A/N: Thank you for all the reviews/favs/follows. I absolutely appreciate it. I read and revel in all of your reviews, it helps to know I am on the right track with this things. I had hopes this chapter would have been out a few days ago but real life has taken priority. Sorry to keep you all waiting. I am working hard on this still, I hope you still enjoy where it is going. Also, I apologize to those I didn't personally thank that left reviews. This chapter to me was more important to finish first, so thank you all. Please don't think I don't appreciate all of your encouragement. And this chapter could likely be better, but this is what I got, so this is what you get. Enjoy!

Rated T+ for F-bombs.

Chapter 23

Dick let out a choking noise as he rushed to pick Mac's trusty gadget up off of the floor. He stared at it, trying to decipher just exactly what the 'clues' were telling him. His thoughts were not leading him to very happy conclusions.

He glanced up to where Veronica had come to stand above him, demanding of her, "What in the fuck is going on?" His voice betrayed his panic. He knew his face had drained of all color the minute he had seen the familiar device lying uselessly on the ground. Trying to hide the tremor in his hands, he handed the phone straight up to Veronica as if she could find the answer to the puzzle.

Veronica merely took the phone and pushed through the code to bypass the security. Dick was not encouraged by her serious and withdrawn expression. She was a little pasty-faced herself. Her fingers made quick work of swiping through the menus. Biting her lip, she tightly shut her eyes and handed the phone back to him. He read the words, a message to Veronica in response to her earlier text to Mac:

"ccabin"

His eyes immediately sought Veronica's in terror. "They have her."

Her silence scared the shit out of him.

She really had shit for luck when it came to hotel rooms. That was her first thought as groggily Mac woke. Her shoulder ached from lying too long on her side and her fingers were numb. Groaning, she tried to roll to her back but something was pressed against her obstructing her effort. Trying to come back to consciousness quickly, jabs of memory flashed through her mind in nauseating bursts. Her face was pressed into something…rubbery in texture. Her hands…terror filled her. Her hands were bound with rope and there was a sensation of movement, the sound of an engine and tires hitting pavement not far beneath her. Abruptly it computed that she was in the back of a van or something similar.

All she could remember were bits and pieces of being forced out of Madison's room and attempting to fight back, vaguely recalling Tree-Trunk immediately over-powering her. For all the defense courses she had taken, being barely over a hundred pounds versus a two-hundred-plus-pound body-builder type made her training null and void. It had taken all of ten seconds for her to succumb to his Hulk-like strength, and she had been silenced in fear of her life.

The only redeeming quality in the entire fearful flurry was the fact that she had been able to leave evidence of their abduction. Because at this point, it was a joint abduction. Madison had been even more freaked out than Mac had been. The minute Tree-trunk had threatened her, Madison had been up and out of her corner and ready to do whatever he said, a shaking mess of a woman. Whatever Madison was, she wasn't here of her own accord anymore, that much was clear.

As soon as Tree-trunk had gotten them out of the room, Mac had dumped her flash drive right there at the door. And she had dropped her phone in her struggle to get free of him at the stairwell's door, which hadn't been planned, but at least it was out in the open where someone might find it. While still in the room, she had been able to swipe through what she hoped was the passkey and into her text messaging, typing what she hoped was the word 'cabin.' Tree-trunk had mistakenly muttered that information before he had pulled them out of the room and Mac had tried to text it, but her hands had fumbled and likely failed. But she had hope that once Veronica made her way to Room 319, she would see the flash drive and see the phone. It was in plain view unless some dumb-schmuck picked it up. If someone other than Veronica or Dick found it…she couldn't think about that. She had to keep faith that her friends would put two and two together and be on their way to save them.

Straining her ears, Mac tried to pay attention to what was going on around her. The sound of the vehicle's engine drowned out most things, but she could faintly hear a voice inside the cab of the SUV. That's what she decided they must be driving: an over-sized jeep or an Explorer-type. There was still light streaming in through some kind of shade-deal that was pulled over and clipped above her, like the type that some SUVs came with to hide the goods in the back so no one could see what was there from the outside. She was thankful that it wasn't a car's trunk that he had stuffed her into; the air alone would have stifled her in this summer heat, way in the back with no direct air-vents. At least she could breath.

Taking stock of her surroundings would be paramount. The number one rule when abducted is to not let yourself be taken to a new location. The chances of survival were slim if the kidnapper got the kidnapped to the second location. So that meant she had to plan on the 'when' of her escape and not the 'if.' If they were returning to the cabin, which she pretty much knew they were, then that meant once she escaped, she would have to wind down the mountainside, cross the gate, and follow the highway down to the little town that was eight miles away from the point of access to the cabin's association. She had never been more grateful for the hiking boots and jeans that she wore, because without them, it could potentially be impossible. Sandals and flats would not do in a jaunt through the woods. The only better alternative would to be to have some camouflaged clothing. She might stick out like a sore thumb, tromping through the forest. And if she had to take Madison in tow, then she would stand out even more. They would be moving targets.

It would never do for her to stay freaked out. Cautiously, she pulled at the restraints that bound her hands. Tree-trunk had tied them behind her back. She couldn't even scratch her nose. Her feet were bound, too. If she could hoist herself up, she might be able to get herself up and over the back seat, but then what? They had to be going eighty miles per hour up the interstate; there was no way in hell she would attempt to over-take a driver unless she was able to get her hands and feet completely free. There were too many twists and bends in the road and too many other vehicles. She'd end up killing more than just the few of them in this car.

There was a soft groaning noise and she became aware that what hindered her movements was a body—Madison had been stuffed behind her in the back of the SUV. They were crammed together like packed sardines. Rocking back and forth, Mac tried to force her body into a kneeling position but the cargo cover/blind thing kept her from her efforts. Next, she bent her legs up toward her chest to try to scoot onto her butt, but her arms were in the way. Wincing as her arm bent abnormally, she rolled back to her side, frustrated. She started working on pulling at her restraints, hoping to loosen them.

The silence was almost deafening in the hallway as Veronica stared at Dick. His face was ghost-white. He looked like he was about to puke. She knew she was. It was a casualty of youth that had followed her into adulthood: terror causing an ingrained reaction to lose her lunch. Tamping it down until she had time to do it had become a refined art for her. This may just be one time that she lost her art, however. She could taste the tell-tale tang crawling into the back of her throat and her stomach churned violently.

Taking no more time, Veronica stepped the two steps needed to get to the stairwell's door, opened it and began running, two steps at a time, down to the parking garage. She didn't want to take the time to wait for the elevator. Dick followed, his feet clipping at her heels in his rush.

"What the hell was Mac thinking, going to see Madison by herself?" He demanded behind her, "After the day we had, and she thought it would be safe?" The hysterical vibration to his words bit into her back. "What the fuck is going on?!"

"Right now, Dick," Veronica answered, pulling herself down the stairs faster with the handrail, "We need to quit worrying about the why and work on the what. What are we going to do? Are we waiting for the Feds to get here?" Reaching the main floor, she pulled the door open with force and rushed through it not waiting for him to follow, crossing immediately through the small vestibule to the door that led to the parking garage.

Rushing into the dimly-lit garage, Veronica turned in a half-circle, looking for signs of a struggle or a speeding car. "She's gone." She said it in shock. She had half-hoped they might be able to find Mac standing at their rental, shouting out 'just kidding!' even though she knew it wouldn't be so.

"There's no time to waste." Twirling back to stare at Dick, Veronica told him, "We need to leave the information out for the FBI. They can follow us when they get here. We don't have time to wait. And I need my bag." She brushed past him and back into the hotel, "But we have to hurry. We need to get to that cabin before Mark Tennison and Madison do something that can't be undone to Mac."

The vehicle turned onto gravel. Mac could tell the moment that they went through the gate and crossed back over the pasture of cows. She heard a curse and then the honk of the horn as Tree-trunk called out for a heifer to get the hell out of the way. Her body kept tipping back into Madison's with every jostle. The girl was silent beside her, which worked for Mac. The less she had to deal with talking the better right now.

Mac had gotten her restraints to loosen, but not enough to make much difference. Her wrists had been pinned together palms out, but she had worked the rope enough that she could now clasp her hands together. This was just enough leeway to allow her to get into the back pocket of her jeans for the pocket knife she had only just remembered borrowing from Dick earlier that day. And by remembered, she meant it had begun to dig into her ass the more she twisted to and fro, trying to sit up or turn around. She had thought that if she could at least turn around, she might be able to see past Madison, through a crack in the seats to the front. But the room factor still only allowed her enough to room to squirm, and it had cause the hard edge of the handle of the knife to bite into the soft flesh of her butt. It had been a Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! moment. Tears had sprung to her eyes when she recalled Dick's words when she had asked for it the second time, "Keep it in case you need it again today." She had never missed him so much or been so grateful for his forethought.

Every bump on the road was making her nervous that she might drop it. It wasn't a smooth ride by any means, and it would get rougher yet. If she lost the knife, she would lose their one real chance. Finally pulling it from her pocket, she worked the blade out of the handle to grasp it tightly as she began sawing at the ropes.

The knife was small but had a wicked sharp blade. Count on Dick to keep his blade up to task. It took her all of two minutes to cut through a portion of the thin rope and free herself. Pulling her arms out of from underneath herself, she nearly moaned out loud in relief from the pressure off of the shoulder she had been lying on for over an hour. Quickly she set to work freeing her feet.

There was just enough light between them to see each other's faces. Mac's eyes connected with Madison's. There were tears tracked down the woman's cheeks, ruining her picture perfect makeup. Through the black streaks, Mac could see traces of her brother mixed into the contours of her face. Her mouth was open in a silent gasp of awe as she realized that Mac was free.

Quickly, Mac brought a finger to her mouth, signaling for silence. Mac flashed the knife in her hand so that Madison would see what had freed her. When Madison nodded, Mac pushed Madison gently to her stomach to cut the bindings that held her hands behind her and then scooted down to Madison's feet to cut that rope as well.

The floorboard sloped up, evidence that they were starting up the winding dirt road. The edges of panic were starting to assail Mac's senses, and she had to push it aside firmly. If they didn't get the hell out of this car soon, who knew what would happen to them. She slid herself closer to the rear door. Earlier she had cursed the curtain/panel that hid them from view to the outside world, but now she celebrated it. She could work without interruption of Tree-trunk seeing her and they could possibly escape.

Running her hands blindly against the hard plastic of the door, Mac felt for a lever or some type of handle and found nothing. Slower this time, she pushed and scratched with her fingers and nails, looking for the panel that might be camouflaging a box that held the lift-gate's lock. After several searches, she finally felt the outline of a small square and, keeping one hand pressed against it so as not to lose its location, grabbed the little knife and began working aggressively to pry the cover off. All at once, it popped off and fell into her face. She set it aside, quickly stuffed the knife back in her pocket, and then her hands were running immediately within the hidden compartment and felt the lever. If she pulled it up, she knew she could just push the lift gate open and she could be gone in ten seconds flat.

If only she knew how far up the road they had gotten. This morning she had been paying close attention, but being crammed in the back and not being able to see hindered her assessment as to when a good time would be to make their escape. And she didn't know what she was going to do about Madison, City-Girl Extraordinaire who wasn't dressed for hard hiking. If they could get back to the highway, they might be able to hitchhike back to town, call for help there. Or maybe they could break into a cabin and see if there was a phone to call Dick. With all her fiber, Mac knew that Veronica and Dick were on their way. There was no way they weren't. She was afraid for them. She needed to talk to them. Immediately.

Suddenly the vehicle slowed to a stop. Grabbing at Madison, she took her chance, pulling at the rod within the lift-gate and slipping out of the vehicle, opening the door just enough for her thin frame and then Madison's to roll out on to the ground, keeping a firm grasp on the door to shut it before the light came on signaling the latch. She noticed right away that they were on the bottom portion of the loop that led up to the upper-most cabins and to the Tennison's. Mac didn't look back as she slipped as stealthily as her sore body would allow into the cover of the woods, heart beating loudly in her ears, praying that Madison was smart enough to follow suit. Mac could hear the woman's choppy breathing and felt her stumbling into her. Looking back, she once again brought her finger to her mouth, eyes wide, demanding silence.

Prepared that at any moment Tree-trunk might come out of nowhere and pick them up, Mac kept a healthy pace going as deep into the woods as she could. It surprised her that Madison was keeping up, hunkered down as she followed Mac. They were both running on sheer adrenaline. If Mac could keep her eye on the road, she could hopefully watch for other cars, but the cost of that might be too great. If they were too close and Tree-trunk came looking for them, he could easily catch them again. Staying as far from the road seemed like the best plan for now.

Tree-trunk didn't look like an avid hunter, not in his get-up. He had designer shoes on, for crying out loud. It didn't exactly scream hiking aficionado. There was a chance that the two of them might just have an edge here. Italian-leather dress shoes hinted at slick-soles that would be a detriment while trying to navigate or run through a forest. And both Madison and Mac were small. Mac could climb trees; maybe pull a little Hunger Games magic out of her sleeve. As long as at no point there were wild berries involved she might be all right. Madison was a pole-dancer; Mac figured if she were desperate enough, the woman would be straight up a lodge-pole pine in less time than it would take for Mac to tell her to climb it.

Her body ached and her head was pounding. Mac ran a hand along the crown of her head and felt a lump forming there. As far as injuries went, she was lucky. A little soreness and a migraine were minimal. Her wrists were raw and possibly bleeding but she ignored the sensation of them burning. Focusing on pain would cause her to go into shock and it wouldn't benefit anything.

Never a sweeter sound had been heard than the sound of the SUV continuing up the road to the cabin. It seemed that Mr. Tree-trunk hadn't notice their Houdini act. That was as much time as she allowed herself to spare on that thought. If Tree-trunk didn't know they were gone yet, he would soon. She began picking her way through the brush, Madison close behind her.

The traffic was thicker this afternoon that it had been earlier in the day. Veronica was cutting in and out of it, glad for being an experienced California-grid-lock driver. She could weave in and out with the best of them, zooming between the cars as if they weren't even moving. Her fingers felt like they were permanently attached to the steering wheel from how firmly she was holding onto it, not even bothering with the blinker.

Dick was consulting the map, trying in vain to find a shorter route back to the cabin. It seemed that the original route they had taken was the fastest. Every once in a while he would fiddle with the GPS to see if maybe, magically, it had conjured up a new road that cut the trip in half. There was no such route.

He slammed the Rand McNally shut and threw it onto the dashboard. "Damn it!" He rubbed his eyes brutally with his middle fingers. "She could be dead before we get there." Emotionally, he craned his head to stare out his window. Faintly, Veronica heard him whisper, "She can't be dead."

Her pulse sped up. "Dick, Mac's resourceful. She's taken defense classes. She'll fight."

Desolately, Dick nodded, still staring out the window, nodded. "Why the hell didn't she fight back there? Why the hell did she go down there alone? That wasn't smart."

"I'm certain she fought. I know she fought. She probably thought Madison would be harmless. Hell, I don't know what happened in that room." Clearing her throat, Veronica told him, "Mac's smart. She's very smart. You know that, right? Everything we found that she left was calculated. The zip drive is hers; it's the one she used this morning on the plane, it's tied to the Castle. And she left us her phone, Dick. Do you know what that means?"

Not seeming to really be listening, Dick shook his head, "What does that mean?"

"Two things," she said, turning off of the freeway and heading south down the now familiar highway. "First of all, that text that she sent. I checked and it never came through to mine. If the service would have come through like normal on my phone, I might have gotten in time. I can't stew on that anymore. Second of all, her phone is the magic one; she's added apps that mine doesn't have. The bug I planted is synched with only her phone. That means we can listen to what's going on at the cabin. She left us a direct link to her and that cabin."

He sat up straighter. His eyes jerked to hers. "Why the fuck didn't you tell me that before?" The hopeful tone in his voice was heartbreaking.

"She's not just a flavor, is she?" Veronica heard herself utter softly before she could stop herself. Before he could answer or evade the question, though, she moved on, "Get her phone out and find the app. I don't know a lot about the techy stuff, but I do know we have to be within a certain distance for the thing to work. We'll just have to keep checking it periodically the closer we get."

Immediately, Dick pulled out Mac's phone. "Give me her passcode." He punched in the number when Veronica spouted it out. "What's the app called?"

"Mac Attack. It's the little cartoon alien," she looked over at him briefly, "Get it? Because they've been invaded," she told him in explanation. "Mac wanted something cute to hide her stealthy ways."

"Cute it is. And knowing Mac, stealthy it will be. I don't need explanations, though; I just need the thing to work." He told her distractedly, absorbed on the phone. "I just hope you hid the bug out of sight."

The woods were quiet and still once the SUV had driven far enough away that they could no longer hear it. There were only birds chirping and the sounds of the leaves rustling, just as it had earlier. Every few minutes, Mac could hear Madison grunting in effort behind her, trying to keep her girly shoes on her feet when they stepped on unsolid ground. The muted sound of her crying was slowly evaporating the further they went.

The terrain was thick in places and then sparse. They were picking their way across the mountain and slowly down, because Mac was worried they might hit the road too soon and be sitting ducks for Mr. Tree-trunk. She had decided the safest thing for them would be to find a vacant cabin and find a phone. These places up here were elite; there may even be a computer connection in some of the larger places. But all they really needed was a line to call out, and she would be able to call Veronica and hatch a plan to bust out of here. She had studied the plot this morning quite thoroughly and was pretty sure that they would run into a cabin soon.

After what seemed like hours when in reality it probably had only been about ten minutes, she stopped to face Madison. "How well do you know this area?"

A look of anxiety came over Madison's face. "What do you mean?"

"I need to know how familiar you are with this area. I need to find a cabin with a phone. Did Mark's have a landline?"

"Honestly?" Madison crossed her arms, her nails digging into the flesh of both biceps. "Mark brought me up here last week and then got me a room at the Palisade." She took a long look around the wooded area. "I told him I couldn't take the bugs." Meeting Mac's eye, she said, "And as for a landline, I think so. I mean, I don't have the number or anything. We always communicated through texts mostly."

"Why did we just get kidnapped?"

Madison dropped her hands and stepped past Mac. "They're….uh…they're a little unhappy with me right now."

Mac grabbed Madison's upper arm and swung her back around. "Yeah, I got that part. What did you do to get off their nice list and onto their shit list?"

Refusing to look directly at Mac, Madison shook her head. "I needed money to get out of there."

"What for? Isn't Markie-Mark taking care of his girl?"

"I told you before: I am not his lover!" Defensively, Madison broke free of Mac's grasp. "I got a little spooked, no, a lot spooked, when I got up here and realized that he is like the freaking mob!" She let out a small sob. "I was just trying to help Lauren and now everything is so screwed up. If you wouldn't have been there just now…There's no way I could have gotten out of that car on my own."

"Well, don't thank me yet. We have to get off this mountain first." Mac stepped around her. "Help me look for a cabin. We need a phone."

Veronica wasn't arguing. Or saying any rude, snarky, or biting comebacks to anything he said. She merely kept driving while Dick kept attempting to connect Mac's phone to the bug in the Tennison's cabin. They were so close to the little town they had blown through before… he just knew that soon they would get the connection to work. Thank God for Mac and her tech-savvy abilities. She was saving her own ass, one gadget-app at a time.

He was attempting to act as cool as Veronica, but honestly, he had taken five minutes to rush into the bathroom back at the suite to puke. It was either that or pass out, and he just downright didn't have time for that. So while Veronica had grabbed her bag and got out the information to leave for the Feds, he had taken the opportunity to lose his lunch. When he had returned to the main room, she had disappeared into her room. Maybe to lose her lunch, as well. She'd had the look.

Driving up the canyon again had been infuriatingly slow. But Veronica had gotten them through it and now they were so close he was starting to feel nauseous again. He tried to focus more fully on the phone. He felt numb. He kept having visions of Mac being tied against her will on a bed or worse, being beaten or..or…or worse.

His knuckles rapped on the dashboard in impatience. "Can't you make this thing move any faster?" He leaned up into the window, "If you could hurry a little bit faster, we might make it by next year."

She ignored him. He recognized the tactic. He didn't practice it much, but recognized it. Quips usually worked much better for him. She'd finally reached the four-way in the little town of Mayberry or wherever the hell they were and was turning right to head even closer to their destination.

His palms were sweating. He rolled the window down, hoping the air would calm his heaving stomach. The sweet woodsy scent of nature filled his nostrils and he felt his stomach churn. Never again would he associate a mountain town with calm. Just nausea.

The sky was slowly getting darker. It wasn't late, but the sun went down earlier here than in California. From the bit she had camped back in the day with her family, Mac was worried about the cold. Temperatures had a habit of dropping once the sun went down in high mountain countries. She wasn't as worried about herself, but Madison was in really thin clothing for the terrain. Her shoes were bad enough, but the flimsy, silky blouse she wore wouldn't keep her warm for long. Her leggings seemed thick enough, but the branches and brush kept sticking to the material, causing it to tear small holes into the fabric. The woman had no protection from any of the elements if they were at this much longer. Staying away from the road had seemed like a good idea at first. But now, Mac was questioning the wisdom of that decision. If they didn't find shelter, nature would present more of a challenge than Mr. Markie-Mark and Tree-trunk. She'd had hopes that they would eventually run into a cabin, but it hadn't quite happened yet. And it was slow going because of Madison.

Mac felt a little guilty that she felt resentful having Madison tagging along. It wasn't the other woman's fault that she had been kidnapped in bad apparel. It wasn't as if Tree-trunk had given her the option to change into something more suitable to wear, saying: Madison, throw on your sneakers for when you escape my evil clutches. He had pretty much dragged them both out of that hotel room. Mac was just lucky that her day had kept her busy enough to not change, because the other clothing she had packed was probably just as unfortunate as what Madison was wearing, only cheaper and less…girly.

They hadn't exchanged much after Mac's request to help look for a cabin. Their eyes and ears had been trained on anything abnormal. Both of them had tripped around fallen trees and caught their feet in the flowery underbrush that wrapped like vines about their shins. Madison seemed determined to keep up with her leader; not a complaint had been uttered.

There was a slope in the hillside; flattening and then rising up. As they tromped up it, Mac slipped, her hands grappling for purchase in the leaves that had been shed to the ground. She could hear Madison blundering as well, her feet slipping and sliding beneath her, grunts of effort escaping her throat. Almost to the top, Mac turned back and offered her hand. Madison stared at it for a moment, taking it gratefully, smiling in appreciation as they topped the steep incline together. At the same time, they looked down, cries of relief coming from both of their lips. An unlit cabin sat just below them.

They were so close. Less than eight miles to the gate, and Dick was planning his attack of kick-assery to get in, get Mac, and get the hell out of Dodge. The closer that they got, the angrier he became. His bout of nausea had been over-ridden by his determination to get Mac out of there and kill whoever got in his way. He wished Veronica would step on it.

The app had yet to work on Mac's phone. He had been staring at it, refreshing it, clearing it, reopening it…and nothing. They just were not in range yet for it to work. When he saw Mac again he was going to have a serious talkin' to her about the range on her bugs. It was totally unacceptable, knowing that he should be able to hear what was going on inside of that cabin and he was unable to. Dick shook it in frustration.

The little alien's eyes that was the Mac-attack app lit up yellow and his heart stopped for a moment. That clever girl of his! She thought of everything. He pushed the app with his finger as it loaded, a UFO lighting up and suddenly, there was the sound of two very angry men coming through the speaker:

'"How the hell do you lose two women, ya knucklehead?"

"I swear, boss. I don't know how it happened. You saw the rope. I tied 'em up good."

"Not damn good enough! How long have they been gone?"

Dick looked quickly at Veronica who was listening hard but still watching the road.

"It couldn't have been long, Boss. I think it must have been since I got inside the gate."

"You better pray they're in here, Ben. If they're not..." There was a menacing pause. "Tell me who this girl that was with her was?"

"I told ya, I think it was her girlfriend. Butch, though, I mean, she was in hiking gear and not like the Ice Princess. She fought like a mother."

He felt a grin forming with pride.

"I took her down a notch, though, that one. Madison was no problem, she all but begged for the rope. I knocked the girlfriend out and threw 'em both in the back, tied 'em up tight."

There was slight pain in Dick's knee; he looked and saw that his fingers not holding the phone were digging into his leg, knuckles white in frustration and anger.

"Did you at least get her to talk? Where the hell is my money?"

"Well I asked her, but she would only cry and shake like a freakin' leaf. I was leaving it up to you, Boss. You have a way the ladies, you know."

A third voice piped up. "No, I have the market on that. Me and Aidan have it down. Just slip 'em a little sumthin-sumthin'. Why didn't you give them any of it?"

There was an incredulous laugh. "I didn't need to." A slight pause. "As if I could get Madison to take anything I offered her. I need a needle, man. And that other one, she would have just spit it in my face. I kind of like my suit the way it is without spit down the front of it. Now, if we're talkin' I got her naked and it was more tha—"

The original, angry voice, who Dick supposed belonged to Mark Tennison angrily interrupted, "Stop thinking with you dick, you idiot. You could have had a cream-puff sandwich but instead you lost the damn cunts. They're gone and now what? We need to find them." There was a scraping of chairs and shuffling, the voices coming from further away. "Go back to the gate and look for them. If we don't figure out where the fuck they are soon, find my money and shut them the hell up before they can talk you are going to regret it, Ben. FIND THEM NOW!"

There were no more voices for a while and all that could be heard through the speaker were noises of slamming doors. A few minutes passed and there was what sounded like footsteps and an opening and slamming of a drawer. Then they heard:

"How the hell do you lose two little idiot females? That guy, I knew it was a mistake bringing him in to do a man's job. He all muscle and no brains."

"Well that's the good thing, Rick. If he doesn't find those little dykes by the end of the night…he's taking the fall. His brain's the size of a pea. He's too fucking stupid to see that we'll turn on him before he even knows what's hit him." There was an odd clicking noise and then a slamming of a door. It was silent.

Dick stared at the phone. It took all he had not to shake it again, demanding answers from it. What the hell did that mean, they lost the women? Mac and Madison were together? Where the hell were they? What the hell happened?

The car was slowing down, he realized grimly, and Veronica was crossing the bridge and turning right onto the gravel road that led to the gate. They were here. But now he didn't know what to do. Mac was not at their destination.

A/N: The Mac Attack App was just too fun to pass up. I hope you bypass again the probability of the thing and just enjoy the ride. Thanks!