Chapter 2

Mid June 2007

Mac went to class that morning like usual since she was taking two classes over the summer semester to keep her form getting bored with Veronica and Wallace gone. She then spent the remainder of the day at Mars Investigation where she was filling in for Veronica as Receptionist/Researcher on a part-time basis over the summer. She mostly worked the office when Keith Mars was out doing his PI thing since he had lost the Sheriff election. Mac had to admit that she secretly loved having access to databases with people personal information. Today, Mr. Mars was out chasing a bail jumper that was in Northern California.

At five o'clock, Mac closed up the office and headed over to meet Logan at his penthouse. They had planned to work on the website and then have a night of video games. The boys believed they were experts at all video games, so Mac pretended like she didn't know any of them. Tonight's the night she plans to put her hustling skills to use.

Mac and Logan worked on the site while snacking on Red Vines and Red Bull, which were essentials for Mac.

"Done." Mac sat back and appraised her work.

Logan looked over her shoulder. "So that's another 150 posteriors added to the site?"

"Actually, it's another 158, but yes. There are additional advertisers listed, so we should start bringing in more money soon."

Logan stood up. "Speaking of. Here is your cut from the first month." He handed her a check from out of a folder.

A gasp escaped her lips. "That's over five thousand dollars!"

"Yup. I know it isn't much yet, but the checks will get bigger the longer the site is up." Logan took a drink from his soda.

"Maybe not to you, but this is great! Time to splurge a little. Mama wants a new pair of shoes."

"Shoes?" Logan raised an eyebrow. "I didn't take you for the girly type."

She rolled her eyes, because he obviously didn't understand. "Not literal shoes. I actually plan to buy a few high-end and expensive pieces of computer equipment."

He laughed and nodded. "Okay that makes more sense. I don't want to get in trouble when Veronica gets back. She would kill me if her best gal pal became girly while hanging out with me." Logan looked thoughtful. "What does that say about me if you became more girly?"

"That I lived with Parker for the past nine months. Not only did she get me branded, but I also own girly clothes, shoes, and accessories. All thanks to her genius idea for girl bonding."

Logan put his hands in a prayer position. "Oh please tell me you bonded…"

She smacked him in the chest. "Shut up before I pull out my taser and use you for practice."

His hands dropped. "You have a taser now." Logan looked worried.

"Yeah. Mr. Mars gave it to me. He thought I should have one since I'm working for him part-time."

Logan's phone began to ring and Mac noticed it wasn't a number programmed in his phone. "Hello?" He rubbed his hand over his face showing his frustration. "I'll be right there." Turning to Mac. "Who wants to go on a field trip?"

Mac narrowed her eyes. "Depends on where this field trip is going. If you say strip club, then I'm out."

"I was thinking more like going to see Dick behind bars. He's in jail…again."

Mac jumped off of the couch. "Well what are we waiting for, let's move!" She jumped up and down as they headed towards the door. "This is going to be so much fun." Then she stopped when they got to the elevator. "Why was he arrested?"

"He apparently went nuts on his dad. I know, shocker. The deputy decided not to arrest him. They are just holding Dick until I pick him up because releasing him to his father may be considered unethical."

When they arrived at the sheriff's department, Mac noticed a familiar deputy walking over with Dick. "Now Mr. Casablancas, I know you have a troubled relationship with your father, but please don't beat him up again. I really don't want to arrest you for doing a public service, but I will have to next time."

Dick smiled and saluted. "Sir, yes, sir."

The Deputy Leo D'Amato looked at Mac. She had first met Leo, when Veronica and he had first dated and heard that he was back in the department.

"Hey." He placed a hand on her elbow. "Can I speak with you a minute?"

Mac gave him a questioning look before putting on a Southern accent. "Why deputy I'm flattered, but…" Dropping the accent. "Who am I kidding? I'm not Veronica. What's up?"

"Come with me." He led her towards the interrogation room.

She was confused as to why Leo would need to speak with her, but didn't want to alarm the two guys waiting on her. Turning around she smiled at Logan and Dick before entering the room. The window on the door was opened and she could see Logan and Dick watching her from where they stood in front of the counter.

"Fine. I confess, it was me. I did it. Arrest me." She held her hands towards him like he was putting cuffs on and threw her head back.

"Hush." Leo leaned in close to her and spoke in a hushed tone. "I spoke with Veronica yesterday. I know she got herself in some trouble before she left. Kane is keeping Gorya Sorokin from going after Echolls, but she told me that she can't come back to Neptune. She made some deal with Kane."

Mac bit her lip and looked down as he continued.

"She asked me to watch out for you in case Kane figures out that you helped her." He handed her a business card. "This has all my contact information on it. Call me if you need anything."

She remembered what Veronica told her about never admitting that she ever helps with cases. Mac looked up at Leo. "I don't know what you're talking about." Putting the card in her pocket, she made a mental note to ask Veronica if his offer was legit. "My friends are waiting on me." She looked over at Logan and Dick, seeing their eyes watching her closely with jaws clenched. Mac gave them a genuine smile and laughed. "They also look really pissed." Turning back to Leo. "See you around Deputy." She left the room and headed back towards her friends.

Dick had watched the conversation with interest. He wondered what could have put Mac on a sheriff deputy's radar, and then he wondered if the conversation was of a personal nature. Quickly, he dismissed the idea since she had only broken up with Max a few weeks ago and spent too much time at the penthouse, in class, or at MI that she didn't have time to hook up. It must be computer related.

"What was that about?" Logan asked as they headed to the parking lot.

"Oh. Leo just had a computer question."

Dick gave himself a mental high five for guessing correctly.

"That he needed to speak with you in private." Logan eyed her and tried to read her face.

A small amount of panic went threw Mac, but then she looked at Dick and brilliant answer just came to her. "Um…yeah. You know the usual porn corrupted my hard drive stuff. Kind of like why I had to fix Dick's computer last week." That's right, just deflect and put the attention somewhere else. Veronica had taught her well.

Dick smiled. "What? I can't help that Russia has the best porn and their sites always leave viruses."

"Remind me to show you how to watch porn on your computer later." Mac got to the car and noticed that Logan hadn't unlocked the doors. When she turned around the two guys were standing next to one another with their mouths hanging open. "What?" Confusion washed over her as she thought back to their conversation.

Dick pointed at her. "Did you just offer to watch porn with me?" The more time he spent with Mac, the more he began to know her and see how she wasn't the person he always assumed. Not only was she smart, but she could hold her liquor even though she wasn't much of a drinker, was a natural at video games, and had excellent tastes in movies. Mac wasn't like any other girl that Dick had been around. She reminded his of Ronnie, but not as scary. This is the first time that Dick ever just enjoyed being around a girl without the drive to just have sex. They were actually becoming friends, which Dick liked.

Mac realized what had the boys shocked and blushed as she bit her lip. "More like to show you what sites are safe and how to recognize when a link may have a virus attached before you click it. But I guess in a round about way, yes." She folded both her lips and bit down while she closed her eyes and waited for the comments she knew they would throw at her.

"I finally found a girl who will watch porn with me. Dude call my mother, I think I'm in love." He pretend fainted onto Logan's shoulder.

Logan put a hand in the air. "I have a question. Will this be a full service lesson? Because I think Dick needs thorough instructions."

Dick grinned at Mac while he nodded his head excitedly. Teasing her and making her blush was high on his list of summer hobbies.

"Oh shut up." Mac turned back to Logan's Land Rover. "Are you going to unlock the door?" She knew that this was probably going to continue to the remainder of the night.


Late June 2007

Dick and Logan were standing outside the MacKenzie residence. "Dude, are you sure her parents aren't home?"

"Yes." Logan reached to knock, but Dick grabbed his hand.

"Because they probably hate me because of Beav. I just don't want to make things weird." Dick knew people judged him because of what his brother did. The families of the bus victims were suing his dad for damages, which Dick found hilarious because they were going to have to wait in a long line of people trying to get money from Big Dick. Luckily Dick's trust fund came from his mother and couldn't be touched.

Logan knocked on the door. "Chill." When the door swung open, Natalie Mackenzie was standing in front of them. "Hi Mrs. Mackenzie. Can Mac come out to play?" Logan look sheepish.

Natalie gestured for them to come in. "Hi boys. I'm Cindy's mom, you can all me Natalie, don't worry about the formal stuff." She walked to the end of a hallway. "Cindy, sweetie. You have visitors." Natalie turned back to the boys. "Logan, Dick. You two are welcomed to sit down. It's so nice to finally meet you. Cindy has mentioned that she has been spending time with you recently."

Dick was floored that Mac's mom knew who he was and didn't just throw him out of her house. He was also a little confused because while her mom looked familiar, she didn't look anything like Mac. The only conclusion Dick could come up with is that Mac takes after her dad.

Mac walked into the room obviously thrown off by the two guys being there.

"Can I get you anything?" Natalie asked as she stood up.

After her mother left, Mac founded her thoughts again. "What are you guys doing here?"

"You told us you're parents were going out of town. We wanted to check up on you and make sure you were doing okay." Logan gave her his Echolls' smile.

She held her hand up signaling him to stop talking. About fifteen seconds later, Natalie walked in with drinks and a plate of snacks. "I don't know if you two are regular eaters or vegan like Mac, but here are a few snacks."

"Thanks Mom." Mac smiled at her mother. She opened her mouth to answer Logan, but was cut off by Dick.

"Why was your mother nice to me? Shouldn't she like hate me or something? Or does she not know that Beav…Cassidy was my brother?"

When Dick got down on himself, Mac always softened. She didn't think Dick should blame himself for everything that happened with Cassidy. "She knows. She also knows that you aren't your brother. I told her that you and I talk about him, so she supports us being friends. She thinks it therapeutic." Not wanting to reveal too much to Logan and Dick, but she thought about how she told her mom that Dick was the only person she felt comfortable talking about Cassidy too. While she and Dick have only spoken about him twice since the cemetery, Mac felt the past few weeks have done more than the three months she went to therapy. "So why are you really here?"

Logan shrugged. "We were bored. Thought you may be able to amuse us."