Logan sat behind the wheel of his Range Rover and let out another long, slow breath. He had pulled into the garage ten minutes ago, but couldn't find the motivation to go into the house. It had been three days since they handed over all of the information in Dick's file to Leo, and gradually, over the week, a tightness had developed in Logan's chest that wouldn't go away. Leo seemed to take their evidence seriously, and spoke at length about his plan to involve different levels of law enforcement, however Logan knew that sometimes operating just under the law could get them more information, faster.
He leaned against the headrest and closed his eyes. His memories of the people he loved seem to bombard him now - during waking moments and in his sleep. No matter what he did or how he tried to distract himself, thoughts of those he loved, and lost - Lilly, Carrie, even his mother, Lynn - seemed to seep back into his consciousness, leaving him feeling emotionally drained.
With a final exhale, Logan opened his eyes before reaching for the door handle, willing himself to leave the car, as he tried to focus on the new task of what to make for dinner. Trudging up the front steps, he wondered if Veronica would kill him if he ordered Chinese take-out. He wasn't expecting her home until at least 6 p.m. and the thought of arguing with the kids about what to eat just didn't appeal to him tonight.
As he walked through the front door, he was greeted by Linc descending the stairs, carrying an arm full of Nerf guns.
"Hi Dad!" he said, continuing on his way past Logan, towards the back door.
Logan frowned, dropping his messenger bag near the door before following Linc out to the backyard. Outside, he was greeted by Keith, who was sitting comfortably in a deck-chair, a cup of coffee in his hands.
"Logan," Keith said with a nod.
Linc continued on his way to the playhouse and Logan paused to watch as he loaded the guns into a bucket stationed below the ladder. He gave a "thumbs up" to someone – presumably Lexie -and the bucket rose upwards towards the top of the play structure.
Stepping to the edge of the deck, Logan surveyed the back yard. Jack appeared from behind one of the hedges, dragging a sand pail filled to the brim with landscaping rocks. Linc spotted his little brother struggling with his load, and ran over to help him. Together, they lifted the plastic bucket off the ground and brought it to the bottom of the play structure.
"Got another load, Lexie!" Linc yelled from below.
"Look out!" she replied and the boys stepped back quickly before the empty bucket dropped past them to the ground. They immediately dumped the rocks inside and gave another thumbs up signal to their sister. The pulley at the top squealed as the bucket ascended slowly.
"What are they doing?" Logan muttered, a deep V forming between his eyebrows.
"They're setting up a watchtower," Keith said, standing next to Logan. "To watch over and protect Pony from any 'bad people.'"
Logan's eyes squeezed shut, his head dropping as he leaned against the deck railing. "Fuck."
"They're just dealing with their feelings about Pony…" Keith's hand gently grasped Logan's shoulder.
"Yeah, I get that," Logan said, opening his eyes toward his kids once more. "But they're building a bunker. My kids are so worried that someone may try and kill their dog again that they are building a fucking weaponized play fort."
Keith let out a low chuckle and patted Logan's back. "You have to admit, it's pretty smart of them. They even have some pots and pans to bang together to alert you or the neighbours if they see anything suspicions."
"I don't think they cover this in any parenting books," Logan said, letting out a deep sigh.
Lexie popped her head out of the top of the playhouse and waved excitedly at Logan. "Hi Daddy!"
Logan forced his muscles to pull a big smile across his face. "Hey honey! Looking good, guys!" He raised his hand and waved to the group.
They all waved to him before continuing on their assigned duties. It was obvious by the way that Lexie was pointing from the tower, barking directions to her brothers, that this was her idea. An image of Veronica when she was younger – long hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, grass stains on her knees, mud from the soccer field splashed across her face - flashed through Logan's mind as he watched Lexie toss her long ponytail out of her face. They should have just named Alexis "Veronica-Two" since she was, in every way, an exact copy of her mother.
"Has Veronica ever told you about the time I was shot?" Keith asked, his voice dropping slightly.
Logan turned towards Keith, leaning back against the railing and frowning. "Only that it happened, but not in great detail. She was about eight or nine, right?"
"She was eight." Keith nodded, his face turning solemn. "It was a routine call – someone came home to discover that there was a break-in at their house while they were out for the evening. I was sent over with my partner to check it out and take a statement. Well, when we arrived, we didn't know that the burglar was still in the house. He hid in the basement when the family came home, and when I went downstairs to check for a point of entry, he panicked and shot me from his hiding spot. Luckily, he was a pretty crappy shot and he only caught my shoulder, but it still hurt like a son-of-a-bitch."
Keith paused to take a sip of his coffee, his eyes refocusing towards his grandkids. "Veronica was very calm about everything. Too calm. She barely said a word when she saw me in the hospital and for days after I got home, she would retreat to her room whenever possible, only coming out for meals and to go to school. Well we soon found out that she was working on a very special plan and one night, while Lianne and I slept, Veronica set up a network of elaborate booby traps all around our house. Everything from loud baby toys shaking if a window opened, to trip-wires made from thread from Lianne's sewing kit." He let out another chuckle, shaking his head at the memory. "Unfortunately for me, I was the first one downstairs that day and nearly broke my fool neck on the marbles she placed neatly lined up on each of the stairs."
Logan crossed his arms, releasing a deep laugh. "That sounds like Veronica."
"It sure does," Keith replied. "Turns out, she was afraid that the guy who shot me would come back to 'finish the job' so she was going to make sure that he couldn't get anywhere near me."
"So what you're saying is this reaction by the kids is 50 percent genetics and 50 percent perfectly normal?" Logan said.
"Well, normal for this family, yes," Keith said with a laugh. "But would you rather they hold all this in and become anxious kids, terrified of their own shadows? Or would you rather they show you what they're feeling, and you let them work through those emotions in a healthy way?"
Logan rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. Emotionally healthy, normal, happy kids – that was their goal. After all he and Veronica had been through in their lives, it wasn't too much to ask for, was it?
"Emotionally healthy is good," he said. "Just as long as they don't get it in their heads that the paper boy is a threat and try shooting him with foam bullets, I guess it's fine."
Keith patted Logan's shoulder vigorously and smiled. "That's the spirit!"
Logan shook his head, throwing a glance towards the kids once more. "You mind watching them for a while longer? I'm going to head inside and order Chinese food for dinner."
"If you order me a Wonton soup and some spring rolls I will," Keith replied.
"Done." Logan smiled.
"Pon-eeeeeeee!"
Three excited voices rang out in unison from the kitchen table as Veronica held the front door open for Pony's triumphant return home. Pony bounded towards the kids, momentarily forgetting she was an 11-year-old mammoth of a mutt, and not some young, tiny shih tzu. The kids scampered from their chairs and the group collided in a heap on the floor as Pony barked and jumped around, attempting to lick each kid in turn as they all fought to lavish affection on her.
"Guys!" Logan called out, coming around the kitchen counter. "You need to chill. Pony's been through a major ordeal. We have to be gentle with her, okay?"
"But Dad, she's fine now," Linc said from his place on the ground, as Pony licked the side of his head. "You even said the doctor said everything was great. She's back to being same old Pony!"
At the mention of her name, Pony barked happily and rolled on her back in the middle of the group. The three kids all attacked her belly with their palms, rubbing furiously, and Veronica shook her head as the dog's eyes rolled happily to the back of her head in ecstasy.
"Yep," Logan said. "Same old Pony."
Veronica manoeuvred past the pile of kids on the floor to greet Logan, rising on her toes to plant a small kiss on his lips. She glanced over at the table and Keith waved to her from his place.
"God, I've been craving Chinese for days," she said, making a beeline for an empty chair. "You must have read my mind."
"What can I say?" Logan shrugged, a self-satisfied smile appearing on his face. "We're just at that place in our relationship where we can communicate through telepathy."
Veronica shoveled a heaping pile of chicken chow mein onto her plate, ignoring the squealing and barking sounds still filling the room. "Is that so? What am I thinking now?"
Logan quirked his eyebrow at the back of her head, a multitude of dirty thoughts coming to mind. As he opened his mouth to speak, he caught a glimpse of Keith, staring back at him, his lips a firm line. Logan bit his lip, dropping his eyes to the ground for a moment.
"That I'm the best not-a-husband ever?" he teased.
Veronica tossed her blond hair over her shoulder as she turned to look at Logan. "Yeah. That's exactly it," she said, giving him a playful wink.
"Really, you two –" Keith said, rolling his eyes as he sat back in his chair, crossing his arms against his chest. "The kids are right here."
"How do you think you got those grandkids, Dad?" Veronica said, turning to reach for a container of spring rolls. "The stork?"
Keith pushed his chair back with a loud sigh. "And on that note, I'm out of here. Thanks for dinner, Logan."
"Anytime Keith," Logan said, patting his father-in-law on the shoulder as Keith walked past him towards the front door. He paused for a moment and bent down to give Pony a pat on the head.
"Good to have you home, Pony-girl. See you kids tomorrow."
"Bye Grandpa!" The kids yelled out in unison. Pony barked happily, causing another round of hugs and head rubs from everyone on the ground.
As the door closed behind Keith, Logan clapped his hands loudly, rubbing them together a few times as he spoke. "Okay Mars children...Lexie and Linc, it's time for you to do homework in your rooms. Jack, it's time for you to head upstairs for some quiet time before bed." A chorus of groans rang out and Logan shook his head firmly. "Nope. No arguing. I let you get out of homework after school so you could work on your fortress outside. Now it's time to get it done."
Grudgingly, all three stood up, muttering their disproval, before trudging up the stairs to their rooms. Pony remained downstairs, letting out a contented sigh before heading over to her bed in the corner of the living room, a low grunt escaping her as she flopped down to rest.
"Building a fortress, huh?" Veronica mumbled, her mouth filled with dinner.
"Yeah. I've seen insurgent bunkers that had less weaponry," Logan said. Making his way back to the table, he slipped into the seat next to Veronica, and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
"You were in the Navy," she said with a smile. "When did you ever see ground combat with insurgents?"
"Whatever. You know what I'm saying," he said and leaned back in the chair, staring for a moment at the ceiling.
"Does this have something to do with Lexie asking me what the firing range was on her Nerf Crossbow?"
"Probably," Logan said. "I came home to find that the kids had taken every toy gun in the house and stashed them in the top of the playhouse. That and some binoculars, granola bars, water, pots and pans...oh, and a hell of a lot of rocks."
Veronica bit her lip, nodding slowly as Logan spoke. "Sounds like they're prepared for anything."
"You know this is about protecting Pony, right?" Logan said, dropping his voice in case one of the kids was listening from the top of the stairs.
"It may not be a bad plan," Veronica said softly. "The vet did those tests you requested on the rest of the food in the tennis ball. It wasn't just the chocolate – that must have been a decoy – the meat was laced with hydrogen peroxide."
Deep lines wrinkled across Logan's forehead, his eyes narrowing in anger. "So someone wanted to make Pony very sick, very quickly."
Veronica nodded. "Yes. And that someone knew what they were doing."
Logan leaned back again, his fingers running through his hair before gripping the back of his neck. "Fuck."
"My feelings exactly," she said, pushing her plate of food away. "Whoever did this, wanted us to know what they could have done, but didn't."
A deep silence fell between them as they each contemplated what kind of message was being sent to them.
"We've walked away from the case," Veronica began, choosing her words slowly. "That should end it. If this was a warning for us to step back from Dick's case, then we shouldn't have anything to worry about going forward."
"But would they know?" Logan said softly. "How would they know we aren't pursuing it anymore?"
Veronica shrugged. "How did they know in the first place? Informants in the San Diego Police Department? People at the court hearings? Seeing you on the news, exiting the courthouse? Or even Sean snitching on us. There's any number of ways they could know."
"Fucking Sean," Logan grumbled, pushing back his chair to stand.
Veronica's hand was immediately on his, her eyes wide with concern. "Don't do this. Don't go assuming it's Sean. I know you would love to have a reason to beat him senseless, but we have to be smart. This isn't about Carrie – it's about our family."
Logan glanced down at Veronica, another surge of anger spreading through him. "Why would you say that? I know what it's about."
Veronica squeezed his hand gently, trying to anchor him to his spot. "I know you're going through a lot with this. I've heard you...say their names in the night."
"What?" Logan whispered, his chest tightening once more.
"I've heard you. Say their names," she said. "Carrie. And Lilly."
Logan's eyes dropped to the floor, a deep shame welling up inside him. Not because the dreams he had were salacious – Veronica was always both his reality and fantasy – but the guilt of surviving their deaths was so great that he would never be over it.
"It's okay," Veronica continued. "I've been dreaming about Lilly too. I get it."
Brushing Veronica's cheek with his finger tips, Logan settled his palm against Veronica's jaw and she relaxed into his touch, closing her eyes as he stroked her skin gently with his thumb.
"I couldn't do anything - I couldn't save them," Logan whispered. "If anything were to happen to you or the kids –"
"Nothing's going to happen," Veronica replied, her hand slipping down onto his knee, moving back and forth slowly, comfortingly. "We got their message. We're off the case. I'm sure Leo has had a visit with Sean by now, to see if there was any other information he could extract from him. So if he is the leak, they know we arn't involved anymore."
"Yeah, but we gave Leo the information. Sean will know that."
Veronica shook her head. "Shouldn't matter. It's not our case anymore."
Silence drifted between them as they contemplated if this would, in fact, be enough to deter another incident with their family.
"Will you humour me?" Logan said.
The corner of Veronica's mouth twitched into a small smile. "Depends. What is it?"
"Let's take the kids to visit Lianne and Hunter for a week. Just until things begin to settle down. Please."
Veronica let out a deep sigh of resignation. "Fine," she said, patting his knee. "Fine. We'll head to Pheonix. But staying at the Biltmore is too flashy and way to expensive. Try and find something a little less Echolls and a little more Mars this time, okay?"
Logan let out a throaty chuckle. "So the Super 8 down by the airport?"
Veronica rolled her eyes. "Okay...maybe something that would pass a black light analysis."
"No human stains on the upholstery. Got it," he said with a wink.
As she leaned closer to him, he bent his head so their foreheads touched.
"I love you," she murmured.
Logan closed his eyes and exhaled all the tension from his body.
"I love you too."