A/N – The next couple of chapters are sort of intermediary chapters for something bigger that's coming up so please be a little patient with things. A little more ArLo ( as irma66 dubbed Archie/Logan) in this chapter.

As always, thanks for all the support and for continuing to read along. Please let me know how you're liking it with a quick review. I absolutely love reading all the comments, so take a second to let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.

Chapter 36

Logan insisted that Raul and Heidi just sit out on the patio and watch the two dogs while he went in to finish up everything for dinner. He'd also mixed up some ingredients earlier for pão de queijo, a Brazilian cheese bread, which needed about 20 minutes to bake. He was still finishing up his preparations when Veronica came back in with some food for Archie. She set the dog food down and then went over to where Logan was still working in the kitchen.

"It really smells absolutely delicious," she said with a famished look on her face.

Logan glanced quickly out toward the patio to be sure the door was closed and that the other two were still out there. He moved closer to her and spoke in a low voice. "Flattery is not going to get you out of trouble for not telling me Connor knew you were working undercover for the FBI," he replied with an indignant expression, though his tone was more annoyed than angry.

She gave him a sheepish smile. "What? I said I'd seen him twice." She held up two fingers for emphasis before she continued talking and then wiggled each one in turn as she talked. "Once when we were still in high school and another time a few years ago when I was working on that other case right after I joined the Bureau." She gave him a mischievous smile. "You were just too preoccupied thinking about him naked I guess to pay close enough attention to what I was saying to ask me to clarify."

He narrowed his eyes at her and grabbed her around the waist. "The only person I want to think about naked is you." He gave her a lascivious smile before kissing her firmly on the lips. "I'll be sure to come up with an appropriate punishment later for you."

She leaned in to whisper seductively in his ear. "Mmmm… I can't wait for you to punish me for being such a bad girl."

His breath caught for a moment, and she giggled as she kissed him chastely on the cheek and then went about getting the plates and utensils for the table.

She helped him get everything set up on the dining room table and then they called in Raul and Heidi. Heidi had a bit of a star struck expression on her face as she asked Veronica about knowing Connor. "So you've met him before?" she asked inquisitively.

Veronica nodded and smiled. "Yeah, our magazine has done several articles and photo shoots with celebrities and he was at one a couple years ago. I think he only remembered me because he said I reminded him of someone he'd met years before." I see sprinkling in a little truth makes the lies sound more believable at least.

"How exciting," Heidi said in response. "We don't get any celebrities in our little bank out in Rancho Cucamonga. And Bryn Delaney too? I've always thought she seems like she would be such a nice person."

"She certainly is a sweetheart," Veronica replied with a fond smile on her face. "She's been over a few times with Archie since we moved in and she's just so down to earth for being a Hollywood actress."

"And Archie," Heidi said with a smile, "he's such a cutie. I could totally see why Billy would want a dog after hanging out with him for a little while." Logan smiled and nodded in agreement.

Raul interrupted the conversation about dogs and actors with compliments for Logan on how good the stew and bread tasted. The women quickly agreed with him, gushing over the meal as well. Logan explained how he's allergic to shellfish and didn't realize before he went to Brazil how many dishes seemed to be made with shrimp and other shellfish there so he had to work pretty hard to find things to eat that wouldn't end up killing him.

"Did you eat a lot of virado à paulista when you were there?" Raul asked between bites of his dinner.

Logan smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'll have to make that for Lindsey next time. You like kale and plantains right babe?"

Veronica gave him an uncertain look and squished up her nose slightly. Raul laughed when he saw her expression. "He left out that it has sausage, eggs and beans too." Raul added with smirk.

Veronica's expression became a little less uncertain. "How can anything with sausage be bad, right?" She asked a bit tentatively.

Logan smiled and leaned toward her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The rest of dinner went by smoothly with them talking about various topics, including a few other high profile photo shoots that Veronica had worked on.

When they finally finished eating and did a quick clean up of the dishes, the dogs started getting a bit antsy, so Veronica suggested that her and Heidi take the dogs for a quick walk on the beach. Logan was about to suggest that he and Raul go along too, but he caught a quick look from Veronica and realized she was likely trying to get Heidi alone to talk about her friend.

"Hey do you want to play a round of pool while the women are out walking the dogs?" Logan asked, getting a look of approval from Veronica.

"Sure, that sounds fun. Are you sure they're okay out on their own though since it's dark now?" Raul asked, shooting a slightly concerned look in Heidi's direction.

"It's a completely private beach," Veronica explained with a reassuring smile. I have a can of pepper spray in my purse if it would make you feel better that I grab it." I bet she has much more than just pepper spray in that purse of hers.

Raul smiled and nodded and Veronica grabbed it out of her purse before she grabbed Archie's leash.

Logan led Raul into the room with the pool table and racked up the balls.

"Thanks for inviting us over," Raul said as he handed one of the cue sticks to Logan. "Sorry if I came across as an ass the other night at the party. I tend to do that sometimes."

Logan laughed and shook his head. "Don't sweat it. I've been accused of being an ass more times than I can even count." And most of them by that gorgeous blond out walking on the beach with your wife.

Raul was actually pretty good at pool, so they were pretty evenly matched. "Who was your friend in the Hummer this afternoon? You seem to either make friends fast or know people here already."

"Yeah, actually I grew up in Southern California, so I do know some people here still," Logan replied, deciding a bit of truth would make things much easier for him as well. "So I knew Dick when I was here before."

Raul nodded as he took his next shot. "Does it feel good to be back?"

Logan shrugged and let out a sigh. "Yeah, I guess." His expression became a bit wistful. "I'm just thrilled to be here with Lindsey though. I'd follow her any place really."

Raul smiled and nodded again. "I hear that. I miss Brazil quite a bit, but there's no way I'd ever chose that over Heidi. She means the world to me and I'd do anything for her. Even if she asked me to give up racing, I'd put the car up for sale the next day and there was a time when I thought I'd never quit racing for anything." Logan nodded in agreement. I feel exactly the same way about Veronica. He momentarily worried that she may not be willing to do the same for him though. Perhaps it was Trevor's warning that he still hadn't been able to shake yet.

They heard one of the French doors open as they were finishing up their game. Raul ended up winning, and Logan challenged him to a rematch.

"What do you think baby?" He asked Heidi as her and Veronica walked into the room. "Did you want to head home, or do we have time for one more game?"

Logan noticed Heidi looked slightly upset, "It's fine if you need to take off," he quickly chimed in. He guessed that her talk with Veronica may have been a bit emotional for her.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired actually. But thanks so much for having us over." Heidi said after giving Raul a knowing look. Raul nodded and put his cue stick back up in the holder. Logan could tell his expression had become concerned as he also realized Heidi seemed upset now. Raul walked over and put his arm around Heidi's shoulder and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

They thanked them both one more time before heading out to their car. As Logan closed the door he gave Veronica a questioning glance. "I take it you talked with her about her friend?"

Veronica nodded and looked a little troubled herself. He walked over and wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "It was someone who works at the bank with her," Veronica said softly as she leaned into him. "Her name is Shelly. I don't think she's one we have on our list already though. I'm going to check into it, but I couldn't come across as being too nosy or push her to have her friend report it either. I was hoping it would be one of the women we already knew about. I hate that there could be even more cases that we don't even know about. At least knowing where she works and her first name should make it pretty easy to identify her."

Logan nodded. "From what you did learn, do you think it was the same guy?"

Veronica nodded, "Most likely. Something was slipped into her drink without her knowing. She woke up alone in a sleezy hotel room with no memory of how she'd gotten there or who she'd been with."

"If the guy pays for a hotel room, can't you get any information from the hotel staff?"

"He picks ones that are so cheap they don't have any sort of video surveillance and he only pays with cash. He usually has a stocking or baseball cap on and sometimes even dark glasses. So far we haven't been able to get any good descriptions of what he might look like now. The hotels he chooses tend to be ones that hookers and drug dealers use, so the staff doesn't always pay much attention to the clientele anyway, mostly for their own protection or just because they don't really care. He hasn't used the same hotel twice yet either."

Logan let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head. He knew Veronica would know exactly how it felt to wake up in a strange bed and have no idea what had happened the night before. He really couldn't imagine how she found the strength to work on cases that must hit so close to home for her. He gave her a troubled look. "Has there been any…" he paused a moment, not really sure exactly how to ask such a delicate question without it possibly upsetting her given what happened with Cassidy. "…diseases reported by the women? I would think it would be important to let her friend know if she hadn't been checked already."

Veronica cringed a bit and then shook her head. "We think he's using condoms at least."

Logan nodded. "I'm sure cases like this are pretty difficult for you. I'm always amazed at how strong of a woman you are Veronica." She smiled up at him with a tender look on her face. He kissed her on the head again, then took her hand and led her over to one of the couches, sitting down and pulling her into his lap. Archie walked over and sat on the floor near them.

"So how'd your afternoon with Trevor go? Any progress on the Aurelio lead?" he asked studying her carefully.

She gave him a little smirk. "Those two questions aren't as related as you're trying to make them out to be are they?"

He smiled and shrugged in response.

She took a deep breath. "Well Trevor really doesn't like you, not surprisingly. He got a hold of the file that the profiling team had put together on you before we went to Brazil." Logan raised his eyebrow in a questioning glance. He'd seen the file when Ratner had shared with him. "He obviously didn't know that I knew you from before and started pointing out how your past seemed a bit mysterious and questioning whether I could really trust you." She gave him a small uncertain smile. "I may have lost my temper with him a little and told him it wasn't any of his business, though I suppose, not in as nice a way as that."

Logan smiled at her comment for a moment before continuing. "Do you think he'll keep digging and figure out who I really am?" he asked curiously.

She shrugged in reply. "I don't know. Even if he does keep digging, I don't know that he'd be able to figure out who you really are. Mac did a pretty good job of setting everything up for you, and he's not as good of an investigator as I am." She gave him a little wink after that, and then she looked a bit more seriously at him. "If he does figure it out though, I don't know that it would be a problem. He couldn't really share that information with anyone outside of our team anyway."

Logan nodded in understanding. "How about Aurelio, any luck with that angle?"

She nodded before she spoke. "He definitely was in several of the same locations that the rapes happened at the time they were happening. I think you were right, that he probably does know our suspect. Whether he's still in contact currently is something we're still working on. We are setting up some covert surveillance of him though, so with any luck maybe he'll lead us to something."

Logan gave her a satisfied smile. "I really hope he does lead your team to that dirt bag."

She nodded in agreement, then quirked her eyebrow at him. "So it seemed like Bryn was looking at me a bit strangely when I walked over to their house with them. Any idea what that was about?"

"Right…" Logan said in reply. "She may have heard Connor call me Logan." Veronica's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "But you know, it's not like half of Hollywood doesn't go by fake names anyway, so it probably won't be that big of a deal to her." Her expression changed to appear to understand what he meant. "Although Connor may actually end up having to telling her who I really am and how he knew me." Veronica's expression became a bit more concerned. "I hope he won't go as far as to say anything about you though. She only heard him say my name and still just knows you as Lindsey, so hopefully that will stay that way."

"I really hope you're right." Veronica replied thoughtfully. "She seems trustworthy though. I wouldn't think it would be too big of an issue if she does find out, but I'm with you and hope that he doesn't share that much with her. He was really understanding when he figured out who I was at the magazine shoot. He definitely realized how important it was for me to keep my cover then, so I'm sure he'd remember that now too."

Logan quirked an eyebrow at her. "How much time did you actually spend with him at the photo shoot?" He couldn't help but remember how star struck she'd acted when he'd sent her to talk to him about the missing poker money.

She must have caught on to what he was thinking and gave him a lecherous smile. "Well you know it was a poolside photo shoot, and the actors were in teeny tiny Speedos. And I had to be sure he was positioned just right for the photos. Lots of hands on adjusting to get just the right angles so the flash didn't bounce off those abs the wrong way. And of course there was no awkwardness there at all."

He narrowed his eyes at her, obviously aware that she was just messing with him by her tone. She laughed at him and shook her head. All of a sudden her expression became a bit more predatory. "So didn't you say something earlier about punishing me for being bad?"

His smile became just as lascivious as he nodded and leaned in and captured her lips in a deep kiss. "And I think after that little bit of teasing, I have even more reason to teach you a lesson." He repositioned them so she was lying on her back on the couch and he was resting partly by her side and partly over her. He was starting to work his way down her neck sucking lightly on a spot right below her ear that he knew she always reacted to when he felt little feet pushing on his back. He kept kissing her and a moment later he felt a wet nose pressing up against the back of his neck. He laughed and looked over his shoulder to see Archie standing there looking at him.

"We have an audience, I see," Logan said. Archie pushed his face up between them and started licking Veronica on the cheek.

She giggled and squirmed a bit underneath him. "He's actually better at that than you are," she said jokingly.

Logan gave her an offended look before narrowing his eyes at her. "I think your punishment is going to be sleeping down her alone on the couch with Archie, while I enjoy the big plush king size bed all by myself."

Veronica laughed again and shook her head. "Ah… don't be jealous… maybe he can give you some tips."

He shook his head and pushed Archie down off the couch before leaning down toward her again. He pressed his mouth to hers and gave her a deep passionate kiss that she ended up moaning at the end of. "I don't think I need any tips," he said with a smug smile.

Archie wasn't happy with being ignored and started barking at them. Logan rested his head against Veronica's chest and let out a frustrated sigh. "I thought I saw a smug little smile on Larkin's face when I said we'd dog sit. Now I know what that was all about." He felt Veronica laugh underneath him. "I suppose you're enjoying this as a way to show me another reason we shouldn't get our own dog."

She picked his head back up and kissed him on the lips. Archie had put his feet on Logan's back again and was still barking at them. Veronica pushed Logan up off of her and headed over to the bag she brought back from Connor's house. She pulled out a chew treat and walked back over the couch. "Connor thought we might need this," she said with a wink as she tossed it to Archie and then grabbed Logan's hand and pulled him toward the stairs. Archie grabbed the treat and happily laid back down chewing on it.

"I take back every bad thing I've ever said about Larkin," Logan said relieved to see how obsessed Archie was with the treat that Veronica had tossed to him.

Veronica laughed as she led him into the master suite and closed the door behind them. "It won't last all night, so we'd better make the most of it," she said with a salacious grin on her face. She wasted no time in pulling off his shirt and pulling him over to the bed. She sat down on the bed and looked up at him. He smiled down at her, then knelt on the floor in front of her and started undoing the buttons on her blouse. He slid it down her shoulders as he placed kisses along her bare collar bone. He smiled at the very sexy red lace bra she had on under the conservative blouse. He undid the button on her slacks next and kissed her stomach as he pulled those off too, smiling at the matching thong. She looked at him with such an inviting expression as she scooted farther up the bed. He quickly shed his own pants and then crawled up toward her head, placing kisses all the way up her body as he went.

She moaned as he pressed open mouthed kisses all over her hot skin. "If this is punishment for being bad, I think I'll misbehave more often," she said in a sultry tone right before he started sucking on the spot on her neck that drove her crazy. The taste of her was so intoxicating to him. He couldn't help just getting lost in her when they were together like this. All he could think about was her and the sounds she made and the way her body trembled underneath him. The world around them could be ending and all he'd be able to focus on would be her. The way she ran her hands over his body and touched him took his breath away. When they were finally finished, they curled up together on the bed trying to catch their breath and regain their ability to move. They'd been laying there for a few minutes recovering when Archie started barking outside of their bedroom door.

Logan shook his head as Veronica laughed at him. "Still want a dog?" she said in a teasing tone as she climbed up off the bed and went to a dresser and grabbed a night gown. Logan grabbed a pair of boxers from his dresser and opened the door for Archie. He gave him a quick scratch behind the ears and then went back to climb into bed again. Veronica shook her head at him. "You should take him out one more time before we go to sleep." Logan gave her a look of disbelief. She gave him a little wave and climbed into the bed pulling the covers securely over her. "Hurry back," she said in a playful tone.

Logan let out a sigh, and grabbed a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt and then called for Archie, who happily followed him. By the time he made it back upstairs, Veronica has practically asleep already. He stripped down to his boxers again and crawled in next to her. She moved so she could wrap her arm around him and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, but then she quickly fell asleep. Logan kissed her on the head and whispered 'Goodnight Veronica, I love you,' softly before he fell asleep too.