| Heroes And Angels Part 4 |
| Rachel drove quietly in the car while Harvey gave her direction after direction. She was actually quite patient considering they had been driving for almost an hour, and he had yet to tell her where they were going. Finally she broke down. "Ok Harv. I am not driving any more until you tell me where we are going." she said as she slowed the car at the stop light." "Oh come on McCabe. We’re almost there." "Where Harvey?!?!...I’ve been driving around for about an hour now, and I haven’t a clue as to where here actually is!!!" The light changed to green and Rachel stayed in place as the cars behind her began to honk and pass her. "Rach, would you just drive!" "Not until you tell me where we are going." "All right, I’ll tell you just drive before someone tries to throw something at my car." "Nope tell me now, or we don’t move at all." "Man you are a pill." "Me!! You’re the one-" "You do realize that if you don’t shut up now, I won’t be able to tell you where we are going?" "Fine. Go ahead." "I know where Berkett is, and if my guess is right, Chamber’s won’t go to him. He’ll go somewhere else, anywhere else if he can." "Why?" "About a month ago Antwon and I picked Berkett up for a minor possession charge, and since that would have been breaking his parole, we cut him a deal. He rolled on his supplier, and we let him go." "ok. Nice story, but how does that lead to Chambers not going to him?" "Simple. I know Antwon, and if he is covering his tracks well enough, he’s already told Chambers to use a different dealer. The only other place Chambers can go to get the quality he wants is a few blocks from here." "Since when is Narcotics your area of expertise." "It’s not, but I know what I am saying. Trust me on this Rachel." She turned to key and began to drive past the light. He guided her the few more blocks, and then he got out of the car to check the area. * * * Standing on the barge looking at out the water, Nash dropped a pebble at his reflection staring back at him. He was worried about Joe, but he was also worried about his daughter and Harvey. It was still embedded in the back of his mind that Harvey had slept with little girl, and he wasn’t sure what to think. He also knew that they both felt guilty about Joe, and he didn’t know how to help them. It was driving him insane that they still had no leads and Chambers and Antwon were still no where to be found. His frustration was mounting as was his anger over feeling so helpless. With all the thoughts swimming around in his head he didn’t even notice Ronnie step up behind him. "Hey boss, McCabe is on phone...Boss?" Ronnie waited a moment before tapping him on the shoulder, at which Nash nearly jumped out of his skin. "Sorry boss, but you got a phone call. It’s McCabe. She and Leek are on the other side of town following a lead on Chambers." Quickly Nash came back inside and picked up the phone. "What the heck are you two doing? I thought you were at the peer." "Well Nash we were, but that was dead end. Now we are checking out one of Harvey’s leads." "Do you need any backup?" "Not yet, but we’ll let you know." "All right. Well keep in touch." "By the way, how is Joe?" Nash sighed and Rachel could tell it wasn’t good news. "He made it through surgery, but he’s in a coma now. Doctors say all we can do is wait." "At least he is still alive. He’ll pull through I am sure of it. He’s tough." He smiled at the thought, but his worries were in no way relieved. "Well, I just wanted to check. I’ll call if we need anything." "Ok, you and Harv be careful." With that he hung up the phone and called Ronnie. * * * Sitting on the worn-out couch, in the small apartment, Antwon cringed as the balding man before him blew a smoke ring in his face. He felt like reaching out and strangling him at that moment, but he wanted to get paid more that he wanted to see the little man begging for mercy. "So when do I get my money?" he asked as Chambers continued playing with his cigar. "Why? You’re not in a hurry are you?" Chambers responded "Don’t worry Twon. You’ll get your money as soon as I know that I have no more issues with the SIU." Antwon was getting furious at this point and it was beginning to show. "Why are you messing with me? I did what you asked me to, and now I want my money!" "If I give you the money now, what are you going to do with it? You need to get out of this town, but you can’t even get to harbor bridge without someone spotting you. You know your lovable friends at the SIU have already got a warrant out for your arrest. I could easily give you what you want, but the fact of the matter is you need me right now. So just sit tight. I am not going to cheat you. You’ll get paid and if you play your cards right, you might even get a bonus." Antwon hated to admit it, but the man was right. He had no chance of getting out of town at the moment. Harvey and the others would easily pick him up if he made any kind of move. He eyed the little man before him and then quietly glanced around the room. "So what is your plan?" "Don’t worry about that now. Right now we are going to sit tight and wait." "Wait for what?" "I have everything under control. Soon the SIU will no longer be a problem for me." Chambers began to laugh, and this disturbed Antwon a bit. He wasn’t sure what his plan was, but he knew it couldn’t be good. * * * Rachel had past the point of impatience with Harvey, when the sun went down that evening. She was tired and hungry and in no mood to wait for Chamber’s to show up. In truth she was even beginning to doubt whether he would show up at all. They had been there for most of the day with nothing, and now she was ready to leave. She could understand Harvey’s desire to find Chambers as well as Antwon, but she had already pulled a double and was falling asleep in the car. "Look Harv, maybe we should call it a day and head back." Her eyes pleaded with him to go, and seeing the exhaustion in her face he handed her the keys. With a tired smile she was about to start the car when Harvey grabbed her arm and pointed out the window. Across the street she could see the figure of one of Chamber’s men walking into the building. Well so much for rest she thought to herself. Picking up the phone she called Nash, as Harvey went to get a closer look. "Nash" said the voice on the other end of the line "It’s Rachel. Harvey and I are still here. We just saw one of Chamber’s men go in the building." "Well, don’t do anything until backup gets there." "I’ll try but Harvey is itching to get in there." Nash sighed "I know how he feels. Do whatever you have to, but keep him out of there." "Will do." She hung up the phone and followed after Harvey. He was almost inside when Rachel came up behind him. "Harvey, backup is on the way. We should wait with the car." "No way McCabe. I’m not letting him get past me this time." She had never seen that look in his eyes before, and she was a little afraid. His intensity was overwhelming. Rachel knew it was going to take a lot for her pull Harvey back, but for her sake and everyone else’s she had to. They got a little closer before Rachel began pulling at Harvey to get back to the car. She finally convinced him to come along, and they were backing away from the building when she felt herself stop moving. Turning around she realized she had walked straight into a rather large tattooed bald man, who was staring down at them in a most unfriendly manner. They both stared at each other for a moment, before attempting to run. Their attempt failed miserably, as they were stopped by another large man as they headed away from the first. * * * Nash had sent the backup ahead of him, so that he could make a quick stop. As he walked into the hospital room, he fought back tears as he saw his friend lying helpless in the bed. Inger was resting her head near his hand, and she slowly woke as he tried to shut the door. "I didn’t mean to wake you. I am sorry." "Don’t worry about that. Come have a seat." She motioned for him to pull up a nearby chair. "I can’t stay long. We got a lead on the case. I just wanted to check on things and see if you needed anything." "You and Cassidy are so much alike. You both care so much, and try to be so strong. I admire you both for that." He gently took her hand squeezed it softly. There were no words for what he felt at that moment, no way he could tell her the guilt he felt. "Just you being here is good enough, but you go now. Do your job and then come back. He’ll be awake soon. I am sure of it." Nash was stunned at the overwhelming faith that Inger had. In a way he wished he had it too, but even faith couldn’t erase the guilt he felt. He stared at Joe for a moment and then at the monitors surrounding him, and tear rolled down his cheek. He was going to make this right no matter what it cost him. After whispering a prayer, he hugged Inger and headed out again. * * * As they were being led down the long corridor, Harvey couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew exactly where he was. They had been blind folded and driven here, but something about the feel of the hallway seemed familiar. He tried to slow down and get a closer look at things around him, but he felt a sharp pain in his back as the man behind him stuck him and told him to keep moving. The further they walked the narrower it got, and he was getting a bit more nervous with each step. His breaths were increasingly more shallow and labored, and Rachel noticed this. "Easy Harv. It’s getting a bit tight, but it’ll be fine." "Yeah...I keep telling myself that." he said taking in as deep a breath as he felt he could "Quiet you two!" the tattooed man yelled as he again struck Harvey in the back. Finally after several more minutes they reached the end of the corridor and stepped into a large room. There were newspapers all over the floor, and the smell of cigarette smoke permeated the entire area. Music was coming from a boom box across the room, and a poker was being played on the other. The tattooed man led them to the door on the right, and knocked them out before he threw them inside. * * * Cassidy had arrived at the SIU to find everyone was out working on the Chamber’s case, so she went ahead and sat down to do a bit of paperwork. The last few days had not seemed real to her. Everything was upside down at the moment and she had no idea how to fix it. As she typed away at her keyboard, she began to think about Joe and Inger, and she fought to hold back her tears. Looking up at the monitor she knew she wouldn’t be able to work, so she decided to find out was going on with Harvey and Rachel. When Nash got to the scene, he was as perplexed as everyone else to see no sign of Harvey and Rachel save for their car. The building had been swept, but there was no sign of either of them. "They didn’t just disappear!" Nash shouted and uniformed officer before him "Inspector Bridges I know that, but we’ve looked everywhere. Other than the car, there is no evidence that they were here." "Well bubba you better look again-" He stopped mid-sentence when his phone rang. "Nash!" "Bridges, how nice to hear your voice again. How is everything? Did Mr. Dominguez make it out of surgery ok." Recognizing Chambers voice, Nash began to grit his teeth. "I’d say it was nice to hear your voice Chambers. but it really isn’t." "Oh is that anyway to talk to law abiding citizen like myself." "What the hell are you up to?" "To get right to the point, I have something of yours and you have something of mine. I’d like to make a trade. I’ll even give you one of your officers now as a gesture of good faith." "I am listening. What is it that you want?" "Just my freedom...No more no less. I’ll give you some time to think it over. If the answer is yes, meet me at peer 12 in one hour. If the answer is no, then in an hour you’ll have two dead cops." Nash slapped his phone shut and cursed under his breath. * * * Harvey was frightened when he awoke in total darkness. Breathing heavily he fumbled around trying to find a exit, or at least another person. He called out for Rachel, but there was no response. He heard a bit of laughter coming from somewhere, but he couldn’t tell exactly where. Getting frantic he tried moving around a bit, but tripped over a large object on the floor and hit his head on the wall as he tumbled down. The pain in his head now matched the pain in his back, and he laid there unsure of what to do next. His hands started to shake as he curled himself up in a ball and rocked back and forth on the floor. For over an hour he lay there shaking and in pain, until he heard a click behind him. Slowly he sat up and turned around. The tattooed man had opened the door just long enough to put a plate of food on the floor by the door, and then he quickly closed it. Harvey tried to get to the door, but was unsuccessful. He felt around the plate trying to figure out what was on it, but it was hard to tell. Scooping it up he ate what he could and then tossed the plate against the door. His hands still had not stopped shaking, and he felt like he was being squeezed to death. He could hardly breath, and began to bang on the door and yell. The laughter on the other side grew as he continued to pound the door. Finally the tattooed man returned and opened the door. A slumped over Harvey toppled out of the door, and his face hit the cold floor. Turning him over the man saw that Harvey was looking rather sick and picked him up and carried him to a different room. Barely conscious he could feel warm hands touching his chest, and a slight prick in his left arm, but as he tried to look up his eyes closed. * * * Rachel’s arms were tied behind her back and she could feel the weight surrounding her back and chest as she began to awaken. Looking down she saw the wiring of bomb around her and froze. "Nice of you to join us Inspector McCabe. I apologize for the inconvenience" he said pointing to the bomb. "It couldn’t be helped. I believe you already know my friend here." He pointed to the dark figure in the corner. Slowly she saw the frame of Antwon emerging from the shadow, and she gave a look of pure hatred. "Has anyone ever told you you’re really hot when you’re angry?" He said with cocky smile on his face. She spit at him and turned her head away. Angrily Antwon came towards her and struck her hard across the face. "Easy now Twon. We don’t want to send her back to Bridges damaged now do we?" She licked the blood off her lip and continued to eye Antwon angrily. Walking over to a table across the room, Antwon picked up a cloth and some ice and brought it back for Rachel’s face. He held it against her face until the ice began to melt and drip down her neck. Chambers seem to be eyeing her with great intrigue. "So what are you planning to do with me?" she asked "Well, that all depends on your Captain Bridges." Chambers responded "He has a choice, either give me my freedom, or I kill you and Inspector Leek. I think he’ll choose wisely." "What is this for then?" she said looking down at the bomb strapped to her. "I want to make sure that Bridges knows I mean business. I’ll hand you over to him, but he won’t be able to do anything with you until I know my men and I are safe." a devilish grin came over his face and Rachel turned away in disgust. "How could you betray us like this Twon? We were like family? How could you?" she stared into his eyes trying to find some sort of remorse for his actions, but could find none. He stared at her, but gave no response. His eyes were cold and hollow, and there seemed to be no trace on the man she thought she knew. Chambers glanced at the clock and then picked up the phone. "Is he there yet?" he asked and smiled as the he received his answer. Motioning to Antwon he hung up the phone. "Tell Frank to take her to the peer, and leave her there." "What about Leek?" he inquired "We’ll deal with him later. Right now, just get her to the peer." Antwon nodded as he pulled her up and took her out the door. She began to shout and struggle, as he dragged her along. * * * |
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