TorC1

Harvey felt Rachel’s fingers toying with the curls on his forehead and smiled. His eyes were mere slits as he peeped at his new bride leaning over him suggestively. “Morning beautiful.”

“Hey handsome,” she returned. “Breakfast is on the way up,” she told him. As much as they both wanted to stay, they knew that they were needed back in San Francisco. Her fingers lightly brushed his cheek as her hand slowly traveled lower. “I figure we have just enough time to satisfy our hunger and maybe even squeeze in a bite to eat before heading home.”

His smile grew. “I like the way you think, Mrs. Leek.”

Just as his arms were slipping around her, the phone started to ring. “That’s got to be Nash,” Rachel said as she shook her head. “Only he’s got that kind of timing.”

“You’re probably right,” he agreed as he slipped out of bed. “Tell him that we quit,” he joked as he headed toward the bathroom.

Rachel chuckled at the thought, then picked up the phone. “Morning Nash.” She smiled when he was at a momentary loss at her psychic greeting. “Technically, I’ve still got him for the next six hours. You had better have a damn good reason for interrupting my honeymoon,” she warned him, then fell silent as she listened intently. “Clear the roads for us Nash because we will be flying.” She paused once more, then heaved a sigh. “Thanks. See you shortly.”

The phone found its way to the cradle with a clatter, then Rachel rushed over to knock on the bathroom door. “Harvey? Come on. We’ve got to go.”

“Damn woman,” he called back in return. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

“This is serious Harv,” she insisted and he opened the door seconds later. “That was Nash on the phone. Apparently Sarah Drake found some sort of proof linking Anna to Dabney Charles’ death.”

“What?” he asked in shock.

“I don’t have all the details,” she rushed on. “But Anna found out somehow that a warrant had been issued for her arrest.” She hesitated a second, but knew that it would be best plainly said. “Anna pulled Jerry out of day care and fugitized. Nash and Joe are all over it, but it looks like she made it out of the city.”

He moved around her quickly and went in search of his clothes. “Why the hell didn’t someone call us sooner?” he asked, finding his pants and jerking them on.

“This just happened less than an hour ago,” she assured him as she pulled on her clothes as quickly as possible. “Nash pulled in a couple of favors and managed to get us a police escort.”

“Even with that, it’s going to take us forever to get back,” he snapped, the guilt for leaving his son during such a precarious time, even for his honeymoon, was weighing heavily on his shoulders already.

She shook her head. “You don’t understand,” she returned. “The local PD has made their helicopter available to us,” she explained. “We will have to leave the Cruiser here, but we will be able to search the coast on the way back.”

He nodded, his mind already reeling with details, dates, addresses, anything that could be a clue as to where Anna had taken his son. He was so focused on getting to the police station and catching the flight back that he was heading out the door before Rachel was able to get his attention again.

“Let me do this,” Rachel pleaded as she grasped his arm to stop him. “I can find Jerry. This is exactly the sort of thing that my system was designed for. Let me do my job.”

Harvey searched her face. There was no one he trusted more. “You’re hired.”

* * *

Rachel grabbed onto the dash as Harvey darted in and out of traffic. Even though it was just the two of them in the PT Cruiser, one voice after another fought to be heard as they both spoke on their cell phones. Rachel was on her phone with Antwon at the SIU and Harvey received directions to the heliport through the loudspeaker feature on his from the local police department.

“You’ll have to read me the message box,” Rachel said into her phone.

“I’m coming up on exit 30 now,” Harvey said distinctly, his cell resting between the seats to keep both hands free.

“Hang a right at the top of the ramp,” the static riddled voice returned.

“Yeah, that’s where you put in the password.” Rachel automatically checked the traffic on her side. “Clear over here Harv.”

“Where after the right?” Harvey asked as he changed lanes.

“Straight ahead. Mile and a half. You can’t miss it.”

“Okay. Good. Now burn that slip of paper.” Rachel put her hand over her ear to hear Antwon’s response. “I’m serious Twon. There’s a lighter in my desk if you don’t have one.”

“Drive straight onto the field. You have an all clear.”

“All right. Thanks guys.” Harvey clicked off his cell as he slowed for the ramp. Turn made, he stepped on the gas.

“Yeah, and have you ever heard of industrial espionage?” Rachel argued. “I am not paranoid. You’re working with my prototype. No, tearing it up...” She sighed exasperated “Just burn it Twon or I’ll kick your ass as soon as we get there.” She shot Harvey a glance. “How far out are we?”

“Two minutes.”

“Tell Nash we’ll be in the air in five. We’ve already arranged a relay. Thanks Twon.” She cut her phone off as she scanned her husband’s face. He had barely spoken since hearing that Anna had gone on the run with Jerry. “How are you holding up?”

“Fine.”

She reached out and gently rubbed his shoulder. She knew he was fighting to keep himself together. “Antwon has my prototype installed on your computer,” she informed him. “Now they will have two Tracker programs running.”

Her heart ached for him. She knew what it was like to have her child stolen away. “We found out about her skipping early enough,” she assured him when he remained silent. She would say anything at that point to ease his mind. “Nash has already alerted every precinct within a hundred mile radius.” She knew that she didn’t have his attention. His focus was on Jerry and on the road. She understood. She just wished that she didn’t feel so helpless.

It became obvious that everyone had been alerted to their arrival moments later. Patrol cars suddenly appeared along the street to block traffic and waved the cruiser through. As they reached the airport gates, they actually had men with red coned flashlights showing them exactly where to go. Rachel said a silent prayer of thanks. Every second counted.

Harvey raced up to the helicopter and slammed on the breaks at the last minute. The Cruiser skidded for several feet before jerking to a halt. Everything, except cell phones, was left behind as they leapt out of the car. He grabbed Rachel’s hand and they both ran. The air from the blades was beating against them as the pilot revved the engine for takeoff.

Seconds later, they were airborne. The pilot gestured down to a pair of binoculars stored near Harvey’s feet once they were safely off. Harvey had a front row seat to search the Pacific coast highway. He immediately fixed his eyes on the land below. He turned the focus and experimented with the range on the binoculars so he was ready when the helicopter started its run up the coast. At least I feel like I’m doing something now, he thought. He knew how unlikely the chances were that she had taken the coastal road. Just like he knew that he would fall apart if he didn’t have something to concentrate on.

How could she take my son?

* * *

Rachel clutched onto her seat as the helicopter raced up the coast. Once Antwon had discovered that Anna was heading north, they stopped searching for her car along the highway and just made the best time they could. She prayed that the flight would be a fast one as her stomach lurched anxiously.

She jumped, her heart lodging in her throat when she heard a sudden crackle on her headphones. “Call being patched through from the SIU,” the pilot informed her.

“Thank God,” she whispered, moving her hand just long enough to flip the microphone down into position, then she latched onto the edge of the seat once more. She needed the distraction. It didn’t matter what. “Rachel here,” she announced herself.

“We lost the track,” Antwon told her succinctly.

“What? How?”

“I have no idea. We had three shots of her going north on I80, then nothing.”

“Did you check the off roads?”

“First thing,” he returned.

“Okay. Try extending your search by half an hour. She may have had to stop for gas or to get Jerry something to eat.” Or to switch cars, she thought then closed her eyes. That would make Anna a lot harder to find. Rachel sighed. She really needed to get to her computer. There were so many variables that she could anticipate if she was there, but over the phone, it was nearly impossible to explain to someone new to the system.

“We’ll be on the ground in ten,” the pilot interrupted.

“Did you get that Twon?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah. A squad car is already waiting for you.”

* * *

Rachel’s legs were shaking so badly when she jumped out of the helicopter, that Harvey reached out quickly to steady her. “Are you okay?” he asked with concern. He had been so focused on getting back to San Francisco, he hadn’t even considered how the flight would affect Rachel. He couldn’t really remember, he was fairly certain that she hated to fly. The ride must have been hell on her, he thought.

“I’m okay,” she said, giving him the best smile she could manage.

He wasn’t convinced. The light sheen of perspiration on her forehead was a dead giveaway, but he remained silent as she took his hand and they ran toward the waiting car. When he climbed into the back seat with her instead of taking the front passenger as he had in the helicopter, Rachel looked at him in surprise. She sighed gratefully when he wrapped his arms around her and she was able to rest against him for the ride to the SIU.

Harvey lightly kissed her forehead. He needed the feel of her in his arms as much as she needed a moment to let her stomach settle. He knew that, with every passing second, they were less likely to find Jerry. Being trapped in transit was gnawing away at him. He was letting Jerry down. Again.

People cleared the way for them as Rachel and Harvey ran onto the barge. Antwon gratefully gave up his seat at Harvey’s desk when he saw them arrive. “I haven’t found anything yet,” Antwon told her as walked over to Rachel’s desk. She was already frantically tapping at the keyboard. “I extended the search by another hour.”

“That’s too long,” she said, leaning forward to see around Antwon. “Shut down the search, Harv, and start another one.”

“Already on it,” he returned.

Nash walked up and put a hand on Antwon’s shoulder. “Grab a couple of these people around here and check on car dealers and rental agencies along that strip of highway where she was last scene.”

“Got it,” Antwon returned with a quick nod and immediately started gesturing to the people closest to them. “You, you and you. Let’s go.”

“I’m hacking into the profiler,” Rachel told Harvey, ignoring the growing audience around them. The fact that her program could hack into any security system on line was the one detail that had held up the production. The irony of announcing the fact that she was doing something currently illegal while sitting in the middle of a room full of cops didn’t escape her. She was struck by the fact that she didn’t hesitate to call out classified information. She hadn’t realized until that moment how much Jerry had come to mean to her. She didn’t give a damn about security for her multi-million dollar prototype. All she cared about was that it could bring Jerry home.

“I’m loading the program now,” Harvey returned.

“We’re on line,” she told him, then looked over at him when he swore. “What’s wrong?”

“There’re thousands of hits.”

“Just keep looking. I’ll see what I can do to narrow the search.”

Most of the people on the barge that afternoon watched as the drama unfolded. Harvey would call out any information that he had on Anna while Rachel typed it into her computer. Everything from her description to the type of car she preferred was put into the computer.

Nash glanced at the crowd of people gathering around Rachel and Harvey’s desks. Everyone was anxious to find Harvey’s son, but no one was quite certain what they could do. They already had a team working to ascertain if Anna had stolen or rented another car. He personally called to alert the local police and to give a description of Anna and Jerry. Then Joe took the picture of Jerry from Harvey’s desk and faxed it to the different stations. Everything that could be done had been done. Anything else was up to Harvey and Rachel.

Nash looked at Rachel’s computer screen and saw her easily break through a message window telling her that she had violated a restricted area. He wasn’t exactly up on the latest computer enhancements, but he knew what he was seeing. “Mind telling me what’s going on?”

Rachel glanced up at him, then at the people surrounding them. There was no way her prototype could remain confidential now. “I’m using the camera systems along the highways to search for Anna,” she said as basically as she could, keeping the majority of her focus on filling the search criteria.

Nash shrugged his shoulders. “That’s what the system was ultimately designed to do. What’s so hush-hush about that?”

Rachel pushed her chair back and walked over to Harvey’s desk to view his monitor with Nash following along behind. “The thing that my program can do, that the system can’t, is identify hair color, skin color, sex, vehicle occupation, etc.” She sat on the edge of the desk behind Harvey’s chair and watched his screen as he clicked through the pictures. “I’ve programmed in all of the information that we have available on Anna and the computer is using that to automatically search through the pictures for us. It dramatically cuts down on the number of hits and, in this case, the time we save is vital.”

“How often does it refresh?” Antwon asked, intrigued with his coworker’s ingenuity.

“It continually searches and updates the pictures,” she returned. “Once Harvey makes it through all of these, new ones will already be available.”

Nash looked at Antwon’s amazed face, then looked back at Rachel. He wasn’t completely sure what they were talking about, but he knew what the message on the computer screen had meant. “Correct me if I’m wrong here, but wouldn’t that technically be considered hacking?” he asked.

She nodded her head. “Which is why I’m in litigation now trying to suppress the use of this particular program to law enforcement offices only.”

“Wait a minute,” Joe interrupted. “You’re trying to suppress your own invention?”

“Absolutely. While this program can be crucial to police investigation, in the wrong hands it could do some serious damage. Everything from stalking to espionage. It has to be stringently controlled.”

At first, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Then Joe’s mind quickly turned to the profit margin possible for a government-controlled system. A smile inched up on his face, then he darted a glance back at Rachel. “Are there stock options available?”

“Joe!” Nash scolded him in his tone.

“I think I’ve got something,” Harvey said, his voice rising to get the attention he needed.

“How can you tell anything from that?” Nash asked, pointing to the photo on the screen. “Her hand is blocking her face.

“Rach?” He glanced back over his shoulder at her. “Doesn’t that look like the ring Anna wears?” His heart was drumming in his chest as he waited for her response.

“It could be. Can you zoom in any more?”

“It’s not letting me zoom in or out.”

She swore under her breath, then tapped at his keyboard. “It’s a bug in the system,” she grumbled. “There. Try it again.” Harvey zoomed in further, then took over the keyboard to clear up the picture. “That sure does look like it,” she confirmed, then hurried over to her computer. “Zoom out and see if you can make out a car seat,” she suggested to him while she searched for another camera angle.

Harvey shook his head. “The angle is too steep. I can’t see the passenger side. Can we get an image from the other side?”

“Already working,” she returned absently

Nash leaned over Harvey’s shoulder. “Can you pull up a number for the sheriff or HP in that area?” he asked and Harvey immediately pulled up the information, then left his desk to see what Rachel was working on.

“I think we’ve got something,” Rachel said excitedly as she started to zoom. As the picture cleared, they had a clean shot of Anna handing something back to Jerry in the car. “Yes!” She punched up the information from the surveillance photograph. “It was taken five minutes ago,” she told Harvey. “If she’s still on that highway, we’ve got her. All we have to do is call the local PD.”

“Already there,” Nash said, then turned back to his conversation on the phone.

Harvey studied Rachel’s face. His heart was pounding in his chest at the sound of her voice. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he couldn’t bear the pressure much longer. “Tell me the truth, Rach,” he said softly. “Is this good news?”

Rachel’s smile became more relaxed. “Yes baby. It’s great news.” She felt tears prickle the back of her eyes at his relieved sigh. He put so much faith in her. She prayed to God that the local police department was capable of handling a kidnap situation and that Anna wasn’t stupid enough to risk her son’s life. “They will probably have her in sight within a matter of minutes.”

“The problem is that we probably won’t hear about it for another hour,” Joe interrupted.

Antwon’s eyes darted between the two. “He’s right, you know. It’s not like we can tap into the security cameras or anything.”

Harvey’s eyes locked with Rachel’s for a long moment. Was Anna’s apprehension something that he could handle seeing? What if something went wrong? What if something happened to Jerry? But the "what ifs" could drive him insane. He had to know. “Do it.”

Rachel spun her chair around and started typing at her keyboard again. Within minutes, they were able to track the progress of the chase. It was only still images every few seconds, but they knew the moment the police had pulled Anna’s car off of the highway. Unfortunately for them, that was when the cars moved out of range of any cameras.

Rachel looked up at Harvey again after trying to find any system she could to restore viewing with no luck. He paced nervously. The “what ifs” were tormenting his mind. He knew how many things could go wrong in that sort of situation and they had no way of knowing if Anna had given herself up or not.

* * *

Harvey’s stomach was tied in knots as he sat at his desk, tapping his foot nervously. It had been twenty minutes since their last contact with the county sheriff and he felt like he was going to snap at any moment. The crowd that had gathered around his desk earlier, now made themselves scarce. They knew as well as he did that he was a time bomb just waiting to go off.

He closed his eyes as an image of Jerry flashed into his mind. The smallest memory was like a knife in the chest. Not knowing how his son was doing was killing him. He bounded out of his seat as Nash approached. “Anything?” he asked, but knew the answer already from the expression on his face.

“Not yet bubba. Hang in there.” Nash gave his shoulder a light squeeze in sympathy.

“Rachel said something earlier about evidence,” Harvey continued, anxious to get his mind on anything else for two seconds. “Something connecting Anna with Charles’ murder.”

He nodded. “Apparently Sarah Drake was right after all. She checked Anna’s phone records and it shows her calling one of the mothers about the field trip from her house.”

He nodded at the memory. “And Anna claimed to have called from the gym after finding the body.”

“Right. So Officer Drake did a little poking around and noticed that some of the houses in the neighborhood had security cameras outside. She managed to get a security tape and it catches Anna’s car pulling out of the gymnasium parking lot around 2am.”

“The approximate time of the murd...”

“Nash!” Ronnie interrupted as he hurried toward them. “The sheriff is on line 3.”

Both Harvey and Nash moved for the phone, the ladder punching the speaker button instead of picking up the handset. “This is Captain Bridges,” he said succinctly, his eyes on Harvey. Rachel walked up and slid her hand over Harvey’s shoulder in support. No matter what, he knew that Rachel and Harvey would make it through.

“Be advised that we have Anna Paxton in custody,” the voice over the phone said. “Both Paxton and the boy are fine. We already have them in route back to you.”

Harvey let out an explosion of air from his lungs as a cheer erupted in the SIU. His hands began to shake and his knees threatened to give way. When Rachel’s arms went around his waist, he latched onto her small frame for support. “Thank you God,” he whispered as he felt several hands patting him on the back in comfort and celebration. Suddenly the last 24 hours became a haze. Jerry was okay. His son was coming home. Tears of joy and relief streamed down his face. “Thank you. Thank you,” was all that he could manage to whisper.

“You’d better sit down before you fall down, bubba,” Joe said as he pushed a chair in behind him. Harvey dropped down into it wearily, putting an elbow on the armrest as he covered his eyes with one hand and held tight to Rachel’s hand with the other.

“He’s okay baby,” Rachel whispered as she gazed up at her husband. Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. “Our boy is coming home.”

His heart flipped over at her words and he pulled her into his embrace as the tears started to flow again. “I would have lost him if I didn’t have you,” he choked out.

“We found him baby. You and me.” She kissed his cheek, then hugged him tighter.

* * *