A/N: Rated T+ for language Sorry this took a while. And sorry it's not as long as usual, I just realized.

Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, follows. It really does help knowing that others want to read this. Thank you to Bondopoulos, whose patience is amazing. Thank you for the beta skill and the willingness to be a sounding board.

Chapter 31

It was Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair who opened the door today; Lauren was nowhere to be seen. Their pallor was gray-tinged with worry. When the two of them recognized Dick standing next to Mac their confusion became even more apparent.

Unlike Mac's dream from earlier in the week, Dick wasn't separated from her. Together they were ushered into the familiar study where Mac had sat only two days before. There was no offer of coffee or water this time. Jeff and Elizabeth clutched one another's hands in expectancy and sat immediately on the couch, which left Dick and Mac to sit on the chairs directly across from them.

Elizabeth's hands kneaded into her husband's. There were dark circles about her eyes, her hair was tightly combed back and she wore no makeup. The past week of waiting and worry seemed to have aged Mac's birth mother or at least made her less interested in keeping herself up. Kind of like the yard, Mac thought. Apparently when life gets in the way, keeping up with the Joneses falls by the wayside.

She knew the Sinclairs weren't stupid; they probably that suspected something rather bad had happened but not that Madison willingly left on her own this time. On her way over Mac had decided to start by explaining exactly what she and her companions had found upon arriving in Utah. She would work her way forward from there. Hopefully it would help the couple make sense of everything that had happened in the past week. Maybe it would even help Mac to understand it better herself.

Weighing her words, Mac began, "As you are aware, we arrived in Utah yesterday morning. We immediately followed the lead that we had and hoped to find Madison at the Tennison's private cabin near Park City. However, we discovered right away that Madison was not there. All the evidence at the cabin pointed to Madison being at a hotel in Salt Lake City where Mark Tennison made reservations under an assumed name." She paused in her telling and looked at Jeff and Elizabeth. "I made the unfortunate decision to approach Madison without the rest of the team…and found her in her room under slight duress. She was very nervous. I made the decision to speak with her first…to talk with her about…our situation, our connection—it wasn't a good idea. The point is that we were both taken against our will by a man paid off by Mark Tennison."

"What?!" Jeffrey Sinclair interrupted. Elizabeth sat stunned.

"Kidnapped is a better term." Dick interjected. "She's being evasive there."

Jeff turned his eyes on the younger man. "And what exactly are you doing involved in all of this?"

Dick's mouth opened to explain, but Mac jumped in ahead of him. "The day after Madison went missing Mr. Casablancas was assaulted. He retained our firm to investigate and, coincidentally, we discovered ties between both his case and Madison's."

"Okay," Jeff accepted. "But why is Dick here with you tonight?"

Awkward. Mac squirmed uncomfortably in her chair.

"Uh..emotional support?" Dick told Jeff, his tone high-pitched, "She's been obsessing about this meeting all day—"

"Dick, enough." Mac said sternly to him. "You really aren't helping." To the Sinclairs, she said, "Dick's here like he said, to support me."

Elizabeth waved Mac's reasoning away, obviously eager to hear the rest of the tale. To Mac, she urged, "Tell us more about…the kidnapping."

Glad for detour around explaining Dick's presence, Mac continued. "We escaped before we were brought to the Tennison's cabin which was the kidnapper's destination."

"Oh thank God," Elizabeth breathed. She shut her eyes tightly as if to ward off more of bad news. "Were either of you hurt?"

"Minor scrapes and bruises," Mac told them, absentmindedly rubbing her wrists. "Madison's feet were pretty sore—we trudged through the woods a while before we were found." The alarm on their faces made her pull her fingers away from her wounds. "Dick and Veronica were almost immediately aware of what had happened and where Madison and I were being taken. We were able to reunite with them rather quickly. Veronica had been in contact with the FBI earlier in the day and they met us as well. Everyone that was at the cabin was apprehended." She purposely left out how she had bludgeoned Patrick Muldoon and the chase to the gate. "Our group was allowed back to the hotel suite for last night. Mr. Mars contacted you shortly after all of that happened."

"Yes, Mr. Mars just said that Maddie was with all of you in Utah and that the FBI were going to be questioning her most of today. We knew it might be a day at least before we would be able to see or talk to her."

"That's true Elizabeth, she was to be questioned this morning, but Madison slipped away at some point in the night. We know she had purchased a car earlier in the week. We think that Madison left the hotel, found that car, and escaped in fear for her life."

"In fear for her life?" Elizabeth echoed. "Why in the world…"

"We don't know the specifics, but when Veronica questioned her last night, Madison was afraid. That fear was evident when I was with her, even before the kidnapping. Originally Madison went to Salt Lake with the passwords in exchange of the money Mark Tennison had promised her for helping—but when she got there she realized he is very much a criminal and it scared her. She was already in the process arranging a way to disappear before we found her—and she succeeded in getting away, just a day later than she had planned. The FBI is actively searching for her. I know that this news is completely unexpected, but do you have any idea where Madison would go to start her life over?"

"Start her life over?" Elizabeth squeaked. "You think she's planning to start over, assume a new identity, completely leave her past behind? What—I just—what?"

"The group that Mark is involved with seems to have very reaching hands," Mac tried to explain. "Whether it was justifiable or not, Madison must have felt like she was not safe even with us and chose to leave. She'd already told Veronica that she was planning to start over."

"What I don't understand is how Maddie was able to walk away from all of you unseen," Jeff's eyes bore into Mac's. "Explain to me how none of you noticed that she left until she was long gone."

The plan was working like a charm. By the time Veronica returned to her seat, Deidre's hand was creeping slowly up Aidan's thigh. The agent was leaning into him drunkenly and laughing loudly at something the man had said. He was laughing, too, an arm now snaked around her back suggestively. His arm moved and dipped down while his fingers feathered the beginning swell of the woman's ass.

Having not yet been noticed, Veronica steeled herself before she leaned into his back and looked down and over him. "Ooh, Archie, did you find someone to play Veronica? Or does she want to be Betty?"

Aidan's face turned directly into Veronica's breasts and she could have sworn he jiggled his face into her. Creeper. She had to work hard to stop herself from whacking him with her fist. Her eyes froze on Deidre's, whose wide eyes warned her to keep the act up. Veronica pulled away from Aidan and plastered a smile on her face. "Did you order me that drink?" Veronica spied a full cocktail sitting on a napkin in front of her seat. Logan sure as hell was not going to like hearing about this night. Strike that. No one needs to know.

Deidre frowned when Aidan turned his attention back on her. Her voice came out in a nasally whine. "Archie, you didn't tell me you had a Betty already."

Aidan chuckled. "Ooh, baby, we can trade all night, I don't think she'll mind."

With his attention diverted on Deidre, Veronica pulled out a strip that tested for dosed drinks and inconspicuously dipped it into her glass. It came back positive. Son of bitch. He'd laced her drink. She quickly opened her clutch, pulled out an empty tube of lipstick, opened its cap and stuffed the now drenched strip into it. Snapping the cap back on the base, she dropped the tube back into the depths of the little purse. She then took her drink and pretended to sip it, keeping her eye on the bartender. Before she could set the glass on the counter a new drink was in front of her. The barkeep took the laced cup and gave her a slight nod. She hid her satisfaction. One count of intent: check.

"Hey, wanna dance?" Veronica asked, swiveling in her stool and hitting Aidan's arm. "This music is making me want to move." Standing, she tugged Aidan's arm out toward the dance floor. He in turn pulled at Deidre's. "I want to see what you got."

The bulk of the conversation was finally over. The Sinclairs sat staring through Mac with blank expressions. They were devastated. Madison had not been in contact with them. Neither Jeff nor Elizabeth knew where to start looking. The emptiness the older couple felt seemed to suck the energy out of the room. Mac felt the stirrings of a migraine.

Finally, Jeff spoke up. "So…are you two dating then?"

Mac's eyes flew to her birth father's. His tone was not accusing, just curious. "Uh, casually, yes."

"Sir, no, it's more than casual," Dick answered when the silence filled the air once again. "We've become close recently and it's serious."

"Dick, you don't have to say that," Mac argued. She kept her voice low when she turned to look at him as though she could keep their conversation private. "You don't have to worry about what I'll think."

"I'm not just 'saying' it, Mac," Dick air-quoted. "I don't say things I don't mean, and I mean this. What is happening between us is serious."

She felt her hackles rising and she tried to force them down. "Dick, we'll have this conversation later, right now—"

After the Sinclair's watched Mac and Dick's exchange Elizabeth said, "I realize that you weren't planning on being here tonight until, uh, last minute, and I'm sure you're both exhausted. Jeffrey and I certainly are. We would love to have you both over maybe in a week or two? For dinner?"

"Well we're going on a small getaway in about two weeks," Dick informed the room at large. Mac looked at him, confused. "We'd have to cram it in before that or else right after we got back."

"Getaway?" Mac repeated. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, shi—" Dick grinned apologetically. "Scuse me , I forget I'm in polite company." He focused on Mac. "It's kind of a surprise thing. For Ronnie. Logan wants her to have a getaway before he comes back and invited you and me to tag along."

"To tag along or babysit? Logan always thinks Veronica is going to find trouble."

"Then it's probably to babysit. Logan always has had a protective streak when it comes to Ronnie."

Music blared in the background. Dim, flashing lights made it hard to see. The Neptune Grand's bar had sure changed over the years, Veronica thought. The only thing that hadn't changed was its location. Ten years ago this was a quiet place to get cocktails. Now it was a full-out name-on-the-list, bouncer-in-the-front dance club.

Aidan Muldoon was sandwiched between the two women, gyrating to the music. He was facing Deidre with his backside bumping into Veronica's hip. His hands were moving up and down Deirdre's arms, completely oblivious to Veronica and Deidre's silent communication with each other over his dancing form.

Veronica gave a sultry laugh and ran her fingers up along Aidan's shoulder blade. When he craned his neck back to look at her, she told him breathlessly, "Your moves are magic but I'm getting too hot." He gave her a lustful grin and she widened her smile. "This place is really getting crowded."

"I know a quiet place." Aidan's eagerness was unmistakable. "I just so happen to have a suite."

Veronica bit back her disgust. "Ooh, a suite? Really?" She looked at him sideways. "You think that since you bought me a drink I'll just go willingly up to your room alone with you?" She cuffed him with a fist and giggled drunkenly, "I'm joking. But can Veronica come with? We wouldn't want her to get jealous. I like to share."

"I never say no to a beautiful woman and I've got plenty to go around," he said, the look of glee on his face palpable. He leaned into whisper in to Deidre's ear and within minutes the three of them were headed toward the exit.

The ride up the space elevator was not as fun as it used to be. Nostalgically, Veronica found herself reminiscing old times. She only allowed herself one memory to carry along with her: Hi,ho, off to work I go. She was on the case. No more thoughts of the past for tonight.

Deidre hung off of Aidan's arm as the three of them stumbled off of the elevator in a heap. Their raucous laughter bounced down the hallway while Aidan pulled them closer to his room's door. When they reached the right door, he produced a keycard and swiped it in the card reader. The door clicked, Aidan pushed the lever down and they were in.

Having finally reached the location of their intended investigation, both Veronica and Deidre's eyes subtly surveyed the room. Like most suites in the Grand, the common area was plenty spacious. There was a fireplace against a wall, a couch, and a loveseat. In the corner was a desk strewn with files atop it and an open laptop.

Aidan slammed the suite's door shut and Veronica brought her gaze to where he stood in the hallway that led back to the door. He was smiling, and she matched it with a grin of her own. Her eyes skimmed quickly to Deidre, who had stepped further into the room and was about to sit on the couch. The agent turned on her heel and batted her lashes. "Do you have anything to drink?" She stepped backwards and sat slowly down onto the soft leather, giving both Veronica and Aidan a generous view of her cleavage. "Since you didn't get around to buying me one downstairs."

Aidan emitted a growl of a laugh and nodded, his eyes hooded, his smirk sly. "A girl after my own heart. I happen to keep a full bar." The sweep of his hands brought their attention to a counter that did, in fact, hold a full bar. "Pick your poison."

"Literally," Veronica muttered as she stepped over to look at the choices.

"What was that, Gorgeous?" Aidan had come up behind her. His breath was hot on the bare skin of her shoulder.

Veronica shut her eyes and bit her top lip to keep herself from jumping away from him. Consciously, she fingered the expensive labels of whiskey and rum. She picked up a snifter and brought it to eye level as if to examine it. "Is this crystal? I'm impressed, Archie."

"That's not the only thing you'll be impressed with tonight. Can I give you a tour?"

"I wanna tour," Deidre whined behind them, reminding them of her presence. "This place is bigger than my apartment!"

Veronica felt Aidan's fingers graze her hip bone before he turned back to lead Deidre on the promised tour. Taking advantage of a moment alone, Veronica pulled out the tiny bug Deidre had given her earlier and quickly stuck it underneath a side table next to the couch. Craning her neck and ears, she determined that she had enough time to take a quick peek at the files and computer that sat on the desk on the other end of the room. Quickly her feet crossed the floor, stilettos digging deep into the plush carpet with each step.

The laptop's screen was open and faced the room. Her fingers ran along the touchpad, effectively waking the compute from sleep mode. The black screen flicked to life, revealing a picture of an Aston Martin against the back drop of the setting sun against a sandy beach. Veronica's fingers hovered over the keyboard while her eyes scanned the computer's desktop.

Her goal was to copy what files she could to a jump drive before anyone caught her. Veronica quickly opened her clutch, her fingers digging into each corner in search of the drive. When her fingers found what felt like the small drive, she clasped it and dragged it out. Instead of the drive, however, Veronica found the bug device that she used for MI jobs—the bug that was connected to Mac's phone—the Mac Attack App. Without even thinking about it, she attached it to the underside of the desk and again went in search of the small jump drive.

Finally successful in her search, Veronica brought the drive out of the small bag and swiftly plugged it into the laptop. She transferred the obvious files over, her ears tuned to the hallway listening for signs of her companion's return. When she didn't hear anything, Veronica let her eyes stray to a pile of files with papers spilling from within each of them. Huh, he's not very careful with his paperwork. She looked over to the open door that led to the back room before quickly opening the top file and scanning the first page. It looked familiar—like the bank statements she had seen at the cabin the day before. Was that just yesterday? It felt like a lifetime ago. She browsed through each page within the folder, taking care to make visible each page for the camera that was set into the stonework of her necklace. The feds would dissect it all later. For once Veronica wouldn't have to put all of the pieces together herself. She was glad her responsibility with this whole debacle would end tonight if everything went according to plan.

Deidre's high pitch giggle boomed loudly from the bedroom, a clear warning to Veronica that she and Aidan were returning to the suite's main room. In a rush, Veronica closed the file she was snooping in and pulled the jump drive out of the computer. She had just managed to stuff it into her bra as Deidre's form became visible with Aidan on her heels. Both of them stumbled slightly as they came through the bedroom's doorway.

Veronica leaned against the desk and turned her attention to the window that overlooked Neptune and the ocean beyond. To divert any suspicion that she had been toying with his paperwork, Veronica let her butt sit back on the keyboard of the laptop, hoping that Aidan would assume the reason the desktop was visible was because her ass had woken the computer up and not her prying fingers. She leaned back even further drunk-like, pretending to not even notice the way her back-end pushed into the buttons of the keyboard. She pointed out the window toward the view. Channeling her best dumb-blond persona, she asked, "Do you like live here full-time? This view must be like the best in town. Does the patio door open or is it like locked and stuff, so you can't like jump or something?"

His eyes surveyed where she was leaning critically. Aidan pushed her aside and crouched over the computer, typing furiously into it. Looking abashed, Veronica watched dumbly while he shut the computer down to avoid any further damage. When he straightened, Veronica grimaced and batted her eyelashes seductively, giggling, "Oops, sorry, I didn't even notice. The view is just so breathtaking."

The flash of annoyance that crossed his features chilled her. But Aidan quickly covered it with a tight smile as eyes ran down the length of her slowly. His eyes stilled at her breasts. For a moment, Veronica feared that the jump drive or the wire she wore was visible. Just as she felt herself begin to fidget, Aidan ran his tongue slowly over his lips and he met her gaze. She supposed he thought the look was sexy. More like sleazy. He gestured toward the sliding glass door. "The door opens just fine. Join me, I promise I won't push you over."

Her eyebrows shot up at his words. "I never thought you would," she giggled a little nervously. When she passed him, Veronica looked back at Deidre to give her a smile and a nod. Deidre responded by scratching her forearm, an agreed upon sign from before. Veronica continued out to the patio along with Aidan to leave Deidre to her devices.

"I just need a moment…freshen up," Deidre told them, turning abruptly from them and heading back from the room she and Aidan had come from. "I won't be two minutes."

Now it was Veronica's turn to keep Aidan's attention on her and off of what the agent was doing within the walls of his bedroom. Trying to act comfortable and not on edge, Veronica kept her eyes on the view while her hands grasped the railing. There were planters filled with blooming flowers on the deck and hanging baskets above them. An intimate garden bistro table and chairs sat in a corner taking advantage of the view. In the other corner was a lounger for a person to soak up sun while they relaxed or read. The Grand spared no expense to make the suite feel like home. And though this suite wasn't quite as nice as Logan's had been all those years before, it was nice enough. She remembered the hotel being almost like home for a while to her, but right now, it felt threatening. She wanted to be off of this deck, down the stairs and in Logan's car, headed towards the apartment. Only a little while longer and she would be.

Having left the Sinclair's, Dick and Mac were on the freeway when she realized a federal agent was following them in an unmarked car. The vehicle was two cars back and every time Mac changed lanes, it followed suit. So much for stealth. These agents were pretty shitty at being sneaky, Mac thought.

Changing lanes as a test to double check her theory, Mac pointed behind them with her thumb and asked Dick, "Wanna torment 'em?"

He craned his neck back and saw the unmarked car that was now directly behind them. "Hmm, Mackie, you are pure evil."

"Pure evil involves a pitch fork and fire from what I hear. This is just for funsies." Approaching an exit that led directly to downtown Neptune, Mac signaled at the last minute and zoomed across three lanes of traffic to get off the freeway. Her grin grew while she watched the feds step on it to follow. She slowed and stopped at the traffic light at the end of the off-ramp. The feds pulled up straight behind them. Mac could see their harried expressions as they argued back and forth. She wondered if maybe they had thought their target would be easy prey and were annoyed that it wasn't the case.

Revving the engine, Mac's eyes were steeled on the red light, waiting for it to flash to green. As soon as it turned, Mac hit the gas and the tires peeled out, screeching when she turned left onto the street that led downtown.

"Easy, Mackie, they might not like you all fast and furious."

"Oh, but I know you do."

"That's beside the point."

"Just as long as you're not the fast one."

"Oh, Mackie, I can be fast and I can be slow, I'm made to order. Just say the word."

"Slower is always better, just FYI, Dick. "

Dick's made a show of acting as if to write, "Duly noted."

Her retort was cut off by the sound of an alert on her phone. It sat in the console between them and binged loudly. She frowned. "Will you check that? That's the alert for my spy app."

"There's an alert for that thing? Would have been nice to know that last night," Dick mumbled, taking the phone into his hands. He swiped through the passcode (obviously remembering it from the night before) and found the little alien icon. He pressed it. Voices filled the car:

"The door opens just fine. Join me, I promise I won't push you over."

A giggle. "I never thought you would."

"I just need a moment…freshen up. I won't be two minutes."

Mac's eyes gravitated to her phone. "Was that…was that…Veronica?"

The view of Neptune got old fast. Actually, Aidan's groping got old first, and then the need for a drink was her excuse to go back inside. His eager agreement made Veronica wary. It made her sick to think of the women before her that had been dosed just enough to not even know what had happened to them.

They made their way back inside, Veronica loudly laughing at some mundane comment out of Aidan's mouth as a warning for Deidre to hurry along with her tasks. Stepping up to the bar, Aidan began to pour drinks. Veronica was very aware of the way he turned his back to her in an effort to hid what he was pouring from her view. If this guy's personality didn't normally put a woman on guard, his actions at his own personal bar ought to. Veronica had to work at not calling him out on it when he turned around and handed her a drink. As she took it, he clinked hers to his and said, "To new friends."

"Mm..hm," she murmured in response, slowly bringing the glass to her mouth while his eyes followed her movement closely.

She'd just touched the edge of the glass to her lips just as Deidre walked through the doorway, hand to her head. "My, my, Mr. Archie!" The agent groaned, chest heaving dramatically, "That drink down at the bar was a strong one!"

Tipping the glass back, Veronica was careful to not let any of the liquid hit her mouth before Aidan's attention was successfully diverted by Deidre's claim of wooziness. He swept over in a grand show, arms extended to lead Deidre over to the couch. Together the two sat down while Veronica looked on.

Deidre was a pro at diverting attention. Sitting nearly on top of him, the agent's dress had risen high and her cleavage was near bursting, while her fingers kneaded into Aidan's thigh seductively. His gaze was focused on her and her little show of drunken dizziness.

As soon as Deidre's complaint had left her lips, Aidan had set his own glass of whatever he had poured himself onto the counter behind him and rushed to her aid. Veronica turned to where his glass sat half-full next to the full containers of everything alcoholic. There was an empty glass next to Aidan's discarded one. Her mind raced with indecision. Veronica bit her lip and looked back to the couch where Aidan was blissfully ignorant of what she was considering. She eyed the glass in her hand and then again to the other glasses upon the counter.

"What the fuck is happening here?" Dick's hand was shaking a bit as he and Mac listened to what he considered to be a train-wreck waiting to happen. "Since when has Veronica been into kinky threesomes with old-sounding fuckers?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Veronica was acting like a complete…ho. "Logan is going to be fucking pissed."

Mac expelled a nervous snicker but continued to drive. "Logan is definitely going to be pissed, but not because of a kinky threesome. Veronica's definitely not into that."

Dick had been so intent on what he was listening to that he had not been paying attention to where they were headed. When she slowed the vehicle down and pulled into a parking garage, he looked out of the window, trying to get a grip on where they were. When he saw the familiar placard stating the parking level, realization hit him hard.

"Aw, shit, for real?"

"Veronica's known for not playing with the whole group."

"Double shit."