Chapter 7: Caught Red-Handed

Veronica drove back to the apartment, absorbed in her own thoughts. She parked in the parking lot, and just sat in the car for a few moments. She really didn't like this new apartment. Veronica desperately wished they could've stayed at the house. But Keith Mars couldn't take being constantly reminded of his wife, so he had moved himself and Veronica into a smaller, more suitable apartment.

She finally exited the car and climbed the stairs up to the second floor. No neighbors were around, so she didn't have to fake a smile and make small talk, thank God. Veronica unlocked the door, praying her father wasn't home yet. She crept into the front hallway slowly, trying to pretend like she wasn't coming in. She shut the door and locked it, thinking she was home free.

"Boo." A voice behind her called out flatly. Veronica jumped ten feet in the air and spun around to find her father cracking up.

"Nice to see you too." Veronica replied. Keith continued to laugh, and Veronica crossed her arms angrily.

"I was just kidding, sweetheart. And why were you trying to pull a sneak-by anyways?" Keith asked, concern replacing the humor in his eyes. Veronica ignored him and moved to sit at the table. Keith took the seat across from her.

"No reason." Veronica finally replied. Keith raised his eyebrows, clearly not believing the reply.

"How was the beach? Did you have a good time?" Keith tried again. Veronica groaned mentally when she recalled she had told her father where she was headed that morning. Well, it was time to decide: tell Keith everything or make up a fake story?

"Veronica…Earth to Mars…" Keith waved his hand in front of Veronica's face and she snapped back to attention.

"Oh…um…alright. I'm going to tell you something. But you have to keep it quiet. No discussion around the water cooler." Veronica warned. Keith nodded and made a childish motion of zipping his lips shut. Veronica rolled her eyes.

"Lilly's…pregnant." Veronica blurted, not wanting to beat around the bush. Keith's face remained masked, but Veronica thought she saw stress flash in his eyes.

"Logan?" Keith managed to get out, sounding calm.

"No." Veronica replied quickly. It was in fact, such a quick response that even Keith noticed something was up.

"You can breath before you respond, Veronica." Keith commented. Veronica kept her lips smashed together.

"Is something going on between you and Logan?" Keith continued. Veronica opened her mouth and shut it again, unsure of how to respond. Her cheeks gave her away.

"My, my, my. I don't think I've ever seen a tomato that red. Do Duncan and Lilly know?" Keith questioned. Veronica nodded, still too embarrassed to say anything.

"Well, if Logan isn't the father, than who is?" Veronica noticed how Keith had trouble saying Logan's name, now that he was aware of his daughter's relationship with the young man.

"Lilly…doesn't exactly know who it is." Veronica confessed. Keith showed no sign of surprise.

"And why am I not surprised?" Keith seemed to read Veronica's mind.

"She thinks it might be this guy Eli Navarro. PCH leader." Veronica offered.

"He's not too bad, I guess. Not as bad as I might've expected from young Miss Kane." Keith professed. Veronica nodded.

"There's…another possibility too, Dad." Veronica kicked herself mentally for blurting that one out. Like her dad really needed to know her new boyfriend's dad may or may not have knocked up her best friend as well as her boyfriend's ex.

"Who?" Keith was cautious. Veronica's expression had visibly changed into one of self doubt and regret.

"Aaron." It was all Veronica could manage to say. She may have shared everything with her father, but this was new territory, an area of unexplored conversations they had never had to have.

"Aaron…does he go to your school?" Keith was too naïve to immediately recognize Logan's father's name.

"No, Dad. He's much older than Lilly. Old enough to be her dad." Veronica wanted to hit herself for confessing such an important detail. Keith showed no comprehension of who Veronica was discussing.

"Hmm. I'm disappointed in Lilly, but can't say I'm surprised." Veronica breathed a sigh of relief when her father didn't catch on to the fact that Logan's father was Aaron Echolls. There would've been hell to pay for that little tidbit, and Veronica just wasn't ready to breach that wall.

"Yeah. I know. And someone slipped Lilly something to make her lose the baby. She started bleeding at the beach and we took her to the hospital. The baby's okay, and so is Lilly, but she's really worried." Veronica informed Keith. Finally, Keith seemed appropriately shocked.

"Do you have any idea who did it?" Keith was now in full sheriff's mode.

"A couple thoughts, but that's about it. I'm gonna look into it." Veronica explained. Keith's expression darkened.

"I want you to be careful. Make sure Logan or Duncan is with you whenever you do any surveillance. Or even that Navarro kid, if he's all you can manage." Keith demanded. Veronica nodded, and she got a dreamy look in her eyes as she imagined following someone with Logan as a bodyguard. It would probably be a better idea to bring someone else, Logan would distract her way too much.

"Hey. Some of us want to keep our lunches, thanks." Keith interjected. Veronica snapped back to reality, and stuck her tongue out at the father. He snickered.

"You're just mad because all you've got is me." Veronica chided. Keith laughed.

"You and Back-up." He reminded her. Veronica whistled, and the dog came directly to her.

"Whatever you say, Pops." Veronica gloated. Keith grinned, and stood up.

"What do you want for dinner?" He asked, heading for the kitchen.

"Um…Logan is coming to pick me up in a little while, so I'll probably eat with him. If that's okay." Veronica replied nervously. Keith turned around, and patted his legs to get Back-up to come to him. Back-up stood slowly and meandered to Keith with no enthusiasm.

"Oh, sure. Go out with your new boyfriend. Back-up and I'll just stay here and wait for you." Keith assured her. Veronica groaned.

"Don't act so upset, honey. When will young Logan be here?" Keith inquired. Veronica checked her phone, and shot her dad a suspicious look.

"He said around 6:30. Why?" She asked.

"That's in 20 minutes. I'll be right back." Keith walked into his bedroom while Veronica remained in the kitchen, very confused. Keith returned with an old handgun that had been his dad's, and a home video from when Veronica was 6.

"Oh, no. No you don't. You are not gonna be watching that and cleaning your gun when Logan gets here. I can't allow it!" Veronica protested, but Keith had already sat down on the couch.

"If I start now it'll be to the part where you tell me you plan on not having sex until you're married and I make you pinky promise." Keith reminded her. Veronica moaned and stomped into her room to get ready for her date. Keith laughed and put in the tape, watching his young daughter dance across the television. He began wiping off the gun, and chuckled at the thought of Logan Echolls walking into this scene.