THOMAS & WALKER, PRIVATE EYES

 

 

                              by Daina Threats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

 

            In the light of the neon sign that hung outside the window, Ace Walker (the Walker of the Thomas and Walker Detective Agency) sat in the swivel chair behind the huge oaken desk in the office he shared with his partner, Christie Thomas. His feet were propped up comfortably on the desk top and his porkpie hat shaded his light brown eyes. The two had not paid their electric bill as of yet, so Christie had run to the store to get some candles.  Meanwhile, the lights were out and Ace was bored.  He sat listening to the rain for a while, then tipped his hat up and looked out of the window at the neon sign. "Madame Karina's World of Fortune", it read. For as long as Christie and Ace had  been in business together, they had been over the top of the fortune telling room downstairs. How long have we been here?, wondered Ace. Let's see, about two, no, three...

            His train of thought was broken by Christie's sudden entrance. "I got the candles." she said, shaking her umbrella off and setting it in the closet. She was amazingly short for a 22-year-old (she stood at about five-foot-two) with light brown eyes and hair that looked ebony at night and almost deep mahogany during the day and had dark skin almost the same color as her eyes.

            "How long have we been here, Chris?" asked Ace, thoughtfully removing his hat to run a hand through his unkempt brunette hair.

            "Almost the whole night." she answered.

            "Nah, nah, I mean, like, in this building." he said, replacing the hat.

            "Oh! Well," she said, setting up the candles on the desk, "about two years.  Why?"

            "Just wondering." answered Ace.  A warm glow filled the room as Christie struck a match and lit four candles. As she did, the rain outside began to slow until it finally stopped.

            "Oh, man, is business slow!" sighed Ace heavily.

            "You're not kiddin'," said Christie, lying on the couch next to the desk.

            Suddenly, the phone rang. Ace nearly fell out of his chair trying to reach it.

            "Don't put yourself out; it's probably your mother again." said Christie sarcastically.

            "Very funny. We're having a major business slump and all she can do is make stupid wisecracks." He answered the  phone. "Thomas and Walker, private eyes?  Oh, hi, Ma." Christie laughed aloud as he went on.  "Of course I'm glad to hear from  you...I was just tired, that's all...Ma, my detective work has nothing to do with it. Lawyers do not have a  better memory...I never forget anything...your birthday's not for another week...it was last week?...aww, I'm sorry, Ma, I thought it was...oh, come on, Ma...yes, I know I'm you're only son... alright, now, Ma, don't call me that...come on, now don't start on me...Ma, will ya leave me alone!...aww, don't start cryin'...Ma, I'm sorry I yelled at you...Ma..."  Suddenly a brick came smashing through the window, sending shards of broken glass all over the floor. "Ma, I gotta go. Love  ya, bye!"

He hung up and turned to stare in disbelief at the glass and brick on his desk. "Do you realize how much that window is gonna cost us?" he said, blankly.  "I'm gonna kill the guy who did this." Christie pulled off the note attached to the brick and read it while he stared at the gaping hole in the window in angry silence.

            "Looks like you already tried once before."  she said finally. "Listen to this: 

                To Ace Walker:

 

                          I just met an interesting person

                       today.  Seems to be your girlfriend.

                       If you  ever want to  see her alive

                       again,  show up in back of Tucker's

                       Grocery in 15 minutes.

 

                                               Pete

 

            "Name ring a bell?" asked Christie sarcastically.

            "Pinch a nerve is more like it.  I wonder when he got out of jail?" thought Ace aloud. "He's still got another 40 some years to go."

            "He probably escaped. But I'm sure he doesn't have Janet." answered Christie.

            "Yeah, I know.  It's definitely a trap."

            "So, what do you suggest we do?"

            "I dunno. What do you think?"

            Christie pondered on the question for a moment, then said, "Well, we could always go and try to get him recaptured."

            "And collect the reward..." added Ace, with a smile.                    

"Consequently fixing our window and getting the power back." finished Christie.

            "Let's do it!" agreed Ace.  They both ran out the door, checking their guns on the way.

 

 

            When the two arrived in front of the abandoned grocery store, they reviewed their plan.

            "Okay, I'll wait across the street while you go in." said Christie.

            "As soon as I leave, give me about five minutes, then call up the police station and get Jack and his boys down here." added Ace.

            "If there's any trouble..."

            "There will be."

            "I'll come in and give you a hand."

            Ace smirked. "You sure you wanna fight against your old boyfriend? I mean, I'll understand if you want to be alone with him..."

            "Would you? It's always been a personal goal of mine to marry the first man who promises to kill me." said Christie, sarcastically. Ace laughed and watched as she faded into the darkness of the building across the street.

            After checking his watch, he lit up a cigarette and leaned against the corner of the alley. Suddenly, something moved behind him. He spun around, but as he did, he felt an eye-opening pain in the back of his head. He fell to the ground, but as he sunk into unconsciousness, he prayed that Christie had seen what had just happened and he hadn't gotten conked on the head for nothing.

            When he woke up, he found himself staring around a dimly lit room. He tried to get up and suddenly realized he was tied to a chair. As he began struggling with his bonds, he heard a click and felt something cold and heavy against the side of his head. He turned to find himself staring down the barrel of an unfriendly-looking Magnum. Its owner was a short, chubby, fellow of whom Ace could not recognize.

            "Ace Walker!" came an altogether too familiar voice. Oh, boy, thought Ace, here comes trouble. Pete Walsh, Christie's ex-boyfriend and the man who had tried to kill the both of them only 2 years ago, now stood in front of him with the same scheming grin on his face.  Next to him stood his huge bodyguard, Freight Train.

            "Long time no see, Pete," sighed Ace, trying to be cheerful enough to get on Pete's nerves.

            "Who do you think you're fooling, Walker?" laughed Pete. "I just sent my boy Lil' Joe over to get Christie out of that building across the street, any way he could. Don't try to tell me that doesn't bother you."

            "Aww, gee, Pete, that's real generous of you, letting Chris stand in here where it's nice and warm." said Ace, pretending not to be worried.

            "Yeah, and your smart-aleck remarks aren't gonna piss me off this time, either. If I get sick of you, I'll just have Trigger show you how he got his nickname.  Don't let his looks fool you." Ace looked over the barrel of the Magnum at the man beside him, whose chubby cheeks formed a surprisingly wide grin. Ace flashed a quick grin back at him, then turned back around with a frown and a silent whistle.

            "Well, he's nice, Pete,  but I was kinda getting to like Freight Train better. You know how all these Thugs Anonymous macho men turn me on." said Ace, batting his eyelashes at him. Pete nodded to Freight Train, who promptly landed a crushing blow to Ace's stomach (the pain reminding him of where this hood had gotten his nickname). "Hell," gasped Ace weakly, "if you want me to chill with Trigger that bad..."

            Just then, the door burst open, revealing Christie with her pearl-handled .38 Special. "'Lo, Pete. Why don't you and your new little buddies just step over into the corner." she said, calmly aiming her weapon at him. "Yeah, and tell Blubber Boy over there to drop the gun." she added.

            "Do it, Trig." said Pete. Trigger tossed his gun onto the floor and moved away from Ace.

            "Chris, how about taking care of these ropes for me," said Ace, as best as he could. Christie fired one shot apiece at Ace's wrist and ankle bonds and they fell away easily. "You make me nervous when you do that." he sighed, grabbing Trigger's gun off the floor.

            "You taught me how to use it," she laughed. "Now, let's try and..." Suddenly, Christie jumped slightly, eyes wide. "Uh-oh," she said slowly.

            "Uh-oh, what?" asked Ace.

            "Thought you could get away from me, huh?" came a voice from behind Christie. "Drop the gun and get inside."

            Christie moved in next to Ace, placing her gun on the floor. The person behind her, Lil' Joe, picked up her gun and tossed it to Pete. "Didn't I just leave you across the street?" she asked, with a sigh.

            "Yeah, but I followed you." answered Lil' Joe, proudly.

            "Evidently." returned Christie, with a slight hint of sarcasm.

            "Enough already! I say we waste them both right here." said Pete, with his old smirk.

            "But won't we go to jail for that?" asked Lil' Joe.

            "We ain't got nothin' to lose, man," said Freight Train, in his slow, deep voice. "They gonna catch us anyway, so we might as well finish de job."

            "Oh," returned the now totally confused Italian.

            "Say to me you got Jack on the phone before you came over here." whispered Ace to Christie as the gang argued over what to do to them.

            "I'll take care of the girl," offered Trigger, experimentally aiming his gun at Christie.

            "The girl is mine to waste, not yours." said Pete. "You can shoot the smart-aleck over there."

            "Well, maybe I don't want to!"

            "Yeah, boss, I thought you said I could bruise him up a little first." added Freight Train.

            "Yeah, and you promised me a little action with the girl!" protested Lil' Joe.

            "He did what?" growled Christie under her breath.

            "I'll say who roughs up who around here!!!" shouted Pete.

            "Tell me you called Jack before you got over here," whispered Ace, as the gang continued their argument.

            "Well, sort of." answered Christie, sheepishly. Ace closed his eyes in silent prayer. "Well, what was I supposed to do, let that nut try and shoot me?" she demanded.

            "Better you than me," he said.

            "Oh, nice attitude, Ace! If I hadn't showed up, you'd be dead by now!"

            "Wrong! I was just getting ready to maul that guy when you walked in!"

            "Oh, yeah, well why don't you just maul him right now?"

            "Because!"

            "Because why?" Both of them were almost shouting at each other.

            "Because I'm arguing with you right now!!!" yelled Ace.

            "SHUT UP!!!" shouted Pete. "Everybody shut up or I'll waste all of you right here!" He turned to Ace and Christie, saying, "This is all your fault, both of you. Consider yourselves dead in the next five seconds." Pete raised Christie's gun to fire at Ace. "You first."

            "You call out here to this dump, spend over a half hour trying to kill us and get your buddies straightened out, ruin a perfectly good argument and you wanna blame it on us?!" said Ace, still steaming from his argument with Christie. "You started this whole thing when you first started messing with Christie's life two years ago! And then you got me all involved in it by trying to shoot me and all this other wacky stuff you been tryin' to pull..."

            Ace continued to ramble on about the many trials and tribulations he and Christie had gone through in the past few years and, strangely enough, Pete actually lowered the gun to listen to him. Even Christie was sufficiently impressed, but kept her eye on Pete. As soon as she saw Pete lower his arm, she tackled him. Ace ran over and wrenched the gun out of his hand, and aimed it at Pete. "Okay," he said, "let him up, Chris. Nice and slow." He retrieved his own Beretta and tossed Christie her .38 Special.

            As she got up, she smiled and said, "I don't know what happens to people when you start that stuff, but it works every time." It was then that Jack and three other policemen burst into the room to take Pete and his gang in.

  

 

 

            15 minutes later, Ace, Christie and Jack Kerrick all sat in the St. Vincent's Hospital emergency room with Ace's girlfriend and Christie's best friend and roommate, Janet Fenwick, a short blonde with pretty blue eyes and short hair who worked there from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. She sat next to Ace, who had his arm around her. "Christie, you used to be such a cautious person! Why do you keep doing all these dangerous stunts?" she asked.

            Christie shrugged and laughed. "I don't know, but I guess it's better than working in nightclubs in my spare time. Especially if those clubs are anything like the last one." she added. They laughed wryly, knowing at the last club she had worked in, the owner had tried to kill her.

            "I do it so I can get more attention from you," said Ace, pulling Janet closer and kissing her.

            "Mmmm, I'm listening," she said, leaning her head back on his shoulder.

            "Yeah, you shoulda seen me, man! I was just about to lay those mugs flat when Chris came in and messed it all up." said Ace.

            "Oh, please!" snorted Christie. "I already told you I was the one that saved you from getting killed tonight."

            "You didn't even call for help, so what are you talking about?!"

            "I said, not exactly. I had dialed the station before I took off."

            "She's right, Ace. We just traced the call and came over here." said Jack. "But I have to admit, buddy, we might not have found you if it hadn't been for your, uh, speech!"

            The girls started laughing, as Ace protested, "Well, see? I saved us. Knock it off already! It's not funny!"

            "You're right, Ace," gasped Christie, trying to maintain a straight face. "I owe you my life."

            "You're making fun of me." he said, with a smile.

            "You know it!" returned Christie, dissolving into giggles again. Finally, Ace began laughing, too. The four of them stayed up well into the night until, finally, they left the hospital and went their own separate ways.

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

            To know how the Thomas and Walker Detective Agency actually got started, one would have to go back a few years to the time they first met. It must be said here that Christie Thomas, a night club singer and student nurse, and Arthur "Ace" Walker, a law school student, never planned to become private detectives, until a series of problems suddenly arose, causing the two of them to meet.

 

 

            Ace had never been a morning person, so he took his classes at night. He had also never been too interested in corporate law, but his mother had wanted her only child to be a lawyer since the day of his conception. Ace didn't really know what he wanted to do, except it had to be something exciting, which law school was definitely not. Thus, it was not uncommon for him to skip class.

            Christie, on the other hand, had wanted to be a nurse for as long as she could remember. Her twin brother Kevin was already studying emergency medicine and her six older brothers and sisters had already become some sort of specialist or had gone into private practice. She took all of her classes during the early part of the morning, sang at local clubs at night and did everything else during the spaces in between, usually about 2 to 8 in the morning and 2 to 7 in the afternoon. It was during one of these spaces that she and Ace met.

            One night, as Ace was strolling aimlessly down the street, he suddenly heard a scream, then a gunshot in the alley next to the "Ocean Mirage" across the street. Instinctively, he ducked down behind a car, then dashed across the street and into the alley. Christie, still in the dress she had worn for her act, knelt beside another girl, who lay on the pavement in what seemed to be a dead faint. As Ace moved closer, however, he noticed the girl was lying in a pool of blood.

            "What happened?" he gasped.

            "Some guy tried to kill me and she got it instead," Christie gasped.

            "Which way did he go?" asked Ace. Christie pointed down the alley, and he rushed off in that direction.

            He skidded to a stop at an intersection where the alleys began twisting off into other directions, then heard hurried footsteps from the right alley. He looked down it and saw a retreating figure holding a dark object in his hand running past a street light in the distance. He dashed after it, then stopped as the figure turned to point the object at him.

            It was only then that he noticed the gun in the man's hand, illuminated by a shaft of moonlight.

            Ace dropped to the ground as the bullet whistled overhead and slammed into the wall behind him. When he dared to look up again, the alley was empty. He brushed himself off and walked back the way he came, cursing himself for letting the man get away. As he turned the corner, he saw where the bullet had hit. He took a penknife out of his pocket and pried it out. The slug of a .22 bullet fell out onto the ground. As it did, he heard something in the distance behind him. He turned to look, then half ran down the alley in the direction of the sound. There was no one in sight. With a reluctant sigh, he headed back toward the alley where he had left the two girls.

            When he returned, attendants were placing the girl who had been shot inside an ambulance, while the police were questioning Christie. She was being amazingly calm about the whole event, but, then, as Ace was to learn, she was basically level-headed about anything she did."Sorry," he told her. "I lost them."

            "Oh," she said, sounding disappointed. "Thanks for trying, anyway, Mr...."

            "Walker. Arthur Walker. My friends call me Ace." he said, extending his hand.

            "Christie Thomas." she said, taking it slowly.

            "I can walk you home, if you want."

            "Well, if you're sure you want to wait for all these policemen to finish..."

            "No problem." said Ace.

            By the time Christie had finished talking to the police, it was well after 2 in the morning. They strolled leisurely down the street. Christie, Ace noticed, had not cried once since the incident had happened.

            "I can't believe you're looking so well after all this." he said.

            "Well, I didn't really know the girl who was shot, so I can't really feel anything but empathy for her, as mean as that may sound." returned Christie. "But both of you saved my life. I'm truly grateful for that."

            Ace nodded understandingly, then asked, "What happened?"

            "I was on my way home and I had just stepped out of the club when all of the sudden, this man jumped out of nowhere. I couldn't tell who he was, but he had a gun on me. Just as he was pulling the trigger, that girl jumped out from behind the dumpster and he shot her instead. I screamed and, well, you know the rest." Ace raised his eyebrows in surprise.

            "He didn't ask you for money or anything?" he asked. Christie shook her head no.

            "That's the weird part. He never said anything at all. Just stood there for a second, then got ready to fire."

            "That doesn't really sound like your average mugger." said Ace.

            "I didn't think so, either, but I guess the police'll be handling that part," she said. "By the way, do you mind if we go to the hospital first? I know Janet's got to be worried sick about me. Anyway, I'd like to check on that girl."

            "Doesn't bother me." said Ace. "I've got all night."

            "Great!" she nodded, with a laugh. "It'll probably take that long. Okay, change the subject. What do you do during the day?"

            "Sleep." said Ace, with a laugh. "How about you?"

            "School and work at the hospital. My roommate, Janet Fenwick, and I are studying to be E/R nurses at Corder University."

            "Really?" said Ace. "I'm in law school there. Well, actually, I'm skipping class right now, but normally..."

            "I know." she laughed. "Night classes are really tedious." They had reached the hospital by this time and Christie walked in through the emergency room entrance.

            "I'll wait for you out here." said Ace, grabbing a bench outside the sliding doors.

            "Okay, suit yourself. I'll be back." she said, with a wave. He watched her walk in, then after spending a brief moment at the front desk, went upstairs.

            Ace sat for a few moments, then decided to go inside and check on her. He walked up to the front desk, where a pretty young student nurse sat.

            "Can I help you?" she asked, in an equally pretty voice. Ace was sufficiently impressed, but remembered he was with Christie right now and should be a little more concerned for her well-being rather than his own.

            "Uh, yeah, could you tell me where Christie Thomas went?" he asked.

            "She went to the back room in the E/R." said the girl. She started to say something else, but thought the better of it and smiled at Ace.

            "Thanks," he said looking directly at her.

            "Anytime." she answered, looking back at him. They held gazes for a moment, then he said dreamily,

            "You know what?"

            "What?" she asked, eagerly and almost as dreamily.

            He stopped, remembering his reasons for being here. "I-I gotta go," he said quickly, then dashed off to find Christie.

            "Hey, wait!" she called after him. But he was already gone. "Ohh!" she said disappointedly. He's cute, too, she thought. And he didn't even ask me out. Oh, well, he'll be back in a few minutes, anyway. He's not allowed back there.

            Meanwhile, Ace, a safe distance away, leaned against the wall next to him in relief. Reeeeal smooth, Walker!, he thought. I'm sure at least two-thirds of the male population in St. Louis has tried to come on to her with that "love at first sight" junk. You're just too slick for words, guy.

            He turned to go into the emergency wing and found it off-limits to civillians. With a sigh he turned back to the waiting room. Before entering, however, he decided to play it cool with the girl at the desk and pretend she didn't exist. Maybe that would cover his previous blunder, he hoped.

            Meanwhile, she, too, had figured out her next move. She causually tossed a pen over the edge of the desk in Ace's estimated path. I'll ask him to pick it up for me, she thought, and then he'll notice me.

            However, Ace, who was trying to ignore the girl, did not see her or the pen, so she asked,

            "Excuse me, could you grab that pen for me, please?"

            Ace glanced casually up, and asked, "What p..." Before he could finish, he stepped on the pen, lost his balance and sprawled out onto the floor.

            The girl leapt out of her seat to help him up and he noted that she couldn't have been more than Christie's height, somewhere, he had supposed, around five-foot-one or two. "Are you alright?" she asked, truly concerned.

            "Yeah, I think so." he said, sitting up and brushing off his jacket. She looked at him and burst into merry laughter and he soon joined in.

            "Well, I see you've met my roommate, Ace." said Christie, laughing behind them.

            "Not formally." he said, looking at the girl as he stood up.

            "Janet Fenwick." she said, extending her hand.

            "Ace Walker." he said, taking it. They held hands for a few moments, until finally Christie said,

            "This is the guy who saved me from getting shot at twice, Janet."

            "Wow, I've never shaken hands with a hero before." she said, with a smile.

            "Yeah, me either." he said in reply. She laughed and the three of them sat down to get better accquainted.

 

 

            Later, Christie and Ace were on their way to Christie's place, talking as they went all the way into the apartment building she lived in.

            "I didn't know you lived here, too!" said Ace. "I live in the apartment directly below you!"

            "Really? I hope Janet and I aren't too noisy for you!" laughed Christie. Ace shook his head.

            "Nah. I'm a deep sleeper, anyway." he said. "Well, I guess I'll go, if you'll be okay."

            "Oh, sure. Thanks for walking me home." she said.

            "No problem." said Ace. As he walked away, he noticed a little black wire coming out from above Christie's door. He frowned thoughtfully as he reached the stairs. Something was really odd about that wire. Where have I seen that before?, he thought, then stopped in his tracks. Better yet, where haven't I seen it?

            Suddenly, Ace turned and ran back up the stairs where Christie was just about to open the door to her apartment.

            "CHRISTIE, LOOK OUT!!!" he hollered, dashing up and tackling her. In the split second that followed, the whole front door exploded into flames. Ace, afraid that he might have hurt her in the effort, immediately helped her up. "Are you okay?" he asked, over the roar of the flames.

            "I...I think so." she answered uncertainly.

            "Come on, we've gotta get out of here." They dashed past the flames and to the nearest apartment.

            Moments later, they, several other tenants and the fire department stood at the end of the hallway reviewing the facts.

            "You say there was a black wire above your door, miss?" repeated one fireman in disbelief. "How did you know it was the detonator?"

            "I didn't." said Christie. "Ace did. He's the one that found it."

            "Ace?"

            "Uh, that's me." interjected Ace.

            "Is that your real name, son?"

            A, I'm not his son and, B, he has a habit of either repeating or asking about the blatantly obvious, thought Ace. "Uh, no, it's really Arthur." he said aloud. "Arthur Walker. I live upstairs."

            "Right. So, how did you know that wire connected to the detonator?"

            "Well...my old man kinda showed me...I mean, none of the other doors had them...I just guessed, that's all," said Ace vaguely.

            "Walker. Haven't I heard about your father be..."

            "No!" interrupted Ace. "I mean, I seriously doubt it." Christie gave Ace a questioning look and he turned away from it.

            "Oh. Well, then, I guess that's it. Do you have someplace to stay, young lady?" asked the fireman.

            "Well, no, I..." began Christie.

            "She's staying with me." interrupted Ace, putting his arm around her. She looked up at him in protest while he rushed on. "We're good friends."

            "Well, I won't worry about you, then," he replied, smiling as he left.

            Fortunately, the fireman missed Christie's more-than-blue-streak monologue on chauvanism and female independence.

 

 

            "I'll carry that." offered Ace. "If you want." he added hurriedly. He was referring to the medium-sized overnight bag Christie was carrying.

            "Thanks. I got it." she replied, with a smile. They went downstairs to the next floor and down the hall to Ace's room. He unlocked the door and flipped on the light to reveal the same type of room Christie had, with a few minor changes.

            Directly in front of them was simply a rug with a worn yellowish-green sofa-bed, a pleather recliner almost as worn as the sofa and a television set, propped on three legs and a telephone book. In the corner behind it, there was a window with a ledge wide enough to hold one person sitting up and next to it sat a very short bookcase which extended the length of the rest of the wall containing a stereo with several dozen cassettes strewn on the floor in front of it.

            On the other side of the window was a huge plant with a dusty bow around the pot. Its broad leaves were yellowed and its days numbered. The only attention the plant ever received was when Ace's mother or his next door neighbor, Mrs. Delafonte (the one who had given it to him in the first place as a housewarming gift) came to water it or Ace, who hated the plant, threw something at it. Beside it on the wall adjacent to the window, was the closet which held the other fold-out bed. Next to that was the bathroom and a small closet and, directly behind a half wall and the sofa, the small kitchen with a tiny table made for two. The entire room had any number of things scattered around it.

            "Neatness isn't one of your strong points, is it?" laughed Christie, setting her bag down to gaze around the room.

            "What are you, my mother or something?" he chuckled, stepping in and closing the door behind him. "She always says stuff like that." He scooped up a majority of the junk on the floor and tossed it into the closet. "There, I'm finished." he said, dusting himself off. "It's hard work, but nobody has to do it." Christie laughed again as he went on. "You can have the bed (he pulled the one in the closet down as he spoke) and I'll take the sofa. The bathroom's over there and there's extra towels in there, too, and if you want anything to eat, there's some stuff in the fridge and if you need anything else..."

            "Let you know." she laughed. "Thanks, Ace. I'm going to take a shower, if you don't mind."

            "G'head," said Ace, plopping down in front of the television on his recliner. "I'm either gonna watch Romper Room or the color pattern on Channel 4." Christie laughed and went in the bathroom, taking a few of her toilet articles with her. Ace sighed, kicked off his shoes and socks, loosened his tie, took off his jacket, settled into the chair with Miss Jane and the Magic Mirror on t.v. and promptly fell asleep.

 

 

            When he woke up (or came to his senses, as such is the case), it was to a barrage of unusual but familiar smells. He kept his eyes closed, attempting to pinpoint them. Let's see...bacon...eggs... coffee...and pancakes!, he thought wildly. Gotta be a dream or a time warp. Last time I smelled this was high school, well, no, whenever Mom visited me last...

Finally, unable to resist, he opened one eye, then the other in mortal shock. There was Christie, setting everything he had predicted on the table.

            "Including a box of Pop-Tarts!" he gasped aloud.

            Christie looked over at him with a laugh. "Well, good afternoon, sleepyhead. Is that how you start everyday?" she asked.

            "Only when someone makes an entire breakfast for me." he quipped. "How'd I get in bed?"

            "I put you there."

            "You put me there, I mean, here? As in bodily put me here?"

            "Uh-huh. You're a deep sleeper, remember?"

            "I'm also a heavy sleeper," he said. "How'd you..."

            "You'll never know," she laughed slyly.

            He shrugged, got out of bed and went into the bathroom to clean up. When he came back, he grabbed a Pop-Tart and sat down with it at the kitchen table. "These," he said, between bites, "are my favorite."

            "Yeah?" said Christie, as they began eating. "Mine, too. I figured since I was picking up groceries for breakfast, I might as well get something I can't go wrong with, just in case."

            "When did you get groceries?"

            "Well, that was before I went to the hardware store about my door and after my noon class, or was that before..?" rambled Christie.

            "No, when did you have time for all this?"

            "Have you looked at the clock recently?"

            He did and almost fell off his chair. "I've been asleep for...13 hours!"

            "14. You fell asleep around 3 and it's just now 5 o'clock. You had a long night and I didn't want to wake you. Besides, you're cute when you're asleep."

            "That's beside the...really?" he asked, suddenly finding a new interest in his ego.

            "Yes," she answered, thoughtfully taking a sip of coffee, "but, then, so are most domestic animals and house pets, so don't take it to heart."

            He looked up from his plate and found her giggling quietly. "That was cold." said Ace.

            "Yup." Christie got up and began clearing the table. "So, now you can warm up by soaking your hands in the dishwater and causing a little friction on the plates. Now, don't worry," she added, as he pulled his hands out of the sink in protest, "it's Palmolive you're soaking in. No dishwater hands."

            Ace sighed and began scrubbing. "You sure do have a way of getting people to do and believe the impossible. Up until now, no one in this apartment ate anything but cold pizza for breakfast and usually on a napkin to avoid unnecessary dishwashing. How do you do it?"

            "Well, let's see." She pretended to think heavily for a moment while Ace hummed the theme to "Jeopardy!". "Humor." she finally answered. "There's a lot of things I wouldn't have made it through without it."

            "Such as?"

            "Ohhh, life in general." Christie dumped a load of pots and pans into the sink. "Okay, that's it. Book 'em, Dano." She found a towel to dry the dishes with and waited for the dishes in the rack to drain.

            Ace scrubbed in thoughtful silence on one plate for a while, thinking about what had happened the other night. I wonder what's gonna happen now, he thought to himself. If that guy missed Christie last night, then there's not much doubt about him trying to find her today. But she doesn't want to be protected or anything, so maybe I oughta try and find this guy by myself. But where am I gonna start looking? Maybe if I...

            "Ace?" came Christie's voice, interrupting his thoughts. She put a hand on his arm and he gasped and looked down at her.

            "Huh? Oh, yeah, I was just thinking about last night." he said.

            "Nothing happened, Ace. I took a shower and you went to sleep..." she began.

            He blushed, then saw she wasn't serious and laughed. "You know that's not what I meant. I meant...that guy. Do you remember what he looked like?"

            Christie went extremely silent for a moment, deep in thought. Finally, she finished drying the dish she was holding and said, "No. He had a mask on at the time. He was pretty skinny, though."

            "I thought I saw something else in his hand. Maybe it was the mask." he said, also trying to remember the man.

            "I think I'm gonna call up the police and see if they've got anything on him yet." said Christie. "Can I use your phone?"

            "Yeah, sure," said Ace. "Maybe they've found the guy already." he added hopefully as she dialed the number.

            "Hello...yes, I'll hold..." She paused to say "musical hold" to Ace, then waited again for the person on the other end to come back. "Hello? Yes, I'd like to know if the man who shot at me last night was caught yet...Christine Thomas...C-H-R-I-S-T-I-N-E, T-H-O-M-A-S...yes, I'll hold... hello, I...wait, this happened to me last night...no, I don't think you understand. I was the one who got shot at! Someone tried to kill me twice last night and...Oh, I see. Well, thank you for your time." Christie slammed the phone down with an angry look. "They aren't authorized to give out that information," she said, in a mocking voice. "This creep could be running around loose and they didn't even care enough to stay on the phone with me for more than a minute!"

            "Obviously they didn't tell you anything," sighed Ace.

            "Oh, I did learn something. Barry Manilow is very big at police stations." she said sarcastically. "Ace, I have to take matters into my own hands. The police simply aren't going to get the job done."

            "Alright!" said Ace, getting excited by the prospect of a fight. "It's the classic movie confrontation. You could be another Arnold Schwartzenegar, taking the law into your own hands!"

            Christie giggled. "Unfortunately, statements like that only sound good in the movies, Ace. Seriously, I don't know what I'm gonna do or where to start."

            "Y'know what we could do? We could go back to that alley and see if he left anything we could trace him with." Ace suggested.

            "That's not a bad idea," said Christie, still thinking. "We could find this guy ourselves and totally by-pass all the police crap. Yeah, let's do that!" she said decisively.

            "Now we're in business!" said Ace, giving her a high-five.

 

 

            When they had finished cleaning the dishes, they went back to the alley next to the Ocean Mirage, the club Christie'd been leaving that night.

            "Well," sighed Christie, as they stood near the entrance of the alley, "where should we start?"

"I guess at the beginning," he shrugged, noncommitantly kicking at a pile of rubbish near him. "I'll go down the alley I ran down last night and you can check around here."

"Alright, but be careful. This isn't a very safe part of town and I don't need another injured person on my mind." she said."Hey, come on, this is Ace Walker you're talking to! The inventor of the art of self-defense! I'll see you in about half an hour." he said, turning to leave.

"Fifteen minutes and there had better not be one misplaced hair on your head or I'm taking you home." she called after him.

"Al-right, Ma!" he shouted back, with a grin. Christie shook her head with an exasperated smile as he turned down the side alley.

Ace immediately went to the end of the alley where Christie's assailant had been when he took a shot at him. A huge dumpster sat next to the beginning of a tall picket fence that extended almost to the end of the alley on his right. He peered through the slats to find a large empty lot on the other side. Taking this in, he turned to find a four-story building resembling a tenament house on his left. It had long since been out of use and had many crumbling bricks and broken windows. It was in one of these windows that he noticed, for a fleeting moment, a small face staring at him. He frowned in surprise, wondering who it could have been. Must've been one of the kids around here, he thought. Hey, maybe this is how that guy got away last night! If this place has a back door, then he could've flew through from here...

As he thought to himself, he walked into the building, tracing what he hoped were the attacker's steps. Suddenly, he noticed the sunlight streaming in near the back door reflecting off something small and long. He had picked up the object, a gold plated pen, and was in the process of examining it, when, suddenly, someone rushed passed him and snatched his hat off. More angry than surprised, he looked up and grabbed the ankle of the person, dragged him back, turned him over, then gasped. "It's just a kid!" he said aloud.

"Lemme go, mister, I ain't done nuthin'!" said the boy, his dark eyes full of terror. His accent was slightly Hispanic, along with his features and he wore a torn sweatshirt with his cut-off jeans. In his smudged fingers, he clutched Ace's prized possession, his porkpie hat.

Ace half-laughed in disbelief, then let the boy up. "Look, kid, I'm not gonna hurt you. Just gimme the hat, alright?"

"I know you ain’t gonna hurt me. I saw you running last night. You aren't so tough," said the boy, his voice going bolder.

"Yeah, right, gimme the hat," said Ace.

"Finders keepers," said the boy, smugly, as he leisurely swung the hat atop his own head and started to walk away.

Ace grabbed the boy by the arm and shook a fist menacingly in his face. "I'll give something to keep, ya little twerp! Now lemme have it!"

The boy promptly gave Ace a resounding kick in the shin, who howled and grabbed his leg in pain. The boy tried to escape again, but Ace yanked him back, grabbed his shoulder with one hand and pulled his fist back, as if to hit him. "Why, you little...!"

Before he could finish, the boy was shouting wildly in Spanish. "JULIO! AYUDAME! AYUUUUDAME!!!"

Before he could decipher what the boy had said, Ace was surrounded by seven or eight boys. One of them, looking like a taller version of the boy he had so recently had a grip on, pulled the little boy back behind him and glared at Ace.

"You wan' somethin', man, you talk to me, not my lil' brother." he said, his voice also slightly accented.

"Yeah, well, you tell your "lil' brother" to gimme my hat back!" said Ace, glaring down at the teen in front of him. The older boy returned the look, then, without turning around, said, "Miguel, did you take his hat?"

"No, Julio, I found it!" piped up the little boy, peering at Ace from behind his older brother. Julio's face became smug as folded his arms over his chest. Ace snorted in disbelief.

"Yeah, on my head!" he said.

"You calling my brother a liar, man?"

"You're damn right I'm..." As Ace spoke, he heard the click of several switchblades opening. He glanced out the corners of his eyes at the boys around him, then back at Julio. "Let me rephrase that," he said.

Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed from the doorway. "FREEZE, CITY POLICE!!! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!" The boys scattered everywhere, leaving Ace and his hat in the room. He picked up his hat and dusted it off as Christie walked in the room.

"You're good." he said, with a smirk.

"I know. Saved you, didn't I?" she said, inspecting her nails. "And didn't I tell you," she added, pointing at him for emphasis, "this was a bad part of town?"

As she spoke, the boys, realizing they had been tricked, slowly came back in and surrounded them again."Say, lady, we don't appreciate bein' jerked off like that," said one of the boys angrily, reopening his blade. The others did the same and moved around the two, waiting for their next move. Ace and Christie hunched their shoulders up, knowing they were in trouble.

"Uh-oh," said Christie, in a sing-songy way under her breath."What are we gonna do now?" asked Ace, in the same voice.

"I dunno," she replied, "but we better do it fast!"

Again, they were interrupted by another voice from the doorway. "ST. LOUIE POLICE DEPARTMENT! YOU'RE ALL UNDER ARREST!"

"Yo, man, we ain't goin' for it twice!" said one of the boys. The owner of the voice, a lean, good-looking black male who looked to be about Ace and Christie's age, stepped into the building and showed a gold badge.

"I got a cousin in Philly makes badges just like that, man." scorned another teen.

"Okay, junior, can your cousin make these, too?" The man pulled his jacket aside to reveal a .357 Magnum, which he pulled out and aimed at the nearest boy.

"Is that real?" whispered Christie to Ace.

"Near as I can tell," he replied.

"Aww, it's not even real," scorned yet another disbeliever.The man laughed and shook his head, then casually fired a shot at the boy's feet. Seconds later, Ace, Christie and their rescuer were the only ones left in the room.

"Hey, man, thanks a lot!" said Ace, going over to shake his hand."Who are you, anyway?" he added, as Christie took his hand."

Joshua Anthony Kerrick, homicide, St. Louis City Police Department, at your service." said the man, kissing Christie's hand. She giggled shyly, as he said, "My friends call me Jack."

"That's funny," said Christie. "They call him Ace."

"Real name's Arthur," muttered Ace.

"No wonder you switched," nodded Jack understandingly. "So, what's an exceptional specimen like yourself doing in a place like this?" he asked Christie.

"Typical question." said Christie cooly, pulling her hand away. "We're trying to find the guy who took shots at me last night. What about you?"

"I just happen to be here for the exact same reason." replied Jack. "Maybe we can, uh, work together, Miss..."

"Thomas. And, no, I doubt we'll be needing your assistance, Mr. Kerrick. Ace, I'm going to the car." said Christie, walking out.

"Hey, Chris, where ya goin'? Chris!" Ace shook his head as she left.

"Strike one," sighed Jack, watching her go. "Am I dreaming or is she the most gorgeous creature in the universe?"

"Nope, you're awake, and yep, she's definitely a knockout. Look, you got a business card or something?" asked Ace, as they walked out. "We really could use your help." Jack climbed onto the blue scooter he had parked outside the door, started the engine, then turned back to Ace.

"Yeah, sure." he said, pulling one out of his jacket pocket. "Listen, call me if anything develops, okay?" He looked in the direction Christie had gone and added, "And I do mean anything! That girl can't play cards without needing a Jack for long." Ace laughed knowingly as Jack put on his matching blue helmet and sped off, waving back at Ace before disappearing.

When Ace returned to the car, Christie was sitting on the passenger side waiting for him.

"Took you long enough," she said.

"What's with you, anyway?" he said, getting in. "That guy could've helped us out and you blew him off!"

"That guy is a phony. He couldn't possibly have been working my case. The police told me all their men were busy." said Christie.

"Maybe they decided to send someone after all," replied Ace.

"Right. Then why didn't he know my name? I told him I had been shot at arouond here last night. If he's got the case, why isn't he more familiar with the people involved?"

"I think that's what he was trying to do," replied Ace, with a knowing smile. Christie's blush was visible, even through her dark skin.

"You know what I mean, Ace." she sighed. "If he's really investigating this case, he should've at least known who I was, right? Besides, what's a policeman doing with a three thousand dollar scooter? On his salary, he should barely be able to afford a blue skateboard."

"How would you know how much a policeman makes?"

"That's not the point here. The point is that my observation of this guy tells me he's a fake and I don't want to be bothered with him."

Ace thought a moment, then sighed. "I don't know. Anyway, here's his business card." He passed it to her and pulled out into the street. She read it aloud as he drove.

"Captain Joshua Kerrick, St Louis City Police Department." She read in silence for a few seconds, then commented, "This must be his home address."

"Huh?"

"His home address. The City Police aren't at 531 Cholomondy Way. Besides, the zip code is from Ladue."

"Ladue? That means he's loaded, too!"

"That would definitely explain the scooter." she said, thoughtfully.

"It would also be a good reason to start being a little nicer to him," grinned Ace.

"Apparently you don't listen to the Beatles too often."

"Huh?"

"Can't buy me loooo-ove," Christie began singing.

"Alright, alright, I get the point!" he said, pulling into the parking lot for their building.

"Thanks for coming along to help, Ace. I really appreciate it." said Christie as they both got out.

He shrugged. "Ah, don't mention it. Say, listen, what's Janet doing tonight?"

"I really don't know." said Christie, trying not to smile. "You might want to ask her yourself."

"Is she, uh, in right now?" said Ace, playing with his keys on top of his car to avoid looking at her.

"Probably." Christie turned and began walking toward the building. Ace flew around the car after her. They were inside the building and walking toward the empty elevator before Ace asked another question:

"Well, uh, do...do you think she'll want to go out tonight?""She might," answered Christie.

"Well, if I asked her, do you think she'd still want to go out?"

"Ace, I don't know!" sighed Christie, as she got on the elevator. "I haven't seen her all day and if I had, I still wouldn't be able to directly tell you whether or not she chooses to go out with you. Coming?"

"What?"

"You know, going up?" she said, holding the elevator door.

"Oh, yeah!" he laughed, joining her in the car. She laughed and shook her head as they rode upstairs.

Ace walked Christie to her apartment, checking her doorway to make sure there was no other hidden devices on it. Janet came and opened the door before he had finished.

"Hi," she said, looking up at the corner of the door he was examining. "Whatcha doing?"

He looked down at her in surprise, then shrugged. "Well, I was checking to see if there was any explosive type boxes that might be triggered off by your opening the door, but obviously, there's not." he said, casually putting his hands in his pockets. "I see you got the new door put in."

Janet nodded. "Yeah, the hardware guy put it in about an hour ago." They stood for a few moments in uncomfortable silence, until Janet finally said, "Well, I guess I'll go back and study. You two coming in or what?"

"I am." said Christie. "Thanks again, Ace."

"No problem. If you guys need me, just holler out the window or whatever." he said, waving as he went down the hall. Studying!, he thought. Damn!

"Okay," Janet called back. "By the way, you're cute when you're asleep."

"You're the second person who's told me this today! Did you sleep in my room, too?" he said, jokingly.

"Of course. I wasn't staying down here without a door. Besides, how do you think you got in bed last night?" she said, with a mischievous grin. She closed the door, leaving Ace gaping in the middle of the hall.

He walked down the hall, slightly annoyed with himself. I don't believe this!, he thought to himself. I'm infatuated with the girl and I didn't even ask her out! To top it off, I know for a fact that I look like Goofy in my sleep and she saw me!, he sighed wistfully. What happened to the good old days when girls used to chase me and I had a choice of dates every night?

When he got inside his apartment, he closed the door and his eyes and leaned against the door trying to sort things in his mind. Suddenly, he heard a loud squeak from the general direction of his recliner. Startled, he opened his eyes and found Jack sitting causually in the chair with a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos."You're late." he said, his mouth full. "You should've been here three minutes ago."

"Hello yourself." said Ace, more than surprised. "How'd you get in here? Better yet, how'd you find out where I lived?"

"I've got my ways. By the way," added Jack, taking the last chip out of the bag and eating it, "you’re outta Doritos." He passed the bag to Ace, who peered in it and laughed.

"I can't imagine why. Christie just restocked my shelves this morning." he said, tossing the bag in the garbage.

"I can't believe you haven't killed me yet." said Jack, shaking his head and swiveling the recliner around to look at Ace. "Most people would've been 2 inches shy of the nearest household weapon if a strange black man were waiting for them in their apartment."

"Well, something tells me you're not the kinda guy who'd rob me of..." Ace paused as he looked at the empty Doritos bag in the garbage can, "...anything valuable. Besides, if you were gonna rob me, you'dve been long gone by now and if you were gonna kill me, you wouldn't wait this long."

Jack looked slightly impressed. "True," he said.

"Anyway, I'd like to think that a cop wouldn't break into my house to rob me." continued Ace. "You're lucky you didn't try this on Christie. She'dve probably beat you up and then called the police and told them you tripped."

"She live around here or something?" asked Jack, getting up and leaning against the back of the recliner.

Ace pointed up at the ceiling.

"No kidding?!" exclaimed Jack softly. He grabbed the broom from its place next to the refrigerator and pretended to poke the ceiling.

"Hey, none o'that!" said Ace, pretending to wrench the broom from Jack's grasp. "Listen, I got an idea. Let's me and you find the guy who's trying to kill Christie. You know, you might be able to help with all this police stuff you've got."

"I was just thinking about that, among other things." replied Jack, gazing up at the ceiling. Ace looked up with him, then said,"Yeah, among two other things. Such one thing's roommate." They looked back at each other and smiled.

"I can see this is going to be the beginning of an incredibly cool friendship." nodded Jack, profering his hand. Ace shook it, then added a few more twists to it.

"Not bad," said Jack, "but we do things a little differently downtown." He and Ace sat fooling around until they came up with a handshake they could call their own.

"Yo, man, I think we just developed ourselves a secret handshake." said Jack. "Now all we need is a plan of attack. First, we gotta figure out who's after Christie."

"Besides you." smirked Ace.

"Right," said Jack, with a grin. "Then we can get her to be a little more receptive to me and her roommate..."

"Janet."

"...to you. So, are you with me?"

"All the way!"

"Then let's get busy! Alright, tell me how all this started," said Jack.

"Just a second. First give me your background info on you and I'll get into the good stuff later." said Ace.

 

"He likes you!" Christie was saying in a sing-songy way."No, he doesn't!" said Janet, pretending to be immersed in her book.

"He really likes you!"

"You're such a liar!"

"Okay, fine. I'm a liar, then." shrugged Christie, kicking off her shoes and grabbing the remote control.

"I know you are." replied Janet, ducking back in the book. Christie leaned back into the sofa, humming "he likes you" under her breath, and turned on the tv. Janet sighed exasperatedly, then finally said, "Alright, what'd he say about me?"

"No, no, I'm a liar now. You can't trust me." replied Christie lightly, flipping through the TV Guide.

"Chris!"

"I don't want you listening to any false information...""Chris-tie!"

"Lord knows you don't deserve to be lied to..."

"TELL ME!!!"

Christie blinked innocently. "All you had to do was ask, Jan." she sighed, pretending to be hurt. Janet gave her a I'm-gonna-kill-you look and Christie laughed. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you. First of all, do you like him?"

"He's alright..." blushed Janet.

"You know what I mean," said Christie, folding her arms and raising her eyebrows.

"Okay, I like him!" blurted Janet. "Now what'd he say about me?""He called you a nasty, money grabbing ho with no life, no looks, and nobody." Janet snapped her tongue and gasped exasperatedly as Christie giggled. "I'm just kidding," she said. "But he was gonna ask you out until you went into that stupid bit about having to study."

"He's really cute when he's asleep." sighed Janet, dreamily.

Christie made a sound as if in agreement, then giggled again and got up.

"Where ya going?" demanded Janet.

"Jan, I gotta get to the club for rehearsal and everything. You coming to watch or what?"

"Yeah, I'm coming," she sighed, getting up to get ready. "And you better tell me everything or you're moving out."

"Me?!"

"Well, I'm not going!"

 

 

 

"So you're not really a cop?" Ace was saying.

"Right." replied Jack.

"And you're still serious about helping Christie?""Right."

"Why?"

"It's the damsel-in-distress syndrome. Gets me every time." shrugged Jack.

"What do you really do?" asked Ace, not really wanting to know.

"In the professional sense? Like, my official job title?" asked Jack. Ace nodded. "Well, I guess you'd call me a Jack-of-all-trades." he said with a smirk. "Kind of a hirable handyman."

"So you fix doors, windows..." prompted Ace.

"No, I unfix doors and windows." Ace remembered how Jack had gotten in and finally understood.

"You're a cat burglar."

"Actually, I've never stolen anything for myself." said Jack. "I do things like stealing back stolen items, bugging rooms for the cops..."

"I thought you weren't..."

"My father's chief of police. He can't stand what I do, but he uses my services like everyone else." Jack got up. "Well, guess I'll go."

"Where ya going?" demanded Ace.

"I'm throwing myself out before you do." said Jack.

"Sit down," drawled Ace, rolling his eyes with a deep sigh. Jack paused a moment, then came back and slouched into the seat. "That is a weird story." said Ace.

"So how come you believe it?"

"If you'dve heard my story, you'd be throwing me out." replied Ace. He paused for a second, then said, "Okay, I've got an idea. Let's check out this pen I fou..."

"Wait a minute; let's, as in, we? You still trust me?" said Jack incredulously. Ace shrugged, and Jack shook his head. "I better stay with you, then. You won't last a minute on the streets alone."

"Like I was saying," continued Ace. "This pen's from someplace called the Golden Cabaret..."

"Over on 6th Street, around the corner from the hospital." nodded Jack, getting up again.

"We could go check it out and catch Christie's show later on tonight. But we can't tell Chris we're trying to help." said Ace, grabbing his hat and following him.

"Right. What show?"

"The girl's a singer."

"Yeah? I used to be in the choir." said Jack, as he opened the door. He crossed his hands on his chest and began to wail. "Uh-maaa-zin graaace, how sweeeet the..."

"Shut up!" interrupted Ace, with a laugh. He shoved Jack out the door, then closed and locked it after him. They met the girls in the elevator on the way down.

"Hi, Janet, Christie. Janet, this is Jack Kerrick. Jack, this is Janet Fenwick." Jack shook Janet's hand with a "hi" and turned to Christie.

"This is my roommate, Christie Thomas..." began Janet."We've met." interrupted Christie. "Hi, Ace. Where are you two headed?"

Ace, who had been concentrating on Janet's presence, answered with a start. "Huh? Oh, we're going to, uh...uh..."

"Denali's...Denali's, uh..." began Jack.

"Ice Cream Parlor!" finished Ace.

"Yeah, Denali's Ice Cream Parlor!" added Jack.

"Denali's is a pizza parlor," said Janet, with a puzzled frown."Well, yeah, it was, but, um..." began Jack.

"It burned down."

"Yeah, it burned down and it became an ice cream parlor 'cause ice cream don't burn."

"Yeah," added Ace, both of them giving affirmative nods. The girls exchanged disbelieving glances, then giggled as they looked back at the boys.

"Whatever," they replied simultaneously.

The door slid open on the ground floor and the four piled out into the lobby.

"So, I guess we'll see you guys at the show tonight." said Ace.

"We?" echoed Christie.

"Well, yeah, I convinced Jack to go, too," replied Ace.

"Ooo, how nice," came Christie's less-than-enthusiastic response. "Well, so long." she added, elbowing Ace inconspicously in the stomach as she dragged Janet out.

"Nice meeting you, Jack," waved Janet, as they hit the door.

"You, too," he replied. "Nice girl, Ace. You should...Ace?" He turned to find Ace doubled over, gasping for air. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I love getting elbowed in the stomach."

"Mmm, Christie, huh? Maybe you should've kept my coming a surprise."

"Are you kidding? And have her give me a black eye when we get there?"

Jack laughed. "Okay, I won't go, then."

"No, it's a free country. Just go. The more she sees of you, the better she'll like you." said Ace, standing up a little.

 

 

"The more I see him, the more I hate him!" screeched Christie furiously, as soon as she was out of hearing range.

"He's cute, Chrissy. Where'd you meet him?" asked Janet."In an alley. He's a lying, chauvanistic, dirty son of a...he's a big jerk!" Christie unlocked the door and opened it with a vicious yank.

"I think you like him." giggled Janet, as she got in.

"Oh, don't start, Jan!" sighed Christie.

"You like him!"

"I do not!"

"You like him!"

"I do not!"

"You do!"

"I don't!"

"You do!"

"Don't!"

"Do!"

"Don't!"

"Do!"

"I DO NOT LIKE JACK KERRICK!!!!!!" bellowed Christie.Janet was silent for a moment as Christie put the car in reverse."So you love him," she said finally, as the pulled out into the street.

"Omigod, I do not be-LIEVE you!!!" gasped Christie exasperatedly.

 

 

"So, which way are we headed?" asked Ace, rolling down his window to talk to Jack.

"Just follow me." said Jack, putting on his helmet and starting his own engine. "It's only a few blocks from here."

"You're the boss," returned Ace, rolling his window back up.

The "few blocks" turned out to be a twenty minute ride from Ace's apartment.

"You call that a few blocks?!" exclaimed Ace as he got out. "We're nearly on the other side of town!"

Jack removed his helmet and grinned back at him from his bike.

"Hey, it was on the same street, man! Don't be such a wuss!" The two stepped inside the bar and waited for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. Next to them on a small table was a brandy sniffer with a bunch of pens identical to the one Ace had found.

"Yup, this must be it," said Ace, entering the main part of the building.

"Gee, Einstein, what was yer foist clue?" drawled Jack, with a good natured grin.

The bar area was next to them on their right and a man stood behind it setting up glasses. About 50 yards in front of them was the dance floor and the stage, surrounded by small circle tables and wall booths. A rather skinny black male was sitting at a table in front of the stage, where a young black girl was singing "Always and Forever" rather off-key. He looked less than happy with her.

"Lucky for him she's got a nice enough bod," muttered Ace. Jack nodded in agreement and the two turned to the bartender."We don' open 'til 8:30, boys," he said before they could speak."We're here on business," said Ace.

"Is that the manager?" asked Jack, thumbing at the man on the dance floor.

"Yeah," replied the bartender, "but the boss don' appreciate being disturbed while he's..."

"We'll risk it," interrupted Ace, strolling over to the table. Jack followed him and they both pulled up chairs on either side of the man. His face immediately went from surprise to suspicion as Jack propped his feet up on the table. He gestured to the girl, who stopped singing.

"That's enough for today, baby," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure, Pete," she replied, getting down from the stage. She walked toward the door past Jack and blew him a kiss. "Hey, Jack," she giggled.

"Hiya, Sheryl," he replied, patting her on the behind."Can I help you gentlemen?" asked the man.

"You can sure as hell try," said Ace. "We were just wondering if you knew anything about a girl named Christie Thomas...oh, by the way, who are you?"

"Pete Walsh," said the man. "And what I know about my lady ain't your business."

"Well, not yet, but we're workin' on that," said Jack, with a grin.

"Your lady, huh? Now we're getting somewhere." said Ace. "How long were you two going together?"

            "Look, white boy, I said my business is off limits, so git outta my face!" snarled Pete. "Yuh momma's callin' ya." Jack whistled low and Ace laughed to himself.

            "Golly, Pete, you really know how ta hurt a guy," said Jack sarcastically.

            "Seeing as you're a lower life form, I've decided to take pity on you and give you another chance to answer my question." said Ace.

            "To hell with your chance, man!" said Pete. "Now get outta my..." Before he could finish, Ace grabbed Pete up by the collar and dragged his face closer to his own. The bartender moved to grab something from under the counter, but Jack calmly slid his gun out from under his jacket pocket and pointed it at him. He froze and looked at his boss.

            "Look, dammit, I'm not interested in playing games!" growled Ace. "Now talk to me!" Pete looked from him to Jack with a glimmer of apprehension, then sourly said,

            "She used to work here as a dancer for me. Then she quit. That's all."

            "Why'd she quit?" asked Jack.

            Pete smiled a little before answering. "Well, I wanted to see a few dance moves she didn't wanna show me. I tried to get her to come around, like any o-bligin' male woulda done and she got all mad and left me. Ain't that a bitch?"

            Jack stood up, his face still calm, but his eyes smoldering with anger. "Yeah," he said. Then he turned Pete around and punched him dead solid in the eye. "A real bitch." He turned and left, leaving the bartender too stunned to even help his boss. Ace touched his hat to the man and followed Jack out.

            "That was great, man!" he said when they got outside. "Boom! right in the eye! What a punch!"

            "Yeah, well, the guy was a waste of my time and energy." said Jack, not even phased by the recent turn of events. "It's no wonder Christie left him. By the way, are you aware of the fact that you almost got your walking papers outta this world?"

            "Huh?"

            "The bartender, man, he almost shot you! Didn't ya see 'im?"

            "Naw, I thought..." Ace paused, eyes wide in surprise as he remembered the moment. "Geez, I didn't even stop to think he might have a gun!"

            Jack shook his head with a sigh. "God pities babes and fools...which saves your butt on two counts. So, why don't we check out that girl in the hospital and see what her story is, if she's got one."

            Ace abruptly came back to his senses. "Aww, she ain't going nowhere."

            "Come on, man, I thought you'd found a new interest in the medical field." said Jack, with a knowing smile.

            "Yeah, but she's not gonna be there tonight," said Ace. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to avoid seeing Christie." he added, getting in his car.

            "I just wanna give her some time to get used to me. Besides, I hate bruises. Black may go with my color scheme, but blue doesn't."

            "But they're not gonna let two civilians in to see her," protested Ace.

            "No, but they will let in Capt. Jack Kerrick and his partner, Sgt. Walker." replied Jack, flashing his fake badge and a winning smile.

            "I dunno..."

            "Will you just trust me?" demanded Jack.

            "You're the boss," sighed Ace, turning the key in the ignition.

 

 

 

            "D.O.A.?" echoed Ace.

            "Dead On Arrival, sir." said the E/R desk clerk to Ace, as he and Jack stood in the waiting room. "She died before they could even get here in her."

            "Damn!" muttered Ace, half in surprise, half in frustration. "That blows that lead."

            "We'd like to see her file, if it's available," said Jack smoothly.

            "Status file or personal, sir?"

            "Personal."

            "Yes, sir," said the nurse, getting up and going down the hall. Ace regarded him in mild surprise as she left.

            "You act as though you've done this before," he breathed to Jack.

            "You act as though you haven't," replied Jack in the same tone. Try to loosen up a little, huh? You're gonna give us away."

            "People go to jail for stuff like this, Jack."

            "Only if they get caught," Jack returned "Besides, what's 20 or 30 years in the slammer, man?"

            "An eternity," Ace replied. As he spoke, another nurse returned holding the file. She gave Ace a piercing look, then rested her gaze on Jack. Instead of being worried, however, Jack smirked in amusement, put his hands on the desk and leaned in.

            "Is there a problem, miss?" he asked. Ace could see his entire life flashing before his eyes and ending with the clang of a cell door as Jack spoke.

            "I'll say there's a problem!" replied the nurse. "You think you can just waltz in here, pretendin' to be the law and think you can get away with it?"

            "Well, I'm sure as hell gonna try!" grinned Jack. Ace closed his eyes in agony. This was definitely the end, he thought. Then, again, the end wouldn't happen until his mother found out...

            The nurse laughed and put her hands on her hips. "Who do you think you're foolin'?" she said, going over and kissing Jack dead on the mouth. Ace gasped in surprise as his new friend warmed up to the kiss of a seemingly total stranger as if...

            "Wanda!" laughed Jack, breaking away from the kiss, "I'd know that kiss anywhere!"

            "You mean you didn't even know it was me?" she demanded, half-serious.

            "Well, baby, I didn't want you to get too cocky, now!""You like my new haircut?"

            "Definitely kickin', baby," Suddenly remembering Ace, Jack turned and introduced him. "Sorry, man, this is Wanda Jenkins. Wanda, this is my buddy Ace Walker."

            "H-Hi," Ace stammered, not completely over his shock.

            "Pleased to meet you," said Wanda, her voice sugary. "He's cute," she said, turning back to Jack. "Where you been keepin' him?"

            "Away from sweet innocents like yourself," smiled Jack. "Look, honey, we need that file real bad, so if you could see your way clear to giving it to us..." She handed him the file and looked back at Ace.

            "Look, if you're not busy, have Jackie here give me a call, hmm?" she said, then turned gracefully to leave.

            "Thanks, Wanda," called Jack after her.

            "You keep that file in order, y'hear?" she added as she left.

            Jack nodded, then took it to the lobby area. As he went to sit down, he noticed Ace was still standing at the desk. He sighed, went over and grabbed Ace by the jacket and sat him down.

            "O-kay, what do we have..." began Jack.

            "How do you know these girls?" interrupted Ace. "That's the third one today, counting that girl at the red light."

            "Fourth."

            "Oh, yeah, the other red light. How do you do it, man?"

            "I just get around, I guess."

            "I'll say!" Ace looked back up the hallway while Jack became engrossed in the file.

            "Melanie Richardson, age 25, single, white, blond, blue-eyes..." he began.

            "And her hobbies are sky diving, water-skiing and riding her horse Chauncy," finished Ace, his voice ridiculously high-pitched.

            "You know her, too?" Jack elbowed him with a grin and continued. "Birthdate, place of birth, mother's maiden name..." He began muttering to himself, then suddenly perked up. "Heyyyyy, get this! Miss Melanie Richardson of Hobbs, New Mexico, place of employment:  the Golden Cabaret." Ace and Jack glanced at each other, mirrored faces of interest, then looked back at the file.

 

 

 

            "So you think this Melanie girl has something to do with all this." said Ace, as the two left the hospital a few minutes later.

            "Don't you?" replied Jack.

            "Well, yeah, but I don't see how..."

            "That," said Jack pointing at Ace "is why we're playing Dick Tracy right now. So that we can find out." He climbed onto his scooter as Ace nodded.

            "Alright, so what now?"

            "Well, that pretty much is all we can do tonight, besides go visit Pete again and maybe call Sheryl and see what she knows." Ace grinned and looked as his watch.

            "Good. That means we've got plenty of time to catch Christie's show." he said, opening his car door. Jack sighed.

            "You've been trying to get me down there all night, man!" he exclaimed.

            "I should hope you've been tryin' to get you down there, too," returned Ace. "You wanna see her sing, doncha?"

Jack looked at Ace, who smiled knowingly, then sighed again. "Fine, let's go, already!"

"Now you're talkin'!" replied Ace, jumping into his car."One place we gotta go first," added Jack, putting on his helmet.

            "Where?" asked Ace, sticking his head back out. Jack flipped up his visor and grinned.

            "Flower shop," he said, tipping it back down and roaring the scooter into motion.

            "You're the boss," Ace grinned.

 

 

"Flowers for Christie Thomas!"

"She's back here!"

"Two dozen!"

"Daisies and roses!"

"Daisies?! Oh, give me a break...!"

"Christie, they're beautiful!"

"Ooo, somebody's givin' it up!"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Holly."

"Our Christie's a decent girl."

"So who're they from?"

"Read the card!"

"There's two!"

"Read 'em!"

"You guyyys! Get back!" said Christie, over the noise in the dressing room. "Some people gotta be in everybody's business!" she said jokingly. The crowd of dancers and singers around her moved away half-heartedly as she pulled the card from the daisies. "Somehow, I get the feeling that roses from me might insult you," it read. "I hope you'll give me a chance. Jack."

For a moment, Christie could hear her mother's voice echoing in her mind. "Never settle for second best, sweetheart. You'll regret it for the rest of your life." But he is kinda sweet, Momma, she thought. And Pete certainly ain't in the top ten.

She looked at the roses, Pete's peace offering for the past 3 weeks, then back at the daisies. "Kelly," she said.

"Yeah, Chris?" said the girl at the dressing table next to her.Christie grabbed the roses and thrust them at her. "Lose these.""Sure thing," said Kelly, dropping them in another girl's empty vase on her way out.

Christie turned back to the daisies with a smirk. Okay, Mr. Joshua Anthony Kerrick, we'll see, she thought. We'll see.

 

 

After Christie's show, the boys and Janet went back to the dressing room to wait for her. She finally came out, ready to go.

"Great show, Chris," said Ace.

"You outdid yourself tonight, Christie," agreed Janet. "The crowd loved you!"

"Thanks, guys," said Christie. She turned to Jack, who was leaning against the wall behind them, hands in his pockets. "What did you think, Officer?" she asked, somewhat coyly.

"Me?" he asked, looking up. "Well, I thought you sang like a nightingale."

She smiled a little. "Thanks," she said to him and he nodded, smiling back.

"Well, how 'bout Coco's for an early breakfast?" suggested Ace.

"Okay, we'll meet you guys there," said Janet, taking Christie by the arm.

"Hey, Jack!" Christie called ass they left out the back door. He turned and she said, "Thanks for the flowers, too. And you were right...roses would've really pissed me off."

He laughed at little, then turned and followed Ace.

 

 

At Coco's, the group took a booth to sit with each other. Janet and Christie sat on one side, while Ace and Jack sat on the other.

            "So, Ace, what do you do during the day?" Janet asked.

            "Well, mostly sleep and go to class," he replied. "I'm in law school, but I really don't think it's what I want right now."

            "See, you're just like Christie. She's in nursing because her whole family's full of doctors and nurses and she doens't want let her family down. I think she wants something more adeventurous."

            "What could be more adventurous than working in a E/R?" Ace asked.

            "Doing things that can get you into an E/R," smirked Janet.

            Ace laughed. "All this and a sense of humor, too," he said to her and she blushed.

            At the table behind them, Christie and Jack's conversation was going relatively the same, until Christie asked,

            "So what's it like, being a police officer?"

            "It's, ah...well, it...I don't really...concentrate so much on the work, really," he stammered.

 

 

            It was almost a quarter 'til 6 and dark outside when Jack and Ace finished moving his things from Jack's house to Ace's apartment. Ace sat back in his recliner and relaxed. Jack had collapsed in an exhausted heap on the sofa and was now asleep. But there were still so many things on Ace's mind that he had yet to figure out how they connected. He decided to recap the events and the things in question so far.

            So far, Christie Thomas had been shot at by a guy who he could barely recognize and Christie couldn't even see. However, some girl that nobody knew leapt in between Christie and the bullet and saved her from getting shot. As the guy was about to try again, he (Ace) had showed up and chased the guy into an alley, where he got a glimpse of the guy and the guy took a shot at him with a .22. Then, after all the jazz with the police, they went home and somebody had attempted to blow Christie away with a bomb that had been planted above her door and nobody knew who had done that. After which, the two of them met Jack, a professional con man (something that didn't really phase Ace, but angered Christie, who had grown to trust him). Ace had found a gold plated pen and he and Jack had gone to investigate the source of it. However, although the owner knew Christie, he had witnesses that swore he was at his club that evening.

            If only we could've talked to that girl Melanie before she died, he thought. All we know is that she used to work at Pete's club and that Sheryl thinks they were an item a while back. That's hardly enough to go on.

            Suddenly, Jack snorted awake, then said, "I got it! I got it!"

            "What?"

            "That little kid we saw that day when I met you. He mighta been in that alley the night you and that guy ran through."

            "Coulda been..."

            "So what're we we bummin' 'round here for?" said Jack, jumping up and grabbing his hat and coat.

 

 

 

            Miguel walked slowly down the back alley he'd been playing in. Those men who had come before, they had been in this alley walking slow, too. And the one who was running, he thought. He was sure they had been looking for the bullet slug he had in his pocket. Policemen always wanted the little things. Maybe if I put it back, they won't take me away. Maybe they will be so grateful, the white one will give me his hat and I can wear it like Jaime Cordoba's papa...Suddenly he felt someone grab his arm. He was ready to yell for his brother, but something that smelled like leather was over his mouth. He tried to kick the person holding him and a voice behind him laughed."Good thing I thought to wear my boots," it said. Miguel looked up and saw the man with the hat.

"Hiya, kid," he said. "How 'bout some ice cream?"

Miguel turned and bit his hand, then ran, only to smack into the other man...

"Too bad you didn't wear your gloves, too," laughed the black man. "Look, man, we're not tryin' to scare you or arrest you. We just need to know if you saw something, that's all."

Miguel began to cry. "Yes, I saw it! I am sorry, I did not want to cause trouble, I only..."

"Never mind that, what did you see?" said Ace, hobbling over."Th-this! Here, take it!" said the boy, thrusting it at Jack. Jack looked at the boy's hand, then sighed and shook his head."Nah, kid, that's just a bullet slug. We don't need it." Ace said, standing up straight.

"You don't? Then I may keep it? I went through much trouble to get it. It was very hot and the man you followed almost knocked me down trying to..."

Ace and Jack exchanged the briefest of glances before demanding, "What man?"

Miguel looked at the two men and saw his chance. "I could remember better if I had a good thinking hat on," he said, looking slyly up at Ace's hat. Jack looked at Ace expectantly, who looked back in shock.

"My ol' man gave me this hat, Jack!" he protested."Come on, man!" retorted Jack, gesturing to the little boy.Slowly, Ace took off the hat. He grasped it tightly for a moment, then slapped it on Miguel's head and looked away.

"Okay, now think hard, kid," said Jack. "What did he look like?""Oh, that's easy," shrugged Miguel. "He was a tall black man, very thin, and he wore a hat like this one." "Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" asked Jack, looking back at Ace.

"Only if you're thinking about the loss of a very special hat," replied Ace coldly.

"No, Ace, I'm talkin' about Pete!" sighed Jack. "Would you know him if you saw him?" he asked Miguel.

"Yes, sir."

"Come on, then!" exclaimed Jack, swinging the boy onto his back and starting back up the alley. Ace followed in confusion."Hey, we can't take that kid to..." he began.

"No, but we can let him see a picture of him!" returned Jack over his shoulder. The three of them roared back to Ace and Jack's apartment building in a flurry of anticipation, then rushed upstairs to Christie and Janet's room and pounded on the door. Janet opened the door, dressed for work.

"Hi, guys, what do...?" she began, but Jack interrupted her."Where's Christie?" he said.

"She went to work already. What's the matter?"

"Do you know where we could get a picture of Pete?" asked Ace."Right now? I've gotta go..."

"Please, Janet?" begged Ace. "It's really important." She looked at the three of them, then turned and went into the apartment to the bookshelf. As the boys crossed over, she handed them a large book."Here," she said, "it's me and Christie's scrapbook. You can find him in there somewhere. Just take it with you and bring it back later."

"Thanks," said Jack, leading the way out.

"Yeah, just don't mess that book up," said Janet, following them out. As she locked the door behind them, Ace, Miguel and Jack went to the elevator and to the boys' own apartment. Ace fixed the little boy a sandwich, while Jack sat on the edge of the worn sofa with the book."Ya find him yet?" asked Ace, as Jack thumbed through the pages."Nah, not...oh, wait, here! Here he is!" Jack brought the book over to Miguel and said, "Okay, show me the guy, kid."Miguel looked at the pictures on the page in front of him, then put his finger on a picture Pete and Christie.

"Alright!" yelled Ace, high-fiving Jack. "We got him!""Well, let's go tell Christie!" said Jack. He turned to Miguel, scooped him up and sat him in the easy chair. "Nice going, kid, ya did good," he said, a grin on his face. "Why don't ya just hang out here for a while, watch tv, eat what you want, do whatever.""Really?" gasped the little boy.

"Yeah," said Ace, "you've earned it."

"Now, look, if anybody but us comes to the door, don't move. Just lay low and keep quiet, okay?" Miguel nodded and watched the two men leave. He looked at the tv and around the room, then grabbed the remote control and kicked back. Honesty, he decided, was definitely the best policy.

 

 

Now most of this mystery made sense, the two decided as they drove. Christie's ex-boyfriend was trying to kill both of them. The bomb had been set above the door because it was meant for Janet when she came home and he had obviously planned to get rid Christie at the "Ocean Mirage" when Ace and Melanie had interfered. And Melanie might've been jealous of the thing between Chris and Pete and gone to scare Chris out of the relationship. Now all they had to do was catch Pete and get the girls out of harm's way.

When they arrived, Ace went in through the front while Jack agreed to sneak in around back. Ace paid at the door and pushed his way through the throngs of wildly dancing people to the back of the club. He banged on all of the dressing room doors until he came to one with a star on it and the name "Christie Thomas" underneath it. He stopped to listen for a moment after pounding on the door, then used his shoulder to break the door open. He burst into the room and immediately saw Janet struggling with bonds and a gag in a chair in the corner of the room. He tried untie her, but she shook her head and nodded toward the alley door. Ace looked from her to the open door and knew she was directing him toward Christie. He swallowed hard, then grasping the Beretta, turned the corner. There stood Christie's ex-boyfriend with Christie, one hand over her mouth, the other holding a snub-nosed revolver. Her eyes were bright with fear and anxiety, as the two men looked at each other quietly.

"So," said Pete. "You came back. I guess you know by now that Christie is my lady." he continued, a wild look in his eye.

Wary of this, Ace answered, "Think so, huh?"

Pete grinned, then gave Christie a gentle kiss on the neck. "I know so." he said. Christie stiffened in disgust. "She won't dance for me." he said, changing the subject. "In more ways than one. Isn't that right, Angel?" he said tauntingly. He put his hand on her behind and she moved to swing at him. He cocked the gun and she stopped at the sound, then slowly dropped her hand to her side. He laughed, low and frightening, then moved his hand to her chest. Christie shook with rage, staring straight ahead, but was helpless to do anything in her defense.

"Don't do that." said Ace, slow and deliberate.

"Why not?" asked Pete, not stopping.

"Because I'll kill you." said Ace, calmly cocking his Beretta where Pete could see it. "Reason enough?"

Pete laughed again. "Move the wrong way and she dies." Certain that this was enough to keep Ace away from him, he bent down to kiss her again.

To both his and Christie's surprise, Ace aimed and fired, sending both Pete and Christie reeling towards him. In the seconds that followed, Ace dropped the gun from his hands and she jumped away from Pete and ran to Ace, who, even while he embraced her, stood in shock. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"I think so. It was so strange! It was like...are you aware that I never fired a gun at anyone or anything in my life?!" Ace looked at Pete, then at Christie, who now looked a little less than reassured. "Wait a minute, you were the one who almost got killed! Are you okay?"She nodded. "I think you saved a little more than my life this time." she said. He blushed a little and gave her another hug. Janet appeared in the doorway as they were pulling apart and hugged Christie with a sob.

"Jack came in and untied me," she said. "He's still on the phone with the police, but when I heard the shot, I thought...I mean, I thought..." As she spoke, Jack rushed up to the door.

"Are you guys...?" he began.

"We're okay." said Christie. "Let's just get out of here." She and Janet turned to go inside, then turned back toward Ace, who was picking up his gun. With a heavy sigh, he turned to follow them. As he reached the door, he heard a noise behind him.

"Ace!!!" shouted Jack, pushing through the girls. Ace spun around, only to find Pete propped up on one elbow with his revolver aiming at him. At the same time, Jack flew into action. Just as Pete shot, Jack shoved Ace partially away and fired at Pete. Pete's shot deeply grazed Jack's side and plowed into Ace's, while Jack's shot hit Pete's hand with deadly accuracy, sending Pete's gun flying.For a few seconds after the two shots had been fired, there was a stunned silence, as if the entire world had been taken aback. But when Jack dropped to his knees with a gasp of pain and Ace began sliding slowly down the wall opposite Janet and Christie, both of them with dark bloodstains spreading on their shirts, the girls flew into action. Janet dashed over to catch Ace while Christie knelt down near Jack.

"Dammit, Ace, don't leave me now!" said Janet, holding his head in her lap.

He smiled faintly at her and whispered, "Where the hell would I go?" She smiled back at him sadly and he blacked out, but not before feeling Janet's gentle kiss on his forehead.

Across from them, Christie was helping Jack to lean against the doorway.

"Easy does it," she was saying, as he sucked in his breath through his teeth.

"Funny," he began, "I went ahead and called the hospital for Pete, too. Never dreamed I'd be calling it for myself."

"Wait a minute," said Christie, "how did you know that Pete got shot instead of..." Jack lowered his head a little and looked up with a faint smirk. "It was you!" she gasped. "You shot Pete both times! And then you went through the other side door to untie Janet and played it off like you never were there! No wonder we fell forward instead of backward!"

"Almost got killed the first time," he added. "That wild shot of Ace's went right past my ear."

Christie shook her head and forced a laugh. "Well, that was pretty stupid, Jack. Brave, but stupid."

"Wait a second. Isn't this supposed to be the part where you forgive me for anything and everything and we kiss and ride off into the sunset?"

"No, this is an updated version of that flick." replied Chris.

"Yeah, I can tell. We've been colorized." Christie laughed in earnest this time and smiled at him almost fondly.

"You're ridiculous. If it weren't for the fact that you lied to me and that you're a..." Christie broke off in mid-sentence.

"Con man?" prompted Jack. "Yeah, for a nice clean lady like you, that's not exactly the thing to look for in a significant other."

"It's not that, it's just...well, in case you haven't noticed, my relationships aren't exactly the best ones." Christie looked over at Pete, who had passed out, then down at her hands.

"What do I have to do to get you to trust me again?" asked Jack, tipping her face towards him with a finger.

"I'm not sure," she replied, grasping his hand. "When it happens, I'll know. Until then, let's just leave it at friends, okay?"

Jack nodded, then smiled. "You'll definitely be the closest friend I ever had." he said mischievously, squeezing her hand a little.

"Come on, leggo my hand." said Christie, making little effort to pull away.

"Hey, what's a little handholding among friends?" smiled Jack. "Besides, if I don't grab your hand, I'll be climbing the walls in pain."

"Omigosh, I completely forgot!" she gasped, turning her attention to Jack's wound, just as the distant wail of the ambulance siren came into hearing range.

So had I, thought Jack, as three police cars screeched up. Five officers leapt out immediately and dashed into the alley. Behind them was a taller officer with more of an official look about him."Uh-oh," sighed Jack.

"What? You're not in trouble again, are you?" demanded Christie.

"Not yet," replied Jack wryly, as the officer approached him. "Officer Kerrick, sir! How's the wife and kids?"

"Knock it off, Joshua, you're in enough trouble as it is." snapped Officer Kerrick. "You've been passing out my business cards again." Christie gave Jack a look which he purposely ignored.

"Just trying to perk up business a little." he returned feebly.

"I don't want to hear it. I've had it with you and your attitude. You're on a one way ticket to Alcatraz, mister."

"You've been saying that to me since the second grade." smirked Jack. "Anyway, police cadets don't get sent to the slammer."

"What are you talking about?" asked Officer Kerrick."Yeah, what are you talking about?" echoed Christie.

"Well, I thought I'd just up and join the force, but..." Jack looked up at the officer for a sign of approval, confusing Christie even further. The officer stared at him for a moment, then grew misty-eyed as he said,

"My son. A police officer. I never thought I'd see the day."

"Your son?! Then you weren't...oh, Jack, I'm sorry!" gasped Christie.

"Don't sweat it. It's not as if I told you the whole truth." shrugged Jack. "So, can I call you Dad in public now?" he asked the man in front of him.

"Son, you can call me anything you want!" returned his father. "Within reason," he added, as Jack opened his mouth.

"Ah, you always were faster on the draw than me." smiled Jack.

"Age and experience does that for a man," came the reply. Jack laughed, then winced in pain. Again, attention was turned to his wound. Jack's father knelt down next to Christie to examine his son. "Just a scratch. The ambulance'll be here in a few seconds. How's the other kid?"

"Not too good, Chief. I'll feel better when the docs get here," replied one of the officers. No sooner had the officer spoke than the increasing sound of the ambulance sirens came blaring down the street and up to the alley.

"Good, they're here. Now we can get down to business, Miss..." began Officer Kerrick.

"Thomas. Christie Thomas." replied Christie. Haven't I done this before?, she thought to herself.

"A-and I'm Janet Fenwick," said Janet, from her position on the ground.

"We know, girls, we know," said one of the attendants.

"You know, Jeff, I didn't ask for you guys to come here." retorted Janet.

"We're only around the corner, Jan, what'd you expect?" came the reply.

"We normally expect to see you guys sleeping in the back room." said Christie.

"I take it you ladies are used to this sort of thing?" asked Officer Kerrick, somewhat confused.

"We oughta be. We work for this hospital." sighed Christie.

"Ah, well, that explains a few things. Now, which one of you can explain what happened here?"

"I can, Dad," put in Jack, as the ambulance attendants helped him up.

"You," said his father, "get your butt to the hospital and get that wound taken care of."

"But I..."

"I'll get your story later. Now get in, you're holding up progress." Jack sighed and let them attendants put him in the ambulance. After they positioned Ace on the stretcher, they put him inside next to Jack. "Now, if you'll just explain..."

"Wait, can we discuss this at the hospital?" asked Christie, glancing at her watch. "Both of us are supposed to be there now setting up beds for these two."

"She's right!" nodded Janet. "Technically, we're on duty right now!"

"Besides, I think we'd both feel better being up there with Ace and Jack." added Christie.

"Well...I'll take the both of you there, then," nodded the officer, going to his patrol car.

"What about Ace's car and Jack's scooter?" asked Christie.

"I'll have 'em both towed to...where does Joshua live now?"

Christie and Janet exchanged glances. "I think he said he was moving in with Ace." shrugged Janet.

"Ah, we'll figure all this out at the hospital," said Officer Kerrick, motioning them toward his patrol car.

 

 

 

When Ace came to, he was completely lost. The last thing he could remember was being in an alley bleeding with Janet kissing his forehead. Which is not half bad, as far as memories go, he thought to himself. He looked around and was startled to see nothing but bleak walls.

"Oh, geez, where am I now?" he said aloud, his voice seemingly slow and sluggish. "First I can't see at all, and now what I can see isn't worth looking at."

Two figures in all white rushed over to him from the corner of the room. "Ace?" they said simultaneously. "Are you awake?"

"I don't know. Is this heaven?" he asked.

The figures exchanged puzzled glances, then one said, "No."

"I shoulda known better. Where am I?" he asked.

The other one, in a more familiar voice, drawled, "Try St. Aloysious Medical Center."

"Christie." he murmured. "So you've gotta be Janet." He tried to sit up so he could see, but immediately fell back as a sharp pain in his side grabbed him. He sucked in his breath and Christie pushed him gently but firmly back down.

"Easy, kiddo," she said. "That's not something you wanna do after you decide to let somebody drill holes in your side."

"You've been out since you got shot." said Janet.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"11 at night." she replied.

"Well, that's not too bad. We jumped in the car to save you about six."

The two girls looked each other, then at him and said, "That was three nights ago."

"We thought me had lost you." said Janet, putting her hand on his cheek.

He reached up and held it tightly for a moment. "I don't think I could stand that. Losing you, I mean." He looked at Christie and added, "Either of you." Ace swallowed hard, then asked, "Hey, Jan...are you interested in being proposed to?"

"If I knew the proposer well enough. Who'd you have in mind?" She saw the disappointed look in his eyes and laughed. "I'm just kidding. I still would rather I got to know you better first, but I'll keep it in mind."

He nodded understandingly, then sighed deeply. "Jace! I've been in this hospital all this time?"

"Where else would you have been?" asked Christie."I dunno. Hey, where's Jack? And what happened to Pete?" he asked.

"Jack's next door asleep. He's still recooperating a little from that bullet." said Christie.

"And Pete's in jail, thanks to the both of you," said Janet."And, guess what, Ace? He wasn't really lying about the police thing. His dad is the Chief of Police. And Jack's going to the academy to be an officer."

"Yeah, and he's doing it all for Christie," smirked Janet.

"That is NOT true! He's doing it for himself, too," protested Christie.

"More for her, though," nodded Janet, who began humming "he really likes you" under her breath.

"Shut up, Jan. How are you, Ace?"

"I've definitely been better," he smiled. "So Jack's gonna go straight, huh? Well, I guess if you were really serious about it, being a cop is definitely the straightest way to go." He paused for a moment, then went on. "I've been having some wild dreams about shooting Pete (here Christie looked out the window and smiled to herself) and my dad and other stuff and I think I've figured out what I want to do with my life."

"Well?" asked Janet.

"I'm gonna be a detective!" he announced triumphantly. The girls shrugged at each other as Ace went on. "See, I was gonna ask Jack to help me start a detective agency, but he's gonna be busy enough as it is." Ace was quiet for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "I got an idea!" he said, looking piously at the girls.

"No way, Ace. I'm gonna be a nurse and that's final!" said Janet completely dismissing the subject.

"Well, I didn't think you wouldn't, Jan. But Christie might." They both turned to Christie, who had her back to them. "Say, Chris, how would you like to quit singing in nightclubs every night and do something really exciting?"

"Such as?" she asked skeptically, pretending not to know."How does being a private detective with me sound?"

"Costly."

"Well, maybe at first, but not after we get into it."

"You're delirious."

"Try serious. It'll be cool."

"It'll be dangerous."

"It'll be good pay."

"We could get shot."

"That didn't seem to bother you before."

"Welllll..."

"Come on, I know you don't want to do either of the things you're doing now." said Ace. "This is your chance to break away from it all!"Christie looked from Janet to Ace, then gazed up at the ceiling. "Heaven forbid the rest of my family should hear about this. Oh, alright," she said, looking back at Ace, "but if I have to pay major amounts of money, I'm killing you myself."

Ace smiled and extended his hand. "Partners?"

"Partners!" said Christie, shaking it. And that handshake was the beginning of the Thomas and Walker Detective Agency.

 

CHAPTER THREE

 

 

            It was a well-known fact that Christie never told anyone when she was sick and denied the fact whenever someone mentioned it. So Ace fully expected a fight on his hands when she came in one day and threw herself on the old worn sofa beside his desk. He was surprised because she normally camped out in the wooden chair in front of the desk or on the desk itself. Something was wrong. He tipped his hat up to look at her and realized something really was wrong. Uh-oh, he thought. She looks sick. She's gonna be in a pissy mood...

"You okay?" he asked, taking his feet off the desk and leaning over the desk to look at her. Not that I expect her to admit it, he thought.

"Sure." she said, with a lack of enthusiasm.

"You look...well, not exactly pale..."

"I don't know too many black people who can do that." she said sarcastically.

"Gray." he decided.

"Gray?"

"Yeah, gray."

"What is this with you and the color spectrum today?" she demanded. "I'm perfectly fine and the fact the you keep badgering me about it isn't going to...!" Suddenly, she doubled over, hands over her abdomen and eyes closed tightly as if in intense pain.Ace swung around the desk and knelt down next to her. "You're lying big time." he said. "Now, what's the matter with you?""Nothing," she gasped.

"Don't lie to me, Christie."

"Noth..." She paused as she saw the "no nonsense" look in his eyes and said, "Okay, okay, I think it's my appendix, but it's probably just stomach cramps..."

"Okay, that's it." He put his coat and hat on and gave her hers, saying, "You're going to see Janet right now and that's final.""But Ace..." she protested, as he helped her with her coat."Don't 'but, Ace' me! I mean it!" he said, gently but firmly pushing her out the door.

When they arrived in the hospital emergency room, Janet, who was minding the desk, looked up at them and smiled. "Well, hi, guys. What's up? Taking me out to eat on your huge salary?"

"Cute." said Christie briefly.

"Very funny." said Ace. Money was a sore spot for the two detectives, who had not had a real case since Christie's ex-boyfriend Pete had escaped from jail and tried to kill them. "Actually," said Ace, "we were getting this little brat checked out."

Janet gave Christie a mock disapproving look and said, "And you call yourself an ex-student nurse! When you're sick, you're supposed to get a check-up, not try and help yourself."

"I am not sick. And I am not a brat." said Christie, solemnly. "He keeps insisting that I am."

"Janet, look at her. Doesn't she look kinda off-gray?" he asked.The short blonde peered thoughtfully into Christie's face. "Y'know," she said, "he's right. You do look a little ashen.""Please, people, leave me alone..." Sudddenly, she grabbed the edge of the desk so hard her knuckles turned almost as pale as her face. "Ace, can we sit down? I need to rest for a second.""Kevin's here today. I'll go get him." said Janet, jumping up. Ace nodded and helped Christie to a chair.

A few moments later, she came back with Kevin Thomas, an intern at the hospital and also Christie's twin brother.

"Hi, sis," he said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Tell him I'm not sick." she demanded.

"Mmm. Tall order, Chris. Usually when you say that, you are sick. Besides, you do look a little gray..."

"Ke-vinnnn!"

"Okay, okay, get in a chair and I'll take you back and have you checked out by one of the doctors up here." he said, with a laugh. "Are you gonna wait for her, Ace?"

"Yeah, I'll be here." he answered, winking at Janet."Okay, we'll see you in a few minutes, then." said Kevin, as he rolled Christie back through the double doors to the examining rooms.A half hour later Ace, was pacing the floor in front of Janet's desk, still waiting for Christie and Kevin's return.

"Ace, sit down. Christie'll be fine. She didn't look all that bad when she came in, anyway." reassured Janet. "She's probably back there talking to all of her friends. Besides, you're making me dizzy.""Janet, that girl has two things we both need in this business: a pinpoint gunshot and good timing. You don't think we work together because she's one of the best friends I ever had, do you?"Janet laughed and shook her head. "Heaven forbid the great Ace Walker should get all sentimental about any kind of relationship. Anyway, sit down before I have to forcibly make you do it." she said, with a coy smile.

Ace grinned wickedly. "Oooo, you're so forceful," he said, coming behind the desk toward her.

"I mean it now, Ace." she said, also laughing, but backing away at the same time. "Don't make me mad."

"I love it when you're mad."

"Ace, don't you dare!"

"You're gorgeous when you're really ticked, y'know that?""Ace..."

"That's m'name." He had her cornered against the wall, leaning directly over her. "Come on, I haven't seen you for three days.""Well, maybe just a quick hug." She gave him a fast squeeze, then attempted to push her away. "There, now are you happy?" she asked."Aww, Janet, that's not..."

"Ace!" came Kevin's voice from around the corner. Ace leapt over the desk and assumed a natural position. "There you are. That was some jump you just made." said Kevin, laughing as Ace blushed and tried to explain. "Forget it, man I just came to tell you that Christie's condition is a little more serious than we thought."

"What's wrong?"

"Appendicitis. She's gonna have her appendix taken out later on tonight when Dr. Rosovitch comes in from Toledo. For now, she's staying here."

"Oh, geez. She's probably going off walls by now.""In her own way. If you want to visit, she's in Room 1138. I'll be up in a little bit."

When Ace reached Christie's room, the door was closed. He knocked lightly on it, then walked in. He gasped at the luxury of the room, which resembled a private bedroom more than it did a hospital room."Chris?" he called.

"Huh?" came a voice from the bed. He looked in that direction and saw her, almost hidden in the plush comfort of the bed."Oh, there you are." he said, pulling up a chair and propping his feet up on the bed. "How ya doin'?"

"Where the hell else would I be?" she demanded. Her skin tone still had the same listless color to it, but her tongue was as sharp as ever. "And I'm doing fine, I just had a painkiller. You have a habit of doing that, don't you?" she added, gesturing at his feet."They say the heart works better if you keep your feet above your chest," he said.

"Probably would work 100% better if you didn't smoke." she snapped. "This is all your fault. I'd be at the office polishing my .38 Special if it weren't for you."

"And you'd be dead by tomorrow. Didn't Kevin tell you what was wrong with you?"

"Yeah, I already knew." she said. "I also know about all the risks that come with surgery, so I'm not too thrilled with the idea." she added sarcastically.

"What are ya, scared or something?" he asked, with a smirk."No!" she answered. Then, as an afterthought, she added, "I'm terrified."

"Aww...okay, look," he began, somewhat exasperated, "remember 2 years ago when you had your tonsils out?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"And was it all that bad?"

"Well, no, but..."

"The defense rests, your honor." he said, raising his hands up as if to emphasize the point.

"There's no similarity between the two!"

"Same risks, Chris. You oughta know that better than I do."She sighed. "Well, I'll be brave about it, at least.""There you go. The Louisville Slugger bounces back." said Ace encouragingly. "If you need anything, just call. I'll keep you posted on the home front." He got up to leave and gave her a playful clip on the chin. "Hang in there, sport."

"You, too!" she called after him.

"Don't do anything stupid!" they yelled to each other simultaneously.

After Ace had made a Friday night date with Janet and kissed her goodbye, he got in his Mustang and drove back to the office with mixed feelings. He couldn't wait for the end of the week so he and Janet could go out, but he was still worried about Christie. What if she did something irrational like leave the hospital or what if she really did die? What would he do without her?

He blasted the radio to take his mind off the subject.When he finally arrived at the building the office was in and went upstairs, he noticed the door was open and the lights were on. Pete again?, he thought to himself, as he flattened himself against the wall and pulled out his Beretta from his side holster. He took a deep breath, then lightly pushed the door open with his toe and pivoted on his left foot into the room, aiming at the intruder. "What the...?!""Hey, Ace, that's no way to greet your buddy!" said the surprised intruder.

"Jack, man, what the hell are you doing here?" said Ace, giving his Beretta an impressive whirl around his finger before placing it back in its holster and relaxing.

"Christie called. Said she was gonna be gone for a few days and to keep an eye on you." replied Jack. "So I figured since I was off work today, I'd oblige her and stop over for a while. Where's she going, anyway?"

"She already went and she's in the hospital...will you get outta my chair?" he demanded. Ace tossed himself in the huge old desk chair and propped his feet up. Jack took the chair on the other side of the desk.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked.

"Appendicitis."

"Dag! I hope she's okay."

"Me, too."sighed Ace. "In the meantime, you can take her place.""What do I have to do?"

"Nothing much, unless we get a case."

"What do we do until then?"

"We wait." Ace tilted his chair back and his hat forward and settled down for a nap.

"That's it?"

"That's it. It's not like the prescinct where you get calls every day."

"Why don't you buy an answering machine?"

"Answering machines cost money, money comes from cases and cases come over the phone, so I'd just as soon as wait for the call instead of going through all that hassle."

"Oh." was Jack's meek reply.

A half hour or so passed and suddenly the phone did ring."Get that, will ya?" said Ace, from under the hat."Sure." Jack reached over and picked up the phone. "Hello? Yeah, he's here, hold on a minute. For you. Specifically." he said. "Try to remember Janet when you talk to this one, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Ace, taking the phone from him.

"Just talk."

Ace gave his friend a puzzled look, then said, "Yeah, this is Ace...well, hello yourself!(he raised an understanding eyebrow at Jack, who gave him a frown)...oh, yeah? What kind of business?...uh- huh...yeah... no kidding?...well, that's just terrible, Miss, uh...okay, Miss Cosmos... right, Carolyn, where are you right now...really? How big is this bed?..."

"Ace!" protested Jack.

"Right, right. I'm just reconstructing the crime." said Ace. "Okay, I know your bedroom's pink pastel now, but an address might help...810 Shady River. Okay, I'll be there in about ten minutes...right, so am I. Bye!" He hung up and grabbed his hat and coat off the rack. "Hell, I'll be there in five minutes if I can help it!" He skidded over to the city map by the door to find the address, as Jack tried to calm him down.

"Come on, now, Ace, remember Janet!" he said.

"Janet who?" said Ace, tracing the streets to the address."The one you proposed to a while ago?" said Jack, exasperatedly. "Show a little self-control, man!"

"The girl has a king size bed she calls Cloud 27. That's three times as good as Cloud 9." said Ace, walking out on air.He won't do it for real, thought Jack. I hope.

Ace drove to the address arguing with his conscience.This is just a case, now. No funny stuff.

I can handle myself!

You still have Janet to think about.

It's not like we're engaged or anything. I'm not in any permanent stuff with her yet.

She'll never forgive you. Think of all the good times you had. Think about all the times you...

"I'm not going to cheat on Janet and that's it!" he said aloud. Still, he was uncertain as he pulled up in front of the huge mansion. He got out of his car and rang the bell on the impressive front door. It was opened by a pretty but saucy-looking maid.

"Deliveries around back," she said, as she began to close the door.

"Very funny." he replied, holding the door open. "I'm expected.""That's what they all say. Now either go around back or get outta here!" she said, still trying to close the door.

"Just tell Miss Cosmos I'm here." he said. "Ace Walker, private eye."

"Cassie Malone, housemaid. Now will you get out of here before I..."

"Cassie, who's at the door?" came a pretty voice from inside the mansion.

"Some loser," answered the maid, keeping her eye on Ace, "named Ace something-or-other."

"Cassie!" came the voice. "Don't be so rude! Let Mr. Walker in.""But..."

"Cassandra! That is not a request!"

"Yes, ma'am." answered the maid reluctantly. She even more reluctantly opened the door for Ace, saying, "Come in, Mr. Walker."He tossed her a superior glance as he walked in. The hallway was not unlike a museum. Expensive tables, vases and other antiques lined the sides, not to mention a Persian rug on the floor. At the end of the hallway was a long marble staircase and gingerly stepping on each step was Miss Carolyn Cosmos. She wore a red dress so thin and lacy it borderlined on being called lingerie.

"Arthur dear! So good to see you!" she said, coming over to him and taking his hands in hers as if they had know each other for years."How did you know my real name?" he demanded, literally shocked.She laughed gently. "I know everything about you, down to the fact that you didn't remember your mother's last birthday. Cassie, take the evening off." she directed to the young maid, who looked at her in surprise.

"Not him, too?" she asked incredulously.

"Cassandra!" said Carolyn angrily. The maid gave Ace a pitying look, then left the room. She turned back to Ace with her beautiful ginger eyes and said, "Come with me."

Ace, still wondering about the conversation between the two women, followed her into a black and white living room with very modern but comfortable furniture. "Okay, when was the last time you saw, uh...what did you say you lost?" he asked.

"I didn't say," she answered, planting herself on his lap. She tossed his hat and notebook away and began running her fingers through his hair. "But I'm losing my self-control."

"You are," he murmured, as she moved down to his chest."Oh, Ace, I want you so badly and I know you want me, too. You and I could do great things together. We could go to Europe, Hawaii, Asia...anywhere you wanted. And I would pay for the whole thing. Say you'll stay with me forever."

Ace's mind was already on the beaches of Oahu sipping mai tai. He was reveling in this until he heard forever. "Y-you mean, like, long- time commitment?" he gulped.

"Oh, no!" she laughed, a light melody. "I was saying that as a term of endearment. I don't want to marry you, I merely want to enjoy your companionship." she said. This calmed Ace, but he was still uncomfortable, for some reason.

"Why me?" he asked. "I don't even know you."

"Oh, but I know you. I've watched you and kept tabs on you for quite a while."

This is way too weird for me!, thought Ace, totally shocked. He wasn't sure what made him want to get away from her, but he twisted away from her, anyway, only to stumble and fall flat on the floor. She took his hand and knelt down beside him.

"Don't you want to be with me?" she crooned.

"Well, yeah, I mean, no, I mean...well, sort of, I...I have a detective agency to think about..." Suddenly, there was a dull explosion outside.

"What was that?" she gasped.

"I don't know," he said, getting up and looking out the window. In the distance, he could see dark smoke rising from the general direction of the agency. Bright red flames flicked up from underneath the billowing smoke. "Hey, that looks like..." Before he could finish, the phone rang. Carolyn went to answer it.

"Hello?...Yes, he's here. Just a minute. For you." She handed Ace the phone. "Jeff Andrews."

He took it from her and, while staring out the window, said, "Hello?"

"Mr. Walker, this is Jeff Andrews. I'm a friend of Kevin Thomas'. I...I'm afraid I've got some, well, a lot of bad news for you."

Ace swallowed hard, then said, "Go on."

"Christie...her appendix burst and she, uh...she didn't make it.""Oh, my God," he croaked, his own voice seeming to echo around him.

"That's only part of...Janet...I heard she was your girlfriend..." said the young man, stammering uncomfortably.

"W-was?" questioned Ace shakily.

"When she heard about Christie, she ran to tell you and she got hit by a truck as she was going to her car. I tried to call and tell you myself, because Kevin was a little preoccupied with...other things, but your friend Jack was there and all I could get was this number from him before we got cut off."

"Were you in a payphone or something?" asked Ace."No. I was just talking to him for a moment, and then suddenly there was this loud noise..."

"Like an explosion." murmured Ace, turning back to the window to look at the smoke rising in the distance.

"Yeah, and then we got cut off." There was a pause, then Jeff said, "Mr. Walker?"

Ace dropped the phone at his side in a daze. Caroline grabbed it to see what the problem was, while Ace, now in a crumpled heap against the wall, moaned in agony, trying to restrain his tears. After she switched off the receiver, she got on her knees and cradled Ace in her arms. "Oh, darling, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," she crooned, as he cried out in almost a delirious state of sorrow. "Come on," she said, finally, "I'll make you a drink." Like a puppy with no one else to play with, Ace dutifully followed her to the bar in the corner, plopped onto a stool and buried his face in his arms. She fixed him a Manhattan in a shot glass, then pushed it over to him. "Here. Drown your sorrows in this." As he downed the almost lethal drink, she bent down underneath the counter and opened a small safe. Sitting inside were several papers with the words "Transferal of Property Rights" at the top. She pulled one out, tucked it in the top of her gown, then closed the safe and stood up again.

"Y'know," said Ace, finally, "Fate must've brought us together. Right now, you're the only woman left in my life." Caroline smiled and nodded. Things were already working smoothly. At this rate, she would take everything Ace owned in a matter of minutes. "I mean, they all left me. All of them. Except you. If you hadn't have called, I would have..." Ace stopped. Something was wrong. As sad as he was, something just didn't seem right. Perhaps it was the odd feeling he was getting from the Manhattan that seemed to get him suspicious. How did Carolyn know so much about him? And why was she smiling like that?And that wasn't all that bothered him about this whole thing. If Christie was dead, Kevin would've talked to him personally. And Jack didn't know the phone number here; he knew the address. To get the number, one would have had to flip through the phone book for hours or call the operator and have her look it up, which would still take a while. But all this happened within the span of about a minute. What is going on?, wondered Ace, suddenly beginning to perspire."Arthur?" said Caroline, bringing his attention back. "Is there something wrong?"

"I don't know," he said, suddenly very serious and calm. "I think you you know better than I do."

She frowned, puzzled. "Whatever are you talking about? You're delirious with grief, I suppose. Finish your drink." she said."I don't want to." he said, pushing the drink away and getting up. "I want to know what's going on and if you aren't going to tell me, I'll find out myself." He turned and walked toward the door, then, acting on a hunch, checked his holster for his gun. He spun around and saw Caroline pointing his own Beretta at him. "What's going on, Caroline?" he asked calmly. "Why are you doing this?"

"Never you mind." she said, pulled the paper from her gown. "Got a pen?" she asked. He nodded, and pulled it out. "Good. Now, all I want you to do is sign this for me."

Ace slowly moved over to the counter where she had placed the paper and sat down. "What is this?" he said, skimming over it."It gives me everything you own." she said. "Now sign it.""Everything? Like, my house and my agency and..." He stopped as she cocked the gun with a exasperated sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I get it." Ace stared down at the paper with pen in hand and thought. She'll kill me if I do sign and she'll kill me if I don't. Or will she? "What if I don't sign this?" said Ace, twirling the pen between his fingers somewhat nonchalantly.

She laughed. "That's the fun part. You see, the drink you just had has just enough poison in it to keep you in check, especially since I have the antidote." Ace gasped as she showed him two vials, one empty and the other filled with a clear liquid. "See, this was the poison and this is the antidote. You'll only last about ten minutes or so without it. Feeling a little hot, dear?" she said, as Ace involuntarily wiped the back of his hand across his steaming forehead. "Don't worry, it's only the poison taking effect. Now be good boy and sign the papers."

"Wait a second." demanded Ace, thinking he didn't have many seconds to spare if she was serious. "If you've poisoned me, why do you need my gun?"

"I don't," she replied. "You do." She was right, he thought. If she gives it to me, I could force her to give me the antidote. The only way I'll get it now is to trick her into it.

"Okay, how about this," he said. "How can you get me to sign this paper if I'm dead?"

Again she smiled. "You seem to be under the false impression that I need your little agency. This is and addition to a collection of items I've taken from men like you, who think I'm the only thing left in their lives. You're very much expendable. Now you have five seconds to sign that before I decide to keep the antidote for some other fool. One..."

Well, he thought, she's gonna kill me anyway...

"Two..."

...so I'm not going to give her...

"Three..."

...the satisfaction of taking...

"Four..."

...my agency. Oh, well, this is it. He looked at her as she said the word "five" and saw her shake her head in mock pity. It was also then that he heard the shot ring out. But instead of feeling the same pain he did when Christie's ex-boyfriend had shot him, he felt nothing. He then saw Carolyn slump to the ground and saw Christie behind her, leaning in the doorway, in a nightgown, slippers and her overcoat holding her smoking .38 Special.

"CHRIS!" he hollered. "You're okay!!!" He ran over and swung her around gratefully and asked, "What are you doing here? How'd you find me?"

"Jack told me before going back to his place. I took Janet's car and went to the office to find the address on the map and get my .38 Special. I don't suppose you were aware that...what are you doing?" she asked, watching Ace frantically open the vial in Carolyn's limp hand and down its contents.

"She poisoned me and that was the antidote. If you hadn't come in, she would've let me die." he said, gasping in relief.

Christie shook her head in dismay. "Didn't you know this woman is wanted in four states for fraud and a dozen other things? She tricks guys into trusting her, then takes everything they own, right after she poisons them to death."

"She had some guy call and say you were all dead," he murmured tiredly, giving Christie another hug, "and I almost fell for it. God, you feel like you're on fire." he added. "Are you okay?" Christie nodded, but he was beginning to notice that she was leaning against him for support and her face, although now her normal light brown color, was quite flushed. "Wait a second, you're supposed to be in the hospital have your appendix removed!"

"Ace...we're all...fine." said Christie, her voice faltering. "Oh, my God..." she whispered, falling into a dead faint in his arms.Ace gasped. "Chris! Christie!!! Dammit, Chris, don't leave me now!"

 

 

Ace woke up with a start, nearly leaping out of his chair. Jack frowned at him.

"Problem?" he asked, as Ace, still gasping, looked about him.

"No," Ace replied, realizing he was in his office. Slowly and uncertainly, he leaned back in his chair, still looking around. "Update me," he said, squinting at Jack.

"5 after twelve, Thursday the 16th of March. Christie's getting her appendix out and you and I are waiting on a case." The phone rang as he finished. "There's one now," he added, going to grab the phone."Don't touch that!!!!" Ace yelled. He grabbed it himself and shouted, "You can't have my agency!!!", then slammed it down and grabbed his coat.

"What'd you do that for?" asked Jack. "And where're you going?"

"To wait by my partner's side until she's back in good health," said Ace, dashing out the door. Jack sighedd, grabbed his coat and followed him downstairs.

"That musta been some dream," he said.

"You wouldn't believe what kinda dream it was, man," Ace replied, as they jumped in the car and drove off.

 

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

"Christie, get the phone," mumbled Ace from the depths of the swivel chair behind the desk in their office. She ignored him and the phone rang again and she moaned.

"Ace, ya big lazy jerk, the phone is right there on the desk in front of you." she mumbled sleepily from the sofa. "You get it.

"Ace reached out blindly, hat brim shading his eyes. "I can't reach it."

It rang again and Christie, with a muttered curse, sat up, saying, "Dammit, Ace, I'm your partner, not your secretary!" She grabbed up the phone with a vicious yank. "Thomas and Walker, Private Eyes, whaddya want?" she demanded.

"Oh, that'll keep business boomin'," murmured Ace sarcastically.

"Hello, vision of heaven. You guys asleep again and will you go out with me Saturday night?" came Jack's voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello yourself. How is it that you always know when we're asleep?" she asked, smiling in spite of herself. "And, nice try, but no."

"You're always grouchy when you pick up the phone after a nap and you always say "no" when I ask you out." he answered.

"I wonder why?" she said sarcastically, giving Ace a meaningful glare. He tipped the brim of his hat up with a grin, sensing that she was talking about him. "And, besides, I always say "no" when you ask me out."

"Someday I'll figure that out. It always seems to ruin the actual dating part of it.

"Is that Jack?" asked Ace, with a yawn.

"Uh-huh," she told Ace, then asked Jack, "So, what's up?""Several things. I need you guys to make a small delivery for me..."

"Come on, you're talking grocery boy, not private detective!"

"Grocery boys don't deliver attache cases with half a million dollars in them." said Jack.

"Did you say half a million dollars?" gasped Christie, jumping up.

"Half a what?!" said Ace, incredulously, sitting bolt upright. He clambered over the desktop with surprising ease to listen in on the conversation. "You're kiddin', right?" he asked.

"I'm serious as cancer. We have reason to believe that the owners of the Club Roma had some ties with an organized crime ring in Detroit. They staked one of the hangouts up there and caught one of the guys carrying fifty grand heading for..."

"The Club Roma." said Ace and Christie simultaneously."Gee, you're quick!" laughed Jack. "Anyway, we need somebody who the gang won't know to make the delivery so we can make the bust.""Yeah, who is this particular gang, anyway?" said Ace suspiciously.

"Truthfully?" asked Jack, reluctantly.

"It's The Mob, isn't it?" said Ace.

"Now, come on, Ace, before you say anything..."

"Jack, you know how I feel about those guys!" said Ace, his voice rising. "There's no way I'm doing it!"

"Come on, Ace, you've gotta forget about your dad and start living your own life." said Christie gently.

"I do live my own life!" he exclaimed. "There's just some things I won't do, that's all. And this..."

"You guys get a pretty sizable chunk of the money." interrupted Jack.

"...isn't one of them." finished Ace, suddenly interested."How much?" asked Christie.

"Five percent."

Christie scrambled around to the desk drawers looking for a calculator while Ace said, "Excuse me while I confer with my business associate." Then he covered the receiver with one hand, turned to Christie and asked, "Did you get it?"

"Yeah, five percent of fifty thousand, that's...twenty-five hundred dollars?!" she gasped. That's all the electric bill, the phone bill, the..."

"We'll take it." said Ace to Jack as she rambled on."...rent and back rent and, gosh, even a new rug or..."

"Christie!" called Ace impatiently.

"Huh?"

"Shut up." Christie, stunned and hurt, kept silent."Okay, we'll meet you down there in fifteen minutes." He hung up, grabbed his coat off the rack and tossed Christie hers. "Come on, let's go. We gotta be at the club in a few minutes." He looked up and saw she had on her pouting face. With an exasperated sigh, he said, "Oh, come on, Chris! How was I supposed to hear him with you verbally spending the money in the background?"

Still, Christie would not budge.

"Oh, geez. Everytime I do something like this, you tell me I'm being juvenile. Now I could just carry you out..."

"You wouldn't..." Before she could get out the word "dare", Ace rushed toward her and in one swift motion, scooped her up, threw her over his shoulder and went out the door.

"Ace, put me DOWN!!!" she shouted, ending her demand in a scream. "You always do this to me and it's not fair! You're bigger than me and you know how I hate being picked up!"

"You had your chance." he said, carrying her downstairs.

"Oooo, you make me sick!" she squealed angrily, beating her fists on his back. He opened the door, dumped her in the car and threw her coat in after her. Then, after slamming the door, he got in on the other side and roared off.

 

 

"Okay, you ready?" asked Jack, as he, Christie and Ace sat in Ace's El Dorado across from the Club Roma.

"Yeah, I get on the left elevator, right?"

"No, left." said Jack.

"I said left."

"You said right."

"I said 'left, right'?"

"Make up your mind!"

"Left!" shouted Ace.

"Right!" answered Jack.

"You just told me it was left!"

"Right!"

"WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF, ALREADY!!!" shouted Christie. "Go inside."

"Alright, alright, I'm going!" said Ace, with a laugh."Hey, no heroics this time, okay, man?" said Jack, as the two did their secret handshake. "I mean, about your old man...""Aww, come on, man! Those guys aren't even in the same state. Besides, you..." began Ace.

"I know you very well and don't want to see you get yourself killed." finished Jack. This is the Mafia and they play for keeps." he said seriously. Ace nodded.

"Hmph!" snorted Christie. "I wouldn't mind getting rid of you for a while."

"Yeah, I love you, too." said Ace, sarcastically. He stepped out of the car and strolled confidently across the street to the Club Roma. Christie and Jack watched him go in, then Christie got behind the wheel of the car and drove it around the corner to wait for him. As she parked the car, Jack sighed, saying, "Maybe we should've wired him.""They would've found that first." said Christie. "He'll be okay." Who am I kidding?, she thought. I know just as well as Jack does that something's gonna happen. He wouldn't be Ace Walker if it didn't. She took her foot off the brake and accidentally struck something with her toe. She reached over to pick up the object and gasped. It was Ace's Beretta. "He's in there without a gun!" she said in disbelief, then added, to herself, "He takes a loaded gun with him everywhere he goes except the most dangerous place in town."

"That does it." said Jack. "I'm going in." He started up, but Christie stopped him.

"No," she said, grabbing his arm. "You'll blow your cover. I'll go in."

"But..."

"Jack, I'll be okay!" she smiled. She checked her .38 Special, then, gave him a kiss on the cheek, got out of the car and ran around toward the back of the club. With a protest still on his lips, he watched her disappear, then pulled out his walkie-talkie with sigh and said, "Stay alert, gang. Christie just went in there and the fireworks should start about any minute now." She kissed me!, he thought, setting the walkie-talkie down dazedly.

Meanwhile, Ace had breezed past the security guards and was at the two elevators trying to make a decision.

It was the left one, wasn't it?, he thought to himself. Or was it the right...?

He got on the right one and the doors closed silently behind him. Now what?, he thought. There were no buttons or emergency phones anywhere, just a big empty box. I think I goofed, he thought, gazing around suspiciously. Suddenly, a thick smoke began pouring into the car. Yep, I did!, he thought with a groan. He searched around the tiny compartment for a way out while trying to breathe as little as possible. Finally, he got down on the floor and took a breath, but the gas had filled the entire elevator. As he choked and gasped his way into unconsciousness, he was unaware that he was being monitored by the club owner, Mario Biondi, and his son, Antoine.

"Who is that? The face looks familiar..." asked Mario Biondi."Looks like those pictures of Mike Walker you showed me, Pop," said Antoine, looking at Ace curiously.

"Michael Walker is dead." said Biondi vindictively. "I shot him myself. Why do you think we left Detroit in the first place?" He stood for a moment, deep in thought, then said, "His son, perhaps...16 years...he'd be about 22, 23...bring him here and have him put in the chair. If he is Michael Walker's son, perhaps we could make use of him."

Antoine turned to relate the order to the two burly men by the door, who nodded and left. A few moments later, they opened the door to the trap elevator and appeared on the monitor with Ace. They reached over to grab him, but Ace, who was not totally out, swung weakly at one of the men, who merely caught it and sunk his own fist deep into Ace's stomach. Ace doubled over in pain and the other man lifted him up and hammered him with an uppercut, throughly knocking Ace unconscious. They took him by the arms and dragged him out between them.

 

 

When Ace came to, he felt an intense pain in his head and neck from the uppercut. Wincing a little, he opened his eyes and let them wander around the room. His gaze finally rested a figure he could barely make out in front of him. "Christie?" he asked, with an intent frown.

"Far from it." came the voice, with an indignant snort.I know that voice, thought Ace, closing his eyes tiredly. A picture flashed through his mind and he saw his father, a dashing young man, driving his black sedan, and he saw himself, only about 7 years old, next to him. They were driving out in the country together, laughing and playing. It was getting dark and they were on their way home. "Someday, Ace, you'll be driving this baby by yourself." his father was saying, as Arthur (whom had not yet began calling himself Ace) tugged at the wheel excitedly. Suddenly, Michael Walker began to slow the car down and the smile disappeared from his face. Arthur followed his father's gaze and saw a car parked across the road in their way.

"Biondi." whispered his father.

"Daddy?" said Arthur, in a puzzled tone. "What's wrong?"

"Get down, Arthur." he replied, much too calmly. Now Arthur knew there was trouble. His father hardly ever called him by his real name. Mr. Walker reached for the glove compartment and pulled out his Beretta and checked to see if it was loaded. Then he reached for the door, then turned to his son and said, "If anything happens to me, son, run away as fast as you can. Remember, your daddy loves you." He took off his porkpie hat and tossed it to him.

Daddy, don't go!, Arthur had wanted to shout, but he nodded and stayed hidden. His father stepped out and closed the door behind him and, as soon as he did, Arthur felt a horrible emptyness in his stomach. He placed the old hat on his head and anxiously peered over the dashboard and saw his father talking to a tall man with dark hair. To his horror, the same man pulled out a machine gun and opened fire on his father, who staggered back and fell to the ground in agony."DADDY!!!" screamed Arthur leaping out of the car. "DAD-DYYYY!!!" Tears ran down his face and he wiped them away with a chubby hand. He rushed over to his father and fell to his knees. "Daddy...""Ace...take...gun...get...away." gasped Arthur's father. He turned his head with a great deal of effort and looked at his gun. Arthur stared at it, then shakily pulled it from his father's hand."Daddy, what do I do?" pleaded Arthur. "Don't go...!" He heard a noise near him and turned. About 30 feet from him stood the man, still holding the machine gun. He looked up as he reloaded the gun and Arthur shuddered as the man gave him an eerie smile, realizing it was for him. In what seemed like years, Arthur lifted the gun in his hand, turned his face away from the man and slowly pulled the trigger. When he heard the angry shout, he turned to look and saw that he had wounded the man in the leg and that he had fallen to the ground. It wasn't what he had planned, but it was better than nothing.

The man gave him a furious glare, then opened fire on the ground the little boy stood on. Arthur ran like he never had before. He was scared out of his wits, but not enough to forget his father. He couldn't stay with him now, but he wasn't going to let that Biondi man think he had won. "I'm gonna get you!" he screamed as he ran. He though he heard laughter behind him as he ran and it made him even more determined. He screamed louder as he ran on, his young mind already in a pattern of vengeance for his father. "I'M GONNA GET YOU!!!.....The voice echoed in Ace's mind and he opened his eyes. When they had focused, Ace knew, unmistakably, that this was the same man that had killed his father.

"YOU!!! You dirty sonofabitch..." He was so overtaken by his own anger that he could not finish and lunged to attack the man in front of him.

Biondi gazed upon Ace with the same blank look and said, in an amused tone, "I might have known, young Arthur, that we would meet again. Even in death, your father has a way of popping up in unexpected places."

"I told you I was gonna get you when you shot my father." growled Ace. "You killed the best secret agent this country ever had in cold blood right in front of me, and if I ever get my hands on you, I'll do the same thing."

"Ah, but again, I am annoyed by the faint prattle of a child. Your words as much effect on me as when you were seven." laughed Biondi, watching Ace's futile struggles. "But, enough of this banter. The chair you're sitting in contains a device that literally brainwashes its victims and leaves their minds open for my own programming.""You couldn't make me work for you if you tried, you lousy..." This time, however, it was not anger that silenced Ace, but a sudden pain directly behind his eyes. He frowned as the pain slowly increased, watching as the room itself began to move. He shook his head, trying to clear the blurred vision, and suddenly felt the need to close his eyes. If I fall for this, he thought, I'm a goner. Gotta think straight, but this pain is killing me! A monotone voice in his brain was droning, "Mario Biondi is my leader and idol. I will follow him to the end, even if it revolts against my old ways." Forget that!, thought Ace, squeezing his eyes shut in concentration. Not in my lifetime, anyway.

"And what do you say to me now, young Arthur?" asked Biondi."You're still a Class A jerk." said Ace, in a somewhat strained voice. Gotta think for myself!, he thought. Maybe if I try to get my mind off the pain and the voice...I wish I were on the beach with Janet and Christie and Jack and we'd go to Coco's for lunch and then we'd drive to California and set up a dream house and we'd all send our kids to acting school...

"He's trying to use irregular thought patterns to resist the reprogramming, Pop." said Antoine to his father, pointing out Ace's cerebral activity on the graph sheets in front of him."Is it working?" inquired Biondi.

"Not for long." replied Antoine, turning up the intensity.Ace gripped the chair, knuckles white with pain and grimaced horribly. Oh, God!, he thought weakly, his mind reeling with the pain. I can't take much more of this!

"And now?" asked Biondi.

"You're...still a...jerk!" gasped Ace, between bouts with pain. "And your...mother...dresses you...funny!"

"Enough of this tomfoolery! I want results! Turn it all the way up!" ordered Biondi.

"But..." protested Antoine. Ace opened his eyes a little to see what the problem was, and, for a brief moment, the two held gazes. Something was definitely different about Antoine, he thought. It's almost as if he wasn't really... But Ace never got to finish the thought, as a stronger flow of pain hammered its way into his skull. He cried out desperately, writhing in his chair as if trying to leap out. But, nevertheless, he still hung on to the last strand of consciousness and logic he had. Yet something was different this time. The pain was decidedly worse, but the voice had changed. He couldn't hear it at first, he was so intent on avoiding it. But now he listened again."...follow him to the end, even if it revolts against my old ways." the voice was droning. It was still pretty vague, but strangely familiar. And suddenly, the same voice said, as clear as a bell:"Follow me, Ace. Follow us."

The voice was unmistakably Ace's father.

NOOOOOO!!! Ace wasn't sure if he had screamed this aloud or not, but it no longer mattered. He had already lost. He could feel the voice Biondi had created taking over his entire mind and the part of him that controlled his personality and all the other qualities that made him Ace Walker being pushed into a remote corner of his mind where they would remain trapped. He could still see and hear what was going on around him, but it was if he were strapped in behind behind the wheel of a car he couldn't control.

"And now, Mr. Walker?" asked Biondi, moving closer to Ace.You're the worst excuse for a garbage can I ever met!, said the real Ace from inside the prison of his mind. But he heard himself saying,

"Sir, you are my leader. How could I think of you as anything else?"

I didn't say that!, shouted Ace, suddenly realizing he was trapped. Oh, no! I gotta get outta here!

"He's not fully converted, Pop." said Antoine, looking at the readout sheets again. "There's still a little bit of the real Ace in there."

You're darn right there is!, said Ace, still trying to be heard."See, look how that needle jumps everytime we say something about him. Watch." Antoine turned to Ace and said, "We want you to find everyone close to you and kill them. Do you object to this?""No," said the brainwashed Ace. "When shall I begin?" But the real Ace gasped, saying, No! I can't let myself do this! Although he couldn't be heard, the needle jumped wildly on the graph from his protests.

"Do you think he's faking, then?" asked Biondi. Antoine checked Ace's eyes, saw the glazed look in them and shook his head."No," he said, "his mind's own reprogramming device will take care of him within the hour. But we'd better be careful until then. He's not as gullible as he seems. If we leave him here, his friends will find a way to get to him and we can take care off them, too." He quickly punched something into the machine, pulled off the readout strip, then the two men left the room, leaving Ace strapped in the chair and the real Ace fighting to regain control of himself.Meanwhile, while Ace was trapped inside his mind, Christie was trapped outside the building. She wiped the dust from a window in the back alley and peered in. To her surprise, she saw Ace strapped in a chair and two men leaving the room. If I could just get in without making any noise... It was then that she saw the small jagged chink in the corner of the windowpane. Without a second thought, she pushed a slim hand through it (sucking in her breath quickly as she cut her herself), unlocked the window and crept in. Silently, she dropped to the floor as the window relocked itself and was covered by a metal sheet. They obviously know I'm here, she thought, so I'd better hurry. She sucked on the jagged cut above her wrist for a moment then dashed across the room to the chair Ace sat in. She crouched by the platform he and the chair sat on, then tapped his arm. When he mechanically turned to look, she put a finger to her lips and began undoing his wrist straps.

No! Whatever you do, don't let me loose!, said Ace. I've been programmed to kill you! The graph scratched out Ace's desperate attempt to talk to her, but, although she saw it, she didn't know what it was for.

"I guess that means you're still alive." she said, with a smile. "There!" she said, as she undid the last strap. Ace stood up stiffly without turning to look at her.

"Hmph!" she snorted. "You could, at least, thank me for saving you."

Ace didn't answer.

"Well, say something!" she said. "A-Ace?" she added, uncertainly."He won't say anything unless I tell him to." came a voice. Christie whirled around to see where it was coming from.I knew this was too easy, she thought to herself. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"Let's just say I'm an old friend." said the voice.Christie waved a hand in Ace's face. "What have you done to him?" she said angrily.

"He's been brainwashed, as you will soon be. And he's going to help."

The hell I am!, said Ace. Even though she couldn't hear him, Christie agreed.

"Ace wouldn't do that to me no matter what you did to him." she said defensively. "Besides, you can't brainwash someone in only twenty minutes."

There was a chuckle in the background, then the voice commanded, "Strike her."

To Christie's surprise, Ace backhanded her so hard that she fell to the ground. She raised her head slightly and wiped at a small trickle of blood oozing from the corner of her mouth. She stared in disbelief at the blood on her hand, then looked at Ace, suddenly realizing he would kill her if told to do so. The real Ace, however, was shocked. He saw her shudder and sadly realized she was truly afraid of him.

Oh, my God, he said softly. I...I just hit one of my best friends. Christie, I swear I didn't mean it! God, I am so sorry! He looked at her, lying helplessly on the ground at his mercy and wanted desperately to reach out and help her and make the horribly frightened look in her eyes go away, but he couldn't.

Christie stared up at him and knew he didn't have it in him to hit her. Unless..., she thought, he really is brainwashed! How am I gonna snap him out of it?

"Now put her in the chair." the voice commanded.

No!, said Ace. Can't...let this...happen! But he was already grabbing her roughly by the arm and trying to force her into the chair."Ace, no!" cried Christie, trying to yank her arm away from him. He gave her another stinging slap, then tried to push into the chair again. She turned and bit his arm and he let her go with a bellow. Truly fearing for her life now, she ran toward the door, but he grabbed her from behind and bodily carried her back. Before they could reach it, however, Christie, in the process of screaming and wildly struggling, kicked him in the knee. He dropped her with another yell and she ran for the door again. He took a brief second to recover, then jumped in between her and it, blocking her way. She pulled out her revolver and aimed it shakily at him as she backed away. "I swear I'll shoot if you come any closer, Ace. You're one of my best friends, but I can't let you hurt me." she said, as he slowly advanced on her."Oh, yes," said the voice, "shoot him. Gun down one of your closest friends in cold blood. Murder an unarmed man."Tears welled up in Christie's eyes, spilling over as she lowered the gun. Ace grabbed her by the shoulders roughly and she gasped in terror, but let herself be dragged toward the chair. Suddenly, he stopped, as if confused. Christie looked up at him and saw he wasn't totally gone yet. Maybe I can get through to him know!, she thought wildly.

"Ace, listen to me." she sobbed. "I know the real you's in there somewhere and I know you can't hurt me. You've gotta fight whatever he put in your mind. If you don't, you'll kill us both!"

For one brief and painful moment, Ace regained control. His head pounded and ached so bad he could hardly stand it, but he tried to ignore it. Run, Christie!, he said. Get out of here as fast as you can and don't worry about me! He gathered up enough control to relax his grip on Christie and give her enough of a chance to escape. All Christie heard was "run" and something that sounded like "don't worry", but when he let her go, she aimed a shot at the door, blew off the knob and dashed past Ace into the hall.

"Follow her and kill her!" came the voice. Ace, who had lost what little control he had gained, tried to stop himself but couldn't. However, it had given Christie enough time to jump onto the elevator and start heading upstairs. Just as she made it to the next floor, the doors opened and, through the crack, she could see Ace waiting for her. Quickly, she turned off the elevator's power, leaving the doors partially open, then stood on the railings inside the car, opened the ceiling hatch and escaped through the top, just as Ace squeezed through the doors. He made a grab for her ankle, but in her struggles to free herself, she kicked him squarely in the mouth. He stood there for a moment, stunned from the blow and Christie gasped, afraid she had hurt him. But the real Ace was taking this opportunity to try and gain control of himself again.

Come on, I know I'm the one who runs things in my mind, he said. I am Ace Walker and nothing and nobody is ever gonna change that, so help me! He dropped to his knees in agonizing pain, as he fought the battle to reverse the programming Biondi had put in. He moaned softly and Christie's heart went out to him.

"I don't care what happens to me, Ace," she said, dropping down next to him, "I'm not giving up until I get the real you back." She put and arm around him as he cried out in pain again, this time in a much more agonized tone. He fell back against her, tossing and turning with his head in his hands, then suddenly stopped all movement. She removed his hands from his face and saw his eyes were closed and his face calm and relaxed. Oh, my God, she thought, he might be dead! She leaned over to see if he was breathing and got no response. "Ace! ACE!" she said, shaking him wildly in a desperate attempt to revive him. "Come on, BREATHE, damn you!" She was so panicked that she almost didn't hear him gasping for air. She stopped shaking him for a moment and peered into his face again. "Ace?" she said hopefully.

"C-Chris?" he said uncertainly. It was the first thing he had said since his reprogramming experience.

"Ace?!" said Christie excitedly, hugging him to her chest. "Is it really you? Say something you'd say."

"Chris, you shoulda seen it. I was just about to maul that guy when he just zapped me with this mind stuff all of the sudden...hey, I can't breathe down here!" he said, in a slightly exhausted (and muffled) tone of voice. Christie laughed, realizing she was holding him too tight.

"Good enough." she sighed, letting him go and helping him up."Je-sus, is that from me?" he said, put a gentle hand near the bruise he had given her earlier.

"Yeah, but don't worry. It's not that bad and, besides, after the kick I just gave you, you'll have one to match it later. Right now, we gotta figure out how to..." Before she could finish however, they heard Biondi's voice saying,

"This way! He's trapped her in the elevator!"

"Come on," she said, helping him up. "We're not out of this mess yet." She clambered back up through the ceiling and helped Ace after her, this time just barely escaping the two bodyguards Ace had gotten hit by earlier. Biondi stepped in after them and looked up at Ace and Christie with a smile.

"So the brainwashing has worn off, eh?" he said to Ace."Yeah, but something tells me you've got some other way to get rid of us." said Ace.

"Of course." said Biondi. "When I play cat-and-mouse, I always win." He turned on the power again and the elevator began to rise. "You see, between the top of this shaft and the door to the seventh floor, there isn't nearly enough room for anyone to fit without being crushed to death."

Ace and Christie both looked up, exchanged glances, then turned back toward Biondi and spit into the car.

"I'll pretend you didn't do that since you only have a few minutes left to live before you endure an agonizingly slow and painful death. Good-bye, young Arthur. It's been a pleasure killing the three of you." He closed the hatch back, leaving Ace and Christie on top of the car."Three of us?" echoed Christie.

"He's the one who killed my dad." said Ace, sourly. "Well, Brain Trust, got any ideas?"

"Good question." said Christie, gazing up the shaft with a "oh, boy" look on her face. "Well, actually, I do, but it means both of us have to have good aim and a major amount of courage."

"Like we don't already." said Ace sarcastically.

"If we aim at the cables on this elevator and fire a couple of shots, this whole car'll drop..."

"With us on it!" exclaimed Ace.

"No, see, that's the courage part." said Christie. "We've gotta grab onto something on the way down."

"And you're sure there's something to grab onto?""No, but, the worst that'll happen this way is maybe a broken arm or leg. Or we could just wait until we get crunched at the top of the shaft..."

"Okay, you made your point!" interrupted Ace, reaching for his Beretta. "Oh, no, I forgot my...!" Before he could finish, however, Christie had placed the gun in his hand. With a sigh of relief, he began firing at the center cable. Slowly, the thick cable's wires began to show signs of being worn away, until, at last, it snapped. Above them, the motor whirred from the release of its main cable and its frayed end shot up to the ceiling and wrapped around the pulley like a huge black snake.

"Here goes!" said Ace, watching each of the smaller cables breaking under the strain. Finally, with a violent jerk, they snapped, sending the elevator into a sickeningly rapid descent."Grab onto the pipe beside the door on the next floor!" shouted Christie over the noise. Ace nodded.

"On three!" he shouted. "One...two...three!" The two leapt out into space, clawing desperately for the pipe. Ace grabbed it, scraping his knuckles on the cement behind it with a terrible grimace. Suddenly, he felt another burden directly on his back. He slammed into the pipe and rescraped his knuckles on the wall as Christie landed on his back, making him see stars for a few moments.

"Sorry, Ace," she gasped, apolegetically. "If I hadn't grabbed onto you..." She stared down after the still-falling elevator, then buried her face in his shirt.

"Come on, don't you start flipping out on me, now. If you lose it, I'll know we're in trouble." he said, trying to clear the stars from in front of his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I think so, but I..." Before she could finish her statement, however the elevator hit the ground with a earth-shaking crash. The building shook violently and the pipe Ace clung to snapped like a toothpick, sending steam shooting out of the ends

"Oh, no," said Ace, as it began to bend down with their combined weight. But instead of falling off completely, it wedged itself between the narrow sides of the shaft, leaving Ace dangling precariously in the middle, while Christie clung to his legs. For a moment, they both hung in silence, then Christie pulled herself slowly up his back to hang onto the post.

"What are you doing?" demanded Ace.

"It was too dangerous for both of us with me hanging from your body, so I moved." said Christie. No sooner had she said this than the bar jerked a little farther down. They both shouted, then abruptly stopped as the bar stopped moving.

"Chris...whatever happens to us, I just want you to know that you were the greatest partner a guy could've had." said Ace.

"Ace...whatever happens to us, I just want you to know that I already knew that." said Christie.

"Does that mean that, in your own little way, you're going to miss me?" said Ace smugly.

"No, it means that I must be a good partner to be hanging around in this place with you." she said. "And I'll miss you."

Ace smiled at her, then looked up. "Hanging around," he said. "Get it?" They giggled at each other, then shouted again as the pipe jerked downward again and stopped.

"Aww, junk," said Ace, with his eyes closed, as if in silent prayer. "Aww junk,junk,junk,junk..." He rambled on, while Christie gazed down at the remains of the elevator at the bottom of the shaft."God, what a mess!" she said aloud. Suddenly, Ace felt like an argument.

"We're about to drop into a seemingly bottomless pit and all you can do is act like Miss Happy Homemaker!" shouted Ace.

"Oh, and I suppose you're helping matters by sitting there saying "aww, junk" like it'll get us out of here!" shot back Christie.

"You always have to have something smart to say, don't you?!"

"At least I have that capability!"

"I'm way smarter that you'll ever be!"

"I am not going to argue with you about your alleged mind while dangling from some post in the middle of an elevator shaft! By the way, it's "a lot smarter", not "way smarter"."

"You make me sick, you know that? And I take back what I said about your being a great partner!"

"Do you want that to be the last thing you say to me before we die?"

"Do I care?"

"Well, if you...hey, listen!" said Christie, pausing in mid-remark.

"What?" demanded Ace irritably.

"Shut up and listen!"

Ace, prepared to make a cutting reply, perked up as he heard a familiar voice above him.

"Hello down there!" came Jack's voice.

"Jackie!" they exclaimed simultaneously. "Help!!!"

            "Christie, is that you? And Ace?! How in the..." began Jack.

            "Don't ask!" shouted Ace.

"Just get us out of here!" added Christie.

Jack laughed. "When I said you were going to rip the place up, it was only a figure of speech, you guys!"

"Jack, this is not the time to make me laugh." said Christie."Well, is this the time to ask you to out?" he said slyly."No!"

"Oh, well. Guess I'll just be moseyin' along..."

"Jack, wait!" yelled Ace. "When the man who is going to save you from falling down an elevator shaft asks you out while you are dangling from a post in said elevator shaft, you say YES!" he hissed to Christie. "It's not like you don't already wanna go out with him."Christie sighed, smiling to herself as she knew Ace was right. "Oh, al-right, Jack. Just get us out, please!"

"your-ip-was-logged-yahoo-scams-are-not-allowed-here" he shouted. "I'll meet you downstairs!" Almost as soon as he said this, a rescue team opened the doors of the floor beneath them and helped them out of the shaft.

 

 

A half hour later, they sat in the emergency room with Janet tending to Ace's scraped knuckles and Kevin Thomas, Christie's twin brother, bandaging up Christie's wrist. Both of them held ice to the ugly bruises forming on each others cheeks. Jack had gone back to file his report.

"I could see her and all," Ace was saying, "but I had no control over myself at all, so when he told me to hit her, I just saw myself whack her."

"Ace, you're lucky Christie told me you were under the influence when you decked her in the mouth, otherwise I might've had to get violent." said Kevin, half-jokingly, half-serious. "I can't go back home to Mama and tell her I let some ruffian hit my twin sister!"

"I swear I'd never do that on my own; you know that I wouldn't, right Chris?" said Ace, remembering the look on her face."I've told you a million times already, Ace, I forgive you!" she said.

"Actually, for a while there, I thought you were gonna blow me away!" laughed Ace. "Annie Oakley here was aiming that .38 at me ready to fire, until Biondi..." Ace paused for a moment as a familiar face passed the door and peered in.

"Hello, Ace." said the man.

"Antoine!" gasped Ace. The man pulled off his hat and a long cascade of ebony black hair tumbled about his shoulders."Antoinette." said the man, who had obviously been a girl all along.

"I knew there was something about you that didn't seem right." said Ace. "Biondi was your father, right?"

"Yes."

"So now you're coming to kill me?"

"Why? I'm the one who saved you! Before I left, I made sure you had enough leeway in your brain for you to return to your normal self. You see, I never wanted to be a part of all his dealings in the first place. If Papa would've had a son, he would've taken over, but he had me instead. For years, I've been playing myself off as a guy so my father could keep his dignity. Now, it won't be necessary. The Club is closed down and I can live my own life." Antoinette grabbed him and began kissing him. Ace's eyes grew wide and he tried to pry himself away, but she was quite strong for her stature and would not let him go.

The others, totally bewildered by the scene, stood gaping for a moment, until Janet, in spite of her patience and timidness, said, "Excuse me, but this is my boyfriend." Then she forcibly pulled Antoinette away from Ace and kissed him even more aggressively. With an understanding nod, Antoinette left.

When Janet let Ace go, he sat dazed for a moment, then shook his head and looked at her again. "Good God, woman! Get a hold of yourself! There's people watching us! I've got a girlfriend..."

She giggled and kissed him again, this time less violently, and he grinned. "Damn, you're good." he laughed.

"I try," she answered sweetly. "Now, who the hell was that?" she demanded.

Ace raised his hands in a sign of peace and proceeded to explain the story to a skeptical Janet as another mildly eventful night passed for the two detectives.