The next day, Logan had a black eye of course and it was only getting worse. It definitely wasn't his first and it wasn't the number one thing on his mind right now either. Logan had stayed on the floor after taking the punch for what seemed like decades. Please leave, please leave. But Aaron just stayed in his room so finally Logan stood up shakily, ducked into his own room, grabbed a few things as quickly as possible and fled on foot. Once he was down in the lobby, Logan whipped out his phone to call Veronica only to see her sitting on one of the Neptune Grand sofas and staring straight at him.

"You really think I would leave you entirely?" She said softly, reaching out to cup the left side of his face as soon as he got within reach. It was the most real tenderness she had ever showed him, but Logan wasn't in the right mood to appreciate it. In fact, he flinched a little at her touch. "You're bleeding, Logan."

"Yeah, I can feel it." And he had been wiping at the blood with the back of his hand for a while now. Logan hadn't bothered looking in a mirror or grabbing a towel when he was upstairs. He shook his head as if to say to Veronica, 'that's not important now.' "He knows. I had to give them back."

"That's ok. Duncan says he was able to copy them. But Logan, what's he going to do?"

"Let's get out of here, Ronnie." She nodded and they tore out of the hotel like champion speed walkers, each wanting to hold the other's hand but unsure if it was ok. Veronica climbed in the driver's side and started the ignition. As they peeled out of there, Logan looked extremely troubled.

"Where are we going, Veronica?"

"Where do you think?"

"We can't involve your dad in this. It's bad enough that my- Aaron knows you and Lilly are involved. I'm so sorry about all this."

"Are you kidding me, Logan? None of this is your fault. I was doing this against my father's wishes and against yours..." Veronica took a deep breath. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing, he just threatened, well, to kill me basically if I ever do anything like this again. He didn't even ask why I took them. It's almost like he's fearless. I swear, it's getting to the point where it's him or me…"

"Did he hit you, Logan?"

Logan laughed hollowly. "Are you joking? Of course he did. Why do you think I'm bleeding from my fucking eye? And like that's a big deal compared with all this other shit." Logan sounded so angry and he was. He was pissed that someone was showing concern after all these years, when it didn't fucking matter anymore. A few years ago, it maybe would have made a difference but, hell, Duncan had tried and Logan shut him down. So really, once again, it was all Logan's fault.

"I shouldn't have left you alone." Veronica was starting to get choked up; she tried to stay focused on the road.

"Of course you should have. And anyway, it's not the first or even the hundredth time something like this has happened so I wouldn't blame yourself. And can you even blame him? That shit we took was important to him."

"Yes, I can blame him and I still want to know what he's planning on doing with those tapes."

"That's another thing I was thinking about, Veronica," Logan began as he suddenly realized they were pulling into her driveway. He sighed. Veronica would always put her father up on a pedestal but the man was not God. He was capable of getting hurt and, if he did, it would absolutely destroy her. Logan tried to mentally move on…

"What's up, Logan?" The car was in park and she was staring at him in earnest.

"Those tapes, right? There's torture on them and killings but nobody is getting their hand cut off… So whose fucking hand IS that?"

"Shit, Logan, how did I forget about the fucking hand already. This is great!" Logan shot her a weird look but she paid him no notice. "He doesn't know we've seen it; he doesn't know we were ever there. We can't connect the tapes to him, even with the copies, but the hand?"

"He'll kill us, Veronica. I mean, if he's willing to kill me then he'll definitely kill you."

"Logan, just come inside. We'll talk to my dad. We'll call Duncan and Lilly back. Everything will be alright, I promise." He wanted to believe her, yet found it impossible. But there was definitely no turning back now. They were going down swinging if they were going down at all.

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Keith's first thought upon seeing Veronica and Logan walk in was that Logan's eye was probably going to swell shut. Keith didn't waste too much time reminding his daughter of what he had told her earlier: this case was one for the cops. Even more so now. Instead, he got Logan some ice and sat down with the two of them at the kitchen table. They talked. Veronica explained the situation they were in now while Logan mostly remained silent, occasionally using his one good eye to stare off at some spot in the distance while he pressed the bag of ice to the other.

"Are you ok, Logan?" Keith finally asked, knowing what the real answer was but asking anyway.

"Sure." Logan couldn't bring himself to even look up at Keith. His anxiety was climbing as if it knew no peak, and he felt all over numb at the same time. He didn't know what Keith was really thinking-maybe he was judging Logan for willingly contributing to his own father's potential demise. Maybe he saw him as weak-manipulated by Veronica. Maybe he was.

"I won't let anything happen to you guys," Keith said forcefully, looking at Logan.

"I know." But Logan still wouldn't look at him.

"I think we should go to the cops-tell them what we know, see if they can get a search warrant for your dad's storage unit."

"Ok."

"It might not still be there, though," Veronica cut in. "He might be more cautious now that he knows we're on to him."

"No, not my dad… Trust me, he is not scared of us. If he's trying to fu- mess with the psychos like the Fitzpatricks then I don't think he's worried about anything we could do to him."

"That settles it then, kids. I'm heading over to talk to the sheriff. I know you don't like Lamb, Veronica, but I have sway with him. You guys stay here. Don't open the door for anyone and don't leave the house, you got it?" They both nodded. Satisfied, Keith grabbed his keys and left. Veronica picked up the phone and called Duncan's cell. Logan finally went into the bathroom to rub the dried blood off his face.

"Hey, Veronica, what's happening?" There was a nervous edge to Duncan's voice as he tried to sound calm and Veronica would have bet anything that he was holding the phone up so Lilly could hear too.

"My dad went down to the station to get the cops involved. Aaron knows we took the tapes; he made Logan give them back. Logan and I are safe at my place. Everything ok with you guys?"

"Yeah, I mean, I guess. We're just a little freaked out at what we saw. How's Logan?"

"I honestly don't know, Duncan. He's really quiet. How would you feel finding this kind of stuff out about your dad, you know?" Duncan softly agreed. But Jake and Keith were no Aaron.

"Aaron's never been… normal though, Veronica. He's always been kind of a crazy jerk. I used to be scared as a kid to go over to Logan's."

"Yeah, he punched him in the face."

"Aaron punched Logan in the face? God, just try to make sure he's not too bad off. He keeps it inside sometimes, well, we all do. Maybe Lilly and I should swing by?"

"That's sweet, Duncan, but my dad said not to let anyone in. Just stay home and be safe."

"Christ, this is why our parents told us not to hang out with Logan anymore. His crazy fucking father."

"But he needs us more than ever."

"And we'll be there, I promise. Lilly and I have a plan."

Logan had re-entered the room unnoticed. Veronica quickly hung up with Duncan and took an appraising view of Logan. "You look better, less bloody."

"Thanks, that's just what every guy loves to hear." Logan grinned a little at her. Veronica knew joking was either a good sign or a really bad one.

"Listen, I know you're worried but you can trust my dad."

"I DO trust him. But-don't you get it-that doesn't change a thing. My life is never going to be the same, not that I was in love with it to begin with. I always knew my dad did bad things but at least when I wasn't staring at them straight on I could pretend they didn't exist… If that makes any sense. He was all I had left."

"You still have me, Logan. I'm never going to leave your side again."