"I still think you're being silly, you know."
Nancy adjusted her jacket, stifling a yawn as she trailed her brother out of the arrivals gate at Las Vegas's main airport. "There's probably not a whole lot you can do that the police here aren't already primed to do."
"I don't care. It's better than sitting home doing nothing." Aaron said grimly. "You didn't have to come. All you've done is moan anyhow."
"Because I was trying to talk you out of coming, for all the good it did me." Nancy sighed. "Listen. What are you planning to do, huh? Search the city? What?"
"I'm going to the police and I'm going to find out what they know." Aaron told her.
"They won't tell you anything." Nancy snorted. "What do you think they are, PR men? Their business ain't ours. If that's all, we might as well trot back in there and get a flight home right now."
"They'll tell me all right." Aaron's mouth set in a familiar obstinate frown, and Nancy rolled her eyes.
"Oh, for heaven's sake." She muttered. "All right, already. That's where we'll go. But give me ten seconds to call home, will you? At least then they'll know we got here safely."
"You can talk on the move." Aaron shook his head impatiently. "We gotta grab a taxi."
"Well, you do that while I dial." Nancy returned. "Okay? Sheesh! Get a grip! I know you love her, and I know you're worried about her - so am I, if you want the truth. But acting like a crazed maniac is not going to get you anywhere, except maybe the county jail!"
Aaron grimaced at her.
"I know that." He said quietly. "And I'm sorry if that's how it looks to you, Nance. But I can't explain it to you, not properly. Even being here, futile as it seems, is less hopeless than stopping in LA, waiting for some news to trickle through. I can't help being afraid he'll hurt her - or that he already has done. At least this way I feel like I'm doing something!"
Nancy's expression softened, and she slipped an arm through her brother's.
"Guess I see that." She admitted. "Look, Aaron, I know as well as anyone - perhaps better - how close you and Copper are. She's my best friend, you're my brother - as far as I'm concerned there couldn't be a more perfect match. I want to help her too. But it does noone any good if we get killed trying, you have to realise that. Mom would have kittens and Dad not far behind! And Copper...she was so specific to Sadie that she didn't want you hurt. For her sake you have to remember that."
"If I knew she was okay it would be easier." Aaron admitted. He scanned the horizon, frowning. "Do you see any taxis?"
"Not one." Nancy shook her head. "Guess we're walking."
She glanced up at the grey sky through the porch of the arrivals gate, and frowned.
"I see why everyone took cabs." She said grimly. "It's tipping it down here."
"Well, we'll have to stick it." Aaron decided. "Come on. Let's go."
They walked through the driving wet for a while, each deep in thought. Occasionally Nancy paused, looking for the familiar sign for the sherriff's office, but in the mix of bad weather and glowing lights she found herself disorientated. She shook her head in frustration.
"We don't know where we're going." She pointed out. "Maybe we should go in someplace and ask someone?"
"We can't be far away." Aaron responded.
"Why do men never want to ask for directions?" Nancy groaned. "Aaron..." She glanced at her companion, and her expression became grave as she registered the look on his face.
"Oh. I see. So we're walking to the sherriff's office and we're not asking for directions just in case on our wanderings we happen to bump into Copper and this guy. Is that it?"
Aaron looked sheepish.
"I didn't think it would hurt to keep our eyes open while we walked around the city." He admitted. "Guess I'm busted, huh?"
"Just a touch." Nancy gave him an impatient shove. "Come on. Looking for her is like looking for a needle in a haystack. And Im starting to think finding the local police is a good idea, just to get them to lock you up!"
Aaron frowned, and for a moment he didn't answer. Then he let out an exclamation.
"Well, if nothing else, we found the police." He said, pointing to a building ahead of them. "That's gotta be a start, hasn't it?"
"More than, and I'm about ready to get out of the wet." Nancy shivered. "I doubt they'll tell us anything, but at least it might be warm and dry inside there. Ok, let's go!"
As they pushed open the door to the precinct, Nancy was aware of an exclamation and, turning, she saw Alex's partner, Raymond Nicholson staring at them from across the lobby.
"I just got off the phone with Alex about you two!" he remarked, casting a glance from one to the other. "Apparently he thought you'd come haring into Las Vegas to try and get involved, and he wanted me to make sure you didn't get a chance to take matters into your own hands. It's a good thing I know the short drive down from Sacramento, isn't it?"
"Well, you don't seem to be having much luck in finding my fiancee, and I don't want her getting hurt." Aaron fixed the agent with a defiant stare. "I should have known someone back home would run and tell tales on me for doing it - does nobody understand how important this woman is to me?"
"Aaron, shut your trap." Nancy ordered. She cast Raymond a grimace.
"I came to keep him out of trouble, but we really only came here to find out what was happening. We both believe that Copper's coming here, and Aaron wanted to be on hand when she was found."
Raymond raised an eyebrow.
"If I believed that, I wouldn't be much good at my job." he said acidly. "I'm under instructions to bundle you back to the airport and make sure you board a flight back to Los Angeles. We have a very delicate network of officers and agents already set up here - we can't have lovesick boyfriends or fiances or whatever jumping in and blowing the whole operation."
he eyed them keenly.
"Interfering in Federal business is a serious offence, you know." He added. "I got my car outside. Better you come with me back the way you came, before you get yourself into real trouble."
"But..." Aaron held up his hands in protest, but Raymond shook his head.
"No." He said firmly. "I'm trained - these men are all trained - to deal with hostage situations and to deal with madmen with guns. You're neither. It's not a successful mission if civilians get caught in the crossfire."
"Come on, Aaron. We're through here." Relief flashed into Nancy's eyes, and she took her brother by the arm. "You heard Agent Nicholson. They got it under control. If he brings her here they'll nab him and that'll be that."
"I don't want to go back to Los Angeles." Aaron said firmly. "Not while she could be here and in danger!"
"And your being here could put her in more danger, did you think about that?" Raymond countered. "Listen. Alex and I know this guy. We've nailed him before. He's a threat to everyone - even himself - and we don't want to excite or antagonise him more than we have to. We anticipate a quick and troublefree arrest, once one of our surveillance patrols get a fix on his location. We don't want any trouble. He obviously knows who you are, if he's that fixated with Copper. Letting you loose in Las Vegas under those circumstances is not an option."
Aaron frowned, but the agent's words about Copper's safety had turned the scale and reluctantly he turned on his heel, as the agent led the way out into the rain, unlocking his rather muddy car and ushering the two siblings into the back. He cast them a slight smile.
"We'll get him." He said firmly. "Done it before. Do it again. Trust me."
"We'd rather you did than we did." Nancy shot her brother a meaningful look. "I told him it was a bad idea to come."
Raymond shot her a wry smile, then, with a word to one of the officers, he slipped into the front seat, putting his key in the ignition. Nancy settled herself back on the leather upholstery.
"Do you think she is here?" Her brother's voice startled her, and she turned, surprised. Aaron's expression was strange, and for the first time in her life Nancy realised how hard her brother was fighting to keep his composure. She bit her lip.
"If she is, Aaron, they will find her. We have to trust them." She said softly. Aaron sighed.
"I hate sitting back and doing nothing." He admitted, as the car pulled out of the carpark. "It kills me knowing she's out there and I'm useless to her. I'm supposed to protect her!"
"Noone ever said that." Nancy reproached him.
"No, but I feel it anyway." Aaron clenched his fist. "She's my fiancee and I'm not supposed to let things like this go on. I should have known...when we get back to Los Angeles, I'm gonna track down Phoebe Asche and I..."
"You're gonna do nothing." Nancy said bluntly. "If I have to tie you up. It's bad enough we came here. You're gonna keep out of it. Understood?"
Before Aaron could answer, there was a crackle on the car's radio and the sound of a muffled voice coming over the waves. Raymond reached down to scoop up his radio, a frown touching his lips.
"Nicholson...what was that, over?"
The fuzzy message was repeated, and this time Nancy's ears picked up the word "Santiago."
"Copper." She breathed. "Oh God, have they found Copper?"
"Shh." Raymond glared at her, his expression unreadable. He turned his attention back to the two-way radio.
"I copy...are there any squad cars on twelfth and high street, over?"
Another stream of what seemed to be unintelligible nonsense brought an exclamation to Raymond's lips, and he dropped the radio, pushing his foot down on the accelerator and almost sending Nancy into the passenger seat chair.
"I thought you lawmen knew how to drive!" She protested.
Raymond cursed.
"You keep your heads down and keep quiet." He snapped. "I should have left you at the precinct."
"I thought you were taking us back to the airport?" Aaron seemed to rouse from his reverie at the sound of raised voices. "Where are we going?"
"That was one of my colleagues." Raymond said grimly. "We managed to pick up a license plate number for the guy's car after an incident at a gas station late last night. My colleague was tailing the car but he lost it. The vehicle is headed this way - for twelfth and high street intersection. He was radioing all cars to the location." He paused, then, "That includes me - we're the closest car to the area and we can't risk losing the tail."
"What?" Aaron's eyes widened. "You mean...they are here? Someone's seen them?"
"The car, certainly. Who the occupants are I couldn't tell you." Raymond's tones were abrupt. "I don't like taking you kids with me but I don't have much choice - there isn't time to bail you out and you're probably safer where I can keep an eye on you. Whatever happens, keep your heads down and if I tell you to do something, you do it. We don't know what to expect from this guy - he might fire at us - so keep away from the windows."
He screeched across an intersection, signalling to angry drivers that he was on federal business, and then pulling into the main high street. As they reached the end, he let out another curse.
"I got him." He exclaimed, flicking on his siren and forcing the already fast car into overdrive, despite the weather. "Dammit, is he crazy? That's no speed to be going in this weather!"
"You got a tail on him?" Aaron was alert in a second, and Nancy had to pull him back down into his seat.
"This isn't a game, Aaron. Can you just do as you're told for one minute?" she snapped. "We don't even know if she's with him."
"No, we don't." Raymond bit his lip. "And he's going at a hell of a pace. It's no good. I'm not gonna be able to ditch you someplace safe as we go - we're the only car on his tail and I have to keep up with him. This could be our only chance to get the girl back safe and sound!"