Chapter Two

Logan Echolls was dreaming. He was on a beach swinging lazily in a hammock hung between two palm trees. He felt someone snuggle into his side and looked down to see a blonde head laying on his chest, face hidden by her hair. He assumed it was Lilly at first, but something about the sleeping form was off. She was more slight and shorter than Lilly. And the scent was different, a mix of flowers and citrus. Lilly was pure musk. She was familiar though . . . He carefully moved a fringe of hair away from her face.

Veronica.

His heartbeat immediately picked up. What was she doing in a hammock with him? Duncan was going to kick his ass! Lilly was going to kick his ass! They were going to tag team him and both kick his ass! His next panicked thought was that he liked having Veronica in his arms. This was bad, very bad. He was about to jump from the hammock and make a run for it when he sensed another presence.

"Hey!" came a harsh but subdued voice from somewhere to his right. He turned to see Lilly sitting in the sand building a sand castle with a plastic hot pink pail and matching shovel. "Careful, you'll wake her," Lilly warned, indicating the snoozing Veronica with her shovel. "That girl doesn't get much peace these days, she's turned into too much of a thinker." Lilly pondered as she topped her castle with another turret. "I suppose that's partly my fault though."

"You're not mad?" Logan asked. Lilly gave him a puzzled look. "About another woman," Logan clarified. "Asleep. In my arms." Lilly looked at him slyly and grinned.

"Why would I be mad? She's Veronica." Logan did some pondering of his own as he took in the expanse of perfect beach, deserted except for the three of them, Lilly doing something as mundane as building a sand castle, and the deep blue sky, brilliant and clear but no sign of the sun.

"You're dead, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yep, that's me," Lilly confirmed. "Dead as a doornail, pushing up daisies, six feet under, kicked the bucket -"

"Stop it!" Logan shouted, interrupting. Lilly glanced sharply at him and had the good grace to look chagrined, but then shrugged and went back to her castle. "So I'm dreaming, right?" Logan asked. Lilly quirked an eyebrow and gave him her infamous 'Duh' look. She then seemed to reconsider and shook her head.

"Well, yes and no," she told him, standing and brushing sand from her hands. "Some of this is purely from your imagination," she said, looking pointedly at Veronica. Logan reflexively tightened his grip on the woman in his arms. Lilly raised her eyebrows and grinned again. "But me," she continued, twirling dramatically and throwing her arms out, "I'm here because I do what I want to do. Always." She grew solemn as she approached the hammock and extended her hand. She didn't touch Logan, as he expected, but instead reached past him to stroke Veronica's hair. "You're going to learn some hard truths about me. Try not to think of them as a reflection on you. I was who I was and no one was going to change that. 'Kay?" Logan could only nod. Lilly seemed satisfied and straightened, turning her gaze to the ocean. She was quiet for a few moments, then turned abruptly back to him. "And, Logan?"

"What?" he asked cautiously.

"Caitlin Ford!" she scoffed in disbelief. "Totally skankified, how desparate were you?" Before Logan could say anything in his defense, he heard a chorus of singing male voices. A motion on the waves caught his attention as he noticed four men on surf boards glide by singing about good vibrations. He turned to make a smart ass remark to Lilly, but she had disappeared, as had the beach, the hammock, and Veronica.

Veronica awoke with a start as a familiar song pressed into her conciousness. 'The Beach Boys?', she wondered. The radio! She'd forgotten to turn off her alarm the night before. The news segment would begin any minute! The sudden realization made her jump from the couch, but lack of sleep and the throw tangled about her legs made her clumsy and she promptly fell to the floor. Backup whined and came forward to lick her face in assistance.

"Thanks, pal," she told him, patting him on the head while untangling the throw and then racing to her bedroom.

The singing ended and Logan blinked, opening his eyes to darkness and surrounded by the scent of flowers and citrus, Veronica's smell. He didn't have time to savor the aroma though.

"And in a strange turn of events overnight, shocking new facts revealed in the supposedly solved murder case of Neptune High School student Lilly Kane." Logan shot up to a sitting position and a second later the door was thrown open, a dark figure racing past him.

Veronica frantically swatted at her alarm clock, trying to turn it off, but it was so dark in her room she couldn't see the button.

"A Neptune private investigator and his teenage daughter were attacked by the culprit -" the broadcast abruptly ended as Veronica finally grabbed the clock in both hands and yanked the plug out of the wall.

"What the fuck is going on?" Logan demanded, his brain still foggy from the previous night's alcohol consumption and the already fading details of his dream.

"Sorry," Veronica told him, dropping the clock and flicking the overhead light on. "I justdon't like that announcer," she confided, breathing hard and putting her hands on her hips, "he has a shifty voice."

"Veronica," Logan stated, taking a look at his surroundings. Her bedroom. He was on her bed in her bedroom. And that radio announcement. "What was that about Lilly?"

"Wow," Veronica said, grabbing the chair from the desk and placing it beside the bed. "I was really hoping for more time to prepare. Maybe get some visual aids, prepare some slides. . . " she trailed off, sitting in the chair to face him. That's when he noticed the cuts and bruises on her face.

"Oh my God," he sat forward and gripped her neck gently to examine her wounds. "Are you all right? Who did this?"

"I'm fine," she told him, taking his hands and placing them in his lap. Having him this near was difficult enough, if he was also touching her, she would never get through this without breaking down. "And the person who did this-" she couldn't bring herself to say it. Not yet. Logan frowned at her hesitation.

"'A Neptune private investigator and his teenage daughter'," Logan remembered from the broadcast. "Your dad?" he asked. Veronica's throat closed up and tears pricked her eyes, but she shook it off.

"He's -" she croaked. She swallowed and tried again. "He's in the hospital, but he'll be okay," she told him. "Wallace's mom is with him. They're dating," she added unnecessarily. At Logan's confused expression, she waved her hand dismissively. "I have issues. Never mind." Logan nodded and held his hands up indicating the room.

"Okay, so explain to me why I'm in your bedroom." Veronica chuckled nervously and rubbed her forehead.

"Weevil," she told him. "I asked him to find you last night before . . . before anyone else did. He brought you here." She seemed about to say something else, but closed her mouth. Then she opened it again and yelled at him. "You were at the bridge, Logan. Drunk. Balancing on the guardrail. What were you thinking?" Logan was taken aback at the anger in her voice. He didn't know whether to be flattered or indignant.

"I don't know," he told her honestly. "I don't remember much about it. I just . . . " he paused, unsure of how much to reveal considering she'd dumped him and all. "It's the only place I could think of to be close to my mom," he said softly. The combination of sympathy and pity in Veronica's eyes was too much for him and he cleared his throat loudly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well," he said, his voice back to its normal mocking timbre, "since I am in your bedroom and not in a jail cell, I'm assuming I'm not Lilly's killer." Veronica gave him a sad measuring look before replying.

"No, you're not."

"So you sleuthed out who done it, right?" Again with the sad look and a simple nod. A tickle of unease was starting in the pit of his stomach. He stood abruptly. "No, no, no. It's not Duncan, it can't be Duncan!"

"No, it wasn't Duncan," she reassured him quickly. Logan was visibly relieved, but the relief was short lived.

"Then why the hang dog expression? I thought you'd be a lot happier about being vindicated." Veronica ignored the jibe, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she opened them, she motioned back to the bed.

"Sit down." He hesitated a moment, but returned to his spot on the bed, bringing his knees up to his chest. Veronica returned the chair to the desk and started pacing. "I'll tell you what I know." Logan nodded his encouragement and she continued. "My dad was initially right and wrong about Lilly's death. Abel Koontz didn't do it, but neither did Jake Kane. The Kanes did pay Koontz to take the fall though. They came home that day and found Duncan cradling Lilly by the pool, he was covered in blood. They thought he'd accidentally killed her during one of his epileptic fits. So they covered it up." Logan closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.

"He never said anything," Logan mused out loud.

"He didn't remember any of it," Veronica told him. He looked at her and licked his lips nervously.

"Then who? Who killed her?" Veronica spared him a glance, but didn't answer. Instead, she continued her story.

"The night of your surprise party, in the pool house . . . " Logan smiled at the memory, but noticed Veronica refused to look at him. He frowned and stared at his clasped hands. "When you left to get drinks, I was laying in the bed staring at the ceiling when I noticed something. I got up for a closer look and . . . " She stopped pacing and started toeing the alarm clock she'd dropped earlier on the floor.

"What?" Logan finally asked, not sure he really wanted to know. Veronica kicked the clock under the desk and strode over to him, cupping his chin in her hand and forcing their gazes to lock.

"I found the camera," she told him, gauging his reaction. Gosh darn genuine surprise spread across his face. Veronica sighed in relief. "You didn't know." She let go of him and plopped down beside him on the bed. Logan was still trying to process what she'd said.

"Oh, man, the things I've done in that pool house. I don't understand why there'd be a camera - ugh, I don't want to know." Suddenly he snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "That's why you took off! You thought I was going to add you to my porn collection." Veronica grinned and held up her hands in surrender.

"Guilty."

"Okay, but how did I go from horny creep to psycho murderer?"

"After Abel Koontz's alibi was printed in the paper, Beaver came to me, worried about my safety of all things. He told me you'd left early that morning from Mexico to see Lilly, but he and Dick covered for you because a killer was caught and confessed. Then when you found me on the beach and told me about the letter, I thought - I hoped - it was true. And if I could just find that letter, I could convince myself and everyone else. Which brings me to 'Helpful Pool House Clue #2'. That nifty and convenient hiding space that everyone overlooks - the air vent. I doubted anyone would've bothered searching the ones in Lilly's room and if she had gotten your letter, that's probably where she would've put it. So I crashed the Kane's big to do last night and snuck into Lilly's room. Duncan caught me, but when I explained why I was there, he helped me and we found something." She stopped and pressed her lips together. Logan started fidgeting.

"Look, I was upset when I wrote that letter," he told her, assuming she'd read it. It hadn't occured to him until then what the letter actually contained and he was acutely embarrassed at how sappy it was. "You have to remember - "

"No, Logan, I didn't read it. It wasn't there."

"Then what did you find?"

"Video tapes. We found video tapes." Logan's brow furrowed.

"Of what?" Veronica blew out a breath and tried to say something, but her mouth wouldn't cooperate. Logan grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently. "What, Veronica? What was on those tapes?" Her lower lip started trembling and tears formed in her eyes that she couldn't shake off this time. Logan, thinking he'd hurt her, immediately let go and rose from the bed, backing away. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -"

"No, it's not that, it - Lilly. Lilly was on the tapes. In your pool house." Logan was not just acutely embarrassed, he was move-to-a-deserted-island-and-become-a-hermit-to-avoid-society-forever embarrassed.

"You saw me and Lilly? Well, that little minx," he joked, trying to play it off. "I had no idea she was filming . . . " he trailed off when Veronica started shaking her head.

"No," she said so softly he could barely hear her. "Not you and Lilly." Logan felt like all the air had just been sucked out of the room, like he'd been sucker punched in the gut, like . . .like he'd just found out his girlfriend was cheating on him.

"Weevil?" he asked. Veronica shook her head, tears falling silently down her face now. Faced with the choice of crying himself, Logan decided to laugh instead. "Not Weevil? That's just great. Should I pull out the student directory and start going down the list of names?" Veronica let out her own laugh, then sniffled and shook her head.

"Wouldn't help. Not a student." Logan gave another bark of laughter.

"Okay, then, the Neptune phone book perhaps? Would that help?" Veronica bit her bottom lip and looked at the floor and suddenly Logan was so very tired. He sat back down on the bed with his elbows on his knees and stared at the same space on the floor as Veronica. "I'm sorry, it's not your fault Lilly was . . .fucking everything within the city limits." He rubbed his face roughly and ran a hand through his hair, wishing it was longer so he could yank some nice big bloody chunks out. "Who was it, Veronica? Who was she with?" He looked over at her until she raised her head and met his gaze. Her eyes were bright with tears and she swiped at them with the back of her hand. She took a steadying breath and gave a last sniffle.

"Your father. She was with your father." Logan shot up off the bed so fast, his head started spinning and he had trouble maintaining his balance. Concerned, Veronica rose and reached out to help steady him.

"No!" he yelled, holding out a warning hand. "Don't touch me. Do. Not. Touch. Me." He doubled over, hands on knees, and took deep breaths. Then he clapped a hand over his mouth and rushed past Veronica and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Veronica slowly followed, leaned against the wall opposite the bathroom door and listened as Logan alternately retched and coughed. The toilet flushed and then she heard the water faucet.

"Oh, Lilly," she whispered into the air, "how could you?" That was Lilly, always doing things on a lark, always spontaneous, consequences be damned. Lilly loved life and lived it to the fullest. Veronica supposed it was next to impossible that one man could make Lilly stay true. It just wasn't in her. The bathroom became silent and Veronica stepped forward to knock. The door opened so suddenly, she stepped back in shock. Logan looked long and hard at her, his face pale and his hair slightly damp.

"Did he do it?" Logan asked intensely. "Did he kill her?" Veronica nodded, willing herself not to cry again. Logan took a deep breath and chuckled, leaning against the door frame. "Let me guess - she was going to post the videos on the internet? Send them to 'Entertainment Tonight'? Call Oprah?"

"Something like that," Veronica said softly. Logan nodded and reached out a hand to her face, stopping just short of contact. "And he did this?" Veronica clutched his hand and held it against her cheek.

"I'm okay, Logan. It's not your fault." Logan allowed himself to brush a thumb along her cheekbone before sliding out of her grasp and stepping around her to the bedroom. He sat on the bed and grabbed his shoes, stuffing his feet into them. "What are you doing?"

"I have to get home. Trina's probably frantic. Well, either that or having the time of her life with the press, which are more than likely camped out on the front lawn." He looked around and patted his pockets. "My keys?" he asked. "Is my car here or did I ride on the back of rocket boy's bike?"

"Maaaaybe," Veronica replied. Logan picked up the phone from her bedside table.

"Shall I call a cab then?" he asked. "Or maybe a brisk walk would do me good." Veronica crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.

"Table by the front door," she told him grudgingly. He walked past her, giving her a wide berth and retrieved his keys and cell phone. Without a backward glance, he opened the front door. "Logan!" she called out. He froze, but didn't turn around. "I'm sorry," she said finally, not knowing what she truly wanted to tell him. He didn't respond except to leave and close the door softly behind him.

Backup rose from his hiding place beside the couch and shuffled over to her. He promptly dropped at her feet and placed his head on his paws, looking at her with sad puppy dog eyes.

"You, too, huh," she asked, sitting beside him on the floor and scratching behind his ears. He gave a soft 'whoof' in response. "Yeah, seems to be catching."

Author's Note: Okay, not entirely sure where I'm going with this or how far, but I think it's shaping up quite nicely. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Lady Disdain for her just too fabulous music vid honoring everybody's favorite class slut Caitlin Ford (played by Paris Hilton), set appropriately to the tune of 'Barbiegirl'. Seriously, you guys, it is just too funny! Wipes tear from eye, I cried. It was my inspiration for part of the dream sequence. Also, if some of my facts are out of whack or my timeline a little wiggy, my apologies. I haven't seen the eps since they first aired, so I'm going by memory. 'Til the next chapter . . .