Jon stepped into a large office room. The lights were off, as usual,
with only the light of the evening sun through the large windows to light
up the room. A tall man with slicked back, brown hair was sitting at the
computer.
"Jon," Anthony said, his back toward his employee. "First off, I want to compliment you on how well you carried out yesterday's mission."
"Thank you. You wanted to speak to me about something.?"
"I've found something that could make us very, very wealthy," Anthony said as he turned around in his chair to face Jon.
Jon nodded. "What is it? I'll get it."
Anthony was looking thoughtful. "Have you ever heard of the Foundation for Law and Government?"
"Who hasn't?" Jon asked with a grin. "The guy that created it was a billionaire."
"Let's go a little deeper, then. What about Team Knight Rider?"
"Team Knight Rider?" Jon echoed. "Sounds like an action series."
"They are a justice agency that is better than the FBI," Anthony explained. "Their technology is outstanding. Have a look." He rolled back in his chair so Jon could see his computer monitor. He had accessed one of the outside security cameras on Minogue's property. The camera was focused on a man creeping through the grounds with a large, black truck following closely behind him.
"Who's the guy?" Jon wanted to know.
"Never mind the guy. He won't find anything. Look at the truck." Anthony gave the security camera the command so zoom in on the truck.
Jon stepped closer for a better look and his eyebrows show up. "No one's driving it," he observed.
"Yes, that's right. And guess what's under that hood besides a good engine and a lot of horsepower?"
"A computer?"
"Even better." Anthony grinned. "An AI."
"No way. An artificial intelligence? Wilton Knight was smart enough to create a real live artificial intelligence?"
Anthony's grin turned into a dark chuckle. "Yes, and we're going to make a lot of money with Knight's little invention."
"You want me to steal the whole truck?" Jon asked with disbelief.
"We don't call it stealing, Jon," Anthony corrected him, "we're just taking what we need to survive. And no, I don't want the whole truck. Just the central processing unit."
"How the heck am I gonna get the CPU out of the car?" Jon inquired.
"Maybe you should go investigate," Anthony advised and turned back to his computer.
Jon huffed and turned to leave as Anthony's tone implied he should. He had almost closed the door behind him when he heard Anthony call his name again.
"Contact Peter Guerra," his boss said without turning around.
~~~@
Jenny checked her watch once again as she took in another deep breath. I better not have been set up, she thought to herself as she waiting at one of the tables in Holy Grounds. Jon was already ten minutes late. From what she remembered, it wasn't like Jon to be late. But then again, that was back in high school. She had yet to find out how much Jon had changed over the years.
She took another drink of her smoothie and decided that she was going to want a second one soon. She heard the door open and looked up hopefully, smiling to see Jon approaching her, wearing that baseball hat again. "Glad you decided to make it," she said as he sat down.
"I am so sorry," Jon apologized. "I got hung up at work."
"I was starting to think maybe you set me up."
Jon pretended to be hurt. "Come on, Jen, have I ever done that to you before?"
"Well, there was this one time."
Jon's jaw dropped open. "Oh come on! I have never gone back on my word!"
Jenny laughed. It was music to Jon's ears. "Well, you're lucky I'm even here at all," she told him. "I'm supposed to be working right now, but let's just keep that on the down low."
"Where do you work?" asked Jon. "You know all about my work-life, so tell me about yours. Are you some famous band artist's back-up dancer like you wanted to be?"
"No," Jenny smiled, "I dumped that dream when I went into the marines."
"You're in the marines?"
"No, I used to be in the marines. Now I work for the Foundation for Law and Government."
Jon's smile was wiped off of his face. "The Foundation for Law and Government?" he sputtered.
"Yeah," Jenny confirmed with a bit of a frown. "What's the matter, Jon?"
He shook his head and tried to regain his composure. "Nothing." He cleared his throat. "So, uh, what do you do there?" He could feel his palms starting to sweat.
"I'll share some confidentiality with you," Jenny said as she leaned forward. "To be more precise, I am a part of Team Knight Rider."
Jon's face paled and he shot out of his chair. "Whoa! Hello! My cell phone's vibrating!" he lied as a cover-up. "Hang on, I'll be back in a second." He made a beeline toward the restrooms before she could reply.
"Okay," Jenny said to herself, "that was odd."
Her comlink beeped. She toyed with her straw and leaned down to pretend to take a drink to she could speak into her comlink without looking strange. "What's up, Domino?"
"Are you sure it's wise to share with Jon about TKR?" Domino asked.
"Eavesdropper!" Jenny accused her partner.
"Well, I'm sorry but I can't help my curiosity."
"I trust Jon, Domino. He's just like he used to be. Besides, it's only fair. He told me about his work." "But you were too awestruck to really pay attention to what he was saying." "Hey, hush!"
~~~@
Jon stood inside the men's restroom facing the door. He had gone somewhere so he could drown in his anxiety alone for a few minutes. He sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"Just my luck," he muttered to himself.
He had finally been reunited with his first love and then he had to turn around and steal from her workplace. He didn't want to give up the money that he was receiving from Bellflower Industries, but he wasn't ready to say goodbye to Jenny yet. How could he turn down her beautiful smile, her wonderful personality.
No! He was falling for her again. That wasn't making things any better. He took in a deep breath and tried to come up with a solution. Maybe he could do this without giving up on one or the other. Maybe he could be sly enough to obtain the artificial intelligence without her ever knowing. After that, he would be done with Team Knight Rider and he could go back to Jenny. That seemed like a good solution, although it was not exactly foolproof. He could do that.
Suddenly, the restroom door swung open. It knocked Jon in the forehead and he stumbled back, mumbling an, "Ow!"
A man stepped into t he restroom, surprised to see Jon standing there. "Sorry," he said.
"It's okay," Jon replied as he rubbed his forehead. With another deep breath, he headed back to the table. Absently reaching into his Jeans pocket, he discovered that he had left his cell phone in his car.
As soon as Jon appeared from around the corner, Jenny knew that something was bothering him. She could see the subtle changes in his expression. He almost seemed troubled. She sat up and watched him as he sat down.
"Sorry 'bout that," he said.
"Everything all right?" Jenny asked him.
Jon looked at her. "What? Oh. Yup."
"Okay good. For a second it looked like you just got fired or something."
"Oh." Jon grinned. "No. That was just a buddy of mine calling. He's an idiot."
"I see. Where is it you work again?"
Jon shrugged. "Nowhere important," he replied as he stood up. Still grinning, he offered his hand. "Care to take a walk to the ice cream shop a few doors down?"
Jenny took his hand and he helped her to her feet as she smiled. "A walk, hm? Like those starlight walks under the moon you used to take me out on?"
"Maybe," Jon replied, but then glanced out through the window. "With the absence of the moon and stars."
"I think I could live with that," Jenny said lightly as they headed out into the city. As they walked the short distance to the ice cream shop, she couldn't help but notice the minute changes in his demeanor. But she decided that maybe it was none of her business. When she stopped to open the door to the ice cream shop, she glanced back to see that Jon had not noticed that she had stopped. "Hey!" she called out.
He whirled around suddenly, looking clueless.
She motioned for him to come inside. "You coming, J?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "J?" Then he grinned. "You called me J."
"Oh, well, I'm sorry," she said as she mirrored the expression. "Is that a crime now?"
"Good memory," Jon commented, standing in front of her as she held the door wide open. "I haven't been called that since high school," he said.
Jenny let the door slip from her fingers. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked.
Jon didn't answer, belatedly realizing that his hand had reached out to hers. He found himself leaning down toward her as she started to close her eyes. It was like time was standing still.
"Excuse me."
Jenny and Jon jumped back, startled, to see a large dark-haired man trying to get into the ice cream shop. Both blushing madly, they stepped aside from the door to let him pass. Then Jon held the door open and nodded through the doorway.
"Let's go inside," he said.
"Good idea," Jenny agreed quickly.
~~~@
Jon watched her with a slight smile as she finished off the ice cream cone that he had bought for her. He had long ago finished his, but she had gotten so involved in her conversation with him that she had forgotten all about her cone until she felt the chocolate chip ice cream beginning to drip onto her fingers.
She smiled at him before checking her watch. "Well, I've really done it today," she said. "I gotta get back to work before the boss gets too suspicious." She started to get up.
"Back to work?" Jon echoed before checking his own watch. "At nine in the evening?"
"Mhm," she replied with a nod.
"Man, what kind of hours do you work, Jen?"
Jenny grinned at him as she started making her way toward the door. "Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week." Jon also rose to walk outside with her. "So in other words, neither rain, nor snow, nor gloom of night will stay you from your duties."
She laughed as they stepped out through the door. "It was really great spending this evening with you, Jon," she told him.
"Yeah, you too," he replied with another one of his stunning smiles. "We should do this more often."
"Not a bad idea," she said. She gave a little sigh. "Well, I have to go back to work."
"Yeah, me too."
Jenny raised an eyebrow. "Back to nowhere important, huh?"
They both smiled.
"I hope to see you again soon," said Jon.
"Don't worry, you will." She reached up and gave him a light, friendly kiss on the cheek. "See ya later."
"You can count on that," was all Jon could say as he watched her walk down the sidewalk toward her car. Guilt set in again as he turned to head back to his own car. He hoped he could get this upcoming mission out of the way and never have to mess with Team Knight Rider again, or FLAG for that matter.
As soon as he opened the driver's side door of his silver Chevy, he heard the familiar melody of his cell phone ringing from the passenger seat where he had left it. He scrambled inside and almost dove for the phone.
"Jon Tanner," he answered it.
"Peter Guerra," was the reply. "I assume Anthony has mentioned me to you."
Jon pulled the door closed. "Go on."
"I know how to obtain the AI. I suggest we work together."
A knot formed at the bottom of Jon's stomach. "Just tell me when."
"So you went on a romantic walk without telling me, huh?" Domino asked as Jenny slipped into the driver's seat.
"What, do you feel like you've missed out on something?" Jenny asked.
"Was there any kissing?"
Jenny's face screwed up into a funny look, but then a short giggle broke through. "For your information, no, there wasn't."
"Yes, there was!" the AI cried. "I can see it in your face."
"No, there wasn't."
"Then there almost was."
Jenny didn't answer, but she couldn't suppress her small smile.
"Look at you, Jenny, I've never seen you like this before! You're head over heels!"
Her smile had only grown bigger. "No comment," she said.
"Kyle's calling," Domino suddenly informed her partner as his image appeared on the dashboard monitor.
"Hey, Jenny," he said, "you heading back to SkyOne?"
"Yeah," Jenny replied. "What's up?"
"Dante was able to clear up that image of our truck driver," Kyle explained. "I think we've IDed him, too."
Jenny nodded. "I'll be there." She pressed a little harder on the throttle.
~~~@
"What have you got?" Jenny asked Kyle as she walked into the situation room. Kyle looked up from the computer he had been working at. "Dante managed to manipulate the image enough to bring some kind of focus into it," he said. "We were able to match the face up with a few possible names." Erica had been reclining in the chair beside Kyle, but now she sat up. "You said you thought you recognized him, so we thought you could help us narrow it down." Jenny nodded. "I'll see what I can do. Let's see our man." Kyle hit the enter key on the keyboard and the altered image appeared on the screen on the wall. Jenny lifted her gaze to study the image. and her heart skipped a beat. She recognized him immediately. The black hair, the brown eyes.
"Jon," she breathed.
Kyle stood up from his seat at the look on her face. "Jenny?"
"You look like you've just seen a ghost," Erica remarked.
Jenny was backing away from the screen, her face ghostly white. "It all makes sense," she murmured almost inaudibly. Then she started to clench her fists, "Traitor!" Her eyes darkened and she rushed out of the room.
"Jenny!" Kyle shouted, abandoning his chair to chase after her.
Erica's arm flew out to stop him. "Let me go after her," she told him.
"What's she doing?"
"Let's just say I know what she's capable of even without a gun." She was gone before Kyle could say anything more.
"Jon," Anthony said, his back toward his employee. "First off, I want to compliment you on how well you carried out yesterday's mission."
"Thank you. You wanted to speak to me about something.?"
"I've found something that could make us very, very wealthy," Anthony said as he turned around in his chair to face Jon.
Jon nodded. "What is it? I'll get it."
Anthony was looking thoughtful. "Have you ever heard of the Foundation for Law and Government?"
"Who hasn't?" Jon asked with a grin. "The guy that created it was a billionaire."
"Let's go a little deeper, then. What about Team Knight Rider?"
"Team Knight Rider?" Jon echoed. "Sounds like an action series."
"They are a justice agency that is better than the FBI," Anthony explained. "Their technology is outstanding. Have a look." He rolled back in his chair so Jon could see his computer monitor. He had accessed one of the outside security cameras on Minogue's property. The camera was focused on a man creeping through the grounds with a large, black truck following closely behind him.
"Who's the guy?" Jon wanted to know.
"Never mind the guy. He won't find anything. Look at the truck." Anthony gave the security camera the command so zoom in on the truck.
Jon stepped closer for a better look and his eyebrows show up. "No one's driving it," he observed.
"Yes, that's right. And guess what's under that hood besides a good engine and a lot of horsepower?"
"A computer?"
"Even better." Anthony grinned. "An AI."
"No way. An artificial intelligence? Wilton Knight was smart enough to create a real live artificial intelligence?"
Anthony's grin turned into a dark chuckle. "Yes, and we're going to make a lot of money with Knight's little invention."
"You want me to steal the whole truck?" Jon asked with disbelief.
"We don't call it stealing, Jon," Anthony corrected him, "we're just taking what we need to survive. And no, I don't want the whole truck. Just the central processing unit."
"How the heck am I gonna get the CPU out of the car?" Jon inquired.
"Maybe you should go investigate," Anthony advised and turned back to his computer.
Jon huffed and turned to leave as Anthony's tone implied he should. He had almost closed the door behind him when he heard Anthony call his name again.
"Contact Peter Guerra," his boss said without turning around.
~~~@
Jenny checked her watch once again as she took in another deep breath. I better not have been set up, she thought to herself as she waiting at one of the tables in Holy Grounds. Jon was already ten minutes late. From what she remembered, it wasn't like Jon to be late. But then again, that was back in high school. She had yet to find out how much Jon had changed over the years.
She took another drink of her smoothie and decided that she was going to want a second one soon. She heard the door open and looked up hopefully, smiling to see Jon approaching her, wearing that baseball hat again. "Glad you decided to make it," she said as he sat down.
"I am so sorry," Jon apologized. "I got hung up at work."
"I was starting to think maybe you set me up."
Jon pretended to be hurt. "Come on, Jen, have I ever done that to you before?"
"Well, there was this one time."
Jon's jaw dropped open. "Oh come on! I have never gone back on my word!"
Jenny laughed. It was music to Jon's ears. "Well, you're lucky I'm even here at all," she told him. "I'm supposed to be working right now, but let's just keep that on the down low."
"Where do you work?" asked Jon. "You know all about my work-life, so tell me about yours. Are you some famous band artist's back-up dancer like you wanted to be?"
"No," Jenny smiled, "I dumped that dream when I went into the marines."
"You're in the marines?"
"No, I used to be in the marines. Now I work for the Foundation for Law and Government."
Jon's smile was wiped off of his face. "The Foundation for Law and Government?" he sputtered.
"Yeah," Jenny confirmed with a bit of a frown. "What's the matter, Jon?"
He shook his head and tried to regain his composure. "Nothing." He cleared his throat. "So, uh, what do you do there?" He could feel his palms starting to sweat.
"I'll share some confidentiality with you," Jenny said as she leaned forward. "To be more precise, I am a part of Team Knight Rider."
Jon's face paled and he shot out of his chair. "Whoa! Hello! My cell phone's vibrating!" he lied as a cover-up. "Hang on, I'll be back in a second." He made a beeline toward the restrooms before she could reply.
"Okay," Jenny said to herself, "that was odd."
Her comlink beeped. She toyed with her straw and leaned down to pretend to take a drink to she could speak into her comlink without looking strange. "What's up, Domino?"
"Are you sure it's wise to share with Jon about TKR?" Domino asked.
"Eavesdropper!" Jenny accused her partner.
"Well, I'm sorry but I can't help my curiosity."
"I trust Jon, Domino. He's just like he used to be. Besides, it's only fair. He told me about his work." "But you were too awestruck to really pay attention to what he was saying." "Hey, hush!"
~~~@
Jon stood inside the men's restroom facing the door. He had gone somewhere so he could drown in his anxiety alone for a few minutes. He sighed and ran a hand over his face.
"Just my luck," he muttered to himself.
He had finally been reunited with his first love and then he had to turn around and steal from her workplace. He didn't want to give up the money that he was receiving from Bellflower Industries, but he wasn't ready to say goodbye to Jenny yet. How could he turn down her beautiful smile, her wonderful personality.
No! He was falling for her again. That wasn't making things any better. He took in a deep breath and tried to come up with a solution. Maybe he could do this without giving up on one or the other. Maybe he could be sly enough to obtain the artificial intelligence without her ever knowing. After that, he would be done with Team Knight Rider and he could go back to Jenny. That seemed like a good solution, although it was not exactly foolproof. He could do that.
Suddenly, the restroom door swung open. It knocked Jon in the forehead and he stumbled back, mumbling an, "Ow!"
A man stepped into t he restroom, surprised to see Jon standing there. "Sorry," he said.
"It's okay," Jon replied as he rubbed his forehead. With another deep breath, he headed back to the table. Absently reaching into his Jeans pocket, he discovered that he had left his cell phone in his car.
As soon as Jon appeared from around the corner, Jenny knew that something was bothering him. She could see the subtle changes in his expression. He almost seemed troubled. She sat up and watched him as he sat down.
"Sorry 'bout that," he said.
"Everything all right?" Jenny asked him.
Jon looked at her. "What? Oh. Yup."
"Okay good. For a second it looked like you just got fired or something."
"Oh." Jon grinned. "No. That was just a buddy of mine calling. He's an idiot."
"I see. Where is it you work again?"
Jon shrugged. "Nowhere important," he replied as he stood up. Still grinning, he offered his hand. "Care to take a walk to the ice cream shop a few doors down?"
Jenny took his hand and he helped her to her feet as she smiled. "A walk, hm? Like those starlight walks under the moon you used to take me out on?"
"Maybe," Jon replied, but then glanced out through the window. "With the absence of the moon and stars."
"I think I could live with that," Jenny said lightly as they headed out into the city. As they walked the short distance to the ice cream shop, she couldn't help but notice the minute changes in his demeanor. But she decided that maybe it was none of her business. When she stopped to open the door to the ice cream shop, she glanced back to see that Jon had not noticed that she had stopped. "Hey!" she called out.
He whirled around suddenly, looking clueless.
She motioned for him to come inside. "You coming, J?"
He raised an eyebrow at her. "J?" Then he grinned. "You called me J."
"Oh, well, I'm sorry," she said as she mirrored the expression. "Is that a crime now?"
"Good memory," Jon commented, standing in front of her as she held the door wide open. "I haven't been called that since high school," he said.
Jenny let the door slip from her fingers. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked.
Jon didn't answer, belatedly realizing that his hand had reached out to hers. He found himself leaning down toward her as she started to close her eyes. It was like time was standing still.
"Excuse me."
Jenny and Jon jumped back, startled, to see a large dark-haired man trying to get into the ice cream shop. Both blushing madly, they stepped aside from the door to let him pass. Then Jon held the door open and nodded through the doorway.
"Let's go inside," he said.
"Good idea," Jenny agreed quickly.
~~~@
Jon watched her with a slight smile as she finished off the ice cream cone that he had bought for her. He had long ago finished his, but she had gotten so involved in her conversation with him that she had forgotten all about her cone until she felt the chocolate chip ice cream beginning to drip onto her fingers.
She smiled at him before checking her watch. "Well, I've really done it today," she said. "I gotta get back to work before the boss gets too suspicious." She started to get up.
"Back to work?" Jon echoed before checking his own watch. "At nine in the evening?"
"Mhm," she replied with a nod.
"Man, what kind of hours do you work, Jen?"
Jenny grinned at him as she started making her way toward the door. "Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week." Jon also rose to walk outside with her. "So in other words, neither rain, nor snow, nor gloom of night will stay you from your duties."
She laughed as they stepped out through the door. "It was really great spending this evening with you, Jon," she told him.
"Yeah, you too," he replied with another one of his stunning smiles. "We should do this more often."
"Not a bad idea," she said. She gave a little sigh. "Well, I have to go back to work."
"Yeah, me too."
Jenny raised an eyebrow. "Back to nowhere important, huh?"
They both smiled.
"I hope to see you again soon," said Jon.
"Don't worry, you will." She reached up and gave him a light, friendly kiss on the cheek. "See ya later."
"You can count on that," was all Jon could say as he watched her walk down the sidewalk toward her car. Guilt set in again as he turned to head back to his own car. He hoped he could get this upcoming mission out of the way and never have to mess with Team Knight Rider again, or FLAG for that matter.
As soon as he opened the driver's side door of his silver Chevy, he heard the familiar melody of his cell phone ringing from the passenger seat where he had left it. He scrambled inside and almost dove for the phone.
"Jon Tanner," he answered it.
"Peter Guerra," was the reply. "I assume Anthony has mentioned me to you."
Jon pulled the door closed. "Go on."
"I know how to obtain the AI. I suggest we work together."
A knot formed at the bottom of Jon's stomach. "Just tell me when."
"So you went on a romantic walk without telling me, huh?" Domino asked as Jenny slipped into the driver's seat.
"What, do you feel like you've missed out on something?" Jenny asked.
"Was there any kissing?"
Jenny's face screwed up into a funny look, but then a short giggle broke through. "For your information, no, there wasn't."
"Yes, there was!" the AI cried. "I can see it in your face."
"No, there wasn't."
"Then there almost was."
Jenny didn't answer, but she couldn't suppress her small smile.
"Look at you, Jenny, I've never seen you like this before! You're head over heels!"
Her smile had only grown bigger. "No comment," she said.
"Kyle's calling," Domino suddenly informed her partner as his image appeared on the dashboard monitor.
"Hey, Jenny," he said, "you heading back to SkyOne?"
"Yeah," Jenny replied. "What's up?"
"Dante was able to clear up that image of our truck driver," Kyle explained. "I think we've IDed him, too."
Jenny nodded. "I'll be there." She pressed a little harder on the throttle.
~~~@
"What have you got?" Jenny asked Kyle as she walked into the situation room. Kyle looked up from the computer he had been working at. "Dante managed to manipulate the image enough to bring some kind of focus into it," he said. "We were able to match the face up with a few possible names." Erica had been reclining in the chair beside Kyle, but now she sat up. "You said you thought you recognized him, so we thought you could help us narrow it down." Jenny nodded. "I'll see what I can do. Let's see our man." Kyle hit the enter key on the keyboard and the altered image appeared on the screen on the wall. Jenny lifted her gaze to study the image. and her heart skipped a beat. She recognized him immediately. The black hair, the brown eyes.
"Jon," she breathed.
Kyle stood up from his seat at the look on her face. "Jenny?"
"You look like you've just seen a ghost," Erica remarked.
Jenny was backing away from the screen, her face ghostly white. "It all makes sense," she murmured almost inaudibly. Then she started to clench her fists, "Traitor!" Her eyes darkened and she rushed out of the room.
"Jenny!" Kyle shouted, abandoning his chair to chase after her.
Erica's arm flew out to stop him. "Let me go after her," she told him.
"What's she doing?"
"Let's just say I know what she's capable of even without a gun." She was gone before Kyle could say anything more.
