memories, psych [ 1 ]

090. international spy

Vanessa turns when she hears the door to the office open.

"Hey." She smiles. "I brought some don-- who is this?" She frowns at the unknown woman.

"My name is Nadia. I was an operative with Ewan O'Hara." She informs.

"Ewan-- Jules' brother, Ewan?" Vanessa asks.

"Yeah. She's a spy." Gus states.

"A spy?" Tobias asks.

"Right..." Vanessa glances between the three.

"We're serious." Gus says. "We got shot at by black ops in a helicopter."

"Shot?" Her eyebrows rise up. "Wha-- are you okay?" She glances between the two for injuries.

"Yeah, no, we're fine." Shawn assures.

~ ~ ~

"Remember, we have T-minus six minutes before a team of black ops close in and torture to kill." Nadia warns as Shawn flips through Gus' astronomy book.

"Torture to kill? Is that pretty cut and dry or is there some wiggle room there?" Shawn asks.

"Uh, Nadia, I have floor pads as to avoid the scratching of hardwood floors." Gus says as Nadia drags a chair over to the window.

"You're kidding, right?" She asks.

"Yes, I am." He says. Nadia cuts a hole in the window. "Nadia, that's gonna cost us $438 plus tax--" He stops when she looks at him. "Never mind."

Nadia gets a gun out, sticking the barrel out the window.

"Boom! Phoenix constellation." Shawn says. "Damn it, that means Strabinsky's in Alabama."

"You mean Arizona?" Gus asks.

"No. He always talked about retiring here. This much I know for sure." Nadia says. "Another reason why O'Hara thought you could help."

"Wait a second. Wait a second. This has nothing to do with constellations." Gus says, grabbing her gun.

"Get down." Nadia pushes him to kneel down. Shawn and Vanessa hide behind the desk. Tobias kneels down behind Gus' desk.

"It's just a clue to get us to the location." Gus says. Nadia shuts the other two blinds. "F-E-N-I-X, the Fenix Valley Path. It's in the Los Padres Forest, just outside of Santa Barbara."

"Gus, you can't just make up stuff that doesn't exist." Shawn loudly whispers.

"It does exist, Shawn." Gus says. "It's just not in any guidebooks. It's named after a hiker who got lost there."

"Oh. Well, that's it, then. That's where we'll find Strabinsky." Shawn says.

"That's what I just said." Gus says. "But the Los Padres Forest is too big. You can't just walk through there and find Strabinsky."

"We have to fly over. Do you know anybody who owns a chopper?" Nadia asks.

"99.6% of the time, the answer to that question is nobody. But there's one guy." Shawn says.

+++

"I should be concerned, right?" Declan asks after answering the door.

"Concerned and excited." Shawn states, walking in.

"Really bad timing." Declan says.

"Declan, we're being tracked. Which means in about seven-ish minutes, dudes in capes are gonna storm your dope pad and start sniping us." Gus says.

"They will not be wearing capes, but they will be sniping us." Nadia says.

"Declan, this is Nadia, she is a spy. The case we're working on is a matter of national, international, and gubernational security." Shawn states.