Part 4

Duncan had admitted it to the world. Logan was no fool, and he doubted that Duncan was. It had been so long since that fateful morning when Logan was jarred awake by a nightmare that sent him gasping for oxygen. No matter what spirit possessed him that night, it had told him to turn on the television. There his best friend was, shaken, unshaven, for all intents and purposes grieving. Duncan had pleaded with the public, in words that forever branded him murderer in Logan Echolls' eyes.

He had no idea why the public officials never did anything about it. It had been so obvious. They had called him mourning; Logan knew it for a slip up.

i"If anyone can help us locate my fiancé's body, we will give a very handsome reward," said Duncan into the camera./i

"How do you know she's dead," Logan had muttered. He had allowed his anger to feed upon itself. Had he not done it, he would have long been broken by the series of events that happened right after graduation.

Keith Mars would have been the perfect help for a lot of cases. In this one, Logan could not even call on him. Duncan's would-have-been-father-in-law, talented investigator that he was, knew only as much as he would want to discover. There were many things about Veronica that Keith probably already knew, but would never figure in to his research. Keith was an intelligent man. Duncan would not have told him everything.

If revealing that part of their lives would help find her, he would. To hell with whatever Keith would think of him.

And that was when Logan had decided that he would seek the help of Veronica's father. He had not rested when the whole world told him to drop Lilly's murder case. Logan doubted that he had dropped his daughter's case. In fact, his own investigators told him that he had been working with Duncan to find out what happened. This time, Keith would have all the information he needed. Logan drove his car to the Mars apartment and rang the bell. He took a deep breath. He had not seen Keith since graduation. How much he knew, he would discover only now.

The door opened to reveal the aging man, who for two seconds appeared surprised to see Logan at his doorstep. He was only caught off guard for a little time. And then, Keith opened the door and greeted, "Been waiting a long time, Logan."

At those words, Logan met Keith's eyes. "I'm ready."

"You didn't want to speak before." Keith stepped aside and motioned for the younger man to come in.

"I didn't want to ruin any memories you have of your daughter."

Keith gave him a sad smile and ushered him to the living room. Then, he motioned for Logan to sit on the couch. "Logan, Jake Kane discovered that his daughter had been sleeping with her boyfriend's father." At that, Logan winced. Keith reached forward and patted his knee. "She had been a hell of a girl. Wild. Answered back to her parents and always was out of control." Logan nodded in recollection. He had been there. He had seen all that. "Lilly Kane got murdered by that same married man she was having an affair with. Do you remember how Jake Kane looked when you played her memorial video?" Like an epiphany, it dawned on Logan. Maybe Keith already knew many of the things that he and Duncan wanted to keep between the two of them. "Fathers want to think their daughters are perfect angels. When we discover how human they are, we don't really have a choice but to continue to love them."

Logan took a deep breath. "So you know?"

Keith shook his head. "Do you want water?"

"I'm fine. You know then?"

"I don't know everything. But I do know my daughter is not perfect. She's far from perfect." Logan's lips curved. "And she probably did something that neither you nor Duncan wants me to know. Therefore, it's bound to be something that you feel will disappoint me. I have to know, Logan. Duncan's not telling."

"I think Duncan did it," Logan offered. "I've been looking into it. His plane arrived back early. He had plenty of time to do it."

Keith nodded. "We've established that Duncan was right there at the cliff. What I haven't established is, other than Duncan's seizures… his rage explosions… what other motive would he have to kill my daughter? He's head over heels."

Logan closed his eyes.

"You came here to talk," Keith reminded him.

"Ronnie and I—" Logan's eyes opened, and Keith read the combination of fear and agony there. "Nothing ended between us, Keith."

"Wow, you two could have fooled me with how much time you spent together after Lilly's case was solved."

"Duncan knew we were still in love with each other. He didn't enter that relationship with a blindfold on. He had not right to do what he did," Logan gritted out.

"You're saying that you and Veronica had an affair?"

The word was so tawdry, so far from reality. "Ronnie and I were unstoppable. He shouldn't have tried to come between us," Logan answered.

Keith nodded his head. "Seems to me that you're blaming Duncan for a lot of things that you and my daughter had a part in."

"He blames me for what happened too. As if I was anywhere near that cliff!"

Keith shook his head. "Duncan was pulling that out of nowhere. In his heart he thinks he did it, you know. I don't think he did anything."

"You think I did it?" Logan asked.

"I think we can solve this case if you and Duncan will work together with me. No secrets. No lies. I'm old enough to hear anything you have to say. What do you say?"

"What does Duncan think about that idea?"

"I've already sent him a message. We'll just be waiting for his response."

Logan clasped his hands. "I came here to prove Duncan did it," he confessed.

"You got evidence for this?"

"We wanted to be together."

"Then why did Veronica leave with Duncan?"

iLogan woke up with a smile on his face. He reached for her beside him, but found the bed empty. He sat up and saw her at the door.

"Ronnie, where are you going?"

"Duncan's waiting for me."

"Are you crazy?" he demanded. "You're not leaving with him."

"Logan," she sighed. Veronica walked over to him and sat on the edge of the bed. "We shouldn't have done this. Sex doesn't resolve anything. It's going to be all about that with us. We're old enough to know that we need more." She leaned close and kissed him on the lips. "I can't be—" She stood up and quickly moved over to the door, then grabbed her bag.

"Veronica, what are talking about?" He stood and grabbed his pants. Logan put them on and ran after her. "Veronica!"

She pressed the elevator button, and Logan reached her, then pulled her close, kissing her the way he did the night before. Her arms wrapped around him. She pulled away. "This is not a relationship," she said. The elevator doors opened behind her, and she stepped backwards into it. Logan stared at her as the doors closed between them./i

"She had her insane reasons," Logan said. "They published their engagement a few months later. I remember reading about it when I was reading through the reviews of my film."

"You were going to be the best man, weren't you?"

Logan sighed. "We were unstoppable."

Keith reached up to massage his forehead. "You… had another encounter with my daughter."

"We were bound to live through the same kind of encounter over and over again. I think Duncan knew that. He certainly knew it the night it all happened."

Keith sat forward, because these were the fragmented pieces of the case that nobody had uncovered. "That night, Duncan came to see you. He wanted to talk to you about arrangements for the wedding, right?"

"Is that what he told you?" Logan's hand fisted. "I was talking to Veronica on the phone. She was crying. Veronica doesn't cry that easily. I told her that I thought she would give us the chance to work it out, that she shouldn't give up that easily."

"I know," Keith murmured.

"And then the next thing I knew, Duncan had barreled into me and was throwing punches. I shoved him away, and he had these pictures."

Keith frowned. "Of you and Veronica?"

Logan nodded. "He got them in the mail. He was in a rage. That's why I told him not to go back. That's why I followed him when he did."

"Oh Duncan." Keith took his phone and then looked up. "Logan, stay back. He's here."

"I'm not staying back anymore. I've come to prove one thing, and I'm going to face the person who ruined my entire life." Logan walked up to the door and opened it.

There Duncan stood, shaking, holding in his hand the figurine of a little girl and a little boy holding hands and kissing. "First Love's Kiss," he said.

Logan and Keith looked at each other, then back at Duncan.

"This is the big evidence that will knock any of the evidences that you will come up with."

"Duncan—"

"First Love's Kiss shattered that night," he gasped. "She must have come to replace it."

"You could have had that made. You ordered it."

Duncan tossed the figurine to Logan. "Open it. I haven't opened it. I ran right here when I remembered that it broke. I've been going back to that apartment so many times and it never occurred to me that that shouldn't have been there."

Logan looked up to Keith, who nodded. Logan slid the rolled piece of paper out. And then he read, "14B Woodberry Hall." He shook his head. "This doesn't make any sense. What is this?"

"Wait," Duncan said, "Woodberry Hall is a dorm. In our campus." When Logan was about to speak, he held up his hand and fished for his new phone. "I need 14B Woodberry Hall." Duncan watched Logan and Keith Mars interact, and noted how Logan turned to whisper to Keith. The older man clasped Logan's shoulder and spoke calmly back. "Are you sure there's no 14B? Alright. Thanks anyway."

When Duncan flipped his phone closed, Keith extended his hand. Duncan gave his phone over and waited.

"Hello. This is Keith Mars. I need to see the hall master of Woodberry. It's for a case that I'm working on." Logan and Duncan watched as Keith sat down. "Uhuh." Logan handed Keith a piece of paper and a pen. "Right. Right. Oh and what about this room, 14B? I think my daughter was renting it out. Hmmm… okay. I must be mistaken then. Thank you."

After the call, the two younger men waited.

"Well boys, you two are in for a treat. I'm going to need you to check out something for me."

"You need us to get in?" Duncan asked.

Keith pointed to Logan. "He's going in. He's not been seen around that place yet. They'll probably recognize you." Logan nodded.

"So they told you there's no 14B right?"

"Logan will verify that for us. You, on the other hand, will need to get any paperwork Veronica had lying around your place. If you can get the ones she was working on before she vanished, I would appreciate it. I'm counting on you, boys."

Logan and Duncan stood in front of each other. Logan simmered, and his eyes narrowed as he looked at Duncan. Duncan, on the other hand, alternated his weight from one foot to the other.

"Can I call a hotel from your phone?" Logan asked.

Keith said, "Sure. Although I don't think Duncan would mind your staying over at the apartment." He turned to Duncan. "You're paying for it anyway, better let someone use it. Besides, Logan can look through some of the clues so he can get an idea about what he's going to look for when he goes to Woodberry."

It was apparent that Duncan did not want Logan in the apartment that was exclusively his and Veronica's, but Duncan would never say no to Keith. "Sure," Duncan said roughly. "Get your stuff. Look through the place, but don't take anything. We'll see you tomorrow, Keith."

"Alright, boys. Play nice now. Keep your eyes open."

"Just follow my car," Duncan said, and left Keith's apartment.

Logan turned to Veronica's father and gave him a tight smile. "Thank you for listening."

Keith nodded. "Logan, that was the last place anyone remembers seeing Veronica alive. You need to see that."

Logan shuffled his feet. "What do you need me to look for?"

"If I needed someone to search through her things, Duncan would be able to do that. I want you there because Duncan has had two years coming back to that place. I think you deserve your chance to be there."

Duncan opened the door and called out, "Logan, we need to go."

tbc