Chapter Thirty-Seven
Cobb, or Lou now that he was a professional who probably shouldn't go by a nickname, had been in love with Carrie Bishop since his 09er days. He'd never been one of the elite 09ers like Logan Echolls or Duncan Kane. In fact, if he'd had to describe himself at all during the time he was at Neptune High, he probably would have said he was a third string 09er. Definitely of the lesser known variety. The closest he'd come to the inner sanctum of The Fabulous Four was to hang with Dick, a second string-er, at a few parties.
He'd tried to move up the food chain with Dick's help but Dick was pretty oblivious to any attempts that Cobb had made. Of course, when Dick and Madison Sinclair had been together, things had been ideal. Cobb nearly made his move up the ladder. Then shit started hitting the fan. Everywhere he turned, he saw evidence that the Neptune High royalty were being torn to shreds. Murder, ultimatums, tests of loyalty, betrayal...and Cobb began to wonder if it was really worth it.
Then the outer circle started to suffer as well. Dick and Beaver's dad having to hightail it out of the country, Meg in a coma having Duncan's baby, Beav jumping off the roof of the Grand. Suddenly, Cobb was just glad that he wasn't well-known enough to have to deal with any of that bullshit. He found his own friends and eventually grew close to Luke Haldeman and Sean Friedrich.
They'd go to parties together, get high together, plot and scheme together and overall be each other's wingmen. One night, they'd set him up to finally get his chance with Carrie. He was about to make his move when Logan Echolls, drunk off his ass per his usual, swooped in and took his chance. The bastard hadn't even left with her that night. He'd flirted and charmed her, got her all riled, and then left her the moment he saw Veronica Mars walk in. Cobb had been furious. Carrie had been as well. She'd left alone after starting a rumor that Logan had made out with Duncan at a rave in the desert with photo and videographic evidence to prove it.
The next time he'd seen her, Cobb had somehow managed to find the balls to tell her he admired what she'd done that night. She'd given him a prissy, pursed-lipped smile with her eyes glowing wickedly like a cat's and thanked him. His compliment to her had put him on her radar. After that, she'd made a point to seek him out, to flirt with him, to torture and manipulate him. And he didn't care. He soaked it up and begged for more.
He knew from the first that she was playing him. That he was a pawn to her. As long as he was useful, she'd allow him to stick around but if at any point he had become a liability, he had no doubt she would have tossed him out. Which was why he'd ingratiated himself to her and eventually why he had gone into the family business. He'd had to find a way to stay close to her and that was it.
Over the years she had played with and tossed away many men that she'd dangled her fame in front of on a whim. She always came back to Cobb, though. He was her 'pet' she said and that was fine by him.
It had been more or less two years prior that Carrie had once again set her sights on Logan Echolls and that irked Cobb. She had already made him pay for rejecting her once. Why would she want to put herself in that position again? But Carrie was insistent. If her fame were matched with his infamy, she felt certain that the tabloids would have a field day and her popularity would skyrocket.
But Echolls wasn't interested in fame. He couldn't care less about popularity, or even riches. Granted, he seemed to live comfortably. But he no longer lived obtusely as he always had in the past. And Carrie knew that she was going to have to do something different to lure him into her trap.
She plotted and she schemed. She pulled Cobb into her plan and Sean and Luke through him. She knew that once upon a time, Logan had occasionally been friendly with Sean and Luke. She'd heard through the grapevine about the time that Luke and Logan had gone to Tijuana with Troy Vandegraff. She'd also heard about Sean's little stunt in the Echolls pool-house where he'd managed to steal the poker pot. Their slightly lackluster morals seemed perfect for her plan.
After researching and coordinating everything, Carrie put her plan into motion. It took a painfully long time to have everything in place but in the end, it had been worth it. She'd finally gotten her chance to both find out if Logan Echolls was really worth all the fuss and to put him in his place if or when the need became apparent.
It was something that Carrie always did, Cobb thought now. She always had in mind what she would do if things went right and what she would do if things went wrong. She was smart like that. But her obsession with Echolls had gotten her killed. Now he had to deal with that jackass along with the Mars bitch because he'd never been able to shake his own obsession with her. With Carrie.