A/N: This chapter turned out pretty long. Both Veronica and Mac's POV in this one. I hope you enjoy this! Comments are welcome and make me work faster. I couldn't quit writing this one.

The morning light woke Veronica up first, streaming onto her face in a sudden bright burst. This was the way she preferred to wake on the weekends instead of an alarm. Rolling over, she looked down to where Mac slept on the ground below her. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

Groaning, Mac buried her head into her pillow, "Not yet."

"Sorry, but the day waits for no one. I'm going to make enough noise as a herd of elephants, so you might as well get up, too." Veronica sat up and stretched. "I need a shower."

"Me too, and all my stuff is still in my bathroom. Lovely." Mac flopped onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. "Did you get a hold of Wallace last night? Or does he even know what he's already roped into doing?"

"Roped into? He never feels that way, does he?" Veronica shrugged. "He's missed helping out for so long, I know he's a go." Glancing down at Mac, Veronica asked, "What are your plans for the day?"

Standing, Mac replied, "First off, I am having coffee. Second, I suppose I better get the Dickster up and going for the day. I was going to run him to his place, and probably help look into finding a nurse or something. Maybe help him with reporting his car and wallet stolen. It's going to take all morning I'm sure." Blowing out a sigh, she stood and headed toward the hallway, "I wonder how he fared in the night."

Veronica padded after her, passing her when Mac stopped at her room's closed door. "I'll get the coffee going. I suppose I should call Mrs. Sinclair. I have some questions for her. Working on weekends is not my idea of fun."

"Yeah, right. You just came back to Neptune for the ambiance. I always figured that you would come back for that. Your cases are just a necessary evil that helps you get through because you have no other alternative in life."

"Hey!" Veronica called out, starting the coffee pot. "It's a proven fact that newbies at law firms have no weekends to call their own. I spared myself."

She heard Mac knock on the bedroom door and a muffled "Come in!" as Mac pushed her way through the door. Veronica strolled nearer to the hallway, listening in on the conversation in Mac's room.

"Hey, Mackie! You have some sweet dreams?"

There was shuffling with drawers being opened and shut, then Veronica heard a sharp retort that she couldn't quite make out, and soon Mac was backing out of the room, saying, "Get dressed and I'll take you to your place."

Shutting the door, Mac turned to grimace at Veronica. "This is going to be the longest day ever."

After Dick was dressed and fed, the group split ways. Mac and Dick headed to the beach house and Veronica headed to the office, where she had arranged to have Wallace meet her and then later, Mrs. Sinclair.

By the time she arrived, Wallace was already there, sitting at the step of the entrance to the building. He grinned as he saw her drive up, and stood to greet her. "I have a feeling this isn't a social call you've requested."

Finding the building's key on her key chain, Veronica began unlocking the door. "Now, Wallace, you know it's always social with me." They ascended the stairs, and she unlocked the MI door, flipping the lights on as they both stepped inside. "However, I do have a side of sleuthing I needed to see if you might be interested in."

"Yup, I knew it." Rubbing his hands together, Wallace had a mischievous gleam spark in his eye. "What do we have? Flower delivery, bait and switch? Bump and drop?"

"And Mac said you didn't want to be roped in." Grinning, Veronica sat down at her computer and booted it up. "So, what I have is this: Dick Casablancas was admitted into the hospital yesterday morning for alcohol poisoning and additional injuries. He had been found at Moonlight Beach early morning, I'm talking one or so, passed out in his own vomit, and an anonymous call led the EMT's there to pick him up. There was no police report, for which is strange in itself, but its Lamb's call, so we can assume that's the reason why. This is the problem: Moonlight Beach is ten miles from Dick's residency, where we know has beach front property right out his door. He was found in a wet suit, which we know is standard gear for surfing, but his car is not parked at his house, or the beach, and it has not been impounded. When he was admitted, the hospital admitted him as a John Doe because he had no ID or wallet on him. His injuries make me believe that he was attacked and robbed."

Wallace had sat down across from her, listening with increased disbelief. "That's pretty awful. What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to go to the beach and hang, see if you can find out some information, see who might have been there on Thursday night. That beach isn't a tourist hotspot; it's all regulars because it's out of the way."

The whole time she had been explaining, Veronica had been online, and now she hit print. As the printer roared to life, it spit out what she had requested. "This is the SUV that Dick drives. I want you to go down there with this picture and a picture of Dick, see what turns up. I have an appointment with a client in about…"Checking the time on her computer, she nodded reluctantly, "forty-five minutes, so if we can get some flyers quick printed out, you can head down there and I can meet you down there later."

Before too long, they had a flyer printed out for Wallace to post on bulletin boards and she had forwarded the same information to his phone. In less than thirty minutes, Wallace was headed out the door and on his way to Moonlight Beach.

Now Veronica sat staring at her computer screen, trying to think of the words to write to Logan about the turn of events since she had last talked to him. She knew he would want to be informed about what had happened to Dick, but it pained her to have to be the one to tell him. She doubted that Dick would impart the news, so it was left to her to do so.

She opened her email and began to type:

Dear Logan,

How is the sea treating you? Hopefully better than the land is treating all of us. We're all okay, alive anyway. It's been kind of a crazy twenty-four hours, and I am just now getting the chance to send you a quick email to catch you up.

When you reminded me on Thursday about it being ten years, I was worried about Mac and you were worried about Dick, which I guess is how our brains work, worrying for our respective friends. But the good thing about Mac is that if she wouldn't have come home that night, I would have known it. For Dick, however, he has no one that bothers to check in with him when you're not here.

That's where I'm going with this. Dick. Mac had gone to the hospital, looking for Madison, and ran into an unidentified white male that had been admitted in the night, with alcohol poisoning. He didn't wake up until late last night, so we ended up bringing him to our place for the night and now Mac is dealing with him. She is going to try and find some help for Dick for the next couple of weeks, because the doctors are concerned about his mental state. Plus they don't want him drinking anything for a while.

I should have checked in on him when you mentioned not having heard from him, but so much other stuff has been going on that I just put it out of my mind. Even though Dick isn't my favorite person, I wish I would have realized I should check in anyway. Mac was having a rough night, so it seems pretty obvious in hindsight that Dick would have also.

I wish I could just call you, but I know that's impossible right now. Let me know the next time you can Skype and I will make sure I'm available.

Love,

Veronica

The door opened just as Veronica pushed send and Elizabeth Sinclair walked in. Veronica stood and greeted her, motioning her into the inner office, where they sat down, Veronica at her desk and Elizabeth across from her.

Organizing her thoughts, Veronica took a deep breath and began with her report. She reviewed what she had discovered the day before, what she had found out at the apartment complex, restaurant, and then paused before she informed Elizabeth about the Ten. "Mrs. Sinclair, I visited The Ten, where Madison works, posing as a client in her Vertical Limit class. No one knew my true motivation for being there, which I often find makes people more forthcoming. Now, I know you said that Madison isn't dating anyone, but according to the substitute instructor, Madison is seeing Mark Tennison, the owner's son. She also says that everyone is taking over Madison's classes, until she returns, because she is taking an undetermined amount of personal time off."

Mrs. Sinclair sat back in her chair, processing this. "I don't understand."

Sighing, Veronica folded her hands together on the desk. "The information that I gathered is looking as if Madison has just taken an extended vacation with a lover." She paused. "Is there a reason why, number one, Madison would choose to not tell you about a new boyfriend, and number two, she wouldn't tell you about an extended vacation?"

Swallowing, Mrs. Sinclair's eyes began darting around the room, blinking rapidly. After a few moments, she met Veronica's eye. "My husband and I….well, I hoped it wouldn't come to this, but it's looking like it is. We…we imparted some family news to Madison about…." She looked up to the ceiling, mentally counting, "Oh, I would say, about three weeks ago. I honestly didn't think it would have anything to do with this, but…but maybe she's just angry with us and…and I don't know, just acting out. She's always had a poor way of reacting to things."

Ah, so Madison's just being a bitch. Go figure. Veronica smiled sympathetically. "I understand that some people react poorly to things. But do you truly think that would be enough of a reason for Madison to just disappear? I guess my question is, do you want me to keep looking for her?"

"Well, I didn't think it was enough of a reason. But I do think that if she's mad enough, that she won't call or come home for a while. I don't think there is any reason to involve the police, even though right now according to what Lamb told us last week, it's been long enough." Mrs. Sinclair nodded, coming to a decision. "But I want you to find her. I want to talk to her. Even if The Ten says she'll be back next week, she might just decide to not come back. If that's the case…well, I just want you to find her. She still could be in danger."

"May I ask…about the nature of the news you imparted to Madison?" Veronica felt impelled to ask, even though she had a feeling she knew. "It could be important."

Chewing her bottom lip, the older woman looked beseechingly at Veronica. "It had to do with the fact that Madison is...well, she's basically adopted. She's always pretty much known that, but the nature of her adoption is…atypical to say the least. We just finally told her the truth of it, and it shocked her, I guess. "

"Basically adopted?" Veronica echoed. "What does that even mean?"

"I can't…I can't explain any more than that. It's private, and between all of us. Look," Mrs. Sinclair leaned in towards the desk, "If it looks like that really is the reason why she left, I will tell you everything. But right now, it looks like she's on some little trip with a boyfriend, and until we know a little more, I need to keep this private for now. It's not news that only affects our family, and…and I know that it makes no sense, but I am just unwilling to tell you right now." She stood up, and turned to leave. "If you get me a bill for services rendered thus far, I will pay you right away. But I do want you to continue in the investigation, and I will help in any other way I can. You've done well; take today and tomorrow as a break from this case and if I haven't heard anything by Monday morning, I want you to continue on."

After Mrs. Sinclair left, Veronica stood up, staring out the window down to the outside parking lot, where she watched Elizabeth Sinclair get into her vehicle and leave. She had a feeling that the only reason Elizabeth was unwilling to share the whole truth of that conversation with Madison was because of Mac. Veronica figured the best way for truths to come out was to approach it head on.

Picking up the phone, she dialed Mac.

"Hello?" Mac answered gruffly.

"Hey, Q! How's it hanging?" Veronica sat down and leaned back to stare at the ceiling.

"Babysitting a grown adult is so much more fun in theory." Mac retorted.

"Yeah, that's no fun." She changed the subject, "Hey, so I'm in need of your skills. It's time for the hacker in you to show me what she can do."

Mac's voice distinctly changed with a twinge of interest. "What exactly do you need?"

The beach house was dark and locked when Dick and Mac had arrived. Dick had found the hidden key and let them in, flipping the lights on and leaving Mac to entertain herself as he had gone into his office to find all the information he needed to cancel credit cards and report his car stolen.

She wandered around, first going into the kitchen, eyeing the multiple bottles of empty beer lining the counter. It seemed like he must have had quite a party Thursday night. She found the garbage under the sink and pulled it out, and started cleaning up the mess as much as she could.

"You're not a maid, you don't need to do that."

He startled her, making her jump and drop a bottle. It clattered loudly as she looked up to see him grinning. "Sorry, I'm jumpy I guess."

He shrugged, "That's fine. Uh, I got these statements and the information on my Land Rover. I was just going to start making some phone calls. I left my cell phone here, by the way, but it's dead. At least I have a land line here for just such occasions." He headed back to the office, and called over his shoulder, "Just relax, Mac. I can call maid service in."

She followed him to where he sat down at a desk inside an office that overlooked the ocean, with windows on two sides. "Wow, I would never leave the office if this was my view."

Dick swiveled in his chair and grinned at her. "That's the beauty of it, I guess. I only leave to surf or go to the shop. I love it."

Mac watched silently as Dick began his phone calls, to the emergency lines of the credit card companies and banks. He was much more professional with the phone calls than she expected, which shouldn't have surprised her so much, considering he owned his own business and was a Casablancas. She recalled the authority in Cassidy's voice at sixteen, and what a wheeler and dealer Mr. Casablancas Sr. had been, making her realize that of course Dick would have inherited some of that confidence and even, dare she say it, charm.

There was an empty desk next to Dick's, facing a blank wall so she took advantage of the space, bringing her laptop in and setting it up, quickly accessing the internet and beginning her search for a live-in nurse. The options looked pretty dismal as she began weeding through them. It didn't take her long to realize she should really contact a health facility that could give them a referral, and the office hours to those facilities were only open Monday through Friday.

Next to her, Dick was laying the charm on thick with whoever was on the other line, his flirty quips making Mac roll her eyes. As she listened, though, she was surprised at how he was getting what he wanted just with a little word play. The person on the other end must have agreed to whatever it was Dick had been after, because he was soon off the phone with a large smile on his lips, and he turned to face her. "Never underestimate any form of flattery. It gets what you want every time."

She felt herself laughing. "Maybe you should take your own advice sometime." She tipped her head, "Did you get all the banks called?"

Nodding, Dick answered, "Yeah, nothing had been charged, as of yet anyway. Now I just need to call the police department and insurance company to report the Land Rover stolen. Wish me luck with Lamb-O." He read her computer screen and scowled, "What are my prospects on the nurse department? Did you find me a short, grumpy old woman named Hilga willing to change my bedpan?"

"Well, you just might be in luck for a few days. I think we should just wait until Monday and talk to the health centers that could give us real referrals. I would be nervous just hiring off of the internet with someone coming into your house. They could rob you blind. We probably should have some sort of contract written up for them to sign." Mac picked up her computer bag and started shuffling through it, not really knowing what she was looking for. It was more to just keep herself busy.

She felt her chair's wheels roll underneath her, and she realized that Dick had pulled his foot out to roll her closer to him, and also to make her look up at him. "Lucky me. How do you feel about that luck?"

His eyes were crystal blue, staring at her. She felt her heart in her throat, and she wondered if he could see it pulsing there. She swallowed. "Luck has nothing to do with it."

He nodded slowly. A slow grin formed at his lips. "We can wait a few days, I'm fine with that." His foot pushed her chair away from him, and suddenly the tension she had been feeling passed. "Roomies with you and Ronnie, huh? Logan will be jealous. Maybe you should just live-in here, Mackie. I'm sure we could find you the nurse outfit to go with the job, to hell with that referral garbage, you've got it covered."

"And give up my nine to five?" Setting the computer bag back on the ground, she stood up and headed toward the door, effectively fleeing. "Now why would I do that? I need some water."

She could hear his soft laughter following her as she stalked down the hallway to the kitchen, realizing as she got there that he was not far behind her. As she opened cupboards looking for a glass, Dick opened the refrigerator and grabbed two bottles of water, handing her one. "You're sure touchy about that, Mac. Do you want to talk about it?"

Opening her mouth to respond, she was interrupted when her phone began to ring. Pulling it from her pocket, she looked down and saw that it was Veronica, so she answered it and headed out of the kitchen, down the hallway and back to the office.

"Hello?" Mac answered gruffly, eyeing the doorway.

"Hey, Q! How's it hanging?"

"Babysitting a grown adult is so much more fun in theory."

"Yeah, that's no fun." Changing the subject, Veronica said, "Hey, so I'm in need of your skills. It's time for the hacker in you to show me what she can do."

Mac felt her interest pique. "What exactly do you need?"

"Well…." Veronica paused, "I just had an interesting conversation with Mrs. Sinclair. I think she told Madison about…your interesting connection with the family. She would only tell me that it had something to do with the fact that Madison was 'basically adopted' and that the adoption was 'atypical.' That when they told Madison whatever it is they told her, she was upset, but that it was three or more weeks ago. I think it's time for us to see some emails and maybe browser history. What do you think?"

"How soon do you need it?"

"Well, Elizabeth told me to wait on the investigation until Monday, so really, it can wait, but it would be great to start on it as soon as possible. Got to make hay while the sun's shining and all that. What's your schedule with Dick?"

Sighing, Mac sat down heavily in her chair. "He got the banks all taken care of, but now he has to report the Land Rover yet. We can do that and then head to the office to meet you. Will you be there for a while?"

"I promised to meet up with Wallace at Moonlight Beach. I can leave the email information and everything I have on your desk, though."

"Ok." With that, they said good bye, and Mac stood back up to go and find Dick.

He was sitting in the living room, staring out the window, unaware of her approach. Dick was silently running his left hand along the cast on his right arm, his tongue running along the edge of his fattened lip. Muttering something, he stood suddenly, turning towards the hallway and stopping short when he saw her standing at the edge of the hallway.

"Are you all right?" Mac ventured to ask, unsure if she wanted the true answer.

Dick seemed unsure himself. "Just trying to remember what happened Thursday night."

She heard the opening, the soft lilt in his voice, the silent question to her about her Thursday night. She stepped further into the room, cautiously, watching his expression as she said softly, "Yeah, Thursday night was almost a blur for me, too, but Veronica came and took the scotch away from me."

His eyes flickered in interest. "Scotch doesn't seem like your drink of choice, Mackie."

"Yeah, well, beer just didn't seem to cut it that night. Might as well souse yourself with the good stuff, right?"

He regarded her carefully. Then he walked to the dining table that sat next to a picture window, next to where Mac stood, and pulled out a chair, motioning her to join him. When they were both seated across from one another, Dick replied, "You know, I wasn't sure if you even remembered June third."

"How could I forget what that day is? Cassidy meant something to me."

Dick stared at his hands, which were nervously clasped together. "Yeah, but, he did a lot of damage to you and your friends. I mean your loyalties to them…"

Mac interrupted him. "My loyalties to them are the same loyalties you have to Logan. He hurt Logan just as much, wouldn't you say? It's confusing, to hate him and love him at the same time." Showing her vulnerability was not something Mac did often, but she felt it etched on her face as she whispered, "I always wanted to ask you about it, because I knew…I knew that you would be the one person that might even get what it was to feel that way."

"Really?" Dick's hands pulled apart and began inching their way towards hers, which were also resting atop the table. "Cassidy was my brother, and I did some pretty god-awful things to him. I mean, there's always been a part of me that blames myself for everything that Cassidy became."

She watched as Dick's hands got closer and closer to hers, but she quickly drew her hands in her lap, not meeting his gaze. "You can't blame yourself forever, Dick. At some point, people can't blame other people for their actions. Cassidy was responsible for what he did that year, plain and simple. He was two different people, Cassidy and Beaver. I've learned that they were facets to his personality, you know? As if he had multiple personalities. I never saw the evil side of him until that night he left me in that hotel room. In fact, I would never have believed what Veronica told me he did, except for what he did to me in that room."

Dick's sharp intake of breath caused her to look up at him. He looked angry and worried. "What the hell did he do to you?"

Realizing what it must have sounded like, Mac quickly shook her head in consternation. "He didn't do that." When he didn't look convinced, she repeated, "He didn't. But everything that did happened in there was enough to screw me up for a while."

Dick held her eyes for a few minutes. Coming to some kind of conclusion, he nodded slowly and sat back, rapping his knuckles on the table. "Okay, I believe you. Logan told me as much, but hearing it from you helps. The whole situation screwed me up for more than a while."

"So, was that what happened on Thursday?" Mac asked tentatively.

He was quiet for a while, almost as if choosing his words. "Do you know that every year, it gets a little easier, but then there are times when it comes shooting back? Like, how my dad used to dare to me to do things to Beav, things that I never would have thought of on my own. But then I remember all the fun times with Beav, like heading to Tijuana and surfing, hanging over the summer break. We were good friends and enemies, too, if that makes any sense."

"It's a little like that for me, too, Dick. I mean, we didn't have much for bad times. We had broken up once over something that didn't make sense to me at the time, but did once everything came out. And I think for Cassidy that what happened is because he was a victim of circumstance, and acting out because of it." She breathed in deep. "I don't want to talk about that though. Cassidy is my history, and something I only allow in my life once in a while. Because he wreaked a lot of havoc, and I'm not willing to let him continue." She allowed a small smile as she glanced at him. "I've always worried a little for you, because I knew you knew what it was like, to love him. To love him while everyone else around you hates him."

Dick chuckled, a dark, gloomy laugh. "And no one wants to listen to you about him, right?"

"Just my therapist."

He stilled, his breath caught and he stared at her. "Really?"

"I only see her about twice a year now, but yeah, really. What about you?"

"Uh…."he eyed her, pointing at his chest, "chronic depression right here. I see one regularly."

"And what would he say about your little escapade Thursday night?"

"Probably just that I'm an ass and an idiot."

"Look, would you at least tell what you remember from that night? Piecing it together with nowhere to start is not going to be easy."

Dick sighed. "Well, it was like a scavenger hunt. I went to all the old haunts." He squirmed in his seat. "You should have come along; it would have been a blast."

"I bet." Mac refused to be provoked by his little jabs that came out of nowhere. "Will you please just tell me what all you did?"

"Fine. But it really was like a scavenger hunt. I got home from work, and got all my gear together, I had decided that I should go surfing, but I didn't want to deal with all the people here at this beach. They all know me and I didn't want to talk to anyone. So I packed my board up and hit the road."

"What about all the beer bottles here, though, Dick? Or was that from before?"

He looked a little embarrassed. "I had those out and not cleaned up from before. I might have had one before I left, and I packed a cooler full, too. Anyway," he continued on, "I hit the road, and before I knew it, I was out in front of the Neptune Grand."

Mac felt a moment of dismay as she understood why Dick would have been at the Neptune Grand. She must have just missed him. She, too, had been there, but only for a few minutes. "What happened there?"

Scratching as his neck with his good hand, Dick answered, "They asked me to leave because of public drunkenness. They threatened to call the cops on me if I didn't 'vacate the premises,' so I left and headed to Moonlight Beach."

"Why there, though? What's special about Moonlight Beach? I hadn't even heard of it."

"Once, during my junior year, Beav and I went and rode out there. It was a good day, I just wanted to toast to him. That's all." Dick pushed the chair away from the table. "I got there, parked at the lot, and got out, I remember, I just sat at a bench for a while and watched the sunset. I was in my wetsuit, just drinking, there were some guys there that offered me some hard stuff, and I took it. I don't remember much from there."

Mac's ears perked at that. "If you can give us a description, maybe we can find those guys. There might have been something in their drink, they could have drugged you."

"How would that be for ironic? I'd deserve that, wouldn't I?" Dick said sardonically. "What are the chances of that?"

Not really sure what he meant by that, Mac was quiet. She wondered how long this 'nice' persona of Dick would last and when he would revert back to the Jackass persona that everyone knew so well. She wondered if the change in attitude was because they were alone or if it was because he was sober for the first time in twelve years. It made him actually…tolerable. He actually was pretty pathetic, with his sob story and obvious grief-ridden drive on Thursday night. It felt really…familiar, which was how she had always suspected it would be between them. It was a little alarming that Dick could be calm and that she had just had her first ever decent conversation with him, one where she didn't feel like throttling him afterwards. Actually, she felt like hugging him. Tightly.

"We need to get to the police department and report your car stolen. Veronica needs me to work on a different case, so I have to head to the office, and you're going to have to come with me." She stood. "Get your stuff together, you need to pack some clothes, cause it looks like you'll be spending the night at our place again tonight."

Dick stood also, and waggled his eyes at her, "It would be so much more relaxing here, though." He smiled, "Just think, we could have this whole big place to ourselves. No Ronnie to interrupt our tender moments."

Sighing, Mac flipped him the bird. He howled with laughter. "You and me are going to get along just fine, Mackie. I'll go pack." Now she wanted to throttle him.

A/N: So this last scene with Dick and Mac I hope it didn't seem like they just jumped into their conversation. I felt like I needed to give a little nice-ness to the guy and also, give a little insight as to what happened to him. I felt like he could play more vulnerable around Mac but be a jerk when there are other people around. That's where I'm going with that and their relationship. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for all the favs, follows, and reviews...I hope you all are continuing to enjoy this story.