chapter seven

Michael could feel Dom's eyes on him as the two men worked under the hood of Dom's Skyline – or rather, as Dom worked and Michael lent a hand. The air was charged, thick with tension. They were the only ones in the garage at the moment, and Michael was very well aware of it. Dom adjusted something, and Michael decided to break the silence. "So, where are the others?"

"Brian and Mia are out on a date." Dom said with a grunt. "Letty is taking my place at the register, so she won't be back until late." The oil filter finally came loose and he took it off. "As for Connor – who knows."

"She's not part of the team?" Michael asked.

"Not like the others." Dom screwed the new filter on and slid out from under the Skyline. "Connor does her own thing. Sooner or later she'll get tired of staying here and move on." He gave Michael a hard look. "She says you know her."

Michael shrugged. "Not well."

Dom gave him a look of polite disbelief. "You work a case together, you have the same taste in cars, and Connor even knows what agency you work for – an agency I've never heard of, and I thought I'd heard them all. So, want to try again?"

Well, heck. Connor had let it slip he was with FLAG. Michael took a breath and pressed a button on his comm. link. Kitt could receive transmissions, but not transmit himself. Maybe he would have the presence of mind to record everything Dom said. "I'm here investigating the murders, Dom. Surely you've heard of them."

"Yeah." Dom went back to the Skyline, refilling the oil. "Some sort of double homicide on the other side of the city. But check my record, cop – I don't kill."

"Connor does." Michael said flatly. It was a guess, but judging from the way Dom suddenly went stiff, it was an accurate one. "Did she hire you to kill them, or are you just protecting her from the law?"

The sudden sound of engines distracted him from his interrogation. The black Ferrari slid smoothly into the garage past Kitt and parked next to the Skyline. Connor got out, clearly agitated. "Where is everybody?" she demanded.

"Out. Why?" Dom asked, suddenly paying more attention to Connor than he had been to Michael. Something was going down. Michael knew it with every cop instinct in his body.

"Dmitri's coming." Connor explained. "You have to go to ground. I have no idea how long it'll take him to get here – for all I know, he's already here."

To Michael's complete and total shock, Karr spoke up. "He's not here yet, Connor." he assured his driver. "If he was, there would never have been a meeting with Marcus. Dmitri would have come after us himself."

To Kitt's shock, Dom wasn't even fazed by the idea of a talking car. "Karr's got a point." he reminded Connor. "From what you've told me, he wouldn't send an underling to do his work."

"Marcus isn't an underling." Connor muttered. "But Karr does have a point." She ran her fingers across the hood, trying to reassure herself. Dmitri had hurt her more than once in the past. But that was all it was – the past. Connor could take care of herself now, and she wouldn't be at his mercy any longer. Neither she nor Karr would allow it.

Dom nodded and tossed her a set of keys. "Go to the warehouse. Brian and Mia are on the other side of town at that Mexican place they like visiting. I'll get Letty and meet you there." He dropped the hood of the Skyline and got inside, quickly peeling out as he shot out of the garage. Connor turned to Michael.

"Knight, you need to get out of here too." she told him blandly. "Dmitri's as much a danger to you as he is to me, especially if he finds out about Kitt."

"I can take care of myself." Kitt said indignantly from Michael's comm. link. Michael shot the thing a dirty look.

"How did you override –"

"I didn't. I thought you changed the setting."

"I fixed it." Karr said. "That new piece of circuitry Barstow was supposed to give Kitt I now have. It's primary function is the disruption of other computer programs. I imagine Barstow didn't tell you about it because it takes a sophisticated AI program to run the chip."

"Now you're bragging." Connor teased lightly. Karr made a rude sound, and she simply laughed in response. She slid into the driver's seat, giving Michael a look just before she left. "I'm serious, Knight. Dmitri wants to kill me, but he'll kill you too if he thinks it'll get him what he wants. If I'm going to have the whole of FLAG on my butt, I'd rather it be because I killed you myself." With that Karr backed out of the garage and disappeared down the road.

Michael stood there for a moment, mulling over his options. On one hand, he should probably go ahead and do what Connor wanted him to. He could leave town for a few days and resume the search for the killer after this Dmitri left town. Michael knew Connor didn't kill those people – he knew Dom did. It was just a matter of finding evidence that didn't magically disappear, and he suspected that once Connor was out of the way, that wouldn't be a problem.

On the other hand, Connor was a victim. That much Michael was certain of. No matter what else she had done, she was a victim, and it sounded like Dmitri was one of the ones who had hurt her. Could he honestly leave her at the mercy of her tormentor?

"Michael?"

Kitt, leaving the decision completely up to him. Kitt wouldn't want to leave Connor alone in a time like this. After all, Connor had spared Michael's life. Kitt figured they owed her, which Michael had reluctantly agreed to. The last thing he wanted was to be in Connor's debt.

He left the garage and slid into the driver's seat. "Where to, Michael?" Kitt asked.

Michael fired up the engine. "The warehouse." he said grimly. "Pull up everything you can on Dom Torrento's assets. I want to know where I'm going."

"Right away." Kitt assured him, and Michael wondered if that was a pleased note in his partner's voice. It didn't matter though. This was right, Michael was sure of it.

Now if only Devon would see it the same way.

/---/

An: Next up – Dmitri catches up with Connor and Karr, and it's Michael and Kitt to the rescue! Review, please!