Part 11

Keith Mars slowed down the car in front of the house from where the blinking red signal had been steadily coming from. His profession taught him to remain calm when on the verge of a case. However, the sight of two male bodies with bloody pools underneath them shot that calmness to hell. No matter how many times you saw corpses, you never get used to it – especially when they lay outside the place where you had only just found out your daughter had been living.

"Is that Duncan Kane?" he said hesitantly.

Logan immediately jumped out before the car fully stopped and made his way to the body that was undoubtedly his best friend. "Duncan?" The gaping hole from where the dark blood had come from made Logan wince. Logan started to reach for his friend. He saw how his hands trembled, and fisted them tightly. When he managed some semblance of control, he took Duncan by the shoulders and turned him over. "Dead men can't beat assholes," Logan reminded his friend as he placed his fingers on the pulse point of Duncan's neck.

"He's dead." Logan turned quickly to where Wallace was kneeling beside Agent Dawson. "Shot went clear through the spine. No way he could have survived this," Wallace told Keith.

Keith turned to Logan.

"He's alive," Logan choked out. "Barely. Get an ambulance." He jumped up suddenly, then strode over to the house.

"Logan, stay back here." Keith took his gun from his back pocket and drew out his gun. "This person is armed and dangerous."

"Veronica's inside," Logan said. "Duncan Kane was not going to get shot for nothing."

"Logan—"

"Don't do this to me, Keith."

Not wanting to lose any more time, Keith nodded curtly. "No stupid actions. No rash decisions," the older man reminded.

"I've got a little girl waiting for me," Logan said, as if that answered Keith's concerns. It did. He looked down at Duncan, then looked over at Wallace, who was using Keith's phone.

Wallace waved him off. "I'll take care of him, man."

Logan nodded gratefully. Then he leaned down and squeezed his friend's shoulder. "Hang on, man." He then followed closely behind Keith.

Keith grasped the gun tightly and motioned for Logan to stay back. He kicked the door open. Keith looked around and saw the house empty. He pointed to the stairs. "I'm going up. Lay low," he instructed. Slowly, he made his way up the stairs all the while watching out for signs of other people inside.

A crash from the second floor brought Logan running inside and up the stairs. Keith glared at Logan, silently telling him to stay away. Logan hid behind the column.

"Who's there?" someone yelled from upstairs.

Keith looked up, and was thrown back by the sight. It was his daughter. The concept of Veronica being alive had been a grand idea when they were proving it on paper. However, he had not prepared himself enough for seeing his baby girl in the flesh. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Logan, who at that angle had not seen her yet. Veronica was held by the man that Keith recognized from the sketch artist image that Duncan had helped provide. This was one of the two who attacked Veronica and Wallace in Duncan's college apartment, the man who Duncan had seen running away from their building that night. This was the one last criminal that Agent Dawson had needed to find in order to close the case. At this exact moment, he was holding a gun to Veronica's temple.

"Put it down!" demanded the man.

Keith held Veronica's tearful gaze. "Daddy," she mouthed.

"I'm not going to let him hurt you, Veronica."

She closed her eyes, and Keith saw the tears she tried to hold back roll down her cheeks. His promise was so easy to make, but Keith knew his daughter was smart enough to know that the guy had the ace.

At the sound of the name, Logan stepped away from the pillar and the wall. He fed on the sight, drank in her figure until he knew he was going to crawl into bed and happily die. "Ronnie," he whispered, softly enough that no one would hear him. Veronica's eyes opened and she turned her gaze towards where Logan was standing, so spot on that he wondered how she knew that he was going to be where he was. Their eyes locked, and Logan was thankful for each second that he had to struggle to keep breathing. His heart contracted at the sight of her. She had a bloody nose, scrapes on one side of her face and a bruising that covered a side of her forehead down to her cheek.

"Relax. I'm going to put down the gun if you'll just let my daughter go."

The gun jabbed deeper into her temple, and Veronica barely reacted. When Keith saw where her daughter was focused, he did not turn. There was no use giving Logan up to the man.

"Are you crazy?" the man yelled in a high pitch. "She ruined everything! And if I let her go, everything's over. We're all getting the death sentence!"

"Veronica will not testify against you," Keith said, trying to calm the man. "You've killed Agent Dawson. Just let her go home with me and you'll go scot-free. Not even the FBI will be able to find us."

For a split second, the man seemed to consider it. Then he focused once more on the gun in Keith's hand. "Drop the gun or I swear I'll kill her. I got nothing to lose."

"All right, all right." Keith raised his hands. He placed the gun down on the step. "Now let her go."

"Now I want you to walk down the stairs, Mr Mars." The man pushed Veronica forward. "We're going for a ride." Veronica stumbled forward. She was going to be his shield. She had seen enough hostage dramas to know that. There was no way he would hand her over to her father. "Get me as far as the border and you're free," he promised Veronica.

She nodded. The man had shot Agent Dawson and Duncan in cold blood. She would never trust him. It would make her life easier if he thought she trusted him though. The grip on her arm relaxed.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone. You know that, right?"

"Of course," she answered tightly.

The moment they reached the door, the man heard the police siren. Keith snatched the gun the moment the man whipped around and pulled Veronica along with him back up the stairs. "You freaks! You called the cops!" He stumbled up the steps with Veronica. He pointed the gun at Keith when he reached the top step again.

"You have a dead federal agent outside. Don't you think they'd have sent backup when he didn't respond to their call?"

The man pushed Veronica down. She fell on her hands and knees. "I'm not going down without taking you with me." He grabbed her by her hair and laid the gun on the back of her head. "See you in hell."

"Sorry Keith," he muttered. Logan launched himself towards the killer, weaponless except for rage. The way that the killer turned the barrel towards him would be imprinted in his brain, he knew. Veronica screamed when the gun turned to Logan and went off. Through the haze of pain he saw Veronica unfold herself from the floor and grab the man's wrist.

Logan had fallen facedown on the floor. He tried to pull himself up but the cold numbness on his shoulder weighed him down. Logan started to stand, but fell heavily back down. Instead, frozen by terror, he watched Veronica struggle with the man right by the railing. The door downstairs opened and he heard Keith call out information to the police.

Logan's eyes fluttered closed, but he forced them open. He had lost two years of looking at her. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut to fight off the pain, and he wondered if Duncan felt this helpless just hours ago. Logan struggled to sit up, and ended up leaning on his unhurt elbow.

"We can't get a clear shot," one of the men in fighting black said.

"I've got a thirty percent shot of hitting her."

"Take it."

Logan watched in horror as the man pulled on the trigger. He almost saw the bullet's path as it hit the man on the hip. Then, as if it was a scene from a nightmare, the man grabbed Veronica by both arms and gripped her as his body slammed against the railing and fell. Logan heard Veronica's scream as she sailed over the railing and fell.

"No," Logan whispered in disbelief. The police was supposed to help rescue her. She was not supposed to fall because of them. Grunting against the pain, Logan pulled himself up and staggered up on his feet. When he tried to move, he fell to his knees. The next thing he knew, Wallace was there helping to pull him up. Wallace led him to the railing and they looked down at where the entwined bodies had fallen.

The paramedics had been allowed in once they cuffed the criminal. Keith Mars leaned over his daughter.

"Don't move her yet," a toneless voice reminded him. A female paramedic arrived with a neck collar. "Just for precaution." Logan waited as they placed the brace on Veronica.

"It's my arm," came the familiar voice.

Logan's knees buckled at the sound. "She's alive," he mumbled.

"Duncan is too. He's in surgery to take out the bullet from his back," Wallace informed him.

Logan's eyes closed and he allowed darkness to take him.

Keith sat on the chair beside Veronica's hospital bed and the nurse finished up Veronica's arm cast. He watched her daughter blinking away tears that still managed to find their way down her cheeks. When the nurse left, he placed his hand on top of her unhurt one.

"Sweetheart, are you ready to see your daughter?"

Veronica looked up at her father in surprise. "You know?"

Keith smiled and nodded. "What kind of PI am I if I didn't find out?" he teased. "Actually, what kind of man will not see his daughter's eyes in his granddaughter?"

"Wallace told you," she concluded.

Keith shook his head. "Actually, it was the sight of Logan Echolls recognizing her that told me."

Veronica pulled her hand out of her father's hand and covered her lips. Then she started wiping away her tears.

"Veronica, Logan's fine. It was a pretty bad shoulder wound, but he didn't get any major organ or arteries damaged," Keith told her. "It's over, Veronica."

She shook her head. "You don't understand, dad. I lost so much because of people I don't even know. I hurt Duncan, then he tries to save me, and I get him killed!"

"Hey!" Keith took his daughter in his arms for a tight embrace. "Duncan's in intensive care." She looked up at her father with hope. "It's going to take time for him to recover because he lost a lot of blood, but he's going to be fine. And you have no idea how proud I am for what you've done. As for hurting Duncan," Keith paused, and Veronica saw in her father's expression the sad recollection of what Lianne did to him, "that's something you and Logan need to speak with Duncan about."

She nodded and took her father's hand. She raised it to her lips and kissed it. "I missed you, daddy," she said, becoming his little girl again despite everything that she had been through.

To that, Keith had only one response. He cupped her face and brushed his thumb at the edge of her large bruise. "I missed you, Veronica," he said. He then kissed her on the forehead. "Do you want me to go check on Duncan for you?" She nodded.

Keith opened the door and saw Logan in the corridor in a wheelchair being pushed by the nurse. He grinned at the sight of a pissed off Logan.

"I am not going to be wheeled in there," he insisted. "This is the woman I'm in love with. This is our reunion after a very long time! I am walking in there."

"Mr Echolls," the nurse said firmly, "it's either see her in a chair or not see her at all. I'm already doing you a favor here. You're supposed to be resting."

Keith chuckled. The nurse could rein in the stubborn young man with a threat. At the same time, he also understood Logan's point of view. "How about you wheel him right to the door and let him walk in on his own?"

Both seemed amenable to the suggestion. Keith watched as the nurse helped Logan out of the chair. He shook his head. Instead of being so persistent about the chair, Logan should have paid a little more attention to the fact that he was in a hospital gown for that reunion.

Keith proceeded to the intensive care unit. Outside, he saw Wallace looking through the glass doors. "Any change?"

Wallace smiled at Keith and nodded. "He'll be in a regular room in a few hours. The rich kid is resilient. Would've thought a bullet wound would put him down for at least three months. Doctor said with the speed he's recovering, he can start playing sports in a month."

"That's good to hear. Did you talk to your mom?"

"She was a little miffed about having to fly back when she just finished driving up there," Wallace shared. "When I told her about Veronica, she said they'll fly."

When the door to her hospital room opened, Veronica expected it to be her father informing her of Duncan's condition. The moment she saw Logan, she let out a stifled cry and reached for him. Logan broke into a relieved smile and gathered her in his arms, wincing through the pain that he action caused. She pulled away and pushed back the hospital gown to see the large bandage covering his wound.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Logan shook his head and took her face in both hands. She knew it had to be painful, but was grateful that he was there and he was taking her lips with his so gently and carefully that his kiss today became the antithesis of all the other more passionate kisses that they had shared in the length of their relationship.

"You're going to have to marry me now," he said softly.

"I got you hurt again," she said.

"It's nothing. I got you again remember?"

Veronica rested her head against his chest. "I feel like I've not slept for two years," she told him.

"I'll let you sleep if you'll answer my question."

"You didn't exactly ask anything," she told him. Veronica grew somber. "We can start making arrangements after we talk to Duncan, alright?"

Logan helped her move to her side and then lay down beside her on the narrow hospital bed. He ran his hand down the smooth cement of her cast. "This is probably the first time we're in bed together and you're not trying to get into my pants," he whispered in her ear.

Veronica giggled, then sighed wearily. "I missed you, Logan." Hanging over the air between them was her silent apology that he would only be angered if she voiced. Lost years aside, Logan finally had the world.

"Love you to death, Ronnie." He closed his eyes and wondered how the years went by so fast. When he first saw her when she was twelve years old, she was a cute little girl who was unattainable. She was clean and pure and perfect, and the ideal girl only deserved the ideal boy. Now they were both marred by hell on earth it seemed almost a crime that they were so close to heaven like this. "And I guess I missed you a little bit too."

She fell asleep in his arms, and it was another piece of heaven for Logan. In all their encounters, she had been afraid to fall asleep. They were always caught in the stolen moments of time that they needed to prolong for as long as they were able. There was no such fear now. Logan cherished the moment and watched the steady rise and fall of her chest.

An hour later, Veronica opened her eyes and felt the body behind her. She smiled and turned slightly to look at Logan sleeping. His arms around her tightened, and Veronica burrowed deeper in his arms. Comforted by his presence, she allowed herself to fall asleep again.

When she woke up next, the room was dark and she was alone in bed. Veronica sat up with a pounding heart, afraid that the last day had been a dream and she was still dead to the world and hidden by the government. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the figure silhouetted against the window.

"Logan," she prompted.

He turned around and Veronica saw the precious thing he sleeping against his chest. She gasped and tears gathered in her eyes. "Veronica," he said, "I'm afraid I have to tell you that you are no longer the sole most important person in my life." Logan grinned at the Veronica's face. "Meet my other woman. Her name is Elizabeth Fennel, but Keith has already helped me process the papers and by close of business tomorrow, she'll be Elizabeth Echolls."

Veronica slid out of the bed and approached them almost reluctantly.

"She doesn't bite."

Veronica wiped away a tear. "Well you obviously didn't breastfeed her on her first months," she snarked. She touched the baby's cheek. "May I?"

"Can you?" Logan asked, looking at her cast.

"If you help me," she answered. Logan placed Betty on Veronica's unhurt arm. Veronica laughed and cried at the same time when Betty buried her face in her neck. "She's so pretty."

"So her mommy says."

"Are you kidding me?" Veronica huffed. "You don't mean to tell me you don't find her gorgeous."

"She looks like you," Logan said, leaning down to kiss Veronica on the lips. "Morning, sleepyhead," he greeted. "I have it on the best authority that this is the best-looking girl in America."

"Whose authority?" she said suspiciously.

"It was a vote. Mine, Keith's, Alicia's, Wallace's."

"Duncan's?" she asked.

"He hasn't really been forthcoming about what he thinks of Betty."

"Oh." Veronica walked over to the chair beside the window and sat down. Betty whimpered and started fussing, and Veronica struggled not to drop her when she only had one functional hand. Logan moved to help her, but she stayed him. Instead, she started shaking the baby to and fro, jiggling her, and humming. Logan watched in fascination. "I learned it on the first months when she was with me," she told Logan softly. "Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird. And if that mockingbird don't sing, daddy's gonna buy you a diamond ring."

One moment, he was chuckling and promising that he could afford to buy Betty ten—one for each finger. The next moment, Logan was sitting down with his hands covering his face. His shoulders trembling.

"Logan, what's wrong?" she asked. "Why are you crying?"

He looked up with red-rimmed eyes. "Because I almost never saw this," he told her honestly. "Because I thought I would never see this."

Veronica nodded in understanding. "Come here, Logan." He knelt beside her and Betty and laid is hand on Betty's back. "Move your hand in circles slowly. It's going to calm her." She leaned down and kissed Logan. "I promise, Logan, that there will be so many memories that you're going to be there for. I will marry you, and I will have more babies with you. We start planning after we give Duncan the closure he always deserved," Veronica told him. "Tomorrow, we talk to Duncan. And then we can move on."

i"Just one more day, then the whole world."/i

"All right," he breathed against her lips. "We'll be a family, Veronica, and we're not going to hide anything again."

Just one more day.

tbc