Chapter Seven
She remembered his mouth on her breast, his hand cupping her ass and his grip on her thigh before he found and stroked the centre of her heat. Logan had touched parts of her body that, as far as she was aware, had never been touched before.
That you know of.
Veronica shook her head violently, trying to dislodge the inner voice that almost, but never quite, let her forget about waking up in a strange bed at Shelly Pomroy's.
"Get a grip, Veronica Mars, for god's sake".
That was her voice; strong, firm, the voice that gave her the strength to search for Lilly's killer, the strength to turn up everyday to face those who hated her. That was the real Veronica Mars and right now, the real Veronica Mars was reliving the long moments of passion she had shared with Logan Echolls, before that inner voice interfered. Mrs Murphy's dissection of the imagery in The Brothers Karamazov didn't have a chance of entering the fray going on in her head.
Finally, English was over and Veronica grabbed her cell as she ran out of the classroom. She punched in Logan's number.
"This is Logan with today's inspirational greeting: Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. – Ambrose Redmoon. Leave a message."
"Damn it, Logan, where are you? You called me, remember."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Logan, having shaken off the reverie on evil deeds past, had come to realise that he should be doing something rather more proactive than just waiting for Veronica to call him back. There were two…problems. Logan laughed out loud at how utterly prosaic and normal that sounded. Yeah, there are problems and there are Problems and his came with a capital T for trouble. He couldn't fix the first so he turned his mind to his present evil deeds and Cliff McCormack's face swam before his eyes.
He was halfway to Cliff's before he realised that he had left his phone behind. He banged the steering wheel with both hands, momentarily losing control of the car. He was messing with Veronica again.
"Shit."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cliff was more than a little surprised to see the son of a movie star for the second time in 24 hours. Didn't these people have their own, expensive…hell, even good lawyers? Why did they keep coming to him? Cliff shrugged, thought about the multiplicand he would apply to his usual hourly rate, and invited Logan to sit down.
An hour later, Cliff replaced the telephone receiver on his final call. He had contacted the editors of the two newspapers and the magazine that had been sent to interview Trina that day and read the riot act. Each had assured him that they would not be printing any stories about Logan Echolls being an alleged rapist and that they had no interest in Veronica Mars. Logan paced unhappily in front of Cliff's desk. He didn't care about himself. He cared a lot more that Veronica's rape wasn't reported because she would care, but as Cliff had patiently explained, the editors had a lot more to fear from Aaron's millions than from the Mars family.
"What about the freelancer?"
"Well, to be honest, kid, there's not a lot we can do until we've tracked him down. Now I would usually give that job to Mars Investigations…"
Logan looked down at the floor.
"…but there's another PI in town, though not as good."
"No. The less who know the better it will be. For Veronica."
"Has she talked to her dad, yet?"
"I don't know. He was in and out over the weekend, on some job. I don't think she was expecting him until tonight."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I'll talk to Veronica. I haven't told her yet."
Logan sighed heavily and Cliff was glad he wasn't the one making that call. He liked having his own testicles.
"Can I use your phone?"
"Sure, kid."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
He would know immediately that something was up. Veronica rarely bought fresh food and cooked for him but she needed something to do to keep herself from going crazy, waiting for him to come home, waiting to tell him. He was going to go ballistic so maybe she could slow him down a bit by filling his stomach.
As she stared ruefully at her depleted purse after paying for the groceries, she heard her cell ring. She swapped her purse for the phone. Glancing at the caller ID, she wondered what Cliff wanted.
"Hey, Cliff."
"It's Logan."
"Oh. Hey, I've been trying to-"
"We need to talk. Now."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
He was leaning against wall when she got home, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets. Veronica was startled by two things. The first was by how pale he was. The second was that something inside her threatened to turn to jelly. What was the matter with her? Easy. She wanted him to touch her again, to touch her and keep on touching her. Forcing that yearning away made her persnickety.
"I know you're used to people being at your beck and call, Logan, but I'm busy and this isn't convenient. Or office hours."
Logan said nothing. He reached out to take the grocery bags from her. Veronica looked at him, shook her head and unlocked the door to the apartment. Backup growled softly at Logan but calmed at a word from Veronica. Logan put the bags down on the counter.
"Well?"
Logan thought they should sit down but when he looked over at the couch, all he could see was Veronica writhing in his lap; her legs draped either side of him, her breasts bare, his mouth on one nipple. He glanced at Veronica and thought she was seeing the same thing. Or maybe, he just hoped that she was.
"Let's go for a walk. Come on, Backup."
He nodded.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Keith was tired. Bone tired. It had been a tough four days on this job and worrying about Veronica had added to the strain. His tough little daughter had cried in his arms yesterday and he hated that he couldn't make her distress disappear. He'd nearly dropped everything and come home when he heard about Logan Echolls' arrest but when he spoke to Veronica on the phone, she assured him that it was all a mistake. She promised to tell him the whole story tonight when it would just be the two of them.
Keith entered the apartment and immediately saw the bags of groceries on the counter. Backup was gone so he assumed Veronica had taken him out for a walk. He dropped his stuff in his room and returned to the kitchen. As he started putting the groceries away, his concern grew. This was some meal that Veronica was planning and that usually meant trouble. As he was finishing, there was a knock at the door.
The visitor was a seedy looking man, complete with crumpled raincoat. Keith gazed at him placidly.
"Mr Mars? I'm Dominic Dubois, freelance reporter. I am following up on a story that broke earlier today. Mr Mars, do you have any comment on the allegation that the son of Aaron Echolls raped your daughter?"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Logan couldn't believe how calmly she took the news. Why wasn't she screaming at him? It was his fault, after all.
"Thanks a lot, Trina."
"It was my fault."
"Why? You weren't the one who said anything."
"Yeah, but if I'd kept my mouth shut…"
"She probably would have said it anyway. I saw how she was after you were arrested, remember. She had you in the gas chamber."
They were nearing the apartments and Veronica stopped and looked up at him. She spoke softly.
"I'll get onto the reporter tomorrow. What was his name?"
"Dominic Dubois."
"Thanks Logan, for trying. But you know Neptune. It's going to come out. I'm just grateful that I'll be able to tell Dad first."
Logan couldn't help himself. He reached out and gently placed his hand on side of her head, his skin tingling at the feel of the softness of her hair. Veronica's eyes were on his and her lips trembled slightly. He wanted nothing more than to sink into her and she seemed to want nothing more than for him to do it. But reality bites and it bit him hard. There was more she didn't know, that she had to know and to respond to the sweet invitation she made would be as unforgivable as everything else he had ever done to her. Maybe even worse, now. He dropped his hand.
Veronica took a deep breath and headed for the apartment. She saw a man in a raincoat at the door of the apartment and was surprised to see the door open. Her dad was home. As she got nearer, Logan close behind her, they both heard the words.
"Mr Mars, do you have any comment on the allegation that the son of Aaron Echolls raped your daughter?"
Veronica reacted before Keith did.
"Mr Dubois, I am Veronica Mars. This is Logan Echolls. The allegation is untrue and Mr Echolls has already taken steps to ensure that anyone, anyone who repeats that allegation will be sued until they will have to borrow water to pee. Am I making this clear enough for you?"
"But…"
"My daughter has neglected to mention that if you don't leave, now, I will break both your arms."
With determined Mars' on either side of him, Dubois crumpled, mumbled an apology and scurried off. Keith stared at Veronica for a moment and then looked up at Logan. He struggled to keep his voice even.
"Logan."
"Mr Mars."
"What's going on, Veronica?"
"Let's go inside."
Keith stood back, allowing them through. His eyes never left Logan. As he shut the door, Keith turned to Logan with murderous intent. Veronica grabbed his arm.
"Dad, Dad! It wasn't Logan. He wasn't responsible!"
Logan, knowing he was killing any future with Veronica, even if he survived Keith's reaction, said it quietly, but clearly and without tremor.
"Yes, I was."
