Disclaimer: It still isn't mine

Thanks To: My Betas, Hoppit1104, aka Sam, and my roommate who both do a wonderful job at telling me when I mess up. Still, all the mistakes are mine...

N/A: Thank you so much for the nice reviews and sorry for the delay...

Part 4

She had followed an irate Lamb to try and see Logan but one of the deputies she didn't know had stopped her in her tracks. Since then, she had been pacing in the hallway, waiting for an opportunity to go to the waiting room where they were holding Logan, as, according to the very zealous and aggravating deputy who was blocking her way, they were still trying to figure out what to do with him.

The opportunity came up when the deputy's shift ended and Veronica saw Leo coming to replace him.

"Veronica? Hey. I heard about you and your father on the news. Are you okay?"

Veronica smiled reassuringly.

"I'm good, nothing to worry about. Leo?"

He looked at her with apprehension.

"Yes?"

"I need a favor."

He rolled his eyes and tried, with little success, to suppress a smile. She smiled back.

Less than two minutes later, she came to a stop as she saw Logan. He was handcuffed to the chairs along the wall of the waiting room. His eyes were on the floor, he had not seen her yet, and it downed on her that she had no idea what she would tell him.

Trying to get close to him when he was in pain had become a reflex for her and in her earlier rush, she had not questioned it.

Logan must have felt her staring because he looked up and his mouth opened slightly. He seemed so much younger, vulnerable and broken.

Veronica gave him a tentative smile and took a few steps toward him.

"Hey," she said softly. "Are you okay?"

He did not answer and looked back down at the floor.

Veronica, moving very slowly as if a sudden movement may scare him away, sat down next to him.

The silence was heavy and she was fighting the urge to take him in her arms. She felt like she needed the comfort as much as he did and was about to try to brush his hand with hers when he finally spoke without looking at her.

"I was not trying to kill him, you know?"

She didn't answer and just looked at him. He went on, glancing tentatively in her direction before looking back down.

"Every time I tried to get away from this, I saw your face all bruised up and I saw Lilly…"

His voice was breaking and he had to swallow hard before starting again.

"All I could think was that it was his fault, you know?"

He looked back at her, this time making actual eye contact, pleading with her to understand.

The silence seemed to stretch out forever.

"I believe you," Veronica finally said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Logan's face lost a little of its tension.

"I -"

"Interesting couple," Lamb interrupted. "You know, even after the phone call, I was not sure that it was true. But look at that."

His tone was mocking and Veronica had to restrain herself from biting back. Logan just looked back down.

"You can go now," Lamb told Veronica. "We should be able to handle the situation without your help."

Veronica got up, slightly touching Logan's arm. He looked up at her and his eyes waited for her to disappear around the corner in a hallway before going back to the floor.

When Veronica finally got back to her apartment, it was already getting dark outside.

Wallace and Alicia had insisted on her having dinner at their place and she had finally relented. So after getting her father's car, she had followed Wallace to his house and tried to eat enough so that he and his mom would stop giving her worried glances.

Veronica felt more exhausted from pretending that everything was just great than from the actual events of the previous night. To be fair, she thought, nobody had actually asked her to pretend. But she had been tough and self dependant for so long now that she didn't know how else to be.

She didn't even know who she was now. For more than a year, she had put aside everything that was left of her life after Lilly and had focused on solving her murder. But now, that too was gone and she was feeling emptier than ever.

Veronica lied down on her bed and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

When Veronica woke up the next morning, she didn't remember anything about her nightmares or the way Backup had nuzzled his head under her arm when he felt his master's distress.

She got up and sighed thinking that she would have to face school the next day if the building was accessible behind the lines of journalists. From what Wallace had said, the school asked for the help of the sheriff department to secure the premises and make it safe for students to come to class. The rumor had it that Logan had been asked to finish the year with a private tutor so that some of the paparazzi would not bother to come.

Veronica noticed a missed call on her cell phone and checked the voice mail.

"Hey honey," said her father's voice, "don't forget to call me whenever you get up. Last night I realized that I forgot everything about the Kane's check and now would be as good a time as any to cash it. You should find it in my bag's front pocket. I love you. Talk to you later."

Veronica was already looking through her dad's bag when the message ended and so far, the search proved unsuccessful. Her brows furrowed as she tried not to let possibilities of what could have happened to the check cross her mind. She finally gave up and grabbed her phone.

"Hey Dad."

"Veronica, hey. It's past eleven, I was getting worried."

"Well, you know, teenagers, party all night and sleep the day away."

Keith gave a noncommittal grunt.

"Dad, your voice mail kept breaking up and I didn't understand very well. Where is the check supposed to be?"

"In the front pocket of my bag. It may still be in the kitchen or the living room."

Veronica's worried look amplified.

"Okay, I'm going to take care of it and then I'll come by the hospital. Are you doing okay?"

"Never better," replied a cheerful Keith.

Veronica couldn't help but smile.

"I'll see you later, then. Love you."

"I love you too and Veronica…"

"Yes?"

"Be safe."

"I always am."

She hung up and proceeded to empty the bag on the kitchen counter. After 20 minutes of very thorough research she finally admitted that the money was not in there.

For a few minutes, she stood motionless at the kitchen counter, slowly turning her pain into anger as she realized what must have happened. Fueled by resentment, she flew into action.

She grabbed some papers in her father's bag and dialed a number on her phone. She hung up ten minutes later, having finally convinced the Kane's lawyer that she was who she was to obtain the check number. She then dialed a new number.

"Hello."

"Hi, I would like to report a check stolen."

Veronica gave the woman on the phone all the information she asked for before being put on hold.

"Miss?"

"Yes?"

"I am sorry but the check was already cashed."