SIUBlues9

Rachel put the Sinclair file on the corner of Nash’s desk. “Finally got all of the listings from the warehouses finished,” she told him. “I sent an email update to the DA. She’s got everything she needs for the hearing tomorrow.”

Nash glanced up at her absently. “Do we have all of the details from that internet scheme?” he asked in return. “How it was implemented, shipped, auctions?”

She looked at him warily. Something was going on behind those hazel eyes. “Yeah, pretty much. There are still a few players missing, but I think the details are in order.”

He nodded as he flipped open the file, not really absorbing what was in front of him. “Do you think that you can set up a dummy corporation similar to the auction site?”

A smile inched up on her face. She liked the way he thought. Always planning ahead. “It will take a little time, but yeah, I can get it operational.

Nash nodded thoughtfully. “Sinclair said that he had a major deal set up to supply the auction site.” He looked up at her again. “Any guesses as to who the dealer could be?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Montipinia is the biggest game in town, so my money’s on him.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Harvey interrupted as he handed Nash an open file. “We just got confirmation. Yong Cha Chon is back in town.” He looked at Rachel curiously when she jumped slightly, then continued. “He was spotted as SF Airport a couple of days before we took down Sinclair. We haven’t got a location on him yet, but I’m already doing a search on the higher priced homes in the area available for lease. Chon is a notorious recluse. He doesn’t like to be around a lot of people, probably to avoid hara-kiri to his back.”

“Did any family fly in with him?” Rachel asked a little breathlessly.

Harvey gave her a inquisitive look. Something about her wasn’t right. “Funny you should ask that. Word is he came in alone on a private jet, but that he has been grooming his grandson to take over the family business. My guess is that he’s the one Sinclair was linking up with. The grandson,” he darted a look over Nash’s shoulder and pointed to the entry that he was looking for. “Samuel Chon, probably had a hand in that internet scheme. This would have been a really big score for him on his first time out.”

“Just what he needed to impress Grandpa,” Nash followed along with him.

“It impressed the hell out of me,” Harvey admitted. “We wouldn’t have had a clue if Bixby hadn’t come along and shot the place up.”

“Ironic, isn’t it?” Nash asked. “Bixby has been more help to us than Lombardy.” Changing topics, Nash pointed up at Harvey. “We arranged a meeting for tonight with Corday. Make sure the van is geared up and ready to go. Vice is paying back the favor and giving us a hand with backup. Rachel, I’ll want you in the van as well.” He glanced over at Rachel, then did a double take when she looked extremely pale. “Are you all right, Rach?”

She nodded distractedly. “Yes, fine. Actually, no,” she corrected herself as her eyes darted around, looking for an escape. “I need to get a little air.”

Harvey and Nash watched her go, then turned to each other with confused expressions. “I thought that she had been cleared for duty,” Nash said with a note of doubt.

“She was,” Harvey assured him. “Let me check on her,” he said, then followed her out.

Rachel’s fingers dug into the backs of her hands as she clenched them together. Her elbows rested on the rail along the top deck of the SIU as she breathed in the ocean air deeply, hoping to keep her lunch down. The excitement and the dread warring for control. It was finally happening.

Yong Cha Chon. She couldn’t believe it. He was finally there. She knew that she would have to face him one day. She had prepared for it. But she never expected to have such a violent array of emotions assault her at the mere mention of his name. She ran her hand lightly over her bruised sternum. It was her moment of truth. Her eyes squeezed shut as her heart lurched painfully. Chon has him.

When Rachel jumped away defensively at the light touch of his hand against her back, Harvey held up his hands to placate her. “Calm down, babe. It’s only me.” He had never seen her so skittish and they had been through some hellish situations before.

“I’m okay,” she told him before he asked, grabbing onto the rail to keep from swaying with the barge. Just what I don’t need. A storm coming in and no Dramamine.

Harvey leaned one elbow against the rail, completely unaffected by the slight movement. “Who do you want to believe that? Me or you?” he asked, unsure of how to deal with this side of her.

Rachel smiled as she closed her eyes. He was in cop mode. He was “handling” her and it actually struck her as funny. She knew that the interrogation was soon to follow, so she decided to be a cooperative witness. “Did I ever tell you about how my dad died?” she asked.

His mind tripped over the possibilities as he tried to make a connection from her current situation to the death of her father. “He died in a car accident, didn’t he?”

Rachel rolled her eyes as she put her elbows back on the rail. “An accident. Right.” She shook her head. “We lived out on the east coast at the time,” she informed him, starting from the beginning. “Dad’s official title was Marketing Executive, but he was little more than an errand boy. Truth is, I don’t think anyone really knows for sure what he did for the company.” She looked down at her hands. Her fingers were laced together as she rubbed at an imaginary spot on her finger with her thumb. “I like to think that he was legit,” she said sadly. She knew that she was only fooling herself and had been for years, but there was so little that she could be proud of her father for. Even though she could never forgive him, she still loved him. “By the way, did I forget to mention that Dad worked for none other than Yong Cha Chon?”

Harvey nodded. He suspected as much when she started to tell her story, but that still didn’t explain why the mention of Chon’s name would scare her so badly. Did she think that Chon would be coming after her? Had her father discovered something before his death that would endanger his family as well? “I take it that your dad wasn’t on the up and up with his employer?” he prompted her to continue.

Rachel gave him a genuine smile as she looked over at him. “Well put,” she complimented him. “We didn’t find out until almost six months after he died that Dad was blackmailing Chon.” She nodded at the incredulous look on his face. “I know. I can’t say my dad was the brightest man in the world. Of course, by the time we found the proof, Chon was already out of the country. With everything neatly tidied up behind him.”

“Rach, if you have proof, then we can...”

“No.” She cut him off abruptly. “That information was lost a long time ago. There is no evidence.” Her heart sank. Even if she did have the proof, she wouldn’t let him use it. She couldn’t.

Harvey’s mind raced with the possibilities. There was no statute of limitation on murder. He would have to make a call out east to see what he could dig up, but he would have to be careful. He didn’t want to hurt Rachel in the process. “Did you ever meet Yong Cha Chon?” he asked tentatively. He had to wonder just how involved Rachel’s dad was with the company and how sensitive the information was that he had acquired.

She nodded as her gaze stayed on the shadows of fish swimming near the surface next to the barge. “A couple of times. Briefly,” she added quickly when she realized that she had just opened a door to further questions. But she couldn’t help confiding in Harvey. Just his presence was enough to encourage her to share. “There was something strange about him,” she said softly. “It’s probably nothing more than a child’s imagination, but there was an aura about him. His eyes were....” She searched for the right words, the right expression to capture what she had seen in those cold eyes. “It was like looking into the depths of hell and seeing Satan staring back at you through the darkness.” She shook her head. Even that didn’t compare to the feelings the memory could still aroused in her. “Just pure evil.”

He studied her face carefully. She had carried that memory with her into her adulthood and it had manifested to become even more powerful over the years. “Do you think that he will remember you?” he asked softly.

She nodded slowly. “Yong Cha Chon doesn’t forget anything.” Or forgive, she added silently.

* * *

Nash and Joe walked through the lobby of the plush hotel swiftly with Harvey and Ronnie following a few feet behind carrying briefcases. Their eyes skimmed over the staff and patrons in the area, but they didn’t hesitate on their way to the elevators. Once the doors closed behind them, Nash ran his fingers over the thin wire hidden inside the lapel of his jacket. “Has anyone spotted Perez yet?” he asked knowing that the sensitive microphone would pick up his voice.

Harvey brought his finger up to his ear to press on the tiny receiver. Something was interfering with the reception and he had to listen carefully just to hear the few words. “Not yet,” he returned for Rachel who was watching the resort from her station in the parking lot.

“That’s one loose cannon that we don’t need,” Nash remarked as he shot Joe a glance.

Joe tugged at the cuffs of his shirt beneath his jacket. Even though he had worked with Stefano Perez in the past, he trusted his partner’s instincts. If Nash was concerned, than he had reason to worry.

As the doors slid open again, they were face with a long corridor, empty except for the late working maid down the intersecting hall. Nash tossed his partner another glance as he smiled. “I see the help is improving around here,” he said teasingly, chuckling softly when Cassidy sent him a biting look from her station with the cleaning cart.

Joe stopped next to the double doors of Corday’s room, hesitating for several seconds as Nash and Harvey moved to the opposite side before knocking. Their stance appeared casual, but they were cautious not to stand directly in front of the doors and hands were kept near their guns.

Jose Alonzo jerked both doors open almost as if he had been waiting on the other side for some time, then he hesitated. His hands dropped to clasp together in front of him as he sent an appraising glance over each of the men. His rush was replaced with idle inspection. “Who’s your friends?” he asked, his eyes shifting from Joe to Nash.

“Come on Jose,” Nash returned lightly. “You didn’t seriously expect us to show up here without an insurance policy, did you? I hear San Fran is just crawling with pickpockets.”

Jose’s eyes darted from Nash’s mocking smirk to Joe’s cold, unwavering stare. “Mr. Corday isn’t going to like this. They will have to wait on the dock.” With that said, he reached back again to close the doors and start down the hallway.

“Dock?” Joe said quickly as they followed after him. “Resort docks?”

“Hey, hold on a second, bubba,” Nash ordered as he grabbed Jose by the shoulder. “We arranged to meet here with Corday. Nobody said anything about docks.”

Jose stopped for only a second to straighten his jacket, then he continued walking toward the elevator. “We arranged to meet here, but no one said anything about conducting business at the resort,” he quickly clarified. “This establishment is owned by a friend of Mister Corday and, at his request, we are conducting business elsewhere.”

Nash sighed heavily, looking at Joe in silent conversation as they continued to follow. They had no choice but to go along with the change of venue or risk losing the bust on Antonio Corday. He gave Harvey and Ronnie a glance. At least they wouldn’t be completely without back up, he thought, but there was no telling how many men Corday would have with him.

“Where are you taking us?” Joe demanded once they were inside the elevator.

Jose turned to him slowly. “Relax Rico. Mr. Corday is entertaining on his private yacht and you will be his guests.”

Nash gave his partner a sideways look, then leaned in front of Jose. “Just make sure that we aren’t the main course, Jose, or I’ll be using you as a platter.”

One corner of his mouth tipped up in a half-smile. He was enjoying watching Teddy Malone sweat. He had been so cocky, so self-assured in the past that it was a pleasure to see that confidence slip slightly. As the elevator doors opened, Jose avoided the lobby and began walking toward the back of the resort, through the pool area and down to the beach where several boats were moored. He continued walking until he reached a large speedboat with one passenger waiting, then he turned back to the men. “This is where your friends wait,” he instructed.

Nash stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. “I don’t think so, bubba.”

“Mr. Corday will not...” he began, then stopped abruptly when he was suddenly looking down the barrel of two guns.

Nash smiled cockily as he glanced back at Harvey and Ronnie bearing their weapons, then back at Jose whose eyes were transfixed on the guns. “All I have to do is think it, Alonzo, and you’ll be floating out to your boss.”

“I suddenly don’t like the way this smells, partner,” Joe said in a dispassionate voice. “There’s a definite stench in the air.”

Nash’s smile broadened as he clasped Jose on the shoulder. “That’s just our buddy, Jose, here soiling his drawers,” he joked, then stepped closer, his voice dropping to a threatening whisper. “Our deal was to meet here at the resort. You’ve made changes so now we are making some. You can either take all four of us on that little tinker toy you’ve got or we can forget the whole thing and you can explain to Corday why two mill just walked away.”

“I’m sure that he would just love that considering that he just invested the bulk of his money on Columbian prime real estate,” Joe added.

“Well, it is a party, after all,” Jose returned shakily. He hated guns especially when they were pointed at his head.

“That’s the spirit, Jose,” Nash said boisterously, clapping him on the back, then jumping down from the dock to the awaiting boat.

Hayden Kellam jerked open the door on the surveillance van where Rachel and Sarah were monitoring the equipment. “Are there tracking devices on the briefcases?” he asked without preamble.

“We didn’t think we’d need them,” Sarah returned. “We thought it was going down at the resort. That everything would be contained.”

He sighed as he looked down at the ground. “Contact the Coast Guard. They’re on their own.” He looked up at Rachel swiftly when she started to protest and his stare was enough to stall her. He didn’t need to hear her suggestion of a helicopter tracking their men or following by boat. They both knew that it was out of the question. It would only put their people in more danger. “Keep listening,” he ordered. “Bridges and Dominguez will give us their position as soon as they can. That’s all we can do for now.”

Rachel let the breath escape her lungs slowly when the doors to the van were closed once more. She knew that he was right, but she hated that part of her job. She was of absolutely no help whatsoever. She was a fly on the wall listening in on a deal that could take the most important people in her life away from her. She would much rather be in on the action, but her cracked ribs were keeping her benched.

When Cassidy pulled open the door to the van and climbed inside, Rachel reminded herself that she wasn’t the only one with an emotional investment to the people sailing away on the yacht. “Have you found out where they’re going yet?” Cassidy asked expectantly as she started to strip off her maid’s uniform.

“Not yet,” Sarah answered succinctly.

* * *

Nash looked at all of the people lining the deck as he made his way up the side of the yacht behind Jose Alonzo. He counted twelve just at a glance and even more became visible as he stepped onto the deck, but Antonio Corday was nowhere to be found. “You’d better not be wasting my time, Alonzo,” he said ominously as he waited for Joe, Harvey and Ronnie to make their way onboard.

“Mr. Corday will be waiting below,” Jose assured him, then headed off in that direction. The sooner he was without their company, the better as far as he was concerned.

Again Nash had expected privacy, but they were greeted with a room full of people and Antonio Corday was holding court at the center of it. Angrily, he approached the host and stood within inches of him. “What’s with the spectators, Antonio?” he said in a barely controlled whisper.

“Relax Malone,” Antonio returned, then laughed as he gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Just a few friends to celebrate my birthday with. Have a drink.”

“Well light the candles and get onto the blow,” he quipped in return. Things were getting considerably out of control and he wanted to move Corday and his men into a more secluded area. Corday was generally known as a wary dealer so his relaxed demeanor made Nash suspicious. Nothing about that deal felt right.

Antonio shook his head. “Patience doesn’t seem to be one of your long suits, Malone.” He hesitated for a moment more, then tossed back the last of the whiskey in his glass and stood. “If you’ll follow me, gentlemen.”

Nash gave Joe a hopeful glance. They only need a few minutes with Corday to bring the entire farce to an end. They would do the trade, make their pitch to arrange a meeting with Montipinia, then they were gone. The sooner they were out of there, the better.

They walked down a narrow passageway to the room at the far end, then Nash felt another twinge of warning when Stefano Perez rose to his feet. Nothing was going right for them that night. “I see the company you keep hasn’t improved, Antonio,” he remarked as he stared Perez down, then his eyes skimmed the rest of the office. Only two other men were waiting for them. He definitely liked the odds.

“Here is what you came for, gentlemen,” Antonio said as one of his men put a heavy suitcase onto his desk and opened it up for inspection. “This is merely a sample. The rest is being loaded onto the speedboat as we speak.”

As Joe stepped up to the desk to take a small sample of the cocaine and placed it into a chemical vial, Harvey and Ronnie handed over their briefcases to Perez who opened them for Antonio. “Now that business is concluded,” he began again as Joe gave an appreciative smile for the quality of the product and Antonio waved the money away. “Perhaps you would like to have that drink after all.”

“Actually,” Nash began as he stepped over to the mini-bar while Antonio poured himself another drink. “I would like to know what I have to do to get an audience with Cruz Montipinia.”

Antonio hesitated in pouring the brandy from the flask, then began to laugh as he capped off his snifter. “That’s a good one, Malone. I’m glad to see that your sense of humor hasn’t left you entirely.”

Nash gave him half a smile as his hazel eyes remained steady. “I’m serious,” he told him. “I have a proposition for him.”

Antonio looked him up and down. “You’ve got balls,” he said. “I’ll give you that.” He took a large swallow from his glass as he studied him a moment longer. “I’ll tell you what. Let me hear this proposition and I will let you know if Montipinia will be interested.”

Nash glanced over at his men and saw that they had fanned out discreetly to cover each of the men in the room. “No offence, Antonio, but you can’t handle the size of this deal. It’s got to be Montipinia or I’ll just have to pay Yong Cha Chon a visit instead.” He saw the smug expression drop from his face. “Of course, I wouldn’t want to be you, trying to explain to Montipinia how you brushed off a deal that could have netted him billions monthly.”

Antonio’s eyes narrowed as his anger grew. “You’ve got some guts walking in here and talking to me like that Malone. Who do you think you are? You’re nothing. Nobody. You’re small time. Montipinia uses people like you to scrape the barnacles off of his yacht.”

“Look out!” Perez yelled as all hell broke loose.

Nash grabbed Antonio by the lapels and knocked him to his knees instantly as gun fire from the other side of the room came in rapid succession. Harvey and Ronnie were already on the move, taking out the two visible men with well placed blows before diving for cover themselves.

It was all over in the space of a breath. There was a slight movement of slatted doors just before a previously unseen man fell through them to land on the floor in a bloody heap. All eyes were focused on him as Joe hurried over to kick away his gun and check for a pulse. There was none. Then a second thump sounded against the floor and Nash turned to see Perez laying face down. Quickly rushing to his side, he turned Perez over, grimacing when he saw three bullet entry points across his chest.

Perez’s eyes drooped heavily as he looked up at the SIU captain and attempted to smile. “It looks like I saved your butt again, Bridges.”

Nash drew a breath, but he didn’t have a chance to speak before Stefano’s head dropped back listlessly. Nash’s fingers were at his throat and he searched for several seconds for a pulse before slowly lowering his head.

* * *

Rachel tapped her foot impatiently as she checked her watch. She had managed to get the cook’s attention, but she was left holding her takeout in the alley until he could get free for a moment. She couldn’t stay there for long. She was expected back at the SIU. She had been able to slip out when everyone else was focused on filling out their reports from the Corday bust. Every word, every action, every bullet had to be accounted for. In that particular case, she was glad that she had been stuck out in the surveillance van. Paperwork wasn’t exactly her favorite thing to do in the office.

“Finally,” she breathed when the older Asian man stepped outside, wiping his hands off on his apron before reaching for a cigarette.

He looked her up and down. Something had her on edge and he could venture a guess at what that was. “Who are you looking for this time?”

“Where can I find Samuel Chon?” she asked brusquely.

“Who?” he shot back, keeping his attention focused on lighting up.

“Don’t play me, Cato. I need to find him.”

He gave her a long look as he expended a plume of smoke. “Samuel Chon is not someone to play with,” he warned her. He had wondered when she would get around to asking about Samuel.

She held his gaze. “It’s important or I wouldn’t be asking.”

He took another drag from his cigarette. “He’s not exactly someone you can look up in the phone book,” he said evasively. He liked Rachel. He didn’t want to see her dead because she had gone after the Chons.

She knew better than to threaten or to beg Cato. He was no ones sidekick unlike the Green Hornet character he was nicknamed after. He was a very wise man and he kept his own counsel. Information couldn’t be forced out of him. He volunteered it or you didn’t get it. “You know better than anyone what is happening in Chinatown,” she said softly. “Yong Cha Chon is back in town and you know as well as I do that means nothing around here will ever be the same again.” She knew that he understood the consequences behind Chon’s arrival. “Help me to stop that.”

One corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. “You’re going to stop the Chons,” he stated rather than asked, then gave his head a shake. “Governments haven’t been able to touch them. What makes you think that you can?”

Her expression was one of determined strength. “Because I have something that no government has,” she returned evasively. “I know things that people have been killed for knowing. I have the key to bring the Chon organization down to its knees.”

Cato searched her face, wondering if she was speaking the truth or if it was just bravado. If she could do anything to stop the takeover of Chinatown by the Chons, then any information that he could give her would be worth the risk. “I can’t tell you anything at the moment, but I can find out,” he promised.

Rachel forced a tiny smile onto her lips as her expression softened. “I’d be grateful for anything you can get me,” she told him. She didn’t bother telling him that time was of the essence. He had nearly as much at stake as she did. His home, his family, his business were all tied up in Chinatown. Until Yong Cha Chon was stopped, they were all at risk.

* * *

Victoria tapped her pen against the ledger in frustration. She had been searching for the error in her books for over an hour. The two hundred-dollar miscalculation wasn’t of any real importance since the club brought in ten times that even on an off night, but it annoyed her that she couldn’t find the mistake. Looking for any distraction she could find, she glanced up at the television set at the far side of her office and sighed as she watched the news broadcast.

She knew that she should hire an accountant to take care of her business expenses, but she didn’t like depending on anyone else when it came to the club. Trust was a precious thing to her and she doled it out sparingly. Ten years living on the edge of the drug smuggling ring had taught her that. Everyone was suspect. Even an accountant.

Victoria reached for the remote control to her television and clicked up the volume. Black vested men and women with DEA written in white across their back was far to familiar a scene for her, but it had captured her attention.

“Local and federal officers arrested cocaine drug lord Antonio Corday late last night,” the reporter announced and Victoria sniffed at his use of the term “drug lord” in association with Corday. “He was arrested on his private yacht where officers confiscated a large shipment of cocaine with an estimated street value of three point five million dollars. There have been reports that two men were killed on the scene, but both names are being withheld at this time pending notification of the families. A large number of guests were on...”

“Corday,” Victoria whispered to herself as she turned a deaf ear to the television once more. She lightly rubbed at her chin as she recalled Teddy Malone speaking with one of Antonio Corday’s men at her club just two nights earlier. “It looks like there’s more to you than meets the eye, Mr. Malone,” she said speculatively. “I wonder how much.”

* * *

Harvey stared at his monitor for several minutes, reading over the New York police officer’s report concerning George McCabe’s death. Everything seemed to be above board. Standard measurements, assessments, research and conclusions filled the file. There was nothing notable. It appeared to be a simple case of the loss of control by the driver. Conditions had been right for ice on the bridge even though none was found at the time of investigation. George McCabe was still buckled in the drivers seat when the car was pulled from the river below. Skid marks and damage was consistent with a single car accident. No foul play was evident.

However, it was the officer’s personal comments that held his attention. While Officer Thompson made no specific accusations in the file, he did say that there was a business relationship between the deceased and Yong Cha Chon as well as a personal relationship between the children of both parties. That had surprised Harvey. Rachel hadn’t mentioned knowing Hyun Chon, Yong Cha’s son.

He hadn’t given it much thought when he had called the New York officer, now a detective. It was standard procedure. Their conversation hadn’t lasted long, but it had been far too enlightening for Harvey’s taste. He felt like he had just invaded Rachel’s privacy. What made it even worse was that he knew that he couldn’t keep the information to himself. He would have to tell Nash.

He looked over to Rachel’s desk and saw that she was hard at work on the bogus online auction company. He knew that she had a past. Everyone did. What he didn’t understand was why she seemed so determined to keep it a secret when she knew full well that it could compromised her investigative abilities.

He sighed heavily as he looked back at the monitor. It was nearly twenty years ago, he told himself. Rachel had been in her teens. What could have possibly happen between her and Hyun Chon that would still affect her today? Then he recalled her reaction to hearing Chon’s name and leaned back in his chair. From what little she had told him, he had assumed she had met Yong Cha through her father. He had to wonder at her reasons for omitting the fact that she knew Hyun.

Clicking on the files several times, he saved it to his computer, then closed the window. As far as he was concerned, whatever had happened between the two youths was a private matter between Rachel and Hyun. For now, he wasn’t going to say anything to Nash. As long as Rachel performed her job to the best of her abilities, Harvey didn’t see any reason why he should disclose the information.

Why do I feel like I’m making a huge mistake? he asked himself.

He looked over at Nash. At least he had gotten some good news that morning. His car had been returned to him fully restored to pristine condition. With the exception of the cheap paint job, there had been very little actual damage to the car. The fur lining covering the seats had actually protected it from the juvenile delinquents who had stolen it.

Nash’s eyes skimmed over his report causing his mind to trip back through time to replay the final seconds in which Stefano Perez was gunned down. He found it rather ironic that the one person he hadn’t trusted had been the one to save his life as well as everyone else's on the team.

He knew that he needed to put what happened behind him. It was a tragedy, but it was also completely out of his control. He sighed as he caught himself lingering on Perez’s final moments yet again. He just didn’t like having a debt that he knew that he could never repay.

“Are you planning on turning in that report or are you just going to hold it all day?” Joe asked as he stood up from his desk and pulled his jacket back on.

Nash glanced up, then back down at his report. “I was just thinking about Perez,” he admitted. “Wondering if we could have done something different.”

“You know better than that, Nash man,” Joe chastised him lightly. “You can’t second-guess how things played out. It will drive you crazy.”

“I know, I know,” he returned, scooping up his jacket from the back of his chair and tossing it over his arm. “Perez made a choice just like we did, but it’s so much easier to say the words than to believe them.”

Joe tossed his car keys gently in his hand as he walked with Nash out of the office. “What do you say about catching some lunch?” It had been a very long night with Corday’s arrest and the subsequent paperwork. He was more than ready to head home, but he knew he needed to wind down first.

“That’s exactly what I plan on doing,” Nash returned with a smile. “Catching lunch. I thought I’d rent a boat and do a bit of fishing. You know, take a couple of days off.”

Joe chuckled. “Yeah, okay. Is Mama Z’s all right? I’m kind of in the mood for her mushroom lasagna.”

Nash hesitated for a second, then kept walking. “I’m serious man. We don’t have anything urgent at the moment.” He hitched a thumb back to the people hard at work at their desks. “Rachel is still setting up the auction company and Harv is tracking down some info on Chon. It will be good for me to step away from all this for a couple of days.”

Joe looked at him a little suspiciously. Nash taking a day off was a media event. He never looked quite so happy about going fishing before. “Are you planning on dropping anchor anywhere in particular?” he asked as his companion dropped off his report to be filed later.

Nash smiled at his perceptiveness. “I can’t get her off my mind, Joe.”

“Planning on telling her your real name anytime soon?” Joe asked pointedly. “Or maybe telling her that you’re a cop?”

Nash shook his head. He didn’t like the fact that he had to keep the persona of Teddy Malone in place when he had met Victoria Castle, but it couldn’t be helped. Perez had been at her club for a reason and he couldn’t let on that he was a police officer until he knew for certain who all of the players were. “All in due time, bubba.”

* * *