Normal's Not The Watchword: 2/?
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2: Million Dollar Question
It was strange for the Casablancas household to be quiet at dinner.
Normally, Dick and his father would tease the youngest, Cassidy, while Kendall watched, amused. For Cassidy, the silence helped him relax and he felt comfortable in his house for the first time in months.
His father looked up, frowning at Cassidy. Dick noticed and opened his mouth to say something but his father held up a hand.
"Be quiet, Richard." he murmured, his gaze on his youngest son intensifying. "I need to talk to Cassidy."
Cassidy looked up, eyes wide. "What?" he stammered. "What about?"
His father laughed. "Don't stammer. It makes you look weak." He teased, but his expression quickly transformed to anger. "I was looking at your trust funds, to see if everything was in order, and you just received 150 000 dollars from JL Towers."
Cassidy paled and Dick turned to stare at him, confused. "W…Was I not supposed to get that?"
"No." His father answered bluntly. "Then I found a link between your trust fund account and an account of a Bart Allen, containing over 3 and half million dollars." Cassidy gulped at his father's furious look. "Is he paying you? Do you work for him? And if so, what for?"
"It must have been a mistake by the bank." Cassidy whispered, irritated by his father's questions. "I've never met a Bart Allen in my life."
"Are you sure?"
Cassidy nodded, pushing his plate away and stumbling from the room, ignoring his father's calls for him to come back. Once in his room, he shut the door and reached under his bed for a phone, searching through the contacts until he reached 'Green Arrow'. He pressed call.
"Arrow." he snarled. "I don't know what Cyborg did, but my League account has been linked to my trust fund and my dad's asking questions."
There was silence on the other end of the line.
"Just get Cyborg to fix it before my dad closes down the bank."
"Impulse." Arrow said, his voice deep as he answered. "We have a plan."
Cassidy sighed. "I don't care. I don't want to be involved in this. I can't have my dad or Dick find out."
"We're sending Chloe in." Arrow instructed. "You don't have to do anything unless she's in trouble."
"I won't let Chloe get hurt." Cassidy murmured. "Just fix the money, alright?"
Arrow started to reply as the door creaked open and Dick stepped inside. "Who are you talking to?" he asked. Cassidy's eyes widened and he murmured a quick 'Got to go' into the phone and hung up. "Like that's not suspicious. Come on, who?"
Cassidy stayed silent for a few minutes, then swallowed. "It's just a friend. School project, you know."
"You do your homework?"
Cassidy rolled his eyes. "Dick, what do you want?"
"Did you really get 150 000?"
"I don't know." Cassidy stated, watching his brother warily. "I don't have access to my trust fund, so I don't know where it came from."
Dick walked over and then sat on Cassidy's bed, looking round the room. "Beaver…" he said, ignoring how Cassidy grimaced at the nickname. "How on earth did you get 3 and half million dollars?"
Cassidy paused, staring at his brother with shock. "I didn't." Cassidy said. "Remember, Bart Allen had that money."
Dick paused. "Then how did you get $150 000 from JL Towers?"
Cassidy sighed, exasperated. "It was a mistake." Dick just laughed, obviously not believing him. "What?"
"Not even I would accidentally put $150 000 dollars into someone else's account." Dick laughed. "Come on, Beaver, what have you been doing?"
Cassidy clenched his fists, staring at his older brother. "Look, Dick, I don't know what you're talking about."
Dick rolled his eyes and was about to say something else, but suddenly his eyes widened as he saw Cassidy standing much closer than he had been a second ago, his entire body tense.
"Beaver, how did you do that?" Dick stammered.
"Do what?" Cassidy replied, his voice slightly higher than normal. "I haven't done anything. Get out."
Dick rolled his eyes, but left the room. Cassidy waited until he was gone, then shut the door. Eyes wide, he balanced the mobile phone in his hand. He didn't know what to do. Dick had seen it, and knew it existed, but Cassidy couldn't let his brother find out about 'Cyborg' or 'Aquaman' or even 'Black Canary'. If possible, he would have hidden it in another state, but he didn't have super-hearing like Clark Kent and he needed to hear if it rang. With a sigh, he sped over to the furthest wall and lifted up one of the pictures, placing the phone on the inside of the frame and gently placing the picture in its original position.
He smiled, satisfied, then fell silent, listening to see if anyone was coming into his room, before speeding down to Mexico for another fajita.
*
"What are we doing?" Veronica breathed, eyes wide as she looked up at Logan.
He shook his head, tightening his grip on her waist and resting his forehead against hers. He smiled. "No idea."
Again, he pressed his lips against hers and she slipped her arms up to wrap around his neck. As he attempted to pull her even closer, she giggled, causing him to push away.
"We need to talk about this." she whispered.
"I know." he chuckled. "I know."
Veronica's hands moved from the back of his neck to rest on his shoulders. "Maybe we should just keep it to ourselves for a while and see what happens."
"Meet in mop closets?" Logan teased. "Pass each other secret notes in the hallway?"
He watched, eyebrows furrowing, as Veronica's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. It looked as if she was remembering something. Logan stayed silently, watching as she seemed to figure something out.
"Come on." He murmured, grinning as her eyes darted to his and she appeared to come back to reality. "I'll drive you home on the back streets." Logan held the door open as she climbed into the passenger seat, then rushed round. Logan watched as Veronica stared at the back seat, her eyes glazed over and distant. "You okay?"
She started, but nodded as he pulled away from his house, reaching over to interlock her fingers with his. Logan looked down, smiling slightly as they drove through Neptune.
"Stop." Veronica said suddenly, and Logan did. "Someone's at my dads office."
Veronica stepped quickly out the car and rushed over the street, halting in front of the silhouette standing in the entrance to 'Mars Investigations'. Logan was soon standing behind, squinting as he tried to see who it was.
"Veronica Mars."
The man stepped out so that he was under a street light and Veronica's eyes widened. "Mr Casablancas?"
He nodded. "I've heard Dick talking about the detective work you do at school, and I figured you could help me."
Veronica shot a confused look at Logan, before turning back to Mr Casablancas with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, but are you sure you don't want to talk to my dad instead. I can set up a meeting with him tomorrow."
Mr Casablancas shook his head. "No, I think you'll be more discreet. And I'm willing to pay handsomely."
Veronica gaped at him, Logan trying to work out what was going on. "What do you want me to do?"
Mr Casablancas dug into his coat pocket and withdrew a large file. "Here is some information on Cassidy's trust fund. He recently received $150 000 dollars from JL Towers, and his account is linked to a Mr Bart Allen." Veronica didn't recognise the name. "I need you to see if Cassidy knows any Bart Allen and if he's working for JL Towers. It might be a mistake but…"
"You never know." finished Veronica, taking the file and pulling out a wad of paper. "I'll ask around, but it might be a good idea to talk to my father about this."
Mr Casablancas grimaced. "If I find out that Cassidy has any idea of what you are doing…" he said, his voice low and Veronica tensed. Logan stepped closer.
"Do I have a deadline?" Veronica asked.
"I'll call you and ask about your progress." Suddenly, Mr Casablancas laughed. "So, Veronica, I hope to see you again." Veronica nodded mutely. "And Logan, I'd appreciate your silence."
Logan agreed, placing one hand on the small of Veronica's back and leading her back to the XTerra. They sat still for a few minutes as Veronica read through the financial records.
"Do you know a Bart Allen?" she asked, frowning when Logan shook his head. "Have you heard of JL Towers?"
Again, Logan shook his head. "I doubt $150 000 into someone's account is a mistake." he murmured. "What's Beaver been doing?"
Veronica grimaced. "I think that's the million dollar question."