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: Once again, thanks for the feedback, it really makes my day :)

Veronica hung up and stared at her phone. The lady from the bank had not been able to tell her much, but it was enough to confirm her suspicions. Lianne Mars had cashed the check almost 24 hours earlier at some place called "Cash It!" on the corner of Pacific and Mansfield Avenue. The woman was "very sorry", but there was nothing that she could do.

Veronica came out of her stupor and flew into action. She grabbed the phone book and tried calling "Cash It!", but didn't even get an answering machine. Frustrated, she dropped her phone on the counter.

Fifteen minutes later, she was running out of her apartment to her father's car.

Fifteen more minutes and she was parked in front of "Cash It!". She got out of the car and walked up to the door. Locked. A sign indicated that the place was not open on Sundays. Veronica suppressed the urge to have a temper tantrum on the sidewalk.

She sat back down in the car. No matter how angry or frustrated she was, she had to admit the fact that the money was gone and that she had to tell her dad.

Veronica parked her car in front of the maternity ward, hoping that she would avoid most of the paparazzi that were still pacing in front of the hospital's main entrance.

She stopped in her tracks as she was passing by the small news stand in the main lobby. She took a few steps towards a two-foot-tall poster of the front page of "The Instigator". The headline read "Aaron Echolls' Attempted Murder: Teen Sleuth Convinces Movie Star's Own Son to Do the Deed". It was printed over a picture of her and a handcuffed Logan in the hospital waiting room.

Veronica's eyes became two thin lines and her mouth opened in indignation.

"What?"

The salesman looked up at her from behind his counter, shot her a suspicious look and went back to his own copy of the tabloid.

Veronica hesitated for a full minute, her eyes burning a hole in the poster. Finally, she grabbed a copy, paid at the counter and went to sit in the nearest waiting area.

The issue had a few more pictures of her and Logan from the previous day and a few old shots of Aaron, Lynn and Logan. She read the article with escalating annoyance. The so-called reporter was going on and on about how she was using Logan to kill Aaron Echolls and ultimately get the money that Logan would then inherit.

Veronica closed the magazine, put it in her bag and got up.

When she got to her dad's room, he was on the phone with Alicia. Or at least she hoped so.

"Yes I do. Yes I do," he was saying in what Veronica found to be a very disturbing tone.

When Keith spotted Veronica, his voice returned to normal and he quickly bid his phone buddy goodbye.

"Hey honey. Those bruises aren't looking any better. How are you feeling?"

"Gee Dad, I am feeling good. Though I have to admit that this phone conversation I just interrupted was kind of… troubling."

"Alicia was checking up on me," Keith replied, looking sheepish for a moment.

"I so don't want to know."

Veronica put her bag on the bedside table and sat on the side of her father's bed.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling great. I wish they would let me out already."

"I wish you were back home, too," said Veronica, with a sad look.

"Is everything okay?" Keith asked, worried at her sudden change of mood.

"Mom took the check."

Veronica marked a pause, letting her words sink in. Keith didn't even blink.

"I called and tried to do something about it, but it was cashed yesterday and the place was closed when I came by earlier. I am so sorry, Dad."

Keith gently pulled her to him with his bandaged hands.

"It's not your fault, sweetie."

He released her.

"Do you have the phone numbers you called and the check's information? Cliff is supposed to come back later, I'll see if there's something he can do."

"Sure," she said, opening her bag.

She took out her copy of "The Instigator" to grab the papers with all the information she had gathered about the check. Keith saw the cover and frowned.

"What's that?" he said pointing at the tabloid.

Veronica briefly thought about trying to lie her way out of the situation, but quickly dismissed the idea.

"Veronica, why is your face on a tabloid right next to Logan Echolls' with this headline?"

"It's nothing, Dad, really. It's just yesterday; I thought I could maybe help him."

Keith let out a deep sigh and tried to let it go.

"Logan Echolls doesn't need your help, Veronica, but according to Lamb he will need a lawyer if he keeps up with these stunts of his."

"What did they do with him?"

"They released him with a warning. From what I understood nobody was harmed and they have enough to keep up with without adding troublesome teenagers to the list."

Silence filled the room once more as Keith looked at a whole panel of emotions cross his daughter's face. He was not particularly fond of the Echolls' boy. Veronica finally came out of her thoughts and after a few 'Be careful's and 'I love you's, she left her dad to worry, feeling helpless in his hospital bed.

She was just unlocking her car when her cell phone started ringing.

"Dad, I am not even in the car yet. Don't you think it's a little bit early to check up on me?"

"You obviously have no idea what being your parent is like. Cliff got here right when you were leaving. He will need some papers from the office. Could you come by and get them? He will pick them up from the apartment later."

Keith gave her the details of the papers and a few more words of caution before hanging up.

Veronica felt weird stepping in the "Mars Investigations" office. She had been there only two days earlier, but it felt like years had passed by and the place was eerily quiet. She felt the urge to be as fast as possible and a few minutes later, she was stepping out of the building with the files safely tucked in her bag.

"You little tramp!"

A corpulent and crazy looking woman jumped at Veronica's throat in a flash while muttering nonsense about Aaron Echolls. The two stumbled and the woman ended up on Veronica with her hands around her throat. Veronica tried frantically to get the taser out of her purse, but the woman was effectively chocking her. Then, out of nowhere, the woman was off of her and she could breathe again.

Veronica coughed a few times, her eyes still big from the panic. She took a few normal breaths and finally assessed the situation. Deputy Leo was trying to handcuff the plump woman while reading her her rights and another deputy was trying to keep a news crew at a reasonable distance. All in all, Veronica felt like she had stepped in a loony bin.

She got up as Leo was pushing the now screaming woman toward the patrol car.

"Are you okay?" he asked after closing the door of the car, locking the woman in.

"I think so. What is going on?"

"We don't know. We saw the woman jumping on you and ran out of the car to get her off just as those guys," he pointed at the news crew, "were running toward the scene, camera on the shoulder."

"So you just happened to come by?"

"Rumor has it you are trying to off Aaron Echolls. Lamb assigned us to keep an eye on you for a day or two."

"Are you kidding me?" she retorted, clearly disbelieving. "He locks me up in a burning fridge and I am under surveillance?"

Leo smiled and shrugged with an innocent look. Veronica didn't look amused in the slightest as she massaged her very red throat. Leo told her she could go but that she should come by the Sheriff's department to file a report and maybe see a doctor. She nodded, got in her car and followed the deputies' vehicle.

When she got there, she was pleased to notice that Lamb was not there. Leo took her deposition and Veronica got back home just in time to give Cliff the papers. The red marks on her neck were slowly turning purple but Cliff, who had not seen her since the Aaron Echolls' "incident", didn't make any comment.

She closed the door and grabbed her cell phone. She wanted to be sure to call her dad before he saw her on TV.

As she was about to dial, the phone started vibrating. She looked at the caller ID and frowned.

"Hello?"

On the other end, a very drunk-sounding Logan answered.

"He is awake, Veronica."