A/N – Black Friday/Cyber Monday had me tied up in shopping knots, so I didn't update over the weekend, but it was a bit of a ghost town on ff over the past few days. I figured I'd wait for people to catch up reading/reviewing this story before I posted another update.

PS - Is it wrong that (while most of me is happy for her), part of me is a little disappointed that Kristen Bell is pregnant, because I know that will delay any hope of a VM movie? Sigh. At least we have a 'Party Down' movie to look forward to...

CHAPTER 10

"How long do you think they're gonna keep us waiting here?" Weevil asked as he flopped into an empty office chair next to Keith at Kane Software headquarters.

"Rule of thumb: the richer a man is, the longer he can make you wait, Navarro. This basically means we'll be waiting here forever," Logan said with a sigh as he leaned against the wall. "Of course, it also means that you have got to show up 15 minutes early everywhere you go, amigo."

Weevil held back a smile. "What do they say about little bitches who didn't have to work a day in their lives for the fortunes their daddies left them?"

"Not sure. My Mexican is a bit rusty, but I think they say for an extra twenty, they'll keep our cars parked close by," he responded.

Keith ran his hand over the back of his neck. "Cut it out, you two. My day feels long enough without having to referee between Tony and Bernardo."

"Huh. Veronica referred to us as random Sharks and Jets, so this is a bit of an upgrade, though you two could stand to broaden your reference pool," he said.

"What can I say? The Mars family digs Fosse," the older man said with a shrug.

Logan leans his forehead against the wall and groaned loudly. "I just don't understand how she doesn't appear on those tapes," he complained. "I mean, it's not like she can just vanish into thin air."

"They could have been swapped out or duped from another day and then time-stamped for yesterday," Keith explained.

"Or maybe she's still in the building," he retorts ominously.

"Don't think that way, son. They could have smuggled her out through a secret door or waited until later in the evening," he said.

"You had police posted all over that building," Logan responded. "You still do."

"Yes, but they're not infallible. It's possible to slip past somebody if you know what you're doing, especially under the cover of darkness guarded by men who have been watching the same post all day. Veronica did it all the time in high school," he told the young man. "You need to keep the faith, Logan. You know if it were you missing, that she would."

Logan nodded and then began pacing the small area of the conference room in front of the VPN projector. He knew he wasn't achieving anything productive in his heightened state, but he didn't know where to place all of his anxiety, and if he didn't put it somewhere fast he threatened to boil over.

In his younger days, he would have most likely worked out his agitation by starting a fight with somebody, but right now, the short blue pile of carpet he was walking over was probably the only thing he could safely beat up without making the situation much worse.

He stopped for a moment, noticing a framed poster on the far wall of the room that simply read "Stop being a flatfoot. Let MacGuffin hunt for you." There was no picture, no context given, only the Kane Software logo in the lower corner of the rectangle. His face screwed up as he tried to understand its meaning, but he quickly gave up and continued his march.

"Will you quit it? You're making me feel like I gotta puke, vato," Weevil said with a sneer.

Logan disregarded his reluctant ally and continued pacing. "Consider it payback for when I had to watch you eat that fish taco earlier, vato."

Weevil kicked his chair back angrily. "You know, you're not the only one who gives a shit about her. You were the same way about Lilly. Maybe you shoulda been a movie star like your papi, since you're always such a fucking drama queen?"

Logan closed his eyes and absorbed the blow. "Thank you. That was exactly what I needed," he said with relief as a smile crept across his face. He wanted a valid excuse to exorcise his aggression physically. Ask and ye shall receive. When his eyes opened they were hard and black, and he launched himself at the PI with gusto.

Before either man could get any meaningful blows in, Keith grabbed them both by the scruff of their shirts and pushed them into chairs. "This isn't helping Veronica! I know you're both on edge, but fighting each other is counterproductive. Save the ass-kicking for the real bad guys."

Both men backed off but continued radiating hostility.

"How can you be so calm when she's out there with God knows who, doing God knows what to...?" Logan shook his head like an etch-a-sketch, in an attempt to clear the bad images from spiraling out of control.

Keith placed a firm hand on his shoulder and sighed. "As you said the other day, 'this ain't my first trip to the rodeo'. This ain't hers either, you know."

Logan's brow creased. "What do you mean by that?"

"She didn't tell you what happened to her last month?" he asked with surprise.

He shook his head slowly and stared a hole through the table as he decided whether or not to ask a followup question. "Not sure if I can handle any more Veronica-related bad news right now, so maybe we can put a pin in this one, Mr. Mars."

Keith warmly clapped him on the back before returning to his own seat, between the feuding boys.

The sound of the conference room door being opened startled everyone inside.

"Sheriff Mars, Mr. Echolls, Mr. Navarro," Wiedman said, greeting his guests as he entered the room trailed by Gory Sorokin.

Logan locked eyes with Gory and briefly wondered if that absurd conspiracy theory about lizard people was true. If some of the rich and powerful truly were lizard-shaped aliens, his money would be on Gorya Sorokin being part reptile.

"Mr. Echolls," Gory said, parroting Clarence's greeting in a mocking tone, while offering up a false smile.

"Comrade," he responded with a Communist fist salute.

Sensing the tension in the room, Keith slapped his hands down lightly on his knees as a distraction. "Well, now that we're all accounted for, I thought we could start by - - "

Before the sheriff could finish his sentence, another man entered the room, then closed and locked the door behind himself.

Logan gripped the edge of the table tightly with both hands as his gaze followed the latecomer while he made his way to the table.

The older man smiled warmly at him. "It's been a long time. I can't believe how grown up you look."

Logan felt about five different emotions pulling him in separate directions at once. This man, whom he once considered the consummate father and statesman, as well as his personal role model, seemed a mere ghost of what he had once been. As a child he was dazzled, but the person who now sat across from him was just a graying, frail shell of what he used to be. It was almost as if all of the trials and grief he'd endured over the past few years had been finely etched upon his perfect features. The years had not been kind to Jake Kane in nearly every way possible.

Logan exhaled his anxiety. "You think? Huh...and just the other day Veronica called me an 'enfant terrible'. Go figure."

Jake bowed his head. "I'm truly sorry about Veronica."

Logan could feel the bile rising in his throat. Hearing concern for his lover roll off the lips of a man who couldn't give two shits about her safety made him feel like punching a wall. It was lip service, they both knew that, and if there was one thing Logan couldn't stand, it was actors. "Sorry that she was kidnapped, Jake, or sorry she hasn't turned up dead yet?"

"Logan..." Keith said, shooting him a look that could silence the wind.

Jake put his hand up. "It's okay, Keith. I know I haven't always been fair when it came to Veronica. Losing a child changes a man, and in many ways, I've lost two. I'd like to think I've finally found my way back again."

"I saw a tabloid cover while I was waiting on line to pay for milk the other day. If it's true what they say about Celeste, then I'd like to offer my condolences," he uttered, filling the awkward silence that followed Jake's heartfelt declaration.

His mouth tightened into a line. "I appreciate that, Keith. I know she and Veronica haven't always seen eye-to-eye, but deep down I believe she's actually quite fond of her."

Logan laughed loudly at the lack of veracity in his words, finding the counterfeit reconciliation between the two older men appalling He wondered how Keith had the bandwidth to forgive a man who had caused his family such heartache and strife. Between the decades-long affair with his wife, the smear campaign that cost him his job (and subsequently his house and marriage), and the brutal treatment of his daughter by nearly the entire Kane clan, it seemed impossible to Logan that a person would have the compassion to forgive for so much.

Maybe it was a product of his youth, but Logan couldn't bring himself to be as magnanimous, especially when it came to Celeste Kane, the woman responsible for causing the only two women he ever loved so much pain throughout their short lives.

Weevil leaned back in his chair and observed Logan with amusement while giving his tacit approval. One thing the pair never had trouble agreeing on was how full of shit the Kane family was.

"Will you knock it off?" Keith asked.

Logan shrugged and turned away.

"Now that we've gotten all of the pleasantries out of the way, I figure we may as well start with the most obvious question," Keith said.

Jake remained stony-faced. "Which is?"

"What did Mr. Wiedman ask Veronica to do for you?"

Jake took a deep breath and held it for a moment before exhaling harshly. "I wanted her to contact Duncan for me. We'd like him to come home, for reasons you referred to earlier."

Logan's ears pricked up and he turned to face the group again. How would Veronica know how to contact Duncan?

Keith looked neither surprised nor phased by this revelation, but he did appear extremely pissed off. "I had a feeling that's why she killed the wire she was wearing. When she mentioned your mutual friend, it rang some bells."

"I can assume this means you were unaware of her continued involvement with the younger Mr. Kane?" Clarence asked him.

"You assume correctly – though I've always had my suspicions. I knew she had a hand in his disappearance. She was well-aware that I wouldn't approve her contacting him. I can't image the FBI would either," Keith said.

"My son isn't a criminal, Keith," Jake told him firmly.

Keith's face softened, but his tone remained as authoritative as ever. "Your son is on the FBI's as well as Interpol's list of wanted criminals. He may be that little girl's biological father, but the Mannings are Faith's legal guardians. There was no paternity test or legal motion filed to gain custody through the correct channels, so that makes him guilty of kidnapping, whether he's entitled to have her or not."

"Faith Manning is called Lilly Kane now, and she is Duncan's daughter, in every way possible. He was only exercising his parental rights by protecting her from the monsters who wanted to keep her from him."

"Look, I appreciate that, and I'm not saying that I wouldn't have considered doing the exact same thing, had it been Veronica's safety at stake, but in the eyes of the law he's a criminal. If he so much as steps a toe in this country, or even if he pops his head out somewhere abroad and people notice, he's going to end up in jail for a very long time, and then Lilly won't have a father around anymore to protect her. Also, anybody who had knowledge of their whereabouts could end up being dragged down into the mud with them," Keith explained. "There's no way Veronica would have been dumb enough to help you with this, regardless of her attachment to your son."

Logan flinched at the mention of Veronica's devotion to Duncan, and old fears about being the Golden Boy's placeholder began to eat away at his gut like a parasite that had lain dormant in his body for six years. He always knew deep down it was Veronica who sneaked Duncan and baby Lilly out of the country. As bright as Duncan is, he's not very calculating, and could never have organized the type of subterfuge necessary to pull off a stunt like that.

His escape undoubtedly had Veronica's fingerprints all over it, but what makes them think she knows where he is today? Surely she wouldn't be reckless enough to stay in contact with him when it could put both Duncan and Lilly in jeopardy?

"Veronica agreed to contact Duncan on our behalf," Clarence informed Keith.

Keith winced and swore under his breath. "Stupid, Veronica. Just stupid."

Logan cleared his throat nervously. "She, um...Veronica knows where Duncan is?"

Clarence shook his head. "Veronica knows how to contact Duncan if she needs to. I'm almost positive she doesn't know where he is currently."

"No, she wouldn't want to have that knowledge until she needed to. Too risky," Keith said.

Thoughts of Veronica and Duncan having secret, international rendezvous danced through Logan's head and his hands flew to the sides of his head in a vain attempt to squeeze them out manually.

Gory sneezed twice loudly, which brought the conversation to a halt.

Keith glanced at the third man across the table from him, whom up until now had managed to blend seamlessly into the background, then turned to Wiedman. "Why is he here?"

Gory leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. "I'm the one who arranged this little shindig, sheriff. So much for gratitude."

Logan's memory was triggered, and he recalled something Gory told him at the Sorokin mansion the day before. "Why did you say we should we be thankful that you know fluent Ukrainian, Gory?"

Gory's face fell and he struggled to regain his composure.

Jake glowered at him. "You said what?"

Keith glanced between the two men and then over to Logan and the two shared a silent conversation.

"I, um, you know, the hit man who tried to kill you was Ukrainian, right?" Gory asked Logan. "I assume you'd like to get to the bottom if it?" he commented, his indignation beginning to falter.

"I'm actually more interested in getting to the bottom of your involvement with Jake Kane. What did you mean when you told Wiedman that you and Jake were even now? What did he do for you? What did you do for him in return?" Logan asked.

Gory regained his composure. "My business is confidential, so even if you were bright enough to understand the subtleties of my endeavors, I wouldn't be allowed to explain them to you anyway."

Logan scratched his head. "Without an explanation, my feeble mind just might start running wild with theories about the kind of business you two do together. Maybe I should run these theories by some friends of mine who work for the IRS? A full audit of your company should illuminate things for me."

Gory scoffed. "You know people in the IRS?"

Logan gave him the universal gesture for 'obviously', and then crossed his arms over his chest. "Clearly you've never been blessed with a viewing of the movie 'Soul Audit', the 1987 academy award nominee for best sound-editing, starring refreshingly versatile film star, Aaron Echolls. He shadowed some agents for a few months to prepare for his role, then sent them some extremely generous Christmas gifts every year to keep them comfortably tucked into his back pocket. Never can have too many useful friends, he always said."

"Look, all I did was invest in some new anti-hacking software, okay? That's it." Gory slammed his hand down on the table to punctuate his point. "And now, I'm done talking about it."

Jake Kane seemed to get tenser each time Gory opened his trap. "Keith, the most important thing is getting Veronica back home safely, and as soon as possible."

"How am I supposed to do that if you're not being straight with me, Jake? You should know me well enough by now to assume that I will always double check the foundation of a house before I start to build on it." he reminded him.

Jake's back straightened.

Keith rapped his fingers on the table in thought. "Software and Russians seem to go together like milk and cookies lately, am I right?"

Jake rubbed the crease between his eyes with his thumb as his confidence visibly waned. "You know about the lawsuit."

"I know about the lawsuit," Keith nodded. "Alexicon really has it in for you, huh?"

"Companies sue each other every day, Keith. I'm barely even aware of half of the lawsuits Kane Software is involved in," he explained, as stress lines began to form on his still-handsome face.

Logan watched the sheriff lure Kane into revealing more than he'd planned. Keith had an unassuming way of tricking a suspect into tripping themselves up on their own words. While he was shadowing Keith for his book, he witnessed this strategy many times. He'd all but hand the suspect an empty gun and let them load it with their own ammo, before accidentally shooting themselves in the foot. A lot of patience and self-restraint was required to finesse a confession like this, and Logan admired Keith greatly for mastering the gambit.

"Certainly a billion dollar lawsuit might ping your radar though, right?" Keith asked.

"What exactly are you insinuating, Keith? I'm only asking, because it's always something with you, isn't it?" Jake retorted snidely.

"What do you know about Alexei Petrenko?" he questioned.

Gory's head picked up and he suddenly seemed rather interested in the conversation.

"I know as much as anyone who reads Tech Crunch," he tells him. "He's an oligarch, a former politician, he's worth billions and owns one of the biggest tech companies in Russia. I've seen him around at a few events, but I've never met him personally."

Keith's eyes widen in surprise. "He's never met you, yet, he's suing you for a billion dollars?"

"Like I said, that's how it goes. We infringe on their patents, they infringe on ours, we have a Mexican stand-off and then eventually everyone settles. The only ones who seem to get out of these skirmishes with their hair in tact are the lawyers," Jake said, getting impatient. "Keith, as interesting as this tangent is, what do you think Alexei Petrenko has to do with Veronica's disappearance?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that," he replied. "We ran the plates of every car in the parking lot of The Red Room. Three were registered to the club's staff, three of them were registered to Petrenko, and one was registered to Kane Software. The staff are all accounted for on video, so that just leaves you and Petrenko."

"I had nothing to do with Veronica's kidnapping," he said.

Keith placed his hands face down on the table in front of him. "Hence, my questions about Petrenko."

As a mystery writer, Logan knew the key to constructing a good plot was to establish a strong and clear motive for each character involved in order to push the story forward. The object of desire was usually the same for everyone, but every character's reason for chasing it was personal.

Jake Kane's object of desire was Veronica, because he wanted her to contact his son, yet she was most likely kidnapped by another man, who was a business rival embroiled in a billion dollar lawsuit with him. What could Petrenko possible want with Veronica? Did he need her to contact Duncan too? He couldn't imagine what other reason he could possibly have for wanting her. It couldn't be a coincidence that Kane and Petrenko were both after Veronica within a week of her dramatic resurfacing.

But Duncan? What the hell could he have that both his father and the Ukrainians were willing to kidnap, threaten and even kill to get?

If there was a common need between Jake Kane and Alexei Petrenko, he would find it, but he couldn't do it alone. He'd need somebody familiar with the world of software development. Luckily, he still had some friends in high places.

"Will you excuse me for a moment?" Logan stood and walked toward the door. "Nature calls."

Clarence observed him cautiously before jerking his head toward the exit. "Down the hall, first door on your right."

He nodded his thanks and left the room.

Logan stepped outside into the sunlight, and pulled out his phone to dial, then suddenly changed his mind and walked back inside the building. He didn't want to leave a record of his outgoing call, in case somebody hacked into his account or bugged the phone.

An attractive brunette in her early twenties was manning the front desk. "Can I help you, sir?" she asked with a grin that seemed to get much larger once she looked up from her computer.

Logan rested his arm on her desk and dazzled her with a sly smile. "I was wondering if there was a phone I could use to make a private call," he said as he held up his cell phone. "Dead battery."

She giggled nervously for a reason Logan couldn't quite understand.

"I'm not really supposed to let guests into any of the conference rooms unattended," she started, leaning forward with heavy-lidded eyes. "But...since you're a personal guest of Mr. Kane's, I suppose I could make an exception, just this once..." she purred.

"I would be forever in your debt." He bowed slightly, happy his special brand of charm still had the desired effect.

The receptionist slithered around to the other side of her desk and sidled up next to Logan. "To dial out, you have to have to hit... 'pound'," she cooed.

Finally able to shake the horny secretary, Logan shut the door of the vacant conference room and locked it, then quickly negotiated the complicated arrangement of chairs to reach the phone at the other end of the table.

He dialed the phone, and after a few rings the call was answered.

"Cindy MacKenzie," the voice at the other end of the line spoke in a chipper tone.

"Mac! It's Logan," he said. "Long time no see."

"Maybe for you. I, however, have seen plenty of you. TMZ has been staked out at The Grand for the past two days. I'm honestly surprised they even let you make reservations there anymore," she said with a laugh.

"Well, to be fair, I wasn't planning on checking into The Grand until my drinking partner ended up getting himself roofied," he explained.

"Oh, I didn't read that little detail. I just assumed it was a normal night of drinking for Dick," she remarked. "If that woman only had the patience to wait another hour, she could have saved herself the trouble. He would've ended up on the floor of the bathroom eventually."

"Well, she was in cahoots with the hitman who tried to kill me," he informed her. "Guess karma took care of that. Karma has a nice way of finding people at The Neptune Grand. It's almost like it works at the concierge desk."

"Jeff Ratner changed his name to Karma? Not sure it suits him," she mused aloud. "So, um...the stories also mentioned you were rescued by a young, blonde, sarcastic, FBI agent."

"They said she was sarcastic?" he asked with mild bemusement.

Mac laughed. "Okay, I added that part myself. So...where is she? I tried calling her dad's house a few times, but Alicia wasn't giving up the goods. I assume you had a chance to talk to her?" she questioned.

Logan let out a long exhale. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"And here I thought you were calling me because I'm such a sparkling conversationalist," she remarked. "Seriously though, what happened? Did you guys have a fight? I told her you weren't going to just forgive her for pulling a Houdini on you."

He cleared his throat. "Actually..."

"Oh my God, seriously?" she screamed into the phone.

"Don't judge me!" he whisper-screamed back into the receiver. "Besides, I thought you wanted us to get back together."

"I do. Mainly because I shudder to think of the damage you two will do to the innocent people of the dating world if you stay apart," she quipped. "So...where's your girlfriend? I'm dying to see her non-avatar form once again."

"We need to talk. Can you meet me?" he asked.

"Sure. When and where?" she said.

"Now and in parking lot," Logan said. "We can't talk here."

Mac sighed. "Oh Jesus, what have you two gotten yourselves into this time?"

Logan emerged from the conference room and closed the door behind him. The receptionist beamed at him expectantly from across the lobby, and he weakly waved his appreciation. For every perk the Echolls family charm brought, there were downsides.

"Going somewhere?" a voice called from down the hall.

Logan froze. "Just needed to get something from my car," he said before turning around.

Gory leaned against the wall and played with a Kane Software-branded pen, rolling it over and under his fingers, back and forth with the grace of a majorette. "I was hoping I could have a word."

A cheeky expression crossed his mug. "Indefatigable."

The Ukrainian raised his eyebrows and sauntered over to him. "Funny. I was actually thinking 'subterfuge'. You don't really think those yokels are going to be able to find her the old-fashioned way."

"Is detective work 'out'? I'm going to have to read Weevil the riot act for letting me look so gauche," Logan deadpanned.

"I can get you into the Petrenko headquarters," he told Logan. "They're familiar with my family. They wouldn't turn me away and risk starting a war. I also have access to things we might need, like unmarked weapons."

"Guns with the serial numbers filed off. How very Cosa Nostra of you." Logan's expression hardened. "If all of this is true, why didn't you say anything while we were in the room with Kane?"

He shrugged. "I'm done doing favors for Jake Kane."

"So instead you've decided to do favors for Logan Echolls? Sorry, not really buying it," he said. "So...why?"

Gory ran his hand over his mouth a few times. "Look, I obviously don't give a shit about you, but I really regret what I did to Veronica in college. If I had a daughter and some guy posted a naked video of her...let's just say it would be the last thing he did with those hands."

Logan placed a finger to his lips in thought. "You've really changed, Gory, and I'm pretty sure I told you not to when I signed your yearbook."

"Hey, you can believe me or not, I don't really care. I'm offering my help, because I owe her one," he said.

"Yep, it's obvious how much you really like to give it to her," Logan said in monotone.

"Whatever, man. It's your loss," Gory said with a flick of the hand as he turned to walk back to the conference room.

As Logan watched Gory disappear down the hallway, flashes of Veronica tied up and tortured invaded his mind. "Fuck," he muttered under his breath. Desperation makes for strange bedfellows.

"Gory!" Logan called out.

Logan could almost feel the smug satisfaction oozing out of Gory's every pore as he spun around on his heel to face him. "I made you an offer you couldn't refuse?" he asked as he extended his hand.

He closed the distance between them and took Gory's hand, giving it a firm shake. "Al Capone once said, 'You can get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than a kind word alone'. Who am I to deny the wisdom of a career criminal?"

A/N – Hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend! In the spirit of the holiday, I just wanted to send thanks to all of you who have left reviews – it's honestly addictive to know what others think of your work, since writing is such a solitary pursuit. Feedback is king - so if you have the time, please do! Thanks again for reading!