A/N: Well, chapter eight is finally here, and sorry it took so long! I'm glad no one threw tomatoes at Rhodes for being a lousy brother in his teenage years. I think it's safe to say he's suffered enough. Be prepared for some suspense in this chapter, because they're *finally* going after Hu! Took long enough, didn't it? I know, I'd be impatient if I were you. Again, I am sorry I made you wait. I always jinx myself, saying I'll post the next chapter real soon! Har har. I should stop telling people that. To make it up to you, here it is!
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure it's been established that the idea for this story is not mine, but belongs to Conan Doyle; though the characters are indeed of my creation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A Perfect World
a Sherlock Holmes pastiche
by Wakizashi
Chapter Eight: A Fearful Fiend
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Rhodes, if I fall and break my leg in these damned shoes, I'm going to sue you for reckless endangerment," I growled as I followed my friend out the door and down the steps of his condominium. My skirt, which was far more feminine than anything I ever wore, was too long, and I had to pull it up as I scrambled down the concrete steps. If I were a man, I would have felt like Tootsie in my ridiculous disguise.
Despite my growing attachment to Rhodes as I got to know him better, I still became quickly annoyed at him as he strode down the sidewalk, swiftly outpacing me and not caring a whit. "Will you please slow down?" I called to him, my tone much less polite than my words. "It's bad enough that I have to walk in these four-inch heels *without* you power-walking down the street on your stupid Big Bird legs!"
Rhodes turned abruptly, the corner of his mouth raised in amusement. "I'm sorry, Bridges," he said as I caught up with him. "I keep forgetting that you're much smaller in size than I am."
"No," I corrected him, hoisting up my skirt again. "You keep forgetting that I'm a shrimpy little tomboy who can't walk in stilettos."
He thought about this for a moment. "I wouldn't have phrased it that way," he said slowly. Then he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It's imperative that we get to Hu's apartment before he leaves, and that is why we need to hurry. If you're having trouble, hold on to my arm."
And so we walked quickly down the sidewalk together, arm in arm, as the daylight faded and the streetlamps came on one by one. Though Rhodes didn't know where my instuctor lived and therefore I was leading the way, I felt almost reluctant to go on. If something happened and one of us was injured, I didn't see how we could get away safely. One thing was certain: never in a million years could I carry Rhodes.
I quickly shook those thoughts out of my head. Now was definitely not the time to get cold feet. Instead, my mind drifted back to the puzzling conversation I had had with Thomas Hu over the phone before we left, and the enlightening conversation I had had with Ethan Rhodes after I had hung up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Picking up the cordless phone in the living room, I dialed Hu's number and signaled to Rhodes to stay quiet. It rang uninterrupted at least five times, and I began to think, to my dismay, that he was already gone. I frowned at Rhodes, and he looked back at me in askance. "He's not answering," I whispered, and his shoulders slumped visibly.
The phone contonued to ring, and I was about to hang up when an impatient voice came through: "Yes? Hello, yes? What is it?"
It was Hu, all right. I gave Rhodes a thumbs-up and said, "Hi, Thomas? This is Nadia Bridges, from class."
"Oh... Hello, Nadia." He sounded distracted, and was doing a pretty lousy job hiding his irritation, if you ask me. "I-is something wr-- um, something the matter? You *did* get my, uh... my message, didn't you?"
I felt my nose scrunch up. I didn't know Thomas Hu very well, but I knew he never stuttered. He sounded like he was taking a lie detector test, and was failing miserably. "Yes, I did," I replied airily, leaning against the back of the futon couch. I noticed Rhodes staring at me with a raised eyebrow. "I know there's no class tonight, but I just had a slight problem. It's nothing important, really. I just forgot what pages we were supposed to read in the textbook." I let out a small, self-deprecating laugh. "Pretty dumb, huh?"
A small silence followed, perhaps during which he was contemplating whether or not he believed my story. Or whether or not I had lost my mind. "Uh, yes," he finally said. "I, I mean *no*, of course not. It's uh, its... 330 through 347, in lesson nine."
"Oookay, lesson nine," I confirmed, pretending to write it down in the air with an invisible pen. This time both of Rhodes' eyebrows reached for his hairline. "Thank you so much, Thomas, and have a great night." Before he could sputter out a badly pasted-together goodbye, I hit the 'end' button and set the phone back in its cradle. "Well, whether or not he's a cold-blooded killer still remains to be proven," I said to Rhodes. "But one thing's for sure: he thinks I'm dumb."
His mouth dropped open in feigned horror. "I can't imagine what might have given him that impression."
"Hey." I waved a fist at him. "Don't make me give you another black eye."
He merely smiled, and I turned to the front door when his voice stopped me. "Nadia." I looked over my shoulder at him in surprise. Rhodes addressing me by my first name twice in one day? This was an unprecedented event that must be documented. "Thank you," he said softly.
My eyebrows knitted in confusion. "For giving you a black eye?" I asked dubiously.
His eyes rolled back into his head in frustration. "No, not for giving me a black eye," he said exasperatedly. He stepped forward and took my hand in his. "For being at the coffee house at the precise moment I was. For not running away screaming when I tried to talk to you." I smiled, and he added, "Don't think I didn't know you wanted to. I *am* a detective, after all." He stared down at my fingers for a short while, and I wondered what he was thinking. "And... for knowing all my faults, and still wanting to be with me."
For being so full of himself in public, he certainly didn't have much self-esteem. "Rhodes..." I shook my head, frowning up at him. "You don't have to thank me. That's exactly what friends are for. And if you think that... that what you told me tonight changes anything between us, then you're wrong. I'm still here for you."
I believe Rhodes made an effort to speak, but nothing came out. I understood, and I gave his hand a tight squeeze before releasing it. "Come on, let's go," I suggested. He nodded, brushing silently past me out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Walking alongside him, my arm in his to keep me from taking a humiliating pratfall, a realization that I had been trying to avoid finally hit me: Rhodes needed me. For the majority of his life, he had been starved for attention and lacking in love. And now, after years of being utterly alone, he had someone; he had me. He didn't want to admit it - and maybe he never would - but he desperately needed me to care for him, to be there for him. If I ever decided to leave, it would devastate him.
He was almost dependent on me.
The thought was a daunting one. Could I really handle such a responsibility? I had taken care of my father when there hadn't been enough money for a physical therapist, but that was different. My father was emotionally strong. Beneath the arrogant, cheeky exterior, Rhodes had a very fragile psyche; one that may never fully heal. Such a commitment to someone was lifelong. Did I even have any business taking on a task like that?
I sighed softly, knowing the answer to my question even before I asked it. Rhodes had already taken me into his confidence. For the second time that night, it was too late for getting cold feet.
"Bridges?"
My head jerked up quickly, and Rhodes looked at me with concern. "Are you all right?" he asked.
Despite the gravity of my thoughts, I felt myself smile. "Yeah, I'm good." Reminding myself to pay more attention to my surroundings, I realized we were only a block from Hu's apartment building. "Look alive, Rhodes," I said, walking with a new determination, "we've almost reached the rat hole."
The term "rat hole" was, of course, not at all accurate. Hu's apartment building was every bit as posh as Rhodes' complex, but unlike the buildings where the detective lived, which seemed like they had been there since the city was founded and therefore belonged there, Hu's apartment was out of place in the middle of the block. It was much more modern in design than the other buildings; a steel-and-concrete monster among a village of brick. It stood out like a suited business man at a 4-H meeting.
Rhodes looked at the apartment building appraisingly. "It appears someone has done well for himself," he noted dryly. Examining the face of it, he observed, "Well, the only exit is in the front right here, so if Hu comes out we'll definitely know it."
"If he hasn't left already," I reminded him.
He smiled and shook his head. "Must you be so negative, Bridges? We'll wait here at the corner of the block by this hedge. If he doesn't come out in--" He consulted his watch to check the current time. "--an hour at the most, it's safe to say we missed him."
*An hour!?* I thought, staggered. *We're supposed to wait out here in the cold for an hour?* Suppressing a sigh of irritation, I told myself to be patient. Detective work wasn't like it was in the movies, with car chases and explosions and arch enemies with British accents. It could be long, tedious work, and I was going to have to get used to it.
Letting go of Rhodes' arm, I crossed both of mine over my chest and settled it for the wait. A fog was coming in from the bay, and I had to take off my spectacles for a brief moment to wipe away the condensation. For a moment I was reminded of "The Hound of the Baskervilles", which I read in high school. The mental image of Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade waiting outside that devil Stapleton's house as the fog settled on the moor would have given me a chill of excitement if my current situation had not been so mind-numbingly dull.
"Rhodes," I said, my voice sounding loud after the silence, "did you ever read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories?"
He gave me a strange expression, and I figured he was wondering where on earth that question came from. "A few of them," he replied, returning his gaze to the entrance to Hu's building. "Mostly the novels, like 'A Study in Scarlet' and 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. I haven't read many of the short stories. Why?"
"Oh, I don't know. I guess because - well, sometimes - you remind me of him." I smothered a grin as his head whipped around to stare at me in surprise. "What, are you offended?" I asked.
Rhodes let out a short bark of laughter. "Offended? No, no! I would say 'shocked' is a more appropriate word." He rubbed his hands together to warm them. "What is it about me that reminds you of him?"
I shrugged, hugging my arms closer to myself. It was really getting chilly. "A lot of things, actually; some more obvious than others. Like, for instance, you're both detectives." He nodded, his raven's-wing hair falling into his face and calling to mind another resemblance to the Great Detective. "You're both tall and skinny, and you both have black hair. And you have the same hands," I added.
"Thank the heavens I don't wear a deerstalker," he remarked. I laughed, and he cocked his head at me. "All right, I see how you might notice some similarities. But I assume you're talking about more than physical appearances."
"You assume right." I thought for a moment. "Well, for one thing, you were extremely arrogant when I first met you, and God knows Holmes has quite the inflated ego."
"Indeed?"
"Yes, 'indeed'. And there's another: you both talk the same. If you were from England instead of the South, I wouldn't be able to tell you apart." I smiled as I remembered our first weekend together at the Pier. "And you both can deduce things about people just from looking at them. That is a rare gift, you know."
I couldn't tell you with confidence if it was the cold or my praise that made Rhodes' cheeks turn slightly pink, but I'm inclined to believe the latter. "It's not so difficult, really," he countered, looking back at the apartment building. Suddenly he grinned mischievously. "I might even go as far as saying, it's quite elementary, my dear Bridges."
I groaned wearily as he basked in the enjoyment of his own joke. I was never going to live this down. "You know, Holmes never even said that," I muttered. He merely smiled contentedly, and I checked my watch. Only fifteen minutes had passed.
It was going to be a long night.
The seconds flew by like, well, minutes as we waited for Hu to leave his building, and my patience was quickly wearing thin. Even Rhodes was beginning to show signs of restlessness, pulling his hand out of his coat pocket every two minutes to consult his Bulova watch. I wanted to ring the buzzer to Hu's apartment and run.
At eight-forty I heard a bizarre noise which startled me at first, until I realized with a sort of detached comprehension that the sound was my own teeth chattering. Rhodes' eyes widened at me, and in an instant he had taken off his elegantly tailored jacket and draped it around my shoulders. "I'm sorry, Bridges," he said, sounding truly apologetic. "I don't know why we're still here; Hu probably left before we even got here. Let's just forget it and go home where it's warm."
I sighed. "You're probably right," I agreed. "But here, take your coat back before you freeze to death." But even as I began to shrug out of it, his cold hand clamped over my mouth and pulled me into the darkness away from the street lamps. I glanced up at him, and I knew by his drawn eyebrows that Hu had emerged from the building. Sure enough, even from our place of hiding I could see my massage instructor's small, wiry form step out onto the sidewalk. He looked around suspiciously and, assuming he was alone, made his way down the street in the opposite direction.
Slowly Rhodes removed his hand from my mouth and stepped away. He looked down at me for confirmation, and I nodded.
The hunt was on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
We followed in near-silence, my heels clicking softly on the concrete sidewalk. Luckily we were at a safe distance, far enough to be sure we wouldn't be heard. I wobbled very little, which surprised me; I owned three pairs of tall shoes, but their heels covered much more ground area than the ones I wore now. I was quite sure that we looked somewhat odd to the other pedestrians out walking that night - an awkward redhead in the arm of a lanky young man with no jacket on. In any case, if I fell, I knew Rhodes was going down with me.
As we pursued our prey, I observed that although we had turned quite a few corners, our wanderings had a clear purpose. Hu's destination was somewhere near Fisherman's Wharf. I could already smell the salty air, and in fact, as we drew closer, I could just see the tall masts of the various sailing ships that were moored at the docks every night. I wondered what pressing business Hu could possibly have at the Wharf.
Peering around the side of a fish market, which, although it had closed its doors at six, still reeked horribly, we watched Hu start resolutely down one of the long, narrow ramps that led to the boat docks. I frowned up at Rhodes, as if he had any idea why Hu would come here, but he just shrugged.
Waiting just long enough to ensure our quarry wouldn't see us, we made our way down the same ramp and onto the damp wooden docks. It was a clear night, and the silver moon's reflection was distorted on the rippling surface of the black water. Some of the windows of the moored boats were lit, but they were the only sign that we weren't the only humans out there.
The dock was slippery to a dangerous degree, and after a while I was forced to stop and remove my shoes. My feet instantly disliked the idea as they touched the cold, damp wood. I didn't know what to do with the shoes once they were off, but with a swift, impatient move, Rhodes took them from my indecisive hands and threw them over the side of the dock. They hit the water with a soft ~plunk!~
I stared at him with my mouth hanging open, but he was looking around intently. "Where did he go?" he whispered.
Puzzled, I turned around. The docks were a complex layout, with many turns branching off in different directions. If we had lost sight of Hu, he could be anywhere.
"I don't know," I whispered back, transferring my weight from one foot to the other. "Let's just keep going. We'll probably find him soon."
But as we continued, I got that strange, hard-to-ignore feeling that we were being followed. I kept glancing over my shoulder, absolutely certain that Hu would emerge from the shadows. Rhodes noticed my uneasiness. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly.
"Most likely nothing," I replied. "You'll probably think it's woman's intuition or something, but it feels like we've becomes the hunted instead of the hunters."
"You mean, you think we're being followed?"
I nodded. "But like I said, it's probably nothing. Just a weird feeling. 'Like one that on a lonesome road doth walk in fear and dread', and all that."
"'And having once turned round walks on, and turns no more his head.'"
I blinked up at him, surprised. "'Because he knows a fearful fiend doth close behind him tread'," we finished in whispered unison. I shook my head, a chill running down my back. "Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. We have way too much in common."
"It seems very fitting in this situation," he said darkly. "Unsettlingly so."
Shivering again, I asked, "So you believe me?"
He glanced at the surrounding darkness again, his wary expression clear even in the dim light. "I learned a long time ago not to disregard something as seemingly insignificant as a hunch," he finally said. "Sometimes your gut instincts are what can save you from a potentially fatal situation." He turned to me. "That's one thing to remember, Bridges. *Never* ignore a hunch."
"That's good advice, Mr. Rhodes," a sudden voice behind us said, startlingly loud after all our whispering. "Useless now, of course."
I spun around to see Thomas Hu standing directly in front of us, a pistol gleaming dully in his right hand. It was shaking with rage. Involuntarily, I took a step backward and collided with Rhodes' chest. He placed a protective hand on my shoulder.
"I knew it was you, Nadia," Hu said, shaking his head bitterly. "From the beginning, I knew it was you. I just didn't want to be right."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: I know, cliffhanger. Don't kill me. And if you must throw vegetables, please don't throw anything hard or pointy, like celery or asparagus. And especially no pumpkins. If I don't survive your enraged produce-pummeling, how do you expect me to write the next chapter? *sigh* Anyway, I hope this one lived up to your expectations. Did you like our heroes' conversation about Sherlock Holmes? I thought it would be fun. After all, he's the reason I even wrote this story! So leave a review, and if I'm alive, I'll get to work on chapter nine, in which we hear Hu's side of the story!
Wakizashi
tricksparrow@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure it's been established that the idea for this story is not mine, but belongs to Conan Doyle; though the characters are indeed of my creation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A Perfect World
a Sherlock Holmes pastiche
by Wakizashi
Chapter Eight: A Fearful Fiend
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Rhodes, if I fall and break my leg in these damned shoes, I'm going to sue you for reckless endangerment," I growled as I followed my friend out the door and down the steps of his condominium. My skirt, which was far more feminine than anything I ever wore, was too long, and I had to pull it up as I scrambled down the concrete steps. If I were a man, I would have felt like Tootsie in my ridiculous disguise.
Despite my growing attachment to Rhodes as I got to know him better, I still became quickly annoyed at him as he strode down the sidewalk, swiftly outpacing me and not caring a whit. "Will you please slow down?" I called to him, my tone much less polite than my words. "It's bad enough that I have to walk in these four-inch heels *without* you power-walking down the street on your stupid Big Bird legs!"
Rhodes turned abruptly, the corner of his mouth raised in amusement. "I'm sorry, Bridges," he said as I caught up with him. "I keep forgetting that you're much smaller in size than I am."
"No," I corrected him, hoisting up my skirt again. "You keep forgetting that I'm a shrimpy little tomboy who can't walk in stilettos."
He thought about this for a moment. "I wouldn't have phrased it that way," he said slowly. Then he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. It's imperative that we get to Hu's apartment before he leaves, and that is why we need to hurry. If you're having trouble, hold on to my arm."
And so we walked quickly down the sidewalk together, arm in arm, as the daylight faded and the streetlamps came on one by one. Though Rhodes didn't know where my instuctor lived and therefore I was leading the way, I felt almost reluctant to go on. If something happened and one of us was injured, I didn't see how we could get away safely. One thing was certain: never in a million years could I carry Rhodes.
I quickly shook those thoughts out of my head. Now was definitely not the time to get cold feet. Instead, my mind drifted back to the puzzling conversation I had had with Thomas Hu over the phone before we left, and the enlightening conversation I had had with Ethan Rhodes after I had hung up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Picking up the cordless phone in the living room, I dialed Hu's number and signaled to Rhodes to stay quiet. It rang uninterrupted at least five times, and I began to think, to my dismay, that he was already gone. I frowned at Rhodes, and he looked back at me in askance. "He's not answering," I whispered, and his shoulders slumped visibly.
The phone contonued to ring, and I was about to hang up when an impatient voice came through: "Yes? Hello, yes? What is it?"
It was Hu, all right. I gave Rhodes a thumbs-up and said, "Hi, Thomas? This is Nadia Bridges, from class."
"Oh... Hello, Nadia." He sounded distracted, and was doing a pretty lousy job hiding his irritation, if you ask me. "I-is something wr-- um, something the matter? You *did* get my, uh... my message, didn't you?"
I felt my nose scrunch up. I didn't know Thomas Hu very well, but I knew he never stuttered. He sounded like he was taking a lie detector test, and was failing miserably. "Yes, I did," I replied airily, leaning against the back of the futon couch. I noticed Rhodes staring at me with a raised eyebrow. "I know there's no class tonight, but I just had a slight problem. It's nothing important, really. I just forgot what pages we were supposed to read in the textbook." I let out a small, self-deprecating laugh. "Pretty dumb, huh?"
A small silence followed, perhaps during which he was contemplating whether or not he believed my story. Or whether or not I had lost my mind. "Uh, yes," he finally said. "I, I mean *no*, of course not. It's uh, its... 330 through 347, in lesson nine."
"Oookay, lesson nine," I confirmed, pretending to write it down in the air with an invisible pen. This time both of Rhodes' eyebrows reached for his hairline. "Thank you so much, Thomas, and have a great night." Before he could sputter out a badly pasted-together goodbye, I hit the 'end' button and set the phone back in its cradle. "Well, whether or not he's a cold-blooded killer still remains to be proven," I said to Rhodes. "But one thing's for sure: he thinks I'm dumb."
His mouth dropped open in feigned horror. "I can't imagine what might have given him that impression."
"Hey." I waved a fist at him. "Don't make me give you another black eye."
He merely smiled, and I turned to the front door when his voice stopped me. "Nadia." I looked over my shoulder at him in surprise. Rhodes addressing me by my first name twice in one day? This was an unprecedented event that must be documented. "Thank you," he said softly.
My eyebrows knitted in confusion. "For giving you a black eye?" I asked dubiously.
His eyes rolled back into his head in frustration. "No, not for giving me a black eye," he said exasperatedly. He stepped forward and took my hand in his. "For being at the coffee house at the precise moment I was. For not running away screaming when I tried to talk to you." I smiled, and he added, "Don't think I didn't know you wanted to. I *am* a detective, after all." He stared down at my fingers for a short while, and I wondered what he was thinking. "And... for knowing all my faults, and still wanting to be with me."
For being so full of himself in public, he certainly didn't have much self-esteem. "Rhodes..." I shook my head, frowning up at him. "You don't have to thank me. That's exactly what friends are for. And if you think that... that what you told me tonight changes anything between us, then you're wrong. I'm still here for you."
I believe Rhodes made an effort to speak, but nothing came out. I understood, and I gave his hand a tight squeeze before releasing it. "Come on, let's go," I suggested. He nodded, brushing silently past me out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Walking alongside him, my arm in his to keep me from taking a humiliating pratfall, a realization that I had been trying to avoid finally hit me: Rhodes needed me. For the majority of his life, he had been starved for attention and lacking in love. And now, after years of being utterly alone, he had someone; he had me. He didn't want to admit it - and maybe he never would - but he desperately needed me to care for him, to be there for him. If I ever decided to leave, it would devastate him.
He was almost dependent on me.
The thought was a daunting one. Could I really handle such a responsibility? I had taken care of my father when there hadn't been enough money for a physical therapist, but that was different. My father was emotionally strong. Beneath the arrogant, cheeky exterior, Rhodes had a very fragile psyche; one that may never fully heal. Such a commitment to someone was lifelong. Did I even have any business taking on a task like that?
I sighed softly, knowing the answer to my question even before I asked it. Rhodes had already taken me into his confidence. For the second time that night, it was too late for getting cold feet.
"Bridges?"
My head jerked up quickly, and Rhodes looked at me with concern. "Are you all right?" he asked.
Despite the gravity of my thoughts, I felt myself smile. "Yeah, I'm good." Reminding myself to pay more attention to my surroundings, I realized we were only a block from Hu's apartment building. "Look alive, Rhodes," I said, walking with a new determination, "we've almost reached the rat hole."
The term "rat hole" was, of course, not at all accurate. Hu's apartment building was every bit as posh as Rhodes' complex, but unlike the buildings where the detective lived, which seemed like they had been there since the city was founded and therefore belonged there, Hu's apartment was out of place in the middle of the block. It was much more modern in design than the other buildings; a steel-and-concrete monster among a village of brick. It stood out like a suited business man at a 4-H meeting.
Rhodes looked at the apartment building appraisingly. "It appears someone has done well for himself," he noted dryly. Examining the face of it, he observed, "Well, the only exit is in the front right here, so if Hu comes out we'll definitely know it."
"If he hasn't left already," I reminded him.
He smiled and shook his head. "Must you be so negative, Bridges? We'll wait here at the corner of the block by this hedge. If he doesn't come out in--" He consulted his watch to check the current time. "--an hour at the most, it's safe to say we missed him."
*An hour!?* I thought, staggered. *We're supposed to wait out here in the cold for an hour?* Suppressing a sigh of irritation, I told myself to be patient. Detective work wasn't like it was in the movies, with car chases and explosions and arch enemies with British accents. It could be long, tedious work, and I was going to have to get used to it.
Letting go of Rhodes' arm, I crossed both of mine over my chest and settled it for the wait. A fog was coming in from the bay, and I had to take off my spectacles for a brief moment to wipe away the condensation. For a moment I was reminded of "The Hound of the Baskervilles", which I read in high school. The mental image of Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade waiting outside that devil Stapleton's house as the fog settled on the moor would have given me a chill of excitement if my current situation had not been so mind-numbingly dull.
"Rhodes," I said, my voice sounding loud after the silence, "did you ever read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories?"
He gave me a strange expression, and I figured he was wondering where on earth that question came from. "A few of them," he replied, returning his gaze to the entrance to Hu's building. "Mostly the novels, like 'A Study in Scarlet' and 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. I haven't read many of the short stories. Why?"
"Oh, I don't know. I guess because - well, sometimes - you remind me of him." I smothered a grin as his head whipped around to stare at me in surprise. "What, are you offended?" I asked.
Rhodes let out a short bark of laughter. "Offended? No, no! I would say 'shocked' is a more appropriate word." He rubbed his hands together to warm them. "What is it about me that reminds you of him?"
I shrugged, hugging my arms closer to myself. It was really getting chilly. "A lot of things, actually; some more obvious than others. Like, for instance, you're both detectives." He nodded, his raven's-wing hair falling into his face and calling to mind another resemblance to the Great Detective. "You're both tall and skinny, and you both have black hair. And you have the same hands," I added.
"Thank the heavens I don't wear a deerstalker," he remarked. I laughed, and he cocked his head at me. "All right, I see how you might notice some similarities. But I assume you're talking about more than physical appearances."
"You assume right." I thought for a moment. "Well, for one thing, you were extremely arrogant when I first met you, and God knows Holmes has quite the inflated ego."
"Indeed?"
"Yes, 'indeed'. And there's another: you both talk the same. If you were from England instead of the South, I wouldn't be able to tell you apart." I smiled as I remembered our first weekend together at the Pier. "And you both can deduce things about people just from looking at them. That is a rare gift, you know."
I couldn't tell you with confidence if it was the cold or my praise that made Rhodes' cheeks turn slightly pink, but I'm inclined to believe the latter. "It's not so difficult, really," he countered, looking back at the apartment building. Suddenly he grinned mischievously. "I might even go as far as saying, it's quite elementary, my dear Bridges."
I groaned wearily as he basked in the enjoyment of his own joke. I was never going to live this down. "You know, Holmes never even said that," I muttered. He merely smiled contentedly, and I checked my watch. Only fifteen minutes had passed.
It was going to be a long night.
The seconds flew by like, well, minutes as we waited for Hu to leave his building, and my patience was quickly wearing thin. Even Rhodes was beginning to show signs of restlessness, pulling his hand out of his coat pocket every two minutes to consult his Bulova watch. I wanted to ring the buzzer to Hu's apartment and run.
At eight-forty I heard a bizarre noise which startled me at first, until I realized with a sort of detached comprehension that the sound was my own teeth chattering. Rhodes' eyes widened at me, and in an instant he had taken off his elegantly tailored jacket and draped it around my shoulders. "I'm sorry, Bridges," he said, sounding truly apologetic. "I don't know why we're still here; Hu probably left before we even got here. Let's just forget it and go home where it's warm."
I sighed. "You're probably right," I agreed. "But here, take your coat back before you freeze to death." But even as I began to shrug out of it, his cold hand clamped over my mouth and pulled me into the darkness away from the street lamps. I glanced up at him, and I knew by his drawn eyebrows that Hu had emerged from the building. Sure enough, even from our place of hiding I could see my massage instructor's small, wiry form step out onto the sidewalk. He looked around suspiciously and, assuming he was alone, made his way down the street in the opposite direction.
Slowly Rhodes removed his hand from my mouth and stepped away. He looked down at me for confirmation, and I nodded.
The hunt was on.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
We followed in near-silence, my heels clicking softly on the concrete sidewalk. Luckily we were at a safe distance, far enough to be sure we wouldn't be heard. I wobbled very little, which surprised me; I owned three pairs of tall shoes, but their heels covered much more ground area than the ones I wore now. I was quite sure that we looked somewhat odd to the other pedestrians out walking that night - an awkward redhead in the arm of a lanky young man with no jacket on. In any case, if I fell, I knew Rhodes was going down with me.
As we pursued our prey, I observed that although we had turned quite a few corners, our wanderings had a clear purpose. Hu's destination was somewhere near Fisherman's Wharf. I could already smell the salty air, and in fact, as we drew closer, I could just see the tall masts of the various sailing ships that were moored at the docks every night. I wondered what pressing business Hu could possibly have at the Wharf.
Peering around the side of a fish market, which, although it had closed its doors at six, still reeked horribly, we watched Hu start resolutely down one of the long, narrow ramps that led to the boat docks. I frowned up at Rhodes, as if he had any idea why Hu would come here, but he just shrugged.
Waiting just long enough to ensure our quarry wouldn't see us, we made our way down the same ramp and onto the damp wooden docks. It was a clear night, and the silver moon's reflection was distorted on the rippling surface of the black water. Some of the windows of the moored boats were lit, but they were the only sign that we weren't the only humans out there.
The dock was slippery to a dangerous degree, and after a while I was forced to stop and remove my shoes. My feet instantly disliked the idea as they touched the cold, damp wood. I didn't know what to do with the shoes once they were off, but with a swift, impatient move, Rhodes took them from my indecisive hands and threw them over the side of the dock. They hit the water with a soft ~plunk!~
I stared at him with my mouth hanging open, but he was looking around intently. "Where did he go?" he whispered.
Puzzled, I turned around. The docks were a complex layout, with many turns branching off in different directions. If we had lost sight of Hu, he could be anywhere.
"I don't know," I whispered back, transferring my weight from one foot to the other. "Let's just keep going. We'll probably find him soon."
But as we continued, I got that strange, hard-to-ignore feeling that we were being followed. I kept glancing over my shoulder, absolutely certain that Hu would emerge from the shadows. Rhodes noticed my uneasiness. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly.
"Most likely nothing," I replied. "You'll probably think it's woman's intuition or something, but it feels like we've becomes the hunted instead of the hunters."
"You mean, you think we're being followed?"
I nodded. "But like I said, it's probably nothing. Just a weird feeling. 'Like one that on a lonesome road doth walk in fear and dread', and all that."
"'And having once turned round walks on, and turns no more his head.'"
I blinked up at him, surprised. "'Because he knows a fearful fiend doth close behind him tread'," we finished in whispered unison. I shook my head, a chill running down my back. "Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. We have way too much in common."
"It seems very fitting in this situation," he said darkly. "Unsettlingly so."
Shivering again, I asked, "So you believe me?"
He glanced at the surrounding darkness again, his wary expression clear even in the dim light. "I learned a long time ago not to disregard something as seemingly insignificant as a hunch," he finally said. "Sometimes your gut instincts are what can save you from a potentially fatal situation." He turned to me. "That's one thing to remember, Bridges. *Never* ignore a hunch."
"That's good advice, Mr. Rhodes," a sudden voice behind us said, startlingly loud after all our whispering. "Useless now, of course."
I spun around to see Thomas Hu standing directly in front of us, a pistol gleaming dully in his right hand. It was shaking with rage. Involuntarily, I took a step backward and collided with Rhodes' chest. He placed a protective hand on my shoulder.
"I knew it was you, Nadia," Hu said, shaking his head bitterly. "From the beginning, I knew it was you. I just didn't want to be right."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: I know, cliffhanger. Don't kill me. And if you must throw vegetables, please don't throw anything hard or pointy, like celery or asparagus. And especially no pumpkins. If I don't survive your enraged produce-pummeling, how do you expect me to write the next chapter? *sigh* Anyway, I hope this one lived up to your expectations. Did you like our heroes' conversation about Sherlock Holmes? I thought it would be fun. After all, he's the reason I even wrote this story! So leave a review, and if I'm alive, I'll get to work on chapter nine, in which we hear Hu's side of the story!
Wakizashi
tricksparrow@hotmail.com
