Chapter 7

KITT pulled up to Ray Havland's residence later that evening. It was a small dingy looking place in need of a good paint job. "KITT scan the house how many people do we have in there" Michael asked.

"I am detecting heat signatures for three individuals."

"Okay, anything I should be worried about?"

"I have picked up traces of a weapon in one of the back rooms, but there is no one near it. My guess is that it's in a bedroom closet."

"All right then. Time to earn our pay check." Michael got out of the car and stretched a bit. He also worked his left arm around; his shoulder had stiffened up on the drive here and was beginning to hurt. KITT noticed the movement and realized that Michael was in some pain.

"Be careful" he called out to Michael.

Michael looked back at KITT and smiled. "I always am". He proceeded to the door and knocked. It was answered by a man in his late thirties, short about five foot five, with balding blond hair. The man stared at Michael suspiciously. "Hi there, are you Ray Havland?"

"Who wants to know?" the man asked.

"I'm Michael Knight and I'm with Publishers' Clearing house. If you're Ray Havland then you've been selected as our runner up in the million dollar drawing." Michael said with a big smile.

The man looked out the door around Michael. "I don't see any TV cameras and stuff. Isn't this thing supposed to be on TV?"

"Well yes the million dollar winner is, but you are the runner up. Can I come in and tell you all the specifics?"

The man started to get suspicious again. "Do you have any ID that says you're with Publishers Clearing House?"

Michael made a show of patting his jacket pockets "Um actually I must have left it in the car"

"Ya right if I've won anything then just give me the check and get the hell out of here".

"Well it doesn't exactly work that way. See the money is paid in payments and we need to set some dates and stuff." Michael said.

The man got angry and gave Michael a little shove away from the door. "Get outta here you joker." And the door was slammed in Michael's face.

Michael blew out his breath and turned from the house. As he got back into the car KITT said "that was the most ridiculous idea you've ever had. Did you really expect them to buy that?"

"Shut up KITT. It was the best I could come up with on short notice." Michael started the car and drove a short way down the road. Then he shut down, wiggled into a more comfortable position and put KITT into surveillance mode.

"Are we going to wait it out?" KITT asked.

"Yea that was my back up plan." Michael sighed.

"Well then may I suggest that you take some pain killers and get some sleep? I'll wake you if Mr. Parks shows his face." KITT was worried about Michael and wanted him to rest, he felt that Michael might be pushing his limits again.

Michael sat quietly for a few minutes. He hated painkillers they dulled his senses, but his shoulder was bothering him quite a bit tonight. He finally decided that KITT was right and that he should get some rest. He reached into the center glove compartment and opened the prescription bottle. It was still pretty full; he had been cutting down on the pills as much as possible. He dumped two into his hand, popped them in his mouth, and swallowed them without water. "All right KITT you win. But make sure I'm awake if anything happens."

KITT darkened the windows, as Michael leaned the seat back. "You have my word. Sleep well Michael."

KITT monitored the house throughout the night, and Michael's sleeping form. He slept restfully under the influence of the pain medication. Then just after seven in the morning KITT detected a person leaving through the front door. "Michael, Michael wake up"

Michael jumped a little and snapped to alertness almost instantly. "What is it partner?" he said as he brought the seat upright.

"I have scanned someone leaving the house and he matches the description of Paul Parks. He is heading down the street on foot."

Michael stared the vehicle and shifted into drive. "Well let's get'em then". He drove the car slowly down the street to where Paul Parks was walking. Parks glanced to his right, saw the car, and took off running between two houses.

"Shit" Michael yelled. "Track us KITT I'm going after him"

Michael jumped out of the car and started after Parks. He was a few seconds behind and still recovering from his injury, but he quickly gained on his target. When he got within a few feet of Parks he dove for the man's legs and took him down in a tackle. They rolled a few times and Parks' fist made contact with Michael's chin. Michael blocked the second hit with his left arm and connected with a good right to Parks' jaw. KITT suddenly appeared in the alley where the fight was taking place and he emitted a phony police siren to help Michael get full control of the situation. When Paul Parks heard the siren he stopped struggling.

"You Paul Parks?" Michael asked breathlessly.

"After all that you're just now finding out if you have the right guy?" the man asked.

Michael dragged him to his feet. "Just answer the question", he said angrily. The wrestling match had really hurt his shoulder and he was in no mood to mess around with this guy.

"Yes I'm Paul Parks. You're not a cop are you?"

"No, I work for the Foundation providing your brother his lawyer. We're going back to LA to talk to some people there." Michael said as he roughly directed the man to KITT's passenger door. "Am I going to have to restrain you for the trip?"

"No" the man answered dejectedly. Then he hung his head and started to sniffle. "I did it." he said. He looked up at Michael for a few seconds then hung his head again and went into a complete breakdown. "I killed the woman I love" he said through sobs and collapsed to the ground hugging his legs to his chest.

"Damn" Michael whispered, he looked away from the man and stared off into space a few seconds wondering what could lead a man to kill someone he loves. Years ago he would have given anything to have more time with Stevie, and couldn't imagine any scenario that would make him hurt her. Now all his attention was focused on Bonnie and if he wasn't careful he could hurt her badly. He still had to figure out what his instincts were trying to tell him. He turned back to Parks; the man was still on the ground and apparently completely withdrawn into his own mind. "KITT could you call Devon, and I think we should notify the local authorities. This case just took a big detour."

"Right away Michael" KITT responded.

Michael and KITT had been on their way home for several hours now. The local police in Reno had taken custody of Paul Parks and he was to be sent back to LA to stand trial for murder. Devon was extremely happy about the outcome. Michael had requested a new assignment, but Devon refused. He wanted them home for a few days, but Michael wanted Bonnie far away from LA and Chad.

"KITT would you place a call to Dave Martins for me?" Michael asked. They had worked with Dave a few times over the years and he and Michael had developed a friendship. They had both saved each other's necks a few times in the past.

"Would that be FBI Agent Dave Martins?" KITT asked.

"Yes it would."

KITT hesitated. "If this has anything to do with Chad, I'm going to have to refuse."

Michael took a deep breath, he really had expected that answer. "All right, could you at least give me the number and I'll dial it myself."

KITT displayed the number on the monitor, and Michael activated the phone and dialed the number manually. The phone rang three times and then was answered.

"Agent Martins"

"Hey Dave, Michael Knight here."

"Well I'll be damned. Knight how are you?" Dave said

"I'm okay, hanging in there anyway. I heard about your big serial killer case last month. That was good work."

"Yea that was a nasty one. I'm glad we got that guy. So is this a social call or do you guys need me to bail your asses out of some kind of trouble?" Dave asked.

"I beg your pardon" KITT said. "My posterior has never required rescue from you."

Michael burst out laughing, and Dave joined in on the other end of the phone line. "No actually this is sort of a little of both. I got a guy I was hoping you could help me check out, but it's unofficial if you know what I mean." Michael said when he stopped laughing.

"You want me to run a background check. Can't the super-ego-super-computer do it?" Dave replied.

"Now what have I done to you Agent Martins?" KITT asked.

Michael chuckled again. "Well truth be told we already ran the guy, but came up blank. I got a tip that he might in your protection program. I'm not looking for deep information, can you just confirm whether you guys are protecting him or not."

"Okay, but if he is the program I can't give you his past information you know that." Dave said

"Yes I know and I'm not asking for that. I'll fax you a photo and the name he is currently using." Michael manually sent the data to Dave's fax line. "You should have it any minute now."

Dave walked over to his fax machine as it started to receive an incoming message. "Yea it's coming in now. I'll look into it and get back to you. Where are you by the way?"

"Just use KITT's private line. I'm on the road home now." Michael answered.

"All right. I got it. Talk to ya later my friend." Dave hung up the phone, and looked at the fax page. He walked over to his computer and scanned in the picture to start a search.

An hour later he placed a call to Michael.

"You have an incoming call from Agent Martins" KITT said interrupting the chess game they were playing.

Michael pushed the buttons to answer the call. "Hey Dave that was fast."

"Yea well that's because I don't have anything for you." Dave said.

"What do mean?" Michael asked.

"This guy is not in our program. He does however have a classified military record. I couldn't get any further than that." Dave replied.

"Whoa, Just how classified was it?"

"Higher than I have clearance for. I think it might be CIA stuff. Who is this guy anyway?" Dave asked

"He started seeing Bonnie about a couple of weeks ago, and I got a bad feeling as soon as I met the guy."

Dave chuckled. "Yea I bet"

"What's that supposed to mean" Michael said a little angry.

"Just that you should have made that move a long time ago. Anyone with any brains or a set of eyes could have seen the writing on the wall."

Michael ignored Dave's comment. "Well my bad feeling just got a whole lot worse. Thanks for your help Dave." Michael cut the transmission.

"KITT I think we better get home a little faster." Michael said, "Let's find the back roads"

"I think I would agree" KITT said and turned off the interstate. He increased the speed to well over 150 mph. "Michael?"

"Yes KITT"

"I'm sorry for not believing you and not trusting you in this."

Michael smiled and lightly patted the top of the dash. "It's all right partner. One of us has to keep objectivity, and I put you in a bad position. I'm the one who should apologize."

"Do you think she is in danger?" KITT asked.

Michael shifted in his seat. He didn't really want to think about that, but KITT needed some reassurance. "Let's hope not"

In an office in Washington DC CIA Agent Pam Riley acknowledged the alarm on her computer. She turned to her partner Pete Quinlin "we just got a hit on Robert Nichols."

Agent Quinlin put down the report he was reading, the expression on his face not one of surprise. "So we've been through this before."

"Yes but this time it's from an FBI computer, Agent David Martins in Chicago," she said.

Now Pete was a little more interested. "Wasn't that the guy who just caught that serial killer recently?"

Pam thought for a minute, "I think so. How bout it, feel like a trip to Chicago?"

Pete picked up his phone "I'll get us on the next flight" he said as he dialed.