A/N: I did it- squeeze another update out of this experiment! I'm getting the plot moving a bit here in yet another short update. I'm worried that I'm just nattering on here, so tell me what you think.

Chapter 2

Files. Damn files! Why are there so freaking many? There had to be more files than blondes in the world, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad statistic.

"Hey Max," the blonde popped her head in my office- yes, my office. This job might be worth the psychotic boss who hired me.

"Hey Francesca," I groaned, deciding it was definitely a good statistic. Bring on the files! I cheered miserably to myself.

"Just wanted to say you've got a call on line two."

"Okay, thanks."

Sighing in relief as the blonde's head disappeared, I snatched up my phone. "Max."

"Guenava, we got your first case. I'm just sending Mr. Stickland through now."

"Got it, White."

Moments later, White walked in followed by my first client.

"Mr. Stickland, this is Ms. Guenava, our newest recruit."

"Pleasure," Stickland said as I reached across to shake his hand.

"Mr. Stickland here has a very interesting story, and I'm hoping you'll be able to help him," White said, making his exit.

Giving what I hoped to be a business-like smile, I gestured for Stickland to sit down. "So what's this story?"

Stickland smiled nervously, while fidgeting with the penholder at the end of my desk.

"Well, it's my little girl- she's been kidnapped." Quirking an eyebrow, I waited for him to continue. "The police insisted it was an insolvable case, but I know Karen's still out there."

Sighing inwardly, knowing this first case was going to be a hard one. Unsolvable. Just great. I'll be fired after my first case- it'll be a record.

"Alright," I said slowly, thinking where to begin. "Do you have any enemy's, Mr. Stickland?"

"No."

There had been absolutely no hesitation there, my brain ticked suspiciously away. Sliding forward on my seat, I leaned in. "Mr. Stickland, if there is to be any chance whatsoever of this firm locating your daughter, honesty is crucial."

"Are you calling me a liar?" he accused, bringing his fist down onto the desk.

I shrugged, brushing off his anger. "Your daughter, not mine."

I met him eye-for-eye, watching the anger build up and suddenly drain away. "It could get you killed."

"You're wasting my time, Stickland, and you're wasting yours if you come in here only to withhold vital information."

I wanted him to leave. First case or not, this guy was only a greedy rich man that saw a price tag on everything.

Seeing that he was still undecided, I sighed in frustration. "Mr. Stickland, either I can show you your daughter, or I can show you the door. Your choice," I shrugged again.

Mr. Stickland glanced uncertainly up before replying. "I want my daughter."

"Alright, now we're getting somewhere. Why don't you start by telling me when and where your daughter went missing?"

Mr. Stickland nodded anxiously.

****

"Not kidding about those sixth floor blondes, were you?" I asked OC as I threw my bag on my new bed that night.

"OC would never tell a lie."

Turning to look at her, I felt uncertain. "Listen, if you're not comfortable with this arrangement- us sharing an apartment and everything- say. I don't like being where I'm not wanted."

OC watched me squirm for a moment under her gaze before smiling. "If you weren't wanted, boo, you'd know it. And the only way for that to happen is if you leave the toilet seat up."

I smiled weakly. "I don't think that'll be a problem."

"Me neither."

****

"So this is where you saw her last?" I asked skeptically, as I avoided another stripper who glared at me, as if to say 'you're-on-my-turf'.

"Yes," Mr. Stickland fidgeted.

"Do I need to ask what you were doing here?"

Looking around nervously, Mr. Stickland motioned for his driver to take a walk before turning to me. "I was doing a trade-off with someone."

"And Karen?"

"I left her in the car."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

I gritted my teeth at that, not sure if I wanted to find Karen to give her into the hands of such an idiot. "Who were you meeting?"

Biting his lip, debating whether to give such information. "A lady named Renfro," Stickland eventually replied.

"Renfro?" I repeated, making a mental note of the name.

Looking out the car window, I studied the type of crowds that hung here, and questioned myself whether it would be worth hunting down the normals here- especially considering they'd be too drunk to remember anything. Glancing up, I spied hover drones, and I knew my next move.

"Well, I think I've seen all I need for now," I said eventually to the fidgeting man beside me.

Nodding, he called in the driver.

****

'Tattoos' I typed in the firms' search engine. Receiving a whopping 12,345 matches, I narrowed the search down to 'barcode tattoos'.

Nada.

Hm . . . Was it possible the files had been edited? Or was there just simply that my sibling's are back at Manticore? Not liking the latter, I concentrated on the first idea.

So, who would want to edit the files?

Reaching a dead-end, I tried a new search- 'barcodes'.

15,426!

Load of-

"Gueneva?"

My heart jumped about a mile high at the sudden interruption. "Sir?"

"Just checking up on how the Stickland case is going."

Clicking a button on the keyboard, I brought up the hover drone footage, hiding my research. "Just looking at some footage," I said, and flipped the screen around for White to see it.

Rubbing his chin, White glanced at the screen and looked at me, an annoyed look on his face. "Hover drone footage?"

"Yes, sir," I wince inwardly, belatedly remembering it was illegal to be viewing this.

"Are you using the 23.4 SP software?"

"Yes, sir." I said.

"Untraceable, good."

I could only think to nod in response- White tended to have the effect on me, I've found. He made me feel like a blubbering idiot.

"Good work," White said, before leaving, "Max."

****

A/N: Alright, big show down coming up- MZ or MA? Next chapter or two will be introducing our heartthrob! Reliable Zack? Or unreliable, but cute assed Alec?

Anyways, I want to say a big thank you to my readers and especially my reviewers!

Serei- Here's yer update! And I'm hoping I can you and everyone else happy with my love-interest in the end. But how bout I give you whichever one I don't use? ;)

X5858- I'm hoping it won't get too crowded with everyone working in the same building, but I'm hoping it'll be a laugh.

Anne- You go girl! I love Alec too. But Alec's a very busy and important guy, so he might not be able to fit it into his schedule to appear in this story- so I might have to cast someone as Max's love (Just never Logan!) You have to admit Zack's pretty hot!

Jamie's Spawn: I oh, I would LOVE to have both Z and A in it. But how could *I* choose, let alone Max? I love them both so much for different reasons. Maybe I can merge them into one combo man! Reliable and unreliable at the same time. . . don't think that'll work. Humph.

Freakage: Consider yourself part of the sorority! I need to teach you the secret handshake! Maybe I should create a No Logan sorority website, dedicated to Logan bashing and no Logan fanfics. That's a thought.

Nat452- well, let's hope I can get 'more' out of this idea!