A/N: With a tip of the cap to the incomparable L.M. Lewis. Matt Hardcastle is named after her fanfic creation, Matt McCormick, Mark's son with his wife Kathy (nee Kasternack).
McCormick and Hardcastle
McCormick is in his chambers, packing up for retirement, thinking about his late mentor, Judge Hardcastle. flashbacks
As he finishes boxing the last of his files, he sees the name "Hardcastle, Matt" and has another flashback to Matt's father, Jerry, Milt Hardcastle's neer-do-well brother. Matt Hardcastle is a pretty wild guy (although a charming and engaging scamp), but someone that Judge McCormick has kept an eye on for Milt's sake.
After the retirement party, newly-retired Judge McCormick returns home to his Gull's Way estate. One of the first things he does is to check on Matt yet again and McCormick finds that Matt's run afoul of the mob. He loves the horses, just like his dad, and the Jersey guys moved in on his long-time bookie. Said bookie always gave Matt time to pay off his losses, but the mob guys are impatient and end up killing the bookie to scare Matt into coughing up the dough right away.
McCormick offers to help with his problems; Matt spurns it. But then the mob tries a hit on Matt and it's a near miss. He goes back to McCormick and accepts his offer, but it's not the offer he expected. No money for a bail-out, but a chance to "round up the bad guys". McCormick has been racing the Coyote on closed tracks for years, just to keep it in shape, and he convinces Matt that the only way to get out of a bad spot is to nail the bad guys.
Their initial move is to visit the Los Angeles police department to pinpoint the bad guys and get info on them. Lieutenant Franky Harper, daughter of old friend Lt. Frank Harper, is their go-to cop. flashbacks
The bent-noses are ID'ed and info obtained on their methods, known associates, and current whereabouts. It turns out the bad guy in this case is an off-shoot of a big-time East Coast mobster, one who's trying to scope out his own territory in south L.A. and set up his own empire. McCormick and Hardcastle set a trap with Matt as bait and the callow, inexperienced baddie falls for it. Unfortunately, one of the bad guy's "associates" gets away and roars off in his hot yellow Camaro. Hah! McCormick and Hardcastle slide into the Coyote and are in quick pursuit. It ends as it almost always does, with McCormick, still an officer of the court, making the arrest after an exciting chase.
At the end of the episode, Matt offers only slightly-grudging thanks and McCormick offers Matt a place to stay while he figures out how to straighten out his life. Matt grudgingly accepts, thinking he can con this judge guy. Little does he know! He moves into the gatehouse, already scoping out the races at Santa Anita. McCormick walks back into the main house, grinning and tossing a wink at the photo of Judge Hardcastle on the mantel.