| The characters of "Nash Bridges" are the property of CBS and Rysher, not me. No profit is made. Copyright 2003 by Mel A Night To Remember The party had been fun, loud and long. They had said their goodbyes to a friend, who’d moved on. Bryn Carson had accepted a place with the homicide table in L.A., with a promotion to Lieutenant. An opportunity she’d been unable to pass up. Though they were happy for her, they were going to miss her. Near the end, they’d no longer been celebrating. Since none were fit to drive, the three men stood on the sidewalk unsuccessfully trying to hail a cab. Harvey was drunk, Joe slightly more than tipsy and even Nash felt a nice mellow buzz. He was still aware of everything and in control…mostly…but knew he was in no condition to drive. Hearing a fit of giggles to his left, Nash turned to smile at Harvey who obviously thought something was funny. “What’s so funny, bubba?” “Remember what happened last time we left a bar like this? Joe, you got your wallet?” This seemed to really amuse the intoxicated inspector, and Harvey braced his hands on his knees as he laughed. Glaring at Harvey, Joe nevertheless couldn’t stop himself from patting his pockets. He smiled when he felt the reassuring bulge in his back pocket. Yep, still had his wallet. “Shut up, Harvey. Like we needed to be reminded about that.” Nash remembered what had happened, as well. The three of them, plus Eve, had ended up in the middle of a hostage situation on a BART train. Eve had been shot, Harvey had had an attack of claustrophobia, and Joe’s bladder capacity had been sorely tested. “Well, Harv, we better hope this evening ends a little better than the last.” Nash waved his arm and finally got the attention of a taxi driver. As they all piled into the cab, Joe leaned across Harvey and tugged on Nash’s arm. “Hey, I heard about this really great new club called Phantasia. Wanna check it out? It’s still early, man.” “You in the doghouse with Inger again?” “Hey, Joe, I got this marriage counselor friend-“ “Shut up, Harvey.” Joe wasn’t going to go down that road again. “No, Nash, I just thought we could have a little more fun before going home for the night, that’s all.” He appeared to think it over, knowing it would drive his friend crazy, but Nash finally agreed. “Sure, we’ll check it out. Not for too long, though. I need to get home to Nick.” Joe gave the address for the club to the taxi driver, then sat back. Harvey leaned toward him and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “Hey, Joe. Did I tell you that waitress gave me her phone number?” “Oh, good grief.” ~~~~~***~~~~~ When the cab pulled up the curb, the three men scrambled out onto the sidewalk. Reaching through the window to pay the driver, Nash was puzzled by the funny look on the guy’s face. The taxi pulled away and Nash shrugged his shoulders. Grabbing Harvey by the arm, Nash pulled him toward the door. “But Nash, those guys were jaywalking.” “We’re off-duty, Harvey. Besides, somehow I get the feeling they’d be less than impressed by a cop who can’t even walk a straight line.” Indignant, Harvey pulled his arm out of Nash’s grasp and stood up to his full height. With as much dignity as he could muster, he walked unassisted to the door. “I can too walk a straight line.” Chuckling, Joe jerked his thumb at Harvey. “Yeah, but he looks like he has a stick shoved up his-” “I get the idea, Joe.” Once inside, the flashing lights immediately started to give Nash a headache. He knew they wouldn’t be there very long. Though the cover band was surprisingly good, from what he could tell so far. Weaving their way to the bar, something was off about the crowd, but Nash couldn’t immediately put his finger on it. Shaking his head, the joined his friends at the bar and leaned against a barstool. Not really wanting too much more to drink, Nash simply ordered a glass of red wine. Joe ordered an ale, and they both started to laugh when the bartender turned to Harvey for his order. When asked what he wanted to drink, Harvey happily sang, “Rum and coca-cola…” Catching the bartender’s eye, Nash shook his head. Nodding his understanding the bartender made the drinks and put them down on the bar with a wink. Harvey’s glass held nothing but cola. Sipping his drink as his eyes scanned the room, Harvey made a face. “There’s something funny about this drink.” He sipped it again and frowned, puzzled. “Man, he didn’t put much rum in this.” He shrugged and took another swallow. There was something funny about this place. “Hey, Nash. I don’t see any girls here, do you? What kinda club has no girls?” Nash knew what kind of club had no girls. Turning to Joe, he glared at his friend. “Joe, just who did you get the name of this club from?” Choking on his ale, Joe finally realized what Nash was referring to. Clearing his voice, Joe winced. “Pepe.” “Pepe. Well, I think that explains it, don’t you?” Nash couldn’t believe the three of them had come to a gay club. “Sorry, Nash. I guess I should’ve been more specific when I asked Pepe. What’re we gonna do, now?” “We’re going to get out of here and go home. There’s certainly no use cruising for women, is there?” “Ah, no.” “I didn’t think so.” Reaching over, Nash took Harvey’s drink just as he lifted the glass to take a drink. “Hey, I wasn’t finished with that.” Rolling his eyes, Nash gave Harvey a push toward the exit. “This is a gay bar, Harv. No girls here.” “Oh, well that sure explains why that guy kept winking at me. Thought maybe he had something wrong with his eye.” Shaking his head, Nash led them back out onto the sidewalk. He shot another glare at Joe. “If you thought people talked about us before…we’ll never hear the end of this.” After ten minutes of waiting for a taxi, one finally pulled up. Squeezing into the back once more, Nash gave the driver directions to Joe’s house. He figured they’d let Joe out first, then Harvey, then himself. They got within a mile from Joe’s place when the car suddenly jerked a few times, and died. The driver called his company on the radio and they assured him a tow truck was being dispatched, but it would be at least an hour. The driver gave them an apologetic shrug. Sighing, Nash looked at the others. “Looks like we’re hoofing it, boys.” Grumbling, Joe fell into step with Nash. He should’ve let them all go home when they’d taken the first taxi. Then he’d be in bed with Inger at that moment, and not trudging uphill. Halfway up the long, steep hill, as they passed the entrance to an alley, two men stepped out to block their passage. Nash had been looking back at Harvey, making sure the other man was still with them, and didn’t see the men until it was too late. This just gets better and better. Looking from the gun to the guy’s sneering face, Nash slowly raised his hands to shoulder height and shifted his feet. He resisted the urge to turn around when he heard Harvey’s indignant, “Hey!” “What do you guys want to bother us for, bubba? It’s been a bad night.” The dark-haired man just raised his gun a little higher and laughed mirthlessly. “Yeah, well, it just got worse, didn’t it? Hand over your wallet.” Joe looked from one mugger to the other, waiting for Nash to make his move. He vowed that the next time they all went out to celebrate something, he was hiring a limo. He stared in complete disbelief at what happened next. The second would-be robber reached forward to jab his gun at Harvey’s stomach. Harvey, still feeling quite mellow, simply wrapped his hand around the weapon and jammed his thumb behind the hammer. Giving his wrist a twist, Harvey pulled the gun from the stunned man’s grasp then hit him with it. The commotion caught the attention of the dark-haired man, who swung his weapon away from Nash to take his aim on Harvey. Grabbing the man’s gun hand with his left, Nash jabbed his right elbow into the man’s throat. As the man fell to the ground, grabbing his throat and making gagging noises, Nash shot Harvey a glare. The look on Harvey’s face was confused innocence. “What?” Looking from one to the other, Joe shook his head. “You guys are trying to give me heart failure, aren’t you? Man, now we have to sit here and wait for the unies to show up for these guys.” Mumbling something about lunatic Deadheads, Joe went to sit on the curb. Nash took possession of the gun Harvey had taken from his opponent, and stood far enough away that the two men wouldn’t try anything. Not that either of the men were in any shape to get up from the ground. “Look at it this way, Joe. Maybe we can thumb a ride with one of the uniformed boys.” “Nash, with our luck, they’ll get a call and we’ll spend the rest of the night trying to talk down a jumper or something.” Laughing, Nash inwardly conceded Joe’s point. “Maybe we’ll just walk.” “No maybe about it.” It took a surprisingly short amount of time for the unies to respond to Nash’s call in to dispatch. Fifteen minutes after his call, the two suspects were being loaded into the marked police car. The second unit offered the three men a lift but, after one look from Joe, Nash declined. Looking around for Harvey, Joe rolled his eyes and reached into the patrol car’s back seat. Slapping the sleeping Deadhead on the arm, Joe woke him up. “C’mon, Harv. We’re almost home. This damn night can’t end soon enough.” Rubbing his eyes and yawning, Harvey climbed out of the car and joined his friends on the sidewalk. Looking up the hill, he gave a weary sigh and started walking. Joe and Nash fell into step, and the three made their tired way up the hill and around the block to Joe’s house. Opening the door, Joe put his finger to his lips. “Make sure you guys are quiet so we don’t wake Inger.” Rolling his eyes at the obvious, Nash shooed him into the house. “We’re not going to wake her up. I just want to use the phone to call a taxi.” Joe led Nash into the kitchen to use the phone as Harvey flopped down into the armchair in the living room. Joe poured himself an orange juice and raised his eyebrows at Nash. Putting his hand over the receiver, Nash whispered, “I’ll just have water, Joe. Thanks.” After ordering a taxi, the two took their drinks to the living room. Harvey was slouched down in the chair with his feet propped up on the ottoman, sound asleep. Laughing quietly, Nash joined Joe on the sofa. Relaxing against the cushioned sofa back, he shook his head at their luck. “Well, bubba, it’s certainly been a night to remember.” Pointing at Harvey with his juice glass, Joe smirked. “Think he’ll remember it?” “He better.” Sliding down on the sofa cushion, Joe leaned his head against the back and sighed. It certainly had been a night to remember. And after he got through embellishing the night’s adventures, it would be even more memorable. END |
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