Year of Living Dangerously Part II

by VanessaGalore

Now complete. Sequel to YLD1. If you don't deal with the past, it will deal with you. A future-fic about fatherhood, consequences, & redemption. Logan/Veronica, Ensemble, & everyone I haven't killed yet. Minor Character Death. Reviews contain spoilers.

30. Chapters 95 to 99

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any rights to Veronica Mars. This story is written as a tribute only. No celebrity endorsement is implied by product placements. All real persons' names are used in the sense of "wouldn't it be cool if this person had this gig?" The institution discussed in this fic is not a real institution. No harm or insult is intended to any real-life organizations or to any participants in the meetings of these organizations. Again, this fic is not intended for those under the age of 17.

A/N: Beta-ed by Poniesforall, Kazy, and Sobertears. All mistakes that remain are my responsibility. Sorry about the delay in getting this update posted. I do appreciate hearing that people are enjoying my story.

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Last time on The Year of Living Dangerously Part II-Just the important stuff from chapters 91-94:

( for the whole overblown "previously on", see my journal.
vanessagalore•livejournal•com/72624•html )

Mac's FBI handler, Alan Sheffield, questions Agent Mike Fields, Veronica's ex-boyfriend. Mike tells Alan that he has been checking the alibis of people who have accessed the case files for the Saturday Night Slasher to try to prove Veronica's copycat theory. Sheffield wonders if Mike's and Mac's investigation into the serial killer triggered the bombing attack against the Mackenzies, or if Veronica herself did something in Vermont to alert the copycat killer. The alternative is that the Russian mafia somehow knew that Mac was responsible for the arrests of the identity-theft ring, implying that the Russian mafia has a mole in the FBI.

On the way home to Neptune, Logan finds out that Kendall has been murdered; he contacts Dick, who tells him that Sheriff Leo D'Amato has been questioning people about Logan's previous relationship with Kendall. Veronica senses something is wrong; he finally tells her about Kendall's murder and discusses their options with her and Keith. Unfortunately, with Keith on the plane, there is no nooky on this plane flight. When they arrive in San Diego, they narrowly avoid a run-in with paparazzi, who have been alerted to Keith's and Veronica's involvement in the Briar Hill/Frazzino scandal. Finally arriving at home after the long journey, they learn from Deputy Sacks that crime scene techs have found a partial fingerprint in Kendall's room that is a match for Veronica's prints.

Leo questions Duncan about Kendall. Duncan denies having a sexual relationship with Kendall senior year; he admits that he was staying at the Neptune Grand before purchasing a home. He reacts violently after the sheriff leaves, throwing a lamp against the wall. On the news, he sees the person he had previously witnessed arguing with Kendall in the park.

Logan intends to sleep on the couch to give Veronica time and space to heal from her ordeal. But Veronica, sick of feeling fragile and broken, begs him to sleep with her; they have an intimate evening, remarkable for their openness with each other. Veronica admits that she cannot remember much of the last day of the operation, including the vicious therapy session with Klein that focused on her rape; she tells Logan she wants to use the recordings to help jog her memory of the therapy session and get past her traumatic amnesia of the rape itself.

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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Jumping to Conclusions
Leo tries to rationalize his vendetta;
Mac posits a new suspect; Keith reacts.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring.
Leo: Max Greenfield. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Mac: Tina Majorino. Wallace: Percy Daggs III.
Alan: Ned Vaughan.
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CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE: "JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS"

Tues. 3/17/09 morning: D'Amato Residence, Neptune, CA

Leo wakes up well before his alarm is set to ring; he starts to mull over what he's begun to call in his mind 'The Echolls Case'. He lies in bed, staring at the ceiling, getting more and more agitated about Logan Echolls. Fucking Logan Echolls, he amends, and fucking Aaron Echolls...I wish I never heard of either of them.

He gives up on falling back asleep; he knows that he's becoming completely irrational about the case, but still he feels that something is being covered up. Like father, like son? he wonders, remembering Aaron Echolls' masterful machinations behind the scenes that resulted in an acquittal...and his own disgrace. He gets up and puts on some sweats and drives to the beach. He runs along the shore for five miles, trying to regain some sense of perspective. I can't afford to be wrong again. The phrase 'Neptune Sheriff' is becoming the punch line to a hundred jokes about incompetence and corruption.

Back in his apartment, he showers and dresses for the day. Aware that he will be coordinating security for the Mackenzie funeral with the FBI, he selects his newest uniform, fresh from the dry cleaners. Over coffee and cereal, he opens the file on Aaron Echolls' stalker case from four years ago. The 'le trancheur' who stabbed Echolls appeared to have been just one of several hundred women who were obsessed with the man. Keith Mars helpfully contributed his research to the police files, and Leo notes that Echolls Senior appeared to have been cheating on his wife with numerous women. I wonder if Logan inherited his father's philandering tendencies, he thinks. Hard to imagine Veronica putting up with that...although I think Veronica would be more likely to castrate Echolls than kill one of his girlfriends.

He sighs, convinced that this stalker idea is a wild goose chase. He makes note of several women against whom the elder Echolls got orders of protection; one of the deputies can follow up with them to make sure that they haven't become interested in the son. Although Logan Echolls has certainly had his share of celebrity notoriety in the past few years, it was nothing like the relentless attention paid to his father, and Leo doubts that a stalker would somehow be motivated to track down and kill an old girlfriend to demonstrate her affection for him. Veronica would be a far more likely target anyway...Greenblatt was just grasping at straws, trying to divert attention from his role in providing an alibi for Logan.

What the hell does she see in him anyways? he suddenly thinks bitterly.

FLASHBACK: Veronica finds him at the sheriff's department. She says, "I need to talk to you," and Leo immediately goes on high alert, knowing that nothing good ever follows that intro. She continues, "I can't date you anymore...Trust me, you don't want to date me. I'm a train wreck. Seriously. The-the first guy I ever loved just dropped off the face of the earth, probably because of something I said, and the last guy I dated turned out to be a drug dealer, and I just made out with my dead best friend's boyfriend, who, incidentally, I hate. So. Train wreck," she concludes, pointing at herself.

Leo remembers thinking, 'My dead best friend's boyfriend,' in other words, that asshole Logan Echolls, drunk off his ass, not even wearing any pants, whatafuckingloser, and then he also recalls that, of course, she immediately followed up with a request for a favor. In Veronica's world, you get to do whatever you want, and then ask your friendly law enforcement contact to break the rules and skirt the law to get what you need...and your dad always looks the other way. But if someone else does something wrong, it's the letter of the law, and you're out on your ass without a job.

Again, for the thousandth time since she spit them in his face, he recollects her angry words: 'I'm pretty sure I'm not capable of setting a murderer free.' Ms.-High-and-Mighty, judging me...judging ME! She has no idea what kind of pressure I was under...and what happened when I didn't get the payoff Aaron promised me. Logan's money was just a temporary reprieve before...

He drops his head into his hands. Don't think about it...don't think about it. You're not thinking straight.

Resolutely, he tamps down his anger. I am not going to fuck up this investigation. I'm NOT going to be Neptune's latest joke of a sheriff. I'm going to investigate this wherever it takes me and back up my theories with evidence.

Leo picks up the phone and asks to speak to one of the deputies at the sheriff's department. The deputy reports that the security footage from the Neptune Grand never shows Kendall together with Duncan Kane. In fact, the deputy noticed that the only security cameras that caught her image were located in the lobby; apparently, Ms. Casablancas took pains to avoid being recorded. Leo cradles the phone and thinks about the lengths she went to to conceal herself. He takes out before and after pictures from his file and compares her features. Her nose and cheekbones appear to have been slightly altered; her lips are somewhat fuller and the chin could have been changed as well. None of the alterations are extensive, but the overall effect completely disguises her appearance. Why was it so important that she change the way she looked?

He realizes that Duncan Kane has also completely changed his appearance. The Kane software heir's image has been featured so prominently in the tabloids over the last month that Leo has forgotten that he, too, used to look quite different.

I'm more confused than ever, he thinks. What the hell was going on here...two people with extensive plastic surgery, both suddenly coming back to town, both staying at the Neptune Grand. One with a lot to lose, and the other one ends up dead.

A lot to lose...Leo thinks about Duncan's desperate decision three years earlier to flee the country with his baby daughter. He opens the file on the Manning babynapping and rereads the FBI reports on the investigation. The report concludes, 'Although there is no concrete evidence of her involvement, we suspect that Veronica Mars assisted Duncan Kane in his flight from the country and misled the authorities during the investigation. We recommend that the case against Ms. Mars remain open pending any additional information in the case.'

He finds his notes from his interview of Madison Sinclair. Madison said, 'Kendall finally wore Duncan down and nailed him. Veronica walked in on her in Duncan's bedroom; Logan witnessed the whole thing and told Dick...The next day, Veronica and Duncan had a very public fight at school, and they broke it off. If you ask me, the only thing that was surprising was that Duncan had stayed with Veronica for as long as he did. Everyone thought that he was going to get back together with his old girlfriend Meg anyways, since she was pregnant with Duncan's child.'

And after the public breakup, Duncan fled the country with his baby daughter. They used Kendall to make everyone think that Veronica and Duncan had broken up–to protect Veronica when Duncan took off. Classic Veronica Mars maneuver; the only question is whether Logan was in on it.

Leo drums his fingers on the table, deep in thought. No statute of limitations on aiding and abetting kidnapping...Duncan's not the only one with a lot to lose if Veronica, and maybe Echolls too, helped with the kidnapping. I wonder what Kendall knew about the babynapping. Did they only use her as a patsy, a distraction to make everyone think that Veronica and Duncan had split up, or was Kendall actually involved somehow? Or did she remember something that would tie Veronica to the kidnapping?

Did Kendall come back to town to blackmail Veronica and threaten Duncan just as he was trying to win permanent custody of his daughter?

Leo has another thought. Logan's cash withdrawal in January...the payoff for Ms. Casablancas? Fifty grand–not much of a payoff, unless it was just the down payment. And...the timing's a little off, unless Kendall had already been in touch with them. He makes a note to request Logan's phone records from back in January.

The phone rings again. One of the deputies says, "Sheriff, we got word from Homeland Security that Logan Echolls flew from Boston to San Diego last night. I checked the flight manifest, and Keith and Veronica Mars were on the flight as well. I checked with the Manchester Center authorities, and they said that Echolls is free on a 50,000 bond on the assault and battery charge. I thought you'd want to know right away; you seemed pretty eager to talk to the guy."

"Yeah...thanks. I appreciate the heads-up." Leo hangs up. He puts in a call to Logan's permanent address in Los Angeles; there is no answer. He tries Keith Mars' home phone, and a message announces that the voicemail box is full and to try to call later.

He decides to head over to the Mars' apartment later to see if Logan is staying there; right now he needs to head to the department to run a scheduled briefing on security details for the Mackenzie funeral. And then maybe...maybe I'll try to talk to Tina at the Neptune Grand again. I need to see what she knew about Logan and Kendall and question her about Duncan and Kendall. He thinks about Tina's vague answers to his questions. Oswaldo Cortez had said, 'Tina told us that she wanted the employees to keep their mouths shut about the guests. Tina's a real starfucker; she's always hoping one of these Hollywood types will take her away from all this.' I'll bet Tina didn't tell me everything that was going on at the Grand. You'd think it was the fucking Camelot No-tell Motel. Let's see if I can get a little more information out of her before I talk to Echolls and Veronica.

Tues. 3/17/09 morning: Hotel, San Diego, CA

Mac opens the door of her room to Alan. "Are you ready to get going?" he asks.

She hesitates; she couldn't sleep for the entire night worrying about the funeral. When Alan told her that he believed there was a personal motive for the bombing attempt, she immediately thought of Gory Sorokin and the vendetta he swore against Logan and Veronica. Would he really kill my entire family to get to them? Finally, after tossing and turning for the entire night, she decided that she had to at least mention Gory's name. I just have to make sure not to mention the hard drive or what Keith did to protect Veronica. I have to tell Alan.

"I have something to tell you," she says, sitting down on the bed. "Two years ago, there was a Hearst student who was rumored to be connected, and...well, he did something to Veronica. When her boyfriend, Logan Echolls, found out about it, he beat up this student, Gorya Sorokin. And Gorya swore that he would pay them back. He told Logan, 'Whoever you are, you're gonna die.' He seemed kind of...insane, actually."

"Two years ago?" Alan asks. "Why would he wait until now? And why go after your family?"

"I don't know. It doesn't make sense. I just thought I should tell you."

"Why did you wait until now to tell me?...Mac? I'd like an answer," Alan presses.

"I can't say. It's probably just a coincidence."

Alan looks at her. "Veronica did something illegal, didn't she?"

Mac stares back, refusing to answer.

Alan sighs. "What's the name again?" Mac hands him a sheet of notepaper with the name on it. Alan pulls out his Blackberry and makes a phone call. "Can you run a name for me?...Yeah, it might be relevant to the funeral today. Gorya Sorokin. The only information I have is that he was a student at Hearst College." Alan waits. "Really. Paroled on February 6 of this year?...On a weapons charge...Can you get in touch with his parole officer?...Thanks." He terminates and looks at Mac.

Mac says, "February 6? Alan, the package bomb was postmarked February 7."

"Will you tell me the whole story now?"

"You don't need to know the whole story," she replies obstinately. "All you need to know is that he wants to kill Veronica and Logan...and I guess me too." Maybe he figured out that I helped Veronica.

"Dammit, Mac." Alan makes another phone call. "Sheffield here. I have some information about a possible suspect in the Mackenzie bombing." He quickly summarizes what little Mac had told him and the information he had just learned about Sorokin. "No...Two years ago, according to Ms. Mackenzie...I really think we should–...But sir, I think–...Yes, sir." He punches the end button and looks at Mac.

"Are you going to cancel the funeral? It's too dangerous," Mac says anxiously.

"I can't. My supervisor is more worried about an FBI mole. He doesn't think this guy Sorokin sounds like a credible suspect. He doesn't have a record of any bombings or violent felonies, just the one weapons charge. Before that, he has a completely clean record. And why would he wait two years to go after your friends and do it in such a roundabout way? They agreed to put out an APB on Sorokin and see if they can track him down just in case. And I'm supposed to coordinate some additional security for the funeral."

"You've got to tell her not to go to the funeral!" Mac gasps. "It's not safe, if this guy Gory is gunning for her!"

"There's going to be a lot of eyes on her," Alan says. "I'm sorry, Mac. I wish you had mentioned this before. But you know if this guy actually is targeting your friend, this might be our best opportunity to catch him. I'll make sure all the agents get a copy of his mug shot." He catches Mac looking at him and adds, "And Mac? Keep your hands off my Blackberry."

Tues. 3/17/09 morning: Sunset Cliffs Apartment / Mars Investigations, Neptune, CA

Keith wakes up, expecting to find Logan on the couch. He tiptoes into the kitchen to avoid waking him only to realize that Logan is not in the living room, and Veronica's bedroom door is shut tightly. His stomach tightens in distress as he pictures Logan relentlessly trying to seduce his little girl in the middle of the night. He opens her door silently and curses internally when he sees them snuggled together on her bed. Goddammit, Logan. You know she's fragile right now!

His every instinct is telling him to haul Logan out of there and toss him out on the sidewalk; he is only able to stop himself by reminding himself that Veronica needs to avoid stress as much as possible, and with the funeral this afternoon she'll have enough to deal with. Keith settles for perversely slamming a cupboard door shut. He grumbles under his breath as he makes his breakfast and coffee. He makes a few phone calls and decides to go into Mars Investigations, before his bad temper gets the best of him and he does something to Logan that he might regret later.

When Keith arrives at the office, Wallace is already hard at work. "Hey, Keith. Do you want to start with your messages?" He hands Keith a stack of message slips. "Coffee?" Keith nods, and Wallace gets a cup of coffee and puts it on Keith's desk. "How's Veronica this morning?" Wallace asks.

"She was still asleep when I left," Keith says shortly, trying not to display his anger.

"She'll be okay," Wallace says, misjudging Keith's demeanor as concern. As he leaves the inner office, he nods questioningly at the door. Keith motions for him to close it.

Keith frowns at the stack of messages. He closes his eyes, procrastinating for a moment. When he woke up to find Logan sleeping in Veronica's room against his wishes, he was completely furious, not just at Logan's disobedience but at his actual deception the night before. With a little distance from the operation, he has begun to berate himself for allowing Logan to be involved. Despite Logan's best efforts, he still seems to sometimes lack good judgment: running away after Hannah's death, assaulting Klein, and now this. Keith knows that the responsibility for Logan's involvement in the investigation rests solely upon his own shoulders, and he wonders how he could have taken such a chance with an amateur when his daughter's life was at stake. At the same time, he admits that Logan did help and pushed to end the operation when it did. Keith decides that there's plenty of blame to go around; why the hell did I let it go on for so long? I should have...

Dammit, how could I have not known that Veronica was raped? He pounds on the desk in frustration. I was obsessed with Lilly Kane, when I should have been obsessed with my own daughter. I saw that she was upset, why didn't I...why didn't I...

Keith rubs his forehead and shuffles through the papers on his desk, trying to think about something else, anything else, to blot out the pictures of his daughter being unknowingly fed drugs by her boyfriend, then Cassidy holding her down and pushing himself between her legs...and then Keith pictures himself, supposedly the doting father, ignoring the signs that she was hurting and throwing himself into an investigation to clear his own reputation. He opens the desk drawer, looking for a pen, and suddenly slams the drawer shut with a bang. If Logan hurt her by pushing her to have sex with him last night...I don't care what Veronica says. He'll have to go...if I don't kill him first.

Wallace taps on the door.

"Come in," Keith says quietly. He picks up the top sheet of paper on his desk and pretends to read it.

"Everything okay in here? Thought I heard something..." Wallace asks.

"I just, uh, dropped something," Keith replies lamely.

"Okay." Wallace looks at Keith, wondering what's going on. "There was another message from Duncan Kane on the machine. He's called almost every day while you've been gone."

Grateful for something else to think about, Keith asks, "He's calling about the custody case?"

"I talked to him a few days ago. I don't think it's just that. He seemed pretty nervous about something. He really wants to talk to Veronica."

Kendall, Keith thinks. "I'll call him right now." He thumbs through the message slips and finds Duncan's number. The call goes directly to voicemail, and Keith leaves a message, asking Duncan to stop by the apartment that evening.

Wallace says, "Do you want to go over the cases I handled while you were away?"

They spend almost an hour going through several insurance fraud investigations, background checks, and asset searches that Wallace took care of in Keith's absence. Keith makes a few notes and suggestions. The work improves Keith's mood, tempering his anger at Logan, but he still resolves to have a long talk with him concerning his daughter's well-being.

When they reach the bottom of the pile, Wallace says, "Can I show you something?"

"Of course."

Wallace puts a large piece of paper labeled 'Fitzpatrick Crime Family' on Keith's desk.

"What's this?"

Wallace sighs. "Candice wanted me to drop the investigation into her brother's death. She thinks it's too dangerous."

"She sounds pretty smart, Wallace. You should listen to her."

Wallace says, "But you know, Weevil and I went up to Chino and talked to the guy who used to be in charge of PCHers before Gustavio Toombs. Emilio Vargas."

"Yeah, I remember Emilio. A tough kid."

"Emilio told us what he had heard about Shawn. Apparently, Shawn had a connection for this new drug, Meth-X. But the supplier only wanted to deal in large quantities, and Shawn couldn't handle that. He didn't have the money or the distribution for that kind of a deal."

"So he got the Fitzpatricks to help," Keith suggests.

"Exactly. And I guess it was a match made in heaven for awhile. But then Emilio said that Ciaran tried to cut out Shawn and go directly to the source. And Shawn was trying to go around the Fitzpatricks, so..."

"Ciaran took out Shawn."

"Yeah. But that's not the most important thing that Emilio told us. We had already figured that they probably killed Shawn over the drugs. Emilio said that the Fitzpatricks have a cop in their pocket."

"A dirty cop?" Keith asks sharply. Vinnie said that Liam had a contact in the FBI.

"Yeah, Emilio was positive that the Fitzpatricks have a connection in law enforcement."

"It did seem suspicious when Liam's racketeering charges were dropped. It was a pretty solid case," Keith comments.

"I didn't want to just drop it, but...I promised Candice to be careful. So I've been doing research...the files on Ciaran and Padraig and Gustavio Toombs that you got from Inga, newspaper articles. I've been looking in the county courthouse files too, just collecting names that seem to be associated with the Fitzpatricks."

Keith studies Wallace's chart carefully. "Most of these people are known criminals."

"Right. I tried to show family connections, too. Maybe we'll see someone who shouldn't be connected to the Fitzpatricks."

"It's good work, Wallace." Keith thinks a minute. "You know, there might be a few more names I can add to this for you." He pulls the phone toward him and dials the sheriff's department. "Inga, it's Keith Mars...Yes, it was quite a big case. Veronica did a great job...I'll tell her you said hello. Inga, I'm being audited...2002 and 2003. I need to get copies of some of my files from that period. Yes, the Mulvaney
investigation and...Kevin Bray. Oh, and maybe McLaughlin too...Yeah, those crazy Fitzpatricks kept us busy, right?...I'll have my assistant come by to pick them up. Wallace Fennel...I'll talk to you soon, Inga." He hangs up and looks at Wallace. "I'm glad you were careful while I was gone. I promised I'd help with Shawn's case, and I will. Just let me tie up a few loose ends on the Briar Hill case."

The phone rings, and Wallace picks it up. "Mars Investigations?...Yes, let me check." He puts the call on hold and tells Keith, "It's Ms. Denenberg."

Keith nods grimly. He takes the receiver and connects the call. "Ms. Denenberg...Stephanie...Yes, I can come by this afternoon." He looks at his watch. "Can we say...1:00?...Okay, I'll see you then." He hangs up. "Wallace, let's get going on some of these new cases."

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VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Losing Your Perspective
Logan talks with his shrink.
Logan: Jason Dohring. Dr. Friedman: Lorraine Bracco.
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CHAPTER NINETY-SIX: "LOSING YOUR PERSPECTIVE"

Tues. 3/17/09 morning: Sunset Cliffs Apartment, Neptune, CA

Logan wakes up to the sound of cupboard doors banging in the kitchen. He hears Backup bark quietly, and Keith says, "It's okay, boy." Logan listens to Keith making breakfast and getting ready for his day, with an occasional muttered aside to the dog. Keith makes several brief phone calls; Veronica's name is mentioned several times. He hears the jangle of keys; the front door opens and closes.

Logan looks over at Veronica, who is sound asleep. He wants to caress her and hold her more than anything, but he is plagued by doubts that he should have somehow controlled the situation better last night. He can't help but think, it was too soon, it was TOO SOON, how could I...I should have convinced her to wait. He tries to reassure himself by recalling their conversation; like a drowning man with a lifeline, he holds desperately onto her words. 'I want to feel okay with you again...It feels strange to let you take care of me, but...I like it.' Suddenly, he is appalled to realize that he is slightly aroused, and he quickly gets out of bed and throws on his jeans.

Logan goes to the kitchen where he finds a note on the counter.

Went to the office. I'll pick you up at 3:30 for the funeral.

Veronica, this is the orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jacobson recommended. Please call him to set up an appointment as soon as possible for your shoulder.

Dr. John Aster, 555-2829

Logan, I need to speak to you.

It wasn't my imagination...Keith is pissed that I slept with Veronica last night. And he's right...I shouldn't have let her talk me into it. She's not as strong as she thinks she is. He quietly goes about making his own breakfast, hoping Veronica will sleep for a while longer. While the coffee brews, he walks back to her bedroom and peeks in the doorway. She is sleeping soundly, with her mouth open slightly and her body completely relaxed. Backup nudges him, wanting to go on the bed with Veronica, but Logan quietly shuts the bedroom door and shoos him back into the kitchen, rewarding him with a treat.

After downing a cup of coffee and a slice of toast, he takes the phone into Keith's bedroom and shuts the door to avoid waking her up. He dials his therapist in Los Angeles. Keeping his voice low, he says, "It's Logan Echolls."

Dr. Friedman replies, "Logan...I was wondering why I hadn't heard from you, but then I saw something in the paper today. You went with Veronica on that undercover operation, didn't you."

"Yes."

"It sounds like it was very successful, based on the arrests I read about in the paper. And the story about Assemblyman Frazzino...it's just appalling," Dr. Friedman comments.

When Logan doesn't reply, she asks, "Logan?"

"I'm here. I've wanted to talk to you so many times, and now...I don't know how to start."

"Start at the beginning," Friedman suggests.

"They got me a job at the school as a guard. I started before Veronica got there. I had to help make sure that the girls behaved." He summarizes for Friedman what happened during the beginning of the operation: Veronica fighting back at her strip search and being sentenced to Observation Placement almost immediately, and his having to help take her down in group therapy when she fell asleep.

"Oh, Logan. You had to hold her down?" Dr. Friedman asks.

Logan grips the phone. "That's nothing. It got worse. We...we needed to document the use of restraints. So Veronica started to really push. They assigned her to write an essay, and Veronica just wrote 'fuck you,' over and over again. When they confronted her about the essay, Veronica pretended to try and escape."

"Pretended?"

Logan sighs. "She was trying to get sentenced to restraints, so she acted like she was escaping. She got one of the card keys so she could unlock the door and run, but she got to the door too quickly; she had to fumble with the key until I got there, and then she struggled against me. I had to..." He stumbles over the words. "I had to hurt her to stop her. And...I was so angry with her, for pushing them. And...this is going to sound crazy, I was furious at her for not behaving. I knew she had to, but it was like I was actually a guard and she was actually a student."

Friedman is silent, processing what Logan is telling her.

"I hurt her more than I had to," he adds, almost in a whisper. "I was thinking, 'Why are you making me do this to you? Why do you make me hurt you? This is for your own good.' She was resisting, doing her job, and I couldn't do my job. I couldn't not hurt her. How could I do that? I mean, she was incredible, she seemed to know exactly how to force them to abuse her."

"Logan–" Dr. Friedman tries to interrupt.

He rushes in, ignoring her. "And I needed to get along with the other employees in order to do the job, so I wouldn't get fired and not be there to protect her. What was crazy was that the other guys...it-it seemed like they were really making sense. They were all ex-drunks just like me, and they were funny, they were...I know they weren't good guys, but it seemed like...I don't know. I can't explain it. I'm just a fucking asshole, I let them get to me." Logan's voice is rising with his anxiety.

"Logan, listen to me. I need you to slow down. Take a breath. Count to ten for me."

"That's not even everything," he replies morosely before he does as she suggested. One...two... three...four...five...six...seven...eight...nine...ten. He takes a deep breath. "So we put Veronica in restraints. She had to be taken to the bathroom every six hours, and...they decided I was ready to help with something like that. And she...she was so fucking brave. She wasn't scared, she was baiting me and the other guy, she called me a fucking nazi. And he grabbed her around the neck and then..." Almost inaudibly, he continues, "We humiliated her by making her go to the bathroom in a bucket in front of us. I can't even describe it. It was...it was even worse than it sounds. They were trying to break her, and I was helping."

"Is that when the operation ended?" Dr. Friedman asks.

"No!! You're not understanding. She wouldn't give up. Even after that, she wouldn't stop."

"My god...Logan..."

He laughs bitterly. "And it's all on tape. Veronica was wearing a wire. I'm sure they'll play that scene at the trial. ...I kept begging Veronica's dad to stop the operation, but they wouldn't listen to me. Veronica kept insisting on continuing."

"Were you still...identifying with the other guards after this incident with the bucket?" Dr. Friedman asks cautiously.

"I don't know," Logan replies truthfully. He thinks for a moment before continuing, remembering. "I think I was just so glad because Connie, I mean Veronica, stopped resisting, stopped fighting back for a little while. I just wanted to forget about it."

"Connie is the name Veronica was using?" Friedman probes.

"Yes." He exhales loudly. "The next day I was...I was just trying to hold on, I was telling jokes with the other guys, I was just trying to do the job. I knew I was supposed to be there to protect her, but I was getting so...confused. The guys were teasing me about her, needling me that she was my girlfriend, and I had to be rougher with her, so they wouldn't know. I was losing track of who I was, what I was supposed to be doing; I kept catching myself almost screwing up. But then..." he stops, his voice trailing off.

"What?"

"I met with Veronica's dad and the other guys monitoring the operation. They were considering pulling me out, because they could tell that I was fucking up. I had to convince them to let me stay, I wasn't going to leave her there without me."

"You begged them to let you stay on as a guard," Friedman repeats.

"Yeah. I...I had to get it together, I had to hold it together, for her. If she wouldn't quit, I had to stay. One of my old professors, Dr. Kinny, was helping with the monitoring. And...and he helped. He kind of talked me down, got me to see that..." He takes a deep breath, and says it aloud. "He tried to convince me that I'm not an abuser like my father."

"You've been working hard for a long time now to be a better person than your father, Logan."

"I didn't feel like a better person while we were there. ...That night, after I convinced them to let me stay at the school, I had a dream, well, a nightmare I guess. It was Veronica and Hannah, begging me to help them, to keep going and protect them. I don't know why, but when I woke up, I didn't feel so confused. I was able to focus a little better, keep track of who I was and why I was there."

"Why didn't they want to stop the operation?" Friedman asks. "It sounds like you had enough evidence at this point."

"That's what I thought. I guess they were arguing about it. They were worried about Veronica, but they also knew how hard it would be to convict Klein and shut down the school. And Veronica was so determined. We had code words worked out, and she kept saying them over and over again, to show them that she was okay. I tried again–when I got her alone for a second, I tried to get her to quit. But she refused. I was so angry at her: couldn't she see how dangerous it was, how sick they were?...I was, I don't know, I thought I was going insane, and I had to keep telling myself that it wasn't real, and it was going to be over soon. And I had to keep going, I had to stay to protect her. Then it got worse. They started singling her out, really targeting her in group therapy." He sighs. "Veronica was using...she was using stuff from us."

"Us?" Friedman echoes.

"She was using stories about Lilly when they were trying to get her to admit to her bad behavior. I couldn't help it; I got so mad at her. I don't like anyone knowing about that, that I feel...guilty about Lilly. I realized later, she was desperate, she was using those stories to try to get them to back off a little. Dr. Friedman, I'm so ashamed; it was so hard for Veronica there, and I let her see that I was upset with her for talking about Lilly. I could tell, she knew I was mad. How could I do that? They were on her, night and day, fussing at her to admit things, and I was such a fucking asshole...I got pissed because she told them something from our past when she was just trying to do her job."

"You reacted. You're human," Friedman replies.

"You don't know how bad it was for her. All I had to do was be there to protect her, and I couldn't even do that. I made it harder for her. What the hell is wrong with me?" Logan begins to cry. He wipes tears off his cheek and grips the phone tightly.

"Logan, listen to me. You did the best you could. This was an impossible situation."

"Everyone's going to see how I let her down. She's going to see. She wants to watch all the video tapes."

"What?"

"She doesn't remember the last day. That sick fucker Peter Klein was confronting her about her rape."

"What do you mean she doesn't remember?" Dr. Friedman says worriedly.

He exhales loudly. "She was sick, with a high fever, and they had hurt her shoulder. And he was torturing her with attack therapy. I was outside, I couldn't hear what he was saying. We had finally decided to stop the operation, but I had to wait for backup before I could go in to get her. I was outside the room, imagining what was going on, thinking about what horrible things they were doing to her, and then..." He pauses, then continues, "When we finally went in, they had written 'SLUT' on her forehead, and she was completely out of it. She didn't recognize me; she thought I was there to hurt her, and she tried to get away from me." Logan tries again to wipe away the tears on his face. "Dr. Friedman, I'm afraid if she remembers..."

"What?"

"...She's unbelievable. She says she's not mad at me," he explains. "Why isn't she mad at me? Veronica is trying so hard, she's...trying to get past this, trying to keep us together. Last night, she insisted...she wanted to sleep together. She's so fucking strong. I'm not strong like her. I really wanted to take it slowly with her, give her a chance to get...I don't know, strong again. But last night, she was...she was crying, she thought I was pushing her away because I wasn't attracted to her any more. She begged me, she...I let her...Dr. Friedman, we had sex last night, and we shouldn't have, it was too soon. I shouldn't have...dammit! I just love her so much, and when she started crying, I couldn't not hold her in my arms and..."

Dr. Friedman stays silent for a moment, then asks, "What was it like? How did Veronica react when you made love?"

"It started off great, just kissing and touching, and then...she said something. It was an accident, she said something she had said when we humiliated her with the bucket."

"What did she say?" Friedman says curiously.

"She said, 'I'll behave.'" He sighs. "We stopped, and I didn't want to do anything else. But she insisted, she took my hand and...well, slowly, we– we got past it. She was so fucking strong. She was determined to make love, to not let them take it away from us."

Cautiously, Friedman probes, "And what happened...once you got past this...faux pas?"

"It was incredible...she let me take care of her, admitted she needed me, all the things I always wanted from her that were so hard for her. It's never been like that for us. To tell you the truth, I'm scared to death that I screwed up again. I mean, I want to hope that it's going to be okay for us, but..." Logan pauses. "I'm so afraid."

"What scares you the most, Logan?"

In a whisper, he says hesitantly, "I think she remembered something about her rape during the group therapy, but now she can't remember what happened that whole last day of the operation."

"It's possible. The new trauma might have unlocked deeply buried memories for her, and it might be too hard for her to examine those memories–"

He interrupts. "I know she blames me for her rape. And she should. I got the drugs that were used on her," Logan explains.

"But you didn't–"

"It doesn't matter. She knows, I'm responsible. And...I know if she remembers her rape, she's going to..." He swallows, unable to continue. "She's not going to be able to get past that. No one's that strong."

Dr. Friedman exhales softly. After a few moments, she says quietly, "Logan...I saw on the news that Veronica was released from the hospital. It sounds like she's being taken care of."

"Of course they're taking care of her. She had a kidney infection and a dislocated shoulder."

"And it sounds like they are taking care of her emotional health too. But...who's taking care of you?"

"What?"

"Logan, I hear you blaming yourself. You were an amateur in an extremely tough situation. Who's taking care of you?"

"I don't deserve–"

"Logan! You're not listening to me," Dr. Friedman says sharply. "You've been through a trauma here, too."

"No, that's crazy, Veronica's the one we have to worry about. I'm all right."

"You don't sound all right to me."

"No, I'm fine," he protests. He starts to become agitated again. "I just need your help, I want to help Veronica through this. I'm worried about doing the right thing for her. I keep screwing up, and I don't understand why she still...loves me. It's not just the undercover operation...there's this woman that I had an affair with a few years ago..." Logan struggles to find the words to explain. "Her name was Kendall. She was back in town, making trouble again, and while we were in Vermont, somebody killed her. And...it's all coming out, the affair that I had with her, and the sheriff is going around asking questions about me and Kendall. I can't believe this is happening, on top of everything else. And Veronica is–" he breaks off.

"Veronica is what?" Friedman presses.

"She just said we would figure it out, somehow. I thought she would be...I don't know, her old judgmental self, telling me that I fucked up again. And this woman, Kendall...she really caused a lot of pain for us. I don't know how Veronica is not more upset about it."

"You said that Veronica is really trying. And, Logan, you said yourself, she admitted to you how much she needs you. You've become pretty close to Veronica's father. Can you talk with him about how you're feeling? I'm very concerned that no one is recognizing how difficult this experience was for you."

"Veronica's dad is pretty pissed at me right now. He specifically asked me not to...not to share Veronica's bed last night."

"Of course, he's worried about his daughter. He knows about the rape then?"

"He does now. I told him about the GHB, that I brought it to the party." Logan scoffs. "It's a mess. I'm surprised he didn't kill me himself when he found out."

"You said it was Veronica's idea to sleep together last night. You didn't press her, did you?"

"No! Of course not. She was crying; she wanted me to hold her. She said it was upsetting her that we were acting like she was weak and needed protecting. I tried to get her to go slowly, but..." Logan mumbles, "She was insistent. She keeps saying that it hurts her worse when we treat her like she's broken."

"From my short time with Veronica, I'm not surprised that she would feel that way. She needs to feel strong and in control, and she's been through an experience that took all that away from her. Still..." Friedman sighs. "The fact that she was raped, and now they used it against her...I'm very worried about both of you."

"She wants you to help us watch the videos so she can remember what happened that last day. She's unbelievable. She's so fucking determined."

"She's trying to get healthy, trying to get back to the Veronica she used to be any way she can," Friedman comments. "She's a very strong woman, Logan. She's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. You'll get through this, I'm sure of it. ...Logan, I'm sorry. I have a patient coming in. But you can call me anytime. You still have my home number too?"

"Yeah. Thanks," he says.

"I'm glad you called. Please, call me if you need me. Let's talk in a day or so, okay? Remember to really listen to Veronica when she talks. She'll tell you what she needs from you. And I'd like you to think about telling her what you need from her."

Logan disconnects. He takes a deep breath and massages his neck, stretching it to try to relieve some of his tension. The intense knot in his stomach gradually releases, and he realizes that the knot has been there, nagging and persistent, ever since the end of the operation. Logan admits to himself that he has tried to avoid examining his own behavior during the operation by focusing on taking care of her. He feels a curious mixture of relief, guilt, and sorrow after finally talking about what happened, and the therapist's concern for him does reassure him more than he would have thought possible. But despite Friedman's comments, he knows he can't possibly talk to Keith about these feelings. If I ever needed a father to talk to, it's now, he muses bitterly. He thinks about Veronica's strength and vows to hold onto the hope that somehow they will be okay.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Tightening the Noose
Logan and Veronica work on their story;
Leo digs into the goings-on at the Neptune
Grand; Leo picks up Veronica and Logan
for questioning.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring.
Leo: Max Greenfield. Tina: Anna Campbell.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN: "TIGHTENING THE NOOSE"

Tues. 3/17/09 late morning: Sunset Cliffs Apartment, Neptune, CA

Veronica wakes up. She cautiously opens her eyes. I feel pretty good, she thinks to her surprise. I'm home, she remembers, and then she smiles, recalling the night before. She sits up and cautiously gets out of bed, favoring her shoulder; even her injury seems to be bothering her a little bit less after a good night's sleep in her own comfortable bed.

She walks out to the kitchen. Logan is sitting at the counter with several days' worth of newspaper spread around him.

"Hey," he says. "How are you feeling today?"

"Hey," she replies, suddenly shy. "I feel good. It's great to be home." Backup wakes up on the couch and joins them in the kitchen, hopeful for dropped food and some attention. Veronica bends down and begins to play with his ear; as she scratches his head, he whines happily.

"Want some breakfast? Eggs, pancakes..." he suggests.

"Did you eat?"

"A little bit, maybe an hour ago," he answers. "I've been catching up on the news."

She nods. "Where's Dad?"

"He left a note," Logan says, pushing it to her.

"'Went to the office....Logan, I need to speak to you,'" she reads. Puzzled, she asks, "What's that about?"

He looks at her for a moment before answering. "Well, if I had to guess, I'd say he's mad about me sleeping with you last night...your dad was slamming the cupboards pretty hard this morning when he made his breakfast. I'm surprised he didn't wake you up," Logan says.

"No, I slept like a log. It's, uh...the first time since the operation started that I haven't had any bad dreams," she concludes quietly. She sees him looking at her with concern. Don't tell him, don't let him see....

He suddenly grasps, I didn't realize...of course she's been having nightmares. "I'm glad you slept."

"He's mad about you sleeping with me?" she presses, trying hard to keep her voice logical and unemotional.

"We had a discussion last night about the sleeping arrangements. We both agreed it would be better for me to sleep on the couch."

"So you and Dad discussed where you were going to sleep without consulting me?" she blurts out angrily. 'You're a damaged person, Connie. You can't function in society.' Damn it to hell! "You were discussing my...mental fitness, my..." She exhales in frustration. "Do I get a vote? Last night, I thought you were...I thought you didn't want..." she swallows.

"Veronica. Come on. We're worried about you. We've talked about this, about letting the people who love you take care of you."

"I really want you guys to include me in these decisions, okay?" she says, fuming.

"Veronica, it was hard enough for your dad to say what he did. He probably doesn't even like to think about us having sex, and you know he's been pretty cool with us. He just wants you to be all right, like I do. And I'm not surprised he was mad when he woke up and realized I was plowing his beloved daughter the night before." A note of self-disgust creeps into his voice. I shouldn't have given in to her...goddamn, I'm such a fucking asshole.

Veronica squints at him and tries to read his mood, detecting something a little off in his comment. This is so fucking hard. Stop it, Veronica. That's Logan...focus. Plowing...he's feeling guilty about last night. She tries to calm down...they don't think you're damaged, Veronica. Logan loves you, he's worried about you. "Plowing?" she repeats aloud.

Logan attempts to deflect. "Okay...caressing your alabaster thighs and worshipping your quivering mound of Venus," he amends lightly. "...m'lady." He remembers what Friedman had said, 'I'd like you to think about telling her what you need from her,' but he rejects it out of hand as completely too intimidating.

Her anger about Logan and her dad being overprotective evaporates. Veronica shakes with the effort of repressing her laughter. "Mound of Venus...oh my god. Don't forget about your throbbing shaft," she finally adds, between giggles.

He pulls her to him and lifts her to sit on his lap. She rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes, and he puts his arms around her. Logan thinks, Now I'm completely screwed. I gave in to her; if I try to go slow again, she'll think I'm rejecting her. She'll never understand that I'm just scared of hurting her. How the hell am I going to do this without making things worse? Logan asks aloud, "You're really feeling okay today?"

"Better than okay." She opens her eyes and looks at his worried face. "It wasn't too soon," she protests. "I needed to feel loved last night. I'll talk to Dad."

"Oh, I want to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. And Veronica, you probably should do it sooner rather than later. I think he might have plans to hurt me," he comments. Logan swallows and screws up his courage. "He loves you, Veronica; he's trying to help you and protect you. And so am I. I love you so much, Veronica. Just...try to remember, I'm scared, and I don't know how to do this. I need you too...more than you know." Does that count as telling her what you need?

He idly strokes her hair for a while before he says, "Veronica, I have to talk to you about Kendall."

"Now what?" she mutters. I wish it could just be like this all the time, she suddenly thinks, closing her eyes and leaning against him. Fuck Kendall.

"Sacks told your dad last night that they found a partial fingerprint in Kendall's room, and it looks like a pretty close match to your fingerprints. It was in one of the drawers...maybe when you were searching for videotaping equipment that night. Sacks said that Leo's going to try to surprise you with that. You need to be prepared."

"I don't understand what Leo's trying to accomplish. We clearly have an alibi for the time when she was murdered."

"He's trying to make our lives miserable," Logan replies. Nervously, he continues, "Veronica, I'm...I'm so sorry about Kendall, about getting involved with her in the first place. You know, when you came by that morning, after Alterna-Prom, I....Veronica, I wish I could erase that from our lives. I wish I could rewind to the night before. I would have stopped drinking and locked myself in my room and waited to see if you changed your mind."

"Changed my mind?"

"When you left, when you didn't want to...."

Veronica says, "It wasn't that I didn't want to, I just needed to think about it. You're not the only one who was drinking that night."

"You? You were drinking?"

"I had a couple glasses of champagne. For me, that's like...wasted. And...you scared me. I mean, I knew; I knew you didn't hate me anymore."

"Veronica, I never hated you," Logan objects.

"Umm, I don't think that's true. But you know, you can't really hate someone unless you love them."

"So what you're saying is you really hated me," he says.

She nods. "Yes, I suppose so. And I also loved you, and that was scary."

Logan says, "I don't remember what happened that night. I guess I blacked out." He sighs. "You know that that happened to me pretty often in the old days when I was drinking. I don't remember calling Kendall, but then again I don't remember much of anything after you left. She might have just shown up; she did that a few times. And I think I was too fucked up that night to send her away. I'm so sorry, Veronica. I wanted to spend the rest of my life making that up to you. I hate that she's still making trouble for us."

"She can only make trouble for us if we let her."

"I hope you're right," he replies.

Veronica nods at the papers spread out on the counter. "Anything interesting in the papers?"

"Not much about Kendall. Leo's keeping a tight lid on the investigation."

"Because if we're his best suspects, he doesn't really have anything at all."

Logan nods. "Exactly."

Impulsively, Veronica blurts, "Why the hell isn't he looking into her connection with the Fitzpatricks?"

He meet her eyes; they don't need to answer the question. The purpose of Leo's vendetta is all too obvious. Logan changes the topic. "How about that breakfast now?"

"Scrambled eggs, maybe?"

"Coming right up."

He moves to put her down, and she says, "Just hold me for another minute, okay?"

"Okay," he agrees. He hugs her just a little bit tighter, wishing they could just forget about Kendall and Briar Hill and everything.

"Logan...." she says quietly.

"What?"

"What are we going to tell Leo about Kendall?" she asks.

"As little as possible," he replies.

"No, Logan. We need to be careful. You know he's going to try to question us. Let's figure out what we're going to say to him," she says persuasively.

"Dick said he has video of us in the Neptune Grand elevator. So we can't deny being there."

"That's not a crime. We rented a room for the night," Veronica says thoughtfully.

"We don't volunteer going to Duncan's room. That was the only time I saw her," Logan adds.

"I only saw her one other time, after Duncan's press conference. She was waiting for him at the hotel. And I didn't know who she was at the time."

"You can tell Leo that," Logan suggests.

She nods. "And we were in Briar Hill when she was murdered."

"So we're agreed? We don't mention that Duncan was having an affair with her. And we also don't say that she broke into Mars Investigations."

Veronica says quickly, "Of course not. The next day, after we talked to her, Dad erased the video of her in the office. He said there was no way he would open up that can of worms by pressing charges against her in the break-in."

"What about...what about the fingerprint they found in the drawer in Kendall's room?" Logan asks nervously. "How do we explain that?"

"I don't know. You said that Sacks said it was only a partial?" she queries.

"How long do fingerprints last?" he asks suddenly.

"Up to forty years."

"I love that you know that off the top of your head, Veronica." He thinks for a moment. "Why not just say you've been all over that hotel over the years? I lived there in two different rooms, and you were over all the time. You've been involved in a lot of investigations over the years; maybe there was a legitimate reason you looked in a drawer."

"At Alterna-Prom, a lot of kids rented rooms for the night," she suggests. "Maybe that was one of the rooms." She stays silent, thinking. Finally, she sighs. "I think it's best if I just say I don't know how my fingerprint got there, but I've been in the hotel hundreds of times over the years. It's not enough evidence to arrest me, especially if it's true that it's not a good print."

"I hope you're right. You realize...we're assuming Duncan didn't tell Leo he was having an affair with Kendall," Logan states.

"He can't. He might lose custody; he wouldn't take the chance."

"What if Leo found evidence that they were together? Duncan would have to admit it."

Veronica exhales. "I think he would have arrested Duncan if that was true. No matter what, we can't talk about confronting Kendall. We committed about twenty crimes that night–" Suddenly, she stops short.

"What?" Logan asks worriedly.

Veronica gets up and goes to her bedroom. She rummages in her desk and finds the bug detector. She turns it on and begins to sweep the apartment.

"Here...give it here. I've watched you do it enough times," Logan suggests. She hands it to him and takes a seat on the couch as he wanders all over the apartment. Finally, he plops down beside her on the couch and shakes his head.

"I'm getting paranoid," she says quietly.

"Except that he really is out to get us," Logan remarks.

"We just have to say we didn't know it was Kendall. That's it. There's no choice, Logan. Even if Duncan admits he had an affair with her, he's not going to tell Leo about that night. There's no reason for him to tell; it wouldn't exonerate him from a murder charge. I hope to hell he has an alibi for Kendall's murder."

Tues. 3/17/09 late morning: Neptune Grand Hotel, Neptune, CA

"Thank you for seeing me again, Tina," Leo says, taking a seat across the desk from the Neptune Grand manager. He notes that she looks a little nervous. "I have a few followup questions."

"Of course, Sheriff."

"Why didn't you tell me that Duncan Kane was staying at the hotel prior to his surrender to the authorities?" Leo asks.

"Duncan Kane? I thought you were investigating Ms. Casablancas. Why would I volunteer information about an unrelated guest?" Tina says in surprise.

"I'm just wondering why his name was not listed on the register that you provided for me. You certainly knew that Daniel Gillman was actually Duncan Kane after the publicity when he surrendered himself."

"I gave you a complete list of everyone who was staying at the hotel during Ms. Casablancas' stay, with the names that they used when they registered. It's not my job to investigate whether someone is registered under an assumed name," Tina says defensively.

"Right. But it might have saved me a little time, and I think you've made a point of protecting your guests' privacy over cooperating with me."

"Of course I'm protecting the guests' privacy! People stay at the Neptune Grand because we have a good reputation for keeping the paparazzi out. As I mentioned to you before, we often have clientele recuperating from plastic surgery here who are purposely avoiding the press."

Leo stares at her without speaking.

Tina grows increasingly more nervous. "There's nothing to tell anyways. Mr. Kane kept to himself."

"Yes, that appears to be true. Do you know if Mr. Kane had any contact with Ms. Casablancas during his stay here?"

"I'm sure that I wouldn't know. I don't stick my nose in my guests' business, and the employees are cautioned to do the same."

Leo sighs. "Can you at least tell me if their rooms were near each other?"

Tina flushes, and Leo thinks, Bingo. Tina says, "They were across the hall from each other on the third floor: Mr. Kane was in the Triton Suite, and Ms. Casablancas had the Naiad Suite."

Taking advantage of Tina's nervousness, Leo presses, "And what about Logan Echolls and his guest?"

"What?" Tina replies, rattled by the abrupt switch.

"Your security footage shows Mr. Echolls and Veronica Mars in the elevator together, during the period when both Mr. Kane and Ms. Casablancas were registered guests. But neither Echolls nor Mars shows up on the register."

Tina sighs. "Mr. Echolls was a longtime resident several years ago. He paid cash for one night's stay. I don't remember the name he used."

Helpfully, Leo says, "It was Saturday, February 28."

Tina clicks a few keys on her computer. "Hmm...I think he registered under 'Charles Windsor.'"

"But you say he used to be a longtime resident, and you clearly knew who he was. And at the time he was here in Neptune, he was supposedly in Europe. Of course he wouldn't want to use his real name to register."

Tina says impulsively, "I'm quite certain Mr. Echolls only had a romantic evening in mind. Perhaps he was just seeking a little privacy."

"I suppose that's possible. I hope for your sake he wasn't taking advantage of your good nature to hide his presence here. I wonder what the corporate owners of the Neptune Grand would think of you knowingly allowing guests to register under false names."

Tina sputters, "You're being completely ridiculous. What difference does it make if Logan Echolls stayed for a night at the hotel?"

"Surely you're aware that Mr. Echolls had an intimate relationship with Ms. Casablancas three years ago? They were meeting here at the hotel," Leo asks.

"Logan and Ms. Casablancas? I had no idea," Tina replies, shocked. "You can't think Logan Echolls had something to do with this."

"I see. Getting back to Mr. Kane..." Leo says thoughtfully. "You said he kept to himself. Do you keep records from room service?"

"Not the specific orders, but if the food is charged to the room, the total amounts will be listed on the bill," Tina answers.

"Let's see the room service charges for Mr. Kane and Ms. Casablancas. Can you make a printout?" Leo asks.

Tina reluctantly prints out several pages of charges, and Leo places the two bills side by side on her desk. Starting on February 8, Kendall's room service bills drop off dramatically, while Duncan's almost double in size. The trend continues until March 1, when Kendall's tab resumes its previous size.

"Looks like Mr. Kane and Ms. Casablancas might have been dining together. Until March 1...the day after Echolls and Ms. Mars were here. So maybe something happened during their visit," Leo muses aloud.

"I wouldn't know," Tina replies. "This could all be a coincidence."

"No, I don't think so. When Veronica Mars is involved, there's not much chance of something happening by accident. Tina, this is starting to look like a conspiracy of some type. Mr. Kane meets Ms. Casablancas and begins to spend a great deal with her until Mr. Echolls and Ms. Mars get involved. Perhaps they inform Mr. Kane that she is really Kendall, not Katerina Beversdorf. Then Mr. Kane stops spending time with Ms. Casablancas, and, for whatever reason, Ms. Casablancas is murdered about ten days later. I suggest you start cooperating with this investigation, immediately." Leo looks at the room service bills again. "It looks like somebody with the initials J.R. signed off on Mr. Kane's deliveries most of the time. Who would that be?"

Tina clicks a few keys, frowning at her computer. "Jeffrey Ratner. He's coming on shift at four o'clock."

Leo checks his watch, thinking about everything he has to do today. "I'll need his phone number, please. If you think of anything else, I'd like you to call me right away. I don't want to have to ask for your cooperation again."

Tues. 3/17/09 early afternoon: Sunset Cliffs Apartment/Sheriff's Department, Neptune, CA

Logan is lounging on the bed watching Veronica as she looks through her closet. She pulls out two selections and hangs them on the door, frowning. "What's the matter, sugarpuss?" he asks.

"The dress I want to wear is at school."

He props himself up on his elbows and points. "What's wrong with that one?"

"It's a little big on me normally." She looks down at her body, far thinner than normal. "It'll be a tent..."

"Right. What about the other one?"

"I'm trying to figure out if it will work with the sling."

"Let's try it." He gets off the bed and helps her remove the sling. She carefully pulls her t-shirt over her head with his assistance and steps out of her jeans. He stares at her, resisting the impulse to caress her and strip her out of her underwear.

"What?" she asks, using the mirror to look at him standing behind her.

"Nothing."

"No, what?"

"Just...it goes against my nature, to help you put clothes on," he finally mumbles.

She leans back against him. "We've got time."

"Don't tempt me, woman. You're supposed to be taking it easy." He takes the dress off the hanger and holds it for her to step into.

She steps into the dress, and he pulls it up and zips it for her. She looks in the mirror and suddenly says, "Crap."

"Now what?"

"I have to shave my legs," she replies. "I don't suppose...."

"A man's work is never done," he says with an exaggerated sigh.

"No, it's ridiculous." She leans forward into the closet again. "I'll just wear pants. These are probably small enough," she says, pulling a pair from the back of the closet. "Can you unzip me?"

"Yes, ma'am. My pleasure, bobcat." He helps her take off the dress, replacing it on a hanger. She steadies herself by holding onto him as he pulls up the slacks and helps her to fasten them. She regards herself in the mirror, frowning, as he looks on.

He says thoughtfully, "I think I remember these, Veronica. Freshman year, right? Pretty memorable embroidery on the back pocket, and I think they fit perfectly." Logan gives in to his impulses and runs his hand over her ass.

She turns a little and pretends to bat his hand away. "Freshman year? You weren't supposed to be looking at my ass. You were going out with the hottest girl in school."

"No, I wasn't." He grabs her hand and gently pulls her to him. He kisses the top of her head, watching her eyes in the mirror. "I've been in love with you for so long, Veronica." She relaxes into him, pressing herself into him as he draws little circles with his thumb on her waist.

With a regretful sigh, she says, "C'mon, let me pick a shirt." He releases her reluctantly, and Veronica selects a dark-colored turtleneck that will fit under the sling. He assists her carefully; she winces as he eases the right sleeve up her arm and cautiously helps the top over her head. "Maybe I can dress it up with a scarf," she muses. He straps the sling on her arm again, and she looks at her reflection. She sighs and says, "It'll have to do. It does cover up the stupid tattoos." She fusses with her red curls, frowning. "I hate this hair."

"You'd look beautiful in a paper bag with a clown wig," he tells her.

They hear loud voices arguing in the parking lot. Logan walks over to the window and looks out. "It's Leo, discussing something with one of the deputies."

Veronica joins him, "That's Carl. He always liked my dad. He must have taken over watching out for the paps from Sacks last night." They watch as Leo turns away in disgust. Carl gets in the police cruiser and leaves the parking lot.

The doorbell rings, and Logan's eyes meet Veronica's. "I'll let him in," Logan says.

Veronica follows him more slowly into the living room. Logan opens the door, saying, "Sheriff."

"Mr. Echolls. Veronica," Leo replies. He stares at Veronica, taking note of the sling, her hair, the dark circles under her eyes, and her thinness. He looks around the room, frowning when he sees the wheelchair from yesterday's journeys.

"How can we help you, Leo?" Veronica asks.

"Don't you guys answer your phone? I've called several times this morning," he replies.

Logan says, "The phone ringer's turned off. There have been paparazzi bothering us, and Veronica needed to get her sleep last night. She was injured...I don't know if you know about that."

"I did hear about your adventure in Vermont. Pretty good detective work, sounds like. I also heard about an arrest for assault and battery," Leo comments. "I have to tell you, I was surprised to find one of my off-duty deputies sitting in your parking lot when I got here."

"Dad still has some friends on the force. I guess he didn't want to have to run a gauntlet of reporters when we got back late last night, so he asked for some help from his old friends. How can we help you, Leo?" she repeats.

"Well, I'm glad to find you both here. I'd like to speak with you down at the station about Kendall Casablancas." He nods at the newspapers spread out on the counter. "I see you've been catching up with the current events, so I'm sure you're aware that she was murdered."

"Is it really necessary to do this today, Sheriff?" Logan tries to keep his voice polite and respectful. "Veronica was released from the hospital yesterday. We've come back to town just to attend the Mackenzie funeral, and I was hoping Veronica could just rest today."

Leo checks his watch. "The funeral's not until 4:00. We've got plenty of time, assuming you can clear up some of my questions about Ms. Casablancas."

"Are you making this an official request?" Veronica asks. "We'd be happy to come by first thing tomorrow morning. I am feeling pretty tired today."

"This shouldn't take long," Leo replies. "I'd really like to speak with you today. It's already been almost a week since Ms. Casablancas was killed."

Veronica stares at him. "Of course we're happy to cooperate in any investigation," she says finally.

Logan says, "Give me a second to get changed." He glances at Veronica, mouthing, 'Cliff', and heads into her bedroom.

He goes into her bedroom and shut the door. He grabs her cellphone, still in its charger on her bureau. He notes the display, '112 missed calls', and thumbs through the menus, looking for an entry for Cliff McCormack. He dials and speaks in a low voice when Cliff answers. "Cliff, it's Logan Echolls...are you busy?"

"Mr. Echolls, one of my favorite clients. You always had such...ahem, colorful arrests. And...to be fair, you always paid your bills on time."

"Yeah, good times. I hope I still get the frequent flyer discount," he replies. "Did Keith talk to you?"

"I've been in depositions all morning. What's going on?"

"Sheriff D'Amato is taking Veronica and me in to the station for questioning in the Kendall Casablancas murder."

"You've been arrested?"

"Not yet," Logan says drily. "And we're sort of hoping to prevent that. Can you meet us at the sheriff's department? The sheriff has apparently been trying to build a case against us, and we'd feel a lot better with some legal representation."

"What is with you kids today? I wish you'd leave the murdering to the grownups. I'll meet you there in twenty minutes."

Logan disconnects; he gets dressed quickly, putting the phone in his pocket. He walks back out into the living room. "Do you think your dad would mind if I borrowed a tie?"

"Of course not, go ahead."

Logan ducks into Keith's bedroom and emerges a minute later, tying a red and blue striped tie. He walks over to Veronica and puts his arm around her. "Ready?"

"I need my cell," she remembers suddenly as she grabs her purse.

"I got it," he says, meeting her glance. She nods.

"Let's go," Leo announces. He escorts them to the parking lot.

Logan motions that Veronica should take the front seat, and he gets into the back of the cruiser. "I'm having the weirdest deja vu right now. Except it really should be Lamb in the front seat and my arms should be cuffed uncomfortably behind my back."

"Logan," Veronica says warningly.

Leo retorts, "Lately I've regretted that I didn't take you in when you showed up drunk at that eighties dance. It might have saved some heartbreak for all of us if you'd been sent to a rehab that night."

"Wow. And I thought you didn't remember the night we met," Logan says sarcastically. "I wrote in my journal that night: the cutest deputy in Neptune showed up at the dance. And then he broke my heart when he acted like I didn't exist." He clasps his hands together and leans his cheek against his hands.

"Logan, you do have the right to remain silent," Veronica says firmly. "Could you possibly exercise that right?"

Logan can't resist one last parting shot. "Of course, I can think of fifty thousand reasons why the sheriff should have a soft spot in his heart for me."

"Logan!" Veronica hisses, turning around in the seat to glare at him. She sucks in her breath loudly when she accidentally twists her shoulder. Under her breath, she mutters, "Fuck...fuck!" She leans forward with her eyes closed, waiting for the pain to subside.

"Veronica, are you all right?" Logan says quickly. "Sheriff, please stop. Please."

Leo glances at Veronica and slows the cruiser. "You really are hurt."

"Yes," she replies briefly, breathing through the pain. "They're going to have to do surgery on my shoulder to repair it."

Leo's face betrays him with a momentary expression of guilt and regret before he resumes his serious demeanor. He pretends to concentrate on his driving and again ignores his inner voice that keeps repeating, 'don't do this.'

"Sheriff. I'm sorry I was screwing around," Logan says contritely. "Please, can we possibly wait on this? Veronica just got out of the hospital. She's supposed to be resting. You can talk to me today, just take Veronica back to the apartment."

Leo glances back at him.

Before Leo can respond, Veronica interjects, "No, it's all right, let's get this over with. Just...Logan, do you think you could possibly refrain for once?" she says warningly.

"I'm sorry," he says sincerely. Logan manages to keep quiet for the rest of trip to the sheriff's department. When Leo lets him out of the back seat, he goes to Veronica and solicitously escorts her into the building, where Cliff is waiting.

"Sheriff," Cliff says, standing up to greet them.

"Counselor," Leo replies. He waits, expecting Cliff to leave; he finally realizes Cliff is there for Logan and Veronica. He half-turns to Logan and says, "You called him from the bedroom. You realize you don't need an attorney; I'm just asking you a few questions. I have to say, it makes me wonder why you're so nervous that you need an attorney."

Cliff replies for them. "Sheriff, my clients are just exercising their right to representation. They asked me to help them to clear this up as quickly as possible."

Leo frowns and leads them to his office. Veronica whispers to Logan, "Try to keep your wit under control, will you?"

"Sorry," he mumbles.

Leo motions to a seat outside his office door. "Who's going first?" At their expression, he explains, "Oh, you didn't think I was going to question you together, did you? No, I think it's better this way. I'm more likely to hear the truth."

"Go ahead," Logan says to Veronica. "Maybe if this doesn't take too long, one of the deputies can take you back to the apartment for a nap before the funeral." He kisses her on the top of her head. "Tell the truth, honey."

She snorts. "I'm made of truth, remember?" Veronica grabs his hand and squeezes it before walking into Leo's office, followed closely by the sheriff and Cliff.

He smiles, remembering the last outgoing message he put on his cell phone. 'When my love swears that she is made of truth, I do believe her though I know she lies, That she might think me some untutor'd youth, Unlearned in the world's false subtleties....Therefore I lie with her, and she with me, And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.' William Shakespeare. Logan pulls out Veronica's cell and accesses the call menu. One hundred and twelve missed calls. Most of the calls say 'Private Caller' or 'Out of Area', and Logan assumes that they are calls from reporters. He notes that Casablancas Jr, R. called five times. Duncan, whose cell phone is apparently under the name 'Daniel', called twenty-four times. What the hell is Duncan calling her about? Logan really does want Duncan to get custody, but he can't help his flash of jealousy when he thinks of Veronica working with him. He hits '2' on the phone, and the display reads "Calling...Dad Cell".

"Veronica?" Keith says.

"No, it's Logan," he replies. Keith is silent in response. He's furious with me, Logan thinks despondently. He says, "We're at the Sheriff's Department. Leo is questioning Veronica now. I'm next."

"I'll get Cliff–"

"I called him. He's in there with Veronica," Logan interrupts.

"Good," Keith replies succinctly.

I'm sorry...I'm sorry I fucked your daughter last night, Logan thinks morosely. He waits to see if Keith is going to bring it up. When there is only silence on the line, Logan adds, "Umm, about uh...your note, I want to talk to you too. I understand why you're upset."

There is no response. Keith's silence is more scary than a lecture, Logan thinks.

Finally, Keith says, "We'll talk about it later. Thanks for letting me know what's going on. Be careful." He terminates the call.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
Made of Truth
Leo questions Veronica and Logan; Keith
reports to Ms. Denenberg; Mac worries
about Veronica's safety to no avail.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring.
Leo: Max Greenfield. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Cliff: Daran Norris. Mac: Tina Majorino.
Stephanie Denenberg: Stacy Edwards.
Alan: Ned Vaughan. Sacks: Brandon Hillock.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT: "MADE OF TRUTH"

Tues. 3/17/09 afternoon: Sheriff's Office, Neptune Sheriff's Department, Neptune, CA

Leo comments, "I don't know what's more sickening, when you and Echolls are lovey-dovey or when you're fighting," Leo comments.

"We've had a complicated relationship. It's hard when your boyfriend's father murders your best friend," Veronica explains drily.

"It's interesting you say that, 'complicated relationship'. I've been looking into your history a bit." He pushes a sheet of paper across the desk to her. "See if I got it right."

Veronica, more curious than she is willing to admit, picks up the paper and begins to read. Cliff looks over her shoulder, reading along.

Fall 2002-Fall 2003:
Duncan with Veronica, Lilly with Logan

Oct-Dec 2003:
Duncan breaks it off with Veronica; rumors of Duncan's violent fits
Lilly Kane is murdered
Keith Mars suspects Jake Kane
Keith Mars recalled in election
Abel Koontz is arrested
Veronica supports her father and is ostracized at school; Logan Echolls fans the flames of public opinion against Veronica

Veronica looks up. How the hell does he know that? She purses her lips and starts to read again.

Spring 2004-Spring 2005:
Keith Mars continues to investigate Lilly's murder

Spring 2005:
Logan's mother dies; Logan gets together with Veronica
Aaron Echolls is arrested for Lilly's murder

Summer 2005:
Logan and Veronica together
Veronica breaks it off with Logan; Veronica gets back together with Duncan
Kendall marries Richard Casablancas, Sr.

Fall 2005:
Logan has relationship with Kendall (Kendall possible cause of breakup with Veronica?)

"What the hell is this? 'Kendall possible cause of breakup with Veronica?'" she asks. Cliff touches her on the shoulder, reminding her to be careful.

"Was Kendall the reason you broke it off with Echolls?" he replies.

"No! We broke it off because...because...." she hesitates. Because he was acting crazy. Because he was trying to start a class war in Neptune. Because he scared me with how much he loved me. She concludes, "We broke it off because we weren't getting along. He was going through a lot at the time. He had been accused of murder, you remember."

"Oh, let me add that in there," Leo says, taking the paper back. He scribbles a few words and pushes the paper back to her.

She glares at him when she sees what he has written. Veronica resolves to read the rest of the summary before reacting again.

Summer 2005:
Logan and Veronica together; Logan charged with murder, Veronica dumps him without a second thought
Veronica breaks it off with Logan; Veronica gets back together w/ Duncan
Kendall marries Richard Casablancas, Sr.

Fall 2005:
Logan has relationship with Kendall (Kendall possible cause of breakup with Veronica?)
Logan and Duncan living together at the Neptune Grand while Duncan is dating Veronica and Logan is sleeping with Kendall
Kendall seduces Duncan
Duncan breaks it off with Veronica; Duncan runs with his baby

Veronica realizes that someone who witnessed their public breakup has told Leo about her fight with Duncan. Dick? I can't see Dick volunteering that information to the sheriff. Veronica mentally reviews who witnessed that fight. No, not Dick...I bet it was Madison. She resolves to kill Madison, once and for all, if the bitch actually can be killed. Need to get my silver stake sharpened, if Leo doesn't arrest me. She continues reading; each sentence is unfortunately and painfully true, and her stomach twists in knots.

Spring 2006:
Cassidy Casablancas commits suicide

Fall 2006:
Kendall Casablancas disappears

Fall 2006-Fall 2008:
unknown status of relationship between Logan and Veronica
Kendall changes her appearance
Duncan, still on the run, changes his appearance

Fall 2008:
Veronica's mother murdered
Rumors of conspiracy between Logan, Veronica, and Duncan
Logan and Veronica resume relationship

Spring 2009:
Duncan comes back to Neptune; checks in to the Neptune Grand Hotel on Feb. 2, 4:38pm; uses the name 'Daniel Gillman'
Kendall comes back to Neptune; checks in to the Neptune Grand, Feb. 2, 10:22pm; uses the name 'Pamela Hollister'
Feb. 8-Feb. 28: Duncan and Kendall appear to have a relationship, based on room service records
Feb. 9: Duncan signs plea agreement in Manning kidnapping case
Feb. 28, 11:49pm: Logan and Veronica at Neptune Grand Hotel, as evidenced by security footage
Mar. 5: Duncan closes on house purchase; deed filed at County Hall of Records
Mar. 6: Duncan checks out of Neptune Grand Hotel, 10:07am
Mar. 11: Kendall murdered; approx. time of death between 9pm and 1am.

Veronica is appalled at the specificity of Leo's notes. He has apparently worked hard to compile evidence that Duncan and Kendall had some connection. And she reflects that it looks bad that she and Logan were at the Grand right before Duncan and Kendall apparently ended their relationship. Unfortunately, Dad was right. Leo is a good investigator; if only he was actually investigating the right thing.

Suddenly, it's all just too much, and she struggles not to burst into tears. This is too hard...it's too much, I can't...I never should have helped Duncan, what was I thinking? I was so stupid...why didn't I see that Meg was lying to us? Instead I used Logan, used Dad, used Kendall...never thought about what might happen. Leo is staring at her, wondering at her silence, and she fights to hold it together. 'You're going to have to do better. Connie needs to work a little harder on her honesty.'

Cliff asks, "Vee? You okay?" He turns to Leo. "Sheriff, maybe we need to take a little break."

Veronica finds her voice and says, "I'm just tired. We just got back last night, you know." She hands Leo's notes back to him. "How puritanical of you, to spend all this time snooping into our love lives."

"The four of you have quite a history."

"Is there a question here?" Cliff acts. "This is all very interesting, but high school romances usually aren't a motive for murder."

Leo says, "Did you know that Kendall Casablancas was back in town?"

"No," Veronica replies.

"Were you aware that she had resumed her affair with Duncan Kane?" Leo presses.

Resumed. Fuck. At the time, that ruse seemed like a good idea. She takes a breath to speak.

Cliff interrupts before she can answer. "Ms. Mars just said she didn't know that Ms. Casablancas was back in town. How could she be aware who Ms. Casablancas was sleeping with?"

"Do you know why Ms. Casablancas disappeared in 2006?" Leo asks, changing tacks.

"Wasn't she involved with that Phoenix Land Trust with Cassidy?" Veronica asks. There, that was completely honest. I can do this. "Maybe it was something to do with that. You say she 'disappeared' and make it sound suspicious. Maybe Kendall just left town and started looking for a new sugar-daddy."

"Right." Leo thinks a minute. "You're saying you've had no contact with Ms. Casablancas since she came back to Neptune?"

"I met her in the hallway of the Neptune Grand. I didn't know it was Kendall. She introduced herself as Katya," Veronica answers. There's no point hiding this. He knows Duncan was involved with her. Shit. Carefully, Veronica continues. "I was with Duncan that day. I don't believe he knew it was Kendall, either."

Leo pounces. "So Duncan was having an affair with Ms. Casablancas?"

"I don't believe that's what my client said. She said she met a woman named Katya in the hallway, and that her friend Duncan was not aware the woman was really Kendall Casablancas. I believe Ms. Mars was very clear in her statement," Cliff parses. "Shouldn't you be asking Mr. Kane that question?"

"Oh, I have. And he's been very evasive, and it makes me wonder why," Leo replies. "It must be very painful for you that this woman slept with two of the men you've loved."

"Is there a question on the table?" Cliff asks.

"Did you harbor resentment against Ms. Casablancas?" Leo asks.

"It was none of my business who Logan slept with when we were broken up. And when I thought Duncan had cheated on me with Kendall, I wasn't mad at her, I was mad at him," Veronica explains.

"Wait, when you thought Duncan cheated on you?" Leo asks suspiciously.

Judgmental...resentful...critical. She imagines Leo running a finger down her moral inventory, checking off all the qualities that apply. She takes a deep breath and tries to explain. "I don't think he did cheat on me. Kendall might have tried to seduce him, but Duncan's a good person, and he wouldn't have done that to me. At the time of our breakup, he was focused on his baby, and I was...I was being a little girl, a petty bitch to tell you the truth. I was jealous that he still had ties to Meg Manning, the mother of his child, and I was looking for an excuse to get mad at him and break it off."

Cliff frowns at her.

She notices his look and continues, "Yeah, I was being immature. I was eighteen! I couldn't handle that my boyfriend had gotten another girl pregnant."

"Of course, it's good that you broke it off with him before he ran with the baby."

"What are you insinuating?" Veronica asks, her voice quavering.

"The FBI files indicates that they were suspicious that you helped Duncan flee the country with his baby. Odd behavior for an ex-girlfriend who supposedly was jealous about the pregnancy."

Cliff clears his throat. "I really wish you'd make up your mind, Sheriff. Is my client being questioned about Ms. Casablancas' murder or a three-year-old kidnapping charge?"

"Just wondering if there's a connection. Maybe Kendall witnessed something in the kidnapping case and decided to blackmail Ms. Mars. And of course there's no statute of limitations on aiding and abetting kidnapping."

"And Kendall waited until now to come forward, after completely altering her appearance for an unknown reason?" Cliff says sarcastically.

Leo leans forward. "I know something's going on here, Veronica. Don't let Logan Echolls and Duncan Kane ruin your life. I'd like to help you."

'You're still not able to be honest with yourself, Connie. Why won't you let us help you?' She tries to ignore the persistent, nagging voice and focuses on Leo's face, twisted with the attempt to conceal his hatred of her. "Oh, I doubt that," she replies, as evenly as she can. She tries to appeal to his sense of logic. "Leo, you know that I was on an undercover operation when Kendall was murdered. I was wearing a wire. I was being observed by the FBI. You can't think I had anything to do with Kendall's murder."

Leo stares at her, trying to gauge her honesty. "We found a fingerprint in Ms. Casablancas' room that is consistent with your fingerprints, Veronica. Care to explain how that got there?"

Cliff interrupts. "Consistent with? How many points of comparison are we talking?"

Reluctantly, Leo says, "Three."

"Don't answer, Veronica. Sheriff, you know that evidence would probably be thrown out as inadmissible."

"Except as rebuttal evidence," Leo notes. "Ms. Mars is saying she had no contact with Ms. Casablancas other than a chance meeting in the hallway at the Neptune Grand, yet her fingerprint was found in Ms. Casablancas' hotel room. In a drawer, by the way. Why were you looking in Kendall's drawers, Veronica?"

"This interview is over, Sheriff. You're not trying to get information from my client, you're trying to sandbag her. And you are making accusations based on flimsy and circumstantial evidence, when clearly my client has an unbreakable alibi for the time of Ms. Casablancas' murder. I'm advising my client not to talk to you any further," Cliff says, rising from his chair.

"I might only have circumstantial evidence now, but I'm sure I'll be finding more evidence as I continue to look into this. And as for that unbreakable alibi? I'm thinking conspiracy. Mr. Kane doesn't have an alibi for the night in question, you know."

Oh shit, she thinks. Duncan! She opens her mouth to speak, but Cliff puts a restraining hand on her arm.

Leo continues, "We're not done here, Veronica. It's okay though, I'd like to see what Echolls has to say for himself."

"After this performance, I'm going to advise Mr. Echolls to stick to his name, rank, and serial number," Cliff comments.

"Veronica, why don't you tell Mr. Echolls to come in here? Unless he's got something to hide," Leo says.

Veronica stands up and exits the room shakily. Logan stands up; seeing her upset demeanor, he immediately hugs her. "Are you okay?"

"Damn him," she whispers. "Be careful." She realizes Leo has followed her to the hallway and puts on a light tone. "Have fun in there, sweetie. Play nice with the sheriff."

Logan looks at her with concern and asks, "Sheriff, can one of the deputies run Veronica home? She needs her rest."

Leo replies, "It's a busy day for us here with the security for the funeral later. It might be a while. You can call a cab if you want."

Veronica frowns. Security? "You're providing security for the Mackenzie funeral?"

"Of course. The FBI is presuming it was a mafia hit. We're coordinating security with them," he replies brusquely. "Let's go, Echolls."

Veronica thinks, The Russian mob was trying to take out Mac in the bombing. But she was already in witness protection. Didn't the mob already know that? I know the Russian mafia sometimes kills the whole family for retribution...but...retribution for what? It was Rick Picket who was investigating the flirt-bot program. She thinks back. Wallace had told her, 'I did some checking, and the day before the bombing, the FBI arrested fifteen Russian guys in Florida on multiple charges of identity theft, racketeering, conspiracy, and fraud. There wasn't a lot of details, but it sounded like computer crime, and I'll bet Mac had something to do with the arrests.'

We know Mac is friggin' brilliant, and we're assuming she helped the FBI investigate, but how would the Russian mafia figure out that she was responsible for those arrests? It's not like the FBI would tell the mafia who investigated, especially if a civilian was helping them. Her head begins to hurt again just thinking about it. I'm getting so confused. Why would the mafia bomb the Mackenzies? Why can't I figure this out?

"Leo...I mean, Sheriff?" she asks.

"What?" he replies in an irritated voice.

"Something's not right about this funeral. The whole bombing doesn't make sense. Why did the Russian mob go after Mac's family?"

"How the hell do I know? I'm not in charge of the investigation into the Mackenzie bombing," Leo says. "Let's go, Echolls." He motions that Logan should go into his office.

Tues. 3/17/09 afternoon: Denenberg Residence, Neptune, CA

Ms. Denenberg opens the door before Keith can ring the bell. "Mr. Mars, thank you for coming."

"Keith, please," he replies.

"Come in," she says, escorting him into the office.

He observes that she looks tired and upset. When they enter the living room, he sees the television tuned to CNN with the sound muted, and he realizes that she's been watching the news reports about the school since the story broke. He picks up a remote controller on the coffee table and turns off the television. Keith sits down on the couch. "Ms. Denenberg, how are you doing?"

"Stephanie. It's Stephanie," she mutters.

"Stephanie. This must be very difficult for you."

"They don't say much on the reports. They keep listing the charges against Peter Klein, aggravated assault and battery, child abuse, failure to report abuse to the authorities...." her voice trails off. "I keep picturing–"

He nods, "You need to know what it was like. Your imagination is running wild."

"Were they physically hurting Hannah? Is your daughter okay? I'm sorry, I should have asked right away. Is Veronica okay?"

"Stephanie, Veronica will be fine."

Ms. Denenberg looks stricken. "Will be fine? She's not fine now? Oh god. I never should have done this."

Keith sighs. "Please don't say that. I believe we did a lot of good with this investigation." He summarizes the operation for her. He stresses at several points that Veronica had to push back against the school in order to gather evidence quickly. He explains that they did not want to have Veronica undercover indefinitely, and they needed to force the issue. Keith calmly details Veronica's injuries; he minimizes the psychological confusion she manifested when the operation ended, reminding himself that he will need to brief her again at a later date, before the trial and Veronica's testimony. Ms. Denenberg begins to calm down, hearing the facts of the operation recited in an unexcited narrative.

"Stephanie, we found out that one of the teachers at the school helped Hannah to escape. We located that teacher and spoke to her. Apparently, after her experience with your daughter, she decided to devote her life to helping the students at these schools. Several months after Hannah escaped, this teacher received a postcard from her that indicates that your daughter was happy and doing well."

"Doing well? I thought she was working as a...prostitute, taking drugs and...." Ms. Denenberg replies, confused.

"That might not be true." Keith takes out the postcard. He has protected it in a plastic bag; he shows it to Hannah's mother, who examines it closely.

Ms. Denenberg reads aloud, "'Thank you for everything. I am safe and happy because of you.'" She turns the over and looks at the picture of a meadow on the front. "'Safe and happy,'" she repeats. "It does look like Hannah's writing."

"The teacher explained that Hannah said that she used to imagine herself running through a meadow, completely free and happy, whenever she was being attacked in group therapy or punished for something at the school."

Ms. Denenberg begins to cry. "Why would they punish her?"

"Hannah insisted that she wasn't doing drugs, and they were trying to make her admit that she did. Stephanie...." Keith begins.

"What? Tell me."

"Your daughter was very brave. At one point, she used silverware to cut herself, hoping that a doctor would take her seriously and contact you," Keith says.

Horrified, Stephanie replies, "They said she was cutting...I assumed it was, you know, what you read about, teenagers and razor blades. The school said it was evidence she was disturbed."

"I don't think Hannah was disturbed at all, and based on what I saw there, I don't believe she was using drugs either. The school has a vested interest in declaring each student to be an incorrigible drug addict; they diagnose all the students as addicts and keep them there for treatment until they are eighteen or sometimes even longer."

"I don't understand. How did she end up in Los Angeles on the...on the streets, if she was in," Stephanie consults the postcard, "Rio Linda, happy and safe."

"I don't know. With your permission, I'd like to go up to Rio Linda and see if I can find anyone who remembers Hannah. Obviously, she was living under an assumed name, but there would have been limited options for a minor to earn a living."

"Of course. Of course!! I want to come with you," she says impulsively. "Please."

"Stephanie, I don't think that's a good idea. Let me find out what I can first." Gently, he adds, "I don't want someone's revelations to hurt you more than you've already been hurt. Let me handle this, and I promise, I'll tell you what I find out. I promise I won't keep secrets from you."

He looks at her sympathetically, and she nods that she understands. "You're right, Keith. I...I couldn't handle much more...." She stand up and begins to wander around the room. She touches various items, occasionally lifting them and examining them closely. Keith watches, uncertain what to say. Finally she says, "I...I keep thinking that she didn't think she could call me for help. She didn't trust her mother not to send her back to the school after she escaped...her own mother. She thought I wanted her to be in a place where she was being tortured and abused. I don't think I can forgive myself for that."

"Stephanie, you know that you are a victim of the school as well."

"I don't feel like a victim. I sent my daughter away...I let that man...I paid that man to abuse her." She drops onto the couch and begins to sob, her head in her hands. Keith moves to her; he pats her on the back, and she stiffens in response. Stephanie weeps in earnest, her shoulders shaking compulsively. He pulls into a hug, and she cries desperately against his shoulder as he rubs her back. The sobs finally begin to lessen, and she pulls away. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, Keith. I can't sleep, I can't eat. I don't know what to do."

"Stephanie, I feel certain that, given time, you and Hannah would have reunited and she would have realized that you were only trying to do what was best. I'm sure she knew that you loved her."

"I did love her. I didn't know...I didn't know."

Keith says gently, "It's not easy to be a parent. I know that firsthand. We try our best, and we make mistakes. I found out recently that I made a terrible mistake with my daughter five years ago. I feel like I'll never forgive myself for not seeing what she was going through. It's not easy to be a parent," he repeats. "You have to try to forgive yourself; you were a victim of the school as well."

She nods, staring into space.

Keith hesitates. He knows that she needs to know what might be coming. "Stephanie, there's another matter we need to discuss." He sighs. "In these situations, the schools usually offer a substantial cash settlement in return for an agreement to drop the charges and not to discuss the terms of the settlement or the allegations. Have they approached you with an offer?"

"No, and I wouldn't accept it."

"You're sure? I'm quite sure they will be offering a very large sum for your silence and cooperation."

"Bastards," she spits. "No way in hell. I don't want a penny from them. It would be blood money."

"It might be years of litigation, Stephanie. Epstein may not tell you this, but you need to know what's going to happen. You are going to have to relive what happened to your daughter over and over again, in the press, in the courtroom, on TV talk shows...it's not going to be easy. Are you prepared to go all the way with this? I'll support you, whatever you decide. A large financial settlement would hurt the school. It might even force them to close."

"No," she says firmly. "I want them to go to jail, especially that Peter Klein. CNN ran an old interview with him. I vomited up my lunch, hearing him talk about dedicating his life to helping young people."

"That's not all. Parents of students at the schools who don't want the schools to shut down may begin to harass you or threaten you. I'm not telling you what to do; I'm just telling what it's going to be like. And the school will probably sue you, Stephanie. You signed a nondisclosure agreement when you enrolled Hannah that prevents you from revealing the copyrighted treatment methods used by the school."

"But it was false advertising, and it wasn't even treatment, it was...I don't know, it was insanity is what it was."

"Yes, those are defenses that you can use when they sue. And I will testify on your behalf, and we can use the videotape evidence collected by the FBI, which is not bound by the nondisclosure agreement."

"Would they...would they sue you too?" she asks, horrified.

He nods. "I'm expecting it."

"Keith, you will allow me to pay for your defense. This is unconscionable. The other parents in the class-action lawsuit will help as well, I'll make certain of it. I've been in touch with them, and we won't allow you to suffer because of this."

"Thank you, I appreciate that." Keith glances at his watch. "I need to get going. I'll take a trip up to Rio Linda as soon as possible, and I'll let you know what I find." He stands up, and she follows him to the door.

At the front door, Ms. Denenberg says, "Keith, please tell your daughter thank you for me. I'd like to...I'd like to meet her, when she's feeling okay, to thank her in person. And...Mr. Echolls was helping as well, wasn't he? I saw his name on the news...I was so horrible to him when he was dating Hannah."

"Logan did not always use good judgment in the past; I was so angry that I threw him against a wall once myself. I know he regrets what happened to Hannah and blames himself. He volunteered to help because he was worried about Veronica's safety, and I know he also wanted to try to redeem himself by helping with the investigation."

"Please...tell him thank you as well." She closes the front door behind him; he catches a final glimpse of her haunted face, and he thinks again that he is incredibly grateful that Veronica is okay.

Tues. 3/17/09 afternoon: Sheriff's Department, Neptune, CA

When Logan and Leo enter Leo's office, Cliff whispers quietly to Logan, "It's pretty much a fishing expedition here. I think your best bet is to keep your mouth shut."

"So, Mr. Echolls," Leo begins. "Tell me about your relationship with Kendall Casablancas."

"That's pretty sick, don't you think? What do you want to know...positions, duration, did I make her scream? The answer is 'yes, I did,'" Logan replies flippantly. Cliff glances at Logan; he realizes that Logan is trying to disguise his nervousness with sarcasm.

"Are we talking recently, or three years ago?" Leo asks.

"Let's see, the last time I made her scream, that would be...let's see, May, three years ago, which would be 2006. Do you need to know the details? I believe she started on top, but it might not have ended that way," Logan explains. "And of course, there was some kinky role-playing. I was the dirty cop, and she was the hooker with a heart of gold trying to get off. I think she did get off, several times if I recall correctly." Pretending to think, he counts off 'one, two, three' with his fingers and smirks at Leo. More seriously, he continues, "Lookit...the woman was a tramp. We had a sexual relationship and that's it. I never cared about her, and I'm pretty sure she never cared about me."

"What about recently? Did you have any contact with her in the last few months?"

"No, I did not. And I would remember bodacious tatas like hers." Cupping his hands in front of him, he smiles in appreciation.

"Were you aware she changed her appearance?" Leo pulls out a photo from the file in front of him and places it in front of Logan.

Logan studies the photo. "Upgrade, I'd say. Although...a little too classy looking for her personality."

"Were you aware that she changed her appearance?" Leo stresses in exasperation.

"No, Kendall did not consult me on her plastic surgery." He pushes the photo back to Leo. "I guess she's still hot, if you're not picky about fidelity."

"Did you know that she had started an affair with Duncan Kane?" Leo asks.

"An affair?" Logan looks at Cliff, who shakes his head slightly. "You think she had an affair with Duncan?"

"It looks like they were sharing room service together for a few weeks. Their rooms were directly across the hall from each other."

"Oh, well, if they were eating together, they must have been having sex. You must have gone to the same crime-fighting school Lamb went to. Did McGruff the Crime Dog teach you guys to jump to conclusions?" Logan asks sarcastically. "I'll need sperm, or I'm just not going to believe that Duncan was doing Kendall. He's a little backward in the sack, you know."

"I'll tell him you said that," Leo replies.

"I roomed with the guy, remember? I should know," Logan adds.

"Yeah, wasn't he doing your girlfriend at the time? Couldn't have been too backward," Leo comments.

Cliff puts a restraining hand on Logan's arm. "Cool it, Logan. You don't have to answer these questions." Logan grimaces in response. Cliff continues, "Sheriff, these kind of comments are not productive."

Leo shuffles some papers on the desk. "According to Homeland Security, you haven't crossed a border in the last six months. So you were never actually in Madeira, is that correct?"

"That's correct."

"Where were you when you were supposedly out of the country?"

"South Padre Island, Texas."

"And why were you there?"

"I needed to get away for awhile. My ex-girlfriend was murdered, and the paparazzi were hounding me," Logan replies.

"Oh right, that was the previous girlfriend that got murdered," Leo remarks. "I see that you withdrew $50,000 in cash on January 27. What was that for?"

"You were looking at my bank records?" Logan turns to Cliff. "Can he do that?"

"If he had a subpoena," Cliff replies. Logan looks at Leo, who nods, eyebrows raised, to indicate that, yes, he had a subpoena.

Logan swallows. "Last time I checked, U.S. citizens are still allowed to withdraw cash from a bank account."

"Is there some reason you don't want to tell me why you needed cash?"

"I was hiding from Veronica. I wasn't ready to talk to her, and I knew she'd be able to trace me through my credit cards. So I used cash for a while. I have about half of it left. It's in the safe at Mars Investigations if you want to check."

"Logan," Cliff warns, "You don't have to explain this."

"I didn't do anything wrong. I left town for a while. I used cash, cash that belonged to me."

"Why did you hire someone to take your place?" Leo presses. "Were you trying to create an alibi for yourself?"

All of a sudden, Logan's anger surfaces. In a loud voice, he spells it out. "Are you listening to me? The paparazzi were on me night and day...saying that I was just like my father, accusing me of...statutory rape and murder. Yeah, I hired a guy to pretend to be me, and I laid low for a while. If you'd grown up with the paparazzi like I did...they hounded my mother to an early death. Can you wrap your tiny brain around that, Sheriff?"

Leo stares back at Logan, processing his statements. "What do you think the paparazzi would do with the information that you used to be involved with Kendall Casablancas?"

The question is like a sucker punch to Logan's gut. "You wouldn't," he says without thinking.

"I bet Veronica doesn't like thinking about you and Kendall either," Leo adds.

Cliff puts his hand back on Logan's arm, trying to contain his seething anger. "Sheriff, I think you're just trying to provoke my client. Do you have any more actual questions?"

"Yes." He picks up a remote and plays the video of Logan and Veronica in the Neptune Grand elevator. He freezes the video on a frame of the two of them kissing. "Why did you use an assumed name when you checked into the Neptune Grand with Veronica? Of course, this was during the period when you were supposedly in Europe, and I'm guessing you didn't want to blow your alibi," Leo says.

"Well, if you know, why are you asking?" Logan retorts. "Yes, I was avoiding the paparazzi by using a fake name. Sue me."

"Why were you and Veronica at the hotel anyways?"

"We were looking for a little privacy. We've been staying with her dad," Logan responds.

"Oh, and you didn't want Keith Mars to hear you making his daughter scream in ecstasy," Leo says sarcastically.

"Sheriff, that's uncalled for," Cliff protests before Logan can answer.

Leo presses, "Are you sure you weren't at the hotel to speak to Ms. Casablancas? Perhaps you were coming to a financial arrangement with her, asking Kendall to keep her silence about Veronica's involvement in the Manning babynapping? That could explain your cash withdrawal."

"The Manning baby?" Logan repeats incredulously. As if Kendall would keep her mouth shut for fifty grand...fuck, the kidnapping...that's what he thinks this is about? Logan thinks for a moment, then says, "I promise you, Sheriff, Kendall was not blackmailing Veronica about anything."

Leo continues, "Perhaps she wasn't amenable to the amount you offered her, and you had to ensure her silence another way."

"You do know that I have what they call an ironclad alibi? I was in Vermont, assisting on Veronica's investigation," Logan answers.

"Yeah, I know, observed by the FBI, yadda, yadda. But your old buddy, Duncan Kane, doesn't have an alibi. And it's my understanding that he might lose custody of his daughter if his relationship with Kendall Casablancas becomes public knowledge."

"Let me get this straight. You think Duncan had an affair with Kendall, and then she threatened to go public with the affair. Oh, and by the way, she also decided to blackmail Duncan and my girlfriend for supposedly conspiring in a kidnapping three years ago. You are grasping at straws, Sheriff."

"Maybe Duncan wasn't aware that it was Kendall at first...maybe she used the affair to get close to him, and then she started blackmailing him. He could lose custody, and Veronica could go to prison. Duncan called you and your girlfriend for help, and just like three years before, you helped him get out of a mess. Except this time just fleeing the country wasn't going to do it."

Fuck. He's actually gotten a lot of it right. Sarcastically, he mocks, "You really missed your calling, Sheriff...I can hook you up with my screenwriting professor, and you can turn this fiction into the next big blockbuster movie. I'm thinking maybe we could get Rob Morrow to play you. I see a best screenplay Oscar in your future, Sheriff. Too bad you don't have any evidence to support your crackhead theories."

Cliff clears his throat. "I think we're done here. Sheriff, I'm concerned that this investigation is not being conducted in an impartial manner. If my clients are questioned so abusively again, I'll be filing a formal complaint with the district attorney. People are already wondering why you indicted Keith Mars for arson on such flimsy evidence; you might not survive a judicial inquiry into your bias at this point."

"Go right ahead, Counselor." Leo laughs mirthlessly. "I'm thinking about asking the district attorney to reopen the investigation into that DVR that Keith Mars supposedly erased two years ago. There were a questions at the time as to why Keith's buddies in the district attorney's office declined to prosecute. The DA's up for reelection; he might not want a lot of publicity about that."

Cliff ushers Logan out into the waiting area, where Veronica is anxious to see him. In a low voice, Cliff says, "What the hell is going on? I've never seen D'Amato act like this. What did you guys do to him? He's being completely irrational and jumping to conclusions without evidence."

Veronica shakes her head regretfully without saying a word.

Cliff sighs. "I suppose I don't want to know."

"Exactly," Veronica replies. "I think it's worse than jumping to conclusions. I think he's trying to make the evidence fit his theories." She rubs her forehead in fatigue. "Can you give us a ride home, Cliff?"

Cliff looks at his watch. "No can do, Veronica. I'm already late for an ex parte meeting with Judge Bloom...on the golf course. I have to let him beat the pants off me once a week like clockwork. 'Nice swing, your honor...spectacular putt for the birdie, Judge Bloom,'" he concludes wryly, swinging a make-believe driver.

"Thanks for coming, Cliffy," Veronica says.

"Of course. Anything for you, kid. Say 'hi' to your dad. And uh...do not talk to the Sheriff without me there, okay?"

"I wouldn't dream of it," she replies as he walks out the door. Veronica turns to Logan. "Do you have my cell phone?" Logan gives it to her; she calls her dad, but he doesn't pick up. Veronica sighs and shakes her head. They walk over to the counter, and Logan asks Deputy Sacks for a ride home.

The deputy replies, "Sure. Give me a few minutes; we're really busy today with the security for the funeral. I have to find someone who's available."

Veronica leans on the counter. The funeral...got to figure this out. Think, Veronica. What's the point of being irredeemably manipulative and suspicious if you can't use it to help your friends? she thinks sardonically. "So you're coordinating security with the FBI, right?"

"Uh, Veronica," Sacks replies, looking around, "I'm really not supposed to talk about it."

"Oh, you know me, I'm just curious. And it's my friend's family, you know," she explains.

Sacks leans in closer and whispers, "There are about fifty federal agents stationed in and around the church. And everyone in the department is on duty. No exceptions."

"Any leads?" Veronica queries. She whispers conspiratorially, "It's Russian mafia, right?"

"They're not saying anything, Veronica. The word is just to keep an eye out for anything suspicious." The phone rings, and Sacks picks it up. "Neptune Sheriff's Department." His eyes light on Veronica, then he looks away. "Yes, go ahead." Sacks writes on the pad in front of him; Veronica taps her fingers on the counter, smiling. When Sacks looks down to write, she quickly reads the words upside down and looks back up, feigning disinterest. Sacks punches a couple buttons on the phone and says, "Sheriff. It's the FBI, Agent Sheffield, for you on line 1." Sacks cradles the phone. "Have a seat, Veronica, Logan. We'll take you home in a few minutes." He walks back to the radio dispatch room.

Logan and Veronica walk over to the waiting area and sit down. Veronica's face is thoughtful; Logan turns to her and asks, "What's up? I know that look on your face. That's your basic cat-that-ate-the-canary expression."

"I really don't know. I think something is going on with the funeral," she muses. She whispers, "That call, it was a federal BOLO for a gray Camry, rental, California license KSW 9297. Detained this morning on a 22350 VC. Possible 646.9, possible 245."

At Logan's questioning glance, Veronica continues in a low voice, "The FBI is asking them to watch for a rental car with that license plate. The car was stopped this morning for speeding." She thinks for minute. "Those last two codes are stalking and assault with deadly intent."

Logan turns to Veronica and says firmly, "That's it, we're not going to the funeral. Assault with deadly intent? I don't want you anywhere near that."

"No! You heard him, there are fifty federal agents and the entire department is going to be there. And we don't even know that it's connected to the funeral. This BOLO could be for any case. If it really was dangerous, they would cancel the service."

He scoffs. "The Feds are all crazy like you. They'll run headfirst into a danger for the chance of catching some bad guy."

She thinks, No! I don't do that. I'm not like that. I don't do that. "I'm not doing that...I know I don't know everything, Logan. I'm trying to change. I don't want to keep making the same mistakes over and over again." 'You aren't as smart as you think you are, Connie. You aren't smart at all. Your actions that got you here prove it, and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll start to improve your life.' I'm not making the same mistakes I always made. I'm trying. Am I convincing him, or me?

Veronica says as persuasively as she can, "I'm not running headfirst into danger. The entire sheriff's department is going to be there, Logan." She adds wistfully, "I just have this feeling...I need to be there. You know it's the last chance we'll have to see Mac ever again."

Logan sighs. "You're going to the funeral no matter what I say, aren't you."

She nods. Veronica says, "Let me call my dad again." Her dad finally answers and agrees to pick them up in a few minutes. Logan puts his arm around her; as she leans against him, he wishes that this day would finally be over.

Tues. 3/17/09 afternoon: Apartment, Neptune, CA

Alan escorts Mac into a room filled with agents. One entire wall is lined with video screens. Alan directs Mac to a chair near one of the larger screens. He explains, "We've got video coverage of the entire church and surrounding area. I'd like you to concentrate on watching people as they move toward the metal detector we've set up outside the entrance to the church."

Frak! This is serious shit, Mac thinks. She takes a seat and looks around. Several agents are working with computer screens. She leans back a little, trying to surreptitiously see the data a nearby agent is working on. The agent notices and frowns at her, angling the screen a little to prevent her from observing. "I'm the target, you know," she comments. "And I'm not exactly a computer noob." The agent ignores her and continues to work in silence. She sighs and watches the video screen in front of her. There isn't much activity as yet. It's apparent that many agents are stationed near the metal detector; occasionally, an agent will accost someone and ask to see identification. She watches as someone sets off the metal detector; an agent has the person empty their pockets and then frisks the offender thoroughly before allowing them to try again. The person passes through successfully and collects their belongings.

Mac hears Alan's voice across the room, and she tries to block out the chatter in the room to focus. "Sheffield...Really?...Outside San Diego...Okay, put out an alert on the plate...No, nothing yet...Right. I'll call the Sheriff's Department." She watches as Alan makes a phone call; he keeps his voice low, and she is unable to distinguish the words. He terminates the call and comes to sit down beside her.

"What's going on?" Mac asks.

"That guy Sorokin was stopped on a routine traffic violation this morning outside San Diego. He has a rental car, and we've put an alert on the plates."

"That's great," Mac comments hopefully.

"If it means anything." He sighs. "I've gotten to know you, and I think you have good instincts. So I'm paying attention to you. But my supervisor...he thinks it's nuts. And I'm having a hell of a time convincing him to use any resources on this guy."

"Thanks for listening to me," Mac replies. "Maybe you'll catch him."

"He hasn't done anything. We wouldn't be able to hold him," Alan says.

"You said he was on parole. If he has a gun, or explosives...." Mac suggests. "Wouldn't that be a violation of his parole?"

"That doesn't do anything for your long-term safety," Alan explains. "If he is targeting you."

"And my friend. Will you please let me call her and warn her?"

"I can't, Mac. I've asked the Sheriff's Department to keep an eye out for her. I just talked to the sheriff personally, and he assured me that Veronica's safety, along with everyone at the funeral, will be his highest priority."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
VERONICA MARS
10:00PM SHO ch: 340 60min 2009 TV-MA
In the Crosshairs
The Mackenzie funeral.
Veronica: Kristen Bell. Logan: Jason Dohring.
Leo: Max Greenfield. Keith: Enrico Colantoni.
Dick: Ryan Hansen. Carrie: Amber Heard.
Mac: Tina Majorino. Duncan 2.0: Chris Carmack.
Alan: Ned Vaughan. Norman Phipps: Matt Czuchry.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

CHAPTER NINETY-NINE: "IN THE CROSSHAIRS"

Tues. 3/17/09 afternoon: St. John's Church, Neptune, CA

KEITH

Keith glances in the rearview mirror at his daughter and her boyfriend sitting in the back seat of the car. He taps impatiently on the steering wheel and looks at the line of cars in front of him. The traffic leading to the parking lot of St. John's Church is a mess; all cars are being directed to one entrance where ID's are checked and two police officers are watching each vehicle closely. Street parking has been blocked off to attempt to force all funeral attendees to use the parking lot behind the church. Random cars are asked to pull over to be inspected; the resulting delay has backed up traffic for several blocks.

"I didn't know the Mackenzies had so many friends," Veronica mutters.

"People are probably curious," Keith remarks. He thinks that she looks exhausted; when he walked into the sheriff's department, she was asleep on Logan's shoulder. Logan had looked at him, obviously wanting to say something to reduce the tension between them; Keith had just shaken his head, not ready to discuss it yet. But Keith couldn't miss the way Veronica was clinging to Logan; to Keith's eyes, she was leaning on him for more than physical support. Keith had asked in a low voice how the questioning went. Veronica replied briefly, "Later, okay? Let's just get through the funeral." Keith had noted that several of the deputies were staring at them as they exited the building, and he had reflected that if Leo truly was pursuing a vendetta against his family, it couldn't possibly be worse timing.

As they approach the checkpoint, Keith recognizes one of his old deputies, Jim, as one of the two officers checking each car. Jim is carefully checking every license plate, and Keith wonders what's going on. Another deputy unknown to Keith walks up to their car and begins to scan underneath the chassis using a mirror mounted on a long pole. Keith opens his window, and Jim walks over to speak to them. "Hey, Jim, how's it going? A lot of security for this, huh?"

"Yeah, like you wouldn't believe," Jim replies. "Feds all over the place."

"I see that. Do you need to see our ID's?"

"No, that's okay." Jim peers in the car. "Hey, Veronica."

"Hey, Jim," she says quietly.

Jim points toward the parking lot. "Just follow the line of cars. Someone will assign you to a space."

"Thanks, Jim."

As they wait to enter the parking lot, Keith watches the entrance of the church. People are lining up, waiting to go through a metal detector. Keith's old cop instincts are piqued by the heavy security. He carefully scans the crowd, looking for suspicious activity. People are milling around; standing in groups of three or four people. He sees Mac's old roommate, Parker Lee, with a boy that he doesn't recognize. Eli Navarro, looking somewhat uncomfortable in a dress shirt, is talking with Wallace on the sidewalk. Keith realizes that the beautiful woman with Wallace must be his girlfriend Candice. He looks back at Veronica again, thinking she's almost Candice's age; she's not my little girl any more, she's a woman. Veronica catches his eye and smiles at him.

They finally park the car and walk back toward the church. Veronica holds Logan's hand tightly; both of them are still very subdued after the questioning. Keith tries unsuccessfully to think of something comforting to say. She pulls out a tissue from her purse and wipes a tear from her eye. Keith leans over and kisses the top of her head. "It's okay, honey." She tries to smile back at him.

Federal agents are everywhere: Keith counts at least twenty agents who have made no effort to conceal their identity or purpose. He spies perhaps twenty more who are trying to blend in with the crowd; he thinks to himself that, even if you can't spot a holster, you can always tell a fed by their sensible shoes that are suitable for running down a suspect.

A limo pulls up to the steps in front of the church, and federal agents clear a path. Mac gets out of the limo, accompanied by four agents who press closely against her. Several people try to approach Mac but are immediately rebuffed by the agents. Mac is hustled through the metal detector, which immediately sounds an alarm due to the agents' weapons. She is escorted into the church, and the metal detector is reset.

"Keith Mars!! Mr. Mars!!"

Keith turns and grimaces when he recognizes Carrie Murray. "Carrie." The reporter, her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, is accompanied by a young man. Carrie hurries to catch up with them.

"Oh, no," Veronica says. "Dad...."

"Veronica, it's all right," he reassures her. "Let me handle it."

"Mr. Mars, good to see you again. Logan. Veronica...." Carrie extends her hand toward Veronica, and Veronica reluctantly offers her left hand to shake. "Veronica, you were incredible at the school. I'm really looking forward to our interview." She turns to the young man beside her. "You remember my brother, of course," Carrie says lightly.

"Norman Phipps," Logan says tensely. "I can't say it's good to see you again." Veronica puts her arm around him, trying to somehow comfort him.

"Look, man, I was just doing my job–" Norman replies.

"Your job?" Logan shakes his head. "Fuck!" He stares at Norman in disgust.

Keith quickly intercedes, fearing an explosion. He pulls Carrie and Norman aside. "Carrie, I'm surprised to see you here."

Carrie continues persuasively, "Well, we said 'all access'. I'm hoping to speak to Veronica about the funeral, get her reactions."

Keith laughs without humor. "It's not 'all access' for the rest of Veronica's life. There's no more access, Carrie."

"I still haven't gotten my exclusive interview," she protests.

Norman adds, "It's my understanding that you brokered an agreement with my sister in exchange for her cooperation."

"I know. I haven't forgotten. Veronica is still exhausted from the operation. I promise you, when she's up to it, we'll be in touch, and we'll set up the interview."

Carrie smiles. "I'm looking forward to it. Would you consider giving me an interview as well?"

"Absolutely not," Keith says firmly.

MAC

Mac is watching the video screen. She is naming people to the agent sitting beside her, eliminating any one known to her.

"That's my old roommate, Parker, and her new boyfriend. Well, fiancé, I guess. That's Eli Navarro, Wallace Fennel, Candice Pauling....that's a guy from my game theory class, I don't remember his name."

She sees Keith Mars on the edge of the video screen talking to two people, a blonde woman and a dark blond man with their backs to the videocamera. "That's Keith Mars. Is that Veronica?" she asks, pointing. "No, she's too tall. Who's Keith talking to?"

The agent says, pointing, "You can see better on this screen."

Mac leans over. "Holy fucking crap. That's Carrie Murray, she's a reporter. And I think...I think that might be her brother Norman Phipps. Why is Keith talking to them? Wait...that's Veronica and Logan there, on the other side of Keith Mars. God, I almost didn't recognize her."

"What?" Alan asks. He walks over to join her in looking at the video screen.

"Veronica was just undercover, remember? She must have dyed her hair red. And...Logan's hair is different too," Mac adds.

Alan points at the screen. "Who's this guy?"

"That, believe it or not, is Dick," Mac says, suppressing a smile.

"The guy from the emails?" Alan says.

"Yes. Wow. He doesn't wear a suit very often...he looks nice. And...I think he got a haircut."

VERONICA AND LOGAN

"I can't fucking believe Carrie and her brother showed up," Logan comments bitterly in a low voice.

Veronica says quietly, "Logan. Forget about them. I'll do the interview my dad promised. It won't be that bad. She'll be out of our life forever....Oh my god."

"What?" he asks anxiously.

"Dude," Dick says from behind.

Logan turns around. He looks at Dick, who's wearing his best suit, with his hair neatly styled; even his shoes appear to have been polished. "Whoa. What happened to you?"

"Come on, man," Dick pleads. "Do I look okay?"

"I'm sure Mac will appreciate it when she sees you, Dick," Veronica says, taking pity. "It's good to see you."

Dick looks over his shoulder then back at Veronica. "You're talking to me?"

"Dick?" Veronica crooks her finger at him, and he nervously leans toward her. She whispers, "Thanks for giving us the heads up on Sheriff D'Amato. And if a certain video from the Neptune Grand elevator shows up in your inbox, you're going to delete it, right?"

"The elevator video? No peen, and not even a nip slip...not much chance that video's going viral. Completely safe for work, if you ask me."

"Delete, Dick," she replies firmly.

"You're right, absolutely. Cross my heart. Uh, Veronica?" Dick points behind her.

Veronica turns and sees a cruiser marked 'Sheriff' pulling up to the curb. Leo exits his car and strides toward her.

Dick says, "I'm getting in line; I'll save a place for you guys. If the sheriff asks, she told me she was nineteen." He heads for the line at the security checkpoint.

"Sheriff," Veronica says, with obvious distaste. "More questions?"

"Actually, the FBI just called and asked me to personally take charge of your safety today. What are the odds?" Leo asks.

Veronica narrows her eyes, assessing. "My safety?"

"Yeah, it's hard to imagine someone wanting to hurt you, right? When you're so gosh-darned nice?" Leo says sarcastically.

Veronica ignores him and looks at Logan. He returns her gaze, puzzled. Both of them are paralyzed by the thought that the FBI is concerned about Veronica's safety.

Leo's radio crackles, "Sheriff, come in."

Leo thumbs the radio. "This is the sheriff."

"It's Lou. We got that car you're looking for, parked on Fifth Street near Radford. There's no one in the vehicle."

Leo barks, "Dispatch. This is the sheriff. Unit Seven has located the vehicle on Fifth and Radford. Start a building-to-building search."

They hear the dispatcher say, "Unit Two, proceed to Fifth and Main. Unit Nine, proceed to Radford and Sixth Street. Unit Eleven, proceed to Sixth and Main. All units, suspect is considered armed and dangerous."

Veronica says, "Fifth Street? That's a few blocks from here." She looks around.

Suddenly, they hear several shots. Leo says, "Get down, now!" He pushes them toward the ground and draws his gun. The rumble of the crowd's conversations dies away; a woman begins to scream loudly, and people begin running. In the chaos, no one knows where to go to get away from the gunshots, and Veronica and Logan quickly lose sight of Keith, who was just a few feet away from them moments ago. Leo says tersely, "Stay down. I need to check out the situation."

Ignoring him, Veronica scans the crowd for her dad; she sees him kneeling on the ground twenty feet away behind a stone bench. "Dad!" She tries to wrestle free from Leo's grasp; Logan grabs her as well, and together they try to push her toward Leo's cruiser. Veronica screams, "Dad! Logan, let me go!" She struggles against Logan's grip.

Leo yells, "Get in the car, Veronica, and get down!" With Logan's help, he manages to get her in the car as she fights against them. Leo locks them inside the car, his eyes meeting Logan's worried gaze momentarily. The sheriff assesses the situation quickly and sprints over to Keith, still kneeling on the ground and apparently performing CPR on a gunshot victim. Leo calls for an ambulance, describing the injuries and asking for additional officers for crowd control at his location.

Veronica ignores her injured shoulder and pushes herself to the car window, trying to see what's going on. She curses at Logan, berating him for preventing her from running to her father; he tries to comfort her, saying, "It's all right, it's all right," repeatedly, hoping that he's not lying. The crowd has scattered; people have taken cover anywhere they could behind cars, trees, and the stone benches around the church perimeter. Agents and police officers are shouting orders; people are crying, and the woman continues to scream repeatedly. The sound of approaching sirens can be heard in the distance. Gradually, the crowd dissipates as the authorities get the scene under control, and Veronica sees Norman Phipps lying in a pool of blood on the sidewalk.

MAC

When the agents hear gunshots over the radio frequency, the situation room is silent for a split-second before pandemonium breaks loose. Mac is watching as Norman Phipps falls over, hitting Keith Mars and pushing him to the ground. Carrie keels over a moment later. Agents are yelling in confusion, their voices combining into a chaotic uproar. "Shots fired!" "Three people are down, no, four!" "Is that a gun?" "Who the hell is that?" "What's happening?"

Mac is pushed aside; she watches in terror, trying to see what exactly has happened. She stares at the screen desperately, looking for her friends in the swarms of agitated persons on the scene. Finally she spots Keith Mars on one of the video feeds, his jacket bloodied, dragging Carrie Murray twenty feet behind a stone bench for its meager cover; almost out of view of the camera, Keith begins performing CPR on Carrie. Norman Phipps is laying unattended on the sidewalk, blood pooling around his body. Mac looks around wildly; the other video screens show agents and officers with guns drawn, trying to control the panicky crowd as well as locate the source of the shots fired.

"Where's Veronica? Logan?" she asks Alan, who shakes his head. "Dick was right there a moment ago too, can you see him?"

Pointing at the image of Keith performing CPR, Alan replies urgently, "You said that woman was a reporter?"

"Yes, Carrie Murray, and I think that's her brother Norman Phipps on the sidewalk. Carrie's been harassing Veronica...they're both tabloid reporters. Her brother...it's complicated. He pretended to be Logan's brother to get a story."

"What?"

"I told you, it's complicated."

Alan's phone rings, and he quickly stabs at the 'send' key. "Sheffield here...What?...You got him?...Two reporters, according to Ms. Mackenzie." He glances at Mac.

Mac says quickly, "Carolyn Murray and Norman Phipps."

Alan repeats, "Carolyn Murray and Norman Phipps...I don't know either...Okay, patch me through...Sheriff D'Amato, do you have a update on Veronica Mars and Logan Echolls?...Okay...Just the two victims then. Yes, that's we heard too." To Mac, he says, "They're all right." He returns to the phone. "It was definitely Gorya Sorokin?...No, I don't know the full story." He looks at Mac again.

Mac flushes.

"Yes, I would like to be present for the interrogation. Thank you, Sheriff." Alan ends the call and sighs deeply. "It's a good thing you told me about that guy, Mac. Because we had located his car, they were able to catch Sorokin leaving a high-rise apartment building on Fifth Street. Apparently he used a sniper rifle from one of the terraces on the building. They're not sure how he gained access to the apartment. The man, the one you called Norman Phipps, is dead. The woman, Carrie Murray, is on her way to the hospital; they're not sure if she's going to make it. One of the bullets must have passed through Phipps and grazed Mr. Mars. He has a minor flesh wound, and he's also being treated."

"Mr. Mars is going to be okay, though, right?" Mac interrupts.

Alan nods. "Yes, Keith Mars is going to be fine. Stay put, Mac, okay?" He moves off and begins discussing something with another agent.

Mac thinks, It was Gory...it was Gory!! He must have been trying to get Veronica and Logan and...he made the same mistake I did and thought Carrie and Norman were them. Two years...Gory waited two years to get back at Veronica and Logan. And the only reason he missed them is because Veronica dyed her hair. Guiltily, Mac remembers wishing that Carrie would just go away and leave them alone. They had all been appalled at Norman Phipps' heartless deception as well; still, Mac wishes she had been able to convince Alan to stop the funeral before anyone got hurt. Mac finds a chair in the corner of the room and sits down. She huddles in the corner, shaking slightly; she begins to cry silently, unnoticed by the busy federal agents.

Tues. 3/17/09 evening: Sunset Cliffs Apartment, Neptune, CA

Keith knocks gently on the door to Veronica's bedroom and enters. She is dozing but wakes up immediately. "You're here," she says quietly.

"Yep. I'm here," he says, sitting down on the bed with her. He kisses her on the forehead, and she struggles to sit up; he arranges the pillows for her so she can lean back. Keith notes that she's still fully dressed; he suspects that Logan had quickly bundled her into bed when they returned home, only taking time to remove her shoes.

"They wouldn't let me come to the hospital. Are you all right? Dad, they wouldn't let me come, they said it wasn't safe," she babbles.

Keith nods. "It's just a big Band-Aid, Veronica. I'm fine." He smooths the hair from her brow.

"Carrie?"

"She's going to make it."

She nods. "Has anyone talked to Mac? I'm wondering if that was really her at the funeral. I bet it was all a set-up."

"I don't know about that, Veronica. But the lead agent said Mac was fine. And Veronica, Mac's family is alive. They weren't home when the house was bombed. They've been hiding in witness protection."

"Mac's family is alive?" she repeats, the tears beginning again.

"Yeah, honey, they're fine. They're all fine."

Veronica wipes his eyes and asks, "Is the agent still out front?"

"Yeah. I think they're going to have some more questions for you, honey."

"I thought the agent said Gory was so upset that he missed us that he confessed everything," she protests quietly. Veronica sees Logan hovering by the doorway, watching and listening.

"Not everything. Veronica, you need to tell me the whole story," Keith presses gently. "You're going to have to make a statement, and I need to know what was going on so I can help you."

Veronica thinks for a moment, still reluctant to explain. From the doorway, Logan says quietly, "Veronica, you have to tell him."

Finally she begins. "It was freshman year, when I was going out with Piz. Piz and Wallace were rooming together, remember? Gory bugged their room. He was tapping Wallace for the Castle, the Hearst secret society. And Piz and I were...fooling around, and the camera caught us," she admits hesitantly. At his expression, she rushes to say, "We didn't...it was just, you know..." she sighs, "I don't know, you'd say 'heavy petting'. But there was some...skin."

He looks at her sympathetically.

"Don't look at me like that!" she protests. "I'm going to cry if you don't stop that."

"I'm stopping right now," he promises. "I'm not looking at you, Veronica."

"It looked worse than it was...it looked like I was...everyone assumed I was...." Veronica explains, her voice shaky. "And Gory sent to the video to everyone. I was the slut who made a porno with her boyfriend."

"How did you find out that Gory did it?"

She looks at him, unable to answer. "Dad, don't make me...it was the hard drive."

"Jake Kane?" he says slowly. "That's what...that's why you were...."

"It was so stupid," she says in a sudden rush. "Everyone had already seen the video, there was no point, and you lost the election because of it."

"Jake Kane was involved with this guy Gory who was connected?" Keith asks, confused.

"The Castle, the Hearst secret society, kept an insurance policy on all their initiates so they would maintain a code of silence. They had videos of each of them confessing their darkest secret, and Jake was...collecting the confessions on a hard drive. It had seventy years of secrets on it, insurance that everyone in the Castle would always keep their mouth shut. Gory's confession was...he told a story about his dad and his Uncle Lev disposing of a dead body." She shudders, remembering the matter-of-fact storytelling about a power saw and several garbage bags being dumped into a lake.

"The Sorokin crime family is known to be responsible for at least twenty murders...that we know of," Keith explains.

Veronica looks at him, puzzled. "How do you know that?"

"I ran into Gory up in Lompoc, when I was visiting Vinnie. He seemed very interested in me, and I had him checked out. I assumed when I got his record that he was somehow connected to the Sukarenkos. I never dreamed he was interested in you, Veronica." Keith sighs deeply. "Soon after that, the arson investigation began, and the Briar Hill operation.... My contact said he would ask around, and I never followed up. Veronica, it was incredibly foolish to take that hard drive."

"I didn't know there was evidence of a mob hit," she protests. "I didn't even know for sure what was going on until we decrypted the hard drive." At Keith's expression, she nods. "We...Mac and I."

"You got Mac involved in this? Veronica...what were you thinking?"

I wasn't thinking, like always. I used Mac...damn it. "I didn't know it was the mafia, Dad. And then...." she glances at Logan, hovering in the doorway and listening. "Logan got involved too. Gory was mocking me in the cafeteria at Hearst, and Logan heard him brag that he was behind the video." Keith exhales loudly, suddenly certain what she's going to reveal. She glances at Logan. "I tried to stop him, but Logan wouldn't listen. He beat Gory up, and Gory swore that he'd kill Logan one day."

"Why did he wait two years? Mob guys aren't known for their patience, Veronica."

In a small voice, she explains. "I made a copy of the hard drive before I returned it to Jake Kane. I put a disc with the video of Gory's confession in a safety deposit box, and I let him know if anything ever happened to me or Logan, the confession would be sent to the feds. And...it seemed to work. He left me alone, and it looked like he was leaving Logan alone."

Keith turns to Logan. "Did you know...?"

"No, I had nothing to do with it," Logan swears. "I figured the guy was going to kill me one day when I least expected it. It's one of the reasons I moved to L.A. I had a bodyguard for a while, but it seemed like it was finally over, so I started living my life again. I didn't find out what Veronica had done until last fall when we got back together."

Veronica is pondering the timing of Gory's actions. "Get my laptop, will you?"

Logan retrieves her laptop from the desk and brings it to the bed. Veronica opens the PryingEyez website in her browser and runs a search on 'Lev Sorokin'. A story from the Newark Star-Ledger is the first result. Veronica angles the screen so they can see. "Sorokin's father and uncle were convicted of several counts of murder and conspiracy last fall and are serving multiple consecutive life sentences."

"If they've already been convicted..." Keith realizes.

"There's no reason to keep Gory's confession secret any more," Veronica concludes. "I never thought of...I never considered what would happen if that murder became public knowledge." She peers at the screen. "But that was months ago."

Keith explains, "Gory was convicted on a weapons charge in early December. He tried to buy an illegally modified firearm from an undercover ATF agent in Los Angeles. He probably intended to try to get you and Logan at that time; you were in the press every day after the Harmony shooting, and it wouldn't have been hard to find you. The weapons charge was Gory's first conviction; he only served sixty days before he was paroled. I bet we'll find out that the Sorokins were connected to the flirt-bot that Mac and Rick Picket were investigating. Sorokin took advantage of the situation to obscure his real purpose and planted the bombs, hoping to get Mac and Veronica. He might have even realized that Veronica would have needed help to decrypt that hard drive, and it's pretty easy to find out that Veronica's roommate is a computer expert."

"I don't think that's it," Logan interjects. "I think he was trying to get me to come out of hiding. I was AWOL when the bombing happened. Veronica, I bet he thought if he managed to kill you, or if you were hurt, I'd show up. And I would have. But he missed you; you realized it was a bomb and got out of there safely."

"After the first bombing didn't work, why didn't he just wait, and try to kill us some other time?" Veronica wonders.

Keith says thoughtfully, "He must have been desperate to try to get you and Logan to show yourselves and came up with the idea of blowing up Mac's house. I guess he thought for sure you'd come to support your friend in such a difficult time–"

"And he was right," Veronica comments. "I insisted that we come home."

"But it was a mistake to bomb the Mackenzie house. All it did was ensure that Mac would be placed in witness protection and that security would be ridiculously high at the funeral. He must have wanted to try to kill Mac too, but he miscalculated the amount of security there would be, and he had to settle for shooting at you and Logan," Keith theorizes. "You know, Gory might have been trying to locate Logan for quite a while, but first Logan was in Texas, and then he was with us in Vermont. Logan was only here in Neptune for a few days."

"And we were lying low the whole time. Wait...the bug at Logan's beach house," Veronica gasps. "The one we thought was planted by the paparazzi...and the tracking device on my car."

"Veronica! Why didn't you tell me about this?" Keith scolds, his voice harsher than he intends.

He turns away, trying not to let her see how incredibly scared he is, but she immediately mistakes it for anger and recrimination. She flinches, her whole body tense with emotion. Veronica imagines Peter Klein leaning towards her, his face smug and powerful, telling her, 'You just do whatever the fuck you what, whenever you want, and you expect everyone to just tolerate it. Your dad's given up on stopping you. He's locked you up here, hoping that maybe, just maybe, there might be something worth saving after all.' No, FUCK you...FUCK you, DAMN you to hell. I'm not a fucking user! I didn't know...I didn't know. And Dad was keeping secrets...how was I supposed to know? DAMN IT, I'm not a fucking user.

Defensively, she protests, "You were so busy with the operation and...you had enough to worry about. You haven't been yourself since Leo arrested you for the arson." Veronica says emphatically, "And I know...I know that the arson has something to do with Vinnie's defense. I know that Vinnie blackmailed you into helping him; he threatened to testify that I helped Duncan run with baby Lilly, didn't he? And Weevil told me about the body you dug up at St. Mary's. Do you want to tell me about that?"

"Veronica, I'm your father. You don't need to know everything I'm doing!" Keith says, testily. He turns back and sees her chastened expression; he quickly amends himself, "I don't want you to know what I was doing, Veronica. It's for your own protection. Damn it. I don't want you to know! Can you understand that?"

They stare at each other for a long moment.

Finally, Logan breaks the silence. "Can we agree that the feds don't need to know about the hard drive? I'll bet Gory doesn't know the whole story about it, and Jake Kane isn't going to say anything about it at this point. Let's just say that I beat up Gory for insulting Veronica, and he swore that he'd kill us one day."

Veronica nods shakily. "If it comes out about the hard drive, it doesn't matter anyways."

"Right, the evidence is gone," Keith agrees.

"And you've already suffered the consequences for my actions," Veronica adds bitterly, clearly berating herself. "Your career was ruined, because I had to get my revenge on Gory. This was all because I couldn't just laugh off a sex video. Norman Phipps is dead and Carrie got shot because I just had to get revenge." She laughs ruefully. "It's the internet age after all. It's ridiculous to get upset because you're a little overexposed."

"Veronica..." Keith protests, realizing too late just how agitated she is. "This is not your fault."

Logan adds, "I'm the one who beat him up. You told me not to, and I didn't listen to you. Gory's responsible for this, Veronica. You can't beat yourself up about this."

Veronica still looks upset. She takes a breath to argue again but is prevented by the doorbell ringing.

Keith goes to the living room and answers the door to a federal agent stationed outside the apartment and Duncan Kane. "Duncan," Keith says. "I forgot you were coming over tonight in all the excitement."

"So you know this guy?" the agent asks.

"Yes, of course, we were expecting him. Come in, Duncan."

Duncan says, "I'm sorry, I should have called. It's just...the custody hearing is only a few days away. I thought I'd take a chance it would be all right."

"It's okay, Duncan. We were just talking in Veronica's bedroom. She's lying down...she's a little tired after all the excitement today."

"But she's okay?" Duncan asks worriedly.

"We're all okay," Keith reassures him. He leads Duncan toward Veronica's room.

"It's not just the custody hearing," Duncan says suddenly. "It's about Kendall. Sheriff D'Amato is asking a lot of questions."

Keith nods. "We know."

They enter Veronica's bedroom, and Duncan walks to the side of her bed. "Veronica, it's good to see you. I've been following the news reports about the investigation at the school. It sounds like you did a great job."

"I had a lot of help," she explains vaguely, obviously still caught up in the emotional discussion with her dad. "How's Lilly? How are you? I know there's a big hearing on Friday. You need me to testify right?"

Duncan sits down. "Yeah, I'll need you to testify. We think Mrs. Manning is going to try to get me to admit I broke into their house three years ago."

Veronica nods. "Duncan, I'm sorry it's been so hard for you and Lilly."

"But that's not why I'm here. Kendall was murdered while you were gone–" he begins.

"We know. Sheriff D'Amato already dragged us in for questioning," she interrupts, trying to focus and acknowledging to herself just how much trouble Leo's vendetta is causing. "He thinks it's some vast conspiracy, that we planned this together to cover up our involvement in the kidnapping."

Duncan looks shocked. "D'Amato thinks we killed Kendall because of the kidnapping?"

"Somebody, I think Madison, told him about our breakup fight, when everybody heard me accuse you of sleeping with Kendall. Leo thinks either Kendall was in on our plan or somehow found out about it, and she was here trying to blackmail me," Veronica explains. "Duncan...it's possible Leo's trying to get back at me and Logan for something...." Her voice dies away. "There's...there's more to this than just the evidence. He's furious at me," she concludes bleakly.

Keith, until now unaware of what had transpired at the sheriff's department, is visibly upset at the news. "Duncan, you didn't have anything to do with Kendall's murder, did you?"

"Of course not!" Duncan swears. "Veronica, while you were gone...I saw Kendall meeting with somebody in the park. They were arguing; the man was furious with her. I didn't know who it was until I saw him on the news recently."

"On the news?" Veronica asks, confused.

"I took a picture of them with my cell phone. I don't know why I thought to do that. Then when Kendall was murdered a few days later, I was worried that someone had seen us together at the hotel, and I panicked. I erased the picture from my phone. I didn't want any evidence that I knew her. But, Veronica...I sent the picture to your email when I first took it. Now I think that picture might be the only thing that will make the sheriff stop investigating us."

Veronica slides the laptop back onto her lap. "Which account?"

"Your old AOL account," Duncan replies.

Veronica frowns. "I don't use that one much any more. It's always full of penis enlargement ads and Nigerian investment schemes." She launches the AOL program.

"You've got mail," the computer voice intones.

Duncan leans over and points. "There it is."

Veronica clicks on the email. When the picture finishes loading, she gasps. "What's Kendall doing talking to Tom Griffith?"

---

McGruff the Crime Dog: Advertising campaign in the U.S., exhorting children to help police 'take a bite out of crime'.

peen: exposed penis, frequently used term on celebrity-watching sites
nip slip: exposed nipple, frequently used term on celebrity-watching sites
(see community•livejournal•com/ohnotheydidnt for examples)