Fic: Summer (6/?) (Logan/Veronica) R
Chapter 6 - Dinner
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Chapter 6 - Dinner
After leaving Mr. Omor with confirmation that they wanted to make a bid on the beach house, Veronica and Logan were headed back south on the PCH towards Neptune. Knowing that they were going to run over into the evening this afternoon, Veronica had already called her father to let him know that they would pick up dinner and would be arriving later than they had originally expected.
Mr. Omor had given them the statistics page about the house and they had snapped some pictures with Veronicas always present camera to show Keith.
“So, what are you feeling up to Tiny Dancer?” Logan questioned Veronica on what she wanted to pick up for dinner.
Thinking about her options Veronica hummed a little note. “Welllll…how do you feel about Maggiano’s?” Veronica answered.
“Sounds perfect.”
Climbing the stairs to Veronica’s apartment the couple was lugging four very full plastic bags that had mouth watering flavors escaping from the interior.
“Are you sure we really needed all of this food?” Logan questioned Veronica.
Looking at the young man, she simply smiled and replied, “Don’t you remember how much I enjoy Italian?”
Logan laughed, “Well if I didn’t, this is a good reminder,” he stated.
Veronica bumped her hip against the glass door to the apartment a couple of times hoping to either get Back-Up or her father’s attention to help with the door.
“Papa Bear, you in there? Goldilocks out here needs a little assistance,” Veronica hollered through the open window in the living room. Hearing a toilet flush, followed by the sound of water running, Veronica determined that someone was taking a bathroom break. Turning to Logan she whispered, “Guess the bathroom wasn’t too small or big for that bear.”
Logan looked incredulously at her, laughter bubbling up from his throat. “Hey now, that’s a visual I could have gone without Goldilocks,” he snarked with his signature eye roll.
Veronica smiled innocently as the door was pushed open by Keith. “What are you guys standing out here for? Here let me help,” Keith said.
Taking a bag from each Veronica and Logan, Keith motioned for Veronica to precede him into the apartment. He stuck his leg out holding the door open for Logan to follow. Logan hesitated, remembering the last time he had been in the apartment with Keith. Keith, seemly knowing what he was thinking, simply nodded his head in the direction of the kitchen, letting Logan know that he was welcome in the Mars’ household.
With the tension leaving Logan, he stepped into the apartment and noticed immediately that not much had changed, expect for the replacement of the lamp he had broken. Veronica following his gaze, realizing he still felt uncomfortable with the results of the last visit. Deciding that she needed to resolve his tension, Veronica rushed into her room, grabbing a miniature Hello Kitty lamp that she had stuck in her closet four years prior, and walked back into the living room. Both men looked at her with questioning eyes. Veronica simply smiled, walked over to the sink placing the lamp inside the sink. She reached into the utility drawer pulling out a hammer, turned back to the lamp and let out a little “Whoyeah, down with all Kittens” shout and smashed the lamp.
Keith watched his daughter in amazement. That was a lot of emotion to see from Veronica on any given day. Of course, he realized why she had done the significant act and did appreciate that she had done it in the sink where it would be easy to clean up, still it was a little too un-Veronica. “Honey…” Keith said slowly.
Veronica turned to the men, noting that Logan had a full smile on his face, and said, “Well, Back-Up didn’t want any other animals taking up my affection, and really I had tried to hide the thing but he kept gazing up at it every time he came into my room. Real guilt trip that dog can give.”
Logan just laughed, smiled in appreciation and set the food down on the counter/buffet island where they would be eating.
After distributing the lasagna, fettucine Alfredo, cheese ravioli, salad, and garlic knots the three settled down on the bar stools.
“So Veronica mentioned that you found something Logan,” Keith started the conversation on common ground to help the young man feel at ease.
“Oh yeah, fabulous place just outside of Neptune around Oceanside, right on the beach,” Logan started, “It has a long drive from the road to the house, a path down to the ocean front from the side with a poolhouse and gathering area/pitfire space. The west side faces the ocean, giving an Oceanside seascape from the living room and master bedroom.”
“Sounds nice, but is it in your price range,” Keith questioned.
“Uh, yeah,” Logan hesitated to share the reasoning behind his new wealth, “Aaron had some off shore accounts that were in my name. I simply liberated them when I was emancipated last November.”
Keith nodded his head, “Smart idea, Logan, very smart,” he praised.
Logan felt good hearing that come from Keith. Sure they had had their differences, but in the last few months Logan felt that Keith was starting to give him another chance. The tape incident was the starting of that chance, Logan felt. Because even though Keith hadn’t approved, he had kept the police off of Logan’s doorstep, but most importantly to Logan, Keith had sat with him for a few hours after he discovered Logan in the suite and the blank tapes. To Logan, who had really needed some sort of company that evening, it had meant more then he could ever tell Keith.
“Dad, I’ve got pictures we can look at after where finished,” Veronica said to Keith while waving her fork towards her messenger bag. “There is a privacy gate at the front of the drive, but we should probably see if we can find the property location information online and see how far the fence extends. The house does have a security system, but it was an older one. Maybe you could recommend something to Logan that would be a little more secure,” she added.
Logan was surprised, while he had noted the security entrance he hadn’t paid any attention to the security system in the house.
“Also, the neighbors aren’t too near the property, but I do think that if someone really wanted to access the property the beach would be the best point of entry,” Veronica continued on the security discussion.
“Hey Sydney Bristow,” Logan interrupted, “I don’t think anyone is going to be stalking me anytime soon. As long as my… Aaron, isn’t in the house I should be on anyone’s radar.”
Veronica stuck her tongue out at Logan. “You don’t know that for sure, heck I’ve had to dodge some over eager reporters the last few days and I know I saw you park a non-‘Big Bird’ mobile the other day at graduation,” she argued back at him.
Keith looked at both of the kids sharply. “You’ve both been having problems with people following you?” he asked.
Logan chose to ignore Keith’s question and focus on Veronica’s statement. “Hey, no disrespecting the Yellow Monster, toots. It is a solid car, allowing for me to go anywhere without having to worry that something is going to crunch into me or fall off the bottom of my car, unlike other people’s cars I know of,” Logan said in a petulant child’s voice.
Veronica huffed in indignation at the implication that the LaBaron was anything but a steady car. “My car-,” Veronica started in protest, only to be interrupted again by Keith.
“Again, I’ll ask the question, have either of you been having problems with people following you?” Keith questioned in a louder commanding voice, bring their attention back to him.
“Now Papa Bear…,” Veronica started.
“Veronica, no joking. I want a straight answer and I want details,” Keith stated in a firm voice, “from both of you.” Keith’s gaze swept from Veronica to Logan as he finished.
“Okay, okay dad,” Veronica stated quietly, “we’ve got the picture. Yes, I’ve had some people popping up in unlikely places, but I’m sure they are only reporters. Nothing fishy since they’ve always tried to snap a picture of me since last spring.”
Logan looked at both of them from under his eyelashes. “Yeah, same here,” he said unconvincingly.
Keith looked hard at Logan. “Logan, what aren’t you telling me?” Keith questioned.
Logan kept his eyes focused on the plate in front of him, “Nothing.”
Veronica, picking up on his uncommunicativeness, let her joking demeanor drop to focus on the man sitting in front of her. “Logan,” she said with a slight edge to her voice, “what aren’t you saying?”
“Nothing”
“I don’t believe you,” Veronica started to become angry with him, “you said that we needed to have an open line of communication and here you sit lying to me again.”
“No, that’s not true Ronnie,” Logan edge out of his chair to start pacing in front of the Mars duo. “I don’t know that much, only that I’ve had some reporters too, but…but,” here he hesitated, “I don’t know…I’ve noticed other people too, ya know?”
Veronica and Keith shook their heads in the negative.
“Well, I don’t know…I’ve just… at the gas station or when I walk through the lobby of the hotel or just around down at the beach or something, I’ve noticed some guys with shades and long shirts or suites. Guys that just don’t look like they fit in with the environment. Hell, one time I bumped into one of the guys and he just backed away, without saying anything, then rushed to his car and made a phone call,” Logan swiftly spoke his explanation, wanting to get everything on the table so Veronica didn’t feel like he wasn’t communicating in this friendship.
Keith and Veronica exchanged concerned glances. “When did you start noticing this Logan?” Keith questioned.
“Umm, I don’t maybe a couple of days before the end of Aaron’s trial,” he answered.
“Have you ever seen the same guy twice?” Veronica asked.
“Yeah,… I guess that’s why I started to take notice. I kept seeing this guy with a bald head, grey goatee every time I turned around,” Logan stated. “Then I just started paying more attention to those that were around when I was out in public. After about a week, I noticed that it was about 4 or 5 guys that I could spot at any given location, sort of like they rotated.”
Everyone let the silence hang in the air. Logan, figuring that things were gonna be okay because he had ‘shared’ sat back down to his place. The remainder of the dinner was quite while both of the Mars’ detectives pondered this new information. When everyone was finished, Logan grabbed the plates to take to the sink to put in the dishwasher.
“Veronica, why don’t you show your dad the photos. I’ll put the dishes in the dishwasher and leftovers in the fridge,” Logan said over his shoulder.
Veronica nodded her head, grabbed her bag and motioned with a head nod towards her bedroom to Keith. Keith followed his daughter into her room, pulling the door half shut after him.
Veronica set her laptop on her desk, booting it up. “Well, what do you think?” she asked her dad.
“I’m not sure honey, but after the scene this morning I’m beginning to see a few more things clearly,” Keith replied.
“What things?”
“Well to begin with, I was wondering why didn’t Aaron skip out of town? It isn’t like everyone here believes the not-guilty verdict. And really shouldn’t he be cashing in on his ‘sob story’ in Hollywood right about now,” Keith voiced. “And I have to admit, I did find it strange that such a significant piece of evidence was found linking the murder to Duncan after such a long time. Truly, how many different suspects can this case have?”
“Hold-up Dad, you don’t mean for a minute that you think Duncan is back on the suspects list, do you?” Veronica questioned fervently, “There is no way that Aaron isn’t the murderer. He admitted it to me when he had me locked up inside that freezer. No, no way is anyone else responsible for Lilly’s murder than that son of a bitch.”
Keith placed his hand on his daughter’s shoulders, trying to calm the young blonde. “Honey, I never said that it was Duncan or anyone else, that isn’t what I was trying to say, sorry,” Keith said with an apologizing tone. “All I’m saying is that until we know the full story of why Aaron is sticking around in Neptune, we need to keep a close eye on Logan and anyone that seems to be keeping tabs on him.”
Veronica nodded her head in agreement, “I think that we can figure out who these guys are if I just follow Logan and take pictures.”
Keith looked at her a little doubtfully. “Do you really think that that will be safe,” he sounded skeptical.
Veronica took his hand from her shoulder giving it a tight squeeze. “Don’t worry, you know me…background, wallflower Veronica,” she said with a small smile.
Keith just gave a dubious look, “Honey, I don’t think you could ever be missed unless you wanted to.”
Veronica turned back to the computer, plugging in her camera’s photo card to begin loading the photos of the house.
Neither Mars noticed the door had opened and Logan leaned casually in the doorway catching that last of their conversation.
“I have to say, I think I can make your dad feel a little better about you following me around and just ask you to hang out with me when I go out in public,” Logan said in an even tone. His voice had surprised both father and daughter.
Veronica, a little worried that she had done the same thing she had gotten on Logan about during dinner, rushed to explain, “Logan, I wasn’t not going to keep this from you. I was going to tell you the plan, but I just wanted to get dad’s ‘blessing’ before running it by you.”
Logan smirked. “No worries, now I know and we can just hang together. This way your dad feels good about having some muscle as backup for his ‘little angel’.”
Keith looked around the room quickly, “Angel? Where?”
“Ha, ha. You both are too much,” Veronica stated slapping Keith’s shoulder in exasperation and giving Logan the evil eye at the same time. “You both got me, I’ll stay with Logan. We can just pretend to be taking photos of each other and our friends. I think we should enlist some people’s help, don’t you?” Veronica directed the last question towards Logan; who nodded his head in acceptance.
“Sounds like a plan, Mars.”
“Okay, dad, here are the photos of Logan’s new abode,” Veronica clicked on the link that opened the photos. “Oh hold on, I want to put them in the ‘Logan’ file so that I can erase them off the photostick.” Veronica highlighted the photos, cutting and pasting them into a file she had on her desktop entitled ‘Logan’.
“What’s that?” Logan questioned her.
“Oh, just photos from the last few years. I try to keep all my photos in files as they pertain to the individuals that are present in them. This one has photos since we were 12, ones of the four of us, you and Lil, you being a jackass, last summer, this school year, etcetera,” Veronica explained to the curious gaze she was seeing from Logan.
“Yeah?” he said with some hope, “do you have any photos of…of…my mom or…my mom and me by chance?” His voice stuttered uncharacteristically.
Veronica’s eyes lit up a bit. “You know, I might. Let me go through these in the next couple of days and see if I do. I want to say yes, but I’m not 100% sure,” she answered with a little joy of her own. How had she not realized it before, after the fire this past fall Logan had lost most of his personal items. Probably most importantly his photos of his mom and maybe, “I know I have a ton of you and Lilly too. You could look through them and let me know if you would like any of those too…oh, and ones with Duncan…what am I talking about, you should just probably go through them with me.” By the time Veronica had finished speaking both young adults were smiling from ear to ear.
“Yeah, I would like that,” whispered Logan towards Veronica.
“Good.”
Keith cleared his throat, bringing them back to the present. “I think that we should look at these photos tonight and call it an evening. It’s almost…” he looked at his watch, “11:30 and I have an early morning appointment.”
Both Veronica and Logan agreed to the statement.
“Oh and Logan,” Keith said facing the boy again. “I called Dick and Cassidy, they are expecting you for the evening,” Keith stated simply.
“What?” Logan wasn’t sure if he had heard Keith correctly.
“After this morning, I don’t think that it is a safe option to stay in the hotel, do you?” Keith questioned.
“I..I..hadn’t thought about it,” Logan replied slowly.
“I think he’s right Logan,” Veronica wanted to show her support of the decision. While she wasn’t crazy that Logan would be staying in the same house as Skanky McWhore, a.k.a Kendall, she did feel that he would be marginally safer locked away in the Casablanca mansion, l behind a security fence and security system.
Logan was doubly surprised. First, Keith had thought in advance about his situation, something that Logan hadn’t even thought about, even after the confrontation with Aaron this morning. Secondly, because while he agreed with Keith’s idea, he couldn’t believe that Veronica had voiced in the positive to him sleeping under the same roof as Kendall.
“Well, I don’t know,” he stated, almost to himself.
Keith could see the apprehension in both the kid’s eyes. “Yeah, I called earlier and spoke with Cassidy. I explained that you had had a run in with Aaron at the hotel and thought that it might be proactive to have you in a place less accessible. He readily agreed…and I think I could hear Dick in the background shouting his support,” Keith stated that last part a little under his breath in wonderment, “Cassidy mentioned that both he and Dick would be looking forward to seeing you. It seems that their step-mother has been tossed out of the house since Dick turned 18 at the beginning of the month.”
Both Veronica and Logan were surprised by this tidbit of information. Dick throwing Kendall out of the house was a little unexpected and uncharacteristic of Dick.
Keith noted their confused looks and added, “Something about taking advantage of the art in the mansion, jewelry of their father’s disappearing and some anonymous note about Kendall not being her real name,” the last part Keith directed more towards Veronica’s direction.
Looking down guiltily, Veronica muttered, “don’t know who that could have been.”
However, since learning Kendall wouldn’t be in the house both teens found that they were more acceptable of Keith’s suggestion.
“Yeah, Mr. Mars, I think I’m going to take your advice and crash there for the next couple of days,” Logan said, making the decision final.
The three looked at the photos Veronica had taken earlier in the day, Keith making comments on different aspects he thought would be beneficial for the security measures on the grounds.
Veronica suddenly moved to shut the browser window abruptly. “Okay, that’s all there is,” she said hurriedly after the final picture on the beach.
Logan was surprised at her abrupt nature. Keith simply nodded, turning to leave the room, “I think that you guys have about 10 more minutes in here to finish up and then Logan should be getting over to the Casablanca’s,” Keith said. He bid Logan good night, shutting the door to his room to give them some privacy.
Logan looked back at Veronica with some determination in his eyes. “Okay, let me see.”
“See, see what?” Veronica said quickly.
“See whatever the last photo was that you didn’t want either your dad or me to look at,” Logan stated simply.
Veronica knew that she had been rather abrupt about the whole thing, but she was a little embarrassed. Knowing that Logan wasn’t just going to let it go, she flipped open the browser window again, pulled up the last photo and stood up to hang her hoodie on the coat hook inside of her room.
Logan took Veronica’s vacated seat and stared at the photo on the screen. “When did you take this,” he questioned the silent girl.
“Obviously when you weren’t looking,” was her reply.
Logan had expected to see a photo of himself, he really did, he just hadn’t expected this exact photo. This wasn’t a photo that was taken today, no it had been taken four days earlier, graduation day to be exact. It was a shot of him in his cap and gown approaching the stage to get his diploma. It was a picture of him looking lonely, a picture that she had taken of him before he had ever approached her with the whole ‘being friends’ speech.
Logan glanced at Veronica. She was standing at the side of the desk, one hand at her side the other on flat on top of the desk. Logan placed his giant hand over her tiny one, “Why?” was all he said.
Veronica met his eyes with a tear running down her cheek, “Because…because…you didn’t have anyone there. You didn’t have anyone there routing you on like I did,” she whispered wiping the tear that had fallen. “You have had no one for the last year and a half Logan, and…and yet, you still made it. You finished the hell that is high school, the personal hell that was our high school experience. You did it all because you’re strong…you have this heart that is a little hard sometimes, a little callous,” as she said this she placed her fingertips at the place his heart beats. “But no matter what shit was thrown at you, you were still there and you were still having a momentous occasion. I knew that there was no one taking your picture…and…it didn’t seem fair. No matter what had happened between us I just remember you telling me at the Alterna-Prom that after high school you would be all alone…all alone. And I realized I didn’t want you to be all alone. No matter what had happened between us you were such an important part of my high school experience, be it good memories or bad, you were there every step of the way and I couldn’t say that about anyone else in that auditorium except you. Only you, only you Logan,” she finished, raising the hand that was at his heart to cup his cheek wiping the tears that had fallen down from his eyes during her statement.
Logan was stunned. He remembered feeling all alone in that auditorium, thinking the same thoughts that Veronica just voiced. He felt so cherished from the few words she had just spoken. He covered the hand at his face with his own, “thank you…thank you for routing me on and supporting me, even when I didn’t know it…I can’t tell you how,” he chocked on the last few words of his statement.
Veronica simply placed her forehead against his, make soothing noises while he let his tears fall. She only remembered Logan crying two times previously since she had known him and both times were for women he loved. She felt precious knowing that he must love her to be crying now simply from her words and action.
After a few minutes Logan seemed to gather himself, “Can…can…I have a copy of this?” he said in reference to the photo still displayed on the screen.
“Sure,” Veronica smiled.
Logan stood up from the desk, wrapped his arms around her shoulders drawing her close to his body. Veronica put her arms around his waist, holding tight to the taller man. They both noted how easily Veronica fit to Logan’s body, like a missing piece of a puzzle.
“I’d like one of you in your cap and gown too,” Logan requested from his place above her head. She nodded, moving his head in time with hers.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Logan said as he squeezed the tiny girl one last time. Letting go he placed a kiss on her forehead, walking out of her room.
Veronica stood in place for several minutes. She could hear noised around her: her dad’s water running in the bathroom, Back-Up’s snores from her bed and the soft click of the front door shutting behind Logan’s departure. Looking at her computer, she softly touched the screen; a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth.
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I'm sure most of you know what picture I'm referencing at the end of this chapter, but for those of you who don't I'm placing another link the the feedback area to view the photo. It is a photo from the season finale, but I have not used it in a manner that "spoiles". Also, I've got two chapters after this that have picture links too, so the graduation picture is under those photos - so scroll down to see it.
Veronica's Photo
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Chapter 6 - Dinner
After leaving Mr. Omor with confirmation that they wanted to make a bid on the beach house, Veronica and Logan were headed back south on the PCH towards Neptune. Knowing that they were going to run over into the evening this afternoon, Veronica had already called her father to let him know that they would pick up dinner and would be arriving later than they had originally expected.
Mr. Omor had given them the statistics page about the house and they had snapped some pictures with Veronicas always present camera to show Keith.
“So, what are you feeling up to Tiny Dancer?” Logan questioned Veronica on what she wanted to pick up for dinner.
Thinking about her options Veronica hummed a little note. “Welllll…how do you feel about Maggiano’s?” Veronica answered.
“Sounds perfect.”
Climbing the stairs to Veronica’s apartment the couple was lugging four very full plastic bags that had mouth watering flavors escaping from the interior.
“Are you sure we really needed all of this food?” Logan questioned Veronica.
Looking at the young man, she simply smiled and replied, “Don’t you remember how much I enjoy Italian?”
Logan laughed, “Well if I didn’t, this is a good reminder,” he stated.
Veronica bumped her hip against the glass door to the apartment a couple of times hoping to either get Back-Up or her father’s attention to help with the door.
“Papa Bear, you in there? Goldilocks out here needs a little assistance,” Veronica hollered through the open window in the living room. Hearing a toilet flush, followed by the sound of water running, Veronica determined that someone was taking a bathroom break. Turning to Logan she whispered, “Guess the bathroom wasn’t too small or big for that bear.”
Logan looked incredulously at her, laughter bubbling up from his throat. “Hey now, that’s a visual I could have gone without Goldilocks,” he snarked with his signature eye roll.
Veronica smiled innocently as the door was pushed open by Keith. “What are you guys standing out here for? Here let me help,” Keith said.
Taking a bag from each Veronica and Logan, Keith motioned for Veronica to precede him into the apartment. He stuck his leg out holding the door open for Logan to follow. Logan hesitated, remembering the last time he had been in the apartment with Keith. Keith, seemly knowing what he was thinking, simply nodded his head in the direction of the kitchen, letting Logan know that he was welcome in the Mars’ household.
With the tension leaving Logan, he stepped into the apartment and noticed immediately that not much had changed, expect for the replacement of the lamp he had broken. Veronica following his gaze, realizing he still felt uncomfortable with the results of the last visit. Deciding that she needed to resolve his tension, Veronica rushed into her room, grabbing a miniature Hello Kitty lamp that she had stuck in her closet four years prior, and walked back into the living room. Both men looked at her with questioning eyes. Veronica simply smiled, walked over to the sink placing the lamp inside the sink. She reached into the utility drawer pulling out a hammer, turned back to the lamp and let out a little “Whoyeah, down with all Kittens” shout and smashed the lamp.
Keith watched his daughter in amazement. That was a lot of emotion to see from Veronica on any given day. Of course, he realized why she had done the significant act and did appreciate that she had done it in the sink where it would be easy to clean up, still it was a little too un-Veronica. “Honey…” Keith said slowly.
Veronica turned to the men, noting that Logan had a full smile on his face, and said, “Well, Back-Up didn’t want any other animals taking up my affection, and really I had tried to hide the thing but he kept gazing up at it every time he came into my room. Real guilt trip that dog can give.”
Logan just laughed, smiled in appreciation and set the food down on the counter/buffet island where they would be eating.
After distributing the lasagna, fettucine Alfredo, cheese ravioli, salad, and garlic knots the three settled down on the bar stools.
“So Veronica mentioned that you found something Logan,” Keith started the conversation on common ground to help the young man feel at ease.
“Oh yeah, fabulous place just outside of Neptune around Oceanside, right on the beach,” Logan started, “It has a long drive from the road to the house, a path down to the ocean front from the side with a poolhouse and gathering area/pitfire space. The west side faces the ocean, giving an Oceanside seascape from the living room and master bedroom.”
“Sounds nice, but is it in your price range,” Keith questioned.
“Uh, yeah,” Logan hesitated to share the reasoning behind his new wealth, “Aaron had some off shore accounts that were in my name. I simply liberated them when I was emancipated last November.”
Keith nodded his head, “Smart idea, Logan, very smart,” he praised.
Logan felt good hearing that come from Keith. Sure they had had their differences, but in the last few months Logan felt that Keith was starting to give him another chance. The tape incident was the starting of that chance, Logan felt. Because even though Keith hadn’t approved, he had kept the police off of Logan’s doorstep, but most importantly to Logan, Keith had sat with him for a few hours after he discovered Logan in the suite and the blank tapes. To Logan, who had really needed some sort of company that evening, it had meant more then he could ever tell Keith.
“Dad, I’ve got pictures we can look at after where finished,” Veronica said to Keith while waving her fork towards her messenger bag. “There is a privacy gate at the front of the drive, but we should probably see if we can find the property location information online and see how far the fence extends. The house does have a security system, but it was an older one. Maybe you could recommend something to Logan that would be a little more secure,” she added.
Logan was surprised, while he had noted the security entrance he hadn’t paid any attention to the security system in the house.
“Also, the neighbors aren’t too near the property, but I do think that if someone really wanted to access the property the beach would be the best point of entry,” Veronica continued on the security discussion.
“Hey Sydney Bristow,” Logan interrupted, “I don’t think anyone is going to be stalking me anytime soon. As long as my… Aaron, isn’t in the house I should be on anyone’s radar.”
Veronica stuck her tongue out at Logan. “You don’t know that for sure, heck I’ve had to dodge some over eager reporters the last few days and I know I saw you park a non-‘Big Bird’ mobile the other day at graduation,” she argued back at him.
Keith looked at both of the kids sharply. “You’ve both been having problems with people following you?” he asked.
Logan chose to ignore Keith’s question and focus on Veronica’s statement. “Hey, no disrespecting the Yellow Monster, toots. It is a solid car, allowing for me to go anywhere without having to worry that something is going to crunch into me or fall off the bottom of my car, unlike other people’s cars I know of,” Logan said in a petulant child’s voice.
Veronica huffed in indignation at the implication that the LaBaron was anything but a steady car. “My car-,” Veronica started in protest, only to be interrupted again by Keith.
“Again, I’ll ask the question, have either of you been having problems with people following you?” Keith questioned in a louder commanding voice, bring their attention back to him.
“Now Papa Bear…,” Veronica started.
“Veronica, no joking. I want a straight answer and I want details,” Keith stated in a firm voice, “from both of you.” Keith’s gaze swept from Veronica to Logan as he finished.
“Okay, okay dad,” Veronica stated quietly, “we’ve got the picture. Yes, I’ve had some people popping up in unlikely places, but I’m sure they are only reporters. Nothing fishy since they’ve always tried to snap a picture of me since last spring.”
Logan looked at both of them from under his eyelashes. “Yeah, same here,” he said unconvincingly.
Keith looked hard at Logan. “Logan, what aren’t you telling me?” Keith questioned.
Logan kept his eyes focused on the plate in front of him, “Nothing.”
Veronica, picking up on his uncommunicativeness, let her joking demeanor drop to focus on the man sitting in front of her. “Logan,” she said with a slight edge to her voice, “what aren’t you saying?”
“Nothing”
“I don’t believe you,” Veronica started to become angry with him, “you said that we needed to have an open line of communication and here you sit lying to me again.”
“No, that’s not true Ronnie,” Logan edge out of his chair to start pacing in front of the Mars duo. “I don’t know that much, only that I’ve had some reporters too, but…but,” here he hesitated, “I don’t know…I’ve noticed other people too, ya know?”
Veronica and Keith shook their heads in the negative.
“Well, I don’t know…I’ve just… at the gas station or when I walk through the lobby of the hotel or just around down at the beach or something, I’ve noticed some guys with shades and long shirts or suites. Guys that just don’t look like they fit in with the environment. Hell, one time I bumped into one of the guys and he just backed away, without saying anything, then rushed to his car and made a phone call,” Logan swiftly spoke his explanation, wanting to get everything on the table so Veronica didn’t feel like he wasn’t communicating in this friendship.
Keith and Veronica exchanged concerned glances. “When did you start noticing this Logan?” Keith questioned.
“Umm, I don’t maybe a couple of days before the end of Aaron’s trial,” he answered.
“Have you ever seen the same guy twice?” Veronica asked.
“Yeah,… I guess that’s why I started to take notice. I kept seeing this guy with a bald head, grey goatee every time I turned around,” Logan stated. “Then I just started paying more attention to those that were around when I was out in public. After about a week, I noticed that it was about 4 or 5 guys that I could spot at any given location, sort of like they rotated.”
Everyone let the silence hang in the air. Logan, figuring that things were gonna be okay because he had ‘shared’ sat back down to his place. The remainder of the dinner was quite while both of the Mars’ detectives pondered this new information. When everyone was finished, Logan grabbed the plates to take to the sink to put in the dishwasher.
“Veronica, why don’t you show your dad the photos. I’ll put the dishes in the dishwasher and leftovers in the fridge,” Logan said over his shoulder.
Veronica nodded her head, grabbed her bag and motioned with a head nod towards her bedroom to Keith. Keith followed his daughter into her room, pulling the door half shut after him.
Veronica set her laptop on her desk, booting it up. “Well, what do you think?” she asked her dad.
“I’m not sure honey, but after the scene this morning I’m beginning to see a few more things clearly,” Keith replied.
“What things?”
“Well to begin with, I was wondering why didn’t Aaron skip out of town? It isn’t like everyone here believes the not-guilty verdict. And really shouldn’t he be cashing in on his ‘sob story’ in Hollywood right about now,” Keith voiced. “And I have to admit, I did find it strange that such a significant piece of evidence was found linking the murder to Duncan after such a long time. Truly, how many different suspects can this case have?”
“Hold-up Dad, you don’t mean for a minute that you think Duncan is back on the suspects list, do you?” Veronica questioned fervently, “There is no way that Aaron isn’t the murderer. He admitted it to me when he had me locked up inside that freezer. No, no way is anyone else responsible for Lilly’s murder than that son of a bitch.”
Keith placed his hand on his daughter’s shoulders, trying to calm the young blonde. “Honey, I never said that it was Duncan or anyone else, that isn’t what I was trying to say, sorry,” Keith said with an apologizing tone. “All I’m saying is that until we know the full story of why Aaron is sticking around in Neptune, we need to keep a close eye on Logan and anyone that seems to be keeping tabs on him.”
Veronica nodded her head in agreement, “I think that we can figure out who these guys are if I just follow Logan and take pictures.”
Keith looked at her a little doubtfully. “Do you really think that that will be safe,” he sounded skeptical.
Veronica took his hand from her shoulder giving it a tight squeeze. “Don’t worry, you know me…background, wallflower Veronica,” she said with a small smile.
Keith just gave a dubious look, “Honey, I don’t think you could ever be missed unless you wanted to.”
Veronica turned back to the computer, plugging in her camera’s photo card to begin loading the photos of the house.
Neither Mars noticed the door had opened and Logan leaned casually in the doorway catching that last of their conversation.
“I have to say, I think I can make your dad feel a little better about you following me around and just ask you to hang out with me when I go out in public,” Logan said in an even tone. His voice had surprised both father and daughter.
Veronica, a little worried that she had done the same thing she had gotten on Logan about during dinner, rushed to explain, “Logan, I wasn’t not going to keep this from you. I was going to tell you the plan, but I just wanted to get dad’s ‘blessing’ before running it by you.”
Logan smirked. “No worries, now I know and we can just hang together. This way your dad feels good about having some muscle as backup for his ‘little angel’.”
Keith looked around the room quickly, “Angel? Where?”
“Ha, ha. You both are too much,” Veronica stated slapping Keith’s shoulder in exasperation and giving Logan the evil eye at the same time. “You both got me, I’ll stay with Logan. We can just pretend to be taking photos of each other and our friends. I think we should enlist some people’s help, don’t you?” Veronica directed the last question towards Logan; who nodded his head in acceptance.
“Sounds like a plan, Mars.”
“Okay, dad, here are the photos of Logan’s new abode,” Veronica clicked on the link that opened the photos. “Oh hold on, I want to put them in the ‘Logan’ file so that I can erase them off the photostick.” Veronica highlighted the photos, cutting and pasting them into a file she had on her desktop entitled ‘Logan’.
“What’s that?” Logan questioned her.
“Oh, just photos from the last few years. I try to keep all my photos in files as they pertain to the individuals that are present in them. This one has photos since we were 12, ones of the four of us, you and Lil, you being a jackass, last summer, this school year, etcetera,” Veronica explained to the curious gaze she was seeing from Logan.
“Yeah?” he said with some hope, “do you have any photos of…of…my mom or…my mom and me by chance?” His voice stuttered uncharacteristically.
Veronica’s eyes lit up a bit. “You know, I might. Let me go through these in the next couple of days and see if I do. I want to say yes, but I’m not 100% sure,” she answered with a little joy of her own. How had she not realized it before, after the fire this past fall Logan had lost most of his personal items. Probably most importantly his photos of his mom and maybe, “I know I have a ton of you and Lilly too. You could look through them and let me know if you would like any of those too…oh, and ones with Duncan…what am I talking about, you should just probably go through them with me.” By the time Veronica had finished speaking both young adults were smiling from ear to ear.
“Yeah, I would like that,” whispered Logan towards Veronica.
“Good.”
Keith cleared his throat, bringing them back to the present. “I think that we should look at these photos tonight and call it an evening. It’s almost…” he looked at his watch, “11:30 and I have an early morning appointment.”
Both Veronica and Logan agreed to the statement.
“Oh and Logan,” Keith said facing the boy again. “I called Dick and Cassidy, they are expecting you for the evening,” Keith stated simply.
“What?” Logan wasn’t sure if he had heard Keith correctly.
“After this morning, I don’t think that it is a safe option to stay in the hotel, do you?” Keith questioned.
“I..I..hadn’t thought about it,” Logan replied slowly.
“I think he’s right Logan,” Veronica wanted to show her support of the decision. While she wasn’t crazy that Logan would be staying in the same house as Skanky McWhore, a.k.a Kendall, she did feel that he would be marginally safer locked away in the Casablanca mansion, l behind a security fence and security system.
Logan was doubly surprised. First, Keith had thought in advance about his situation, something that Logan hadn’t even thought about, even after the confrontation with Aaron this morning. Secondly, because while he agreed with Keith’s idea, he couldn’t believe that Veronica had voiced in the positive to him sleeping under the same roof as Kendall.
“Well, I don’t know,” he stated, almost to himself.
Keith could see the apprehension in both the kid’s eyes. “Yeah, I called earlier and spoke with Cassidy. I explained that you had had a run in with Aaron at the hotel and thought that it might be proactive to have you in a place less accessible. He readily agreed…and I think I could hear Dick in the background shouting his support,” Keith stated that last part a little under his breath in wonderment, “Cassidy mentioned that both he and Dick would be looking forward to seeing you. It seems that their step-mother has been tossed out of the house since Dick turned 18 at the beginning of the month.”
Both Veronica and Logan were surprised by this tidbit of information. Dick throwing Kendall out of the house was a little unexpected and uncharacteristic of Dick.
Keith noted their confused looks and added, “Something about taking advantage of the art in the mansion, jewelry of their father’s disappearing and some anonymous note about Kendall not being her real name,” the last part Keith directed more towards Veronica’s direction.
Looking down guiltily, Veronica muttered, “don’t know who that could have been.”
However, since learning Kendall wouldn’t be in the house both teens found that they were more acceptable of Keith’s suggestion.
“Yeah, Mr. Mars, I think I’m going to take your advice and crash there for the next couple of days,” Logan said, making the decision final.
The three looked at the photos Veronica had taken earlier in the day, Keith making comments on different aspects he thought would be beneficial for the security measures on the grounds.
Veronica suddenly moved to shut the browser window abruptly. “Okay, that’s all there is,” she said hurriedly after the final picture on the beach.
Logan was surprised at her abrupt nature. Keith simply nodded, turning to leave the room, “I think that you guys have about 10 more minutes in here to finish up and then Logan should be getting over to the Casablanca’s,” Keith said. He bid Logan good night, shutting the door to his room to give them some privacy.
Logan looked back at Veronica with some determination in his eyes. “Okay, let me see.”
“See, see what?” Veronica said quickly.
“See whatever the last photo was that you didn’t want either your dad or me to look at,” Logan stated simply.
Veronica knew that she had been rather abrupt about the whole thing, but she was a little embarrassed. Knowing that Logan wasn’t just going to let it go, she flipped open the browser window again, pulled up the last photo and stood up to hang her hoodie on the coat hook inside of her room.
Logan took Veronica’s vacated seat and stared at the photo on the screen. “When did you take this,” he questioned the silent girl.
“Obviously when you weren’t looking,” was her reply.
Logan had expected to see a photo of himself, he really did, he just hadn’t expected this exact photo. This wasn’t a photo that was taken today, no it had been taken four days earlier, graduation day to be exact. It was a shot of him in his cap and gown approaching the stage to get his diploma. It was a picture of him looking lonely, a picture that she had taken of him before he had ever approached her with the whole ‘being friends’ speech.
Logan glanced at Veronica. She was standing at the side of the desk, one hand at her side the other on flat on top of the desk. Logan placed his giant hand over her tiny one, “Why?” was all he said.
Veronica met his eyes with a tear running down her cheek, “Because…because…you didn’t have anyone there. You didn’t have anyone there routing you on like I did,” she whispered wiping the tear that had fallen. “You have had no one for the last year and a half Logan, and…and yet, you still made it. You finished the hell that is high school, the personal hell that was our high school experience. You did it all because you’re strong…you have this heart that is a little hard sometimes, a little callous,” as she said this she placed her fingertips at the place his heart beats. “But no matter what shit was thrown at you, you were still there and you were still having a momentous occasion. I knew that there was no one taking your picture…and…it didn’t seem fair. No matter what had happened between us I just remember you telling me at the Alterna-Prom that after high school you would be all alone…all alone. And I realized I didn’t want you to be all alone. No matter what had happened between us you were such an important part of my high school experience, be it good memories or bad, you were there every step of the way and I couldn’t say that about anyone else in that auditorium except you. Only you, only you Logan,” she finished, raising the hand that was at his heart to cup his cheek wiping the tears that had fallen down from his eyes during her statement.
Logan was stunned. He remembered feeling all alone in that auditorium, thinking the same thoughts that Veronica just voiced. He felt so cherished from the few words she had just spoken. He covered the hand at his face with his own, “thank you…thank you for routing me on and supporting me, even when I didn’t know it…I can’t tell you how,” he chocked on the last few words of his statement.
Veronica simply placed her forehead against his, make soothing noises while he let his tears fall. She only remembered Logan crying two times previously since she had known him and both times were for women he loved. She felt precious knowing that he must love her to be crying now simply from her words and action.
After a few minutes Logan seemed to gather himself, “Can…can…I have a copy of this?” he said in reference to the photo still displayed on the screen.
“Sure,” Veronica smiled.
Logan stood up from the desk, wrapped his arms around her shoulders drawing her close to his body. Veronica put her arms around his waist, holding tight to the taller man. They both noted how easily Veronica fit to Logan’s body, like a missing piece of a puzzle.
“I’d like one of you in your cap and gown too,” Logan requested from his place above her head. She nodded, moving his head in time with hers.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Logan said as he squeezed the tiny girl one last time. Letting go he placed a kiss on her forehead, walking out of her room.
Veronica stood in place for several minutes. She could hear noised around her: her dad’s water running in the bathroom, Back-Up’s snores from her bed and the soft click of the front door shutting behind Logan’s departure. Looking at her computer, she softly touched the screen; a small smile turning up the corners of her mouth.
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I'm sure most of you know what picture I'm referencing at the end of this chapter, but for those of you who don't I'm placing another link the the feedback area to view the photo. It is a photo from the season finale, but I have not used it in a manner that "spoiles". Also, I've got two chapters after this that have picture links too, so the graduation picture is under those photos - so scroll down to see it.
Veronica's Photo