The Surf Leash Strangler

Chapter 6

The dark circles under Veronica's eyes were more common than she liked to admit. There were many nights that she would lay awake trying to connect the dots of a case and work out what exactly she was missing. But it wasn't the case keeping her awake, at least, not completely. There were still so many missing details that Veronica hadn't learned, but she was feeling good about the progress they had made. What had kept her up was Logan. She had tossed and turned, her mind running through every possible scenario of what would happen when she met up with him to have coffee. Some were completely ridiculous, and she had scoffed at her own stupidity, but some were also very possible, and it terrified her.

Veronica wasn't sure when she finally drifted off, but she found herself tangled in sheets with a very naked and hard Logan. Her subconscious seemed to be tormenting her with the memory of their last night together; the way he had locked eyes with her as he buried himself into her, how every touch and seemed to send her crashing into another orgasm. But in her dream, it wasn't the nineteen-year-old Logan that she normally saw; it was the Logan she had seen walking up from the surf. The sharp jaw, the short hair, and the well-defined body that she could only imagine was due to his current occupation.

Veronica had woken up from her dream tired, frustrated and incredibly wet. She had ignored her bodies needs and turned off her alarm. She dressed in some of her running clothes and went to the hotel gym. She spent the first half running on the treadmill before moving to the boxing bag. It was a good way to work out her frustrations, even the sexual kind.

After a shower, Veronica stopped to get breakfast and made her way into the office. It was practically empty when she walked in; a cleaner was standing near the elevators cleaning the glass wall that separated the landing from the main office space, and Veronica offered her a polite smile as she walked past. She greeted the few agents she passed and turned on the lights in the conference room. Pierce had done a spectacular job of laying out the case. One side was their unsub, everything they knew about him, and the other was the victims.

Placing down her coffee on the table, Veronica opened her laptop to go over Samantha Whitmore's case. The young woman that had been raped several months ago could hold vital information about their unsub. It pissed Veronica off to note how slopy the work on the case was. The only real information there was Samantha's original statement. The rest was random bits that a few witnesses had provided. This poor girl had basically been forgotten about.

The Neptune Sheriff's department had been useless and corrupt when she had been a teenager; having faced her own rape, Veronica had been left to find out what had really happened to her all on her own. Don Lamb hadn't cared about the young sixteen-year-old girl who had shown up distraught; it seemed that Don's younger brother was no different. Keith had told Veronica how the new Sheriff Lamb was even worse; the rich were free to get away with murder as long as they lined Dan's pockets, and the poor were ignored or victimised by those who were meant to protect.

Walsh and Pierce appeared around an hour after Veronica had arrived. She had finished her breakfast by then and was looking through the details they had on the unsub. Veronica turned to greet Walsh and Pierce as they walked into the room.

"Morning," said Walsh.

"Good morning, Mars," said Pierce.

Veronica offered them a smile, hoping they wouldn't comment on the bags under her eyes.

Walsh asked, "How did things go with Mr Casablancas last night? Any help?"

Veronica said, "Out of the eight victims, he knew two – including Shelly Pomroy. The other was Rebecca Coleman, she had visited the 09er before, and it seemed she turned down his advances." Veronica picked up the tablet from the table and opened Samantha's file before handing it to Walsh. "He also knew this woman."

Walsh read through the report. "Where did you find this?"

Veronica explained, "Our tech guy back in Virginia, Jimmy, was doing some digging came across Samantha's file. She was raped back in November by an unknown assailant. The Neptune Sheriff's department did almost no work on the case, leaving it unsolved, but from what little information there is, I have a feeling that it wasn't just some random attack."

"She looks like our other victims."

Veronica nodded. "Could be our unsubs first target."

"Except she escaped," added Pierce.

"Yeah. In Samantha's statement, she mentioned she found an opportunity to escape when he was distracted. I think he had every intention of killing her but didn't really think his plan through. So, when she escaped, it made our unsub lose all confidence in himself," said Veronica.

"So he spent the last few months building up his confidence again?" asked Walsh.

"I think so." Veronica looked back at their wall of victims. "With each victim, he learned what worked best. And by the time he met Rebecca Coleman, he wasn't worried about her getting away; why would he? The last two hadn't been able to, so he let himself take what he really wanted."

Walsh placed down the tablet. "Did you want to talk to her?"

Veronica nodded. "I was going to go see her later today. I'm hoping she will be willing to take us through what happened."

Walsh nodded. "I'll come with you."

For the next hour, Veronica found herself becoming anxious as the time grew closer to her coffee date – not that it was a real date – with Logan. She tried to focus on the task at hand, but they seemed to be hitting a bit of a wall. Jimmy had called back that there was no single location that connected every victim; there were a few crossovers but nothing that narrowed anything down or gave them a new direction to look into. They also received the security tape back. They couldn't clear up the camera footage to get a clear plate; they had given them the best possible combinations, but it wasn't enough to be of much use.

Veronica had given Jimmy the task of looking into the van regardless; she gave him a few details, an older model blue van with the possible license plate options. She told him to focus on the Neptune area. It was possible that their unsub wasn't a resident of Neptune, but the last few victims were all closer together. Veronica felt comfortable considering Neptune his comfort zone, which is why Ashley Black and Franny Hector – the first two victims – had been further up in LA.

At nine o'clock, Veronica's phone buzzed.

LE: Since you haven't messaged me to say you couldn't make it, I'm downstairs and have just ordered.

Veronica stared at the message and considered just for a few moments telling him she couldn't make it. She could pretend she had already left and wasn't close by, but flat out lying to Logan was something she never wanted to do. Veronica knew it was her old issues that made her afraid to go downstairs and talk to him, and as much as she didn't really want to sit through painful small talk with him, she also found herself really wanting to see him.

VM: Be right down.

She grabbed her wallet from her bag and told Pierce and Walsh she would be back in an hour. Pierce gave her a questioning look but just waved as she walked out towards the elevators. The café was busier than it had been the day before; a line of customers were waiting to order, along with a small crowd standing outside waiting to collect their drinks. Veronica scanned the crowd outside by didn't see Logan. She moved towards the door and, through the sea of people, spotted him sitting at a table inside. He was staring down at her clasped hands, a small frown on his face.

Veronica wondered if she was the cause of that frown. Maybe he was just as freaked out as she was. Logan had always worn a mask that hid how he really felt; there were only a handful of times when she had seen the real vulnerable side of him.

Moving through the line of people, she felt the butterflies dance in her stomach as she stopped at the table he was sitting at. The small frown vanished, and he looked up at her with a warm smile.

"Forget about me, did you?" he asked.

Veronica laughed, probably harder than either of them expected. She bit down on her lip, feeling slightly embarrassed, but she found it amusing that he could ever think she could forget about him. "No, sorry. Just busy."

Pulling out the chair opposite Logan, Veronica sat down and leant her arms on the table.

He said, "I'm glad you were able to spare some time."

Veronica shrugged. "It was only because you were buying me coffee."

Logan let out a small huff but was smiling. "Is that so?"

She nodded, her own smile taking over. "Yep." It felt good to joke around with him. "That, and I thought I should probably apologise."

"For what?"

"How I acted yesterday."

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"Really? Because I saw you, panicked and then ran away."

"I find I leave plenty of women speechless." And there it was, his smirk.

Veronica chuckled. "Oh, I have no doubt."

A waitress walked over to their table and placed down two coffees in to-go cups. They both thanked her before Logan said, "I wasn't sure if you wanted to stay here or walk."

Veronica picked up her coffee and said, "Let's walk; I don't get as much sun in Virginia as you do here. I should enjoy it."

They decided to stroll along the beach, and for a few moments, they fell silent. Veronica wasn't sure what she wanted to say to Logan; there was a lot she could say and so much of that she was scared to mention. How did one go about apologising for ruining the best thing in her life? Or how did she tell him that she'd never stopped thinking about him? And that every guy she'd ever been with she had always compared to him.

Logan broke the silence and asked, "What's it like working for the FBI?"

Veronica felt herself relax at the question. That was a safe topic. "Busy. I don't have much time for a social life; I spend most days in the office."

He asked, "You mentioned yesterday that you travel around with your team?"

She nodded. "Yeah. My team specialises in violent crimes in particular. Murder, rape, etc. We have our own caseload, but we also go and assist out FBI units as well as other law departments if they are having trouble."

"And that's why you're here?"

"Exactly. The San Diego office is a little short-staffed at the moment, so my boss sent another agent and me to help out."

"So you didn't volunteer?"

She shook her head. "No. My previous experience in Neptune and with Shelly made me the ideal candidate."

"Isn't there something about conflicting interests?"

"Yes, but it's been nine years, and I didn't really have a relationship with Shelly. I knew her, but there was no personal connection. Though, at this point, I almost wished I had told them there was so I didn't have to face Madison."

Logan stopped and looked stunned. "You and Madison were put in a room together?"

Veronica nodded.

"Is she still alive?"

Veronica laughed. "Yeah. Agent Walsh was our buffer. Mind you, Madison hasn't changed…at all."

"Yeah, I can't imagine she has."

"You two don't see much of each other?" she asked, surprised.

Logan frowned, his jaw clenching. "I haven't spoken to her since…."

Veronica's eyes widened. "Oh."

"Yeah."

"I just thought since she goes to the 09er and all."

He shrugged. "Yeah, it's not a place I frequent. Actually, I don't see many of the people we went to school with. Dick, Mac, Wallace are kind of it."

Veronica wanted to slap herself; why would she have brought up Madison, the one person who had ruined their relationship, or at least given Veronica a reason to run away. She said, "Well, who knew that Logan Echolls, king of the 09ers, would end up slumming it."

Logan laughed at her teasing. "I wouldn't say I'm slumming it. But I have learned that quality is better than quantity."

"That it is." That, Veronica defiantly agreed on. "And what about you? How'd you end up as a Navy Pilot? Did you get drunk and sign up on a dare?"

He laughed. "No, nothing like that. It wasn't something I ever thought I'd be doing, but it did come at a time when I needed something to work towards."

"And when was this?" she asked.

Logan's face softened. "About eight years ago, after we spent the night in that hotel room."

Veronica stopped. That night, of course, it had to be that night. Her cheeks warmed as she thought about it and about the dream she had. She found herself unable to look at him.

"I woke up that morning, and you were gone. That led me to realise that to get what I wanted, I needed to do something about it. I had to do something worthwhile in my life my make myself worthy."

Veronica felt her heart jump. "Worthy of what?"

Logan reached up to cup her chin; she lifted her head, so she looked him in the eye. "Worthy of you."

Her stomach twisted, and she felt sick. She wanted nothing more than to turn and run. Logan had just admitted that he wanted to be worthy of her; what was she supposed to say to that? Logan had always been worthy of her; it was her that was unworthy of him. Veronica had pushed them both to the edge and then ripped herself away from him, leaving him to either fall or find a way off that cliff on his own.

"Veronica…"

She shook her head. "Logan, don't." She didn't know if she could hear anymore.

"Don't what?"

"I don't know, just don't." She pulled her face from his hand and walked over to a bin. She threw her half-drunk coffee into it before turning back the way they had come. Things weren't supposed to be so hard.

Logan grabbed her hand and stopped her. "Don't run, not again."

Veronica squeezed her eyes shut; she could feel word vomit sitting in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to run because she had no idea what she was going to say. It felt like the vital moment where lost lovers turned to one another, admitted they loved one another and fell into an embrace. But this was reality, not a movie, and she felt like an absolute asshole.

"I'm sorry," he said.

She shook her head again. Veronica turned and grasped the hand that had grabbed her wrist. "Don't apologise; you haven't done anything wrong."

"Normally, when a woman runs away from a man, it's an indication that he has done something wrong."

"In this situation, you haven't done anything wrong. It's me that's fucked up."

"How so?"

Veronica wanted to scream out 'thank, fuck!' when her phone rang. She pulled it out and saw Walsh's name on the screen. She glanced at Logan. "Sorry, just a sec." She turned away from him and answered. "Mars?"

"Hey, just wanted to let you know that I can't come with you to meet Samantha Whitmore. Whitaker has just given me another case. I'm headed out, but I've organised a car for you; Pierce has the keys," said Walsh.

"Alright, no problem."

Veronica ended the call with Walsh and turned to see Logan watching her. His eyes were concerned, his shoulders stiff and his hands buried in his pockets. Veronica put her phone away and said, "I should probably head back to the office."

He nodded. "I'll walk you back."

She said, "You don't need to."

"I want to."

Veronica didn't argue, and they fell into step as they moved back towards the field office. They didn't speak again until they reached the steps out the front of the building. She slid her hands into her pockets and tried to not give away how much she was really falling apart on the inside.

"Thank you for the coffee," she said.

Logan nodded. "You are welcome."

They glanced at each other, both looking like they wanted to say something more. Veronica didn't know what she really wanted to tell him; she found herself unable to think just standing next to him. And while she felt conflicted and terrified, the few minutes they had spent talking about their lives without the mention of their messy past had felt good. It reminded her how comfortable she had always felt with him, and she almost didn't want it to end.

"Would it be alright if I called you?" he asked.

She wasn't sure, but she nodded. "I wouldn't be opposed to it."

Logan smiled, a look of hope touching his eyes. She turned to walk up the steps and couldn't stop herself from glancing back when she reached the doors. Logan waved from where he stood, his smile not wavering as she returned the wave and walked inside.

Veronica walked into the elevator to take her up and sighed. What was she doing?

I would love to hear what you think. Even if it's as simple as a 'can't wait', all feedback is appreciated.

See you soon with the next chapter.