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A LoVe of Confusion

Three piles of case folders sat on the small hospital lap table between Keith and Veronica. The first pile contained cases Veronica couldn't handle on her own and would need to be referred to other PI's. The second pile were cases her and her dad agreed she could finish. Mostly the standard cheating spouse or background check. But the third pile... the third pile were the cases they were currently arguing about. Veronica held one of those files open in her hands. "She's a shoplifter! You don't think I can bring in a woman who was picked up stealing tubes of lipstick from the local discount store?"

Keith snatched the file from her and put it back on top of the pile. "She's a bail-jumper. I don't care what the original offense was, you don't go after bail-jumpers." He knew his blood pressure was skyrocketing. He loved Veronica, but she was going to be the death of him. This was not the rest the doctors recommended he get. "And you don't take any new cases either. Mars Investigations is temporarily closed."

Veronica bucked. "But -"

"No. New. Cases," Keith said firmly, but he saw the wheels turning in his daughter's head. He leveled his eyes on her, pointing his finger at her. "I'll know, Veronica. I'll check the books for the cash. You won't be able to hide it from me. And I'm going to call about the referred cases too. Don't think you can out-smart me, little girl. I taught you everything you know."

Logan, sitting in the corner of the room far away from the action, attempted to cover his laughter, but it escaped as a snort. Veronica flicked her eyes over him, then went back to arguing with her father. "What if I only take the easy cases? More background checks maybe? Things I don't have to leave the office to handle." Another week, that's what the doctor said. Her dad would be in the hospital for another week, in a private room that was costing them a fortune. Some months they barely got by, and now they'd have hospital bills to pay. They couldn't afford to stay closed. "Dad, we need the money!"

"And I need to keep my license." Keith rubbed his temple with his good hand. Cases she didn't have to leave the office to handle! Who was she kidding? She wouldn't stop with background checks. Give Veronica an inch, she took a mile. "When people walk into Mars Investigations they expect a licensed investigator to take their case. I can have you do certain things as long as you are under my supervision, but, honey, you are not a licensed investigator. You're a seventeen-year-old high school student. They could revoke my license, and then what would we do for money? Hmm?" Veronica slumped back in her chair, and Keith knew he'd won. Emotional pleas about her safety would get him nowhere, but a nice, logical argument, and he owned her. "And you're forgetting about the money from the city and Duncan's reward. We'll be fine until I'm back on my feet."

Veronica sighed loudly as she tapped her foot on the floor in annoyance. It was completely unfair. She might not be licensed, and that was only because of her age, but she was a damn good investigator. She hated being dismissed. But now that she'd brought it up, she knew her dad would check, as promised. He'd want a detailed explanation of all deposits into the business account. She couldn't ask potential clients to make the checks out to her, and she couldn't work off the books, 'cause what would be the point? She was cornered. "You are so... stubborn!"

"At least you know you come by it honestly." Keith gave her as self-satisfied smile, as he watched Logan nod in agreement out of Veronica's line of sight. The boy had no illusions about who Veronica was, which was probably a good thing. Keith tugged on her hand until she reluctantly sat next to him on the bed. "Honey, you are an extremely capable young woman. I'm not denying that. The work you did on Lilly's case was top-notch. I couldn't have done any better. But this isn't the life I want for you."

"What about what I want?" Veronica interrupted tersely.

"I wasn't finished," Keith informed her, a note of paternal authority in his voice. "This isn't the life I want for you, but you have an affinity for it, which is probably my own fault. Like I said, I taught you everything you know. I know I can't force you to quit. I could ban you from the office and you'd still find trouble." Logan was nodding again and Keith did his best to control his own laughter. "All I'm asking is for you to put the PI work aside for a month or two. You have reporters following you. You have finals in two weeks. You have me to take care of when I get out of here. That's enough for now."

Veronica mulled over what her father said. He wasn't trying to shut her out completely, which was good. And maybe once he was out of the hospital, she could persuade him to supervisor cases from home. Temporarily placated, she kicked off her shoes, tucked her feet under her on the bed. "No new cases and I'll hand the others off as promised."

"Thank you." Keith was still going to call to make sure she did it. She was his daughter, after all. He motioned for Logan to join them. The boy had stayed out of the work discussion, but Keith was determined to include him in their daily lives as much as possible. Logan needed some sense of normalcy, especially now. "What do you two have planned for the rest of the day?"

Logan switched seats, moving to the chair Veronica had recently vacated. "The DA wants to see me. Cliff's meeting me at the court house at noon."

"And I'll be with insurance adjustor at the impound lot," Veronica added. She knew her father wasn't going to like the next part, but she didn't want to argue about it. She's already heard Logan's views on the subject, and she knew her dad's would be similar, but she was doing the right thing. She was sure of it. "I called Weevil. He does body work at his uncle's shop and he's worked on Le Baron before. He's meeting me there. I think the car's totaled, but if the adjustor says otherwise, Weevil's better equipped to talk with him." Her decision and her reasoning all in few simple statements.

Keith pursed his lips and gave her a skeptical frown, but at the moment he was more interested in what Logan said. "Why does the DA want to see you?"

"I don't know." Logan was worried about the meeting. He'd already given his statement to the police. He didn't have any more information. If he did, he'd be more than happy to hand it over. He wanted Aaron in jail as much as Veronica and Keith, maybe more. "Cliff wasn't sure either. He got a call from the DA this morning asking if I could come down. Cliff said it was a request, not a summons. I don't have to go, but I'm curious, so I'm going."

Keith tapped his fingers on the mattress. He knew the state guys were working overtime to get up to speed on the investigation. He talked to Burrows daily. The night before he had a lengthy conversation with his old friend after Burrows had a chance to review the files Veronica gave him. But Keith couldn't figure out why the DA would need to talk to Logan so soon. He couldn't be anywhere near close to putting together the case against Aaron. "Did Cliff sound concerned at all?"

"Not really," Logan said, his voice anxious as he fidgeted in his seat. "I don't think the DA told him much, just that he wanted to talk to me. Are you... concerned?"

It wasn't Keith's intention to scare the boy. He realized too late it was exactly what he'd done. He gave Logan an easygoing smile. "No, just curious. Stop by when you're done. I'd like to know what happens." He held up his hand, pulling back a little. "If I'm not overstepping."

Logan visible relaxed. "Of course not. You and Veronica, whatever you want to know, I don't have a problem telling you. If it wasn't for the two of you, no one would know the truth."

"Good," Keith said, matter-of-factly and with confidence. Then he turned his sites back to his daughter. "Now, let's discuss your brilliant idea of getting advice from Eli Navarro."

--- VVV

Veronica fumed in the passenger seat of the Xterra, her arms folded in front of her defensively. "I can't believe the two of you ganged up on me! There is nothing wrong with asking Weevil to be there." She'd endured a twenty minute lecture from her dad with Logan throwing in his two-sense at ever opportunity. "This is what he does. He's an expert with cars."

"Stealing them for a living doesn't make him an expert," Logan snarked back.

"I know you don't like him, but he's my friend. When I need help, he's there." Veronica was feeling a little snarky herself. She could handle her dad, and she could handle Logan, but the two of them together... It was like being stuck in tag-team match except she didn't have a partner. "He stopped you from jumping off the bridge, didn't he?"

"Oh definitely," Logan said, the sarcasm dripping from his voice. "And then he beat me until I was unconscious. What a pal!"

Logan hit the brakes, causing Veronica to jerk forward against the seatbelt. She slapped him hard on the thigh. "Damn it, Logan! If you're going to drive like a maniac, I'll have Weevil take me back to the hotel!"

Logan chewed on the inside of his cheek, the memory of Veronica calling the biker when she found the recording equipment in the pool house vivid in his mind. "Of course you will. 'Cause Weevil's you're go-to guy when you want to runaway from me." Then their morning conversation came flooding back too. "Or here's an idea. How about you call Duncan? I'm sure he'd love to give you a ride." The last sentence said with obvious sexual undertones.

And there it was. "If we're going to argue, can we argue about one thing at a time?" Veronica knew Logan had more to say about what she's told him earlier, but he'd clammed-up when they were discussing it. She took two deep breaths, letting them out slowly, doing her best to calm down. "If you knew anything about cars, other than how to drive them into the ground, I'd ask you to stay with me when I meet with the adjustor. But, you don't. Weevil does, plain and simple. I've already apologized about the night in the pool house. I was confused and I didn't know what to do. It was too late to call Wallace, that's the only reason I called Weevil. I wasn't choosing him over you, I just needed to get out of there. It might not have been to fair to you, but it was how I reacted. You know I'm sorry."

Logan didn't say anything, but he eased up on the accelerator. The car's speed dropped to within five mph of the posted limit.

Veronica took that as a good sign. "And as for Duncan -" The car lurched forward again and she grimaced. "Logan! Slow down! You'd make Lamb's month if you gave him a reason to pull you over! Stop being a jackass!"

The sheriff's department was fast approaching on the right. Logan turned into the parking lot, jumping the curb and rocking the SUV. They skidded to a halt at the security gate. The officer at the gate eyed Logan as he approached. "Thought you were going to go right through there for a second."

"Sorry about that," Logan said flatly.

"Hello, Veronica," the officer smiled when he saw her sitting in the passengers seat. "Sheriff said you'd be stopping by. Your car, right?"

"Hey, Corey," Veronica answered back with a smile of her own. She liked Matt Corey. He was close to retirement, having been with the sheriff's department since his twenties. He was a good officer and still a friend of her dad's. "Yeah, I'm here about my car. Jack Strowder, the insurance adjustor, is meeting me. Also Eli Navarro. They both on your list?"

Corey laughed as he tapped the clipboard in his hand. "Got 'em right here. Have to tell ya, Lamb was bitch' up a storm earlier about putting Weevil on this list. But then, you know how he gets." He leaned forward, sticking his head in the driver's window, forcing Logan to push back against the seat. "Any chance Keith'll run against him in the next election?"

Veronica heard the hopeful tone in Corey's voice. "He hasn't mentioned it, but if he does, you'll be the first to know." She hoped her dad would run too. Being elected sheriff again would be the best vindication. He deserved it.

In the rearview mirror, Logan saw the reporters starting to circle. "I hate to cut this short, but ah..." He pointed behind him.

Corey shook his head in disgust. "Damn, vultures. Go on in. I'll keep 'em out. Tell your dad I said hello, Veronica, and that me and the wife are praying for him." He moved back to the guard station and opened the gate. Veronica waved as they drove through.

Logan found a space near the back of the lot, away from prying eyes and cameras. He shoved the shifter into park and roughly cut off the engine. With no preamble, he exploded. "How do you expect me to react? This morning you casual mention that Duncan and Meg broke up. You casual mention he's might still be in love with you. You casual mention he thought he was your brother when he slept with you!" Logan's temper rose with every sentence.

"You already knew the first two. Dick told you." Veronica had chastised him for keeping the gossip to himself. He'd apologized, and she considered the subject closed. "The other was too twisted to tell you about before, and I only found out the truth a week ago. You should be happy I told you at all. It's not something I plan on sharing with the rest of the world."

"I'm not the rest of the world. You're supposed to tell me stuff like that," Logan practically growled. "But you gotta give me time to process it, damn it!"

"Process what?" Veronica asked incredulously. "It's not real, Logan! It's Celeste Kane being a bitch. What is there to process about that? She made a false accusation without any hard evidence. She tied her son into knots with the information she thought she had, and she ran my mom out of town. Yes, Duncan and I had sex, and from his perspective - eww - but, and I'm not accusing you, I swear to god I'm not, but if Duncan hadn't been drugged, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have happened. Bottom line, we're not related." In all honesty, she knew his anger had nothing to do with the paternity issue. Logan was using it as an excuse. "You have no reason to be jealous of Duncan. How many times do I have to tell you -"

"He wants you back!" Logan blurted out. He glanced at her, then quickly glanced away, not wanting to see proof of what he already knew to be true. "This changes things. There's a reason for what he did now. He's always been in love with you, even when he thought he shouldn't be, and now there's nothing to stop the two of you from being together again." He heard the raw pain in his own voice, hated the fact he couldn't mask it. "I know you're still in love with him too."

Veronica's own anger disappeared. She reached across the empty space, gently turned his head toward her. "When did I say that?" she asked, her voice soft and warm as she stared deep into his eyes. This was another thing she could lay at Lilly's feet. All those times Lilly told Logan she cared about him, loved him, then cheated on him. He was as wary of relationships as Veronica was, but she was determined to give them a chance. They couldn't do that with Duncan standing between them.

"You don't have to say it." Logan pulled away from her touch, his gaze shifting to his lap. His best friend being Veronica's ex was bad enough. Now he knew breaking-up with her wasn't what Duncan wanted at all. It was just a huge misunderstanding he was sure the two of them would laugh about on their tenth anniversary. "Duncan's Prince Charming. Mr. Perfect. And I'm still the psychotic jackass you always said I was, expect now, I'm the murder's son too." He laughed bitterly. "I can see how the choice would be difficult for you."

Veronica reached for him again, and Logan flinched, but she wasn't deterred. She slid her hand across his palm, threaded her fingers with his. "It's my choice to make, and in case you haven't noticed, I chose you. I knew Duncan wasn't my brother a week ago, but it was you I had Weevil search for that night. You're the one I needed."

Logan wanted to believe her. God, how he wanted to believe her. "Veronica..."

She dipped her head forward, hoping to catch his eye. "Duncan might be Prince Charming, but I am so not Cinderella. I got rid of the glass slippers a long time ago. He doesn't see that." She repeated back his words to her two nights before. "But you see me. You've always seen me."

Logan roughly pulled her into his lap, burying his face in her neck. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. Don't leave me, Ronnie, please."

Veronica ran her fingers lightly through his hair, once again feeling safe cradled in Logan's arms. "I'm not going anywhere."

--- VVV

The door to his room swinging open caught Keith's attention, but not as much as the tail end of the conversation his daughter was having. "Yes, Logan, I can't hide it from you any longer. I'm running away with Weevil. I'm having his love child. I didn't want to tell you, but you forced it out of me."

Keith heard the sarcasm in Veronica's voice, but the words still made him wince. "Not funny, Veronica. Don't give your old man a heart attack." She battered her eyelashes as she leaned over to kiss him.

Logan closed the hospital door behind him. "Consider yourself lucky. She's being spouting crap like that since I picked her up." He folded his arms across his chest. "She's mad because I won't tell her what the DA said. I wanted to wait to tell both of you together."

"That is incredibly untrue." Veronica dropped down in the visitor's chair, her bag falling to the floor with a thud. "This started when I told you Weevil found me a car."

"Eli found you a car already?" Keith asked with interest, then shook his head. "Don't answer that yet. I want to hear the story from the beginning." Keith missed them while they were gone. Oh, he always missed Veronica, but there was a certain energy when her and Logan were in the room, and he missed it. He glanced between the two of them. "Okay kiddies, who wants to go first and tell daddy about their day?"

Logan felt a surprising surge of warmth from the corny question. He liked being included in the Mars' family banter. It was different for him, but it was nice. He knew his news would put a damper on the mood, so he let Veronica go first. He swept his hand out in front of him. "The floor is yours, Miss Mars."

Veronica feigned surprise at such a gallant gesture. "Why thank you, Mr. Echolls." Then she dropped the act. "You're only being nice because you think there's going to be yelling."

"Yep," Logan popped the 'p' as he rocked back on his heels.

"Jackass." She even stuck out her tongue. Veronica physically turned her attention to her dad, giving Logan as much of her back as possible. "The car is officially totaled. The adjustor has to crunch the numbers, and I won't see a check for approximately three weeks, but the Le Baron is dead."

"Well, that's one thing to check off the list." Keith was glad the adjustor totaled the car. Getting it fixed would have been a waste. He never would have trusted the vehicle after so much work was done to it, meaning he wouldn't have felt comfortable letting Veronica drive it. "Are we coming to the part where I'm going to yell?"

Veronica chose to ignore the question for as long as she could. "Weevil's cousin works in the service shop of a car dealership. There's a Sebring convertible one of the salesman has been driving on-and-off, so they have to sell it used. It's black, with tan leather interior, just like the Le Baron, and it's only a year old. Weevil says it has less then six thousand miles on it. It'll cost more than what I'm going to get from the insurance company, so we'd need to dip into the reward money, but he says it's a really good deal."

Keith had no problem giving Veronica money for a newish car. He was considering turning in his Crown Vic for something new. "Still not hearing the yelling part."

"If I want it, I have to buy it this week. There's a lot of interest in it, and the salesman is holding it as favor for Weevil's cousin." So Logan was right; there was going to be yelling. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and rushed through her last sentence. "The dealership is in Vegas and Weevil has to be with me to pick-up the car." She waited for the yelling to begin. When it didn't, she tentatively opened one eye. "Daddy?"

Keith face was expressionless, and his voice held no emotion when he asked, "You want permission to go to Las Vegas with Eli Navarro?"

Veronica brightened with wide-eyed innocence, once again back to her cocky self. "I know how disappointed you'll be to miss the wedding, but I promise to get the best Elvis impersonator to marry us. And I'll take pictures, tons of pictures!"

"Once again, not funny." Keith rubbed his hand across his face, then looked over at Logan. "Is this what you were referring to?"

She was pushing both their buttons and she was doing it for fun, Logan knew that, but it didn't make the comments she made any easier to take. "In an earlier version she mentioned stripping as her new career goal."

Veronica caught the two men eyeing each other, silent communication uniting them against her. She immediately jumped up pointing frantically between her boyfriend and her father. "Okay, this is not happening again. The two of you are not ganging up on me. This is Logan, dad. Remember Logan? The teenage boy I'm living with without parental supervision. You don't like him."

Keith had to chuckle. It was so like his daughter. Tomorrow she'd be doing her best to convince him Logan was wonderful boy who would never think of taking advantage of the current living situation, but for now, she'd twist it for her own purposes. He was a concerned parent, not a jealous boyfriend, so he was willing to listen to her before vetoing the road trip. "What's your plan?"

Veronica settled back down, feeling in control once again. Dads and boyfriends were not supposed to get along. Ever. "It's a five hour drive to Vegas. We can be there and back in one day. If Logan can keep his comments to himself - a huge if, I know - then the three of us can ride there together. Weevil and I can drive the car back with Logan following."

"You're not spending five hours alone in a car with him," Logan said possessively. "I don't care if I am driving right behind you."

Veronica found his attitude both extremely annoying and highly pleasurable. So much for her feminist thinking. "Fine. We'll ask Wallace to go too. I'll drive back with both of them. Happy? Four people to do something we only need two people to do. We can waste everyone's Saturday."

Keith nodded in agreement, although he did feel sorry for Wallace. Poor boy, locked in a car with Veronica, Logan and Eli for five hours. Someone was going to be buried in the desert. "Alicia said she'd stop by tonight. I'll ask her if Wallace can go." Keith turned to Logan. "Your turn, son."

Veronica was feeling generous. The discussion had actually gone better than she thought it would. She sat on the edge of the bed and gave Logan her chair.

Logan was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts. The entire situation was surreal. For so long he wanted the world to know the truth about Aaron, about the type of person his father really was, and now they would. But the shame Logan felt almost made him wish the truth had stayed buried. "They found more tapes. In Aaron's safe. Tapes that go back for years. And once they started watching them… well… The girls on some of the tapes look really young."

"Jesus," Keith muttered under his breath.

Logan swallowed hard, tried to keep down the bile that was rising in his throat. "The DA called the federal prosecutor, told him what they'd found. The feds are going to be here tomorrow to take over that part of the investigation. If any of the girls were under eighteen at the time Aaron slept with them, he could be charged with statutory rape and child pornography."

Both Keith and Veronica were stunned. Neither knew what to say. There was no physical evidence to link Aaron to Lilly's crime seen, only motive and opportunity, and with the right lawyer, the juror could be persuaded to vote not guilty. But federal charges? With tapes as proof? Aaron would be behind bars for a long, long time. Keith was the first to recover. "Why did they tell you? That doesn't sound right to me."

"They're assuming that I know most or at least some of the girls. They want my help identify them to make the investigation go faster." Logan dropped his head onto the back of the chair. "The arrogant bastard not only screwed under-age girls, but was stupid enough to tape it! He got away with so much shit for so long, he thought he was untouchable. But he's not going to be able to make this go away, no matter how much money he throws at it." He was doing his best to control his temper, but by god he wanted to hit someone, preferably Aaron. Several times and in places he knew would do the most damage.

Veronica slid off the bed and knelt next to Logan, taking his hands in hers. She knew he was anger - how could he not be? But she also knew he was hurting. "I'm sorry, Logan. I'm sorry you have to go through this."

Logan raised her hand to his lips, brushed a kiss across her knuckles. The sweet gesture totally opposite to the words he said next. "I wish the bastard was dead. I wish that crazy bitch at Christmas had killed him. I wish he'd jumped off the bridge instead of my mother. I know he's in this hospital and it's taking every once of self-control I have not to hunt him down and kill him myself." By the time he was finished speaking he was shaking in his seat.

Keith didn't comment about the language or the threat; it would be pointless and frankly, he didn't care. He had a few chose words of his own to describe Aaron's behavior. And four nights ago, seeing his daughter trapped in flames was enough to push him over the edge. But offering to help Logan murder his father wasn't an option. "Normally, if a boy my daughter dates mentions killing someone, I'd be a bit apprehensive. And truthfully, I wouldn't leave you alone in a room with Aaron, because I think you'd follow through a your threat. I understand your need for vengeance, Logan, I do, but you have to let the courts handle it now. Don't do something you'll regret later. Don't let Aaron destroy your life too."

Logan studied the older man lying in the hospital bed, thoroughly confused by him. "How can you trust her with me?" he asked a note of wonder in his voice, because he didn't understand at all. "I'm his son. How do you know I won't hurt her?"

For once Veronica remained silent, and Keith was grateful. There were many things he wanted to say to Logan, but he wasn't sure Logan was ready to hear them. Being in law enforcement Keith had seen his share of domestic violence and he knew the signs. Was Logan at greater risk to become an abuser? Yes. He'd been abused; it was part of the cycle. Did he think Logan needed to find another outlet for his anger? Yes. But he knew Veronica was already working on that. The trip to the gym had been an inspired idea. Did he think Logan needed to talk to a therapist? Yes. But Logan wasn't at a point where he'd be open to the suggestion. So for now, Keith settled on the short answer. "Honestly? I don't. But I told you, Veronica trusts you, so I'm giving you a chance. If you don't want to be like your father, you don't have to be. The decision is yours. You're a smart boy; you'll figure it out. And Veronica and I, we're here if you need us."

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" Logan did not understand. This was Keith Mars, the most protective father he'd ever met. There had to be more to it.

Keith sighed in pretend exasperation, making a show of it, so Logan wouldn't take him seriously. "You want me to threaten you? I can; I'm rather good at it. I have guns." He gave Logan a half-smile and a wink.

But Logan kept shaking his head in confusion. "I'm totally untrustworthy. I made her life hell at school. I get into fights all the time. I drink like -"

Veronica slapped her hand over his mouth before Logan could do anymore damage. "You're not under oath. Shut-up already. He's in a good mood. Go with it." She wiggled her eyebrows at him. "Besides, you do anything to me, and I'll lay you out before dad every gets to you. He has guns, but I have a taser. And a trained attack dog. You don't stand a chance."

Logan realized they were both laughing at him. He had no idea why, but he felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a smile too. This should have been one of the worst days in his life, but he felt good, and it was all due to Veronica and Keith. They seamlessly slid between serious and light-hearted at the drop of a hat. He'd never experienced a family like theirs. "You are the strangest people."

Keith crossed his arms in front of him. "I'll take that as a compliment. What do you think, honey?"

Veronica rose from her spot next to Logan, stretching out her legs. "Definitely a compliment. I'll take strange over normal any day of the week, especially in Neptune. Have you seen the normal people lately?" She shivered dramatically.

Logan grabbed her from behind and plopped her down in his lap. Veronica did a quick check with her dad to make sure it was okay, then she settled back against her boyfriend. "I was thinking," she began, and the two men groaned. Logan was closer, so she playfully slapped his shoulder. "How far do you think the reporters will go to get information? Last night, I had Mac upgrade the firewall protection on my computer. I was worried about the hotel wifi connection not being secure enough. I didn't want to take a chance since I'll be working on cases from the suite. And I didn't want anyone to hack into my personal e-mail either."

Keith could see exactly where the change in topic was going. "None of us have issued statements. You two are doing a fairly good job of avoiding the press. They've got to be chomping at the bit right about now. The news about the tapes will definitely push some of them over the edge." He was a little upset he hadn't thought of it, but damn proud of his daughter.

Veronica knew her and her dad were on the same page. "All it takes is one frustrated tabloid reporter. Bribe a maid or another member of the hotel staff. Have one of them slip it into the suite when we're not there."

Logan was confused again, but he was getting used to being completely bewildered around these two. "What are you talking about?"

Veronica turned to look at him. "If it was me, and I wanted the story bad enough, I'd bribe someone to bug the suite. Then I'd be able to listen in on everything that was said."

"Yeah, but that's you, sugarpuss." Logan tweaked the tip of her nose. "The reason for being at the Grand is security. To keep the reporters away. Now we have to worry about the hotel staff? What am I paying these people for?"

'These people'? Veronica let the elitist comment slide. He was such an '09er. "I know you're used to the press coming at you directly, but we're not giving them anything. There's been no public confrontation. You haven't thrown one punch or broken one camera. All they've gotten out of us is 'no comment'. They'll start to get creative, start to come at us sideways. Bugging the suite is illegal, but not difficult. You find one employee with money problems. You offer to solve those money problems if they do this one simple thing. You tell them it can never be traced back to them."

Keith had been developing a plan while Veronica explained the situation to Logan. "I want you to stop by Lawson's. Pick up two bug detectors, the best they have, put them on the company card. Scan the rooms every night. Scan the room service trays. Cancel the maid service, make it by request only. Scan when the maid is done. Talk to security; you want a daily log of every key swipe in and out of that room. Every key, even a master key, is coded. They can tell exactly who's been in there while you're gone. If security has a problem with it, tell them to contact Burrows. I'll call him after you leave, clear it with him."

"We should have been doing this from the beginning," Veronica mumbled, upset with herself for not thinking of it earlier.

"Buy a transmitter at Lawson's too," Keith continued. "We can always use another one. Set it up so Logan knows what the equipment does when it finds a bug. Train him on how to use the detector. Both of you need to be vigilant. And if you find something, don't touch it. Call security, then call Burrows. Let them deal with it."

"I'm living in a spy novel," Logan said absently.

"Ah, come on, Logan. It'll be fun!" Veronica patted his knee. "You keep saying you want to know more about what I do. Here's your chance!"

---TBC