Fic: Down Again #4: Case Of The Ex (Veronica Mars, Lamb/Veronica)

[amathela]

Title: Case Of The Ex
Fandom: Veronica Mars
Pairing(s): Lamb/Veronica
Word Count: 4110
Rating: PG-13

Summary: Lamb and Veronica are still at odds, and she can't seem to escape high school.

Notes: Sequel to What Goes Down. Fourth in the Down Again series. AU from episode 3:2 - My Big Fat Greek Rush Week; potential spoilers up to the end of season three.

Previously: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3


"So, how's the murder mystery coming?"

Veronica looked up to see Professor Landry, and blinked. "Um -"

Oh, right. Her assignment. Good question.

"It's coming," she said, and he grinned.

"It's a tough one," he said. "But I'm sure you'll be able to crack it."

She smiled with false enthusiasm. If only she were so confident.

"Well," Landry said, turning back to address the class at large. "You've all had a while to work on your assignments, so hopefully they're coming along. For the five or six of you who have probably started them already, congratulations. For the rest of you, I'd suggest you start thinking about them soon. In the meantime, I'll expect you to have read the next two chapters for next week, when we'll be talking about forensics."

A few people in the class sat up a little straighter, and he shook his head.

"And not the CSI kind. I'll see you all in a couple of days."

Veronica shot him a friendly smile as she left, her assignment the furthest thing from her mind.

-

Veronica waited until the end of the day to track down Budd Rose, parking across the street in a spot that gave her a good view of the house. It was smaller than she'd expected for someone who'd been married to the heir to the Hearst fortune, but that was a good thing, if it meant she'd have a better chance of getting in to speak to him.

She snapped a few pictures as a man came out of the house. He didn't particularly look like someone who'd been married to an heiress, but looks, she knew, could be deceiving. As he turned towards her, she got out of the car, and caught him just as he was about to go back inside.

"Mr Rose!" she called out, and he turned around.

"What do you want?" he asked, and she put on her best fake smile.

"Hi, I'm Veronica. Do you have a minute?" She tilted her hips a little for good measure; if this guy was into blonde college girls, it couldn't hurt.

"Mr Rose is not available," he said icily.

She frowned. This guy wasn't Budd Rose. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't be useful.

"Shoot," she said. "Well, maybe you can help me. I -"

"I don't think so," he said. "I'm quite busy."

Strike two. This really wasn't going as well as she'd hoped.

"I just want to ask a few questions," she said, slipping casually between him and the door.

"And I've already told you that Mr Rose is not available."

"Did you know Hallie Piatt?" she asked, deciding to get straight to the point. She might not have long to get what she could out of this guy, if his abortive attempts to get past her were anything to judge by.

Eventually, he must have decided that talking to Veronica would be the fastest way to get rid of her. She loved it when people decided that.

"Of course I knew her," he said, with a sigh.

Of course he knew her? Hallie's relationship with Budd Rose must have been serious.

"So you knew about her relationship with Mr Rose?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Everyone knew about it. She wasn't exactly discreet. Highly unprofessional."

"Unprofessional?"

"For an employee to carry on like that with Mr Rose? She even believed he was in love with her. As if she wasn't just another in a long line."

Veronica tried to hide her surprise. An employee? Hallie had been working for Budd Rose? Lamb had conveniently left out that part, and she tried to readjust. It was difficult enough to imagine Hallie with any kind of job at all, but did that mean she had been working for Budd and Selma Rose when they were still married? She must have; they hadn't been divorced long, and Hallie's relationship with Rose sounded like it had started a while ago.

Questioning the man in front of her wouldn't work well if he thought she knew less than he did, but luckily, he looked more uncomfortable than suspicious. That meant she still had the advantage.

"I take it you didn't approve of the relationship?" she pressed.

He sneered, as if that much were obvious. "Hallie Piatt was a stupid girl who dreamed that Mr Rose would leave his wife for her and make her rich. She was hardly the first to think it, but she really wasn't fooling anyone but herself."

Veronica glared at him. "You do know she's dead, right?"

His look told her he didn't much care.

"And their relationship? I'm guessing it didn't end well."

"I can't say I particularly noticed," he said, but his words were betrayed by his expression. "I do have a life outside of Mr Rose's romantic entanglements."

"A break up could have made life difficult for him," she pointed out. "I've noticed that wives don't tend to react very well when they find out their husbands are cheating on them with twenty year olds."

"Mr Rose's wife," he said, in a tone that indicated he didn't think much of her, either, "didn't tend to pay a lot of attention to her husband. Or to the women he was sleeping with."

Veronica could have bet she'd have paid attention if there had been a good reason for it. Like an impending divorce, perhaps? Maybe Selma Rose wasn't indifferent so much as she was calculating.

"Nice house," she said casually. "I expected something bigger."

He just glared at her.

"It doesn't seem like Hallie would have been happy about the break up. Losing her shot at millions? Did you ever see her try to threaten Mr Rose? Go public with the affair?"

"If she had, she wouldn't have made it far."

Bingo. "You mean like, she'd end up dead?"

He stiffened, and stared beyond her at the door. "If you'll excuse me."

"A multi-million dollar divorce settlement is a pretty good motive for wanting someone to disappear."

That got his attention. "Whatever you're implying, I'm sure that Mr Rose had absolutely nothing to do with it. Now" - he drew himself up to his full height, which wasn't very impressive - "I'm going to have to ask you to leave, unless you'd like me to call the police."

She stepped away from the door, hands raised, and he glanced over her shoulder.

"Never mind. I see they've arrived already."

Veronica froze. Neptune didn't have police. It had -

"Mr Rose?" a voice behind her asked, and she bit her lip, waiting a few seconds before reluctantly turning around. This wasn't going to go well.

"Is not available," the man said, but Lamb wasn't looking at him. He was staring straight at Veronica.

"I thought I told you to stay from Budd Rose."

"I know," she said, taking a step forward. "I was just -"

"Save it," he said, and looked past her. "I want to speak to Mr Rose, now."

Behind her, Veronica could hear the man disappear into the house.

"And you," Lamb said, glancing back at Veronica, "should leave."

"You can't just -"

"I can do anything I want," he interrupted her. "I'm the sheriff, remember? And you're interfering with a police investigation."

"I'm just trying to find out what happened."

"Which isn't your job," he said. "It's mine, and for once, you're just going to have to trust me to do it."

For a long moment, she didn't speak.

"I can't do that," she said finally, and he looked away, his jaw clenched tightly.

"I think you should leave."

She moved past him, glancing back behind her as she made her way to her car. Lamb, still waiting outside the house for Mr Rose to appear, didn't turn around.

-

"Veronica, thank god you're here!" Siobhann smiled as Veronica stepped into the house, and lowered her voice. "Kelly is driving me crazy. She's got the whole house working on the party, and she's convinced it has to be perfect."

"Won't it be?" Veronica asked, and Siobhann shrugged.

"I know. I keep telling her it's going to be great, but she's still freaking out. I think she's just nervous. You know, because it's the first party she's throwing, and because ..."

Because she had a dead girl's shoes to fill. Not an easy job.

"Well, I'm sure it's going to be fine," Veronica said. "But do you have a minute? I wanted to ask you a couple of things about Hallie."

Siobhann glanced warily towards the back room, where Veronica guessed Kelly was setting up for the party.

"Sure," she agreed finally, and Veronica followed her to sit down on one of the couches. She paused for a moment, and Siobhann smiled.

"It's okay. You can ask me anything you want."

"Okay," Veronica said, and leaned forward. "Did you know about her relationship with -"

"Mr Rose?" Siobhann finished. "Not a lot. Hallie was kind of low-key about it, which was a little surprising, but I guess she didn't want everyone knowing she was sleeping with a married guy, you know?"

Veronica nodded. She knew a thing or two about wanting to keep a relationship a secret.

"I didn't really find out about it before they broke up. I don't know if anyone knew before then."

"But you knew she worked for him."

Siobhann nodded. "She was his dog walker."

That made a certain amount of sense, she guessed. "Did you ever see Mr Rose?"

"A couple of times." Siobhann shrugged. "I took her to work one time when her car was in the shop."

So she knew Budd Rose on sight. Which meant he would have been recognised at the party.

"What about this guy?" Veronica asked, digging a photo of Mr Rose's personal assistant out of her bag. "Have you ever seen him before?"

Siobhann studied the photo for a minute, and then shook her head. "I don't recognise him."

"You've never seen him at a party?"

"No way," Siobhann said, handing the photo back. "I definitely would have noticed."

That made it difficult for either of them to have been involved in Hallie's death, but Veronica wasn't quite ready to give up. Love and money were two pretty big motives for killing someone - not to mention Budd Rose's marriage, and his reputation. If there was any way he could still be responsible, she was going to find it.

"Okay," Veronica said, managing a smile. "Thanks."

There was a loud crash from further in the house, and then the sound of raised voices. Mostly Kelly's.

"You should go," Siobhann said, with a grim smile. "Before Kelly finds out you're here and puts you to work."

"Thanks," Veronica said, getting up. She shot a final glance at the back room, and hurried out as Siobhann left to see what was going on.

She didn't expect to see Wallace when she got outside, but he was there, hovering nervously around the doorway.

Veronica smiled as she approached him. "Hey, Wallace. What's up?"

"Hey, Veronica," he said distractedly. "I was going to knock, but I heard shouting -"

"That would be Kelly," she said. "They're having a few problems setting up for the party."

"Yeah," he said. He didn't look like he was listening to her. "I tried calling you on your cell, and I went by your house ..."

"It's a good thing you finally found me," she said. "What's up?"

He looked at her, and she could see the worry etched on his face.

"What?" she asked. "Is there news on the case?"

"Can we walk?" he asked, and she nodded, falling into step with him. After a minute, he spoke. "One of the guys on the team talked to the coach."

"That's good," Veronica said. At Wallace's look, she reconsidered. "Okay, that's not good. What happened?"

"He said he told the coach he saw me talking to a bookie."

She stopped, and Wallace turned to look at her. "He lied?"

"Well, yeah, Veronica." He laughed humourlessly. "I'm not exactly the sports betting type."

"No," she agreed firmly. "You're not. So what happened?"

He shook his head. "It's not good. Coach came to talk to me, told me what the guy said. Said it looked like I was making bets on the team. He told me he had no choice."

That didn't sound good. "No choice about what?"

Wallace looked away.

"Were you suspended from the team?"

He shook his head again.

"Kicked off?" Whoever lied to the coach about Wallace was going to pay.

Finally, he looked back at her. "I got suspended from school."

"Wallace, that's -"

"I know," he said. "I might even get expelled. And even if they let me back in, there's no way I can pay for school without basketball."

He looked down, and Veronica took a step towards him.

"What am I going to do?"

"We," she corrected him, are going to get to the bottom of this. Do you know the guy's name?"

He shrugged.

"Can you find out?"

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, probably. There's a few guys on the team who still have my back. That is, if they haven't decided I sold them out."

She nodded. "All right. Find out the guy's name. When I get through with him, he'll wish he'd never heard of Wallace Fennel."

Wallace looked at her warily. "What are you going to do?"

"Relax," she said. "This is what I do best."

"So, what, you're going to threaten him until he confesses?"

She smiled, and took his arm as they began to walk again. "Exactly."

-

The last thing Veronica wanted to do after Wallace's news was attend the Theta Beta prohibition party. Especially since, with Wallace suspended, he wasn't going to be there. Veronica had tried to get him to come anyway - it would have been perfectly in keeping with the theme of the party, which was basically to break as many of the administration's rules as possible - but he'd resisted, claiming he wasn't in the mood to party.

Neither was Veronica, but with no leads to follow up on a Friday night and her father looking at her like he wished she'd get on with having a normal college experience, there wasn't much else she could do. Besides, if she was lucky, she might get to ask a few more questions about Hallie, which was enough of a possibility for her to brave the party.

There was nothing outside the house to give away the party inside; even from the doorway, it would probably pass a casual inspection. The back room, on the other hand, was a completely different story.

The walls were crammed with lights and decorations. A bar was set up in one corner, with people crowded around it and into every available space. Music pumped from the stereo, low enough not to be heard from outside, and a few couples were taking advantage of the crush of bodies to grind against one another in a pale imitation of dancing.

In short, it was her worst nightmare come to life.

"Veronica!"

She looked over to see Kelly, bounding towards her, and her hopes of making a quiet escape were dashed.

"So, what do you think?"

"It's ..." Veronica searched for the right word. "Impressive."

Kelly looked pleased, smiling over the party she'd created. "I know, right? God, I was so nervous. I mean, this had to be an awesome party, you know? And I was worried that maybe people wouldn't show up, because of all those stupid rules, and then I was worried that too many people would show up, and we'd be overcrowded, and then maybe the college would find out, and - oh, but this is perfect! I'm so relieved."

Veronica just smiled. Kelly really didn't have anything to worry about. The odds of people not showing up to a party, especially when they were in short supply, were practically nonexistent.

"Anyway," Kelly continued. "I should get back to it. Whoever's in charge of the music really needs to be replaced. But have fun, okay?"

Fun. Sure. She could probably do that.

"I will," she assured Kelly, who beamed at her one last time before disappearing back into the crowd.

Veronica scanned the party again, and her eyes fell on Parker, who was standing on the far side of the room. She made her way over, avoiding a group of already-drunk Pi Sigs with full cups and wandering hands, and Parker grinned when she saw her.

"Veronica," she said, moving forward to meet her. "I thought I'd never see a familiar face."

"Parker, hey," she said. "I didn't know you were coming."

Parker shrugged. "It was either that or stay home with Mac and watch her and Bronson get all cuddly. I mean, they're really nice about it, but I was starting to feel a bit like a third wheel."

"Ick," Veronica said. "Well, I'm glad you're here."

"Yeah," Parker said, but she was looking over Veronica's shoulder. Veronica glanced around, and saw Logan, who had just walked in.

"Ah," she said. "And now, I see the other reason you're here."

After a minute, Parker looked back at her. "It's not really like that."

"You mean, like you're still into him?"

Parker bit her lip.

"It's okay," Veronica assured her. "I mean, I don't really know what happened between you guys, but ... he probably still feels the same way, you know."

"I'm not so sure about that," Parker said. "I mean, we agreed we'd still be friends and everything, but I'm kind of starting to think he was just saying that. We were really good before school started, but now it's like he's ignoring me."

She gasped suddenly, and Veronica looked at her curiously.

"Oh my god, what if he knows? I mean, that I ... maybe he thinks I want to get back together, and he doesn't feel the same way. I mean, he's not exactly the most emotionally available guy I've dated."

"No," Veronica agreed. "He's not. But I'm sure that's not what's happened. He's probably just busy, is all."

"Yeah," Parker said, looking like she wanted to believe it. "Probably."

"You should go talk to him. It's a party, right? Casual, and lots of distractions in case it gets ... awkward."

Parker squared her shoulders. "Okay. You're right. I'm just going to talk to him."

"Good idea," Veronica said, watching as Parker made her way over towards Logan. At least she could sort out other people's relationships.

She veered away from a couple of pledges who'd started doing shots over by the bar, and was stopped by Siobhann, who was holding out a couple of drinks.

"No, thanks," Veronica said pre-emptively, but Siobhann wasn't dissuaded.

"One drink," Siobhann said. "It's called a Piatt."

Right. Like Hallie Piatt. And this would be the part where Siobhann played on Hallie's memory to try to get Veronica to have fun.

"I don't -"

"Come on," Siobhann insisted. "Just one, I promise."

Reluctantly, Veronica took the drink. "Just one."

It tasted sweet but deadly, which was kind of perfect for its name. Veronica wondered what was in it, and then decided she was probably better off not knowing.

"They look like they're having fun," Siobhann said, gesturing at the pledges Veronica had seen earlier. Looking closer, she recognised Sarah and Belinda; Sarah was grinning, and Belinda was leaning over the bar, looking like she'd already had too much.

"As long as I don't have to take them home," Veronica said, and Siobhann laughed.

"Don't worry, I think Kelly's taking care of that. I'm pretty sure she isn't going to relax enough to start drinking until the party's over."

As Siobhann left, Veronica finished her drink, already feeling light-headed. Hallie's namesake really packed a punch, and the lights and the crowd didn't help, either.

When she spotted Dick over by the entrance, she suddenly wished for another one.

He was followed into the party by Madison, which made Veronica raise her eyebrows. Of all the couples she would have picked to survive high school, Dick and Madison ranked nowhere near the top. She just hoped they never reproduced.

She was surprised when Madison suddenly veered away from Dick, throwing a distasteful look over her shoulder. If she wasn't here for Dick, Veronica wondered, why was she here? Probably her idea of playing hard to get.

Dick followed Madison, and then glanced over at the bar, and Veronica quickly moved away. She kept her eyes trained on Dick to make sure he didn't notice her, which meant she didn't see the person standing in front of her until she'd bumped in to them.

"Oops, sorry!" she said, and then turned her head to look at the person she'd collided with. "Or not," she amended, as Madison stared back at her.

"Oh," Madison said. "It's you."

"And you," Veronica said. "Gee, it's been great to catch up, but I really should be going."

"I hear you're dating the sheriff," Madison said, and Veronica froze. She really did not want to have this conversation.

"Not that it's any business of yours," she said coldly.

"It was my business not so long ago," Madison reminded her, smiling viciously. "Or did you forget I dated him first?"

Actually, she'd managed to put that quite effectively out of her mind. "From what I saw, what you two were doing couldn't quite be called dating."

Madison sniffed. "Ashamed of wanting my cast-offs?"

Not ashamed, exactly. More like quietly horrified. "I guess his taste has just improved."

"It doesn't look that way to me," Madison said, as if it were the most original comeback in the world. "I'm just surprised he's willing to be seen in public with you."

"Unlike when he was seeing you."

Madison shrugged. "We had more fun in private."

On the list of things she never wanted to discuss with Madison Sinclair - and it was a long list - this was absolutely number one. In fact, what Veronica wanted to do more than anything else right now was to throw up.

"Is your hair supposed to do that?" she asked, trying to look concerned. Madison looked worried for a minute, and then stormed off, sneering at Veronica as she went.

Veronica watched her go, satisfied, and saw Dick approach Madison. She brushed him off, and he looked up, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

With a sinking feeling, Veronica realised he was looking at her.

"Ronnie," he said, cornering her before she could get away. "Long time, no party."

"Yeah," she said, without feeling. "What a shame."

"I know, right?" he enthused. Apparently, sarcasm was completely lost on him. "I've missed seeing you around."

Somehow, she found it difficult to believe that. "I wish I could say I felt the same."

"What?" he asked, and then shook his head. "Never mind. So, how have you been?"

He was, Veronica realised with a start, leaning over her, pressing his hand to the wall. She tried to move away, and he followed her, pinning her in.

"Dick," she said evenly. "Move."

"Oh, yeah," he said, straightening up. "Never let it be said that Dick Casablancas is not a gentleman and a scholar."

She considered telling him that he was neither of those things, but just shook her head, instead. "You've read Robert Burns?"

He looked confused. "I read what?"

"The gentleman and scholar?"

"Oh, yeah," recognition setting in. "The Office. That Pam chick's totally hot. But I wouldn't exactly kick Karen out of bed, if you know what I mean."

"Dick, plankton know what you mean."

"Uh huh," he said, ignoring the comment. "So, where's your boyfriend?"

She sighed. What was it with this party and her love life? "I'm here by myself."

"Cool," he said, nodding. "Me, too."

She didn't think he was, but she refrained from saying so. Even mentioning Madison was more than she could handle. "Thrilling."

"So, I guess that kind of puts us in the same boat."

Veronica tensed. She really didn't like where this was going.

She liked it even less when Dick leaned forward again, and his lips collided with hers. She pushed him off her roughly, and he stepped back, looking baffled.

"Hey, what gives? I thought we were friends."

If she was any kind of friends with Dick Casablancas - and she'd really rather think she wasn't - it was definitely not the kind that kissed at parties. She settled for pushing him away from her again, and making her way hurriedly towards the exit. The way this party was going, she wasn't going to risk sticking around to find out if it got any worse.

She did enjoy the glare Madison shot at her as she left, however.


Next: Part 5, Part 6, Part 7