A/N: Hey guys, yeah I know a lot of you are just wanting to slit my throat for leaving you all with a cliff hanger like that but I've been so busy lately. . . Being lazy of course. But seriously, I am going to try and update every 1 to 2 days until the story is finished. Even though my finals are coming up and my friend is having a coming out party(hint, hint), I'm still going to try and update regularly for now on. Anyways, enough about my brainless rambling. . .ON TO THE STORY. .

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Spencer put a finger to her lips, silencing Ash. "I love you back, Ash. And you can do whatever you want to do to me, for all I care. There, I said it. And look, no thunderbolt appearing out of the sky to strike me. And no earthquake. I said it out loud and nothing horrible is happening."

No sooner had the words left her lips than she was aware of two figures standing not five feet from the chairs.

Lorenzo's nephew, Tony and one of the Gorillas that she'd seen at the restaurant moved toward the chair.

Tony was holding a gun in his hand. . .

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The midnight hour had come and gone some time ago, and the crowd at the party was starting to thin out a little. The hard-core were still here, though, and they were having no problem making up for others in the dancing and drinking department.

Mackenzie watched Kate down another tequila and slither into the arms of Hans Something-or-Other, a young Dutch grad student who was standing by the dancing area and trying to look cool. Mac had gotten the scoop earlier. The guy was vacationing at one of the high-rise hotels. One of the Lizards-Beth, she thought it was-had met him this morning and invited him to the party.

Mackenzie hurried toward the beach in search of her guy, only to find him walking back. She met him by the end of the gardens.

"Did you see them?"

"No," he replied. He pointed to one of the palm trees. "But they've left Spencer's crutches right here."

"What are they doing here?"

"Got me. But at least it could mean they're still around."

Mac looked back toward the house. "I need to be getting home. Spencer new that I wanted to get out of her by midnight."

"Ash said the same thing to me. She didn't want to stay here that late even." Aiden her arm. "You and I both drove. I think you should go. I'll hand here and look around some more for them."

"Maybe I'll swing by the villa and give a quick knock on Ash's door. Spencer wasn't feeling too well tonight. I don't know why they would have, but maybe they hitched a ride with someone else and went home."

They both cast a doubtful look at the crutches.

"I'll keep looking here," he said.

Aiden walked Mackenzie to her car. She parked a god two hundred yards down the road. As they walked, they past a white car with the windows rolled down. Two men were sitting inside, listening to the radio. The night was too dark to see their faces. In the back of her mind though, Mac remembered Spencer telling her about the two men were following her around. In a white car.

Mac looked back at the car they just passed.

"Everything okay?" Aiden asked.

"Who were those guys?"

"I don't know, maybe cops. They seem to be keeping an eye on things." He shrugged.

"They don't seem to be a problem."

She hoped he was right.

Ten cars passed the white one, things were not so serene. A guy and a girl were going at in in the backseat of a SUV. There was a lot of giggling and groaning and at the exact same moment they were walking by, a woman's butt actually pressed against the side window for a few seconds.

"No problem there either," Aiden said, making her smile.

She stole a glance at him. Last night, after their dinner cruise, they'd have a few moments clinging to each other in the parking lot.

"You don't think anyone went by your car last night, do you?"

"Probably everyone leaving the boat did," he said lightly, putting an arm around her shoulder and bringing her close. "But compared to his production, I'd say our show was rated G."

"Now wait a minute," she said, reaching her car. "I had a little difficulty getting my dress to fit right, after that encounter."

He pressed his body against hers, trapping Mac against the car. "Well, I don't think my khakis fit right ever since."

She looped her arms around his neck and brought his mouth down to hers. As she kissed him thoroughly, his hands were all over his body. Finally she pulled back, trying to catch her breath.

His voice was a husky growl. "Do you want to come back to my place?"

Mac wanted to. She wanted to go with him. But she shook her head. "Not tonight. I'm already late getting back. And, to tell the truth, I have a really uncomfortably feeling about where Spencer and Ashley are. So will you. . .will you give me a rain check?"

"On the dries island in the Caribbean?" He kissed her lips. "You know I will."

"Thanks Aiden."

"I'll look some more around here, he said, straightening up. "We'll find them."

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The office phone rang. Arthur glanced at his watch first. It was ten after one(a.m.). Still no sign of Spencer. He answered the phone on the third ring. There was no greeting at the other end.

"Alto Vista Chapel," the voice said.

"Why there?" Arthur asked. The place was too open.

"I don't know," Lorenzo answered gruffly. "I only follow directions."

"What time?"

"There's a church service at 11:00. The delivery will be made at Mass."

Things were going from bad to worse. A public place would be full with tourists, as well as native Arubans.

"Can we make a change f location?"

"No," he answered. "I don't know where the seller is. Then call sounded like it was being made on Aruba, though. I could hear island music in the background, though the voice disguiser he was using made the music really bad."

"I swear to god," Arthur snapped. "I don't know why I'm paying you a commission. What if I don't want this to go down at the Alto Vista Chapel?"

"Look man," the chin answered cockily. "I'm making this work for you. You wanted this delivery to take place in Aruba. You got it. It's tomorrow, at 11:00, At the Alto Vista Chapel."

Arthur cursed under his breath. "You're going to be there."

"Of course! I need to collect."

Arthur hung up the phone and stared at it for a couple of minutes. He'd been in this business long enough to develop a sixth sense about people- a kind of an alarm system.

The alarm was buzzing now. Loudly. Alto Vista Chapel represented a change of plan. The alarm was telling him Lorenzo, the "Chin" was trying to stick it to him. But Arthur didn't know how.

Through the open doors of the office, Arthur saw the headlights of a car shine on the villa as it pulled I front. He knew that Ash had left her car behind, so this would be their ride bringing them home. Relieved, he opened a hidden safe in the bottom drawer of the desk and slid in the silver briefcase. Quickly, he locked everything up.

Things have'nt gone so well with Spencer today. Somehow, he had to make it up to her. He sure as hell didn't want to lose her. Despite his crazy hours and the demands of his job, he loved having her around. Actually, it surprised him. Looking at her, listening to her, learning about her life and her interests and plans made him feel whole. He hadn't failed completely. His life wasn't totally empty. He was the father of a great child. . .even if Paula did deserve most of the credit. Still, Spencer was his too. She was the one good thing that had come out of his disaster of a marriage.

Arthur wearily pushed to his feet and left his office. He could see the car headlights were out. Spencer still hadn't come in, though.

He'd thought some more about her relationship with Ash. Paula definitely didn't seem too worried about it. Hed been wound up enough to locate a number for her in India. It had been 5 in the morning her time when he called, and her new husband had answered the phone. Ben had been a hell of a lot more gracious than he had been: he just passed the phone over to Paula.

The former Mrs. Carlin had been her usual self, brusque to the point. After he'd told her his concerns, she reminded him that Spencer was seventeen. She asked him if he remembered the first time he had sex. That had stopped him. Then she asked him how old the girl was that he had sex with. That had finished him.

Still, he thought, it had to be different between two girls. He remembered when Ashley offered to explain the process of love-making between two women. He shuddered and decided to forget about it all.

After ending his call with Paula, he opened the sliding glass door and walked out into the courtyard. The car outside had been left running. He heard a knock on the guesthouse door., followed by a women's voice calling softly.

He reached behind him and flipped the switch. The courtyard was immediately flooded by light.

"Spencer?" he called, walking toward the guesthouse.

"No Mr. Carlin, it's Mackenzie Spencer." She stepped off Ash's porch into the light.

Arthur was not exactly relieved to see the young woman alone. She and Spencer had gone off to the party together.

"Is Spencer back yet?" she asked before he could say anything.

"No. I thought she was at the party with you?"

"She was," she glanced over her shoulder at the cottage. "How about Ash? Do you know if she's back yet?"

"I don't think so." He walked past her, and she fell in beside him. "My understanding was that the two of them were to meet there."

"She did," she replied in a small voice.

"Maybe I'm making too much out of nothing.

"What's going on?" he asked, stopping abruptly.

"Probably nothing," she said gently. "Its just that we'd planned to leave around midnight, but they'd disappeared. I just got worried, but that doesn't mean anything."

They were standing by the guesthouse door. Arthur knocked on it a couple of times. Nothing. He doubted anyone was home. "When was the last time you saw them?"

Around nine o clock. . At the party."

Four hours. Christ.

"Do you know where they went?"

"For a walk on the beach, I think," she said. "Spencer left her crutches behind though."

Two young people on the beach. What could they do for four hours? A few things sprang Arthur's mind. He ran a hand down his face.

"I'm feeling low about coming to you with this and bothering you, sir," Mackenzie said quickly. "Its probably nothing, you know? The party is still going on. They're together. What could go wrong?"

That's right, Arthur told himself. They're together. What could go wrong?

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A/N Okay so here is all of chapter 24. 6 more to go until the story's finished(along with an epilouge). I heart you Spashley fanatics!!!!