Veronica woke with a start. She looked over at the clock, realizing that she had allowed herself to sleep through her alarm. Groaning, she pushed herself up and out of the bed, stretching and listening for noise outside in the living room. Late last night she had heard arguing when Mac had gotten home; worried, she had peeked out her door to see Dick irritably arranging himself on the couch, alone.

Now, however, as she peered out her door, Dick was not on the couch. Veronica could hear him in the kitchen, fumbling around with what sounded like the coffee pot. She made her way there, finding him cursing over spilled coffee grounds, trying unsuccessfully to clean it up with a rag, on his hands and knees.

"All fours, huh. Dick?" Laughing at his absurd form, Veronica strode around him to pour herself a cup of coffee, leaning against the counter to watch him with humor. "Ah, a Casablancas doing lowly housework. You're making my day."

He glared at her, sitting back on his knees. "So much for being helpful."

She smiled indolently, half closing her eyes as she looked back at him, coffee cup to her lips. "Glad to see you're up and at it, boy. Wallace said he'd be here at eight to pick you up for the day. You ready to go back to summer school?"

He rolled his eyes, standing and flinging the dishrag into the sink. Sarcastically, Dick muttered, "Only if I get to clean the chalkboard, since I'm apparently so good at these white collar jobs."

"Well, I suppose if you asked just right, you might just be able to." Veronica passed by him as there was a knock at the door, heading to answer it, "Wallace said you can help grade papers."

"Highlight of the year. How can I resist such a temptation?"

Letting Wallace in, Veronica shut the door and turned to face Dick. "Well, seems like you could use a break from MI for a few hours, so good thing you're excited." Glancing at Wallace, she asked, "What time do I need to pick him up?"

Wallace was watching uncertainly towards Dick, who was brushing coffee grounds off of the front of his shirt. "You owe me, Veronica. That's all I have to say about this." His gaze turned to her. "I have to leave before three, because of my flight for the basketball camp. I'll drop him off at MI on my way out so don't worry about picking him up. I won't be back for almost two weeks, so I hope you have some backup for this guy. Can you and Mac handle him?"

"It's just Little Dick, Wallace. I wouldn't be a Mars if he was too much to handle." With that, she ushered them both out the door to start their day.

Fifteen minutes after Wallace and Dick left, Mac guardedly opened her door and sauntered into the living room. She eyed the couch, passing it and heading into the kitchen where Veronica sat at the table. Getting herself a cup of coffee, Mac sat down across from her and sipped slowly.

"Everything all right?" Veronica asked. "I assume you heard Dick leave with Wallace."

Thank goodness. Mac swallowed and set her cup down. "Yeah, I'm glad I can get some work done today."

Considering that, Veronica studied her roommate. "I heard arguing when you got home last night. When I went to check, Dick was on the couch, alone. Is everything all right?"

Blowing out a sigh, Mac said forcefully, "I don't want to talk about it." The whole night felt like a nightmare. Or a dream. She couldn't quite decide which.

Raising her hands in defeat, Veronica relented. "That's fine. But if you change your mind…."

Not meeting her eyes, Mac just nodded. "I'll tell you, just not right now. I need to focus on other things this morning." Like anything else. Anything else at all.

"Okay. I'm going to take this moment to remind you that Wallace will be bringing Dick by the office at three. So prepare yourself." When Mac didn't respond, Veronica moved on, asking, "What is your day looking like?"

"I need to get my expense report and time into Keith." She mentally checked off her list, "check further into Madison's email; maybe try to look further into those ones that Mark sent her. They were weird. See if I can access her browser history."

Veronica scooted her chair out and stood, taking her empty coffee cup to the sink and rinsing it out. "I need you to work on some things on Dick's case, also," she said, not facing Mac. "After you left yesterday, Wallace and I got the whole story about what Dick did Thursday night. I need you to do some digging."

"It just so happens I have my shovel at the ready. "

The two women drove separately to MI twenty minutes later. Keith was already there, working away at his desk. Veronica went straight to her computer, booted it up and checked her phone's messages while she waited. There was only one from Elizabeth Sinclair: No news. Please continue.

And continue she would, but there were other pressing matters, like getting paid. Mac had reminded her as well of the reports she needed to get into her Dad this morning, so she hurriedly began working on them. There were three separate cases that she had been working on that needed billed out. They included the Sinclair's case, which normally she wouldn't have gotten together this early in the investigation, but Elizabeth had requested it, so when she set the paperwork on her father's desk an hour later, she briefly explained why it was included and then headed back to her desk and began working on cases.

She shot Wallace a quick text: How's the star student?

He's such a joy! He seems edgy, fyi.

What do you mean?

Hard to tell with D but he just seems nervous. Short tempered. More so than normal.

It might be withdrawal. Let me know if it gets worse.

OK. But when he starts frothing at the mouth and streaking through the hallways, my duty is done.

Chuckling, she scrolled through the menus on her phone, quickly finding what she was looking for and attaching it to an email to forward it to Mac. Wanting to warn Mac of what she was about to listen to, Veronica typed:

Mac,

After you left yesterday, Dick agreed, finally, to go through exactly what he remembered from Thursday night. Attached is the recording (I recorded it covertly because he said he would only tell it once.) I want you to listen to it, see what you think. If you have time to transcribe it, which would probably help us later. You'll see what digging needs to be done after you listen to it.

V

Hitting send, Veronica set to work, readying her newest questions for Norris before she called the police station regarding both Madison's and Dick's cases.

Mac had just set her reports on Keith's desk when her phone pinged, alerting her to an email. Seeing immediately that it was from Veronica, she turned directly around and went back to her desk to open and read it there.

Reading what Veronica had written, Mac found her ear buds and plugged them into the computer, opening a Word document to transcribe what was said. She was sure the only reason she had been asked to transcribe it was to keep her mind at task, for which she grateful to Veronica. Typing was mind-numbing for her, something she could do without much thought and then go back over later. Given the events that led to her leaving the Water Dog yesterday, Mac was sure that Veronica was probably a little hesitant to let her listen to Dick's version of the events on Thursday night.

Before she thought about it anymore or could change her mind, Mac pressed play, listening as the conversation started right up, beginning to type what she heard:

Veronica: How did you get a Neptune Grand water bottle? I assume you must have gone there at some point that night.

Dick: Fine. Yeah. I went to the Grand on Thursday. Big deal.

Veronica: Can you elaborate? It kind of is a big deal.

Dick: Hell, I don't know. Management asked me to leave.

Veronica: What else happened? You do realize that someone could have targeted you there?

Dick: You and your conspiracy theories.

Wallace: You have noticed that more often than not, Veronica finds that the conspiracy theory is correct, right? I wouldn't look down my nose for too long, Dick.

Veronica: I need all the facts to find out why you were targeted.

Dick: Plain and simple, Ronnie. Wrong place, wrong time. There can't be much more to it than that.

Veronica: Dick, I'm not here to judge you, I'm trying to help you. Who gave you the water at the Grand and why?

Dick: You are a thorn in my side. All right, fine. Full on story mode, you ready? Take notes cause I'm not repeating it.

Veronica: Duly noted. Go on.

Dick: (Long pause) So, I got home from the shop like normal, around 5:15. I got all my gear, packed my cooler and headed out, probably left the house well before six, I'd say.

Wallace: Were you drunk yet?

Dick: No, not by most standards. Maybe a bit buzzed, sure. I had a beer as I was packing up. Then I drove by the old house, sat across the street, had a toast to old times. Drove by Neptune High and then…. headed to the Grand.

Veronica: What time do you think you got there?

Dick: Maybe 6:30, 6:45? I wasn't on a schedule, it didn't matter to me. I wasn't paying attention.

Veronica: All right, now go through exactly what happened, try not to miss anything.

Dick: I parked in the parking garage, grabbed a beer and headed into the main lobby on the elevator, you remember how to get there, right?

Veronica: Did you see anyone in the parking garage or in the elevator?

Dick: Nah, but I wasn't paying attention. As soon as I got out of the parking garage elevator, I went straight to the main hotel elevator and tried to go up to the roof. They have it all lock and key now, as if everyone wants to take a swan dive from that place.

Wallace: What did you want up there for?

Dick: Not to take a dive, if that's what you're asking. I just…needed to clear my head with some fresh air. But since it was locked, I went back to the lobby, went to the bar, had a couple drinks and then went out to the front of the building. Management must not have liked me stumbling around, because they had one of their minions come and threaten to call the cops on me, so I left. He gave me a bottle of water and told me to 'sober up.' I took the water and the guy watched me leave. I went around the corner and then doubled back to my car through the alley.

Wallace: How drunk could you have been if you were able to find your way to your car like that? Barely a sober person could do that on a good day.

Veronica: So, this person that asked you to leave, was he in a uniform? Did you recognize him? And did you drink the water?

Dick: The dude was in a suit, yeah, and I'd never seen him before. But I rarely go down to the Grand anymore. As for the water…I set it in the console of the car.…yeah, I must have drunk some of it while I drove. I think when I got to the beach, I grabbed it, got out of the car and went to the back, got my cooler out….I stood there, looking out at the waves, I don't know…that's where it goes fuzzy. I must have just thrown the water into the cooler, locked up and went and sat at the bench for a while, watching the sunset. I remember for sure sitting and watching the sunset.

Veronica: Okay…while you were sitting there, did anyone else approach you? Mac said someone gave you hard liquor.

Dick: You're so nosy! God, I don't remember exactly! (A long beat of silence) There was a dude, he sat by me for a while. We talked about some stuff, you know, how life throws you curve balls and all that type of shit. He had a bottle of something…I think I had some…I don't remember now. I'm serious when I say it's fuzzy. I barely remember it. This is making my head hurt.

Wallace: What did the guy look like?

Dick: Seriously? All I remember is... uh… he was a white dude, I think.

Veronica: Do you remember Todd and the bon fire?

Dick: Vaguely. I was pretty shit-faced by then.

Veronica: Do you remember then, anything after the bon fire with Todd and his friends? Like, say, being punched in the face and breaking your arm?

Dick: I remember puking, feeling SICK. Like, puking out a train-load of shit. I don't think I've ever felt so nasty.

Wallace: Dude, do you remember whether you were hurt yet?

Dick: Well, my arm felt like fire. It was probably broken by then, yeah. It felt like someone was pulverizing my gut with a meat cleaver while I was puking—full force projectile. Next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital.

Pulling the ear buds from her ears, Mac sat back, ingesting what she had just heard. She was pretty sure that Veronica wanted her to pull security footage from the Grand, which she could do in her sleep. She wondered if she could pull any traffic light pictures or even head to Moonlight Beach to see if they had cameras in the parking lot. At the least, camera footage could verify the timeline, and hopefully give them some solid leads into what really happened that night to Dick.

She was still pissed as hell that he had gotten himself in that situation. She was pissed as hell that she had allowed him to get under her skin, to the point that she cared. And the problem was, she didn't understand why he was being the aggressive suitor all of the sudden, as if….as if he cared about her, too. She had analyzed their words from their argument the night before over and over again all morning. His were the words of someone that had harbored feelings for a while. With clarity, she recalled the look on his face in the hospital when he had first realized Mac was there. He had only calmed down once she had entered the room and spoken to him. Dick had kept his eyes locked on hers as if she was his lifeline. At the time, she had chalked it up to confusion and fear, but what if it meant more? What if there was something deeper to everything she had ever seen in him?

If that was true, then she was in even more danger of getting hurt than she had ever imagined. With this case, there would be no easy way to avoid him or to avoid her growing confusion regarding him. Because now, from what she had just heard, there were two serious leads on who could have drugged Dick with something—the suited man at the Grand or the man that sat with him on the bench. But what possible motive could someone have to drug Dick at the Neptune Grand and follow him to the Moonlight Beach, only to then wait four-plus hours to mug him? Grudgingly, she realized that there was a lot more to this case than a random mugging, and that many questions had yet to be asked of Dick himself. She wouldn't be able to avoid him forever.

Veronica hung the phone up, slightly discouraged. There was still no word about either Madison's or Dick's vehicle at the police station. A phone call needed to be made to Weevil, to see if he could check into whether or not a Land Rover or Mercedes had come through his cousin's "business." Ruminating on that, she started flipping through the emails that Mac had printed out from Madison's account.

Candy and a bag of goodies. A white suit. Don't forget the rest. What was Mark asking Madison to bring? It sounded drug related, in Veronica's eyes. And the fact that Mark asked her to meet him at two o'clock sharp meant that she had willingly gone with him, and that she had planned to do so well in advance before she left. Yet she had still met her mother, albeit briefly, at the restaurant downtown. What had Madison been up to?

Staring off into space, she didn't notice when Keith had stood from where he was working at his desk and sat down to sit across from hers. He cleared his throat, and her eyes snapped to his. "Sorry," she said, embarrassed, "I was just reviewing some things in my head."

"That's fine." Keith raised his hands, each holding paperwork. "I was just going over your expense reports…and I have a question."

Her gaze sharpened on him. "You don't usually question what I ask for reimbursement."

"No, no, it's not that. That's not the problem. It's this Vertical Limit class at the Ten."

Squirming uncomfortably in her chair, she asked, "Yeah, what about it? I was working a case."

Keith set the papers down on the desk, staring at her. "Well, that's the thing. Are we working the same case?"

Confused, Veronica asked, "What are you talking about? That's for the Sinclair case. Aren't you working a fraud case?"

Pushing the papers towards her, he answered, "Well, yes, as a matter of fact I am. Look at your report and then look at my case. I think you will see what I'm seeing."

Veronica pulled the papers to her, looking briefly at the expense report she had just submitted, with the receipt for the pole class stapled behind it. Then she looked at the other paper, which was a detailed description of the case that Keith had been working on for the past three weeks.

Suddenly, she saw it. Gasping, she murmured, "You have got to be kidding." Quickly glancing at Keith, she read aloud, "'Client: Mary McDougal, owner of ThinSlimNow, suspects accountant skimming of books. Wife of one Alex Tennison, owner of The Ten Gym; married, thirty-eight years. Two sons: Alex Junior Tennison, 35 years of age, and Mark Tennison, 32 years of age.' " Dropping the paper, she gazed at her dad in slight shock. "What are the chances of that?"

Shaking his head, Keith said, "I've been working the angle that it's the accountant, but I haven't been getting anywhere with it. She's clean. There's no proof of her skimming. So I've started focusing on other employees of the company, starting with the two sons, Alex Jr. and Mark. They both are working, in different capacities, for ThinSlimNow and The Ten Gym. Tell me what brought you to The Ten."

As concisely as possible, Veronica explained about Madison's class, why she had decided to go there to check it out, and how she had found out about the romantic relationship between Madison and Mark. She showed him the emails between the two lovers, pointing out the strange talk about "candy."

"Dad, what exactly is ThinSlimNow? What makes the owner believe there is skimming going on?"

Keith ran a hand across his forehead. "ThinSlimNow is a diet regiment based off an all-natural vitamins drink that, according to Ms. McDougal, is the new IT product of the century. It supposedly suppresses all appetites while still giving you enough calories…blah, blah, blah. I stopped listening when I realized it wouldn't go with my lasagna. She came to me because she thinks that the numbers are off and she wanted me to catch her accountant, one Devinity Quinn, skimming the books and padding her own pockets. I've set up multiple traps, and either this girl is smart or she isn't guilty. I vote for the latter. The trip I just took this weekend? It was to check up on the oldest son, Alex Jr., to see if he was really in Houston for a health and fitness conference, promoting the product, which he was. I was planning to do the same on Mark, which, now after listening to you, I'm thinking I should have checked into him first."

Shuffling through the papers, Veronica eyed her father warily. "So it's looking like, what, that Mark is skimming from one of the family businesses, and now has just run off with his girlfriend? What do you think the reference is with the candy is? What do you think Madison has to do with the fraud part of it?"

Keith grimaced, leaning back into his chair. "She may be just along for the ride, who knows at this point? What does the Sinclair family say about Mark?"

"That's the strange thing, Dad, they didn't know anything about him until I found out about the connection from Nancy, the substitute instructor. And I haven't told them at all about the emails, we just found them late Saturday afternoon. Mrs. Sinclair asked us to hold off on the investigation until this morning, but I went ahead and had Mac get into the email, because it wasn't looking like we were going to find her by this morning." Not wanting to divulge anymore, Veronica shrugged. "Where is Mark supposed to be? Maybe he's at a conference and had Madison meet him there."

Keith motioned at the paperwork Veronica still held. "Well, according to the schedule that Ms. McDougal gave me, he is supposed to be on his way to New York to pitch ThinSlimNow to some CFO's for a major gym on the East Coast."

"Where was he last week?"

Standing up, Keith replied, "That I don't know. I hadn't gotten to him yet. I'm going to email Mrs. McDougal right now for his schedule from the last three weeks, since that seems to be when all these emails started up. Let's just track his whereabouts, see if anything more adds up. Maybe you should head back to the Ten, and formally interview the staff."

Watching as her dad rounded his desk, she spoke up, "I wanted to look into a few things regarding Madison's car. And I wanted to put an alert out on her passport, do some of that type of digging this morning. I might not be able to get to the gym until later today."

Waving his hand, Keith grunted. "On second thought, you might as well wait anyway. I wouldn't mind going over Mark's schedule with you and Mac." He pointed at her, "These two cases are still separate for now. We do our own digging until there's more proof they're linked. Maybe you two should just go to the Ten later for a class, like you did on Friday. You can both do a little digging. Two set of ears and eyes are better than one sometimes."

"Hey, Mac." Veronica came out and sat across from where Mac sat at her desk. "How's it hanging?"

Looking up from her work, Mac realized right away that Veronica seemed wired, a spark in her eye that she got when she was closing in on a case. Making a face, Mac said, "I know that look isn't because of Dick's case. What's up?"

"You ready for a little field work?"

"My dear Bond, aren't I just the Techy-Q? I'm just patiently sitting over in my corner, waiting for an order of gadgetry." She smirked, "What do you got?"

"We need to go back to the Ten this afternoon, and take some aerobics."

Mac's smirk faded. "Uh, define aerobics. I already take kickboxing. "She flexed her arm, "I've got the guns to prove it."

"You can't get out of it quite that easily. We've just had what we call in the business a break in the case." Veronica then proceeded to tell Mac the connection between the Sinclair case and the ThinSlimNow case. "So we need to get in and ask around again, albeit stealthily. If we both go in as trying out the class, we can-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want me to what?"

"Let's just take it hour by hour, here, Mac. Keep it in mind that we have a 'Covert Mission'," she air-quoted, "later this afternoon. Let's move on to Dick's case. Did you listen to the recording?"

Knowing that Veronica was trying to distract her from their assignment, Mac huffed. "Subject successfully changed. Yes, I listened to the recording. I have been working on getting into the security mainframe at the Grand…I'm through some of it but they have some firewalls that is going to take some time. I should be in by lunch or shortly thereafter. I was thinking to get into the police department site and check the traffic light camera archives, just to see if they have anything. And after that, I'm looking into seeing whether there's a camera at Moonlight Beach."

"Actually, Wallace and I looked when we were there. There is a camera—but it faces the sidewalk coming in from the pier and not on the beach or the parking lot. We might be able to get something, but it won't be much, I'm afraid."

Mac rubbed her neck with a hand. "Great. Well, if it's all we got, I'll make the best of it."

"I'm calling Weevil next." Veronica looked back into the other office, "Dad's talking to Mrs. McDougal now, she should be forwarding Mark Tennison's schedule over her by noon as well. Then we need to go over it, all three of us." She paused. Taking in a breath, she raised her eyes slowly to meet Mac's. "If we find that this is a real link, Mac….we will have to tell Mrs. Sinclair about it, and then she's going to know we read the emails. If she knows that…"

Mrs. Sinclair knowing that they knew about the emails equaled them knowing about the 'adoption.' Realizing what Veronica was saying, Mac considered the repercussions. She thought of the previous day, sitting around playing board games with her family, with the people that raised her. They were her rock; they'd been with her for twenty-eight years, they had kept her close to them and loved her even though she wasn't theirs. Although they never had directly told her about the Sinclair's, in her heart she knew their reason was fear. Fear that she would turn her back on them and run to the monetary security that the Sinclair's represented. Fear of the unknown. She had never pushed them because she already knew the truth and knew it would only cause pain. Mac was guilty of the fear as well.

Pushing all those thoughts aside, Mac replied, "If it's for the case, we do it."

"Mac." Veronica tipped her chin. "This isn't easy. It won't be easy. Just…just prepare yourself that we're going to have to have that conversation with her soon. I want to give you some time, but this might get out of control fast."

Nodding, Mac looked down at her desk. "Veronica, you and I know that MI can't work by not telling the client what they are paying us to find out. Tell her about the emails when it comes time. I'm fine with it."

Chewing her lip, Veronica sat in silence for a full minute. "I just…I just know it's hard, all this. You're my friend first, partner second. I wish that it was different."

"I know. Me, too." Firming her resolve, she added, "When Elizabeth Sinclair walked in here last week, I knew it would eventually come to this. It's not like I haven't had some time to prepare for it."

Giving her a look, Veronica huffed, "Preparing and reality are two different things sometimes."

Shrugging, Mac smiled, "I'm all for reality slapping me in the face. I've grown accustomed to the sting."

At 12:30, Veronica heard a triumphant "hoorah" from Mac's desk, and she stopped her work and strolled out to where Mac sat, grinning. "Why so jubilant?"

Mac pointed at her largest monitors, which Veronica couldn't quite see, so she came around the desk to look. Obviously in the Neptune Grand's mainframe, there was a box with a bunch of code in the middle of many other open screens. "I got it. And they still have Thursday's; it looks like they keep footage backed up for six months. Give me an hour and I'll have all of the footage of Dick there that night."

"Awesome news, great job, Mac. I called Weevil and he's looking into the car situation with his cousin, so that end is going. Let's break for lunch. I'm completely worn out." Veronica stepped back in to where her dad sat, grabbing her purse and promising to bring back some takeout. He only nodded distractedly, so with that, the two women headed out.

An hour and a half later, they returned to MI with a large sandwich for Keith. He motioned them directly into sit around his desk, saying quickly, "Veronica, honey, you got a package, and it's sitting on your desk." She eyed it interestedly, but Keith went on, "I just got the email from ThinSlimNow showing Mark Tennison's schedule for the past three weeks." He turned his screen so that the ladies could see the spreadsheet. "I've only skimmed quickly through this, but I was hoping that Mac could verify through the airlines these flight dates. From what I can see, there a multiple flights that need to be verified." He pulled up another screen. "I had them forward Alex Jr.'s schedule also. His flights should be checked, also. I've forwarded you both this email, so you can double check it with any information that you have concerning Madison's schedule." He drummed his fingers on his desk. "I'm going to confirm the hotel reservations and conference rosters that Mark was supposed to be at these past few weeks. Let's work till about three and gather again to see where we've gotten. If you both head to the Ten later, you're going to need time to get your workout clothes and get there to sign up for the five o'clock class. That should work fine."

"Wallace is dropping Dick off around three. You're going to have babysit him while Mac and I are at the Ten." Veronica informed her dad, "Somehow, I can't picture Dick on a pole."

Mac snickered. "I bet he would be glad to pretend."

Keith put his hands to his ears. "Ladies! My ears are burning." He dropped his hands back to his desk. "I would be glad to keep Dick, that won't be a problem."

They separated then, Mac going to her computers to start the multiple searches on flight information and Veronica to her desk to check for messages from Weevil. Only as she sat down did she remember the package her dad had told her about, which was sitting on her chair. It was a medium box, fairly light, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the return address was the Naval Base. It was from Logan.

Smiling, she could hardly contain herself from ripping the package wide open right then. But she wanted to savor the moment, as if he himself were here with her, because of this wonderful unexpected package. Like a faraway kiss he'd blown from his hand to her, she wanted to capture it and keep it close, especially because she had a week yet before she would hear from him again. Veronica wondered if he had known that when he had shipped it. Doubtful, but still, it helped to think he had planned it that way.

Taking scissors from her drawer, she cut the tape from the top of the box, making quick work of it. She opened it, seeing two separate boxes and an envelope with her name written on it stuck on the top of the larger one. She opened it, pulling the letter out and reading:

Dearest Veronica,

I got in some sight-seeing, a place that you absolutely have to visit someday. All I can say is that the sand is so white and the ocean is so blue, it's unlike anything I've ever seen, even in all my surfing years. I imagined us walking the beaches together, and making love beneath the stars…we're coming back here together, and we'll do both, many times over.

I saw these things and thought of you, but I wanted you to have them before my return. They reminded me of a long time ago and now as well. I hope you like them as much as I do. Wear them for me. July 8th. I'm almost to counting the hours, it's so close. By the time you get this, it will be closer still.

Love you always. Spanning continents.

Logan

Smiling, Veronica quickly wiped her eyes and opened the smaller box. She gasped as she held out a wide bronze bangle bracelet, the edges braided with a fine bronze wiring. The center held a turquoise stone, held there by thicker wiring that wrapped around the edges to make a light curl at the bottom of the stone. That thicker wire was braided into the bangle by the thin wiring. The bronze itself had been distressed. She saw instinctively what he had meant with this piece: the bangle itself was something Veronica would have chosen years ago, when they had first dated, and she discerned that the turquoise represented the blueness of the ocean that he had written about. Immediately, she pulled it from the box and slipped it onto her wrist, loving the feel of it, loving knowing that Logan had handled it last, choosing it for her with care.

She turned back to the box, carefully pulling out the last box from within. She opened it, seeing right away it was a piece of silk clothing, and pulled out the delicate fabric with care. It was a classic little black dress, and as she pulled it out, she was amazed at the beauty of it. The straps were thin but woven with an intricate lace design, the style cut short in the front and tapered in the back, with black stitching across the top. Pulling it completely out of the box, a second envelope fell to the ground from within the folds of the dress. Grabbing it, she could see that Logan had written on the outside of this envelope "V…for later." Looking around and seeing her father engrossed in his work, she quickly found her purse and stuck it deep in the bottom. She would enjoy that later, indeed.

True to form, Wallace dropped Dick off at three o'clock sharp just as the group was re-convening in the back office for their updates. Mac had already sat down across from Keith's desk when she heard the shuffle at the front door as Dick let himself in. Determinedly keeping her back to the inner door, she felt her pulse kick up a notch as she heard his complaining begin. She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud as Veronica began in on him right away, the bickering continuing as Dick followed Veronica into where Keith and Mac were already sitting.

"I'm telling you, Ronnie, they have a placard with your face on it with horns on it, posted in the teacher's lounge. Now that I'm VIP I know these things." Dick voice wavered briefly as Mac caught his eye as he sat down next to her. "You're still legendary, by the way. Ol' Wu said to tell you hi."

"Now where would they have gotten a picture like that?" Veronica asked, a little put out. "Wallace would have told me about that. There's no way." She seemed overly defensive, though, and Dick hooted with laughter. Mac felt her lips reluctantly turn up as Veronica pulled a chair from her desk and dragged it over to sit around Keith's desk.

Mac stared down at the paperwork on her lap, barely glancing at him as she told him, "There's some footage I will need you to look at eventually, though, I have some work yet to do on it, but it should be ready—"

Veronica interrupted her, "It won't be ready until well after the class this evening, Mac…Dick, she worked on your case this morning but has been working on another one this afternoon…that has been taking all of our time today."

"Well, I'm hurt that you aren't putting my case first, Ronnie. I'm paying double, aren't I?"

"Actually, I wasn't aware you were paying at all." Veronica cleared her throat. "But if that's the case—"

Dick put a hand up to stop her. "Relax, work on your case. I trust Mackie here to work overtime to get me my information. I'm betting if we stay up all night we can use the time to our advantage."

Mac felt her heart stop and she couldn't help throwing him a quick glance of indignation at his innuendo. Veronica and Keith were silent for a beat, a moment of uncertainty passing between them. Continuing on as if unaware of the sudden tension, Dick asked, "What's this class you're going to? Can I come? Ooh, is it a painting class? Are you doing the nude male form? I could be your muse."

"Muses are for inspiration Dick, and you're hardly inspiring," Veronica remarked, "Besides, I think you mean a model. And no, it's not a painting class, and no you cannot come."

"I think that was a double negative, Ronnie, so that means I get to go!" He smiled, flipping his blond hair out of his eyes. "You're such a nice babysitter."

"Dick." Mac eyed him from her chair, "The class is for a case, and we really can't have you there. I doubt that men are allowed."

"Ooh, now I am intrigued. Really, but then what are you going to do with me, since I'm not allowed to be alone, like, ever?" Dick leaned forward and picked up a file folder labeled 'Sinclair' and he paused as his forefinger ran over the label. "Sinclair, huh?" he murmured, thumbing through it, "As in Madison Sinclair?"

Mac grabbed the folder out of his hand and threw it back onto Keith's desk. "Really, Dick, this has nothing to do with you. You should go sit out on the couch and wait for us to finish up."

Keith unexpectedly interrupted. "Wait, wait. I have an idea. Dick, do you ever work out at The Ten?"

The younger man met Keith's eye with interest. "Why do you ask? I'm more all-nat-ur-all, if you know what I mean…don't have a lot of use for machines that do my running for me." He shrugged. "I surf. That's about it. Why?"

Nodding, Keith leaned forward, excited. "Have you ever taken a spinning class?"

"Uh…no." Dick looked around the room, eyeing each of them. "Why?"

"I think you should go to The Ten with the ladies here, and do some digging yourself." When Keith heard the intake of breath from said ladies, he held up a hand, "Just listen up. Looking at this schedule, I see that Alex Jr goes to the five o'clock all-male cycling class when he's in town. I happen to know he came into town late last night, so he'll be there. This would be a perfect opportunity for someone to get into that class and meet him, and maybe fish around a little. I can prep Dick on what to say," Keith added, seeing the looks on their faces. "I wanted to do it myself, but I met the man just yesterday in Houston. There's no way he wouldn't recognize me."

Seeing the reactions of Mac and Veronica, Dick rubbed his hands together. "This is going to be fun."

"But…but what about your arm? Certainly you won't be able to cycle with a cast on." Mac sputtered.

Dick placed a hand on her knee, grinning. "You just worry about yourself, and I'll worry about me." Pulling his hand away, he said softly, just to Mac, "Let me be helpful. I want to." Louder, he said, "I'm sick of being cooped up all day. Spinning sounds like just the thing." As if just realizing something, he asked, "What class are you two going to be in?"

An awkward glance passed between Veronica and Mac as Veronica answered, "It's kind of like a Zumba class…but different."

Mac rubbed her temple with her forefinger. "Yeah, Dick, you just worry about yourself and we'll worry about us. Don't ask any more questions. Please."

A/N: I'm finding that the more involved these cases are getting, MI is very very busy with them both. I hope that I am able to keep your interests with each Madison's and Dick's cases and that I'm not skipping around too much. I hope I've created a bit of intrigue with them as well, writing mystery is very new to me. Thank you for all of the support-comments, favorites, and follows. I appreciate that you take time to read this work and I hope you are still enjoying the story. I may be slowing down with my 'fast' updates, I don't plan on it, but I have more on my plate in the summer months than any other time. I hope to get at least 1 chapter a week, but they may not be as long. As of right now, my chapters just keep getting longer and longer, ha, it's hard to quit writing. Thank you again! I love your comments, to see how you are enjoying this. Please throw me your thoughts if you have the time.