Hurrying out of the office, Damon with Elena right behind him approaches Stefan.
"Something wrong?" Stefan looks at him.
"Did you see Liz leave?"
"Yeah, she was with Logan."
"Thanks, brother. Keep an eye on things for me," Damon adds over his shoulder as he and Elena dash out of the station.
Matt Donovan looks up at the sound of a knock on his door. "Damon, Miss Gilbert, come in," he gestures with his hand.
"You need to put an APB out on Liz right now. She's with Logan Fell," Damon explains to Matt in a rush of words.
"Come again?"
Elena looks at Damon before leaning over with her palms down on Matt's desk. "We believe Logan Fell is the arsonist and that he kidnapped Liz from the fire station. She took my bag and formed a crude 'H' with pencils."
"An H?" Matt looks at them strangely.
"I believe it was an H for help. We need to find her before he... he's already killed two people." Damon sucks in a breath to control his building frustration. "With Liz incapacitated, you're the acting police chief."
"Do you know if any of the forensics have come back?" Elena asks, narrowing her eyes at Matt.
Matt jumps to his feet and walks briskly into Liz's office. "In here," he calls aloud for Damon and Elena to join him.
He holds up a manilla envelope before opening it. "AFIS confirms that the single fingerprint on the matchbook is a match to those submitted by Logan T. Fell."
"Do you have anything back from CODIS on the evidence from the home improvement center fire?" Elena prods him.
"Yes, it also matches Logan Fell," Matt reveals.
Elena tightens her lips as she begins pacing the room. "Does anyone have his cellphone number? We can get an area based on which towers it pings."
"You are brilliant." Damon presses a kiss to her forehead as he tugs his phone out of his pocket to call Stefan at the fire station to get the information they need.
"I'm going to put out an APB while you're waiting." Matt leaves Liz's office to put out the alert...
Liz strains against the cold metal of the handcuffs biting into her wrists. All she can see are trees and darkness as they bump along the narrow gravel road. She takes a calming breath, knowing her best chance is to keep her wits about her. As she glances at Elena's bag laying on the seat beside her, she can only hope that she'll figure out why it was missing.
"You might as well stop struggling. You're not going to get out of them," Logan eyes her through the rearview mirror.
Liz doesn't look up at him but she can hear the venom in his voice.
Logan has snapped. That much is obvious. Liz has to wonder if that's what drove him to this point.
He turns into a driveway so overgrown that few people would even notice it was there. But most people aren't aware of the Fell family cabin that Liz knows sits at the end of the curving dirt pathway.
"Why are we here?" She raises her eyes to meet his through the rearview mirror.
He doesn't answer. Logan is focused on driving down the exact center of the path, careful not to break any branches along the way that might reveal their destination. When they reach the overgrown copse of trees alongside the cabin, he cuts the engine and leaps from behind the wheel.
Throwing open the door of the old Jeep, he grabs her roughly under the arm and propels her ahead of him up the unlit stone path. Something catches his attention, and he releases his hold on her for an instant.
"My grandpa used to bring Mark and me here when we were little. We'd fish off that pier...right over there." He points to the choppy water glistening in the distance.
"I know your grandfather wouldn't approve of what you're doing," Liz snaps back.
Logan gives her a nudge with the barrel of his pistol. "Now let's go inside."
"Matt's going to a Judge to get a subpoena for Logan's cellphone data," Elena explains when she catches up with Damon outside of the fire station.
"Where would he take her?" Damon asks in frustration as he scans the crowd of people in the square.
"What's wrong?" Stefan asks as he approaches his older brother.
Damon fights against a wave of emotion as he looks at his brother. "Logan took her. He has Liz."
A flash of dark hair catches Damon's eye. "And I don't know where they are but he might." Turning away from Stefan and Elena, he yells aloud. "Mark!" He jogs to the man's side with Elena and his brother following behind.
Damon's voice comes out on a pant. "Do you have any idea where Logan might be?"
"What's the matter?" Mark asks, glancing down at his remaining son before turning to look at Damon.
"Mr. Fell, I'm Elena Gilbert." She shows him her FBI badge. "I hate to be the one to break this to you...Logan Fell is the prime suspect in the arson investigation."
"What are you saying?" He asks, his eyes darting between Damon and Elena as his hand grips his young son tighter.
"We believe Logan has been setting the fires," Elena clarifies.
"You're telling me that my brother is responsible for my wife and son's deaths?" Mark asks incredulously.
"I'm sorry, Mark. I know this must feel like a knife to the gut but yes, we're sure," Damon corroborates as his hand clenches repeatedly.
A look of genuine fear spreads over Mark's face as he stands between Damon and Elena. "What do you need to know?"
"Liz is missing. We believe she's with him. Do you have any idea where he might take her?" Damon pleads for information. Each passing minute means Logan is getting farther away from Mystic Falls.
Tears began to stream down Mark's cheeks. "Logan can't be the one. He's always had a thing for fire. Our dad whooped him good once for playing with matches and starting the carpet on fire but that's the only time." He shakes his head in desperation.
"I know this is devastating to hear, Mr. Fell, but can you suggest any place that he might have taken Sheriff Forbes?" Elena looks into the distraught man's eyes.
"I don't understand any of this." Mark lifts his son into his arms and hugs him.
"Please, Mark, it could be a matter of life and death." Damon tries to convey the seriousness of the situation.
"I hope you're wrong." he shakes his head.
"Mark, please?"
"Grandpa's old cabin on Bear Creek Lake..."
The heavy air of the cabin has the musty smell that comes from disuse. The woods have reclaimed the little two-room cabin for its own. Dust and leaves have blown through a cracked window blanketing the floor. As the pair walked through the tiny living room, creatures scuttle out of their path.
Liz can tell that Logan's been here recently. Pillar candles line the mantle, and most of the dirt has been swept from the living room. Pillows and thick blankets cover the old couch.
Logan pulls a rusted chair away from the folding table the in the kitchen and forces her to take a seat before he backs away toward the hearth. He pulls a box of matches from his pocket and lights the candles.
"If you would have stayed out of my business, none of this would be happening." Finished with the candles, he turns his attention to the hearth. Staring at her, he methodically tosses logs into the fireplace. "You do know that, right?"
Kneeling in front of the fireplace, he holds a match in front of a twig no thicker than a pencil. The flame captivates him. His sole focus of attention is on creating the perfect spark to light the larger pieces of wood.
"Logan, your sister-in-law, and nephew are dead."
He laughs as he strikes the third match, transfixed by the way the flame dances at the tip of the wooden matchstick.
"The fires. All of them. They are your fault."
"They weren't supposed to be there. No one was!" He lashes out at Liz angrily.
"But they were there," Liz retorts, her eyes staring unblinkingly at Logan.
The twig ignites and he tosses it into the stack of dry wood. The flames from the burgeoning fire play wildly across his too-wide eyes. Now his lips turn up in a wide smile, and he parts his lips until his teeth are showing.
Logan lunges at her, and Liz draws back in fear. "I never meant to hurt Violet and Billy." His pulse throbs along his temples as he glares at her.
"But you did, Logan. You killed them."
"You need to shut up now." Logan jumps to his feet and smacks Liz on the head with the butt of his pistol.
Liz's eyes roll to the back of her head as she falls unconscious.
Damon and Elena follow Mark's directions and fly through the back roads leading out of Mystic Falls and reach Bear Creek Lake in an hour. They park a good distance away from the cabin so Logan won't see any headlights approaching. Soon Matt pulls up behind them in his squad car along with two of his men.
As they creep up on the cabin, dancing flames shine through the windows making it plainly visible in the now-dark surroundings.
The sound of the breeze upon her ears goes quiet, and she glances upwards. The stars have all disappeared from the sky and all that remains is the pale blue moonlight.
Elena looks forward toward the cabin. Fear flutters in her belly as she shares a look with Damon.
As they advance, a blood-curdling scream pierces the night air followed by a loud crack echoing deafeningly around them.
Thanks, everyone.
Chapter title: 'Mighty Wings' by Cheap Trick.
Have a fabulous weekend.