A/N – Thank you so much for all the reviews for the last chapter! It was by far the most this story has gotten for one chapter so I really appreciate it and did want to get another chapter out for you all.
I thought I'd mention that I actually wrote a portion of this chapter before I finished the first Lightning story (The part after Logan's part in the beginning). I was thinking some might wonder if I went on some strange tangent, but it really was planned all along but I had other things I wanted to cover before this part (karaoke with Heather, the poker party and the birthday party for starters). I actually had this complicated plan of all the things I wanted to cover and which day different things would happen on. I really am a bit OCD with this!
As always, please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think! I really do appreciate them all.
Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.
Chapter 12
Logan had to leave early Monday morning for a meeting at City Hall. Veronica was still sleeping, but she woke up a bit when he leaned in and gave her a kiss goodbye. When he arrived at City Hall, he saw Alexis pull into the parking lot right after he got out of his car, so he walked over to have a quick talk with her before he went in for his meeting.
"Good morning," Logan said as he watched her climbed out of her car. She gave him a surprised look, and then smiled at him as she grabbed her bag and closed the door.
"To what do I owe this unexpected greeting?" Alexis asked suspiciously as she leaned against her car.
Logan took a deep breath and gave her a worried look. "I think you probably know after how you were at the club Saturday night."
Alexis shook her head and pushed off from the car and turned to walk toward the building.
"Lexi, wait," Logan said in a low tone grabbing a hold of her elbow. Alexis stopped and turned back to him giving him an angry glare. He gave her a serious look before he spoke again. "Look, I think it would be better for you if you were to stay away from Tommy."
Alexis laughed angrily, "Are you serious?" She yelled and shook her head. Her tone remained elevated when she spoke again. "You don't get to tell me what to do. If you want to tell someone what they can and can't do, you should try your girlfriend. In case you've forgotten, that's not me anymore." She turned to walk away again, and he once again reached out and grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"Alexis, I know you've been taking drugs with him and I think you're getting a bit out of control. You even punched Kennedy at the club Saturday night." Logan stepped closer to her so he was standing right in front of her. Logan's tone was also sounding a little angrier the more he spoke. "We both know how much trouble you could end up in if you don't stop. Tommy is a bad influence on you and I think you should stop spending time with him."
Alexis shook her head and glared at him, "It's none of your business, so just leave me alone. You're not my boyfriend, so you have no right at all to tell me what to do." She shoved him in the chest and turned toward the building again.
"Lexi," Logan pleaded. She stopped for a moment, but didn't turn to look at him. "I thought I was still your friend. I don't want something bad to happen to you, and I'm afraid if you keep this up you're going to spiral out of control and I don't want to see that happen." She shook her head without turning and walked quickly toward the building.
Logan stood there for a moment and watched her disappear into the building. He sighed and shook his head, then walked in as well. Well, I don't think that could have gone any worse than it did.
Back at their house, Veronica heard the gate opening sound from the security system as she got out of the shower. She didn't expect Logan to be coming back, and it wasn't the day that one of the house keepers normally arrived, so she quickly put on some clothes to head downstairs. She heard the front door open, and someone punching in the security code as she came out of their bedroom. She walked down the stairs and thought she heard someone in the kitchen, so headed in that direction. She turned the corner and came face to face with two big brown eyes staring up at her.
"Hi, who are you?" Veronica asked the little girl with dark brown eyes and light brown hair, who was grinning back at her. Her eyes were nearly identical in color and shape to Logan's. Her smirk also seemed identical to his. It caught Veronica completely off guard and her heart started beating faster in her chest as she stared down at a little mini female version of Logan. The little girl was probably around 5 or 6 years old Veronica estimated.
"Who are you?" the little girl asked back with out answering Veronica.
"I'm Veronica." She gave her the friendliest smile she could muster given that she had no idea who this little girl standing in her house was, who bore a shocking resemblance to Logan, or how she could have even gotten here.
"I'm Abigail," the little girl said with a friendly smile. "What are you doing here?"
"I live here," Veronica replied with a questioning look on her face, still wondering who this little girl was and how she even got into their house. "What are you doing here?"
"I live here sometimes too," she said casually and turned and headed back to the kitchen.
Veronica stood frozen in her spot for a few seconds, trying to process what on earth could be going on. A daughter seemed to be a terribly large oversight for Logan to have forgotten to mention, but the resemblance was haunting. She shook her head and followed Abigail into the kitchen. Abigail was opening and closing several of the drawers. "Where did he hide the cookies?"
Veronica eyed her suspiciously and then went over to the pantry and took out a package of Oreos. "It's breakfast time you know?" Veronica asked and when Abigail just shrugged, she handed them over to her anyway.
"Thanks, can I have a glass of milk too?"
Veronica got a cup out and went to get the milk. "How did you get here Abigail? You seem a bit too young to drive."
Abigail giggled. "My mommy brought me. She had to get some stuff from the car." Veronica looked at her with a puzzled expression on her face as she heard the front door open and close again.
"Logan? Abigail? Where are you?" A female voice called from the entry way.
Veronica handed Abigail the cup of milk and headed to the front door. As she turned the corner, she practically ran into the woman who had just come in. She was about six inches taller than Veronica with dark brown eyes and long auburn hair. Her eyes grew wide when she saw Veronica and she quickly stopped moving.
"Where's Logan?" The woman asked suspiciously, starting to look nervously around the parts of the house she could see from where they were standing.
"He's at work," Veronica replied, "Can I ask who you are?"
"I'm Cassandra." She had a concerned expression on her face. "Can you give me a moment," she asked as she took her cell phone out of her purse and pointed to it. Veronica nodded and stood there with her arms crossed.
Cassandra pressed a contact on her phone and turned away from Veronica and paced back toward the front door.
"Hey, it's me. I thought I was supposed to drop Abigail off at your house, so expected you to be here." She looked over her shoulder at Veronica. "Yes, she's here." Cassandra paused for a moment. "I'm sorry, I thought you'd gotten the message, but that's not my fault. I have a flight to catch in an hour so I really don't have any other options." She fidgeted with her purse strap and glanced back at Veronica. "Three weeks." She started pacing again and biting at her thumb nail. "I know it's longer than last time, but that's how long this assignment is. Okay, I'll tell her. Thanks." She ended the call and put her cell back in her purse.
"Logan said he'd call your phone in a minute." Cassandra said with an apologetic expression on her face. "Where did Abigail run off to?"
"Kitchen," Veronica said with a slightly annoyed look on her face. Her cell phone that she'd grabbed before she came down from the bedroom went off in her pocket a second later.
"Hey there Snookums," She said in an exaggerated sweet voice, "was there something you forgot to mention before heading off to work today?" Or anytime in the last two months I've been back in Neptune?
"Veronica," he replied in a soothing voice, "I didn't get the message. I didn't know she was coming. I'm sorry."
"Who is she?" Veronica asked with her voice becoming more agitated by the second.
"Shit," Logan said with a deep sigh, "Cassie didn't tell you?"
"No," Veronica said with her tone even more angry now, "Cassie," she emphasized the name even more, "didn't tell me anything."
"It's not what you're probably thinking then Veronica," he replied completely able to envision the expression on her face and the way she was likely standing. "Abigail is Charlie's daughter. She's my niece. Cassandra is Charlie's ex-wife."
Well that explains the striking family resemblance. "And why is she staying with you instead of Charlie?"
Logan sighed again, "Charlie's in Africa teaching and so I volunteered to take care of Abby when Cassie has to travel for extended work assignments. Usually Charlie sends me an email before, but I guess the area he's in he couldn't get the messages sent out or something. I'm so sorry I hadn't mentioned anything about this to you. It's been about six months since she's stayed with me and I just didn't think about it with everything else that's been going on since you came back. I'm really sorry Veronica." He sighed again, "Can you stay with her until I can get my schedule cleared and come home? If you have to go though, I'll try to find someone else who can come over."
Veronica sighed, "I'll stay. How long until you can get here?" She was definitely planning on having a serious conversation with him about all this when he got home.
"Hopefully not too long," She heard him pressing keys on his laptop, "I have a meeting in fifteen minutes and then after that's over I should be able to be there." He paused for a moment. "I'm sorry Veronica."
"Okay, see you later." She said sternly and disconnected the call. She took a deep breath and put on her best fake smile, and headed back to the kitchen. She noticed Cassandra had brought in several suit cases and set them by the front door.
"Did you straighten everything out with Logan?" Cassandra asked with a concerned look on her face.
"Yes, I'll watch Abigail until Logan gets home." She wasn't happy, but it wasn't exactly Cassandra or Abigail's fault, so she tried to keep that in mind.
Cassandra gave Abigail a big hug and a kiss on the forehead and said she'd call her as soon as she could once she was settled in. "Please be good for Uncle Logan and…" She turned to look at Veronica, "…Veronica." Abigail gave her mom another hug then took off toward the game room.
"Thank you Veronica," Cassandra said as she walked toward the door. "I'm so sorry that this was so unexpected for you. Charlie usually has everything set up in advance. You can be sure I'll be giving him grief over this when I can reach him."
Veronica smiled and gave her an understanding look as Cassandra walked out and closed the door behind her. Veronica took her phone out of her pocket and called the station. Norris was the one who answered the phone and she let him know she was going to be tied up for the morning and asked him to let Leo know too. She'd check in later if she was detained longer but told him to be sure to call her if there was any new information on Corina's case.
She put her phone in her pocket and headed into the game room. Abigail had turned on the TV and put it on a cartoon channel. "Do you like Scooby Doo?" Abigail asked as Veronica sat by her on the couch.
"Sure, I guess." Veronica answered and Abigail turned at her with a skeptical look.
"Uncle Logan really likes them," she informed her and turned back to the show. "Aloha, Scooby-Doo is our favorite because they surf in it and Uncle Logan loves to surf."
Veronica smiled patiently at her. "I love to surf too and I love solving mysteries. I actually work for the Sheriff's Department."
Abigail eyed her suspiciously. "Do you want to watch that one with me then?"
Veronica shrugged and Abigail jumped off the couch and opened a cabinet by the TV and pulled out a DVD case and put the DVD in the player. She went back over by Veronica and pushed a couple buttons and started the DVD. Great, the kid knows how to work Logan's things better than I do.
They'd been watching the movie for about 45 minutes when Veronica heard Logan come into the house. He must have heard the TV since he headed straight into the room without calling out to see where they were.
"Hey, my favorite Scooby movie!" Logan announced as he came in and took a spot next to Veronica on the couch. Veronica gave him a little scowl, though she knew it wasn't completely his fault she was blindsided by them this morning. He gave her a sheepish smile and kissed her cheek.
"Uncle Logan," Abigail practically screamed and jumped out off her seat so she could go over and hug him.
"Wow, I swear you've grown a couple inches since the last time I saw you." Logan said as Abigail stood back from him and smiled. "Can you stay in here and finish the movie, while Veronica and I talk for a little bit?" Logan knew she'd want to talk, even if she hadn't requested it yet.
"Don't you want to find out who did it?" She asked Veronica with wide eyes, seemingly shocked that she could leave before the mystery was solved. "I could pause it for you and watch something else until you're done." She offered as she sat back down on the couch by the remotes.
"Thanks Abigail. If you want, but it's up to you." Veronica replied, a little surprised that the young girl was being so thoughtful. Abigail had already hit pause and switched back to the original cartoon channel before she even finished talking.
"I think she likes you," Logan whispered in her ear. Veronica gave him a small smile and stood up from the couch.
"Thanks, we shouldn't be too long," Veronica said as she headed toward the door.
Logan followed Veronica out of the room. She took a seat on the couch in the living room and gave him a bit of a scowl. He sighed and stared back at her. First my fight with Alexis, now this, no wonder people hate Monday mornings. "So you've met my niece and ex-sister-in-law." He started, stating the obvious.
"Yes, thanks for mentioning their existence earlier… oh wait, you didn't." She shook her head, still a bit annoyed that he hadn't bothered to mention them at all in the almost two months that she'd been back.
"I'm so sorry that I didn't think about it. They sort of float in and out of my life and aren't really a constant presence, and I was so caught up in just enjoying my time with you, that it just slipped my mind." He gave her a small smile and a wink. "It's not my fault you're so sexy and distracting."
Veronica sighed and rolled her eyes at him before she spoke again. A little grin spread across her face at the way he was looking at her. "How did they end up even being a part of your life? When I left, Charlie wouldn't even speak to you."
Logan nodded and a grim expression crossed his face as he remembered the entire ordeal with the Vanity Fair imposter. He took a deep breath before he started to explain. "Actually, it's because of Alexis."
That probably explains why he wasn't keen on getting into this particular topic of conversation before. She nodded for him to continue since he seemed to have stopped waiting for her reaction.
"When Alexis and I were first getting to know each other, of course we'd talked about family and siblings. She'd read that I had a half brother, and was really surprised that we'd never even met. Of course I'd told her how much I regretted how that all happened, with the complete misunderstanding that lead to Charlie not talking to me at all."
Veronica cringed a bit thinking of the role she'd played in all of that. She'd regretted that she wasn't able to figure out a way to fix that for him when it happened because she could see how much it had hurt him at the time. But then they'd broken up shortly after and she hadn't given it much more thought.
"Alexis seemed to make it her mission to patch things up between the two of us, and she can be very tenacious when she sets her mind to something. Charlie and Cassandra were already married at that point, and somehow Alexis tracked down Cassandra and talked with her first. The two of them hit it off, and Cassie was able to talk Charlie into getting to know me."
Veronica sighed and gave him a small smile. Alexis helped bring his brother and him together, while my involvement likely led them to being estranged from each other even more than they already had been.
Logan noticed her expression had changed to be much softer than it had when they first sat down. She almost looked a bit sad now. "Hey, what are you thinking?" he asked, wanting to be sure she was completely comfortable with everything. He reached up and pushed some stray strands of hair behind her ear and looked at her curiously.
"I'm just happy you finally did get a chance to know your brother," she said softly. Even if I wasn't able to do that for you.
Logan nodded in response. "He's actually a really great guy. Of course he was a bit pissed at first with the whole, Larry King interview, but Alexis eventually won him over for me. Hopefully he'll be back for Christmas and you can meet him then. He's spent most of his time in Africa since they divorced a couple of years ago, though I know he really misses Abby. He flies back a few times a year and sometimes Cassie and Abby will go and visit him there too."
"I'd love to meet him," Veronica said as she finally reached out and squeezed his hand. "So what do you normally do with Abby when she's here and you have to work?"
Logan sighed again and made a face that Veronica recognized as one she wouldn't like the answer to. "Well usually it's only for a week or two, and Alexis has been able to take off time too, so we'd split her time up between the two of us."
"Oh," Veronica replied. It made sense that if Cassandra and Alexis had become good friends, that she'd be involved with Abigail's life too.
"Obviously, I don't think that's really going to work this time though," Logan added as he watched her carefully. "I let Felicia know that we might need to shift some things around on my schedule for the next few weeks, so we'll work something out. I was going to see how busy Mac is to see if she could help me out a little bit too. Abby really loves Mac and Dick too, and Mac might be able to do some work from home for the next couple of weeks. I sort of hate to try to hire a nanny for just 3 weeks and would feel better of course if she's with someone we know."
Veronica nodded. "I might be able to help a bit too, but I'm not sure how much time this missing person case is going to take."
Logan nodded. "Actually I have a couple important meetings tomorrow morning, so if you could watch her then, I'll relieve you as soon as possible and then I'll keep working on plans for the rest of the time."
Veronica nodded and gave him a small smile, "I'm sure we can make that work. There is after all, an entire Sheriff's department to keep working on things when I'm not there. You know, I say jump and they all say how high." She gave him a more playful smile.
Logan visibly relaxed as she spoke. He was relieved that she wasn't furious about the entire thing and that she was willing to be flexible and help out with Abigail too. They heard the door to the game room open and Abigail came out and ran to the bathroom down the hall. "Sorry!" she yelled as she ran.
"It's fine," Logan called after her with a little laugh. When she came back out of the bathroom she peeked in at them to see if they were done talking. Logan smiled and waved for her to come over.
"So what do you want to do this afternoon munchkin? I have the rest of the day off, but I think Veronica probably needs to go into work, right?"
Abigail looked a bit shocked, "Don't you want to see who the Wiki-Tiki is?"
Veronica nodded, and gave Abigail a quick smile, "Of course! It's almost over right? We can finish it up, but then I need to go work on some cases at the Sheriff's department just like the Scooby gang."
"Cool," Abigail answered then turned back to Logan. "Can we go visit Aunt Lexi? I love playing at the park that's by her house."
Logan sighed slightly, remembering his fight with her that morning that he hadn't gotten a chance to tell Veronica about yet. "Sorry Abby, but she's working today, so I don't think so. But I could take you to the park if you want. Why don't we finish the movie, and then get your stuff settled in the guest room, and then we'll go to lunch and the park. I also need to make some calls to make plans for who's going to be watching you while you're here."
Abigail gave him a little pout, "Why can't Aunt Lexi watch me when you're busy like she normally does?"
Logan looked quickly at Veronica then back at Abigail. "I think she's got a pretty full schedule at work right now getting ready for the winter carnival, so I don't think she'll be able to take time off. We'll figure something out though, so don't worry."
Abigail looked questioningly at Veronica. "Can Veronica watch me when you're busy?"
Veronica smiled back and nodded, "We'll figure something out. I'm working on a couple important cases with the Sheriff's department, but I should be able to find some time to help watch you too."
"Okay," Abigail answered. "Let's go finish the movie." She headed back to the game room, with Logan and Veronica following closely behind. She sat on one end of the couch and Logan sat next to her with Veronica on his other side.
"I knew it was Manu!" Veronica announced when they unmasked the Wiki-Tiki. Logan and Abigail laughed at her.
"If only your real cases were that easy," Logan teased as he leaned toward Veronica and gave her a quick kiss. She gave him a little pout and nodded her head.
Logan stood up and held his hand out for Veronica to pull her up from the couch, then turned to Abigail. "Let's go get you unpacked kiddo, and let Veronica head into work for a while."
They all headed toward the stairs. Logan grabbed the bags that Cassandra had left and followed the two girls up the stairs. Abigail ran into the guest room on the West side of the hallway and started bouncing on the bed. Logan started unpacking her stuff, while Veronica went into their room to finish getting ready for work. Once she was ready she popped her head into the guest room to let them know she was leaving.
"Have a fun afternoon," she said as she gave Logan a quick kiss. "I'll see you two later. Call me later if you want me to pick up something for dinner."
"Pizza!" Abby yelled as she continued to bounce on the bed. "Can we have pizza for dinner?"
Veronica laughed, "Sure Abby. I can bring home some pizza. What kind do you like?"
"Cheese!"
Logan gave Veronica a little smirk, "You know what kind I like. Don't get into too much trouble chasing the bad guys today."
When Veronica arrived at the station, Leo was still over at City Hall talking to the DA about Corina's case. Norris said they hadn't received any new useful tips yet, though there was a call from someone who recognized her from that night at The Clover. The woman's story corroborated what Gavin had told them. That she'd been pretty inebriated by the time they left the club and that she saw her leave with a man fitting Gavin's description.
Mac arrived a short time after she had gotten there to start helping them with the traffic cam reviews. Veronica said she'd help her for a little while and they went into one of the interrogation rooms where Mac set up her laptop.
"You know it's more fun when we're actually breaking in to look for stuff," she whispered to Veronica with a wink. Veronica smiled back and nodded.
There were only a few intersections near Corina's apartment with traffic cameras, and after going through the feeds from around that 2am window they hadn't come up with anything conclusive. They'd looked at a map ahead of time and knew there were a few routes someone could have gone that wouldn't have traffic cams, so they weren't surprised they came up empty handed. They did happen to spot Gavin taking her home though, and could tell from the shot, that she seemed to be leaning against the car door with her eyes closed. They also saw his car leave shortly after arriving, fitting with the story he'd given them the night he'd been brought in.
To kill time as they were looking through the feeds, they talked a bit about Abigail and Cassandra. Mac apologized that she hadn't mentioned something about them either, but similar to Logan's story, they only saw them a couple times a year, and she hadn't thought to mention it. She did say there was a time before Charlie and Cassie had divorced that Logan spent more time with them and so he had a pretty good relationship with Abby, even though lately she hadn't been around as much. Cassie worked for a marketing company and tried to work on accounts that would keep her in San Diego where they lived now, but occasionally she had to go out of town and that's how Logan ended up taking Abby when she was gone. Mac also said she'd see what she could do to help with Abby while she was here.
Veronica also mentioned the ordeal with Casey. She'd checked in with Mac briefly the day before, but they hadn't been able to talk long then.
"Casey crashed at our place when we got him there and then he just seemed badly hung over in the morning." Mac shared. "Dick gave him a ride back to Alexis's house where he'd left his car. He said that he'd watched Casey go up to the door but no one answered, so then he got in his car and left. He didn't seem to have any idea in the morning why someone would have done that to him, but he also said he didn't drink enough for it just to be from alcohol."
Even though Veronica hadn't been thrilled about Casey and Alexis being together, she still felt bad for Casey since it seemed like Tommy and or Kennedy did something to cause all that to happen. She convinced herself that maybe he was better off if it was just over since obviously Alexis wasn't planning on anything long term with him. At least it wasn't her meddling that had caused an issue this time.
"I'd be willing to bet money that Kennedy put something in that shot she handed him, though I still haven't come up with any logical reason why she would have done that, other than to piss Alexis off or if Tommy had asked her to do it to get Casey out of Alexis's life. If it's the latter, I'm sure she was pissed when she got slugged in the face."
Mac shook her head, "Poor Casey. I know he tried to call Alexis before he left our house, and she didn't answer her phone."
She was probably too preoccupied with Tommy. "Maybe it's for the best if it's over. He's such a nice guy now, he really deserves someone who will treat him better," Veronica said in reply. They went back to reviewing the footage in silence for a while.
"Well, I'm sorry I couldn't come up with something more helpful for your case," Mac said as they finally finished going through all the feeds.
"Not your fault," Veronica quickly replied, giving her a small smile. "It would have been nice if we'd actually caught Liam on camera in the area, but I guess it's not going to be that easy to nail him for this. Of course if it was a Scooby Doo mystery we'd have found some clues." Mac gave her a strange look and then they both laughed.
Mac looked at the door quickly to be sure there weren't any Deputies right outside. "You know there are other types of cameras that we might be able to tap into besides traffic cams." She lowered her voice a bit more, "But some of them aren't exactly 'public' systems, if you know what I mean." Veronica nodded, thinking back to the ATM picture her dad had gotten for her when she was working on the Hearst rapist case.
"Maybe we could scout around the area tomorrow and see if we can find any potential cameras near her apartment that we could investigate. Of course you may be able to get a warrant for some of them too." She smile and lowered her voice again, "Of course it's always more fun to get into them other ways." Veronica laughed and shook her head at Mac.
"Well let's try to keep the FBI off your case," she leaned closer and whispered back, "I think Dick would be a bit annoyed with me if his first born was actually born when you were behind bars."
Mac smiled and nodded in agreement. "Well we could still scope it out and I could let you know if we find any cameras that might be possible options. I have some other appointments this afternoon though, so can't do it until tomorrow." Veronica told her that as soon as she knew what the plan was for Abigail, that she'd get a hold of her for the next day.
Leo returned to the office as Mac was getting ready to leave, so they gave him a quick update, and then Veronica followed him into his office after saying goodbye to Mac to see what the DA decided.
"He said he wanted some time to think it over before going to the judge for a warrant for some phone taps." Leo explained as he took a seat at his desk. "Of course he was pretty set against planting any evidence on Gavin to try to smoke Liam out that way." Leo looked a bit disgruntled at that, but didn't say anything to contradict Roger's decision. "We can of course put some pressure on them without resorting to that, and maybe if they are worried enough they might slip. But we should hold off to see if we can get some phone taps first." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Maybe our friend will find something useful in his search. I sure hope he doesn't get himself into more trouble doing that though."
Veronica nodded in reply, "I did give him a quick call earlier this afternoon and he said he hadn't found anything yet, and didn't think anyone was suspicious of what he was up to."
After they were done talking, Veronica decided to go through the calls to the tip line again in case the deputies answering the phones had missed something that would jump out at her. There hadn't been more than a couple dozen calls though, and she also didn't find anything helpful there. Several were from other college students who had seen her on campus the week before she went missing, but nothing that helped with the case.
She finally decided to call it a day, and phoned in a pizza order to Cho's. She picked up a small cheese pizza for Abby and a larger pizza for her and Logan to share with their favorite toppings and headed home. When she came in from the garage she was surprised how quiet the house was. She set the pizzas on the counter and went to put her coat in the entry way closet before she went in search of Logan and Abby. She knew they were at home because his cars were in the garage, although they could have been down on the beach. She let out a startled little scream when she opened the closet door and found Logan hiding in it staring back at her.
"Shhhh!" he whispered as he grabbed her and pulled her in and closed the door quietly behind her.
"What…" She started to ask him what on earth he was doing, but he covered her mouth so she couldn't talk. It was pitch black in the closet, so she couldn't see him at all. She removed his hand from her mouth and whispered instead. "What's going on?"
"We're playing hide and seek," he whispered back to her. "You have to be quiet so she doesn't find me."
She laughed slightly, and then was surprised by his hands running down her back and grabbing her ass, while he placed a deep kiss on her lips.
"Logan," she sternly whispered back as one of his hand started to un-tuck her shirt and find its way up to her chest. "You'd better keep this G-rated if a 6 year old is looking for you."
He started nibbling on her neck. "She's only 5," he countered back in a low whisper against her skin.
She giggled and shook her head, "that makes it even worse you know."
"Well she's almost 6, next month," he said, his voice even more lust filled than before. His hand slipped under the fabric of her bra, while his lips continued kissing her neck. "I really missed you today, and there's something sexy about making out in a coat closet," he teased as he continued to place kisses on her neck.
"Logan," she scolded in a whisper and reached up and grabbed his face in her hands, pulling it off her neck. "G-rated!" she said a bit more firmly than before, as much as she could with a whisper anyway. In the dark though, she couldn't tell what he was even looking at, but at least having his mouth off her skin made her feel a bit better about the possibility that Abigail could open the door at any moment.
He let out a frustrated sigh and pulled his hand out of her shirt. "Fine," he replied in a petulant tone. He gave her a quick kiss and then wrapped his hands around her in a hug instead. "I'm glad you're home, even if I don't get to have my way with you in the closet."
She laughed again and hugged him back. Then they heard little footsteps running down the hall outside the door. She tried not to laugh at him when he held his breath as the footsteps stopped right outside the closet door. Like holding his breath is going to keep her from looking in the closet. A second later the light from outside the closet flooded in on them and Abigail squealed with delight. "Found you!"
"Good job munchkin," Logan replied with a smile. "And look, I found Veronica. So you know what that means?"
"Pizza!" she yelled and ran back towards the kitchen.
Logan laughed and spun Veronica around so her back was pressed against the back wall of the closet. "That should have bought me at least 2 minutes," he said as he pressed his body against hers and gave her a deep kiss.
She kissed him back for a minute, and then pushed him slightly away from her. "Come on Romeo. We'd better go help her before she makes a mess out there all by herself."
He sighed, but took a step back so she could walk out of the closet.
"I think I'm going to drag you back in there after she's asleep so I can finish off the fantasy I started in my head when you found me there," he whispered in her ear as they walked to the kitchen.
She shook her head and laughed at him, but didn't object either.
While they ate their pizza, Abigail happily told Veronica all about their afternoon and how much fun she had playing at the park. She asked Veronica if she solved any mysteries like the Scooby Doo gang while she was at work. Veronica told her not yet, but they were getting closer. Logan looked at her a bit skeptically because he could see through to the frustration she was feeling with her cases. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the head after she was done talking. "I'm sure you'll get a break soon," he said in a soft reassuring voice.
A little while after they finished their pizza Abigail talked them into watching another Scooby Doo movie before she had to go to bed. She asked if they could have some popcorn while they watched it, which Logan happily agreed to make for her. This time Abigail picked Scooby Doo Where's My Mummy to watch. They also decided to watch it in the media room so it was on the larger screen. Logan took a seat on one of the larger double seats and Veronica curled up next to him. Abigail was sitting in her own chair sprawled out with her head on a pillow. Logan took advantage of the dark room to let his hands roam all over Veronica's body. She nudged him a few times when he started getting a bit too frisky and gestured toward Abigail. He'd give her a little pout and sigh, and then start all over again a short while later.
Abigail was starting to yawn before the movie was even over, but she did stay awake to the end. After it was over she asked Logan if he'd carry her up to her room. Veronica gave him a little look that implied he was totally wrapped around her little finger and he just shrugged and told Abigail he'd giver her a piggy back ride upstairs. Veronica said she'd take care of turning everything off downstairs and meet him up in their room as soon as she was done.
He was still getting Abigail tucked into bed as she walked by and stopped to say goodnight to her too. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the head and said to have sweet dreams before he came out and joined Veronica. He took her hand and started to pull her back to the stairs. She gave him a questioning look.
"Remember…. Closet?" he said waggling his eye brows at her.
She laughed and shook her head and pulled him back to their room. "Let's not traumatize the kid on her first night here. I could just see her waking up and thinking there was some strange monster in our downstairs closet if she heard noises coming from it."
Logan gave her a little pout, but followed her back to their bedroom. "Fine, but I'm still planning to have my way with you in that closet soon."
She gave him a playful smile and leaned up to kiss him. "Maybe we can play hide and seek ourselves when she's gone."
"Naked hide and seek?" Logan asked with a big smile.
Veronica gave him a sly smile, "My favorite kind."
A short while later they had finally climbed into bed. Logan leaned over toward her and rested his forehead against hers. "I really am sorry I forgot to tell you all about them. Thanks for being so understanding about it all."
She gave him a warm smile and kissed him softly on the lips. "I really am glad you were finally able to get to know Charlie. Abigail is a really sweet kid and you're really good with her too. She's lucky to have you for an uncle."
"Thanks Veronica," He kissed her again, then pulled her close to him and she snuggled up into his chest and drifted quickly off to sleep.