WPCTS6

Rachel sat back on the couch as she watched Jerry playing with his toys in the floor. She was exhausted after only a couple of hours with the young boy. He had been a little shy with her when Harvey first brought him home, but he warmed up quickly when his daddy had to go back to work. She had read nearly a dozen stories to him, gone through the contents of his toy box twice and played a noisy game of tag in the back yard where she ended up getting attacked by King. The Great Dane had flattened her the same way he had tackled Harvey. She was just grateful that Harvey hadn’t been there to witness her smothered by the huge dog.

Her side was throbbing now and her ribs ached when she took a breath. She was definitely going to pay for that play date when she got home. At the moment, she was cursing herself for the cavalier impulse that had convinced her to leave her pain pills behind.

At the sound of a key in the lock, Jerry’s head whipped around to look toward the front door. His toys were immediately abandoned and he took off running in his stocking feet, sliding rather than jumping into his father’s arms. “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!”

“Hey little buddy!” Harvey laughed as he hoisted his son into his arms. The files that he had been carrying dropped to the floor without a second thought as he gave Jerry a toss in the air. “How’s my Booboo?”

“I’ll get them!” Jerry said enthusiastically as he looked down at the scattered files. He straightened his little body so that Harvey was forced to put him back down.

“Ooo, not good Yogi,” Rachel said as she walked into the foyer shaking her head at the nickname.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too, but I’m running out of ideas for nicknames,” Harvey returned.

“Didn’t Jerry Garcia have some sort of nickname back in the 60s?” she asked and Harvey shook his head slightly in confusion. “It was Captain something wasn’t it?”

He laughed when he realized what she was referring to. “Captain Trips?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

He leaned a little closer to her so that he could lower his voice. “He got that name because he use to toss LSD tabs into the crowd before a concert when it was still legal. I don’t think that Anna would appreciate that kind of comparison.”

“Oh!” was all that Rachel could say, then she laughed. “Probably not,” she admitted, then smiled wickedly. “You could always call him Cappy.”

He drew back in surprise. “I can see your sense of humor is coming back,” he teased, then eyed her a little closer. “You look like you’re worn out.”

“If someone could harness the energy in a child, it would solve the energy crisis,” she returned. “Nothing kept his attention for more than two minutes.”

He looked passed her to see the contents of the toy box scattered around the entire living room. “I can see that,” he said, then looked back at his son. “Are you hungry little dude?”

“We had mac dog!” Jerry yelled in response as he unceremoniously dumped the files onto a nearby table.

“I took that to mean he wanted macaroni and cheese with hotdogs,” Rachel informed him. “He tore it up, but there’s still a little left on the stove if you’re hungry.”

“No, I’m good, but you guessed right,” Harvey returned. “He’d have it every day if he could, but Anna insists that he has nothing but healthy foods.”

Rachel smiled slowly. “So is that why you have an entire shelf stuffed with nothing but macaroni and cheese boxes and about a dozen packages of hotdogs in your freezer?”

“Exactly,” he said, then laughed. He wrapped his arm around Rachel’s shoulders as they followed Jerry back into the living room where he became oblivious to the adults as he rummaged through his toys once more.

“You’ve got one heck of a mess to clean up,” Rachel warned him. “We totally trashed the back yard.”

“Looks like you did pretty good trashing the living room too,” he commented, then smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it. This is normal when Jerry is here just for the night. I think he feels like he has to get in all the play time he can before Mom picks him up. When I’ve got him for the weekend, he’s a little more mellow.”

“So how’s the case going?” she asked expectantly. “Have you gotten any leads on Nessmith yet?”

He sighed as he thought about it. “I’m not sure yet. I think his accounting records need a closer look. He had to shell out some major bucks to pull off this scam and that’s not going to be easy to hide.”

“The wife might be a good source if you can get her away from Victor,” she returned. “He was reading her the riot act when they were leaving the SIU. She looked over in my direction and I’m almost certain that she’s wanting to talk which is probably why Victor was all over her.”

“A wife against a husband?” He tipped his head in doubt.

“I know we can’t convict with that, but she might be willing to point us in the right direction.”

“Anything is worth a shot,” Harvey returned. He chuckled when he saw Jerry tossing toys over his shoulder. He knew that his son was looking for something specific and he wouldn’t stop until he found it.

Rachel smiled as she watched Jerry. Even though she was incredibly sore, she had enjoyed her time with Harvey’s son. “Jerry really is a good kid. Must come from his father.”

He looked down at her quickly. “Was that a compliment or a catty comment?” he asked.

She slowly wrapped her arms around his waist as she turned toward him. “It was intended as a compliment,” she returned.

His smile grew as he pulled a tiny leaf from her hair. “You look good in green.” Harvey leaned in to give her gentle kiss, but he discovered that wasn’t enough for either of them. His fingers were buried in her soft, dark hair as he took full possession of her mouth. It amazed him how quickly the intensity of emotions swept over him. Just one brush of her lips against his was enough to send his blood pressure skyrocketing.

Their kiss abruptly ended when they both felt something against their legs and feet. When they looked down, they saw that Jerry had wedged himself between them and was looking up expectantly. They both laughed at the innocent expression in the young boy’s face.

* * *

Antwon walked up to Joe’s desk with purpose. He knew that Nash wanted the entire team working on the Nessmith case, but this was something that he just couldn’t pass up. “We just got a phone call from the morgue,” Antwon said when Joe looked up at him. “That dead body that they fished out of the bay today was the owner of a security company.”

Joe was quick to follow the inspector’s train of thought. “And you think that there may be a connection with the floater and the Blackout Burglaries?”

“His company did the security for three of the homes hit,” Antwon returned.

Joe nodded. That was enough of a connection for him. “Okay. Go ahead and look into it.” He glanced around the squad room quickly to suggest a partner for him, but nearly everyone was gone for the night. “Just be careful. We can’t afford to lose another inspector even for a day.”

“What about the Nessmith case?” he asked, tempting fate.

“Rachel and Harv have that covered for now. That’s going to be a matter of finding the paper trail.”

“It looks like Victor did a good job covering his tracks.”

Joe gave his head a slight shake. “But he’s not the only one who knows what really happened and that’s where we are going to find the weak link,” he said with certainty. “You’ve got to have help if you want to hide the kind of money needed to steal a vital organ. I’m betting that there are several people in the know. We just need to find out who.”

* * *

“All right, little dude,” Harvey said as he finished combing Jerry’s hair, then gave him a swat on the behind. “Time for bed.”

Jerry took off running in his bare feet and launched himself into his bed where he battled away an array of stuffed animals to get to his pillows. Harvey watched his son from the hallway, chuckling at the bedtime ritual as Rachel stepped up next to him.

“Jerry’s got one heck of an imagination,” Rachel whispered when the boy acted like his stuffed dinosaur was attacking him before finally throwing the toy off the bed in victory.

“Yeah, he’s great, isn’t he?” he asked, but didn’t expect an answer as he shot her a glance. He did a double take when he realized that she had her jacket on. “Don’t tell me you’re leaving already?” he asked rather than stated.

She shrugged as she looked up at him. “I thought that I would put in a little time on the Nessmith case before turning in. That list of names you gave me is pretty long. I’m curious to see how many I can enter in my search program before it slows down.”

“Let me get Jerry an....” he started to offer her a lift home, but she interrupted.

“You don’t need to do that,” Rachel said as she grabbed his arm to stop him. “I’ve already called a cab.” She slipped her hand into the pockets of her jeans. “I can’t wait until I can drive myself again. It’s amazing how something that I took for granted can have such a profound effect on my sense of independence.”

Harvey looked at her curiously. “Alright,” he said hesitantly. Something had changed in her expression since he had put Jerry in the bathtub. She had been rolling with laughter when he was chasing his son around the house. Every time Jerry squealed at nearly being caught, Rachel would laugh even louder. Harvey couldn’t stop himself from laughing at the stiff-legged way his son would run with his arms flailing about his head. Every time Harvey would touch him in pursuit, Jerry would squeal, then laugh until he nearly fell down. “Is everything okay Rach?” he asked in concern. “You seem, I don’t know, out of it.”

“Just tired, I guess,” she returned and gave him a practiced smile. How could she tell him that she was feeling uncomfortable all of the sudden? That spending time with Jerry only emphasized what she had missed with Samuel?

“Daddy!” Jerry called in a sing-song voice after he had crawled under the covers, stuffed animals thoroughly defeated and on the floor with the exception of a floppy puppy. “Story time!” he continued. “I want Woody!”

Harvey smiled as he peered through the door once more. Jerry was oblivious to the fact that the grownups were just outside his door as he played with the stuffed animal. Harvey looked back at Rachel, then reached out to take her hand. “Are you sure that everything is okay?”

She gently pulled him closer as she slipped her free hand behind his neck. “Positive,” she assured him, then gave him a light kiss which intensified almost immediately.

He was just wrapping his arms around her when Jerry called out again. “Woody! Woody! Woody!” Harvey smiled again as he looked down at Rachel. “I’ll pick you up in the morning after I drop Jerry off at Anna’s,” he whispered to her.

“Sounds great,” she returned and received another tender kiss. She pulled Jerry’s bedroom door most of the way closed after Harvey joined his son on the bed.

“I want to hear about Woody,” Jerry demanded.

“All right,” Harvey returned. “Once upon a time, in a magical place called Woodstock....”

* * *

Rachel took two steps into her apartment, then froze. Something didn’t feel right. Her eyes darted around the dark rooms. There was little that she could see, but something had rattled her senses. Her hand inched slowly behind her back as she let the door swing closed, then she flipped on the light.

Her heart flipped in her chest when she saw a huge doll house sitting on the living room floor. It stood nearly five feet tall and was an old Victorian style with a huge red bow wrapped around it. She stood in awe of it for several moments, then walked over to it to retrieve the card dangling from a ribbon.

“This is just for starters. Let me know when you want the real thing. Samuel.”

Rachel pressed the card against her breast as she looked back at the house. It was so beautiful and she was so touched that she could feel the tears prickling her eyes. As she ran her hand over the roof, she discovered a latch that opened up the front of the building to expose the elaborately decorated rooms. When she saw the dolls, a family of three, Mom, Dad and baby, the tears flowed.

She hadn’t been able to admit it to herself at the time, but that was how she felt as she watched Harvey playing with Jerry, like they were a family. The guilt weighed heavily on her that she hadn’t been there for her own child. It didn’t matter that she had been told he had died or that Hyun had managed to keep their whereabouts secret for eighteen years. She felt like she had failed in the parent department nonetheless.

She picked up the family of dolls and her heart broke as she dropped to her knees and wept. She ached to hold her own baby in her arms, but she knew that was impossible. Her baby was already a man and the best that she could hope for with him was a friendship. His thoughtful gift meant more to her than she could possibly say.

* * *

“So what happened with you and Tory last night?” Joe asked as he walked up the gangway to the SIU with Nash.

Nash shot him a quick glance, then his smile spilled over into a chuckle. “Let’s just say that Tory and I are on speaking terms again.”

“Uh huh.” Joe was quick to read the Cheshire cat grin. “Are you trying to tell me that it was a late night last night.”

“No, actually, I got to bed rather early last night,” he managed with a semi-straight face.

“That’s what I thought,” Joe returned, his own smile growing when Nash chuckled again. “You must really like this lady because you’re really putting it out there.” Joe grew more serious as he tossed a wave to one of the uniformed officers just getting out of his car.

“What are you talking about?” Nash returned, wishing he could withdraw the question a moment later.

“You and Tory,” Joe clarified. “It’s a no-win situation with her, bubba, and you know it.”

He shot Joe another look. “What’s got you so testy this morning?” he countered. “Is Inger still shooting down the idea of a nanny?”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“Yes I am,” Nash confirmed. “I know what the pitfalls are where Tory is concerned.”

“And what? You’re going to risk your career, your life for this woman?”

He waved off the question with a toss of his hand. “You’re exaggerating, bubba.”

“Do you really want to be in the line of fire when Craig finds out that Truitt scammed him?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Nash returned as he held open the door of the SIU for his partner to enter. “I plan on being there to stop Craig before he does something stupid. Not that the air wouldn’t smell a whole lot better without Oggie and Tootie around, but I made Tory a promise and I intend on keeping it. Morning Ronnie.” Nash gave the burley officer a pat on the shoulder as they passed him.

“Morning boss. Joe,” Ronnie greeted them.

Harvey hadn’t even had the chance to take off his jacket when Nash and Joe approached his desk. He was just loading the disk for the Nessmith case.

“Have you been able to track down anything yet?” Nash asked without preamble.

“Morning boss,” he returned, then gestured to his computer screen. “I was up half the night following leads that ran nowhere. I’m no accountant, Nash, but if this guy has buried the finances somewhere, I can’t find it. Rachel was running a trace on all of the names I came across and she came up empty too.”

“Where is Rachel?” Nash asked as he glanced over to her desk to see it unoccupied.

“She’s topside getting some coffee,” Harvey returned.

Nash thought for a long moment. “Why don’t you pay a visit to Caroline Nessmith this morning and take Rachel with you.”

Harvey’s brows drew together. He couldn’t believe that Nash would put Rachel on active duty so soon after she had gotten out of the hospital. “Boss?”

“I’ve got a feeling that Caroline wants to talk. She seemed pretty intimidated by her husband and his attorney yesterday so it may just need a woman’s touch,” he explained. “Make sure that Victor is out of the house before you go in. She’ll never talk with him around. If you think there’s anything wonky going on, don’t hesitate to get Rachel out of there. She’s along for the ride. Nothing more.”

“Got it.”

* * *

Harvey watched his side view mirror as he pulled the PT Cruiser over to the curb. He was certain that he had seen a black or dark green vehicle following behind, but there were no streets turning off leading up to the house. As he stepped out of his car, he had a clear view of the street which was devoid of any traffic. “Get a grip, Harv,” he told himself, then followed Rachel up a long flight of stairs to the massive oak doors.

“Mark my words, Leek,” Rachel assured him.

“There’s no way that Nash is going to let you off that desk to make an arrest,” he continued to argue. “You’re dreaming.”

“We’ll see.”

“Inspectors Leek and McCabe here to see Mrs. Caroline Nessmith,” Harvey told the frail looking woman in a maid’s uniform as she opened the front door of the Nessmith mansion.

“I’m afraid that Mrs. Nessmith isn’t...” she began, but was interrupted.

“Let them in, Nattily,” Caroline insisted as she stepped out into the hallway to see who was at the door.

Caroline disappeared into the study after Rachel and Harvey entered the house to see her further down the hall. Rachel shot Harvey a glance, then they followed. “Mrs. Nessmith,” Rachel said tentatively as she stood at the door of the study with her partner. “Would you mind if we asked you a few questions?”

“You’ve saved me a phone call, Inspector...McCabe is it?” Caroline returned as she poured herself a drink from the well stocked wet bar in the corner of the room. Caroline caught her nod, then followed the direction of her gaze to the glass in her hand. “Nasty stuff,” she declared, then took a long swallow. “Please, have a seat.”

When Caroline took a seat on the antique sofa, Rachel sat on the opposite end while Harvey remained standing behind her. “Mrs. Nessmith,” Harvey began. “We need to ask you about what happened yesterday.”

“I know,” she returned, unable to raise her eyes to meet theirs. “Victor told me that it came from a cousin,” she said, then shook her head. “I don’t know why I believed him. Our entire family had been tested the moment we found out that Cindy would need a transplant.” Her eyes closed tight and several tears escaped. “I guess I just wanted to believe it,” she admitted on a sigh as she flicked away the tears with a finger, trying to shore up her courage. She straightened her shoulders, then pasted on a quivering smile. “It didn’t take me long to put two and two together when Captain Bridges started to question Victor yesterday. I knew that he would never admit to it, even to me. So when he left for work this morning, I found the proof for myself.” She reached over to the coffee table and picked up two black leather books, then handed them to Rachel.

“What are these?” Rachel asked as she kept one and handed the other to Harvey.

“My husband’s accounting records.”

Harvey and Rachel exchanged a shocked expression, then Harvey looked to Caroline once more. “Do you realize what you’ve just given us?” he asked cautiously. It was obvious that she was under the influence of alcohol, but he didn’t want to walk away from a gift wrapped package.

“I gave you what you need to convict my husband,” she answered succinctly. Her chin trembled as she forced herself to maintain the tears. “I never would have believed that he was capable of doing something so...” She shook her head when she couldn’t think of an appropriate word to describe the situation.

“Mrs. Nessmith, where is your husband now?” Harvey asked softly.

Caroline thought for a long moment and, just when they thought she had forgotten the question, she answered. “At his office on Beach.” She looked up at Harvey for the first time as tears streaked down her cheeks once more even though she smiled. “He’ll be there all day.”

“Do you have someone you can stay with for a few days?” Rachel asked. She wasn’t only concerned for the possibility of Victor returning home after getting bail, but that Caroline was drinking quite heavily.

She nodded. “My mother lives across the bay.”

“Just let us know where you’re staying so that we can get in contact with you,” Harvey said, then stepped over to take Caroline’s hand. “Thank you for your help, Mrs. Nessmith.”

* * *

“You were right. You’re always right,” Harvey repeated, then looked down at Rachel who was grinning from ear to ear. “Are you happy now?”

“Ecstatic,” she returned.

Nash glanced up at the sound of Rachel and Harvey walking into the SIU. “Did you get anywhere?” Nash asked hopefully as he signed off on the report that Antwon gave him about the dead security company owner. He handed it back to Antwon as the other two joined them.

“Nothing much,” Harvey returned. “Just Victor Nessmith’s private accounting books,” he said as he held up the two ledgers.

“You’re kidding?” Antwon asked in shock.

“Yes!” Nash said with enthusiasm. “I love it when we get an easy one.”

“Caroline seemed pretty torn up about everything, in more ways than one,” Rachel added, sobering with the report. “From the looks of the nearly empty crystal decanter, I’d say she had been at it for awhile.”

“It’s not every day that you find out that your husband is the resident ghoul,” Harvey said in her defense. “I’ve already called in for a warrant. It’s on the way.”

“So what’s going to happen to the girl now?” Antwon asked.

Nash glanced through one of the ledgers. “That’s not up to us, bubba,” he returned. “That will have to go before the medical boards. If she’s lucky, she’ll retain her place on the recipient’s list.”

“And if she’s not?” Antwon’s question hung in the air for a long moment.

Nash nodded toward Harvey. “When the warrant gets here, you and Antwon.”

“Hey!” Rachel complained. She thought that she had been given a reprieve when the boss had allowed her to go to the Nessmith’s home. “What about me?”

“There’s a stack of paperwork waiting for you,” Nash returned as he gestured toward her desk which was loaded with several piles of files before walking off.

Harvey leaned closer to her as he tugged on his ear. “Who was right again?” he taunted her. When she mumbled her response, he stepped closer. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

“You’re right, Harvey. You’re always right,” she said dutifully.

* * *

When they arrived back at the SIU, Harvey let Antwon finish up with Victor Nessmith as he bounded up the stairs. He was in serious need of a caffeine fix. The late nights that he had been putting in were starting to catch up to him.

When Rachel saw Harvey heading for the coffeepot, she decided she could do with another cup herself. She was already wired, but she had to get away from all of those files for awhile. “So how did the bust go?” she asked expectantly.

He glanced back over his shoulder and gave her a smile. “Hey beautiful. Everything went smoothly. We walked into Victor’s office and he started barking orders. I think there were three attorneys with us before we even left the building.”

“You’re kidding?” She chuckled when he shook his head. “What about Antwon? How are the two of you getting along?” she asked after glancing over her shoulder to make sure they were alone. She was curious about the new inspector. She hadn’t been able to get a handle on him yet.

“I don’t know yet,” Harvey returned, picking up the coffee pot once more to fill her cup for her. “He seems okay, but....” He shook his head, unable to finish the thought. “It’s just weird having someone sitting across from me that isn’t Evan.”

“That’s understandable.”

“So how does it feel being back in the office?” Harvey ask, changing the subject. “Having trouble getting back into the swing?”

“I’m just coming up for air. I’m buried under all the paperwork.” That wasn’t entirely true, but it was close. It was Samuel’s unexpected gift that had actually been keeping her mind occupied. She had debated for some time about telling Harvey of his visit, but she still wanted to keep it to herself for awhile longer. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to know. She simply had so little of her son she could call her own, especially memories, that she wanted to keep his visit to herself.

“I noticed,” he said as he put sweetener in his coffee. “Feeling like you might have returned to work too soon?”

“Absolutely not!” she insisted. “I was going to scream if I had to stare at those walls for even one more day. Knowing my luck, we would have had a rolling blackout and then I would have been stuck without my computer too.”

“Yeah, it sucks when Yahoo euchre goes down,” he teased.

Rachel smiled as she nodded. It looked like Harvey wanted to play and she was more than happy to oblige. “We wouldn’t be having these blackouts if they had regulated the power company like they were suppose to do.”

Harvey’s face went completely blank. He could not believe what he was hearing. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“What do you think?” she shot back and she saw him relax for a second while she took a sip of her coffee. “We would have been all right if the environmentalists hadn’t limited our ability to build new power plants.”

His mouth dropped to the floor as he watched her walking back down the steps. Nash turned around at the sound of their voices raised in disagreement and watched as they argued all of the way back to Rachel’s desk. It sounded to him like they were talking about the rolling blackouts, but he couldn’t imagine why Harvey seemed so insistent.

“I can not believe this,” Harvey returned. “It’s exactly what they did that put us in this position in the first place.”

“That was designed to protect the consumer from power hungry utility companies,” she argued. “No pun intended.”

He shook his head in exasperation. “I can’t believe that you’re actually serious. I can’t even believe that we’re were having this discussion. In fact,...”

Rachel chuckled as she watched him walk off in a huff.

“Wow,” Nash said as Rachel walked by. “You feel that strongly about the deregulation laws?” he asks.

“Oh no,” she returned in distaste. “Harvey’s right. I just like to get him riled up.”

Nash chuckled. “Now why would you want to torment a nice guy like Harvey?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “You can’t make up if you don’t argue,” she told him, smiling deviously as she walked away.

* * *

“Hello, Kelly Temps?” Joe said into his phone, not noticing Rachel look up suddenly from her desk. “I’m in desperate need of a nanny.”

Rachel picked up the file that she was working on and started to move slowly toward Joe’s desk, pretending to be engrossed in the file as she maneuvered herself into a better position to hear the conversation.

“It’s for my daughter. No, no specific medical needs. Well, I’d like to interview the applicants myself this afternoon.”

That was all that Rachel needed to hear and she strode over to Harvey’s desk. “Let me know if Joe starts heading this way,” she said to Harvey as she tossed her file down onto his desk and picked up the phone.

Harvey gave her a curious look. “What are you up to, McCabe?” he asked with a suspicious note to his voice.

“I need to speak with Kelly,” Rachel said into the receiver instead of answering. “Tell her that it’s Rachel McCabe.”

Harvey stood up to give himself a better view of Joe’s desk as he absently flipped through a file in his hand. “I smell a scam. Give,” he ordered. Rachel leaned in to whisper to Harvey while she was on hold. After she had given him an idea of what she was up to, Harvey’s smile grew. “You’re an evil woman, McCabe. Count me in.”

* * *