SIUBlues19

Nash stuffed his hands into the pockets of his slacks as he looked through the windows. Victoria was standing out on the balcony gazing off to the horizon, a familiar scene from the past few days. She had her arms wrapped around her waist. He could tell that she was getting cold, but she still didn’t come in. Instead, he walked out onto the patio.

He turned his head to see what held her attention, but it was mostly darkness. The fog was coming in and it gave the night an eerie feel. The gray haze appeared to be breathing as it rolled into the bay. Nash walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her and she curled against him for warmth. He would have given her his jacket, but he had already discarded it in his bedroom. Besides, it wasn’t as much fun.

“That was a very smooth how you managed to get the meeting tomorrow switched to Dante’s,” he complimented her. He had been sailing with her. He knew that she didn’t suffer from motion sickness as she had inferred.

She smiled as she leaned her head back on his shoulder. “I use to pretend to be sick all of the time when Cruz insisted on taking me with him on his yacht. It was the only way that I could get away from him for any length of time. He rarely goes anywhere that he can’t reach by yacht.”

He tried to picture what life had been like for her with Cruz Montipinia and couldn’t. The fear alone was unimaginable. Cruz was reputed to be brilliant, but fairly insane. That made him unpredictable. He didn’t always make the logical choice. “I’ve got to admit, I was impressed. You didn’t even bat an eye. You just made it a stipulation to you being there and Montipinia jumped.”

When she started to pull out of his arms, he held her tight. “I didn’t mean anything by that,” he assured her quickly and placed a small kiss at her temple. “I was just stating the facts and it’s a compliment. You think fast on your feet.”

She began to relax for the first time that night. He wasn’t out there to bait her or to judge her. He was there just to be with her and she liked that feeling. “I’m scared Nash,” she admitted in a whisper.

He held her tighter. “I know,” he said simply.

Victoria tipped her head back to look at him, then turned in his arms, her lips finding his. She had never known a man like Nash before and she wanted to belong to him. She knew that it wouldn’t last. It couldn’t. But she would enjoy it while it did.

* * *

Harvey shook his head as he walked into Rachel’s hospital room late that night. “Woman, you and I are going to have words,” he warned her.

“I knew you’d find a way to sneak in here tonight,” Rachel returned excitedly as she sat up in her bed with a bounce. All she had been able to think about was Operation Cruz Control, wondering how things went. She was aching to hear all of the details.

“Why Inspector McCabe,” he teased. “You’re acting like a junkie in need of a fix. You had better be careful or someone might think you’re a workaholic.”

“Hi, I’m Rachel and I’m a workaholic,” she admitted as she held out her hand for him to shake. “Now spill.”

He chuckled as he took her hand, but still tried to maintain a straight face. “You’re not even going to say hello to me or ask me if I’m okay?”

“I don’t see a blood trail,” she shot back as she looked down at the floor. “Now give it up bubba.”

His smile broadened as he sat down on the edge of her bed. “You’re looking way to healthy for someone that was shot a week ago.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” she asked, her eyes level with his. “This is payback, isn’t it?”

“That will teach you to call me when you know I’m undercover,” he returned and laughed when she swung at him hitting him in the arm. “I can not believe you did that.”

“I’m going nuts, Harvey. You’ve got to help me. You’ve got to get me sprung,” she begged, half in jest, half serious.

“Don’t you ever take the time to enjoy what’s around you at the moment instead of worrying when you’re going to be out and about again?”

She looked him up and down, then leaned in close, deciding instantly that he was what she wanted to enjoy. “At this point, I’m game for just about anything,” she said with a husky voice.

Harvey’s eyebrows shot up as she ran her fingers lightly down the lapel of his jacket. This was a turn of events that he wasn’t expecting, but he wasn’t complaining either. “Do you seriously think that you can change my mind just by coming on to me?” he goaded.

“Who said anything about changing your mind?” she taunted in return. Her face was so close to his that her breath fanned across his skin. When she moved her head, the tip of her nose would brush his, then her hand slid inside his jacket. “I can think of one or two other things we can be doing besides talking,” she teased.

He reached up and ran his fingers through the tresses of her hair. “I’m open to suggestions.” He was curious how far she would go.

She pressed her cheek against his as her lips teased his earlobe. “Have I told you lately how incredibly sexy you are?” she breathed.

“Okay, now I’m just getting suspicio....” He wasn’t able to finish before Rachel’s mouth found his. Instantly, his heart began to race, his body responding to her touch. In the back of his mind, a voice kept telling him to stop, he shouldn’t be doing that, he should be protecting her. But the caress of her fingertips across his cheek before they plunged into his hair drove him to distraction.

But he couldn’t, he told himself. At least, he shouldn’t. But she smelled so good. The scent of the lotion that she used taunted him. Vanilla. Soft, warm, innocent, but deceptively strong. That described Rachel so well.

“Why am I not surprised to see that you’ve slipped in here, Inspector Leek?” the third shift head nurse asked sarcastically. She folded her arms over her chest, intent on staying until he left.

Harvey’s eyes opened slowly when Rachel leaned back and he leveled her with a knowing look. “You knew she was going to be coming in here, didn’t you?” he stated rather than asked. He wanted to kick himself when he saw her impish grin. She got him. “You are an evil woman, McCabe.”

Her smile grew. “Maybe next time you’ll think twice about teaching me a lesson.”

* * *

“Hey Nash man,” Joe said to his partner when he came striding into the SIU. “How’s Victoria holding up?” he asked as he fell into step behind him.

Nash gave him a sharp glance over his shoulder. “She’ll be fine,” he insisted. He knew that Joe’s mind was on the scam and that he would be fishing for information to make sure the players were ready. “How are we coming on the restaurant?” Nash asked Harvey as he stopped next to the Grateful Dead shrine.

“Bugs and cameras already in place,” Harvey assured him. “And don’t forget, we’ve got the Sinclair transfer tomorrow so you might want to keep it short and sweet tonight.”

“Thanks for reminding me, Harv. See what you can round up for rooftop surveillance at the transfer.”

“That may not be easy considering what happened to Hanson,” Harvey warned him. The tale of the Sinclair bust had been blown out of proportion as it was repeated through the various stations. While there were many that would jump at a chance to catch Bixby, there were many more who would choose their regular routine over going up against a government trained assassin.

“Do what you can to get volunteers. Both spotters and snipers.”

“Will do,” Harvey affirmed.

Nash turned back to speak to Joe when he saw agents Truitt and Ogden pushing their way onto the barge. “This is exactly what I didn’t need.” He looked around quickly. “You don’t suppose I could slip out the back.”

“Just the man I wanted to see,” Truitt stated as soon as Nash came into view.

“Guess not,” Nash sighed.

“Hey, it’s Tootie and Oggie.” Joe said, pointing to the wrong agent as he named them.

“No it’s Oggie and Tootie,” Nash corrected him on the individual. “I’m mean Trootie and....hey!” He looked at Joe sharply for getting him to mispronounce the names.

Agent Ogden nodded with a sarcastic smile. He recognized the start of the Abbott and Costello routine. “Very funny. Are you going to start doing Stooges now?” he baited.

“No that’s Mel’s thing,” Nash returned.

“He was great with Rene Russo in the third one,” Joe said conversationally to Nash.

“Yeah, but I think the forth one was kind of pushing it.”

“Kind of ruined the mystery,” Joe agreed.

“We haven’t got all day gentlemen,” Truitt interrupted.

“Gee, that’s funny,” Joe returned. “I thought that doing nothing was an all day thing for you.”

“Don’t be rude, Joe,” Nash shamed him. “I’m sure they just came down here to congratulate us for getting in to see Montipinia.”

“It took you long enough,” Truitt returned as he folded his arms over his chest.

Nash leaned toward him. “How many years have you been on this case, Tootie?”

“We’ve already got a plan worked out,” Truitt continued, ignoring the sarcastic comment.

Nash, Harvey and Joe all began to chuckle as they exchanged amused glances. “You don’t get it,” Nash said in explanation. “We’re the ones that got in. We’re the ones that’s going to run the operation. What do you call it Harv?”

“Operation Cruz Control,” he returned.

A smile bloomed on Nash’s face. “See. We have a name for it and everything.”

“You don’t seem to understand, Bridges...”

“No, you don’t understand,” Nash insisted. “You’re not running this gig. Period. If you want to sit in, we’ll see what we can do to get you a booster seat, but you’re not getting anywhere near that restaurant.”

“I’m going to go over your head,” Truitt warned.

“Go ahead,” he encouraged him. “Then try to explain to them how we managed to get in after a couple of days when you haven’t been able to get in for years. Personally, I’d like to sit in on that conversation. I’ll bet you’ll be able to come up with some excuses worthy of the wall of fame.”

Joe gave him a quick once over. “He may be able to come up with something better than my dog ate it,” he said, giving him the benefit of a doubt.

Nash took a step closer to Truitt. “You’re done here, bubba. I suggest you pick up your ditty bag of thinly veiled threats and weak coercion schemes and get the hell off my barge.”

“Oh wait!” Joe said, then he quickly grabbed up a nearby wastebasket. “Can you dump this on the way out?” he asked with a completely straight face. Harvey and Nash chuckled at Truitt and Ogden turned on their heels and stormed out. “It wasn’t anything I said, was it?” Joe asked to their quickly departing backs.

* * *

When Harvey marched into Rachel’s room late that afternoon, she looked up at him in surprise. “Aren’t you suppose to be getting ready for the Montipinia bust?” she asked hesitantly. Her brows drew together when he didn’t answer. Then he turned her laptop computer around on her tray table so that he could use it. “Hey! I was in the middle of something there,” she complained.

Harvey noticed what was on the screen, then looked over at her in surprise. “Yahoo euchre?”

She shifted uncomfortably. “I’m bored,” she said defensively.

“Uh huh,” he returned as he clicked off that window to see the one behind it. “So bored that you reached rank four on the ladder?” He smiled when all she could do was shrug her shoulders. He wasn’t about to tell her that he had visited the gaming rooms on line before as well. It would be more fun harassing her with it. He made a mental note of her screen name before closing the window.

Rachel tried to look over at the screen when Harvey started tapping at the keyboard, but he turned the it even further away. “What are you up to, Leek?” she asked with growing interest. Harvey was becoming an expert at knowing exactly what she wanted and she was curious as to what he had chosen to surprise her with this time.

He shot her a look as he waited for the link to upload. “Has anyone every told you that you have no patience, McCabe?”

“Yep,” she answered simply and watched him as he flipped open his cell phone and placed a call. She tried once more to turn the laptop computer around, but Harvey grabbed her hand, then quickly brought it up to his lips for a light peck.

“We’re on line,” Harvey said into the phone, but the response could be heard coming from the laptop.

“How’s that?” Sarah asked as she positioned the small camera in the corner of the surveillance van.

“Perfect. Thanks Sarah.” Harvey snapped his cell phone closed, then turned the laptop around from Rachel’s inspection. “Now you can see at least part of the action.”

Rachel’s eyes lit up. “You put one of those computer cameras in the surveillance van?” she asked, not believing her own eyes. She could see Sarah and Roger already set up outside of the restaurant where Nash was meeting Cruz Montipinia.

“They can’t see or hear you, and, before you even ask....” He held out a business card to her. “This is the number to the phone in the van.”

Rachel took the card from him and held it against her heart as she stared up at him. “You are the most amazing man,” she began, then pretended to get choked up, wiping away invisible tears.

“All right,” he said with a smile as he gestured for her to tone down the dramatics. He loved it when she gave him a show. “Your undying worship and adulation will just have to wait until you’re out of the hospital.”

Her heart skipped as wanton images flitted across her mind for just an instant. Since their kiss the night before, she had been able to think of little else. “I might be able to wait that long,” she returned and saw a flash of shock in his eyes. She loved him for wanting to take their relationship slow, but she felt like she had been waiting a lifetime for him already.

“Do not go down that road,” he told her. “I’ve got to have a clear head tonight and images of you doing the seven veils isn’t going to help.”

“Come here,” she ordered, grabbing his lapel with one hand and slipping the other behind his neck to draw him close.

Harvey gently wrapped his arms around her as her lips took possession of his. There wasn’t anything timid about her kiss. She captivated him, branding him as her man and he loved it. He knew in that moment that he wasn’t the only one ready to move onto the next level of their relationship.

Harvey shifted, maneuvering himself onto the edge of the bed as he slowly laid her back. He could feel her heart racing as much as his own as he held her close. The time was now. The place didn’t matter. His job....

Harvey pulled back suddenly. Who was he kidding? This was all wrong. “I’ve got to go,” he stated, then abruptly stood.

“What?” Rachel asked in stunned disbelief. Her brain was barely registering the fact that he had spoken.

“Trust me. We will take this up at another time when we’re both able to enjoy it,” he promised her, then gave her another kiss. He held her face in his hands as he gazed into her eyes for a long moment. He wanted to remember everything about her. “I’ll call you at the first opportunity,” he said, then he smiled. “And don’t call me!”

* * *

“Would you look at this?” Sarah said as several men moved around in the restaurant. Captain Kellam and Cassidy both turned to see the screen she was monitoring.

“Those are Montipinia’s men,” Kellam said when he recognized them.

Sarah nodded. “They’re doing a sweep of the restaurant.”

“Are we going to lose any bugs?” he asked in concern.

She shook her head. “That depends on how good they are. We put them along the sound system so they could be mistaken for stereo hardware.” She sighed as she watched them skim the area with their scanning equipment. Each of them was holding their breath as their eyes remained riveted to the screen.

“If he finds one bug, we’re dead,” Cassidy whispered.

Sarah chuckled suddenly, drawing the other’s attention. “He missed it,” Sarah explained. “That guy doesn’t have a clue how to use that equipment.” She laughed once more when he looked right up into their camera and didn’t see it. “What an idiot.”

“There’s Harv and Roger,” Cassidy said as they walked into frame on another monitor.

Kellam flipped open his cell phone to contact the coordinator for the multi-state task force. “Have everyone standing by.”

They watched as Harvey and Roger did a standard sweep of the restaurant, then Nash and Joe pulled up in the Cuda with Victoria. Sarah held up her watch as her eyes darted from it’s face to the monitors. She watched as each second ticked by.

“What are you doing?” Cassidy had to ask.

“I’ve heard that Montipinia times everything to the second.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I want to see if it’s true.”

Captain Kellam closed his eyes as he shook his head. Sarah was one of his best detectives, but her obsession with details would drive him to drink one day.

“Thirty seconds,” Sarah announced. “He’s cutting it awfully close.”

“Black Mercedes just made the corner,” Cassidy said as she automatically maneuvered the camera to follow. “It’s Montipinia’s.”

“Fifteen seconds.” She watched as the car pulled to the curb in front of the restaurant, the anticipation beginning to peek. The driver got out and ran around the front of the car as Russell Craig stepped out of the back. Russell walked over to stand by the restaurant door as the driver opened up the back passenger door for their boss.

“Five seconds,” she said with excitement as Montipinia stepped out of the back of the Mercedes and took a moment to brush off the sleeves of his jacket, then walked into the restaurant at precisely eight o’clock. “Unreal,” Sarah said in admiration. “That has to be instinctive,” she commented.

“Montipinia is on the premises,” Kellam said into his phone.

* * *

Harvey and Roger walked up to Nash as soon as he entered the restaurant. “All the bugs look like they’re still in place,” Harvey whispered after casting a glance to Montipinia’s men packing away scanning equipment. “I don’t get it man. They should have found every one of them with that equipment. Either these guys don’t have a clue what they are doing or this is a set up.”

“Do you think the place could be wired to blow?” Joe asked. It wouldn’t be unlike Cruz Montipinia to sacrifice some of his own men to do away with someone in particular. If he suspected Victoria of betrayal, he wouldn’t blink an eye at killing ten other people just to get her.

The black Mercedes pulling up to the curb caught Harvey’s eye over Joe’s shoulder. “Normally I wouldn’t suggest sticking around, but since Montipinia just pulled up, we should be all right for the moment.”

Nash glanced over at the car before turning back to his people. “All right. Just let everything run its course. Let’s see if we can get this guy to talk before we take him down.”

Joe glanced over to the table where Victoria sat to be sure that she was out of earshot. “Are you concerned about the information she gave us?” he asked curiously.

“Let’s just say a little insurance won’t hurt,” Nash replied. He turned to see Victoria greeting Montipinia and Craig by the door, then he gestured for Harvey and Roger to cover the other men in the room. Nash had just stepped up to them when he saw several cars outside screeching to a halt.

* * *

“What the hell?” Cassidy said as she watched the monitors with Sarah and their boss.

“It’s Truitt and Ogden,” Kellam hissed. “Damn it!” He flipped open his cell phone as the three of them began scrambling out of the surveillance van. “It’s a go. Everyone go.”

Nash and Joe both grabbed Victoria’s arms and ran for the bar as Cruz and Russell went for cover at the other side of the restaurant. Glass began exploding in every direction. Nash crouched over Victoria’s head as she covered her ears. “Are you all right?” he asked, then waited for her nod. “Don’t move,” he instructed her as he looked over at Joe.

“Who do we shoot?” Joe yelled over the noise of semiautomatics. “Truitt or Montipinia?”

“Both,” Nash responded. He snuck a peek around the edge of the bar and could just make out Kellam moving in behind the DEA. At least he didn’t have to worry about the feds shooting him. He gestured for Joe to follow as he made his way around the corner. He saw Harvey just a few yards away checking the pulse of one of Montipinia’s men before he moved into a better position for the fire fight going on in the other half of the restaurant.

Harvey had just reached the doorway, then leapt back suddenly, rolling onto his back, he brought his gun to bear on another of Montipinia’s men. He had been circling around to get Nash and Joe behind the bar when Harvey surprised him. Harvey squeezed off two rounds and took the guy out. Two seconds later and the semiautomatic that he carried would have torn through that side of the restaurant.

As Harvey rocked back to his feet, a burning sensation in his arm caught his attention and he looked down to see a red rip in his jacket. “Figures,” he whispered. He knew it was ruined. “I had to wear the new one.”

Nash felt for the pulse of the guy Harvey had just taken out, then he checked around the doorway once more. Craig and Montipinia had holed up in the kitchen. Only one of Montipinia’s men was still alive and firing at anything that moved with his semiautomatic. Glancing up, Nash caught sight of the man’s reflection in the slanted skylight. Nash watched as the gunman showered the room in a seemingly endless spray of bullets. Once he was certain that he had the gunman’s timing down, Nash darted around the corner and clicked off three shots, before ducking back under cover. Instant silence.

Harvey squatted by the doorway once more as he looked over at Nash and Joe. “That just leaves Craig and Montipinia,” Harvey said softy. When a single shot rang out from the back of the restaurant, Harvey looked at the other two in surprise.

As the three of them came through the doorway, Truitt and Ogden came through the area where a glass picture window had been with several other agents all in protective gear. Nash cursed under his breath when he saw them, then his glance darted back toward the kitchen when he saw the agents raise their weapons.

Russell Craig was walking out of the kitchen. His gun still in his hand, but down at his side and Nash could just make out Cruz Montipinia on the floor behind him with a single bullet wound in his head. “No!” Nash yelled out just a fraction of a second before the federal agents started firing, but it was too late. His mouth fell open as he watched Russell Craig drop to the floor. It was as if it was happening in slow motion. Nash could see every detail in his photographic mind and he knew that it was going to replay in his head until he couldn’t stand it anymore.

His eyes burned with rage as he rose to his feet and started toward Truitt and Ogden. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded, as he pointed back to Russell Craig with his gun. “He was my informant!”

Truitt shot him a disgusted look. “Get off of that Bridges. You didn’t really expect us to believe that bull you gave us, did you?”

Nash’s mouth dropped open in shock. He had done everything that the feds and his department had asked of him and still they suspected him. Because of that, Russell Craig was going to die.

The thought had only just entered his head when he heard Victoria’s scream. He turned to see her making her way frantically through the overturned tables and chairs to get to Russell’s side. She dropped down to her knees, heedless of the broken glass all around, her hand shaking in horror as she reached toward three bullet holes in his chest.

Victoria couldn’t even touch him. Her eyes darted up to his face and she saw him staring at her. “Russell?” she said his name uncertainly, then tried to put on a brave face when he blinked. “You’re going to be okay, baby.”

When Nash reached them, he immediately checked Russell’s wounds and knew that he would be gone before the ambulance would even arrive. When he looked up at Victoria, he had been surprised by the hatred he saw in her eyes.

“What have you done?” she bit out. “What have you done?” she repeated, her voice increasing.

Russell reached out and took her hand to get her attention. “It’s okay, sis,” he whispered, nodding when she shook her head. “It’s better this way.” With that said, his breath came out in a long sigh, then he was dead.

“No! No!” Victoria screamed as she lightly touched his face, then she started to struggle when Nash grabbed her arms to help her stand.

Nash wrapped his arms around her and held her tight as she was reduced to great heaving sobs of despair. “He was your brother?” he asked against her ear. He wasn’t sure that he heard Russell right and he needed to know. When she nodded, he held her tighter still.

He understood then why she had been so insistent with her demands for Russell Craig’s safety and freedom. She wasn’t trying to get herself out, she was trying to get her brother out. And it would have worked too if Truitt and Ogden hadn’t second guessed them.

* * *