A/N: Glad you're all still with me - I really appreciate all the reviews, thank you! :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 13

Veronica sat in the passenger seat of her car, her broken cell phone in her hands as she attempted to fix the damage done by Logan's childish tantrum a few hours before. She usually carried a spare, sometimes several untrackable disposables, but she had been intending to spend a vacation with her Dad not take on a new mission of mercy for the son of two movie stars! She had been shockingly under-prepared and she ought to have known it, but as always she had dived in head first without really considering the consequences.

Giving the back up the slip had been far from her finest hour, and Veronica almost wished she had seen Leo and Sachs in the last few hours but she honestly hadn't, even though she had been regularly and thoroughly checking the rear-view since the Kane house. Still, even her playing runaway with Logan had not been Veronica's biggest mistake. Nope, she had a whole other thing set aside to be placed in the top spot on her list of stupid things she'd done these past few days. Number one had to be allowing herself to be attracted to Logan Echolls, to the point where she knew if she let herself go she would fall head over heels for the guy.

Veronica meant what she said about Logan being childish at times, because he really was. That was true of so many men she knew and some a whole lot older than her travel buddy. His age didn't bother her, three years was nothing to anybody these days, but it had been a good excuse when he made his move with her. Veronica couldn't allow herself to go with what she felt, that was true in so many situations in her life, but none more so than this one. Allowing herself to fall for Logan, to start a relationship that was anything like romantic or sexual would only make things worse later.

If she told him the truth now, it was likely he'd never want to see her again, but they would both survive that pain. If they got in too deep, it made her lies all the worse, and being torn apart later could break them both. She had to keep things between them platonic and hope to salvage some kind of friendship when all this was over, however unlikely it seemed right now. Logan was barely speaking to her as it was and she almost wondered if something awful had happened to him as she checked her watch and realised he'd been gone quite some time for a quick trip to the bathroom.

Just as she was about to panic, she saw the very young man she'd been worried about coming back around the corner... followed by a girl of similar age. They were holding hands and giggling like the school kids they were just slightly too old to be. Veronica was frowning hard by the time they reached the car and she climbed out to meet them.

"I know there are vending machines in the men's bathroom as well as the girl's, but I had no idea the things they put in there" she said with some distaste in her emphasis.

The mystery girl looked at Veronica with a similar amount of disdain, though Logan didn't seem to notice any tension as he made introductions.

"Veronica Mars, this is Jackie Cook" he said of the dark-skinned girl at his side, "Jackie, this is Veronica"

"A pleasure to meet you" said the newcomer with a look and tone that proved she meant not a word of it.

"Same here, I'm sure" the blonde replied, "Um, so you made a new friend, in the space of five minutes" she said, switching her attention back to Logan, "Does this mean...?"

"It means I offered Jackie a ride out of this place" he explained, grinning too much for Veronica's liking, "She's headed for the same concert we are so it made sense" he shrugged like it was no big deal.

Of course it was a big deal, even though Veronica knew it shouldn't be. Logan ought to have as many girlfriends as he liked, after all she wasn't any more than a friend to him, that was the point, but she still felt that terrible stirring in the pit of her stomach, the threat of a green-eyed monster waking up and growling too loudly.

"I can absolutely pay you gas money if that's the problem" offered Jackie through a smile Veronica knew was as fake as her own, "Well, that is as soon as we get to an ATM that actually works" she giggled in such a way as made the blonde want to just scratch her eyes right out.

Then she looked at Logan and the self-satisfied smile on his face. He wanted Veronica to be angry, to get jealous and possessive and make a scene. She was not going to do it, she just wasn't. She was an adult, a much bigger person than either of these two, and she would behave as such.

"Great" she said through gritted teeth, gesturing for Logan and Jackie to get in the car so they could get moving, resisting the urge to bang her head against the window, and only just managing it when the new girl spoke next.

"Actually, would you mind if I sat in front, Veronica?" she asked, sweet as cherry pie, "Sometimes I get sick if I have to be in the back"

Without saying a word, Veronica got out of the passenger side, moving around to the back and sliding in.

"I bet the back seat is just fine when you're horizontal" she seethed, sure Jackie didn't hear her, not caring if Logan had, as she settled herself into her new seat and made further attempts at fixing her cell.

"C'mon, honey" said Keith into the still ringing phone as he dialled his daughter's number one more time.

It was futile and he knew it, but panic was starting to rise up inside him and he couldn't afford for that to happen. He had a job to do here, to keep the Echolls family safe, and he was failing miserably right now. On top of that, his daughter was missing, and though Veronica was quite adept at getting herself out of trouble just as easily as she got into it most of the time, Keith was still her Dad and therefore still worried about her.

Losing D'Amata and Sachs, that was probably deliberate, for reasons best known to Veronica herself and nobody else. Keith wondered if it had to do with her having dated Leo some time ago. Maybe she was uncomfortable with her tail knowing her so very well, but then he had hoped she would tell him that instead of just running away like a kid.

The door opened just as Keith was hanging up the phone, Veronica's cell having once again diverted to voicemail which was well and truly full. Aaron was red in the face with boiling anger that didn't seem to ever dissipate from the moment Logan and Veronica pulled their Bonnie and Clyde act at the motel the day before. Lynn looked nervous and jumpy, and at the same time subdued. Keith had no doubt she was resorting to alcohol and pills to keep her panic at bay and to make her husband's outburst a little more bearable.

"What's going on, Keith?" Aaron demanded to know, slamming a hand onto the table, "Your daughter abducted my son over twenty four hours ago; you're lucky I haven't called the police by now!"

"C'mon, Aaron" the Head of Security tried to placate him, "I hardly think we can call this an abduction" he said more calmly than he truly felt.

His boss didn't look at all convinced. Still, Lynn's hand on his arm and whispers in his ears about just letting Keith do his job seemed to do the trick for once.

"We've been trying Logan's cell as well as Veronica's, and while neither of them are picking up, we were able to tap into their phone history" the Head of Security began to explain, with a grateful but small smile in the direction of his employer's wife, "I can tell you that the last call Logan made was to a Richard Casablancas Jnr" he read from a piece of paper in front of him.

"Dick Casablancas?" Aaron repeated the name of the boy he knew.

"Yes" Keith confirmed with a nod, "Now, I called the boys father and as it turns out, the kid ran away just yesterday, no note left behind" he explained, "but he did send a message this morning to say he was headed to a concert" he added, handing over another piece of paper to Aaron with a copy of the message on it.

Lynn read over her husband's shoulder the two of them looking confused a moment before realisation hit.

"Oh, Aaron. This is the concert Logan won tickets to on that radio show" she gasped.

"And we said he couldn't go!" added Aaron with anger evident in his tone, as it so often was, truth be told.

"Then it's probably exactly where they're headed" said Keith, turning to one of his many deputies and preparing to make a plan.

Aaron's hand on his arm pulled him back around to face him before he had a chance to say a word.

"Then that means you're going there too, Keith" he said, cold as ice, "I've had enough of this. Your daughter made this mess, and I think its high time you cleaned it up"

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but all we have left is one double and one single room" explained the man behind the desk at the hotel.

Veronica leant on the counter and exhaled too loudly. This trip just got better by the second. After a car trip that went on longer than she felt she could bear, with Logan and Jackie making jokes she didn't understand and flirting like it was going out of style, they had dragged their asses around every hotel within a five mile radius on the concert venue (or so it had felt!). Everywhere was booked solid, presumably because of the concert as well as the general vacations and such that the Summer always brought. This was the only place to have any space at all that might accommodate three people, and still settling on who would be staying where was going to make life complicated, Veronica just knew it.

"Well, I'm fine with sharing..." said Jackie from somewhere behind her, sidling up to Logan with a seductive kind of a smile on her face.

When Veronica glanced over her shoulder and saw that, she just lost it.

"No" she snapped with perhaps a little more volume and anger than she'd meant to, since Logan and Jackie both visibly jumped with surprise, "I mean, maybe we could come up with some better arrangement, I..." she stumbled over what she meant to say as she felt two pairs of eyes burning holes into her back when as she turned back to face the hotel clerk, "Are you sure there aren't any other rooms?" she practically begged him to help her out.

The poor guy was doing his best, of course he was, but Veronica was about to blow a fuse either way. She really couldn't take much more of this, but was at least a little glad when Jackie excused herself to use the bathroom. Her voice and laugh alone were sending Veronica to crazy-ville!

"So" said Logan, suddenly behind her at the desk, "I guess you girls wanna share a room, huh?" he checked, leaning on the counter top with a smirk that needed to be wiped off his face, "Maybe braid each others hair, talk nail polish, have a pillow fight?" he suggested with a raised eyebrow that had Veronica seething on the inside.

"Trust me, any fight I have with that girl, would not involve pillows" she ground out, "Maybe a baseball bat... Maybe piano wire..." she said with a dangerous look as he eyes followed the path Jackie had walked just moments before.

Logan figured she was joking, at least he kind of hoped she was. Another part of him was getting just as annoyed by Jackie and her giggly, flirty behaviour as Veronica was. Of course, if she was getting this crazy over the other woman's presence, it did at least mean his plan was working. Jealousy was a powerful thing, and he was trying his darndest to use that to his advantage.

"Well, if you don't want the single, and you don't want the double with Jackie..." he said with some consideration, as the hotel clerk excused himself to call a supervisor and try and work something out, "Maybe you're planning on seducing me, Veronica" he said as he leaned in closer.

"You wish" she laughed at his gall if nothing else, but apparently it was the wrong thing to do.

Once again, as she ought to have known he would, Logan took her words and attitude as an insult, recoiling immediately as if she'd struck him.

"Fine" he said sharply, "Then maybe I'll take Jackie up on her offer and share with her" he said, turning to walk away.

Veronica immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him back around.

"No, Logan" she said desperately, "Please, don't... not with her" she urged him.

He met her eyes and knew she was serious, he also thought he knew why but he needed to hear her say it.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't, Veronica" he said, his tone as much of a challenge as the look on his face as he stared down at her.

"Because I want you to be with me" the words tumbled out of her mouth without her really thinking about them, and as much as she should regret it, she couldn't right now, "I'm sorry I lied before but... Logan, I do like you, a lot" she admitted, "more than I should, I just..."

She got no further with whatever it was she was going to say or explain. Logan didn't need to hear anymore, he just wanted to be close to her. He'd taken enough chances these past few days, one more wouldn't hurt, or so he told himself as he pulled Veronica to him and kissed her. Though she knew she ought to pull back and tell him no, she just couldn't do it, not this time, not all over again. Everything was most likely going to get blown to hell one day soon anyway, she may as well make the most of this moment whilst she had it. Life had taught her well that chances were to be grabbed when they came along, because most never came around a second time.

Falling into Logan's embrace, she allowed herself to dive head-first into this moment, sinking into a kiss that set her whole body on fire. She was a woman of the world, she'd been kissed before, slept with guys before, but even within her frame of reference this felt so good. Days of denying herself, and finally she was being handed the forbidden fruit on a silver platter and it tasted too good to waste.

"Er, ma'am, sir?" said the nervous hotel clerk who had returned unnoticed with two keycards, and was now clearing his throat to gain the couples attention, "These really are the only two rooms we have..."

"We'll pay in the morning" said Veronica breathlessly as she broke her kiss with Logan just long enough to grab the keycard for the double room from the counter top.

He was grinning like an idiot as she took a hold of his hand, leading him to the stairs and up to the room they would share tonight. They were kissing again before they ever reached the door, fumbling with the keycard without looking at what they were doing, since staying close, never letting up on each others bodies was more important than anything else.

The practically fell onto the bed in a pile of limbs, a moment spared for almost-nervous laughter until her gaze caught his and everything was serious again in an instant. They wanted this, on some level they had been waiting for this moment since the day they first met. It was like they'd already connected on so many other levels and in such a short space of time. Now only one way remained incomplete.

The mood was broken only once and briefly, as Veronica's cell phone began to ring in the pocket of her jacket where it lay haphazardly tossed over the end of the bed. Logan wanted her to ignore it, she knew, and she would love to oblige but there was just no way. Wriggling beneath him to get herself across the bed some did nothing to help him, but when he saw her take the cell phone from her pocket, not even checking the screen before she threw it against the wall as hard as she could, he still smiled.

The couple resumed their kissing, fingers seeking out zippers and fasteners, in a desperate attempt to get as close as they could right now. Across the room, the cell phone Veronica had spent all day trying to fix lie broken in three pieces again, one connection severed, even as another was being very deinfitely made.

To Be Continued...