wouldn't have thought so, but who knows. She definitely has a temper too. You saw her slap Tommy that night a month or so ago when we were leaving Growlers." Veronica nodded in reply.
"On top of all the women she's rubbed the wrong way, there are all the guys she's been seeing and who knows if one of them could have gotten tired of not being the only one." Veronica said regretfully and then looked curiously at Logan again. "Do you think Tommy would do something like that? If he had stopped by and she was planning to have dinner with David, do you think he could have gotten jealous and hit her?"
Logan looked surprised by her question, "I wouldn't think so. But she does know how to push people's buttons, so maybe."
Leo was quietly watching the two of them for a moment before he spoke again. "And then there was the sculpture they used." Logan's eye's got a bit bigger as he looked at Veronica with a slightly concerned expression. He'd forgotten about that with everything else going on. He realized now that Veronica probably saw it and read the inscription too. "Do you know where she normally kept it?" Leo asked, bringing Logan's thoughts back to the current issue at hand.
"Um…" Logan tried thinking back to the last time he'd been at her house before the prior night. "I think it was on a shelf in the living room… maybe near the entry way. It's been a while since I've been over to her house though. Vanessa…" He took a deep breath wondering if her parents called her last night. "Vanessa might know. She was just there on Saturday night. Oh, and she has a cleaning service, so the house cleaner might know where it normally was too."
Leo nodded "That's great. Thanks Logan." Leo looked between the two of them again. "Well at least it sounds like we have several suspects to start with. Kennedy… Tommy… And you'd mentioned something about David in the car last night too."
Veronica saw Logan's jaws clench at the mention of David's name. She looked at him with a worried expression before she spoke again. "My concern is those are just the most obvious, and that there could be even more that we don't even know about."
Leo nodded. "Yeah, she wasn't always the easiest person to get along with."
Logan looked a bit pale. Veronica got closer and put her arms around his waist and he rested his chin on the top of her head. Leo gave him another sympathetic look. "I'm sorry man. I know you two have been friends for a long time."
Logan nodded and sighed. "I still can't believe someone would have hated her enough to do this intentionally though."
"It may not have started out as intentional. She may have just gotten into a heated argument with someone and they lost control." Leo suggested with an understanding expression on his face. Veronica couldn't help but wonder at first if that's what happened with Aaron and Lilly. If he'd actually meant to kill her or if he'd just lost his temper and hit her. Although his chilling confession that horrible night in the Grand Elevator certainly made it clear he had absolutely no remorse about it.
Leo turned his attention to Veronica breaking her out of her memory of Lilly with his next question. "I'm assuming you want to help with the investigation?"
Veronica turned slightly so she could look up at Logan, giving him a questioning glance. She only wanted to get involved if he was okay with it. If he wanted her to stay with him instead, she would. His well being was more important than a case. He gave her a grim smile and nodded. "I really want to find out who did this Veronica." She nodded back and then turned to Leo and nodded to him in confirmation too.
She told Leo she'd be down to the station a bit later in the morning. He let her know that he was planning to have a debriefing with the other deputies at 9am if she could make it. He patted Logan on the shoulder again before he left. "We're going to find out who did this. Don't worry." He gave him a comforting smile before he saw himself back to the front door.
Logan and Veronica stayed behind in the office for a minute to talk before going back out to join Heather and Abigail. They were still standing together with her arms around his waist and his across her back. "I'm sorry I didn't mention the argument to you before," Logan said giving her a worried look. "It happened right before Abigail showed up, and then everything just got a bit crazy."
Veronica shook her head, "Hey, you don't need to apologize for that at all. I knew you were going to try to talk to her. I guess that didn't go so well?" He shook his head. "She also asked me if I was there to lecture her too when I stopped by to ask about the jewelry, so I had guessed that you had tried to talk to her, and meant to ask you last night when you got home. But then… well you know."
He cringed and nodded. She hugged him a little tighter, and then stood up on her tip toes to kiss him gently on the lips. "We'll figure this out okay?"
He gave her a half hearted smile, "If anyone can do it, I know you can."
She was starting to think over everything again. "Do you think Barone could have done this? You'd mentioned him not being happy that she wouldn't date him and it's awfully suspicious that he's also the concerned citizen who reported your argument in the parking lot. He could have…" She didn't want to imply that he did it to set Logan up because then Logan would feel even guiltier, but she'd started to speak before she'd completely thought it through. The fight would give him some sort of motive he could use, and then the weapon being something Logan had given her would make Logan look very suspicious. Matt would also have been very familiar with Lilly's story since he went to school with them at Neptune High. He could have lured her out by the pool some how and then hit her out there. She shuddered just thinking about how absolutely psychotic he'd have to be to go through all that trouble just to frame Logan. And if his only motive was because Alexis wouldn't go out with him and he saw Logan as the reason, well then he really would have to be pretty insane. It's not like they hadn't already had to deal with more than their fair share of psychotic murderers. Only in Neptune...
Logan wasn't sure what she was thinking that she didn't finish her sentence, but her expression told him it wasn't good. Logan let out a deep breath. "I wouldn't have thought Matt was that unstable, but at this point I really don't know." Veronica nodded and gave him an understanding smile.
She was already trying to put together a list of potential suspects in her head. Of course Tommy and Kennedy had been at the top of the list to start out with. Tommy… Gavin… Corina… Liam.
She let out a little gasp. "What if Alexis somehow found out about Liam's involvement with Corina's disappearance? That could have been possible with her hanging out with Tommy." She looked up at Logan whose expression became even more troubled.
"I sure as hell hope this doesn't involve the Fitzpatrick's that way," Logan said with a worried tone.
"Me too," Veronica said somberly and let out a worried sigh. She was thinking a call to Troy might be in order to see if he thought there could be any connection.
She was still troubled though by Barone being the one that had called in with the information about their argument in the parking lot. She wondered if he'd exaggerated it to make it sound worse than it was. She was going to have to be sure to read the official statement that he gave when she got into the office.
They stood together in the office for a few more minutes, still embracing each other. "We'll figure it out," she said again, hoping that if she said it enough times he'd believe her and feel better. He nodded and then held her a bit tighter, placing a kiss on top of her head. After another minute they both took a deep breath and headed back out to the table to join Heather and Abigail. Veronica took a couple quick bites of her food, but then said she'd have to hurry off so she could make it to the Sheriff's department before the meeting started.
Logan walked up stairs with her when she went back up to get her shoes and her purse. He stood in the doorway and watched as she grabbed her things. He pulled her in to his chest and squeezed her tightly as she came back toward him to leave, burying his face into her hair. "Please be careful Veronica," he said in a broken voice that made her heart ache. She flashed back to how upset he was when they'd found out Trina was the one using Lynn's credit cards and that Lynn was likely dead, because that's exactly how devastated he seemed now. She inhaled a sharp breath trying to fight the tears that she suddenly felt stinging her eyes at that thought.
After a few seconds when she knew she was composed again, she moved her body slightly away from his chest so she could look up at him. She put her hands on both sides of his cheeks and looked intently into his sad hazel eyes. "I promise, okay?" She nodded and gave him the most reassuring look that she could. "Feel free to text or call later if you need anything… anything at all okay? I swear I'll drop whatever I'm doing if you need me. Okay?" He gave her a grim smile and nodded. "And my dad said he could shift some things around if we needed help with Abby. If it just becomes too much, and you just need some time alone, you can call him too, okay?" He nodded again and she thought he looked like he was about to crumble. She couldn't help but feel like leaving him now was a bad idea. "Hey, maybe I should stay. I can catch up with Leo later and he can fill me in."
He took a deep breath, trying to pull himself back together and shook his head. "No you go. I'll be fine. We'll be fine." He leaned in and gave her a deep kiss then stood back up and tried his best to smile at her. She nodded back, but wasn't completely convinced. "If you want me to meet you later at the hospital so you don't have to be there alone, let me know okay?" He nodded and then dropped his arms from her waist. He took her hand and led her back down stairs. She grabbed her computer bag and gave him one more gentle kiss before saying good bye to Heather and Abigail. It wasn't until she opened the door out to the garage that she finally remembered that she didn't have the BMW because they'd left it at the hospital.
"Um…" she turned back to the others. "I forgot I don't actually have my car."
Luckily Heather was done eating and said she could drop her off on her way back to Hearst. She quickly grabbed her things too and the two of them headed out front to where she'd parked her Mini-Cooper.
"How's he doing?" Heather asked as they drove out of the drive way.
Veronica shook her head. "Honestly, I think he's just barely holding it together. I almost changed my mind about leaving when we went upstairs."
Heather nodded. "I didn't think he looked too good and I've seen him at some of his worst times." She gave Veronica an apologetic look since their break up had been one of those times and they both realized what she meant. "I'm really glad he has you here for him," she continued on. "I couldn't imagine him trying to deal with something like this by himself. He… uh… he did tell me about Lilly once. I was so young when that had happened, I really don't remember hearing about it at all, but her name came up once and he told me some of the story. I can't even imagine finding Alexis basically the same way."
Veronica nodded. That sick feeling returning to the pit of her stomach again. "Yeah, I actually…" she took a deep breath. "I actually was there the night my dad got the call about Lilly and… and saw her. I know how Logan feels. I'm just hoping that Alexis pulls through and is okay, so that he doesn't have to deal with losing someone else in his life again. Not the same way we lost Lilly."
Heather nodded and gave her a sympathetic look. "I hadn't thought about how hard this probably is for you too."
Veronica gave her a small smile and nodded. "I guess it's good we have each other."
Heather nodded in reply. "I'm so glad you came back into his life Veronica. I can honestly say that I don't think he's ever loved anyone the way that he loves you."
Veronica knew that Logan had tried to tell her the same thing, but hearing it from other people made it seem even more real and comforting.
"I know he cares a lot about Alexis, and this is really hard on him because of that, but I hope you don't think it means he loves you any less. You know that right?" Heather said in a genuinely concerned tone.
"How'd you get to be such an insightful young woman?" Veronica asked in a slightly teasing tone, trying to hide how much what she'd said actually meant to her.
"I blame it on having to listen to all of those annoying little quotes Logan was always rattling off when I was growing up around him." Heather replied with a smirk on her face.
Veronica chuckled and shook her head slightly. She'd actually missed those a lot when she'd first left. It was just one of many little things she'd tried to not let herself miss about him when she'd basically run away from Neptune all those years ago. She'd gotten a bit lost in her thoughts when she realized they were already pulling up to the BMW at the hospital. Veronica thanked Heather for the lift and waved as she pulled away.
She debated about whether she should stop in and see how things were with Alexis, but then she decided that might be a bit awkward if her parents were there. Dating their daughter's ex-fiancé just seemed like a bit of an uncomfortable situation, especially since she had no idea how they felt about Alexis and Logan now. He seemed so comfortable with them last night that she couldn't help but wonder if they were the type to hold on to the hope that they would work their problems out and get back together at some point. She couldn't help but recall how they'd asked him if he wanted to go back and see Alexis but not David. Her sensitivity to it the night before was heightened, especially after seeing all the family photos at Alexis's house. She of course had noticed that there weren't any of David there.
I wonder how her other male romantic interests felt when they saw all the pictures of Logan in her office. Such a contrast to Logan's house where apparently anything left behind by her was tossed in the back of the closet in one of the spare rooms. She hadn't paid much attention to the living room at Alexis's house as she had walked out to the back yard where all the activity was happening so she wasn't sure if there were more pictures of him there or not. I wonder what they'd find in her bedroom... If things hadn't been so intense, she would have spent more time looking through the house for other hints at what may have happened. There was also the sculpture that apparently she'd kept out on display. She wondered what other sort of things around her house were things Logan had given her. Don't forget this is a case Veronica, and Logan loves you. She didn't think anyone would have been back to the house overnight and really wanted to go back to take another look around without being rushed. Completely for the case, not in a snoopy jealous girlfriend sort of way... The fact that they'd used a sculpture that clearly was a gift from Logan and must have been important to her if she kept it around did seem significant to her even if she didn't want to imply as much to Logan. It could also have just been the easiest thing to grab that would have done the most damage too, which is why she wanted to go back and look over the scene again. She was hoping after the briefing at the station, she could go back to the house and have another look at things.
As she drove back to the Sheriff's office, she couldn't help but wonder how many men might fit on the jealous romantic interest list. She was really glad Casey had a sound alibi, not that she would have ever thought he would do something like that, but if it was made public they were dating, she was sure he'd be looked at too. So there's Tommy who I still think was trying to get Casey out of the picture. I wonder how he really feels about Logan too. I wonder if there's ever been any sort of jealousy about her friendship with him. She hadn't picked up on anything like that when they'd all been around each other though. David of course would be on that list too as well as Matt Barone. Was he just being an ass by calling in about the argument they had in the parking lot, or is there something else going on with that? It sure feels suspicious to me. And like she'd said to Leo, those are just the guys she knew about. She wondered how many other male friends she might have that could have been jealous about not being the only one. Maybe her assistant at work would have some idea of other men she might be more than just good friends with.
Her mind of course kept also floating back to the Tommy-Gavin-Liam connection. She hadn't had a chance to call Troy and would have to do that after the briefing was over. She parked the BMW in her normal spot at the station and headed into the office. Norris was in the main area as she walked in and gave her a small smile and a nod.
"How's Logan holding up?" He asked as Veronica approached him.
Veronica shrugged. "As well as can be expected I suppose." She knew Norris would be just as familiar with what had happened to Lilly as they were given he went to school with them too and with the leaked videos of her crime scene, most of Neptune High knew all the gory details.
He gave her a sympathetic look, "And how are you holding up?" She gave him a grim smile and shrugged again. He nodded in reply. "If I can do anything, you let me know, okay?" She nodded and smiled a bit brighter, and headed back toward the large conference room in the back that they used for briefings.
Leo went over what they had discovered at her house, which wasn't really much. They'd contacted her assistant at City Hall and found out she'd left work about an hour and a half before Logan had found her, which was at about 5:25 based on the 911 call. Besides Logan stopping by her office after she'd left, the assistant said that Matt Barone had also stopped by to see her about 45 minutes before Logan did. Matt Barone, you just keep popping up don't you? The assistant had provided a copy of her schedule to them which included the people she'd met with during the last week. The assistant said she'd received several calls on Monday and Tuesday from Casey Gant, which Alexis had not taken. The assistant did mention that Alexis had been planning on having dinner with David Spellman and the assistant had made reservations for them at a restaurant for 7pm.
They weren't able to get any clean prints off the sculpture that had been used to strike her. Leo said he spoke with her doctor again and their normal Medical Examiner and they both agreed that given the weapon that was used, if it was a strong male that inflicted the blow, the damage sustained would have implied that they didn't use full force. Full force from a strong man with that object would have done more damage. They said it could have been a female suspect, which would explain the level of damage that was done, or if it was a male, they may not have intended to kill her and didn't use their full strength.
So far they hadn't received any other tips from the public other than the report of the argument with Logan from Barone. Leo paired Veronica up with Norris and asked two other deputies to also help actively work the case, with other deputies on stand by if they needed extra assistance. The other two were going to start talking with people she'd met with the prior week based on the calendar from the assistant. Veronica said she'd like to go back to the house again to look around for anything else that they might not have noticed the prior night. She also took a copy of the calendar to see if any names stood out to her. She also grabbed a copy of Barone's statement.
Veronica told Norris she'd be ready to go in a few minutes, and that she just wanted to stop in her office first to make a quick call. She went into the office and pulled out the cell phone to contact Troy on. She was hoping he'd be able to talk given it was only 9:30 in the morning.
He sounded a bit sleepy as he answered the phone. "Hey Veronica," he mumbled into the phone and she thought it sounded like he may have rolled over in bed from the background noise.
"Did you hear the news about Alexis Calloway?" Veronica asked as she picked up a pen from her desk and started doodling on a piece of scrap paper she hadn't thrown away yet.
"Yeah," He said as he tried to stifle a yawn. "Sorry, I was at the club later than usual, and then didn't get to bed until about 2 hours ago." He took a deep breath. "She comes to the club sometimes with Tommy right?"
"Yeah, that would probably be her. Listen, I only have a minute. Do you think there's anyway that she could have found out something about Corina or other stuff that Liam might be up to and that one of them might have done it so she wouldn't go to the Sheriff?"
"Well it is Neptune Veronica, anything's possible," He replied in a grumble.
"You okay?" she asked when she heard the frustration in his tone.
"Yeah… I'm just tired of this fucking town." He let out a loud sigh. "I'm sorry… Debbie's birthday was yesterday and I'm just mad I couldn't make it out there to see her."
"Sorry."
"Not your fault Veronica. Anyway, I think Tommy usually stays out of most of the bad stuff that Liam does, but it's possible she could have found out something. But it seems way too sloppy to be something the Fitzpatrick's would have done."
"What if they were interrupted though?"
"Hmmm. Well I don't think Liam would have ever let it play it out that way. If he wanted a witness to be quiet, he wouldn't have risked being interrupted."
"Yeah, I thought it was probably a long shot. What if it was a crime of passion though? Do you think Tommy has a bad enough temper to have done it in a fit of rage?"
"Tommy does actually have a pretty quick temper…" Troy went silent thinking for a moment. "I've never seen him lose his temper with a woman though. And god knows when he was with Kennedy, she gave him lots of reasons… At Liam or his other male cousin's yeah, but he always seems to be a gentleman around women."
"Okay, I'd better go. If you think of anything from seeing her at the club, let me know okay?"
"Yeah, okay."
"Any luck on our other case?"
Troy let out a frustrated breath, "Nope, nothing new there unfortunately. If Molly has something on Liam, I'm pretty sure it's not at the club."
"We should hear back soon on the phone taps I think, so then we may be able to rattle them a bit."
"Good."
"Thanks Troy… And I'm sorry about… you know. I'm sure she understands."
"Yeah. Thanks Veronica."
Veronica glanced quickly at the copy of Alexis's calendar as she hung up the phone. She noticed a Thursday evening time for racquetball with Mike B. listed. Who might you be? The assistant's number was listed on the paper so she gave her a quick call.
"Hi Jayne, this is Veronica Mars with the Sheriff's Office. I had a quick question about one of Alexis's appointments last week."
"Of course," Jayne said in a slightly worried tone. Veronica remembered Logan commenting that Jayne didn't handle conflict well, and an assault case was probably a bit much for her.
"I saw that she had racquetball listed. Do you know the last name of the guy she played with?"
"Yes, that would be Mike Branford."
"Oh… the realtor?" Veronica asked, a bit surprised by the answer.
"Yes, that's correct. They play pretty much every Thursday evening when she's in town."
"Thanks. And do you know what gym they play at?"
"Um... I'm guessing Neptune Country Club, but I'm not positive. She never asked me to reserve court times for them. I would guess he probably set it up since she has me schedule most things for her."
Or they weren't actually playing on a court. Veronica let out a deep breath. Would Alexis have actually been having an affair with a married man? She'd met Mike and wouldn't doubt he'd be having an affair with someone, but she'd guessed the maid or the au pair, or maybe both of them actually. Well that should be a fun question to ask Logan about.
"Any idea how long they've been playing racquetball together?" Veronica asked next. I wonder if it was even back when she was with Logan, given his poker night was always Thursday nights too.
"Well I've only been her assistant for the past 2 years, but I know they were already playing back when I started."
"Thanks Jayne," Veronica said before they both said goodbye and hung up.
She wondered if Mrs. Ice Queen Branford could have found out Alexis was sleeping with her husband and gone after her. She must have some inkling that her husband wasn't being faithful since he seemed like such a player even when I met him.
She took a quick look at Barone's statement. It did sound like a fairly dramatic fight from the way he described it. She seriously doubted it was as bad as he made it sound since Alexis seemed annoyed when she saw her the next day, but not extremely mad. If she had been, she probably wouldn't have mentioned the box of toys for Logan to pick up. She debated about whether to let Logan read the report, but didn't want to cause him more stress either. She decided she'd ask Leo later what he thought she should do about it.
Veronica grabbed her bag after reading Barone's statement and headed out to meet up with Norris. The deputies had found Alexis's house keys on her desk the prior night, so while the house had been locked overnight, they'd be able to get back in with the keys. Veronica mentioned to Norris that she also wanted to talk to Kennedy and so she asked him if they could get her information and stop on their way over to Alexis's. She was hoping she'd be a little more cooperative if they didn't drag her down to the station for questioning, but if things didn't go smoothly, that would be their next option. Let's see what sort of secrets you might be keeping Kennedy.