Friends and Family
Two men came hurrying into “Hagen’s Haven”, a small grocery shop. They strolled in casually as if it was normal for customers to wear ski masks and carry guns.
One stopped in front of the shop owner, an elderly man with already gray hair and a friendly expression on his face. When he realized what was going on, the friendly expression died and fear came up.
“Gimme your money!” the masked man demanded with a harsh voice, pointing his gun at the man.
Nervously, the old men opened the cash register and pulled out a couple of dollar bills. There were even some 100 dollar bills among them, as it had been a good day – so far.
The other masked guy pointed his gun across the room of the shop. When he gazed through the room, he noticed a young woman next to the shelf with potato chips. But he didn’t notice those two men, ducking behind the shelf with dog food in the rear end of the shop. One of them was wearing a red beret, a colorful vest over a blue jeans jacket and beige trousers. The badge he wore on a necklace over his shirt identified him as a member of San Francisco Police Department. The other one wore a purple jacket, black trousers and sunglasses and could easily win an Elvis Presley look-alike contest. Both men had their guns out. They looked at each other for a second. The one with the beret made a counting gesture, then they both got up, their guns aimed at the two robbers.
“SFPD, freeze!” the one with the purple jacket shouted.
The masked guy at the counter turned around, his gun pointing at the police officers.
“Put your guns down!” Inspector Harvey Leek, the one with the beret, demanded.
But the culprits had no intention to do as they were ordered. Leek caught a glimpse of the young woman at the potato chips. She had short red hair and was shorter than his. He noticed her unusual earrings – two colorful wooden parrots. He could read fear in her face, but there was something else he that stroke him about her, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on. This all happened in an instant of a moment, then the inspector switched back to cop mode again.
“Get down!” he ordered her, addressing the shop owner as well.
He feared they could get hurt during a possible shootout. And he was proven right less than a minute later...
Without a word of warning all hell broke loose. The robbers started to shoot, covering behind a deepfreeze where all kinds of different ice-creams were stored. Harvey and his partner Cortez fired back in self defense and in an attempt to keep them from fleeing.
One of the guys was daring to much and didn’t get under cover again fast enough. Leek got him by his shoulder. While the Inspectors were behind their cover to wait for a reaction, the other guy escaped unharmed.
Careful not to get shot at, Leek and Cortez moved forward, using either the shelves or each other for cover. When they reached the freezer, the wounded culprit leaned against it, his left hand pressed on the injury in his right shoulder, where Inspector Leek had hit him.
“Don’t move!” Cortez shouted, his gun aimed at the man.
His partner secured the man’s gun. It was empty. Then he removed the mask. Underneath it was a young male face, not older than twenty, with blond hair.
“They’re getting younger and younger,” Leek sighed.
Then he remembered the female customer and the shop owner. With a quick look behind the counter he made sure the old man was okay.
“You got him?” he asked his younger partner, referring to the injured man.
Evan nodded without taking his gun or look off him.
“Go ahead.”
So the Inspector went around a shelf with toiletries to get to the one where he had last seen the woman. When he found her, she was lying on her right side, face towards the shelf. She wasn’t moving and hardly breathing.
The cop swallowed a curse, knelt down and turned her around to see her face. When he drew his hand back from her head, there was blood on it.
“Evan!” he shouted over to his partner, who had handcuffed the culprit by now.
“What’s up, man?”
“Call 911 – we need an ambulance here ASAP!”
* * *
Cortez had called his superior, Captain Nash Bridges and had told him what had happened, while Leek had stayed with the seriously injured woman, waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
Bridges and his partner Joe Dominguez arrived several minutes later in a yellow 1970 Plymouth Barracuda.
“What we got?” Joe asked, getting out of the car.
Evan approached the Cuda, wearing his sunglasses, but looking at Nash over the edge.
“Not much so far. Two guys tried to rob this place. We were there by accident and identified ourselves. Then they started shooting and we had to defend ourselves. One of the culprits and a young woman were injured. The second guy escaped...”
The young inspector lowered his head in shame and anger.
“Don’t worry, bubba, we’ll get him!” Nash said to reassure the young inspector.
He recognized two officers from crime scene unit already doing their work inside the shop. The injured woman was pushed into the ambulance. Leek was standing at the ambulance, waiting for it to go off to the hospital. When it turned it’s headlights and siren on and sped up, Harvey joined the small group. They were all members of the SIU, the Special Investigation Unit. The department investigated in all kinds of cases from car theft to murder. And this robbery was going to be their next case.
“Did you get a look at the other guy?” Bridges asked his co-workers while going inside.
Both shook their heads.
“He wore a mask, too. He took the money and escaped after I had shot the young one.” Leek sighed. It frustrated him how this robbery had turned out. One escaped, one down and an innocent woman badly wounded. This really made his day.
“What were you two doing here in the first place?” Dominguez asked, his eyes resting on Harvey.
“I needed some stuff for King.” Harvey replied almost defensively.
King was his dog, a Great Dane. It had once belonged to a neighbor, who had dumped the dog on Harvey one day. In order to keep the dog from going to the pound, Harvey had decided to keep it and hadn’t regretted it since.
“Where’s the injured guy now?”
“He went with the ambulance. Harvey got him by his shoulder, nothing serious though. He was lucky.”
“Alright Evan. As soon as he’s able to, I want him down at the SIU for questioning. You two go back too. I want a full report on this.” Nash said. Before he joined his team at the SIU headquarter – a ship which had been a disco before becoming their professional home – Nash wanted to ask the shop owner a few questions.
“You got it!” Harvey said and wanted to turn without looking at the small lake of blood on the floor, but he didn’t manage to keep his eyes away from the dark spot, where the injured woman had laid.
* * *
Harvey Leek was sitting at his desk, the ballistic report lying in front if him. His head rested in his left hand and his blue eyes were closed. He jerked around when his boss Nash Bridges came to him.
“Any news from the robbery?” he asked. The captain noticed something was wrong, but he couldn’t really make it out yet.
Harvey looked up to him and nodded, handing the report to his superior.
“Yeah,” he just said, his voice sounding tired.
“Report from ballistics just came in...The bullet the girl took...it was mine...”
There was a short time of silence while the captain read the report. He looked up again after what seemed to be an eternity to Harvey.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Nash Bridges asked his fellow colleague.
Harvey stood up and nodded.
“Sure...”
He already suspected what would come next.
His boss took him outside. It was a warm, cloudless day. The sea was calm and a few seagulls were flying in circles above the water.
Captain Bridges looked at Inspector Leek, standing at the railing.
“You’re okay?” Bridges asked.
“Yeah...” Harvey sighed.
Nash knew he was lying. But instead of pushing him, he put a hand onto Leek’s shoulder.
“This could have happened to anybody, man...It’s not your fault...”
“I know...” Harvey’s voice was barely more than a whisper when he turned to face the water and the Golden Gate bridge in the background.
He knew it had been a terrible accident, a ricochet. Nobody was resistant against that. His boss was right. But why the hell did it hurt so much? It was like getting punched in his guts, every time he thought about this young woman lying on the floor in that shop, her blood on his hands.
“Harv?”
The voice of this superior made Leek come back to reality.
“Huh?”
“Listen, why don’t you take some days leave? Get your mind away from this case...”
A sudden flash of understanding went over Bridges’ face. The inspector with the colorful shirt knew Nash only wanted what was best for him right now, but he couldn’t get away. He had to stay on this case. He had to find the second man, for his peace of mind...and as revenge for this young woman. He at least owed her that much.
“No, I’m okay, really!” Harvey smiled, although he didn’t feel like that, at all.
“Okay...” Nash sighed, then smiled as well.
“Just be careful, Bubba...”
Then he went and left him alone.
* * *
Harvey Leek was sitting at the hospital bed, elbows on his knees, his head buried in his hands. He just listened to the steady beeping of the heart monitor and the sounds of the respirator, which were the only things to cut the silence.
He didn’t want this to happen. This was a thing you hear about, but he thought it would never happen to him. But now it did. So many thoughts were running through his mind – what could he have done different? Harvey had gone through the scene over and over again, but he never really could find an answer to that question.
The Inspector sighed heavily and looked at the young woman in the bed.
It was his fault that she was lying there with all this medical stuff attached to her body. It had been his bullet that hit her in the head. The doctor’s prognosis wasn’t very optimistic. It was possible she wouldn’t make it. He had talked to the doctor before coming in here. At first, Dr. Hernandez didn’t want to give any information at all, but Leek has shown him his badge and said that he needed information on her condition for their case. That wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. Harvey knew he was getting emotionally involved and that wasn’t good. But he was responsible for that young girl in that hospital room number 205.
Her conditions were serious, Hernandez had said. He had used a lot of medical terms, which had confused Leek. But what he had understood was that she might have a internal bleeding in her brain caused by that ricochet. Then she would have to have surgery to ease the pressure of that bleeding before it lead to permanent brain damage. For the time being, the doctors had put Abigail Williams in an artificial coma to help her body recover.
“She’s scheduled for a CAT scan in two hours. After that we’ll know what we’re dealing with,” Dr. Hernandez had told him.
When Harvey looked down at the young woman, something caught his eye. He carefully lifted her short sleeve of the hospital shirt and discovered a bruised upper arm. They were shimmering in yellow, purple and green. Someone must have been very rude to her.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered, almost too silent to hear.
Harvey Leek fought the feeling to stay. He had to get back to the SIU, back to work. His boss depended on him.
So finally he raised. Slowly. Careful not to disturb this terrible silence. He let his hand rest on hers for a short moment, then he left.
* * *
“Her name’s Abigail Williams...”
Nah Bridges looked up from his computer screen.
“Who’s?” he asked puzzled.
“The girl in the shop...Report on her fingerprints just came in....” Harvey Leek answered, his gaze not meeting the one of his superior.
“Why do we have her fingerprints?” Bridges asked.
“A college gag backfired and ended up down at the station for her and three other girls. That was three years ago,” Harvey explained, still not looking up. He had expected Nash to ask that, though, so he had gone through the old files. This also gave Harvey the opportunity to learn more about her past.
“What is it, man?” Leek suddenly heard a voice beside him and realized he had been lost in thoughts again.
Nash knew there was something more. He could almost see the battle inside Leek’s mind whether to tell him or not.
Finally, the inspector sighed.
“Seems she was part of the plan...”
Bridges looked at his fellow colleague, waiting for him to continue.
“We found a witness who saw her together with the others...They were already masked, so no description there. Seems she was an look ou t. She was supposed to be out again when the actual robbery took place. But something when wrong and they were early...”
Bridges nodded to show he had understood and memorized what had been said.
Then he went on.
“Anything on those guys yet?”
“The sweetie we have here doesn’t talk much. We couldn’t even get a name. Fingerprints matched nothing we have, so I forwarded them to the Feds.”
“He had no papers on him, just a single key.”
“Okay, try to find the lock for it! And try out the gun...”
Harvey nodded and added those issues to his mental ‘to do’ list.
“Serial number had been removed, though. Evan’s over at Crime Scene to try and get something we can use.”
Again, Nash nodded.
When Leek wanted to return to his desk, he held him back.
“How is she?” he asked, looking up to Harvey.
“She’s critical...Might be possible she won’t make it...”
* * *
“SFPD! Open up!” Nash Bridges shouted.
When nothing moved inside, he gestured the janitor to open the door with his spare key.
The door swung open and Joe drew the janitor back, thanking him for his help.
Carefully, Bridges opened the door a little bit more, gun held in his right hand.
He looked at his fellow men, then stepped deeper into the apartment.
Leek, Cortez and Dominguez followed him, prepared for whatever would be expecting them.
At least, that’s what they thought. But the weren’t prepared at all to what they found in the sleeping room: An infant was lying in his crib.
Nash smiled.
“Look what we got here, bubba!”
The baby started to cry when it realized it got company. The four men gathered around the crib. The infant wasn’t older than a few months. He looked healthy, although he must have been alone for some time.
“Better call Social Services, bubba,” Bridges said turning to his partner Joe.
Leek took a step closer to the child and took it up into his arms. The crying stopped almost immediately.
“Hey, Harv, we had no idea...” Evan teased. He received a bright smile back from his partner, rocking the baby in his arms.
Nash and Joe watched the scene and smiled. They knew Harvey had a soft spot for kids, but they had never imagined him as a father. They did know he had a son, though, but Leek had only found out about it when Jerry had been one and a half years old.
“We can’t call Socials,” Harvey said, still looking at the child. He wouldn’t allow it being taking into an orphanage. Not as long as it’s mother’s condition was unclear. Bridges feared what his colleague was thinking.
“Just for today...” he assured his boss.
Nash looked at the baby boy, with these cute little hands and his blue eyes and couldn’t possibly say no.
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do. I know someone over at social services, but no promises. Got it?” Bridges replied.
“Sure!” Harvey looked as if he had been rescued from a root canal treatment at his dentist. He appeared to be happy. While he took care of the boy, Bridges, Cortez and Dominguez searched the apartment.
* * *
Crime scene unit arrived about ten minutes later at the apartment.
“Hey, Daniel!” Nash greeted one of those men wearing CSU overalls.
“Nash! Long time no see!” he returned smiling.
They shook hands.
“What can I do for you?”
“The usual stuff, take fingerprints and all...Do your job!” Nash said a little smile smirking round his lips.
Daniel McAllister turned to his crew.
“Let’s get it going, folks!” he said and turned to the SIU captain once more.
“You and your men didn’t touch anything, did you?”
Bridges pretended to be disappointed by that thought.
“Ouch, that really hurts, bubba! We had our gloves on,” he smiled.
McAllister returned a little chuckle.
“Okay, then get out of here and let us do our job!”
* * *
Captain Nash Bridges stood in sight range of the holding cells in the first story of the SIU barge. Actually they were just cages with a bench and a door, about 3 yards long on every side.
One cell had been turned into a baby’s room for now, the others were empty.
Now the holding cell was full of toys, mainly soft ones, and cops. Even Ronnie, the uniformed officer, who could fear murderers just by looking at them, stopped by occasionally and played with it for a few minutes, making baby noises and funny faces.
“I’m always surprised again how such little creatures could turn grown men and women into fools...” he thought and smiled.
It was good to have it here. With all the death and evil they saw every day, it was good to have a little life around.
Harvey had done great in organizing everything in such a short time. He had stopped at home on the way back to the station, to catch some stuff from his own son Jerry, like diapers, some clothes and toys. And he had found about ten volunteers to have an eye on the child.
Nash knew Leek was thorough, but it amazed him again and again with how much enthusiasm Harvey did his work. He was doing a great job. And Nash Bridges made a mental note to tell his colleague more often...
When he came back from his thoughts, he heard footsteps behind him. Nash turned and saw Harvey Leek approaching. As usual, he wore a very colorful Hawaiian shirt open over a dark gray long sleeve shirt.
“Bailey from crime scene sent this over. She thought we might be interested...”
He showed a photograph to his superior. On it was a young family with a baby child. Nash recognized the baby instantly.
“That’s him...” He pointed over to the cell.
“And the woman is Abigail Williams. The guy is the one from the shop...”
“Happy family...” Bridges sighed.
“The man’s name is Alan Williams, the boy’s Luka,” Leek said.
“Good work, Harv!”
Bridges smiled slightly.
“Let’s try if we can get this Williams character to talk...”
Williams had been brought to the SIU barge again. His right arm was in a loop to keep his arm from moving, so the shotgun wound could heal.
He was sitting at a wooden table, Ronnie standing a little behind him at the windows, carefully watching Williams’ every move.
He saw two men approaching, one in blue jeans, a light brown suit jacket and black shirt. The other one was dressed as if he was a left over from the sixties, except for the badge he wore round a necklace and his black beret. Williams recognized that one. He had shot at him.
While the other joined him on the table, the one with the beret kept standing.
“Okay, Bubba. I’m Captain Bridges and I take it you already know Inspector Leek over here...” He pointed over to Harvey.
“Sure, yeah, I know him – that bastard shot me!” Hatred was in every word Williams said. For a second, Bridges thought he would even spit out at Leek, but fortunately he didn’t.
“It’s not as if you had given us much of a choice, man...” Harvey replied, a little smile playing around his lips.
“You’re enjoying this, ain’t ya?” Williams addressed him again.
“Yeah,” answered Leek, his smile getting brighter.
“I enjoy shooting at people like you when they rob a shop!”
Nash raised a hand to sign them to be quiet.
“Okay, Bubba...” he started again.
“We know your name, Williams. And we know your girl-friend was part of it. What we don’t know is your partner’s name and whereabouts. So do yourself a favor and help us to help yourself.”
Williams had heard what this Bridges had said to him, but his eyes were focused on Leek.
“No, way, man! I tell nothing without a lawyer!” Williams spitted, without taking his gaze from Inspector Leek. He had his eyes locked on Williams’ in return.
“Okay...” Nash sighed.
“Ronnie, take him back and make sure his lawyer gets here the next time we’d like to talk to this gentleman.” Sarcasm was in that last word in particular. Nash stood up and wanted to leave.
Williams got forced to stand up as well by Ronnie grabbing him at his shirt and pulling him up.
“You enjoyed shooting my wife, didn’t you?”
This time, Harvey didn’t smile. He had to fight the feeling to punch this guy where it really hurt.
“Put another notch in your gun handle, cop!”
That was too much for Leek to stand. He got over to Williams so fast, Bridges couldn’t even react.
Harvey grabbed Williams by his collar, pushing him over to an open window.
“Wanna take flying lessons, man?!” he asked with a low calm voice.
But before he could do anything what he could regret, Nash was there pulling Harvey away from him.
“Ronnie take him!” Bridges ordered angrily, pointing his finger out. The cop in uniform grabbed Williams and brought him downstairs.
“And make sure he shuts up!” Nash shouted after them. Then he turned to his co-worker.
Harvey was standing by the window, his arm on the pane, his head resting on his arm. He watched the parking lot in front of the SIU ship and tried to calm down.
“Now, man...what was that all about?” Nash asked, stepping closer to Leek. The Inspector shook his head slightly.
“Don’t know, boss...This shouldn’t have happened...”
“You’re damn right! And you better make sure this never happens again!” Anger was in his voice. He had never seen Harvey Leek going over the line like this before. Nash watched him for a few seconds to come up with a tough decision.
“I’m taking you off the case, Harv...”
Harvey turned around.
“NO!”
“You’re emotionally too much involved with this. I can’t let one of my man walk around punching people...or wanting to throw them out of a window...” This time, Nash anger faded a little and he managed a smile.
“Look, if I let you stay on this case and this Williams guy gets a good lawyer, he’ll cry ‘Police Violence’ all over San Francisco. It would jeopardize the whole case. And you wouldn’t want this to happen, Harv, would you?”
Leek looked down, feeling guilty. He had screwed up big time.
“Listen...” Nash put a hand on Harvey’s shoulder.
“Take some sick leave...It’s up to you what you do in your free time. Take care of your son, go away for a few days or even make some visits to sick loved ones...”
Harvey’s face lightened up a little, when he realized what his superior had just said. He nodded.
“Okay...” He sighed.
“I’m sorry, boss...”
Bridges nodded and smiled.
“Besides, if you hadn’t done it, I probably would have gotten him by his big mouth myself!”
* * *
Inspector Cortez’ mobile phone rang twice before he could flip it open.
“Cortez.”
“Hey, man it’s me...” he heard a familiar voice at the other end.
“Harv, man, what’s up?” Evan asked while he tried to concentrate on making his way through San Francisco traffic. His partner sounded sad.
“Doctor Hernandez just called me – they have the results of the CAT scan on Abigail,” Harvey returned.
From the sound of his voice, Evan couldn’t tell if there were good or bad news ahead.
“And?” he asked after a short moment with nothing than static sounds on the line..
“No bleeding...they don’t have to operate on her!” Harvey stated with relief in his voice.
“That’s great, man!” Evan smiled slightly. These news would put his partner at ease a little.
“She has a swollen spot in her brain, though, and docs don’t know if there will be permanent damage, but her condition isn’t life threatening anymore...”
Evan thought for a second.
“Listen man, you need anything?”
“Nah,” he heard Harvey say.
“I’m okay – thanks man!”
* * *
She was shivering. It was so cold. Her head ached and she couldn’t move. Her arms and legs felt as if they were made of lead. She struggled to wake up entirely. Her mind was awake, but not her body. She felt someone holding her right hand. Slowly and with a great act of mental strength she opened her eyes. But it was so dark she couldn’t see a thing.
Where was she?
And more important, who was she?
She heard sounds but couldn’t make them out. She tried to sit up, but her body was still too weak. She tried to look around, but not a single ray of light was there. Then, suddenly it hit her with brute force: She was blind!
She cried out for help hysterically. Someone moved beside her.
“It’s okay, you’re safe!” a male voice said calmly.
“No one can hurt you!”
“I...I...am blind...” she cried and felt tears running down her cheek.
Had she been blind before?
She didn’t know. A million questions were running through her mind, but no answers. Her memory was like an erased computer hard disk – all was blank. She couldn’t even remember her own name.
She felt the man sitting down with her on the bed, taking he into his strong arms. He tried to comfort her.
“Who are you?” she finally heard herself ask.
“I’m Harvey Leek. I’m with the SFPD...”
“And...who am I?”
“Oh, no...” she heard the man sigh.
“You don’t remember?”
“Remember what?” Her voice trembled a little.
When he didn’t answer right away, she repeated her question.
“Remember what?” This time her voice was determined.
She heard a door open before he could answer. Footsteps were coming closer.
The young woman moved a little more towards Harvey.
“Who is this?” she asked. She didn’t know why, but she was scared.
“It’s okay,” Harvey said, still holding her.
“This is Dr. Hernandez.”
“Am I in a hospital?”
She didn’t get the puzzled look from the doctor as he looked over at the Inspector.
“She can’t remember...” he explained.
“Would you excuse us, please? I’d like to have some exams done...”
When Leek wanted to stand up and leave, the woman grabbed his hand tight.
“No, please, don’t go...”
Although he knew this mysterious man only a couple of minutes, she felt deep inside her heart that she could trust him. And she did.
* * *
Abigail was alone for the first time since she came out of the coma. Inspector Leek had left some hours ago to get back to work, but after that, there had still been nurses and doctors around.
Now she was alone in her room, with nothing around but silence and darkness. Everything had been so confusing. While they had been waiting for the results of all those examinations, Harvey Leek had told her what had happened and why she was at the hospital. And Abigail now knew that her blindness was a result of the injury. She felt a lump of fear crawling up her throat. Being alone, she had time to think about many things.
What would her life be after she got out of the hospital?
How would she manage her future life without sight, but with a little boy to care for?
And what if she wouldn’t get her memory back?
An image of her sitting on a street corner with Luka and a can in front of her, begging for money came into her mind. That scared her a lot.
She crawled under the comforter, groped for the little teddy bear Inspector Leek had given her before and drew her knees up to her chest. Abigail took the bear into her arms and let her tears flow.
* * *
Harvey Leek still felt bad. He may have changed the life of a young innocent woman entirely, who had delivered a child not more then three months ago. It was like a miracle that she had survived the injury and come out of the coma, but she might have lost her sight permanently. The police man stood at the railing of the SIU barge, although he was officially on leave now. He wanted to think and this place was the best he could imagine. Harvey sighed as he was watching the water underneath. He stood there for several minutes, sunk deeply in his blue thoughts. He didn’t noticed his partner Evan Cortez approaching.
“Hey, man,” Evan said.
Harvey turned around, startled.
“Hey...”
“Still thinking about the girl?”
Leek nodded slowly and watched the water again. He couldn’t fool his partner.
“Man, you have to stop that...it’s no good...helps neither her nor yourself...”
Cortez watched his partner closing his eyes. He had a painful expression on his face. It hurt Evan to see his buddy chewing himself up like that.
“There’s nothing you could have done different, man...it just happened...”
Leek heard the words his friend said. But if they were meant to cheer him up, they were no good. Despite that, the older cop managed a smile.
“Thanks, man...”
He didn’t want Evan to worry about him. He already worried enough for both of them...
“She lost her sight...” Harvey finally said.
“I thought she was in a coma?”
“Came out yesterday evening. I was there after work. She’s blind, man...”
Evan stepped closer to his partner and friend.
“But she is alive...That’s all that counts!” he tried to cheer Harvey up again.
“Sure...” Harvey looked down for a second, then up again.
“Let’s get out of here, man...” Evan smiled, grabbing Harvey by his shoulder and gently pulling him away from the railing.
* * *
Evan Cortez approached the desk of his superior with a few papers in his hands.
“Hey, boss, we might have something here!”
He handed the papers over to Captain Bridges.
“A neighbor filed a complaint to Child Protection Administration about the Williams guy. To her it looked as if he had tried to kidnap his own son.”
Nash looked up, a surprised smile playing round his lips. This was gong to be better and better. Then he nodded.
“Good work, Evan!” he praised him.
“Actually, it was Harv’s idea to check it out. He called me about an hour ago,” Evan stated.
Nash nodded again. This didn’t surprise him at all. Harvey Leek couldn’t get away from work for a single day, especially not when he was personally involved.
“Okay, “ he smiled. “Get a uni and check out this neighbor.”
“It was nasty,” the elderly woman told Inspector Cortez. They were sitting in the living-room. There were a lot of cushions around. Evan had to think of his nanny when he let his gaze wonder through that room. Mrs. Hathaway was glad to have some company around again that she wouldn’t start her statement without serving them a cup of coffee.
“Can you tell us more?” Cortez asked after he had put the mug down on the coffee table again.
She sighed and thought for a moment.
“I watched the whole terrible scene from this window. The young man, Mr Williams, was hurrying out of the house with his boy in his arms. Mrs. Williams followed shortly after him, crying. He sat the baby down in the car and turned to face her. She was begging him not to take her son away, but he just grabbed her and said something. Then she got into the car too and off they went.”
Even wrote down everything, then looked up again.
“Did you hear what he was saying to his wife?”
“No, Inspector, I’m afraid I did not. He was speaking too quiet.” She turned her head slightly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you...”
Evan and Officer Kelly stood up.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Hathaway, you helped us a lot already,” he said, closed his notepad and left after saying goodbye.
* * *
For the first time since she had lost her sight and memory, Abigail Williams realized she was wearing a ring on her left hand.
“I am married?” she asked anxiously.
Harvey Leek tried to decide how much he should actually tell her. Dr. Hernandez had told him before that telling tidbits might help to trigger Abigail’s memory.
“Yes,” he returned.
“And you have a son...”
“Luka!” Abby suddenly said.
The inspector smiled.
“That’s right! You remember him?”
Her eyes darted back and forth as she was trying to grab the memory of her son.
“Vaguely,” she admitted sadly.
She thought for a moment.
“Where is he?” she asked afraid.
He’s alone in our apartment!” she added when her memory recalled that fact.
“No, he isn’t.” Harvey returned.
“He’s with us at the SIU – my people have an eye on him.”
She let out a heavy sigh.
“What kind of mother leaves her child behind...alone?” Abigail asked with tears filling her eyes.
Harvey tried to comfort her.
“It’s not exactly as if you had much of a choice, lying here trying to survive...And he wasn’t alone for very long.”
“It hurts, though,” the young woman whispered.
“I don’t know if I ever can make that up to Luka again...”
Both were silent for a second, then Leek tried to smile.
“But your memory’s coming back. That’s good!” Harvey tried to cheer her up again. But all of a sudden, he went quiet. He had decided to tell her something else.
“Abby, there’s something else I want you to know...” he began his confession.
The young woman turned her head to look into Leek’s direction.
“Shoot...but I don’t meant that literally...” she joked. Se felt the mood was somehow becoming spooky at that moment, so she wanted to loosen that up a little. And without knowing it she had hit the spot.
“It’s about the shooting...” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly again.
“It was a bullet from my gun that hit you...”
Harvey looked down. Now it was said. And she would probably never want to have anything to do with him anymore. But he couldn’t bear it any longer to keep that fact from her.
For a few seconds, which seemed an eternity to Leek, Abby was silent. All kinds of thoughts were running through her head. Then, finally, she groped for Harvey’s hand.
“Did you point your gun at me?” she asked.
“No, of course not!” he returned dumbfounded.
“You told me to take cover behind that shelf, didn’t you?”
“Yes..” He wasn’t getting the point she was getting at.
“The bullet hit me when I was down behind the cover...So when you didn’t shoot me on purpose, I’d say it was an accident.”
“You’re not blaming me?” Leek asked, looking surprised down on her.
“What for? There’s no point, Harvey. Why should I complain about something I can’t change? I have to go on with my life. Besides...all this had made me meet you...”
Harvey was glad at this moment that Abigail was blind, so she didn’t see him blushing a little. He never had expected a statement like that from her. When he looked at her again, she was smiling.
“I really appreciate having you as a friend, Harvey Leek...And I mean that in no other spirit as in a friendship one...”
He shook his head. Could she read his mind? He chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“You, my friend!” he just answered, closing her into his arms.
* * *
“That explains the bruises,” Harvey sighed.
He had invited Evan over to his place for a beer and to get the latest news on the case. Cortez had just told his partner what he had found out earlier.
“You should’ve seen her arms, man...”
Leek shook his head in disbelief, while Evan took a sip of his beer.
“So maybe she was forced to be part of the plan...” he thought aloud.
Harvey looked over at his friend and nodded slowly.
“Yeah...could be...”
“I’ll have it checked out by tomorrow evening,” Evan promised. He knew how much Harvey hated it being left out.
“I’ll talk to Abby, maybe she recalls something about it,” Harvey added.
Evan leaned back in the couch.
“So, how is she, anyway?” he asked curiously. He had noticed the improvement in his partners mood.
“Getting better. She’s still blind, and the doctor says it may be permanently, but she’s holding together so well. And her memory recovers constantly.”
Harvey let a little smile play around his lips.
“She’s not even blaming me...” he stated.
The younger man gave him a pat on the shoulder.
“That’s good, man...Although you’re not to blame at all.”
Leek shrugged his shoulders.
“Yeah, I know...but it was good to hear it from her, though.”
* * *
Evan Cortez sighed heavily as he stared at the empty chair across his desk. It’s been only two days since Harvey was on leave, but Evan already missed his partner. Just before he could start to worry about his friend again, the phone rang.
Nash went over to Evan’s desk after the young inspector had finished the phone call.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.
Evan raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Sure,” he said, following his superior to get a little privacy.
“How’s Harv holding up?” Nash asked when they were out on the fantail.
Evan thought for a moment, not sure what to answer. His first impulse was to say ‘he’s okay’, but that wasn’t true. And as he had still to make up a lot to Nash again, he figured lying wasn’t the first choice.
“I don’t know,” he finally replied.
“He’s taking it pretty hard that the bullet that hit the woman came from his gun.”
Nash rubbed his chin slightly with his hand.
“Yeah, that’s the impression I got too.”
Bridges didn’t show it very often, but he cared a lot about Harvey. Watching him torturing himself like that hurt Nash deeply. He just couldn’t show it.
“Will he get over it?” he continued.
Evan looked out onto the sea.
“I guess,” he returned truthfully. “I’m sure he’ll make it when everything turns out okay, but if it doesn’t...”
He let the rest of the sentence hang unspoken in the air for several seconds.
“Keep an eye on him, Evan!” Nash asked and ordered at the same time and went back inside.
It was getting harder for Inspector Leek to keep his eyes open. He hadn’t slept much during the last few days, and now he got the invoice for that. His eyes were burning from exhaustion and he rubbed them with his palms. Then he glanced at his watch. Evan would pick him up in about 15 minutes. Harvey sighed. He would leave his car at the hospital – he was afraid he wouldn’t make it home safely. If he went to bed now, he would probably not even notice his head hitting the pillow.
Harvey looked at Abigail, who was sleeping calm, holding his hand. The man smiled slightly and relaxed. She was getting better by the hour.
Finally, Harvey Leek closed his eyes and fell asleep instantly.
He woke again feeling a movement in front of him. When he opened his eyes, he saw two men trying to pull the girl out of her bed.
“Hey!” he shouted, but before he even could get up, he felt something hitting his head. For a second, he saw stars exploding in front of him, then everything went black as he passed out.
Evan Cortez had been home when his partner had called couple of minutes ago..
“Meet me at the hospital? I need a beer...and some company, man...” he had said.
Cortez had noticed something strange in his friend’s voice that made him feel uneasy.
“Be there in twenty...” he had replied.
Now Evan was at the hospital, driving his car over the parking lot to find a space.
When he waited for his partner were they were supposed to meet, his gaze wondered through a side alley.
A dark van was parked at the delivery entrance of the hospital, the engine running, the side door open. It was waiting for something, so it seemed.
Cortez stepped a little closer. Now he was all cop, again. He had this strange feeling that made his hairs at his neck stand up. He hid behind a dumpster, watching what was going on.
He saw two men, pushing two wheelchairs with persons in them. They seemed to be unconscious. It took Evan a little until he recognized one of the persons was his partner. This gave him a pain in his guts. For Evan, Harvey Leek was partner, friend and brother, closer to him than his own family.
The mind of the young inspector raced. Alone, he didn’t have a chance against them. So he watched his partner and what seemed to be a woman being pushed into the back cabin of the van. When the door was closed, Evan hurried back to get his car. He managed to get to the alley just in time to see the car turn around the next corner. Cortez followed them a little behind, so he wouldn’t be noticed. He grabbed his mobile phone and dialed the familiar number of Nash Bridges’ cell phone.
“Bridges...”
“Nashman, it’s Evan! Listen, I went to meet Harv at the hospital, but he and the woman got kidnapped. I’m following them.”
He gave his boss the name of the street he was passing and the direction where they were heading
“Stay on the phone – tell me where you are constantly! We’re on our way!”
With his cell phone still on his ear, he called his partner.
“Joe, Evan’s following some scumbags who apparently have kidnapped Harvey and Mrs. Williams!”
Dominguez sighed.
“Can’t Leek stay out of trouble just once?”
“Ask him when we found him, Bubba!”
Nash informed Ronnie about their plans. The uniformed cop nodded and hurried to get some fellow officers for backup.
* * *
When Inspector Leek came to again, he moaned and tried to sit up. He felt that his surrounding moved, so he concluded he was in a vehicle of some kind.
It was pitch-black in there. Harvey couldn’t see an thing, but he felt something. Inside of him. But he managed to set this feeling aside for now.
The inspector heard another moan and started to grope for the source. When he felt an arm, he realized it was Abigail Williams.
“Thank God,” Harvey thought. “I’m not alone...”
Then he spoke aloud.
“Abby? It’s Harvey...”
She grabbed his hand.
“Where are we?” she asked a little scared.
“Don’t know. Seems to be inside a van or something. We’re brought somewhere. It’s pretty dark in here...” The last comment was more to himself than to Abigail.
Again, Harvey Leek felt something. This time the feeling was stronger and he couldn’t ignore it anymore. The feeling of being trapped. Without being able to control it, the man started to breath a little faster. He felt sweaty. With the sleeve of his shirt he wiped away the sweat from his upper lip. His breathing became even faster.
“What is it?” asked the woman beside him, concerned.
“You don’t sound so good...”
Harvey wanted to smile, but grimaced instead.
“Ehm...” He took another breath.
“I’m claustrophobic...”
With Cortez directing the Cuda through the city by phone, they managed to meet about ten minutes later. The pursuit had brought them close to the harbor. Every now and then they could hear a single seagull.
Bridges thought about the best place to put up a street barrier, but the van was still going through streets with too many people around. The Captain didn’t want to endanger more people than absolutely necessary. Even if this meant to follow the can with his fellow co-worker around San Francisco.
By now Leek was breathing so fast that he started to see little bright stars in front of his eyes.
Abigail groped her way up to Harvey’s face. She took it with her hands and drew him closer, until their foreheads touched.
“You have to calm down...”
Harvey wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. He felt his legs getting numb.
“This isn’t good at all,” he thought.
“Listen to me, Harvey!” Abby demanded, feeling the panic of her opponent.
“Concentrate on breathing! Listen to my voice! Breathing in...breathing out...and in again...and out again...”
The man had his eyes closed, focusing his every thought on the calm voice of the girl and her instructions. His breathing was getting slower. He could feel his legs again and the stars were vanishing as well.
“That’s better...Just relax...”
She felt the man’s shivering and knew she couldn’t stop his panic just by helping him to breath calmly. She thought a moment about what to do next and listened to Harvey’s breathing. He seemed to have calmed down, at least for now.
“How did you know what to do?” he finally asked.
Abigail thought for a second. There was an image inside her head. A memory. She stretched out a mental hand and grabbed it.
“My little brother was claustrophobic, too...”she replied.
As her hands still held Harvey’s face, she could feel him smiling.
“You remember your brother?”
The young woman realized what that meant and smiled, too.
“Yes, I do!”
Leek leaned back, interrupting the physical contact with her. This touch had suddenly made him feel uncomfortable.
Then suddenly, it hit him. The panic he had been holding down before invaded him like storm troopers.
“Have to get out of here!” he muttered.
“It’s so small in here...The walls...closing in...Can’t breath...”
He tried to stand up, but the van was too small. Right now, he felt like a captured tiger in a zoo. The darkness didn’t do any good, either.
Abigail moved over to him.. When she felt the SFPD cop, she grabbed his arm and drew him closer to her.
”It’s okay, Harvey, nothing can happen to us. We’ll...You’ll be alright...I promise!” she said with her calm voice.
When she felt the man relaxing a little, she continued.
“Close your eyes...”
The panic within him didn’t want to let him do so, but he managed to keep it down long enough to close his eyes.
“Imagine a wide open beach...no one is there except for you. If you look up, there’s just a wide open, perfect blue sky...The sun’s warming your face...”
That was good. Leek could feel himself relaxing even a little more. The feeling of being trapped began to melt like a snowball in the sun.
“You only hear the waves running up the beach...You feel the sand beneath your feet...”
Harvey sighed. This really felt good. He could almost smell the salty air. They both concentrated so much on that scene – the one telling it, the other imaging it – that they didn’t even feel that the van was forced to a halt.
Finally, Nash got the response over the radio that a street barrier had been set up.
“Evan, let’s go!” he radioed his fellow man.
The two cars sped up, turning on their headlights and sirens and forced the van to stop by driving in front of it.
With drawn guns the officers approached the vehicle.
“SFPD – get out of there now! Hands where I can see them!” Nash ordered, pointing his gun at the driver.
Some of the uniformed officers joined them on both sides of the van.
“Take them in for kidnapping a SIU Inspector!” he added.
The driver looked dumbfounded at his passenger, which Captain Bridges recognized as Chester Duke.
“I told you this was no good!” the driver shouted over to Duke.
Nash Bridges looked at his partner Joe Dominguez and smiled. He couldn’t believe what they just heard either. They turned to join Evan Cortez at the back of the car.
The young inspector opened the door. Harvey was there, leaning against the woman’s forehead. Eyes closed, he intensely listened to what she said.
“Thank God he’s okay,” Evan thought when he saw his partner was alive and well.
Inspector Leek was ripped out of that peaceful image when suddenly the back door was opened. He had to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness that flooded the small room.
“Who is it?” Abby asked cautiously. She was afraid it might be their kidnappers.
“We found them!”
Now that Leek’s eyes had gotten used to the light, he realized who was standing at the open door.
“Boss...Ev...” Relief was in his voice.
He hurried to finally get out of his confinement. When he was outside, he leaned back at the side of the van, taking a deep breath of San Francisco air. Then he turned to help the blind woman out of the van. His hands were still a little shaky, but now that he was out again, Harvey Leek felt much better. Now he finally realized that he had one hell of a headache from getting knocked out. But he would be okay as long as he got his hands on some aspirin.
* * *
“So, will you ask her out?” Evan Cortez asked in a mocking voice.
“Will you stop it, man?! I’m old enough to be her father!”
Harvey shook his head determined. Cortez smiled brightly. It felt good to see his partner again where he belong, although it was just for some questioning about the kidnapping.
“Can I ask her out then?” he asked.
He loved to tease his partner. Leek laughed, crumbled a piece of paper and threw it over to his younger partner.
“No you can’t Gigolo!”
Harvey was grateful to Evan to cheer him up. It felt good to share a laugh again with him. He felt the tension of the past few days fell off of him.
Evan leaned back in his chair and couldn’t help but smile. He was glad that his partner finally had crawled out of the emotional foxhole he had dug himself into over this matter.
* * *
With Abigail’s memory returning slowly, Nash thought it would be a good idea to get a statement from her. So he had her escorted to the SIU headquarter after they had found her and Leek in that van.
She was sitting on the interrogation table topside of the SIU barge with Inspector Leek sitting right beside her. Bridges and Dominguez were sitting in front of her. Joe had his notepad open in front of him to write down the vital points of her statement.
“Did you recognized anything on your kidnappers? Their voices maybe?” Nash asked.
She shook her head.
“No Sir. I was asleep when they got me. They must have tranquilized me with something, I guess. I just came to when we were already in the van.”
Joe looked over to Leek.
“What about you, Harv?” he asked.
The inspector sighed and thought for a moment.
“One of them could be the missing guy from the robbery...same height, same weight...but I didn’t hear him speak before they knocked me out.”
Joe nodded and wrote something down.
“Mrs. Williams, why were you there, in that shop?”
The woman lowered her head. She had asked herself that question over a hundred times already.
“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully with a whispering voice.
“You had no purse with you nor any papers stating who you are, so we take it you weren’t there to do some shopping...” Nash explained with a matter-of-fact voice.
He didn’t want to push her, but they had to find the connection between the robbery and the high jacking and he knew that woman held the key.
Nash thought about what to say next when suddenly Abigail’s face went pale.
“You’re okay?” Harvey asked concerned when he noticed the change of her attitude as well.
“Oh my God...” she exclaimed all of a sudden. Then she started to cry.
“He raped me...”
Harvey put his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer.
“It’s okay,” he whispered in her ear in a naive attempt to comfort her.
Nash leaned closer, his hand reaching out for hers.
“I’m sorry Mrs. Williams...I didn’t want to bring back bad memories...”
The SIU Captain felt guilt crawling up inside of him. He had pushed her too far after all.
“Can I get you anything? Glass of water or a coffee, perhaps?” he asked cautiously.
“Coffee...” he managed to hear through the sobbing.
“How do you like it?”
“White and sweet,” Leek answered in her place.
“Okay...I’m very sorry,” he said a second time. He nodded over to Leek, then signed his partner to join him and leave the inspector alone with Abigail Williams.
When the woman’s crying ebbed off again, Harvey Leek looked down at her.
“You’re okay?” he asked her calmly.
She straitened up again, wiped away the tears and closed her eyes to take a deep breath to get her feelings in order again.
“Guess so,” she murmured.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Harvey asked a little insecure.
He hadn’t dealt with many rape victims yet and he didn’t know if he as a male was the best person to turn to, but he also knew that Abby trusted him. And he was concerned about her, too.
Before she started, Ronnie came in, carrying a cup of hot coffee. You could see the steam getting up from it.
“Here you are, Mrs. Williams,” he said, leading her hand to the place he had left the cup standing on the table.
“Thank you, Sir,” she replied, letting her hand rest at the cup to let it warm her hand.
“Thanks, Ronnie,” Leek added and watched him go downstairs again.
Then he waited for Abigail to start, which she did after a deep sigh.
“There isn’t much to tell,” she said quietly and took a sip from the coffee.
“I still don’t remember much of it...just a few feelings and vague images...”
“Take your time,” Harvey said, letting his right hand rest on hers.
Again, she took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and it seemed as if she was trying to grab some of those vague images.
“I was afraid...” she whispered. “He hurt me...”
Harvey recognized that her hands began to tremble. He hated that she had to go through that again, but maybe it was related to this case.
“Who was it? Your husband?” he asked carefully. He leaned his head forward a little as if he was afraid to miss a single word she might be saying.
Abigail turned her head slightly.
“No...” she said, although there was doubt in her voice.
“There’s another image coming up again and again, but I can’t get hold of it...I don’t recall a name either...”
“Okay, Abby...can you describe him?” Harvey asked, his cop mode taking over again.
Again, she closed her eyes and thought for a few seconds.
“Ehm...brown hair...brown eyes...there’s a scare on his palm...he’s taller than me...”
Abigail opened her eyes again, although to her it didn’t make a difference.
“I’m sorry, that’s all...”
Harvey gave her an encouraging hug.
“That’s okay...it’s more than nothing...”
When Leek guided Williams out of the SIU after he had told Nash what she previously had told him, she suddenly stopped dead.
“What is it?” Harvey asked concerned.
“Sebastian!” she whispered.
“Who’s Sebastian?”
“The man who raped me...”
* * *
“Sebastian Hagen, 23 years old, finished high school and is now working in the grocery shop of his father,” Evan explained.
After Harvey had told him what Abigail had said about the man who had raped her, the young inspector had done a little research.
Leek had wanted to do it himself, but Nash had reminded him determined that he was still on leave and off the case.
Now Evan was sitting on the corner of Bridges’ desk, giving his superior the details about what he had found out.
“Hagen as in ‘Hagen’s Haven’?” Nash asked, although he was already guessing what the answer would be.
“Exactly. And guess what...”
Nash pointed his index finger at Evan.
“He has priors...”
“Jackpot!” Evan smiled brightly.
“A girl in his high school charged him with attempted rape, but he only got parole, cause both were drunk at that time."
“So we can’t use it as a pattern,” Bridges sighed.
“But we have Abigail’s statement...” Cortez looked surprised at his boss.
“A statement from a blind woman with amnesia isn’t exactly prosecutor’s favorite witness,” Nash stated.
“But Hagen doesn’t know that she lost her memory. We should confront him with what we know. Maybe he tells us something new...”
Evan stood up in anticipation and wasn’t disappointed.
“Okay, bring him in for questioning.”
* * *
Inspector Cortez and two uniformed officers were inside the small shop again. They stood in front of the counter, where Evan was talking to Mr Hagen senior. Suddenly, he heard a door in the back open as it squeaked slightly.
“There he is, Inspector!” Mr Hagen said, pointing his finger on the door.
When Sebastian Hagen realized what kind of company his father had, he turned his heels and ran.
“Hagen, SFPD!” Evan shouted to identify the small group.
They followed Hagen junior and caught him when a fence was in his way of escape.
“Why are you running away from us, Sebastian?” Cortez asked acting as if he was really astound and disappointed.
“We just wanted to ask you to come down to the station to answer some easy questions.”
The young Inspector stepped closer and smiled a little.
“But now, as you tried to run, I have the feeling you want to hide something. So I don’t ask you, I demand you come with us!”
He grabbed Hagen by his arm and forced him to follow them.
* * *
Sebastian Hagen sat at the wooden interrogation table. His hands rested on it, partly covering the light brown spot in the shape of Australia, where the surface was gone.
He looked out of the wide windows, but there was nothing to distract him from the interrogation ahead.
“You know a woman named Abigail Williams?” Bridges asked matter-of-factly.
“No...ehm, yes...” he stuttered.
“Now what?” Joe Dominguez asked.
“Yes or no?”
Hagen moved uneasy in his chair. He was getting nervous.
“I knew her before she got married,” he explained, avoiding both Dominguez’ and Bridges’ eyes.
“Why did you try to run when Inspector Cortez wanted to talk to you?” Nash continued.
He and his partner noticed Hagen’s tension. They knew he was hiding something. And they would question him until they would know what it was.
“I don’t know...It was stupid, I know that. I was scared...” Hagen said.
Bridges gave Joe a look that said he didn’t believe a thing this boy said.
“What were you scared about, bubba?” Joe asked anxiously.
“And this better be good, ‘cause so far it wasn’t Academy Award material...” Nash added, smiling.
But this time, Hagen remained silent, staring down at his hands.
Bridges and Dominguez looked at each other, then Joe stepped up besides the young man and slammed his hand down on the table.
“Hey!” he said aloud.
“Wake up, bubba!” Nash added seriously.
Hagen jerked back in his chair and looked up again.
“So, what’ the story with you and Mrs. Williams?”
Bridges pierced Hagen with his gaze, while Joe sat down on the table beside him.
“He...he’s my son...,” Sebastian finally whispered.
“Who?” Nash asked puzzled.
“Luka...”
Joe turned his head to face his partner, who had the same surprised expression on his face as Joe himself.
“Does Mr. Williams know that?” Joe asked.
Hagen nodded slowly.
“He found out about two weeks ago.”
“Why did you rape her, bubba?”
Nash’s voice was calm and quiet now. Joe knew he was trying to hold himself back. When he looked around the precinct, Joe spotted Ronnie and signed him to come over. Just in case.
Hagen lowered his head in shame.
“It wasn’t even my idea...,” he whispered.
“Then who’s idea was it?” Nash asked with a voice that indicated he was loosing his patience on that guy.
“Chet’s...”
“Who’s Chet?” Joe asked impatiently.
“Chet Duke...it was a test of courage...I had to prove I was a man...”
Nash shook his head. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“So you decided to rape a young woman...”
He turned to Ronnie, the uniformed offer, who was standing by the windows.
“Take him in, Ronnie, for the rape of Abigail Williams...”
“But she wanted to be taken by force! Alan told me!” Hagen defended himself, while Ronnie was already handcuffing him.
Nash turned to Joe, shaking his head in disbelief again.
“It’s good that Harv wasn’t here to hear that, man...Guess this guy would have learned how to fly...” he said, referring to the incident with Williams.
Then he turned to Ronnie again.
“Take him out of my sight, before I have to puke!”
* * *
Inspector Harvey Leek had managed to bring Evan Cortez, Nash Bridges and Joe Dominguez with him this time. It was the day Abigail Williams should be released from the hospital. They were sitting in the small single-bed room. Abigail’s child Luka was there, too. Now that the case was closed, there was a lot of laughing and teasing in that room. Harvey sat on the bed, playing with Luka and watching Abby from time to time. It was amazing how good she managed her new fate, without sight. She seemed to be happy, laughing and smiling a lot. For him it was like the sun coming up when she smiled. She didn’t blame him at all for what had happened.
“Why complain about something you have no chance to change anyway?” she had asked him earlier when Leek had asked her.
But suddenly, she became quiet.
“What is it? You’re not passing out or anything?” Evan asked, who had noticed that too.
The woman shook her head slightly. Then she narrowed her eyes until they were just slots.
“Is that a Grateful Dead armband?” she finally asked, staring at Harvey’s jacket which laid at the end of the bed.
“Come again?” Leek asked, puzzled. He thought he was dreaming what he had just heard.
“You’re a Deadhead?” she asked again and smiled.
Harvey started smiling brightly. This was fantastic! He couldn’t help but to embrace and kiss Abigail.
The fellow officers smiled and stayed discretely in the background. They all knew how much their partner had been involved with this case.
Nash approached her, embracing the young woman as well.
“You scared us a lot! Especially one of us!” he smiled, giving Harvey a wink.
When they separated again, Abigail looked at her child, which was now sleeping in front of her. Her vision was still blurry and not very clear. It was as if she was looking through a steamed up window pane. She could make out outlines, but not many details. But she enjoyed every second of it.
“I thought I’d never see you again...” she whispered and took the small hand of her son. She felt tears filling her eyes. She didn’t want to cry, but after everything that had happened the past few days, she allowed herself to do it. And it felt good.
When she calmed down a little again, she started to examine her surrounding for the fist time since she was there. She still had to blink a lot because she wasn’t used of seeing anymore, but she enjoyed every second of it. She let her eyes rest several seconds on the three men standing by the foot of the bed. Then she turned her head to face the man who had helped her so much through the past days.
The first thing that struck her were his big blue eyes. He was smiling and she already loved that smile, although she hadn’t been able to see it. Abigail knew Harvey had curly hair and she chuckled as she spotted a gray streak hanging down his forehead.
“So...you’re Harvey...” she said after what seemed to be an eternity.
He nodded slowly.
“You still want me as a friend now that you know how I look like?” he asked with a far too serious voice. She smiled and leaned over to him.
“Now more than ever,” she returned.
Nash made himself heard again as he cleared his throat.
“May I introduce us as well?” he asked with a mocking voice.
Like little children being caught with their hands in the cookie box, Harvey and Abigail looked at each other and laughed.
“I take this as a yes...” Bridges chuckled.
Then he put a face to the each of the names Abigail had known for some time already. She was glad about that. Over the past few days, these people had given her strength and friendship and it was good that she finally was able to see them.
“Now that the case is closed, I’d like to get back to work,” Harvey Leek stated. He was standing in the Williams’ apartment. Nash stood in front of him, ready to leave him and the young woman. He stretched out his hand.
“Welcome back, bubba!” Nash smiled. It still hurt to think of taking one of his best men off the case, but he had had no other choice.
“I had to take you off,” Bridges said as if he wanted to apologize for his job.
Harvey shrugged his shoulders.
“I guess I gave you no other choice, boss.” He shook his head when he remembered his inappropriate behavior the other day.
“What’s with Williams and the other guys?” he asked.
Nash took a step back into the apartment. This would take a few minutes.
“I’d like to hear that, too...”
The men turned and realized Abigail was standing in the doorway.
“You’re sure?” Nash asked. He knew it would be a nasty story.
But when the woman nodded determined, he sighed and returned to the living room.
“Where’s Luka?” Harvey asked before he sat down.
“Asleep in his crib...I think he’s happy to be in his own bed again...” Abigail smiled, then became serious again.
“So?” Leek could tell Abigail was anxious to fill the gaps her memory still had.
Nash let his arms rest on his knees and leaned forward, hands folded.
“Hagen was the one who raped you...,” he started.
Harvey looked over to the woman, but she didn’t show any emotional reaction. She just nodded.
“It was a courage test, planned by Chet Duke to prove Hagen was a man and worth of getting into their gang.”
Harvey closed his eyes and shook his head. What had this young woman done to deserve that kind of treatment?
“Hagen stated that Alan knew about it...and that he found out that Luka wasn’t his son a few weeks ago.”
Abby nodded.
“I knew it all along, but I was afraid how Alan would react when I had told him...” she said matter-of-factly.
“As a revenge, Alan gathered Duke and Salieri and planned to rob Hagen’s Haven,” Nash continued.
“Alan threatened to take Luka away from me...” Abigail stated, the memory of that event coming back slowly.
“That’s right. So he blackmailed you to become part of the plan. You were the look out to make sure Sebastian wasn’t in the shop on that day.”
When Nash looked at the woman again, he discovered tears in her eyes. Harvey went over and put an arm around her.
“Why did you marry this guy anyway?” he asked.
She drew a nervous smile.
“You wouldn’t believe it...Alan was really nice when we met in high school. After the rape I discovered I was pregnant and he asked me to marry him, so the child would have a father...”
She shook her head in disbelief.
“How could I be so stupid? He fooled me the whole time.” Now she was near to crying.
“We all make mistakes, Abby! But sometimes they have something good as a result,” Harvey said in a comforting attempt. Nash realized he was talking about Anna Paxton and him. Though it might have been a mistake to date her, Harvey was now a proud father.
“Yeah...You’re right. I’m alive, Luka is well and I met wonderful friends...Seems I finally am allowed to be happy...”
* * *
Two weeks later:
She was nervous. Abigail had thought about this for the last two weeks and she had decided it would be the right thing to do. She held her son Luka in her arms when she opened the door of the SIU headquarter. A constant buzz of all those voices, ringing telephones and tapping at computer keyboards surrounded her. The young woman slowly approached the desk of the man who helped her getting through this whole situation. But it was his partner, Evan Cortez who saw her first.
“Hey, Harv, look who’s paying a visit!” he said, giving his partner a soft push.
The inspector with those colorful shirts looked up. When he recognized Abby, his mood rose immediately and he smiled.
“Abby...” He stood up to embrace her warmly. It felt good to see her again. Then he smiled at Luka, caressing his cheek softly.
“How have you been?” Harvey finally asked.
Abigail smiled a little nervous and nodded.
“Okay...” she said shortly. It still felt strange being alone with her son.
“I’m getting divorced.”
“Oh...” Harvey didn’t know what else to say. On the one hand he was happy that Abigail would get away from the scumbag she had married, but on the other hand he knew well enough how painful a divorce would be.
“But that’s not the reason why I’m here...” Abigail stated, getting Leek back to the here and now.
“Ehm...I really don’t know how to say this best...it will concern all of you...”
Harvey smiled supportively.
“Just go ahead!”
Evan turned his head to listen what the woman would have to say. Harvey waved over to Nash and Joe, signing them to join him.
Abigail Williams waited until all of her friends were there, then she took a deep breath and began to speak.
“You know...Luka is not baptized yet...And, after all you have done for me...I would like you all to become the godparents of my son...”
That really was a bombshell. Nash smiled brightly, watching the rest of his team doing the same.
“But...”, she started again when the small group had calmed down again.
“I can only choose two of you all...” She turned to Harvey and Evan smiling.
“Would you do me the honor and accept being the godfathers of Luka?”
Leek’s jaw dropped a few inches. He looked at his partner. Evan was dumbfounded as well, but he smiled nervously.
“I’m not sure if I am the right person to ask...” he stated.
“I wouldn’t ask, Inspector, if I wasn’t sure about it...I thought about it long enough...”
Abigail smiled and gave Luka into the caring arms of Evan Cortez. When he hold the infant, watching him as it began to smile, Evan forgot all his doubts.
“That’s not fair!” he finally laughed and quickly added an “Okay, I accept!”
“Me, too...Thank you!” Harvey said proudly, embracing the young woman again. He had never thought about something like this.
Abigail turned to the rest of the SIU team, after Harvey had let go of her again.
“You took care of Luka so well when I was at the hospital, it’s my way to say ‘Thank you’ to all of you! I know you all be great godparents!”
Nash made a step forward, still smiling.
“It will be an honor for all of us...” he said, embracing her too.
* * *
“So, how have you been?”
Harvey and Abigail were out on the fantail to have some quiet place to talk. Ronnie and Evan were babysitting Luka inside.
“Well, settling in, you know...get an apartment, finding a job..”
The woman looked up to the man.
“I’m starting a professional training in two weeks,” she said.
Leek smiled happily.
“That’s great! What are you trained for?”
Abigail chuckled and looked down.
“Don’t laugh!” she demanded nervously.
“I won’t,” Harvey promised.
“I’m going to be a paramedic...”
She waited to see his reaction, but he seemed to be happy for her.
“That’s cool! Good luck for you!” he stated, embracing her.
“Ehm, listen...I might need Luka’s godfathers every now and then to watch him...”
“Anytime!” Harvey smiled. It would be fun to watch Luka and his own son Jerry together.
She looked up into those bright blue eyes she loved so much.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
“For everything.”
THE END
Special thanks to Mel, Kat, Dawn and Jolanda for their input.
