SIUBlues20

Harvey closed his eyes for a moment as he flipped his cell phone closed. He wasn’t sure how he should be taking the news as he walked over to Nash and Joe. Part of him wanted to tap dance and he knew that wasn’t right, but he couldn’t help the feeling. As he crossed the street, Truitt and Ogden left in a huff so Harvey could only assume that Nash had taken their heads off about the incredibly stupid raid on the restaurant. No one had to die.

“What happened to the kitchen staff?” Nash asked Harvey when he saw him approaching.

“They’re fine. I told them to hightail it out the back if they heard any gunfire and they did. However, I’m not sure how unfortunate it is, but I do have some bad news for you, boss,” Harvey warned him.

“This night seems to be full of it,” Nash returned, then gestured to the tear in Harvey’s jacket. “How’s your arm.”

“Better than my jacket,” he returned as he turned it to see the rip. “I can console myself with the fact that I wasn’t wearing my Grateful Dead armband.” Evan had given him that band when his original had been ruined. It held even more meaning to him now that Evan was gone as well.

“So what’s the bad news?”

“Edward Sinclair was murdered in his cell tonight.”

Nash leaned his hands against the door of the Cuda. “Bixby.” He said his name like a curse. He knew that something was going to fall through the cracks eventually with everything that they had been juggling. He just wasn’t expecting Bixby to go on the inside.

“How could Bixby get him when he was in jail?” Joe asked.

“He went in dressed as one of the guards,” Harvey informed him.

Joe chuckled. “You’ve got to be kidding. Oh, and don’t tell me. I’ll bet no one even thought twice about a new face among the guards.”

“No because he did have a new face,” Harvey said cryptically.

When Joe shook his head in confusion, Nash clarified. “Bixby went in there with full makeup. He actually looked like one of he guards.”

“No rust on you, boss,” Harvey returned at the correct answer. “And he didn’t look like just any one of the guards,” he continued. “He went in as the head honcho on second shift. All he had to do was wait for the right moment, then use the master key.”

“What about the guy he replaced?” Nash asked.

“Tied up in his home,” Harvey responded. That was what was so difficult for him to reconcile himself with. On the one hand, Bixby was a federally trained agent gone bad and should be taken down. On the other hand, he had made an attempt to save Rachel and he took a risk by merely tying up the prison guard instead of killing him outright. The fact that he had taken out Sinclair, the man who had ordered Evan’s death, only sweetened the air as far as Harvey was concerned. “I’ll tell you, Nash, I’m having a tough time disliking this guy.”

“Yeah, me too.” When his cell phone started to ring, Nash pulled it out, then hesitated. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind who was on the other end. He scanned the area around them as he flipped it open. “I hear you’ve finished what you came here to do,” he said into the phone without preamble.

Bixby chuckled. “That’s what I like about you, Bridges. You’re perceptive.”

“You took advantage of me, bubba. You nailed Sinclair while my back was turned.”

“You know that timing is everything,” he returned. “You should be flattered, Bridges. I went in because I knew that would be easier to break into prison than face you.”

Nash shook his head. Harvey was right. Bixby was easy to like. “So what’s it going to be this time? Tips about where you’re going? A call to let me know where all the bodies are?”

He chuckled again. “Don’t lose that sense of humor. Just saying adieu to a worthy adversary. I really wish that we could have worked together when I was with the bureau,” he said with a bit of melancholy. He knew that he would never have to opportunity now that he had stepped over the line. “But, then again, this was fun. Hey, by the way, tell Rachel that I’m sorry I didn’t get the shot off sooner.”

“Yeah, about that,” Nash said. “Are you taking a personal interest in the people that you’re watching now bubba?”

“You nearly got me with that one,” he admitted. He wasn’t sure how he slipped up, but he would be more careful in the future. “Rachel’s a good woman. You can’t help but admire that. Tell Leek that he had better marry her or I just might have to come back for her.”

“I’ll be sure to tell them to send you a wedding invitation. What’s that address again?”

Bixby chuckled once more. “Don’t worry. I’m sure that we will meet again one day. The question is, will you recognize me?”

Nash couldn’t help the smile as he slapped his cell phone closed. He always loved a good challenge. “I think we have a fan, boys,” he told Harvey and Joe as he slipped his phone back into his jacket. Nash lost his smile when he saw Captain Kellam walking over to them. “Please tell me that you had nothing to do with this,” Nash insisted.

Kellam shook his head just slightly. “I had no idea that they were going to pull that stunt. I’ve already spoken with the Head of Intelligence. Miller has suspended them pending further investigation.”

“They’re lucky they’re not looking at jail time,” Joe remarked.

“What about the pipeline?” Nash asked. He knew that Kellam had coordinated a massive task force.

“That’s the good news,” Kellam returned. “The totals are still coming in. We’ve got storage units in a dozen different counties in six states, nearly a thousand men, billions in product.”

“That’s got to make Sarah and Roger proud,” Harvey commented.

“I’m putting them both in for commendations,” Kellam nodded, then looked up at Nash. He hated to see a good man dragged through the mud of bureaucracy as Nash had been. “You have to My report will be waiting on the commissioners desk in the morning and I’m certain that you won’t have to worry about collusion charges anymore. I’m sorry that it went down this way. I hope that we have the chance to work together again under more favorable circumstances.”

“I’d welcome the opportunity,” Nash returned as he shook his hand. “You’ve got some good people working with you and I know that Cassidy is in good hands.”

* * *

Nash wasn’t surprised when the first place Victoria went when they arrived at his apartment was the balcony. She had barely spoken since watching her brother die. Nash had fended off the people wanting to question her. He knew that there were still things that she needed to account for, but she had just lost her brother. A person whose life she obviously valued more than her own.

He knew that she blamed him for what had happened. She didn’t want to hear that Truitt and Ogden had overstepped their bounds and were immediately suspended. She didn’t want to hear that he had done everything that he could to protect her and Russell both. She just wanted someone to blame.

He cleared his throat softly to let her know that he was there. It was an odd sensation to feel like an intruder in his own home. “Someone from the witness protection program will be here tomorrow to speak with you,” he said.

She looked up at him with a blank expression. “Why would I want to go into hiding?” she asked in return. All of her careful planning had been for naught. Russell was gone and her entire life suddenly felt like a cruel joke. “It’s not like I have anything to protect.”

“Tory...”

“You don’t need to worry about me, Nash,” she said with confidence. “No one knows about my involvement in all of this. They think that I’m on a getaway with my lover. No one is going to grill me about what happened because of Russell. They know that I wouldn’t betray my own brother.” The only emotion in her voice had been a slight catch in her throat when she spoke of her brother. Her world was shattered, but she quickly suppressed her emotions from years of practice so that she could continue. “I’ll take care of my own protection. I’ve seen what the government has to offer.”

Nash closed his eyes. He knew that he was included in that remark. He didn’t want it to be over between them, but he knew that there was no way that he could fix what had happened. She trusted him and her brother died because of it. While he was still searching for the words to tell her how sorry he was for everything that had happened, he heard the lift jump to life.

“That will be Steve,” she told him over her shoulder as she moved back inside. At that moment she was glad that she had thought to call Steve from the restaurant. She didn’t think that she could stand to be there much longer. She couldn’t even turn around to say good-bye.

“Don’t walk out like this Tory,” he told her as he caught her hand. “There’s so much that we need to talk about. I care about...”

“If you need me for anything, Captain Bridges,” she interrupted, “you know where my club is.” She didn’t pull away when he didn’t release her. She merely waited. “Now, if you will excuse me, Captain, I have to plan my brother’s funeral.” With that last shot, his hand fell away and she walked out of his life.

* * *

Rachel smiled as she waited patiently for Harvey to circle the PT Cruiser and open the door for her. She felt silly, but he had insisted. When he opened the door, instead of giving her a hand, he moved closer so that she couldn’t step out. “Can I get out now?” she asked, trying to figure out what he was up to.

“Your wish is my command,” he returned as he slipped an arm under her knees and behind her back.

“Harvey, you’re not...” was all that she could get out before she squealed as he lifted her out of the Cruiser. “What are you doing?” she laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“You’re suppose to be resting for the next couple of days,” he told her as he kicked the door closed. “And I’m going to make sure that you do.”

“You’re going to carry me everywhere?” she asked incredulously as he made his way up the walk.

“Like I said, your wish is my command.”

“My own personal slave?” she asked, warming to the idea already.

“Love slave, whipping boy.” He pretended to weight the two. “Either one could be interesting.”

“Hmmm. Love slave.” She let the words roll off of her tongue as she buried her fingers in the curls at the back of his neck. “I like he sound of that.”

He stopped for a moment to look into her eyes and Rachel took advantage, capturing his mouth with her own. She could spend the entire day doing nothing but kissing him, but she knew that what loomed ahead would be so much more satisfying.

“I should have known,” Anna said, her anger mounting over her initial shock at seeing them kiss. “I don’t know why I’m surprised,” she fumed, then stormed off.

Harvey turned at the sound of Anna’s voice, then stood there watching her walk off. Anna jerked her car door opened, then slammed it closed. He could see the edge of her skirt sticking out the bottom of the door as she sped away. He didn’t have a clue what had just happened. “That can’t be good.”

“Harv,” Rachel said tentatively. “You did tell Anna about us, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah, I...” he began, then paused as he tried to remember. “Come to think of it, I’m not sure it ever came up.”

“Oh no,” she groaned as she covered her eyes with her hand. “Put me down and go after her,” she ordered him.

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen,” he shot back as he started back up to his house.

“Harvey,” she argued as she began to struggle. “That is the mother of your child. You had better go make peace with her before she gets vindictive and decides to keep Jerry from you.”

“What?” He looked at her with uncertainty. “Anna wouldn’t do that,” he said, not really convinced himself.

She couldn’t believe how dense he suddenly seemed to be. “What do you think that was all about, Harv?” she asked as she watched him struggle with his house keys for about two seconds before taking them out of his hand and unlocking the door herself. “She still has feelings for you,” she insisted. “Aside from the obvious, she’s going to hang you with the fact that you neglected to tell her there could possibly be a new influence in Jerry’s life.”

“You’re over reacting,” he said with more confidence as he kicked open the door. “Besides, you’re not exactly a new influence in Jerry’s life.” Harvey stumbled slightly when the dog practically knock them down in greeting. “Sit King!” he ordered and was surprised to see the dog comply. “That’s a first,” he mumbled, then started on his way back to his bedroom. “This isn’t exactly how I had pictured carrying you back to my bed for the first time,” he joked. “Somehow I thought more clothes would be off by this point.”

“Please tell me you’re going to Anna’s,” she insisted.

“Rach, come on. What Anna and I had was over a long time ago and I’m not exactly the kind of guy that women pine over.”

Rachel’s mouth dropped open as she shifted so that she could see his face. “You honestly believe that, don’t you?” When he looked at her in confusion, she chuckled in amazement. “Trust me Harv. Anna still has feelings for you. She was hurt just now when she walked up to your house and saw you kissing your partner. Now she probably thinks that there has been something going on between us even when you were with her.” She sighed when his expression said that he was still unconvinced. “You need to get over there and put that fire out before you end up regretting it.”

He sighed as well as he paused in the hallway so that he could look into her eyes once more. “All right. If you think it’s that important, I’ll run by there after I get you settled in.”

* * *

“Looks like we had a couple of break ins with the rolling blackout last night,” Joe commented to Nash as he showed him some preliminary paperwork that he had managed to get his hands on.

“Not our department, Joe,” Nash returned, his eyes never wavering from his computer screen.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes ours,” he added in the hopes of piquing his curiosity just a bit. Nash had been unusually quiet all day. Joe knew it had to do with Victoria walking out, but Nash wasn’t talking.

“And why is that?” he said dutifully.

“Because it looks like some of the robberies are being done by the same group,” he said with a tiny smile. He knew that work would be the one thing that could tempt Nash.

“Alright,” he said with a sigh as he glanced over at the file that Joe had put on his desk. “Give it to the new guy. Antwon Babcock. I put him at Evan’s old desk.”

Joe looked back over his shoulder at the desk and saw a few new personal items that he hadn’t noticed before. “Does Harvey know yet?” he asked as he turned back.

Nash looked over at the desk. He was pretty sure that Harvey would be able to handle a new face across from him. Besides, they were already understaffed at the SIU, so they definitely needed to fill the empty slot. “Not yet.”

“Oh,” he said softly. He waited for a long moment, still hoping that Nash would say more, then walked away in defeat to put the file on Antwon’s desk.

* * *

“Hey,” Harvey said in greeting to Anna when she opened her door a few inches. He could tell by the look in her eyes that something was definitely wrong. “I get the feeling that we need to talk,” he said in a general way, opening the floor to her.

“Don’t you mean Rachel has a feeling?” she shot back as she walked away from the door, leaving it open to let him enter. She knew that it was Rachel behind that visit from him. She could only wonder at the reason behind it.

“Okay,” Harvey said slowly as he stepped inside. He wasn’t sure that he like the way things was going already. “Is Jerry here?” He glanced around for the obvious sign of a toy trail.

“No, he’s at daycare.” She answered him as distractedly as he asked the question. Anna tapped her lips with her fingers nervously as she stared blindly out her window, her back to him. This wasn’t what she had wanted at all. This wasn’t how things were suppose to go. “You know,” Anna said with sad laugh. “Rachel was probably the best thing and the worst thing about our relationship.” Even though Rachel had seemingly supported them when Anna and Harvey were together, Anna had no doubt that it had all been a calculated plan. Rachel had stolen him away.

He thought about that for a moment. He didn’t have a clue of what to make of that comment, so he let it pass as he crossed the room to stand beside her. He studied her face for a moment. He never could read Anna. He had admired her strength and courage when they had first met. Then he discovered that everything was a front for her in one way or another. He wasn’t sure if she did it to protect her heart or her wallet, but she was never entirely open or honest with him about anything. Because of that, he wasn’t quite sure how to begin.

“Rachel seems to have this crazy notion that you still care about me,” he said tentatively and saw her tense. He had no idea how she could have known, but he realized suddenly that Rachel had been right. “Why did you keep pushing me away?” he asked point blank. He was tired of the innuendo and suppositions. He needed to understand why. “You knew that there was a time I would have done anything to have us together as a family.”

She shook her head as she closed her eyes. “I don’t know why,” she said honestly. “Maybe it was just too good to be true and I hadn’t had enough bad yet,” she said as she gave him half a smile. She already had time to cool off and reason was settling back in. She knew that Harvey wasn’t the only one to blame for their relationship falling through even though she liked to tell herself that. “I guess, for some reason, in the back of my mind, I thought that you would always be there.” Her voice trailed off into a whisper as she fought the tears. She took in a quick breath and was able to ebb the urge. “I don’t know why I didn’t see the inevitability of you and Rachel.” She shook her head. “I guess because I didn’t want to.”

“It pretty much took me by surprise as well,” Harvey admitted, hoping to lighten the mood. He wasn’t sure how to deal with that particular situation. He sighed as he tried to think of the right thing to say. Evan would know, he thought. Evan had probably been through it a dozen times. “Rachel and I wasn’t something that I planned,” he told her.

“But the attraction was always there,” Anna countered and dared him to deny it with her eyes. She let out a long sigh when he didn’t answer. “Between Bonny and Rachel, I didn’t stand a chance, did I?”

Harvey reached out and took her hand. “Our timing never was right,” he admitted.

Anna nodded. “I always had a feeling that there was something between the two of you.”

His mouth dropped open as he shook his head. “How do women know these things? Is there a section of the script that I don’t get?”

She gave him a genuine smile then. “You never did have a clue, Harvey.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m starting to figure that one out.” He gave her fingers a squeeze. “Are we okay?” he asked tentatively.

She thought about it for a long moment. She couldn’t begrudge Rachel. After all, she had blown it not once, but twice with Harvey. She was just hoping that the third time would be the charm. “We’re okay.”

* * *

Rachel and Harvey laughed together as he told her about what it was like growing up in San Francisco during the Summer of Love. She was stretched out on the couch, using his thigh for a pillow as he sat at one end. He toyed with her hair with one hand and laced his fingers through hers with the other. “It was absolutely amazing,” he said as his thoughts wandered back through time. “I got into so much trouble that summer. I’d disappear for days at a time and be hanging out on Hippy Hill or at one of the concerts. I think I’ve even got a few copies of the Oracle around here somewhere.”

“That was the newspaper out of Haight-Ashbury, right?

“Yeah. I’ll have to see if I can find those.” He glanced around the room in hopes of a spark of memory. “They will give you a pretty good idea of what was going on around The Bay Area at the time. A lot of raw talent was here. Not just musical talent either. We had some amazing speakers, political, spiritual, insane.”

Her smile broadened as she stared at the ceiling as if it was a blank canvas for his words. “I can’t even begin to imagine the creative energy pouring out of this city,” she said in a reverent whisper. “San Francisco influenced so many important people of that era. I mean, it was like the yin to Viet Nam’s yang.”

Harvey chuckled. “I haven’t heard it put quite like that before, but yeah. There were a lot of great people around here then. That’s where I was first introduced to the unparalleled talents of Mr. Garcia. The rest, as they say, is history.”

She shook her head as she looked at him. “You must have been on a constant high.”

“In more ways than one,” he admitted, smiling when she giggled. “But, to be honest with you, I just don’t remember feeling as good back then as I do right now.”

Her heart flipped over when she looked up and saw the seriousness in his beautiful blue eyes. Her thoughts had been wandering through the rolling hills of history so the depth of feeling behind his words had caught her completely off guard. She didn’t have a clue what to say.

“Anna said something earlier that I haven’t be able to get out of my mind,” he said as he let the locks of her hair slip through his fingers before diving into the brown waves again. “She said that she should have seen the inevitability of us.” He shook his head slightly as he thought back. “What she said had surprised me at first, but then I realized that she was probably right. I don’t think it was something that I was consciously doing, but all of the women that I was dating fell short when I compared them with you.”

He let his hand fall away when she sat up on the couch and turned carefully to face him. “You have been my friend for a lot of years,” he began again. “On a conscious level, it didn’t even occur to me that everything that I was looking for was right in front of me. You were one of the guys. We hung out together. You don’t do that with your girlfriend. You were one of the people that I complained to about my girlfriends.” They both smiled when she nodded.

He reached up and lightly touched her face. “I had no idea that a person could fill me so completely.” His thoughts drifted back to the Summer of Love, to the gurus and the wise men who seemed to abound then. Suddenly, everything that they had been saying made sense. He had to give all to get all. “I love you with everything that’s in me, Rachel McCabe.”

His words touched her so deeply that it took her breath away. She had no idea that it was possible to be so completely in love with a person. “How did I ever get so lucky?” she asked softly.

When they kissed, there wasn’t any urgency. In that one moment, they knew that they were going to have the rest of their lives to explore each other’s passions and desires. For now they only needed to hold each other. She laid across his chest as he cradled her in his arms, both of them secure in what they shared.

He gazed down at her as she curled up against him. “I don’t think that I’ve ever felt so contented,” he told her.

She smiled up at him. “I thought contentment was suppose to be a bad word when it came to relationships.”

He paused for a second. “No you’re thinking of comfortable. That’s suppose to be a bad thing, but, at the moment, I just don’t see how.”

“I can’t either,” she sighed as she gazed up at him. “This is one of those perfect moments. You know, the ones that you hear about time standing still,” she said.

He nodded. “You have done something horrible to me, woman,” he told her. “You’ve made me believe again.”

“Believe in what?” she asked softly.

“That love really can last,” he answered. “I see a very long and enormously bumpy road ahead of us, but we’re going to walk it together.”

“Enormously bumpy?” she returned with a smile.

“Let’s face it McCabe. We never do things the easy way so that pretty much guarantees that we will be locking horns from time to time.”

“That’s true,” she laughed. “But I don’t mind the bumps as long as there’s a make out session to follow.”

His eyebrows shot up. “I like the way you think,” he said, then leaned in to get a little practice at making up.

* * *