Harlan took the hand and shook it warmly. "Harlan Tavis." he said.
Behan's eyebrows rose as he realized the true relationship between the
-Chief he had admired so much and the cocky young thief.
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+Chief he had admired so much and the cocky young thief.
+
+==== John Behan: Detective ====
+
+The three of them talked for hours. Harlan had decided to trust Behan.
+His father had trusted the man. He told him everything, including
+their participation in the Resistance, although he refused to name
+anyone else in the organization.
+
+"Don't blame you. You need to keep that information secret."
+
+Behan stood up and started pacing around the small room, pulling at
+his lower lip and muttering to himself. Finally he stopped and looked
+at the younger couple. "As I see it, we have three problems to solve."
+
+He sat down abruptly. "First, we need to find out who killed your
+father, Harlan." His gaze switched to Mellie. "Second, we need to find
+out if Sam's killer is the same person who tried to kill you, Mel."
+
+Standing up, he walked to the kitchen and fixed himself a cup of
+express. He walked back into the living area. "And third, we need to
+kick start this revolution before the whole planet withers away."
+
+==== Mellie: Detective ====
+
+Mellie's jaw dropped. "What!?" she squeaked.
+
+Harlan came to his feet. "What have you got to do with it?"
+
+"I have some responsibility in the Resistance." Behan said.
+
+"He IS the Resistance." said a voice. Santorini entered from the
+kitchen.
+
+"Is my door wide open?" grumbled Mellie.
+
+The Boss grinned at her, then let his gaze include Harlan. "You think
+I'm the Boss? Actually John is."
+
+Harlan stared at the detective. "He's what!?" His voice had risen.
+
+"Calm down, Harlan." said Behan. "Greg just checks in with me once in
+a while."
+
+Mellie's eyebrows rose. "Greg? Who's Greg?"
+
+Santorini laughed. "I am, Mel. My name is Gregorio Santorini."
+
+"Oh." was all that Mellie said. "Okay. Let's drop the comedy act. Tell
+us what's going on."
+
+The two older men exchanged glances and Behan gave a slight nod.
+
+Santorini sat down. "We are about to launch the revolution. And you
+two will play important parts in winning it."
+
+Harlan opened his mouth, but Mellie said "Shut up, Harlan.", her
+attention focused on the Boss. Harlan's mouth stayed open as he stared
+at his sweet, cuddly girlfriend whose face had turned to stone.
+
+Santorini continued. "You, Harlan, are going to organize the thieves,
+destroy the Syndicate, and get the remnants to join us."
+
+He raised his hands as Harlan started to protest. "No, it's not going
+to be impossible. You will find many allies in this coming war and a
+number of them are in the underground. You even have friends in the
+Syndicate now."
+
+He made placating motions with his hands as Harlan half rose. "Relax,
+kid. Like I said. You have friends. Lots of them. And they will be
+there for you. You and I will go over the general outline later."
+
+He turned to Mellie. "Mel, you are going to take over the police
+headquarters and hold it until we can break through."
+
+Mellie stared at him. "Oh. And can I call on the Gods of Olympus and
+Saturn and the Titans to help me?"
+
+"You'll have real help, Mel. Do not doubt it." said Behan.
+
+Harlan and Mellie looked at each other. Mellie shrugged, then grinned
+at the thief.
+
+"What do you think? Should we throw our lot in with these crazies?"
+
+Harlan just gazed at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Hell,
+yes!"
+
+==== Harlan: Thief ====
+
+Hours later, Mellie shooed them all out of her home and fell onto the
+bed fully clothed, asleep with a smile on her face after one last
+thought about Harlan.
+
+The thief himself decided to be a smartass and slipped through the
+same window he had used earlier. He appeared in Mellie's bedroom with
+a big grin and was greeted by a snore.
+
+He sat on the bed next to her and kissed her. Then he kissed her
+again. Then he shook her gently. Then he shook her a bit less gently.
+All he got was snores.
+
+With a rueful smile on his face, he undressed her and got her under
+the covers. Tucking her in, he kissed her gently on the forehead. Then
+he looked at her for a minute and lay down on the floor and went to
+sleep.
+
+He woke before she did and quietly left the condo after making sure
+all the windows and doors were locked securely.
+
+He arrived at John Behan's little house about ten minutes later. After
+disabling the security system and entering through a window, he crept
+silently down the hallway toward a bedroom. He eased the door open
+without a sound and went to the bed where a lump lay motionless. Too
+motionless.
+
+It took him a second, but by the time Behan put his stunner behind
+Harlan's ear, the thief had figured it out.
+
+"You coulda just knocked." the detective said grumpily. "Now I have to
+reconfigure the security system."
+
+"That's no fun." said Harlan. "But how did you know?" He stepped away
+from the muzzle of the stunner.
+
+The detective chuckled. "I have a secondary system. It goes to an
+earplug that I wear whenever I'm at home. I heard you breathing."
+
+Harlan turned and looked at the somewhat slovenly, middle-aged man in
+front of him with the protuberant belly, the thinning hair, and the
+tired eyes. "You're the Resistance?"
+
+Behan smiled. "Greg and I founded the organization about seven years
+ago. I went undercover and Greg has always been a bureaucrat. So he
+runs things. I just try to keep him informed."
+
+Behan sat on the bed and looked up at Harlan. The thief noticed that
+he still had the stunner in his hand. "So why are you disturbing my
+beauty sleep when we've been over just about every detail."
+
+Harlan turned and looked out the window at the back of another
+building, two disposal units, and a burned out aircar. "I just don't
+like what you have lined up for Mellie. So much can go wrong. I would
+rather she didn't have to do that."
+
+Behan looked at him and shook his head. "First, if she knew you were
+here trying to take her assignment away from her, she'd probably shoot
+you. Second, she really is the best person for the job. The department
+is riddled with moles. There aren't very many people I can trust like
+I do you and Mellie. She is bright, capable, and deadly. She can
+handle it."
+
+He stood up, holstered the stunner, and placed a hand on Harlan's
+shoulder. "I know it's tough letting someone you love go into a field
+of danger. Especially after your dad died a week ago. But you have to
+trust her. And me. And Greg. You do your part. We'll do ours."
+
+Harlan's eyes turned to Behan and held his gaze. "You think she can do
+this and come out alive?"
+
+Behan nodded. "Yes. She really is that good."
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