| Lonely Alone Episode 12 |
| ** "Preston, it's me, Beth. You never came." Beth was in the telephone booth at the airport, ready to depart. "Where the hell are you, Beth?" Preston hadn't been able to take an earlier flight out, he had been running behind at work and needed to take care of a few things before leaving. "Listen, the cops have John. He didn't do it, but they think he was your accomplice." Beth was pleased that the cops didn't consider her to be a likely suspect, right now their focus was on John and Preston. "What? Why me?" Preston couldn't understand why the cops thought he did it. This wasn't how everything was supposed to work out. "I'm sorry, it has to be this way." She wasn't going to take the blame for her crime, it was a crime of passion --- so the one she did it for should be blamed. "You killed him, didn't you?" It was all very clear to Preston, she killed Hans to make sure Preston would get the substantial amount Hans planned to leave him and then she'd run off. "I had to do it, Preston. We couldn't be happy together with him alive." Beth had planned to leave Preston and take Hans' money, but even that wasn't going to work out now. She had to leave before the cops were on to her. "Where are you?" Preston never got a reply. Beth hung up the phone and quicky ran to her terminal, not wanting to miss her flight. ** "Rachel, take a look at this." Cassidy handed Rachel a copy of Van Guard's will that she had gotten from his lawyer. Rachel began to quickly peruse the contents. "Anything questionnable?" Rachel didn't catch any immediate discrepancies. "Look at page twelve, Preston Matthews." Cassidy took the papers from Rachel and flipped to the page, pointing to the highlighted area. "Looks like he was going to be a rich man..." Matthews motive was now apparent to Rachel, not only would he get the wife but he'd get Van Guard's fortune as well. "Rich enough even to kill his best friend." Cassidy was proud of her find. "Let's go show Nash and see what we can do." Cassidy knew that Rachel wouldn't take the credit for the find, but she felt she should go down with her anyways just to make sure credit was given where it was due. ** Nash stood over John as he sat at the conference table. "Call Matthews now and tell him you need to meet tonight." "He won't come, Nash. I know how he works." John knew that if Preston had any contact with Beth and he knew what was going on, he wouldn't come. "Tell him it's about Beth, if you have to." Nash knew the only way Preston Matthews would come to San Francisco was if they had Beth. "Nash, it won't work. I know it.'' John was sure this would be the end for him, Preston would never show and he'd have to take the wrap for the murder. "John, if you ever want to get out of here, I suggest you make that call." Rachel was fed up with John's lack of cooperation and wasn't going to stand for any more of his comments or criticism. Nash handed John a wired phone, "your choice, Bubba." John nervously dialed Preston's cell phone number and listened carefully as it began to ring. He hoped Preston would answer. "Preston? It's me, John." John didn't know what Preston had heard from Beth. "What do you want? Don't the cops have you?" Preston was sure he was being trapped. "They let me off, for now. I need to talk to you, man." John tried to be as convincing as possible. "The cops are getting suspicious and Beth left San Francisco.'' "Dammit. I'll be there by ten. Meet me at the Fairmont, and don't be late." Preston had to go and clear his name, there was no way he'd take the blame for what Beth had done. She had gotten him into enough trouble in the past. "I'll be there." John hung up the phone and handed it to Nash, "can I go now?" "Not so fast, Bubba. We're not done with you yet." Nash wasn't about to let one of the key suspects go. ** "So what's new?" Harvey stood outside of the SIU with Rachel, both had stepped outside to get some air. "Nothing to complain about, besides my love life, if that's what you were asking." Rachel enjoyed the opportunity to get out and talk to Harvey now and then. "How about you? Any more blind dates?" "Nah. I think I might give up on dating for a while and take whatever comes my way." Harvey had been disgruntled with the outcome of his last relationships and wasn't about to set himself up for the fall again anytime soon. "Willing to accept fate, that's definitely promising." Rachel often wondered if he'd ever go out with someone like her, but she never got the courage to ask. Harvey was a little uncomfortable with the subject, especially since the woman he wanted to date was standing next to him. "Anything new with Matthews or Miller?" "Matthews will be in before ten this evening, hopefully we can wrap this up." Rachel was happy to see the end of this case in sight, it had dragged on long enough and taken her along with it. "Is that a glimmer of hope I see in your eyes? A bit relieved it will be coming to an end?" Harvey knew this case wasn't a pleasant one for Rachel, since she had ended up playing a larger role than she hoped for. "If you only knew, Leek." Rachel smiled, knowing Harvey completely understood. ** Nash waited as the plane landed and pulled up to the gate, "Let's go get him." Nash was followed outside by McCabe and Babcock. They approached the plane slowly. As the passengers filed out one-by-one, Nash checked everyone's face. Rachel looked up a moment. "There's Matthews." She pulled a picture from her pocket to confirm the identity. "That's him." She pointed to a tall, gray haired man waiting to exit the plane holding a briefcase and talking on a cell phone. "Okay. McCabe, go get him." Rachel waited a few moments as Preston walked down the stairs. She approached him. "Preston Matthews?" Preston looked at her, finding it rude that anyone interrupt his phone call. "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Rachel didn't appreciate being put off for a phone call, she didn't care who it was. "Inspector Rachel McCabe." The minute Preston heard her name, he threw the briefcase down and ran. Antwon and Rachel dashed off after him. "Get me back up, he's being a little stubborn." Nash folded his cell phone and returned it to his pocket. A few moments later, the plane and the landing strip were surrounded by squad cars. With nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, Preston gave in. Rachel and Antwon caught up to him. Antwon began, "Preston Matthews, you're under arrest for the murder of Hans Van Guard. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you..." ** "It's too early for this." Cassidy stood with Rachel next to the coffee machine. "Welcome to the world of a cop." Rachel didn't like to hear all of Cassidy's complaints, if anything, she should be used to this lifestyle because she was raised by a cop. "Did you get anything out of Matthews yesterday, after you brought him in?" Cassidy had gone home early with a headache, she hadn't been around with them till well after midnight when they finally finished questionning him. "He had spoken with Beth a few hours before. She was apparently at the airport." Beth had been unwilling to tell Preston where she was, so the assumption was she was about to leave town. "Does anyone know where she is?" Cassidy hadn't heard Rachel mention a location, but she figured she'd ask. "Nope, but we have some leads. I've got to get back to work.'' Rachel didn't have time to fill Cassidy in blow by blow of the evening's interrogation. She wanted to make a few calls before Nash got there. ** "So, tell me... which one of you to was she actually seeing?" Nash looked curiously across the table at John and Preston. "Beth and I recruited John, her former lover, to help us cover up for the murder." Preston wasn't about to hide any information back now. "You wanted him dead so you could take control of the company and be with Beth?" Joe had seen the will and knew what Preston had coming his way. "Yes. Beth and I had decided to hire someone to kill Hans and make it look like a suicide." Preston and Beth's plan had be in the works for quite a while, when Hans considered changing his will upon finding out Preston and Beth were seeing eachother again --- their plan was put into action. "Except, Beth couldn't find anyone to do the job. She did it herself." "And that's who you were supposed to meet that day at the warehouse, John? You were meeting Beth?" Everything seemed to be fitting together now with the case. It all made perfect sense to Nash. "Yes. We had planned to meet there and we did. She explained everything to me, I was supposed to return twenty minutes later. By that time, the murderer would be gone and Hans would be dead. That's when you guys came in.'' John hadn't liked using Rachel as he did, but it was all part of the job he was hired to do. At that point, he thought he'd get Beth in the end. Now, no one would. "So now, we know who did it. We just have to find her." Nash knew this wasn't going to be an easy task. "Can I make a suggestion?" Preston knew one place she might run. "Sure. Why not?" Nash had no clues or guesses of his own as to where she might be. "Try her kids." Nash hadn't considered that, since she had a severed relationship with them and her ex-husband. "Joe, get McCabe and tell her to try Beth's kids to see if they've heard from her. I've got a few more questions then we can check with the airports." ** "Nash, sorry to interrupt but I just hung up the phone with her ex-husband..." Rachel looked over the table at John. "And?" Nash knew as soon as Preston mentioned her kids that she'd be there. "She's there. His daughter isn't saying much, but he said they'll do what they can to help us out. The daughter mentioned Beth had to see a lawyer today?" Rachel had a good idea about how to get Beth back. "Get a hold of that lawyer. Let's create some legal problem with her finances that will get her back. Take Antwon with you." It was exactly what Rachel expected he would say, they'd use the lawyer to get her back. ** "Let's get her. She's taking the 5:10 flight." Rachel could tell by the look on Nash's face that he wasn't pleased with the turn of events. "Nashman, Rachel and I can take this one if you don't want to go." Joe thought this might be a better solution, since Nash had a more personal interest in the case. "I'll meet you down there. I've got somethings to take care of first." Nash knew why Joe was offering to go alone with Rachel, but he wasn't about to allow his personal interests to get in the way of his job at this point in his career. ** "Sorry that it had to come to this, Beth." Nash looked at Beth as she stood before him, handcuffed and ready to be taken in. "Nash, I had to do it. He was after me." She was desperate to say anything that might lessen her sentencing. "Beth, don't bother. It doesn't add up. Your story doesn't match that of Matthews and Miller.'' Nash had hoped for a long time that she wasn't the one they were after, but he had been wrong. "But Nash, what about us?" Beth hoped she could get somewhere by pulling a more personal string. "Ronnie, let's get her out of here. " Nash motioned over to Ronnie and he escorted Beth to the squad car. Nash stood there and looked on as they drove off. ** "I hate men." Rachel dropped the folders onto her desk and lazily fell into her chair. Harvey had seated himself on the corner of her desk, having prepared his ears to listen to her musings against John. "Well, good morning to you too." Harvey couldn't resist, he knew that it wouldn't be too long before Rachel was on the market again. He waits for a reply to his remark, "am I included in this group?" "You're Harvey, you're not all the other men." Rachel felt the need to make the distinction, he wasn't like the other guys, especially not like the men she had dated. "How did I get singled out?" Harvey didn't know if he should take her comment as a compliment or a insult. "I don't know. You're just different..." she paused a moment as she watched Harvey's eyes change, "but in a good way." She had know reasonable explanation for how she felt, but Harvey was truly unique. "You've been dating too long, McCabe. Somebody needs to make a decent woman out of you before you do any more male analysis." Harvey loved that about her, she seemed to find a way to categorize and group everything, even the men she dated. He still wondered how he had been singled out as being different. "Find me the perfect man and I will." Rachel gave her mischevious grin, wondering if Harvey would ever dare to look for a suitor to meet her requirements. "No such man exists." Little did Harvey know that he was her image of the perfect guy. He sensed the conversation was getting a little too personal and didn't want to take it any further. "So... what's on the agenda for today --- Nashman promised us the day off after the meeting?" "I was thinking of taking a drive down to Monterrey. Get out of the city for the afternoon." Rachel needed to get away and clear her mind, she hadn't had the afternoon off in quite a while and this seemed to be the perfect escape for her. "You could join me if you'd like, unless you have other plans." Harvey didn't know how to respond to such an offer. He had planned to spend a lazy afternoon at home with King, but this sounded much better. "Sure, if you don't mind the company." ** "I don't know what more I can say, I guess this case had us all duped." Nash was a little flustered by the fact he too had been taken by one of the key culprits. He looked at his team before him, assured they were as tired and warn out from the case as he was. "So what's next for us? I mean, this was a pretty big assignment that took the whole team." Antwon had been curious if everything from that point on would be a team effort or if they'd start working in partners again. Not that it affected his pay, but he was just curious. "Well, for right now we'll be going back to how things normally ran. I've been in contact with someone who might have another team job but nothing is definite yet. The head honchos would like to see me break the team up into divisions and each division will have two inspectors and some officers working under them --- which is what this meeting is mainly about." Nash hated to break his team up, but at least they all got to stay with the SIU. He wished he had the power to turn down the demands of Deputy Chief Martin, it just wasn't in his scope of authority. "So that means we'll all have different cases from here on out, unless its something that requires an effort from each division?" Cassidy was confused as to how this could work out better. All the inspectors functioned well enough as a team already. "Right." Nash wasn't pleased giving such news, but he had to. "So what are the assignments?" Rachel had anticipated she'd get something low key due to her partnership with Cassidy and her past with Nash, Martin liked to work like that. "It's not so much division by case, but by area for now. Martin thinks we waste our time and the SFPD's money by all piling onto one case with each precinct's cops. So... McCabe and Bridges, you two are back working with Bayside. Leek and Babcock, you guys are with Sunset. Joe and I will be taking Oceanview and the Valley." Nash could tell from the expression on Rachel's face she was not pleased with the assignment. He knew that she was a better officer than Bayside required, but she was an excellent mentor for his daughter and he couldn't see objecting to Martin's decree. "Any questions?" Nash looked across the table to see if anyone had any questions or requests for him to deal with before they left. When no one replied, Nash was ready to let them go. "Get out of here, be here tomarrow by 8:00." ** "Can I ask you a personal question?" Harvey sat comfortably next to Rachel upon the large picnic blanket she had laid out along the shore. By that time, both had kicked their shoes off and their badges and guns were kept in the car. The remains of their lunch were stacked neatly in the basket. The beach was completely theirs. "Depends, how personal is personal?" Rachel had normally tried to keep her personal life, or lack there of, out of the SIU except for the occasional mention of a date every now and then. But now since John and the case had interrupted her life, everything seemed to be a lot more open. "Not too. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Harvey didn't want to pry into her life, but he wanted to know more about her. He had worked with her for this long and still felt he really didn't know her as well as he'd like to, especially now that his interest in her was more personal. "Okay, what's your question?" Rachel had no idea what Harvey was planning to ask or if she'd be willing to answer. "How come you're not married?" He paused a moment as he studied her facial expression, "I mean, you seem the type who'd want to be married and settled down with a family by now? I'm sure you've had plenty of offers." Rachel laughed, "Wow. That's quite a question." She thought about it for a moment, "I guess it's because I haven't found the right guy and I've accepted the fact that I can advance my career while waiting for my Prince Charming to come and sweep me off my feet. Right now, that's a pretty good option." Cecilia crossed her mind, but she didn't feel now was the time to bring her up. "I'd like to have a family sooner or later, when the time is right." She hesitated a moment before turning the question, "what about you? What's your excuse?" Harvey wasn't anticipating her turning his question. "Me? I don't know. I've been there and done that with being married. I guess I'm still looking for the one too. Maybe I'm being too picky." "No such thing." Rachel smiled, knowing she was probably far too strict on her own requirements for who or what she'd date. "Maybe we're looking in all the wrong places." "I'm no expert, but I think if your mom wasn't fixing your blind dates --- you'd be a lot better off." Harvey had to poke a little fun at her, he was completely amused by her mother's fascination with setting her up. "I'm the one with the problems? Okay, Mr.I-Only-Have-A-Date-Once-In-A-Blue-Moon, let's talk about your last relationship." Rachel was now facing him, looking at him straight in the eye and her mischevious grin lit up her face. Harvey fought the tempation to kiss her. He knew he couldn't do it. Harvey couldn't ruin the moment by making the first move. Rachel had no idea what their friendship meant to him. Harvey did something completely juvenile instead. "Last one to the lighthouse is a..." he paused for a moment to think of the ending, "am I that old that I can't even think of how it ends?" Rachel looked at him and beamed, getting up off the blanket as he sat in his pensive mode before her. "I believe the phrase is rotten egg, Inspector." As Harvey considered her reply, she prepared to run. "That's it." By the time Harvey looked up, he saw that Rachel already ran several yards ahead of him. "That's not fair, McCabe. You got a head start." "So I'll give you a chance to catch up." Rachel had never imagined spending a day like this with Harvey, it seemed all to perfect. He normally seemed so work oriented or went on his private treks to Carmel when he had a free day, this was a nice change. Harvey started running behind her, wondering how she possibly could have that much energy after the week they've had. As Harvey got closer to where she was waiting, he could feel his chest tightening. "It's been a long time since I've had to run like this. Did I really say to the lighthouse?" Rachel smiled, "hey, it was your idea." "You never said you could run." Harvey laughed as he continued on, already knowing who the winner of this competition would be. ** "You going to be okay, Nash?" Joe looked at Nash as he stared out over the bay. "I'll be fine. I really learned my lesson this time." Nash knew better than to let himself get involved personally with a case. "Hey, at least we know she's got a few years before she can return... like Tamara." Joe knew that Nash had a thing for going after damsels in distress. "Amen to that, Bubba. Let's get out of here." Nash and Joe walked off together towards the parking lot. ** Harvey glanced at Rachel a moment, not sure she'd had ever looked so beautiful. Today had been different for them, work was not brought up and they were out as friends and not partners. Harvey didn't know if he could do it, he didn't think he had it in him to ask her out. He still feared she'd reject him, he didn't want to ruin the evening by making a fool out of himself. They sat there quietly in her car in the the SIU parking lot. "I should probably get going." He looked over to his car and turned around, Rachel was facing him to say something and he lost all restraint. Harvey leaned over the console and moved in to kiss her. To his surprise, she didn't pull away but kissed him back. He couldn't believe this was happening. It wasn't a quick kiss, but one that lingered on for a few moments. He moved back, but was still within her reach as she pulled him towards her and returned the kiss. As things got a bit more intense and he ran his hand through her hair and moved in closer to her, she slowly pulled back away from him. "We probably shouldn't be doing this." She couldn't believe what she was doing, she was kissing Harvey. He was her ideal man, but the man she could never have all the same. She sat there a moment, as Harvey sat there silently next to her. Of all the times she wanted to kiss him, she couldn't believe this was happening now and she had just stopped it. Rachel didn't have it in her to look back at him again, without wanting more. "I'm sorry about that. I guess I got a little carried away." He turned towards her, with a pitiful guilty look in his eyes as he struggled to unfasten his seatbelt. "Don't be sorry." She smiled at him, finding him completely irresitible at that very moment. He opened the door and got out of the car, waiting for the right moment to say something more. "Okay, I'm not." He looked at her with a shameful grin and walked towards his own car. "Harvey?" Rachel looked up at him, not completely sure what she was going to say or if she could ever explain what she was feeling. Harvey turned around, a little surprised that she was calling him back. He didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing. "Yes?" "I can't promise you that it won't happen again." Rachel's mischevious grin completley melted Harvey as he stood a few feet away from her car. He smiled as she started her engine and drove off into the sunset. ** |
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