"I can't believe we're going to be here investigating a kidnapping on this day of all days." Briggs said to Stottlemeyer as their car edged closer to the guard shack.

"Yeah" said Leland. "Amazing."

Stottlemeyer's mind was as far away from a space launch as the rocket would soon be to earth. All he could think of was Monk and Natalie.

Had he overreacted in the governor's office? Monk was only trying to get information and the governor was clearly not cooperating. But, why did Monk have to come on like he did? After all, he nearly assaulted the governor of California! The detective was lucky that he wasn't in jail or shot by the governor's guards or worse. No. Leland was right to take him off the case he assured himself, even as his doubts told him otherwise.

But, what was that picture of Rickover? No wonder Monk got set off. The man responsible for his wife's death was once friends with Governor Greenway. Just the sight of him no doubt triggered latent anger in Monk that he had thought he had put away upon solving Trudy's murder. He had seen the look in his friend's eyes before, the day that he found Rickover and brought him to justice. Greenway is lucky he is alive.

And where was Natalie? That poor girl has been through so much. This is all so unfair. She didn't deserve to be pulled into some ex-con's vendetta. She'd better be safe, or Leland himself would make sure that Wagner would pay dearly.

Leland's thoughts were interrupted by activity at the guard shack. A man looking like a superior officer had walked up and was speaking with some urgency to the guards. He rolled down his window and struggled to hear.

"Keep an eye out, men." The officer said. "Nobody goes in or out without being fully searched. We have an intruder on the property, and we don't yet know why he is here. All we know is that he took Specialist Gage's weapon and locked Gage in a janitor's closet, so he is to be considered armed and dangerous."

Who was he talking about? Wagner? Monk? Leland thought.

"Enough of this." Stottlemeyer said as he pulled his car over to the side. "We've got to get inside of that facility."

He parked the car and he and Briggs walked up to the guard shack flashing their badges.

"Captain Leland Stottlemeyer, San Francisco PD." Leland announced. "I couldn't help but overhear that you're having some trouble here."

The officer looked at Stottlemeyer's credentials and said "Nothing for you to worry about, Captain."

"It's everything for me to worry about, officer, when you're talking about intruders brandishing weapons and putting lives in danger. I can go get a warrant if you like, but wouldn't it just be better if you cooperated and let me know what's going on?" he replied.

"Fine. But, let's walk and talk. We've got to find this guy. A lot of high-tech stuff in there. Last thing we need is someone snooping around." The man said.

As they walked, the man filled Leland in with the latest information. "Man somehow gets in here…we're thinking on one of the trucks and is sneaking around some crates against the wall in the hangar. One of our guards, Christopher Gage, spots the guy and pulls his gun on him. Perp raises his hands as if he is going to surrender but then swings around and clocks Gage in the jaw, pulls him into the janitor's closet, gets his weapon and his uniform, and locks him inside."

"Do you have a description?" Leland asked.

"Yeah. Older man somewhere in his 50s. Dark curly hair, somewhere around 5'10"."

"Monk." Stottlemeyer announced.

"Excuse me sir?" the officer asked.

Leland paused for a moment trying to think about what his friend's next move would be like in a situation like this and then looked up at the officer. "Adrian Monk. He's one of the finest detectives that I've ever known and a good man. He's currently investigating the kidnapping of his former assistant and friend Natalie Albright."

"I heard about that case on the news. That's the one with the grocery store bombing." The man replied.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't a bombing. It was some sort of incendiary device and forensics has indicated that it was set off with rocket fuel. "

"Rocket fuel? That's weird. How? Why?" the man asked.

"Officer…uh…"

"Baker." The man replied.

"Okay, Officer Baker, have you seen this man hanging around here anywhere?" Leland asked, holding up a photo of Steve Wagner.

"Wagner? Yeah. I've seen him around a bit. I think he has been doing some technical consulting on the rocket launch that is supposed to take place in about three hours."

"Have you seen him around here recently? We suspect that he may have had something to do with Albright's kidnapping and that he is dangerous." Stottlemeyer continued.

"Seriously? Uh...he was here this morning talking with the governor." Baker answered.

"And where was that?" asked Leland.

"Over there. That office. Governor is still in there I believe." Baker replied.

"Thank you, Officer Baker. Now, if you would, have your men stay on the lookout for Wagner. He's your dangerous one. Not Monk. If they find Monk, don't shoot. Just bring him to me."

"Alright." said Baker. "I'll spread the word."

Stottlemeyer walked over to the office door and went in. The office was far more plush than he expected from the outside. Clearly, it was the office of the higher ups within the company. Sitting in a chair barely big enough for his robust frame was Governor Greenway, his wife was seated next to him sleeping as they waited for the launch. A national news program blared on the large screen TV which sat before them, informing its audience of world news but also counting down to the big launch later that morning.

This was not just any ordinary launch. Rather, Altman's top secret mission was to deliver a military satellite monitoring system to the surface of the moon. This had been kept under wraps, but in the last 24 hours, Governor Greenway's press secretary had let the news know that there was something big about to happen that they would not want to miss.

Greenway hadn't slept a wink. This was his open door to greatness, he thought. The last thing he needed was a thug like Wagner stepping in his way and embroiling him in scandal. Kidnapping? Was he kidding? Greenway was considering his options of how to deal with Wagner and appear the hero in front of the press by finding the girl when Stottlemeyer walked in.

"Governor Greenway." Leland interrupted.

"Captain? What are you doing here?" said Greenway sitting up so quickly that the chair creaked loudly under his weight. Nervously, he looked around for Leland's sidekick.

"Monk's not with me." Leland explained "if that's what you're worried about. I've come here looking for Steve Wagner. I understand that you had some words with him earlier today."

Greenway's eyes shifted as he thought through what he might say next. "Uh, yeah…Wagner was here."

"So he was working for you?" Leland asked, accusatorily.

Greenway knew there was no way of getting around it so he confirmed Stottlemeyer's information.

"He was consulting. Wagner is one of the brightest minds in aeronautics and his talents were desperately needed on this space program."

"He's also a convicted murderer. A murderer whom you pardoned."

"He is. He is that."

"Setting the quid pro quo of the matter aside, thanks to his release we believe he has resorted to kidnapping - and not just any kidnapping, the kidnapping of Natalie Albright. This woman is far more important to us than anything that you have going on here; but, if this doesn't convince you to cooperate, due to the military nature of what is going on here, this very well involve several Federal felonies. If it turns out that Wagner is involved in Mrs. Albright's disappearance, he ain't ever getting out of jail again, and anyone assisting him will find themselves with the same view for a very long time. Now, what do you know?"