The Heart of a Man: 10

Jody walked into the precinct and nearly collided with Chief of Detectives Frank Strenlich. "Sorry, Chief," she grumbled, moving to go around the man.

"Don't be sorry," he muttered. "Be more careful." He turned, but then seemed to change his mind and faced her again. "Where's your errant partner?"

Jody raised her brows at the chief. "Considering he's got a good half hour before he's officially late, probably still dreaming. But of course, I'm only guessing."

Frank gave her a withering look and handed her a slip of paper. "Got a call on some sort of disturbance in a parking garage near that consignment shop you and Pete went to last night. He's not here; you are. Take Blake with you. He looks like he could use some fresh air."

Blake met her gaze over the rim of his glasses, looking as if he'd missed something.

"Aw, Chief," she objected. This wasn't exactly the way she'd planned to spend her morning. There was all sorts of investigating that she didn't think Peter would approve of to be done. "What about--?"

"Whatever it is, it'll keep." Strenlich cut her off, never turning around. "Crime is like that. It never takes a holiday."

"Great," Jody muttered under her breath, as she cast an eye in Blake's direction. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Blake said, before shoving some sort of electronic gadgetry into his desk and following her out of the precinct.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Can you tell if there are a lot of people around, Pop?" Peter asked as he, Jenine and his father exited Caine's building and headed for the Stealth. "Is Johanna okay?

"Pop?" Peter turned around when his father didn't reply. The place that Peter had last seen him was empty. Jenine's face mirrored his surprise. Pushing her back into the partial cover of the doorway, he drew his gun.

"Peter! What's going on? Where's your father?"

"Trouble," Peter replied as he peered cautiously around the doorway and out onto the street. The area was clear in both directions. He gestured that she should stay back, as he quickly covered the distance between the doorway and the car. A grunt and muffled thud, followed by a thump drew his attention to the alley where his father appeared.

"What? You didn't save one for me?" Smiling wryly at the older man, he gestured that Jenine come out. Caine shrugged, while Peter went to survey the alley. Two men dressed in dark jeans and shirts lay crumpled among the debris. A search for identification revealed nothing.

"There is no time for this." His father appeared over his shoulder. "The child is in danger."

"Sure thing, Pop. Help me drag these two into the doorway and I'll call someone from the station to come pick them up."

Caine nodded, and grabbed the shoulders of the heavier man. Once in the building entrance, Peter cuffed the two men around a support beam on the lower level. He hated that he wasn't going to see the expressions of the arresting officers.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Sorry to drag you down here before you go to your retreat," Kermit said as Paul Blaisdell led him into his office.

"If you're really good," Paul shot back, "you'll get me out of it, altogether."

"Somehow, I don't think this is what you had in mind," Kermit said, handing a printout to his captain, "but, can do."

Paul picked up the sheets of paper with trepidation, and placing his glasses on the bridge of nose, began to scan the lines of text. "Damn," he swore softly. "How in the world did Peter manage to get the Department of Defense searching his records after only being back on the job for 24 hours?"

"Go all out. It's the Peter Caine way," Kermit replied.

"And he's got it down to a science," Paul agreed. "Where is he?"

"Hasn't come in yet."

Paul shook his head. "He's working on a jewelry store robbery. What could one possibly have to do with the other?"

"My thoughts exactly," Kermit confided. "Ran a check on Thomas Crawford Enterprises. Aside from a string of jewelry stores and miscellaneous other holdings, the corporation owns an electronics firm that has half a dozen very lucrative defense contracts, and several pending. But the company seems to be above board. There were rumors in less polite circles about a little international intrigue a few months back, but it faded away. Aside from a few press releases about changes in management, that's it."

"So the DOD is checking up on the investigating officers of stolen vases? Or is there some kind of connection between this robbery and the rumors against these people?"

"Normally I might be willing to buy that. But Jody's name didn't come up in our little data transfer. Just Peter. And why only use the license tag number, unless that was all they had to go on?"

"Good point," Paul conceded.

"There is something else that's bothering me about this transfer. While some parts of the IP tag definitely suggest DOD, the protocol wasn't anything official."

"Of course I leave the codes to you," Paul said, looking again at the paper that Kermit had given him. "I know the IP tag is like an address that shows where the request is coming from, and the protocol is like . . . like a format for transmitting the data back and forth. On the surface this looks like an official Department of Defense request for information. What am I missing?"

"The Department of Defense doesn't use this protocol. Whatever it is, it's complex. I had to use the latest version of Anihilator7 decoder to translate it. My guess is that whoever made this request is a heavy hitter who knows how to mole his way into government systems, and how to cover his tracks. Someone who works both outside and inside of official channels. Someone with, shall we say, roving allegiances."

"Damn," Paul whispered, settling back tiredly into his chair. "Only Peter could turn a simple security detail into an international incident."

"Keeps you on your toes." Kermit allowed a small smile.

"Yeah," Paul chuckled. "I want to see him as soon as he gets in. Jody, too."

"Just missed her. I saw her right before you got here. Strenlich sent her off somewhere with Blake."

Paul sat thoughtfully for several moments. "I've got a really bad feeling about this, Kermit."

Kermit's lips lifted into a ghost of a smile. "Having a Kwai Chang Caine moment?"

"No, I'm having a 'what-the-hell's-the-kid-gotten-himself-into-now' moment."

"Could be one and the same."

"Good point."