MC1

Nash held Inger close to him as they watched the monitors flicker and he held his breath as the last machine was turned off. He held back the tears as he reached for Lucia. Weeping the little child broke from his grasp and ran to the bed.
“Please Daddy! Wake up! Please!” She hopped on the bed and curled up next to her father and cried. A nurse started to move her, but stopped when she saw how tightly she was clinging to him. Nash made his way to her and gently touched her shoulder. She ceased her tears long enough to look up and see Nash’s tear-stained face staring down at her. She turned away and placed her small hand on Joe’s chest. Again she pleaded for him to wake up.

Finally finding the strength to move Inger went to her daughter and took her hand. “Come child.” she tried to separate Lucia from her father, but the little girl held fast to Joe. Her tears soaked his hospital gown as she continued to plead with the lifeless frame next to her. All Nash could do was watch as the girl wept for her father. Turning his eyes away he looked out the window and silently prayed that Lucia would stop.

As the nurse came in to begin removing the IVs from Joe’s body, Nash thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

“Did you see that?” he looked at the nurse who was shocked, but admitted to seeing the same thing. They waited another moment and saw it again.

“It can’t be.” The nurse reached down and listened close and heard the faint sound of breathing coming from his patient. Nervously Inger pulled Lucia back and watched quietly. The doctor entered and Nash stood back and wiped at the tears escaping him as he realized that his friend had not given up yet. “I am not sure how he doing it Mrs. Dominguez but he is still breathing.”

***

“Looks like he is going to make it.” Nash seemed almost giddy as he said the words out loud. Harvey smiled at him as he put his jacket on, more than ready to be leaving the hospital after his two week stay.

“That’s great! How are Inger and the kids?”

“Exhausted. I have been giving Inger as many breaks as she’ll let me, but she hasn’t left the hospital since he started breathing on his own.”

Harvey slid into the wheelchair so he could get taken out and the two continued talking until they reached the exit.

“I really appreciate the ride home. I know you are pretty tired yourself.”

“No problem. I have a couple things I need to do anyway.” Harvey got into the car and belted himself in. He smiled at the familiar sound as the Cuda hummed out of the parking lot. “You okay?”

“Yep. Just glad to hear that sound again.”

“We’re all glad of that bubba.” A few minutes later Nash pulled in front of Harvey’s house and helped him inside. “Is there anything you need? I am going by the office, but I can swing back by and bring you something if you need it.”

“Well, at the moment I can’t think of anything, but if I do I know where you are.”

“Ok. Well I am gonna get going. Call if you need anything.” The door shut and Harvey happily collapsed onto his couch. He flipped on the stereo and dozed off to the sound of Grateful Dead tunes.

An hour later he was awakened by a knock on his door. It took a moment for him to realize what it was, but he managed to get to the door without tripping and smiled at the warm sight in front of him.

“Daddy!” Jerry hugged him and pulled him inside as Cassidy followed them.

“It’s good to see you buddy. Thanks for bringing him by Cass.”

“He was pretty anxious to see you. If he hadn’t had school we would have brought you home.”

“Yeah dad, they made me go to school instead of picking you up.” The boy frowned, and Harvey turned to hide his laughter. A moment later the youth was distracted by King and headed out to the back yard.

“So have we got anything on Anna?”

“Nope. We’ve looked everywhere. Seattle PD has been doing everything they can, but it is like she just vanished.” Harvey wasn’t sure whether to think that Anna had just abandoned their son or if something had happened to her.

“What have you told Jerry?”

“We said that she wanted him to be with you for a while until you were better.” He sighed. “At the moment he still buying it, but he is still pretty curious. He knows something is up, I am sure of it.”

“I hate lying to him, but I don’t want to say anything unless we know the truth.”

“Sure. I understand. His stuff is in the car. Let me bring it inside.” Harvey started to get up but she waved him off. “You are supposed to be resting, so rest.” She came back and put Jerry’s bags in his room and joined Harvey on the couch.

“If I haven’t said it enough, thank you for everything.” He pulled her in close for a hug. “I really appreciate this.”

“It was my pleasure Harv.”

***

“What are we gonna do baby? What are we gonna do?” Cody’s eyes went red as he watched her flail her arms in the air like a crazed person.

“Shut up or I‘ll make you shut up!” Anna flinched as the large man brought his hand back as if to strike her. She tried to stop her tears, but it proved to more difficult than she had imagined. Never in her life had she been so terrified. As she sat at the table she began to wonder just how she had gotten herself into such a mess.

Nervously she tried to remember just where everything went wrong. All she wanted to do was go back to her life before she had met the man next to her, before she ruined her life. She thought she had the perfect plan to get back the life she had before Harvey came along, and before she had Jerry to deal with. That happy single life where she didn’t have to worry about taking care of anyone else but Anna and what Anna wanted, she had missed that ever so much. For once she wanted not to have someone else depending on her. She was lost in her own thoughts when the large man grabbed her arm and shook her from them.

Over the last few days Cody had become increasingly more angry and impatient with Anna and her incessant whining. He had done his best to keep her hidden from the cops since she had ditched her son and all she did was moan and complain about every little thing that was going wrong.

“We have to get moving.” He practically ripped her from the table as they headed for the car.

“Where are we going?!” She stopped at the car door and refused to get inside.

“Get in the damn car!”

“Tell me where we’re going!” With her hands on her hips she waited for an answer.

“Boss says the cops might have a line on where we are. We have to get to a safer place. We’ll be in Mexico by morning if you’d get your pretty little ass in the car.”

“Fine. See how easy that was.” With that she got in the car and they were off. She fiddled with the buttons on her jacket and tried to figure out just where it went wrong. All she had to do was walk out the door and never look back. Then she was accosted by some thugs trying to get at Harvey. Now she was running for her life not sure if the cops would catch her or if the thugs were coming after her.

***

Nash pulled into the SIU and smiled to himself. This was turning into a great day and he hoped it would stay like that. Walking onto the barge his cheery expression changed when he saw Rachel standing at his desk folder in hand.

“What’s up?”

“I was just about to call you. We‘ve got a problem.”

“Tell me it is something that can be fixed.” Rachel handed him the folder and watched as he began to shake his head.

“We’re not exactly sure yet. All we know for sure is that the last two victims were found this morning.” Nash ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes hoping this was all some nightmare he could just wake up from.

“This is just great.”

“Sorry but the Commissioner has been calling all morning trying to find out what we plan to do about it.” Again Nash grabbed his head .

“Does it look like a copycat?”

“We’ve been looking over the files for the last few hours, and I am on my way to check out the bodies now. I’ll tell you more as soon as I know anything.” Without another word Rachel was out the door leaving Nash to look over the rest of the files. He stood up and went to get some coffee. As he took his seat again his eyes settled on the white tab on the edge of the thick folder. His blood boiled at the thought of the one case he hadn’t been able to solve, the one case that had left him utterly confused and clueless. Part of him prayed it was merely another copycat they could catch quickly, but the determined side of him hoped it was really him so that he could once and for all close the file on the Zodiac Killer.

***

Jerry and King rolled around outside while Harvey and Cassidy watched from the window. It was quite a sight to see the small child fearlessly charge the massive dog and roll with him across the yard. Harvey and Cassidy chatted away and watched the rambunctious boy play. Then Cassidy got silent for a moment.

“What is it?”

“It’s nothing Harv.” He looked down at her face and knew that she was hiding something.

“I know you too well Cass. Why’d you get quiet all of a sudden?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot the last few days, and...” She debated whether or not to continue as she stared into his confused eyes. “And well, we never got a chance to talk after...well after we...after that night in my apartment before all the craziness started.”

Harvey’s eyes widened as he looked away from her. “I suppose you’re right, we never did talk about it. What exactly did you want to say?”

“Well I have thought a lot about it since then, and I was thinking maybe if you wanted to we could give it a try.”

“What exactly are you wanting here Cass? That night was special, but I am old enough to be your father. Hell I work with your father. He’d probably kill us both or at least me if-”

“I care about you Harvey. It doesn’t matter that you are older than me. As far as my dad is concerned, as long as I’m happy, he’s happy.” He rolled his eyes.

“Somehow I don’t think he’ll see it quite that way.”

“If you don’t want to be with me just say so Harvey.” He sensed her agitation and reached for her hand.

“It isn’t that, it’s just there is a lot to consider before we just jump into this. I care about you too Cassidy, but I also know you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Realizing he had no choice but to be blunt, he held his breath and continued.

“Are you still in love with Evan?” Her face dropped.

“He has nothing to do with this...with us.” Softly he caressed her hand.

“You know that isn’t true. I care about you Cass, but I won’t be second to Evan. I don’t want to start something with you if part of you still wants him.”

“He made his choice when he left and didn’t say a word to me about it. I don’t love Evan.” Gently she reached up and pressed her lips to Harvey’s. The kiss was warm and he welcomed it. Without any words they seemed to reach a decision and the kiss sealed it.

***

The images were still fresh in his mind as he scanned the photos of the past victims. Each one was permanently etched in Nash’s memory. He thumbed through them as well as the reports and breathed a heavy sigh. It was frightening to think of how much the case had scarred him, and he was almost happy when he heard is phone ring, breaking him from his memories.

“Nash.”

“It’s Rachel. I am at the M.E.’s and I think you should come down here.” Without another word Nash hung up and went to meet her.

As he stepped into the cold room his eyes settled on the lifeless body lying on the table as Rachel and the ME examined it. He watched silently until they were finished.

“So what was it I had to see?”

“Well, if I am right there is no way this can be a copycat. I mean the murders are random just like before, and the cryptic note was left behind, but look at this.” She pointed to the victim’s hand. “I checked the photos of the others and compared them to these. I guess maybe no one noticed it before, but all the victims had the mark somewhere on their bodies.”

“It’s a scratch.” Nash was getting confused fast.

“That’s what it looks like if you aren’t paying much attention. Look closer.” Stepping away from the table she grabbed the other photos. Lining them up she moved aside so Nash could look. It took several minutes, but Nash finally began to see what she had noticed. “It’s the same scratch mark on all the bodies. I guess no one noticed it before because it didn’t stand out much, but if you look close the marks are rather unique.”

“Three downward slashes with a small side cut in each slash mark.”

“The markings are so small, it’s no wonder that it wasn’t noticed before.”

tbc... :-)