by Rob Thomas
Veronica knocked back the remainder of the wine in one gulp. She glanced heavenward. Yeah, yeah, I know: I am your daughter, in whom you are well pleased. No need to make a fuss over me, though. Just pay it forward by letting St. Vincent have a platinum album or something.
As she was heading for the exit, her phone rang and Mac’s face appeared on caller ID.
“Mac Attack. What’s up?” Veronica said, cupping the phone to drown out a sudden, blaring eruption of between-races music. She ducked into an empty women’s restroom to escape the noise.
“I need you to take a look at something,” Mac said, sounding psyched, perplexed, and exhausted all at once. “Can you get down here right now?”
“Is something wrong?” Veronica asked.
In the moment of silence that followed, she guessed the reason for Mac’s agitated state: She’d once again ignored explicit warnings to stay away from the Grace Manning case.
Veronica groaned. “Didn’t you have a teeth-cleaning appointment this afternoon? Because something tells me you blew it off to binge-watch the same fifteen hours of hotel security video you’ve already seen, like, three hundred times.”
“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Mac said. The words came in a rapid-fire tumble, half apologetic, half desperate. “There’s just this thing I’ve got here and I need you to tell me if I’m crazy to…”
“Yes. You are. Now please, as a friend and as a fellow high-risk relapse candidate, just turn that computer off right now.”
“Veronica, I’ve found something we missed before,” Mac blurted, her voice suddenly firm and resolved. “I’m not saying it’s a huge breakthrough. But I have feeling it might be. And I really need you to see it for yourself.”
“Okay—wow,” Veronica said, trying not to sound as intrigued as she was. “Look, thanks for calling me, Mac. Forget the dentist; I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Fourteen minutes later—after shaving six off by driving illegally around a highway construction barrier—Veronica sat next to Mac back at the office, watching sped-up images zigzag across her thirty-inch monitor.
“This looks better than before,” Veronica said. “Did you enhance it somehow?”
“Just a little exposure gain in the shadows. It helps a lot for what I’m about to show you.” Mac slowed the video to normal speed and Veronica saw a numbingly familiar scene: Pacific Southwest University basketball players emerging from the Neptune Grand lobby with rolling gym bags, heading for their team bus. This camera, mounted just above the hotel’s main front entry doors, afforded a wide-angle view of a semicircular drive used mainly by guests who were checking in or out. Currently, the entire middle foreground was filled by the PSU Kestrels’ bus.
Mac, who’d looked alarmingly wrung-out when Veronica had first come through the door, now seemed to crackle with static energy. Impatient with the parade of drowsy, crotch-scratching hoopsters, she hit Fast Forward and turned to Veronica.
“Well, I guess we’ve seen this enough times already,” she said.
“Yep.” Veronica sighed. “Whoa! Heads up, Ice Cube!” Two seconds later, they watched for the umpteenth time as a burly player in retro Jheri curls walked face-first into a potted palm’s low-hanging frond, then angrily swatted it as his teammates cracked up.
“Don’t worry, we’re getting to the interesting part,” Mac said. As she spoke, the last few players, coaches, and trainers approached the bus for boarding. Each, in turn, passed around the back of the vehicle and out of sight—presumably to stuff their rolling duffels into the driver-side storage bin. When the final straggler, a diminutive trainer, trotted out the front door and behind the vehicle, Mac paused the video.
“Okay, boss, watch closely now. Here we go.” She hit Play again and, less than a minute later, the bus started to move, slowly gliding out of view on the screen’s right side. Veronica now saw another familiar scene: the crescent drive occupied by only a lone bellman sneaking a few hits from an e-cigarette. Veronica cocked her head and watched the static scene for a few more seconds, then turned to Mac.
“Well, I saw all the Paranormal Activity movies and clocked every spooky drifting balloon and ripple in the dog’s water bowl. But you’ve got me. What did I miss?”
Mac pointed to the top of the screen, a shadowy area beyond the entry drive. “The background—all the way back. The part we haven’t seen until now because it’s been blocked off by the bus. What can you make out?”
“A parking lot,” Veronica said, leaning into the screen and squinting at the dim, poorly resolved area on the outer limits of the camera’s range. She knew the area well; it was the hotel’s short-term parking lot, thirty or forty spaces used primarily by guests loading or unloading heavy bags. There were a couple of shuttle vans, a motorcycle, and six—no, seven—cars visible. Suddenly, she understood. “We’ve never watched the video this far, have we?”
“No. At least not with any real attention to this parking lot after the bus leaves. So okay, do we want nineteen more minutes of foreplay or…?”
Veronica lunged for the remote and Mac smacked her hand away. “Straight to the money shot it is!” she said, pressing Fast Forward. The image flickered under extreme acceleration, but no physical motion was visible until, as the eighteenth minute raced to its end, the headlights on one of the cars in the parking lot came on. Veronica and Mac watched, now at regular speed, as a small white compact car backed out of its space. It could be seen in full profile, but a parking lot light’s glare on the side window obscured the driver from view. The car unhurriedly crept toward the street exit, turned right onto Neptune’s wide central boulevard, and passed out of sight.
“To answer your obvious question,” Mac said, “those vehicles you can see after the bus pulls out are the same ones that were there before it arrived and blocked our view.”
“And later on?” Veronica murmured in amazement, suddenly realizing she’d watched the final few seconds with hands pressed to her face a la Munch’s The Scream.
“The parking lot view is clear all night. And from the time that one car pulls out, right up to when Grace is found, only two other people leave: A desk clerk who’s empty-handed and a teenage girl with a purse in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. So I think it’d be very interesting if we could find out who’s driving that car, don’t you?
Veronica turned to Mac and slipped her a congratulatory low five. “You rule, girl,” she said. “How many times did you have to watch this, at what ungodly hours? Don’t answer that. All I’ve got to say is, if anyone wants to throw shade on the OCD community, they best not do it around me, because I will mess them up good.”
Mac grinned. “But I feel obligated to step on our buzz a little. We may have just watched an incredibly stealthy rapist leaving a crime scene. But it just as easily could’ve been some guy out having brews with his bros. And afterward they dropped him off at his car while the bus was blocking our view.”
Veronica closed her eyes and drummed her hands furiously on the counter.
“Right,” she said. “All this tells us is that someone, somehow, managed to leave the hotel without getting ID’d on video. That doesn’t prove they’re the perp. And whoever the perp is, we still have no clue how he got Grace out of there.” She mulled this over as she scooted into the kitchen to grab a bag of salted caramel pretzels and a carafe of iced coffee, and hustled back to Mac’s desk.
They both munched for a long while in thoughtful silence, then Veronica picked up the video remote and backed the video up to the point where the first of the PSU players started ambling through the lobby and out the front door.
“Can I safely assume you have godlike total recall of everything that happens from here until, say, seven in the morning?” Veronica asked, not even looking up to register Mac’s Bitch, please! look.
“Speak to me of luggage, Mackenzie,” she said as she pointed to one of the players’ gym bags. “Other than these ballers and the mega-duffels they’re carrying, I don’t remembe
r anyone else who checks out after this and who has anything bigger than a backpack. Am I right?”
Mac nodded absently. Then, as the weight of Veronica’s question sunk in, her hands fell to her side in disbelief. “No way, Veronica,” she said. “Those bags aren’t remotely big enough. I mean, look at ’em. You could stand one on end and it’d barely even reach above these dudes’ kneecaps.”
Veronica didn’t answer. She grabbed the mouse and dragged the video back to the scene where the basketball players trooped steadily out the door. The bags were Nike, soft black duffels on wheels with retractable handles. She opened an Internet browser on Mac’s smallest screen, and typed in Nike roller duffel black. Immediately, several models popped up. She started scrolling through, trying to find the right one.
“Are you hearing me, Mars?” Mac said. “I’ll grant you these guys are amply proportioned. But there’s no way their jockstraps and shorts and whatnot take up as much space as a grown woman’s body would. Even your midget ass couldn’t fit in there.”
“But what if it could?” Veronica said.
“It doesn’t fucking matter!” Mac groaned, her face pink with exasperation. “The rapist has a bleeding, semiconscious woman in his bag. So when they get to the outskirts of town is he like, ‘Hey driver, you mind pulling over next to that big, muck-filled pit and popping the luggage bin? I’ve, um, got something I need to drop off. No peeking, guys!’ ”
“I didn’t say he got on the bus. We never see any of these PSU guys actually boarding because the door’s on the far side, out of view. We’ve just assumed they all did because they’re a team, and once the bus drives away, they’re all gone. But what if one of ’em, while everyone else is getting into the bus, rolls his team bag—with Grace Manning in it—straight out to his little white hatchback?”
—
“Coach Fennel!” Mac chirped when her old classmate picked up the phone. “I hope you’re enjoying these last heady days of summer vacation.”
Wallace’s voice was instantly wary. “Funny. This sounds like Mac, but that’s the patented Veronica Mars I-need-a-favor tone. Let me guess. You two belles are looking for a strapping black man to do something boring, strenuous, or illegal for you?”
“Look, Wallace,” Veronica chimed in, “all we really have is a sports gear–related question. I just texted you a photo and I need you to tell me how we can get one of these things very quickly.”
Seconds later, Wallace replied, “Well, it looks like you got this picture off of Amazon. Have you considered a Prime membership?”
“No, it kind of has to be today. And we’re more interested in just, you know, seeing it and poking around inside it than actually buying,” Mac said.
“Good luck, ladies. This is the biggest selling bag on the market right now, so those store managers may be a little on the unhelpful side.”
“Wallace, I’m going to cut to the chase here,” Veronica said. “We need to know if this is a gym bag that’s big enough to stuff an unconscious woman into.”
There was a long silence before Wallace spoke. “You know, Veronica, we go way back. And I’ve done all kinds of dubious favors for you without pushing for any explanations. But I kind of think I’m owed one here.”
“Oh, come on, Wallace! Why get all ‘morally culpable adult’ on me now, after all these years?”
Wallace sighed explosively. “Fine. I have a bag exactly like the one you’re talking about. You and Mac can come check it out if you like.”
“That is so awesome! But, um, is there any way you could maybe bring it over for us right now? I’ll owe you a nice warm batch of chocolate chip cookies…”
“What the hell. I can bring it over for you. Had thought about spending this afternoon bodysurfing with a special lady friend—but whatever. Driving used athletic gear across town works too. Oh, and one other thing: No chocolate chip. Snickerdoodles. Nonnegotiable.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Veronica paced up and down the office as they waited for Wallace, her limbs electric. Just a short while ago she’d felt utterly defeated. Now she couldn’t sit still. She tried not to get ahead of herself, though. Mac wasn’t wrong to be skeptical; those bags did look awfully small.
Back at her desk, Mac’s fingers flew over her keyboard. The Neptune Grand’s internal database appeared on the screen, and she entered a query for every car parked at the hotel on March sixth, the night of the attack.
“Okay, we’re in,” Mac said, rattling the pretzel bag to dump the last few fragments into her palm. “I’m sure there’ll be dozens of white compacts, but if we can figure out the exact make and model of the one in the front parking lot…”
It was at that moment they heard footsteps on the stairs. A minute later, Wallace came through the frosted-glass door. He wheeled a black duffel behind him, his expression coolly sardonic.
“Gym bag delivery for Ms. V. Mars,” he said, plunking the bag at Veronica’s feet.
“Wallace, you’re the best.” Veronica knelt next to the bag and unzipped it. It was empty, but a ripe, sour smell wafted out. She pinched her nose, and gave Wallace an appalled look.
“What do you keep in this thing?” she asked.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “What do you think I keep in there? It’s a gym bag! I sweat, woman! You were expecting what? Lily of the Valley?”
Veronica stepped into the duffel, lowered her body, and curled tightly into a ball in the bottom. Wallace stared down at her.
“Am I allowed to ask what this is all about?” he asked.
“Trust me. The less you know, the happier you’ll be.” She tried a few positions, hunching her shoulders, tucking her head. After a moment, she looked up. “Okay, zip me!”
Mac leaned over and fiddled with the pull. A moment later, there was a loud zipping sound, and Veronica’s world disappeared into darkness.
“Unbelievable!” she heard Mac say.
Veronica’s breath started coming in gasps, and this time it wasn’t just the smell of Gold Bond Powder and male body funk. Now it was all too easy to imagine Grace in a bag just like this one. Confused, gagged, dimly aware of voices outside. Or had she been too traumatized to feel anything but pain?
“Let me out,” Veronica said. Then, because it seemed to be taking forever: “Let me out of here, Wallace!”
“Okay, okay, hang on.” Wallace yanked the zipper open and helped Veronica up. She wobbled on her feet, hungrily drawing in the cool, clean air. When she felt her heart stop racing a bit, she turned to Mac, who was shaking her head in disbelief.
“So—I guess these things just look tiny when they’re next to a guy you could hitch a U-Haul to, huh?”
“Trust me, they’re not exactly roomy,” Veronica said, staring down at the cramped space she’d just occupied.
“Well,” Wallace said, grabbing the bag, “I’d love to stay, but I must be on my way. If I hurry, I still might be able to get in a little bodysurfing.”
Veronica nodded at him. “Thanks, Wallace. Fresh-baked cookies are coming your way this weekend.”
On his way to the door, he bent over to give Mac a hug, but pulled up short when he saw what was on her screen: Pacific Southwest players scuffling across the hotel lobby, duffels in tow. “Huh. The PSU Kestrels,” he said. “And those same lady-sized bags. Part of me wants to know what’s up here, but another part is terrified to ask.”
Despite her long, no-secrets relationship with Wallace, Veronica played this one close to the vest. “It’s no big deal,” she said. “They just happened to be at the Grand the night of a case we’ve been working. And like you said, those bags are everywhere now.”
“This was back in March, right? Yeah, that’s it. I saw ’em play Hearst. We got smoked.” He shook his head disgustedly at the memory and again turned toward the door.
“Hey, quick question before you go,” Mac said. She went behind her desk and leaned over the keyboard. “Can we avail ourselves of your manly automotive knowledge? We’re trying to
visually ID the model of a car from a low-res TV image.”
Wallace shrugged. “I can try. But you’d do better just sticking your head out the window and hollering at the first fat white dude you see with a shaved head and foot-long beard. I’m not really into cars unless they’re cheap, basic, and the kind of thing they can fix at Sears.” He and Veronica followed Mac behind the desk to look over her shoulder. Mac still had dozens of windows open, showing different angles of the security footage.
“Well, then, I expect this will be right in your wheelhouse.” Mac said, advancing the video to the parking lot scene at the moment the white hatchback backed out of its parking space and showed itself in profile. “Look familiar?”
Wallace chuckled. “Believe it or not, it does. That’s a 2013 Mazda 3.”
Veronica and Mac exchanged triumphant glances. “You sure?”
“One hundred percent,” he replied. “It’s pretty much the official car of the Neptune High School faculty these days. We’re into those budget-friendly rides, you know. I even test drove one myself before I decided to give our local repairmen some love and buy American.”
Veronica looked at Mac. “Anything matching that description on the parking roster from that night?”
Mac opened another window and started scrolling through a list. After a moment, she let out a soft, sharp laugh. “Got him.” She highlighted a line item on the screen. Veronica leaned in to read over her shoulder. “There were three white 2013 Mazdas at the Neptune Grand that night, but just one hatchback. A rental from Lariat driven by a hotel guest named Mitchell Walter Bellamy.”
Wallace’s eyes narrowed. “Mitchell Bellamy?”
Veronica’s head snapped up. “Uh-huh. Why? You know him or something?”