A/N: Not Joking when I say Rated M for this chapter. Thank you to Bondopoulos for agreeing to be my Beta. I hope it was worth the trouble. Some day I may just treat you to a Virtual Coffee in Appreciation. :D

A/N: This is my sincere thank you to those of you that reviewed. I apologize about not responding to you all, this has been a busy time for me and I knew that posting might be more of a priority for you all at this point. Thank you thank you for taking the time to tell me your thoughts.

Enjoy. (I hope)

RATED M

-Chapter 27 Rated M-

Mac was feeling a little tipsy. She and Dick made their way out of the restaurant, their guard dog following at a reasonable distance. She snickered thinking about the show they could give the Feeb as she brushed against Dick's arm, pushing it just so that she was nestled beneath it and against his chest, her arm snaking about his back. She could smell his signature lime with sandalwood when she burrowed her face into the fabric of his shirt. Her hand dropped to hook a thumb in his belt loop.

Dick was receptive to her advances and place his arm protectively around her shoulders to pull her closer into him. Stopping at the elevator doors, he pushed the 'Up' button then turned his attention Mac. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head while his hand rubbed her back.

The elevator binged and the doors opened. They stepped in, turning back to face the entry way. The Feeb, with a pinched look of an uncomfortable third wheel, followed them, stepped to a far back corner and waited for them to push the button they needed. When Dick obliged, the door slid shut and they began their ascension.

Mac giggled drowsily, thinking about the day's events, and the difference between this elevator ride and the earlier ones. She couldn't believe how different she felt, how light and carefree. Dick knew her deep-dark-secret. He wasn't treating her like she was a science project gone horribly wrong. He hadn't placed any blame on her or made excuses. He was still smiling at her, not judging her, not running for the hills in terror. He was making her feel…normal.

The elevator stopped and the door slid open to their floor. The three of them stepped out. Mac felt the Fed push her aside. She opened her mouth to complain but stopped herself when saw what made him so pushy. Their door's guard dog, Paul, was not at his post. Their Fed looked back at them, alarmed, and they both shrugged. Neither she nor Dick had any idea where he would have gone and the short-stocky agent knew it.

He pointed a stubby finger at them. "You two go in your room and stay there. Do not even think of leaving your confinement without permission from me, do you understand? I'm staying right here until Paul gets back from wherever he wandered off to. I don't so much care if there is a fire alarm, you don't leave without my escort, do you understand?"

They nodded and watched as the Fed stomped down the hallway purposely to the emergency exit. He opened it and called out, "Paul?"

Dick shook his head and pulled out his key card. "Good help these days, can't find it. We run into that at the Water Dog all the time. People don't like to cover their shifts."

Mac was still eyeing the federal agent, who had returned to the hallway with his cell phone in hand. "Do you think Paul is all right?"

The door clicked and Dick pushed it open, letting Mac enter the room before he stepped in. He closed the door and locked it firmly behind them. "I don't think that he's in danger. He probably had to take a piss, and knows it's late enough, no one in here's going anywhere." He pointed to the two closed doors that led to Veronica and Madison's rooms, respectively. "They're both in bed."

As they walked in, Mac noticed right away that Veronica had set her little carry-on out on the couch. She smiled to herself, a little embarrassed that Veronica had assumed so correctly that she wouldn't want to sneak into Veronica's room for her bag so she could take it into Dick's room for the night. How well her friend knew her.

Dick didn't noticed it. His hand had reached to take hers again, and he swung himself to face her. His eyes were soft as he dipped his head down to capture her mouth with his. She reciprocated, her arms reaching to link about his neck, pulling him into her, nipping his lips with her teeth. His tongue touched her teeth and she gave him access to her mouth. The taste of him intoxicatingly exotic and heady. Her tongue touched his in a tentative dance of give and take; unconsciously she grasped into his hair and pulled him even closer into her. Dick's hands were roaming her back, cupping her ass. Lighting her on fire. He pulled away and her fingers skimmed his neck as they stared at each other.

Tonight was different and they both knew it. It wasn't about comfort tonight; it was about them and their awareness and need for each other. His fingers skimmed up her arms and feathered her cheeks. "When I saw your phone on the ground, god, Mackie…"

She felt her face heat. "I'm so stupid. I never should have gone to her room without you or Veronica."

Dick grinned. "Well. I won't argue with that one. It was definitely not the smartest thing you've ever done." He touched his lips again to hers, walking her backwards until she was pressed against the door to his room. She let her weight rest there as his mouth left her lips to feather her cheek and he bent to plant light kisses on her neck. She felt a sigh escape her.

He paused and stood straighter. His hands dropped to hers, fingers rubbing her wrists lightly. "How are you feeling?"

Hot. She tipped her head back to rest it on the door. His eyes lingered on her neck before they lazily rose to meet her gaze. She dropped her eyes to where she could see his pulse beating at his neck. His hip was anchoring her against the wall and she could feel him…against her, proof of his shared heat. Without thought she pushed her hips into him, watched his eyes dilate with arousal. She wrapped her arms around his neck, fingers tight in his hair as she pulled herself up and into him, her mouth against his.

He was too tall and she was too damn short. Dick lifted her easily up into him, to gain better access, but she pulled away for a moment, hand behind her back, fumbling for the door knob. Finally she found it and pushed it down hard. The door swung open and they both fell into Dick's room with force from the free motion of the door.

They caught themselves; Dick's arms instinctively wrapped around her to keep her from landing in a heap in front of him. Mac's legs gained purchase before she lost control and they straightened together, laughing, panting, pushing into each other as Dick slammed the door shut with a swift kick behind him. When it latched, Mac pushed him straight into it and pinned him there while her hands made quick work to pull his shirt from his jeans. Her fingers burned to touch his skin. The fabric of his shirt now free, her hands skimmed up and underneath it to touch the coolness of his stomach and then rose up over his chest and out through the collar of his shirt to grab a hold of his neck, thumbs running the base of his jaw. She pushed his mouth into hers, teeth sinking into the soft flesh of his lower lip, sucking hard before releasing it to lick her way into recesses of his mouth.

He growled his approval before he wrapped his arms around her back, his hands grasping at the low back of her dress, fingers skimming where the fabric met her skin. His hand dipped under the fabric to find her bra and he deftly unclipped the clasp in one fluid motion. The looseness was in his favor as he next ran his hands up her arms and under the sleeves, and suddenly, her bra was on the ground, useless black lace against the expensive hotel carpet. Mac pulled away, laughing, breathless.

His breathing was labored, but he humored her, placing his hands on his hips, eyes crinkled. "What?"

"You're better at that than most women are at taking off their own bra."

He kicked away from the door, sauntering to her seductively to lead her to the bed. When the backs of her knees hit the edge of it, he stopped her from falling onto the mattress. Dick held her gaze for a few moments. With a smirk, he pulled off his shirt and flung it far away, his gaze fixed on hers, asking her silently to do the same with her little black dress. Instead of answering, Mac lightly placed her fingers on the belt at his jeans; pulling his hips towards her while she rubbed him there with her own hip. One hand began work on the buckle while the other trailed up his torso; circled his belly button, over his abs, to a nipple that she lightly rolled between her fingers.

His sigh ignited her and she was suddenly on the bed, kneeling in front of him while he stood in front of her, with a slight, knowing grin on his face. He looked drunk and she felt drunk; it was powerfully liberating to her. Her smirk mirrored his as she pulled the dress up and off of herself, left only in her black lace thong. She crooked a finger at him to follow her, and he all but jumped onto the bed with her, his chest against her breasts. The way he anchored her against him make her breasts look large and full. He bent his face down into them to inhale her scent, arms wrapped about her territorially.

Mac felt his breath on the tips of her nipples; felt a tongue begin play with one, and her hands become restless, grappling in his hair, scratching down his back as her senses were lost, arching into his caresses mindlessly. His hands were roaming as well, she felt one at her neck and the other pinching hotly at her ass; he stilled a moment, his fingers slowing their assault at her ass. Dick pulled away to gaze at her hotly before twisting her around. She's on her knees facing the headboard and his hands were running down the length of her back. His fingers tugged at the black silk of her thong, and she realized hazily that the thong is what has caused him to turn her. She threw a look behind her to see his eyes gazing down at the black scrap of fabric, fingers dipping down between it and her body.

She hissed when his fingers encircled the tender spot, ready for him. He paused to pull his hands free and run them down her arms, which were out in front of her resting on the bed. Dick takes a gentle hold of her wrists, his mouth hot in her ear as he whispered, "I don't want to be too rough, but damn, you're hot. Stop me. Stop me if you need me to. Just say the word."

No words passed her lips, though, she was throbbing with what he's started and he knew it, but she was all at once aware at his caution, even as she can feel the strain beneath the zipper of his jeans that he has pressed into her. She merely groaned and pushed back and down, to where the friction of their body continued the delicious build up. His hands lifted her hands up off the bed and onto the headboard, his face still nuzzled into her neck; she felt his tongue there and the scruff of a day without shaving cutting erotically into the softness of her neck. Her head dropped of its own accord, exposing the length of her neck. He took full advantage. His mouth continued its exploration and his hands were swiftly kneading her breasts, nipples beading under his advances.

The noises they were making were animalistic and primal, full of need and want. They push and pull into each other, positively adolescent in their dry-humping, but it felt so good that she dropped a hand from the headboard to reach back to pull at the band of his jeans. Dick's belt buckle was undone; it bit into her as she attacked blindly at his jean's button, and impatiently pulling at it; the belt finally came out of the loops, gliding through her fingers and falling to the bed. Dick left his attention of her breasts to assist her with his jeans. The bed unexpectedly dipped, but she was so turned on she barely noticed that Dick was no longer on the bed with her. She instead chose to think about every little touch and lick that he has just given her, keeping herself on her high.

He returned to the bed. She was still facing the headboard. He pressed himself against her and she could feel the hard length of his erection. She brought one hand to reach back to touch him and felt the condom he had placed on himself. Mac bent deeper down into the bed, one hand supporting herself with the headboard, the other still touching him, guiding him to her. Suddenly he slid home, and her gasp of pleasure rang out at the same time as his.

They began a rhythm, her bearing down and gyrating, him pumping up into her, his hands still skimming her back, hands cupping her ass. She felt herself building and building, higher than ever before. Mac threw her head back to let loose a wild scream as his hand came down hard against the soft flesh of her ass…and she exploded.

God, she just might love him.

The two women had eventually called a truce and gone to their separate rooms. Veronica, now alone in her bed, checked the time, counting the minutes down to the time to sign into Skype and see Logan's face. It felt like years after everything that happened in the past four or so days since she'd last talked to him. It never ceased to amaze her how much you could miss a person who hadn't been back in your life very long. Although they had less than a month to go, she felt crazy with her need to see and touch him. To feel him next to her in her bed, to just be with him would be a miracle when it finally happened.

This day had been completely, unexpectedly crazy. The FBI agent that she had contacted was polite and understanding, but Veronica was worried about the ramifications of her and Dick's choice to go after Mac without back up. Without back up, ha, that was funny. Federal agents didn't like anyone going rogue, and god; they had gone more than rogue. They had completely ignored the fact that the FBI were involved, Ramboing their way onto the mountain. She was worried about whether or not the two of them might end up detained or even incarcerated.

Because of that worry, the first thing she had done once Madison had excused herself for the night was to call her dad. Keith hadn't been too pleased to hear about their shenanigans. But, he had promised to call in what favors he could. Apparently, he knew someone who knew someone or that was married to an agent. Veronica had hung up from that conversation feeling hopeful.

The next thing she had done was text Wallace. It had pressed on her mind all day that she needed to call him. She figured a quick text would do the trick to ease her mind on that front. He didn't text her back which wasn't alarming. He was probably asleep or out with his charges. They'd talk in the morning.

The binging of her computer brought her back to the present and she clicked the appropriate button. Logan was there, looking better than ever, casually dressed in a blue polo shirt…he looked good enough to eat. He looked freshly showered but worn out, almost as worn out as she felt.

Their eyes tried to connect and his face broke out into a soft smile. "Hi," he said, his eyes settling at her neckline. How she hated camera-calls refusal of intimacy, real or imagined. "How's your week been?"

The camera became fuzzy, but she knew it wasn't from a bad connection. She wiped at her eyes; pressed a finger hard into the corner of one and tried to keep the tears from appearing. She swallowed and ran a hand down her face, leaning closer into the screen. "God I wish you were here."

"To ease your troubles?"

"Well, there's that." She consciously kept her hands from reaching out to touch the screen, as if she could jump through it to be with him. "I miss you. It's been a hell of a week. When will June be over and done, and why can't it be right now!"

From the outer room, she heard a door slam and movement. Dick and Mac were obviously back. Her distraction was evident to Logan, as he asked, "How's Utah?"

The surprise on her face must have shown, because he laughed. Dryly he said, "Relax, I don't have a drone on you. Dick emailed me yesterday; he told me he was going with you. I really don't have to know everything you do, but I like to. How's it been?"

"Horrendous." She caught the flash of concern in his eye. "I mean…horrendous. I don't even want to tell you about it, it was so bad. But we're all relax—" she stopped midsentence when she heard a cry and a yell through the wall. Relaxing…yeah. I guess that's what it's called. She blinked and tried to keep her face impassive. "We're all back at the hotel. Dick and Mac are getting along really well."

"Oh?" Logan's voice piqued with interest. "What's that mean?"

"Uh…let's just say, I think we have double-date partners?" There was another bang against her wall and she couldn't keep the laugh out of her voice. "I'm oddly being reminded of days from college when we used to have contests at which couple could keep which couple up in the other room."

Logan blinked. "Really." He smirked and leaned in closer. "I take that as a challenge we could be meeting rather soon, don't you? This could get fun." His brow knit together. "I also am sensing a diversion tactic. What happened this week that was so horrendous?"

Five minutes before she had been cursing about not having the option of looking him straight into the eye, and now she was praising the fact. She bit her lip and sighed. "Do you want the long or short version of the events?"

"You're giving me the option?" She could see Logan's concern by his nervous swallowing, his eyes making a quick sweep of the room he sat in. His voice sober,flat. "Just tell me the whole thing."

Some things never changed, she thought tiredly. His eyes had turned steely with resolve and she could tell he wanted to climb right through the computer to shake the words out of her. He never tried to disguise his worry with her.

The lighting was terrible in here, she decided. Instead of answering him, she bent away from the camera to turn the lamp next to the bed one more shade brighter.

"Veronica…" Logan's voice interrupted her and she returned to the screen, her expression guilty. In a less demanding tone he coaxed, "Please?"

In starts and stops, the whole story came out, every little tidbit from Dick's attack to Madison and Mac's kidnapping to their house arrest at the hotel. Logan was silent during the whole telling of her tale; the only movement he made was to run a finger along his brow or lean forward in his chair.

Finally the story was over. Her eyes tried to find a point on the screen that made her feel like they were looking at each other and failed. His expression was stoic, as if resigned to the knowledge that Veronica would never cease in her insistence at finding danger everywhere she went.

Before he said anything, she said lightly, "It wasn't my fault this time, I swear."

"God, Veronica, and I thought having Dick there would be a good thing."

"When is having Dick anywhere a good thing?" Her timing of that question was inopportune as another cry rang out through the wall. "Well, for me anyway." She sighed. "It was a good thing, Logan. He really…I don't know, the way he looks at Mac…I've never seen him act like this before. I think he really likes her." Another cry and a deep moan. Her eyebrows went up. "And I think if you were here right now, you'd agree."

"Well, I don't care if I come home to a shotgun wedding. Dick and Mac can ride off into the sunset, but I want you waiting for me, all limbs and digits intact. And what was Mac thinking, going down to that room alone?"

"Question of the day." Veronica shrugged, "You need to ask her that."

He stared at her, or at least, looked in her general direction silently for a minute. He changed the subject. "So I have a request." When she gestured for him to continue, he went on, "The guys here are planning a special trip for their families to Hawaii—right before we all get back, it's traditional, I guess." His smile was pleading. "I've never felt like I've had family to invite. Would you consider it? I was going to see if you wanted to bring Mac, but maybe you should invite Dick to come along with her."

"You mean you want me to play third wheel to Dick and his new girlfriend on a trip that you planned for me? How would that be fun for me?"

"Well, this trip is for my family, and sorry if this is news, but Dick's the closest to family besides you I've got. Say yes?"

"Ooh, I don't know, Logan, lounging in a beach chair with a Pina Colada in hand? Sounds rough." Her smile faded. "I'd rather wait for you."

Something undefinable flashed in his face and his smile widened. "Well, by the time you got back, we'd almost have less than a week. It might help the time go by." His voice turned soft, "Think about it. It would only be four days…my treat? It just seems like something that would make me feel more like a unit with these guys, having you be a part of something their wives and girlfriends do—"

Holding a hand up to silence him, she said, "You had me at never had a family to invite."

The smile he wore grew larger and a fist rose in victory. "I knew I could guilt you into it. Works every time."

She slanted her eyes at him. "Well, you'll just have to repay my kindness with other forms of payment. I expect lots of special attention."

"Only for a Mars does anyone have to repay them for taking them on vacation. Will you be out of the FBI's clutches in two weeks' time?"

A stab of real worry hit her. She frowned. "I called Dad. He's working on some things…apparently Dad knows a friend of a friend."

"You Mars people. You know everyone. This is why everyone else needs your help to get out of sticky situations."

"Yeah, I can't change facts, though, only the way people interpret them. I'm not completely positive, but I think we'll be able to leave here in the morning or at least the next day. We're going to have to turn everything over to them and their investigation. I'm hopeful we won't have to sit here too long. The one thing I know for sure is that Madison is not coming out of this smelling like a rose. She's probably going to be charged as an accessory, even after being kidnapped."

"To be fair, when has she ever smelled like a rose?"

"I don't know, maybe when it's rotting in the garbage? She's a piece of work. I don't think I'll ever understand any man's attraction to her." Her eyes skimmed his face. Skype made everything feel so empty. "She brought up the fact that…she's…been with you."

Logan sighed. He brought a hand up to rest on the top of his head and he stared into the camera. Resigned, he said, "You want to talk about that? Right now?"

"Not really. She's just a bitch."

"Well, that, my dear, is quite true." Dropping his arm, he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Madison is nothing but a skank that I never should have touched. It ruined everything; can we not bring it up? Can't you let it go?"

The old Veronica would have said no. The old Veronica had said no, once upon a time. And with that no she had lost everything for way too many years. There, of course, was a niggling in the back of her mind. The investigator in her wanted to poke and prod it to death. But with prodding would come festering of old wounds, wounds that had turned to scars over the years. Was she willing to cut open something that had healed? Something that could be damaging and once again ruin what she had?

She took a breath. She smiled. "Which suit should I bring to Hawaii?"

His body sagged in relief. She hadn't even notice how tightly strung he had become with each passing moment, but when she dropped it, he physically lowered deeper into his chair. "I saw you got my package."

She raised her hand to show him the bracelet. "I love it."

Mac was sore. She rolled over off of her stomach and into a hard, solid mass of heat. The past night's activities hit her full-force. She propped herself up to look down at where Dick slept beside her, hair mussed and an arm flung over his head.

A stab of pain sliced up the wrist she was propped on. Grimacing, she examined herself. There was a light swelling around the area where the rope had bound her but her fingers moved easily, thank God. The other wrist looked similar. It would take a little time to heal the outer wounds, but at least she hadn't broken or damaged anything else.

Dick stirred, his legs bending upwards. His eyes popped open and he propped his elbow up to rest his head in his hand. "Good morning. You're still here this time."

A yawn threatened to overtake her and she couldn't respond for a moment. "Sorry. I guess I'm still tired."

"You know they say yawns go around the whole world before they reach us again. Like someone right now in China's is yawning off of your yawn." Dick's other hand reached over to run lightly over her exposed wrist. "How are you feeling this A.M.?"

The coarseness of the rope had caused an open wound. Beyond the swelling there was a scab forming. Dick's eyes hardened as his thumb rubbed over it and he frowned. "This damn case." Gently he pulled her wrist to his mouth and he kissed her there, his tongue making a soft, warm padding that felt like velvet applied in its warmth to her injury.

Instead of comfort it released another need in her and Mac pushed herself over him. She moved to straddle him and her wrist he had been caressing was now over his head, pinning his own wrist against the pillow. She was pleased to see his eyes dilate and hear his breathing become shallow. She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips and let her breasts rub against his chest. They were both still gloriously naked. When she sat back into his lap, she was satisfied to feel his growing desire beneath her.

"You're already ready this morning?" She asked him teasingly.

"Mornings aren't generally a problem, Mackster." His head came up off the pillow, trying to entice her to meet him half-way.

She shook her head and tsked. "Now, now, did I say you could move?"

He slammed his head back against the pillow and pouted. Mac grinned back at him. She released his arm and pointed to him, silently warning him not to move. She slid down the tops of his legs so that she was sitting astride his ankles. Her finger grazed his smooth stomach, reaching lower and encircling him. Her thumb rubbed the tip of him and she lowered herself on top of him slowly, slithering her body to rub against him completely until her mouth touched his. Her tongue pushed his lips open so she could milk his languorously. Her fingers mimicked the movements of her mouth and his hips began a rhythm of their own accord.

She pulled back and shook her head again. His reaction made her bold when she told him, "Now, Dickster, I know you know you're not supposed to move."

By now he was panting with desire. She loved the way his mouth hung open, wet from her kiss, and the way his pulse throbbed at the base of his throat. She released her hold on him to climb up and off of him. He whimpered in disappointment. "Where are you going?"

The need in his voice caused her to throw her head around to give him a hot grin. "Just making you beg for it is all." She bent down to where her bag was, which she had made Dick go out and retrieve after their first encounter the night before. She unzipped the top of it and pulled out a condom. When she turned back to face him, he was staring glassy-eyed at her. "My mama always told me, never let the guy take care of the protection. Protect yourself."

"Hell, I think your mama and I will get along. Thank god for smart and prepared women."

"Enough about my mom." Mac told him as she climbed back on to the bed, straddling him once again and opening the foil package. "Let's talk about something sexy."

"Like you?"

They began a replay of the night before: limbs tangling, breathing heavy, sighs and moans emitting from them both. Mac, astride him, plunged down upon him, enjoying the way Dick's mouth curled back in effort, his eyes wide. His hands pressed into her thighs and her head fell back, chest heaving, and then his fingers graze her nipples, and she felt it, the tightening that begs for release. Fingers push between them and her head snapped back to catch Dick's smirk just as she was blinded by a rush of pleasure and she ground down into him. His face contorted with his own release. Her fingers skimmed his nipples when he bucked up into her, and her body gyrated into him as she came again, harder this time.

There were stars and blackness as she came back down to earth. She fell in a hot mess onto his chest, spent. His fingers run lightly up her back, down to cup her ass; he pushed himself deeper inside her while she shuddered from an after-shock. Their heartbeats are off tempo from one another, echoing into her ear that is resting on his chest.

There was a tap at the door that they both chose to ignore. Instead, their hands were running against one another's body, learning by touch each little nuance. She found a scar at the inside of his elbow, her eyes can just see what she felt, a dime-sized white scar. Her fingers touched it softly, but he pulled at her hand to still it, taking it up to his mouth to kiss the tips of her fingers. She wondered why he didn't seem to want her touching it.

She was about to ask when the tap at the door become a more frantic knock. Mac pulled herself up off of Dick's chest, sitting against where they were still joined. Her frown matched his. "Real-life begins."

Finding Dick's t-shirt, Mac threw it over her head and as she opened the door weaved her arms through the arm holes. Dick was behind her, just pulling his jeans over his hips when the open door exposed Veronica on the other side.

Her eyes didn't even take stock of the room. "Madison is missing. I know you two didn't invite her in here last night, so the question is, where the hell did she go? Her bag is gone."

Logan hadn't been able to talk much longer that night so Veronica had ended their Skype call and gone to bed, her mind on his brown eyes. She had been lulled by the sounds of the two lovers in the other room, their sighs and the thumping of their bed against the wall causing her mind to stray to rather…risqué thoughts.

Her skin flushed as she imagined Logan's arms around her, his feverish touch bringing her to an edge…she could have been embarrassed but imagined Logan was in the same state, millions of miles away. Just thinking about him, wanting and missing her, made her come to the brink again. She let herself rise to the top and fall into bliss, her own touch bringing herself the replaced comfort that only a lover should give. She slept.

When the morning came, Veronica had to force herself out of the bed. She checked her phone for messages and found one from Wallace:

Got your message late. I can call at break. Everything's great here.

It was a relief to even hear that much from him. There were no other messages, so she busied herself with getting ready for the day.

When she stepped into the main room of the suite she found herself alone. Directly, she walked to the front door to look through the peep hole to confirm that Paul was standing guard. Satisfied to see him there, she made coffee in the coffee maker supplied and turned on the TV.

There was rustling and talking in Dick's room. And then…well, she didn't want to interrupt that, so she resolutely turned the TV volume up higher and tried to care about how to shield your camera phone with a Ziplock baggie when visiting the pool and how to take flattering pictures of yourself in a bathing suit. When that became impossible, Veronica stood up and went to Madison's door to tap on it.

No answer. She tapped louder and waited. Something niggled at her to open the door. Veronica took it upon herself to do just that. Pushing the heavy door open exposed the unlit room, the made bed, the open door to the private bath. Her eyes skimmed the room, taking time to notice the lack of personal effects that should prove Madison was there.

She was gone.

A/N: Thanks for reading. :D