Chapter Forty-Eight

Wallace and Mac were over for dinner when Weevil showed up. Even Dick was home and hanging out for a change. He had just made a comment about how he needed to change things up and grow out his Dick hair again when a pounding knock sounded from the roadside door.

Veronica could hardly catch her breath for laughing so hard at Dicks' unintended double entendre but she did somehow manage to stumble her way down the hall to open the door. "Hey Weevs," she said when she saw him there, "What's happening? You come to join us in the great Dick hair debate?"

Giving her a bland 'You can't be serious' look, Weevil stepped past her and turned to look her at with dark concern, "Are you really here? Doing this? Again?" he asked, gesturing around him, knowing she'd know what he meant.

"Yes, Eli," Veronica responded, her tone conveying equal portions amusement and annoyance, "I'm really here, doing this, again. This time is for keeps, ok?"

"That don't make me feel any better, Blondie," Weevil said, shaking his head.

"What's taking so long?" Logan called from the main dining area before he appeared in the hallway behind them. "Ah, Weevs. You said you'd be showing up. Didn't think you'd make a move, though, what with your wife and kid hanging at home," he teased, completely deadpan in his tone. He stepped up just behind Veronica and to her left, touching the small of her back with his right hand. Giving her a peck on the lips before resting his forehead on hers, he said, "Dinner's ready. As much as you've been complaining about being hungry, I figured food wouldn't wait."

Veronica grinned and turned to stand on tiptoe to kiss him tenderly. Then she looked back at Weevil over her shoulder and said, "What can I say? He keeps me fed. A full Veronica is a happy Veronica." Then she did a few fake jabs before adding, "You don't mess with the angry, hungry bitch!"

Logan laughed and shook his head at her but Weevil wasn't having it. He was obviously not in the mood. Logan cleared his throat and turned Veronica back toward the heart of the house and the food, saying with an amused chuckle, "Alright Veronica Tyson, why don't you go float like a butterfly over that way. Maybe you'll even sting Dick like a bee by the end of the night."

A mischievous grin followed by a devilish smirk flashed across her features and she quickly kissed Logan lightly on the lips again before heading back toward the kitchen. Calling ahead of her, she said cheerfully, "Hey Dick! You wanna be stung by a little bee?"

Once she was gone, Logan couldn't help but snicker as his eyes followed her affectionately. When he turned back around to face Weevil, he explained in two words, "She's drunk."

"Obviously, Einstein," Weevil replied in annoyance, "So I take it that means you didn't bother to tell her about this new little development?"

"Not yet," Logan responded, unaffected by Weevil's scowl. "Look, she'd already had two piña coladas by the time you called. We both know she's a lightweight. What good would it do to tell her before she's sober?"

"Hey, I'm telling you now, man. Like I said earlier, anything happens to her? It's on you," Weevil repeated, sounding an awful lot like the PCH gang leader again rather than married and respectable, hard-working Eli.

"So you keep saying," Logan returned, now fighting annoyance himself. "When was the last time I let Veronica get physically hurt by anything, huh?" He ran one hand through his hair in a show of nerves but didn't back down.

"Ok, you're right," Weevil said, lifting his hands in the universal sign of surrender. "You just better stay as changed as you've seemed, Echolls. Don't go breakin' her heart again."

"Excuse me?!" Logan asked incredulously, "Did I hear you correctly? I know you visited me at the hospital after the accident. I know you know what her leaving did to me." His angry eyes tried to search Weevil's for some understanding. Finding only a brick wall, he shook his head and said, "Forget it, man. I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Nope, but you do need to explain yourself to Veronica," Weevil said coldly, his tone insistent. "She needs to know that there may be a new danger and it could be a bit of a wild card."

"And she will," Logan agreed, his voice stern and calm as he continued, "She'll know first thing in the morning after she finishes hanging out with her friends and having a good time." Then he added, a little more softly, his dark eyes concerned as they looked back behind him, "I'm worried about her. Even when we went out to the club the other night to have some fun, she ended up working the case."

"What's to worry about?" Weevil asked, "That just sounds like Veronica," he said, not seeing what the problem was.

Logan sighed, his hand going through his hair again as he glanced back toward the room where warmth and laughter illuminated the night. When he looked back at Weevil, his eyes were tortured. It was clear that when it came to Veronica, he was lacking in all his usual confidence.

"What if the case is the only reason she's here? What if when it's all said and done, I'm not enough?" The words Logan asked aloud were meant to stay inside but the last couple days had taken their toll and his thoughts just slipped out.

Weevil took a few moments to study Logan carefully. Finally, he scoffed and said with arrogant certainty, "You know what, Echolls? That's bullshit. You know V ain't here for a case. And ain't no man ever enough in his own mind for the woman he loves. Man up, pretty boy. Don't let 'er get away this time."

Gradually, Logan let Weevil's words sink in and he gave the other man a grateful look. Finally, he changed the subject and said, "So, this doppelganger car...is it a real Italian beauty or did they bring her in for a boob job?"