"The mail's arrived, Superintendent" said Brian Clark, depositing an odd assortment of letters on Danny Jackson's desk.
"That's excellent," Danny replied, "I'll see if there's been anything vitally important delivered."
Brian subsequently left the room, to return to his own quorum of paperwork. Danny opened some of the letters up – "nothing important, just the usual police requests," he thought. He then came upon something interesting. "Listen to this you two," Danny called to Cindy and Chris, "in accordance with California's Police Partnership program, officers from various Californian cities, are to be sent to several cities around the world on detachment, for three months."
"Three months – isn't that quite a long time?" asked Cindy.
"It is," answered Danny, "though according to this letter, the length of time was decided upon a couple of months back."
"What does this letter have to do with us?" inquired Chris.
"I was just getting to that Chris; apparently the three most senior officers, in the Central LA ward, are going to go on detachment to Scotland Yard in London, for three months," Danny replied.
"That's us" responded Cindy.
"Indeed it is," Danny answered, "and we can't get out of the temporary posting."
"Get out of it," replied Chris, "I don't want to get out of it – I think it'll be neat being with Scotland Yard for a couple of months."
"In that case, you fax Scotland Yard, and tell them we'll be there two weeks from today," said Danny.
"Sure thing," Chris responded, "I'll do it now."
Chris left the room to do the faxing, but returned about 20 seconds later. "I've forgotten their fax number," he said embarrassedly
"Don't worry Chris," answered Danny, "it's not something that sticks in the mind easily; I'll write it down for you."
Danny wrote out the number, and handed the piece of paper to Chris, who then left the room again.
"You know Danny," said Cindy happily, "this detachment is quite a good thing."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, we'll be over in England, while the British F1 GP is on; we can see Bobby in action," Cindy replied with enthusiasm, "he's done super this year, and he may just take home the drivers title."
"I wouldn't get my hopes up," said Danny, "Lauda is in good form, as is Alain Prost – your brother's got some stiff competition." "Anyway," he continued, "this is only Bobby's fourth season; you can't expect him to win this early on in his career."
"Why not," retorted Cindy, "it's been done before."
"I'm not saying it won't happen," Danny rejoindered, "just that you shouldn't expect it to."
"Ah, I get where you're coming from now," replied Cindy. She continued, "Anyway, back to this detachment – what will it entail, basically?"
"Basically Cindy," Danny answered, "we'll be involved in a number of cases that Scotland Yard need our assistance with – that'll probably take half the time – the other half will be paid leave."
"So we're getting paid for six weeks vacation – cool," Cindy responded, "there are a million and one things I'd love to do and see in England and Europe – now I've got the chance."
Chris returned to the room, having sent Scotland Yard the message. He sat back down in his comfy chair, and swivelled to face Danny. "They've got the message – I hope," Chris said to Danny.
"Well, they should give us some conformation in the coming days, as well as telling us what our first case will be," Danny responded.
"Danny, have I your permission to phone Bobby and tell him that we'll be in England to see him race?" asked Cindy
"Of course," replied Danny, "There's nothing pressing that we have to do today anyway."
"In that case," said Cindy, "can I phone my other brothers and sisters, and my parents as well, just to tell them me and Chris'll be in Europe for three months."
"You might as well," answered Danny, "it'll be better than sitting around doing paperwork – which is what I'll be doing for the remaining two hours of today, till I'm off duty." He continued, "I almost wish that somebody would commit a crime, so I'd have something else to do, but, I suppose I should be grateful that LA's criminals have taken today off. By the way, Chris, you can phone your family too – tell them the news."
"Thanks Danny," Chris responded, "David will probably be the most pleased of all of them."
"Why's that Chris?" asked Danny.
"Easy, he's being sent by NASA to England, to liaise with the ESA, regarding their part in picking up signals from Voyager 2, on its rendezvous with Uranus later this year."
"Ah, now I see why he'd be so pleased you're going to England"
"It won't be just me though, will it," replied Chris, "you'll take Kasey and Stacey with you, I assume – they are your girlfriends, unless something's happened in the last 24 hours, of which I'm not aware."
"No, no, they're still my girlfriends, although I've got to the stage in the relationship, where I'm gonna have to choose between them – I always knew I'd have to make a choice at some point, and now's that point."
"Have you decided yet?" asked Cindy inquisitively.
"Yes, I have," replied Danny, "the hard part's gonna be telling one of them, that they are in effect dumped; of course they always knew one of them would get chosen, and the other would be effectively dumped, but they still wanted me to date them both at the same time."
"We'll how else do choose between identical twins?" asked Chris rhetorically. He continued, "Who have you chosen?"
"Kasey – and don't you tell her or Stacey before tonight; I'm breaking the news to them at dinner – I've invited Will along to pacify Stacey."
"Smart move," said Cindy confidently, "Will's been pining after Stacey for about a year now – finally he'll get her."
"I agree it's a sure thing," replied Danny, "when I say that I've chosen her sister, she'll leap into Will's embrace quicker than you can say Jack Robinson; I know how she feels about him, she loves Will, it's just her pig-headed personality that wouldn't allow her to dump me for him. I seriously suspect that if I'd chosen Stacey instead of Kasey, she wouldn't have had the guts to turn me down, so it's easier on everyone this way."
"Does that mean, only Kasey will be coming with us to England?" asked Cindy.
"Not necessarily, as I'm going to put it to Will and Stacey that they take a holiday in England, a sort of romantic three months break – all expenses paid by me."
"When did you think of this," said Chris questioningly.
"About a minute ago, when I was telling you who I'd chosen to continue as my girlfriend; I think the gesture will help smooth things over, and make it all hunky-dory. Now, I mustn't keep you two from making your phone calls."
Cindy got up out of her swivel chair, and walked over to one of the three phones in the room; Chris went over to another one of them. Cindy dialled Bobby first; Chris dialled David. Bobby answered the phone almost instantly.
"Hello, Bobby Brady here," he answered.
"Hey Bobby, it's me," replied Cindy, "I've got some fab news for you."
"What kind of fab news?"
"The kind where I tell you, that me and Chris, Danny and Kasey, and hopefully Will Cooper and Stacey, are gonna be in England to watch you race at the British GP."
"That's groovy – are you just going over to see me race?"
"No, me, Chris and Danny, are going on detachment to Scotland Yard for a couple of months."
"That sounds exciting – when are you leaving?"
"Two weeks from today, hopefully on the same plane as you, if it's not full."
"It wasn't when I booked, in fact, it was half empty, and no-one other than me, Millie, David, or Rach, was in First Class."
"In that case, we may book First Class, if it isn't too expensive."
"Not if you book for a group of people it isn't. Anyway, wait till I tell Millie you're going to England; she'll probably go hyper."
"Don't tell me she forgot to take her tablet this morning."
"Yeah, she forgot. She got into a muddle, and in the confusion forgot to take it; she only remembered to take it at lunchtime, meaning she's still likely get hyped up – of course she'd get excited even if she had taken her tablet this morning." He continued, "You mentioned Danny and Kasey in the same breath, but not Stacey; does that mean he's finally made his choice?"
"Yes," replied Cindy, "it does – he's telling them tonight at dinner, Will's coming along to placate Stacey, and with any luck he'll finally receive her attentions."
"Smart move. By the way Cind, have you told anyone else you're going to England?"
"Not yet Bobby, I wanted you to be the first to know."
Meanwhile, Chris had managed to reach David's wife Rachel.
"So you're going to England as well – fantastic" said Rachel, "David will be thrilled, as will your parents."
"Why my mum and dad?"
"Didn't you know? Your dad Adrian has been asked by Tate Gallery in London, to be present for the unveiling of one of his paintings."
"So, they finally decided include one of his works – it's been long enough. I suppose they couldn't ignore his success forever."
"Indeed they couldn't; though I never understood why they overlooked him for all these years."
"Simple Rach, Tate dislikes realistic City-scapes, and my dad paints a lot of realistic City-scapes."
"Well anyway, he'll be pleased that you can be there at the unveiling."
"It won't just be me though, Kasey's coming to England as well, and with any luck Stacey too, plus David'll be there obviously."
"Hang on a sec; so Danny's made his choice between Kase and Stace?" asked Rachel
"Yep – he's chosen Kasey to continue as his girlfriend, but he hasn't told them yet; he's gonna do it at dinner tonight."
"That could be volatile; you know what Stacey's like."
"I know what she's like," Chris replied, "I have known her all her life." "Danny knows what she's like too," Chris continued, "so that's why he's invited Will Cooper along; he'll pacify Stacey, who will then leap into his arms – you know Stacey likes Will, but she's been too stubborn to admit it to anyone, least of all Danny."
"I agree, she can be very stubborn when she wants to, and this was or is one of those times. By the way, do you know when you're actually leaving for England?"
"Two weeks from today, on the same flight as you and David, and in First Class like you and David. As soon as we get conformation of our posting, we'll book the tickets. And, before you ask, no I haven't told Jess and Tom yet, I thought I'd let you and David know first."
"In that case," replied Rachel, "if you still have to ring Tom and Jess, I'll let you do that – adios Chris."
"Adios to you too Rach."
Chris hung up the phone, and proceeded to dial Jess and Tom's number; after about 30 seconds, Jess answered the phone; by this time, Cindy had finished talking to Bobby, and was now on the phone to Marcia.
"Yo, Jess Walker speaking at ya," Jess answered, "who is it?"
"It's me, your slightly surprised brother Chris; what language are you speaking?"
"The language of the 80's bro – get with the times."
"I am with the times," Chris responded, "and I can tell you, normal people don't speak like that, only rappers do, and believe me, you're no rapper."
"I was only trying to sound cool Chris."
"Well, if I were you, I'd stick to talking normally, then maybe people would be able to make sense of what you're saying."
"Did you ring for any special reason, or was it just to insult my use of the English language?" Jess retorted.
"No sis, there is a reason for my call. I'm calling to let you know, me, Cindy, and Danny are going to England for three months, on detachment to Scotland Yard."
"What a funny coincidence," replied Jess.
"What coincidence?" asked a puzzled Chris.
"The BBC has asked Marcia, Wally, and myself, to record a series of our cooking show, Simply Cooking, in England, at their Television Studios, in a few weeks time."
"Well I'll be darned, my detachment to Scotland Yard starts in about two weeks time – I'll be in England at the same time as you, as will David and Rachel, and mum and dad – it seems the whole family will be in England. Hold on a second, I'll tell Cindy" "Hey Cindy," called Chris, "did you know Jess and Tom and Marcia and Wally, are all going to be in England at the same time as us?"
"Yes I do; Marcia's just told me; what a big coincidence. It's made even bigger, by the fact that Greg has to attend an international medical conference, in London, in just over two weeks, and that unbeknownst to me, my mum and dad are taking a long holiday in England, starting in a little over, two weeks."
"You're kidding; nearly everyone in both our families'll be in England two weeks from today – that's spookily coincidental. It looks like only Peter and co. and Jan, Phil, and the kids won't be in England."
"I wouldn't even count on that; with my good luck, Peter'll probably have some gig on in London, and Jan will take her long service leave," Cindy replied.
At that moment, Jan and her husband Phil Covington, walked into the room, followed by Danny. Both Cindy and Chris quickly finished their respective phone calls.
"I'm sorry to have to cut things short Jess, but Jan and Phil have unexpectedly come to see us."
"Don't tell me, more coincidences await."
"I wouldn't be half surprised – bye Jess."
"Later bro," replied Jess, having one final attempt to sound cool.
"You'll never guess who just turned up Marcia."
"Jan and Phil"
"How the hell did you know that."
"Oh, part lucky guess and part sister's intuition – I'll let you go talk to them – bye Cind."
"Bye Marcia"
Having both hung up their phones, Cindy and Chris turned towards Jan and Phil.
"Well Jan, this is a surprise, you don't usually visit me and Chris at work," said Cindy, "To what do we owe this unexpected visit by you and Phil?"
"I just came to tell you the good news," replied Jan cheerily.
"What good news would that be?" asked a curious Chris.
"My boss, Eddie Johnson, CEO of Johnson Designs, is retiring in six months."
"That's your good news?" Chris asked almost scornfully.
"Ah, but, you haven't heard the best bit yet. I, am one of the four people in the running for his job, when he retires."
"D'y'think you've got a chance of getting the top job?" Cindy enquired.
"Definitely. In fact, I'm probably the favourite."
"I'm backing her to get it," said Phil confidently. "But then again," he added, "I'm biased – a husband usually is."
"Have you any idea, who your rivals are?" asked Danny inquisitively.
"Yeah, there's Alan Allenby, our treasurer; thinks exclusively in numbers; not bad, but tends to forget people in his decisions. There's also Paul Jones, who got where he is today through sheer luck, and fluky good ideas."
"Who's your third challenger?" inquired Chris.
"Lucas Trilby – the ultimate sycophantic crawler, who'd do anything to anyone, to get the CEO-ship; if he got the job, I guarantee you, I'd be out of work within a week – he hates me, and successful women in general; the ultimate male chauvinist."
"Those are the kinds of people who infuriate me," Cindy enunciated, "whatever you do, don't let him get that job, it'd be a major setback for workplace equality."
"I'll try my best. Anyways, I've got a prime opportunity to impress Eddie, coming up."
"What, prime opportunity?" asked an intrigued Chris.
"Well, he's given me the task of inspecting a few buildings and bridges that we're constructing in partnership with another firm."
"Don't tell me – these buildings and bridges are in England," Cindy interjected.
"No – Scotland actually, although I am supposed to meet with the other firm's top architect in London, to lay down preliminary plans for a major project we've jointly been asked to carry out. How did you know I'd be going to the U.K.; I didn't tell anyone?"
"Oh, just a wild guess – nearly everyone else in the family's going there."
"Who else is going?" asked Jan, "I only know about me, Phil, and the kids, plus mum and dad, and of course Bobby and Millie."
"Greg's attending a medical conference, Marcia, Wally, Jess, and Tom are filming a series of their cooking show at the BBC's studios, and me, Chris, and Danny are going on detachment to Scotland Yard for three months."
"You're kidding," replied Jan with amazement, "when did the posting come through?"
Chris answered, "Earlier today – I was just as surprised as you."
"It is rather coincidental, if you ask me," Danny piped up, "perhaps there's some higher power at work."
"I think it's more likely to be pure coincidence, rather than some sort of divine interference – I doubt there's any reason for God to want us to all be in England," Jan retorted. She continued, "Danny, before you interrupted me, I wanted to ask you a favour."
"What kind of favour?"
"Would you be able to let Cindy and Chris off duty early today?"
"Why? I don't grant requests like that without a decent reason as to why."
"They're coming to me and Phil's for a barbecue tonight, however, Chris promised to help prepare the food, and I only realised about an hour ago, that this meant they'd need to get there early, and thus that they'd need to be let off duty early – d'y'get what I'm saying?"
"I think so." Danny continued, "having got the why, I can give you my answer – request granted." He turned to Cindy and Chris. "You're off-duty, as of now; get your stuff and you can go."
"Thanks Danny," Cindy said warmly, "you're a peach."
Cindy and Chris gathered up what they needed, and then promptly left the room with Jan and Phil. Danny quietly mused to himself.
"No doubt about it, those two are a class act; whatever Scotland Yard throws at them, they'll be able to handle it."
Danny had initially been unsure what to expect from Cindy and Chris. He'd hired or at least recruited Chris, and made him an instant D.S., based purely on his brilliant University scores – high distinctions all the way; his faith was repaid in spades, as Chris had excelled from the word go. Cindy was even more of a gamble; she'd only done some Criminology subjects at the UCLA, and her first career choice had been the music industry, working as a morning DJ until a failed romance with her boss, made it necessary to leave the position. Cindy only applied to get in the police force after Chris suggested it as something as different as possible to her old job. He asked Danny to take her on, well maybe ask isn't quite the right word, pleaded probably sums it up better; Danny was only swayed when he saw her results from the Criminology subjects she had done – top of the class. Those results were just a portent of what was to come; Danny made her an instant D.S., and after six short months, she was promoted to being a D.I. - the youngest ever in the LAPD, at a mere 21 years old. From there, she'd gone on to be the best in the business; not even getting married to Chris had lessened her perceptive powers, if anything, it had increased them. Now at 24, she commanded the utmost respect, as a fine detective. Chris' promotion to D.I. had taken a bit longer; he'd only got the nod from the commissioner last month; he had been overlooked at the last round of promotions, but this time Chris couldn't be overlooked – his performance was too good to ignore. The usual course of events that happened, when a police officer was promoted from Detective Sergeant, to Detective Inspector, didn't happen in Chris' case. Rather than give Chris his own D.S. to assist him, and rather than giving Cindy a D.S. to replace Chris, the unusual step was taken to let Cindy and Chris continue to work as a team, but now as equals. This decision partly arose because they'd worked so well together for so long (well, being married to each other obviously contributed to that), and partly due to the fact the LAPD were two D.S.'s short, meaning it would be easier to let the team stay as is, than to make up two new D.S.'s. Danny wasn't sure the right choice had been made, at first, but after Cindy and Chris' last case, involving the militant Iranian backed hippies, in San Francisco, he'd made an about face, and now fully supported the decision taken. Danny wasn't the typical policeman either; while he had risen through the ranks slower than Cindy and Chris, at 34 years of age he was still the youngest Superintendent in southern California. In other ways too was he atypical. He had the personality of a lovable rogue, more than of a hard working cop, although he'd never broken the law in his whole life. In the days before he became a Superintendent, he'd been somewhat of a hit with women. His charm seemed desert him though, as soon as he was promoted; being primarily desk-bound didn't hold the same attraction with women – that was until Kasey and Stacey came along. They were Chris' identical twin sisters, only 18 when they first met Danny, they instantly fell for him. Danny had been confused as to which one to date, until Chris provided the solution – date both at the same time; an unusual move, but how else was Danny to choose between the two. Now of course, he had decided; Kasey was the one he wanted. Telling Kasey - that would be easy. Stacey on the other hand, was bound to take it badly, even if as he suspected, she didn't love him anymore. That was why he'd invited Will Cooper along to dinner too; Will had a huge crush on Stacey, and Danny was pretty sure Stacey reciprocated the feelings, but was too pig-headed to think about dumping him. She didn't want to hand her sister the victory, so to speak; didn't want to be seen to reject the affections of a man, especially someone as suave as Danny. In Danny's mind, it was simple; as soon as he'd told Stacey, that he hadn't chosen her, she'd figuratively leap into Will's arms, and everything would be hunky-dory. It could go wrong, but it was the best option available, so he had to take it. Danny's eyes shifted to the large load of paperwork on his desk; it wasn't going to do itself. "I'd better get started on it," he said to himself.