CHAPTER 12

"Do you need any help getting home Logan?" Keith asked as Logan was getting ready to leave. It was twelve at night and Logan knew that if he didn't leave now, he would regret it in the morning. He had to go to school and the new series of bruises on his face wouldn't make that too enjoyable as it was; getting no sleep would just put the icing on the cake.

Keith had been nice enough to invite Logan for supper, and had hardly laughed at all when Logan's swollen knuckles had forced him to be fed by Veronica. Logan knew that if he had been in the other man's shoes, he would have milked it for all it was worth.

"No thanks Keith, I'll make it" Logan said lightly as he shrugged into his jacket. Another bright moment of their shared meal was when Keith had told Logan to call him by name. From what Logan knew, and by the look on Veronica's face, no other boyfriend had been given that right.

"You better phone when you get there, just in case" Keith said as he followed Logan to the door. Logan smiled at the concern that Veronica's father was showing him. After eating, all three of them had vegged out on the couch watching movies. Veronica had been disgusted in the two men's shared appreciation for all of the die hard movies.

Veronica had fallen asleep halfway through the third movie, 'with a vengeance' and had nestled into Logan's shoulder as the blasts and gunshots of the movie had bounced around the room. She was still lying there now; Logan had settled her down gently as he and Keith had gotten up.

"It might wake Veronica" Logan said softly as he glanced at her from his place at the door. He couldn't help but let his face soften as he took in the picture that she made on the sofa. Her fist was pressed under her cheek and her hair framed her face. Her body was covered by the light blanket that Keith had smoothed on her when they had gotten up.

Keith followed Logan's gaze and smiled softly. "When she wakes up she'll want to know that you're safe" he said as he met Logan's eyes again. "Phone"

The last word was an order and it brought a grin to Logan face. He snapped into a straight posture and brought his hand up in a neat salute. Keith's chuckle was the sound that followed Logan to his car as the door closed.

Veronica was rushing to get out of the house the next morning. If she wanted to catch the bus she would have to hurry. Her father had been so busy looking for her, that he hadn't thought to bring her car from school; hence the rush to the bus.

She wouldn't be so worried about being late, she had been late before, but she wanted to get to Logan as soon as she could. She hadn't been able to say goodbye the night before and couldn't wait to kiss him. She hadn't had a chance to really do that all yesterday. But she figured that his lip would be better by now, and that they would skip at least one class to meet in the girl's bathroom.

She grabbed her bag and hurried out the door, turning to lock it behind her. She had just taken her key back out of the door when a hand grabbed her upper arm roughly and turned her around on her heel.

Veronica gasped in a breath as she whirled around and saw Duncan standing there, his face a blue and purple mask of anger. She dimly registered the damage that Logan had done the night before, but most of her attention was on Duncan's eyes; they were untouched and burning down at her.

"Duncan" she gasped out in a mixture of shock and fear. "What are you doing?" she asked in a tight voice. She felt panic slide down her spine but tried to control it. Freaking out now wouldn't help her at all; it might only enrage Duncan further.

"Taking what's mine" he answered her harshly, jerking her arm and forcing her to follow him to his car. Veronica dug in her heels to try and stop their steady progress but her struggles had little affect. She swore at her small stature and grabbed at Duncan's hand.

"What do you mean?" she asked him, trying her best to postpone the time when he would have her in his car.

Duncan stopped and looked down at her. He used his other hand to grasp her other shoulder and leaned down to kiss her hard. Veronica gasped for breath and tried to twist away from him, but he only pushed harder, until she moaned at the pain and her head fell back. Veronica deliberately dropped her keys as she moaned, hoping that the sound would block the jingle of the keys hitting the ground. Duncan lifted his head and looked at her for another second before moving again.

Veronica was dazed. She could feel the blood dripping from where he had cut her lip with his roughness. She felt bruised and weak, not knowing what she would do. But she didn't stay that way; as soon as she saw how close they were top his car, she started fighting again. But this time she made noise too.

Her screams echoed in the small courtyard with Duncan's muttered curses accenting them. He finally just threw her over his shoulder and ran to where his car was parked, opening the back door and throwing Veronica in. He quickly got out two pairs of handcuffs and pulled her arms behind her back, locking them in place. He attached the second pair to her ankles quickly, subduing her kicks easily.

After that he threw a blanket over her and slammed the door shut. Veronica could hear him move to the driver's seat and start the car. By the movement of the car, she knew that he was moving fast. Veronica just hoped that it wasn't too fast for someone to have seen him.

She had a hard time breathing and knew that if she didn't calm down she would black out. She started concentrating on the air moving in and out of her lungs, using a yoga technique that she had learned in PE once. After she had calmed herself down, Veronica started to pull at the cuffs.

She noticed two things about them right off. One, they had some kind of soft fuzzy covering around them, as if Duncan had bought them at some kind of sex shop. And two, they were made to keep closed. There was no way that she would be able to force them open without cutting her wrists up, and maybe not even then.

Veronica started to pay attention to the motions of the car then, trying to sense how fast Duncan was going. If he was speeding, he might get pulled over. That was all that Veronica could hope for at the moment, not knowing for sure if anyone had witnessed the abduction itself.

But as Duncan slowed for a red light, Veronica realised that Duncan was too smart for that. He was probably driving five miles an hour under the speeding limit, just in case. The panic that Veronica had tamped down just a little while ago came back to the surface and she started screaming again.

"Help me! Some one please!" she yelled out. She heard Duncan curse, then the radio was turned on full blast. Veronica was suddenly unable to hear her own yells, and started to cry helplessly. No one would hear her cries now.

Logan waited next to Veronica's locker as the first bell rang. He had been waiting there for twenty minutes and he was starting to worry now. He knew that she was probably just late, but something made his inside freeze at her absence.

He was just about to phone her cell to see what was going on when he was interrupted.

"Mr. Echolls" Clemmons said in his annoying little drawl. Logan's shoulders slumped a little as he turned. He didn't have time for this crap, the bad feeling that he had about Veronica was intensifying by the moment.

"Mr. Clemmons, just the man I wanted to see" Logan said, thinking quickly. The other man's eyebrows rose up at Logan's words. "Can you tell me if Veronica Mars has called in her absence today?" he asked.

Clemmons frowned. "I don't see how that would be any of your business Logan" he said with a suspicious look.

"Is she here?" Logan asked, not taking the obvious hint that Clemmons was giving to back off.

"I don't track down Veronica's whereabouts normally" Clemmons answered acidly as he started to turn away. "If you're not in your class in five minutes you will be getting a detention"

Logan felt desperation flow through him. He had to know if Veronica was in danger or if he was just imagining it. He ignored the order that Clemmons had just given him and phoned Veronica on his cell.

It rang and rang without an answer, going to the voice mail. Logan knew that if she was in class she would have turned her cell off and it would have gone directly to the message, and if she was able to she would have answered. He quickly phoned the number to Keith's office, hoping that someone would answer the phone.

"Mars investigations" Keith answered on the second ring. Logan took a deep breath in relief and felt some of his panic alleviate. If there was anything wrong, Keith would be doing something about it.

"Keith, it's me" Logan said. "Do you know where Veronica is?' he asked in a rush, wanting to confirm it quickly.

"Logan?" Keith asked in confusion. "What do you mean where is Veronica? She should be in school"

Logan's stomach knotted. "She isn't here and she isn't answering her cell" he said as he tried to hold on to his calm.

There was a silence on the phone. "She's probably fine Logan" Keith said finally. "She must have forgot her cell at home that's all"

"That doesn't explain why she isn't here" Logan returned.

"She probably just missed the bus. I bet that she'd walking in right now" Keith said, but Logan thought that his voice had lost some of its confidence.

"I'll go and see if I can find her" Logan said as he started walking back to the parking lot entrance. He was going to find her and make sure that she was safe or he would lose his mind worrying.

"You should stay in school Logan, I'll go get her" Keith said.

Logan shook his head a little and smiled. "I'll see you there" he said briefly and hung up the phone. He was just to the door when he heard Clemmons call out to him. He didn't stop moving but turned and walked backwards instead.

"Seeya later" he called out with a smile. Logan could see Clemmons' face turn red in anger.

"If you see Duncan and Veronica, you tell them that they will be joining you in detention for the next week" Clemmons called out.

Logan stopped dead in his tracks. Duncan wasn't in school either?

Logically, Logan could understand that Duncan might be staying home from school because of the beating he had taken, or because his girl had just dumped him. Either scenarios were completely believable, but he discarded both of them. Something told him that Duncan had Veronica.

He ran to his car as he redialled Keith's number and hoped that Veronica's father hadn't left yet.