C3Mel

As he walked next to his partner, Evan sipped his coffee and smiled. Harvey had been in an unusually good mood today, and now he was humming as the two made their way down the sidewalk from the coffee shop toward the Ranchero. "Harvey, what are you humming, now?"

The humming stopped. "What humming?" Harvey took a sip of latte and stared innocently back at Evan, knowing full well that he'd been humming "Uncle John's Band".

"Oh, come on, Harv. You've been in a disgustingly good mood today. Spill it."

"Well, I had Jerry over the weekend and I took him to an orchard. You know, one of those places where you pick your own fruit?" At Evan's understanding nod, Harvey continued. "Well, we picked apples for a little while and the owner was walking around talking to people. She and I started talking, about this and that, and I lost track of Jerry. Took me a few minutes to find the little monkey, hiding behind some apple crates. Anyway, the owner invited me to come back next weekend for their apple festival."

"That's all? I've been dying of curiosity, and that's all you have to say?" Evan shook his head in disgust. He'd thought, at the very least, his partner had gone home with some woman last night.

"What? She was beautiful, Evan. Beautiful, smart, funny…not everything has to be about sex, Ev."

"Says the man that never gets any." Evan laughed, nearly choking on his coffee.

Both men looked up at the sound of squealing tires to see a maroon sedan careening around the corner. Evan smiled at his partner and shrugged. "He's really burning rubber. Think we should go after him?"

Calmly sipping his latte, Harvey shook his head. "Nah, he'd be three blocks away by the time we got to the car. One of the unies will get him. Hey, did you hear what happened to Sidney the Snitch?"

"No, what did the little weasel do now?"

"Got himself killed. They found his body this morning. Ronnie said Sidney's wife had stabbed the little snitch twenty times with a nail file." Harvey gave an involuntary shudder at the thought.

"She stabbed him with a what?"

"With a nail file. You know, one of those metal ones? They're pretty sharp."

"Damn, that's not a pretty way to go. Guess we'll have to find a new snitch, huh?" Evan sighed. Nash wasn't going to like having to get someone else to root out the information Sidney used to give them.

The two men had finally reached the car. The opened their doors and froze. A beautiful woman was running down the street…wearing nothing but a daisy in her long, blonde hair.

Evan was the first to find his voice. "Streaking? Now, there's something you don't see every day. Bet that's something you miss, huh Harv?"

Getting no response, he turned to see Harvey staring off down the street. "Harvey?"

Giving his head a little shake, Harvey stared back at his partner in wonderment and shock. "Evan…that was her. The owner of that orchard. Wow."

"The one who invited you back this weekend?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. Hey, does she have a sister or a friend or something?"

"Evan!" Shaking his head at his partner, Harvey climbed in the car and shut the door.

Joining Harvey in the car, Evan slammed his door. "What? Well, one thing's for sure…I bet you're humming again next Monday."

"Shut up, Evan." Harvey started the car and pulled away from the curb, with a huge smile plastered to his face. A moment later, he was humming again.

END