A/N – Sorry it took me so long to get a new chapter up on this story. At least it's a really long chapter this time! As always, thanks for all the support and for continuing to read along. Please let me know what you think with a review!

Disclaimer: All original VM characters belong to Rob Thomas.

Chapter 24 – Not Exactly B&E

As Veronica drove to the Sheriff's office, she decided she'd call Logan when she got there to pass on Alexis's request to see Abigail. She also decided she'd give Alexis the opportunity to tell him about her moving to Catalina herself. She didn't really believe that Alexis would be completely out of their lives with how close Logan was to Vanessa and figured that small olive branch might help with whatever relationship they may end up having. She was about to pull into the parking lot when she spotted Logan and Abby walking toward the Sheriff's station from the direction of his office. She parked in the back lot and walked around the front to meet them near the front entrance to the building.

"Hey there gorgeous," Logan said with a broad smile.

"Hey there yourself," Veronica replied as she leaned toward him and gave him a quick kiss. "What are you two up to?" she asked looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Well… we thought we'd see if you were around and if you were, Abby was hoping to see a little bit of the Sheriff's office. We were talking about you working here on our way from Mac's place to my office."

"Sure," Veronica responded with a smile as she wrapped an arm around Logan's waist and started back toward the building with them. Maybe Norris could give Abby a quick tour of the holding cells or evidence room while I talk privately with Logan in my office.

Veronica took a quick scan around the station as they walked in. She spotted Norris on the phone at his desk and it looked like Leo's office was empty. "Hey, why don't you two wait in my office, while I check in to see how everything's going with Troy's case, and then I'll be right in?"

"Sure," Logan replied in an understanding tone as he took Abigail's hand and led her toward Veronica's office.

"Hey Norris," Veronica said as she approached his desk. "Any luck with finding the Fitzpatrick's?"

"Hi Veronica," He replied with a grim smile and shook his head. "No, not yet. We've got several deputies out checking various locations and of course Leo's been talking with other law enforcement groups. A few agents from the FBI arrived a bit earlier, and they all went out to the cemetery again." He paused a moment and she nodded in understanding before he continued. "Leo said you were checking in with Alexis too. Any new information from her?"

Veronica shook her head as well. "I have an interesting update on the Jewelry case, although it's not enough to convict anyone yet, but interesting none the less." Norris gave her a questioning look and she summarized what had happened during the video call. He agreed that they seemed extremely suspicious based on that. "Hey could you do me a little favor?" she asked after they were done talking about Stephanie and Jake.

"Sure, what?" He asked with an intrigued expression.

"Could you keep Abby busy for about 10 minutes or so? I wanted to talk with Logan for a little while privately."

Norris smiled and nodded. He stood up and followed Veronica to her office.

"Hey Abby," Veronica said as she opened her door. "This is Deputy Clayton and he's going to start giving you a tour and then Uncle Logan and I will catch up with you in a few minutes."

Abby smiled and stood up from the chair she'd sat in and said hello to Norris. He held out his hand for her and the two of them walked out and Veronica closed the door behind them.

"Gee, I thought you'd be sated after our time in the shower this morning, but if you're feeling the need for more, I'd be happy to oblige," Logan offered with a salacious grin.

He moved closer and put his hands on her hips, pulling her up against him. "Down boy," she said in a teasing tone as she pushed lightly on his chest. "I just wanted to talk."

"Sure… talking…" he said as he took another shot at it and leaned in to kiss her below her ear.

"You're impossible," she said as she leaned slightly and enjoyed his warm wet lips on her neck for a moment. "But seriously, I need to talk to you about Alexis and didn't want Abby to hear us."

He let out a deep breath and stood up straight again, his expression turned serious. "What happened now?" he asked, already seeming to expect the worst.

Veronica was a little thrown by his reaction. "Um… she asked if you would bring Abby by to see her."

He let out a sigh and his expression softened. "Oh… I was worried she'd said something horrible to you again."

She gave him a reassuring smile and shook her head. "Actually… she was trying to be somewhat nice I think."

"Did she remember anything about her attack yet?" he asked as he dropped his hands from her hips and took a step back, letting out a deep breath in the process.

Veronica shook her head. She was a bit puzzled by his reaction. "No…" She studied him for a minute before continuing. "What's going on in that big handsome head of yours?"

He shrugged and looked down at the ground for a moment. "I don't know…" He ran his hand through his hair. "I thought it was better for us if I didn't go back to see her again. I know how hard this has been on you and after everything yesterday… I just thought it would be better. She's awake now and has her family there for her. There really isn't a reason I need to go back to the hospital."

Compared to the daily visits he'd been making after the attack, his current response was extremely baffling to her. Veronica took a step forward and reached out and took his hands with hers. She debated again about whether to tell him about Catalina, or if she should just let Alexis tell him. She couldn't help but think about how much anguish she'd been through since she'd been back that was due to Alexis and his past with her. Regardless of all that though, she felt like her and Logan were doing so well together now. While it would be easier to agree with him about not going back, she did actually feel like Alexis was being sincere today and spending some time with Abby might be good for her. However, a small part of her was still worried that Alexis could read more into his visit than what it really meant and maybe that's what he was worried about too. At least if she told Logan about Catalina, there might be less chance for misinterpretation of intentions if he went to see her.

"She had some interesting news today." She gave him a small smile in return to the curious look on his face. "She'd actually agreed to run the Chamber on Catalina right before the attack… so she could be closer to Vanessa and the baby."

Logan's expression changed to one of surprise. "Really?" Veronica nodded. "I'm sure Nessa is going to be really happy to have her there with them."

Veronica reached up and gently stroked his cheek. "I do appreciate you worrying about how I feel about you going to see her. It's fine with me if you want to take Abby over to see her though. Given she was expecting you to stop by for Abby's things on the day she was attacked, maybe seeing Abby and you might actually bring back some memories."

He nodded and let out a deep breath and leaned in so he could kiss her forehead before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. "Hopefully this will be over soon and we can get back to focusing on us."

She tipped her head up so she could see his face. "Yeah, I'd like that." He leaned down a bit so he could press his lips to hers.

"We'd better go relieve Norris," she said softly after the kiss.

He let out a sigh and squeezed her a little tighter, kissing her on the top of the head one more time. "But it's so nice… Just standing here holding you… but yeah… we'd better go."

"I'll try to see if I can't head home early this afternoon. I'm not sure how much help I can be with the Fitzpatrick search anyway, and given it's Saturday, I normally wouldn't even be working."

Logan leaned back so he could see her face again and gave her a hopeful smile. "That sounds great."

"I um… I do need to run over to Troy's place and pick up the cell phone in the safe for him to get in touch with Debbie."

Logan gave her a slightly concerned look.

"What's the look for?"

"I just don't like you going to his place on your own."

She laughed softly. "I'm pretty sure Liam isn't stupid enough to be hiding out at the apartment that he beat Troy half to death at. His DNA would probably already be all over it, and returning to the scene of the crime doesn't seem wise at all." Logan gave her a disbelieving look. She rolled her eyes slightly. "Okay, so Liam doesn't excel at being smart, but I really don't think he'd go there." She could see that wasn't really giving Logan any amount of comfort at all. She let out a small huff. "Fine, do you want to come with me?" He finally smiled and nodded. She cocked an eyebrow at him. "And what about Abby? You plan on asking her to just wait in the car while we go check out the potentially dangerous apartment?"

Logan let out a frustrated sigh. "I didn't think of that…"

Veronica gave him a sympathetic look. She hadn't really been trying to make him feel bad about it. She was mostly joking, but realized it may have come out a bit more critical than she'd intended it. "Maybe my dad could watch her for a little while so we can do that. You could take her to see Alexis, then head over to my Dad's and drop her off, then meet me at Troy's. After we're done, you could go pick her up while I take the phone back to Troy and then I'll meet you at home and we can spend the rest of the day together. I can get some work done while you're visiting Alexis and you can just call me when you're done and on your way to my dad's."

"Are you sure he won't mind? We did just have him watch her the other day."

Veronica gave him a sly smile. "I'm pretty sure based on his reaction to her the other day that he won't mind."

"Sounds like a good plan," he replied with a more relaxed smile. "I do love being your partner, no matter what we're doing, you know?"

She reached up and stroked his cheek again. "And I love having you as a partner too." The tender expression reflected back at her, made her feel warm all over.

She told Logan to go catch up to Abby and Norris while she gave her dad a quick call. "I'm sure you could give a tour of the holding cells as well as we could," she teased as he went to open the door.

He narrowed his eyes at her and shook his head. "You've seen the other side of those bars too, don't forget." A slightly evil smirk crossed his lips. "I still have photographic proof of it too."

Her eyes popped open wide. "You still have that picture?" she asked in disbelief.

He nodded and gave her a little wave as he headed out and let the door close slowly behind him.

She laughed slightly to herself and shook her head. She was actually a little amazed that all these years later he'd still have that photo. She thought back to that day for a moment. Of course that was one of the last times she'd still held out hope that they might be able to reconcile again. Shortly after that he'd asked her about dating Parker and then everything just went down hill from there. But that was then and this is now. It's probably better that we had the chance to figure out who we were really meant to be before we finally found our way back to each other though.

She grabbed her phone and placed a quick call to her dad. He happened to be out helping Alicia with the grocery shopping, but they were going to be home within an hour, and then had planned on being around the house the rest of the day.

"I'm enjoying stacking up all these favors you know? I think I'll save them up for something really big in the not too distant future," he teased before they said their good byes and she went out to join up with Logan, Abby and Norris. She let Logan know her dad would be home in about an hour. They spent a little more time looking around the station before Logan suggested they'd better get going.

"Thank you for showing me stuff," Abigail said with a delighted grin on her face. "I think it's really neat that you work here."

"Me too," Veronica answered with a little wink.

"I'll talk to you later," Logan said as he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss.

After they left, Norris and Veronica went over the list of properties that had already been searched for Liam and Ciaran. When she saw the address for Mary MacDonald, Liam's maternal grandmother, Veronica suddenly remembered the night she followed Liam in her Barracuda. She glanced through the list of properties again.

"Kendall's house?" Veronica asked out loud.

"What?" Norris asked confused by her question.

"Kendall Casablancas, or Priscilla Banks, or Kendall Schiflett…" She replied, although Norris still looked just as confused. "When I was in high school I followed Liam to a house that was owned by Kendall Casablancas."

"Dick's stepmom?" Norris asked still not sure what the connection was.

"Yeah… she was mixed up with the Fitzpatrick's… involved with Liam's older brother. My dad believes she was killed by Cormac, but there was never a body found. His or hers actually…" Veronica shivered slightly wondering if any of the bodies in the cemetery could end up being one of them. "She had a house… where was it?" She paused trying to think back to that night. "Oh… Satsuma and Chandler… I wonder what happened to it after Kendall disappeared."

Veronica scanned the list again. "I'm not surprised it wouldn't be on the list. I never actually even asked my dad how he found out it was her place. If it was paid for with Fitzpatrick drug money, it could still just be sitting empty."

She logged on to her laptop and found the exact address and checked to see who was listed as the property owner in the country records. "Bingo!" she exclaimed excitedly. "It's still actually recorded as belonging to Kendall Schiflett."

"I'm impressed," Norris replied with an awed expression. "Well it's certainly worth checking out. Shall we?"

Veronica bit on her lip. She couldn't help but remember the devastated look on Logan's face that morning when he thought she might be going after Liam. She knew he was having a hard time with her job and if she was right and Liam and Ciaran were in that house she wasn't sure he'd easily get over that. She took a deep breath. For us..."I think it's probably better if you take a couple other actual deputies with you. And…" she couldn't help but have a horrible thought back to Don Lamb. "And be careful, you know… bullet proof vests and all that." Of course bullet proof vests wouldn't have stopped a baseball bat to the head.

Norris gave her an understanding look and nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. If something were to happen to you when you were with me… well… I don't really want both the Sheriff and the Mayor coming after me."

Since the other on duty deputies were spread pretty thin handling calls and checking other locations, they were going to need to wait a little while to go and check out Veronica's hunch.

Veronica had headed back into her office when she received a call from Mac.

"Hey Mac attack, what's the haps?" Veronica said as she answered the phone, earning a slight chuckle from Mac.

"I did some checking on Stephanie and Jake's bank accounts again," Mac started to explain.

"Did you find a secret safety deposit box?" Veronica asked hopefully.

"Sorry, no," Mac answered. Veronica felt her optimism start to wane.

"Oh…" Veronica replied with a sigh.

"But…" Mac continued still actually sounding positive at least.

"But what?" Veronica asked a bit impatiently.

"I noticed that she seemed to use a certain ATM on a semi-regular basis for the last 3 months," Mac explained.

"Okay…" Veronica wasn't quite following what Mac was trying to tell her yet.

"It's an ATM that's right next to the Neptune Post Office," Mac said next. "And given where she normally had been getting cash prior to about 3 months ago, it's definitely seems a bit out of her normal routine."

The high school and mall and other places that most high school teenagers would hang out were on the other side of town, and with the Post Office being closer to the 03 zip code than the 09 zip code, it definitely wasn't close to where Stephanie lived.

"Interesting…" Veronica replied as she thought about it. "The first case was reported about that long ago, although we weren't exactly sure when the necklace was exactly stolen. So…" she paused again thinking.

"So it seems even more likely she was sending the necklaces to France," Mac chimed in.

"She did seem extremely confident when we were at her house that we wouldn't find anything. That would make sense if she knew all the necklaces were safely hidden over 5000 miles away."

"Yeah…" Mac replied. "I'm sorry it wasn't something more substantial, but I thought it might help."

"Of course it helps," Veronica replied appreciatively. "Thanks so much for finding that. Any luck breaking through whatever he did to block you from their Skype calls?"

She heard Mac let out a frustrated sigh. "No, not yet… but I'm still working on that. I can't believe that little punk has been able to out smart me. I'm not ready to give up yet though."

"I believe in you Mac attack!" Veronica said back optimistically.

"Thanks! I'll contact you as soon as I figure it out." They said their goodbyes and ended their call.

Almost two hours after Logan and Abby had left, he gave her a call. "Hey, I'm at your dad's with Abby. Would this be a good time to meet you at Troy's?" Logan asked after they said a quick hello to each other.

"Yeah, that would work. I'll meet you in the back parking lot." Veronica replied. They said a quick good bye and she headed out of her office.

Norris was still there and she stopped for a few minutes to fill him in on the call from Mac.

"Give me a call later and let me know if you found anything at that house," Veronica said as she headed out the door.

Logan was already parked in the lot when she pulled into the empty spot next to his SUV. He got out and walked over towards her when she climbed out of the BMW. "So more B&E? You're so sexy when you're breaking the law." Logan commented with a teasing smirk.

Veronica chuckled and shook her head. "I don't think it counts when you're asked to stop by and pick something up. And there won't be any 'B' this time either." She pulled a set of keys out of her jacket pocket and jingled them. "I actually saw these sitting on his desk when we were here yesterday and grabbed them."

Logan laughed. "Well I'm glad there was only petty thievery rather than B&E."

They headed over to the back door and she put the key up to the lock. She could tell Logan had completely tensed up before she started to open the door. "Hey, I'm sure they aren't hiding here," she said as she put her hand on his. "And you should be proud of me."

He quirked a brow at her before she continued. "I found a new lead for a house Liam and Ciaran could be hiding in, and I didn't accept Norris's offer to go and check it out with him. He's waiting for a few more deputies to go with him instead."

Logan's eyes widened in surprise before a broad smile spread across his face. "Thank you," he said softly before he leaned toward her and kissed her tenderly on the forehead.

"I told you I wouldn't intentionally go after dangerous criminals." She gave him a fond smile as she looked up at him.

He moved his hand up to her cheek and leaned down farther so he could kiss her firmly on the mouth. After the kiss he leaned back slightly, although keeping his head very close to hers. "I love you so much Veronica."

"I love you too," she said in a soft tone. She reached into her bag and pulled out her gun. "And we'll go in cautiously, okay?"

He let out a relieved breath and nodded. She slowly opened the door and looked inside. It looked exactly as it had when they came in to get the tracker. She walked toward the bedroom, with him right by her side, and pushed the door open slowly. There wasn't anyone in there, so they quickly checked the bathroom too.

"Looks all clear," she said as she turned to look at him. He nodded and seemed to relax more as they walked back to the desk and she pulled out the safe again. She punched in the code and took out the phone.

She closed the safe and stared at the phone for a moment. With the anxiety of coming in not knowing what they would find, neither of them had brought up the other difficult topic in their life yet. It's probably better to ask now, before we're together with Abby again though. "So… how'd your visit with Alexis go?" She looked up at him with a grim expression on her face.

He walked over closer to her and leaned against the desk, pulling her to stand in front of him. He reached up and brushed some stray hairs out of her face. "It was fine. Abby was really happy to see her. I mostly just sat off to the side and let them talk. Her parents were there too, so part of the time I actually went out and talked with Nessa in the waiting area and left Abby in with the three of them."

Veronica gave him a small smile and nodded. "I'm glad Abby got a chance to see her."

"Me too," he said with a little nod. "We didn't talk much about Catalina, but I did let her know that you told me."

"Oh… did she seem disappointed that I had?" Veronica asked curiously.

He shook his head slowly and then shrugged. "No… I don't think so. She maybe just didn't want to really discuss it with Abby there though either."

"Are you going to miss her?" She surprised herself that she actually asked that question and Logan looked a bit surprised that she had as well.

"Well…" All of a sudden his expression became a bit troubled.

Veronica shook her head quickly. What type of question was that? Do I actually want to even know the answer or force him to answer it? "I'm sorry. I don't know why I asked that. Just forget I did." She tried to sound casual about it.

He wrapped his hand gently around the back of her neck. "Hey," he said softly as his fingers tangled slightly into her hair at the base of her neck. "You don't need to apologize and it's a reasonable question for you to ask." He was looking so intensely into her eyes that it made her feel a little overwhelmed. "Of course it's going to be strange to not have her around. She was a big part of my life over the last 6 years. I'm happy for her though, and I have someone in my life now who's a million times more important to me." She smiled softly and let out a little sigh as she kept staring into his warm brown eyes. "I hope someday you won't have any doubts about how much you mean to me, but I understand that it may just take more time." He paused and leaned forward and kissed her nose. "I don't care how long it takes, I promise to never stop trying to prove that to you though."

"I know," She said as she looked lovingly up at him. "I don't doubt that you love me. And I love you too." He nodded and leaned in to give her a slow deep kiss on the mouth. He repositioned his hands to gently caress her cheek as the kiss continued to get a bit more intense. Even though they'd been together just that morning, she couldn't help but feel more optimistic now that things seemed to be going so much better for them with Alexis awake and leaving soon.

He let out a little chuckle. "We'd better go before I try dragging you back to the bedroom."

Veronica shuddered and made a face. "Okay… that's just… ick… not here on Troy's bed."

Logan laughed a little harder. "Yeah… that's certainly not happening… although the backseat in the Range Rover is pretty big and the windows are tinted. I still haven't forgotten about last week in the Benz." Veronica felt her face heat up slightly. Was that only a week ago? With everything going on with Alexis and Troy it felt much longer. His expression became more salacious. "I think the Range Rover is jealous of the Benz now." He quirked an eyebrow at her. "You know the cars talk in the garage and of course the Benz was totally bragging about the hot sex we had in its driver's seat."

She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. That had been extremely hot. Focus Veronica… this isn't the time or place. A deep low chuckle rumbled in his chest as he pulled her closer and started to kiss her on the spot below her ear that drove her crazy. Focus Veronica… we're practically in the middle of a crime scene… his mouth feels so good though… She couldn't help the soft moan that escaped her lips as she tilted her head and threaded her fingers through his hair. She felt his fingers run up her thighs as he pushed her skirt up higher. Why'd I have to wear a skirt today? One hand moved from her thigh up over her ass as he pulled her even tighter against him. It was very apparent how aroused he was already too. He picked her up and spun around so he could sit her on the desk.

"What are we doing?" she asked breathlessly with a soft laugh.

"Maybe I'm not doing it right if you have to ask that," he mumbled back against her neck and she laughed slightly again. "You didn't say anything about using the desk… just not the bed…" He rocked his hips toward her causing her to moan slightly. He let out a soft groan himself. "I actually wanted to do this in your office on your desk earlier, but here…" he nipped lightly at her collar bone. "No one will walk in and interrupt us."

"Mmm…" she was quickly losing the ability to focus on anything but the feel of his mouth on her neck and his fingers still moving over her body under her skirt. He'd moved on from stroking the outside of her thigh, to the inside, moving higher by the second.

"I want you so badly…" he said in a low needy voice against her skin as he used his nose to push her blouse off her shoulder, exposing more skin there to run his mouth over and kiss. He dipped his head down lower and moved one hand up to work on one of her breasts. He was easily able to push away more of her low cut blouse and take her other breast into his mouth, causing her to moan even louder.

At least it's not Troy's bed. She couldn't help herself and reached down to unbutton and unzip his jeans so she could push them down over his hips, followed by his boxers. They were both breathing heavily by that point and she let out a loud moan as he slowly pushed into her. He'd moved both of his hands to her ass as he pulled her toward him to get a better position with her still perched on the edge of the desk. He kissed her passionately as they continued to move together. She arched back slightly and knocked a stack of papers off the desk with her hand. The place is already so trashed, I'm sure Troy will think that just happened in the fight.

When they had both climaxed, her a few seconds before him, he leaned against her and placed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose. "I love doing spy work with you," he said breathlessly as he rested his forehead against hers. "I actually love doing anything with you."

"Well you make a fabulous partner…" she replied with a smirk. "… for all sorts of activities."

He kissed her again before he leaned down to pull his boxers and pants back up. "I'd better get back to your dad's to get Abby."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You know he's going to totally be able to tell what you just did." She tried to say it seriously, but knew it didn't come out as foreboding as she'd intended.

"What 'I' just did?" he asked feigning disbelief. "I'm pretty sure you're the one who couldn't wait to get my pants off." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

She laughed and shook her head at him as she hopped off the desk and started fixing her own clothes too. "But I'm not the one who has to go and face my father right now," she said with a smug smile on her lips. "Tell him I said hi," she added in a carefree tone with a little wink as he shook his head at her. She looked at him more seductively. "And try not to think about my milky thighs when you get there."

"You're terrible," he replied as he continued to shake his head. She laughed and nodded at him.

They locked up Troy's apartment and headed back to their cars. "How much longer are you going to be?" Logan asked as he pinned her against the side of the BMW before she opened the door.

"Not too much longer. I'm just planning to run this over to Troy and then I should be able to spend the rest of the afternoon with you and Abby."

"Good," he said as he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "Maybe we can spend the afternoon down on the beach. Maybe I'll see if Dick and Mac want to come over and we can have a BBQ."

"That sounds wonderful," she replied with a tender smile. "Maybe Heather would want to come over too." Spending a normal Saturday afternoon with friends sounded absolutely wonderful given the past week they'd had.

"Great idea. I'll call her too." He reached up and brushed his fingers lightly over her hair. "Why don't you call me when you're done at the hospital?"

She nodded and smiled. She could tell he was still feeling a bit over-protective and imagined it was likely due to the whole Fitzpatrick issue. She could certainly do that if it put his mind more at ease. "I'll give you a call when I'm done."

"Thanks," he replied as he leaned in to kiss her one more time, and then reached down to open her door for her. "See you soon." She kissed him again, and then climbed in. He gave her a little wave as she pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the hospital.

She was on her way into the reception area of the hospital when she spotted David just exiting the elevators. He saw her and gave her a small smile.

"Hi David," she said as he walked over toward her. "Were you here seeing Alexis?" He nodded. "How's she doing?"

"She seems to be doing a lot better. She said she's still not remembering everything yet, but more things have started coming back to her." Veronica watched him carefully as he answered to see if he had any sense of concern over that. She still wasn't completely convinced that he may not have been the one to attack Alexis, but she didn't pick up any anxiety from him about her remembering what had happened.

"Hey Veronica," she heard a familiar female voice call out as she spotted Emily walking towards her from behind David. David turned as she approached them.

"Em?" David asked in surprise. Veronica watched him take in Emily's appearance before he spoke again. "Are you working here now? I didn't know you were living in Neptune."

Emily looked slightly surprised to find him talking to Veronica as well. "Yeah… I um… I've been here a couple months… working in the Pediatrics department."

"You two know each other?" Veronica asked as she studied them carefully.

"Yeah," Emily replied. "From school… Sorry, I've really got to get these papers delivered ASAP." She waved a folder that was in her hand slightly in explanation. "Nice to see you both." She turned and headed down a hallway and disappeared around a corner.

Veronica turned back and noticed that David was looking down the hallway with a bewildered expression still on his face. After a few seconds he looked back at Veronica. "I need to get going too. It was nice to see you though." And with that he disappeared out to the parking area almost as fast as Emily had disappeared in the opposite direction.

Well that was strange. Veronica walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. It opened a minute later and she headed up to Troy's floor. She kept thinking about the strange scene she'd just witnessed. From school? Did they both go to UCLA, or was it from farther back than that? She thought back to poker night at Mac and Dick's. Emily had said that she went to nursing school at UCLA. I wonder if that's how they knew each other. I wonder if Logan realized they knew each other. He'd never mentioned it to her. Not that we'd talked much about David anyway though.

The doors opened on Troy's floor and she continued on to his room. He was sitting up watching TV when she walked in and gave her a grateful smile. "Hey, it's so good to see a friendly face. Some of the nurses haven't been all that nice to me today." He almost had a little pout on his lips.

She laughed softly and walked over toward his bed as she pulled the phone from her purse. "Maybe this will cheer you up," she said as she handed it to him.

"Thank you so much Veronica," he replied as he took it from her. "I hope you didn't have any trouble getting it from my apartment."

She shook her head and tried not to think about what she'd just done at his apartment on his desk. She quickly switched to a different topic. "Any idea what's going to happen now? Have you talked with your superiors yet?" Veronica asked as she took a seat on the edge of his bed.

Troy nodded. "Yeah, they sent someone over to talk to me about an hour ago actually. We don't know if Liam figured out I'm with the DEA or not. Or if he did, if he told anyone before he vanished. They've still kept it quiet that I was rescued and so we aren't sure what this is going to mean for my career yet." Troy let out a frustrated sigh. "Honestly though, I'm sort of tired of working undercover for the DEA. Once this is wrapped up, I'd rather try to build a real life with Debbie rather than taking on a new undercover case somewhere else."

Veronica gave him an understanding smile and nodded. She knew exactly what it was like to want to be with the person you loved more than anything else in the world. And I also know how being with him on your desk feels. Shit, don't think about that now Veronica.

"I'm thinking I might ask Leo if he'd give me a job at the Sheriff's department." Troy mentioned somewhat thoughtfully.

"I'm sure he'd be happy to have you," she replied with a reassuring tone and a little nod of her head.

He shrugged a little. "Well I hope you're right."

Veronica stayed and talked with Troy for a little while longer before saying goodbye. She kept thinking back to what happened when she first arrived at the hospital. She had started to wonder if Alexis also knew Emily from UCLA. She had initially thought their animosity was over Logan, but maybe they knew each other before that and their dislike for each other had gone back even farther. She walked into the elevator and pressed the button for Alexis's floor. Maybe if they had known each other before, Emily might have some new ideas of who the attacker might have been.

When the elevator doors opened on Alexis's floor, Vanessa was waiting to get on. "Hey Veronica," she said in surprise and took a step back so Veronica could exit the elevator.

"Hi," Veronica replied. "How's Alexis doing this afternoon?"

"She's doing much better, but with all her visitors, she was getting pretty wiped out. The doctor insisted that she get a few hours of sleep so sort of kicked us all out. I'm on my way back over to the Grand. The doctor said my parents could sit quietly in the room until Lexi fell asleep, but then they'll be leaving too."

"Oh…" Veronica had hoped to get a chance to talk to Alexis about Emily. "I was actually hoping to ask her a question, but maybe you might know."

Vanessa gave her a curious expression. "Sure, I can try."

"Do you know if Alexis knew Emily Talbot before Emily was dating Logan?"

Vanessa's expression changed from curious to pure bewilderment. "Logan dated Emily?"

Veronica nodded slowly. "Yeah, for a couple months at some point after he'd split up with Alexis."

Vanessa's eyes got wider. "I never knew that. Wow!"

"So… is that a yes?" Veronica asked, not quite expecting the reaction Vanessa had to her question.

Vanessa laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I'd say they did. They were in the same sorority at UCLA. Emily was two years ahead of Lexi in school and she was actually dating David when Lexi met him. If I remember right, they were high school sweethearts before they both started going to UCLA together."

Veronica really wasn't expecting that either. "So did the two of them not get along?" That might explain the angry glares that first night at the Hearst art show.

Vanessa chuckled again. "No… well when she first joined the sorority they were good friends, but by the time she had to leave and transfer to Hearst they really weren't. Of course Alexis stealing David from her didn't go over too well as you can imagine." And Emily dating Logan probably didn't go over well with Alexis either.

Veronica nodded in understanding. But would stealing her college boyfriend lead her to attempted murder? And Emily? Sweeter than sugar Emily? She decided she'd go and talk to Emily at least to see what other information she could get out of her.

She headed up to the Pediatrics floor after saying goodbye to Vanessa and stopped at the nurses' station. The nurse at the counter let her know that Emily's shift had just ended about 10 minutes earlier and that she'd left already. She thanked her and headed down to her car.

Maybe I'll just stop by her place and have a quick chat on my way home. When she climbed in the car she logged in to the DMV system using her Sheriff's access and got the latest address listed for Emily. She pressed Logan's number on her phone.

"Hey there beautiful," he said cheerfully as he answered.

"Hey there yourself," she replied back as she smiled.

"On your way home now?"

"Almost… I've just got a quick stop to make. Hey… did you know that Emily and Alexis knew each other before you dated?"

Logan was silent for a second before he answered. "No… neither of them mentioned that."

"Oh… well…" she wasn't sure why she was a little hesitant to tell him what Vanessa had told her. "I guess Emily and David were together before Alexis dated him and that the two of them were in the same sorority at UCLA."

"You're kidding me right?" She heard him let out a frustrated breath after he asked the question. I really shouldn't have told him this over the phone. "Of course you're not. Who would even make up something as twisted as that?"

"I'm sorry Logan." She heard him let out another deep breath. "I'm just going to stop by Emily's on my way home. See if she might know anything that could help us figure out who attacked Alexis. I'm still not convinced it wasn't David, and maybe Emily had witnessed him being violent when they were together. She seemed to be pretty freaked out to see him at the hospital and David left quickly right after that."

"Veronica…" his tone was abrupt and filled with worry and concern.

"Come on, it's just Emily." She replied trying to ease his mind. "I'll keep my guard up though and if I suspect anything's off at all, I'll be out of there in a flash."

She heard him suck in a deep breath. "Veronica… why can't you call Norris or someone else to go with you."

"Because they're busy trying to find Liam." She paused a moment. "You dated her for 2 months, do you really think she could be dangerous?"

He let out a sigh. "No… you're right. I'm just being paranoid because of what's happened this past week. She's not psychotic like Kennedy. Just promise you'll call as soon as you're done talking to her okay?"

"I promise. I love you…"

"I love you too. See you soon." He paused a second. "And Veronica… please be careful."

"Always." She said a quick good bye, then punched in the address for Emily's house into the GPS and pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

Veronica didn't realize from the address, but the condo Emily was renting was only two blocks from Alexis's house, also backing right up to the beach. Veronica sighed slightly, realizing that she could easily have walked down to Alexis's house and left out the back without Logan seeing her. But she still couldn't picture Emily ever hurting anyone. She found a parking spot on the street right in front of the condo and walked up the entry way and rang the door bell.

It took a few minutes for Emily to open the door, and when she did it was evident that she was thrown by Veronica being there. For a slight second she thought she saw either a look of worry or confusion, but it was gone so quickly that she didn't have a chance to really identify it. The normal cheery expression that Emily wore was painted on again as she leaned against the door frame.

"Veronica! What a nice surprise. What brings you by?" Emily asked as she gave her a friendly smile.

"I was hoping to talk to you for a few minutes. Can I come in?" Veronica also kept a polite smile on her face, not wanting Emily to sense that there might be something wrong.

"Um…" Emily glanced over her shoulder for a second and then nodded. "Yeah, of course. Can I get you a drink or something?"

"No, I'm good." Veronica walked in and noticed several suitcases waiting by the door, as well as a cat carrier. "Taking a trip?"

Emily nodded. "Yeah, my grandmother's health has started really deteriorating quickly and I got a call from my mom today that she isn't doing very well, so I was going to drive up to her place in L.A. and spend some time with her this weekend."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Leo didn't mention it to me."

"Yeah, I wasn't able to reach him yet. He's been tied up with the FBI agents all afternoon, so I was going to hopefully catch him soon before I leave. So what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh right… about your past relationship with David and Alexis."

Emily let out a light laugh. "Wow, that really was so many years ago. I take it she told you we all went to UCLA together?"

"Actually it was Vanessa who told me."

Emily nodded and smiled. "Yeah, I met her a few times when Alexis was still at UCLA. Such a sweet girl. I'd read about their brother dying several years later. That was heartbreaking to hear. I'd met him a couple times too. Extremely charming and kind."

"Nothing like Alexis," Veronica said with a sly smile.

Emily laughed and nodded, "Yeah, Alexis was definitely the one not like the others. So what else did you want to know? I haven't seen David in years until earlier today. We didn't stay in touch after a rather difficult breakup. And well Alexis… you know I ran into her at the Hearst art show. That was fun wasn't it?" She asked the last question with obvious sarcasm.

"Yeah, she can be challenging at times." Emily nodded her head in agreement to Veronica's comment. "I didn't realize you knew her from that far back. Any idea if there could have been someone from UCLA who really had it out for her?"

Emily chuckled again. "Well she did leave a lot of damage in her wake. But I can't think of anyone who would go to that extreme though. But as you probably know, she was only at UCLA for a year before she transferred to Hearst."

"How about David? Was he ever the violent type? You seemed a bit nervous to see him today?" Veronica asked a bit cautiously.

Emily shook her head. "No, I never saw David be violent. I was just surprised to see him after all those years, that's all. I didn't realize he was still in touch with Alexis." Veronica thought she caught a bit of an annoyed tone with her last sentence.

Veronica glanced at the cat carrier again. "You have a cat?" Emily nodded.

"Yeah… Mittens… such an original name, I know, but he's a sweet kitty." Emily laughed nervously as she replied.

"I could just stop by and feed him for you while you're gone. If you'll just be gone for the rest of the weekend, it might be less stressful for him than traveling would be." Veronica offered mostly to see what her reaction might be. Taking a cat for just a short trip to L.A. all of a sudden seemed a bit odd to her. She'd also been studying the suit cases and they seemed to also be much more than you'd need for just a couple days away.

"Oh," Emily's expression changed slightly as she seemed to be considering the offer, or rather how to turn her down. "That's really nice of you, but my grandmother actually really loves Mittens and I was thinking it might help her feel a little better. I'm sure you know how animals are good at soothing people when they don't feel well."

Veronica nodded. She thought Emily's demeanor was starting to shift slightly to be a bit more nervous than when she first arrived. A part of her couldn't help but think she may have been the one who attacked Alexis, while another part of her was struggling to rationalize that with the extremely sweet woman standing in front of her. She heard a loud 'meow' from behind her and instinctively turned toward the sound. That's when she felt the same painful sensation spread through her body that she'd felt that night on the roof of the Grand when Cassidy had used her own taser on her. This time it was stronger and longer and she couldn't help falling to her knees from the intense pain.

A/N – Please don't hate me too much for where I left this! I'll try to not take as long to get the next chapter written as it took me to get this one finished. I know a few people commented early on about being suspicious about Emily. Kudos to you! I did try to put a few hints along the way, but also didn't want it to be too obvious. Please leave me a comment and let me know how you liked or disliked the chapter!