Second Chances: A Camping We Will Go
A Simon & Simon/Six Million Dollar Man Crossover Story
Returning from their annual camping trip, Rick and Robbie Simon and their friends are victims of a suspicious plane crash. Lost in the wilderness, they must rely on each other and their families help to make it home.
(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. .)
Chapter 1
"Damn it, A.J., how did I let us get talked into this?" Rick thought, scowling at his little brother as they lay trapped behind a pile of boxes. A.J. glanced back at him, then whispered, "Three of them, two of us, do you want to make a break for it down that hallway." pointing to the right.
"Yeah, at least that'll be better then waiting to be picked off." his brother admitted, squinting down the dark corridor. This was supposed to have been a piece of cake: their friend Ron needed a warrant served on a phony charity that had been working the Phoenix area for a month now. Instead of getting just a door slammed in his face, however, he and A.J. had been met with gunfire and now the two of them were pinned down, only one way out other than past the doorway to the "Sick Kids Fund" where their assailant was waiting for them.
"All right, you two, come out without your guns and we might let you live." a rough voice yelled, so different from the "cultured" voice that had previously greeted them.
Abruptly a flash from Rick's watch announced that his wife was trying to reach him, and he immediately turned on his transmitter.
"Laurie? Sweetheart I need you to call Ron, we're under fire here." he started to tell her softly, only to hear her trembling voice.
"Rick, don't go down the right side, whatever you do, it's a trap! Ron's on his way, darling."
Instantly Rick thought of the one way she might have known something was wrong.
"Good girl, thanks for getting Ron, only, did you have a premonition, darlin'?" he asked, then felt a very faint touch of worry from her as she took a deep breath.
"Yes, Rick, but Robbie was here, he helped me figure out what I saw. There's two men ready to shoot you and A.J., you need to take the left hand hallway, Ron's coming in the back." she answered, sounding calmer.
"All right, sweetheart, you stay put and I'll call you as soon as we're on our way home. I love you, Laurie." he added.
"I love you, too, Rick. Please be careful." he heard Laurie's anxiousness for him.
"I will, angel." he promised, then left his watch on send as he signaled to A.J. that they would go to the left. Raising his eyebrow at him, his brother's frown lifted as he quietly told of his wife's news.
"You're sure she's okay." A.J. asked worriedly.
"Yes, Robbie was with her, bless her." Rick said, seeing Johnson signal at them from the left hand hallway with his flashlight. Gathering themselves, the two brothers made a dash for it, drawing fire that just missed them as they raced through the old office complex.
Suddenly they heard the authorative voice of Ron Johnson: "Freeze, Marshall, there's no way out!"
Instantly A.J. saw a figure dart toward the detective's voice and he yelled, "Look out, Ron", then fired.
Rick pushed him down behind a stack of boxes, then took cover himself.
A wild yell and a thud signaled that Marshall was down, and quickly two other voices were heard, "Don't shoot! We're coming out! Yeah, I give up, man!"
Through the busted door of the would-be killers, two men came out, and quickly were searched and then hustled out of the area by some of the chief's backup.
"Nice, Ron, real nice. I thought you said these guys were harmless." Rick stood up from their cover then gave a hand up to his brother.
"Sorry about that, Rick, thank God Laurie called me to see where you were. I just got a report that Marshall did time for fraud, guess he didn't want to go back to prison." Ron Johnson came over to them, holstering his weapon. "Was that you who picked Marshall off, Rick?"
"Nah, it was the sharpshooter here, he saw him first." Rick nudged A.J. then saw him wince.
"A.J., did you get hit?" Rick started to panic, then relaxed as A.J. shook his head. "No, I think I pulled something when the Range Rider here pushed me behind the boxes." he replied, an embarrassed smile on his face.
"All right you two, let me get you to the station so you can make your statements and I'll have the doc look at you, A.J.. Rick, did you talk to Laurie, is she all right?" Ron asked casually, belying his concern for his friend's wife.
"I think so, Robbie was with her and she sounded anxious but okay. I promised to call her when we were done, I'll do that from your office, you can afford the quarter!" Rick tried to make light of the situation as he helped A.J. limp to his truck.
Once Ron's assistant took the two Simons statements and A.J. was diagnosed with a sprained knee, Rick found a phone and dialed his wife.
"Rick, oh thank God." Laurie picked up on the first ring.
"Sweetheart, it's all right. Ron got there in time and we got the bad guys, too." he answered encouragingly.
"I knew you'd be okay, aren't wives supposed to worry." Rick smiled hearing Laurie trying to make light of her fears. "Is A.J. all right?" she asked, then groaned when Rick told her of his injury.
"Poor guy, and here you two have your trip next week." Laurie reminded him.
"He'll be fine, darlin'. How do you feel, is Robbie still there?" Rick still had flashbacks to his wife's heart attack after a previous warning, but his nervousness was eased by her reply.
"I'm all right, love. Robbie's gone to work, but Rudy's here. Don't worry, darling, he's keeping an eye on me." she giggled as her friend took the receiver from her and added, "So is Mike, son, I've got him standing guard with her on the sofa."
"Thanks Rudy, I know she'll mind him, at least!" Rick chuckled. "I'll be home in about an hour, as soon as I drop A.J. off."
Bidding goodbye to his wife and Rudy, Rick looked up to see A.J. with a pair of crutches in the doorway.
"Everything okay with Laurie?" his younger brother asked as Rick picked up their jackets and helped A.J. down the hallway and toward the exit.
"Yeah, Robbie was with her but he had to go to work. Rudy's there now, he's got Mike keeping her parked in the living room. Best trick I ever taught him, A.J.!" Rick grinned, getting a laugh from A.J.
"Remind me to have you teach Buck the same thing, Linda's got a cold but I still caught her getting up to fix me breakfast after I told her to stay in bed."
"We got lucky, little brother. Both of our wives would spoil us rotten if we'd let them." Rick mused, giving A.J. a hand up into his truck cab.
"What do you mean, if we let them?" his brother snickered, then ducked Rick's swat.
After continuing their jibes at each other, Rick was glad to see his sister-in-law up and doing better when he saw his brother into his house.
"You tell Laurie I'll call her before bedtime, Rick, I want to make sure she's okay." Linda told him as she walked him to the door.
"I will, sis, she'll be relieved to hear that you feel better." Rick assured her.
As he started for home, he realized there was no way A.J. would be mobile enough to go camping with them in the Sierras next week. Planned months in advance, it was a last "boys weekend out" before his daughter's wedding and his grandchild's birth next year.
And it really was a "last call" for him, he'd decided. Rick didn't enjoy sleeping without his wife, even when one or the other had been in the hospital they were together at night.
The last two camping trips he'd been the last one to bed and the first one to rise, and even Towne had stopped teasing him about being without his "bed buddy".
"Guess that's because I miss my wife, too, Rick." Towne had confessed as they broke camp last year. The two brothers had noticed how grumpy he was in the morning, and when Rick had brought it up, the answer had surprised him.
"I just wish she'd slow down with the show and appearances. Maybe when we move next to you guys next spring she'll cut back." The former detective had added, and Rick nodded.
"Just you wait, Laurie'll see to that. I guess it's not breaking a confidence, but Laurie really worries about Temple. Of course she wants to see her do well, but still..." Rick didn't repeat the rest of his wife's thought, that maybe Temple was afraid to cut back on her television show for fear of feeling that she'd bore Towne being around more.
Well, it was still going to be a fun time, and if A.J. couldn't make it, at least it would be different with Robbie and Ian going this trip. It would make for an interesting time, getting to know his son-in-law better, though after almost five years, it seemed like he still couldn't figure the kid out.
With Robbie, well, he really looked forward getting to talk to his son, they'd both been so busy the last couple of months, it would be a break to spend time with Robbie.
As he rounded the bend toward the ranch, he "called" to Laurie, letting her know he was almost home.
Pulling up the driveway, Rick spied his wife in the doorway and was thankful they had arranged a signal for when he arrived, so she wouldn't be caught unawares by someone else driving his truck.
Grinning, he jumped out of the truck and met Laurie halfway up the walk, picking her up in his arms. "There's my girl." he said, then kissed her as she slid into his embrace.
"Hmmm, this is the best part of the day." she whispered, kissing him back then resting her head against his chest.
"Are you all right, darling, I was scared when I saw those men, then the flashes of gunfire out of a dark hallway. It was like watching a bad movie, except I could see their shadows and guns." she told him.
"Not a scratch, Laurie. Only reason A.J. sprained his knee was that I pushed him down and he slipped." Rick assured her, putting his arm around her shoulders and walking into the house.
At once he was ambushed by their dog Mike, who promptly jumped into his arms, sending Laurie and Rudy Wells into a laughing jag. "All right, Mike, I'm glad to see you too!" Rick sputtered, ending upon the sofa with Mike licking his face.
Seeing his wife giggling, he reached out a hand and pulled her down next to him, and their playful dog figured she was fair game so he abandoned Rick and leaped on top of his mistress.
"I love you too, Mikey, good boy!" she laughed, then cuddled him as Rudy shook his head.
"He's one of a kind, son. He wouldn't let her get up until I said "Daddy's home", then it was look out!" the doctor chuckled.
"Best dog I ever trained, Rudy. Speaking of trained..." Rick glanced over at Laurie's happy face.
"She did fine, Rick, Robbie sat with her and she didn't hyperventilate." Rudy answered, then smiled as the subject of their concern looked up from petting Mike.
"I'm all right, it was frightening at first though. At least I had a warning. I was making Robbie lunch, then I felt that something was wrong. Next I see a flash and then the guys under fire."
Rick's heart sank as Rudy reached out and took Laurie's hand. "Missy, I don't want you to be driving while the guys are on their trip. I'm going to change my shift and come stay with you next weekend. That way I can drive you to A.J.'s when it's time to pick them up."
"Sweetheart." Laurie looked downcast until she heard Rick's endearment. "It would make me feel better if someone did drive you when I'm not here."
He saw her gaze up at him with a tremulous smile. "I know, it's a small trade off to have my favorite doctor spend time with me," she said, turning to Rudy and hugging him.
"That's our girl." the older man replied, kissing her cheek then wiping his eyes. "Come on, Mike, lets see what kind of fish we're going to have for dinner."
Excitedly Mike followed him out to the kitchen as Rick gathered his wife in his arms. "I love you, darlin'. I know it's hard having these premonitions. You saved both A.J. and I though, and those crooks'll never take anyone's money in the name of charity again." he reassured her, dropping a kiss on her lips.
"Then it's all worth it, Rick. I love you so much, I can handle anything as long as you come home to me." Laurie murmured, kissing his neck then engaging his lips with hers.
Almost breathless, Rick looked into her eyes as he promised, "Always, my princess. I will always come back to you. Never give up on me, like you never gave up on us."
"I won't, cross my heart and hope to ..." Rick kissed her again, then snickered as she finished "spit."