Disclaimer: Don't own Automan—wish I did. Please don't sue. All of the disclaimer see Chapter 1.

Ch. 8--Attacked

Lieutenant Kovilli and Sergeant Tang entered the main lobby of the Holiday Inn. They walked up to the main desk. The same maitre'd that had checked in Auto and Wally greeted them.

Lt. Kovilli showed the maitre'd his badge. "Hello. Which room is Walter Nebicher staying in?"

The maitre'd appeared wary. "He's not in any kind of trouble, is he?"

"No, we just want to ask him some questions. We thought it would be best if we came down and asked them in person."

The maitre'd relaxed. "He is in suite 406."

"Thank you," replied Kovilli, gratefully. They turned to the elevators and headed up to the fourth floor. When they exited the elevator, they saw two plaques on the wall opposite the elevator. One said "400-415" with an arrow pointing down the left-handed side of the hallway. The other plaque read "416-430" with an arrow pointing down the right-handed side of the hallway. They turned left following the first plaque. As the lieutenant followed the number plaques on the doors, he soon realized the numbers on the right-handed side were even. Within seconds he and the sergeant had reached 406. Kovilli knocked on the door.

Walter had been examining the police files on the murder investigation of his friend on his computer for anything that might possibly implicate Sergeant Tang in his friend's murder or any drug connection when he heard the knock on the door. He got up and answered the door. He recognized Tang, whom he had talked to not too long ago, but he didn't recognize the gray-haired man standing next to him.

"Walter Nebicher?" asked the gray-haired man.

"Yes," replied Wally, confused.

"I'm Lieutenant Ted Kovilli," stated Lieutenant Kovilli. "I believe you've already met the sergeant here."

"Yes. How can I help you, Lieutenant?"

"May we come in?"

"Okay." Wally stepped further inside the room to let the two officers in. He closed the door behind them.

"Sergeant Tang informed me that Forest Ranger Ridge had called you yesterday?"

"Yes." Wally was unsure where the lieutenant was heading with this conversation. "I already told the sergeant what John had told me."

"I just came to clarify some points, if you don't mind?" replied Kovilli congenially.

"All right. What exactly did you need me to explain?"

"First, how did you know Ranger Ridge?"

"We were good friends in high school."

"What exactly did he say to you when he called you?"

"Like I told the sergeant, he said he was in serious trouble. He had overhead some local cops and his partner arguing about a money deal. He had seen the local cops kill his partner and were after him as well. He also mentioned drugs."

"Did he happen to mention to you the names of the local officers--even in passing?"

"No, he didn't."

While the lieutenant was busy questioning Nebicher, the sergeant was inconspicuously scanning the suite for any clues as to who else Nebicher might have talked to and what else he knew. When he noticed the computer was on, he started edging close enough to read the monitor. When he was close enough to read the monitor, he realized it was displaying the police investigation of the Ridge-Daniels case along with his name prominently displayed in a search in correlation to any implication in John's murder and/or possible drug connections. He walked up to Lieutenant Kovilli and Nebicher and said, "Sorry to interrupt, Lieutenant, but I need to talk to you privately for a moment."

The lieutenant excused himself and they went to a different room. Kovilli turned to Tang once they were out of earshot of Nebicher. "What is it, Pete? Find anything?"

"Yeah, you could say that. I got a chance to look at his computer, which he had running. He was running a search trying to connect me to the murders as well as drugs. He's beginning to figure out what's going on."

"Officer Nebicher is getting too inquisitive for his own good. We're going to have to do something about that." The lieutenant took out his gun and lead the sergeant back out into the room Nebicher was in.

Upon seeing the gun aimed at him, Wally exclaimed, "Hey! What's going on here?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Nebicher," replied Kovilli without sounding sorry. "but we can't have you ruining a perfectly good operation. Grab your coat. We're going for a stroll in the park." Wally complied by slowly and carefully reaching for his winter coat and slowly putting it on. 'Come on, Auto,' thought Wally desperately.

The lieutenant put his gun in his coat pocket still keeping it aimed at Wally. They exited the hotel. The lieutenant told the sergeant to get into the driver's seat of the lieutenant's car, a Chrysler. He instructed Wally to get into the front passenger seat. He opened the right backseat door and climbed in with his gun still trained on Wally. The sergeant drove the car to Waterton/Glacier International Park.

At the park, they got out of the car. The lieutenant indicated with his gun which way for Wally to start walking further into the forest. The sergeant also had his gun out and aimed at Wally. Wally started walking all the while trying to think of ways out of his current situation. He could try to make a run for it, but they'd probably shoot him before he got very far anyway. These two knew this park better than he did. Even if he did manage to get away without getting shot, they'd probably find him within a short amount of time. Besides, he'd probably get lost, and they'd shoot him on sight just for the trouble he would have caused them. His best hope was buying time for Automan to recharge and find him. He tried to get them talking. "So, you were the local cops involved in the argument." He waited for any response. Both the lieutenant and the sergeant remained silent. He tried again. "John overheard too much and you decided to kill him."

"Shut up," growled the sergeant. They had reached a small, disused, secluded camping area deep within the park. "Get in there." He grabbed Wally's arm and shoved him into the area while still keeping his gun trained on him.

"Since you're not going to live long enough to tell anyone," bragged Kovilli. "Steve was helping us funnel drugs into the country through the park when he got too greedy for his own good. John, unfortunately, was just in the wrong place at the wrong time making him a liability just like your snooping has made you a liability. This is the end of the line for you." He raised his gun and smashed the butt of his gun on Wally's left temple knocking Wally out cold. Wally collapsed face first into the snow. Kovilli turned to the sergeant. "Make it look like he was attacked and robbed."

Tang nodded, put his gun away, and stepped closer to Nebicher's prone body. He kicked him a few times on the left side in the ribs and grabbed Nebicher's wallet out of Nebicher's pants pocket. He took out the money and tossed the wallet a couple of feet away. Finished, he turned to Kovilli to see what the lieutenant was going to do next.

"Come on. Let's head back to the hotel. See what else we might turn up at his suite," ordered Kovilli.