A/N: Thank you very much for reading. I hope you all like this! Thanks also for every follow, favorite and reviews.

Chapter 10 Group Effort

The next hour was eaten up with preparation. Mac and Veronica were so busy planning their own strategy that they barely registered the fact that Keith was going over both cases with Dick and that Dick was paying careful attention to what he was being told. Twice, Mac passed by where the men were working to hear Dick ask questions that she herself would never have thought to ask, and was impressed by his obvious interest and care.

Just before four o'clock, all but Keith left to drop Mac's car off at the apartment, and then all piled into Logan's convertible and headed out, first to the beach house to pick up workout clothes for Dick and then to the bank to pick up cash to pay for the classes. By the time they had reached the parking garage across the street of the gym, it was well past four-thirty. There was little time to discuss much as they each went separate ways out of the garage and into the gym's front door. They planned to get back to the car the same way that they had left it: alone.

As Mac rounded the corner of the front of The Ten's building, she could see that Dick had reached the door before her, so with determination she kept up her step, reaching the door as he pulled it open. Catching her eye, he smiled politely, as if to a stranger holding the door for her as she went through.

"Thank you," she murmured, barely glancing at him, breezing right in to the front desk where the clerk was sitting. Nodding to her, Mac chirped, "Hi! I need to see if I can get into the…"her train of thought wandered as her eyes slid involuntarily over to where Dick had stepped up to the counter next to her, "uh…into the Vertical Limit class tonight at five…" she felt her lips start to tremble in slight hysterical laughter, so she pinched the skin of the opposite palm to calm herself, "I was hoping to get into it…yeah, uh…if there's room for me."

The clerk stood, her boobs bouncing up against the low-cut black spandex track suit she wore. "Sure, you just need to fill out the form that says we're not liable for any injuries. The cost is at the bottom." She motioned to Dick and asked, "What can I do for you?"

Mac bent her head down, trying to focus all of her attention on the form in front of her and failing as she heard Dick say dryly, "Hell, I was here for cycling but I'll take what she's having."

Mac couldn't help it. Honestly, she couldn't help but glance at him, catch his eye and grin as the clerk burst out laughing. "You and every other man in the place." The clerk handed Dick a clipboard, "Here's the form for cycling, same deal, sign it and pay the fee at the bottom." Handing them both a clipboard and pen, the clerk sat back down to continue working on the paperwork that sat in front of her.

As Mac filled out her form and handed over the money, her eye fastened on the poster behind the reception area that was advertising the Vertical Limit. Oh, my. She looked over to where Dick stood, a lecherous grin on his face, waggling his eyebrows at her. Smirking, he mouthed, "Zumba class, huh?" and pushed his form toward the clerk. "Excuse me," Dick leaned over the counter, squinting at the girl's name tag, "Uh…Candy, do you have a co-ed Vertical Limit class? I mean, you could even host speed dating between twirls around the pole. Think of all the good that could come from it." As Candy laughed at Dick and he worked his magic, Mac finger waved and left the counter to head towards the locker room so she could change.

Veronica was already in the workout room by the time Mac entered. They made eye contact as Mac made her way to the front of the room, internally groaning as she stepped up to a hooker pole between two perky blonds in skimpy shorts and sports bras. They were already stretching, readying themselves for the class. Mac geared herself, trying to channel her inner-porn star as she placed both hands on the pole, one above the other, her mind trying to wrap around the idea of what she was really doing here. She figured she might be able to keep up with the workout, given that she took kickboxing a few times a week, but she had never been someone super comfortable exhibiting sexy behavior in front of a crowd, especially when not encouraged by liquor. She was more of what people called the designated driver in those instances, the wallflower of the group. So the fact that she was supposedly here by her own accord felt ridiculous to her.

She twisted to her right, leaving her left hand on the pole, as if to stretch, just as the woman to her right twisted towards her. Mac grinned as she caught her eye. "How do you like this class? This is my first time, ever, to something like this."

The woman let go of the pole, bending her leg to hold her foot as she stretched those muscles. "Oh, yeah, I never miss. Trust me, you won't want to quit once you start!" She moved onto the other leg, "This is great cardio and it gives you some super skills."

Not sure where to go with that information, Mac nodded energetically. "That's what I hear. I also heard that the instructor is bad ass."

"She's totally bad ass, for sure." The lady chuckled. "That's a great way to describe Madison. When she's here, she's tough. She gives you no excuse to slow down."

Jumping on the comment, Mac asked, "What do you mean, when she's here? Isn't she always?"

"Not the past two Vertical Limit classes. And I take one of her other classes, too, and she hasn't been there either."

"Is that normal? What do they do when she's gone?"

"That's the thing; she's never missed. I mean, when her sister got sick and was in the hospital, she was here. She's too dedicated to miss."

"Wow, her sister's sick?" Mac felt herself still. "How do you know that?"

"Oh, me and Maddie are kind of friends, you know? We get smoothies at the health bar after workouts sometimes. She's a hoot."

"What's wrong with her sister? Is that where she is then?"

The woman made a face. "To be honest, Maddie's been a little quiet about that. She told me one of the last times I saw her that Lauren—that's the sister—is fine now. It was some sort of tumor on her kidney? I don't know. Anyway, she's fine now except she has to have all these expensive treatments. Maddie was freaking out a couple of weeks ago because her dad is losing his insurance or something."

For Madison being quiet about Lauren the lady sure knew a lot about it, Mac thought. "Wow, did he lose his job or something?" She bent down in a superficial stretch.

Shaking her head, the woman frowned. "I really don't know. Maddie was just super worried is all I know."

"Wow that sounds hard. That must be why she's missing, you think?" Mac turned to watch as the instructor for the evening entered and took her place in the front. "Maybe she just took a get away with her husband or boyfriend or something instead."

Barking out a laugh, the blond shook her head. "That would really surprise me. They told us last week she was sick. I'm Tessa, by the way."

"Cindy."

"Ladies! It's time for the Vertical Limit! I'm Samantha and I will be your instructor this evening. Everyone to your poles!"

Soon the women were gyrating to the music, legs entwining around poles, bodies involved in strange and exotic movements that Mac struggled at first to keep up with. The hour long class was exhausting, especially for Mac who wasn't used to graceful, twisty, dance-like moves. Kickboxing was a completely different sport; this was more ballet-like. She enjoyed the fluidity of it; the instructor made the movements look easy, and she could easily identify those that were regulars to the class. They were the ones that had no struggle snaking their bodies to the topmost part of their poles; they could hold themselves perpendicular against the pole with just their legs, their arms fanned out around them in sensual poses. Mac could feel herself slipping into the rhythm of the music, almost doing her own routine instead of listening to the direction of the instructor. More than once, Samantha approached her to help her with her form, giving tips on where to place her hands and how to move her hips just so. A few times she even received praise at how well she was doing, which surprised and pleased her at the same time.

The first half of the class flew by quickly because she was enjoying it so much. About forty-five minutes into the routine, however, as she was following the direction of Samantha to do a 'Sumo Squat to a Hair Flick'—involving her back against the pole, one hand above her head, grasping it, then sliding down ever so slowly (and, if Mac did admit, ever so erotically) raising up to circle the pole, bending over and flicking her head back in a seductive pose—was when she saw him. Just as she had slid down the pole, Mac opened her eyes to the mirror, to check her form; but her eyes froze instead on the image of Dick staring wide-eyed at her, his lower lip caught in his teeth. The mirror reflected the whole of the room to where Dick's face was framed in the small window encased in the doorway. Right at that moment, Samantha chose to come critique her, and, having little choice, Mac began the movements again and again until the instructor was satisfied with her improvement. When she looked again, Dick had disappeared from the door.

Omigod. Mac couldn't believe him. What was Dick doing, ogling at their class, when he should have been in cycling with Alex Jr? Why did he have to choose that moment to look? Although, if she were completely honest with herself, was there really an ideal time for him to be watching? The whole class was based on sex appeal. From start to finish, Samantha had them gyrating in almost embarrassingly orgasmic fashion. It wasn't for the prudish. Offhandedly, she wondered how many of these women ran home to jump their men right after this class. She definitely could see the advantage of having one of those at home waiting for her.

There were only ten minutes left until cool down, for which Mac was glad. As much fun as she was having, her mind kept going back to whether Dick had realized that she had seen him watching, or if he registered that she had put her full effort in when Samantha had been helping, because she knew he was watching. Subconsciously, Mac liked that his watching her turned her on a little more, even more so than the movements and music going on around her. It heightened her senses to think that he might be watching even this very moment. Telling herself to get a grip, she focused her attention on the last minutes of the class and then finally, it was over.

As everyone packed up to leave, Mac smiled at Tessa, the woman next to her. "Wow that was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. I might just have to sign up to be a regular!" Packing her water bottle into her bag, she zipped the bag closed and slung it over her shoulder. "Do you know when the real instructor…uh…Madison? When she's supposed to get back?"

Tessa pulled her hair out of her face and drew a hairband around it to make a ponytail. "I don't know that. But this was a different substitute tonight, she was pretty good. I think if you come back, you'll be happy with it. I sure am." Bending down, she grabbed her own bag and stood up straight. "But personally I think she probably just needed some down time and I bet she'll be back later in the week." With that, Tessa said her goodbyes and headed for the doorway.

Turning in a circle, she saw that Veronica had latched onto a dark-haired woman in the back, so Mac decided to step up to Samantha, who seemed distracted as she was tossing clothing into a large duffle bag. Going with perky excitement, Mac plastered a huge smile on her face. "That was really great. Thanks so much for all your pointers, I've never done this before tonight, so it really helped. You're a great instructor!"

The instructor glanced up from her work. "Oh, why thank you! I actually used to be a professional…you know, dancer. I worked down at the Seventh Veil."

"Seriously? Well, then, no wonder you're so great at this. Are you the regular instructor for this?" Mac hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder. "If you have so much experience, you definitely should be."

"Actually, no, I'm just substituting tonight for the Ten's regular instructor who's out on personal time." Samantha looked around as if suddenly uncomfortable, "They called me in for this week. I work full-time at The Max as a Pole-Cardio Instructor there." She cleared her throat and winked. "You did awesome for your first time. You should definitely keep it up."

"They called you in for this whole week? Where's the regular instructor, on vacation?"

Samantha pointedly looked at the clock on the wall. "I really couldn't say. They just told me that she had emailed some long excuse and that they needed someone ASAP. I have to get over to the Max now for my class there at seven. Sorry, I'd love to chat…but…" reaching into her bag, she produced a business card and slyly handed it to Mac. "I would love to have you in my regular class, if you aren't attached to the Ten. You were enthusiastic and caught on really quickly, which is a must for pole-cardio." She lowered her voice, "The price is better over there. Look it up online, my class is called PolePlay. Think about it. I'd love to see you there." Taking the card, Mac slipped it into her shirt and under her bra. The funny thing was that Mac already was already member of The Max…so joiining in Samantha's class wouldn't be hard to do at all. Ruminating on that, Mac headed to the locker rooms to take a shower.

Veronica felt like she got nothing out of the Vertical Limit class except a huge case of horny. Her insides were a tight bundle of nerves, her skin was flushed and she longed for the feel of fingers cool on her skin…groaning, she tried desperately to get her mind back on the case as she rushed to catch up to April, the woman that had worked out next to her. They had started a conversation about how Madison had been acting the previous Monday and had been interrupted by the start of the class so Veronica wanted to finish the discussion.

"Hey, April! Wait up!" She called out, jogging after her, "You left your water behind!" Veronica held up the water bottle that she had taken out of April's bag just for this reason, "I thought you might miss it!"

Turning and stopping, April grinned sheepishly, "I am such a spaz! I swear I put that thing in my bag when I was packing up! Thanks!" Taking it from Veronica's outstretched hands, the two of them walked side by side to the locker room. "I would have missed this one. I like this bottle."

"I'm glad I found it then. You wouldn't want to go a week without it!" Trying to get back on their earlier conversation, Veronica dove right in, "Do you only come to the Monday classes? That's what I'm thinking I might just do." Opening the locker room door, she let April enter first. "At least until I get a better feel for it."

Reaching the rows of lockers, April unzipped her bag and found a key ring, pulling it out and selecting a small gold key, stepping up to a locker and began unlocking the lock. "That might be a good plan for a while." The lock clicked open. "I usually try for one to two a week. When Madison gets back, you'll get the true feel of it. Today was unreal, though, that Samantha lady is almost as good as Madison."

Biting back a rude remark, Veronica plowed through with, "Yeah, you were starting to tell me about that, you know, Madison? Last week, when she was here last? That sounded like quite a story."

April began pulling out shoes and a makeup bag. "I don't know if it's a story, but …"setting the items down on the bench behind her, April reached back into the depths of the locker, "Yeah, well, Madison came in just downcast that night. She came in all huffy and was pretty rough with us, and finally, at the end, I just went up to her and asked, 'what the hell is your problem?'" Getting everything out, she slammed the locker shut and faced Veronica. "She just said that she was worried about her dad's job and about some medical issues. That's about it. But it was kind of a drama-class that night."

Unsure what to think about that, Veronica frowned. "Isn't she pretty rough anyway? I've heard she's tough. Medical issues? Is she sick?"

"Well, I'm not her BFF, I don't know if it's her or what. I had heard that her sister was sick though, so that might be it." April scooped all her things into her arms. "And as for tough? Yeah, she's tough, but usually her workouts don't involve her screaming at us the entire hour."

A half an hour later, Mac stepped out of the elevator and onto the concrete floor of the parking garage, seeing right away that Veronica and Dick were already in the car, waiting. Her step weakened slightly when the two turned to watch her approach. Sliding into the front passenger seat, Mac kept her eyes on her hands, feeling Dick's hot stare burning into the back of her neck. Ignoring the rising heat there, she bent to set her bag between her feet and said loudly, "Well, I think I got a little bit of information. How did everyone else's investigations go?"

"Very enlightening, actually," Dick murmured in Mac's ear when she had sat back up. Louder, he grumbled, "I think I have blisters on my balls."

"No one feels sorry for you, Dick," Veronica jibed as she maneuvered the car out of the parking spot and through the darkness of the garage, "It's the name of the biz to get some war wounds." She pulled out onto the street, turning the opposite direction of the Ten. To Mac, she said, "I found out a tiny amount, not a lot to go on. But we'll talk about it when we get to the apartment. I just text Dad before you got to the car, and he's meeting us there."

Mac sat back in her seat, glad for the silence that the convertible afforded her, the wind noisily blowing, making it hard to hear each other over the hum of the traffic. She closed her eyes, relishing the feel of the air tangling in her hair, short as it was. Behind her, she could feel Dick's legs hitting into the back of her seat, wriggling as he adjusted his long legs, attempting to get comfortable. Ignoring him, Mac kept her eyes tightly shut, even as Veronica began speaking next to her. Instead of answering her friend, she ignored her as well, concentrating on everything invading her senses. She could smell the sweet citrus of the orange trees and the exotic flavors from the multiple restaurants that lined the streets. She listened to the sounds of laughter and chatter as the car slowed to a stop at a traffic light, as the air ceased fanning her face, and then they were off again, her body slipping toward the console as Veronica took a right hand turn. Her eyes burned from lack of sleep, from the stress of the day, from too much thought processing in her head. She felt herself lightly doze, and before she knew it, they had stopped and parked, Veronica slamming the door as she stepped out from the driver's side, and Dick had jumped over the seat and out, opening the door for her, his eyes concerned, a question lighting them asking what he could do to help her.

The quick shake of her head told him to leave her, and she barely caught the slight eye roll he gave her before he turned around and sauntered across the lot and to the apartment. Sighing, she willed herself awake, unlatched her seat belt, grabbed her bag, and exited the car to head after him, her muscles screaming from the sudden movement, the proof of her workout. Veronica hadn't been joking on Friday when she complained of being sore.

When Mac let herself into the apartment, she saw that Keith was already there, waiting with take-out bags lining the table. Veronica was busily getting out plates and pulling out glasses from the cabinet. Dick was digging in the utensil drawer, gathering forks and knives, and after placing those next to the food, headed to the fridge to grab the water pitcher that was there. Taking the glasses that Veronica had just pulled out, he filled all four of them and brought them to the table, where Keith took out the containers of food, handing Dick the now empty bags to set on the counter next to the microwave.

"Look at you, all handy," Veronica drolly commented, handing him napkins, which he immediately placed on the table, "I almost don't recognize this helpful side of you. Is this the Richard part of the Dickster?"

Dick sat down when he found nothing more to do and retorted, "You know, Ronnie, I'm surprised at you. I mean, really, I own my own place, I do know my way around a kitchen." He pushed out the chairs on either side of him with his feet, "And, FYI, I'm very handy. They call me the Handy Dick."

"More like the Handsy-Dick." Veronica sat down in one of the proffered chairs. "I think you may have been hearing that wrong all these years." She passed him a plate and began digging into the containers of lasagna and salad, not waiting for Mac or Keith to join them. "Get it while it's hot, folks. No promises we'll leave you any."

Strolling over to sit across from Dick, Keith filled a plate with food, waiting until Mac had sat down in the only chair left before asking how it had gone for all of them at The Ten. Mac waited for a moment until she was sure no one would beat her to tell their story first, and began with, "I found out that Madison has been worried about Lauren and something about her dad losing his insurance benefits. Apparently even though Lauren is getting better, she has to have treatments that are super expensive. And I spoke with the instructor; she told me that she's substituting for a week because Madison emailed management asking for the week off. That's about all on my end."

"An email? Really?" Keith sat back, munching on a bread stick. "Maybe we can get into their system and read it…Mac?"

"Consider it done. Not a problem at all. I want to get back into her account anyway, so it probably will be there if she's using that account. If not, we can still access The Ten's."

"I talked to a lady named April that takes the class steadily, and what she told me basically confirms what Mac just said about the insurance… that Madison had been worried about her dad's job and worried about medical issues, which I assume meant Lauren….and now, most likely, that the treatments won't be covered by insurance. " Veronica supplied. She took a long drink of water. "I didn't find out much else. I'm glad to know about the email that gives us something to work from."

While they processed this, Keith focused on Dick, asking, "And what did Mr. Casablancas find out in his class?"

Having finished eating, Dick had been watching the exchange between all three of his dinner mates. Addressing Keith, he said, "I can give the word for word account if you'd like…since I might not know what's important or not."

Dick watched Mac turned, giving him a quick finger wave as she left to head to the locker room and change. He finished up with the front-end clerk and then headed his own way to the men's locker room and the on to the cycling class.

As he entered the room, he could see that he had the choice of machines, but held back, first by tying his shoes, and then to 'stretch,' buying time until more men filled the room, hopefully to scope out and cycle next to Alex Jr. Keith had shown him a picture of Alex Jr., so Dick knew he was waiting to find a tall, lean dark haired man, wearing designer workout clothes and, as Dick defined certain people, completely Yuppified. He expected this Alex Jr. to have an air of importance, since he was the owner's son, maybe a keep-to-himself type of guy. So he was surprised that the moment Alex Jr. appeared, all the others in the class greeted him with a nod and a "Hey," as if they knew him personally.

Alex Jr. chose a bike near the front, thankfully where there was one empty bike to the left of him, so Dick confidently strolled up to it, meeting the man' s eyes with a nod, and mounted it. Looking down at the screen attached to the handlebars, Dick made his attempt at conversation with his mark.

"Wow, I don't really know what I'm doing, ha." Dick tipped his head over to look closer at Alex Jr.'s screen. "Do they explain much about how to work these things? I maybe should have taken a beginner's guide to Gym-taking. All these machines are cray-cray, you know?"

Chuckling, Alex Jr. leaned towards Dick's machine and punched the ON switch. The screen lit up and Alex Jr. pushed through a menu, "Here's the workout menu, you can choose you endurance level, but the instructor has all the machines linked to the same program, so you really don't have to think about it after the class starts."

Dick flicked his hair out of his face. "Thanks, dude." He chose an endurance level. "Is this guy tough?"

"I wouldn't be here if he were easy. That's the whole point, right? Why would I waste even the thirty minutes on a pointless workout otherwise?" Alex Jr. pulled his water bottle from the cup holder and took a long swig. "Besides, it's all up to me, right? If I don't sweat, I didn't make it count. You have to want it, man; it's not the instructor's problem."

"Ah, hardcore, are you? What makes you so tough?"

A chuckle. "Hardcore is right. This is my baby, The Ten. I have to be Hard core." He placed the water bottle back in the holder. "If I'm not hard core, why would any of my member's want to be hard core?"

This was almost too easy, Dick thought. "You own The Ten?"

Taking the bait, Alex Jr. answered, "It's a family business, but basically, yeah, I own The Ten."

"Wow, what's it like, owning something like this? And family, huh? Ever butt heads against executive decisions?" Dick glanced up at the clock; he had five more minutes to get as much information as possible. "If my dad and I ran a biz together, it would not be pretty."

Alex Jr. gave him a long sideways look. "Yeah, you know, it's hard sometimes. But I'm about to buy out my brother's share, because he doesn't want the headache of butting heads. He doesn't get along with any of us, and it's time he gets out of here and starts in on something else. My father is about to retire, so yeah, I make all the decisions as it is. Mark just votes yes or no once in a while when he shows."

"You mean your bro's just a figurehead? Nice. Does he free load, is that why you want him outta here?"

Adjusting in his bike seat, Alex Jr. responded, "Free load? He's the king of free load. Goes on business trips and ends up at all the clubs and strip joints instead."

"Now that's the life….I can see why you'd be a little upset. Why don't you just join in the fun? The family business is the family business after all…they wouldn't kick you out, right? Take all the vacations you want whenever you want."

"Man, I'm too hardcore, like you said. Hardcore in everything. I'll leave it to Mark to relax in the sun while I work my ass off."

"Maybe you should just kick him out of his hammock on the beach or…wait, I bet you have some sort of villa in Tuscany. You should just quit work and go to your villa, dude, you sound like you could use it," Dick grinned pointing at Alex Jr. with his forefinger, "It's your time in the sun."

Alex Jr. chuckled. "No villa in Tuscany. A cabin near Park City though, and hell, you're making it sound nice." His gaze went to the side door, where the instructor was entering. "Why do you even care, man?"

Dick put his hands on the handlebars, practicing his stance as he watched the instructor come in to take his place in front of the now full room. "I was always considered the free loader back in my day, but once I got out on my own and was forced to grow up, I made something of myself. It was the best thing ever for me." His feet tried out the petals, pushing down on them to test the resistance. "If you gave your bro a chance, he might surprise you. He might grow up a bit."

"Mark is no kid, trust me. If he hasn't learned by now, he never will. He'll just keep looking for ways to get back into the fold to get bread and butter. He doesn't have a working bone in that body of his."

The class began then. Although shorter than the aerobic classes it was no less intense, especially since Dick was unused to being on a bike. The speed and rigor was enough that when the class came to a finish, he felt his arms rise in the air as he mouthed, "Hallelujah!" in tearful proclamation of gratefulness that he had survived it. There was a ripple of laughter throughout the room as he tripped off his bike, landing ungracefully in a heap at the base of his machine. He quickly stood to his feet, grabbing his water and followed the rest of the men as they lined up to leave the room. Alex Jr. was behind him, so Dick turned to grin self-consciously at him. "That's my special dismount, man; no one else can do it quite the same." As they went through the doorway, Dick pointed to a weight bench. "Want me to spot you quick?"

Alex Jr. shook his head. "No, man, I have to get back to the office by six, sorry. Besides," he pointedly took in Dick's obvious injuries, "is that smart, considering your cast? What the hell happened to you?"

Dick glanced down at his arm, he had forgotten all about it. "Oh these? Just flesh wounds. You should see the other guy. Dude," he raised his eyebrows mockingly, "Don't you work here? I mean, thirty minutes to walk to the back of the building? You're going to be early."

"No, dude, my office is about fifteen minutes away. I have just enough time to shower, get dressed, and head there. The Ten is just one of my many pots in the fire. I do have an office here in the back, but I split my time between offices; my meeting tonight is for the other company, so I have to go now." Alex Jr. stepped away from Dick, "It was fun watching you cycle and you should come back. You can be the comic relief of the class."

"That's it; that's all I got out of him. Sorry, I know it's not much." Dick picked at his half-eaten bread stick. "I wanted to try for more, but he was in a crazy hurry. Then I had to kill the last half hour because he went into some kind of platinum members only locker room that had a special code and there was no way I could talk myself into that one. He was on a mission to get on with his night."

Keith had been listening intently and now said, "You actually did really well, Dick, I'm impressed. Did you notice anything else after the class while you were waiting for the girls to finish up theirs?"

Pausing, Dick darted a quick glance towards Mac. "No, not really. I pretty much just went and changed and left."

Now that was a lie, Mac knew. He had deliberately sought out their class and watched, but she wasn't about to volunteer that information. Instead, she asked Keith, "Do you want me to look up records for property in or near Park City?"

Nodding, Keith said, "Yeah, I do. That was really good to hear, Dick, because it just so happens that Mark was to be in Utah last Wednesday to present at a conference there. He was to fly in on Thursday morning and leave for New York last night." His gaze sharpened on her. "According to the information you forwarded me earlier, Mark's been on every flight he's been scheduled on. Plus, everything I found so far regarding conference and hotel rosters confirm he's been showing up everywhere he's supposed to up to now."

"Yeah, that's right, Keith. I haven't found any movement on Madison's driver's license, passport, social security number, or any credit cards, but Salt Lake is close enough that she could have driven there instead of flown. She could just be using cash." Mac stood and went over to where her computer bag sat, digging through it. "But the reference Mark makes about 'being there a two p.m. sharp' could blow that theory, unless that didn't mean to meet him somewhere right then." Finding the printed out emails, she set them down in the middle of the table as the others moved the food containers to give her space. "See this?" She pointed, "'Be there at two sharp tomorrow. You know where. You know what to bring. Did you get it all?' There is nothing about meeting him, just to be there by two. So being somewhere by two could have nothing to do with meeting him. He might have just wanted her to be at a certain place with everything she needed to get a clean getaway to where ever she's going to meet him. She could have hopped a Greyhound or found a car he had hidden earlier for her. Who knows?"

While she was rambling, Dick had picked up the sheet of paper and was reading what was written there. "What's all is this?" He asked, pointing out where Mac had highlighted and drawn question marks over the top of the typed words, "What is she doing for this guy?"

Veronica perked up suddenly, "You know, Dick, you might understand those emails better because you dated Madison. Did she ever refer to drugs as candy?"

Eyes skimming over the emails, Dick shook his head. "For everything Madison did, drugs were never one of them, actually. I never heard her call them anything." Laying the sheet down, he ran his fingers over the words lightly. "Do you think she's getting drugs for this loser?"

Mac observed Dick, wondering if it was jealousy she heard in his voice, referring to Madison and her newest lover. He certainly didn't act or look jealous, but she wondered nonetheless. "We think she's been asked to get something for him, and they both refer to a white suit, bag of goodies, and candy."

"Candy?" Dick dropped in closer to find the reference, "I know exactly how to work candy." He leaned back, a perplexed look on his face. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Madison work at The Ten?"

"Great observation, Dick-o." Veronica adjusted in her seat, leaning in to see the emails closer as well. "We know this."

"Well, then, you might have noticed that the clerk working the front desk is named Candy. I know, because I spoke with her tonight. We talked about the benefits of having a co-ed Vertical Limit class and then she asked me out."

"Of course," Mac rolled her eyes in disgust. "Every tight-chested bimbo goes nut-so for Dick-o. When's this happening?"

"Hey, I told her I'm into brunettes. No competition, there, Mackie. You know it." He winked at her. "I wouldn't risk it."

Before she could bite out a retort, Veronica held her hand up and interrupted saying, "Dick, I think you're on to something with this. I can't believe I didn't make the connection. I was convinced that it was drugs, but looking over this, I'm thinking that Madison needed to take something out of the Ten without Candy seeing. She knows just how to talk to/work Candy to get around her, I bet." Grinning, Veronica sat back in triumph. "We need to find out what was at The Ten that Madison could possibly have taken and why."

Hours later, after everyone had settled in for the night, Veronica lay alone in her bed, thinking about the past twelve hours, amazed at the turn of events. They had made significant headway on the Sinclair case and tomorrow would most likely bring them even closer to finding Madison. She had a good feeling about the connection to Utah. She had looked at the map and found that Park City was not too far from the Salt Lake International Airport. If she had to guess, she would say that Mark had Madison meet him in Park City and then they were going to skip the country.

They hadn't gotten very far on Dick's case since they had been so involved with getting to the Ten and piecing together the Tennison son's timeline. Because of that, she had told Mac that in the morning, she wanted to dedicate the first few hours on his case. The last thing that they had worked on regarding his case was the footage at the Grand and waiting on a phone call from Weevil regarding his car. She wanted to call him first thing in the morning to check on both Dick and Madison's vehicles.

Fingering the bracelet that rested on her wrist, Veronica remembered the envelope that was enclosed in Logan's package to her. Sitting up, she pulled it out from her bag, fingers brushing over the seal before quickly ripping it open and taking the letter from within it, unfolding the paper, and as she did so, a picture fell into her lap. She picked it up, turning it into the light to see a picture of a grinning Logan by his plane, helmet held to his side in his flight gear. She loved how relaxed and happy he looked, like he had not a care in the world. Eagerly, she began reading:

Dearest Veronica,

Have you ever wondered why mountains are often named after women's breasts? This has been of topic as of late at dinner as we juvenile hormonal men sit around missing our female counterparts. We went by an island this past week, and I'm telling you, I kept seeing your shape in the midst of the peaks there…it made me desperate to feel your touch, for my mouth to touch the innermost part of you…to just lie still and be with you.

I wonder if you ever get that desperate for me? In all the years we were apart, there was something that only you, Veronica, could satisfy within me, and I only want you to satiate. Your touch is like ice to my fire; it's exciting and makes me sizzle for what is to come. There are many lonely nights on this ship, with only bunk mates and white walls to stare at…some of the days it's so hot out that we don't come from below deck and my mind plays tricks on me in my bed. I dream of you here, with me, touching me, loving me…and then I awake and I realize how much better it's going to be when it's truly us together, and not just my imagination.

The enclosed picture is one that I was able to get printed and I wanted you to have…I wish I was there with you now…warming you in the night.

Love you always. Spanning continents,

Logan

Tucking the letter back into its envelope, Veronica placed it in her nightstand, which was brimming with similar letters that she had received over the past six months. Switching her lamp off, she buried herself into her blankets, content with the reminder that he, too, was missing and longing for her as much as she was missing and longing for him.

A/N: Hopefully my letters from Logan are believable. I'm a girlie-girl at heart I suppose.-Next chapter is Dick's mystery mostly. Thanks for reading!