Logan Echolls wandered around the house in his pjs, it had been two days since his mother's disappearance had been declared a suicide. He didn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. That bleach blond bitch taking up the airways with how she had seen his mother jump from the Coronado bridge was on every channel. There were press trying to sneaking into the pool house and rifle through their trash, he had finally instructed the housekeepers to use the giant outdoor fire pit near the pool in the garden to burn everything to stop them from doing it.

Duncan had been texting him most of the morning about what time the flower services were going to be arriving, seems because the Balboa County Sheriffs Department had given up the search for trying to recover some kind of…. Body.. that it meant it was official?

How can it be Officially ruled a suicide if there was no body?

He clutched the small silver lighter he had found on her dresser and ran his thumb over the engraving. Free At Last. Perhaps she had just ran away? That was possible right?

"If you try to divorce me… I will leave you with nothing!" Aaron Echolls had threatened her.

"I can't take this anymore" she had told him before she had left, her white heels stomping angrily into the car park.

If she was going to run… surely she would have taken him with her?

Logan was too numb to cry right now. She was just missing… she had escaped from his father that was all. The police had said that her credit cards were missing.. that was a clue right?

Nadia Alonso the family chef looked at him sympathetically, there were always staff here, it was too big a property to manage by yourself. She left a small chicken and mayonnaise sandwich on the counter but didn't really say anything, no one had said anything to him. His fathers suit was sitting on the couch, they would have to leave and go to the press conference soon.

His dad had had some of the script writer buddy of his draft some broken hearted widow speech that would look good for the cameras. He had heard his father's agent on the phone in the garden talking to their publicist about how this was a great opportunity to branch out into other genres while public sympathy was with the mourning aging movie star. A switch from Action movies to romantic crap like The Notebook or other Nicolas Sparks style projects could give his dad a new career direction. They hadn't even found a body… and these vultures were already trying to twist it to turn a profit?

Aaron Echolls hadn't left his room in two days, sitting around grieving like an old Italian lady. His dad's bio had said that his grandmother was half Italian, it had been used as the justification for his dad's various Mafia roles, even if he didn't exactly look the part.

God there was no people like show people… he thought as he picked up the telegram that Trina had sent. The wreath she had sent was all tulips and hyacinth, it was one of the biggest ones there, way to burn up daddy's credit card, even if she didn't bother thinking the death… no… disappearance of her step mother… his mother.. was a good enough reason to come home. She really was a self-absorbed bitch.

His father was being so theatrical about this… acting like he gave a damn.. like he hadn't just spent the last what? 17 years screwing all of his mothers friends behind her back? He had been trying to act like they had such great family memories together… didn't he realise he was the monster who terrorised this family? His mother had hated him… she had felt trapped in a loveless marriage, Logan had grown up in front of a camera lens…

"Have you heard from your sister?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah… she sent a telegram" Logan said mockingly as he told him the contents.

His father just sat on the end of his bed staring at a wedding photo of him and his mother and the door bell rang again.. he was seriously just leaving Logan to have to deal with all of these caterers?

"Fine… Don't get up" he said as he turned and went to deal with the "funeral reception" arrangements by himself.

"Logan.. I have a pretty good idea of what is going through your head" His father declared as the two of them stood by the front door ready to greet the press and head into the limo to go to the church memorial service. Was it a good idea for Satan to enter a building with stained glass windows?

Duncan had promised to meet him at the steps of the church when he arrived, he just had to make it there without punching his father in the face.

"I know you blame me for your mothers death.." Aaron told him. "That's ok… I blame myself, and I know this hard act that you are putting on is just your way of coping… Lets make a deal.. from now on, we are going to be a team. Our war is over now Logan" he said sadly. "It's what your mother would have wanted.."

Logan put on his sunglasses and made a mock Peace sign. His father rolled his eyes and the two of them went out into the garden, it was then Logan saw it, the glint from a camera of a photographer who had crept into the family estates front garden, enraged Logan chased him while his father called out for him to stop. He grabbed the camera and smashed it onto the floor, he was sick of these vultures… they treated everything that was happening to him like it was carrion.. if his mother WAS dead… then how dare they?

"Logan!" his father scolded, the chorus of the other paparazzi were standing by the gates, great… more fucking camera's. "Logan Enough!" Aaron barked as he pulled Logan away from the photographer before he could punch him.

"You know what Mom would have wanted dad?" Logan spat, the anger was finally at the point where he couldn't contain it anymore. "She would have wanted you not to sleep with all of her friends, she would have wanted you not to have affairs, she would have wanted you to give as much a damn about her… as you did about your career… maybe we wish we BOTH had of been different" he said brokenly… certainly his behaviour over the last year and getting in trouble over those Bum Fights hadn't helped his mother's state of mind either… "But she's only gone because of you…." Logan sobbed before he headed back to the house, pulling out his phone to plead with Duncan to come to the house.

Logan spent the rest of the afternoon doing the happy funeral director crap.

"The family thanks you… and I thank you… my mother thanks you.." he said sarcastically.

"Good god Harvey… this is my wife's funeral" Aaron scolded as his agent tried to get him to sign a contract for some movie.

"Hey Harvey.. we don't want to inconvience you with this funeral thing.. can I get you something? A mimosa? A finger sandwich? A TISSUE?" Logan snapped… he had to get out of here. He went to his room.

"Logan… what are you doing?" Duncan asked when he arrived upstairs eventually.

"Thank's for coming.. really means a lot to the family" he said sarcastically.

This was all wrong. She wasn't gone.. he was sure of it. His mother's credit cards had been missing, you don't jump of a bridge with your platinum card.. he would find her. She had just escaped… it was genius really right? The greatest FUCK YOU to Aaron Echolls.. let the world think he had driven his wife to suicide because of those affairs?

"Logan.. I'm starting to get a little worried" Duncan told him as he looked at him like he was slowly losing his mind.

"It's not her funeral.. because shes not dead" Logan smiled.

"Logan…" Duncan sighed helpless.

The computer opponent slayed his character so Logan dropped the controller and laughed.

"Now I'm dead. None of this matters man.. don't worry" he told him as he got up and went to get the lighter to show him.. the proof. "This lighter was always in her purse… it was a message.. she didn't jump off a bridge… she hated all of this… she hated him… she just escaped" he smiled.

Duncan looked at him in sympathy again.. like he was in denial or something… he would see. Logan would prove it.

"They didn't find a body… because she's not dead" he declared boldly.

Duncan didn't say anything after that, he just hugged him and asked him if he had eaten anything.. honestly, Logan couldn't remember so Duncan had left to get him something to eat it was then that he decided that he would wait until all this charade was over and he would sneak out later. He might not have the first idea of where to look, or how to start.. but he knew someone who did. He had seen her in action at Christmas.. Finally maybe after all this watching her play Dick Tracy at school her peskiness could be useful.

Veronica Mars had been standing in her kitchen making herself a coffee when there was a knock at her door, her thoughts were heavy. She knew from the news that Lynn Echolls body hadn't been found, she had been reading the reports on her laptop. She had left a note…

Mother abandons child and just leaves a note… vanished without a trace…. She could sympathise, she knew exactly how that felt… but at least her mothers disappearance wasn't being plastered all over the news. Her car hadn't been found abandoned on a bridge. She had wanted to go.. to sit beside him and hold his hand, to be there for him the way they had both been there for Duncan at Lilly's funeral, but she knew it was the last thing he would have wanted, he hated her, so she would give him his privacy.

Logan wasn't even really sure what he was going to say. He hated having to admit he needed anything from anyone… especially not from someone who hated him as much as he hated her. She hadn't even bothered to call him to check if he was okay. She hadn't even shown up at the church as far as he had heard from Dick and Beaver. The not knowing where his mother was, was slowly killing him… how had Veronica done this for months?

"Do you have any idea where your mother is? Do you have any clue?" he had teased her on their first day back at school. He had been such a bastard…

He wrapped his jacket around himself to resist the urge to pull her to him… apart from Duncan.. no one had really held him… not the way they had held each other at Lilly's funeral… not tight enough to hold all of the shattered pieces of themselves together as their worlds had fallen apart.

"Logan?" Veronica asked in disbelief as he stood in her doorway. "What are you doing here?" she asked softly. I need your help Veronica.. I need you…. Isn't that obvious?

"I want you to find my mother" he told her finally. Her lips parted in surprise… what was that look she had? What did that mean?

If she sent him away.. if she thought he was crazy like Duncan had when he had suggested they call that Vinnie Van Lowe guy.. but that would have created an invoice his dad might have found.

Veronica's heart broke for Logan as he stood looking lost in her doorway. "Relax.. I'm not asking you to dredge the lake…" he said rolling his eyes. But he would eventually if they didn't get answers soon.. he would do whatever it took. Even having to come here and plead for her help. "My mother didn't really kill herself" he declared, clutching the lighter tighter in his hand.

"Logan… come inside" she said softly. He did as she asked and he looked around the small apartment.. the entire thing was about the size of his pool house.

"Veronica… She is not dead" he told her firmly. Please don't just tell me I'm crazy… he begged silently.

"What makes you think she's still alive?" Veronica asked him carefully.

"Why does everyone assume she's dead?" he complained. "They didn't find a body…"

"What about the woman who says she saw her jump?" she suggested softly. "I heard there was a note?"

"She want's people to think she's dead…" he told her. She was starting to get that same look that Duncan had earlier. Why couldn't she just be super sleuth for him just this once when he needed her to be?

"Her credit cards were missing… doesn't that seem like… I don't know… a clue?" he pleaded.

He watched her process that information and bite her lip.

"Logan I…" she began softly.

"I know my mother!" he snapped, pointing the small silver lighter at her.

Veronica looked at the determination in his face… he needed this.. even if he was wrong.. he needed to know one way or another. So she would help him… he need answers, and she needed to be there for him in whatever way he would allow her. No one else could do this for him.

"Okay" she relented and he sighed in relief, clinging to something small and metal in his hands. Whatever it was.. it was giving him faith that there was more to this… who was she to deny someone else's theories? Her instincts told her though that this wouldn't end well… but perhaps she could shield him from the worst of it better than someone else who didn't give a damn about him. He was determined and if she couldn't dissuade him, then she would do this as quickly as possible.

"If she was really going to do the deed.. it would sleeping pills and chardonnay… she wouldn't risk being found bug eyed and bloated in a shrimp net" he told her firmly.

"I'll see what I can find out" she promised, Logan felt the relief surge through him. He wasn't going to say thank you… she had still abandoned him.. this was just a job to her.

"You know… I just need to know she's okay" he told her, forcing himself to the door before he did something insane like pick her up and kiss her in gratitude, the bitch would love that.

Veronica watched as he left, it was a problem she knew all too well. The not knowing had been driving her insane until she had gotten that voicemail from her mother a few weeks ago.

Logan wandered around the school in a daze most of the morning, his teachers didn't really expect him back so soon and the guidance counsellor had been trying to convince him to go home, to give himself more time… but Veronica was here, and he hadn't been updated yet. Where was she?

"Is it a good read?" he asked as he saw her rifling through a file outside in the food court. What could possibly be more important than finding the answers he had hired her for? Unless she hadn't bothered her ass…

"Logan" she said in surprise, she hadn't been expecting him at school either it seemed.

"Any news?" he prodded.

"I put out alerts on all your mothers credit cards, I've checked all the airports and shipping lanes and rentals to check if theres been any activity" she explained as she smiled weakly at him.

"Meaning?" he didn't speak fluent Private Eye.

"Meaning.. a friend of my fathers will text message me if any of the cards are used" she elaborated. What could he possibly be doing here? She had been planning to leave earlier and skip study hall to update him before the whole Carrie Bishop and their history teacher sex accusations had erupted around school. She was lying.. and Veronica would prove it.

"And the woman whose been all over the news… is giving her official statement down at the Sheriffs Office tomorrow" she continued. The information seemed to ease something in him… had he thought she would really just ignore this?

"Opportunistic Hag" he cursed.

"Yeah.. well I am going to call down tomorrow and see if she's up for a little chat" Veronica promised.

"Okay… well I will go with you" Logan told her.

With her? As in… investigate this together?

"Uh… that's not really how this works…" she declined as she started to walk away. "It will be better if I do this on my own… despite popular opinion you really cant beat the truth out of someone.."

"Well what are you going to stop me with?" he challenged, following her. If she thought he was just going to stand on the sidelines… she was wrong. He wasn't built that way… he would find out the truth alone if he had to.

"Force of will? Tenacity? Karate chop?" she mused, but he wouldn't go away no matter how quickly she increased her pace.

"Look… I will know if she is lying.. you WONT" he told her firmly.

"Fine…" she sighed. "I've got a plan…"

A plan? She had a plan for getting that fame hungry bitch to just spill her deepest darkest secrets that she was lying about his mother?

"A plan? Yeah I'm sure you do…" he scoffed, he watched as something else caught her attention and she disappeared.

"Hey Carrie!" she called out.

"I'll just… see you tomorrow then?" he complained.

Bitch.

Logan much preferred the Fantasy Veronica, in his dreams she had used her Veronica Magic to track down his mother in a few hours and the three of them had met at the airport and he was sunning himself on a beach in Havana with his mother smiling sipping on a cocktail enjoying how her plan had worked in sticking it to Aaron Echolls once and for all. Fantasy Veronica had spent the rest of the night declaring her undying loyalty to him promising that they never leave each other again. That being with him was the only thing that mattered to her.

Truthfully, he wasn't sure how good an idea of spending so much time with the real Veronica was going to be. His little make-believe version of their relationship had been what had gotten him through the last few months of them being back at school. He didn't want to have to get to close to the reality version.

His father had fired his agent and had been making a big deal out of trying to get Logan to attend grief counselling with him as a family.. to "repair" the relationship that they had never had now that his mother was gone. The scars that the man had given him would never be fixed by any amount of talking.. Logan wanted nothing to do with him. As soon as he was able.. he was going to get away from him just like his mother.

"You okay?" Duncan asked, he had noticed that Logan and Veronica had been spending time together today, but he hadn't asked why. He probably knew.

"Yeah… just… taking it one day at a time" Logan said sarcastically. That had been the advice people had kept giving him, and honestly, if someone gave him that little head tilt and looked at him with those pitying eyes and asked him if he was okay again, he was going to fucking scream.

"We should sit here" Veronica told him the following day while they sat in the reception area of the Sheriffs Department.

What were they even doing here? He thought. Shouldn't they be out like putting up posters or tracking down the witnesses from beyond the bridge? This woman was obviously lying.

It had been about twenty minutes and they had barely spoken.

"We should do this more often.." Veronica mused as she crossed her legs.

We shouldn't have to be doing this at all if you would just do your job…. Logan thought.

There she was.. leaving Lamb's office. That vile trailer trash harpy who was spreading all those lies about his mother.

"Down boy!" Veronica said, putting her hand on his arm to keep him in his seat. "Here" she said, handing him a small earpiece.

An earpiece?

"White trash walking" she whispered into a small device tucked onto her wrist.

Logan looked at her in confusion… who was she talking to?

"I know.. Gadgets and all" she said as Logan put the listening device into his ear.

He listened eagerly as someone claiming to be a reporter solicited the woman in the corridor for a story.

"What's your offer?" the bitch questioned.

"Depends on what you have to give… did she look beaten up? Drunk?" the voice pressed.

"If you like" the hag agreed.

Oh that was it! Logan jumped from his seat and started to shout at her and Veronica pulled him away.

"You make up lies about my Mom?" he called. He was seething.

"Hey… finding out what that woman was about is a good thing" Veronica assured him. "Stay calm…" she told him.

"Hey.. " a dark haired deputy said awkwardly and he watched as Veronica looked a little embarrassed, guilty.

So she was capable of recognising when she had been wrong? Interesting.

Logan was not in the mood to deal with the stab of jealousy on top of everything else he was already feeling right now.

"I have to take care of something.. I'll be back in two seconds" she promised.

Sure… go take care of someone else…again… it's not like I need you… he thought bitterly. Yeah.. Mixing Fantasy Veronica with Reality Veronica had been a bad move. He just wanted to go home..

"Hey Deputy" Veronica said as she flirted with Leo D'amato.

"What do you want Veronica?" Leo complained, she had gotten him in trouble for taking evidence to files while he had been distracted. He had almost lost his job because of her.

"A chance to explain.." she said softly.

"What is there to explain? You used me" Leo accused her. Isnt that what Veronica did? Used people until she had no further use for them? Logan thought bitterly as he listened from the hallway.

"I used you.. then fell for you" she replied.

Oh god… he wasn't hearing this… he stormed off to wait outside.

He had almost considered telling her to forget the whole thing when he found the article in the coffee shop the next morning a tabloid article from some woman who had claimed his mother had gotten into a Van with a mysterious stranger on the bridge. Way to go Mom… he had to get this woman's details.

Veronica had been on the phone when he arrived at her fathers office… he had never been in Mars Super Sleuth Central before, he took in the surroundings… no doubt at some point his little Fantasy Veronica would be seducing him on that table he saw Veronica standing in front of. The stained glass made her look even more like an angel than she usually did. An avenging angel sure.. but a heavenly creature nonetheless.

"Penicillin would clear that problem right up" he snarked. There she was.. doing something other than finding the article he had come to show her.

"Cant say I was expecting you.." she said in mild surprise, going to sit behind her desk.

Logan went and put the article down in front of her cheerily.

"There… is a woman who says she saw my mom, getting into a car with a mysterious stranger" he smiled happily.

"There's also a tribe that worships Donald Trumps hair… Just.. I don't want you to get your hopes up" she said carefully.

"I am not paying you to worry about my hopes.." he scolded. If only you knew the things I hoped for… you'd laugh in my face. "I am paying you to follow leads"

"I wasn't aware you were paying me…" she said disappointed.

"This… is a … job.. nothing more…" he told her, but he wasn't sure if he was more reminding himself instead. "This isn't a favour.. we aren't exchanging friendship bracelets" She would have to have been his friend first for to have counted.

"I'll stop braiding" she said sarcastically, reviewing the article. Like she had ever even started?

"Look.. just do whatever it is you do… and track her down" he instructed.