FIC: The Year of Living Dangerously, Part II (Veronica/Logan, Ensemble) (22/?) (WIP) (NC-17)

[vanessagalore]

Previous chapters: Ch.1-3 | Ch.4-7 | Ch.8-10 | Ch.11-13 | Ch.14-17 | Ch.18-20




•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Down the Rabbit Hole
Keith locates the evidence in Vinnie's
case; Candice comes clean with Wallace.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Keith: Enrico
Colantoni. Cliff: Daran Norris. Gallagher:
Christian Stolte. Father Patrick: James
Joseph O'Neill. Wallace: Percy Daggs III.
Candice Pauling: Toy Connor.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: "DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE"

Tues. 2/3/09 morning: St. Mary's Cemetery, Neptune, CA

A pickup truck labeled 'Neptune Coroner's Department' with a back hoe in tow pulls up to St. Mary's cemetery. Keith, wearing thick black plain-glass spectacles and a salt-and-pepper colored wig under his hardhat, goes to speak with the supervisor of the cemetery while Eli Navarro waits in the truck. "I have an order here to examine the casket in plot #79," he explains to the supervisor. "There's been an accusation that the funeral director put certain items in the casket that were supposed to be returned to the family. I think there's a lawsuit involved. I don't really know what it's about, but the word came down from my boss to check the casket." He shows the supervisor some official-looking paperwork and offers it for signature.

The supervisor shrugs, saying, "I don't know what to do. Father Patrick is out of town at a diocesan conference. He really should be here." He looks through the paperwork, which is lengthy and filled with legal terms and a plethora of official stamps and signatures.

"Come on, it's no big deal. We'll be out of your hair in a couple hours," Keith wheedles, preferring to do this excavation during the daylight hours rather than attempting a midnight stealth operation. He's well aware that Father Patrick is out of town for the day and in fact is giving a speech on community relations at a diocesan conference in San Diego that morning.

The supervisor signs the form and motions that Keith should go ahead. Keith nods a thank you and hopes that Cliff is doing his part up at Lompoc this morning.

Keith gets back in the truck, and Eli, scratching at his unaccustomed baseball cap, asks, "Are we good to go?" Keith nods, and Eli continues, "Let's get this crackhead operation over with. I don't want to have to come back here again. You know I'll do whatever you need to help Veronica and jack those pinches culeros for what they did to my uncle, but I hate this fucking dirtnap motel." Eli crosses himself and mutters, "Ave maria purísima."

~ • ~

Tues. 2/3/09: Lompoc State Penitentiary, Lompoc, CA

Cliff enters the prison and prepares to have his belongings searched. When the guard wearing the name tag 'Gallagher' opens Cliff's briefcase, the guard says, "What the hell is this? You can't bring a weapon in here."

Cliff looks in his briefcase at a Smith & Wesson 539 in a plastic Ziploc bag. "Where is my head? I forgot to drop that off. That's new evidence in a case I'm working on. Just hold on to my briefcase, will you? I'll pick it up after I finish meeting with Mr. Van Lowe."

Before Cliff has cleared the area, the guard is on the phone with a worried expression.

~ • ~

Tues. 2/3/09: Hearst College, Neptune, CA

Wallace is eating lunch in the Food Court at Hearst College. Candice spies him and gives him a little wave. Wallace halfheartedly waves back, and Candice frowns and comes over to join him.

"What's up, Wallace?" Candice says.

Wallace regards her thoughtfully, wondering just how much to say. I know she's hiding something. I remember how much it hurt when I found out about Jackie. Finally he says, "Candice, I really like you. In fact, I've never met a girl like you, smart and beautiful and kind. But I think you're hiding something from me, and I had a bad experience with a girl a few years ago. It messed me up when I found out the truth about her. It wasn't even that bad what she was hiding; what hurt was her not trusting me. And I think you don't trust me either."

Candice looks down at her tray of food.

Wallace continues, "I don't want to get hurt again, so I think I'm just going to walk away." He starts to stand up, and Candice puts her hand on his arm.

"Wait...I'll tell you everything. I've been wanting to," she says.

Wallace sits back down and looks at her.

"I don't know where to start," Candice says.

"Try the beginning. I have a lot of time to listen," Wallace replies. What the hell is going on?

"Wallace, I have a half-brother. His name is Shawn. We have different fathers, so his last name is Blake, but my father raised him and we were very close growing up. Shawn went to school here at Hearst. About two weeks before Christmas last year, he disappeared."

Wallace replies, "Shawn Blake? I don't remember reading anything about anyone with that name. What happened?"

"He told his roommate that he was going home. But he never got home. He was last seen in Neptune on Dec. 15, but the family wasn't expecting him until Christmas Eve. By the time my parents realized something was wrong, no one had seen him for ten days. I was in Mali and didn't know anything about it. My parents didn't want to worry me at the time; they were hoping he would show up. Finally, around New Year's Eve, my father flew out here to Neptune and talked to your sheriff, Vinnie Van Lowe."

"Uh-oh," Wallace says. "Vinnie wasn't a very good sheriff."

"And not very nice to my father. Sheriff Van Lowe said since Shawn was over eighteen, there wasn't much he could do," Candice said. "He said Shawn was allowed to disappear if he wanted to. My father contacted all the hospitals in the area and talked to my brother's roommate, who didn't know anything. Apparently, they were just roommates and weren't good friends."

"What about a private detective?" Wallace asks.

"My parents don't have very much money. My mother hasn't been able to work for years because of her health problems. My father didn't stay out here long because he needed to get back to take care of her," Candice replies.

"So you decided to come to school here and look for him?"

"Yes, but so far I haven't been very successful."

Wallace looks at her. "Candice, why wouldn't you ask me for help? You know I work at Mars Investigations; I can help you."

Candice sighs. "My brother had a lot of problems with drugs when he was younger. I guess...I guess I didn't want you to find out. And...well, I've been looking into Mars Investigations. At first, I found a lot of articles that implied that your boss was a crooked sheriff. But I read his book and researched a little more, and I've come to believe that Mr. Mars is an honest man."

"Candice, I want to help you. And I have to tell you, the person you should be talking to is my friend Veronica."

~ • ~

Tues. 2/3/09: Sunset Cliffs Apartments, Neptune, CA

Keith enters the apartment. He gets a plastic bag to store the bullet he retrieved from the corpse in Mary MacDonald's grave. He stares at the bullet for a long time, thinking that this was the most heinous thing he's ever had to do. I didn't have a choice! he protests to himself. Vinnie insisted that I had to get the bullet from the corpse; one of his fellow inmates at Lompoc was convicted because of similar evidence. I know he would turn in Veronica to save himself; it's the 'Vinnie Special', taken to the max.

Keith undresses to take a shower; he starts to throw his clothes in the hamper, but changes his mind and bags them in a plastic, intending to throw them out instead. In the shower, he turns the water to the hottest setting and scrubs every inch of his body with Veronica's loofah. Still, when his hand comes near his face, he thinks he still smells the stench of decay and corruption. Keith stays in the shower long after the water turns icy cold; the frigid blast makes him shiver, but he welcomes the pain of the stinging cold water.

~ • ~

Tues. 2/3/09: Hearst College, Neptune, CA

VERONICA

I've been trying to study all afternoon, and I've accomplished nothing. I can't stop worrying about Duncan. He's fled the country twice now when confronted with a problem, and I'm certain he'll run again if we can't get Lizzie to take the sibling DNA test. Even with a positive result, custody isn't a certainty. He loves Lilly, and it would kill him to give her up. How the hell am I going to help him?

Dad promised to speak to Lizzie first thing tomorrow; I argued with him, tried to get him to talk to her today, but he said he would be busy all day and couldn't reschedule. His phone has been off every time I've tried to call him today. He's been very secretive all week; Wallace says he has no clue what he's up to.

I keep thinking about Meg...poor Meg: what it must have been like for her, how desperate she must have been to come up with her plan; and then Duncan broke off their relationship and began pursuing me again. No wonder she hated me. God, what a mess.

And then...there's Logan. I've watched the casino video a hundred times now. Something is wrong with that video, but I can't figure out what it is.

I wish...I wish I knew what was going on with him.

~ • ~

Tues. 2/3/09 evening: St. Mary's Church, Neptune, CA

A short distance from St. Mary's Church, Keith sits in his car monitoring two laptops. The first one is showing all surveillance activity on the devices Keith placed in the priest's residence and in the church. The second laptop has the hacking program that Mac created for Keith. When Father Patrick logs on to his computer, the Bluetooth device in the laptop, enhanced by a range-extender, will automatically seek a connection with the Bluetooth wireless keyboard in Father Patrick's office. The laptop will ping the keyboard, seeking the PIN number of the device, and will use the algorithm Mac designed in order to compute the PIN and make a secure connection. All the information Father Patrick types in from that point will be mirrored to the laptop screen.

While Keith waits, he thinks about the bullet he retrieved that morning that is now stored in the freezer at the Mars residence behind a carton of Rocky Road. He feels like he still reeks of the smell of decomposition, but he forcibly tamps down the panic, knowing it can't possibly be true. He thinks, I know today's 'exhumation' will help to sell the ruse of the gun from the robbery and make Father Patrick react the way I need him to, but damn Vinnie to Hell!

Keith watches as Father Patrick turns into the driveway and parks in his reserved spot. The cemetery supervisor immediately accosts the priest, and Keith surmises that Father Patrick is learning about the exhumation from the morning. Father Patrick appears to be angry and walks quickly into his office.

Keith selects the surveillance device that provides a live audio feed from the office, and hears a beep and an electronic voice saying, "You have five new messages. Tuesday...11:14 am" A voice says, "Father? It's Gallagher, from Lompoc. That shyster McCormack was here today; he had a gun. I think he's got the gun from, you know, that thing we talked about. Call me right away." -beep- The electronic voice continues, "Tuesday...11:58 am" It's Gallagher again, asking Father Patrick to call. There is one message from a parishioner asking for an appointment, then two more messages from Gallagher.

Keith hears the priest say a very unecclesiastical "Shit!" and sees from the video feed that the priest has picked up the phone. He dials a number, and Keith, switching to monitor the phone bug, hears that the phone is ringing and is picked up by an answering machine. Father Patrick slams the phone down, and logs onto his computer.

Mac's program automatically pings the Father's computer and retrieves the PIN number of the Bluetooth keyboard. Keith watches on the second laptop screen as Father Patrick types:

[ctrl] N

gallagher@gmail.com [tab] [tab] Re: Your Message [tab] [tab] Are you sure it's the same item? Item location has not changed to my knowledge. Please describe item. [alt] S

[ctrl] N

roastbeefman@yahoo.com [tab] [tab] Re: VVL [tab] [tab] Someone may be helping VVL. Need to activate contingency plan immediately.

From his video feed, Keith sees Father Patrick suddenly stop and pick up an envelope from the stack of mail on the desk. He opens the letter and reads with an expression of shock. Keith peers at the screen and thinks that the envelope has a sticker indicating it was forwarded from another address.

Father Patrick turns back to the computer screen and types.

There was a fire at L's property in Ranchita. The shed was destroyed. VVL rep appears to have other evidence. Please advise. [alt] S

Keith watches as Father Patrick shuts down the computer and begins to pace around the office. He seems to make a decision; he unlocks a desk drawer and removes a key ring. He exits the office, and Keith slouches in his car seat to prevent his being seen as Father Patrick hustles out of the priest's residence and into the church.

Keith switches the video feed to the devices in the church, toggling between them until he picks up an image of the priest. He watches as the priest locates a hidden door behind the lectern on the alter, unlocks it, and pulls it open. The priest's relief is palpable; Father Patrick looks around the church, closes the compartment, and returns to the priest's residence.

Keith immediately exits his car and stealthily enters the church. He locates the compartment. The lock is almost invisible, set into the fine woodwork of the panel. Keith uses lock picks to open the compartment, and he retrieves a gun in a plastic bag and quickly leaves the church.

Chapter Twenty-Three