But there was something going on between them-Veronica and Logan, that is. He could tell she was going out of her way to say hi to him in the halls. She kept inviting him over after school and, how could he possibly say no? She was beautiful, her house was beautiful, her dog was friendly, her dad wasn't crazy… All important and positive things. Sometimes they'd hang out with Duncan too but always at Veronica's place-the Kanes didn't want Logan on their property and he didn't want to be on his own property either (which wasn't really Aaron's property anyway; it was just a dump of a rental). Logan started calling in sick to work to sit around with Veronica and do nothing. He slowly became relaxed just being at the Mars estate. They had pictures of her mom still around, he noticed. The framed glossies of Lianne smiling like she had no care in the world… They were almost cruel to look at. There were no pictures of Logan's mom at his place-there were pretty much no pictures of anyone, full stop, and never had been. It wasn't really their thing. After all, they moved apartments a lot.
"Logan, what're you thinking about?" Veronica asked jovially, her eyes lit up like this was some sort of game.
"How good your legs look in that skirt," Logan said, no hesitation. Veronica blushed, just a little, and shifted her weight on the couch in an effort to achieve more modesty.
She changed the subject. "So, I'm sort of working a case, not with the cops but kinda on the side, for my dad?" The whole sentence sounded like one big question. This was the way girls sometimes talked when they were nervous, Logan realized. He sat up straighter on the couch, his expression puzzled.
"Ok… How's that going?"
"Good except we're a little stuck on something right now and I was wondering if you could help." She spit the words out like they were on fire. Logan did not like where this was going at all.
"Ok…" He said again. Get to your point already and please let that point be that you want to have sex with me, right here right now.
"So, your dad, does he ever talk to you about what he does, I mean, um, for a living?"
"Well, if he did, I would hardly tell the mayor's daughter. In fact, you'd be the next to last person I'd tell, right ahead of Sheriff Lamb." Veronica wrinkled her nose at the sheriff's name.
"Well, it was just a shot in the dark. I just thought maybe he had asked for your help or he told you something about the Fitzpatricks-"
"Veronica, I am an ice cream scooper. I take the fucking city bus to work, as my dad is so fond of reminding me. You think if I were helping him, maybe there would be a few more perks involved?"
"No, Logan, I didn't mean it like that! Look, we're not trying to hurt your dad. We're trying to get something hard on the guys he works for now. Now, maybe I could come over to your place someday after school…" Logan felt like he'd been stabbed through the heart. When exactly did Veronica start this case and did it happen to coincide with her deciding to be his friend again? Was she just using him… Yeah, that was probably it. You dumb fucking sucker. Always getting played for a fool.
"No, you can't come over and you'll stay away if you know what's good for you." At Veronica's shocked expression, Logan leaped off the stupid expensive designer sofa and darted out the front door. Veronica was supposed to drive him home later, but walking the few miles toward the ghetto (as he lovingly thought of home) might set his head straight-or it could make everything a million times worse. Why was he always paying for things he didn't even do? Even the stupid car he stole, you think he wanted to do that? That was the last time he ever "helped" his dad at the expense of his own record. He could sit outside in a car, pretend he didn't know some bad shit was most likely going down, but Logan was no criminal. Most of the time he just wanted out in the most painless way possible.
Without thinking, Logan stopped dead in the street not far from Veronica's house, popped his cell phone out of his pocket and pushed speed dial number 3. "Hey, man, you want to get out of here? I'm thinking TJ?"
Duncan, recently off his meds, was all of a sudden up for anything and more. "Fuck yeah, man, where are you? I'll pick you up right now."