STREET HAWK
Episode: "Evil Twin"
Foreward: This story was a collaboration of 3 authors (Janice, Dan, & myself) on the chat forum of a Street Hawk fan site. It is based off the T.V. series Street Hawk that aired for only 13 episodes in 1985 and was then cancelled.
OCTOBER 12, 1985:
It was another busy day downtown at Police Headquarters. Commander Leo Altobelli is sitting at his desk reading the last crime report typed up by Rachel Adams. Over the last few weeks a series of daring heists had been perpetrated in an up-market area of the city. The assailants seem to be working under the control of a new crime lord freshly arrived who is proving very difficult to catch. Things are not looking good for the police; the wealthy business owners are criticizing the poor way the L.A police have handled the incidents so far. All of a sudden there is a knock at the door and Jesse Mach's face peers around the door...
"You wanted to see me, Skipper?" Jesse asks as he enters the room. "What's up?"
"Crime is up," replies Altobelli. "Mach, I have a special assignment for you. The department is taking a beating over these latest heists. The press is crucifying us and the public is up in arms. We need to catch these guys ASAP."
"What can I do, Skipper? I'm not a street cop anymore," Jesse asks.
"No, Mach, you are not a street cop anymore. You work in public relations, and right now this department could use some good PR. We need to catch these crooks, and we need to do it without help from that two-wheeled bandit Street Hawk. Your special assignment is to find Street Hawk. I want to know who he is. I want to know where he is. I want to know what he eats for breakfast. I want you to find him."
Jesse looks worried.
Upon leaving Altobelli's office, Jesse hastily makes a call to Norm, back at HQ.
Norm is understandably concerned.
"What are you going to do? Albobelli is going to have you running around town chasing your own tail, and I need you here. Street Hawk has to crack this latest drug running operation before it is allowed to get out of control."
"You think I don't know that Norm ol' buddy. The skipper is adamant he wants me to find Street Hawk no matter what. I don't think he's going to take 'no' for an answer on this one."
Their conversation is interrupted by Altobelli, who bursts unexpectedly through the door. Jesse looks up.
"Oh, and Mach...to help you I'm assigning Lt. Barclay," barks the commander as he flops a tan file in front of Jesse. On the cover is a young, ruddy looking man.
"Who is he?" asks Jesse, not hanging up the receiver.
"He's this new hot shot they got downstairs who's come over from Miami. I want you to show him around the city, take him to all the hideaways and back alleys in the city. Street Hawk must hide out in one of these places. Someone must have seen him. I wanna' know who supplies him his weaponry, where he fills up his gas... He's also got to be getting his information from someone in the Police Dept and that concerns me! I want them rooted out, you hear!"
Altobelli slams the door. Jesse doesn't need to ask Norm if he heard the conversation.
"Okay, now we have a big problem ..."
- - - - - - -
Meanwhile in a warehouse across town, the drug smugglers are preparing for a new shipment. Their distraction is almost ready. A man with a black motorcycle dons his black suit, boots and helmet. It's the same man in the photo of John Barclay's file. One of his accomplices hands him a shotgun, which he slides into a holder on the back of the bike. "Did you load it?" he asks the man
"Yessir," he responds.
"Good," answers Barclay. He smiles as he flips his visor down.
- - - - - - -
As Jesse is hanging up the phone, Rachel comes in carrying a large box. Jesse jumps up and takes the box. "Whoa there. Here let me help you. What is this?"
"Thanks, Jesse." Rachel replies. "These are the invitations to the 'Widows and Orphans Benefit Dinner'. I need to take them down to the mail room."
"I am headed down that way. I'll take them." offers Jesse.
"Would you? That would be great. That box is heavy." Rachel replies gratefully.
"Rachel, what do you know about Lt. Barclay?" Jesse asks.
"Not much really" Rachel answers. "I know he is some new hot shot from Miami. Why?"
"The commander has a special assignment for me and he wants Barclay to work with me on it." replies Jesse.
"What's the assignment?" Rachel asks.
"I'm supposed to find Street Hawk. Just what I need - a new guy to break in." Jesse says rolling his eyes heavenward.
"Altobelli wants you to find Street Hawk? Whoa! That's quite an assignment. Good luck Jesse. You are going to need it. If anyone is wily enough to find Street Hawk, it's you Jesse." Rachel remarks.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Jesse laughs. "I think I'll stop by Barclays desk on my way out. See you tomorrow."
"Jesse. The invitations."
"Oh. Right. The invitations."
"Bye, Jesse." Rachel laughs shaking her head.
- - - - - - -
Jesse makes the stop by the mail-room and heads off to find Lt. Barclay. The office is lined with rows of desks on each side of a center aisle. He looks around the almost empty office and spots an attractive blonde working at one of the desks. "Excuse me" Jesse says giving her his most charming smile. "I'm looking for Lt. Barclay."
The pretty blonde looks up and returns his smile. "Sorry. He left a while ago."
"Oh. Well. I'll try to catch him later." Jesse looks disappointed.
"I can leave a message for him if you want." replies the blonde brightly.
Jesse smiles again. "That would be great. Here. Just give him my card. It has all my information on it. Oh. I'm Jesse Mach."
"Nice to meet you Jesse. I'm Julie. You might try stopping back by first thing in the morning. Lt Barclay should be in then." Julie offers helpfully.
"I'll definitely stop back by, Julie." Jesse says as he is leaving - whistling on the way out. Yes, he thinks. I'll definitely stop back by.
- - - - - - -
As Jesse is leaving Police HQ, he gets a message on his pager to return urgently to Street Hawk Command Center. Jesse, climbing into his 1969 Mustang, speeds away out of the police compound.
On entering the door of Command centre, Jesse almost collides with Norm who is in a frantic state. "Jesse, I'm glad your here. What took you?" quizzed Norman. "Anyway, there is definitely something going down today at the docks. Suit up now and go and do a recon. I want you there when this thing decides to explode."
Jesse doesn't have time to respond and tell Norm about his special assignment from Altobelli. He is handed the sleek black helmet and ushered into the changing room.
A moment later, Jesse steps out, clad all in black and makes his way toward the smoke filled compartment where the bike was bedded. The safety door rolls back and he sees the familiar sight of the shiny black machine, lights flickering on the dashboard with signs of life.
"You know Norm I didn't even have chance to grab a sandwich. Do you think I've got time for drive-thru?" he says with a wry smile, almost predicting Norm's response.
"On second thought, forget it!" Jesse exclaims, climbing onto the bike and flicking down the visor.
Norm, looking slightly aggravated, presses the button that releases the doors of the Maxi Billboard, which swing open violently as Street Hawk is launched into the air like a bird in flight.
- - - - - - -
Meanwhile, another mysterious black rider is observing a store across town from a deserted alley opposite. The store only has two customers in and one clerk.
The masked rider suddenly roars out of the alley and makes a heading directly for the large unprotected window of the store and launches himself through, throwing cases, shelves and stock all over the place. The cashiers and the customers look shocked as the rider pulls out a shotgun and levels it as the clerk. "Give me all you got," comes the strange voice behind the helmet. The half-scared staff member puts up no resistance, and hands over money and jewels. "Street Hawk thanks you," says the grating voice behind the helmet, mockingly as he levels a gun towards the assistant.
A shot rings out.
All of a sudden an alarm sounds. One of the other members of staff in another room had observed the scene and acted quickly, triggering an alarm. Grabbing what he could the rider climbs back on the bike and whisks out the window he had entered from. Two minutes later, the familiar sirens of the L.A police thunder by in hot pursuit...
- - - - - - -
Jesse sits astride Street Hawk surveying the warehouses. "Norman, are you sure this is the right place? I've been here an hour and I haven't even seen a rat scurry."
"Be patient, Jesse. According to intel this is the place." Norman replies. "I guess there could have been a change in plans." Norman pauses as a message flashes across his computer screen. "I just got a police bulletin about another robbery downtown. An upscale jewelry store was hit by a guy on a motorcycle. Looks like the same guy again."
"There's nothing going on here, Norman. I'll go check it out," Jesse says as he turns the bike toward the road. "Give me hyper-thrust."
Norman give the countdown, "Hyper-thrust cleared and counting - 5,4,3,2,1." Street Hawk streaks across town hoping to catch up with the robber.
Jesse brings the bike out of hyper-thrust as he approaches the site of the robbery. He is hoping to get a clue as to which direction the robber headed. There are sirens in the distance as the police cars approach the scene. As Street Hawk nears the store, a woman runs out into the street pointing at him and yelling, "That's him. That's the guy that robbed our store." Confused, Jesse looks around. She is pointing at him. Why would she be pointing at him?
"Norman, what's going on? Why does this woman think I'm the robber?" Jesse asks still looking around.
"I don't know Jesse" Norman replies "but I think you need to get out of there. The police will be there any second."
Just then a police cruiser rounds the corner. The woman runs to the car pointing at Street Hawk and yelling that he is the robber. Jesse roars off on the bike the police car close behind him. "Norman, I think we have a problem. The police are chasing me. They think Street Hawk robbed the jewelry store. What do we do now?"
It takes a moment for Norms voice to crackle through the helmet's microphone. "Just ... just get going and we'll figure that out later!" Norm says urgently.
Just ahead Jesse spots a large truck blocking the road, having dropped its load into the bikes path. The obstacle looks too big to jump over. Jesse skids the bike to a stop and circles around to face the oncoming police cars, now perilously close.
"The alley to the right!" exclaims Norm quickly. Jesse's head snaps around and identifies the exit route and speeds towards it only to find another police car coming up and blocking his path. An officer steps out with what Jesse identifies as a shotgun in his hand.
Not wanting to stay to find out, Jesse turns again and heads left into a busy multi-story parking lot.
"Jesse, what are you up to. There's no way out, it's a dead end!" roars Norm, not disguising his anxiety.
Jesse continues to ride forward, circling the bike up the ramps and being careful to avoid cars and the general public, alarmed no doubt at the sight. Finally, Jesse gets onto the top story of the parking lot, some distance now from the road below. He can see two police cars entering after him and another sliding to a halt to block the exit point. No way out than other than a leap of faith, Jesse thinks to himself.
He looks ahead. A gap of some 30 feet lay ahead. Norm could not believe what he was seeing through the helmet cam back at Command.
"Well, here goes nothing," cries Jesse giving the bike full throttle as he prepares for the leap.
Seconds seem like minutes to Norm back in Command centre as he sits rigidly in his chair, hands over eyes theatrically.
The bike touches down heavily onto the roof of a neighboring parking lot. Not waiting to catch his breath Jesse speeds down the ramps and out, soon lost down the back alleys, making further pursuit impossible.
Watching from a safe vantage point is a black clad motorcyclist. The visor is up and Lt. Barclay's face scowls back. Street Hawk may have gotten away, but at least the drug shipment had got through, he thought to himself.
- - - - - - -
Getting back home that evening, Jesse is about to enter the door of his apartment when he notices a figure behind him.
"Hey, Mach!"
Jesse turns to confront Lt. Barclay.
"Hey, the name's Barclay. We missed each other today..." apologizes Barclay, a tinge of insincerity in his voice.
"Um, yeah, no problem" says Jesse startled. "You know the skipper is pretty anxious for us to work together and get results ASAP. You'd better come in..."
"Thanks" said Barclay, following Jesse in. "You know, seems to me this Street Hawk is just a punk. Should have him behind bars in no time. Heard he robbed a jeweler's place today and even shot and killed the assistant. People won't tolerate that I tell you. The so called 'people's hero'. If someone knows who this guy is they'll soon hand him in and we won't even need to lift a finger!"
Jesse looks disturbed.
"Street Hawk killed a person? That couldn't be right..."
- - - - - - -
The next day at police headquarters Commander Altobelli sits at his desk, a newspaper in one hand, a bottle of antacid in the other. "Mach, get in here!" Altobelli bellows. Jesse enters Altobelli's office. "What are you doing to find this guy?" the commander asks waving the newspaper in the air.
Jesse recognizes the paper with the story of the robbery. "Sir, I just got the assignment yesterday. Lt. Barclay and I are starting to look for leads."
"Look harder and faster" Altobelli orders. "Street Hawk has been playing us for a fool. He's been catching a few criminals to throw us off his real mission. Not only has he been stealing stuff all over town, now he's murdered someone."
"I wonder if was really Street Hawk who committed those robberies. Maybe it was someone impersonating him." Jesse offers.
"We have eye witnesses. It was Street Hawk. I have every available officer scanning the streets for him. I need you and Barclay to get on this thing and get us a lead" replies Altobelli.
"Yes, sir. I'll get right on it" Jesse says as he leaves Altobelli's office.
Jessie returns to his desk and dials Norman at command center. "Norman, we have to sit down and figure this out. The police are crawling all over town looking for Street Hawk. Altobelli is breathing down my neck to find him. Somebody is playing a dangerous game. A clerk in that store was killed yesterday. We have to find this guy."
"I know Jesse" Norman assures. "Listen, I'm sure yesterday was a set up. I just got word that the drug shipment moved while we were out chasing this copycat. The robbery was a diversion and it worked. Now we know what this guy is up to, we can set a trap."
"Well, let's just be sure the trap catches the right Street Hawk. I don't look good in stripes" Jesse quips. "How do we set this guy up?"
- - - - - - -
Back at Command Center, Norman is working furiously at his post. Jesse saunters in, his leather jacket hung casually over his shoulder, walking at a brisk but not hurried pace. He quips, "So, Norm, any ideas how to defeat my evil twin?"
Not looking up from his monitor, Norman responds, "He's not hardly your twin, evil or not."
Jesse interjects "No, I suppose he's not nearly as good looking as I am, right Norm?"
"Maybe not nearly as conceited," retorts Norman, "But I was actually referring to the bike itself. I just accessed the police report from the jewelry robbery and murder. Your impersonator does have a modified off-road bike, but from the description they've recorded from the witnesses, the bike isn't anything special."
"How so?"
"Well, for one thing, the bike didn't do anything spectacular. The window he crashed through was a large full-length window, which means he didn't need vertical lift to clear any obstructions. And another thing. The imposter killed the clerk by shooting him point-blank in the torso with a sawed-off shotgun. Obviously if this guy had a bike with half the firepower of Street Hawk, he wouldn't need to carry a weapon."
Jesse jokes "Maybe YOUR evil twin hasn't figured out how to put it on the bike yet?"
"Ha Ha…very funny Jesse. But this isn't a laughing matter, someone was murdered and they are framing you…actually, us…for the murder."
"I know, I know…and it doesn't help that Altobelli wants my head already unless I can tell him who Street Hawk is."
Norman, who rarely jokes, decides to take a stab at it, "So how is the investigation coming? Found the secret identity of Street Hawk yet?"
Not missing a beat, Jessie retorts "No, but from what I can gather this guy is the best of the best. And highly underpaid, I might add." Norman rolls his eyes dramatically in response.
"Actually, the sidekick Altobelli has assigned me is the biggest problem. If you think I'm overconfident, you haven't met Lt. Barclay. This guy is bravado personified. Unfortunately, I'm worried how I'm going to ditch this guy every time I have to head over here."
"How did you manage to lose him this time?" asks Norman.
"I got lucky this time. He said he had needed to leave for a few hours to attend some family funeral."
"I see," says Norman, "well, I'd like to say let's make the best of it and get Street Hawk out there looking for our imposter, but with the cops and the public thinking you are enemy #1, I don't know if it is safe to send you out on another mission. So that's why I'm trying to formulate a plan to try and set this guy up. The only problem is, he is out there trying to set us up too so that these drug shipments will continue unabated."
Jessie offers optimistically "Maybe if we can find out who this guy is first, we'll have a better idea of how to catch him."
"Oh, that's great," says Norm insincerely, "and how do you intend to find out who our mystery biker is?"
"Maybe I'll just try a little old-fashioned police work, buddy."
"Fine," Norman says in resignation, "go do your police work until I can come up with a plan that might actually work."
- - - - - - -
Back at the jewelry store where the scene of the robbery and murder occurred, the store owner is cleaning up broken glass while insurance adjusters and glass repairmen are inspecting the place. Jessie's yellow Mustang pulls up to the curb nearby.
Jessie approaches the store owner, "Are you Mr. Willington?"
"Yes, who are you?" replies the visibly frazzled man.
"I'm Jessie Mach, I am with the Los Angeles Police Department. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"
"I already answered questions from a Detective Brassman," responds the man with a puzzled look on his face.
"Yes, I know, but his report accidentally got mixed up with some invitations that were thrown out," says Jessie in an only semi-believable tone.
"Oh, I see…well, what did you want to know?"
Relieved that the store owner bought his story, Jessie begins talking more naturally, "So did the perpetrator come through this window?" pointing at the obvious gaping hole in the front of the store.
"Yes, he stopped right about here," says the store owner, pointing to an area where the carpet showed heavy wear and ripping. "And then he…" the store owner's voice begins to quiver "…then he shot Mike." The man starts to sob, obviously against his own will.
"I'm sorry sir," comforts Jessie, "I know it must be devastating."
Regaining some composure, the store owner responds "Yes, it was the worst thing I have ever witnessed. I'd only had Mike working for me for about a week, but it was still awful to have to see him die like that."
"Where was Mike when he was shot?" asked Jessie?
"Right there, behind the ring counter," answered the store owner, pointing to a nearby display case. Jesse walks over and peers behind the counter. He stares for a minute, then quickly turns around and asks, "Did you say it was right here?"
"Yes, why? What is the problem?"
"I don't see any blood."
- - - - - - -
Back at the police station, Jesse walks up to a desk where an older gentleman, a senior detective, is sitting at a very clean desk.
"Hey, Charles, how you doin'? How's that lovely wife of yours?" begins Jessie.
"Divorced 5 months ago. What does P.R. want?" replies the detective, hardly looking up from the report he is working on.
Not phased, Jessie responds, "Oh, you know, just wanting to know how things are going. I hear there was a robbery/murder on 7th Street this morning."
"Yeah…some jeweler got shot point blank during a robbery...died en route to the hospital. What's it to you?"
Jessie replies importantly, "Well, word is they think it is this Street Hawk guy, and Altobelli has ordered me to gather as much info on this guy as I can."
The detective looks up over his glasses at Mach, "Well, that may be what they say, but I don't believe it."
"How come?" asks Jessie.
"That's not Street Hawk's M.O. Don't get me wrong, this Street Hawk guy is a vigilante, and I know Altobelli doesn't like him much for showing him up, but we've never seen this guy commit a crime like this. Honestly, off the record Street Hawk has done nothing but good from what I can tell."
"Thanks," answers Jessie.
"Thanks for what?"
"Oh, um…" stumbles Jesse, "thanks for the info…about Street Hawk.
"Yeah, well, that's strictly off the record," growls the detective.
"Yes yes, of course. So, this guy got shot point blank by a shotgun. Must have been pretty messy."
"I dunno, didn't get a chance to see the body," answers the detective.
"Why not?" asks Jessie.
"Paramedics were just down the street, they were first to respond. They thought they had a chance of saving him if they got him to the hospital on time. Guess they were wrong."
"Was there a lot of blood at the scene?"
The detective looks intently at Jessie, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were following up on me," he pauses to stare at Jesse. Jesse keeps writing in his notepad, not looking up to make eye contact. Detective Brassman continues"No, there wasn't really any blood at the scene, but that didn't surprise me much because shotgun wounds don't always leave exit wounds. Anything else, Mach?"
"No, no…that's plenty. Thanks for your help Charlie."
"Yeah, don't mention it."
- - - - - - -
At a run-down warehouse on the dock, Lt. Barclay is standing outside, waiting. An ambulance slowly pulls up. Barclay walks up as the driver gets out. "Any trouble?" asks Barclay?
"Nah, everyone was pretty shook up, I don't think they'd even had the courage to touch the body," answers the driver.
"And were you followed?"
"No, not that we could tell."
"Good," says Barclay. The back of the ambulance opens up and man with a bloody chest walks out. It's the clerk from the jewelry store. The man grins and says "Yeah, they were so shook up they couldn't tell I was still breathing. Man it's hard to breathe slow when your adrenaline is pumping." Barclay isn't listening. He reaches into the ambulance to get on the CB Radio. "Hawk Catcher 1, this is Eagle Eye, are we clear, over?"
A fuzzy voice on the CB responds "Roger, Eagle Eye, dispatch was informed of the delivery to Luther Mercy Hospital, over."
"Copy that," answers Barclay. Then he turns to his associates, "Next shipment will be coming in this evening, are you guys ready?"
The jewelry clerk, while taking off his bloody clothes and vest, responds, "Yeah, my shift at the bank starts in about 2 hours."
"Right...then I guess it's time for Street Hawk to ride again," says Barclay with a gleam in his eye. Just then, the ambulance driver and medic open one of the nearby crates and roll out a black motorcycle.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Back at the station, Jessie is on the phone, "Hello, yes, I'm looking for the number for Luther Mercy Hospital...yes...Luther Mercy...what? No, that can't be right. We had a shooting victim this morning and the report says he was taken to Luther Mercy. Ok, I understand. Thank you." Right at the end of his conversation, Jessie's pager starts beeping. Instinctively he dials Norman's number, "Well, Norman, I don't know what to tell you, my good ol' fashioned police work has only turned up a missing corpse and some hospital that doesn't seem to exist."
"Well, Jessie...the thing is...I was having difficulty thinking of a plan to catch the imposter...so...I did some research..."
"And...?"
"And it turns out, our dead jewelry clerk recently had an occupation change."
"How's that?"
"Well, turns out he used to be a cop."
"Oh, well...then he's obviously in on it, right Norman? Maybe I should just turn myself in, since I'm a cop too."
"Well, the thing is, he resigned a few months ago. Apparently there was some scandal involving drugs and he is believed to have quit to avoid any further investigation into the matter."
"Is that so, Norman. Are you thinking our dead guy could have been in on the whole thing?"
"It's a long shot, I know...but it would be worth looking into."
"Ok, I'll do some digging to see if I can come up with our missing corpse."
"Oh, and Jessie, from what I can tell, it looks like your partner Lt. Barclay used to work in his precinct...maybe your friend can be useful after all."
"Maybe...I'll see if I can track him down."
- - - - - - -
"Where the heck is Barclay?" Jesse wonders on the way back to his desk. He turns the corner and runs directly into Leo Altobelli. "Sorry Skipper. I guess my mind was somewhere else." Jesse says as an apology.
"I hope it was out finding Street Hawk. Do you and Barclay have anything yet?" Altobelli asks. He and Jesse walk back toward Altobelli's office.
"Funny thing about Barclay - I never can seem to find him, but I have some interesting information" Jesse answers.
"Sounds like someone else around here. So what have you got?" queries Altobelli.
"The clerk killed in the jewelry heist is missing" says Jesse.
"The guy was killed. How can he be missing?" Altobelli wants to know.
"I did some checking. The hospital the body was supposedly taken to does not exist. No one knows where the body is " Jesse answers. "The clerk, Mike Vincent, was a former cop. Came from the same precinct as Barclay. I was hoping the detective could give me some information on him."
"This is all great, but what does it have to do with finding Street Hawk?" Altobelli asks.
Jesse turns on the Mach charm. "Patience, Skipper. I have a gut feeling this guy was involved in the robbery."
"I have a gut feeling too. Mine is telling me that I am in for another ulcer if you don't find Street Hawk soon. Get me some answers!" bellows the Commander as he starts to enter his office. "I'll give Miami a call and see what they have to say. You find Barclay and see if he knows anything."
Jesse's pager beeps just as Altobelli closes his door. It's a message from Norman. The drugs are being moved tonight. Jesse grabs his jacket and heads out the door to command center.
A few minutes later Commander Altobelli opens the door of his office. "Where's Mach?" he asks Rachel.
" I don't know Commander. He made a phone call and left," Rachel answers. "Is something wrong?"
Altobelli brings her up to date on the missing store clerk and his connection to Lt. Barclay. "Jesse is supposed to be meeting with Barclay about this Vincent character. I just got off the phone with their precinct in Miami. Seems Barclay and Vincent were buddies. Vincent resigned over a scandal involving some drugs. Right after that Barclay transferred out here. I don't like the connection."
"Do you think Barclay is involved with the Street Hawk robbery?" Rachel asks worriedly. "Jesse could be in trouble if he is."
"I don't know. I do know that I need to find both of them."
- - - - - - -
Jessie comes jogging into Command Center. Turning the corner for the locker room, he calls out to Norman "What've we got?"
"The shipping logs indicate another shipment is due at the docks in about 2 hours."
Taking off his shirt, Jessie asks "So what ever happened to it being too dangerous for Street Hawk to be on the streets right now?"
"I know, Jessie, but we have to complete the mission. We can't just ignore the drug shipment when we know it is coming in."
"I'm not about to ignore it either, Norm, but you know as well as I do that there's going to be another diversion."
"I know, Jessie...look...maybe we'll just inform the police and hope for the best...I don't want to take unnecessary risks."
Jessie, dressed in his black jumpsuit, walks up to Norman and puts his hand on his shoulder, "Aww, Norm, I didn't know you cared."
"I don't want to put the bike or the program at risk either, Jessie."
"Yes, of course," says Jessie, with a look that shows he can tell Norm cares about him too but doesn't want to say it, "but I'm not about to give these guys what they want. I know we can take these guys down, we'll figure out a way."
Norman takes in a breath and lets out a long sigh, "Fine, head to the docks...we'll see how this pans out." He strikes a key and pulls a lever, opening the safety hatch to reveal Street Hawk.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Back at the docks, things are quiet, except for a low rumbling noise. The noise is emanating from Street Hawk as Jessie peers around the corner of a shipping crate. "See anything" comes Normans voice over the speaker.
"Nope, not a thing," answers Jessie. "Anything on your scanner, Norman?"
"It's quiet, but we do have another hour before the shipment arrives."
"Yeah, and I bet its going to get noisy on your scanner before then." Jessie sits there, apparently lost in thought. Then, apparently answering a question he had asked himself in his head, he says "Of course, he has to be alive."
"What's that?" asks Norm.
"The jewelry clerk, the ex cop...if he was in on it, then he'd have to be alive still."
"Well, yeah, that makes sense."
"Norm, look that guys employment records up, see what you can come up with."
Norman, anticipating Jessie's question, is already pulling up the records on his screen. His eyes light up and under his breath he utters "Well I'll be..." then, waking out of his trance, he says excitedly "Jessie! This guy has been employed part-time with almost a dozen places, most of them were hit by these guys over the last couple weeks."
"Norman, are there any places on the list that haven't been hit yet?"
"Yeah, Westminster Bank, about 50 miles from you."
"How much you want to bet that's where our next diversion is going to be?"
"I'm already putting in the coordinates, get going Jessie!"
"I'm on my way."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At Westminster Bank, Mike Vincent is working one of the teller booths in the afternoon. In the parking lot, the sound of a motorcycle engine starts to become louder. Mike looks at the front glass door, anticipating what is about to happen. A black motorcycle and rider blast through the door, sending glass flying everywhere. Women scream and duck. All the other tellers duck behind their counters. The rider drives up to Mike's booth, points a shotgun at him, and yells "Everybody stay calm and do exactly what Street Hawk tells you to do!"
- - - - - - - - -
Back on the freeway, Jessie is speeding towards the scene. Norman starts the hyper-thrust countdown "Hyper-thrust cleared and counting...5...4...3...2...1...GO!" Immediately the bike jolts forward and the scenery begins to blur. Jessie can sit comfortably while computer-assist takes over the driving. "Norman, I just don't get it," he says, "if this guy was an employee at every one of these places, the police would have seen the pattern. His name would have shown up in every report. Even if the cops didn't notice, the police computer would have caught that there was a pattern."
Norman rolls over to one of his terminals and starts accessing the police department database. "Jessie, I don't see Mike Vincent listed in any of these police reports."
"What! How is that possible?"
"Jessie, I don't know what to tell you...it's like his name has been removed from these reports."
"But that's impossible...only a police officer from our precinct can make changes to that database."
Norm types a few more keys, "Jessie, all these reports were last edited by Lt. Barclay."
"Then I'm going to go have a word with Barclay, and I think I know where to find him."
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Back at the bank, the customers and tellers are being herded into the main vault. Barclay, pointing his shotgun at Mike Vincent, directs him to keep bagging up the money from the registers. With a forced look of panic on his face, he shovels wads of cash into a brown bank bag. Then, hearing something, he looks up. A black motorcycle comes roaring out of hyper-thrust and is quickly approaching the bank. "It's Street Hawk!" Barclay nudges the last of the bank employees into the vault, reaches into his jacket and pulls out a tear-gas grenade. He pulls the pin, tosses it into the center of the vault, and slams the door shut. Vincent shouts out "Wait, you're supposed to lock me in there with the rest of them!"
Barclay shouts back, "There's no time, they must be on to us. Get on!" Vincent climbs on, money bag in hand. Just then, the real Street Hawk roars through the front door, sliding sideways to a stop.
Jessie arms the machine gun, which pops out of the pod at the front of the bike. "Freeze, Barclay!" Jessie yells. Barclay revs the bike, Vincent ducks, they make a break for the rear of the bank. Jessie opens fire, but his bullets are deflected by the teller counter that Barclay is ducking behind. Barclay manages to kick a rear door open and squeeze out the back. Jessie begins to pursue but then notices grey smoke coming from the edges of the vault. "Tear Gas!" Jessie exclaims.
Norman responds, "In that enclosed space it's going to suffocate everyone!" Jessie jumps off the bike, tries to open the vault, but the lock has automatically been reset. "It won't budge," says Jessie after pulling on the handle.
Norman looks at the vault through his monitor, "It's going to take a good 10 minutes to cut through those hinges with Street Hawk's laser."
"I don't think we have any choice," answers Jessie. He slides the power lever on the laser control to maximum, activating the laser, which pops and spins out of the front of the bike. A steady red beam begins carving the large hinge for the bank vault.
- - - - - - - - - -
Back at the dock, Barclay comes roaring up to his henchmen on the bike. Mike Vincent jumps off the bike and throws the bag of money to a nearby thug. Barclay removes his helmet and addresses the leader of the group "We've got trouble, Street Hawk got there before we could finish and he knows who I am; our cover is blown."
"What do we do? They are still loading cargo off the ship."
Barclay turns and looks at a big freighter anchored about 100 feet away. "Street Hawk will likely be here any minute. Do you have the explosives?"
"Right here, boss"
"Get on that freighter and get control of the helm. Have one of our guys place the explosives in the fuel room. Set the timer to go off at 6 o'clock. I'll make sure Street Hawk is on that boat when it does."
- - - - - - - - - - - -
As police cars start pulling up to the bank, Jessie finally finishes cutting the last inch of the hinges. The door crashes dramatically on the floor and tear gas pours into the room. People begin crawling out of the vault. Norman shouts "There's no time to check on them, Jessie, you need to get out of there." Jessie spins around, revs his motor and comes darting out the front door of the bank. The police have formed a barricade with their cars and are standing behind them with guns drawn. Jessie hits his Vertical-Lift button and Street Hawk is launched over the barricade and races away before the cops regain their composure enough to fire a shot. "I'm on my way back to the docks, Norman!"
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Back at the docks, Barclay's henchmen have taken over the freighter. The freighter's original crew are tied up and hidden behind some crates on the dock. Street Hawk comes roaring up to the docks, scanning the area. Upon his arrival, one of the henchmen get on the radio, "He's here." As Jessie is scanning the area, he sees a black motorcycle drive out onto the deck of the freighter, stop, and stare right at him. Norman pipes up, "Jessie, it's a trap!" But Jessie doesn't listen. He revs the bike and launches toward the freighter. Barclay takes off, disappearing behind the many cargo boxes still on the freighter. Jessie hits Vertical-Lift and is catapulted onto the deck of the freighter.
Up on the captain's deck, Mike Vincent turns the rudder and starts the freighter moving out of the dock.
Street Hawk begins winding down the row of boxes. All of a sudden, one of the henchmen jumps out with an Uzi, spraying bullets. Jessie pops a wheelie, deflecting the bullets off the front of the bike. Jessie rams the front wheel into the bad guy, sending him flying off the deck of the boat. Jessie lands the front wheel and stops, getting his bearings. He turns and finds himself staring down the barrel of a shotgun. Barclay, grinning, says "Ok, Street Hawk, nice and easy. Get off the bike."
Jessie stares at Barclay, trying to think of something. Barclay starts getting impatient, "It doesn't look like you're wearing Kevlar, so I'd say you don't have any choice. GET OFF THE BIKE!" Jessie notices that they are passing underneath the crane with a crate hovering about 50 feet overhead. Jessie calmly responds "I have to enter the dismount code, or else this bike is programmed to explode."
Norm, looking confused, says "What? I didn't program a dismount code into the bike!"
Barclay, eyeing Jessie suspiciously, says, "Fine, enter the code."
Jessie reaches down, hitting the laser controls. The laser gun pops up. Before Barclay can react, Jessie targets and fires at the crane, hitting the cable. The crate comes loose, rushing down toward them. Barclay dives for cover, and Jessie races away, just barely avoiding being crushed himself. Bad guys start opening fire from various perches around the boat. Jessie weaves and dodges, firing his machine gun and taking out numerous bad guys. Mike Vincent, up in the control room, looks at his watch and sees it is 5:55. He runs out of the control booth, shouting to the remaining henchmen, "Get off, she's about to blow." Immediately, the bad guys disengage the fight and begin diving off the boat. Jessie, not aware of what is going on, thinks he has won the fight. He heads back to the collapsed crate where he last saw Barclay. Barclay is lying there, alive but bleeding and not able to move. Jessie pulls up, Barclay does not appear to be interested in fighting. Jessie addresses him, "Barclay…why did you do it? Why did you let yourself become a dirty cop?"
Barclay looks up, "I…I stopped caring about the job...I realized that the job was killing me…killing everybody…and that it's the bad guys who get to live the good life. Does the department care if I gave everything? Nah. We're expendable."
Jessie scoffs, "So you're a coward…you traded in your honor for greed."
Barclay fires up, "Coward? I fought crime, fought tooth and nail. But because of the fight I lost Trina. You don't lose the love of your life and not have it change you."
"You can't blame the police that your girlfriend died, Barclay."
"You can if she was your partner." Jessie stops, at a loss for words. Barclay looks up, stares straight at Jessie and says "Of course, you know what that feels like, don't you…Jessie Mach!"
Norman, sitting quietly through this whole discourse, jumps up like he was hit by lightning, "HE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE, JESSIE!"
Jessie, realizing there is no point in keeping up the charade, lifts his helmet off. He looks down at Barclay, with half anger, half pity. Barclay continues, "There's a thin line between vigilante and criminal, Jessie…you and I are victims of our violent past."
"I'm nothing like you, Barclay!" retorts Jessie.
"As I see it, Jessie, you're more like me than you'd like to admit," then, looking down at his watch, which shows 5:59, he says "anyways, you and I are about to meet the same fate, regardless."
Norman, immediately realizing the implications, yells "Jessie, you have to get off that boat, now!" Jessie tosses his helmet back on, wheels the bike around, and looks for an escape route. But by now, the freighter is about 500 feet from the docks, not close enough for Jessie to reach even with Vertical-Lift. Jessie drives to the edge of the freighter deck, spins around, and faces a short runway towards the dock. Panicking, Norman pleads "Jessie, you can't make it, it's way too far."
Determined, Jessie says "Norman, I need you to give me Hyper-Thrust on the count of 3."
"What are you doing, Jessie!" screams Norman "That's suicide."
Jessie revs the bike "One!" drops the clutch and screams forward "Two!" nears the edge of the freighter, pulls a wheelie and hits Vertical Lift, "THREE!" The bike launches in the air. An explosion rings out inside the freighter and the bike is engulfed in a large fireball. Norman, closing his eyes, hits the button for Hyper-Thrust. Like a rocket, Jessie fires through the sky. He clears the water, and as he comes sailing down Norman sees he's heading straight for a large group of shipping crates. He gasps, "He's going to be smashed!" The bike lands and Jessie squeezes the bike between two crates, the opening being just barely large enough for him and the bike. Once through, he hits the airfoil brakes and comes to a screeching halt. Jessie looks back between the crates and sees the nose of the burning freighter plunge backward into the bay. He hears screaming and yelling. He realizes it's coming from inside his helmet. Norman is jumping and dancing around Command Center, "Yes! Yes! He did it! He actually did it!"
The sound of police sirens can be heard in the distance. Jessie says "Norman! Norman!"
Interrupted from his celebration, Norman stops jumping around and says, "What, Jessie?"
"I think it's time for me go to, wouldn't you think?"
Slightly embarrassed, Norman composes himself and says, "Oh, right, yes, let's get you out of there."
"Sounds like a good idea to me," says Jessie, grinning.
"Ok, I've got an exit route for you to the North."
"I'm on my way, Norman."
"Oh, and Jessie."
"Yes, Norman?"
"I'm glad you're okay."
"Thanks, Norman."
- - - - - - - - -
Later at police headquarters, Jesse struts into the commanders office and says smugly, "Well, Commander, looks like I was right. Street Hawk did not rob that jewelry store. It was a look-a-like."
Looking resigned, Altobelli agrees, "I know. We found the bike on the freighter and one of his suits in the warehouse. Looks like Barclay was using Street Hawk as a decoy."
"Too bad Barclay was probably killed in the explosion. He could have answered a lot of questions." Rachel adds.
"Vincent is talking - he's hoping for a plea bargain, but it's unlikely. At least we stopped the drug ring" Altobelli offers. "Miami has busted the crew on their end."
"All thanks to Street Hawk" Rachel counters.
"Now don't go there. I still want this guy off my streets" Altobelli growls. "Mach you are still on the case. I've got someone else to assist you."
"No way! Absolutely not!" Jesse states emphatically. "No more partners. That last one was enough. I work alone. A-L-O-N-E."
"Fine, have it your way, but I want you to find some information on Street Hawk and soon. I'll just let Julie Elliot know that you will not be needing her help." Altobelli concedes.
"Julie?" Jesse questions. "The detective? Blonde? Blue eyes? About 5'6?"
"Yeah" Altobelli answers. "That's her."
"Well in that case... " Jesse considers.
"Oh, no. You work A-L-O-N-E. That's the way you want it. That's the way you got it," as Altobelli and Rachel laugh.
THE END.