Settling the Score

Chapter 1

"So what time do you want Mikki and me to meet you and Jean at the restaurant?" Pete asked his partner as they were heading in from their day watch shift with the Los Angeles Police Dept.

"Jean made the reservations for six-thirty. Our babysitter should be over at the house by six, so we should be able to make it on time." Jim replied.

"And then we're going dancing afterward, right?"

"Well, that's the plan partner; that is if you and Mikki can keep your hands off of each other long enough to go dancing." Jim snickered, earning him a scathing look from Pete.

"I think we'll be able to refrain from embarrassing you and Jean in the restaurant, and while we are on the dance floor." We'll save the fireworks for after we part ways with you two, Pete thought to himself. He was looking forward to a nice evening with Mikki, and couldn't keep the smile off of his face as he drove toward the station.

Pete, and Mikki Sanders, the niece of the Reeds' next door neighbor, had been dating on and off steadily for the passed several months. They met when little Jimmy Reed came up missing one rainy afternoon and Mikki had played a major part in finding him.

Though her job with the FBI had taken her back to her hometown of Denver for a short period of time, she had recently transferred to the Los Angeles office nearly two months ago and had rented an apartment with her best friend and partner, Agent Mike Sanchez.

As for the relationship between she and Pete, neither could put aside the fact that their jobs were chock full of daily danger, and so they had spent their entire short term relationship claiming to be just friends. Behind the scenes, so much more was going on; they had been, and still were, indulging in a great amount of passion, with most of their dates ending the morning after the night before.

On the flip side, the two of them were very much alike in more ways than they cared to admit, and at times, they would butt heads and go for several days without calling or seeing each other. Their most recent blowup had come when Mikki and Mike had rented an apartment together. Pete had been livid when he found out, and had spent forty-five minutes ranting and raving to Mikki about guys and gals living together without being married.

Mikki had finally grown tired of listening to him rant and rave, so she turned the tables on him. She had asked him why it was okay for the two of them to spend the night together, unmarried, doing the intimate things that married people do; but not okay for she and Mike, unmarried friends, to live together, and not be doing the intimate things that married people do? Pete could not give her a good reason and so their date had ended on that note and resulted in Pete not calling her for nearly a week. She hadn't given in and called him, either. They were very much alike.

"So who's babysitting my godson?"

"Oh, the high school girl down the street. She's sat with him a couple of different times. Her mom is always home, so if she needs anything or runs into any problems, her mom can be down to our house in a minute or two."

Pete nodded his head in understanding as he turned the police car into the station parking lot.

"Say, did Mikki happen to mention whether or not Mike and Barbara Ann are coming along? Jean really enjoys talking to Barbara Ann; not that she doesn't enjoy Mikki's company, because she does; it's just that she and Barbara Ann have a little more in common."

"No need to explain, Jim. It's obvious that Mikki and Jean are as far from being alike as…well…as any two people can be. I think they do a good job of finding neutral ground when we do all get together, though."

"Yeah, they do at that. Sometimes I think that's just how women are. If they don't have anything in common, they start picking on us guys…that sure does seem to break the ice and get them talking!"

"I hear ya; heaven knows that we've been on the receiving end of their conversation starters more than once these past few months. And to answer your question, Mikki said that Mike and Barbara Ann are going to meet us at the restaurant for dinner but they are unsure about what they are doing afterwards."

"Oh, okay."

The partners turned in their reports, shotgun and car keys and then changed into civilian clothes before parting ways, knowing that they would be seeing each other in just over an hour.

Pete was heading for his apartment when he happened to glance in the review mirror and noticed a white paneled van that had been following him the majority of the way. Maybe it was coincidental, but he couldn't help but get that hinky feeling that had kept him and Jim from walking into many a harried situations in the past.

One block from his apartment, the paneled van turned off onto a side street. Pete still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right, but by that time, he was in the parking lot and pulling in next to Mikki's bright red Mustang ragtop.

Mikki got out of her car and walked up to Pete's drivers side door, opening it before he could, "Hey handsome…you got any plans for this evening?"

Pete got out of his vehicle and pulled Mikki into his arms. "As a matter of fact, I do. I have a date with a beautiful young lady." Then feeling kind of ornery, "But if she cancels, what do you have in mind?"

"Keep it up smart aleck and you WON'T have any plans for this evening…or throughout the night for that matter." Mikki shot right back.

"Well now, let's not be rash about this."

Mikki laughed and leaned up to claim Pete's lips with her own and then whispered, "Let's go have dessert before we go to dinner."

"NO! I know you, and if I let you into my apartment right now, we'll be late for dinner. How would that look?"

"Mmmm…from my viewpoint, it looks pretty tempting!"

Figuring that he'd better change the subject, and quickly, Pete ventured, "I thought that I was picking you up. What happened to those plans?"

"Okay Pete, neither one of us fell off of the turnip truck yesterday. We both know that I will end up spending the night here, so why should you have to drive over to my place to pick me up and then have to run me back home tomorrow before work, just so I can pick up my car?"

"Point taken and I am certainly not going to argue with you."

"'Bout time you wizened up in that department." She slid in under her breath, so that he wouldn't hear.

"What was that?"

"I said, 'what time was it when you left the department?'" This time she spoke a little louder.

Pete's eyebrows shot up and he looked at her briefly, as if trying to decide whether or not that was what she said before answering, "Four-forty five."

Woe…that was close thought Mikki as she turned her head to hide the smile that wouldn't go away. "Well come on then, let's get a move on, our reservations are for six-thirty, and you still need to change." With that statement, Mikki headed up the stairs towards Pete's apartment.

The two of them managed to make it back out of the apartment in record time, without delay, and were soon headed to the restaurant. There were the first of the three couples to arrive so they ordered coffee to sip on while they talked about their day and waited for the others. Mike and Barbara Ann were the next ones to show up. By this time, it was nearing six-thirty and Jim and Jean still hadn't made their appearance. At six-forty, they came strolling in, hand in hand, looking like the perfect couple that they were.

When they reached the table, as the guys shook hands and the girls exchanged pleasantries, Jim apologized for their tardiness, explaining that their sitter had been delayed a bit.

The couples ordered their dinners and made more small talk while waiting for their food to come out. While they were waiting, a page came over the loud speaker that the headlights of a baby blue Ford Mustang had been left on. Pete quickly excused himself to go out and check and see if it was his car that they were referring to.

This is playing out perfectly, this first part of the plan, the man thought as he watched Pete come through the door of the restaurant and head over to his car, which was parked near the back part of the darkened parking lot. If Pete noticed the white paneled van parked two spaces down from him, he didn't make it known; his thoughts were on checking his headlights and getting back into the restaurant as quickly as possible.

Pete didn't see the man that stepped out from behind the white van and rounded the car next to his until it was too late. He felt his head explode in pain as the man swung the tire iron at him. An explosion of stars was the last thing that Pete saw.

Quickly looking around the parking lot, the man drug Pete's body behind the cars and quickly loaded him up into the back of the van. Then, getting in, himself, he used duct tape to cover Pete's mouth and to secure his wrists and ankles. After doing so, stealthily went back and placed the folded paper under the windshield wiper of Pete's car. He then climbed into the driver's seat and started the van. He was being careful not to draw any attention to himself as he drove out of the parking lot and headed toward the old abandoned barn just on the outskirts of town, thinking, now that I have the pig…I just need the princess.