A blast from the past
by Debbie Christiansan and Maria Wiberg
PART 1
Caine went about his ordinary morning ritual. He was making tea and bean sprout sandwiches for himself, and was just about to crack the eggs into the pan with bacon already frying for Peter. Something on the edge of his mind made him hesitate and turn to look outside the window. A shadowy figure ran across the roof on the other side of the ally, the early morning made it hard to actually see who it was. Caine shook off the uneasy feeling he got when he saw the man, and once again moved to crack the egg into the pan, this time he cracked it all right, the shockwave of a large explosion blew both the glass from the shattered window and the egg into the pan.
Not caring that he walked through glass and that he had several small cuts on the side of his head and over his hands he went to the window to see what had happened. The lower building across the street was now partly turned into a burning pile of bricks and dust.
Not sensing any living beings inside the fire he went back to his stove and turned the gas off. The glass spiced bacon and the spoiled egg went into the trash as well as the sandwiches. Breakfast would have to wait this morning.
Peter was just about to turn into the ally when the building exploded. He put on the breaks to stop the car from entering the disaster zone. Partially successful he quickly backed around the corner again to get away from the falling debris. More concerned with his father and the possible victims safety than the scratches on the car he quickly reported the incident to headquarters and ran towards the back door to his father's building which faced away from the burning warehouse.
"Pop, pop, are you OK?" he shouted as he almost broke the door off its hinges when entering the roof apartment.
"I am just fine, son," came a calm voice from the bathroom. "only some small cuts from the window breaking."
"Thank God." Peter was so relieved he almost laughed.
Caine came out of the bathroom with a pair of tweezers, "Could you give me a hand with this?" he pointed towards the back of his neck.
That very practical request together with the fact that his father was OK made Peter calm down even more.
"In a minute father." The seriousness of yet another close call to his father's life made him yet again call him father. First that gunshot and then the poison, too much had happened lately. "I have to see if there’s any other victims to the explosion. I called for backup and an ambulance, they’re gonna be here any minute." He started towards the exit without taking the tweezers.
"Calm down, I can sense no living beings in there Peter. No need to endanger yourself and others by trying to go in there. At least until the fire is put out."
"Sorry about breakfast, pop. Maybe lunch?"
"Lunch will be fine, son." he confirmed and the next second Peter was half way down the stairs again.
~~~
"Peter, did you get the forensics report on the Chinatown bombing? The Captain wants to know what you’ve got."
"Yeah, a couple of minutes ago, Chief. Lemme just read it through and I’ll give her a full report." Peter opened the file and browsed through the facts.
Half way down the first page his heart made a leap. Traces of a human body? "Pop, you said nobody was in there? Did you say that just to keep me from entering that building? No, that can’t be right." as he visualized the conversation from two days ago he got the answer to the question in his mind all by himself. His father had said there was nobody alive in there.
This person must have been killed instantly in the blast. Maybe a homeless person sleeping in the empty place, the body was yet to be identified.
The severe damage to the structure had made Peter and many others on the scene think it was a really huge bomb. But the forensics now showed a rather small charge. A charge made from a very explosive but quite rare substance. A substance that indicated this was not just another bomb-freak but an expert in the field. This was bad.
"Kermit, I’m gonna need your expertise on this case. I need you to find out if this substance had been used in bombings somewhere else recently."
"Anything for my friends, Peter. Gimme that report and I’ll get right to it."
Peter handed it over to his favorite frog. "Do your magic, I’ll be in Captain Simms office, she wanted a report on this pronto."
Kermit already hunched over the keyboard, a smile in the corner of his mouth showed how much he enjoyed this kind of challenge.
PART 2
As Kris looked out into the yard she smiled.
There on the obstacle course was her friend and partner Sam putting her dog Buster through his exercises for the visiting school children.
She had let Sam do this session alone because she wanted to go over the files they had started on this crazy bomber. The guy had killed a fellow officer and friend of Sam's, Detective Martin Trent over in Debville. When he came to Watkins they had inherited the case.
He had struck twice so far and if he stuck with his MO he would strike once more likely killing another officer. Kris sadly noted that it was the only way they could find him. Kris wanted to scream out aloud in frustration, knowing he would have to strike again for them to have a chance to catch him.
All of a sudden she heard Lou, the communications officer, behind her, "Kris," he said softly. "There's something you should see."
As he handed her the report she felt her heart drop.
In the yard Buster returned to Sam and the kids, loving the attention from the kids he sat down beside her.
"Any further questions?" asked Sam as she scanned the faces of the children standing before her, giving Buster an affectionate pat on the head.
The kids were silent not knowing what to ask, overwhelmed by Sam’s very enthusiastic bombardment of facts about her job.
"OK, then if you have no other questions we will say goodbye."
As the kids filed past each one gave a pat to the German Shepard they had been watching.
Sam smiled at the sight, it was one of the nice parts of her job, talking to the kids and letting them know that the police were their friends. And a wonderful distraction to keep her mind off the case.
She started towards the office and stopped when she saw Kris coming towards her.
"What's up Kris?"
Sam knew the look on her partners face.
"He struck again Sam."
"Where?" Sam was almost afraid of the answer but needed to know.
Kris handed the paper to Sam to read for herself.
"Oh Man," Sam cried, "He moved on! Damn." Sam felt like she had been slapped, after all the time they had spent getting the dogs trained to recognize that unusual phosphorus and now he moved on.
"I think we scared him into moving quicker than he planned," reasoned Kris.
"We have to go and help them Kris." Sam was so upset that she was shaking. "We’re so close to nailing this guy. We just cant let him walk."
"Sam, he's out of our jurisdiction." Kris tried to reason with her partner but knew she felt the same way. This was not just any case, this was personal.
Sam went directly to their Captain's office, not even bothering to knock she flung the door open.
"Captain, they wired they needed information and help. We want to go there and help in person!" Sam knew she was acting irrationally but felt strongly that they were the best chance to catch this guy. "Buster and Bella have just been trained to find the substance. Nobody else can do it! Not this soon anyway"
As Captain Harrelson listened he knew she was right but needed to stop her desperate plea with a thought of reason. He knew Sam, she did start to ramble when she was passionate about something.
"The wire did not say they wanted more officers in their midst," he stated.
"But they don't realize they do," Kris put in. "So far they are just stumbling in the dark. Sure, we can hand over the information about this substance, and they will not have the means to pursue this without us."
"OK Detectives, I'll call Sloanville and see if they would take you in. That’s the best I can do, OK?" He said it but wasn't sure if he believed they would accept extra help instead of just the reports.
"Thanks Captain!" Sam knew he could get the invitation for them. He could be very persuasive when he put his mind to it. Unsuccessfully trying to keep her mind off of it she walked over to her side of their own desk and sat down. Buster sensing her troubled mind put his head in her lap for comfort. Absentmindedly Sam started to stroke the back of his head.
Her mind wandered while she sat there and she started to remember Marty and Peter and herself studying for the academy. "Peter," Sam said his name softly, but Kris heard anyway.
"Peter?" she asked.
"Yeah, Peter works in Sloanville, I just remembered. That makes a connection with us and Trent's town." She felt like she was being paranoid. They had been trying to figure out where this guy came from and where he was going and now she was grasping at straws?
"Sam, what your suggesting is that you think this guy is after you and your friends from the orphanage." Kris was sure her friend was mistaken and probably just feeling like they had failed in nailing this guy.
"Anderson, Burke, in my office."
They looked towards Captain Harrelson and rose to follow him into his office.
"I talked to a Captain Simms at the 101st, she is expecting you this afternoon." He smiled at them. "And I expect all four of you to come back in one piece."
Kris and Sam shared a small smile and proceeded to get their files and dogs into a car for the trip to Sloanville.
~~~
Peter stood to leave when Simms got a phone call. She waved for him to sit down again.
"You came that close, that’s great news Captain Harrelson. I will be happy to accept your offer, our K9 unit is vacant at the moment."
She took notes as the other end of the line filled her in on the specific officers and the case.
"Thank you, I will expect them this afternoon. Goodbye Captain Harrelson." She put the phone down and looked at Peter. "You are in luck Detective Caine, two K9 detectives are coming over from Watkins to help us track this bomber."
"I’ll keep an eye out for ‘em. Good idea to use dogs. How did they get them trained so fast?" Not waiting for any answer, he left the office to talk to Kermit. He sure got this request out quickly. Less than half an hour and they already had something to go on.
Simms shook her head when Peter left her office, not really believing he hadn’t protested. It was not like him to just accept help like that.
~~~
As Kris and Sam arrived at the precinct everything appeared calm. Kris started for the doors as Sam got the files from the back of the car. At that moment they heard a crash and a chilling scream from around the corner. Kris immediately jumped off the side of the stairs and started for the alley and the origin of the sound. Bella was in full police mode in the moment Kris called out for her to follow.
When Kris got round the corner and saw a woman with her grocery bags and groceries all over the pavement around her, hysterically screaming as she tried to hold on to her purse. "Sam, forget those files!" Kris yelled over her shoulder.
"Right," Sam responded as she banged the car door shut. About that time some of the officers from inside came out too see what the screaming was all about.
Kris let Bella go as soon as they had eye contact with the culprit. "Get him." she ordered. Bella took after the guy with the lady’s purse now in his possession. In two giant bounds she overtook him and got his arm. With the force of the dog's weight jumping him the guy lost his footing and fell. Bella had a firm hold of his arm, he wasn't going anywhere.
Kris smiled at the pile of man and dog. "You must be really stupid! Snatching a purse just outside the police precinct, what were you thinking?" she shook her head as the guy just looked miserable and scared. "Break," Kris ordered Bella. The dog responded immediately and sat down next to her prey. "Good girl." Kris rewarded Bella with a pat on the head. The dog looked up and seemed just as proud of the job as Kris.
When Sam and Buster came around the corner with the officers from the 101st moments later it was already over.
As Sam helped the woman pick her things up the officers proceeded to cuff the guy. "Thanks for the help Officers." said the Sergeant in charge. "Do we know you?"
"Not likely," answered Sam. "We are from Watkins, here to meet Captain Simms about the bomber."
"Well follow me," he invited them. "I just love the way you decided to make an entrance."
Kris and Sam exchanged looks.
PART 3
"Captain Simms, these are the K9 officers from Watkins." announced the Sergeant as he knocked and opened the office door at the same time.
"Thank you, " replied the Captain and waved for them to enter as she got up to greet them.
Kris shook the offered hand as she entered, "I'm Kris Anderson and this is my dog Bella," she said as she patted the head of the dog affectionately, and then turned to introduce Sam, only to find that her partner was still outside in the squad room. "That’s my human partner Sam Burke and her dog Buster," she nodded in their direction. Kris always was better at meeting new people and ended up doing most of the introductions. She glanced at Sam and noticed she was distracted and looking around the room, trying to find someone or something among all the people going about their business all around her.
"Come into my office ladies," said Captain Simms. "Blake, find Caine for me."
"Yes Captain," answered a man behind one of the desks, leaving his work, sorting out a bunch of electronic components spread all over his desk.
At the mention of Peter's name Sam looked around the room again before she followed her partner into Simms office.
"I see you have all the reports here," remarked Simms.
"Yes Ma’am ," answered Kris "we brought you everything we have."
"Who allowed dogs in here?" interrupted a male voice behind them just in time to make Kris miss the brief, annoyed look on Simms face from the ma’am she never liked.
"The same person who let you in here Hotshot Cop," replied Sam.
They laughed and Peter Caine walked in the room giving Sam a hug. "Hey Sam, good to see you again." True affection in his smiling voice.
"You too Pete."
As they stood there having their little mini reunion Kris and Captain Simms exchanged surprised glances.
"Sorry Captain, Sam and I were at the orphanage together", Peter explained as he got himself untangled from Sam. "And who is this with you Sam?" he queried with a growing smile as he eyed the tall woman with dark curly hair, a well formed body, and a friendly smile of her own.
"This is my partner Kris Anderson." Sam introduced as she noticed his focus change towards her partner.
"I thought you were K9," Peter said, the dogs all forgotten.
"I am, this is my dog Buster and over there Kris's dog Bella." stated Sam as she made him tear his eyes from Kris.
"Pleasure to meet you Kris", said Peter with his charm over flowing.
"Nice to meet you too, detective Caine." Kris smiled back, somewhat embarrassed. This guy was really attractive, she had to force herself to break the eye contact before she could get another word out, and they were not cheerful. "Wonderful to finally meet a live and well friend of her’s. All her other orphanage friends I've only seen at their funerals."
Peter looked at Sam with a big question on his face. "Sam?" he asked.
"Yeah she's right. It's in the reports. You see before this guy hit Watkins he blew up three places in Debville." Sam started to tell him, "and the last blast killed Detective Martin Trent."
At the mention of Marty's name Peter looked at Captain Simms. "Captain he was a friend of mine too".
Simms looked from Peter to the new officers in her office. "Is there any pattern to his work?" she inquired.
"The only thing we know for sure Captain is that he usually hits three times before he moves on, with this blast he’s killed six people in five towns. Not to mention injuring dozens of others," answered Kris
"And," she started looking at Sam, "three of those were police officers that we know of."
"I don't like the sound of that." said Simms. She looked more than worried, she looked really pissed.
"Me either Captain" Peter agreed.
"He only hit twice in Watkins," Sam continued. "And he never managed to actually kill anybody in those blasts, thank God".
Kris continued the story, "When the second blast hit town, we had the dogs trained and ready to follow his trail. We started backtracking, but he must have spotted us or in some way got tipped off that we were on to him, cause we found his clothes on the shore of a lake nearby. We lost the scent."
"The frustrating thing is he knows that we almost had him and I think that is why he moved on before he meant too," Sam could feel herself getting irritated again and decided to stop now before she started ranting. She sat down and began stroking Buster's ears.
"I will not allow anything to happen to any of my officers, get this guy detectives," her voice still calm and in conversational pitch, but the determination and force behind it was unmistakable even to Kris and Sam.
"We will, Captain. Count on it," Peter said softly but with equal edge.
"Well," said Simms "get to it, before another person dies. Caine take them to the scene of the blast."
"Yes Captain," come along ladies we have a bad guy to catch."
~~~
In a short time they arrived at the blown out building. They stood in the alleyway looking over the damage. The fire was long ago turned out and now all that remained were ashes, unidentified garbage, bricks and broken glass in heaps and dangerous piles. The side of the opposite wall was all black and bruised from the blast and the fire. They proceeded with caution.
"Have you figured out what the phosphorus is?" asked Peter.
"No," answered Kris "only that there’s enough of it left after a blast to make good training use of, and the dogs can smell it and follow it for distances."
"We have sent out requests to all legitimate dealers of explosives and ingredients but no luck," Sam added.
"Well I have a couple of other ways to check," said Peter slyly "Kermit can find out."
Sam and Kris looked at each other "I never could get him to talk straight," Sam told Kris.
"Very funny Sam," Peter laughed "Kermit is a friend at the station who is a whiz at the computer. He found you in no time, didn’t he?"
They laughed but the seriousness of the situation cut it short. Peter realized he had missed the friendly banter of this friend from the orphanage days. He liked the fact that she had not changed in that department one bit, she was still as friendly and easy to be with. "So what can the dogs do?" he continued.
"Watch," said Kris. "Find." she ordered Bella as she released her.
As she waited for Bella to go, Sam also ordered Buster to join in the search. Both dogs started to look around the immediate premise and then they suddenly stopped and sat down, looking up at something above them.
Sam and Kris looked at each other and wondered why the dogs just stopped like that. Sam looked up in the direction the dogs were looking and there stood a middle aged man with long flowing hair, all dressed in plain brown clothes, very calmly watching the group. Kris and Peter turned around too to see what was going on.
"Hey Pop," Peter called "What are you doing?"
Caine shrugged and replied, "Watching you."
Sam took her gaze from Caine and looked with a surprised face at Peter. "Pop?" she queried as she once again turned her attention towards the older man as he came down the fire escape.
"Yea Sam, meet my father Kwai Chang Caine, Pop this is an old friend Samantha Burke and her partner Kristina Anderson."
Caine half bowed to the girls. "It is a pleasure to meet friends of my son's."
Sam gave him the Shaolin salute. "Ah, I see you are familiar with the Shaolin." Caine said returning the salute.
"Peter taught me some moves at the orphanage and how to keep from being harassed as well," Sam explained. While Peter half smiled.
Caine looked at his son with a proud and affectionate smile. "He always did look after the smaller ones even at the Temple."
"OK, can we start now?," asked Kris, a bit restless and eager to get going. "You can have your reunion later when this guy is behind bars".
"Sorry, Kris. You’re absolutely right. Nice to meet you Caine," Sam turned towards her furry partner, "Seek" she ordered.
Buster started towards the corner of the building. Kris started Bella at the other end of the alley. Peter and his father watched for a few minutes and then parted to follow the girls and the dogs in their search. Caine went to follow Sam and Buster, he was curious to find out more about her and Peter’s past in the orphanage. He didn’t have to say anything, this time Peter immediately understood his father’s motives and was more than happy to accompany Kris.
Caine and Sam were walking in relative silence as they followed Buster. Caine was not the one to ask outright questions, he just awaited any information she would choose to share with him.
Kris on the other hand was not so lucky. Peter didn’t have his fathers patience and was a veritable fountain of questions.
"So how do you know if the dog has the right scent? Will the dog be able to keep the scent for a long time?"
Kris tried to break the concentration of the search long enough to answer him. "She will follow the scent till we get to where she loses it," as soon as she said it she regretted sounding so short. "I'm sorry Peter. She will get us to Buster and Sam because this girl always ends up in the same place she started." She gave him her best smile and hoped she hadn't hurt his feelings. He sounded so eager and honest in his enthusiasm. "How did you two meet?" she couldn’t help but ask.
Sam and Caine came around the corner and headed down the street. "May I inquire as to how you know my son?" he finally asked as Sam still hadn't said anything.
It was an innocent enough question thought Sam. "We met in the orphanage. I arrived there after my parents and brother had been killed in a car accident. I was thrown clear of the car and watched it explode." Sam started to drift away in thought as she opened herself up to Caine, explaining her relationship.
She had arrived at the orphanage with a cast on her leg and a very heavy heart. The other orphans saw her pain and stayed away. All of them knew about the open wound, she would need to heal before she was ready to open up to the world again, they all shared it.
She quietly stayed in the small room she shared with five other girls until she could get around better on the crutches. Then she slowly started to explore her new surroundings. She soon found a favorite spot, a small grassy area located outside the gym. She was drawn there by the quiet and the cool shadow of the trees. She would sit and read there, enjoying every moment of peace away from the constant noise of all the other orphans.
One day as she was making her way to her bench a couple of the larger boys started to tease her. She knew she wasn't pretty. Sure the glass cuts and swollen nose from the accident was almost gone now, but she still had her glasses and braces. She honestly didn’t care much about how she looked and usually had her hair in convenient ponytails.
"Hey cripple can't you move any quicker?" They were relentless in their teasing and the more she tried to get away the more they chased after her. They caught up easily to her and one of them took her crutch away and it tripped her up. As she fell into a sobbing heap she lost her glasses.
"HEY YOU GUYS LEAVE HER ALONE!" Out of nowhere, Young Peter Caine stood there with a look of total disbelief at what these boys had done.
"What are you going to do about it Caine?" the biggest of them teased as he took a threatening step towards the smaller boy.
"You can’t scare me as easily as a defenseless girl on crutches. You know I can handle you Russ so get lost now." They could see he was serious and they knew he would take them all on so they turned to leave.
"Look cripple, we will be watching you."
Sam cringed at the final threat but was determined not to let them get to her. She got her glasses back on and looked up to see a hand reaching down to help her up.
"Sorry about those guys, they are just bullies." Peter helped her up and handed her the crutch that had been taken away from her. "I'm Peter Caine."
"Thanks for your help, my name is Samantha Burke." She managed a shy smile as she met the hazel eyes of her savior.
"Well I'm not going to let them hurt you okay." He smiled back as he briefly touched her shoulder with a comforting gesture.
Sam was relieved to hear that and was glad that maybe she had a new friend.
"Can I call you Sam?"
"Sure all my friends do."
"Well Sam, can I walk you back to the main building?"
Sam knew then that she had made a new friend and she felt some of the depression leave her soul and hope somehow found its way in there instead. "Well then you better call me 'Hop A Long' cos I'm not moving to fast these days."
"OK let's go Hop A Long."
Sam started to laugh for the first time in a long time and Peter joined her in the happy sound.
"Sounds like you were a very good friend to Sam."
Kris's voice brought Peter back to the present from the shared memory of that first meeting. "Well she was a good friend to me too. I think she was the first real friend I had there." Peter couldn't help but smile as they came around the corner and spied Sam and his father coming towards them.
As they were coming towards each other Buster stopped and sat down next to a Green Sedan parked on the street. Bella also went and sat down near the car.
"This is his car." Sam said with such confidence that Peter had to look twice at her to make sure she had been so positive.
"And you know this because...."
"Because the dogs know." Kris already had her writing pad up and was writing down the license plate number as she answered him. "And we trust our partners."
Caine started walking around the car looking in the windows to see if there was anything to tell who owned it.
"Well why can’t the dogs go any further? He's obviously not in the car." Peter was wondering why they had stopped here.
Caine noticed something in the car. "What is this pile of sand in the car?'
Sam and Peter walked to the side of the car he was standing. "Damn", she swore as she realized what the sand was.
Now Peter was confused. "What Sam?"
"He used pepper." She could tell she was confusing father and son even more so she continued, "Pepper effects the dogs sense of smell much like it does a human only the dogs sense of smell being so keen the pepper stuffs their nose to where they can't follow a trail from it."
Peter was now wondering if the dogs were such a good idea after all.
"I think we should stakeout the car and see if he comes back." Peter was sure that it was time for real policework to take over.
"Kris lets get the engine number too in case he switched plates." Sam was sounding like she knew something.
"Why did you think that?" Peter was actually proud of her for thinking of it. Maybe she didn’t just rely on the dogs doing the job after all.
"A trick my captain taught me. Most people don’t think about the engine ID when they are switching plates."
As soon as they had a car in place watching the suspect's car, the group headed back to the station. Caine excused himself and went back to his rooftop apartment.
PART 4
The group arrived back at the 101st feeling like they had been cheated out of the catch of the day.
"Hey Pete, I want to meet your friend Sam, he does some good computer work," Kermit was glad the reports they had given him earlier weren't too bad to follow.
Peter looked at Kermit and grinned "Sure Kermit." He grabbed Sam by the arm and said "Sam Burke meet Kermit Griffin and this is her partner Kris Anderson and their dogs Buster and Bella."
Kermit took in the group that had just been introduced to him and didn't quite know how to respond. It was not often he made a mistake like that. Peter would probably let him eat it for weeks.
"Hello Kermit nice to meet you," Sam reached out her hand to shake his.
"Yeah, you too."
Captain Simms stuck her head out of her office. "What did we get?"
"Well we found his car and I think we have the neighborhood he's staying in." Peter had hoped to give her more but was not to be. "Kris and I will be going back to relieve the other team in a few."
Captain Simms knew they were doing their best so she nodded and stepped back into her office.
"Kermit, we got the plates and engine ID off the car. Would you help Sam run them through the computer?" Peter was figuring that since Kermit liked Sam's reports that he would have no trouble working with her.
"Sure Peter, no problem", he offered as he turned to get back to his office. "Sam, grab some coffee and we’ll get started."
Sam looked from Kris to Peter and grinned. "Kris look out for this guy he is dangerous," she said as the grin grew bigger.
"I think I can handle him," Kris called back with a wink.
As soon as Sam entered his office balancing coffee and a donut he started to shut the door. The brush along his leg made him realize he had completely forgotten about the dog.
"Lie down," Sam instructed with her mouth full of donut and Buster went to the corner and laid down facing the desk.
Kermit sat down and started the program for checking motor registration and indicated to Sam to sit next to him as he pulled the chair over from the window. "OK what are the numbers we need to locate?"
She pulled out the paper with all the data Kris had given her earlier and handed it over to him.
~~~
Kris was sitting in the passenger seat of the Stealth, her mind wandering when she heard Peter's voice, "Kris is Sam doing okay? I know I should ask her but I'm afraid she wouldn't tell me the truth in case I would worry about her."
She heard the real concern in his voice for her partner and it made her smile. "She is doing as good as can be expected under the circumstances. But she is starting to worry me a little with her thinking this guy is out to get her and her friends."
Peter thought about that last statement a moment and then asked "Do you think she is right?"
Kris didn't know how to answer that and as they rode along she thought about the question. She had not really considered that possibility. So far she had only thought of it as a part of the mourning of a friend. Now she realized that she had to consider it, it would be stupid not to. "I know that Sam is a good cop and I would trust her to guard my back any day. But I don’t know if she’s right or not."
They arrived back at the street and Peter backed down a small driveway where they could see the target and not be seen. Peter looked at the quiet thoughtful profile of his companion and smiled "Well here we are, back in Chinatown. Now all we do is wait."
Kris turned towards him, his words drawing her away from the thoughts about the motives of the bomber. "Okay, lets get comfortable," she smiled back.
~~~
After a couple hours in Kermit's office Sam started to feel like she should be doing something. The one part of computer work that she really hated was the waiting. Waiting to see if anything came up. She impatiently paced the small space and ended up by the window. Looking back at a completely relaxed Kermit.
"We will catch this guy you know that don't you." Kermit could feel her anxiety at being cooped up in the office.
"Yeah I know." Sam was certain she believed her statement but still felt like she was failing somehow.
"You haven't asked me about my glasses yet." Kermit said as he peered over the top of his glasses at her. "Everyone does."
Sam couldn't help but smile at him "I could probably think of a better question than that."
He laughed "Oh Yeah, I bet you could." They both turned their attention to the computer when it beeped to announce incoming information. Sam immediately by Kermit’s side again. Her restlessness gone and her attention once again at the computer screen.
~~~
Peter and Kris sipped the coffee Peter had bought from a nearby coffee shop as they kept watching the sedan.
"So whatever happened with those boys?" Kris thought maybe she could find out a little of her partner's past from this man since she could be a little secretive about herself.
"Well after Sam got her cast off I started to teach her and Marty some Kung Fu." Peter once again started to recall his orphanage days and the first few months of his small class.
*****
"Sam you have to keep your head up." Peter was beginning to wonder if helping her was such a good idea. And he wondered if he himself had been this awkward when he began his training.
"I'm afraid of hurting my leg," she whimpered.
He looked around the small gym they were using. There were several kids there except himself and Sam. Marty, Bobby Murphy and Eddie Curtis a small little group of kids who had become friends the last few weeks. All of them wanted to learn how to take care of themselves in the sometimes rough and hostile environment of the orphanage. And Peter had volunteered to show them, he hated to see them get bullied.
"Sam you have to pay attention to the opponent or they will knock you on your butt."
*****
"Okay, state says car plates belong to a Robert Murphy," Kermit read out aloud.
Sam shook her head, "That can't be right, he died 6 months ago in a car accident on a camping trip."
Kermit looked at her "You think someone stole his car?"
"Not the car, just the plates. Where’s the registration on the engine ID? We should have it by now."
"Well that will be up in a few, takes a little longer to run the files on engines." Kermit was getting curious now. "How did you know he was dead?"
"I went to his funeral. He was a friend of mine and Peter's from the orphanage, just like Marty was." Sam was beginning to think this guy was playing games with them using Bobby's plates on his car.
The computer announced the arrival of more information and Kermit swung around and read the display. "Okay, engine ID registers the car to Edward J. Curtis."
Sam felt the beginning of a monster headache. "Christ I knew this was getting weird but...."
Kermit turned and looked at her, he raised his eyebrows in surprise behind the glasses. "You know him too?"
"Yes he was at the orphanage too."
"Is he alive?" The question sounded absurd even to Kermit but with this case nothing was easy.
"He's alive. I think we lost track of him when he washed out of the academy. He was not a friend of mine, definitely not"
"OK, then lets see if we can find this guy."
Sam was taken back by Kermit's enthusiasm at finally having something to follow and relieved that he was here to help her. "Thank You Kermit."
He peered over his glasses smiled at her and said, "Oh Yeah."
PART 5
The night was early and still warm as the man in the dark overcoat peered around the corner. He knew they were watching his car and he wasn't about to let the game stop now. "You think your so smart Peter Caine, but I'm going to have the last laugh." He backed up into the alley and continued on his way to his next target.
He entered the building from the back and proceeded up the abandoned stairs. The case in his hand was fully loaded with the largest amount of explosives he had used yet. He found a shelf next to the main power closet of the building. He then made sure the electricity was still hooked and working in the building. He opened the case and proceeded to set the timer for 7 AM the next morning. "You will learn I am the one in control here. You both are going down." He was very proud of himself as he turned and left the building.
~~~
Kermit and Sam were running several possibilities through the computer looking for Eddie Curtis. Sam leaned back and rubbed her temples. Kermit turned his attention from the computer screen to look at his tired and worn out partner.
"Hey Sam, when was the last time you ate?"
"Besides the donut earlier I haven't eaten all day. I get that way when I'm on a case. I can’t sleep. I forget to eat. I just can’t let go".
"Well I know a great sandwich shop around the corner. How about you and I go and get something to eat. It will be a while yet before we get answers back on the credit card search."
"OK, let's go," Sam grabbed Buster's leash and hooked it on his collar.
"Does the dog go everywhere with you?" As soon as Kermit said it he knew he shouldn't have. "Of course he does, you’re K9."
Sam giggled and stepped towards the door that Kermit was holding open for her. Her usually sharp mind was rapidly deteriorating and she was more than happy that he took charge over the situation.
"Broderick, we are going for a sandwich. If you hear from the kid tell him we will call him back." Kermit waved to the man behind the counter and proceeded to lead Sam towards the outside.
The night air was warm and pleasant as they came down the stairs. Kermit guided her by a light touch on her elbow down the street to her right. They walked in silence for a few minutes as Sam looked around and took in the sights.
~~~
"Ok Sarge, let them know I called and I will try again later."
Kris looked at Peter with a question on her face. "They left?"
Peter nodded his head while he cleared the cell phone and returned it to it's holder. "Yeah, Kermit actually got her to go get something to eat." He looked over at Kris and saw she was smiling. "What?"
"He must be very persuasive to get her away from the computer." She couldn't help but laugh, "even I have to threaten her with a bucket of water to get her away from the machine."
"You know they have a good idea, we should probably eat too."
"We can't leave. We are on a stakeout." Kris was not sure what he was suggesting and as he got out of the car she started to wonder about this guy leaving the stakeout in mid shift.
Peter walked around to the trunk of the Stealth. He opened it up and pulled out the cooler sitting on the floor. He got back into the car and smiled his most winning smile at Kris and announced "Dinner is served my lady."
~~~
As Kermit and Sam returned to the station she was feeling a little better about things. It amazed her how comfortable she felt with this other friend of Peter's. They walked into the station and she laughed as Kermit finished his story.
"According to Skalany he was totally in the nude in the bakery."
"I wish I could have seen it."
"Kermit, Peter called a little while ago." Broderick called out to them as they passed the front desk. He watched them walk by and Kermit waved to let him know he had heard him. Even the dog looked a bit rested after the walk down the street. Broderick shook his head and turned back to his paperwork.
As they entered Kermit's office Sam saw the computer screen flashing at them. "Kermit, we got something."
He went straight to his keyboard and called up the information. "Oh Yeah, we have you now. According to the latest charges on his card Eddie is staying at The Wallflower Hotel in Chinatown."
"Is that near Peter and Kris?"
"Oh Yeah." Kermit grabbed his phone and called Peter. "Hey kid we got him. He's at the Wallflower. We are on our way." As soon as he hung up the phone he went to his file cabinet and before Sam could ask him he pulled out a Desert Eagle from the drawer. "Never chase a bad guy without it," he quipped as he led the way to the Kermitmobile.
PART 6
"Kris, we have a lead…" Peter was half way out of the car before he finished the sentence. "…lets go get our bad guy! Kermit said he’s at the Wallflower Hotel." he continued as he closed the door. Without even looking to see if Kris was following he rushed towards the hotel which was located on the next street over.
Kris and Bella caught up with Peter as he slowed down when he approached the Wallflower. "It looks like there are a few warehouses around here. If he runs we may have quite a search." Kris was scanning the area as they walked she didn't like surprises.
"Relax we will get him easy." Peter was hoping he sounded more confident than he was feeling, after all this guy was targeting him and his friends.
~~~
Eddie looked out his window in exactly the wrong moment and saw Peter, Kris and the dog headed towards his location. "Damn, Peter you are early."
Without delay he abandoned his hideout and used his planned escape route which was through the back fire escape. He knew from the orphanage days that Peter would never follow him down such a path. He kept a slow but steady pace down the rusty ladder and then ran across the alley towards one of the warehouses located behind the hotel.
~~~
Peter and Kris went in the front door. "Hello? anyone here?" Peter called out as they approached the empty desk.
"Yeah, what do you want?" came a grumpy reply from a man in a dirty T-shirt coming out of the back office.
"Police, need to get a room number." Peter showed his badge and was being very calm considering he was this close to his prey. But his voice had an edge to it that made it utterly difficult to oppose. "I want to talk to a Eddie Curtis."
For a moment the man looked like wasn’t going to say anything.
"Now!" Kris added, she was every bit as anxious as Peter, but not as patient about it.
Her tone and a low threatening growl from Bella made him quickly reconsider. "I don't want no trouble, understand. He's in 324." The man then ignored them and turned to return into his office, where the TV was still playing in the background.
Kris and Peter hurried up the staircase. When they got to the room the door was ajar and the room empty. "Damn, we’re too late." Peter looked all around the surprisingly clean room, knowing he wouldn't see Eddie but had to look anyway.
"He must have been ready to leave," Kris commented as she opened the suitcase on the bed to find something for Bella to use. Being a bit cautious this time she sniffed the shirt herself first before she held it up to the dog, she didn’t want the pepper trick repeated. "Seek," she ordered Bella. The dog sniffed to get a scent to follow. Peter turned and watched as the dog walked around the room and then towards the door. They followed the dog to the fire escape and looked out into an empty alley. "Well I guess we start looking down there." Kris looked at Peter and saw he was leaning back.
"OK, let's take the stairs down." he was trying not to look down too much. He noticed Kris looking at him strangely. "I don't like heights."
"That’s okay Peter. Bella don’t do fire escapes either," she smiled as she turned to use the stairs herself.
Bella led them towards the farthest building on the block. As they approached the entrance Peter saw Kermit and Sam pull up at the end of the block. He waved to them as they climbed out of the car but he didn’t wait for them to arrive, he entered the warehouse with Kris as Sam and Kermit jogged down the street to join them.
"He still doesn't like to wait, huh," Sam commented to her new partner as they reached the building.
Kermit opened the door and they entered a large dimly lit storage room. Their friends were nowhere to be seen among the many rows of stacked boxes. They started along the wall, around the room, trying to spot their man or their friends. It was tricky, the wind made all kinds of weird noises and somewhere was a radio squealing out music from the other end of the room or maybe even in the next building.
Buster stopped half way to the right wall. Sam carefully looked around the corner and down the aisle he had stopped by, and tried to figure out what he was sensing. She didn’t see anybody but a door was located right across the room, Buster took off towards that door. Without hesitation she followed him.
Before Kermit could catch up with her a shot rang out.
"SAM," Kermit called out to her as he rounded the corner, gun ready, and saw her fall to the side of a stack of boxes. He wanted to find their guy, wanted to shoot him dead for hurting Sam. But all he found was Buster running towards a closing door and Sam in pain on the floor. He ran over to her side to find out how badly she was hurt. "PETE, Sam is down!" he called out, no need to be quiet, the purp was gone.
Peter and Kris came running from the opposite side of the room. Peter went down next to Sam's head. "Sam," he was looking to see where the wound was, "Sam where are you hit?"
Sam could hear Peter and felt the pain burning in her leg. As she fought the urge to cry out she answered him "It's.......my...........leg." She struggled to not cry as she told him, but she couldn’t stop the tears. "Where's Buster?" she started to panic as she looked around for her dog.
"Ssshhhhh Sam, He followed Eddie out of the building." Peter was relieved she wasn't more hurt but still worried about her. "He will be fine I'm sure."
"Kris you and Peter have got to get him." Sam was getting scared now because she knew if someone didn't stop him she could lose her partner. "Peter you have to get Buster. If he has caught Eddie you need to give him the command to break or he will chew Eddie's arm off."
"Sounds like a plan to me. He deserves worse." Peter was getting confused now after all they wanted to catch this guy.
"Peter, please he is my partner." Sam was finding it harder to keep from shaking as the shock took hold of her system, she was shaking and her face turned even more pale.
"Peter she's right, we have to go after Buster." Kris was holding her composure very well considering she was kneeling next to her partner. "Sam ........We will get him, promise."
Peter looked up at Kermit, he was already on the phone, getting them help. "Yeah we need an ambulance and backup in the alley behind the Wallflower in Chinatown." He snapped the phone shut and produced a handkerchief from out of his pocket and started wrapping it around Sam's leg to stop the bleeding. "Peter go with Kris, I will stay with Sam." He took his coat off and wrapped it around Sam to keep her warm.
Peter leaned over and kissed Sam lightly on the forehead, "I'll get your partner back....I promise. Kermit take good care of her. C'mon Kris let's go."
Bella led them through the door Buster and the perp had gone through. She started down the street towards the other warehouse. Peter grabbed Kris's arm, "Kris does Bella know where Buster is?"
"Yes, she is following him exactly. From the way she is going I'd say he's in the warehouse in front of us."
"Okay, you take Bella and go to the side entrance and I will go this way behind Buster."
Kris nodded and took Bella towards the door Peter indicated. He went straight for the door in front of them and checked his clip to make sure it was full. He was ready.
PART 7
Kermit picked Sam up and carried her towards the door when he came face to face with Caine. "Caine."
Caine bowed to Kermit and reached a hand to Sam, gently stroking her forehead. "I have something to help her while you wait for the ambulance." He reached into his bag that always hung over his shoulder and pulled out some leaves. "Chew on these, they will help the pain and slow the bleeding."
Sam let him give her the leaves partly because she was feeling very light headed and mainly because she felt the care and concern he was aiming at her. "Thank You," she whispered.
Kermit proceeded down the alley with his load to wait for the ambulance. "Your going to be fine Sam. Just fine," he smiled down at her as she looked up at him and tried to smile back through the curtain of pain covering her senses.
~~~
Peter entered the warehouse and immediately heard low growls and muffled screams coming from behind some boxes nearby. He slowly walked towards the sounds holding his gun at the ready. He peered around the corner and saw Buster with a firm grip on Eddie's arm. He was trying to reach his gun about 2 feet away on the floor with his other hand.
Peter kicked it further away and smiled down at Eddie. "Well Eddie I guess you met Sam's partner."
"Caine, get him off me! He's going to eat me alive!"
"Maybe he will and that will make my job much easier. Less paperwork for me." Peter was torn between shooting Eddie or letting Buster have him for lunch.
"If you don't get him off me you will never find the next bomb," Eddie said through clenched teeth.
Peter looked at Eddie not knowing if he was telling the truth or not. He walked over to Buster and reached for the leash laying on the floor. "Break Buster!" He wasn't sure if Buster would listen or not but the German Shepard responded immediately and sat down next to Peter and never took his eyes off his catch.
Kris and Bella came in behind Eddie as Peter was cuffing him. "Okay Eddie, where's the bomb? And you better not waste my time."
~~~
Kermit followed the ambulance to the hospital in the Kermitmobile. The paramedics had loaded Sam up and left while Kermit still debated on going and checking on Peter. Seeing the pain in her eyes he quickly decided he didn't want her to be alone at the hospital. "Come on Pete nail this guy." Kermit muttered silently, hoping that his friend would succeed in getting Eddie.
~~~
When Peter and Kris had brought Eddie out of the warehouse they also ran into Caine. "Pop why are you...nevermind." Peter knew it was just the way of his dad to show up wherever there was trouble.
"I came to help…and see if you would like to have breakfast with me tomorrow." Caine said as he looked at Peter and Kris both. Clearly seeing the connection between the two.
"We’ll try, pop. Right now we have to get this slime to the precinct," Peter accented by pushing Eddie violently towards one of the waiting patrol cars. "Did you see Kermit and Sam pop?" he continued, ignoring the protesting cries from his prisoner.
"They already left for the hospital. I gave her some herbs, she is going to be fine," Caine confirmed with a comforting smile. Knowing his son was really worried about his old friend.
Kris loaded both dogs into the back seat of the Stealth and turned to see Peter approaching the car. "Peter we can't tell Eddie that he got Sam."
"What are you thinking Kris?"
"If we let him think she is all right we might be able to get him to talk and tell us where the bomb is. If he knows he succeeded in hurting her he might get so cocky and confident we will never get anything out of him." Kris had a feeling this guy was out to make pain for Peter any way he could, and hurting his friends was a good way to do that.
~~~
Kermit burst into Emergency shortly after they brought Sam in. He went to the desk, showed his badge and said," I'm here with the gunshot victim just brought in. You let me know when I can see her." Then he took out his cell phone and called Peter. "Pete it's Kermit."
"How's Sam? Are you still at the hospital? We got Eddie. We are on our way to the station now." Peter found himself talking very fast not sure he wanted to know the answers to his questions.
"Slow down Kid. She's in with the doctors now. We ran into your father and he gave her some herbs. I think they helped her more than anything. I'll stay here till I find out how she’s doing anyway. Great news he needs to be behind bars."
"Kermit, he told me he planted another bomb. We will see if we can get him to tell us where it is." Peter sounded really furious now that he didn’t need to worry too much about Sam’s condition.
"Damn Peter. Do you want me to come now and help?"
"No Kermit. Please stay with Sam. We'll be in touch."
As Kermit put the phone away the nurse came up behind him "Excuse me Detective. You may come with me now." She then led him through the double doors and behind the curtains to the right, he found Sam sitting up on a bed with a doctor stitching her leg.
He was relieved to see her looking better. "How is she Doc?"
"The bullet went straight through and missed all major arteries and her bone. She is a very lucky lady."
Sam looked at Kermit and with some fear in her voice asked him. "Kermit did they get him?"
"Yeah they got him." Kermit wasn't sure how to tell her the rest. "But....."
"But what Kermit. Tell me he’s dead, tell me what you know Please I need to know."
He looked at her then looked down, he could not meet her raging eyes. "He’s alive and well, not a mark on him." He admitted. A short break for courage and then he made himself say it. "He told Peter and Kris that he set another bomb somewhere. They are trying to make him tell where right now at the precinct."
Her reaction was exactly as he had predicted. "I need to get out of here. Now!" she spoke with cold determination in her voice and looked at Kermit with a quiet plea for his support.
The Doctor looked up from his work. "Look I don't think you should go anywhere. Even if the bleeding had stopped somehow before you got here. I need to finish stitching you up to make sure you don't bleed again."
"Look Doc," she burned him with her eyes "if we don’t get this guy to talk you are going to have a lot of people to stitch up when the bomb goes off. I feel fine and I'm sure you did a good job fixing me to where I can go do my job." Sam was getting more angry by the minute being stuck in here.
Kermit spoke up "Doc she is right we need to stop this guy. I will stay with her and if I think she is getting bad I will bring her back here.
"Give me five more minutes and I’m done. She should stay and recover but I guess I really don't want to see more people hurt tonight."
"Okay, hurry up Doc!" Sam agreed.
Four snailing minutes later he handed Kermit some papers for medication and signed the release form to let the officers go.
PART 8
Kris leaned forward across the interrogation table, glaring at Eddie Curtis. "We got you dead to rights Curtis, you might as well tell us where the bomb is."
Peter paced behind her looked at Eddie and noticed the other man was watching him grinning. "You think something is funny Eddie? I'm not amused and she's right your going down."
Eddie continued to grin, could not help himself when he knew he had finally won. "I have succeeded after all. All your friends are gone. The final one was Sam and I got her tonight."
Kris looked at Peter and both of them knew she had been right, the key to breaking this guy was to make him think he failed. "What makes you think you got Sam? You think we would be here and hot at the hospital if you got her?"
The Chief walked in at that point and gestured to Kris and Peter to follow him out of the room. They walked upstairs and found Sam leaning on crutches next to Kermit. Peter went straight over to her and gave her a hug. "Hop A Long returns." he said with a small laugh of relief to see her alive and out to kick some butt.
They moved their little group to Kermit's office to find his computer flashing that it had finished a search. Kermit went directly to his keyboard and punched up the information. "Oh Yeah, almost forgot. The unknown phosphorus is Chemiluminscent."
Sam raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I know that compound. It's used in children's glow in the dark toys. It's not supposed to be explosive," she told them "In fact we checked it out when so many of those necklaces started showing up in the park."
Kris nodded her head. "Yeah but the dogs were never affected by them. Did he change something?"
"Yeah, according to this he added gunpowder. Apparently trying to make a rocket that would glow in flight and there was an accident and he had made a new explosive." Kermit was amazed at the way it seemed this guy had gone from toy maker to mad bomber.
Peter was standing by the door getting edgy."Look we have got to find out where the bomb is."
"Let me talk to him." Sam volunteered. "I think I can get him to talk, if nothing else seeing me might throw him off."
Sam hopped into an empty interrogation room and sat down by the table, carefully hiding her hurt and stiff leg under the table. Kermit took her crutches and went into the adjoining room to watch. Buster sneaked in and made himself comfortable on the floor beside her when Kermit opened the door. Sam was so relieved to see he was all right. "Thank You Peter," she whispered. She couldn't see him but knew he was in the other room with Kermit.
Then they were ready for Eddie.
Sergeant Broderick was moving Eddie from the first room to a cell when he was asked to put Eddie in another room and leave him there. Eddie wondered what was going on, he thought he’d won and they would leave him alone now.
Eddie was pushed down on the chair across the table from a smiling Sam. Shocked to see Sam, not only alive but well, sitting across from him, he lost some of his confidence. "Hey what is this? Your not supposed to be here," he protested.
She leaned back in her chair, put her arms around her neck, rocked it back and put her unharmed leg up on the desk, she gloated back at him, teasing. "Oh Eddie where am I supposed to be? I'm a cop and you killed several of my friends, broke the law. I should be right here, don’t you think?"
Eddie grinned "That's OK I may have missed you but I'm getting Peter's heart. You can't stop me."
"Think again Eddie. We know about the Chemiluminscent mixture and the dogs can find it." She now leaned forward to get in his face. "We don’t need you to find that bomb. What I want to know is why you did it, why you decided we had to die?"
Eddie was looking around trying to figure out how he could get to Sam, he didn’t like the fact that she was so confident, could they really have gotten to the bomb already. "I'm not telling you anything. I don’t think you know where it is and I will not tell you where to look. I will be getting Peter's heart, that’s all that matters to me." He crossed his arms and shut up like a stubborn child.
Sam realized this was the second time Eddie said this and she just knew she was close. "Eddie, you may as well speak up or Buster will make you. "As he heard his name Buster stood up and locked his eyes on Eddie. Sam watched as Eddie's eyes flickered with fear for just a second before he sat back and once again closed his mouth tightly. She realized he wasn't going to say anything else.
"Chief, you can get him now," she called out to the people behind the mirror.
Eddie was led out to a cell. Kermit, Kris and Peter joined Sam in the interrogation room. She didn’t notice them, she was deep in thought, slowly rubbing Buster's head.
"Now what? We need to find that bomb soon." Peter was still frustrated with the way things were going. He paced the floor of the small room, looking like he was about to blow any minute. All he could think about was that this was his fault. "He was out for me all along and you guys got caught in the middle."
Sam finally noticed she was not alone. "Peter I think I know where the bomb is," Sam spoke with such confidence they knew she meant it. "He doesn't want you dead, he wants you alone. That's what he meant by getting your heart. Peter I think the bomb is at your father's place."
"You’re absolutely right Sam. Why didn’t I think of that? Kris you think the dogs could find the bomb before it explodes?" Peter was not going to let anything happen to his Pop.
Kris smiled. "Of course they can. Let's go." Kris started out of the room "Sam I'm going to take Buster with us."
"Yeah sure, good luck you two." Sam knew they wouldn't let her go, and honestly she knew she would not make it either. This little stunt she had pulled on Eddie had emptied out all her strength. She was going nowhere but to the closest bed.
PART 9 - CONCLUSION
Kris and Peter pulled up in front of Caine's building shortly after leaving the station. The worry made the trip longer than it ever was, even though they had the lights on and drove faster than they were supposed to through the streets.
Peter was out of the car and running inside even before Kris had got her seatbelt off. He had to get his dad out of there before the bomb exploded. Kris quickly got the dogs out and followed him into the building. She raced up the stairs after Peter.
Peter found Caine meditating in his room. Still out of breath he almost shouted to his father, "Pop the bomb is in your building. You gotta get out of here while we search for it."
The urgency and the rush in Peter’s voice didn’t touch Caine’s calm and center. "No my son I will help you search." Caine didn't care that Peter was shaking his head at him trying to get him to leave.
Peter turned to Kris, seeking her support. "Tell him Kris, he can’t be here!"
Kris saw the desperation in Peter’s eyes. "Please Caine, let us do this. The dogs will find the bomb faster than you could ever imagine," she pleaded to the older man.
He looked at her, his emotions well hidden. And then suddenly he bowed and did what they asked. Peter couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw his father leave the room. "What? He actually backed off." He shook his head in disbelief.
Kris started Bella at the west side of the building while Peter started Buster at the east side. They quickly and patiently followed the dogs down one floor at a time until they reached the area where the mechanics of the building were kept on the ground floor. Even though Caine used very little electricity he still had it coming into his building. Both dogs got the scent at the same time leading Peter and Kris to the bomb placed next to the electric juncture box and a patiently waiting Caine.
"Aah…there you are. Kris did you also sleep through your bomb disarming class as my son did?"
"Pop!" Peter shook his head, "I should have known you wouldn’t stay out of this."
Kris looked at Caine as if to see if he was joking. She could not tell. "No I stayed awake for my class. I think I can do this."
They laid the case down and opened it. "Damn, only thirty seconds left, it blows at seven!" Kris cursed as she assessed the bomb in front of her. It had two wires leading to a battery with the compound he made in a clear box underneath it. A very simple setup. Kris looked at the wires, found the positive lead and pulled it out stopping the digital timer and defusing the bomb. They all three breathed out the breath they had been holding. Peter grabbed Kris in a hug and Caine patted them both on the back.
Minutes later the bomb squad arrived and took the case with the explosive away. Kermit drove up to Caine's building as they left. He walked around and opened the door, helping Sam get out and then handed her the crutches. He supported her from behind as she went towards the group standing in front of the building. He shrugged at Peter and said, "She made me turn the car around and head this way when she heard you had succeeded."
"Come let us go in and have some breakfast together." Caine invited the foursome to relax and enjoy each others company.
This time no explosions disturbed their early morning gathering.
~~~
Later that afternoon when both Sam and Kris had got a nap at Caine’s place to restore some energy in their tired bodies, they were getting ready to leave. Filling out all the paperwork on their involvement with the case were soon done at the precinct. Peter and Kermit followed them outside to their car.
"It was a pleasure meeting you Peter Caine, and I'm glad we got the chance to get to know each other." Kris really hated goodbyes so she hoped to get this one over and done with quickly.
Sam finished exchanging e-mail addresses with Kermit and turned her attention to Peter. "You better not let so much time go by before I see you or talk to you again, you hear me." she playfully slugged his arm and then gave him a hug. "Tell your father Thank You for me."
"I will. You keep in touch and try to stay out of the way of bullets OK." Peter smiled back at her and then turned to give Kris a hug and a kiss. "Take care of her for me OK? I will see you soon."
Kris nodded and got into the car with Sam, they waved at the men standing on the sidewalk as they drove away.
Kermit turned to Peter and confessed "You have some interesting friends."
Peter smiled and said, "Oh Yeah." He put his arm around Kermit's shoulders and they walked into the station laughing at Peter's attempt to imitate Kermit.
THE END