A/N: So, here's the thing, I know some people are reading this (the traffic figures tell me that) but with just one review on the previous chapter, I'm wondering if these readers plan to continue with the story. Do you like it? I'd love to know please!

(For disclaimers, etc. - see Chapter 1)

Chapter 3

"Knock, knock" Logan said as he mimed rapping his fist on the space beyond the already open door.

Veronica smiled from behind her desk, pleased as ever to see her boyfriend. The grin on her face faded slightly when she realised she was in fact supposed to go meet him, not the other way around, which probably meant she was running very late. A glance at the clock in he corner of her computer screen confirmed her fear.

"Oh God" she said, looking pained as Logan came to perch on the edge of her desk, "I'm the worst girlfriend ever" she said, letting her head fall onto the desk with a light thud.

"No, you're not" he assured her, stroking her hair back out of her face as she looked up at him, "but you might try not to get quite so into your PI thing when we're on a clock, Miss Mars" he said, leaning over to kiss her lips, "The movie started a half hour ago" he told her, though he didn't look too angry about it, just maybe a little disappointed.

"I'm so sorry, Logan" she said, looking genuinely apologetic, "I just got into this case... it's a little more complicated than it first seemed" she explained, as she tapped a few keys on the computer and frowned once again.

"Can I help?" he asked, moving around the desk to see.

He took it as a good sign when she didn't immediately close the lid of laptop down and hide everything. Of course, Logan understood that privacy was paramount in the private investigation biz, but Veronica ought to know that he could keep a secret, and she'd always been fast enough to let Wallace in on anything she thought he might help her with.

"I don't know, maybe" the blonde admitted as Logan leant over her shoulder and read from the screen.

"Brittany Kennington, daughter of Arthur John Kennington" he read aloud, "Kennington... Why do I know that name?" he frowned slightly as he considered it.

"Possibly your Mom and Trina had dresses by Jackie Kennington, formerly Jackie Beulah Burkhart" she pointed at the name on the screen, then flipped windows to show the brunette she spoke of receiving an award of some kind for one of her most stylish creations.

"Wow, she's pretty hot for a Mom" Logan's eyes practically lit up at the sight of Brittany's mother, much to Veronica's equal annoyance and amusement, "but nowhere near as hot as you" he amended when she glanced at him with an odd expression.

"Man, do I have you well trained or what?" she said with a smirk, as she kissed his cheek and turned back to her computer, "So, anyway, it seems our Mrs Kennington told her daughter, Brittany, a bit of an untruth about Daddy Dearest"

"And you're trying to figure out what it is?" Logan checked, at which his girlfriends shook her head.

"Nope, that part we know" Veronica explained, "Seems the Kenningtons little girl was born just six short months after they were married. Nine months before the happy arrival, Jackie had only just moved to Chicago, which either makes her a ginormous slut who slept with a guy practically the first day they met, or the more likely option, she was pregnant before she ever left her home town of Point Place, Wisconsin" she said smartly, "And this guy, is the real father" she said, handing a photo to Logan who immediately burst out laughing.

"Wow" he said, through chuckles, "That's... very groovy, man" he joked about the severe seventies style of the man in the photograph.

"That's the only picture Brittany has, and it was taken in 1979" Veronica explained, "Unfortunately, within two years of that picture it's like this guy just disappears off the face of the Earth. I have no record of him" she sighed, leaning back in her seat, still staring at the computer screen as she wracked her brains for a different direction to go in, a different search engine or database to try.

"Steven Hyde" Logan read from the back of the photo, "Not so famous as his ex, huh?" he said, putting the picture back on the table, watching Veronica shake her head.

"Not even close" she complained, "This should be so easy!"

"Easy? To track a persons long lost father down?" Logan checked, "I know you're good, Mars, but you can't expect this stuff to just fall in your lap every time"

"I know, but this is something I can usually just do" she explained, firing up her usual sources, "See, it should be as easy as plugging in names and hitting go" she told him as she punched in his own name 'Logan Echolls', followed by 'Aaron Echolls' as father and 'Lynn Lester' as mother. A moment later, up shot a tonne of information she ought not to be privy too, though very little had anything to do with the famous status of the family.

No, this was the same stuff she could usually access on anyone, bank account information, medical files, that kind of thing. What stunned Veronica more than anything was to realise that information regarding one Lynn Lester had entries beyond the date she supposedly died...

"Why do I get the feeling your Dad ran every one of these checks and stuff on me the minute he found out we were dating?" Logan rolled his eyes, not really looking at the screen, til he realised his girlfriend was practically hypnotised by something written there, "Veronica?" he prompted, before following her gaze and realising what had caught her attention like this.

Money had been moved from accounts under his mothers maiden name, accounts he was sure he didn't know she had and doubted his father would either. Very little bore the name Lynn Lester these days, everything was Echolls, if only because that name always carried more weight. Now, of course, it was less popular to be associated with the name of a killer, a suicidal woman, and a spoilt actress. Logan was the only decent and sane member of the family left, though honestly he couldn't bear to face the masses most of the time who would judge him on his family's reputation. Thankfully, he had Veronica and her Dad to see him through all this, and for that he was eternally grateful. If this turned into another drama, they'd be by his side in this too, he was certain.

"This can't be right" his girlfriend muttered as she pushed more buttons in a series of frantic clicks and then proceeded to frown harder, "Has Trina been using your Mom's name again?" she checked with Logan who shook his head.

"I doubt it" he told her, "After the last time, I talked to Aaron about it and everything was shut down, all the accounts and cards that he knew about, they were stopped and finished with" he explained, "All the money came to me"

"Then, I don't understand" Veronica admitted as she continued down the page, noting several transactions listed, all in the past couple of months, and all within California, "Either someone is committing some sick fraud" she said, "Or..."

"Or, what, Veronica?" Logan checked, barely breathing as he realised what this might really mean.

She considered her answer for a moment, not wanting to get his hopes up but not knowing what else to say right now.

"Or maybe your Mom really is still alive?" Veronica admitted at last, praying she was right, after all, if she wasn't, news like this was sure to break Logan's heart all over again if it turned out to be untrue.

Veronica was beyond tired as she sat back in her seat and gulped down a little more coffee. She'd been working for hours upon hours, first on the case she was being paid for, and then on another for her boyfriend's peace of mind.

Tracking down Brittany Kennington's mysterious father, the elusive Steven Hyde, proved near impossible, but at least he was supposed to be alive somewhere. The real shock had been discovering that Lynn Echolls, Logan's suicidal mother, may not have been the one seen falling from the Coronado Bridge where her car had been abandoned. Instead, it seemed it might have been an elaborate set up, and Lynn, now going by her maiden name of Lester, may be living it very much large in Northern California.

Of course, there were other explanations, that was what Veronica had made certain she explained to her boyfriend. Logan was so shocked yet thrilled to think Lynn might be out there somewhere, as any loving son would be. Unfortunately, Veronica knew only too well how unfounded his joy might be. As she thought about it, she came up with a dozen other explanations for the information they'd seen on the computer screen. Before she let her boyfriend get too excited, she convinced him he must let her make several checks, get hold of a couple of contacts, do a little digging. It had taken a while to make him see it was the best plan, but eventually he had relented and gone home, making Veronica promise to call him if she found anything concrete.

She promised she would contact him the very moment she had anything definite to tell him. As yet it hadn't happened, and Veronica realised as she checked her watch that it was way past midnight. Not only had she got nowhere fast trying to identify if this Lynn Lester was really the one she used to know, there had been very little achievement made involving Steven Hyde either.

Pushing her hair back off her face, Veronica stared down at the picture on her desk.

"Parents, huh?" she said, as if to the guy that appeared to be staring back at her from the photograph could see her too, albeit through tinted glasses, "A missing father who doesn't even know he has a kid, and a mother..." she said, glancing at her computer screen, "that ran out on the kid she supposedly loved" she sighed, looking back at the picture, "Not exactly a picnic for anybody. I guess I should at least be thankful I have a Dad who cares, and a Mom who did once" she said with a smile that wasn't as happy as all that.

It still hurt that her own mother, Lianne, would choose alcohol and money over her, but Veronica knew she couldn't dwell on that. Her father loved her, that was more than some people could say, one of whom was Brittany she noted as she rubbed her tired eyes. It was beyond late, and Veronica knew she really had to go home and get some sleep. Tomorrow, after she was rested, she would worry about Logan's Mom and Brittany's Dad and everything else.

Gathering her things together, Veronica had one too many books and pieces of paper. Picking them up in one go sent a few things skittering onto the floor, including a magazine she hadn't gotten past the front cover of yet. With an annoyed huff she parked her armful of books back on the table and bent down to pick up her fallen glossy. She stopped short when she spotted something, or rather someone on the open page before her.

"No way" she declared as she picked up the magazine and put it up on the table, angling the lamp to get a better view of the picture her eyes had been drawn too, "Hello, Stevie J Barnett, elusive record producer" she said to herself as she rifled through a folder and placed the dog-eared photograph of Brittany's father next to the magazine, "Or should I say Steven Hyde" she smiled comparing the two pictures that were almost definitely of the same man, "Bingo!"

To Be Continued...