| 3B Victoria |
| Nash grabbed hold of the bottom rung of the rickety fire escape and hoisted himself upwards. "Careful Nash. That fire escape looks ready to fall apart." "What are you trying to imply Bubba?" "Nothing." Joe shrugged his shoulders. "But you have been hitting the takeout window quite a bit lately." Nash glared at his partner. "Look who's talking. One more enchilada and burrito binge and you'll have to turn in your badge." "Funny." Joe watched silently as Nash made his way to the fourth floor. More than once he felt as if the entire structure would give way and Nash would plummet downwards. Joe cupped his hand around his mouth and yelled some helpful advice. "Maybe we should call dispatch and have them send over a fire..." "No! Call them Joe and you're a dead man. The department would never live it down if we had to get the hook and ladder boys in on this." Joe paced back and forth in front of the building. He still didn't understand why Nash refused to use the stairs inside. It would have made a whole helluva lot more sense. But Nash insisted on acting like a monkey. Joe smirked and mumbled under his breath. "He probably still thinks he's twenty-one." "JOE!" Joe twisted his head upwards. "Yeah?" "Payday. I'm going to crawl through the window to get a better look." "Ok. Whatever..." His next thoughts were interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. Nash had kicked the window in with his foot. Joe shook his head. "The man thinks he's Jackie Chan." Opening the door to the Cuda, Joe plopped down on the seat and waited patiently for Nash to return. ~~~~~~~~~ Rick Marshall pulled his hatchback into the parking lot next to a busy Chinese restaurant in the heart of the Presideo district. He set the emergency brake to keep the crappy little car from rolling forward. "Son of a..." Ever since Nash Bridges had destroyed his life everything had gone down hill. The grizzled old man sat watching the commotion on the other side of the park. Michelle Chen, along with several other plain-clothed SIU detectives, was scouring the area in attempt to locate his baby. Rick was not going to stand by however, and watch as they destroyed his creations. It would be a very cold day in hell before he let that happen. His eyes narrowed as he studied the way Michelle moved up and down the block. It'd be a pity to waste such a beautiful creature, but it couldn't be helped. "Sorry sweetheart." He reached under the car seat and pulled out a laptop. Placing it next to him, Rick pulled up the detonation sequence. Now he just had to wait until she got a little bit closer. ~~~~~~~~~ Harvey went over the list again in his head. He couldn't believe they hadn't seen it earlier. The first clue should have been the bombing on Fisherman's Warf. Kicking himself for not picking up Marshall's trail right away, Harvey pushed open the front door of the Phil's Hair Emporium. The lobby was packed. He and Evan had trouble making their way among the throng of spectators looking to catch a minute with the infamous Phil Glickney. Harvey wove his way miserabley through the crowd and remembered why he hated the bar scene so much. Coming to a stop behind a couple of teenagers who were draped across a large steel and glass monstrosity that served as the front counter, he tapped the taller of the two on the shoulder. "Excuse me." The young kid grinned at his friend, refusing to move or turn around. "Sorry pops. Can we help you?" Harvey lifted his badge and placed it squarely in the kid's line of sight. "SFPD. Step aside." He gave Evan and Harvey the once over before backing away from the counter. "Whatever man." As soon as the teens had departed Harvey leaned over to talk with the brightly clad hostess. "We need to see Phil." "Mr. Phil is busy at the moment. If you care to make an appointment he might be able to fit you in for a quick..." Stopping briefly, the girl made it obvious what she thought of Harvey's appearance. "Um, consultation. How's two months from next Friday?" "Look Darling, you don't seem to understand. I need to see him on an urgent police matter." Harvey held up his shield. "Now." "Oh. Let me see if he's free. Your name?" "Harvey. Inspector Harvey Leek." The two men watched in amusement as the girl wrote down Harvey's name on a pink message slip and disappeared into the back. "You know Harv, Phil's not going to be happy to see us." "Don't I know it." Harvey leaned on the counter. "Look at all these people. Who said testifying against the mob was hazardous to your health?" "Yeah. Taking the witness stand against Marshall and the five families was probably the best thing Phil could have..." "Oops." A petite blonde had `accidentally' bumped into Evan on her way past the counter. "I'm sorry. How clumsy of me." Evan smiled eagerly at the young girl. "No problem." "Hi! I'm Britnee. That's spelt B-R-I-T-N-E-E." She placed a petite, finely sculpted hand on Evan's arm. "What's your name?" "Evan." "Oooo... I LOVE that name. EV-AN." Before Evan's new best friend could get her claws into his partner any further, Harvey grabbed his arm and shoved the younger man towards the back of the shop. "Sorry miss but we have to go." "But..." "Hey Harvey! What's with you man?" "C'mon Ev. She's twelve. Maybe." "Yeah, yeah." Just then an immense figure emerged from a back room. He motioned the two men forward and then disappeared behind the curtain. Harvey and Evan followed him a few seconds later. "What are you two doing here? You're bad for business." "Right. I can see you're really hurting." Harvey chuckled softly. "Listen man we've gotta talk." "It'll have to wait." "This is serious." Evan placed a hand on Phil's shoulder. "Don't touch me pretty boy." "Chill Phil." As soon as the words were out of Evan's mouth he regretted saying them. Chill Phil? "Haven't you gotten this kid under control yet?" "Hey!" "Easy. C'mon Evan, why don't you go wait outside? I'll be out in a minute." "Sure bro." Evan pulled back the curtain and headed out front once more. "My pleasure." "You've got five minutes Leeky boy. I've got customers waiting." "I'm afraid they'll have to wait. Rick Marshall's back in the city and gunning for you. We think he's got a bomb rigged to go off. It's hidden somewhere in this building." "That's what this is all about?" Phil threw his head back and laughed loudly. "You're pulling my leg. Ricky's not that stupid." "I'm afraid he is. He took out the Fish Market this morning." Phil's face suddenly went pale. "Billy?" "Your brother wasn't around when the bomb went off, but according to surveillance records he and Trevor were scheduled to meet with a courier from Miami. He was definitely the target." "That slimy little..." Phil went on a rampage, tearing the small room to pieces. He smashed a table, two wooden chairs and coat rack into a thousand pieces. "I'LL KILL HIM!" "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." Harvey could tell that Phil was close to the breaking point. He had to get the situation under control and fast. Harvey didn't want any more innocent people getting hurt or killed because of Marshall's twisted vendetta. "Phil! Listen man, you have to calm down. Ok?" "Ok." "Alright. Now I need to clear everybody out of..." "What about Nora?" "We've got a team on the way over there. She'll be fine." Harvey hustled Phil out the back door. "And since we don't have much time I need you to follow my instructions exactly." ~~~~~~~~ |
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