A/N: Last one seemed to fly by. I was kind of eh about it, but trying to build the heat. Today is update day!

Destiny Rocks

Ch. 5

'The search continues for the accomplice in what police are calling a horrific murder of local and well-loved chairman….'

Logan looked away from the TV as the counter girl handed him his coffee. "Anything else, Sir?"

He gave her a fake smile, "no, thanks."

He grabbed the second cup he'd gotten for Duncan after pocketing his change, and made his way over to their table. The guy was strung out beyond belief Logan noted with a shrug. That was to be expected, after the week he'd had. Still, he sighed as he thought through the mess before him. His friend had been out of it since the riot of bad news kept hitting their town. But this had been an on-going occurrence, and he wasn't sure what to make of the last years' events. Logan had learned that Lily, once long time love of his, was mutilated beyond repair for the funeral viewing. Upon request, he was given some of videos of her for a memorial the school wanted to do for her. Deep down, Logan doubted they would capture the carefree version of her that he and everyone else really knew. Her mother could be so stuffy.

"Can you believe this shit," he said waving his hand at the other TV as he pulled the chair up to the table.

'...Local Cindy, "Mac" Mackenzie is thought to be armed and dangerous. Any tips on her whereabouts are…'

Logan noted Duncan's eyes were glassy again, like he was high out of his damned mind, and unaware of things around him. His eyes may have glided up to the TV, but he doubted that anything registered. His parents seemed to have drugged him up since finding Lily's body. As if they were afraid Duncan would lose himself, they left him that way. Granted, I don't have any idea what it must be like, Logan pondered, but that seemed really lousy of them. Better than my own parents, he finished thinking. He stuck to drinking his own drink and listening on.

Mr. Kane had gone up to their second house to get away from all the talk shows and cameras, and Mrs. Kane made the last arrangements since Lily was laid to rest. He never quite understood how those two fit together. Better than your parents, he surmised. He himself had drunk himself into a stupor more than one night at a time. Who am I to judge, he thought almost aloud. There was no face to face goodbye for me, Logan said and pushed down his emotions.

Of course everyone blamed Veronica.

There was no news yet on Veronica herself. They'd found her unresponsive at the scene, but managed to stabilize her. She was in the psych ward as of right now, not talking or eating. There was evidence of rape, but nothing to tie Weevil to that aspect of the case. They were trying to nail down a charge, but one with the maximum sentence. It mattered not how the chairman was the bad guy, just the minority who'd offed him. However, the dude he killed had towels of Veronica's blood in his wash, several condoms, and drugs he wasn't supposed to have. The kind that paralyze parts of the body but leave you aware.

He also had trophy's of the others-teens missing over the years. Pictures on the wall of other crime scene locations, frozen fingers, jewellery-the entire works. Logan gave Weevil props for protecting his own, regardless of how her status differed from his own. Weevil talked saying that the dude killed Lily also. That's where Logan was sold. Despite everything, he'd always loved Lily. The way he murdered the guy had people asking for death sentences, but Logan managed to use some of his trust fund to get the guy a lawyer. Hats off to him, Logan thought with bitterness. Fuck his parents if they tried to stop him. He was eighteen now. Granted, he hid what he'd done, but none the less, justice had to be served. Or is it your own guilt, he asked himself as he had many times before.

No one should have to endure what they had. It still amazed him how much the rich didn't care about who was wronged, just how the Chairman-or The Man- had been murdered. He knew they were trying to question Veronica, but there was nothing so far-or nothing released.

A padded room seemed a bit much; Logan assumed that Veronica wasn't going to be in the right state of mind for a while. Mac was a computer nerd and geek-not a killer. She must have been looking for Veronica, but no one could trace her either. There was rumor that Veronica was in on the killing. As evidence was made clear, that seemed implausible. She was nearly dead on scene. Still, people had picked their sides and it was going to be bitter to the end.

That's why he'd released part of his video to the public.

Then came the easy to blame aspects of the crime. Without a living will, everything was left to her as his sole heir. However, she wasn't talking which didn't help her case. People figured the three were in on some huge scam.

Logan sighed, blew out a breath, and sat back. Veronica was many things, but she'd never hurt Lily. It was only a matter of time before that link was made that the girls were at odds. Then again, looking back to Duncan, Logan was sure his parents paid to keep that angle out of the news.

"Mac wouldn't kill a fly," Logan said in passing. "Good luck catching her, though."

"I know," Duncan said. "Dad was considering her for an internship this summer. Apparently, she's that good."

"So," Logan changed the subject surprised Duncan was in the now, "how are things between you and Meg?"

Logan wondered how his friend was really holding up with his more recently girlfriend. The two got together this summer and seemed to hit it off real well. Truth be told, Meg sort of reminded him of the way Veronica had once been before she's gotten so bitter. Meg had also been one of the nicer people to her, while the rest of them had been shit.

"She's got problems with her parents, but I don't know."

"Don't know?"

Duncan jumped up, his chair falling back. Logan looked up from the ridge of his coffee, brows up and interest piqued. It seemed Duncan always wore a plaid shirt, and khaki pants these days. "She wasn't in with that -"

Logan jumped up and knew what set Duncan off. the News, of course. He clamped a hand over Duncan's mouth. A slur was not something that would go over well in public. The bikers had taken an interest in them lately. "Dude, not now," Logan warned.

"Whose side are you on," Duncan countered. He flung Logan off him like a piece of shit. Meg chose that second to walk in, but stopped short with her perfect blood hair in place, and wide eyed expression.

Duncan yelled to the TV silencing everyone around them, "Veronica wouldn't do that!" He covered his face with both hands, "I knew it was my moms fault. I shouldn't have broken up with her man."

Logan's face paled as Meg's smile faded from her face. Logan stared wishing he had something to say, when Duncan turned and followed where his attention was.

"Shit, MEG!" He yelled at her.

Logan grabbed him again. "Let her go man," Logan warned.

Duncan pushed him off throwing Logan for a loop, "What? We all grew up here, doesn't it seem a little weird that Lily is dead, Mac is in cahoots with Weevil of all people, and Veronica is in the insane asylum?"

"Not here, Duncan ok. Wanna talk, lets go to the car."

"NO," he said like a petulant child. "It's his fault," he slurred. "it's your fault. You treated her like crap."

Logan sighed again, and knew Duncan was about to have a seizure. His movements became jerky, and while this entire scene was going on, of course people decided to take video. He went for Duncan a moment before the shaking began, tackling him carefully to the floor. After about thirty seconds, Duncan's body went limp. There was a little blood where he'd bitten his tongue. Shit, Logan groaned. His parents are gonna take him out of town, he thought pissed. Maybe it was better for him.

"Hey," said some guy Logan didn't recognize. "I can help you get him to the car if you need."

Logan scratched the back of his neck unsure what to say. The guy looked familiar, with brown hair to his jaw line and a five o'clock shadow. He looked familiar, he thought, but considered the help. "You aren't one of them freak photographers, are you?"

"Uh," he guy looked around, "no?" He looked down to his chest that was void of a camera, then back to Logan.

"Yeah man, that'd be cool." He shrugged and stretched real quickly to lift his friend up. The guy grabbed Duncan by his feet and followed Logan to his truck.

Once Duncan was placed, the guy looked his friend over with compassion, "I had a brother who had seizures all the time." He looked over Duncan's face a second time as knowing dawned on him, "oh, this is the kid whose sister died. My bad."

"Ah," Logan said as he readjusted his shirt and beach necklace. "so you've seen."

The guy looked at it for a moment, "It's all over the damned news. These guys are like sharks. You get that from down south? Surfing?" He indicated Logan's necklace.

Logan looked down, and remembered it was the one Lily had given him for his birthday last year. He'd never taken it off. "My girlfriend gave it to me. So I guess. The waves were great that year," he finished.

"Yeah, me and the guys go when we are on break sometimes." He nodded with agreement.

Logan noted his eyes reflecting on what must be considered good times. "Break?" Logan asked not sure what to make of the comment, however.

"Yeah, from work." The guy said matter of fact.

"Cool," Logan shot back. He thought it was strange that this guy and his friends got the same time off, but whatever. He must be a tourist.

"I'm Brent," he held a hand out to Logan with a strange look on his face.

Logan shook said hand, "Logan Echolls."

"Ah, I've seen your dads movies."

Eh, Logan thought already put off. This guy had questionable tastes as far as he was concerned. "Well, thanks man," Logan gave him a two finger, from the brow, salute.

"No problem." The guy waved and walked off.

Logan forgot his keys in the coffee shop and groaned. He buckled Duncan in, and ran casually back inside and grabbed his keys.

Mac slapped the mosquito from her leg for the hundredth time. This was a nice beach house, thankfully, small and empty. She'd been hiding out sleeping on the beach for days at a time trying to find a way to get the story out. She'd hacked into Logan Echolls cloud drive and got the file he'd had of her, Weevil and Veronica. When parts of it landed on the web, it made sense when she remembered he was chasing after her at school the day he and Dick got into it when he'd 'grabbed' Madison. Plus he forgot to remove his tags, the dumb ass. That one had surprised her. The porn he stored on there, now that was nothing new. Ewe, gross, she thought and shivered.

Fear wracked her brain, however, and the need to survive kicked in. These were powerful men, and she wondered why the bikers hadn't sent out the video yet. She'd tapped into Kane software and surveillance to keep tabs on Thumper, and found he was meeting up with Fitzpatrick's behind Weevil's back. She still had Weevil's phone, so she had the proof she needed. Everything she had was traceable though, so she decided to enter one of the houses that was empty hoping for an internet connection and computer. Being on the beach, it was only going to be a matter of time before someone spotted her.

Good this one had it, she thought and jumped onto the balcony. She looked around again and noticed there was a boat missing from there. Good, I only need a few minutes, she thought and looked outside. The day was pretty, sunshine set for all after noon. If it was like most rich people, they would be gone all day. After noticing there few no camera's, she fist pumped the air and went to work breaking in.

Breaking in was easy. She held up her gadget to the alarm, and it ran through a series of random numbers, then she heard a click. "Wow, people have no idea how easy it is to break into houses these days."

She dropped her backpack, stuffed it again, and puilled it over her shoulder. With one last look, she took a deep breath and centered herself. This bag was huge, minus the things that would help people see her. She'd ripped them off about three weeks ago.

"Bam," she whispered and opened the door. This place had no surveillance even inside, which made it her primary target. Once in, she scouted for food, used the bathroom, and located a computer she could use. After finishing a can of coke, she entered a guys room, set up his computer, and entered secret chat room.

She typed, why haven't you put the video out? and hit send.

After what seemed like forever, a response came, We did, but they won't air it. Said too graphic.

Mac made a face, It's proof?! She typed. Dammit Thumper, she thought. he's totally going to betray her.

Weevil said you can hack. Can't you put it out there? Appeared on screen. She looked down at her watch. 25 seconds appeared and she ended the connection. Mac was careful knowing that they could be in on it. Better to not allow a trace.

As she sat there, she devised a way to loop her signal where they couldn't trace her, and maybe she would have to upload and disperse the video herself. The last thing she wanted was for Veronica to be exposed, but the more that people knew, the better chance they both had of survival. And maybe, just maybe, Weevil could get a lighter sentence.

Yeah right, she thought with bitterness. Nothing good ever happens to good people.

I can't talk. I know I try to talk, but words won't come out. If I do, they will kill me to keep their secrets. So I sit here in this room. Day after day, week after week. I wish they would have just let me go. The tune comes over me, and I hum it. It's been lulling my mind, but now I can hear it like its playing aloud. There is nothing to write with here. Just me and some cotton clothes.I'd realized I was clean some days ago. It feels strange.

I hear the melody, I hear the guitar, I hear the words of the person I know would do it justice. Realizing I am late delivering my music to those I'd promised it to, I felt bad. I need it out of me, but there is nothing…

Every day is nothing….

Nothing…

(Three weeks later)

There was a car door slam, and Mac jumped awake with a start. Before she could pack her things, the door was unlocked sending her about frantically. Shit! She thought and jumped into the nearest closet. Just as the door slid shut, people passed by in the dark.

People who were arguing. My stuff! Mac remembered that her stuff was all laid out, the computer on, and everything she'd been working on was about to be seen.

"Well the boy need to learn something," Said a male voice. It's deeper, like a guy in his forties. Her heart raced, and she secretly wished they'd get out of the way of her things. I'm going to have to do something! she thought frantically.

"You don't have to whip him, not out here." The woman sounded drunk, and Mac's eyes widened as she made out Mrs. Echolls face. Oh for the love of hell, she thought with a pained expression. She remembered she had her phone in her pocket, but hadn't used it in weeks. A huge blast of music blared the area. She turned on the phone to drown out the little welcoming theme it did when first turned on. At least it was set to auto draft her mother's bank to be paid. Work, she willed it. Work. YES! The screen lit up, and she set it to silent. Next, Mac put it on video and began to record. No doubt, the police would be hacked in and actively tracing her. No matter, the video was set to roll out all over the place, and at random times. Even if she went missing, the word would go live.

Aaron turned to his wife, "he's out of control!" He walked out of the room, the music shut off, and then he returned red faced and angry.

Another slam indicated a third person entering the domain. Mac already knew it could be Logan, "can you guys, like I don't know, not argue right now?" He moved to pick up the sound remote when his father grabbed it from his hand. The two males bumped chest and stared at each other eye to eye. The lights were turned on, and mac let go from hiding her screen so they'd not notice it in the dark closet.

Aaron baited him, "Do it son. Then we'll see what it's like living without daddy's money."

Logan's mom turned and left the room, returning seconds later with a glass in her hand. Wow, Mac thought with pity. This must go on all the time.

Mac covered her mouth as Aaron Echolls, out of the blue, landed a punch over Logan face so quickly she wasn't sure she saw him move. Holy hell, she thought frantically. Her hands shook, but one remained over her mouth to keep her and her presence unknown. In the chaos, she'd almost screamed. He full on punched Logan in the face-over music?

"STOP!" His mother yelled to Aaron. Mac could tell her eyes darted around for some excuse to come up with. Too bad you're drunk, Mac thought aggravated. She stood between them, but Logan pulled his mom behind him. Oh, she thought, who knew he had a good bone in his body? "Ma, move."

Aaron watched Logan like a hawk does before it snatches its prey. Once his wife was moved aside, he struck again.

Logan took a moment, after he'd fallen to the floor, and gripped his nose. "Is that the best you got, Pops?"

His mother cried, "The police, the cameras….I can't take it anymore!" She threw her glass at them and went out back. The house shook with the force of her slam.

Logan and Aaron both stared at the door, and eventually, Logan held his hands up in defeat.

Mac could see the way Aaron stared down at Logan with a rage similar to the one she'd seen when Veronica was…

She shook her head and tears crested her eyes. But he backed off when Logan offered no further resistance. After a pause, he stood and walked to the room she was hoping to get to before he did. The door slammed causing her to jump.

Logan knew what it's like, she thought with some trepidation. A plan formulated in her head. She hit upload, and then encrypted the package. By now the cops would have traced her out here. Dammit.

As soon as he closed the door, Logan was on alert. Everything in his room was on, like someone had just been here. He grabbed a T-shirt, looking at the items. He read the computer, but had no idea what the code was. There was a bag, a decryption thingy, and a Mac computer that was off sitting next to a duffle bag.

He frowned and checked the room for anything else missing. Nope, nothing.

I know that computer, he thought. He turned to look at the door, decided to lock it and open the duffle. There was a journal inside with a symbol on it. Before he could read it, he heard his parents arguing outside and sighed.

This was Mac's stuff and she was probably not far. He dug through more of the bag when his door opened and, just as he expected, Mac stood there wide eyed. "it's not what you think," she whispered.

Logan turned on her, "You have a lot of explaining to do."