Second Chances: Someone's Watching Over My Shoulder

A Simon & Simon/Six Million Dollar Man Crossover Story

Once again Rick and A.J. back up Robbie and Chief Johnson on a case, only to find a stalker threatening both father and son.

(This is a work of fiction. No money is being made on it, and the characters are owned by Universal and are only being borrowed for a little while. .)

Prologue

"You have good taste, Mr. Simon, I think your wife will love these earrings." the elderly jeweler smiled, as Rick signed his name to the charge slip.

"I don't think, I know, Mr. Johnson. She was looking at them at the Gem Fest last week. I asked her if she wanted me to tell the Mother's Day fairy about them and she just laughed." he grinned, seeing again the light in Laurie's eyes when she saw the jewelry in the shape of flowers, each one a fire opal.

"Oh, I remember, she was looking at something in a Mother's ring for your mother, except she couldn't remember one of the birthstones she wanted." Mr. Johnson offered.

"That's right, I think it was A.J.'s. That's what she meant by " misplacing a birthday", bless her." Rick felt bad for teasing his wife, then saw something in the jeweler's case that stopped him in his tracks.

"Mr. Johnson, that ring, it looks like the locket I had you make for Laurie, except..." the older man chuckled, "yes, Mr. Simon, it is based on that design, I couldn't resist, except the opal was,well, I just couldn't think of a way to display it except like that. It does open, you know."

He took it out of the case and showed it to Rick.

Hesitant at first, he instantly decided to buy it when he saw the dancing fires of the native tone, set in the center of the ring. Pulling out his wallet, he was stopped by the jeweler's hand.

"No, Mr. Simon, this is my gift to your lady. I don't know quite how to say it, but that story she told on Temple Brown's show last Christmas, it really changed the way I looked at my Grandfather's legacy. I got so many calls and visits, and the letters, well, I hoped someday to show my appreciation of Mrs. Simon, I just hope she likes it."

"I know she will, Mr. Johnson. I'm going to tell Laurie what you said, she'll be very happy." Rick told him as he thanked him and left the shop.

Heading back to the office for an afternoon appointment, he found a note on the door from his brother, saying he was running to the store and would be right back.

Letting himself in, Rick stowed his purchases, then saw there were messages on the office machine.

"Beep, Rick, if you beat me back, call Robbie, he needs to ask you something. I'll be back in 20 minutes." A.J.'s voice was the last message, and making a note to call his son, Rick hit the button to replay the remaining five voice mails.

After wading through three sales pitches and a cancellation, Rick heard the heavy breathing of a man, then an eerily familiar voice.

"I'm watching you and Robbie, Mr. Simon, it's my turn now." Click.

Uneasy, Rick hit replay, then listened again to the weird statement.

"Rick, who's that?" A.J. came in and stood next to his brother.

'Oh, hey, A.J., I don't know, some weirdo, except he mentions Robbie. Let me see who called after him." Rick frowned, he didn't like someone making strange comments about his son.

Hearing nothing but a hang up call after the unnerving message, Rick placed a call to Robbie's office at Phoenix P.D., where he was helping out during vacation time.

"Officer Simon, may I help you." his son's clear voice answered.

"Well, Officer Simon, this is Private Investigator Simon, what can I do for you." Rick said facetiously, getting a laugh in return.

"Pop, that's funny. I'm glad you called." Robbie replied. "Can I have you and Uncle A.J. help with a purse snatching sting? There's been four of these follow and grab attacks in two days, so Ron thought we could stake out a couple of markets and grab these guys. What do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea, count us in!" A.J. called in the background, then Rick chuckled. "You heard your uncle, let's do it!"

That afternoon, Rick and A.J. stopped in to the Chief of detective's office, and found their friend Ron Johnson tersely ordering a reshifting of staff to cover the duty roster.

"Guys, grab a seat, I'll be right with you." He sighed, balancing two phones at once.

The brothers stole a glance at each other, trying not to laugh as Johnson cajoled and pleaded with several officers to accept a shift change, arranged for a budget request to cover the extra overtime, and spoke with Chief Branson.

After a few minutes, he looked up with a weary expression, then scowled at the faces Rick was making. "All right, Rick, get it over with." Immediately both Simons burst into laughter, causing Ron to shake his head and grin.

"Go ahead and laugh, you clowns. You were right; this red tape is going to drive me to the hard stuff, oh, thanks." he saw too late the steaming cup Rick had put on his desk.

"You're welcome. I'm sorry, but you with two phones is too much." Rick chuckled. "I warned you about all the stuff they were going to stick you with, and now this extra patrol?" A.J. added, sobering up.

"You warned me, A.J., I agree, this extra patrol is a nightmare, what with vacations and all. But somebody's got to stop it. The last victim is in the hospital, she wouldn't let go of her purse and they dragged her halfway across the parking lot." Ron told them angrily. Instantly Rick pictured if it were his mother, and his face hardened.

"Well, we're in, what do you want us to do?"

"I want you and A.J. to take turns backing up the team on different stakeouts; they've hit four different stores, the same time both days. Here are the reports, take a look and see if you can spot a pattern." Ron handed them the original paperwork, together with follow-up notes.

After a few minutes, A.J. got an idea. "Ron, what if the purse snatchings are just a cover, what happened just after each of these attacks?"

The chief scanned his copies, then looked up at the Simons with an intense look. "The armored car pickups; each of these attacks occurred right before the guard picks up the receipts. They're zeroing in on the time of the pick-ups. Nice work, A.J."

After an hour of brainstorming, the two brothers headed out to shift roll call, where they each took a day and were paired with a team. Rick was secretly pleased that A.J. was assigned to Robbie's group, they worked well together and he knew it would be better then if it was himself and his son.

"Ok, Rick, I'll see you here Friday. A.J., you get here ten minutes before roll call tomorrow, we'll issue you a uniform and gear." Ron grinned as Rick poked his brother. "You always wanted to play cops and robbers, here's your chance!"

"Yeah, but not with real bullets!" A.J. groaned.