When October Goes

Chapter 9

Vivienne had beat her dad home.  She hoped he wasn't in the car, but knew he likely was.  She prepared for her punishment.  She'd accept whatever he dealt to her because she'd rather focus on solving the mystery than fighting with him.  She went into her room with provisions for her night of research.  She had some water and snacks.  She turned on her laptop and settled in for the mystery that awaited her.

"Viv," she heard her father's voice call.  "Are you here?"

"Yes, I'm in my room," she replied feeling a little nervous about her impending punishment, but the excitement of getting to play detective outweighed the nerves.

Logan knocked gently before opening the door.

"Did you have fun at Richard's?" he asked without being prompted.

At least he didn't beat around the bush, but something seems odd, she thought.

"You know?" she replied meekly.

"Yes, my car in the driveway gave it away," he said matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry, Daddy, I just didn't -" she was interrupted before she could finish her excuse.

"I think it's time we get you a car of your own," he interjected.  He seemed almost emotionless about everything.  His head was not in the moment as he played through parts of the dinner with Rory in his mind.  The fighting, the sparks he felt when they touched, their son and everything in between.  I know I've got to tell her about Richard, and now just doesn't seem like the right time, he thought.

Is he kidding? she thought.

"Um, ok?" she replied apprehensively.

"You're sixteen, and you'll need your own mode of transportation.  You should get used to driving on the right side of the road before school starts," he explained.  Under normal circumstances, I'd be pissed that she took my car, but she was spending time with her half-brother, and she doesn't have many friends here, he thought.  It's also hard to justify my anger when she doesn't even have a vehicle of her own.

"Ok."

"I'll call my guy tomorrow.  Don't think for a minute that you'll get off so easy the next time you take the Porsche without asking," he warned with a little smile.  "Goodnight, Viv."

"Goodnight, Dad," she replied as he closed the door on his way out.  She couldn't help the little smile that crept across her face once her dad had turned his back to her.

Did he really offer to buy me a car after he caught me taking his Porsche without permission?  Has my dad lost it, or is he in a good mood for bringing Rory to HPG tonight?  It didn't seem like he was overly happy if he did sign her.  He seemed more distracted and distant, she thought.  I'll start with my first inclination and go from there.  There's bound to be something that leads me to the answer.

First, she started with Rory's Wikipedia page to get a little background.  After she found her publisher's name, she dug around trying to get some more dirt.  There was nothing to indicate she had any intentions of leaving, nor were there any rumblings of her being courted by anyone else.  That's so strange, she thought.  Usually, there are rumors about these kinds of things or updates on book deals.  The rumor mill was silent.  In fact, there hadn't been much of anything said since the release of the Moonlight Valley series.  Viv even dug into the HPG rumor mill, but there was nothing about Rory or trying to bag a different big name author.

What she did find were speculation blogs about the identities of characters in her books.  Viv bookmarked these sites and decided to visit them later.  This isn't quite what I'm looking for, she thought.