Chapter Four- Things Go Wrong

The bay looked inviting enough for a swim, Lissie thought wryly, staring out at the bridge. A swim would probably be preferable to what she had just gotten herself into. The wind came up, and she turned into it to keep it from blowing the loose red curls into her eyes, turning just in time to see her boss come to the top of the stairs. He'd kept her waiting an additional ten minutes up here, and from the look on his face, his disposition hadn't improved any. Lissie braced her hands on the steel railing, mentally preparing herself.

'Am I off the case?' she asked, deciding to get the worst done and over with first.

For a few long moments there was only the wind and the gulls. Nash removed something from an inner pocket of his jacket. 'In a moment, first, I need you to take a look at something.' He held a plastic evidence bag, and she could see the back of a Polaroid in it. She moved a step away from the railing and reached for it, slowly turning it over to see what the picture revealed. It took no more than an instant for the realization to hit her, leaving her reeling like she just took a punch to the gut.

'Oh god.' she let the baggie go, spinning away, looking for some escape, somewhere to go. Her stomach revolted and she found herself kneeling on the decking, losing the remnants of her lunch. Nash had bent quickly to grab the picture before it blew away. That was definitely not the reaction he had expected. He approached her carefully. 'Lissie?'

She reached an arm up for the railing, felt his hands under her arms helping her stand. She pushed the hair out of her face then wiped at her mouth. She caught a glimpse of the picture again. 'Where'd you get that, Nash?' she asked hoarsely.

'At the crime scene. It was laying on top of the body. Do you know who it is?' Lissie nodded. 'Is it your sister?' he asked gently, hoping for a negative answer.

'No.' Lissie took a deep breath. She lifted the baggie up and looked at it again, this time willing her stomach to be calm. It was a young woman, bound an gagged; her naked body was a road map of bruises and welts. 'Its me.'
.-.-.-.

The next hour was one of the most excruciating of her life. After her pronouncement Nash had left her silently, only speaking up at the top of the stairs to order her to stay put. So she did, watching the ferries come and go, counting cars on the Bay Bridge, and seriously contemplating that swim again. Things were bad before, now they were going to get ugly. Nash finally topped the stairs, looking more pissed off than ever. Well, at least the waiting was over, she thought, and so was their truce, she suspected.

Nash wasted no time now that he was here. 'You lied to me, Ms. Shaw.' Lissie didn't react, just stayed silent. 'If there is one thing I will not tolerate on my team it is a liar.' he continued. He expected an apology of some sort, not the response he got.

'Technically, I didn't lie to you, Captain. I omitted parts of the truth, and as far as you knew, up until now, you had the truth.' a deep breath. 'You read the case file, I take it?' It was stupid of her, she knew, to have held back on that. It would've been simpler to have told him up front, but the thought of him feeling pity for her... No, she had chosen this path to avoid that. Now he was angry with her, which would result in what? At best, being taken off the case, flying a desk; at worst, being sent back to vice and possibly getting a reprimand. Fuck it, she did what she had to do.

Nodding, he watched her. 'And had a quick discussion with Harvey. He should have told me, moreso, you should have told me, Ms. Shaw.'

'Yeah, I should have, but I chose not to.' she sounded like a rebellious teenager. 'You know now, you were going to find out eventually. I didn't want your pity, Captain.'

Nash sighed and rubbed his forehead. 'I wouldn't have pitied you, Lissie.' she looked at him, arms crossed over her body, leaning against the railing. Should she believe him? She'd been handed the line many times over the years, only to find those who uttered it treated her like she was a fragile piece of china, ready to break at any time.

'So, now what? You pull me from the case? I go back to Vice?'

'I'm not sending you back to Vice, you're... You're a good cop, and I need you in my unit.' well, that was a reprieve, she thought. As for the case... 'As for the case, there will be ground rules if you stay on it. You bend them too much, you'll be off; you break them, and you'll fly a desk for the next six months.'

'Fair enough.' And it was, really, why the hell was he being so lenient? She'd had supervisors who'd've demoted her on the spot for a grievance like this. 'What are the rules?'
.-.-.-.

It was another half hour before Nash returned to his desk, a sour feeling in his stomach. Waving Joe over he explained everything to him in low tones. If they didn't play this carefully, things could go south in a hurry now that their killer had an eye on one of their own. It surprised Joe that Lissie was still on the case, but Nash had a point that she was one of the best information sources they had on this guy. She wasn't allowed out of he SIU without another inspector with her, and Nash had already sent two units down to set up surveillance on her house. He looked at the picture on his desk, disgusted and wondering how someone could do this to another human being. Standing to stretch, he walked over to get some coffee. He looked over the rail, seeing Lissie sitting dejectedly at her desk. What was it she'd said up top? She didn't want his pity. No, she wouldn't get pity from him, he decided, she'd fought and survived, somehow, and for that she deserved his admiration.
.-.-.-.

Lissie dialed a number into the phone, waiting through the rings until the line was picked up. 'Hello?' came her mother's voice.

'Hey mom, its me. Um, I was wondering if you could take Meaghan back down to Monterey with you?'

Her mother's concern was instantly evident. 'Why? Lissie, what's going on? Does this have something to do with the interruption at lunch? Are you in danger?' Lissie wondered how her father had survived a marriage to her mother, considering Mary Shaw worried enough for the whole world and then some.

'I just need you to, work stuff, I've got some long hours coming up. Yes, it has to do with the call at lunch, but no, I'm not in any danger.' she lied, which she hated dong to her mother, but sending Mother Mary into a full-blown panic wouldn't help anyone.

Her mother sighed. 'You wouldn't lie to me?'

'No, mom.'

'Okay. Come down this weekend, Kim will be back from her symphony trip to San Diego on Saturday and we're going to have a family meeting.' Mary's tone brooked no room for argument, and Lissie acquiesed. She made her goodbyes and replaced the phone in its cradle. She spent the next few hours shuffling papers and trying to look like she was doing something. She lost track of time, and was surprised to see that it was twilight when Nash appeared in front of her desk.

'Can I help you?' she mumbled, looking up at him from her computer monitor, where she'd recently begun a game of Minesweeper after tiring of doing useless spreadsheets.

'Unless you're planning to spend the night here, which I don't recommend, I suggest you get your stuff and follow me.' He waited patiently as she went through her shut down tasks, putting her papers in a neat stack and finally retrieving her purse from its drawer. She stood, pushed her chair in, and came around the desk to him.

Wordlessly, he led her outside, and Lissie felt not unlike a prisoner of sorts. She broke off from him once they were down the gangway, heading for her Fairlane. She was stopped by a hand around her wrist, she looked over her shoulder at Nash. 'What? I'm not allowed to drive now?' The afternoon had been too long for her and her temper was short.

Nash pointed to his car. 'No. I'm taking you to your house, you're getting some stuff, and you're coming to my place until we get the surveillance nailed down.' Lissie looked positively peeved.

'That was not part of the deal.' she snapped, pulling her hand from Nash's grip, digging in her purse for her keys. "I am going to go home to my own damned house and sleep in my own damned bed and blow off the head of anyone who damned comes in there.' Obviously her outburst had cowed Nash, or so she thought, as she jammed the key into the door lock and swung it open. She pulled it shut with a loud slam and proceeded to attacked the ignition with a passion. She turned the key, heard the starter turn, and a heart wrenching 'whirwhirwhir' as nothing happened. Undaunted, she tried again, only to get the same result. Nash leaned in the passenger side window, a large handful of wires dangling from his hand.

'Having trouble?' he asked sweetly, letting the bundle drop onto the seat. Lissie stared open mouthed at him, then at the wires, then launched herself out her door.

'You god damned fucking bastard.' she snarled, coming quickly around to the passenger side of the car. 'Lissie...' he started, hands up to pacify her. Maybe he'd misjudged a little on how she'd take this. Maybe he should just put the distributer wires back on her car and follow her home, maybe...

He wasn't expecting the right hand punch she landed on his temple. Now it was his turn to curse as he reeled from the blow, 'Goddammit, Lissie!' She was breathing hard, holding her right hand which now hurt like a bitch. 'Goddammit.' he repeated, tenderly feeling his head where a bruise was already starting to form. 'You hit hard.'

She looked up from her hand. 'You deserved it, fucking with my car.' She looked around, finding a small groupof four patrolmen standing by the gangway, talking and pointing. The 'Aw, crap.' got Nash's attention, and he looked up to see what caused it. Lissie was pushing him out of the way, leaning in the passenger side window to retrieve her purse. Nash grabbed her wrist and led her to his car, opening the passenger door and slamming it shut as she fumbled for the seat belt. Seconds later, he was buckled in and slamming the car into reverse.

'We are never going to hear the end of this.' she informed him as he peeled out of the parking lot.

'Amen to that, sister.' he agreed, none to happy about it. Joe was going to love this.
.-.-.-.

Lissie had been left just inside Nash's apartment with his father, Nick, as h went to find ice packs for them. Having noticed the nasty bruise on his son's temple and Lissie's carefully cradled hand, he easily guessed at what had happened. Lissie gave him the brief rundown before Nash returned. Nash knew from the smirks on both their faces that it had been a mistake to leave them alone together.

'So, son, you got beat up by a girl.' Nick remarked casually, winking at Lissie, who was gratefully accepting an ice pack from Nash. Nash glared at his father.

'No, Nick, she landed a lucky punch.'

Nick laughed. 'From what I heard, you deserved it.' Lissie laughed, and smiled, nodding her agreement. 'Oh, he did.' she added. Nash shook his head, which was a mistake because it only increased the pain. He realized Nick had his jacket on.

'Going somewhere?'

'Poker night.' Nick grinned. 'Don't wait up for me.' he informed Nash, who waved a hand at him as he went off to find some Tylenol. 'And don't be afraid to knock him about some more if he needs it.' he told Lissie, pulling open the gate to the elevator. Lissie assured him that she wouldn't, said goodbye to him, and gathered her hastily packed overnight bag. She gingerly came down he steps into the apartment proper, left her bag on the couch, and went to sit on a barstool in the kitchen, staring out at the lights of the financial district. Nash found her there a few minutes later. He pulled a bottle of water for the fridge and leaned forward ont eh counter across fomr her.

'I owe you an apology.' she nodded. "I shouldn't have taken apart your car, but I had a feeling you weren;t going to come without a fight.'

Lissie nodded. 'Apology accepted. Next time, try asking nicely first, it'll save you some pain.' Nash chuckled and took a drink of his water. Lissie caught his gaze and smiled. "Got anything to eat around here?'
.-.-.-.