A/N - I hope most of you like this chapter. Let me know what you think. I'm expecting some comments given the characters that are in this one. The next chapter will be a lot more fun I think, so be sure to watch for it later this week!
Thanks to everyone who's been reading along and leaving comments. I appreciate them all!
Disclaimer: The VM characters still belong to Rob Thomas (wish they were mine though)
Chapter 5 – Fabulous Desserts
Veronica had decided to start back at the original robbery in her effort to revisit the prior cases. When the first robbery had been reported, no one had ever imagined it was just the beginning of a chain of robberies, so there certainly could have been things they missed. The notes from the first deputy had mentioned that the family had fired a maid a few weeks prior to them noticing the necklace was gone, and the owners really thought she had taken it, but the sheriff's department was unable to find any proof that she had. They had even obtained a search warrant and searched the woman's apartment and didn't find anything at all to suggest she'd taken the necklace.
Veronica dialed the number for the Branford's residence. She was happy to catch Mrs. Victoria Branford at home. Veronica explained how she had just recently started working for the Sheriff's Department and how there had been several more jewelry robberies after theirs and she was hoping she could come by and ask them a few more questions about their case to try to finally catch the culprit. Mrs. Branford explained that she had an appointment in two hours, but if Veronica could make it there soon, she'd be willing to talk with her.
Veronica quickly grabbed her bag and let Leo know where she was off too. The Branford's lived in the same general area as the Taylor's, but two streets farther east from where the Kane's had lived. The houses on this street seemed a bit larger and more expensive than the street the Taylor's had lived on. When she rang the bell, she was greeted by a young blond woman who appeared to be the maid and escorted her back through the house to a sun room where Mrs. Branford was sitting reading a magazine. Mrs. Branford gave Veronica a quick nod and gestured to the seat across from her.
Veronica estimated Mrs. Branford to be in her early 30's. Of course she had perfectly manicured nails, and even though she appeared to be dressed to go attend some sort of gym class, her hair and make up were perfectly done. "Thank you so much for agreeing to talk with me," Veronica said as she sat down.
"Have we met before?" Mrs. Branford asked. "You look very familiar."
"No, I don't believe we have. I wasn't working on the case when your necklace was reported stolen."
Mrs. Branford shook her head. "No not from the Sheriff's Department. But you do look very familiar." She kept studying Veronica carefully.
Veronica knew from looking at their case file that her husband, Michael Branford, was a realtor with the most exclusive firm in town. The firm handled all of the multi-million dollar homes sold around Neptune, so their commissions for one sale would be more than she could imagine making in a year herself. She couldn't quite imagine where Mrs. Branford may have recognized her from, though it wouldn't be surprising given her past in Neptune.
"You were at Hearst Tuesday night with Mayor Echolls weren't you?" She asked as a look of recognition finally flashed across her face.
Veronica confirmed with a nod. She swore that Mrs. Branford's expression changed from just recognizing her to picturing Logan in her head, the way her lips twitched up into an almost ravenous smile.
"He's my boyfriend actually," Veronica added, all of a sudden feeling the need to be seen as more than just his date of the night by this woman for some reason.
Mrs. Branford nodded in reply and must have decided it was best to change the topic, "So what can I help you with today about our case?"
Veronica asked if she could see the safe the jewelry had been taken from and get some pictures of it. The original deputy hadn't thought they would need that for the report. Mrs. Branford agreed and led her back through the house, up the stairs to their master bedroom. The safe was located in their walk in closet. While Logan had an impressive closet, this one was more like a boutique and about double the size of his.
The safe was similar to the one at the Taylor's, though a different brand, but still a digital combination as opposed to a spin dial old style one. She opened the safe for Veronica to also take pictures of the inside. There were several other jewelry cases in the safe, and Veronica remembered from the file that they did have several other necklaces and only one had been stolen.
"I was also wondering who the jeweler was that made your necklace. It wasn't listed in the case file."
"Mark Martinelli," Mrs. Branford replied. "He's my favorite jeweler in town."
Veronica recognized the name as also being the jeweler of several of the ones that were stolen, second behind Sylvia. Veronica had also brought along the list of names of staff that they had originally provided and asked her if she could look over it again to see if there were any left off the first time.
Mrs. Branford let out an irritated sigh, "You really should contact my husband about that. He's the one who handles all of that sort of thing. I wouldn't even know if the names on this list currently are correct or not." Veronica tried not to look too judgmental. "Well of course other than Elise, our au pair."
Silly Veronica, not a maid, an au pair. How could you not recognize that by the way she opened the door and escorted you through the house? She did remember seeing an Elise Alstrom on the list of original names. "You had initially thought a Miss Molina may have taken the necklace. Was there a specific reason you had suspected her?"
"She just seemed suspicious to me," was all that Mrs. Branford was willing to say. Veronica noticed a look flash across her face though that looked like jealousy or anger. Hmm, perhaps Miss Molina and Mr. Branford were a bit too cozy for Mrs. Branford's liking.
"Did she, or any of your other staff, say Elise, have the combination to the safe?"
Mrs. Branford's look became a bit icy, "Well I certainly never gave it to either of them. Again, maybe you should call my husband so he can answer your questions." She glanced down at the watch on her wrist. "I really do need to be going, so if there's nothing else you need from me, I'll see you out now." She turned and headed back toward the stairs.
As Veronica followed her, she glanced at a few of the family portraits in the hall. Mr. Branford was quite handsome, probably in his early 40's as he definitely looked a bit older than his wife. They had two little girls who looked to be about 7 and 9 in a recent looking picture. Elise was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs.
"Elise, can you please show the investigator out?" Mrs. Branford said as she passed her and headed back toward the sunroom. Elise smiled cautiously at Veronica and led her toward the front door.
"Thanks, Elise." Veronica said as she opened the door for her. Elise only smiled and nodded and quickly shut the door behind her. Veronica laughed to herself as she walked back to her car. I should have brought a jacket to deal with the chill that set in there at the end of my visit.
Veronica called Mr. Branford from her car, but the receptionist at the realty office informed her that he was out with clients and wouldn't be back until later in the afternoon. She scheduled an appointment to meet him at 3pm, and then went back to the Sheriff's Office to do some work. She was meeting Logan for lunch and then they were going to visit Sylvia.
Veronica decided to walk over to City Hall to meet Logan for lunch since it was a nice day and the new Sheriff's Office was only a block away from City Hall. She'd been looking down at her phone as she reached the entrance, and about ran into someone she didn't see. "Sorry!" she blurted out, and then she heard a familiar laugh. "Casey?"
"You really have a bad habit of practically running me over don't you?" He said with a friendly smile. She laughed remembering how she did the same thing when he first came to Mars Investigations for help with Debbie's case. He smiled at her and then added, "Hey, I'm sorry Alexis got a bit catty the other night." He paused and looked at her apologetically. "Of course I think part of her really was just curious and didn't think it was that big of a deal to ask. As you've noticed, she doesn't have a lot of filters about things she says. And we'd had several drinks before we even made it to Hearst, and that seems to make any small amount of restraint she may possess completely vanish."
Saying exactly what's on her mind regardless of who it might bother, yet one more way she's just like Lilly used to be. Veronica gave him a knowing look, "Did she grill you later about whether you and I had dated?"
He smirked back and nodded, "Of course."
She shook her head, "I'm not really sure why you'd want to spend time with her."
He gave her a provocative look, and she rolled her eyes at him. A slightly disgusted "men," was her only response. He laughed and shrugged in reply.
"So you're still coming Saturday right?" He asked with a hopeful expression on his face. She sighed and nodded. He smiled back happily. "I'll do my best to keep her from bothering you."
Veronica laughed softly, "Good luck with that, though I do appreciate the gesture. Are you here to see her?"
Casey nodded, "Yeah, we're going to lunch. You? Also here for a lunch date?" She nodded and smiled. "I honestly never would have guessed you and Logan would have gotten together. Of course when I last saw you both together it was your Junior year of high school, and we both know how that was."
"Yeah, that was a long time ago." Veronica said with a grim smile, "We went through so much bad stuff back then."
Casey nodded and gave her a reassuring look. "You two seem really good together now. And I'm sure you know better than to let any of Alexis's snide remarks get to you. You were the toughest girl I knew at Neptune High."
"Thanks Casey." She said with a surprised smile, "We'd better get to our respective dates before they come looking for us."
"Oh hey, have you heard anything about our other old friend?" Casey raised his eyebrows curiously as he asked.
Veronica shook her head, "Sorry, I haven't heard anything new there. At least we know she's safe though." Casey nodded grimly and they headed inside.
Logan was at Jenny's desk chatting with her when Veronica walked into his office. "Hey there's my favorite lady." Logan said lovingly and moved toward her so he could give her a quick kiss. He said a brief goodbye to Jenny, and they headed back out to the lobby.
Of course, as Veronica had been expecting, though dreading, their timing was just right so they ran into Alexis and Casey also heading through the building lobby to the front door.
"Hi Veronica," Alexis said in an irritatingly sweet tone. "Nice to see you again. Are you two heading to lunch too?"
They nodded in reply. Logan and Casey gave each other a quick 'hey there' silent guy greeting.
"Hey, you two could join us," Alexis said in a chipper voice. "We're headed down the street to eat at Giovanni's." She could see neither Veronica nor Logan looked thrilled with the idea. "And I promise I'll be good."
Casey gave them both a half hearted smile, "I don't mind, but if you two would rather not join us, that's fine too."
"Oh come on, you like Italian, right Veronica?" Alexis said with her cheery smile still in place.
Logan looked at Veronica for a moment then back at Alexis, "Thanks for the offer, but I think we'll pass..."
"No it's fine," Veronica interrupted. "I do love Italian." She gave Logan a reassuring smile. Alexis smiled and took Casey's arm and led the way out of City Hall. The way she took charge of the group with such an air of confidence was like watching a ghost of Lilly walking right in front of them.
Logan gave Veronica a worried look before she reached out and took his hand and pulled him along. Worst idea ever, but I also didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeing me back down to her either. Veronica and Logan were walking silently down the sidewalk behind the other couple. Casey was telling Alexis about a particularly challenging new client he'd just met with as they walked. Logan seemed to have not only gone extremely quiet, but his body had also tensed up. She leaned in closer to him and whispered, "It's just lunch, how bad could it be."
He gave her a look that clearly implied 'you have no idea'. Then he pulled her a little closer as they continued walking, and leaned in to kiss her head.
Alexis already had reservations for 2 so it took a few extra minutes for them to find them a table for 4.
"Are you missing Massachusetts yet?" Alexis asked Veronica as she sipped on her drink after they were seated.
"Given the average temperature in November can be in the 40's and it's one of the wettest months, no not really." Veronica replied politely back. "It's nice to be back in the realm of eternal sunshine."
Casey jumped in and shared some stories of trips he had to take for work to some places with absolutely horrible weather. He swore his staff members were intentionally trying to find authors in the areas that had absolutely the worst weather and then would insist that he'd be the only one that could get the authors to agree to sign with them. If it wasn't a location with horrible weather, then they seemed to enjoy sending him to places that were completely obscure with somewhat sketchy residents. Of course they really enjoyed it when it was a double hit, bad weather and a location with accommodations that could only be considered 1-star if you were being really open minded about it.
Alexis spent the rest of the time talking about some of the challenges she was having with putting together the annual winter festival due to some businesses that weren't happy with how things were handled by the woman who coordinated it the prior year. Alexis was glad the woman was no longer at the Chamber, but she was still having a hard time fixing some of the damage she had done. Casey of course listened intently, and offered to help her if there was anything he could do. Veronica resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she watched him obviously sucking up to her. Casey shot her a quick glare when he saw her smirk about it.
While their lunch together wasn't the most fun Veronica had ever had, she was surprised that Alexis didn't make a single snippy comment, nor bring up any story of something her and Logan had done together in the past. Veronica had been waiting for something to happen, but Alexis really did seem to be trying to behave, or she was too busy flirting with Casey to worry about it. Logan for the most part remained fairly uncomfortable and quiet through the entire meal. Veronica had given him a few reassuring smiles, but it didn't seem to help much at all. He would laugh at some of Casey's stories, but the laughter seemed forced and his smile certainly never reached his eyes.
When they were finished, the four of them walked back toward City Hall together, with Veronica and Logan saying a quick good bye to walk to his car to go visit Sylvia. "See that wasn't so bad," She said as they walked closer to the car. He just nodded and took a deep breath and opened the door for her. She paused and gave him a quick peck on the lips before climbing in and watched him close the door behind her.
When he closed his own door and went to push the button to start the car, Veronica reached for his hand and stopped him. "Hey, what's wrong? It was just lunch and I really can take care of myself around her. You're not still bothered by it, are you?"
He let out another deep breath and shook his head. "I guess I was just so worried she was going to say something to cause a problem that I let it get to me more than I should have."
"What could she possibly say that would be that bad Logan? We've been through this right? I know how she is. I've known other women like her too. You're not who you used to be, trying to hide things from me, so as long as we're open and honest it will be okay." She looked at him with a reassuring, loving smile.
She could see he was starting to relax again and he let out a small sigh. "You're right. We are different now." He reached over and brushed some hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. "It just felt very awkward, that's all."
She gave him a loving look and leaned forward and gave him a kiss. As she started to pull her mouth away, she could finally feel a smile start to form on his lips. Her cell phone beeped at that moment, and she pulled it out of her purse to be sure it wasn't work. Logan saw her face change to a look of concern as she read it.
"What's wrong?" He asked as she sat the phone on her lap.
"So about 'awkward' situations…." He gave her a confused look. She squished her nose up in a bit of a grimace, "I forgot to tell you that Leo asked if it was okay if he brought Emily to poker tonight."
"Oh…" Logan replied, clearly a little caught off guard by that. "Yeah, sure, of course that's fine."
Veronica gave him a half smile, "And that was a text from Wallace…" Logan's expression changed from being slightly surprised to confused, clearly not sure now what had caused her reaction to her phone, since it wasn't about Emily. She sighed, "…apparently Piz is in town visiting him and he also invited him to Poker tonight."
Logan chuckled to himself. "Yeah, talk about awkward, this could be even more fun than lunch was, couldn't it?"
"We could just skip it if you want." She suggested. She could always talk with Mac at another time about the safes for her case.
"Do you want to skip it?" He asked, looking intently at her.
She shrugged, "Well I'm not exactly thrilled about seeing Piz, but I was looking forward to seeing Weevil and Carmen again."
He nodded. "You know it's not the first time he's brought Piz to poker, so if you're worried about he and I having some sort of altercation, we've definitely gotten past all that."
She gave him a surprised look and replied in a teasing tone, "And here I thought you didn't steal Piz from me too."
He chuckled, "No, I didn't say he and I have become best buds or anything like that. It's just that we've played poker a few times and there wasn't any blood shed. He did keep going to Hearst after you left, so our paths did cross on several occasions."
"Alright, then I guess we'll go." She gave him an amused smile, "Maybe we should invite Alexis and Casey and make it even more awkward."
He shook his head and started the car as she laughed softly.
Soon they arrived at Sylvia's jewelry shop. She gave Logan a friendly hug as they walked in and he introduced her to Veronica. Veronica had of course worn the new necklace and Sylvia smiled as she saw it.
"Thank you so much for making this for me," Veronica said gratefully, touching her fingers to the necklace as she spoke. "I absolutely love it."
"I'm so happy to hear that dear," She said with a warm smile on her face. Sylvia was probably in her early 50's with her hair cut quite short. It was a light gray color and she had lovely blue eyes that twinkled as she smiled at them. "Logan said you're working on those horrible robbery cases?"
Veronica nodded. "Yes, I was hoping I could ask you a few questions and see if there's anything you'd suggest I look into."
"Of course dear, I'd be happy to help." She led them over to some chairs that were in the corner of the store. Logan and Veronica picked two next to each other and he wrapped his arm lovingly around her shoulders as they sat down. Sylvia smiled fondly as she watched the two of them.
"We haven't found any trace of them showing up at any pawn shops locally or around LA or San Diego. I was wondering if there are other routes people might use to try to sell them."
Sylvia thought about it for a moment before answering. "Well I'm sure there are always private collectors who would be willing to buy directly from someone. Do you have any connections to any of the fences in addition to just the pawn shops? I'm sure it's harder to get tapped into those illegal channels though."
Veronica had been considering that too. She wondered how she would even begin to try to find some fences and how many there even were around Neptune. She hadn't actually asked Leo about that yet. Although it also seemed like something Cliff might know about if he had to defend any of them.
"If they were fencing them, do you think they would be more likely to sell the necklaces intact, or the individual stones that are in the necklaces?"
"Well the necklaces would be more valuable as they are, versus how much they would get for the gems alone. It's not that they couldn't do that, but they would certainly be more valuable left as complete pieces if they are able to find the right buyer through a fence or on their own." Sylvia replied as she continued to watch both Logan and Veronica carefully.
"All of the robberies so far have been done without any apparent break in and nothing else has been taken. So they've been specifically targeted for just the jewelry. To me it seems like they have a specific buyer or group of buyers that they are working with and somehow have made a connection to each family to get access to their homes."
Sylvia nodded. "Tracking down the potential fences seems like the best chance you might have. A few of the other jewelers I know have talked about it a little with me, but I doubt they would know any names of fences to give you either. But I can certainly ask for you."
Veronica had brought pictures of the necklaces that had been stolen to see if Sylvia thought there could be some connection to the various pieces that were taken. She felt guilty though as she saw Sylvia's expression as she realized how many of the necklaces had been ones she'd made. She pointed to one with an unusual purple stone. "I remember that amethyst was extremely difficult to find. Mrs. Bennett had insisted that it be that large, and to find a perfectly flawless stone of that size took me quite a while. I'm sure she was furious when the necklace was stolen."
She studied the rest of the pictures. "I really don't see a particular pattern. They've taken ones with all different types of stones and styles. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help with that."
"No, you've been extremely helpful," Veronica reassured her.
Sylvia described a few of the other necklaces in the pictures in more detail to Veronica, pointing out things that were rare or unique and Veronica wrote down all the information in her notebook.
When she was finished, Sylvia gave Logan another warm hug and told them they needed to come and visit her again soon. Veronica thanked her for all of her help and soon they were on their way out of her shop to head back to the Sheriff's Office and City Hall.
"You promise you're not going to go looking for these fences on your own right?" Logan asked as soon as they'd gotten back in the Benz.
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, "I promise I won't go tracking down any fences in dark alleys by myself."
Logan narrowed his eyes at her, "Don't try using technicalities to get out of this one Veronica. I don't want you tracking them down in the middle of downtown Neptune on the brightest sunny day by yourself either. You'll go with one of the deputies if you're dealing with fences, right?"
"Right," she replied and gave him a reassuring nod. He watched her carefully for a few seconds before finally starting the car.
"I think we need a rule that if the person you're talking to could be any type of criminal, you'll have a deputy with you, even if they might not be someone you'd consider a dangerous criminal." He said firmly as he started to drive.
"Logan," she replied with a bit of exasperation in her tone. "I think that's a bit extreme. I promised I wouldn't go off on my own into a dangerous situation, but I'm not sure I can promise what you're asking here." She watched as he tightened his jaw and kept his gaze straight ahead on the road. She sat there in silence fidgeting with the strap on her purse for a few minutes, glancing over at him every few seconds to see if his posture or expression had changed. She finally let out a sigh and then spoke again, "I can't promise that I might not end up talking to someone on my own who later turns out to be a criminal if they didn't seem suspicious from the start. You have to understand that, right?" She watched him carefully and still didn't see any change, "Think back to some of the cases I've dealt with Logan. The TA in my criminology class? The campus security guards who held up the casino? Even Mrs. Hauser ended up being a thief." Definitely not going to bring up Cassidy or Mercer. "None of those people ever seemed like a criminal when I first met them, so you have to understand why I can't promise that. I can promise I won't knowingly go and talk to someone like a fence without a deputy or at least some other backup though."
He finally took what sounded like a frustrated breath and turned for a moment to look at her. He was just pulling into the parking lot at the Sheriff's Office and found a spot and turned off the car. He sat for a few more seconds staring straight ahead before he finally pulled his hands off the wheel and turned to face her. "Why did you say some other backup rather than just a deputy?"
She gave him a half smile, "Sometimes I might need an unofficial person who isn't going to scare whoever I need to talk to. I was thinking either you or my dad when I said that."
He sighed again and the corner of his lip turned up slightly, but his brows were still furrowed. "I just want you to be safe, you know?" He reached over and ran his hand down the side of her head gently.
She nodded and smiled lovingly at him, "I know, but you can't ask me not to do my job either Logan. I promise I don't plan on taking any unnecessary risks though."
She could tell he was starting to feel a little better, though there was still some underlying concern on his face. She unbuckled her seat belt and sat up in her seat so she could reach him better. She put her hands on both sides of his cheeks and pulled his face closer to hers. "I love you and don't want to fight with you about this, okay?" She placed a soft kiss on his lips and pulled back slightly so she could see him. "I will try to be as careful as I can Logan, and you need to trust me to do that."
He nodded and leaned in and kissed her again. He rested his head gently against her forehead. "I just couldn't handle it if something bad happens to you Veronica."
"I know, and I really don't want anything bad to happen to me either," She said in a soft voice. "Thanks for having lunch with me and taking me to see Sylvia." He nodded and kissed her again, much deeper than before. When he kissed her like he was just then, it was as if he was trying to physically convey all his love for her without any words and feel her own love back for him. She hoped it was enough to give him the strength he needed to trust her not to do something she shouldn't.
He'd parked in the side lot where the other officers parked their personal cars and where the cruisers were kept. The visitor spaces were located in the front of the building. Since it was getting close to 2pm, there weren't any other officers coming back from lunch or on shift change yet. The empty space he'd taken was between Norris's SUV and a Minivan driven by one of the other officers. When they finally broke the kiss, Veronica breathlessly whispered, "Don't go anywhere," then opened her door. Logan watched her with a confused expression, until she came around to his side and opened the door. He looked up at her unsure of what she wanted him to do, but his question was quickly answered by her climbing in and straddling him and shutting the door.
There was a high hedge wall that ran along the front of the parking spaces and with the narrow back window of the Benz, she knew no one would actually be able to see them. She had fortuitously chosen to wear a skirt today, rather than her usual dress slacks, and sucked in a quick breath as she felt Logan's warm fingers run up her thighs.
"V'ronica," he whispered against her cheek as she moved her head closer to his. She could tell by his tone that he wasn't sure this was such a great idea. Considering their past personalities, that seemed absolutely ironic to her.
"Shhhh," she whispered as she pressed her lips against his. She didn't really want to talk, she just wanted to feel him, show him what she could never really seem to convey properly in words. That he really was her whole world now and the one thing that mattered most. But she also knew that words were so important to him too. "I love you so much," she said softly as her lips moved along his jaw toward his ear. "I just really needed to feel you close to me."
She felt the tension that had been in his body start to finally release. He moved one hand from her thigh, up across her back and held her tightly. He rested his head on her shoulder and tenderly kissed her neck. He pulled his head back so he could look at her face. His troubled expression had lessened and he was looking at her as if she were the most precious thing to him in the world. He moved his other hand from her thigh and gently pushed some strands of her hair off her face and rested his hand softly on her head.
She looked lovingly back at him and ran her fingers soothingly across his shoulders and up into his hair. She leaned in to kiss him again. The kiss quickly changed from a tender exchange, to something desperate and urgent. Logan's hands went back to her thighs and pulled her closer to him. It probably didn't help that she had also chosen to wear a thong with the skirt this morning. As his hands moved farther up her legs, she felt him push his hips up towards her and held her tighter so that she could easily feel just how badly he wanted her. She pulled away from his lips and smiled mischievously at him now, raising her eyebrows in a suggestive look. She leaned in toward him so she could whisper in his ear again. "You forgot to get me dessert," she purred in a low sultry voice, her lips just grazing the edge of his ear. She heard a low groan escape him, as she reached down and unzipped his slacks.
"Mmm, I can't send you back to work unsatisfied, now can I?" he said breathlessly. She felt him tremble as she shifted her skirt and thong so she could slide onto him.
"No, I demand satisfaction," she said against his mouth as she looked intently into his deep brown eyes and smiled seductively at him. He moved one hand back up into her hair and pressed their lips together, kissing her deeply as their bodies started to move fervidly together. He could feel her gasps and moans, silenced by his mouth covering hers.
When they were finished, he rested his forehead against hers and chuckled softly. "I can't believe you did that," he said still trying to catch his breath.
She laughed back, "Hey buddy, I don't think I was the only participant!" She leaned back and ran her fingers across his forehead and slightly ruffled his short hair. She smiled happily at him and then leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips, pulling back again to see his face. "Thanks for the fabulous dessert," she said with a little wink.
He shook his head and kissed her quickly as well. "Anything for my Bobcat." His blissful smile faltered a bit, obviously remembering their prior conversation. "Try to stay out of trouble the rest of the afternoon, okay."
She nodded and then climbed out of the car, strategically fixing her skirt as she did. She leaned back in as he finished adjusting himself and zipping back up his pants. "I love you Logan." She gave him another kiss, and then stood up and gave him a little wave as she turned to go back into the Sheriff's office.
"I love you too," she heard him say as she had started walking off. She glanced one more time over her shoulder at him and smiled before continuing on to the building.