TorC9

“Do you happen to know if Sarah has made any recent trips down to Los Angeles?” Nash asked as he spoke with Cassidy on their cell phones.

“Yeah.” She glanced around the squad room to be sure no one could overhear. The sudden beep from the fax machine with its subsequent whirl of incoming data printout ensured her safety. “She has been going down once a week or so to see an ailing aunt.”

“I’ve got a feeling that Aunt Bea just took a turn for the worst. Keep your eyes open, Cassidy. We’re not going to sit on this long. I’ll see you at lunch.” He flipped his cell phone closed as he walked into the SIU. Antwon making the connection so easily put the pressure on to end the investigation into Sarah Drake quickly. That called for drastic measures.

“Nash, we just got confirmation,” Joe said as he quickly stood from his desk to stop Nash as he strode through the squad room. “Chad Larkin is our guy. We’ve got surveillance tapes from LA and even recovered some of the missing jewelry.”

“Damn.” Things would be moving even faster than he had anticipated. “Harv!” he called out to get Harvey’s attention from the work at his desk. “Break out the truck and let’s get set up.” He watched as Harvey logged off his computer quickly, then hurried off. “Joe, give Haden Kellam a call. Don’t tell him what it’s about, just arrange to meet him outside the office.”

“What about Cassidy?”

“She’s suppose to be meeting me for lunch in about an hour to fill me in on what she has found out. That will give us time to get things set up. In fact, have Kellam meet us at Fisherman’s Wharf. Did you get a picture of Larkin?”

“Yeah. LA faxed it to me earlier,” Joe said as he turned to search his desk, quickly coming up with the photograph.

“Perfect. We can swing past the jailhouse before meeting Cassidy. I’m willing to bet that Chad Larkin is one of Anna Paxton’s wealthy benefactors.”

* * *

Rachel walked into Samuel’s hospital room, then stopped abruptly. His bed was empty. She was afraid that he had checked out before the noon departure time. She was just about to go off in search of a nurse when the bathroom door opened. “I thought that I had missed you,” she said with a nervous laugh.

“Hi Rachel. What are you doing here? I thought we said our goodbyes this morning.” Samuel asked as he carried the last of his grooming products over to his bed to drop them into his bag.

“I came to see you off,” she returned, as she looked him up and down. The kaki pants and lightweight sweater definitely suited him although she doubted that was the reason behind choosing them. She had a feeling that his selection had more to do with the loose fitting comfort than the fashion sense. “You said you were leaving today and I wanted to make sure that everything was okay. How’s your back.”

“Stiff,” he admitted. “That flight back to Thailand is going to be extremely uncomfortable.” He moved awkwardly over to his dresser just as his assistant came back into the room.

“I’ve got everything ready for....” He stopped abruptly when he saw Rachel. “How did you get in here?”

Rachel’s eyebrows shot up. “Through the door. How did you get in here?”

Samuel knew immediately where that conversation was going and he ended it before it went any further. “Kinam, this is Rachel McCabe. You are to treat her like royalty,” Samuel instructed, then looked at Rachel and smiled. “Consider her the queen mother.”

Her eyes closed as she shook her head. “That didn’t make me feel old.”

“Rachel, this is Kinam Kim. He’s my right hand man. If you can’t get in touch with me, get in touch with him.”

Kinam efficiently whipped out one of his business cards written in one side in Asian text and in English on the reverse. Rachel took the card, then held out her hand to him. “It’s Leek, actually,” she corrected Samuel’s introduction and saw Kinam’s eyes light up in horror that she had the nerve to do it.

“You’re not taking his name?” Samuel said with the disgust evident in his voice.

Rachel sighed as she slipped the card into her pocket. “Why wouldn’t I? He’s my husband.”

“Are these the last of your bags sir?” Kinam asked as he zipped the case on the bed closed.

“Yes that’s it.” He waved his assistant out as he turned back to the small dresser to retrieve a brightly wrapped box. He smiled broadly as he handed it to her. “As fortune would have it, this wasn’t ready when that earthquake hit so I didn’t have it with me at your party. I’m sorry it’s a little late.”

“You’ve really got to stop doing this, you know,” she said as she tore into the paper.

He watched her face as she took the lid off of the box. “It’s the master bed for the doll house,” he said as he helped her pull it out. He straightened the tiny pillows, then looked at her once more. “I thought that I could help you furnish the house.” He saw her eyes well up in tears. “It would just be like our thing.”

She quickly swiped at the tears escaping. “It’s perfect,” she choked out, then reached up to touch his face. She was afraid to touch him anywhere else because of all the bruising. “Thank you Samuel.”

“I’ve got one other thing for you.” He turned away with difficulty. Even simple movements like turning were painful, but he was grateful for the distraction the sensation brought. The look in her eyes was starting to get to him. He was grateful that he could lighten the mood, or at least change it. He picked up a large brief, then turned it over to Rachel. “That’s everything that Nostradam Pharmaceuticals has on Parker Reign. He’s the executive who had the OxyContin manufactured. Everything you need to arrest him is in that folder.”

Rachel’s chin dropped incredulously, then she flipped open the file. Names and dates with associations were all painstakingly listed. “Wait a minute.” She closed the folder and looked up at Samuel. “Is this guy still around to be arrested?”

“I have no knowledge of the suspect's whereabouts, Inspector McCabe,” Samuel said with a serious expression.

She tossed the folder onto the bed. “That’s what I thought and it’s Leek.”

* * *

“That’s him!” Anna said excitedly. “That’s the guy who gave me $6000.”

Nash looked over at Joe. “Get Harv on the phone and make sure that MCD has arrived. Tell him I want everything ready within the hour. I don’t want the gossip mill to beat us to the punch.”

“Got it.”

“What does this mean?” Anna asked, trying to stand up, but the cuffs attached to the chair prevented it. “This is going to prove my innocence, right?”

“Hang in there, sister. We’ll let you know when it’s over.”

* * *

Cassidy walked briskly into the squad room, catching her partner’s eye. Cassidy gave her head a jerk to let Sarah know she was to follow to a more private location. Once Sarah was inside the tiny interrogation room, Cassidy closed the door. “I just wanted to give you the heads up,” Cassidy began. “I just found out that my dad has arrested some guy on insider trading charges who claims to have video evidence of who was involved in Dabney Charles death.”

“You’re kidding?” Sarah said, her heart leaping into her throat. She couldn’t believe that bastard had gotten her on film. She should have known that Chad would cover his own butt and turn on her at the first opportunity. “That’s great! Now everyone will see that it was Anna Paxton. It will make our case.” She bluffed as best she could. She needed more time. She knew that there was still too much to hide affectively, but she could divert just enough to buy her a little time. She needed to get to a computer terminal and fast.

“You think so?” Cassidy asked nervously. “I don’t know. From what I hear, the guy is using it as a bargaining chip so no one has even seen it yet. We are right about Anna, aren’t we?” she asked her partner. “She is the one?”

“Of course we’re right,” Sarah assured her. “You’ll see for yourself if they don’t screw up and lose the tape.” Which was exactly what they would do if she had anything to say about it. Her mind was already racing with possible places for Chad to stash such an incriminating tape. No one else but Chad would have the nerve to double cross her. “Stop worrying partner,” she said with a reassuring smile. “Everything will be fine. Listen, I’ve got to go log in my cases. Call me if anything else turns up.”

“Alright,” Cassidy said hesitantly before returning to her desk.

Sarah made her way quickly down to a private cubical where she dropped her files down onto the table and didn’t even bother to sit before logging into the server. A few quick keystrokes and she would erase everything connecting her to Chad Larkin. She was grateful that she had taken the precaution of tracking down the electronic files previously so that she was able to pull them up right away. She transferred the funds from the LA account first, then moved into the LAPD computer. With a click of the mouse button, a warning began flashing on the screen that she was about to delete files from the system mainframe. “Bye-bye Chad baby,” she said and watched as one after another of the files dissolved from the screen.

“Ooo. Bad move,” Nash said as he stepped up to the cubical with Haden Kellam at his side. He moved an artificial plant that was camouflaging a video camera. “You seem to keep forgetting how inconspicuous video equipment can be.”

Sarah’s eyes darted from Nash to her boss as a dozen different excuses came to mind, but she knew that she had been caught. “You can get me for tampering with evidence, but at least you can’t get me for murder. Chad’s tape will prove that Dabney’s death was an accident.”

“So Anna Paxton wasn’t involved then?”

She thought about the evidence that Chad had so conveniently brought to light when he was arrested. He couldn’t get a deal if she volunteered the information and sticking it to Chad sounded very appealing to her at that point. “Anna volunteered for the job of patsy when she picked Dabney up after a heist gone bad.” Sarah shrugged her shoulders. “I had no idea she was Leek’s girlfriend.”

Nash watched as two uniformed police officers walked up behind Sarah, relieving her of her sidearm, then they put on the handcuffs. “So you had Charles and Jackie Pat doing all of the leg work for you, then you simply flew the jewelry down to Larkin who used his insider information to turn a tidy profit.” He nodded his approval. “Nice little set up you had there. Thanks for giving us your account numbers, by the way.”

“Sarah Drake. You’re under arrest.” Haden Kellam began, he read off the list of charges against her as well as her rights.

“Oh! One other thing,” Nash added. “Dabney Charles' video tape?” He held up his hands in helplessness. “Doesn’t exist, but your tape will come in handy at the trial.”

* * *

“Here we go,” Joe said in warning as Nash pulled the Cuda into his usual spot at the SIU just in time to see Lisa walking off of the barge. “You know, your life would be a hell of a lot less complicated if you were to get back together with Lisa.” He wasn’t surprised by Nash’s startled look. “At least you wouldn’t have the chief threatening to close down the SIU if you were with her.” As Lisa neared the parking lot, Joe scrambled out of the Cuda. “Good luck bubba,” he added as he closed the door and pasted a friendly smile on his face. “Lisa! It’s great to see you again.”

“Hello Joe.” They exchanged a light kiss on each other’s cheek.

“Nash told me you were back in town.” He glanced back to see that his partner had joined them. “So how long are you staying?”

Lisa darted a glance between the two before finally settling on Nash. “That’s sort of what I wanted to talk to you about,” she admitted.

Joe gave his partner a knowing glance. “You don’t say.” Nash opened his mouth in rebuttal, but Joe cut him off before he even began. “Well, it was nice chatting with you Lis. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”

Nash gave Joe a quelling look as he made his departure. “I’m sorry about that,” Nash said, then chuckled. “You know Joe and his crazy ideas.” He chuckled a little more. “He has got it in his head that you have come back to San Francisco to see if we can rekindle the romance.” He laughed out loud. “Isn’t that the craziest thing you’ve ever heard?” His laughter became more and more strained when she didn’t join in. “Lis?” He cleared his throat. “Isn’t that the funniest thing you ever heard?”

* * *

Nash slowly walked down the line of black vans, four of them, parked side by side and packed with cocaine. Joe, Harvey and Antwon were quickly checking for purity while Ronnie stood a few feet away, watching everyone closely. “Very nice,” Nash said as he strolled closer to Logan. “I love it when a deal comes together.”

“Just keep in mind that there are two parts to that deal,” Logan reminded him as Nash turned away to walk the length of the vans once more. “You still have to share with us the layout of the auction site. In detail.”

Nash smiled again, as all of the test kits came back with high-grade purity. Joe, Harvey and Antwon moved out to more strategic positions. “Not a problem. We just rerouted Edward Sinclair’s old site through the police computers and we were able to recreate all of the buyers with a very simple html program.” Nash glanced over at Harvey. “That’s basically right, isn’t it?”

“Basically,” Harvey returned.

Nash’s eyes locked with Logan’s. “That’s the problem with ambition, Logan. It tends to blind you to what’s going on around you. That’s where the mistakes are made.” He smiled. “I know that you were expecting your shooter to take me out, but surprise...” Dozens of shotgun bolts were pulled back as the SIU and SWAT simultaneously revealed themselves from all around the warehouse. “When you’re playing king of the hill, make sure you know who you’re playing with.”

Nash saw it in his eyes, the shift from disbelief to rage was instantaneous. Logan reached inside his jacket. “Gun!” Nash called out when he got a glimpse of the semiautomatic. Shots started ringing out in every direction as people dove for cover. He looked up to the rafters to the snipers still out of sight. He brought his wrist microphone up to his mouth. “Take him out.”

Another bevy of shots reverberated around the metal structure then there was nothing more then the tinkling of several shell casings hitting the concrete floor. In the space of a breath, armored men swarmed the warehouse floor giving orders for people to stay down, hovering over the dealers and their men. Nash tucked his gun away as he walked around the vans to see where Logan Marshall had fallen. A grouping of three shots in the chest ensured that he wouldn’t be getting back up. “That’s one less bad guy to worry about.”

* * *

Nash stood with Cassidy on the balcony of his apartment. “You know you don’t have to do this,” he told her. “You’ve been cleared of all charges. You don’t have to quit.”

She had already gotten a little taste of what her life would be like after the scandal. Several of the people from vice had been quite vocal in their assessment of the situation and her subsequent guilt. “It’s just not worth it to me,” she told Nash. “I don’t care enough about the job to ride through this. I’ve been searching my mind, trying to remember why I wanted to be a cop in the first place. Evan and you were numbers one and two on the list and I don’t think that those reasons are good enough anymore. I have a lot of respect for what you do, Daddy, but it’s just not for me. The passion for the job simply isn’t there and I know that I need that to be a good cop.”

Nash shook his head. “I think you’re making a big mistake walking away right now, but that’s your decision. You know college is still a viable option,” he suggested and received a smile in return. “What did your boss have to say?”

She shrugged. “You know Captain Kellam. He rarely says much of anything, but I sorta got the impression that he wasn’t surprised by my decision.

He reached out and took her hand. “So what’s next?”

“I think I just need some time off, to get myself back together.”

“Is this going to be one of those spiritual journeys? Because, you know those went out back in the 60s. I’m afraid you missed that party honey.”

“What about you?” she asked in return. “I got the impression that Mom was interested in getting a little one-on-one time with you.”

His eyes drifted out to the skyline. “Let’s just say that your mother and I have a lot of talking to do and leave it at that for now.”

Cassidy chuckled, then hugged him. “Thanks Daddy.”

He lightly stroked her hair as he held her close. Even though he had argued for her to stay, he couldn’t begin to say how relieved he was to know that she would no longer be wearing a badge. He sent up a silent prayer of thanks. “For what?”

“For not saying I told you so.”

* * *

Harvey drew in a long breath when he saw Anna standing on his doorstep. He had been expecting that moment. “What are you doing here Anna?” he asked softly.

“I came to see my son,” she said and tried to step passed him. Her mouth dropped open when he blocked her path. “Don’t tell me you’re not going to let me see him.”

“I’ll give you the benefit of a doubt this time. Since you just got out of jail maybe you haven’t yet seen the change of custody papers and the restrictions that you have concerning visitations with Jerry. If you want to schedule a visit through my attorney, I’m sure something can be arranged.”

She looked at him in stunned disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”

“Go home Anna. Get your own life in order before you try to come back into Jerry’s. Don’t drop by the house again and don’t even think about approaching Jerry at school or I will be forced to get a restraining order.”

“What? Harvey...”

“No, no. There’s no arguing. We’re playing by my rules now.” He could still hear her stammering for the right words as he closed the door.

* * *