| The characters of "Nash Bridges" are the property of CBS and Paramount Television. The episode "Hot Prowler" was written by Reed Steiner and Jed Seidel. Their dialogue is marked with asterisks. Copyright 2002 by Stevie In Memoriam *"Nash! She’s dead Nash!" He still had those words ringing in his ears. How could he let her die? He had tried CPR, but it had been too late. The city prowler had found his last victim: Michelle Chan. “Mr and Mrs. Chan, I’m very sorry to tell you...” He always hated to say these few words, to tell someone that their beloved sister, father, husband or daughter was gone. But having to say this to the parents of one of his crew-members was almost unbearable. With a sigh Nash sat down at his desk, trying hard not to show how he felt right now. He had to be strong for his team. He felt his partner Joe behind him. *“How did it go?” he asked with a thin voice. Nash suppressed a desperate laugh. *“I just told a Mom and Dad that their child was murdered...How could it go?” Just saying that brought up tears. Joe reassuringly squeezed his shoulder. “Yeah...” he just murmured. Joe could still see Michelle laying on the floor in the middle of her apartment. They had been too late. They had concentrated on protecting someone else. They had never imagined that one of their own would be the next victim. It had been a fatal mistake. And even if it wouldn’t help Michelle anymore, Joe promised that it would never be made again. He let his gaze wander through the ferry. On a bench near the filing cabinets he spotted Evan. Their young colleague wasn’t hiding his tears. Evan felt as if a part of him was missing. From the minute Michelle Chan had joined the SIU, he had been in love with her. Secretly. Now he regretted that he had never said a thing about it, that he never had let her know. He thought there would be enough time. But now, Michelle was gone. Just like that. Evan had never lost a colleague in the line of duty before. It hurt badly. He wondered if he would ever get used to that awful pain. He was a cop and it was an unwritten law that cops died. But how you get used to that? Could he ever deal with it? Evan looked over to his older and more experienced partner to see how he coped with that pain of loss. Someone had just passed by to give Harvey Leek a file he had been waiting for all day. He flipped it open and tried to read, but inside his mind was just the image of Joe shaking his head, telling him that Michelle Chan was dead. He knew that Nash had killed the prowler for that. Justice had been done. Suddenly, he felt tears crawling up from deep inside. “Not here,” he silently told himself, but his body wouldn’t listen this time. He felt his chest being pulled together. He needed to be alone, so Harvey threw the file back upon his desk. *“I’m gonna feed the dog...” Harvey went to the holding cell he kept his neighbor’s dog King in and gave him some food. His knees felt weak so he sat down. Elbows on his knees, Harvey wanted to keep the tears down as he had done so many times, but it wouldn’t work. He missed the young woman already. Her death had been so useless. She had died because he and the others had been late. They had concentrated on the reporter – they simply had been blind for other possibilities. Partly it was his fault that this beautiful, life-loving woman was dead. Finally, Harvey gave up his resistance and let the tears flow. * * * It was raining. It was as if the sky was mourning as well. Like tear drops, the rain fell down on two black umbrellas and a light brown coffin with flowers laying upon it. Nash, Joe, Evan and Harvey were paying a last respect to Michelle Chan. Everyone else was already gone. There would be a wake at the Chan’s place, but Nash knew they wouldn’t go. He knew how his men felt. He felt the same way. Blaming himself for not being there in time, for being so blind. Nash took a step closer to the coffin and left a white rose upon it. “We’re gonna miss you, sister...” The End |
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