As he woke up, Harvey realized several things. He was lying on cold concrete, his head was pounding, his chest felt like something was sitting on it, and something was biting into his right wrist. Opening his eyes, he saw what was grinding into his wrist...handcuffs. He was handcuffed to a chain that was padlocked to a pole.
"Well, I've seen this movie before. At least there's no Elvis impersonator this time."
Looking around at his prison, he surmised he was in a warehouse. From the tang in the air, he must be on one of the piers. He noticed a gallon jug of water sitting next to the pole, so they must want to keep him alive. At least for a while. One of the huge doors began to open, and Harvey blinked in the sudden brightness. Several cars drove into the warehouse and parked near him. Two familiar forms got out of one of the cars. Winwood and Duncan.
The two men walked over to Harvey and stood staring down at him for a moment. Winwood finally broke the silence. "Well, Inspector Leek. Sorry we couldn't provide you with better accommodations, but we were quite unprepared for your untimely arrival. You're actually very fortunate that we have decided to keep you alive. Perhaps after we finish our business and leave the country, we'll call your boss and let him know where you can be found. Then again, perhaps not."
Climbing to his feet, Harvey laughed and shook his head. "Do you really think they don't know where I went this morning? Do you honestly believe they won't find out you kidnapped a police officer? If you do, you're more stupid than Jack."
He saw the blow coming, but couldn't get out of the way quick enough. He reeled from the punch and stopped himself from falling by grabbing the pole. The salty taste of blood filled his mouth and he felt the split lip with his tongue. Harvey leaned over and spat out a mouthful of blood and smiled. "Apparently Jack's a little sensitive about his level of intelligence."
That one earned him a blow to the stomach that landed him on his knees. Harvey decided he better quit while he was ahead. Or behind. Depended on your point of view.
David held out an arm to keep Duncan from further acts of violence. "That's enough. We don't have time to play these games with you, Inspector. We'll only be here a few minutes, then we'll leave you to your thoughts. Come on, Jack, we have things to do. I have much to do before my flight in the morning."
Harvey sat on the wet concret floor with his back to the pole, his chest heaving trying to pull in the air driven from his lungs by Jack's fist. Spots started to dance across his vision. He was having a hard time getting enough air. Just as he was about to panic, his breathing eased and his vision cleared.
He could see that the men were almost finished dividing up the money. Once the men all had their shares, they piled into the cars and drove off. The door slid shut behind them, leaving Harvey alone in the near darkness once more.
Curling up on the hard floor, using his free arm as a pillow, Harvey wondered if anyone back at the SIU was aware of what had happened.
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Hanging up the phone after another long talk with the Chief, Nash looked at his watch in concern. It had been almost two hours since his phone call with the secretary over at Trust, and Harvey still hadn't shown up. Just as he was about to give her another call, the phone rang. "SIU, Captain Bridges."
It was the secretary, and she sounded near tears. "Oh, Captain Bridges, it's you. Mr. Winwood is gone. He sent me out on an errand and when I came back everyone was gone. Most of his stuff from his office is missing, and clients are calling asking what happened to the trucks that were supposed to deliver money this morning. All the trucks are gone and so is the money. What do I do?"
Nash sighed. This just keeps getting better. "Okay, look, just stay there and don't touch anything. We'll be there as fast as we can."
As soon as he hung up with the hysterical woman, he immediately started dialing Cassidy's cell number. "Cassidy. Listen to me, this is very important. I know you have class, but I need you to go over to Joe's and watch Lucia for me. I need Joe down here, one of the guy's is in trouble. No, it's not Evan. It's Harvey. Yes, I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for your help, sweetheart. Love you, bye."
Seeing Evan walk back to his desk, he waved him over and started dialing Joe's number. "Evan, call Michelle. Tell her to find someone, ANYone to cover for her on surveillance and get over here. Harv's in trouble." Waving off Evan's questions, Nash turned his attention to the phone. "Joe? Cassidy is on her way to watch Lucia for you. As soon as she gets there, I need you to get over here to the SIU like yesterday. Look, I'll explain everything to you when I see you okay? No...Joe, Harvey's missing. Yeah, well, he's missing again. Just get down here."
"Evan!"
"Yeah, Nash?"
"Let's go, you and I are gonna check out Trust Security."
When they got to Trust, the secretary nearly sobbed in relief at seeing the two men. She showed them Winwood's near empty office and the open safe...empty of anything valuable, of course. While Nash listened to her explaining what she'd seen before and after her errand, Evan left the office to check out the other rooms. As he walked down the dimly lit hallway, a small stain on the floor made his stomach knot up. He knelt and rubbed the stain with his fingers. Evan sighed and closed his eyes. Blood.
"Nash!"
Walking down the hall to see what Evan wanted, Nash picked up his pace at the look on the younger man's face. "Whatchya got, Evan?"
"It's blood, Nash."
"Damn. Alright, lets get the lab boys down here. I want this place turned upside down. Also, call over to the hospital and get Harv's blood type so the lab guys can compare it. It'll be quicker that way, than looking it up in his personel file."
"I'm all over it, boss."
"I'm gonna head back to the SIU to let Joe and Michelle know what's going on, and see if we can track down Mr. David Winwood. Tell ya what, that bastard better not have done anything to Harvey...or he'll answer to me."
Michelle and Joe were both waiting, when he finally got back to the SIU. He filled them both in on what had happened. "Alright, let's see if we can find any of these guys on this list Harvey made. There were nine employees that switched to the companies that got robbed. I want at least one of them in here, ASAP."
By the time Evan called, however, they'd drawn a blank.
"Nash, it's Evan. The lab guys say the blood stain matches Harv's type. They also found Harvey's fingerprints on the front door and the receptionist's desk. He was here, but there's no indication of where they took him."
"Okay, Evan, head on back. We've come up empty here, too. Winwood's skipped. His house looks like he left in a hurry and there's no sign that Harv was there. We're trying to find the employees that were in on his little scheme. No luck so far."
"I'll be there in a hurry."
As Nash was hanging up the phone, Joe and Michelle came in, pushing a suspect ahead of them.
"And who do we have here boys and girls?"
Joe looked at the suspect in disgust. "Oh, him? Nashman, this is Jack Duncan. He worked for Winwood before joining Bailey's. It was his truck that was robbed yesterday. Found him at his girlfriend's apartment. He's big, but dumb."
Duncan stiffened in anger, then relaxed and smiled tauntingly. "You know, your Inspector Leek said something to that effect this morning. I made him pay for it, of course."
Nash glared at the suspect for a moment, trying to maintain control of his emotions. "Joe, take this scumbag to interrogation before I thow his ass overboard."
Three hours later, they still hadn't gotten anything from Duncan. No matter what they tried, all he would say was that if they let him walk out of there and leave the country safely, he'd call and tell them where to find Harvey.
Getting nowhere fast, Nash had Duncan taken back to lockup and they all met at Nash's desk. Rubbing a finger across his chin, Nash frowned thoughtfully. "Okay, we know they've got Harv stashed somewhere. Michelle, Evan...you two see if you can find out if Winwood owns any property or other holdings. Joe, put an APB out on the Trust armored trucks. Maybe they've got him hidden in one of those." He looked at his watch and sighed; it was after 3 o'clock.
"Let's hurry guys...time's slipping away from us."
By 6 o'clock, they'd found four of the missing armored trucks. They were all empty, naturally, and there was no sign of Harvey. A sudden shout from Michelle had the others jumping from their desks, hopeful looks on their faces.
"I think I've found it, Nash. I found a warehouse on pier 34 that is in Winwood's wife's name. Sounds like just the place to hide someone."
Nash looked at her in surprise. "Winwood's wife? Have you talked to her?"
"No, apparently she's in New York visiting family. According to the Winwoods' neighbor, she's been there for the last three weeks."
"Alright gang, let's roll. Evan grab some backup for us and get Ronnie. Michelle, call and have an ambulance standing by on the pier. You and Evan meet us there."
As he and Joe jumped in the 'Cuda, Nash sent up a silent prayer that they would find their friend safe and sound.
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Having entertained himself the best he could by singing Grateful Dead songs for several hours, Harvey finally gave up and switched to mind games. That provided amusement for all of forty-five minutes. He'd dozed off and on, but it was hard to get comfortable. He'd tried to get loose, but all that accomplished was bruising and scraping his wrist with the handcuffs. He wondered if the others even missed him yet.
The day dragged on.
He was cold. Cold, wet, and his throat and ear hurt. He was really starting to feel like he just wasn't getting enough oxygen. He'd finally noticed the funny noise he made upon expiration and it was starting to worry him; he'd never made that sound before.
Harvey looked at his watch for the hundredth time. It was almost six. No wonder it was getting darker...the sun was setting. Harvey wondered if they'd left him his watch on purpose to make the days drag by more slowly. A special torture.
Deciding once more to try to get some sleep, Harvey curled up on the wet floor. He was in the middle of a very strange dream about hiking...and something to do with Evan being pregnant...when his solitude suddenly turned into chaos.
The big warehouse door opened and people were running and yelling. Their shouts reverberrated off the walls and made Harvey's head pound in protest.
The next thing he knew, someone was unlocking the handcuffs and he was surrounded by Nash, Joe, Michelle and Evan. "You guys are just determined to not let me get any sleep, aren't you?"
Seeing the guilty looks on all their faces, Harvey rolled his eyes. He instantly regretted it, as the headache flared to life. "Guys, I'm just kidding. Thanks for coming to get me, 'cause it was getting a little boring."
Nash shook his head and slapped Harvey on the back. "It's good to have ya back, bubba. You know, let's not make it a habbit of finding you chained to poles. Unless of course it's with a pretty girl and it's consensual."
Everyone laughed at that, then the others moved out of the way to let the paramedics in to check Harvey out.
The taller paramedic knelt next to Harvey and turned to his partner. "Go ahead and get a non-rebreather set up for an albuterol treatment. I don't even have to use the stethescope to hear his wheezing."
The mask that was slipped over Harvey's mouth and nose was uncomfortable and he didn't like it. The shorter medic was shooting questions at him, while taking a blood pressure reading at the same time. Harvey felt a sudden stinging pain in his other arm and was surprised to see the other medic taping down the I.V. needle. So one medic distracts you while the other jabs you, he thought. Pulling the mask down off his face, he fixed the taller medic with a glare.
"That was sneaky, man."
Chuckling, the medic finished getting the I.V. set up. When the two paramedics were finished, they helped Harvey onto a waiting stretcher. Nash held out a hand to stop them before they could leave.
"How is he?"
The paramedic smiled, "Well, I think he's gonna be fine. Sounds like he's got a good case of asthmatic bronchitis. Add to that a probable concussion, dehydration and exposure...and I can guarantee at least an overnight stay courtesy of the hospital."
We were lucky this time, Nash thought to himself. "Harv, I want to apologize for the last few days. We've been taking you for granted and I'm sorry we did that. It shouldn't have happened and it won't happen again."
Joe, Michelle and Evan all nodded their agreement, solemn looks on their faces.
Harvey nodded his head and pulled down the oxygen mask so he could be heard. "You can say that again, boss. You see...I learned something from all this."
Evan shot his partner a puzzled look. "What's that Harv?"
Chuckling, Harvey looked at Nash with amusement flashing in his eyes. "I learned how to say 'No'."
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That's all, bubbas.G
