"Don't turn around, Styles. You won't make it." The unknown voice was accompanied by the sharp prick of a knife at his ribcage. "Nice and easy, and no one gets hurt."

Nick felt a light sting on the back of his shoulder just as a strong hand gripped his neck. One fist squeezed his right arm as another slipped in to firmly grasp his left elbow; someone was on both sides and they were pulling him through the throng of people.

Nick wondered briefly who Styles was, but he didn't have time to give it much thought as his new acquaintances were guiding him through the crowd. A crowd full of women and kids. He didn't dare start anything where some innocent bystander might get hurt. As they moved, Nick vaguely noticed that his eyelids were fighting gravity, and his feet didn't want to keep moving. He was having some trouble keeping up with the two men pushing and pulling him through the people, but no one seemed to notice.

"Excuse us, our friend's not feeling well."

Well, that was true enough; Nick felt terrible, and all effort was fixed on keeping his head up. Strangely, it wasn't cooperating on even this most basic task. Oh, yeah, the sting. Must've been a tranq of some kind. Nick was kind of proud of himself for figuring that out. It wasn't Murray level, but still…

He managed to get his head up again to see where they were going. Somehow, they'd made it to the parking lot and were heading toward an Oldsmobile. An otherwise non-descript silvery green four-door. Metallic green? Who did that? He started to mention to these idiots what an ugly car it was.

"Face forward, Styles. I'm not telling ya again." Nick was reminded of the knife at his ribs with a sharp poke. Well, fine. If they didn't want to hear about their ugly car, Nick would just keep his trap shut. And whatever else they wanted to know, well, too bad. They could just forget about hearing it from Nick Ryder.

Then the back door of the ugly car was open, and his new friends were shoving him face forward into the back seat. He tried to pull his arms around to break the fall, but the two faceless gorillas didn't let go. Nick found himself face down across the back seat with his hands pulled back and quickly tied. His feet were folded in, and a sack yanked over his head. That was pretty much the last thing he remembered…

RIPTIDE

Cody glanced at the nameless faces of the crowd once again, waiting for his partners. They were on the lookout for a flasher that had done his number on several old ladies and small children. The last little girl happened to be the granddaughter of a wealthy man who'd put up a reward large enough to persuade Murray that the agency should try to find the perp. And Cody, feeling particularly protective of small children, and Nick, feeling particularly protective of old ladies, were pretty easy to convince. Not to mention the nice, big reward that would help the agency's bottom line.

They had a sketch of the man that Joanna had provided along with the knowledge that the man favored crowds and events. He'd done the deed at the beach, a minor league baseball game, a charity fundraiser, and an outdoor wedding reception to name just a few of his venues. So they had watched the paper for advertised events likely to attract a crowd and settled on this outdoor market. It turned out to be a lot bigger than they'd expected, and they decided to split up to cover more ground. Cody sighed, remembering the conversation.

"I had no idea it would be this big, guys. Look at all these booths! These are actual farmers who raised all these fruits and vegetables. Isn't that amazing? And all these crafts! I bet that woman actually weaved…? Wove…? Those blankets. Is it weaved or wove? Do either of you know the right conjugation for weave? Guys?"

Cody glanced at Nick and saw the half lost look that Nick occasionally got when Murray took off on one of his tangents. Cody shook his head slightly, "I don't know, Boz; either or? Or neither nor?"

Murray froze for half a second before his face transformed into the goofy grin he got whenever he found something completely hilarious. "Either or or neither nor! Oh, that's very good, Cody. Very good! Either or or neither nor!" He bounced his head back and forth as he repeated the phrase in a sing-song voice and manner.

Cody glanced back to see Nick stare in disbelief for a second, then shake off Murray's baffling amusement and refocus on the crowd with a frustrated breath. It did seem a bit overwhelming.

Cody sighed, "How are we gonna find this guy in all these people? Any ideas, Nick?"

"I don't know, man. We gotta find one perv in what? A few thousand people? From a sketch that may or may not even look like him. And on top of that, we don't know that he's even here. This could be a complete waste of time."

"Well, that's not exactly the case, Nick. We know he's a male, approximately twenty-five to fifty years of age. That cuts out all of the women, children, and elderly. Plus, we know he's white, so that excludes anyone who's black, Hispanic, or Asian. And he should be wearing a long brown trench coat and have bare legs."

Cody caught Nick's half-annoyed, half-amused look before his partner answered. "Ya know, Murray, you're right. And since it's gonna be so easy to spot him, I'm thinking I should just go get Mimi and be ready to cut off whatever escape route he takes when you and Cody chase him outta here. But don't make your move until you hear her rotors, okay?"

"Nick, I really don't think that's necessary—"

Cody interrupted, "Murray, what Nick's trying to say with his poor excuse for a sense of humor is that even with all those defining characteristics, all the rest of these people are pretty good camouflage. And you have to actually look at them to decide that they aren't the bad guy."

Nick rolled his eyes at Cody, but he aimed a look of apology at Murray who shrugged and nodded at both of them. "You're right, of course. Just the sheer number of people here makes identification problematic. Maybe we should split up to better cover the market."

Cody didn't like the idea of separating and one glance at Nick made clear that his partner didn't think much of it either. But Cody didn't see any other choice; there were simply too many people, too much ground to cover, too many places this guy could strike. If they stayed together, odds were they would miss him…if he was even there. Cody caught Nick's eyes, seeing his reluctance, but knowing that he had come to the same conclusion. A slight shake of Nick's head was the final sign of displeasure even as he shrugged and nodded agreement at Murray who was eyeing them both in question.

Cody looked at the map of the market. "Okay, I'll take the aisles near the beach; Murray, you take the middle, and Nick, you work the ones closest to the parking lot."

Murray nodded, "What if we see him?"

Cody took a deep breath; he'd been wondering about that himself. He and Nick could probably take the guy one on one, but Murray might be in trouble unless he pulled a gun. And in a public place with all these innocent bystanders, that wasn't a good idea.

Nick narrowed his eyes as he surveyed the crowd, "Well, there's cops around. If we can't find each other, we can always tackle the guy and yell for help. Boz, you just jump on his back and hang on, okay?"

Cody nodded; that seemed like as good a plan as any. They would still get credit for the collar and should get the reward. And it wasn't like Murray lacked the courage to take down a perp…only the coordination.

Murray nodded agreement. "So when and where should we meet if we don't find him?"

Cody shrugged slightly, "Right back here in, say, an hour?"

"Ah, no way, man. I'm never gonna be able to tell all these farm booths apart. I need something easier to remember."

Cody rolled his eyes at Nick. His partner had a quick, agile mind that he frequently disguised by playing the dumb jock, but he still didn't like to concentrate on the kind of little details that enraptured Murray. "Okay, Nick, we're in aisle five. How about we meet here by the booth with the…" Cody glanced around till his eyes focused on one seller, "…by the booth with the tin can jewelry."

Nick and Murray both followed his gaze to a woman manning tables set with all sizes and shapes of tin cans. On her tables, she displayed a number of very…unique pieces. Some people might consider it art, but Cody's mother would probably just call it junk.

"Okay, by the tin can lady in an hour."

That was the last he'd seen of his partners, and Cody was trying not to let the tin can lady catch his eye. She might think he was shopping for a gift for someone special. Or God forbid, himself.

By the time Murray walked up, Cody was across the aisle at a stained glass booth. He'd had to move just to get away from the tin can lady and her encouraging, hopeful eyes.

"Sorry I'm late, Cody. I ran into a couple of the Contessa girls—Mindy and Tonya. They asked about you and Nick by the way. I showed them the sketch of the flasher, but neither of them had seen him. Of course, they hadn't really been looking for him, per se, but a man in a trench coat on a hot day like this would be pretty conspicuous, don't you think?

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that. Maybe this market wasn't the best idea for his next showing."

Murray's face froze again as he absorbed Cody's comment then his mouth opened in silent cackle. "For his next showing? Oh, that's just perfect, Cody. 'For his next showing.' And he's a flasher and always showing his—" He got serious very abruptly, clearly remembering how the guy got his jollies around little kids and old ladies. "—well, you know."

Cody glanced at his watch again. He'd actually expected Nick to be waiting on them. Nick hated crowds, hated shopping, and hated the three of them working alone. But here it was twenty minutes after their appointed meeting time, and he still wasn't back.

Murray looked around, "You know, I really thought Nick would fuss at me for being late, but I made it back before he did. I guess we get to tease him, huh?

Cody searched the faces of the crowd. "Yeah, I guess."

"You don't suppose he found the flasher, do you?"

Cody tried to ignore a ripple of instinctual unease. "I don't know, Boz. Seems like if he did, he'd have sent someone to let us know."

"That's true. He wouldn't let us stand around, knowing we'd be waiting."

And worrying, Cody added silently. Nick was a worrier himself, and consequently, he didn't like other people to worry about him unnecessarily. If he was able to get word to them, he would have. And Cody's ripple got just a bit bigger. He checked his watch again; thirty minutes late.

Murray was wringing his hands, and his eyes showed concern when Cody caught his glance again. "Maybe we should go look for him."

"Yeah."

They strode with purpose down the aisles closer to the parking lot. Cody inspected individual faces and the crowd as a whole. He wasn't getting any vibes to indicate unrest or fear or even excitement. Any or all of those emotions would be expected if there had been a fight or police action. But all he picked up was enjoyment of the day, anticipation of shopping, and complaining kids wanting to go home. No Nick.

His unease was starting to tip over into plain old anxiety by the time they got to the parking lot. He glanced at Murray who was showing open alarm at this point. Boz shaded his eyes as he searched the parking lot for any sign.

"There he is! Cody! There he is!" Murray pointed across several rows of cars…at Nick, walking through the parking lot.

"Nick!" Cody took off jogging to catch his partner, hearing Murray pounding behind him. As he approached Nick, Cody found himself both relieved to have found him…and angry that he was evidently leaving. What the heck was going on and why hadn't he included his partners in his plans? "Nick!"

And why wasn't he stopping when he could surely hear them?

"Nick!"

Cody finally snagged his partner's arm and yanked him around. "What the hell, Nick?"

His partner's reaction was severe even for a vet. In a flash, Nick pulled a gun, bringing it to bear on Cody. "Hold it right there. Back off and get your hands up."

Cody stared at the gun and instinctively lifted his hands in the universal gesture of surrender, but the coldness of his partner's voice scared him. "Easy, buddy. It's just me and Murray. Easy."

Suspicious, cold eyes flicked over Cody's shoulder. "That's great, but I don't know you and Murray."

Forcing his eyes from the gun, Cody stared into Nick's icy blue eyes, worried about the lack of recognition, when he heard Murray's puzzled voice.

"Nick, what are you wearing?"

Cody took a small step back and was finally able to pull his gaze from Nick's unrecognizable eyes to take in the whole look. He was wearing a tailored gray suit, a silk shirt, a narrow striped tie, and Italian loafers. And it suddenly registered that he'd pulled the gun from a shoulder holster inside the jacket. When they'd left the Riptide, Nick had been wearing jeans, a polo, and sneakers. If he'd had a gun, it was probably in an ankle holster as that's the only place it could have been hidden. "Where'd you get these clothes, buddy?"

"When did you change?"

"And why?"

"Where'd you get this car?" Nick was standing by a convertible Porsche.

Nick's gaze bounced back and forth between Cody and Murray as the questions rolled out. His face went from hostile to confused, and he reholstered his weapon. "I think you've got me mixed up with someone else."

Cody was becoming seriously alarmed as he heard Murray exclaim, "Cut it out, Nick, this isn't funny. Cody and I want to know what's going on. First of all, you kept us waiting over half an hour, and then we find you getting ready to leave us here. In clothes we've never seen before…although this is a really nice suit. I didn't know you had anything like this. Did you get it at the mall?"

Murray had reached out to finger the dark gray fabric, but Nick jerked his arm back and firmly pushed Murray's hand away. "Look, you guys have made a mistake. I'm not Nick, and I don't know Nick."

Cody flashed on Sheila and Marcy flipping back and forth and worried briefly that Nick had somehow developed a similar problem, but surely they would have had clues before now. He and Cody had been roommates of one fashion or another for more than ten years all told and never a sign of anything weird like that. No, something was definitely wrong here, and Cody was starting to believe this guy actually might not be his partner. "Okay, look. Can I just get my wallet and show you a photo?"

The guy-who-probably-wasn't-Nick eyed Cody with distrust then nodded once. "Slowly."

Cody carefully reached back and pulled out his wallet with his thumb and index finger, wiggling the other three to show they were empty. He opened it and flipped past pictures of a couple of girls he used to date and pulled out a photo of the three partners taken by Giovanna on the Arrivederci. He handed it over and prayed that this man really wasn't Nick. If he was, then they had serious problems that had nothing to do with finding a flasher.

The man glanced at the photo and then stared harder. "He does kind of look like me." He blinked in consternation and handed it back to Cody. "I see how you might make a mistake."

Murray pushed his glasses back up his nose, peering close in confusion. "You mean you really aren't Nick?"

"I'm really not. Jake Styles. I'm a special investigator for the P.A.'s office." He flashed a badge identifying him as a lieutenant in the L.A.P.D.

Cody was at once both glad that Nick didn't have serious mental problems and worried as hell that his partner was still missing.

Murray put out his hand, "I'm Murray Bozinsky, and this is Cody Allen. We're the Riptide Detective Agency in King Harbor, and we were here trying to find that flasher who's been scaring people along the coast. And our third partner is Nick Ryder who looks remarkably like you…and seems to have disappeared on us."

As Cody shook Styles's hand, he started cataloging the easily dismissed, minor differences between Styles and Nick. Generally the same size and build, Styles might be a bit leaner but not by much…could just be the cut of the suit. Same hair but Nick generally wore his a little longer. The eyes were similar in color, but there the differences were pronounced. Nick showed every emotion in his eyes, but Styles's were remote and unreadable.

And of course, the clothes. Nick shopped at J. C. Penney or Sears when he needed something decent and hated putting on a jacket and tie. Jake Styles's custom suit fit like a glove, and that pair of shoes probably cost more than the entire wardrobes of Nick, Cody, and Murray put together.

"So, your partner was here today?"

Cody eyed Styles and nodded briefly, "Yeah, we split up to cover more of the crowd. He had the aisles closest to the parking lot."

Styles stared back at the open-air market. "I was supposed to meet an informant today at the head of aisle two." He paused and looked back at Cody and Murray, "I was delayed, and he never showed."

Cody's worry formed a cold ball in the center of his stomach. "Would anyone else know you were meeting him here?"

"Not from my side, but maybe from his. He was pretty nervous. Could have been followed."

Murray's eyes got big behind the lenses, "You think your informant may have mistaken Nick for you? And if your informant had anyone on his tail, they might have made the same mistake."

Styles winced slightly, "The same mistake you guys made. My informant is missing; so is your partner. I don't like the coincidence."

Cody felt his stomach turn. Since 1970, Nick Ryder had been the most stable, solid, dependable person in Cody's life, and now he was missing. This was not an acceptable situation. Cody looked at Murray and saw the same worried concern, and then he turned back to Jake Styles who seemed to be studying the market and figuring options. "Now what?"

Styles pulled out his keys. "You guys go back to your office, and I'll call when I find anything. You're in the book, right?"

Cody flashed a glance at Murray who looked alarmed and about to object. Cody took care of that for both of them. He pushed into Styles's space, "Forget it. Nick's—"

"Now you listen and listen good; I realize you're P.I.s and all, but this is an official investigation. I'm not gonna let you—"

"No, you listen. Nick is our best friend, and he's been my partner since 'Nam. If you think for one second that I'm gonna wait around for someone else to find him—someone who doesn't even know him—then you better think again. We'll dog your every step. And don't think we can't do it."

Murray piped up from behind, "That's right."

Styles's lips twitched, and Cody thought he might be seeing a little of the real man under the cold façade. "That might be considered obstruction. I could arrest you for that."

"We'll make bail."

Styles scanned the market and parking lot again. "You guys are ex-military?"

Cody tried to figure where he was going with this, but whatever, it seemed like a break. "Yeah; all three of us, and Nick's still in the reserves."

Styles seemed to be weighing his decision. "Okay. Why don't we go back to my office and talk about this. Where are you guys parked?"

Cody lifted his chin in the direction of the Jimmy.

Styles glanced over and then back. "I'll wait for you by the entrance to the parking lot, and you can follow me, all right?"

Cody nodded once, "We'll be right behind you." He and Murray headed for the next row. When they got to the truck, he glanced back to see Styles standing by the Porsche watching them. He threw up a hand and got in the car as Cody unlocked his door.

He reached over to let Murray in. His partner settled in the passenger seat, staring out the window as Styles backed the Porsche out of the space. "What do you think, Cody?"

"I think Nick's in trouble, and we're gonna stick to this guy like glue till we find him."