Lilly lay back on her bed then turned onto her side. She groaned and turned to the other side, onto her stomach, onto her back again. Finally she laid her head at the end of the bed and covered her face with a pillow.
It was ridiculous, really. Veronica had been kidnapped. Veronica. All her life, Lilly had been surrounded by security guards, surveillance cameras, tall gates, the works. All of it for the express purpose of keeping her safe from kidnappers and other creeps. And yet it was Veronica who was taken, just because she happened to be at Lilly's house at the wrong time.
"Dammit!" she yelled, slapping the pillow over her face angrily. Unfortunately, she also smacked herself in the nose. "Ow." She sighed and rolled onto her side again, letting the pillow drop to the plush carpet. Normally when she was feeling like this, she would call up her best friend and make plans to do something distracting, but that wasn't an option anymore.
"This is all my fault!" Lilly said loudly. She picked up the pillow and laid it back on her face, screaming into it. The tears came then, in deep, wrenching sobs, and she didn't think they would ever stop.
-x-
Down the hall, Duncan was trying desperately to avoid his own meltdown by concentrating on a video game. Normally, he would make a bet with Logan, his opponent, as to who would tear the other person's spine out, but not now. Everything he had was going into keeping that blind rage from overtaking him.
"They'll find her, man," Logan said quietly. He had been silently observing his friend. That explained his dismal game score.
Duncan remained stony faced, watching his guy get blown to smithereens. He chucked the controller at the TV, barely missing it.
"Dammit!" Lilly yelled from down the hall. "This is all my fault!" He picked up the faintest sobs and it was enough to set him off. He couldn't avoid it any longer.
"God dammit!" he screamed, thrusting his fist through the wall.
-x-
Jake paced along his home office, urging the Sheriff's Department to put everything they had into finding Veronica Mars. As if they needed any more incentive. Deputy Lamb assured him they were doing just that.
"Oh yeah? They why aren't you out there searching?"
"Someone has to answer the phones."
"Let me speak to Keith Mars," Jake commanded, leaning over the speakerphone.
"No can do, sir. He's out coordinating the search."
Of course he was. He believed Veronica to be his own daughter, his flesh and blood. Jake knew differently. Veronica had to be his, right? But if it motivated Keith to find Veronica, fine. He want – no, needed – her back. Even if he couldn't tell her the truth, couldn't hug her like he had his other children before they started hating him, he still wanted her, still loved to hear her walk through that door with her sister. For a moment, he could even pretend that his life had turned out the way it should have, that he had three beautiful children with his high school sweetheart and they all lived happily in a mansion a mile from the beach. But that picture always faded, leaving him with two children who hated him and a distant wife who hated him even more. He terminated the call to the Sheriff's Department and slapped the desk.
"Dammit!"
-x-
Celeste swirled her drink, taking tiny sips as she listened to her family, each one breaking down over that wench, Veronica Mars. It figured that the only way she could screw with Celeste's life more than with daily visits in which her family gravitated towards her immediately was by not being there.
She tipped her head back and down the rest of her drink. It was going to be a very long night.
Celeste really hated Veronica Mars.
-x-
Logan stayed as long as he could. He knew that with his mom out of town, he couldn't trust anyone at home to lend a sympathetic ear. When he let himself into his silent house, he said a little prayer of thanks that it was empty. He made his way to his room and collapsed onto the bed, rubbing his arm. A nasty bruise was starting to form where Duncan had accidentally punched him. He sighed. He never realized how much he cared about Veronica before. She was just always there, Lilly's best friend, Duncan's girl. Always the perfect young lady, quiet when she should be, outspoken when the occasion called for it, at once serious and funny, just the ideal girl. And he took her for granted. She faded into the wallpaper when Lilly was around. But now, quite possibly for the first time ever, he saw her clearly. And he missed her like hell.
-x-
Keith had choked back the sobs, the crippling fear, when he realized why Lilly Kane had called him. He had forced it down, kept it hidden while the efficient sheriff in him took over, coordinating the search, gathering details like as what she was wearing, supplying a recent photo, interviewing the Kanes' neighbors, the usual routine. The whole time, he kept seeing one image in his mind: Veronica's broken necklace lying in a puddle of blood.
They say the odds of finding a missing person alive are cut in half every hour. The timeline they had constructed suggested she had been taken three hours ago. That put the odds of finding his daughter alive at 12.5.
The head of the forensic team approached him and confirmed what he already knew. The blood was Veronica's. The odds just went down a little more.
-x-
Darkness settled just as the search was starting. Lilly could hear the searchers shouting, could see the flashlight beams traveling back and forth across the lawn. An idea struck her and she wondered how she could be so selfish that she didn't think of it before. All she had been thinking about was her own fear, her own pain. What about Veronica? They had to find her.
She strode purposefully down the hall and threw Duncan's bedroom door open. She noticed the bandaged wrapped around his right fist and grabbed the other hand to drag him out of the house.
"C'mon, we're gonna help search."
Duncan nodded blankly, following his sister to the front door.
"Lilly, Duncan, where are you going?"
"We're going to look for Veronica, Dad." Lilly stared at him, silently asking him to join them as she knew he wanted to. Jake made to follow them, but Celeste entered the room.
"Jake," she said icily.
He froze and shook his head sadly.
"Go on, then."
Lilly nodded, finally understanding just how weak her father was. She led the way to her car, getting in fist. She caught sight of the tapes. After everything that had happened, she had forgotten about them. She quickly stowed them under her seat as Duncan slid into the passenger seat.
"What was that?"
Lilly responded by turning on the radio and backing out of the driveway. The tapes had sent her mind whirling. Did she now have guilt to add to that list of emotions she was feeling?
-x-
Logan stared up at the same patch of ceiling he had been watching all afternoon. His father had come in a little while ago and gone straight to his own room. Logan didn't budge until an idea struck him. How selfish was he that he hadn't thought of it before?
Hopping to his feet, he grabbed a flashlight and made his way to the front door, making a mental note to go get Lilly and Duncan to help. He pulled open the door and stepped back, surprised to see Lilly, her hand poised to knock.
"Let's go," she said simply, turning and walking back to the car.
