Chapter 6
"Where are we going?" Carlee asked, nearly twenty minutes later, trying to cover her struggles to release the lock pick from its concealed home in the sleeve of Michael's jacket. He'd always made this look so easy!
Bradford looked over at Carlee, then reached behind her and roughly ripped the pick from the sleeve. "Nice try! Hector and Ramon wanted to see who it was that managed to find their secret stash."
"If my hands were free, I'd show you how I found it!" Carlee growled.
Without warning, the radio blared to life, making Bradford jump. Carlee felt the handcuffs loosen, as they unlocked. She grabbed them, hoping to hold them so they looked like they were still secure.
Bradford fumbled around the dashboard trying to find the radio controls. "What the..." he spat out over the din.
Just as suddenly, the radio went off again.
"Yeah, been meaning to fix that. It's been on the fritz for a while," Carlee said, looking out the window as they pulled into a huge gravel driveway.
It was curved in front of a large mansion. The grounds were well tended, with green grass and flowering bushes. At the side of the house, Carlee could see a helipad with a helicopter idling on it. Carlee briefly wondered how Rodriguez could get away with having an armed helicopter on his property.
She could see a chain gun on one side and a rocket launcher on the other. As she watched, two men walked from the house to the helicopter. As soon as they were in, the chopper's rotors were beginning to spin faster.
"I think this is where we make our exit, K.I.T.T.," Carlee said in a rush.
Bradford looked over at Carlee, his eyes narrowed as he tried to comprehend what Carlee could have meant.
The next instant, Bradley looked up in alarm, as the T-top popped open.
His eyes were as round as saucers when he went sailing out of the driver's seat and hit the manicured lawn several feet away.
Bradford watched in shock as the car drove away, Carlee still sitting in the passenger seat.
"Somehow, I think they had this planned from the start, K.I.T.T." Carlee said, as she crawled over the center console and into the driver's seat.
"I think you may be right. The rockets are heat seekers," K.I.T.T.'s voice carried mild alarm.
"Call the police. Get them out here to pick up Bradford. We're going to have to deal with that helicopter ourselves."
The chopper had just lifted off the ground.
Carlee took control, spinning K.I.T.T. through a three sixty as quickly as she could. Stomping on the accelerator, she sent them back the way they had come. Gravel shot out from under K.I.T.T.'s tires as he gained traction. Bradford, still sitting on the lawn, threw his hands up as some of the gravel flew his way.
A second later, the first chain gun bullets hit K.I.T.T.'s rear end. K.I.T.T.'s molecular bonded shell caused the bullets to bounce off harmlessly. They didn't want to find out what affect one of the rockets might have on him, though.
As soon as K.I.T.T.'s tires hit the asphalt road, Carlee punched him up to nearly two hundred miles per hour, temporarily leaving the helicopter behind.
It didn't take long for the chopper to start gaining on them, again. This time, it let loose a rocket. They hadn't had a lock, though, so it slammed into the roadside a few dozen feet away.
"I can't take a direct hit from one of those rockets, Carlee!" K.I.T.T. exclaimed.
"Okay, K.I.T.T. They wont' get another shot at us!"
"Whatever we're going to do, we need to do soon, they're acquiring a targeting lock," anxiety filled K.I.T.T.'s voice.
"Microlock their motor, K.I.T.T., force them to land," Carlee exclaimed, looking over her shoulder to see where the chopper had gone.
"We have to be closer," K.I.T.T. replied.
"Have it ready, then," Carlee shot back. "Let's try this!" Carlee nearly stood on the brakes, bringing K.I.T.T.'s speed down so fast, the chopper shot past overhead. Carlee jammed her foot down on the gas again, this time accelerating only enough to put them directly under the chopper.
"Now, K.I.T.T.!"
K.I.T.T. hadn't needed to be told, though. As soon as the chopper was in range, he activated the microjammer. The chopper's motor began to cut out, and the pilot, Ramon, was forced to land.
As soon as it touched down, Rodriguez and Ramon both jumped out and started running in opposite directions.
K.I.T.T. came to a screeching halt. Carlee jumped out and ran after Ramon. "Go get Rodriguez," she shouted over her shoulder.
Tires throwing up dirt, K.I.T.T. sped off after Rodriguez.
* * *
Ramon fired back toward Carlee as he ran, but he wasn't truly aiming, so all of his shots missed. Carlee was running full tilt after him, gaining on him quickly.
Only feet separating them, Carlee jumped at him, tackling him to the ground. She grabbed his gun hand with both of hers, smashing hand and gun into the ground several times. Desperation made her strong, and he finally let go of the gun.
He threw her off, and climbed to his feet.
Carlee rolled with the throw, taking the impact on her left shoulder and hip. She felt something cold and hard under her, and grabbed the gun.
She scrambled to her feet. The gun was in her hand, but not in a firing grip, so she used it as a club, instead. Carlee swung the butt of the gun at Ramon's head as hard as she could, putting all her rage at this man behind the swing.
The gun connected with a thud, hitting Ramon in the temple. He dropped like a stone.
Carlee adjusted her grip on the gun. She aimed at Ramon's head, her finger tightening on the trigger.
Tears streamed down her face. She heard sirens quickly approaching in the distance. She knew that if she was going to do this, it had to be now, or she would never have another chance.
"What should I do, K.I.T.T.?" she asked into the comm link.
K.I.T.T. didn't have to ask what she was talking about. He knew. "I can't condone any actions that might endanger a human life, Carlee. You know that!"
"You're right," Carlee replied. She let out her breath, and released the tension on the trigger.
Two black and white cruisers screeched to a stop several feet away, and Carlee allowed them to take control of the situation.
* * *
Rodriguez didn't get far. K.I.T.T. roared past him, and skidded to a stop so close in front of him that Rodriguez ran right into K.I.T.T.'s driver side door.
K.I.T.T. opened the door hard enough to throw Rodriguez backward. Rodriguez landed on his back side, dazed.
"You're lucky I'm programmed to preserve human life," K.I.T.T. growled at Rodriguez. "That was my partner and best friend you had killed!"
Rodriguez tried to get up, but K.I.T.T. was doing doughnuts around him so tightly that he feared moving.
When K.I.T.T.'s scanners picked up the black and whites, he stopped. One of the officers came over and hauled Rodriguez to his feet. He was handcuffed, read his rights, and deposited in the back of one of the cruisers.
Carlee walked over to K.I.T.T., breathing heavily. K.I.T.T. opened the driver's door for her, and she sank gratefully into the seat.
K.I.T.T. turned on the oxygen, and scanned Carlee for injuries.
"Are you okay?" he asked, noting the tear streaked dust on her face.
"Yes, K.I.T.T. It's finally over!" Carlee sobbed.
"Not quite," K.I.T.T. paused uncertainly.
"What, K.I.T.T.?" Carlee demanded.
"There's something you need to know," K.I.T.T. began, not sure how to tell Carlee.
"Out with it!"
"Have you been feeling sick in the mornings, felt exhausted when you're normally wide awake, or had major mood swings?" K.I.T.T. asked.
Thinking about it for a moment, Carlee cautiously said, "Yes. Why, K.I.T.T.?"
"I noticed some major hormone shifts the last several times I've scanned you, Carlee. Hormones that are only present in the female body during pregnancy."
"What?" Carlee asked, surprise, shock, wonder, and happiness warring each other for dominance on her face.
"Why did you keep it from me, and how long have you known, K.I.T.T.?" Carlee demanded, crossing her arms and glaring at K.I.T.T.'s voice modulator.
"Since shortly after Michael's funeral. I was afraid of how you might react, so I kept it from you," K.I.T.T. explained, not wanting Carlee to be mad at him.
"You're right. I probably wouldn't have reacted well to it at that point," Carlee admitted.
Carlee shifted K.I.T.T. into gear, and they headed back toward the F.L.A.G. mansion.
"I miss him," K.I.T.T. said a few minutes later.
"I know, K.I.T.T. I miss him, too," Carlee replied, gently stroking the gull wing steering wheel.
"Does it ever get any better?" K.I.T.T.'s voice was barely more than a whisper.
"I've heard that in time, it does."
"How long? How many days, hours, and minutes? I don't like this feeling, as if a piece of me has been ripped away!" K.I.T.T.'s voice was filled with hopeless desperation.
"It's different for everybody, K.I.T.T. You just have to keep slogging forward. Each day will get a little easier," Carlee tried to reassure K.I.T.T. as best she could.
"Is that working for you?" K.I.T.T. asked.
"No, not really," she admitted.
"What do you think Michael would want us to do?" K.I.T.T.'s voice had dropped back to a near whisper.
"He would want us to keep going, together. To be there for each other and take care of each other," Carlee responded confidently.