3C2Victoria

Michelle had no trouble pinpointing the third location with Harvey's instructions. To say the small, two-storey apartment complex was in poor condition was an understatement. It didn't look like anyone had lived there for several years. She removed her sunglasses and headed across the street.

The rookie beat cop Nash assigned to help Michelle out with the search put out a hand to stop her. "We're supposed to wait for Captain Bridges."

"There's no time for that. I'm just going to take a look." Halfway across the street she pivoted on her heel and gave the young man a stern warning. "Stay out here. No matter what happens, do not come into the building after me. Understand?"

"Yes Ma'am."

She winced at the cop's reply. Ma'am. That was a new one. No one had ever called her Ma'am before. Michelle had noticed that since her promotion to the SIU people were starting to treat her differently. Not that she minded. It was a sign of respect.

The corridors of the old building were cramped. Michelle managed to squeeze her way into the tiny office located off the main foyer. There it was. Harvey had been right. This Marshall guy certainly had a strange sense of humour. "Ok friend, let's see what you're all about." Bending her knees, Michelle was soon eye to eye with the ticking bomb. They had less than an hour to go before the three o'clock deadline. She put her hand out to check on the device when her cell phone beeped discreetly inside her coat pocket. Michelle had to brace herself against the table to keep from falling over. Catching her breath, she rose slowly. "Michelle Chen."

"Hello Michelle. It's Nash. How are things going?"

His tone was friendly but Michelle could hear the tension in his voice. "Great. I located the building Harvey told me about. Luckily there aren't too many run down buildings in the area fitting his description."

"Good. Now you've followed my instructions exactly. Correct?"

"Sure."

"You're waiting for back-up like I instructed?"

Michelle snapped her fingers nervously and bit her lower lip. She had been hoping Nash wouldn't ask her that. "Um..."

"Alright sister. Unless you've turned invisible while I wasn't looking I suggest you get outside right now." Nash clicked off his cell phone.

Michelle moved over to the window and peaked through the shutters. The Cuda was parked kitty-corner to the Presideo Lane Apartments. Nash was standing next to it and he didn't look pleased. Heading quickly for the exit, she ran into a filing cabinet and fell backwards onto the hard concrete floor. "Damn." As Michelle tried to pull herself up her foot got caught on the table leg. She watched in horror as the bomb slid sideways and crashed onto the floor next to her.

~~~~~~~~~

Harvey shone his flashlight at the ticking device in front of him. If they ever got out of this mess he was going have a face to face `chat' with Mr. Rick Marshall. Pulling wire cutters from his vest pocket Harvey studied the bomb again. He should be able to snip the lead wire without causing a reaction. He hoped. A noise above him caught Harvey's attention. Pigeons in the rafters of the warehouse had decided that Harvey's brightly coloured coat and vest made a good target. The bird's attack caused Harvey's hand jerk and he accidentally cut the green and blue wires leading from the battery pack. "Frac."

He stumbled backwards. The timer that had once read an hour and three minutes now displayed 59 seconds.

Harvey dropped his cutters and raced madly towards the exit. Never in his life had he moved so quickly. Throwing his weight against the heavy industrial doors he burst outside into the bright afternoon sunshine. He saw Evan standing next to the truck talking on his cell phone. Gathering all the breath he could muster Harvey yelled at his partner. "GET BACK! It's gonna blow."

Evan took off and Harvey was soon on his tail. Both men dove for cover behind the guard shack located on the edge of the property. Harvey, his breath coming in gulps, sat and waited for the explosion he knew was coming.

Nothing happened.

"I - don't - understand - how..." Harvey dropped his head into his hands and collapsed into the dirt. "Why didn't...? But it... How could...?"

"Harvey!" Evan crouched next to his exhausted partner. "Talk to me bro."

"Damn pigeons! Why didn't it go off?" He shook his head and looked over at the warehouse "Feldercarb."

"Feldercarb? What on earth...?" Evan was worried. His friend was babbling. He put out a hand to check for bumps or contusions. "Did you hit your head?"

Harvey slapped his partner's hand away and laughed. "Never mind Junior. Nash got me started thinking about all those old shows on TV. It's from before your time."

"Ok. Sure. If you say so." Evan had his doubts but he knew that Harvey would tell him the truth if something was wrong.

"I'm fine. Really." Mumbling to himself, Harvey clambered to his feet. "What kind of sick, twisted game are you playing Marshall?"

"Why don't you tell me Harv? Ronnie just called a few minutes ago. He did some checking into Marshall's file. Or should I say `tried' to check his file."

Harvey grimaced. "This is all my fault. I was hoping we'd solve the case before you found out."

"Found out what? Why is Marshall's file sealed? What's his connection to you Harvey?" Evan's mind was full of questions. And he somehow had a feeling Harvey knew all the answers. He tugged at the sleeve of Harvey's jacket and made his friend turn to face him. "What's going on?"

Evan's questions hung in the air unanswered. Harvey sat on a packing crate and looked up at the warehouse. He sighed wearily. It was as if Rick was mocking them. And him. Evan sat down next to Harvey and waited. He knew that his partner would sit there all day if necessary. Harvey had to tell him something. At the very least, Evan deserved that from him. "When I first came to the city I worked with Nash and Joe on Fisherman's Warf for several months. They were already Inspectors and were assigned this big case involving our friend Rick Marshall. Anyway, the short version is that we busted this guy and sent him away for seven years on assault charges. Nash suspected that he was involved in money laundering even back then, but we couldn't make it stick."

"That's it? Why the big secret? Why close the file?"

"I can't tell you."

"What?"

"I'm sorry Ev..."

"You're kidding right?"

"No. I'm not." Harvey flipped out his cell phone and dialed Nash's number. He looked at the disbelief on Evan's face and cringed. Before things were over he expected that Evan would be even more disillusioned with him. "Hey Nash. It's Harvey..."

~~~~~~~~~