by Rob Thomas
She stood up. “It’s all right, Adrian. This has got to come as a real shock to you.” She smiled and held out her hand. They shook. “Look, give me a call if you hear from her, okay? I just want to know she’s safe.”
“I will,” he promised.
She turned to go but paused near the dark hallway. It was now or never.
“Mind if I use your bathroom before I go?”
Before he could answer, she pushed open the closed door—the one she’d pegged as the bedroom. Immediately a wave of that sweet vanilla smell came wafting out through the open door.
Then a white-hot ripple of pain unfurled in her chest, spreading out through her body. Her muscles seized up. She felt herself falling and she couldn’t move—couldn’t even put out her hands to brace her fall.
In the moment before she hit the carpet, she just had time to make out the freckled face and straight auburn hair of her attacker, a Taser crackling in her hand.
Hello, Aurora.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“Shit! Shit! What are we going to do?”
“Shut up. Just shut up and let me think for a second.”
Veronica found herself on her back, staring across a grimy, khaki-colored carpet at a landscape of dust bunnies and beer caps. She couldn’t move to turn her head from where it was crooked to the left, but from where she lay she could make out a bed with a rumpled quilt spilling half on the floor, a single desk lamp casting yellow light around the bedside table. There were dirty clothes all over the room, and just a few feet away, a blue nylon duffel bag slumped on the floor.
That vanilla perfume grew stronger, and she felt warm breath on her cheek. Pain ricocheted through her body as Aurora shocked her again, her nerves screaming. She felt her legs flop against the floor like dying fish, wondering distantly if this was some horrible kind of karma for all the people she’d tased over the years. Then she fell still.
“Hand me her purse,” Aurora demanded. “We have to make sure she’s not armed.”
There was a rustling noise near Veronica’s ear as Aurora rifled through Veronica’s bag and pulled out her Taser. “Hold on to that. We definitely don’t want to be on the receiving end of this thing.”
They had Veronica’s Taser. Her mouth was dry. She could already feel the pins and needles of sensation returning to her limbs, but before she could move she felt something pressing into her legs.
“We need to get her tied up before the shock wears off.”
“Yeah, but what then? She’s seen you, Rory—what the fuck are we going to do with her?” Adrian’s voice suddenly seemed to have dropped about two octaves in the last few seconds.
“Baby, I love you, but you are not helping.” Aurora’s voice was a tight, controlled hiss. “Use your exercise bands and tie her up.”
There was some scuffling behind her. Veronica wiggled her toes, testing her movement. Suddenly Aurora was in front of her, cocking her head to one side to meet Veronica’s eyes. She was in a black bra and panties, her hair loose around her shoulders. Her mascara was smeared beneath her eyes. She held the stun gun in her right hand.
“You wouldn’t believe how much I’ve heard about you,” she said. Her voice was tense and excited. “Clever, good Veronica Mars, the daughter so decent and upstanding Lianne couldn’t even look her in the eye. It’s fucking pathetic. She never had that problem with me.” Aurora gave a short, harsh laugh.
“It takes a con to know a con, I guess,” Veronica rasped. Her throat was dry, and her muscles were bunched in tense, vicious knots. She groaned, her voice weak and shaky, as Adrian appeared and tugged her arms roughly away from her body. He wound something cool and tight around her wrists. Almost instinctively she pulled her hands slightly apart, hoping against hope that it would help her generate slack in the bindings.
Aurora seemed to be enjoying her discomfort. “So it was Adrian who attacked Duane Shepherd with the maraca and left those beans there for me to find?”
“I knew that doorknob of a sheriff wouldn’t put it together, but I thought you might.” She started to pace, her bare feet padding back and forth across the carpet. “I never liked Shep. He liked to think he was in charge of the whole operation. Kind of a bummer that I didn’t get to smack him myself.” She paused, looking behind Veronica at Adrian. “You get it good and tight? Get her legs too.”
Next it would be a gag. She didn’t have a lot of time left if she wanted to get them talking. She lifted her head slightly to meet Aurora’s catlike green eyes.
“So how long have you been sleeping with your gay BFF, Aurora?”
Aurora stopped her pacing for a moment and actually giggled. It sounded absurdly young, almost childish.
“We started the Will and Grace act last year, just after we started dating. At first we did it just to see if we could get away with it. I told Lianne and Dad a couple sad, sad stories about how the kids at school bullied him, about how his own family would disown him if they knew. They ate it right up. Never said a word, not even when I’d come out of my room with Adrian still in there, half naked.” She smirked. “I wasn’t surprised Lianne bought it, but my dad should’ve figured it out. He’s lost his edge.”
“You started the rumor just so you could fool around?” Veronica asked. Adrian quickly wound a towel around her ankles. Again, she kept them almost imperceptibly apart. “That’s a long con. I’m impressed.”
Aurora shrugged. She stopped her pacing to pick up a long silk scarf from the top of the dresser, balling it up in one fist. “We didn’t know it’d end up being useful too. It’s not like we’ve been planning this. But it’s come in pretty handy. No one would suspect sweet, limp-wristed Adrian of having anything to do with my disappearance.”
“So now you’ve got the cash,” Veronica said. “And as an added bonus, you got to throw your dad under the bus. Pretty cold, Aurora.”
The girl’s nostrils flared. “He got what was coming to him.”
“I think there’s about to be a lot of that going around,” Veronica said.
The girl dropped down on one knee in front of Veronica. Her smirk had turned to an agitated, angry sneer. “You don’t know anything about me. You don’t get to judge me.” She gripped a handful of Veronica’s hair and pulled her head up. Veronica cried out in pain, but the instant her mouth was open the girl shoved the scarf into it.
Veronica tried to whip her head away, to writhe out of Aurora’s grip, but the girl held on, pinning her down to the floor. Veronica’s scalp burned, and the silk scarf filled her dry mouth, stretching her cheeks uncomfortably wide.
Aurora met Veronica’s eyes. “Tanner treated me like the dumb little girl I was before he went straight. He never even stopped to think I could do something like this if I wanted to. But I spent the first seven years of my life as a prop in his small-time games. I was a perfect shill—cute as a button and eager to please. He had me return stolen dogs for reward money. Once he and Shep shaved my head and passed me off as a brave little cancer patient.” She snorted. “Jesus, for a while, when we were on the road, he’d have me sit alone at the rest stop or outside a gas station. Then if a certain kind of man talked to me or asked if I needed help, I’d scream bloody murder. Dad would come running and accuse the guy of attempted kidnapping. Nine times out of ten, the poor rube would get so freaked out he’d pay anything he had in his pocket to make the problem go away. And then, just because prison scared the shit out of him, he decided to go straight. He just decided it for both of us, like I didn’t get a vote. Then it was nine years of ‘Straighten up and fly right, Aurora,’ nine years of, ‘You’re going down a dangerous path, little missy.’ ” She was shaking—whether with fury or nerves, Veronica couldn’t tell. “So as annoying as Shep is, I was fucking ecstatic when he showed up with a plan. Of course, in his version, I was going to be a good girl and stay put in that scummy motel they had picked out for me. There wasn’t even cable TV in there! Instead I stayed right here, right where I wanted to be. I broke into the motel long enou
gh for Dad to see me there and came right back here. Now they’ve both been caught, and it serves them right for underestimating me.”
Abruptly she let go of Veronica’s hair. Veronica’s head hit the carpet again, and for a moment she saw stars.
“Come on, Adrian, the timetable just got moved up.” Aurora was on her feet again. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
“What are we gonna do with her?”
“We’ll leave her here. Tied up and gagged. Someone will find her in a few days.”
The pressure on Veronica’s legs disappeared as Adrian stood up. He clenched his fists at his sides, his knuckles white. “That’s not gonna work and you know it. People know who she is. They’re gonna look for her, and if they find her before we’re gone …”
“Then what do you recommend?” she hissed.
He gave her a significant look. The girl went pale beneath her freckles.
“No way,” she whispered. “That’s crazy, Adrian. You think they’re gonna let us stay disappeared if we’ve killed someone?”
Veronica’s throat went tight. For a moment she felt like she was choking on the scarf. She moved her fingers, testing the bonds that held her. There was a little bit of slack, but it’d take some work to get out.
“We can’t risk her getting found.” Adrian gripped Aurora by either shoulder, a panicked, wild look in his eyes. “We’ve got to get rid of her.”
The two of them stared at each other in silence. On the floor Veronica tried to slow her breathing, to stay calm. She’d need both her breath and her energy if they decided they were out of options.
Then, cutting through the tense, anxious air, three quick knocks sounded at the door.
Veronica’s heart leapt.
Aurora and Adrian exchanged glances, eyes narrowed. Adrian nodded at Aurora and slipped out of the bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind him. Veronica listened to his footsteps trailing across the little apartment.
The door opened. Adrian’s voice was muffled through the wall, but the visitor’s voice came loud and clear.
“Hi, Mr. Marks. Sorry to disturb you, but I’m looking for my daughter.”
It was Keith.
Finally, Veronica thought. He’s here.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Veronica could hear Adrian’s voice through the wall. He’d put the high camp back on—she could picture him, jutting a hip out, cocking his head. “Your daughter?”
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure you know her—blond woman, yay tall. Veronica. The private eye helping with Aurora’s case.”
Veronica felt tears gathering at the corners of her eyes and blinked them quickly away. When she’d called her dad on the car ride over to explain her theory, he’d told her to wait for him in the parking lot. Worried that Adrian and Aurora could be on their way out of town at any moment, she’d gone in anyway. But she’d underestimated Aurora—badly. And now her dad was in danger too.
“Oh! Yeah, I saw her this afternoon. I haven’t seen her since then, though.” His voice sounded concerned. “Why, is she missing?”
Aurora crouched frozen by the bedroom door, stun gun in hand. She was so engrossed in eavesdropping she didn’t notice Veronica, twisting her wrists, trying to work her hand through the knot.
“Well, that’s funny. Her car’s in the parking lot. I know she’s been working on a case you’ve been involved with, and she gave me a call not too long ago saying she was coming over here.”
“Shit,” Aurora breathed.
There was a long pause. Then Adrian’s voice came back with false bravado. “I’m sorry, Mr. Mars. I don’t know anything about that. Look, I’ve got an early class tomorrow. I’ve got to get some sleep. But if I hear anything from Veronica I’ll tell her to call you right away.”
She heard a clunking sound. The door shutting on a cane?
“I’m sorry, Mr. Marks, but I’d really feel a lot better if you’d let me look around.”
“Hey, man, you can’t just come in here like—”
“Veronica? Can you hear me?”
“Get the fuck out of my apartment.”
“You don’t like it?” A beat. “Call the sheriff, kid.”
She closed her eyes, trying to breathe slowly around the scarf, to keep from panicking. Trying not to calculate the odds between Adrian Marks, eighteen years old, athletic and fit, and Keith Mars, fifty-one, who’d almost died two months earlier and couldn’t make it a block without his cane.
There was a scuffling sound, followed by a dull thud. The wall shook as something fell against it. Aurora was on her feet and out the door in a flash. Veronica gave one final wrench of her hands and pulled her left wrist through the knot.
“Stay down, if you know what’s good for you, Grandpa.” Aurora’s voice was muffled through the wall, but Veronica could hear the triumph in it. There was another thud, and a low groan. Veronica peeled the tubing off her wrist and sat up to untie her ankles.
It was lucky Adrian hadn’t patted her down; he’d been in a hurry just to bind her. She pulled the .38 out of the holster at the small of her back and checked to make sure it was loaded. Then she burst through the door, the gun held out in front of her.
This time, her hands were steady.
Keith was on his side on the ground, clutching his stomach. Adrian stood over his body with the titanium cane in his hand, blood pouring from his nose. As Veronica entered he swung it straight into Keith’s stomach with an awful thwack. Aurora watched from a few feet away, her face rigid with fury. Any hint of the crafty, calculating girl Veronica had glimpsed was obscured now, replaced by a towering rage, the destructive temper tantrum of a teenager.
Veronica didn’t stop to think. She aimed the gun at a lamp a few feet to Adrian’s left, and she pulled the trigger.
The sound tore through the apartment, the lamp exploding in a shower of ceramic. Adrian dropped the cane and covered his ears. Veronica turned slightly to point the gun straight at Aurora. Slowly, the girl dropped the stun gun and held up her arms.
In the distance, the sound of sirens wailed.
Ten minutes later, Veronica and Keith sat side by side on the steps outside the apartment, watching as Norris Clayton pushed Aurora’s head down into the cruiser. Adrian was still upstairs in handcuffs; the EMTs were taking care of his broken nose. Keith’s legs were still frail; his right hook, not so much.
“Did you get a confession?” he asked.
“Oh!” She reached into her green corduroy jacket and pulled out her iPhone. It was still recording. She turned it off. “I almost forgot.”
“You could have been killed.” His voice was sad but resigned. She looked at him, not sure if she was being admonished or not. “I told you to wait for me.”
“Aurora and Adrian were about to skip town; every second mattered.”
“Veronica, it wasn’t worth risking your life over. The cops would have caught them.” He frowned. “Not every fight is worth going to the mat for.”
She stared out over the pool. When the college kids had heard the sirens they’d fled, leaving nothing behind but their empty beer cans and one forlorn green towel, abandoned over the back of a chair. She knew he was right. And she knew that was the thing that scared him the most—the fact that she couldn’t stand the thought of losing her quarry. The fact that, more than anything, she hated the idea that sometimes assholes got away with everything and left other people—people like Hayley Dewalt’s family—empty-handed and bereft.
Keith put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side. “Next time I want you to wait for me. I’m your backup, Veronica.” He hesitated for a moment. “I’m your partner.”
The word took a moment to land. For a second, it sounded foreign, almost forced—like a story they were both trying to believe. She looked at him, wondering if there was any way she’d ever feel less like a kid when she was with him. Wondering if they could actually ever work as equals.
Then she smiled and realized they would. They’d needed each o
ther for a long, long time. They’d already been partners for years.
She rested her head on his shoulder and watched the cruiser pull away from the curb and slip off into the night.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
The sunlight caught the windows of the Warehouse District late Wednesday morning, glittering like ocean spray. Even this far inland, miles from the brilliant Pacific surf, away from the luxurious playgrounds of the lucky and the carefree, it looked like it was going to be another beautiful day in Neptune, California.
Veronica slammed the door of the BMW shut behind her, then stood for a moment looking up at the office building. It’d been less than twenty-four hours since Adrian and Aurora’s arrest. Her body ached all over with bruises and her eyes were dry and tired from the run of sleepless nights. If she’d ever deserved a day off, it was now—but she knew there’d be plenty going on at the office. After a major case, things usually blew up in the PI business, and while the Chamber of Commerce’s money would keep them solvent for a little while, she had to be on point and ready to snatch up anything else that came her way. She took another breath of fresh air and started inside.
She was almost to the door when it swung open and Petra Landros stepped out, sleek and smooth in a plum-colored sheath dress and spindle-heeled Louboutins. As ever, she seemed to be stepping from some luxurious alternate reality, somewhere between perfume-scented pages. Her lipsticked mouth turned up when she saw Veronica, and she lifted her oversize Jackie O shades off her face to meet Veronica’s eyes.
“Ms. Mars. Congratulations on another case closed.” They shook hands. “I was just dropping off the check with your assistant.”
“Mac’s not really my assistant; she’s more of a …” She paused for a moment, realizing she’d almost said hacker. “Colleague,” she finished vaguely.