Veronica Mars Read Online Free PDF

the beat of a cranked-up techno soundtrack, feather wings strapped to her back in a pure white spray. She fought a smile. This was a woman who’d figured out how to be fearless, even standing in her underwear.
    Landros smoothed her skirt. “I need to get back to work.Have your girl e-mail me the contract and I’ll have it in your inbox by the end of the day.”
    “Of course.” Veronica followed Landros to the front door and opened it for her. The woman paused for a moment, then turned to face her.
    “Do me a favor, though, Ms. Mars. Please do try to keep a low profile on this. We want answers. Not theater.”
    Veronica smiled. “Understood.”
    They shook hands once more. Then Petra Landros was gone.
    Veronica pivoted slowly around. Mac sat at her desk, her mouth hanging slack. Their eyes met, and Veronica couldn’t help it. She grinned.
    “Feel like working for Mars Investigations a little longer?”
    Mac’s cheeks flushed with dawning excitement. “We’ve got a case?”
    “A big one.” She strode across the room and leaned down on Mac’s desk to look at her, face to face. “I’m going to need background checks on Hayley Dewalt’s immediate family members, along with Hayley’s phone records and e-mails for the past few months. But first things first. Where are we ordering lunch from today? Because I’m starving … and Neptune is buying.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    Later that afternoon, Veronica pulled up in front of the regal brick-and-sandstone entrance of the Neptune Grand. She handed the BMW’s keys to a valet in a pillbox hat and pushed through the enormous revolving door.
    The lobby glinted with brass and brocade, the low trill of a jazz piano wafting from the speakers overhead. The Neptune Grand had undergone some changes in the past few years—Petra Landros had built a gleaming tower on the north side of the courtyard, ten stories higher than the original structure, with a glass-sided elevator looking down over the luxurious gardens below. But here, in the “Old Grand,” the lobby looked the same as it ever had, with cream-colored walls and marble surfaces. Veronica had spent the better part of her senior year in this place, first visiting her old boyfriend Duncan Kane in his penthouse suite and, later, Logan.
    Reception wasn’t nearly as busy as she would have expected for the Monday of spring break. A few girls with silk caftans draped over their swimsuits bounced out of the elevators, and a bored-looking boy wearing Gucci shades and a UCLA sweatshirt leaned against the reception desk, waiting for his key. The Neptune Grand wasn’t generally spring break central—only the trust-funded would be able to afforda room there during peak season—but true to Petra’s word, it felt strangely quiet.
    Veronica took the elevator to the ninth floor, then followed the red-and-gold chevron-print carpet to room 902 and knocked softly. From the other side of the door she could just make out a female voice, low and muffled. After a moment the door swung open, and a woman stood in the doorway.
    She was short and plump, wearing a UC Berkeley sweatshirt that was two sizes too big. Her hair had been dyed a brassy blond, but the roots—dull brown with a few threads of gray—were starting to peek out. Ruddy bags were stamped underneath her eyes, and her face had the moist, crumpled look of someone who had been crying too much. She gave Veronica a weak, tentative smile as she stepped back from the door.
    “You’re the private investigator?” Her voice was high-pitched, a little bit girlish. “I’m Margie, Hayley’s mom.”
    “Yes. Veronica Mars. I’m so sorry for all you’re going through, Mrs. Dewalt.” Veronica stuck out her hand.
    Margie looked at Veronica’s fingers with a distant, wondering expression. Veronica was just about to let her hand fall awkwardly back to her side when Hayley’s mother grasped it and shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I’m exhausted. Come on in.”
    The suite was laid out