Vandermein

XXV

"Wow," was the first word that I spoke out loud in the wake of the silence that followed her story. 

Then I said, "You are a terrible crime fighter." 

"Excuse me?" She sound almost offended. 

"You followed us and did all this work and you were just going to kill us? Really? You didn't think about interrogating, kidnapping, drugging, stalking, black-mailing, slandering, torturing... None of that? What if there were other kids out there? Do you think we would be doing this alone? A crime this size requires a network. If one link in the chain snaps, the whole operation is dumped; the product is destroyed. Do you get what I'm saying? If we were in on this and you killed us, one ship of kids would be the least of our concerns; we'd be looking at a whole fleet of dead kids, potentially." 

"Well, I'm sorry, doctor, but I'm not a villain. I don't think about evil the way you do." 

"Exactly! Which is why you're so bad at this." I was almost offended at her ineptitude. "I mean, at the pool. Strangling? Really? You were outnumbered. How long did it take you to apply that costume? You could have...I don't know...made an acetylene cocktail to throw into the pool, blow us sky high." 

"And killed innocent people sleeping in their rooms?" 

"You could have used a gun."

"And risked a stray bullet?" 

"By attacking two suspected serial killers in a public place, you risked all of that and more. Your work was sloppy. And you moved in an undercover operative to work with Boone? Way too close! You should have had her working dispatch, case management, reception. Any one of those would--"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" 

"Veronica. It's painfully obvious she's a plant. A young come-upper with a heart of gold and a tragic relationship with her mentor? It's cliche."

"Who's Veronica?" 

I eyed her suspiciously. Was this an attempt at deception or was she being honest? She had already spilled so much about her activities, why would she lie about this? Had she been honest about the rest of it?

Boone spoke up: "Veronica tried to shoot me when I tried to apprehend Vandermein. We wrestled over the gun, but somehow, she overpowered me. She took off in the squad car and she'd been missing until Ji-Min sent us a picture that she'd been captured here."

"Your partner...How long has she been working with you?" Marie asked. 

"A couple months."

Something connected in Marie's head and her eyes went wide with realization. "She's had access to your case files, she's been shadowing you..." 

"Yes..."

"You know how to get into Vandermein's house, I showed you that...and you showed her." 

The realization struck Boone too. "It was all her." 

"It was all h--"

Marie was about to confirm the connection all three of us were making, when the explosion interrupted us.