The rest of the day and the next were uneventful. No letters, phone calls, bombs, nothing from the stalker at all. Nash spent the whole weekend with Lexi, taking her to appointments, hanging out, and talking - lots of talking. He had to admit this was the most enjoyable case he had had in awhile. And even though he hadn't made any more advances on her, he wanted to.
Sunday was supposed to be Nash's day off and Lexi felt bad that he had to work through it. He'd joked with her, saying he'd just tack in onto his growing vacation time. She only had a morning talk show, so afterwards she took him to brunch in an effort to make herself feel less guilt. Nash could tell her guilt ran deep, so he tried to even the score. He asked her if there were anything she really wanted to do and immediately regretted it when he heard her answer. A movie - in a movie theatre.
After exiting the comedy she made him sit through, he stopped trying to hide his laughter. The movie had helped to take their minds off the case. It felt good just to laugh. They even had fun grocery shopping with Lexi promising to make a gourmet dinner for Nash and Nick. "You cook, too?" Nash was surprised. "I dabble," she admitted.
After dinner, Nick smoked his cigar and watched television while Nash escorted Lexi to the balcony. "You have a beautiful view here," she admired.
Nash looked at her, "Yes, it is. I bet you have an amazing view from your place."
"My place," Lexi sighed. "Would you believe that I haven't even thought of my apartment until just now."
"I guess being on the road a lot helps you to adjust to having to be away," Nash leaned against the railing next to her.
"I guess that's it," she smiled at him. Looking away she asked him, "So how soon do you think it will be before you catch this wacko? And I can go home."
Nash paused; he wanted to be honest. He wanted to tell her that he didn't want her to go home, that he wanted to freeze this day and live it over and over again. But he also wanted her safe and happy. "Hopefully soon." He smiled slightly, "If you stay here much longer, I might have to make you cook again. I don't know if Nick's cholesterol levels can handle that though."
Lexi chuckled softly. "I'm so sorry; next time it's tossed salad and that's all."
"No, no, that's all right." Nash got serious again as he turned to face her. "I really enjoyed today. Dinner was just the icing."
"Sure, you did," Lexi stared out towards the bay. "Your day off, and you have to tag along with a...what was it you called me before? Oh yeah - A prissy little diva." She smiled teasingly, "I mean, dinner was the least I could do."
Nash laughed softly. Her statement made him wonder what the best was. "I had fun, really." He paused, hesitating, before plunging forward. "Maybe... maybe we could do it again sometime....under different circumstances, of course."
"Of course," Lexi echoed before going silent. She was still confused as to her exact feelings for Nash. She'd thought her plan was to seduce him to ensure he solved the case quickly so she could get on with her life. Yet somehow, there was something pulling her back, making her hesitate. This was deeper than just the case; this was something she wanted to explore further. But did she dare? She looked at him, into his blue-green eyes, and found herself answering, "Maybe."
The wind blew a piece of hair across her cheek and Nash reached out to brush it back. As he leaned towards her, Nick came out the door. "Good night, you two," he crashed the moment. "Thank you for dinner, Lexi. It was wonderful. I really enjoyed it."
Lexi stepped away from Nash towards Nick. "Thank you, Nick. I'm glad that you liked it," she smiled at the older gentleman.
"I truly did," Nick returned her smile. "You need to come around here more often. Good night, you two."
"Good night," they replied, echoing one another. "Your father's nice," Lexi commented.
"Yeah," Nash laughed, "He's got a great sense of timing, too."
Lexi laughed with him and he smiled at her again. He watched the glow of the skyline dance in her eyes, mesmerized by the simplest things about her. His gaze was too intense and showed too many raw emotions for Lexi's comfort. She turned towards the railing. Trying to be polite, she said, "I guess maybe it is time to go to bed."
"Lexi," Nash stepped towards her, passion welling into his voice, not sure if it were an invitation or not.
"Alone, Captain Bridges," Lexi backed away. "That was not an invitation." She tried to relax her tone. "I want you well rested when you go back to work on my case tomorrow."
"Yes, ma'am," he made himself smile. "Good night."
"Good night," she whispered as she returned inside.
Nash looked down at his wine glass and smiled. "Perfect timing, Dad," he said to himself. He leaned against the railing and looked over his city. "Bubba," he told himself. "You may be getting too personally involved in this case." With a slight smile he finished his glass of wine.
"Hey, Nash," Harvey called out as Nash came in the office. "I got something you might wanna see."
"Tell me it is a lead and I just may kiss you," Nash said as Harvey followed him upstairs to Nash's desk.
"Then pucker up, I think I've found our leak. I was going over Michelle Vincent's files, planning on notifying her next of kin, and all that jazz. Next of kin for Michelle Vincent, personal assistant to the stars, is her daughter. Yeah, thought that would peak your curiosity. Mine, too, especially since the daughter is thirty-two. Elaine Vincent, she owns Elaine's, a bakery in Pacifica. Imagine my surprise when she told me her mother died in 1996 from lung cancer."
"And our Michelle Vincent is?" Nash asked.
"I'm working on that," Harv told him. "Running her picture through the national directory now, hoping to pull up a search. She has no criminal record in California though. I need your go ahead to get a warrant to search her residence."
"Go, go, search it." Nash waved his hand at Harvey. "See if you can find anything that helps to put us on the right track."
As Harvey left to obtain the warrant, Joe came up. "You approved?"
"You think I wouldn't?"
"I got a call from the CSU," Joe was blunt. "They found a body. It's pretty bad, but they're believing it to be Michelle. Once it's confirmed they'll call me."
"Oh, man," Nash rubbed his face. "If the inside link is gone..."
"So where's Lexi at now?" Joe wondered.
"When I left, she was in bed asleep. I need to have her at the theatre at two for her rehearsal. I should probably call Nikko and fill him in."
"Are you going to tell Lexi about Michelle?" Joe asked. "I mean everything?"
"No," Nash replied. "Not until I know what it is I need to tell her."
Antwon drove slowly down the street while Harvey looked at the house numbers. They pulled over at 267. Next to it was an empty lot, and number 271. "Dammit!" Harvey's fist hit the dash. They got out of the van and looked around. An older lady was getting her mail when Antwon stopped her.
Flashing his badge, he inquired about house number 269. "Oh," the lady said as she looked at the lot. "So sad, the house burned down last year. It was so pretty. The owners had the remains demolished. A nice couple purchased the lot last month."
As they thanked her for her help, the two men headed back to their vehicle. Harvey pulled out his cell phone and dialed Nash's desk. "Hey, boss, you are never going to guess what we found at Michelle's apartment. Nothing. I mean, nothing. Number 269 Cedar Crest is an empty lot. Neighbor said the house burned down last year and the owners sold the lot last month. She gave Glicker's office a fake address."
"Well, she had to live somewhere. Get back here and see if you can find out who she really was; we'll go from there."
"You're early," Lexi commented when Nash and Joe came down the steps to the living room. She set down the book she had been reading. "That's a surprise. Of course, so was he." Standing up, she motioned to the uniformed officer playing cards with Nick.
"I hope she didn't give you any trouble," Nash told the officer and jerked his thumb towards Lexi.
"Not at all, Captain Bridges," Officer Olsen replied, showing Nick his cards. "Full house."
"Cheater," Nick mumbled.
Nash crossed to Lexi and took her hands in his. As he sat on his coffee table, he forced her to sit down on the couch. His face was all business; it made Lexi nervous. "What's going on?"
"They found a body in the building. CSI is determining if it is Michelle." He squeezed her hands as they started to shake. "But there's more."
"More than finding Michelle's body? She was the only one left in the building. It had to be her."
"Lexi, Michelle Vincent from Sausalito was a work of fiction." Seeing the confusion crossing her face he continued. "There was a Michelle Vincent, born in Sausalito, who worked as a personal assistant. She died in '96 and is buried in Pacifica. Her daughter confirmed it. Your Michelle used those credentials to get the job."
"So she forged a resume, but there has to be two Michelle Vincents. Did you go to her house?"
"269 Cedar Crest is an empty lot."
"But - Robert, his team did a background search on her. Nothing came up out of the ordinary. He would've caught that."
Nash sighed, letting go of one of her hands to rub his eyes. "Honestly, we missed it, too. Harvey discovered it yesterday when he was trying to notify next of kin. Whoever she was, she was good, and she covered her tracks. I think she might have been the inside informant."
"Nash, I" Lexi started and stopped. She continued this cycle a few more times before pulling her hand away from his. "It can't be. You just didn't find the right Michelle."
"We got the Michelle Vincent information from the prints Robert gave us." He stared down at his clasped hands. "I'm sorry."
"I trusted her; I believed her," Lexi shook her head, trying to piece it all together.
"Harvey's trying to ID her. Joe and I are going to take you to rehearsal. I'm afraid that if Michelle were the informant, and that was her body, your wacko is not going to be happy about it."
"Should I cancel the rehearsal?" Lexi whispered. Nash knew that it would take a lot for her to cancel anything related to this concert. "If it would put the rest of my team in trouble, I'll cancel it."
"Nikko would've called if he found anything unusual at the theater," Nash hesitated.
Lexi nodded and stood up, "I'll get my bag."
Nash walked over to the kitchen island, its three occupants watching him. "Why didn't you let her cancel rehearsal?" Joe asked.
"People are already stirred up about this and I'm trying to keep it low key," Nash sighed. "If we were to cancel a rehearsal for a multi-million dollar project, what do you think it would do?"
Sunday was supposed to be Nash's day off and Lexi felt bad that he had to work through it. He'd joked with her, saying he'd just tack in onto his growing vacation time. She only had a morning talk show, so afterwards she took him to brunch in an effort to make herself feel less guilt. Nash could tell her guilt ran deep, so he tried to even the score. He asked her if there were anything she really wanted to do and immediately regretted it when he heard her answer. A movie - in a movie theatre.
After exiting the comedy she made him sit through, he stopped trying to hide his laughter. The movie had helped to take their minds off the case. It felt good just to laugh. They even had fun grocery shopping with Lexi promising to make a gourmet dinner for Nash and Nick. "You cook, too?" Nash was surprised. "I dabble," she admitted.
After dinner, Nick smoked his cigar and watched television while Nash escorted Lexi to the balcony. "You have a beautiful view here," she admired.
Nash looked at her, "Yes, it is. I bet you have an amazing view from your place."
"My place," Lexi sighed. "Would you believe that I haven't even thought of my apartment until just now."
"I guess being on the road a lot helps you to adjust to having to be away," Nash leaned against the railing next to her.
"I guess that's it," she smiled at him. Looking away she asked him, "So how soon do you think it will be before you catch this wacko? And I can go home."
Nash paused; he wanted to be honest. He wanted to tell her that he didn't want her to go home, that he wanted to freeze this day and live it over and over again. But he also wanted her safe and happy. "Hopefully soon." He smiled slightly, "If you stay here much longer, I might have to make you cook again. I don't know if Nick's cholesterol levels can handle that though."
Lexi chuckled softly. "I'm so sorry; next time it's tossed salad and that's all."
"No, no, that's all right." Nash got serious again as he turned to face her. "I really enjoyed today. Dinner was just the icing."
"Sure, you did," Lexi stared out towards the bay. "Your day off, and you have to tag along with a...what was it you called me before? Oh yeah - A prissy little diva." She smiled teasingly, "I mean, dinner was the least I could do."
Nash laughed softly. Her statement made him wonder what the best was. "I had fun, really." He paused, hesitating, before plunging forward. "Maybe... maybe we could do it again sometime....under different circumstances, of course."
"Of course," Lexi echoed before going silent. She was still confused as to her exact feelings for Nash. She'd thought her plan was to seduce him to ensure he solved the case quickly so she could get on with her life. Yet somehow, there was something pulling her back, making her hesitate. This was deeper than just the case; this was something she wanted to explore further. But did she dare? She looked at him, into his blue-green eyes, and found herself answering, "Maybe."
The wind blew a piece of hair across her cheek and Nash reached out to brush it back. As he leaned towards her, Nick came out the door. "Good night, you two," he crashed the moment. "Thank you for dinner, Lexi. It was wonderful. I really enjoyed it."
Lexi stepped away from Nash towards Nick. "Thank you, Nick. I'm glad that you liked it," she smiled at the older gentleman.
"I truly did," Nick returned her smile. "You need to come around here more often. Good night, you two."
"Good night," they replied, echoing one another. "Your father's nice," Lexi commented.
"Yeah," Nash laughed, "He's got a great sense of timing, too."
Lexi laughed with him and he smiled at her again. He watched the glow of the skyline dance in her eyes, mesmerized by the simplest things about her. His gaze was too intense and showed too many raw emotions for Lexi's comfort. She turned towards the railing. Trying to be polite, she said, "I guess maybe it is time to go to bed."
"Lexi," Nash stepped towards her, passion welling into his voice, not sure if it were an invitation or not.
"Alone, Captain Bridges," Lexi backed away. "That was not an invitation." She tried to relax her tone. "I want you well rested when you go back to work on my case tomorrow."
"Yes, ma'am," he made himself smile. "Good night."
"Good night," she whispered as she returned inside.
Nash looked down at his wine glass and smiled. "Perfect timing, Dad," he said to himself. He leaned against the railing and looked over his city. "Bubba," he told himself. "You may be getting too personally involved in this case." With a slight smile he finished his glass of wine.
"Hey, Nash," Harvey called out as Nash came in the office. "I got something you might wanna see."
"Tell me it is a lead and I just may kiss you," Nash said as Harvey followed him upstairs to Nash's desk.
"Then pucker up, I think I've found our leak. I was going over Michelle Vincent's files, planning on notifying her next of kin, and all that jazz. Next of kin for Michelle Vincent, personal assistant to the stars, is her daughter. Yeah, thought that would peak your curiosity. Mine, too, especially since the daughter is thirty-two. Elaine Vincent, she owns Elaine's, a bakery in Pacifica. Imagine my surprise when she told me her mother died in 1996 from lung cancer."
"And our Michelle Vincent is?" Nash asked.
"I'm working on that," Harv told him. "Running her picture through the national directory now, hoping to pull up a search. She has no criminal record in California though. I need your go ahead to get a warrant to search her residence."
"Go, go, search it." Nash waved his hand at Harvey. "See if you can find anything that helps to put us on the right track."
As Harvey left to obtain the warrant, Joe came up. "You approved?"
"You think I wouldn't?"
"I got a call from the CSU," Joe was blunt. "They found a body. It's pretty bad, but they're believing it to be Michelle. Once it's confirmed they'll call me."
"Oh, man," Nash rubbed his face. "If the inside link is gone..."
"So where's Lexi at now?" Joe wondered.
"When I left, she was in bed asleep. I need to have her at the theatre at two for her rehearsal. I should probably call Nikko and fill him in."
"Are you going to tell Lexi about Michelle?" Joe asked. "I mean everything?"
"No," Nash replied. "Not until I know what it is I need to tell her."
Antwon drove slowly down the street while Harvey looked at the house numbers. They pulled over at 267. Next to it was an empty lot, and number 271. "Dammit!" Harvey's fist hit the dash. They got out of the van and looked around. An older lady was getting her mail when Antwon stopped her.
Flashing his badge, he inquired about house number 269. "Oh," the lady said as she looked at the lot. "So sad, the house burned down last year. It was so pretty. The owners had the remains demolished. A nice couple purchased the lot last month."
As they thanked her for her help, the two men headed back to their vehicle. Harvey pulled out his cell phone and dialed Nash's desk. "Hey, boss, you are never going to guess what we found at Michelle's apartment. Nothing. I mean, nothing. Number 269 Cedar Crest is an empty lot. Neighbor said the house burned down last year and the owners sold the lot last month. She gave Glicker's office a fake address."
"Well, she had to live somewhere. Get back here and see if you can find out who she really was; we'll go from there."
"You're early," Lexi commented when Nash and Joe came down the steps to the living room. She set down the book she had been reading. "That's a surprise. Of course, so was he." Standing up, she motioned to the uniformed officer playing cards with Nick.
"I hope she didn't give you any trouble," Nash told the officer and jerked his thumb towards Lexi.
"Not at all, Captain Bridges," Officer Olsen replied, showing Nick his cards. "Full house."
"Cheater," Nick mumbled.
Nash crossed to Lexi and took her hands in his. As he sat on his coffee table, he forced her to sit down on the couch. His face was all business; it made Lexi nervous. "What's going on?"
"They found a body in the building. CSI is determining if it is Michelle." He squeezed her hands as they started to shake. "But there's more."
"More than finding Michelle's body? She was the only one left in the building. It had to be her."
"Lexi, Michelle Vincent from Sausalito was a work of fiction." Seeing the confusion crossing her face he continued. "There was a Michelle Vincent, born in Sausalito, who worked as a personal assistant. She died in '96 and is buried in Pacifica. Her daughter confirmed it. Your Michelle used those credentials to get the job."
"So she forged a resume, but there has to be two Michelle Vincents. Did you go to her house?"
"269 Cedar Crest is an empty lot."
"But - Robert, his team did a background search on her. Nothing came up out of the ordinary. He would've caught that."
Nash sighed, letting go of one of her hands to rub his eyes. "Honestly, we missed it, too. Harvey discovered it yesterday when he was trying to notify next of kin. Whoever she was, she was good, and she covered her tracks. I think she might have been the inside informant."
"Nash, I" Lexi started and stopped. She continued this cycle a few more times before pulling her hand away from his. "It can't be. You just didn't find the right Michelle."
"We got the Michelle Vincent information from the prints Robert gave us." He stared down at his clasped hands. "I'm sorry."
"I trusted her; I believed her," Lexi shook her head, trying to piece it all together.
"Harvey's trying to ID her. Joe and I are going to take you to rehearsal. I'm afraid that if Michelle were the informant, and that was her body, your wacko is not going to be happy about it."
"Should I cancel the rehearsal?" Lexi whispered. Nash knew that it would take a lot for her to cancel anything related to this concert. "If it would put the rest of my team in trouble, I'll cancel it."
"Nikko would've called if he found anything unusual at the theater," Nash hesitated.
Lexi nodded and stood up, "I'll get my bag."
Nash walked over to the kitchen island, its three occupants watching him. "Why didn't you let her cancel rehearsal?" Joe asked.
"People are already stirred up about this and I'm trying to keep it low key," Nash sighed. "If we were to cancel a rehearsal for a multi-million dollar project, what do you think it would do?"