Houston Knights is an American crime drama set in Houston, Texas. The show ran on CBS from 1987 to 1988 and had 31 episodes. The core of the show was the partnership between two very different cops from two different cultures. Chicago cop Joey LaFiamma is transferred to the Houston Police Department after he kills a mobster from a powerful Mafia family and a contract is put out on him. In Houston he is partnered with Levon Lundy, the grandson of a Texas Ranger. Although as different as night and day, and after a rocky beginning the two cops form a successful partnership and become friends. During the series, it is revealed that both LaFiamma and Lundy have their own personal demons. LaFiamma comes from a Mob family himself and his Chicago police partner had been killed when he went ahead while LaFiamma had waited for backup to arrive. Lundy´s wife had been killed by a car bomb that was intended to kill him.

Standard Disclaimer: Houston Knights belongs to Jay Bernstein and Michael Butler and Columbia Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended. This is fan fiction, written out of love for the shows. I am making no money off this. I have no money so please don't sue me. Any original characters who may appear in these stories are the property of the author.

Houston Knights Fanfiction

Moonlighting

By Violet to Blue

Summary: Joe's excessive spending habits threaten to pull him into financial quicksand. Will he be able to seize a lifeline or will he go under?

Chapter 1

"Hey Lundy, can you lend me twenty bucks? You´ll get it back next pay day." Joe LaFiamma put the question across quite casually though he felt rather awkward about the request.

Levon Lundy looked over his desk to where his partner was sitting. "How do you think you´ll get by this month? Pay day was only just last week." He had hardly spoken the words when he noticed Joe duck with a blush of embarrassment spreading across his face.

Joe knew that Levon was right. So he did not repeat the request. With his eyes fixed on the report in front of him, his mind wandered back to the previous weekend.

The days off work always brought home to him that he had no family in Houston and no friends. Thinking about it, it was more like he actually had no life here outside work. So the free time that was supposed to be relaxing in fact posed a problem to him. He had to spend time on his own and just did not know how to do that without getting overly homesick. Cruising the streets would have given him a feeling of freedom, but as he still lacked a vehicle of his own, that wasn´t an option right now. And the way he was spending his income, it certainly wouldn´t be one in the near future.

So last Saturday had again found him in one of the extensive shopping malls of the city. Easy going background music, nice air conditioned shops for the well-off customers, friendly shop assistants. Strolling through the shops and being coaxed into trying something on was like shedding the cloak of invisibility he felt much too often hanging over him. The friendly sales personnel all of a sudden became a real life substitute for his lost connection to the world, to the people who had cared about him, and who would take an interest in him.

When he tried on a nice suit their benevolent voices washed over him like that of his aunts or his former girl-friends in the past. "Oh, Joey, that looks great on you!" The pleasurable remarks were just like a balm soothing his uprooted soul. "Sir, this outfit suits you really extraordinarily well. That color complements your eyes just perfectly." As strange as it seemed, but seeing himself in a mirror sometimes was the only way to feel real in a world where he was only a misplaced stranger.

Sometimes he did not even hear what they said. Just the sound of their voices was enough to make him feel better.

Shopping was like an intoxication that helped him forget his loneliness. He felt lightheaded and his mood lifted. So he had spent all day at the mall. In between his visits to the shops he had also frequented a bar and a nice but costly restaurant. He really had enjoyed it. He had been able to relax and to forget his loneliness, and the humid heat of the Houston summer that he found so impossible to get used to.

But just like alcohol or drugs, binge shopping was a short lived pleasure. And the other drawback was the extensive cost. Being constantly broke proved to be worse and far more persistent than any hangover. After the last weekend Joe had to admit that things were seriously getting out of hand.

Not repeating his request for the twenty dollar loan to his partner had left Joe without the means to pay for his dinner at Chicken´s. Even though he felt ashamed Joe had asked Chicken to put the amount he owed him on his tab yet another time. Chicken was a good friend and he would certainly have helped him out one way or another. But he would also have tried to get to the bottom of Joe´s problem. And that was something that Joe just wouldn´t have. He simply felt too embarrassed to talk about his financial predicament.

So this evening Joe sat in his living room, finally trying to get an overview of his financial situation. In front of him lay a heap of receipts, invoices, bank statements and dunning letters. No matter how he looked at it there simply was no denying. He was bankrupt, destitute. He owed his landlord three months rent. He had already been threatened with an eviction order. His phone was less than a week away from being cut off due to the outstanding invoices. In less than another month he would be out on the street.

He had to come up with a plan real fast.

ADADADADADADADADAD

Next day´s morning papers unexpectedly presented Joe with a possible solution. Though money had always been too tight to subscribe to a local newspaper, there were several free ad oriented local print products regularly delivered to the doorstep. Joe had always thrown them away without so much as a second glance, but this morning he picked the papers up on his way to Levon´s car. On the ride to the police station Joe flipped through the pages and at the end of one of the papers he came across the employment ads.

Night watchman wanted

The words jumped out at Joe. He looked more closely. "Working-hours 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Low risk, no prior experience, adequate pay." This was it. He inconspicuously folded the page and slipped it into his jacket pocket.

Levon shot him a curious look. "Anything of interest?"

"Huh? No, nothing." Joe looked out of the window, feigning ignorance.

ADADADADADADADADAD

During their lunch break Joe refrained from going to Chicken´s. Instead he headed for the public phone in front of the station and called the firm that had issued the employment ad. He was put through to the manager at once. He immediately got an appointment for an interview in the late afternoon. When he put down the receiver he felt that life was looking up again.

ADADADADADADADADAD

The next evening found Joe at his new place of work. The requirements for the job weren´t very sophisticated and his build had easily convinced the manager that Joe was the right man for the job. He had not even said that he was a cop.

The firm´s premises were in the harbor and they were video monitored, just as could be expected. Joe´s job was to watch the video screens and to do the rounds every hour. His shift was from ten to six, just like the ad had stated. The pay wasn´t excessive but it would help to pay his debts. He kept his mind from thinking about the consequences his additional job would have on his life. No one in his right mind would really consider to handle a second job during night hours after a demanding job on a cop´s duty. He simply put aside the misgivings. Somehow life had to go on and the sooner he got a grip on things the better.