| Undercover Me Episode 19 |
| ** "Hello, Nash." Vincent Cardell looked towards the SIU from his car, "I hear we have some unfinished business to tend to." Vincent had flown in earlier that morning, after hearing about Nash's discovery. "Damn right we do." Nash was disgusted by the sound of his voice. So self-assured and proud. He wanted Cardell locked up for good this time. Cardell had to pay for his crime. "You have nothing on me, you'll never win." Vincent had the perfect plan, Bridges wasn't going to walk away the victor. "Wanna bet?" Nash peered around the outside of the SIU, wondering where Cardell was calling from. "You'll never learn." Vincent laughted wickedly into the phone and hung up, there was no way he'd be outsmarted this time. He may be on Nash's ground, but this was his battle. ** "How's the new house?" Harvey stood before Rachel's desk with her third dose of coffee for the day in hand, hoping they'd have more time to talk than the previous days had allowed. He hadn't been able to see her as much as he'd like to with Jerry around, so a quiet mid-day at the SIU was a welcome opportunity. "Big and lonely." Rachel was happy that Harvey finally got to spend some time alone with Jerry, but she missed Harvey being able to come by at a moment's notice. "You should really do something about that," Harvey smiled, knowing she was refering to him being busy with Jerry lately. They had agreed to keep things low key for now and let Jerry adjust to the idea of them being friends. "Maybe you could join the neighborhood watch program?" ''I'll keep that in mind." Rachel watched as Harvey arranged the newest bouquet of red roses on her desk, "do you think Jerry would mind if you two joined me for dinner tonight?" ''Just as long as it isn't tofu, it's a date." Harvey was slowly getting used to Rachel's vegetarian lifestyle, but somethings still grossed him out. Jerry liked Rachel, and Harvey assumed he wouldn't mind meeting with her for dinner. "Grilled Tilapia with wild rice?" Rachel knew Harvey would probably prefer steak over anything, but fish always came before chicken or pork. "You know how to win me over." Harvey had no idea Rachel could cook until recently. She hid her talent well by becoming the Queen of Take-Out. "I didn't think I had to." Rachel smiled at him mischeviously, completely taunting him. "Don't you look at me like that... I know what you're trying to do...'' Rachel looked at Harvey suggestively, the wait was becoming too much for both of them. Rachel got up from behind her desk and whispered in his ear. ''I guess your just going to have to wait." She loved to tease him, finding his embarassed grin competely irresistable. Harvey looked around to see if anyone else was close by, before he pulled her in for a long kiss. ''Maybe I shouldn't be giving previews before the main event, especially not here. Word gets around, you know.'' Rachel grinned at Harvey shamelessly, ''get back to work.'' He'd normally have no problem doing so, but her hands resting upon on his chest were a big distraction. Harvey smiled, "you're so mean." ** "You said Cardell was interested in you?" Nash's options were few and he didn't know what else he could use. It was already late that afternoon and he wanted to get the ball rolling. "When you met him at the Fairmont?" "He offered to buy me a drink and asked me to meet him later.'' Rachel considered Cardell's offer to be more desperate than interested. "After he took care of some business.'' "Some business alright.'' Nash sighed, it wasn't much information to go on, but hopefully it was enough. "Is that it?" Rachel wasn't sure what Nash had in mind with his questions. ''For now, let me see what I can do.'' It was obvious that it would have to be Rachel for the job. Cassidy didn't have the experience that was needed for such a set-up. The problem would be how. ** "Joe, did the real estate agent call?" Everything was slowly coming together. His plan might work out after all. Nash had spent the past week getting preparing for the undercover showdown. "Yeah, the owners approved everything. I talked to the cops at Sunset and everything's ready with Smith and Wesley." Joe had been answering the phone all afternoon, trying to get everything ready for Rachel to go undercover. "No word yet from Saxon Brokerage and Investments?" They were the only undecided factor. Nash needed to secure Rachel a job there to tend to Cardell's accounts. ''They were a little unsure, but I convinced them it was legit.'' Joe had his doubts about Nash's elaborate plan to catch Cardell. He tried not to seem unsure himself. ''I've decided, I think we'll put Harvey in with Rachel." Harvey was their best option. Antwon lacked experience and Joe and Nash were too obvious. "Undercover?" Joe knew Harvey would jump at the chance to cover such a gig, but personal relations with Rachel might interfere. "I'll take care of the final details, we'll get started tomarrow.'' Nash had some last minute arrangements to make and problems to get throu. This was too important to screw up. ** "What are you doing?'' Rachel watched as Harvey carefully lifted the lid off the garbage can in the kitchen. Dinner was fantastic, as usual. He and Jerry arrived a little late, they had some business to take care of beforehand. They had to get to the store before it closed for the evening. "Checking for take-out boxes. That was unbelievably good." Harvey didn't mean to doubt Rachel's cooking ability, but he had to tease her. "You don't think I can cook?" Rachel stood before him, hands securely placed on her hips. ''I'm insulted." Rachel turned around and pretended to pout. Harvey got up from his crouched position next to the stove and kissed her neck, "there's still a lot about you I don't know." A mischevious grin came across her face when she turned towards Harvey, "and you're just going to have to wait to find out." "There you go, teasing me again." Harvey smiled, having to restrain himself from kissing her again as Jerry entered the kitchen. "Come on, Dad. Let's go get it." Jerry was eager to give Rachel the surprise Harvey had planned. He promised Jerry they'd bring it to her this evening. Rachel looked at Harvey, "what's he talking about?" Harvey turned to Jerry, wide-eyed, letting him know he wasn't ready for that yet. He wanted to wait a while, but since Jerry had said something... now would be the time. "I've got to run home for a minute, do you mind if I leave Jerry here?'' He saw no point in bringing Jerry with him when he'd be back minutes later. "It's no problem, what did you forget?'' Rachel hadn't noticed anything missing during dinner. By this time, Jerry had scampered back into her living room and they were alone in the kitchen. "I'll be right back." He kissed her again and went out the back door. Rachel wondered what he had to pick up at home as she leaned against her counter. ** "Come with me out to the car." Harvey led Rachel by the hand outside towards his PT Cruiser. He bent down and quickly whispered something into Jerry's ear. "What's this about anyways?" Rachel was a little suspicious, looking back to find Jerry waiting on the porch with an ear to ear grin. "Quit being so stubborn," when they got to the bottom of the steps, he pulled a bandana out from his pocket. ''Now you can co-operate and close your eyes or we can use this?" ''Harvey, what are you doing?" Rachel had no idea what he had planned for her as they walked towards his car. "Close those eyes!" Upon reaching the Cruiser, Harvey opened the back. "Take a seat." ''Okay, okay.'' Once Rachel had sat down and Harvey was convinced her eye's were shut, he went to the back seat and opened a up a cage. He retrieved a small yellow labrador puppy wearing a bright red bow around it's neck. "Are you ready?" Harvey placed the dog into Rachel's lap, as he watched the smile grow across her face when the dog started to lick her hand. ''You can open your eyes now." "Harvey, he's beautiful.'' Rachel leaned across the squirming puppy to give Harvey a kiss, completely forgetting Jerry was outside on the porch and would see. "He's here to keep you company, so you're not alone in your big and lonely house.'' Harvey knew Jerry would be around for a few more weeks, and he didn't want Rachel to have to come home to an empty house. ''He's no substitute for you, but..." Harvey managed to steal another kiss before Jerry came towards them. Jerry had picked the dog out himself, assured Rachel would like his choice better than the mutt Harvey picked out. "So, what should we name him?" Rachel handed the small puppy to Jerry. Jerry stood on the lawn while Harvey shut the back end of the Cruiser and they walked back towards the house. "Doc.'' Jerry and Harvey had discussed names in the pet store. Harvey suggested "Doc" not only because the name of the one of the Seven Dwarfs would strike a chord with Jerry but because that's the name he referred to Rachel as for quite a while after her surgical endeavor. "Doc?" Rachel shot a look over to Harvey, knowing he was fully responsible for Jerry's suggestion. Harvey grinned shamelessly towards her. The name fit. "Doc it is.'' ** ''I need you two to go undercover, to get Cardell.'' Nash watched as the expressions on Rachel and Harvey's faces changed. He could assume they were surprised by him offering such a gig. He called them in early that morning so they could get things started. ''How are we going to pull this off?" Rachel didn't mean to doubt Nash or his plan, but the set-up didn't seem realistically feasible. ''Cardell has a thing for women, you said so yourself.'' Nash knew Rachel would be better fit for the role than she gave herself credit for. ''What if there's already someone else?" So what, Cardell had batted an eye at her. Rachel knew she'd stand no competition for the likes of the women he brought home on a regular basis. "There won't be.'' Nash tried to convince himself Rachel could pull this off, with Harvey's help. There was nothing Cardell loved more than having something dangled before him that he couldn't possess. "You're a damsel in distress, Cardell will eat that up.'' ''Fleeing from her marriage no less?" Harvey already had his worries about the plan, sure there were bound to be some faults. ''You two can be convincingly together and also drive eachother mad, that works. This is what we need." Nash worried about what the gig might do to them as a couple, but he believed them both strong enough to endure whatever came their way. ''So who are we anyways?" Harvey could see that no matter how much they questionned the plan, it would be put into action. ''Rachel Ballanco and Andrew Martin, two investment brokers who've been married for twelve and a half years.'' Nash had everything perfectly planned out and configured, their identities would be flawless. "You'll keep your respective ages, being 30 and 47. That's not really important though. Andrew's made some bad decions lately and his advice has him in a hole, Rachel wants to leave him but she doesn't know how." ''So I'm leaving him because he's going under?" Rachel didn't find the excuse plausible, but she knew Nash would have an explanation. ''Because you've been unhappy for quite a while and Andrew is known to have gone astray.'' With each detail, the set-up became more intricate. There was no way their plan could fail. "I think this is everything you'll need.'' Nash handed Harvey and Rachel the stack of legal documents and other paperwork that documented their past together. "Sunset has everything ready. Antwon will be your shadow, Rachel. He'll be doing the surveillance. Home will now be 19265 Belmont. Any questions?" "Yeah, any kids?" Rachel knew kids made situations even messier when it came to working undercover, but Nash had covered everything else. "Kyle, he's 12 and Ryan, he's 8. You'll meet them later on." Nash wanted to use the kids the least bit possible. They were actors by trade, but they were still children. ** "Nash, we have to talk." Rachel still had one problem with the set-up, what Nash intended her to do with Cardell. Rachel had waited all afternoon to see him about this, hoping he'd somehow change his mind. "What's up?" Nash wondered what could be left for her to question, he thought he had covered all the bases. "You want me to sleep with Cardell to get it out of him, don't you? Seduce him so he'll talk?" Nash never actually said this, it was all implied. Rachel assumed he didn't want to say anything about her seducing Cardell with Harvey around. "I never said that." Nash knew he never mentioned her sleeping with him directly, but the situation allowed for that if need be. "I said to do what you have to do." "And what you meant was sleep with him if you have to." Rachel wondered why he would do this to her, why he didn't put someone else on the case. "Is this payback for being with Harvey?" "Rachel, you know I wouldn't do that to you. You're the one who can carry this off, that's why I assigned you to the case.'' Nash could see where she was coming from, but he thought she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't arrange a case to spite her. ''In other words, I'm the only one who'd sleep with him since I'm not married? I'm the easy one." He knew how she felt about Harvey, that's why she couldn't understand him putting her in such a position. Nash had been an exception, normally she didn't do anything like that. "Rachel, I didn't mean it like that. It might not even come to that. Just do what you have to, if you're uncomfortable --- work around it. As long as Cardell talks, everything will work out." And those were his parting words of wisdom. The set-up must go on. ** Harvey stood outside with Rachel next to her car. It was already a late evening and they both knew their days would be full for the next several weeks. Their time together was limited. He wanted to get in one last uninterrupted dinner with her and Jerry. "I should probably get going." Rachel didn't want to leave, knowing she'd hardly see him for quite a while. It wouldn't be easy to seperate business from pleasure, especially now. "This will undoubtedly be hard.'' Harvey knew Rachel had to do whatever it was going to take in order to solve the case. He didn't want her to leave either, but he knew things were already complicated. "I really don't want to do this, Harvey. Not to you, not to us." Rachel didn't know if there was any way around it, she had to get to Cardell somehow. "I know, Rachel. The case will be over soon enough and we'll have all the time in the world." Harvey wanted to pick things up were they were leaving off as soon as the case was over, he didn't want Rachel to get away again. "Believe me, Harvey, if I can avoid it, I will." Harvey was the only one on Rachel's mind anymore, he was all that seemed to matter. ''I know. No one said our relationship would be easy.'' He knew there were no promises or guarantees as far as their relationship was concerned. It was volatile, just like their day to day lives. "But it's worth every try.'' Harvey kissed her and held her for a few moments, not wanting to let her go. "Just remember, I'll be here when you're done.'' They had come a long way over the past few weeks and Rachel wasn't about to let work come between them now. ** Vincent walked into the office, recognizing the woman behind the desk from somewhere. He sat town in the leather chair before her, trying to figure out where he knew her from. "I normally wouldn't forget such a beautiful face, but I feel that I know you from somewhere." Rachel looked up from the account files she was perusing, highlighting all pertinent information as she went along. "I've handled your accounts for a while." "I usually have someone else come here for me. I know I've seen you before..." Vincent was puzzled by her identity. "I think it was while I was in town, about five months ago, to visit my mother." "I go out on many business dinners, it's completely possible." Rachel tried to divert the subject for a moment, enough to buy her some time to come up with more clever responses. "Anyways, I've come into large amounts of cash, through inheritance, over the past few months. What do you suppose I could do with such funds?" Vincent felt much better about having come to the office himself today, since she'd be taking care of his accounts... and hopefully him as well. Rachel could feel Vincent's eyes heavily focused upon her. He looked at the picture on her desk and spotted the wedding band on her finger. 'I'll analyze your accounts and survey the current market, I can have something for you by tomarrow morning.'' "I've got it. I saw you at the Fairmont. You were wearing a black suit with a blue and gray blouse, your hair was down.You drank tonic with a lime." The mental image was captured again in his mind, he wasn't about to let her get away again. Married or not, he wanted his chance. "Impressive." Rachel was disturbed that someone such as Vincent could remember the moment so well. The only reason she remembered him was because she was disgusted by his choice of pick-up lines. "I asked you to meet me, you never came back." Vincent remembered asking Rachel to come to his room later on, but recalled she never came. "You weren't there when I arrived." Rachel never actually came back, but needed to say she did to further their conversation. "Let's not make that mistake again." Vincent checked his watch and considered his plans for the evening, "meet me for dinner at 7:30. Don't be late." ** "So?" Nash looked at Rachel inquisitively as she came up the stairs later that afternoon. "I'm meeting him for dinner at the Fairmont.'' It wasn't much information, but it was a start. "Did you tell Antwon?" Antwon had to know about her every move, to be assured of her safety and what was going on. "He'll be there. What about Andrew?" It was hard for her to think of Harvey as someone else, and not the man she was falling in love with. "He won't be around tonight, but he'll show up." Nash had the entire sequence of events planned out in his head. He had to wait for Cardell's interest to rise before bringing Andrew into the picture. ''Did you grab the account files?" Those would be essential in bringing Cardell down for the financial fraud area of his crimes. "Here you go. This is all I could find, for now." Rachel handed him the files, his eyes instantly met the highlighted areas. "Good work, keep it up like this and everything will end before you know it." Nash was pleased with her early results. He hoped this was the beginning of Cardell's end. ** "You're worried about her, aren't you?" Joe watched as Harvey paced around the SIU. ''Rachel?" He knew that's who he was talking about, but he didn't want to demonstrate so much concern. "Who else?" Joe knew things were becoming more serious for the two, and this had definitely put a halt to their romance. "She's a good cop, she knows what she's doing." Harvey knew her ability to focus on the work wasn't the problem, it was Cardell that worried him. "But you're afraid of Cardell." It was obvious Harvey was concerned over what Cardell could do. Joe would be as well if it was Inger in the same position. ''I don't want to lose her, Joe.'' He was finally getting his chance with Rachel, the case couldn't have come at a worse time. ''To her job or to him?" Joe had to ask. ** "You light up the room with your smile." Vincent was all too receptive to the light kiss Rachel gave him on the cheek before she sat down next to him at the bar. Rachel could feel her spine tingling as he ran his hand across her back, ''bartender, another vodka on the rocks and a tonic with lime for the lady." He waited as the bartender placed the drinks before them. "Does your husband know your here?" "How did you know?" Rachel didn't think she had mentioned Andrew to Vincent earlier, but a lot had been said. "You were evasive when I asked before, the ring gave it away.'' Vincent glanced down at Rachel's hand, noting the ring. Impressive yes, but she deserved better. "Does it bother you?'' Rachel knew she was at Cardell's mercy, if he wanted her to take the ring off, she had to. "Not particularly. What does it mean to you?" Rachel didn't appear to be the frivalous type, but he had to know for sure. He watched as Rachel slipped the ring off and slid it into her purse, "not a thing." Vincent smiled at her, pleased to see she was more receptive to his advances now than on their previous encounter. He pulled her in for a long, investigative kiss. ** Rachel broke Vincent's embrace and sat up on the bed. Dinner had gone reasonably well and she hoped he was at least one step closer to talking. Maybe the make-out session helped, maybe not. "What's wrong?" Vincent looked up at her curiously, he thought this was what she wanted. ''I do what I can to keep my clients happy, but I won't go all the way on the first date." Vincent ran his fingers through her hair, trying to distract her and persuade her to rethink his offer. "What about the second?" Vincent wasn't about to be turned down by Rachel, she would be his. His breath was heavy on her bare shoulders, and the scent of alcohol permeated from his skin. "That's for me to know and you to find out." Rachel got off the bed and started to rebutton her shirt. Vincent got up to walk her towards the door. "You like to keep me in suspense.'' Vincent backed her against the wall and kissed her hard, he was intent on getting her to stay. "I don't know if I can handle the wait." ** |
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