A/N – Sorry that I haven't been able to keep up with doing weekly updates. I'd put a warning over on my other story that things have gotten really busy and my updates aren't going to be as frequent now. Sorry for spoiling you all with more frequent ones before! Hopefully they won't be more than every other week at least though.

As always, thanks for all the support and for continuing to read along. Please let me know what you think with a review! I really do love to hear what people are thinking of the story. It makes me more excited to work on it when I get feedback from all of you. I also apologize that I don't always reply to every review but I do read them all (sometimes many, many times!)

Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.

Chapter 20 – Rubies and Red Satin

Veronica had sent Logan a text message before she left Mac's to let him know that she was taking Abigail back to their house since Mac had to go help a client. She assumed he was probably still back in Alexis's room where his cell phone was either off or blocked since they hadn't heard back from him.

As they drove home Veronica asked Abigail if she had fun with Mac and Dick. "Yeah, we even found a Scooby Doo movie I hadn't seen before. It had a computer virus in it, just like Mac has to go fix today, but in the movie the gang went inside the computer with a special machine." Abigail continued telling her about the movie the rest of the drive home.

When they got back to the house, they headed into the kitchen to make some snicker-doodles. Veronica was impressed with how helpful and interested Abigail was. She helped her measure all the ingredients and mix up the dough as well as putting the cookies on the baking sheets. There were a few mishaps, like when Abigail helped get the eggs and accidentally dropped one on the kitchen floor. The little girl's eyes opened wide with worry when it happened, but Veronica only laughed and said she shouldn't feel bad because she'd been known to do it too. Once the first batch was cooking, Veronica asked Abigail what she wanted to do while they waited.

"Do you want to play a game?" Abigail asked.

"What kind of game?" Veronica asked curiously.

"I think Uncle Logan has chutes and ladders. Do you like that game?"

Veronica couldn't remember the last time she'd actually played a board game like that and nodded in response. "Do you know where he keeps it?"

Abigail stood there thinking for a moment, and then said she thought the games were upstairs in one of the closets.

"Well let's go see what we can find." Veronica said, checking the time on the oven to be sure they were back down in time to get that batch out and put in the next.

They looked first in the closet in the room that Abigail was staying in and didn't see them in there, so they went to the next room. Veronica had actually resisted her overly snoopy nature in the weeks since she'd started staying there with Logan and actually hadn't gone through his closets. She knew he'd mentioned a box of Alexis's things and she was actually surprised with herself that she hadn't at some point decided to go and find it. Of course as they opened the closet in the next room, that's exactly what she saw first. A cardboard storage box that had 'A.C.' written on it was sitting right in her line of sight.

Abigail opened another box that said 'Games' on it and found several board games as well as some Go Fish and Crazy Eights card decks.

"Come on Veronica," Abigail said as she pulled the box toward the door. Veronica hesitated a moment, still staring at the A.C. box, but then turned and helped Abigail instead with the game box. They took it back downstairs and decided to start with Go Fish while they waited for the batch of cookies that were almost done. Veronica enjoyed Abigail's competitive nature and she really seemed to have a knack for getting lucky and calling the right card just after Veronica had drawn it. They took a quick break so Veronica could pull out the finished batch and get the next batch into the oven. Veronica had made a lot of cookies and thought she'd see if Logan wanted to take some of them to the hospital to share with the Calloway's. She also thought that either her or Logan could take Abigail down to see Toodles and Mr. Murphy and take some of the cookies down to him too.

They switched to chutes and ladders after Abigail beat her twice at Go Fish. Veronica had been in the lead until she landed on one of the really long slides. Abigail cheered happily when Veronica landed on the spot and fell behind her again. Veronica tried to be a graceful loser, but losing was never something she was happy about. After Abigail had beaten her at Chutes and Ladders and the cookies were all finished, they decided to have some lunch. Veronica was excited when Abigail asked if she could have some of the Mac and Cheese she'd seen in the pantry. Veronica had bought some the last time she went grocery shopping with Logan, not without some protesting from him though. He'd said he refused to eat orange powder cheese, but Veronica had bought it anyway and promised she'd just make it as a snack for herself when he was at work. She couldn't wait to tell him that Abigail had actually insisted on having it for lunch. When they were finished eating, Abigail asked if she could go and watch some cartoons and with Veronica's approval headed off to the game room.

Veronica started loading their dirty dishes into the dishwasher. Now that you've physically seen the Pandora's Box in the closet, it's much harder to pretend it doesn't exist, isn't it Veronica? She closed the dishwasher door and looked around the kitchen to see if there was something else she could do to distract herself and not think about the box. She finally wandered in to check on Abigail. She was happily watching some cartoon that Veronica didn't immediately recognize, but after a few minutes decided it was the kind that would quickly get on her nerves. I suppose South Park wouldn't be appropriate to suggest, would it?

"Hey kiddo, I'm going to go upstairs for a little bit, okay?"

Abigail nodded while she kept watching the cartoon. Veronica headed toward the stairs. There could be something in the box that might actually help with her case. Okay, that's probably a bit of a stretch, but there's a teeny tiny possibility it could be true. She walked up to the other guest room and opened the closet door again. She took the box to the bed and sat it down, taking a seat next to it. She took a deep breath and went to take the lid off. Maybe you shouldn't do this, not right now. Not after how insecure you felt yesterday. She shook her head. Don't be ridiculous, how bad could it really be? You know they were engaged at one point, but you're the one he's in love with now. She slowly took the lid off and set it on the bed next to the box.

There were quite a few framed pictures, similar to what she'd seen at Alexis's house. Some were of Alexis and Logan with her family, but most were just of the two of them. Quite a few looked like they were taken on trips from the varying backgrounds. There were also a few photo albums from trips they had gone on as well. She quickly flipped through them before setting them next to the box. Next Veronica pulled out a man's watch with an inscription on the back. 'To L - Time will never fade my love for you - Love A'. Veronica let out a little sigh and set the watch to the side as well.

Next she pulled out a manila envelope of pictures. She opened it and could tell they were likely pictures Alexis had developed herself in the basement dark room. Several looked similar to the various beach scenes that she'd framed at her house. There were a few more of Logan surfing and in these it was much easier to tell it was Logan on the surf board. She felt a slight tinge of anxiety course through her as she flipped to one that obviously had been taken at the same time as the other hammock one when they were on vacation wherever they had been. It was just Logan in the hammock, looking at the camera with so much desire and love and reaching his hand out toward her. She could see his surfboard was leaning up against the tree that the hammock was attached too, as well as his shorts. You couldn't tell from the angle of the shot that he was naked in the hammock, but given the clues in the picture and what she could see, it was a pretty obvious conclusion. It probably wasn't him being naked that bothered her as much as the expression on his face. You knew he loved her enough to want to marry her at one point. This shouldn't be a surprise Veronica. She shoved the pictures back into the envelope. As she was putting it back in the box, she noticed a small flash drive that she hadn't seen at first. She hesitated before she picked it up. If the pictures were hard enough to see, do you really want to see what sort of digital images might be on this? She took a deep breath and grabbed the flash drive before she put everything else back in the box. She put the flash drive in her jacket pocket and then put the lid back on and set it back in the closet.

She checked the time as she headed back downstairs and was starting to worry a bit about what she should do with Abigail when she needed to go and talk to Stephanie. She realized with everything going on with Alexis, that she also never got around to asking Abigail about the necklaces that Stephanie had gotten out for them to wear at Alexis's house. She'd gotten a text during lunch from Norris saying he contacted Stephanie's parents, and her dad was going to arrange to be there when she got home from school as well. Since she wasn't 18 yet, they wanted to be sure she'd have a parent there when they were questioning her. She decided she'd better give her dad a call since she still hadn't heard from Logan and needed to meet Norris in about an hour.

"And what do I owe the pleasure of your call to this time? Need me to do more surveillance work for you? You still owe me for yesterday, daughter dearest. Or have you forgotten that already?" Keith teased as he answered her call.

"Well I may need to add to my tab. I was wondering if you could watch Abby for a little while this afternoon."

"That one I'd happily do for free," Keith replied tenderly. "Do you need me to pick her up somewhere?"

"I could drop her off on my way back to the Sheriff's department. Where are you now?"

"I'm at the office. Did you two already have lunch?"

"Yeah, we had lunch just a little while ago. I can drop her off at the office or meet you at your house."

"Why don't you swing by the office so I can wrap up a few more things here? Maybe I'll see if Alicia can get the afternoon off too and we can drive up to Long Beach and take her to the aquarium. Alicia's mentioned wanting to visit there several times lately and I bet Abby would enjoy it."

Veronica sent Logan a text to let him know that she was taking Abigail to her dad's so she could go meet Norris. Her phone rang only a few seconds after she sent the text. She saw Logan's name on the display and answered the call.

"I'm sorry I didn't see your earlier text. I feel horrible." Logan said after they had said hello.

"It's okay." Veronica replied. "I know you're worried about Alexis." The image of him in the hammock had flashed through her mind and she could tell her tone had come out a bit bitter.

"Yeah, but that's not exactly where I've been all morning." Logan explained. "Vanessa was having a really hard time with everything and her parents finally talked her into going home for at least the rest of the day. I volunteered to take her back to Catalina on my boat instead of her and Tyler taking a ferry over. I thought I'd sent a text to you to let you know, but realized when I noticed your missed text that I hadn't hit send on it. I'm so sorry Veronica." His tone was extremely apologetic and she could sense anxiety in his tone as well.

She tried to sound as comforting as possible. "Hey, it really is okay Logan. Are you back in Neptune now?"

He let out a deep sigh. "No, I'm just getting ready to come back over. I really didn't mean to just vanish on you. I really thought I hit send."

"Logan, it's fine. I'm going to take Abby to my dad's while I go with Norris to talk to Stephanie Whitman. I'm sure they'll find something fun to do this afternoon. He was actually excited to have her for a while, so everything is taken care of." She hoped her reply sounded reassuring.

"Okay, I'll call your dad as soon as I get to the marina and then I can go and get her."

"They might drive up to Long Beach and go to the aquarium if Alicia can get the afternoon off too. I'll send you a text if they do go. We can figure things out when you're back."

She heard him sigh again. "I really am sorry Veronica."

She wasn't sure why he was being so hard on himself, other than the stress of everything going on the past two days. "Logan, it really is okay. You don't need to keep apologizing. Just let me know when you're back and we'll figure out our plans for the rest of the day okay?"

"Okay, it will be about an hour until I'm back, and then I'll need to moor the boat."

She couldn't help but wonder what else had happened that morning that had him sounding so out of sorts now. She wished she could just wrap her arms around him and tell him everything would be okay. It was absolutely excruciating to hear the anxiety in his voice and not be there with him. Given he'd be back in a couple hours, she decided it would probably be better to try to talk about it in person rather than over the phone. "I'll talk to you later then. I love you, Logan."

She could make out a small relieved sigh through the phone. "I love you too. Bye."

Veronica said good bye, and then went to her bag and pulled out the photos she'd printed out of Alexis from the Hearst events where she was wearing different fancy necklaces. She wandered into the game room where Abigail was still watching cartoons. "Hey Abby, do you remember when you said you'd played dress up with fancy necklaces at Aunt Lexi's house?" Abigail turned from the TV and nodded. "Can you look at a couple pictures and see if any of these were the ones that you played with?"

"Sure," she replied as Veronica opened the file folder she had put the pictures in. Veronica spread out the pictures and Abigail started looking at them. She was concentrating on the pictures for a few moments before she looked up and pointed to one. "I do remember this red one." Veronica looked down at a very pretty ruby necklace that had a few diamonds scattered among the rubies. Veronica realized looking at the picture that the red dress Alexis was wearing was very similar to the one in her nightmare from the prior night. Of course it would have to be rubies and red satin.

Veronica nodded. "Any others?"

"We did play with another one because we each wore one, but I don't think the other one is in any of these pictures. It was pink. I wore that one and Stephie wore the red one."

Veronica gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks Abby, that helps my case a lot." Abigail smiled and nodded in reply.

Veronica told her they were going to head over to her dad's office, explaining that her dad was Keith Mars. Abigail seemed to know who Veronica was talking about and turned off the TV so they could go. Veronica thought it was cute how excited Abigail was to go see 'Papa Mars', as she called him once they got into the car. By the time they'd made it to the office, Abigail had told her several stories of other times she'd visited and spent some time with Keith and Alicia. It made Veronica a little melancholy to think about all those years she was away and how close Logan had gotten to her dad when she wasn't there. Abigail's obsession with Scooby Doo came up again as she talked about one of the cases that Keith had told her about that was almost like one on a Scooby Doo cartoon she'd watched.

Keith was in the outer office area when they walked in the door. "There's my two favorite girls," he said with a smile. Abigail ran over to give him a hug. "I think you've grown a foot since the last time I saw you, kiddo." Abigail laughed and nodded her head in response.

"I'm sure I've grown too," Veronica chimed in, trying to stand up straighter to make herself look taller.

Keith shook his head at her antics and chuckled. "So do you want to go the aquarium with me and Alicia? Check out a bunch of fish?" Abigail nodded her head again and let out an enthusiastic 'yeah'. Keith turned to Veronica with a warm smile. "We thought we'd stay until the aquarium closes and then get some dinner and head back down here, so we probably won't be back until at least 8 I'd guess."

"I'm sure you'll all have a blast," Veronica replied with a smile. "You're the best."

"I know," he said with a sarcastic smile. "I hope you bust some bad guys while we're off feeding the sharks."

"Hey now! She's got 10 fingers, and I'm going to count them all when you get back. Don't be letting those sharks have any free samples." She warned him with her eyes narrowed and pointing a finger at him.

Keith and Abigail both laughed at her and she smirked back at them and shook her head. "Okay, seriously though. Keep my dad out of trouble, okay?" She gave Abigail a little wink as Abigail nodded her head in response. She left for the station after thanking her dad again and saying a quick good bye.

Norris was on the phone when she walked into the station. He gave her a quick wave when he saw her come in and she gestured to her office. She wanted to grab the file that had the pictures of the stolen necklace, as well as the other one from Mrs. Bennett's safe and the photo from Stephanie's facebook page. She had pulled out the pictures she wanted when Norris walked into her office.

"So, I wanted to let you know we got the phone tap in place on Gavin for the missing person case. We couldn't get one on Liam though since we didn't have anything specific to tie him to the case, only Gavin since he's the one who dropped her off. We also got the search warrant and we're ready to go on that at any time. We could go over this afternoon after we talk to Stephanie if you want. Start to rattle his cage a bit."

Veronica let out a deep breath. "I do want to get going on that too, but I'm a bit worried about how Logan sounded when I talked to him earlier. I'm doubtful we'll find anything at Gavin's house though if Liam was the one that took her and he lives with his mom. I guess you could do the search without me if Logan's back by then. I do think it should happen as soon as possible though. It will look more suspicious if we sit on the warrant too long."

Norris nodded and gave her an understanding expression. She grabbed the pictures and they walked out to his car and headed over to the Whitman's house. Norris also mentioned that they didn't have any other information yet on any alternative locations for Gavin during the time of Alexis's attack while they were driving over. So far nothing useful on that front had come through on the phone taps either. He also updated her on what he found out at Still Waters Spa. He confirmed that Mrs. Branford had a massage appointment, but it was harder to verify if she was in the cafe afterwards. The girl who would have been working didn't seem very interested in who she actually was helping and couldn't recall if she'd been in there after her massage. She certainly couldn't confirm that she hadn't been there either because she did recall seeing her at some time that day but wasn't able to remember exactly when or for how long. They both agreed that they would keep her on their potential suspects list for now.

When they arrived at the Whitman's house, Grant answered the door with a very concerned expression on his face. "I don't understand what you might need to talk to my daughter about," he said as he led them through the foyer into the living room where Stephanie was sitting, talking on her phone.

"Sorry Jake, I've got to go… Yeah, I should be able to Skype tomorrow… I miss you too... Good luck on your test tomorrow." After she said goodbye, she ended the call and looked at them all. "My dad said you had some questions for me?" She asked with a confused expression on her face.

"We wanted to talk to you about the missing necklaces we've been investigating," Veronica explained.

"What on earth could Stephanie have to do with those?" Grant asked skeptically.

Veronica pulled the pictures out of the folder she was carrying. She showed Grant the amethyst necklace from the insurance photo first. "I'm sure you recognize the necklace that was stolen from Mrs. Bennett?" Grant nodded. "And you're probably familiar with her emerald necklace as well?" she continued, pulling the picture that Mrs. Bennett had sent to her out next. Grant nodded again. "We'd like to ask Stephanie how she was able to wear these to a formal dance at school when they were not loaned out to her and had been kept in Mrs. Bennett's locked safe." Veronica pulled out the picture from Stephanie's Facebook page and held that up for both Grant and Stephanie to see.

"And we do have a warrant to search the house for the stolen jewelry." Norris added.

Stephanie let out a deep breath. "I'm so sorry Daddy. Stacey and I just wanted to wear something fancy to the dance and I knew the combination for their safe, so just borrowed them for that night, but we put them back afterwards. I swear we returned them the next afternoon."

She turned to look at Veronica next. "You can search my room, the entire house, and I promise you won't find anything."

Veronica narrowed her eyes at Stephanie. She seemed slightly rattled about being caught for taking the necklaces for the dance, but Veronica didn't sense any concern from her if they were to search the house. Veronica turned to Norris and nodded for him to go ahead and start looking anyway, although she was doubtful they would find anything given Stephanie's reaction. "Can you explain how you knew the combination to their safe? Mrs. Bennett said that you didn't know it."

Stephanie gave her a chagrined look. "One evening when I was there to baby-sit, Mr. Bennett was late to meet his wife and he asked if I could run back upstairs and grab his cuff links from the safe. He told me where the combination to the safe was written on a post-it note, inside the cover of a book on his side of the bed."

Veronica knew that would be easy enough to corroborate with him, but that didn't explain how she'd gotten necklaces out of Alexis's safe. "I also spoke with Alexis Calloway and Abby Stone, and Abby said you also took two of Alexis's expensive necklaces out of the safe when you were baby sitting her. How do you explain getting into her safe?"

Stephanie gave her a perplexed look for a moment and then shook her head. "I didn't get into Alexis's safe. We did play with some of her costume jewelry, but nothing out of her safe. I'm sure a 5 year old isn't exactly an expert on jewelry."

"She pointed out a ruby necklace from a picture of Alexis at a charity function as one you wore." Veronica continued.

Stephanie shook her head again. "I'm afraid she's mistaken, or Alexis was wearing a piece of costume jewelry to the event."

Veronica turned to Grant and pulled out the picture of Alexis. "Is this one of the necklaces that Alexis had insured?"

Grant took the picture and studied it for a moment, then let out a deep breath and nodded, turning back to his daughter with a very disappointed look.

"That one may be real rubies, but I didn't get into her safe. Maybe she had a costume one that looks similar, or she didn't put it back in the safe after she wore it one time and it was with her other necklaces."

Veronica turned to Grant again. "Would Alexis have anything with pink stones insured?"

Grant thought about it for a moment and then shook his head. "I can check the file, but I don't recall her having anything with pink stones insured." He turned his attention to his daughter. "Borrowing without permission may not be a crime, but that doesn't mean you aren't going to be punished by your mother and I for that."

Veronica was so sure Stephanie was behind the jewelry thefts. Something still didn't feel right to her. She was hoping that Norris would find something in his search. She still needed to validate the story with Mr. Bennett, but wasn't expecting the combination in the book to be a lie. Of course there was a chance that Alexis didn't put the necklace back into her safe immediately. If she wasn't good about locking her front door, it wouldn't be a big leap to think she wouldn't always put her necklaces back in the safe right away. Especially if she had a male companion escort her home. Veronica felt a sick feeling in her gut, knowing sometimes that person could have been Logan before she'd come back to Neptune. Focus on your case, Veronica.

Veronica joined Norris in searching through the house, starting downstairs since he'd gone upstairs when he had left the living room. They joined back up downstairs after thoroughly searching the house and garage. Norris shook his head and let her know he hadn't found anything. Veronica had already had Mac check into Stephanie's bank account and they didn't find any large deposits, so it didn't seem as though she'd been selling the necklaces, although she could have hidden the money somewhere else. She thanked them for their cooperation and Grant escorted them back to the front door. They were about to leave when Veronica remembered the call that Stephanie was on when the arrived. Male companions. They hadn't checked the boyfriend's accounts. The boyfriend who is conveniently away in France.

"Stephanie's boyfriend is going to college in France?" Veronica asked Grant before they reached the door. He confirmed with a nod. "Can you tell me what his full name is and what's he studying there?"

Grant had a puzzled look on his face but answered anyway. "Jake Forrester and he's double majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science."

Veronica gave him a grateful smile and thanked him as he opened the door. "We'll confirm her story with Mr. Bennett and of course let them know what we found out."

Grant nodded with a grim expression on his face. "You can be assured that we are not going to take this lightly and Stephanie will be punished for her actions."

Veronica nodded and followed Norris out to the car. Once they were in the car she gave him a huge smile. He gave her a curious look. "EE and CS boyfriend in France?" He asked, apparently thinking exactly what Veronica was.

"Who else would be a perfect partner in crime to help her crack the combinations on the safes and to fence the jewelry on an entirely different continent?" Veronica replied with a smile.

"Any chance Leo would pay for us to go and do a thorough search in France?" Norris asked with a gleam in his eye.

Veronica chuckled and shook her head. "I'm guessing not, but that doesn't mean we can't still find a way to catch the two of them."

She was thrilled that they might actually be very close to solving this case. Of course if the necklaces were all sent to France, it was going to be harder to prove that Stephanie was involved, but she wasn't ready to admit defeat yet at all. She sent Mac a quick text to ask her to check on Jake's financials when she had a chance after she was done dealing with her client's virus. She also asked Mac to check into Jake's background to see if there were classes he'd already taken that would help him know how to break into the digital safes.

Veronica's phone chimed that she had an incoming text when they were almost to the sheriff's station. It was from Logan and said that he finally made it back and wanted to find out if he needed to go pick up Abby. Veronica had forgotten to text him when she left her dad's office, so sent a reply that they went to the aquarium and wouldn't be back until 8. She said if he wanted to go and check in on Alexis, she was going to wrap up some things at the station and then maybe they could meet later for an early dinner. She really did want to check on him in person given his tone on the phone call earlier. He sent back a quick 'sounds good'.

When they returned to the station, Veronica and Norris went in to talk to Leo. They gave him an update on what had happened with Stephanie and their suspicion about what has likely happened. He agreed it seemed likely, and was happy with where they were headed. Veronica brought up the search of Gavin's place too and asked if there were any other deputies available to go along with Norris so she could go check on Logan again. Leo quickly volunteered to go along with Norris. Veronica thought she sensed a bit of relief actually from Leo as if he didn't really want her going on a search of a Fitzpatrick home. She was just glad that she'd get a chance to see how Logan was doing and let it slide.

She decided a quiet dinner at home would be the best thing for both of them, and texted him that she was going to pick up Thai food and meet him at home. She was glad that he replied back right away that he'd be there in about an hour and to not forget the Chicken Satay. She smiled at his reminder, given she was the one who usually reminded him of that. An hour would give her plenty of time to wrap up some things in her office, and then head to pick up the food and make it home right before he would.

Once she made it home, she put the food in the warmer drawer while she waited for him to arrive. She knew it would be at least another 10 minutes so she took a seat on the couch and read some news reports on her phone. After about 30 minutes, she was starting to get a little concerned that he wasn't home yet. The last time he was late like this was when he found Alexis. She was about to call to see if everything was okay when she heard the alarm for the gate chime. She breathed out a sigh of relief and got up to meet him by the garage door.

"Honey, I'm home," he said in a slightly sarcastic voice as he saw her standing there waiting for him. She could tell he wasn't in a very good mood, even if he was trying unsuccessfully to be funny.

She gave him a sympathetic smile and wrapped her arms around his waist as he got close enough to her. 'Tough day' didn't even seem to begin to describe how he looked. "You want to eat or talk first?" She asked as she looked up at him with a concerned expression on her face.

"Can I choose 'cuddle on the couch' instead?" he asked with a hopeful expression. She gave him a soft smile and nodded. He took her hand and led her over to the couch. She took a seat and he sat down next to her, then wrapped his arms around her and gently pushed them both over so they were lying down on the couch. He had his head resting on her chest right above her heart and his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She ran the fingers of one hand through his hair, while she ran the other one soothingly across his shoulders. They laid like that for at least 20 minutes without saying anything at all.

"Any update on Alexis?" she finally asked, checking to see if he was ready to start talking yet.

He lifted his head up and repositioned an arm so he could rest his head on his hand while he looked at her. He shrugged and took a deep breath. He moved his other arm so he could intertwine their fingers and then pulled her hand up to his mouth to kiss the back of it. "The doctors think she's doing better, but she's still unconscious."

Based on his reaction to the question, she didn't think it was so much Alexis's condition that was bothering him, so it must have been Vanessa. She ran her fingers gently across his cheek and into his hair. "Was Vanessa doing worse?"

Logan gave her a troubled look and nodded. "It's so hard on her… the possibility she could lose Alexis just like she lost Jackson is just so overwhelming to her right now. Of course it's as hard on Victor and Maggie too, but I think with Vanessa's state of mind with the pregnancy, it's just amplified even more." He paused and took a deep breath. "I volunteered to take her and Tyler back on my boat because we couldn't get her to calm down long enough to even consider taking a ferry. So most of the trip over was her reliving all the anguish of losing Jackson and all the worry that she was going to lose Alexis too. It was so heartbreaking." He closed his eyes and leaned down so their foreheads were touching. "I wish I could help her, make her anxiety and worries go away, but I know I can't." He leaned back slightly and opened his eyes again. "Tyler wanted to get her back home so she could go and see her doctor. He was really worried about how much stress she was experiencing and wanted to get her home. I guess if I had any reservations before about Tyler being with her, I'm starting to see now just how much he does love her and wants to protect and take care of her."

Veronica gave him a tender smile and nodded in understanding. He gazed down at her and then leaned in to kiss her. The kiss started out lightly, but it quickly became more desperate the longer it went on. He finally broke the kiss and moved his head so his lips were close to her ear. "I want you so badly Veronica," he said in a needy whisper as one of his hands gently pushed her hair back. "You're the only thing in my life right now that's keeping me from spiraling into hopelessness like Vanessa."

She put her hands on his cheeks so she could move his head back toward her lips. She kissed him deeply as she moved her hands again to start unbuttoning his shirt. As they continued to kiss, she moved quickly from one button down to the next until she was able to push his shirt back. He moved his arms so she could get it completely off of him and then he started working on the buttons of her shirt. 'Thank god for warming ovens,' she momentarily thought before his tongue and lips were working their way down her body, which quickly erased thoughts of anything besides him and what he was doing to her from her mind. All she could focus on was the sound of his voice telling her how much he loved her and the way his body felt pressed against hers. Eventually they ended up tangled together completely naked on the rug on the floor in front of the couch, wrapped up together panting for breath.

She eventually extricated herself from his embrace to retrieve the Thai food from the kitchen. I'm so glad we don't have any neighbors who can see into our windows and watch me carrying our take out through the house in the buff. They sat on the floor in front of the couch with just a few blankets wrapped around them as they ate their dinner. Naked Thai food dinners were not likely to be something they'd be doing much of while Abigail was staying with them. Veronica had made sure they still had plenty of time when she retrieved the food from the kitchen. That's the last thing I want to explain to my dad or Abigail. She knew the aquarium closed at 6pm, so she was sure they'd still be safe. They'd also be able to make a mad dash for some clothes when they heard the security gate chime.

They both took turns stealing bites of each other's food as well as stealing a few kisses from each other as they ate. She was relieved that he seemed much better than when he'd first arrived home. When they were about finished he gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry if you didn't get much time to work today. I really didn't mean to just dump Abby on you like that."

She gave him a loving smile and shook her head. "It really is okay Logan. I could have figured out something else to do with her. We had fun baking cookies and playing games. It was actually a nice change of pace."

He let out a contented sigh and leaned in to kiss her deeply on the lips. He quirked up the side of his mouth and then stared intently into her eyes after the kiss. "I really love domestic Veronica."

She laughed and shook her head slightly. "You just love me baking snicker-doodles."

His smile got a bit larger, "Okay, I do love that too." She nodded in agreement. "How'd your interrogation go this afternoon?"

She smiled and then told him about what happened with Stephanie and their latest suspicion about the case.

"So she really is a super thief. Maybe we should fly to France and you can give her boyfriend the third degree too," he said with a sly grin as he ran his hand along her hair.

Flying away from all their problems in Neptune actually sounded tempting, but not exactly realistic given everything else going on. "I think my dad might be a bit mad with us if he came back to return Abby and we'd left the country."

"We could leave a note," he offered with a shrug and a smirk.

"Dear dad... We've run off to France... Can you pick up our mail and feed and water Abby?"

Logan laughed and shook his head. "She's not a dog, Veronica." His expression turned a bit wistful before he continued. "We've never actually flown any where together." He reached up and brushed some lose hair out of her face. "Promise me when Abby goes home we can take a trip somewhere? Anywhere you want to go... like Scotland."

Veronica smiled and gave him a tentative look at first. Then she really noticed how desperately he seemed to be looking at her, just hoping she'd say yes. She couldn't disappoint him, not after everything he'd been going through and how wonderful he'd been to her since she came back into his life. She nodded. "Okay, when everything is all back to normal, we'll take a trip. It doesn't have to be Scotland though Logan. We could go somewhere a little less international."

He shook his head, "You wanted to go to Scotland and I've never been there either and would love to go there with you."

She gave him a small smile. "I also have a job you know. Leo may have something to say about me just taking off."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure as Mayor I can make him bend to my will." He replied with a mischievous grin.

"Such corruption," she teased.

"I guess I'm just an unreformable bad boy," he replied with a leering grin. He leaned in and gave her another passionate kiss. Their lips had barely even separated when they heard the security gate sound. Both their eyes popped open wide as they lunged for their clothes that were scattered around the living room. They started laughing at each other as they desperately tried to put their clothes back on before her dad, Alicia and Abigail walked in the front door. "Ah… just like back in high school," he teased as she rolled her eyes and finished pulling on her slacks. Thank goodness they actually hadn't unlocked the front door since they both came in through the garage. A moment after she'd gotten her slacks back on the doorbell rang. He gave her a salacious grin as he watched her finishing the buttons on her shirt. "You um… you missed one in the middle," he pointed out with a smirk. Of course it would be the one that would have completely exposed her bra if she hadn't fixed it. She laughed and shook her head and buttoned it before she went to the door.

Her dad and Alicia didn't stay long. Abigail enthusiastically told them all about visiting the aquarium. She'd even scored a stuffed leopard shark that she proudly showed off to them and explained how it looked like some of the ones she saw at the aquarium. After she finished telling them all about the aquarium, she asked if they could watch a movie before bed. Logan suggested they all just go up to their bedroom and watch a movie in there. Abigail of course found another Scooby Doo movie for them to watch, settling for the Loch Ness Monster episode since that was the closest one they could find that would be related to fish. Logan was sitting in the middle of the two of them and half way through the movie, they noticed Abigail had actually fallen asleep. He carefully picked her up and carried her back to her room.

Veronica gave him a loving look as he returned and climbed back into bed with her. "You're so good with her," she commented as he scooted close to her and pulled her into his arms.

"Well, I've got to make a good impression if I'm ever going to convince you to have some of our own," he said with a small grin as he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.

"Can you imagine what that will be like," Veronica said a bit wistfully. She normally wouldn't have gone down that path, but with everything bad that was happening in his life right now, she thought maybe thinking about something positive before they went to sleep might help keep the nightmares away, for both of them.

"I can see us with a stubborn little blonde girl who completely rules us both," Logan replied as he ran his hand gently over her hair and stared intensely into her eyes.

Veronica shook her head, "Nope, I see a little boy with light brown hair and sparkling blue eyes, who thinks his dad is absolutely the best guy in the whole entire world."

Logan gave her a sly grin, "I can't wait to find out which one of us is right." He nuzzled his nose into the side of her hair.

She let out a small sigh, "Maybe we'll have one of each and just have to let it be a draw." She heard him chuckle softly next to her ear.

"I think we'll need a third for a tie breaker then if that happens," Logan said softly as he placed kisses along her neck.

"You might be pushing your luck there buddy," she said in a teasing tone.

"Fine," he said in a soft whisper, "I guess I can settle for two little Mars-Echolls keeping us on our toes." He pulled her closer and she rested her head on his chest. He placed a tender kiss on the top of her head. "Good night, Veronica. I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered back. After a minute or two of silence she whispered again. "We'd better keep that tie breaker option on the table, just in case." She felt his chest tremble slightly and heard a very soft laugh.

"Mm hmm," he mumbled softly and squeezed her a little tighter. A few minutes later she could tell he'd fallen asleep. She fell asleep shortly after still thinking about how much she was loving the life they had together now and was looking forward to it getting even better in the not so distant future.