Beta Credit: Amy, Sarah, and Joey.

Chapter Six

"I should've put a tracker on him," Veronica said to Logan as she slouched down in the driver's seat, her eyes fixed on the lieutenant's apartment building across the street. They had been waiting for a little over an hour for the two-faced daddy to come home. It was close to dusk, but so far, he was a no-show. Logan had made a few calls and found out that the lieutenant spent the day on base, but he left a couple of hours ago. He should've been home by now.

"He wouldn't lead us right to his son anyway," Logan replied before he took a gulp out of his Red Bull. "The man may be a lot of things, but stupid isn't on the list."

Logan had dropped his car off at the Fennels' and taken an Uber to meet up with Veronica. After all, there was no need for an ambush with two vehicles. They just came to have a chat with Anderson about his former mistress who could have helped him take his son, or who could have kidnapped his son out of revenge for a soured split. No big deal, Veronica thought wryly.

"Even if Anderson's not involved in the kidnapping," Veronica said, her eyes drifting to Logan, "he's still a narcissistic jackass who cares more about sticking it to his wife than finding Ethan. I doubt he'll spill anything. I'm just here to give him a little push and see where he goes with it."

"What can I do to help?"

Veronica scoffed. "Well, you just insisted on tagging along. I thought you're here to be my backup for a just-in-case scenario." She tried to sound indignant but failed miserably, she knew. As it turned out, she enjoyed working with him on the case, exchanging information and theories, and having his company while staking out a person of interest.

Yeah, it all was well and good until it wasn't. She knew seeing your spouse all day and all night could wreak havoc on your marriage. They needed to keep their professional lives separate.

For the most part, anyway.

Her husband's lips curled up in his renowned smile. "Will there ever come a day when you welcome help with open arms?"

Veronica mimicked his smile. "Now what fun would that be?"

Just then, there was a ding from Logan's phone.

He picked it up off the top of the dashboard and looked at the notification.

"What is it?"

"Text from your dad," Logan replied and then relayed the message. "'Just want you guys to know, Noah's fed and now he's enjoying his bubble bath. Let me know how things are going with Anderson.'"

Veronica's forehead crinkled "Why is my dad texting you and not me?" Her mind slid back to the other day when she'd walked in on her father and her husband in cahoots over something. Nobody became that jittery over the mail without just cause. "Care to share what's been going on between you two."

Logan arched a brow. "Jealous?"

"You know I'll figure it out."

"Of course you will."

Veronica laughed. "So, you're not even deny—."

The sharp glow of headlights approached.

"Oh, look who arrived home." Veronica sat up straighter as the fire red Honda Accord slowed to a stop alongside her modest black Ford Focus. Anderson threw her an ugly scowl, puffing on a cigarette before flicking it out the window. Veronica took in a deep breath before rolling down her own window.

"Are you fucking stalking me now, Mars," the lieutenant asked.

"If we were stalking you, lieutenant, we'd be following you, not waiting for you to get home to talk to you."

"Cute." Anderson scoffed and narrowed his gaze. "Your sidekick of a husband over there has been trying to turn my fellow officers against me. He should be grateful I don't sue for defamation of character."

"I am, truly," Logan replied, tossing a smirk at the fellow officer. "Tell me, was your stay in jail peaceful? It must be nice for you, though, to be out on bail."

"Is that a threat, Echolls?" Anderson bit out

Veronica shot Logan a pointed look, then turned back to her person of interest. "Okay, enough with the idle chit chat. I just thought you'd like to know we have a promising lead."

Genuine hope washed over the man's face. "What lead?"

"Anne Martin."

Anderson gave a forced chuckle. "You're kidding, right?"

Interesting, Veronica thought, he wasn't denying he knew the woman. "She was your mistress, right?"

"Okay, yeah," the lieutenant replied as he rubbed his hand down his face. "Yeah, she was, but the keyword here is was. She broke it off months ago. Anne has no reason to take Ethan."

"A surveillance camera near the school shows her SUV driving away around the time Ethan was abducted." Veronica lied, closing the space for him to argue. She then disclosed the true facts. "Anne's landlady says that she left town a couple of months ago shortly after someone saw you guys arguing at the Rodeo Bar. The witness overheard her say that you didn't deserve your son, making me think that maybe this kidnapping plot was planned months in advance."

"So, you think she took my son out of some sort of revenge, really?"

She shrugged. "Either that or your falling out was staged and you two are working together."

"Fuck!" Anderson gritted his teeth and said, "I'd never do that to my son."

For the first time, Veronica saw cracks in his arrogant exterior and she wanted to believe him. "Where could she have gone, then?"

"God, I have no fucking clue." Anderson let out a hefty sigh. "She has no family. Her parents are dead. I don't know. We never really talked about her past. She never really talked about it and I never asked. It was not supposed to be that serious between us."

"Do you know anything about the father of her child?"

"Anne said he was killed in a motorcycle accident when she was still pregnant," the lieutenant replied in a lackluster tone as if he thought it was useless information. Then he said, "Look, I know you think I'm a shitty husband and a shitty person all around, but I just want Ethan back home."

"That's what I'm trying to do. I wasn't hired to catch you cheating. I was hired to bring your son home." Veronica gave a meaningful pause. "But it would make my job a hell of a lot easier if you stop with the dramatics, particularly with your wife and Balotelli. And be honest with me."

"Fine," Anderson said, morphing back into his chilly alter ego. "Are we done here?"

"If you think of anything else, call me."

Without another word, the lieutenant sped away, tires screeching and all.

"What a swell guy," Logan said, breaking his five minutes of silence.

Veronica glared at him.

"What?"

"Really, Logan? Goading him? How does that help?"

"I was just trying to play the bad cop to your good cop."

Veronica gave him an I-wasn't-born-yesterday look.

Her husband sighed. "Guilty of kidnapping or not, he's still a hypocritical asshole. He's asking around base about me. I guess, classic Logan reared his ugly head for a sec."

Her irritation deflated and her mind returned to the case. "What's your read on him?"

"He's not directly involved."

That was her gut instinct as well.

….

"What's dat?" Noah sat on top of the bathroom vanity and pointed his finger at the envelope in Logan's hand. It was about 9: 30am the next morning and Logan had just given the toddler a blade-free shaving lesson. The plan for the rest of the day was to take Noah to Raging Waters. The kid deserved a day of splashing around a water park after being passed around from one babysitter to another the last few days. They were just waiting for Veronica to get back from her walk with Pony.

"This?" Logan glanced at his and Veronica's anniversary party invitation to the Fennels before shoving it back into his shaving kit and zipping it up. "It's just mail, buddy," he told the toddler the vague truth, setting him down on the floor. As luck would have it—when Logan had dropped off his car yesterday—he bumped into the mailman who handed him the daily mail containing the much-awaited invitation. Yeah, this surprise anniversary op was ridiculously overblown, Logan knew, especially now that Veronica was already on to them, but Keith was right. Trying to outrun her in this game of cat and mouse was kind of thrilling.

The slam of a car door outside caused Logan to look out of the oval window. Veronica and Pony were walking toward the front porch as a minivan displaying an Uber decal on the windshield backed out of the drive. Logan smiled to himself. He should have known better than to think they were going for a simple walk. Veronica had left wearing her work face, in a rush as if she had been working against the clock.

The tapping of Pony's nails on the hardwood floor soon echoed up the stairs. A minute later, Veronica appeared in the bathroom doorway in her black jogging shorts and a pink tank. Her blond hair was swept up in a ponytail and a youthful glow radiated across her face.

Her mouth turned up into a half-smile. "Guess what just happened?"

"Pony got pooped and forced you into an Uber?"

Ignoring his sarcasm, she tilted her head and grinned. "We got the house. I just got the call. The seller accepted our offer after another offer fell through."

It had been only days since they put in the offer, but with everything happening—helping out with the investigation and taking care of Noah—it seemed like a lifetime ago. However, Logan welcomed this news. Maybe, just maybe, the darkened cloud that had been anchored over his head for so long would be finally moving on. He was cautiously optimistic.

"I'm afraid this means we're further cemented in matrimonial bliss." He smiled, softly pulling her into his arms.

"Oh well, too late to turn back now." Veronica sighed before capturing his lips with her own.

"Go swim?"

They broke apart and glanced down at Noah's bouncy body, his eyes moving back and forth between the two of them.

"I guess, we can do that." Veronica picked the boy up and kissed his cheek, obtaining a giggle out of him. "What do you say, Uncle Logan?"

"Let's go for it!"

Noah gleefully clapped his hands.

As they went down the stairs, Logan got back to the question of the day. "So, why did your walk require an Uber?"

"I put a tracker on Anderson's car just in case he knows where Anne Martin is, or he goes rogue and tracks her down on his own."

"Of course, you did," Logan said in an unsurprised tone. "And just so you know, I invited your dad and Susan to the water park with us."

"Of course, you did."

….