Chapter 4

Previously: Veronica goes to Shelly Pomeroy's party, but Madison is the one to drink the laced rum and (diet) coke. Dick tries to rape Madison but Veronica stops him with Duncan's help. Logan and Veronica wage war. Madison asks Veronica and Duncan to come with her to the Sheriff's department. Veronica decided to hunt for a friend and meets Mac. Logan attempts to insult Veronica but is overwhelmed by guilt about Lilly's death. Veronica comforts him, but he leaves without saying a word.

Veronica headed out to the parking lot that afternoon with no clear answer as to where she and Logan stood. She tried to tell herself that she didn't care, but after feeling guilty about their little spat for the rest of the day, it had been hard to ignore the fact that his feelings still mattered to her. Madison, Duncan and Veronica agreed to all drive to the police station individually so they could go their separate ways afterwards, but as she approached her car she noticed it seemed to be sitting lower to the ground than usual. When she got closer she could tell that the air had been let out of all four of her tires. Well I guess that answers the question of where Logan and I stand, she thought sadly.

Veronica had to run to catch up with Duncan before he got into the silver SUV. "Hey! Wait up!"

she called, hoping that she could reach him before he left since she already saw Madison pull out of the parking lot. Great this is going to be so awkward. The only times I have talked to Duncan since he broke up with me have been over the phone yesterday, at Shelly's party, and does me asking him 'what's going on' without receiving an answer oh, say, 100 times count as talking? Yea, I didn't think so.

"Uh, Veronica I think we decided to ride separately, remember?" Duncan said hesitantly. It was obvious that he was happy with the predetermined plan.

"Yea, well that was before someone let all the air out of my tires. Madison's gone, so are you going to give me a ride or do I have to walk?" Veronica huffed out. She was very frustrated. She thought that Logan had forgiven her for what she had said, but apparently he hadn't. And Duncan being his usual post-breakup self is trying his hardest to avoid her which is not helping her mood one bit.

Veronica heard Duncan give an unenthusiastic "Sure. Hop in," as he jumped in the driver's seat, so she got in beside him. The first few minutes were so quiet that Veronica was going insane. Finally she decided to speak up.

"So, are you ready to give your statement?" she asked. "You might not want to mention just how badly you beat up Dick, unless they bring it up. You gave him quite a pounding—not that he didn't deserve it," she cut herself off once she realized she was babbling. He was quiet, and looked seriously uncomfortable. "You really don't remember hitting him?" she asks, curiosity getting the best of her.

"Yes, I remember. Of course I remember. I just, I didn't—I asked you because I wanted to know what happened before I got there, that's all." Duncan stuttered out defensively. Hmm… the night that I tried to tell dad that I was going to an all-girl slumber party (but fully intended to go to my first kegger with Lilly) he rattled off a list of ways to tell when someone is lying; and I if I remember correctly then I'm pretty sure that something is off with Duncan. And I intend to find out what that is.

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Everything went well inside the police station. Lamb was not happy about having to arrest an 09er, but what could he do with the victim being an 09er as well? He took statements from all three students one at a time. Madison's statement was pretty short. The only thing important that she remembered was Dick giving her a drink that must have been dosed. Duncan gave his statement willingly but it wasn't very informative and surprisingly vague. Veronica on the other hand gave him a very helpful and detailed description of the encounter with the Casablancas boy, but Lamb would never acknowledge just how useful her information had been. Apparently growing up with Keith Mars had taught her a thing or two.

The three students exited the sheriff's department and Madison donned a large pair of sunglasses and hurried away to her car without a word. As Veronica and Duncan head out to his vehicle so Duncan can take Veronica home, they saw a deputy standing next to the SUV writing a ticket. Veronica did not recognize him. When they got to the car Duncan spoke up, "Excuse me officer, but is there a problem?"

"Hello, Sir. Are you the owner of this vehicle?" At Duncan's affirmative nod the officer continued. "There are several unpaid parking tickets and a moving violation dated," he looked at his notepad for a second. "October third," he said unaffected. "I'm going to have to impound it."

Veronica and Duncan looked at each other quickly. This guy is clearly new. He doesn't know who the Kane's are or what October third is and they have him patrolling…the parking lot? This is so just my luck. But what is this about a moving violation on the day Lilly died? This was Lilly's vehicle before she died. Could this affect the case?

Veronica was so engrossed in the possible explanations for Lilly's ticket that she didn't even register that Lamb had come out front and had called off his dog. She looked up to find that Duncan was staring at her. "Veronica, I said are you ready to go?"

Thinking on her feet, Veronica told Duncan that she had left something inside the station and that she would be right back. She bolted up the front steps so that she would reach the station before the new cop could get too far. "Wait up." Veronica called after him. He turned around slowly to see the young girl that was with the Kane kid. "Umm, my brother decided while I was here I should pick up a copy of that moving violation so that we could get it paid off soon." she lied.

The young officer was delighted that these kids would still have to pay the fine, even if they didn't have to have the vehicle impounded. Just because they were important in this town shouldn't mean they were above the law.

The deputy smiled and said, "I'll just need to see your ID Miss Kane and I'll get a copy of all the tickets for you." He looked at her expectantly but continued to smile at her.

Veronica looked at the officer's name plate and smiled back. "No problem Deputy D'Amato." Veronica digs through her purse until she comes to her wallet. She turns away from the deputy and pulls out the license under her own fake ID which lies under her real ID and prays he won't examine it too closely.

Deputy D'Amato briefly looks at the card and says, "Thanks, Lilly." As he walks away towards the front desk holding the ID down by his side Veronica lets out a sigh of relief. A couple weeks ago Veronica had opened up the mailbox to find two amazingly real fake IDs that she and Lilly had sent off for to get into 21 and over clubs. Veronica put her new fake in her wallet for emergencies but she was unsure of what to do with Lilly's. In the end she decided it was safer to keep it on her than to box it up during the move where her parents might find it, and besides she liked having the small reminder of Lilly in her purse. Now she was definitely glad she decided to keep it.

Shortly the deputy brought her a copy of the tickets personally and Veronica was pretty sure that the smile he kept throwing her way was his flirtatious smile, which brought a blush to her cheeks. "Thank you Deputy," she spoke softly.

"Call me Leo, Miss Kane." he flirted.

"Call me Veronica." she said automatically. At his look of confusion, Veronica realized her mistake and stumbled over a goodbye before she hurriedly walked out of the station.

Veronica hopped into the SUV with Duncan and he drove off, not noticing the relief on Veronica's face as they made it out of the parking lot, or the stack of papers sticking out of her purse. The ride to her apartment was silent aside from Veronica giving Duncan directions to her new place.

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Logan was lost in thought. He had been thinking about the incident during lunch hour ever since he bolted out of the yearbook room. It had felt so good to let Veronica comfort him today. She clearly regretted what she said and after she chased him inside it was as if she was herself again; the good and sweet Veronica Mars. Maybe she didn't blame him for Lilly's death. But after Logan's tears stopped falling he rapidly became aware of how wrong it should feel.

Logan had nuzzled his cheek softly against Veronica's shirt in order to dry the last drop as it slid down his face, but the move made him conscious of just how close his face was to Veronica Mars' chest. He pulled back slowly and stared at the print on her shirt that had drawn his attention earlier that day. All coherent thought in Logan's mind was replaced by thoughts of what lies beneath that skull and cross bones design and how unbearably close they were to each other.

Thinking about Veronica in this way—a way he hadn't thought of her in years—made him remember the kiss they shared the previous weekend. In hindsight, he knew he wanted it. He was more disappointed than he was any other emotion when Veronica humiliated him in front of everyone. He wanted to prove that she couldn't resist his charm, but instead he proved to himself that he had fallen for hers. Still not looking up to Veronica's eyes, he imagined what would happen if he kissed her now. He thought he would most likely be slapped in the face.

He had to get out of there quickly. His impure thoughts had begun to smother him. So he ran. He ran to his next classroom and distractedly took his last final for the day, and once he was done he continued to run. He sat in his room now, but his thoughts were still on Veronica.

This was Veronica Mars he was thinking about. Lilly's best friend. Duncan's ex-girlfriend. The girl who betrayed him. God! He wished he could stop thinking about her for five minutes.

Logan's phone rang and he saw Dick's name on the screen. Good, a distraction. Logan answers the call gratefully. "Hey Dick, what's up?"

"Dude, I didn't see you around after school today. Where'd you go?" Dick asks.

When Logan had skipped out after his last final for the day, he made a bee-line for the XTerra and drove straight home. He needed to get away from Neptune High as soon as possible. He only answers Dick with a vague, "I took off early."

"Well you missed out cause we got Ronnie good today, dude! Sean had this awesome idea to let all the air out of her tires. It was so cool man! She asked Duncan for a ride and he totally took her, too. What a push over." he laughs. Then his tone changes from excited to perverted, "Or maybe she just offered to pay him in sexual favors."

Logan couldn't believe it. Even Dick wasn't a distraction. I can't escape her. He wasn't sure how he felt about the prank they had pulled on Veronica. Any other day and he would have certainly enjoyed it, but today was different. He wondered how she must have felt when she came outside to find her car un-drivable. No doubt she believed Logan was responsible.

Logan wondered if what Dick said about Duncan taking her home was true. He thought back to his conversation with Duncan over the weekend when he all but admitted he still had feelings for Veronica. He didn't acknowledge the knot in his stomach at the idea of Duncan and Veronica getting back together; he was sure that just had to do with the fact that she was a traitor and Logan thought his best friend deserved better.

Dick heard a knock on the door and told Logan he'd talk to him later. Logan fell back onto his bed and let his mind continue to wander.

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Wednesday Mac came up to Veronica in study hall and started up a conversation like nothing happened yesterday and Veronica couldn't have been more thankful. Mac and the boys had figured that if she cared so much about someone that was so cruel to her, then she would most likely be an even better ally. Mac invited Veronica to lunch again and she graciously accepted.

While eating a greasy hamburger and lukewarm fries that the cafeteria provided, Veronica spent a pleasant lunch period getting to know Mac and her friends better. Veronica made it her mission to not look over to the 09er table for the entire lunch period. If she had glanced to the umbrella-shielded, freshly-painted end of the patio she might have caught Logan in a stare. He watched her throughout lunch, ignoring his friends. Of course the drama of Dick Casablancas being called in for questioning last night had everyone so talkative that no one noticed Logan's odd behavior.

Logan dreamt of Veronica last night. He woke up abruptly unable to remember the details of his dream, but he could clearly remember Veronica and he could tell from the warm fuzzy feeling he had that whatever he had been dreaming was pleasant. Of course once the realization hit him of who it was that made him feel that way, the happiness dissipated rather quickly. For the rest of the day he had been in a terrible mood.

Veronica, oblivious to the thoughts racing through Logan's mind, continued talking and laughing with Mac's table until lunch was over. As she was walking to class Mac's friend, Alex, caught up with her. "Veronica, wait up. Uh, your dad's like a private eye or something right?" At Veronica's affirmative nod, he continued. "So, uh, how much would it cost to hire him? See, I have this laptop, and it has some pretty valuable information I've been working on for over a year now. I have backups, but I can't just let the originals go. This program is going to be my college fund. The laptop was taken out of my locker one day. The lock was broken and it was just gone. I really need to find it, but I don't have a lot of money."

Veronica thought about Alex's predicament. Keith asked Veronica if she wanted to work for him as his receptionist when he first opened Mars Investigations shortly after they were settled in to the new apartment. She had given it some thought and decided it was better than flipping burgers or selling clothes, so she started working for him about a month ago. The receptionist duties were bland but she had learned a lot from her father already. He told her stories about almost every case that he had taken since Mars Investigations opened.

Veronica felt bad for Alex. She knew something like this could take several man hours and still be fruitless, and at her dad's hourly rate it could really add up. Knowing that was what sparked Veronica's spontaneous suggestion. "You know Alex, maybe I could help."

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When Veronica got to Mars Investigations that afternoon, she got right to work. Once she had completed her usual afternoon duties Veronica wanted to figure out a way to help Alex. She knew the school had cameras in the main hallways and since Alex was a senior, he most likely had a locker in one of those hallways. Veronica called Mac to check on his locker location. Once she confirmed her theory she asked Mac if she could help getting a hold of that footage. Mac seemed to think that it would be a piece of cake and told her she would email her the video files. Alex had narrowed it down to a two hour window, so if there was a good angle on his locker, Veronica was hopeful that her end would be a piece of cake as well.

With nothing else to work on she started looking around for something to do. She glanced at her school books and remembered Lilly's ticket. She had stuffed it in her geometry notebook when she got home because her dad had fixed lasagna and wanted her to join him for a family dinner. She wasn't sure why she felt the need to hide it from him, but she supposed she just didn't want to get his hopes up on a possible lead. Not to mention that she would have to explain exactly how she acquired the ticket. She had completely forgotten to look it over until now.

Veronica held her ear up to her father's office door. He was on the phone, and by the sounds of his half of the conversation he was talking to Cliff, the local if-you-can-not-afford-a-lawyer lawyer. They had been friendly before, but since Keith started working as a private investigator Cliff had been a big help throwing cases his way. Content that her dad would be busy for a while, Veronica opened up her notebook and pulled out the relevant traffic ticket.

The first thing Veronica saw was Lilly—a picture of Lilly laughing or possibly singing along to her radio as she ran a red light. She looked beautiful and so full of life. She looked very Lilly. Veronica had to look away to keep from tearing up. Finally calming down she went to inspect the ticket further. She gasped at the time stamp on the ticket. 6:02 PM. Oh my God. Lilly's time of death was supposed to be around four o'clock. What does this mean?

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Please review if you're happy, review if you're sad, review if you're laughing, or review if you're mad!

Guys, I am terribly sorry about the long wait this time. From here down will be my explanation and excuses as to why it has been so long, so if you don't care, stop now. I just moved to a new apartment in a new city in a new state. Moving takes a lot of time. I got a new job and since I started writing this while I was in between jobs, I am having trouble finding time to continue. Also, I didn't have internet for the first few weeks of living here. But I will continue, I swear, because I hate when people leave stories unfinished. LoVe.