"So that's your problem? Been awhile?" Miller Corban scoffed as the Casino host Georgina Bourque ignored his unwelcome flirtation advances and glared at him before moved away with her glass of champagne to mingle with some of the other guests beside the crab's tables.

"Forward much?" Amira whispered to Wallace in disgust, he clenched his grip around the cards he was holding and tried his best to calm his reaction. He was starting to wish that he'd taken the offer on that free yacht back to campus just to get away from this entitled fucker. Eli Navarro had been a little rough around the edges, a known trouble maker in his youth and from the 'wrong side of town' but he never was disrespectful to women like that. Just went to prove that Wealth couldn't buy class and after having spent a golfing with the Miller Corban, he was grateful for his own lack of funds... nothing in his experience had taught him that having that kind of money made a guy a good person. Wallace had been taciturn since their arrival at the Ball fundraiser in the Catalina Casino owned by the Bourque family.

"If you think Millers bad now… wait until you see him in a Tux" Emerson had warned during their lunch earlier today… he hadn't been exaggerating.

"It's not every afternoon that an enigmatic, comely blonde named Mars walks into the scruffy gin joint where Logan "Two Left Feet" Echolls Props up the bar" Logan said in a terribly accented deep voice into Veronica's ear as he returned to the table with her drink, she smiled faintly and snuggled into him.

"Oh come on Camilla Cabello.. you know you girls like it when a guy tells you how hot you are…" Miller pressed as he slurred his words, his gaze leering over her curves in her satin evening dress and Wallace stiffened as the man appraised his girlfriend. "All this #Metoo is ruining what used to be considered a good old fashioned time, you know?" he complained looking to Joel Galen and his business partner Emerson Hartfield for some kind of agreement. Parker visibly paled at the chauvinistic playboys rantings and Veronica shifted closer in her seat to make sure she was okay.

"Listen man, nobody likes it when you talk to the girls like that, especially the girls… so why don't you slow down on that before someone decides to take you outside" Wallace growled as he calmly moved next to Amira, flexed a bit and stared the little beta in the eye, his eyes scanned the room to locate Piz and Zoe who were standing beside the roulette table speaking to the owners of Neptune's most popular CPKW 97.4 radio station. Sensing trouble his roommate met his eyes in question and gave him a questioning look.

"Relax man… Georgie's good for it" Miller scoffed, pointing off in her direction before mockingly adding in a high pitch whiny voice, "Aww, I'm a pretty girl. Everybody everywhere wants to buy me free drinks and have sex with me. Poor me… bitch LOVES that attention… relax…" he rolled his eyes but skulked off towards the bar. Joel gave Emerson a stern look and the other man sighed before going after him to avoid any further damage and keep him under control as it is not enough gain too much blowback.

"I can only apologize… guy is going through a nasty divorce" Joel explained as he rubbed a hand over the small of Parkers back. She gave him a weak smile but excused herself to go to the bathroom. "I was in college with him… we all were, me, Georgie, Emerson… He's usually like a cool guy… he'd been with the same woman for years, married her straight out of high school but… well… there's been some… adjustments"

"Really? I can't imagine that fine male specimen behaving like an actual human being… I would probably activate defensive mode and run away like a startled deer if whatever he said didn't have some kind of revolting sexual undertone" Georgina muttered as she returned to the table with a small plate of finger sandwiches and pigs in blankets for the group.

"Come on Georgina.. don't be bitter" Joel frowned and Logan gave him a puzzled look. "Georgie here and Beth, Millers soon-to-be ex-wife were roommates… her loyalties are a bit torn"

"The asshole cheated on her with his Secretary… AND yours!" she complained as Parker came back.

"And she's divorcing him for it…" Emerson told her as he returned to the table.

"Where's Prince Charming?" Georgie demanded.

"In a cab.. on his way back to his hotel" he said, raising his hands up in surrender.

"Told you it was too soon for him to be out in public" Joel sighed.

"Hey.. I had to try" Emerson answered defensively. "The Board was getting worried… this whole mess is bad for the company image… Noel Stanton is a traditional family man" he explained, referring to the recent merger attempt with the Social Media Mogul that had been put at risk because of his partners recent personal troubles.

"Yes well, that's the difficulty with Morality Clauses in contracts" Joel frowned.

"It's also not smart to be screwing around behind your wife's back when her father is the head of California Bank & Trust and you want to move your business" Georgie complained.

"Sorry… let's not talk business at the table" Joel sighed as he glanced at Parker and the rest of the groups awkward silence over their little exchange. "PR problems" he offered.

"You know… Parkers Major is in Public Relations" Amira pointed out, making eye contact with her friend who smiled gratefully at the change in topic so her date wouldn't pry too much into her sudden uncomfortableness.

"Really?" Georgina asked in surprise, regarding the taller blond girl with renewed interest. "Pretty thing like you, I would have thought you were doing something in Fashion or the Arts."

"Yeah.. with a Minor in Social Media and Tech" she nodded, that last part had been influenced in part by her hacktivist computer guru roommate Mac MacKenzie.

"Emerson, you should get her card" Joel smiled. His friend was head of a Cyber Relations Consultancy that worked with Hospital Interfaces between drug companies and medical specialists like Galen Industries.

"Oh I don't have any of those yet.. I'm still a freshmen… I'm still undecided if it's something that I really want to pursue" Parker blushed.

"Do not sell yourself short!" Amira scolded. "You should see this girl campaigning… she's already revolutionized campus drink and safety awareness with her work in the Student Councils and the Campus Administration."

Parker had become a driving force after her own assault in making the Greek Houses, the Fraternities and Party Houses on Jock Row, where the Athletic village were located take the risk of rapes on campus more seriously after the recent attacks by Mercer Hayes. They now had a Campus wide safety policy which had been so successful it was being rolled out to several other institutions as far away as San Diego State and UCLA.

"Well… I think that's officially me out" Logan sighed as he tossed his cards down and looked at his final few chips. He glanced down at Veronica who had decided to not place another bet also as Wallace smiled and gathered up his winnings. His late night hang-outs in the Mars Investigations Office with Veronica listening to the police scanners and reviewing her footage from her various planted cameras while playing cards in Senior High had certainly payed off tonight but he could see from glancing over at his roommate Piz, he wasn't having much luck.

"I still thought you were supposed to be good at this" Wallace roasted Logan as he grinned at Veronica in victory.

"The student has become the Master" she nodded in approval.

"Okay… well what do you say you and I go Master the dancefloor?" Logan said, slipping his hand into hers and pulling her up from her seat as the performers and band took to the stage. A thin woman with dark hair and black eyes in an evening dress began a sultry cover of Vance Joys – I'm with you as couples began to filter onto the dancefloor.

Logan pulled the petite sleuth to him and inhaled her perfume as they began to sway and began to croon some of his favourite lyrics gently into her ear; she rewarded him with a smile as the soothing sound of his voice vibrated through his chest as he held her to his body.

"It's criminal that not only are you good looking... but you can also sing pretty well" Veronica teased as she melted into his embrace; she breathed him in and felt at peace.

THIS… This moment is why she had wanted to stay on Catalina Island… the rest of the world fell away and it was just the two of them…

"We are going to get through this" he comforted as she leaned her head against his chest listening to his heartbeat.

"I know… I believe in Us" she told him as she looked up at him, her arms around his hips. Logan Echolls was her centre. The noise and the conspiracy theories and the endless questions all grew quiet when she was with him. Being in his arms, feeling his touch was like the deepest meditation she had ever found. His words could hurt the most, but in the four years of this little push and pull between them she had never been able to let him go.

"I'm always going to believe in us… it's always been you Veronica… it's always will be" he told her earnestly.

"Spanning year and continents?" she mused.

Live's ruined… blood shed…

"Epic" he nodded. "We don't have to tell anyone yet… our story is our own.."

"He would have been happy for us" Veronica told him, her eyes watering as her thoughts turned to Weevil.

"Yeah… he'd probably have broken into my car to leave us an engagement gift" he pondered.

"He kind of already did.." Veronica said softly, running her fingers over the recovered cufflinks on his wrists. Weevil had been the one to contact his old PCH Biker crew to locate Havier and the missing items from the night that the Echolls family estate had been torched after he'd had lunch with her in the Hearst cafeteria a few weeks ago and she'd mentioned wanting to do something special for her boyfriend.

"Guy is always trying to one up me…" Logan muttered, remembering their friendly rivalry from High School. The two of them had become closer during the attempts to clear his name and find out who had really murdered Felix Toomes that night on the bridge when Aaron Echolls had been arrested.

"It's been a lot this week" she said quietly. Weevils murder, which was no random act of violence... it was connected to the other recent murders of Dean Odell, she was sure of it. The unexpected loss so close on the heels of the death of Sheriff Lamb, her father's re-instatement to Office, her unplanned engagement, finding out that notorious playboy and all round jock Dick Casablancas and her best friend Mac were now officially an item… which was worrisome because if getting her boyfriend in trouble, and girls out of their pants, was a sport, Dick Casablancas would be the star athlete… and the Neptune Women's Free Clinic had yet to perform the blood tests to confirm Mac's pregnancy…

She was exhausted, and tomorrow morning when they returned to Neptune, the real work would begin.

Sheriff Mars sighed as he exited the elevator to the Neptune Grand Hotel penthouse suites and knocked on the familiar door to the Echolls Boy's apartment. He rarely enjoyed his visits to this place… as a father he didn't like to think about the kind of things that happened here involving his daughter and her boyfriend.

She was growing up too fast…

A sudden well of sadness moved through him as he thought of the pending autopsy report of Eli Navarro's body and the forensic files sitting on his desk in the Balboa County Sheriff's department awaiting his return.

Sheriff Lambs killer, Steve Botando had vehemently denied any involvement with Dean Odells death, and the checks on the IT Logs on the computer part serials had confirmed his story that the recent computer maintenance had removed his old keyboard to storage, but it had somehow ended up in the Dean's office. Someone had planted false evidence and Keith could make the educated guess that the blood on the clothing found in the incinerator would belong to the Dean. Somehow, Eli Navarro had stumbled upon whoever had been trying to destroy the proof and it had cost him his life.

"Life moves so fast you got to document the good times, man" he recalled the cocky teen mocking him after his first arrest as he was having his mug shot taken. It had still been the picture used on his police file that Keith had looked through today, he'd only been 13 years old at the time and full of attitude and swagger even then in his oversized shoplifted hand me down leather jacket from his older cousin Chardo Navarro.

Knocking on the door he stood back and waited as Dick Casablancas came and opened it.

"Hi Daddy Mars, Sup?" the tall blond man greeted him while standing shirtless in nothing but a pair of black sweat pants.

"It's Sheriff Mars… You called Said it was urgent and couldn't wait until morning?" Keith corrected as he sighed and he stepped inside, his eyes doing its usual critical observation of his surroundings, he was less than amused by the missing and half empty bottles of alcohol in the liquor cabinet, but decided it was a matter for another day, it was late and he was tired. He had very little tolerance for trust fund frat boys like Dick Casablancas, he remembered all too well the visits to Neptune High School to collect Veronica after the reign of cruelty that Logan Echolls and his peers had visited upon his daughter during her Junior year after the death of Lilly Kane.

She may have forgiven them but there was some things a parent couldn't forget so easily after seeing the pain in his child's eyes.

"Uh right… yes… well you see… I've tried going through my own personal stash and I've pulled the apartment apart looking for where Loggs might have put them but even that Youtube tutorial with the pins wouldn't work… I had to call you because I can't get them open and she's got class in the morning" Dick rambled and guided him inside the small living area.

"Couldn't get what open?" Keith sighed as he turned and saw a very nervous bedraggled Mac MacKenzie emerging from the bedroom, dressed in a pair of shorts and a bandana top, with her hands secured in front of her in a pair of Neptune County Sheriff Department handcuffs.

"Hey Mr Mars" she greeted him shyly, her cheeks burning red with embarrassment.

"We couldn't find the keys… so dude… if you could just.." he said making an unlocking gesture "that would be great" he explained nonchalantly and pointed then offered her a small cup of coffee with a smile. Grimacing, Keith Mars reached into his pocket for the keys.

Yeah… as a father… he didn't want to know exactly what went on in this place… or why he was staring at his missing set of cuffs he had been unable to find for the last few months.