A/N: I didn't get this out as soon as I had hoped. The next installment may be at the end of the week or even into next week as I am heading to the Wild Blue Yonder in regards to internet service. But I will be typing away hopefully :)

Chapter 18 Regret

Pulling out of the Sinclair's drive, Veronica let the silent air fill the car, deciding Mac set the pace of the conversation if she chose to speak. They pulled out of the fancy neighborhood and onto the main road, through a few traffic lights before Mac did, saying, "It didn't help like I wanted it to."

"The talk with the Sinclair's?" Veronica asked to clarify, keeping her eyes on the road.

Blowing out a huge breath, Mac shook her head. "Sleeping with Dick."

Feeling a jolt, Veronica's hands tightened on the wheel. "What do you mean?"

Running a hand through her short hair, Mac closed her eyes. "I thought…I don't know what I thought, just that maybe it would help somehow, you know? That it would help for today. I thought it would help."

Sighing, Veronica focused on her driving, trying to sound concerned as she weaved through traffic. "I'm sorry. It wasn't good?"

Mac gave her a look. "That wasn't the problem."

Okay. Borderline TMI. "Well, then what? Didn't it at least relax you?"

"God, I thought so!" Mac moaned. "But sitting in there just now, while I was noticing things like how the shade of her eyes are like mine and the curve of his jaw is a more masculine version of mine, I was worried about Dick! I wanted to ask about the Castle to see if the Sinclair's knew something and I was thinking about how different I would be if I were Madison, because I would have had him back in high school. And how he had been forced to date her, so it would have been me! And now, thinking about this morning—" she stopped.

"What? What about this morning?" Veronica pressed, eyes still straight ahead staring at the traffic before her. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mac deliberating whether or not to finish her thought, chewing her lip.

Ultimately she said softly, "He was too nice."

Veronica bit back a scoff. "Nice? Dick doesn't know the definition of nice."

"Oh," Mac laughed sardonically, "Trust me, he knows."

"Okay, so what does that matter?" Veronica asked, trying to play devil's advocate. "He's always had women falling all over him. He just knows how work it is all. He plays."

"I wish I could believe that," Mac said around a weak laugh. "The way he looked at me this morning, that wasn't a look of someone trying to get back into bed. He looked…" Mac sucked in a huge gulp of breath. "I'm hyperventilating. Oh my god! Veronica. Pull over. I need air." Barely had the car stopped when Mac got out, practically running out onto the curb.

Slamming the car into park, Veronica jumped out of the car and came around to where Mac stood. "Mac? You are seriously scaring me!"

"Those people! They have no idea what they've done to me! And you think it's just me? How the hell do you think Madison is feeling like? She must be beside herself, thinking she should be living as a Mackenzie! At least I have the opportunity to move up in the world. She's seriously stepping down if she acknowledges my family. And she's not someone that would take that just lying down. No wonder she took off!" She shook off Veronica's extended hand of comfort. "Listening to them, going on about being bound by a damn contract from telling us? What were they thinking back then? Secrets and lies, that's all. And while I was sitting there, listening, do you know what I wanted? I wanted Dick there, holding my hand! What is the matter with me?!" Breathing deeply, in and out, in and out, Mac leaned against the light pole she stood next to. "Why do I want Dick? It makes no sense at all!" Staying silent, Veronica watched as Mac ran her hands over her arms, staring up into the blue California sky. Lowering her voice, she said more calmly, "He was so nice, Veronica, you have no idea; last night, he was absolutely shocked right before you interrupted us. I'm serious. He stopped me, he made sure I wanted it for real before, and then…this morning, I think I stunned him so much, he just did it. Even then, he made it more about me than him, and I just took it from him!" She shook her head, in a sickened kind of way. "And then right before we left the beach house, I was so mean to him. I told him I was fine with being fuck buddies."

Veronica grimaced. "Well, it's Dick. Isn't that good news for him? He's never seemed to want much else."

"I thought so, too, but the look on his face…he looked like a kicked dog. And now I can't stop thinking about how awful I was," dropping her gaze back to her friend, Mac shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes. "I think…I think that I screwed up."

"Screwed up? With Dick?" Veronica bit back the retort ready on her lips, instead asking softly, "Does he have any idea what you're dealing with? You really aren't accountable for your actions and words right now, you know." When Mac said nothing, Veronica said, "I don't know what else to say."

Mac stood up and stepped back to the car. Opening the door, she turned to Veronica. Slowly, she said, "I was mad at you. Last night. When you said he would hurt me. I knew it was true. I'm not a one-night type of girl, and I thought I could be. I've screwed up by thinking I could just be casual and I let myself fall willingly into a trap. And now I've just made this way more difficult than it needs to be. If I would have just held out, maybe all I would be worried about right now would be when I would meet Lauren and feeling heartbroken that they let that bitch Madison rule their decisions, and why the hell shouldn't they? They raised her, they're her family, I think I understand a little about her fear of the unknown…she probably worried they'd stop loving her and, hell, I don't know, it's all so messed up, I can't blame Madison. They certainly owe her more than they owe me." She laughed cynically, "On top of that, I'm worried about how I'm supposed to tell Dick that his forced arrangement should have been with me all those years ago, and how to apologize for being a bitch to him this morning. And did you hear them back there? They invited me to bring a boyfriend over! Can you imagine their surprise when Madison's ex-boyfriend comes knocking? And what if they're in on ruining him? They likely could have ties to the Castle. All the other 09ers seem to." She slammed herself down into the passenger seat. "I wouldn't have even known to be worried about Dick if this Castle business wouldn't have happened this week of all weeks!"

Walking around the car, Veronica took her time to open the door, settle in her seat, buckle herself in, and start the car. She checked for cars before pulling back into the street and heading on their way. "Mac, I don't believe that the Sinclair's know about the Castle. Or if they do, I doubt that Jeffrey Sinclair was ever a part of it."

Unconvinced, Mac just looked at her.

Veronica explained, "We already know that the Castle 'takes' care of their 'own.' If he were a part of the Castle, he wouldn't be unemployed right now. He would have made it past the cut in May or they would have ensured a new position already for him. There's no way they would allow him to go one day without a job, especially when their family is going through all that with Lauren."

Mac processed this before finally saying, "That makes sense." Slouching down into her seat, she pulled the seat belt over herself and buckled it. "I didn't really think about that. I've just been too worried about what it all means for Dick."

"Do you happen to still have the Castle's roster that I asked for this morning?" Veronica asked, turning left onto the road that led to Dick's beach house. "We can verify it there. Every member was on that list, up until that first year of college. Jeffrey Sinclair's name will be there if he ever had anything to do with them."

"I haven't had time to get it yet, but I do have it." Mac adjusted in her seat. "I have it filed away at the office, actually. When I first came to work with you, do you remember me having you put a box of stuff in the safe? It's in that box on a zip drive."

"Oh, awesome." Veronica pulled into Dick's driveway. "Let's look at that before Norris comes over. We can pick it up and head to the apartment to check it out there. We're having a 'movie' night apparently." She laughed at Mac's dubious look. "Chill, Mac. Norris knows I'm with Logan. There were other people around and so we just made it sound informal." She winked. "I may have used your name."

"What?"

"I just said that Mac would be there." Laughing, Veronica pulled at her door latch. "Everyone down there knows I'm seeing Logan. You're not 'with' anyone…well, not officially, so I made it sound like a blind date."

"Veronica!" Mac said, flabbergasted, "You are so—"

"Dead? I know. Relax, he knows it's not real." Seeing the warning look in her friend's face, Veronica grinned, getting out of the car. "I promise! Dick can kick him in the nuts if I'm wrong."

"I think Dick would love to beat the shit out of someone," Mac told her as they headed up the drive together, "He's already offered."

"Ah, blossoming love. Let him kick the ways."

"Let me count the ways for you to shut up," Mac warned her.

Dick and Keith had stayed at the beach house while the women went to their appointment with the Sinclair's. The cops finished up by two and had left, promising to keep them up-to-date on any information they found. As far as anyone could see, nothing of 'value' had been taken, but Dick was worried about the paperwork that was missing. He wondered what they were looking for and why. The only thing he could see that had been touched was in his office and in his dresser; every drawer had been rummaged through and left open. He had been worried that some expensive cufflinks and a watch might have been taken, but it had all been intact. Logan had even left some important things; two of them being a pocket watch and a lighter from his mother's side of the family. Dick had immediately gone in search for those, breathing a sigh of relief when he easily found them in the back closet of the extra room, where Logan had left them.

As soon as the police cruiser had driven away, Keith had turned to him saying, "Let's get that camera's footage down now and see if we can figure this out."

Leading Keith to his office, Dick left him there while he got the memory stick, bought it back in and booted his computer up. "I'm surprised they didn't take the computer," he commented. "Although I'm not complaining."

"Dick, who all knows where you've been staying since you got out of the hospital?" Keith asked as he brought his chair closer to the computer screen. "I mean, these people didn't seem to steal anything of value. Maybe they were looking for you? What's going on with your foundation's schedule?"

As Dick clicked through menus to open the file on the memory stick, he answered, "No one besides you three, Logan and the doctor know where I've been. Oh, and Wallace, I guess. Mac and I went to the Water Dog, but no one there knows anything about my personal life. I keep it all separate for a reason." Finding the spot he wanted on the file, he clicked it open and then looked back at Keith. "And as for the foundation? They start breaking ground in less than two weeks. We purposely set a schedule that wouldn't conflict with any other projects and had a construction crew ready with the date of June twenty-second in anticipation we'd pass at the panel." The screen filled with a scene of Dick's entryway. "We have meetings a few times before then, but my lawyer is taking care of all that. As far as I know, all I have to do is sign stuff."

"Can you trust your lawyer?" The older man asked, concern in his voice, "Is there any way he's involved with any of this?"

Shaking his head, Dick answered, "Larry is an old codger from the old school. He's not from Neptune, either. I made sure he had no ties to the town for that very reason. Too many people know me from around here, I wanted unbiased help. So he's from San Diego. I highly doubt he's in anyone's pocket but mine."

"Well, that's good news. At least there's one person you can check off the list of suspects." Keith gestured at the screen. "Let's see what you got."

Having found the beginning of that morning's file, Dick pressed play and the room filled with silence as both he and Keith focused in on the footage of the front door. The time stamp showed six-thirty in the morning. Squinting in, Dick said, "I think the door's already been tampered with."

Keith leaned in closer. "Too bad Mac isn't here; she'd know how to get a closer view."

"She's helpful like that, huh?" Dick asked, clicking a few buttons, bringing the view closer. "I know some tricks, too."

Keith grinned sheepishly. "Kids today."

Shrugging, Dick grinned back. "Full of surprises." He turned back and nodded, "Yeah, the break-in already happened. We need to go further back." He clicked through more files. "I wonder how far."

"When's the last time you were here?"

"We spent some time here on Saturday so I could cancel my credit cards and report my car stolen. That's the last time." He glanced at Keith. "Should I go that far back?"

"Let's just go back one day at a time; maybe each day at noon; since you can zoom in and see the change on the lock, we should be able to find it relatively quickly." He glanced at his watched. "The girls should be back soon. What all did they say they were working on after their meeting?"

Dick stared at the screen, not wanting to look at Keith, afraid his face would betray his emotions. He swallowed, willing his voice to not crack. "Uh, they said Norris from the police department is supposed to come over to talk about last Thursday. That's about as much as I know."

"We need to get the tickets for Salt Lake. You up for a trip?"

"I didn't know I was invited." Dick found the previous day feed at noon and pressed play. "Veronica told you, didn't she, that I'm not considered a danger to myself anymore?"

Keith laughed. "I certainly never thought of you as too much of a danger, Dick. I know you're fine to do whatever you want to do, I just thought—well, if you have the time, that maybe you would want to come with. You're turning out to be good help. Plus, you just might be safer out of town." He pointed at the screen, distracted. "Is the lock broken there?"

Zooming in, Dick nodded his head. "Yup. I'll go back one more day, maybe." He thought about what Keith had just said, about being safer. "You really think I'm in danger here?"

"Well, not from yourself, maybe, but if someone really did drug you last week, stole your car, and has now broke into your house, yeah, I would say that you might be in danger. Getting out of town might be a good thing."

"I don't need to run and hide," Dick told him defensively. "I can take those motherfu—"

Keith put a hand up to calm him, "Whoa, Dick. I wasn't questioning your manhood, simmer down, son. It's better to be cautious, is all that I'm saying. If you want to keep these ladies safe, we need to figure out what is really going on here."

Successfully calmed, Dick asked worriedly, "You think Mac and Veronica are in danger?"

"I don't mean to alarm you, but you have been staying at their place for almost a week now. It's only a matter of time before whoever is 'after' you figures out where you've been." Calmly, Keith pushed his chair further away from the desk, standing up to stretch. "As much as I hate when Veronica puts herself in danger, this situation seems to be getting out of control mighty quickly. None of us saw it going this way. We all just thought you were drunk." His cell phone, attached to a clip on his belt, began ringing, and Keith reached for it , saying to Dick as he read the caller ID, "No offense, Dick, but I probably would have treated this thing a whole lot differently if we had known more when we found you. You'd be my roommate, not theirs. In fact, you just might want to start staying at my place as it is. Or else maybe I should start staying at Veronica's." He turned, heading to the hallway, saying over his shoulder, "Sorry, I need to take this and it may be a while, excuse me." Keith answered the phone, closing the door behind him as he did so, leaving Dick in the office alone, lost in thought.

He didn't like what Keith had just implied. He hadn't really thought about Mac being in danger because of him. Really, he hadn't been taking it very seriously, what the Castle wanted with him. He just figured he needed to really dot his I's and cross his T's by making sure everything regarding the foundation was exactly as it should be. Now, though, hearing it out of Keith's own mouth, it terrified him, realizing that he could be putting other people in danger just by being around them. He was really grateful suddenly that Mac had distracted him at the Grand the night before, before he played all tough and got them in even more trouble by approaching Aidan Muldoon.

Needing a break from all things serious, Dick decided to open his email while he waited for Keith's return. Seeing nothing of major importance was a good thing, so he scrolled down from the past few days and saw the email from Logan. Figuring he had some time before Keith came back in; Dick opened the email to respond to his friend:

Logan-

Yo, man, this week has been a killer! Living with your girl is work, but I can kind of see why you like her. Maybe just a little bit. She's ferocious when she's in protection mode.

Love your idea about Hawaii. How do you propose I get her on the plane, dude? She won't go anywhere with me willingly. Can I tell her that you're treating her and Mac to a spa weekend or something? Help me with that, I'm not a starry-eyed-lover-boy like you, so my ideas run dry out at 'Get on the damn plane cause I said so.' Shit, I sound like a damn parent.

You're thinking two weeks from next Monday to have her there? She's gonna freaking cream her panties seeing you, man. How are you gonna keep this secret? I have shit for luck in that department, dude, but I'll try my damnedest, but fyi, Mac will probably find out. She's kind of—well, she's the one that is with me the most with all this stuff going on since last week. She might get suspicious…. And I may need her help, anyway, getting Veronica to come along, so please tell me I can tell her.

How do I covertly get Veronica to bring all her bedroom toys across the ocean for you if she doesn't know what's in store, man? You'll miss the swing, won't you? If you tell me where it is, I can close my eyes nice and tight while I pack it up for ya. And I won't even check it on the plane; I'll keep it firmly in my carry on and endure all the checks through security, just for you, man. I'm concerned for your welfare, dude, I want only the best of times for you; it's been six friggin' months. You're practically a monk. If you don't throw your back out, it's not worth it. Right? I'm just sayin'.

I'll send you the confirmation ASAP. The hotel there shouldn't be a problem. Consider it done. Do you want reservations anywhere else? Let me know and I will work on it when I can. I promise to have the plane ticket situation squared away by the end of the weekend. I wish you could make the Tiger Tour people let Veronica ride on the carrier anyway, but you said it can only be blood relatives, which blows. She would love to see the inner workings of it, and see your plane. Maybe you could get us a day pass? I haven't got to do that in a while. I promise to keep it as secret as possible. Can I tell her dad though? I remember the security clearance stuff I had to do for my day tour that time years ago, and know it might take some time. How can I get her to not suspect anything if I have to get her to sign paperwork? Dude, email me back ASAP.

We're headed to Utah, man, for a case they're working on. Mr. Mars specifically asked me to tag along. Apparently I'm the Shaggy to their Velma and Daphne. They would probably say I'm the Scoob, but I know better. Their mystery van isn't complete without me, and you, too, dude. You can be Fred, I guess. I want all the pizza anyway, so you can just sit in the corner looking good; that's always worked for you.

Email me when you can. Skype would be better.

-Dick

Dick reread what he wrote and pressed send. He wasn't very sure how he was going to talk Veronica into heading to Hawaii on a plane seated right next to him. But maybe after this trip to Utah, she would find it within herself to trust him a little bit. Logan specifically had asked him to get Veronica to Hawaii without telling her why so that when she stepped off the plane, the first thing she would see would be Logan at the gate, Lei in hand waiting for her. Dick thought it was genius. Apparently, the Navy had announced that they would be doing a Tiger Cruise the last two weeks of their mission. Poor Logan had never had anyone to ride with him, because the Navy only allowed blood relatives, no friends or girlfriends. But he apparently was getting a four-day leave while they stationed in Hawaii. The Navy was being mighty generous, and Logan wasn't taking any chances. He had sent Dick an email the previous week asking him to buy tickets and arrange for Veronica's stay on Oahu. His only request was to keep it as a surprise for her. He even said he wanted Keith, Wallace, and Mac out of the loop if possible, so that no one would spill it. But Dick wasn't sure he could keep all of them out of it for long. Logan hadn't known how impossible that would be now that Dick was embroiled in this mess with the Castle; trying to be secretive around two astute women might prove impossible for him. They were quicker than he could ever pretend to be. But he wanted to try. For Logan. And maybe to make it up to Veronica a little.

Thinking about Logan made Dick sincerely wish his friend were there at that very moment. Seeing that Logan had been in enough predicaments himself, he definitely would know what to do and say in this situation. He would undeniably have some words of wisdom to impart. Dick supposed though, that since Logan couldn't be here, that Keith Mars was a pretty good replacement. The older man was tough as nails and not much seem to faze him.

He thought back to all those years when everyone Dick knew thought that Keith was just an idiotic conspiracy theorist. It chilled him to think about how often the Mars' "conspiracies" were found to be truth; Wallace had given him a hard time a few days before about it, but he knew Wallace was right. The 09ers had always hated the Mars because they didn't let money or popularity rule their findings, which in itself was admirable in a town like Neptune, where everyone was bought off. For years, Dick had let himself basically be 'bought' off, bought off by not having to think too hard, bought off by the fact that he could stay 'safe' in the 09er circle, where he had a name that meant something. He never asked for favors, per se, but he never challenged anything that was wrong within the circle. Now, however, he wondered where all these loyal 09er's were. Not a single message on his voice mail from them, wondering where he was, no emails to be seen. He knew Logan was worried, there had been plenty of evidence from him; but the only people in town that even cared enough to find him and take him in were these people that everyone else despised or hated, save Logan. Maybe Logan was on to something here.

The sound of voices carried through to his office as he heard the front door open and slam; Veronica and Mac obviously returned. He wondered if Mac was in a better mood; she certainly couldn't be in much worse of one than earlier. She had damn near bit his head off before she left. He chalked it up to stress, but it had surprised him at how forceful she had been. Thinking about her bitchy attitude made him feel irritable and not ready to face her.

Staying where he was, Dick was determined to find the proof of the break-in by himself, letting Keith greet the two women while he began working once again, flipping through the files, hoping it wouldn't be too evident to Keith that he hadn't been working on it the entire time. Finally, he found on Monday's footage: at noon the door was not broken yet. Now he knew that sometime between Monday at noon and Tuesday at noon was when the break in must have occured. He began going hour by hour from that point on Monday on.

There was a bustling at the door as everyone else piled into the room, Veronica first, then Mac, and Keith coming last, a glass of water in his hand. "Hey, Dickster," Mac said, all traces of her earlier grumpiness gone, "Did the cops lick up all the fingerprint powder before they left?" She plunked herself and her purse down in a chair. "I didn't see any evidence that they even dusted for prints, so I'm hoping they ate said evidence."

Not looking back at her, Dick continued working, feeling a sharp flare of irritation at her cool demeanor. "No such luck," he told her, concentrating on the screen. "Apparently they thought force of will was the way to go." Changing the subject, he said, "Keith, I narrowed it down to Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning. I'm almost through Monday afternoon." Feeling a bit empowered that he had news to impart; Dick straightened himself up a little as Keith came around the desk to look closer at the screen.

"You got the security feed?" Veronica asked behind him. "Perfect." Apparently, Keith wasn't the only one to come around the desk for a closer view.

And then suddenly, there it was. Ten-thirty five p.m Monday night. A man, wearing a dark baseball hat, the color obscured because it was only black and white footage, approached the front step, looking around, knocking on the door and ringing the bell. He put his hand up to his brow, pressing against the glass, as if to look into the darkened house. There was a porch light on, but no light came from inside. The man dropped his hand to the door handle and jiggled it, as if testing to see if it were locked. Dick took note that the man had gloves on, pointing out drily, "Well, I guess it's an okay thing they didn't dust for prints."

They watched the screen as the man, whose face had yet to be exposed, reached into his pocket and pulled some kind of tool out, aggressively attacking the lock with it. Before too long, the lock was broken, the door open, and the man was in. They could see the shadow of him as he turned toward the alarm box, punching in the number.

"How did he know the code?" Mac murmured. "Do you recognize him?"

"Yeah," Dick said sarcastically, "The shadow looked really familiar."

"I just wondered if you might have recognized the way he walked or something, jeez." She told him irritably. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"He should be coming out of the house any minute," Veronica said, interrupting their bickering. "You maybe should slow the feed down when he does; it may be he looks up or something."

Minutes ticked by, and the longer the footage went on, the longer Dick mentally ticked off where the guy was in his house: first the office, rooting around in his files, grabbing the ones within easy theft, heading toward his bedroom, opening all of the dresser drawers, digging through them. Leaving each drawer open and heading down the hallways, peeking into each of the rooms, looking for a sleeping Dick.

"Here he comes." Veronica leaned over the desk. "Damn, his face is still tipped down. He's smart; he must have known there was a camera."

"What's the logo on the cap?" Keith asked, "It's hard to see, but maybe it will tell us something if we can get a clearer picture of it."

Dick zoomed the footage in. He was successful in getting closer but unable to get a clear shot. "I don't think I can do anything with it."

Mac cleared her throat. "May I?"

"Ah, Girl Wonder." Dick pushed his chair away from the computer, standing up and gesturing towards it, "Have at it. You called that one, Mr. Mars."

Keith chuckled. "I suppose you shouldn't have played the game if you didn't want to get one-upped by the master."

Dick rolled his eyes and slammedhimself down into the chair Mac had just vacated. "Kids these days."

Focusing her attention on the computer screen, Mac barely noticed Keith and Dick's banter back and forth as she finger-tapped her way past the codes and efficiently zooming and clearing the picture as best she could without needing to bring the footage to MI and loading it onto her own computer. She paused the footage at the moment the man turned into the light, able to focus straight on a square emblem with some kind of wave or pyramid within it.

"I can't really tell what that is; do any of you recognize it?" She asked, turning the monitor to let them all better see it.

She felt rather than saw Dick, who had stood up and came up behind her chair, lean in intently to look. "I wish this were in color, it would help a lot. It looks a little like…." He crouched further over her shoulder to get a better look, "I can't totally tell, but it looks like...shit, it looks like the construction company's logo. The company I hired that will be breaking ground on the foundation's property."

Mac could feel his breath on her neck, the tension radiating from him. "Are you certain?"

"Well, no." He straightened back up, dropping his hands from where they had been propped on the back of her chair. "Their logo looks a lot like that…wait, I think I have a bid on their letterhead filed away. Let me see if I can find it." He stepped over to the file cabinet that sat behind Mac, opening it, "S'cuse me, Mac, you might have to move for a second." She adjusted accordingly, bumping her knees against him as he pulled out a drawer, backing into her. "Sorry." Pulling a file, he quickly flipped through it, shutting the drawer and stepping back around the desk to sit back down. Mac realigned her seat to sit facing the others as Dick rummaged through the file. "Yeah, here it is," he pulled the letter out, setting it on the desk and pointing, "See? A square with two beams and hammer making a triangle within it. Braverman Construction."

"The guy must be stupid to wear his work hat to break in somewhere," Veronica commented drolly, picking the paper up to look closer and then stepping up to the monitor. "Is there anything else it could look be? Does anyone else think it could be, I don't know, maybe a team's logo or something?"

"Aren't you the one that always says there is no such thing as coincidences?" Mac asked. "Dick's probably right on this one." She caught Dick's eye and smiled weakly, "But I do wonder why someone at the construction company would want your plans, unless they took something else."

Keith pulled the letter out of Veronica's hands to look at it closely. "Someone could have paid this guy off. There are lots of possible scenarios. We'll have to keep digging."

Dick and Mac were still staring at each other, not listening to what Keith was saying. Mac could feel her heart beginning the familiar thudding starting low in her chest and working its way to the base of her throat; a slight ringing in her ears. His eyes were burning, shining pools of blue, making her breath catch. She bit her lip in response, and he, seeing it, broke the contact by lazily fluttering his eyes closed and turning his attention back to the others, his lips rising into a small grin that only Mac was aware of. Blowing out a slow breath, Mac turned her attention as well back to the conversation, which had taken a one hundred and eighty degree turn.

Keith was just finishing saying, "…I think you three should head to Salt Lake tomorrow and I can hold the fort down here."

"Wait, what?" Mac asked, trying to catch up. "You aren't going to Park City?"

Instead of answering, Keith just kept talking. "I can make the travel arrangements since I know you're all busy with your date with Norris tonight. I just need your information, Dick, and I can probably get the first flight out for all three of you. I think one or two nights there should be efficient."

Everything was rushing quickly by her; Keith was standing up, Dick was closing down his computer, grabbing the memory stick to put into his pocket, Veronica checking her phone. Mac felt like she had missed about an hour's worth of the conversation while sucked into Dick's eyes; and apparently, she was the only one lost. Dick didn't seem to need to catch up, he was nodding in agreement to everything Keith was saying, and Mac was feeling like she was at the tail end of the pack, watching from the distance as everyone jumped to the next part of the pathway without her as while she ran as fast as she could to not be left out.

"Do you have any ID that will work for the airport, Dick?" Veronica suddenly asked, "Your wallet was stolen, remember?"

Giving her a sideways grin, Dick said, "Well…no, but I happen to know the finest counterfeiter in the general proximity. She's never seemed to have too much of a problem with it. Hers are the finest in the business—always passed inspection over the state-issued variety."

A/N: Regarding the Tiger Tour. I am taking liberties with that, FYI. My BIL is in the Navy and last fall, my FIL was able to ride the last week of his tour with him on a Tiger Cruise. From what I understand, only blood relatives are allowed. But right before that tour began, my BIL did have a few days off and therefore, that is why I am taking advantage of that in thinking that Veronica could feasibly meet him there and spend those days with him. I have no idea if they would be allowed to tour the carrier at port in Hawaii, but I may just say that they can. We will see. This is obviously the 'surprise' that I referred to in the previous chapter.

Also, thank you to those of you with prank ideas. I'm not sure yet where I will put them, but I definitely want to get something on that front soon. Thanks for the comments/reviews, favorites and follows. It means a lot. Next chapter is the date with Norris and then heading to Park City. :)