Chapter Fifty-Six

It was after midnight and Logan was starting to panic. Where was she? Why hadn't she come back yet? He was about to try calling her cell when he saw it sitting on the nightstand.

"Dammit, Veronica," he grumbled as he moved to reach for it with one hand while running the other nervously through his hair.

Scrolling through her contacts, he called her dad first. The only other person alive who loved Veronica as much as he did. Keith needed to know. As he held the phone to his ear, he hesitated and then hung up. Needed to know what exactly? That Veronica went out for a walk and lost track of time?

He sighed, paced, looked at the phone, and ran his hand through his hair again. He was about to start again, this time with Wallace or Weevil, maybe even Leo but the phone rang on it's own and caused him to jump. Looking at the screen before he answered, he saw that it was Keith. Both wary and grateful at the same time, he exhaled slowly and hit the talk button.

"Hello?" he answered as if he didn't know who it would be that was speaking from the other end.

"Logan," Keith said, a bit of annoyance, a bit of distaste in his tone. Logan was sure it had something to do with him not yet being used to another man answering his daughter's phone.

"Keith," Logan replied, wincing at the sound of relief in his own voice.

"What's going on?" Keith asked warily, "Where's Veronica?"

"Good question," Logan sighed, again running a hand nervously through his hair.

"What do you mean, 'good question', Logan? Where is Veronica?" Keith demanded, this time sounding worried and angry at the same time.

"I wish I knew," Logan answered regretfully, bracing for the verbal onslaught he knew was coming.

"You don't know?!" Keith roared in astonishment. He was silent for a few moments. Logan hoped he was working to control himself before he lashed out again. He didn't blame Keith at all for being upset but one thing Logan had learned over the years was that he could not take responsibility for every bad thing that happened to him or those he cared about. He just didn't have that kind of power.

At the moment, though, he wished that he did. He was about to try to fill the uncomfortable silence with something, anything, but then Keith spoke again.

The older man's voice was calm, cool, and collected when he said, "Alright, Logan. I'm listening. What happened? You didn't have a fight, did you?"

Grimacing before he smiled ironically, Logan shook his head and rested one hand at the base of his neck. "No. Nothing like that. We were watching movies and she got restless. Said she was gonna take a walk along the beach to gather her thoughts. I figured she'd be safe, you know? But she hasn't come back and it's been more than two hours. She could have lost track of time, but I don't think so."

Keith stayed silent a few more moments. Logan assumed he was mulling over what he'd just been told. "You're right," Keith finally said, "She wouldn't stay out this long. Not knowing everything that needs to be done tomorrow. You said she went down to the beach?"

"Yeah," Logan replied, "Somewhere around 9:30pm or 10pm."

"Ok," Keith began and Logan could tell that the gears in his brain were working overtime, "Take Veronica's phone. Keep yours with you, too. If she manages to try contacting us, we don't want to miss her."

"Ok," Legan responded, nodding in agreement, "What else? Should I go out and see if I can figure out which way she went?"

"You can try," Keith said, a hint of compassion in his voice, "Don't expect anything too major, though. I'll call Leo, Wallace and Weevil. See if they can meet me over there in the next half hour or so."

Curiously, Logan asked, "You pulling in law enforcement or just Leo?"

"Just Leo," Keith returned, "Filing a missing person report won't get us squat with the department," he said bitterly, "They'll just say she's being Veronica and ran off again. Assume something went down between the two of you."

Frowning, Logan could feel the anger building in the pit of his stomach. Seriously?! Why couldn't the past just stay in the past?

"Fine," he said curtly, "But if we don't find her by morning, I'm taking out billboards and television ads. Then I'm gonna find Sean and Lou and kick their fucking asses."

"Sean and Lou?" Keith asked with an odd tone, "Is there something that makes you think that they have something to do with this?"

"No," Logan said irritably, "Yes. I don't know." His frustration showed in his words and he raked his fingers through his hair again.

"Alright, Logan," Keith said with calm authority, "Walk me through your thought process. What are you thinking and why?"

"I don't know," he began uncertainly, "It's just, when we went to Sean's to try to find him, he wasn't there. We haven't been able to find him. But while we were trying to get Sean to answer the door, Lou showed up. It just, I don't know, doesn't sit right or something. What was Lou doing there? And where did Sean go?"

"Good questions," Keith responded, a note of pride in his voice as he coaxed Logan to continue, "Now Logan, can you think of any reasons, other than what we were told about Carrie, that either of them might have something against you?"

Logan thought about it and then admitted wryly, "Nothing specific comes to mind but I've been known to be a jackass from time to time."

Keith chuckled in spite of himself, "Never truer words have been spoken," he quipped. "Alright. You get down to the beach. I'll call Leo and get him looking for Sean and Lou, pull them in for questioning if he finds them. Then I'll have Wallace and Weevil meet me at your place. We should be there in about 45."

"And I'll get Dick," Logan added.

"Dick?!" Keith sputtered, "Casablancas?!"

"He'll help," Logan responded with certainty. "He's a big goof but he cares about Veronica. Because he cares about me."

"As long as you're sure he won't slow things down or trip us up," Keith said hesitantly, obviously still not liking the idea but also not going to fight having another extra person searching for his daughter.

"I'm positive, Keith," Logan replied with confidence, "I'll take personal responsibility for him myself."

"Alright. Get Dick, get to searching, and we'll meet up when I get there with Wallace and Weevil," Keith stated, repeating again the instructions he had outlined earlier.

"Got it," Logan returned with a nod that he knew Keith would never see. "See you soon."

As soon as he'd hung up, Logan went down the hall and pounded on Dick's door. He heard a groan and some cursing, something crashing as if into the wall after having been kicked, and then he finally saw the door crack open. Dick's head peeked out, his blond locks clearly suffering a major case of bedhead and his eyes squinting against the light in the hall.

"Dude," Dick said in a sleep-slurred tone, "Trying to get some beauty sleep here. Do you mind?"

"Dick," Logan began, even saying his friend's name with urgency to let him know how important this was, "Veronica's gone. She's missing. I need you to help me try to find her."

Rolling his eyes and scratching his head, Dick said with extreme patience, as if he were talking to a child, "Dude, it's Ronnie. She goes missing every time you turn around. What else is new?"

"No, Dick," Logan said, "This is different. We didn't fight. She just went for a walk on the beach and hasn't come back. Come on, man, I'm worried about her. Help me out here. Please?"

Shaking his head, Dick scrubbed a hand over his face and said, eyes still glassy, "You said please. You never say please. Fine, man, but when we find her skanking it with another surfer boy, I get to say I told you so."

Snorting derisively, Logan said, "Deal. As long as we find her, you can tell me whatever the hell you want."