Part 7

Logan and Duncan had not spent more than four hours straight together since Hollywood fluttered glittery lashes of escapism at the Echolls son and college happened as usual for the Kane heir. Thus, all memories were fond before the reckoning arrived at Duncan's doorstep in the form of an envelope that contained photographs of his best friend and his fiancé that he would have rather not seen. They were like stills of his nightmares, and Duncan then found out that his nightmares were reality.

When they were in high school, a lot of people wondered what they had in common. Truth to tell, Logan wondered about that too. Aside from their relationship with Lilly Kane, it seemed on the surface that they had not many shared interests. However, Logan and Duncan fell into easy friendship even before Logan was involved with Lilly Kane. Boys will be boys. With the same social background, Logan and Duncan normally attended the same events as children. Having to be on the same pedestal, isolated from other children, brought the two together. If the same likes did not make them friends, the same circumstances drew them together.

Conversation was easy then. They could talk about the beach, their classmates, their teachers and even the shows they watched on tv. Having moved in separate directions made the stakeout that much more tense.

Duncan had driven them to the address that Keith had sent them. Only a few minutes later did they see Wallace run out of the house with whom they presumed to be the lawyer in tow.

"Got to hand it to you, Logan. You've gotten pretty good at this. Wallace Fennel is alive."

They followed behind some other cars and parked two houses down from the house that Wallace actually went into.

"So, Wallace with a kid," Duncan started the conversation. "I didn't even think we were old enough to be getting married this early."

Logan grinned. "But you were so ready to get hitched two years ago."

"You don't think about small things like that when you're engaged to Veronica Mars." He was proud of that. No matter what Logan Echolls would be capable of taking from him in the future, Logan would not be able to take away the fact that Duncan was the one she had agreed to marry.

"Besides," Logan continued, avoiding the issue that Duncan raised, "Wallace Fennel didn't get hitched."

"What do you think he's doing in there?" Duncan prompted. "They're taking an awfully long time."

"We can be here til tomorrow. Hopefully you're ready to spend the night."

"When did you become an expert? Did you send Keith another message?"

Logan shook his head. "I've done episodes for for four good cop shows. According to my resource, this type of thing is for the long haul."

They waited again. After about ten minutes, Duncan spoke up. "So you learned all that stuff from the movie business?" Logan shook his head emphatically. "All right," Duncan muttered. It was difficult to talk to Logan when he was not forthcoming. "Where then?"

"Some I learned from the tv business," Logan joked.

Duncan chuckled and shook his head. He leaned his seat back and said, "You know I've always wondered one thing. I've seen you party and get wild a lot of times these past few years. You've had the time of your life in Hollywood, haven't you?"

iLogan reached for her hand from across the table and squeezed. "He was so worried about you."

"I needed to get away for a few days."

"Is this about Duncan?"

She met his eyes and held his gaze for several heartbeats. "Do you think I'd hurt this much if it was about Duncan?"

"You certainly looked devastated enough after your breakup."

She smiled at the memory. "That was such a long time ago," Veronica said. "You have to consider all the factors. My hell consisted of an irrational breakup, a murdered best friend, parental abandonment and an entire high school who hated me."

"So I was definitely part of it. I was thinking maybe my actions didn't take that huge a part in your experiences."

Veronica scoffed. "You're kidding, aren't you?"

Logan managed to keep a straight face for all of five seconds before he shook his head and stood up. Then he pulled a chair close to hers and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry about all that, you know."

She nodded and turned her face to his. "I know," she whispered.

"Do you want to tell me why you ran?" He smiled and said, "Please say you ran to end the suspense and just stay with me. I'll call Duncan right now to spill everything." Logan flipped open his phone and made a show of punching in numbers.

Veronica moved to snatch away his phone, then frowned. "You're punching in numbers? And I thought you were going to make realistic movies." She shook her head. "Duncan has been friends with you since you were kids. You would be hitting one speed dial number or going to your phonebook if you want to call him," she pointed out.

"Can't ever get anything past you, huh? Can you maybe tell me what's bothering you? I'm really transparent, as you can see." He held up the phone. "You, unfortunately, are not."

"Logan, it's really not a big deal."

"If it made you run, and it's keeping you up at night, then it is a big deal." Veronica sighed and looked away. "Hey," Logan called softly, "I'm over here and you need to start talking."

Veronica took his face in her hands and told him, "You are perfect when you're with me." She leaned to kiss him, but he pulled away.

"Wait a minute. What do you mean I'm perfect when I'm with you?" he asked. Logan stiffened. "Is this about that damn tabloid again?"

"Logan, I know pictures and this was no Adobe manipulation. Neither were the photos on say, about eighteen other issues I've seen." Veronica sighed. "And I know I can't complain or even react because you're a single guy out free."

Logan's lips twitched. "I'm not single." She sent him a pleading look as if to ask him not to tease. He brushed his fingers against the crease between her eyebrows. "You know that. I would gladly announce the fact. All those pictures were taken out of context. Believe me, none of the stories were correct. Give me the signal, Veronica, and I'll clarify the fact that you are the only woman who interests me."/i

"The experience was fine," Logan admitted. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Why do you ask?"

Duncan shrugged. "I just noticed that despite claiming how much you loved Veronica, and that you never stopped loving her even after you broke up with her, and that you never stopped loving her when she and I were engaged, you bounced back pretty fast, didn't you? You never seemed to grieve." Duncan held up his hand. "I'm not judging or picking a fight. I just want to know how you did it. Maybe I can start moving on instead of continuously blaming myself or you for something we can't fix anymore."

"Oh yeah, I was a hoot!"

"Cast parties, victory parties, raves—"

"Duncan—"

"And the entire time I was back here wondering if I killed her, telling myself that even if I didn't I wouldn't be able to move on." Duncan flexed his hand, then traced a circle around his unadorned ring finger. "I built my future around a concept of being married to her by the time we graduated. Take her out of the equation and I'm left standing empty handed with a degree I would never have to use, that I only got because I wanted to leave Neptune and go to college because she'd always wanted to go to college."

Logan swallowed the bile in his throat. The entire time he had been seeing Veronica behind Duncan's back, the pain was his and Veronica's. That was how far he considered. They were the victims in that they could not be together despite desperately wanting to be. He had turned his back on her and she had fallen back into Duncan's. Just when they were going to seal the deal, Logan had waltzed in to claim back what was already someone's else's. Logan was not sure if Veronica had thought about it, but Logan certainly did not consider the part that Duncan played in their bizarre relationship. Duncan, in his brain, fell from being the best friend and the boy friend to being the obstacle. Unless Veronica had left a tell-all journal to be discovered at a later date, he would never know.

"I have so many questions," Duncan said. "But that is the most important piece of wisdom that you can share with me. You've been living these past few years. I was barely surviving."

"You wanna trade?" Logan said silently. "Your years of wondering if you killed her and knowing that your plans for the future are shot to hell with my own version of puppet master, moving and talking and laughing but all this time being disconnected from my body. I'd gladly swap that if I can get those few months you spent with Veronica in that pathetic apartment, accepted as her fiancé, seeing how she looked like relaxed and stressed, serious and funny. You got to live with her. All I did was cram my computer's hard drive with stories about a high school former cheerleader turned PI who shook Neptune High like a snow globe."

"Veronica messed us up," Duncan concluded.

"And she was welcome," Logan said with a smile. "She can mess me up my whole life and I'd say thank you."

There was then no point for Duncan to ask Logan for tips on moving on. Clearly, Logan was obviously no expert.

"Hey he's on the move."

Logan and Duncan craned their necks to see Wallace run to the parked car. "We've got to follow—" Logan was out of the door in no time. "Hey man, we should come up with a plan."

"You go back," Logan muttered. "I got to talk to him."

"Why do you always go half-cocked?" Duncan furiously demanded. "This is not smart."

"That's why you've got the impressive GPA, Duncan. I couldn't care less about that stuff." Logan waved Duncan away and strode towards the car. He quietly stalked to the other side of Wallace's car, and with one swift move, he was sitting on the passenger seat grinning at him.

"Hey man, what the hell do you think you're—" Wallace stopped when he saw who was smirking in the seat beside his. "Logan Echolls." Wallace looked up at the house he left, then started the car. "I'm on my way to pick up my mother, so if your purpose if to talk to me, better put your seatbelt on."

Logan was surprised, but snapped on his seatbelt. He rolled down his window and yelled, "Duncan, follow us."

Duncan nodded and raced back to the car.

"So it was going to take you to find answers, huh? The prince of Neptune High never did get anywhere. All the evidences he got," Wallace made air quotes with his fingers, "pointed to him."

"What happened, Wallace?"

"I think you know. You found me in witness protection."

"Your mother said that you were missing."

"I was for a time. Then I had to see her."

Logan nodded. "You left your daughter with her."

Wallace smiled. "And we're picking them up."

"Keith knows you're alive?" Logan asked.

Wallace turned the bend on the other street. "I usually pick up my mom right outside. Keith hasn't seen me yet. It was one of the deals we had when I decided to reveal where I was to my mother. Nobody else was supposed to know. My mom says Keith adores the kid though."

i"My dad's been asking me when Duncan and I are getting married. He's on this whole getting old thing. He wants to see grandkids before he dies."/i

"Maybe he's transferring his expectations for Veronica to you."

Wallace nodded. "Or he just misses his daughter. Mom thinks it's that. The baby's blonde, you know."

That shocked Logan. "Knocked up a white girl?"

"She's blonde and cute, with a pert little nose and piercing eyes," Wallace described. "Temper's insane though. You'd adore her."

Logan turned to look at the road wheezing by. "As if you would even let me in there. You can't even go in to see Keith Mars." When Wallace did not answer, Logan turned to Wallace. The other young man continued driving. Logan chuckled. "Just shoot me a picture next time. Can't wait to see how your by-product looks like."

"Who knows, Logan? Maybe after two years of hiding, tonight's the night I'll walk up those steps and knock on Mr Mars' door."

The phone inside the cradle beside the car AC lit up. Wallace glanced down at the caller ID. "It's the lawyer. They're closing a lot of things now. Only one of the suspects is missing. Soon, we'll all be free." The phone kept ringing. Wallace frowned. "He should be back in his office by now. Maybe something's come up." He turned to Logan and cautioned, "Shut up." Wallace answered the phone with a, "Hello. Oh. Hey. What's up?" Wallace looked at Logan, who now seemed very interested with his hand. "It's here. Don't worry. I didn't forget it." Wallace glanced at the rearview mirror. "Sitting tight and safe. I'll tell her. I always do. You stay safe now. Bye."

"Either you don't want me to overhear anything or you've learned to use fewer words," Logan said. "I do believe that wasn't your lawyer."

"You're right." Wallace slowed the car down as they approached Keith's house. He reached from the backseat and got the two-foot tall teddy bear from the back. He placed it on his lap and brushed the fur. "It's for the baby," he shared. "What do you think?"

"It's cute." The bear was light pink, perfect for a little girl. "How old is the kid?"

"Turning two in two years."

"So two months before your best friend died, you got a girl pregnant. Did Veronica know about the baby? If she helped you that much at something that dangerous, she would definitely have been thinking about the kid."

"Veronica knew," was Wallace's simple answer. "She was reluctant to go through with the entire thing because of that baby in there."

"But she knew she had to do the right thing," Logan said. Wallace nodded at that. "So are you going to invite me in, or should Duncan and I wait out here?"

Duncan's car parked behind them, and the young man in question walked over to the two.

"What the hell," Wallace exclaimed. "Come on in." Before he jumped from the car, Wallace gave the bear over to Logan. "You give it to her since you're most likely the one person babies don't warm up to at once."

Logan held the bear aloft and read the words stitched on its stomach. "I love you beary much." Wallace slammed out of the car and Logan sat there thinking back to what he heard of Wallace's conversation, and then down at the stuffed animal.

"Come on, Logan," Duncan urged. "We can start piecing together pieces later."

Logan opened the door mechanically and clutched the bear to his chest. Then he looked up at the house and swallowed. His heart pounded heavily.

The door opened to reveal Mrs Fennel happily laughing at the sight of her son. As they talked on the doorstep, Logan supposed it was of Wallace telling his mother that he had decided to show himself to Keith Mars. Logan and Duncan stayed at the bottom step as Keith walked to the door carrying a baby girl with curly blonde hair.

"That's Wallace's baby?" Duncan said in disbelief.

"No," Logan mumbled thoughtfully. Involuntarily his legs took him to the house and he climbed up with the bear.

"Logan! Duncan!" Keith greeted. "You found Wallace." Keith turned the baby in his arms and waved the chubby arm at the two young men. "Hello! Come on in," Keith said in a small baby voice.

Logan robotically extended the bear over to Alicia. "For the baby."

"Uhhh… thanks." Alicia watched the way Logan unblinkingly looked the little girl over. "Wallace's girlfriend was so irresponsible," she began. "She just left the baby to me. She didn't want a kid."

Logan held up his arms to Keith and said, "May I?"

Keith paused, and the smile faded from his face at Logan's request. He handed the baby to the young man. Logan took the baby and dropped a kiss on top of the girl's head. He took a deep breath.

i"When you get here, I have a secret to tell you," she promised over the phone.

"Tell me now," he requested. "Make my flight interesting." He could almost see her shaking her head. Logan clutched the phone closer to his ear.

Veronica said instead, "It will knock your socks off. I promise."/i

"Didn't know you liked babies," Duncan piped in.

Logan closed his eyes and just held the baby close to him. When he looked up, his eyes were moist. "Can I take her to the other room?" He reached for the bear to hug with his other arm. "I'll introduce her to this new toy." Keith nodded imperceptibly. Before he left, Logan said, "For what it's worth, Alicia, I don't think… What did you name the baby?" he asked Wallace.

Wallace grinned, because looking at Logan, he knew there would be no long drawn out exposition needed. "I gave Mr Mars the honors."

Keith seemed concerned about Logan's reaction. Still, he merely replied by saying, "I suggested Veronica, but it wouldn't really be fair to the baby. We decided to call her Elizabeth." Alicia smiled. "All right all right. We call her Betty."

Logan gave them a brief smile. Betty's small hand grasped at his chin. "Well I'm sure Betty's mother didn't want to just dump her with you, Alicia." He turned then carrying the baby with him, Logan walked to the next room.

He closed the door behind him with his foot. Logan placed the bear on the bed and put the baby on his lap, facing him. He looked into the eyes that he faintly recognized. "Some secret you were," he whispered. "Definitely did knock my socks off."

Logan sighed and took the bear by the arm. "You see this, Betty? This is from your mom. She wanted me to give her one of these, but we broke up before I could ever get her one."

i"Except I want mine won by a show of ring-tossing abilities./i

Having the baby exist proved one thing to Logan. Betty wouldn't be alive if Veronica was killed in that apartment or in that cliff two years ago. It was time to stop hunting killers.

"By the way, I don't know if your mom went insane when she found out what your grandpa named you. You have to be aware though, that I am going to want to change your name once I find your mother. Or I'm just going to have to start calling you Lizzie."

The door swung open and Logan half-expected Duncan to be standing there frowning at him. Instead, it was Keith Mars, near tears.

"Is it true?" the older man choked out. "Wallace is outside explaining to Duncan."

"She's alive, Keith. I'm not going to rest until I get her back."

Keith reached up a trembling hand to brush away his tears. "I can't believe I didn't put everything together!"

"She's your daughter, Keith," Logan said. "It's hard to be objective. I gave away all pretense of being cold and objective long ago." Logan brushed back a blonde lock on Betty's head. "I heard you loved your granddaughter from the time Alicia showed her to you."

"She is my granddaughter, isn't she? Really mine." Keith rubbed the baby's head with his hand. "Should've known earlier. Looks like Veronica and has a temper like yours."

"I think Wallace mentioned something in the same vein."

Keith sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. "Catch me up, Logan. We're going to nail this case closed within the week. My daughter already lost two years of her life. I'm going to make sure she's not going to lose any more."

tbc