DISCLAIMERS: 'The Rookies' is the property of Spelling/Goldberg Productions and Sony Entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended. The story is the property of the author and may not be archived without my permission.
TITLE: A Game of Cat and Mouse
RATING: T for violent subject matter. This rating may change later.
SETTING: September-December 1982, six years after the series has ended.
SUMMARY: Det. Mike Danko and his new partner, Terry Webster, begin searching for a young man who is the primary witness against his father, who is accused of felony child abuse, among other crimes.
CHAPTER 1: An Introduction
A/N #1: The beginning of this first chapter is going to serve as an introduction to the characters from the 1972-1976 police drama, 'The Rookies.' Before I wrote fan fiction for the 2009-2016 series, 'Castle,' I wrote fan fiction for this show. I wrote before I even understood that there was such a thing as fan fiction.
A/N #2: I will now introduce the characters for my 'Castle' readers. My 'The Rookies' readers are already more than familiar with this cast of characters. I will give a brief rundown in the order that they appear in the opening credits.
Rookie Officer Terry Webster: Terry is the quintessential somewhat militant young black man that was a staple of 70's TV. When I originally watched the show, I wasn't a fan of Terry. It was only after re-watching Season 1 that I grew to like him. He is roommates with fellow Rookie and partner, Willie Gillis, and is best friends with Mike Danko. He is also protective of Mike's wife, Jill.
Rookie Officer Mike Danko: Mike is the only married officer in the group. His wife is a registered nurse. Mike is an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam war. When I was 12, I wanted to meet my own Mike Danko. In my Rookies universe, I made Mike an Army veteran because a friend told me that there weren't a lot of Air Force helicopter pilots, which is what Mike had been.
Rookie Officer William (Willie) Gillis (Seasons 1 & 2): Willie is a somewhat naïve young man from a small town in Ohio. After awkwardly introducing himself to Terry in the pilot, the two men become roommates. Willie left at the end of Season 2. His character was written out of the show on the premise that he returned home to help care for his ailing father. In my stories, I have him return years later with a wife and family.
Rookie Officer Chris Owens (Seasons 3 & 4): Chris became Terry's new partner when Willie exited the show. However, they didn't become roommates. I didn't like Chris, at first. Again, after re-watching re-runs, I changed my opinion slightly. There are two groups of fans of the show. Those who were Willie fans and those that were Chris fans. I know some in both groups. Let me just say that I referred to Chris as 'Cardboard Cutout Guy.'
Nurse Jill Danko: Sometimes I used to think that Jill was added as a character just so someone would have to be rescued occasionally. This was also a famous theme for 70's and 80's TV. There are a number of 'Rescue Jill' episodes, most of them in the final season. But, with Mike and Jill, there was a common theme. Mike loved Jill and she loved him.
Lt. Eddie Ryker: Lt. Ryker was a cross between Capt. Montgomery and Capt. Gates on 'Castle.' He had a gruff exterior which masked a decent human being. He was particularly close to Jill and Mike Danko.
A/N #3: Characters that are unique to my writing are Mary Kathryn (Mary Kate) Danko, the young daughter of Mike and Jill. She was named for Lt. Ryker's late wife. Jennifer (Jen) Gillis is the wife of Willie and is the mother of his three children; Thomas, Natalie, and Eric. A woman named Jen is mentioned in a letter Mike and Jill get from Willie in the first episode of Season 3. Michelle and Savannah Danko are adopted by Mike and Jill after being removed from an abusive home. The story 'Fears, Secrets, and Lies' will give you their background. The two girls are not in this story. Det. Lt. Steve Brinker can first be found in the story 'Heat Wave.' He is also featured prominently in this story.
A/N #4: Everything regarding Jill Danko's past is taken from a dear friend of mine. She gave me carte blanche in this regard, which to me, took a great deal of courage.
PROLOGUE: A GRISLY DISCOVERY (December)
It was a cool, drizzly December morning. Lt. Mike Danko, and his new partner, Sgt. Terry Webster, were standing in the middle of a barren field watching men with shovels carefully digging into the soggy ground. The weather matched Mike's mood perfectly.
Terry watched Mike's expression as the men continued digging. Over the past three months, Terry had watched his friend turn from a reasonably easy-going guy into a grouchy version of his former self. And, it was all because of one man who was currently sitting in lock-up. A man by the name of Albert Mueller, who had delighted in playing cat and mouse games with the police. He had particularly enjoyed toying with Mike.
"I've found something!" One of the men shouted, breaking Terry's reverie.
Mike and Terry slogged their way through the muddy ground over to the spot where the men were digging. Looking down into the shallow pit, both men could see a blue plastic tarp. "Mueller told the D.A. that he'd wrapped Adam in a blue tarp," Terry reminded Mike.
"I know what Mueller told the D.A.," Mike snapped at his friend. "Can you bring it up?" He asked the man in the pit.
"Not quite," the man answered. "The ground keeps caving due to the dampness."
"Okay. Well, just be careful and preserve as much of the crime scene as possible," Mike ordered.
"Yes, sir," the man replied sarcastically, bending back to the task at hand. "Like I don't know how to preserve a crime scene," he muttered under his breath.
"Excuse me!" Mike shouted, striding back toward the pit. "If you have a problem with my orders, please feel free to complain to the chief!"
"Mike, come on," Terry grabbed Mike's elbow, attempting to steer his friend away from the grave. "Take it easy. You need to walk it off."
Mike shook free of Terry and walked toward the unmarked police vehicle that was parked a short distance away. This case had been eating at him for months now. They'd taken Albert Mueller into custody the day after Mike and his former partner, Lt. Steve Brinker, had been assigned the case. But the man had steadfastly refused to reveal the whereabouts of his 18-year-old stepson, Adam. Instead he had sat in his jail cell or an interrogation room, playing his endless game of 'I know something you don't know.'
Mueller, who had been a deputy with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, knew enough about the law to know that without a body he couldn't be charged with murder. Mike and Brinker had tried every trick in the book without success. Brinker's attitude early on in the investigation had finally forced Mike to go to his captain and request a new partner.
"Mike!" Mike turned toward the sound of Terry's voice. "They've removed the body."
"Is it him?" Mike asked, although he knew that the body in the grave couldn't be anyone but Adam Mueller.
"Yeah. We just need the M.E. to pronounce."
"I wish that I hadn't made the deal with Mueller! Because I would so love to be there to put the fucking needle in his arm myself!"
"Mike, if you hadn't made the deal, Mueller would just continue playing his games with us, especially with you. Are you okay?"
"I wish that I'd never walked into Greta Mueller's living room that day. I wish that the LASO had called someone other than the captain that day. I put my own family on the back burner to nail that piece of shit! Doing that almost cost Jill her life!"
"Mike, we've got him now. Put in for some time off," Terry suggested to his best friend and partner. "Take Jill and Mary Kate to Shasta or Whitney for a few days. Spend some time on the slopes. Take some time to heal and to help Jill heal."
"Did they say how long he's been dead?" Mike asked, ignoring Terry's suggestion.
"No. But, the M.E. said that he probably died the afternoon that he and his sister were taken by Mueller. It jives with what Mueller wrote in his statement."
"I've gotta go and talk to Greta Mueller," Mike said, walking away. "Can you get a ride back to the precinct?"
"I'm your partner, remember? Shouldn't I be going with you?"
"No, man. I started this and now I have to finish it. I'll meet you back at the stationhouse."
It was early afternoon when Mike arrived back at the precinct. Instead of going back to the detective's squad room, he made his way down to the holding cells to talk to two men he really didn't want to ever see again. One of them had been his nemesis over the past three months, while the other was a man he'd thought that he knew, and whom he'd thought had his back. A recent stormy night had shown him just how wrong he was on both counts.
Steve Brinker looked up when he heard footsteps approaching his cell. "We found the kid," Mike stopped in front of his cell. "He was right where Mueller said that he'd be."
"Good. Now, he'll go away for life. You take things too much to heart, Danko. Maybe you should transfer out of Major Crimes and work Missing Persons."
"He played us, Brinker."
"He played everybody, Danko. The only difference being that you let it get to you. If you don't learn to let things roll off you, you're going to drop dead before you're 50. Then where would your wife and kid be?" He smirked at Mike.
"I'm sorry that you destroyed what family you had, Brinker! That gave you no right to come after mine!"
"I underestimated my opponent," he continued to smirk. "She was tougher than I gave her credit for. It was a good trick, talking to you about the kid when your daughter was with you the whole time. Did you teach her that?"
"You're crazy," Mike said under his breath, turning and walking away.
Walking away, Mike thought back over the events of the past several months. Maybe Terry was right. Maybe he did need a vacation.
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