Deputy Ryan's watched as that Vinnie Van Lowe guy took off running across the beach, he nudged his colleague Briar's arm nodded in the direction. They had been told to stop packing up the underage 09er kids kegs by an irate Sheriff Lamb and told to be on the lookout for the Echolls kid. Apparently there had been some kind of threat or something against the family?
*Dispatch* called a voice over the radio and he stepped away from the speaker blasting Feel This Moment by Pitbull ft Christina Aguilera in his ear.
*Ryans, go Dispatch* he responded.
*10.23. PCHers found with the Echolls car. No sign of the owner of the vehicle, two arrests*
*Ok, dispatch, no sign down here on the Point, you want us to search the arcade?* he asked as he checked out a pretty red head girl wearing some very short, low rise denim shorts.
*Negative, just be on the lookout for any more of the Club* the voice instructed.
*Confirmed* he sighed and looked at Briar.
"You think that Van Lowe guy knows something?" Ryan's queried absently.
"Nah, probably just racing to get more snaps for his dirty pictures collection" Briar snorted and indicated that he should pick up the other end of the keg. Free Beer. The good stuff. Best Perks of the job. Ryans thought happily and put it into the back of his car.
Duncan Kane followed Weevil Navarro down the staircase, there wasn't much light down there, but the shine of moonlight on blond hair was unmistakable.
He was more athletic than Weevil, so jumped over the railing and skipped the last few steps, throwing himself across the sand towards the two figures standing on the beach. From his distance, he saw what looked like a familiar Logan outline grabbing the petite figure by the head, he was too far away to hear their conversation, but when he was in ear shot he heard his best friends voice clearly.
"Not Abel Koontz, that part I know" her voice said, and it looked like Logan had grabbed her arm.
"Just do me a favour, don't sugar-coat anything" Logan told her. "Things are about to get Very Ugly"
It was then Duncan took him by surprise and tackled Logan to the ground.
"Get away from her!" he yelled, using the fact he was off guard to land a few good punches squarely against Logan's jaw. Weevil came running up behind him a few moments later and stood between Veronica and Logan.
It took Veronica a moment to process what was happening. She saw Weevil reach out and land a kick squarely against Logan's jaw as he lay on the floor gasping.
"Weevil?" she spluttered, trying to get a look at whoever had thrown Logan to the ground.
"Did he hurt you?" Weevil asked turning his focus back to Veronica, grabbing her shoulder and assessing her for injuries. Hector and his man Havier should be on their way down in a few minutes, this pretty 09er asshole was gonna regret the day he ever left that fancy Mansion of his.
"No!" she protested, trying to reach past him, to get a better look.
Logan cried out in pain as he tried to wriggle free from Duncan's attack, as a football player, Duncan was the stronger of the two and he was still trying to clear the fog as his head exploded in pain from Weevils kick. He felt Duncan's hands on his throat, he clawed against his grip and jabbed his elbow upwards into his face, rolling his body free, gasping as he felt Weevil land another kick against his lower back. Duncan grabbed him by the hair and punched him several times in the face. The shock of the sudden attack left him trying to catch up, he pulled his arms up by his head to protect himself from the assault.
"Duncan?!" he protested, trying to push him off, the will to fight suddenly left him.
"You lying son of a bitch!" Duncan screamed. "I'll kill you!" he told Logan his blue eyes were burning with hatred.
He knows…. Logan felt his blood run cold.
"STOP!" Veronica screamed, trying to get past Weevil but he pushed her back, there were two other people approaching from along the beach towards them. PCHers she noted.
"We know what he did Veronica" Weevil comforted her. "Let us handle this"
What the hell was happening? How had they found her? Was that Duncan?
"DUNCAN LET HIM GO!" she cried again as she saw his hands on Logan's throat. He wasn't fighting back, he was barely defending himself.
"I KNOW HE KILLED LILLY!" Duncan responded as he gripped the handful of Logan's hair and started to bash his head into the sand. He wasn't quite sure where the intense rage had come from… was it from seeing Logan KISSING Veronica? Moments ago, he had been contemplating calling the Sheriff's department so things wouldn't escalate too far. Now he couldn't stop beating his friends face into a bloody pulp.
"It wasn't me!" Logan pleaded, trying to struggle free.
"Get off him!" she ordered, her voice was urgent, she threw herself against Duncan, trying to pull him away, but she was too petite and he shoved her backwards and grabbed Logan by the throat again, squeezing so tightly that he began to wriggle more desperately beneath him. The world was going black, fading in and out.
"DUNCAN!" Logan heard Veronica's scream. "WEEVIL MAKE HIM STOP!" she pleaded.
"Weev's!" Hector called out as he approached the struggling trio, Logan had tried to grip Weevils foot to pull himself away, reaching for anything to use as a weapon.
"We got this Veronica" Weevil told her, stomping on Logan's hand, something broke under his boot. Logan yelled out again, unable to gain the upper hand because he was pinned being attacked on two sides.
"Please don't hurt him… stop!" she begged, trying to get between them again.
Was this girl nuts? Hector thought as he watched the petite blond reach for her taser and jab it into Duncans ribs, he spasmed and she used that momentum to help Logan roll him off, who gasped desperately for air crouched on his knees as Veronica threw herself between the writhing Duncan and the PCHers. Shielding him.
"What the hell Veronica?" Weevil demanded, pissed.
"Back off!" she warned, her heart racing.
"Back off? You are the one who called ME for help, remember? I saw that Motel room, Meg said she saw him chasing you… then we find all those files on your computer?" Weevil shouted, pointing at Logan, the brass knuckles glinting in the moonlight.
"I know.. but its changed… we need to calm down" she reasoned.
"Calm down?" Duncan bellowed. "HE MURDERED MY SISTER!" as he reached for Logan again.
"He was in Neptune that day.. but I don't think he killed Lilly" Veronica pleaded.
"Don't be stupid Veronica… why would he cover something like that up if he wasn't guilty?" Weevil demanded.
"I—I don't know… but he didn't do it…" she screamed as she saw Weevil step forwards.
"Well then he's going to give us some answers" Weevil told her, pushing her out of the way and connecting the brass knuckles to Logan's jaw. The world spun and he saw stars, she was about to pull the taser again when Hector reached out and pulled it from her.
"NOOOOO!" she cried out as Havier joined Weevil by kicking him in the ribcage. Hector yanked her away and held her back.
"What did you do to Lilly Kane?!" Weevil demanded, attacking him viciously.
"It wasn't me!" Logan spluttered, spitting blood from his mouth and trying to stand but the kick to his ribs winded him.
"LOGAN!" Veronica screamed helplessly.
"We are getting answers Veronica" Duncan told her angrily. "One way or another!" as he marched to Logan and grabbed his collar, dragging him to the water and shoving his face under the crashing waves. The cold water shocked him and suddenly Logan couldn't get air, splashing wildly trying to stand up.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?" Duncan spat, thrusting him back under the waves. "SHE LOVED YOU!" he snapped yanking Logan out again and pushing him under, Logan thrashing around in the water as Havier shoved a foot against his chest to weigh him down.
Veronica watched in horror as her former boyfriend interrogated Logan, she couldn't release Hectors grip on her arms, pleading she begged Weevil to make them stop. He didn't.
Vinnie Van Lowe heard the Mars girl screaming before he realised what was happening ahead of him, there was a fight, it seemed that the PCH biker gang members had already caught up to the Echolls boy.
"You murdered my sister!" one of the guys shouted, beating the Echolls kid into a pulp but strangely, Veronica threw herself between them, trying to protect him. He didn't quite understand the politics of what was happening here, but someone was going to get very badly hurt if he didn't step in and do something. He took off running towards them faster as he watched the Kane boy yank Logan into the water. Jesus Christ.. they were going to drown him. It wasn't a fair fight, four on one. He pulled his weapon and fired a warning shot into the air.
"Get off of him!" he ordered, watching the bikers all snap their head in his direction.
Veronica used the moment to pull herself free from Hector and ran to the water, pulling Logan gasping from the water. Havier threw himself against Vinnie who had his gun trained on Weevil and disarmed him. The two struggled while Hector reached for the weapon to take it out of play but it was too late, Duncan Kane had already gotten hold of it and turned to train it onto Logan.
"You were my friend…" he accused bitterly as Logan stared at him wide-eyed, fear crept into his bones as he realised that the line of fire also included Veronica, he tried to put her behind him.
"I AM your friend…" he promised, his voice was careful, he tried to keep his tone calm. Vinnie and Havier stopped struggling, and all eyes were trained on this little exchange.
"Friends don't murder each other's sisters" Duncan shouted.
"Duncan… drop the gun" Veronica insisted, eyes trained on the weapon.
"Get away from him Veronica!" Duncan warned her.
"Hey, man.. let's talk about this" Logan pleaded, the shallow water still beating against his legs.
"Duncan, man, come on put the gun down" Weevil told him. Eager to de-escalate the situation, this had crossed over into something far worse than he had intended. Guns changed the rules.
"I'll put it down, after I put HIM down" he said coldly.
"Come on kid… don't do this" Vinnie reasoned, approaching slowly, trying to gain his focus.
"You don't want that kind of blood on your hands man" Hector agreed, Duncan Kane may have been an 09er, but deadly assault with a firearm? That would be hard to throw out of court.
Hector used the moment of distraction to tackle Duncan and try to get a hold of the weapon, a single shot rang out into the darkness as blue lights flashed towards their direction, the police were on the way, someone must have overheard the shots.
It seemed like time had slowed down, a momentary flash from the barrel of the handgun, deafening and next thing Logan knew a powerful force smacked into him, knocking him off balance, his head went under the waves for a moment before he felt hands grabbing him and pulling him upright, Vinnie Van Lowe, he looked around, trying to clear the stinging salt water from his lungs, his eyes and felt something slumped beside him being dragged away Weevils hands thrusting forwards, hauling a petite blond forwards, yanking his jacket off and pushing it against her chest.
No No No….
Logan heard Weevils voice soft and soothing, promising everything would be okay and he felt like someone had just torn out his soul, the entire world upended, and he stared at Havier pulled out his phone and started to demand an ambulance as Duncan's shocked gaze met his as he realised what had happened, desperate whimpers and shallow breathing as he looked towards Veronica, the dark patch on her t shirt getting larger as the sand started to pool with blood. He felt his heart stop as the situation finally caught up to him, he was going to be sick.
She had taken the bullet for him instead.
