See? I told you I wouldn't make you wait long! Not as big as the last, but much faster.

Special thanks to silverlining2k6 for giving this chapter the quick once over for typos and continuity errors. You are the best xox

CHAPTER 25

In an idling car at the foot of the Kanes' long driveway sat Weevil and Gory, who were waiting impatiently.

"There's no way she's here, hombre," Gory said, wincing as he tried to flex the fingers on his injured hand. "Why would Kane have her brought to his own house? It's too obvious."

Weevil's grasp on the steering wheel tightened. "In my experience, only fools and juries ever rule out the obvious."

No doubt you've seen a lot of juries...

"Yes, well...I think it's a waste of time, and time is not exactly a luxury for me. I've been fielding calls from my uncle all afternoon, and my dad's not happy." Gory leaned his forehead against the window and swallowed hard. "He can be as pissed off as he wants after I get Katya back. Until then, guess I'll be trying to avoid the wrath of two angry fathers."

"Too many fathers has never been my problem. Pissed or not," the PI admitted with a shrug. "In fact, the only pissed off dad I've had to deal with personally is Jake Kane."

What the what?

Gory leaned back and turned a stunned face toward his employee. "This Jake Kane?"

Weevil balked. "No, the Jake Kane who lives down the street," he deadpanned. "Yeah, this Jake Kane."

Bullshit!

If a full-body smirk were possible, that would be what Gory was experiencing at that moment. "What did you do? Rob him?"

Weevil's jaw tightened and he rolled his neck. "What? You just assume that I was stealing something, because I'm brown?"

What the hell else kind of business would somebody like you have with somebody like him?

"No. I assumed you were stealing something, because you used to be a gang banger. How dare I? Please pardon my faux-pas," he said insincerely. "So what was it? Did you do him dirty in a transcontinental joint-investment? Screw him out of his cut of an Arabian horse sale? Well?"

Weevil shifted in his seat and cursed in Spanish under his breath. "Fine. I stole something, okay? That wasn't why he was pissed, though, it was the reason I broke into his house that got him angry."

Surprise surprise.

"Go on then, wow me," Gory challenged, gesturing with his good hand.

"They caught me in his daughter's bedroom, stealing back my grandma's engagement ring," he confessed quietly, still clearly affected by the memory.

Gory's mood shifted from irritable to somber in a flash. "Are you talking about Lilly Kane?"

Weevil nodded. "We went to high school together. We had something."

You were in love with Lilly Kane?! How deluded were you that you thought she'd actually marry you?

"Aren't you, like ten years older than she was?" he asked with a skeptical brow.

Weevil bit the side of his cheek angrily. "Ha-fucking-ha. So I flunked a few times. At the end of the day, I'll be going home to my girlfriend. Can you say the same?"

For some reason, I like this guy, despite the big mouth. Maybe because of it?

Gory smiled his amusement. "Okay, you got a shot in. Mazel tov."

Weevil lifted his chin in a reverse nod.

Hold the phone...

Something clicked into place behind Gory's eyes. "So, you were fucking Echoll's girl? While he was dating her?"

Weevil shrugged his answer.

A huge grin spread across Gory's face. "Oh man, I would have paid top dollar to see his face when he found out about it."

The Latino looked at the ground pensively. "He was an even bigger asshole back then...but he's okay now, I guess. Why do you hate him so much? You get shot down by Vee or something?"

I dropped trou and she ran in the opposite direction. Does that count?

"Well, kicking the shit out of somebody in front of a room filled with his classmates does not exactly engendering friendly feelings. And no, I never took a swing at Veronica, though I'm not saying I wouldn't stick it to her if I wasn't with Katya. I mean come on, right?" he asked. "Have you ever hit it?"

Why does he look like I just took a leak on his shoes?

"Uh..no, man. I mean, fine, sure, she's hot or whatever, but I've never touched her. She's like family," he said with horror.

Gory tensed and released his good hand as he watched for signs of Keith from the car window. "So what happened with Jake Kane?"

"He had me arrested, wanted to put my ass in jail," he said. "It woulda happened too, if Vee didn't give me one of her famous 'get out of jail free' cards."

That girl is always one step ahead, huh?

"I'm almost afraid to ask..." Gory mumbled.

"Then don't. It's better you don't know, okay?" Weevil looked at him with a hard expression. "Those Kanes are heartless, except when it comes to their own. They'd do anything to protect their kids...well, Duncan at least. Guess they weren't so bothered about Lilly..."

Gory released a bitter laugh. "Maybe if I can get my hands on this Duncan, they'll return Katya to me?"

Weevil's lips parted as though he were about to speak, but the words never came. "Hold that thought," he said and pulled out his cell phone.

Logan entered the hotel room to find Veronica bent over a bag from Target, sorting through clothes. She was wearing a grey hoodie layered over a ribbed tank top with a short jean skirt and boots that went to the mid-calf. Basically, she was in his high school fantasy drag.

He approached her from behind and slid his hands around her waist under her shirt.

"Only a truly evil bitch would dress like this before leaving me alone for a whole day," he drawled in a low voice as he pressed himself into her backside. "You can't honestly think I'm gonna let you out of this room before bending you over something and making you pay for that."

She squealed uncomfortably and pulled away from Logan as if he were on fire, then backed up against the wall.

"Oh my God!" Logan shrieked upon realizing that he'd just molested Mac in a blonde wig. "What are you doing in here dressed like Veronica? Is this some kind of Single White Female bullshit or are the two of you on a quest to see how badly you can mind-fuck me in the shortest possible period of time?"

Did I really just get a boner from dry-humping Mac's ass? She's like my sister! Scratch that, feeling up Trina from behind would be less disturbing than this.

Mac tried valiantly to hold in her laughter and failed miserably. "I'm pretty sure it was under 15 seconds, but if you want me to check, I can always bend over and get my watch out of that bag," she offered teasingly, as she pointed to the Target bag.

Logan's hands dug into his hair and pulled hard, as if there were a possibility of pulling the memory of what just occurred from his mind. He opened his mouth to say something, then winced and turned toward the wall. He couldn't make eye contact, it was too gross.

"Logan, come on, don't be embarrassed. I know it was hard to tell who I was from behind. You shouldn't hold it against me," Mac said with a shrug.

He flipped around to face her, then buried his face in his hands. He felt so irrationally pissed off that he didn't know what to do with himself. "This is the road you're going down with me, Mac? I would seriously think twice about it, because I do not mess around when it comes to payback," he threatened.

"You sure looked like you were messing around with her a few minutes ago," a voice called from the bathroom entrance.

Logan turned to find Veronica, wearing a dark wig, a pair of green cargo pants and a clingy, red, weathered t-shirt with the words 'Radio Free Europe' scrawled across the front in Soviet font.

Holy crap, she looks hot dressed like Mac. What the hell does this mean? I feel dirty!

"You're dressed like her now?" he asked in disbelief. "You're both four feet tall and weigh 100 pounds between you, you've switched clothes and hair, but I'm the idiot for confusing you?"

"Logan..." Veronica clucked with empathy through her laughter. "Don't be like that..."

He shook his head and leveled an index finger at each of them. "Fuck you both," he said decisively and turned to leave.

Must. Leave. Now. Get out before either of them notices your boner!

"It kind of seems like you want to," Veronica called after him and threw an arm over her partner-in-crime's shoulder. "He's so sensitive."

Mac stifled a guffaw. "He didn't feel that sensitive against my a..."

Oh God! Get out now!

Logan stormed out of the suite, slamming the door shut behind him, and then leaned against it wearily.

Where can I take a 'Silkwood' shower this time of night?

Mac's phone traveled across the top of the hotel dresser through the force of its own vibration.

"Veronica! It's the phone!" Mac shouted across the suite as she lifted the iPhone to look at the caller ID. "It's Weevil."

"Ooh. I need to talk to him, click answer!" Veronica screamed as she hopscotched over random items of clothing, strewn across the floor.

"You don't 'click' to answer on an iPhone, Bond, you swipe. Jeez. Have I taught you nothing?" Mac groaned as she passed the phone to her friend with an eyeroll.

Veronica wedged the phone into the crook of her neck. "Why are my ears burning?"

On the other side of the door, Logan rubbed both hands roughly over his face a few times and expelled his disturbance with a shudder.

"What are you doing hanging out in the hallway?" Duncan asked as he approached the door of the adjoining suite. "Veronica kick you out already?"

Logan raised an eyebrow at his old friend. "Did you know about this?" he asked, pointing to the room.

Was this guy ever really my friend? I can barely remember.

Duncan held his hands aloft. "I'm too scared to go in there. Those ladies frighten me when they're together alone."

Logan slid down the wall to the floor and pulled his knees up. "I'm pretty sure they're witches."

Duncan joined his friend on the floor, then pulled a flask of whiskey from his hip pocket and angled it at him.

Huh. I forgot how well he can read my moods.

The taller man nodded and accepted the peace offering, taking a moment to nod the flask in cheers before taking a swig. "I went in there and saw Veronica leaning over something, so I did what any guy would do..."

"You pretended to hump her from behind?" Duncan asked clinically.

Logan presented his friend with his hands. "Thank you!"

"So, what? She got pissed?" he asked, grabbing the flask back and taking a sip.

Great. Romeo should have a blast with this one. Please, allow me to provide more fodder for your pursuit of my woman.

Logan slammed the back of his head against the wall lightly. "It wasn't Veronica."

Duncan nearly did a spit take and started laughing.

"Not you too," Logan grumbled, slamming his head a bit harder this time. "Go on. Yuk it up."

After calming himself down, Duncan drew another finger of whiskey from the flask and cleared his throat. "Was it Mac?"

Logan nodded his head with embarrassment.

Duncan vibrated with silent laughter, apparently recreating the scene in his mind. "Was Ronnie mad?"

He shook his head. "Pretty sure this was the highlight of her evening."

Duncan lost it again.

"Maybe I should dress like Mac and see how she likes it?" Logan mumbled incoherently to himself.

"Not sure how that would punish her, but..." Blue eyes widened with epiphany. "Hey, didn't your dad do a movie where he dressed in drag?"

"I believe you're thinking of the film 'Nuts'." Logan nodded, and chuckled at the memory. He opened his hand and spread it across the air in front of them. "It took place at the turn of the century. Aaron was a Sicilian cattle hand running from the Cosa Nostra. He ended up boarding a steam ship bound for America. Using his inexplicably perfect working-knowledge of the English language, he hitched his way across the country only to find refuge at a house of ill-fame in the Old West. Of course, you had to be female to work at the Burlesque, so with the help of a sexy ½ Navajo squaw, he passed as a lady of the evening whilst performing eight shows a week for a boorish group of miners who had designs on him."

At this point, Duncan was bent over sideways in laughter, trying desperately not to spill his flask. "My mom loved that one. She thought he looked hot at the end when he strapped on his chaps," he relayed, his good mood quickly dying at the mention of Celeste.

Does he know his mom's sick? Has anybody even told him yet?

Logan tugged at the sleeves of his shirt nervously and shrugged. "He got what he deserved."

His friend rumpled his dyed blond hair and tipped his head to look him in the eyes. "Do you really believe that?"

Yes. Hell. Yes.

Logan's eyes closed and he sighed, his face settling into a soft smile that was more sad than joyful. "He took away two of the best things that ever happened to me, so yeah, he got what he deserved. If I ever ran into the guy who put a bullet into his head, I'd probably want to shake his hand."

A strange expression crossed Duncan's face and he took a long swig from the flask. "Okay then," he said followed by a deep breath, and then the man whom Logan once considered his brother extended his right hand to him.

What the fuck?

Logan looked down at Duncan's hand as if it were radioactive. "Is this a fucking joke?" he asked and then swallowed thickly. Though he hated his father more than he thought possible, and would never have begrudged any of the Kanes for exacting vengeance on Lilly's killer, having the reality laid out in front of him like that was an entirely different animal.

"It's not a joke," Duncan confessed quietly. "I didn't pull the trigger, but I hired the guy who did."

Jesus Christ. Who is this guy and what has be done with Duncan Kane?

Logan exhaled a long, shuddering breath and stared at the hand in front of him. "Did he suffer?"

"He never saw it coming," Duncan said flatly.

Logan nodded to himself as he processed the information and then abruptly took Duncan's hand in his, and gave it a firm shake. "Thank you," he said, not sure if he was thanking him for slaying his dragon or avenging his lover's murderer.

If he were honest, he might have even been thanking him for showing mercy by dispatching his father painlessly. Whatever the reason, he was thankful, because he knew deep down that he could have never been happy with Aaron's large, dark shadow forever looming over him.

Duncan smiled boyishly, in that way that always used to make 'Ronnie 1.0' blush from head to toe. Logan hadn't seen him smile that authentically since before all of their lives went to hell - or even earlier - since the day before he'd broken up with Veronica.

Hello brother, I thought I'd never see you again.

"It's good to have you back, DK," Logan said with emotion. Independently of what was happening with his girlfriend, he hadn't had a friend like Duncan since their first rift.

Though Dick was practically family, and was a hell of a lot smarter and deeper than most people were aware, he still wasn't exactly on Logan's wavelength.

At one time, Logan believed he and Duncan were cut from the same cloth. Brothers from another mother.

Maybe that explains why we're both in love with the same woman?

"It's good to be back," Duncan responded warmly. "Well...it will be good to be back once I can be me again...if they let me, that is," he said, dropping his head against the wall to look at the ceiling. "I just want my life back, you know? I mean, I don't even know what that is anymore, or if anybody I used to know would notice or care, but I have to find out."

I care. She does too, but I will beat you senseless before I let you anywhere near her in that way. Your ship has sailed, man.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind," Logan quoted helpfully as he turned his head toward his buddy.

Duncan smirked. "Is that Dr. Seuss?"

Man, I fucking missed you!

Logan smiled brightly.

Veronica and Mac stared at themselves side-by-side in the mirror.

"I think you look hot, Vee," Veronica told Mac very seriously.

Mac smiled. "You too, are quite the fox, Ms. MacKenzie."

"Do you think if somebody walked in right now we'd be embarrassed?" Veronica asked. "We probably should be."

Mac shrugged. "I'm always half-embarrassed, but I'm pretty certain that you, my friend, are shameless."

"I can't believe my boyfriend tried to mount you," Veronica chuckled as she straightened her wig.

Mac laughed at the memory. "You know as well as I do that he'll mount anything with a descent ass and blonde hair."

Anything? Thanks for reminding me of my recurrent high school nightmare.

Veronica's brow furrowed and Mac quickly stepped in. "Hey, you know I'm kidding, right? He's basically as obsessed with you as I am with Siri."

"That sounds really unhealthy," she remarked, and played with the ends of her brown wig for distraction. "I'm talking about Siri, of course."

Mac sighed. "Should I just spread some mustard on my feet and shove them both in my mouth now instead of bit by bit? I'm zero for two so far in the saying-the-right-thing department. I'm sure if I go for the trifecta, I can probably even make you cry."

Sadly, it wouldn't be the first time today...or even the second.

Veronica waved her hand in the air dismissively. "I'm just being a girl. Ignore it as you would a fender-bender."

"Nobody ignores a fender-bender, Bond, that's what screws up the daily commute," the faux-blonde reminded her. "Come on, what's the delio? I think I can stand to girl-talk with you for a few minutes, as long as we do something totally butch afterward to rid ourselves of the 09er she-viper stench."

"Like a Madison Sinclair palate-cleanser?" Veronica questioned.

"You said it, not me," Mac responded with a stoney face. "So just spill already. I don't have enough people-skills to coax it out of you the old fashioned way."

Veronica's mouth hung open. "Ooh. What's the 'old fashioned way'? Will it lower my purity test score?"

"Logan is rubbing off on you," Mac said while pulling a face. "And for the record, the 'old fashioned way' is booze and jibber-jabber. But mostly booze."

"Oh. I think I'll save us some time and money and just tell you then. I'm a little freaked out, because Logan wants me to stop being me for a while," Veronica explained.

Mac raised a doubtful brow. "Makes sense, since he totally hates everything about you."

Okay fine! I may be over-exaggerating just a tad.

"Fine. I mean, he wants me to stop putting myself at risk," she clarified. "He wants us to spend some time together in a normal environment. Plus, I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm crazy now."

Mac laughed hard and zipped her hoodie. "We all think you're crazy."

"No Mac, I mean actually crazy - in the real way. He thinks I have PTSD," Veronica disclosed.

"Well, I'd tell you to consider his suggestion, but it probably wouldn't make much of a difference," Mac guessed, as she played with strings on her hood, pulling them back and forth through the holes.

God, she can't even look at me when she says that. Does everybody think I'm nuts now?

"What? You don't think I can do it?" Veronica asked defensively.

"No, I don't think you want to do it," she said. "Oh yeah, and I also don't think you can do it."

Neither do I.

"Ye of little faith..." Veronica spoke to her friend's reflection in the mirror.

Mac turned Veronica by the shoulders to look at her directly. "You're telling me you're honestly willing to stop all of the cloak and dagger crap?"

She shrugged. "Maybe? I mean, I was pretty miserable as a federal agent and it wouldn't be forever, just until I can convince Logan I don't have 'the yips'."

"Okay, but you fucking live for snooping," Mac informed her. "You don't see that look in your eyes when you get a lead...it's almost orgasmic. It's like me during that sweet moment I crack through a security system."

"So you don't think I should do it?" Veronica asked.

Please say no!

"What did you tell Logan?" Mac retorted.

ARGH! Foiled!

"I told him I would," she said sheepishly.

Mac drew her lips together smugly. "And do you not think he has your best interests at heart or something?"

Oh, that.

"Point taken." Veronica crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "Now...speaking of having one's best interests at heart..."

Mac shook her head and left the bathroom. "Not going there. This is your girl talk, not mine."

"You really don't want to talk about hat happened down there, Q?" Veronica asked hopefully.

"Honestly, no. Not with you," she said plainly.

Veronica gasped in offense. "Why not? I just spilled my guts to you!"

Mac sat on the edge of the bed. "Do I really have to say it?"

She threw her hands in the air in frustration. "Fine. Do I approve of you diddling Dick Casablancas? No, I don't. And I have my reasons, but don't ask me what they are if you're really serious about him, because you won't be able to look at him the same way."

"Well, I'm definitely not curious about it now," Mac grumbled and ran her hand through her hair, forgetting it was a wig and pulling it off-kilter. "Anyway, he sort of told me, well, alluded to it anyway."

Veronica's eyes hardened. "He told you...and you still want to date him?"

She shook her head. "He told me that he did something horrible to you that night you were raped, and that he regrets it. He even cried about it downstairs earlier tonight."

Excuse me?

"Huh? He cried about something that happened nearly a decade ago tonight? Why?" Veronica asked, unable to fathom what could have prompted this.

"Apparently, he was unaware that Cass, that his brother did what he...that he raped you. He didn't know until tonight, and something about learning that set him off," she confided.

Veronica felt her mouth run dry as she recalled tiny snippets of memories, scattered like beads across the floor of her mind. "He never knew?" she asked in disbelief and sank down next to her friend on the bed. "I figured Logan told him that night Dick had the breakdown."

Mac frowned. "Logan would never do something like that, knowing how hard Dick would take it - and what breakdown?"

"You didn't notice a shift in Dick's behavior freshman year?" she asked while she lifted the stray clothes from the floor and stuffed them in a bag.

Mac's head rolled back and her eyes followed. "Oh my God. That day at the beach, you know, when he tried to kiss me? That was after it, right?"

Bingo!

Veronica touched her own nose.

"Well, for what it's worth, Dick was completely blindsided when I mentioned it. I'm sorry about that, by the way, I thought they knew," Mac admitted.

"They?" Veronica groaned. "Duncan, too?"

Mac covered her face with her hands. "It was a rough ride over here. I got into it with Duncan, and we started arguing. I sort of insinuated he was a rapist and then mentioned something off-hand about Cassidy, and that's when the shit hit the fan."

A realization crossed her face and she settled into it. "Dick didn't know. All this time, I thought he was laughing about it, laughing at me."

If he was that upset about it, maybe he's not truly evil? Perhaps, he was just simply a bully who liked to harass his baby brother about his lack of sexual prowess? Maybe he's more Al Bundy than Ted Bundy? At least that would explain Logan's friendship with him...

"Laughing about it? No. The look on his face when he found out what happened...he was gutted, Bond. I've never seen him like that. He kept saying what an asshole he was and acted like he deserved to be drawn and quartered for whatever he did to you," Mac elaborated.

"He does," Veronica said quietly and scratched under her brown wig. She sat for a moment and digested the information. "But what he did...I mean, it was bad and I'll never forget it, but he was just a 16 year old kid at the time, and from a lousy home. If he's as sorry as you say he is, I can't imagine he's the same guy he was back then."

Mac smiled. "Are you saying you approve now?"

Veronica sighed. "I want you to be happy. If for some, bizarre, insane reason, Dick Casablancas makes you...happy," she said with a grimace, "...then I guess I can look the other way. We'll just have to institute some kind of 'Don't ask/Don't tell' policy."

"Can that policy be extended to Logan as well? If I never hear him offer to 'bend me over' something again, it will be too soon," Mac griped as she pressed the heel of her palm into her forehead.

Hello!

"What else did he say he was going to do to you?" Veronica asked, trying to play it off as general curiosity, but clearly turned on. "He really likes it when I wear boots."

Mac stood up and shook herself off. "Yuck. What part of 'Don't tell' do you find so confusing? I'll be in the hallway dry-heaving if you need me," she said, running to the door as fast as she could.

Veronica lifted Mac's phone from the dresser, scrolled down to Weevil's name and began to type out a text message 'Villa Kane in T-7 hrs. B there or B sqR'.

A/N - For those of you who don't know what the 'yips' are, it's when you over-think something so much that you can't do it anymore (ie – if you're normally great at basketball but get your confidence spooked and then can no longer shoot a basket well at all).

Hope you liked this chapter – can't wait to see what you think. Hugs and gratitude to all who have put this fic on alert and in their favs, and 'big ups' to all of you who have taken the time to leave a review. I love each and every one of them. THANK YOU!