Knight Rider 2000

Knight Terrors

Written by

Scott Kirkessner

Based upon KNIGHT RIDER

Created by

Glen A. Larson

Original KNIGHT RIDER 2000 Concept by

Rob Hedden

New concept by

Scott Kirkessner

The Knight Foundation is called into Boulder to investigate a kidnapping case. But when Shawn McCormick and her partner KITT find a corpse instead, both take the horrific discovery hard, but KITT takes it harder, and shuts down under mysterious circumstances. Now, the Foundation must find someone who knows KITT's systems better than anyone to see if he can be resurrected to help find the real plot behind the kidnapping when Shawn retells the tale of how the evidence doesn't add up...

Rated PG-13 for profanity, suggestive dialogue, and strong violent content.

March 6, 2001
Boulder, Colorado

KITT screeched to a halt in front of the dilapidated steel mill. Five police cars behind him stopped on a dime as well. The officers got out, and pulled out weapons from the police cars. They gathered in front of KITT, as Shawn McCormick got out of the car, holding an ultrasound handgun. She grabbed a headset with a microphone and a small camera on the top of it. She put it on her head and turned to the cops.

“All right, here’s the plan. We enter the steel mill covertly, absolute silence, no quick moves, staying close to the walls. Search all the rooms for the child and possibly the kidnappers. Stay in pairs. Everyone got it?”

The cops nodded, and four pairs entered the building. One pair stopped and the lead office turned around. “What about you, Agent McCormick?”

“I got my partner right here.” Shawn said, patting KITT’s hood.

“Are you ready to go, Shawn?” KITT asked.

“Yeah, I am. Do you have my video?” she asked.

“Yes, I do.” KITT said, as the video from Shawn’s headset appeared on the central monitor.

“Central Dispatch, are you reading audio visual?”

“Audio visual is perfect, Shawn.” Russell Maddock said.

Shawn armed the ultrasound gun and carefully walked into the building. She looked around, up, down, and to the sides. She made sure everything was clear in the room before going into another room. She was about to walk into the room, but something caught her eye.

She saw a small piece of white fabric laying on the ground. She walked over to it. “You guys seeing this?” she asked.

“Yeah, we see it, Shawn, what is it?” Maddock asked.

“I don’t know, but it sure doesn’t belong in the steel mill. KITT, what is this?”

“This piece of fabric appears to be part of a T-shirt, which was ripped from the neck to the right sleeve.” KITT said.

“Is it part of Benjamin’s shirt?”

“It does match the description, Shawn.” KITT said.

Shawn picked the piece of the shirt up in her gloved hands, opened up a silver case she was carrying with her, and placed it inside a bag. She closed the case and got back up.

“KITT, try to scan the mill again.” she said.

“Sorry, Shawn, scans are still inconclusive, due to the heavy steel and metal around the building.”

“Damn.” Shawn said, moving up a set of stairs. Looking around again, Shawn scanned the new room with her flashlight. It was empty. “All teams stop, and report.”

“Team One, ground level, waterside, no subject, clear of evidence.”

“Team Two, ground level, outside perimeter, no subject, clear.”

“Team Three, third level, west side, all clear.”

“Team Five, third level, north east side, all clear.”

“Four, Four, where the hell is Four? Team Four, report.” Shawn said.

Her demand was soon answered by the sound of not too distant gunshots.

“Shawn, Shawn! What’s going on?!” Maddock yelled over the radio.

“KITT, where was Team Four?” Shawn asked.

“On the roof, Shawn. Be careful!”

“All teams converge on the roof! Suspect is on the roof! Suspect is on the roof! Get to the roof exits, but do not, do not get on the roof!” Shawn yelled, dropping her case and running up the stairs.

“Shawn, be careful, my scanners are blind!” KITT said.

Shawn ran up the stairs and met two teams who were waiting at the door which opened up onto the roof. “Go!”

She busted through the door, with her ultrasound aimed and ready to fire. The cops followed quickly behind, scanning the roof with their weapons.

One unlucky cop didn’t see the suspect standing on top of the entrance until his colleague 20 feet away screamed, but it was too late. The cop spun around, only to face a bullet speeding towards his head. He had no time to react and fell backwards as the bullet ripped through his mouth. “Shit!” Shawn yelled, as she heard the gunshot. She spun around on her heel to shoot the attacker, but he took off running as her ultrasound blast hit the door.

Immediately, all of the cops started firing at the suspect.

“No!” Shawn screamed, still trying to stun the man.

He ran across the massive roof dodging fire from the cops, who were all trying to kill him. He tripped and stumbled. As he regained his balance, the bullets started hitting him, tearing through his clothes and his body. He stumbled, trying to run, past the two cops he killed earlier. More bullets hit him, and he stumbled towards the edge, and began to put his hands up. The kidnapper had no time to surrender as the final shots to his legs and chest sent him flying over the edge to the ground three stories below.

“No!!!!!” Shawn yelled again, running over to the edge and looking down at the mangled body which was laying right in front of KITT. She slammed the roof in anger.

The cops ran over to her, reloading their weapons.

“God dammit! I didn’t not authorize deadly force! How are we supposed to find the kid, now that our suspect is full of holes and broken in half in front of my car?!”

The cops didn’t say anything.

“Shit!” Shawn said, kicking at some dust. “From now on, deadly force is NOT authorized! Suspects must be taken alive! Is that clear?! IS THAT CLEAR?!”

The cops nodded.

“Good,” Shawn said, “now, go back to where you were, and keep searching for the child, and keep your guard up, there may be more than one kidnapper.”

The cops broke up and walked back to the doorways.

“Shawn?” KITT asked.

“Yes, KITT, what is it?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, KITT, I’m just fine.” Shawn said, walking down the stairs. “Anything going on out there?”

“Just a big mess in front of me.”

“Yeah, KITT, I’m sorry. I know, make yourself useful and scan the guy for some ID.”

“ID check completed, Shawn. This man’s name is Mitch Rockson, he is from Boulder, Colorado. He is currently wanted by the FBI and InterPol on murder, gun running, drug trafficking, and five counts of rape.”

“Busy little asshole, isn’t he?” Shawn asked, picking up the silver case.

“Yes.” KITT replied.

“God dammit, where is he?”

“Right here in front of me.” KITT said.

“No, KITT, the child. Benjamin.”

“Agent McCormick, level three, level three!”

Shawn ran up the stairs and looked at the cops who were standing over something. “What is it?!” She stopped and looked at a small beam of light coming up through the floor.

“What the hell is that?” a cop asked.

“You guys reading this?” Shawn asked.

“Yeah, we see it,” Maddock said, “what is it?”

“It looks like it is an air shaft which terminates just under this floor,” Shawn said, “KITT, do you agree?”

“Yes Shawn.”

“Only there are no lights in air shafts.” Shawn added. She turned to the cops. “I want you guys to get a harness, some rope, winches and axes. We’re going in.”

The cops nodded and ran off.

Shawn looked in the hole, but couldn’t really see anything.

The cops came back in a few minutes with the supplies Shawn asked for. They quickly set up a rig for one person to go down through the airshaft towards the light.

“Shawn, who is gonna go down?” Maddock asked.

“Who do you think?” Shawn replied, pointing her head down towards the hole. “Let’s get this whole opened!” she said, grabbing an ax. She started chopping away at the hole with the other cops joining in.

“Shawn are you sure you want to go down there?” Maddock asked.

“Of course I do!” she said, in between chops. “The parents hired us to find the boy, I should be the one to go down.”

“Yeah, but you don’t know what could be down there, you should let one of the ma..”

Shawn stopped chopping. “Look, we’ll discuss battle of the sexes in the 21st Century at a later time, right now, we got a kid to find!”

The cops were quickly finished opening a hole for Shawn to go through. She grabbed the harness and strapped herself in. A cop connected her to the rope and tightened everything.

“You ready to go?” he asked.

“More than ever.” Shawn replied, setting down her ultrasound and reaching for the cop’s automatic gun. He handed it to her.

“Be careful, Shawn.” Maddock said.

Shawn laid down on her stomach in front of the hole and edged herself into it. The wires held and she flipped into the hole head first and began to move down, just as planned. “KITT, Russ, can you read visual?”

“We read you just fine Shawn, we can see everything.” Maddock said.

“Same down here, Shawn. Good luck.” KITT said.

Shawn continued down the hole. She double checked that the gun was armed. She kept an iron grip on the silver case with her free hand.

She neared the end, where the light was stronger. She looked down at the opening before her. All she saw was just a dirt floor, nothing giving indications that Benjamin, or anyone for that matter, was down there. “All right guys, slow it down.”

Her movement was slowed, and she secured the case to her harness. She placed both hands on the gun and moved into the opening. She was finally clear of the air shaft, and found herself upside down in an empty room. She saw a wooden door to her left. She let her foot go off of the wire and flipped around, landing on her feet.

“All right, nothing is in this opening except a door. I think I am in the building’s sub basement.” she said. “I’m disconnecting from the wire and going through the door.”

“Use caution, Shawn, you don’t know what’s behind it.” Maddock said.

“Oh shit.” a cop said.

“What? What is it?” Shawn asked.

“I don’t know how, but someone has tipped off the press. Almost every station in Boulder is here.” the cop replied.

“Great. Leave three cops here while the rest of you go out and keep them back. And, make sure to cover up that body in front of KITT.”

“You got it.” the cop said.

Shawn sighed and double checked the gun again. She put her gloved hand on the doorknob and tried to turn it, but it was locked. “Damn.” she said to herself. She stepped back, prepared herself, and ran to kick in the door. Her foot made contact and the door bust open, sending splintering wood everywhere.

Shawn slowly pushed open the door with the gun. Her eyes went wide at what she saw in front of her. “Oh my God...” she said dropping the gun to the floor.


Maddock stared at the image on the screen with the other cops at Central Command. “Oh God....” he said.


Shawn covered her mouth and nose and batted flies away from her head. She backed out, slowly at first, and then spun around quick. She sat down on the ground, breathing heavily, and took the recording headset off, and threw it on the ground behind her. It bounced and landed on the gruesome scene behind the door.


KITT looked intently at the image from Shawn’s recording unit which was on his central monitor. He couldn’t say anything at the scene which was being displayed. He just looked.

There was a spark inside the car. Another spark, and another. Systems began shorting out one after another inside KITT. All of the monitors went dark and then blew. The power indicator slowly went dark, and KITT’s scanner light slowed and halted, and finally went out...

“Agent McCormick!? Agent McCormick!” a voice said over Shawn’s headset.

She picked it up. “This is Shawn.”

“What’s going on down there, we lost you for a second.”

“Yeah, I found a set of stairs. Meet me outside.”

“Yes ma’am.” the cop said.


Shawn pushed open the door, after walking up only two flights of stairs, but to her it seemed like two hundred.

The police met her outside, with a dozen reporters outside as well. She shielded her eyes from the bright change of light.

“What’s going on?” a cop asked, walking with Shawn towards KITT.

“Get Forensics Investigations down here, we have a homicide scene.” Shawn said.

“Did you find him down there?”

“What was left of him.” Shawn said, setting her case down on KITT’s roof. “And get these reporters away from here now!”

The cop nodded and ran off. Shawn walked over to the coroner van which was just backing up towards the body. “White male, 30 years of age, cause of death gunshot wounds to chest, legs and arm, plus a fall from four stories.” she said to the men getting out of the van and taking out a stretcher.

She watched them put the body in a bag and gather up any belongings which fell out of the man’s pockets. She bent down to pick up a ring they forgot. She looked up towards KITT’s scanner and saw it was dark. She dropped the ring on the ground and walked over to KITT’s door and opened it. When she looked inside, she gasped.

“KITT?” she asked, looking at the burning fuses and wires and the exploded monitors. “KITT, you here with me? Talk to me! KITT?! KITT!!!”

March 7, 2001
Knight Foundation
Location: Seattle, Washington

Shawn was sitting on the garage floor watching Knight Industries technicians tow KITT off of the 747 transport plane and into the garage.

Kevin walked up behind her. She turned around. “Kevin...”

He extended his hands and helped her up off the ground and hugged her.

“What happened to him?” she asked.

“I can’t say,” he said, “I’m stumped. Every system in him overloaded.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” Kevin said, looking at the truck bring KITT into the garage.

“Kevin,” she said, walking over to the lifeless car body, “can you bring him back?”

Kevin walked over to join her and looked inside. “I don’t know.”

Shawn let a tear roll down her cheek. It fell off and landed on KITT’s windshield. “You know, if KITT was alive, he’d wipe the tear off with his windshield wiper.” she said, managing a small smile.

Kevin squeezed her hand. “Keep the hope alive, Shawn. We can get him back.” Kevin said, walking off to talk to the technicians.

The words made Shawn shake her head, remembering a conversation she had with Benjamin’s parents. “Or die trying.” she said, covering KITT up with a tarpaulin.

She walked out of the closing garage doors.

March 8, 2001
1221 Hrs
Portland, Oregon

Kevin drove his truck down the road, and looked at the MapQuest directions sitting on the passenger seat. He looked at the buildings looking for the right address.

“Twelve forty seven, twelve forty nine, twelve fifty one, yes, twelve fifty three.” Kevin said to himself. He parked the truck along the street and got out. He looked at the high-rise apartment building and walked over to the doors. He fingered through the directory until he found the name he was looking for. He opened the doors and got inside the elevator and took it to the 32nd floor. The high speed elevator quickly reached his floor and he walked towards apartment 32-B.

He walked towards the door and stopped. He reached his arm out to ring the door bell, but stopped again. “Dammit Kevin, quit being so nervous.” he said to himself. He reached out and rang the bell, quickly.

He fumbled with his jacket and couldn’t stand still. He could hear someone walking towards the door and unlocking it. This was the moment of truth.

The door opened and Kevin faced Bonnie Barstow.


“So tell me what is going on?” Bonnie said, walking out towards Kevin’s truck and putting a duffel bag in the bed. She opened the passenger door and got in.

Kevin got in and started the engine. “I wish I could tell you,” he said, putting the truck in gear and driving off, “this is what we know so far. Every system, component, circuit, whatever, in KITT overloaded.”

“Why?” Bonnie asked.

“We don’t know. Shawn says she found what happened to him at the murder scene in Boulder.”

“That is so odd,” Bonnie said, “KITT has subsystems inside subsystems to make sure any kind of system malfunction or an overload happens. We programmed him knowing that if anything happened like that, it would be crippling to everything.”

“Do you think he is a total loss?” Kevin asked.

“I don’t want to think that at all, Kevin. I’m going to work my ass off to get him back online.”

“Or die trying.” Kevin added.

“We have to become detectives, Kev. We have to find out exactly how this overload happened, which means we have to go through every wire, every circuit, every piece of exploded glass which is KITT.”

“How long will that take?”

“Who knows?” Bonnie asked. “As long as it takes. Because when we find the answer, we can find the question, which will lead to the remedy.”

“Don’t let Maddock hear that.”

“Why?”

“Because he’ll bitch until we get him online.”

“I love pressure.” Bonnie said, sarcastically.

1923 Hrs

Shawn sat down on the garage floor in front of KITT facing his dormant scanner. She glanced at the sunset over his left side out of the open garage doors.

“God dammit, KITT, what happened to you?” she said, placing her hands on his hood and bringing her forehead to the scanner port. She remembered some of the things KITT said, which stuck in her memory.

Watch your back, Shawn. Shawn, look out! Be careful, Shawn. Shawn, why are people racist? Why do people hurt other people? How can I help, Shawn? My vital scan shows you’re just fine Shawn. He’s dead, Shawn. Shawn, do you think we can find Benjamin?

Tears rolled down her eyes as she thought of how she found Benjamin and how everyone saw it, including KITT, who was confused enough as it is with people hurting other people.

She kept her forehead against the hood and fell asleep.

Shawn, do you think we can find Benjamin?

I don’t know, KITT, I really hope so. We have to keep the hope alive.

Hope? You mean just an empty non-tangible thought?

No, KITT, I mean just hope, I mean just... pray that we find Benjamin... alive.


“Shawn? Shawn?” Kevin said, trying to awaken Shawn.

Shawn stirred and woke up. She looked around and found that she hadn’t moved at all during the night. “What time is it?”

“Five in the morning,” Kevin replied, “and I brought in the resident genius.”

Shawn wiped her eyes and saw Bonnie standing there.

“Bonnie!” Shawn said, as the woman helped her get up off the floor. “Welcome back.”

“I wish it could be under better circumstances.” Bonnie said.

Shawn stretched and yawned. “Bonnie, I want him back.”

Bonnie smiled. “That’s what I’m here for, Shawn.”

“I wish I could tell you what happened.”

Bonnie walked over to KITT and opened the door. She gasped when she saw the mess inside.

“Everything is as we left it from Boulder.” Shawn said.

“Good,” Bonnie said, turning to Kevin, “get all of the top techs from Industries together and get them down here on the double. Wake up all the people you need, we’re gonna be working on this for awhile.

“What are you gonna do?” Shawn asked.

“We’re gonna go through KITT with a fine tooth comb. We’re gonna dismantle him.”

“You’re going to do what?!”

“Shawn, we have to become detectives and find out the cause and the problem. Now I plan to hook the CPU up to a computer so we can analyze the whole thing there, but every circuit, board, and conduit has to be removed from the car and thoroughly checked.”

“I want to help.” Shawn said.

“Now Shawn, hold on. This could get intense. I know how you and KITT are good friends-”

“We’re more than friends, Bonnie, we’re partners.”

“It could be emotionally intense. It would be like performing surgery on your own child.”

“As long as it saves the child’s life, because at least it’s one child I can save.”

“What are you saying?” Kevin asked.

“Kevin, I failed. I failed. Benjamin should be alive today but he isn’t because I dropped the ball.”

“Shawn, you did not fail.” Bonnie said.

“If I didn’t, then why is Benjamin dead?”

“Shawn... we can’t predict the outcome of life. We don’t know how certain situations would end.” Kevin said.

“No, you’re wrong, both of you! Benjamin is dead, and it is my fault!” Shawn said, walking out of the garage.

Kevin started to follow but Bonnie stopped him.

“Kevin, let her go. We have to work.” she said.

“But-” Kevin protested.

“No, she needs time by herself,” Bonnie said, “let’s get started.”


Shawn sat by herself in her apartment. She left the TV on, but she wasn’t watching it.

Shawn, please find my Benjamin, he is the only thing I’ve got in this world.

Pati, I will stop at nothing to search for him, and I will find him... or die trying...

March 10, 2001
0020 Hrs

Kevin walked into the garage carrying two four-cup holders of coffee. He set them down on the table. “Come and get it while it’s still hot.” he said.

The Knight Industries technicians grabbed one of the cups and got some much needed caffeine in their system.

Kevin brought a cup over to Bonnie. “Here, you’ll probably need this.”

“Thanks,” Bonnie said, handing a circuit board to a technician, “mark it and put it on the table.” She took the cup and sipped out of it.

“Did I miss anything?” Kevin asked.

“No, not really,” Bonnie replied, “we found some unusual scorches on the CPU, but that’s it.”

“What about the car’s electronics itself?”

“Yeah, I thought about that too, but I checked the electronics of the car, and there were no malfunctions, short circuits, nothing at all. Whatever happened, happened with KITT.”

“Yeah, but what did happen?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” Bonnie said, taking another sip and turning back towards the car.

0245 Hrs

Bonnie sent all of the technicians home to get some rest. Kevin protested and said he would stay, but she won the argument and he went home. Bonnie hooked KITT’s CPU and hard drives to the computer, but fell asleep at the keyboard before she could run any tests.

The screen was showing a program Bonnie wrote to run in Windows 98, her favorite operating system. It was a special monitor which could check errors in every elaborate way possible. The cursor, which was a custom cursor Bonnie made to represent KITT’s scanner light, moved over towards the Start Menu, only Bonnie wasn’t moving it.

The Start Menu opened up and the options listed were highlighted as they were scrolled through. The cursor finally reached Shut Down. The Shut Down window popped up and the cursor clicked the radio button marked Restart in MSDOS Mode. The cursor clicked okay, and the computer went though the shut down sequence.

The screen went dark, and MSDOS started up. The C:\ was slowly erased, and the blinking cursor started moving as words appeared.

>Bonnie...

>Bonnie... wake up.

>C:\windows\temp\kitt\cpu\link\knight\4000\car\horn.exe

Bonnie’s head shot up as the horn from the Knight 4000 sounded. “What the hell?!” She looked around and stretched. “Damn, that must have been a hell of a dream.” She looked at the computer and saw the words on the screen. “Holy shit.”

She cracked her knuckles and typed on the keyboard. She said the words as she typed them in a chance KITT could hear. “KITT, is that you?”

>Yes

“Yes!” Bonnie screamed outloud to no one.

>Where am I? I can’t see or hear anything.

_You’re back at the Foundation. How did you know it was me?

>Who else would it be?

_How are you?

>Confused, lost.

_How so?

>What happened?

_Good question. That’s what I was hoping to ask you. Do you know?

There was no response.

_What do you remember last?

>I was at the steel mill in Boulder. Shawn and the police went into the building, there was a gunfight, two police lost their lives at the hands of the kidnapper. They killed him and he fell off the roof, and landed right in front of me.

_What else?

>Shawn found Benjamin, he was dead.

_She told me, and she was really torn up about it too.

>Yes, what she found was horrifying.

_What did she find?

>Benjamin, or what was left of him.

_What do you mean?

>Whoever had him, tortured him. He was chained to poles. He was cut up badly, on his arms, legs, face. His shirt was removed, and there was a Y cut down his chest. I’ll spare you some more details. The worst thing was the look in his face.

_Go on.

>Bonnie, he was alive when they cut him. He felt every slice of the knife, felt the cruel sons of bitches rip his organs out while he was forced to watch them.

_KITT...

>Yes Bonnie?

_Do you realize what you said?

>Yes, please excuse my profanity. The image was just so graphic, just so horrific... Bonnie, I don’t know how, but on sight, there was a massive overload.

_KITT... are you telling me you had an emotional reaction to the picture?

>I’m not entirely sure. I am not supposed to have emotions, am I?

_No, you weren’t programmed with them, but I know you’ve developed a bigger sense of humanity.

>Right, but never an emotional response.

_Well KITT, define emotion.

Bonnie looked at the screen, no reply.

_Sorry, KITT. Tell me what emotion means to you.

>Love, anger, happiness, sadness...

_Right, KITT, you displayed angry when you called the kidnapper a son of a bitch.

>What are you getting at?

_You displayed sadness, angry, grief, and shock at the same time when you saw Benjamin.

>But I’ve seen gorier images than that.

_Yes, but with a child?

>....

_Your systems couldn’t handle such an emotional response, they overloaded.

“Bonnie?” Shawn asked, walking into the garage.

Bonnie turned around. “Hey Shawn, I was just-” she stopped when she looked at the computer. The screen was blank save for the C prompt and a blinking cursor. “I was just running some tests.”

“Find anything at all?”

“Not really. Couldn’t sleep?”

“No, so I came back here, see what was going on.”

“Oh,” Bonnie said, pushing a chair towards Shawn, “just computer nerd stuff.”

Shawn sat down, and rubbed her eyes. “The news is all over the story. The District Attorney found a small connection with the suspect from the steel mill and Benjamin’s parents.”

“Yeah, I heard. They also are analyzing the ransom note carefully too.”

“Yup,” Shawn said, “some handwriting expert said an ‘A’ looks similar to the way the mother writes the letter.”

“Very interesting. Why isn’t the Foundation taking the lead in the case? DA’s and cops can be so fumble-fingered.”

“Yeah I know, but the parents requested that the police take it from here. I guess they’re pissed off.”

“Pissed off at what?” Bonnie asked.

“That we- that I dropped the ball and didn’t find their son in time.”

“Shawn, tell me what happened. All of it.”

“Well, I think it was a week ago when we got a call from the Boulder Police Department...”

***

The Boulder Police Department called the Knight Foundation and told us that there was a kidnapping recently, and the family, which is extremely wealthy, requested that we be the ones to assist in finding their child.

Maddock came up to me and told me what was happening and said he wanted me and KITT to fly ahead to Boulder, meet the family, and investigate the kidnapping scene....

March 5, 2001
Boulder, Colorado

I pulled up to the families house and looked at it long and hard before I got out. It was a massive mansion, front gates, the whole smash.

“Fancy digs, eh KITT?” I asked.

“I beg your pardon?” KITT replied, smartly.

I laughed to myself. “Bah, nevermind. Just an eye catcher, that’s all.”

“Really Shawn, what is it with people and huge material objects.”

“Ah come on, KITT, take a look at it! It’s just... heh, wow.”

“Shawn, have you ever read The World Is Too Much With Us? If you haven’t I suggest you do.”

“As a matter of fact, KITT, I have. Didn’t appeal to me much, though.”

KITT did something I expected next. He displayed the literature on the central monitor.

“I suggest you have another look.” KITT said.

“Very funny,” I replied, punching the off button on the monitor, “here goes.” I said, leaning out the window and pushing the call button.”

“Tenet residence.”

“Yeah, hello, this is Agent Shawn McCormick from the Foundation for Law and Government.”

“Oh hello Agent McCormick, I’ll buzz you in.”

The big gates opened and KITT and I drove through up to the front door. A man in a formal suit was standing there. He walked over and opened my door for me and let me out. He looked like Alfred from Batman.

“Thanks.” I said, getting out and grabbing my case file.

“I’m Wilton,” the man said with his British accent, “the Tenet’s butler. I’ll show you in.”

“Cool, thanks.” I replied. The life of luxury was something I never got used to.

Wilton showed me into the foyer and walked towards two massive double doors and opened them. I expected him to do what he did next. “Agent Shawn McCormick.” he said, announcing me.

I smiled and walked into the library and looked at the man sitting at a desk. “Hello Mr. Tenet, I offer my condolences for your loss.”

“You make it sound like he’s dead, Agent McCormick.” he said, standing up. He extended his hand. “Call me Richard, or Rich for short. Have a seat, please.”

I shook his hand. “All right, I’m kind of new dealing with a kidnap case, so please bear with me.”

“Well, I’m kind of new at having my child taken, so please bear with me.” he added.

“When did you first notice the child- Benjamin, missing?”

“Last night,” Rich said, “my wife, Pati, likes to check on him every now and then during the night. She was up at about 11:30, and she checked his room. Her scream pretty much told it all.”

I flipped through my report. “The police didn’t find any kind of forced entry at any of the exits?”

“No, they searched the house, through and through, and couldn’t find anything.”

“What about the compound?”

“The... the what?” he asked, confused.

“The premises of your mansion. The surrounding area.”

“Oh, the greens. Yeah, they couldn’t find anything either.” he answered, way too quickly for my comfort. Something was fishy here.

I fingered through the report again, and to my chagrin, there was not any mention of the search of the compound. It is very unusual for the police to ignore it, but they will at the owner’s request.

“Where is your wife, right now?”

“Pati? Oh she’s upstairs, taking a nap. Benny’s kidnapping has taken a lot out of her.”

“Oh, yeah I can imagine,” I said, “so tell me more about Benjamin.”

“Well, he was a great kid, a really great kid.” he said, suspiciously talking about his son in the past tense. “Benny is advanced for his age, you see? He shot through pre-school and kindergarten and is the top in his class. He’s never gotten anything below a 100 percent on anything. Pati pays close attention to him. The two are almost inseparable.”

“Benjamin has an older brother I see.” I said.

“Yes,” Rich replied, “Mason. Mason is a student at Saint Mary’s Catholic School here in Boulder. He lives at the school, but is able to visit on occasion. He was staying with us here at the house last night. He left earlier this morning.”

“It’s only eight o’clock,” I said, “decided to get an early start?”

“Yes, he likes to get back before rush hour hits.”

“Did the police talk to him last night?”

“Uh, no. He was out with some friends he met until about 3 in the morning.”

“Wow, sure didn’t leave him enough sleeping time, did it?” I asked.

“Oh, none of us slept at all last night.”

“Yet he still was able enough to drive himself to the school?”

“Are you interrogating me, Agent McCormick?” Rich asked.

“Just getting some facts, sir, is all.” I replied. Something weird was up.

“Do you believe my family had anything to do with this kidnapping at all?” he asked.

“Rich, right now, I can’t not believe anything until I get some facts and stuff in order. I would like to have a look around.”

“Sure, no problem at all. Benjamin’s room is just as we left it.”

“All right,” I said, getting up, “lead the way.”

“Actually, Wilton will be more than happy to show you around,” Rich said, “I do have some paperwork to go over.”

I nodded and turned around to face Wilton. “This way madam.”

We walked up the giant staircase and past multiple rooms, Wilton naming all of them. We got to Benjamin’s room and he opened the door for me. He waited outside while I walked in and looked around. What I saw was amazing.

There were no toys, no teddy bears, or action figures, or toy guns that lit up and made noise. No Hot Wheels, or Lego’s, not even an Etch-A-Sketch.

Inside all I saw was a computer sitting on top of a desk, with two towers filled with CD-ROMs to either side. There was a queen size bed at the east wall and two dressers at either side. For a six year old, this room was amazing. Not at its size, but at the lack of any kind of toys, save for a computer.

I walked over to the computer and looked behind it. I saw the line going into the modem from the wall. This was the key that we needed. “KITT,” I said quietly into my comm-link, “dial into this computer.”

KITT was smart enough to remain silent. I walked over to the door and Wilton was still standing outside.

“Where to next madam?” he asked.

“I think I’ve seen all I need,” I said, lying, “that will be all, I can find my way from here.”

“Very well,” Wilton said, almost annoyed, “have a nice afternoon.” he said, walking down the hall.

I waited until he was down the stairs when I called KITT. “KITT, start downloading the contents of the hard drive of that computer.” I said, taking a small ear piece out of the comm-link watch and opening it up. I put it inside my ear and heard KITT’s reply.

“No problem Shawn, it may interest you to know also that this computer is connected to a network of computers in the house.”

“An Intranet?”

“Yep.”

“Good. Keep the connection KITT.” I said, walking down another flight of stairs to the ground level. I set my hand on the small post on top of the banister at the bottom and it was loose. I shook it around under my hand and it came off. “Shit.” I said, trying to put it back on, but I noticed something under it. I pressed what seemed to be a button and what used to be a wall opened a crack.

I walked over to the new door and looked inside. There were some stairs leading down. “KITT, check the schematics for this building. Does it have a basement?”

“None that is listed, Shawn.”

“Every mansion has a secret.” I said, going through the door and closing it behind me. I took out my pen-light and turned it on. I walked down the stairs, shining the pen-light down the stair well.

I came to an opening and felt around for a light. I found the switch and flipped it up. The secret basement illuminated, and what I saw in front of me was just a massive wine cellar. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Wine...” I said to myself.

I reached for a switch and flipped it, but the lights didn’t turn off. I looked at the switch pad and flipped another switch which turned the cellar lights off. I went up the stairs but turned around again as something caught my eye.

There was light coming out from under what looked like a door which I hadn’t noticed. The secrets of that house were growing. I turned the cellar lights back on and started to walk over to it. “It’s a false wall.” I said to myself.

“Lost?” a voice asked from behind me.

I turned around. It was Rich. “No, just admiring your vast collection of wines.” I said, picking up a bottle. “Vintage 1912, good year?”

“One of the best,” Rich said, walking over towards me with a hateful look in his eyes, “would you like to try some?”

“No, no, I don’t drink,” I said, “just like to look sometimes.”

“Well be careful, because you know what curiosity did to the cat.” he said, staring into my eyes.

I stared back, not able to say anything.

“Because if anything happened to the bottle, I’d have to kill you!” he said, developing a coy smile and laughing.

I laughed back, playing his game, but I knew that there was something deeper with this man. The problem was, he knew that I was on to it. I followed him up the stairs, turning both lights off as we walked out.

“Oh, here’s my wife right now,” Rich said, closing the door behind me, “Pati, this is Shawn McCormick, from the Foundation for Law and Government.”

“Hello Shawn,” Pati said, wiping her eye with a handkerchief, “it’s nice to meet you.”

“And you too,” Shawn said, “although I wish it could be under better circumstances.”

“Me too.” Pati added.

“Well, I’m about to take off and continue the investigation. More paper work to fill out.” I said.

I started to walk towards the big front doors when Pati called after me.

“Shawn, please find my Benjamin, he is the only thing I’ve got in this world.”

“Pati, I will stop at nothing to search for him, and I will find him... or die trying...” I replied.

“Well let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Rich said in a sly way.

I nodded and walked out the doors.

I walked up to KITT who was sitting there with his engine running. I got inside. “Weird shit.” I said.

“Oh?” KITT asked.

“Yeah, definitely. These parents are hiding something. I can tell you now they have something to do with this case.”

“You think they kidnapped their own child?” KITT asked, confused.

“No, KITT, I think it’s something more than that. They had him kidnapped. They must have organized it somehow.”

“And why would they go to such an elaborate scam?”

“That’s the question we have to address. I want to come back here tonight, do some investigating of my own.”

“Shawn I doubt that would be a good idea. This compound is protected by high security.”

“Of course it is. We better get out of here before they wonder why I’m sitting in my car and talking to it.” I said, pulling out of the driveway.

“While you were inside the house, I was making a computer generated map of it, which should help you somehow in your investigation.”

“Thank you KITT. Nice job.”

1921 Hrs

I was sitting in the garage on the Foundation’s Boeing 747 eating out of a TV dinner tray when Kevin walked up to me. “What’s up?” he asked

“Nothing,” I replied, tapping on computer keys, “just trying to chase some ghosts.”

“How’s that?” Kevin asked, sitting down on a chair and poking at the chicken in one of the trays.

“Just trying to figure out how this kidnapper made it out of the house without tripping security.”

“Oh.” Kevin replied, eating a broccoli sprout.

“Yeah, it’s just odd. KITT scanned the whole smash and there are alarm systems on alarm systems. Laser trip sensors, everything possible to keep that house secure.”

“What about that secret room you found?”

“KITT’s scanners weren’t able to get in to scan.”

“Ahhhh, how convenient.” Kevin said.

“I know, isn’t it? Something is in that room and I want to know what. How’s your investigation going?”

“Well, it took awhile, but I was able to get a lock on the home’s intranet, which is linked to the network for Bullseye Retail Stores Incorporated, Rich Tenet’s employer. He’s a senior VP.”

“Interesting. I guess he likes to take his work home with him.”

“Yeah. Right now, I’ve programmed the computer to do a search for anything which has Ben or Benjamin in it. Emails, documents, anything at all we can get our hands on.”

“Isn’t that illegal?” KITT asked. He was right.

“Yeah,” Kevin said, “but only when you get caught.”

I laughed and took a bit out of the chicken. I spit it out. “Yuck. What the hell is this stuff made of?”

“Look where you bought it.” Kevin said, pointing at the wrapper.

I laughed. It had a Bullseye logo on it. “Fate seems to be telling me something.” I said, grinning.

The telephone rang. “Hello?” I asked.

“Agent McCormick, this is Kyle on the flight deck. We have received a call from the Tenet’s. The kidnappers have just demanded a ransom.”

I pulled into the driveway with Kevin at my side. We got out of KITT to be greeted by Wilton, and a tear stricken Pati. She ran up to me and clutched my arm, sobbing.

“Shawn, they said they would kill him. They said they would kill him if we went to the cops or the Fed’s with this! They want money, lots of it!”

We walked through the foyer and into the living room, where Rich was leaning on the mantle in front of the fireplace drinking out of a brandy glass.

Pati walked over to the phone. “They left us a voice mail. I’ll put it on the speaker phone.” she said, pressing buttons.

We all stood still and quiet as the disguised voice came over the speaker. “Good evening. First off, good luck tracing the call, or trying, but it wont work, I’m bouncing the trace. Benny is alive and well, but his future all depends if you decide to ante up and pay $5 million dollars in small and unmarked bills. If you pay up, then Ben gets to see his seventh birthday. If you don’t pay, or just bullshit me, then Benjamin will die. The choice, of course, is yours. Meet me in the outskirts of Boulder at the old speedway. Ben just gave me a message, he says to save his life and pay.”

The tears started streaming down Pati’s face. Rich threw his glass into the fire, causing it to flash when the brandy was ignited.

“Who the hell is this guy?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, “but I plan to find out.” I turned to Kevin. “Do you think KITT can un-guise the voice?”

“It’s iffy,” Kevin said, “but we may as well try.”

“All right,” I said, “Kevin and I are going to try to analyze this message and see if we can figure out who he is. In the meantime, I want the two of you to get the money together, meet this guys every expectation. I’ll contact the Boulder Police tonight and we will get organized and meet tomorrow morning, sound good?”

“Shawn, just to let you know, you have our full support,” Rich said, “just find the bastard who took my son.”

I was pretty much speechless, so I just nodded, knowing that we had a lot of work to do before tomorrow.

March 6, 2001

Seven police cars were sitting outside of the Tenet’s estate by the time KITT and I pulled up. I got out and walked over to Maddock who was standing outside of a police van.

“Did they get the money together?” I asked.

“Yes, they did.” he replied, handing me a briefcase. I set it on top of KITT’s roof and opened it up. I looked inside and closed it. “Cool. Are we ready to go?”

“We’re ready when you are, Agent McCormick.” a police officer said.

“Good,” I said, setting the briefcase inside KITT. I walked around to the driver side and was about to get in, but I stopped. I looked over at Maddock. “Hey Russ, keep the Tenet’s away from the command unit, okay? Don’t let them see anything.”

“Will do.” Maddock said.

I got in KITT and pulled out of the driveway with the seven police cars in tow. They turned on their lights and sirens and we sped down the highway towards the meeting place.

Something was running through my mind that this deal would somehow turn sour. I don’t know why I was feeling it, but it was just a weird gut feeling. Needless to say, I was very nervous, I had no idea what I was dealing with.

“Shawn I am detecting increased amounts of adrenaline in your body. It looks like you are having what is close to a panic attack.” KITT said.

“Yeah, you could say that again.” I replied.

“What’s wrong?”

“KITT, something is fishy.”

“I detect no fish inside.” KITT replied, with a scan of the car showing up on his central monitor.

“Very funny, but you know what I am talking about.”

“Yes, I do. Your palms are sweaty too.”

“Something doesn’t add up, and I can’t place it.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Only if you believe in prayer and hope that this exchange goes off without a hitch.”

“Are you expecting a hitch?” KITT asked.

“Yeah.” I replied.

“What are you expecting?”

“KITT, I don’t know, that’s probably what’s making me nervous. I mean in the academy, they pumped our minds full of every kind of situation to expect. But they told us something which is running into my head at full speed.”

“And that would be?” KITT questioned.

“With a kidnapping situation, anything is possible. Expect the unexpected.”

“But if you expected the unexpected, wouldn’t that make the unexpected expected?”

I laughed very hard at KITT’s joke. He’s been trying out jokes which he’s seen on the Internet every now and then, and when he said that, it made me just absolutely crack up. At that moment, I needed some kind of comic relief.

“Yeah, it’s kind of like that, KITT.” I said, between laughs. But reality hit me again, and I stopped laughing. “Well, at least I wish it was...” “We’re approaching the speedway.” KITT stated.

“That quick?”

“Yes. Are you all right, Shawn?”

“No, KITT, I’m not. I’m scared.”

“You’re going to do just fine, Shawn.”

“I hope so, KITT.”

“I know so. Shawn, you have the guts that it takes to get the job done.”

“Do you think Michael Knight could have done this?” I asked.

“Shawn please don’t do this...”

“Do you?”

“Yes, I think he could have done this easy, but not with the extended compassion you are capable of showing. Find the strength within yourself Shawn. You can do, it, you can get Benjamin back.”

“Or die trying.” I added.

“No, Shawn, you can get him back, with success.” KITT said, pulling into the speedway and slowing down.

“Thanks, KITT.” I said, looking around. “Now where is this guy?”

“He’s in the Flagman’s Box.”

I looked up and saw a man, standing inside the box. He was standing there, with a blank expression on his face, with his hands neatly at his sides. He looked content, oddly content.

I pulled KITT to a stop and got out. Immediately, the man started shouting orders.

“Tell the cop cars that’s far enough!” he said.

“KITT, tell the police to hold their positions.” I said.

“Good, now show me the briefcase with the money.”

I did what I was told and held up the case. “Where’s Benjamin?”

“Set the briefcase down and open it up.”

I stood still. “Where is Benjamin?”

“Set the money down!”

“Where is Benjamin!?”

The man took a gun out and aimed it. “Do you want a picture window through your head?! Set the God damn money down now!”

I dropped the briefcase. “I got your damn money now where the hell is Benjamin?!”

“Kick the briefcase forward!”

“Give me Benjamin, God dammit!”

The man fired a shot at me and missed. I ducked and ran for KITT, trying to avoid bullets the man was firing at me. I got inside of KITT and slammed the dashboard. “Shit!” I screamed. I watched the man jump out of the box and land on the ground. He ran to the suitcase, picked it up, and bolted for a car sitting in what used to be Pit Row.

“Shawn!” KITT said.

“I know, he’s fleeing the scene! He’s fleeing the scene!” I yelled, flooring the accelerator. I sped into the Pit Row and chased the man. He sped out onto the speedway and raced down it. I felt like I was in a NASCAR race while chasing this man. We blew down the speedway, passing the 100 mile-per-hour mark. We came upon the turn where I entered the speedway. The cops used their cars to block the entrance. I watched in shock as he just plowed through them.

“Shawn...” KITT said.

“I know!” I yelled, pressing the turbo boost button.

We flew over the wreck of police cars and landed back on the ground.

The man blasted down the highway and never backed off of 120 miles per hour. “Stay on him, KITT!”

“He’s activated a nitrous oxide tank! He is accelerating rapidly. 150... 170.”

“Track him, KITT! You can catch up to him!”

The man peeled off an exit and down the off-ramp. We passed a sign which was a blur as it went by it at 190 mph.

“What did that sign say, KITT?” I asked.

“The sign said that we are approaching Litfield Salvage and Steel. A sign added under it said the building was condemned, no trespassing.”

“Great,” I said, “how far is he ahead of us?”

“He has already stopped and disappeared into the mill.”

“Scan for him.” I said.

“I can’t Shawn, the steel and metals in the building is shielding my scans.”

“Dammit.” I said. I sighed heavily and then focused my eyes on the steel mill. “Let’s get him.”

KITT screeched to a halt in front of the dilapidated steel mill. Five police cars behind him stopped on a dime as well. The officers got out, and pulled out weapons from the police cars. They gathered in front of KITT, as I grabbed my ultrasound handgun and got out of the car. I put a headset on, which was outfitted with a camera and a microphone.

“All right, here’s the plan,” I said, turning to the cops, “we enter the steel mill covertly, absolute silence, no quick moves, staying close to the walls. Search all the rooms for the child and possibly the kidnappers. Stay in pairs. Everyone got it?”

The cops nodded, and four pairs entered the building. One pair stopped and the lead office turned around. “What about you, Agent McCormick?”

“I got my partner right here.” I said with a smile, and patting KITT’s hood.

“Are you ready to go, Shawn?” KITT asked.

“Yeah, I am. Do you have my video?”

“Yes, I do.” KITT said.

“Central Dispatch, are you reading audio visual?”

“Audio visual is perfect, Shawn.” Maddock said.

I walked through a room in the building, with the ultrasound drawn and ready to fire at any kind of threat. I was about to go into another room, but something caught my eye, and I walked back over to it, and I saw that it was a small piece of white fabric laying on the ground. “You guys seeing this?”

“Yeah, we see it, Shawn, what is it?” Maddock asked.

“I don’t know, but it sure doesn’t belong in the steel mill. KITT, what is this?”

“This piece of fabric appears to be part of a T-shirt, which was ripped from the neck to the right sleeve.” KITT said.

“Is it part of Benjamin’s shirt?”

“It does match the description, Shawn.” KITT said.

I opened up an evidence case I brought with me and picked the piece of shirt up and stuck it inside a bag. “KITT, try to scan the mill again.” I said.

“Sorry, Shawn, scans are still inconclusive, due to the heavy steel and metal around the building.”

“Damn.” I was angry. The kidnapper had an upper hand on us and we couldn’t do anything about it. We were on his turf now. I walked into another room and flashed my light around it, and it was empty. I started to get a pretty bad feeling, so I stopped. “All teams stop, and report.”

“Team One, ground level, waterside, no subject, clear of evidence.”

“Team Two, ground level, outside perimeter, no subject, clear.”

“Team Three, third level, west side, all clear.”

“Team Five, third level, north east side, all clear.”

Team Four had not checked in, and now I knew that there was something really wrong. “Four, Four, where the hell is Four? Team Four, report.”

My head snapped up as I heard lots of gunshots which sounded close.

“Shawn, Shawn! What’s going on?!” Maddock yelled over the radio.

“KITT, where was Team Four?” I asked.

“On the roof, Shawn. Be careful!”

“All teams converge on the roof! Suspect is on the roof! Suspect is on the roof! Get to the roof exits, but do not, do not get on the roof!” I yelled, dropping her case and bolting up the stairwell.

“Shawn, be careful, my scanners are blind!” KITT said.

I met up with two teams who were waiting at the door which opened up onto the roof. “Go!”

We busted through the door, scanning the roof with their weapons. I ran far out of the door looking around, but the cop behind me was taking up the rear. His partner yelled but it was too late. The cop spun around, only to face a bullet speeding towards his head. He had no time to react and fell backwards as the bullet ripped through his mouth.

I spun around on my heel to shoot the attacker, but he took off running and my her ultrasound blast nailed the door.

Immediately, all of the cops started firing at the suspect.

I wanted him to live so badly. He was our key to finding Benjamin! I fired my ultrasound, trying to stun him.

He ran across the massive roof dodging fire from the cops, who were all trying to kill him. He tripped and stumbled. As he regained his balance, the bullets started hitting him, tearing through his clothes and his body. He stumbled, trying to run, past the two cops he killed earlier. More bullets hit him, and he stumbled towards the edge, and began to put his hands up. The kidnapper had no time to surrender as the final shots to his legs and chest sent him flying over the edge to the ground three stories below.

“No!!!!!” I screamed, running over to the edge and looking down at the mangled body which was laying right in front of KITT.

The police officers who were just acting in their own defense ran over to me.

“God dammit! I didn’t authorize deadly force! How are we supposed to find the kid, now that our suspect is full of holes and broken in half in front of my car?!”

The cops didn’t say anything.

“Shit!” I yelled said, kicking at some dust. “From now on, deadly force is NOT authorized! Suspects must be taken alive! Is that clear?! IS THAT CLEAR?!” I was mad, really mad. Now we were flying blind.

The cops nodded.

“Good, now, go back to where you were, and keep searching for the child, and keep your guard up, there may be more than one kidnapper.”

The cops broke up and walked back to the doorways.

“Shawn?” KITT asked.

“Yes, KITT, what is it?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, KITT, I’m just fine.” I said, walking down the stairs. “Anything going on out there?”

“Just a big mess in front of me.”

“Yeah, KITT, I’m sorry. I know, make yourself useful and scan the guy for some ID.”

“ID check completed, Shawn. This man’s name is Mitch Rockson, he is from Boulder, Colorado. He is currently wanted by the FBI and InterPol on murder, gun running, drug trafficking, and five counts of rape.”

“Busy little asshole, isn’t he?”

“Yes.” KITT replied.

“God dammit, where is he?”

“Right here in front of me.” KITT said.

“No, KITT, the child. Benjamin.”

“Agent McCormick, level three, level three!”

I darted up the stairs and looked at the cops who were standing over something. “What is it?!” I asked, staring at a small beam of light coming up through the floor.

“What the hell is that?” a cop asked.

“You guys reading this?” I asked.

“Yeah, we see it,” Maddock said, “what is it?”

“It looks like it is an air shaft which terminates just under this floor, KITT, do you agree?”

“Yes Shawn.”

“Only there are no lights in air shafts.” I added. “I want you guys to get a harness, some rope, winches and axes. We’re going in.”

The cops nodded and ran off.

It was a few minutes before the cops returned with the supplies I wanted. They knew exactly what to do, so I stayed out of their way and let them set up the rig.

“Shawn, who is gonna go down?” Maddock asked.

“Who do you think?” I replied, looking at the hole again. “Let’s get this hole opened!” I ordered, joining the cops in chopping the floor up.

“Shawn are you sure you want to go down there?” Maddock asked.

“Of course I do! The parents hired us to find the boy, I should be the one to go down.”

“Yeah, but you don’t know what could be down there, you should let one of the ma...”

I stopped chopping. I knew what Russ was getting at. “Look, we’ll discuss battle of the sexes in the 21st Century at a later time, right now, we got a kid to find!”

Once a sizable hole was made, I grabbed a harness and strapped myself in. I was quickly connected to the rope and made sure that everything was safe.

“You ready to go?” a cop asked.

“More than ever.” I replied. I set my ultrasound down on the ground and made a gesture for the cop to hand me his automatic gun. He handed it over and I made sure it was loaded.

“Be careful, Shawn.” Maddock said.

Unsure how to go in, since I had never done anything like it before, I laid down on my stomach and edged into the hole. The wires held like they were supposed to and I flipped into the hole head first and began to move down. “KITT, Russ, can you read visual?”

“We read you just fine Shawn, we can see everything.” Maddock said.

“Same down here, Shawn. Good luck.” KITT said.

I continued down the hole, and I kept checking the gun to see if it was armed. I’ll admit it, I was nervous. The silver case was in my free hand. I had trusted my life with the cops up above me.

The light was stronger as I got closer to the end. In the opening before me, all I saw was just a dirt floor, nothing giving indications that Benjamin, or anyone for that matter, was down there. “All right guys, slow it down.”

The cops slowed me down and I snapped the case to my harness. I held the gun with both hands and moved into the opening with extreme caution. It was empty, no one was in there. I unwrapped my foot from the wire and I flipped around, landing on my feet.

“All right, nothing is in this opening except a door. I think I am in the building’s sub basement. I’m disconnecting from the wire and going through the door.”

“Use caution, Shawn, you don’t know what’s behind it.” Maddock said.

“Oh shit.” a cop said.

“What? What is it?” I asked, concerned that the cops up there were in danger. Although, what he was about to tell me was just as bad.

“I don’t know how, but someone has tipped off the press. Almost every station in Boulder is here.” the cop replied.

“Great. Leave three cops here while the rest of you go out and keep them back. And, make sure to cover up that body in front of KITT.”

“You got it.” the cop said.

I was annoyed that the stupid media showed up. I checked the gun again, I think it was the fourth time I checked to see if it was loaded. I walked over to the door and checked to see if it was opened. Of course it was locked. I knew that there was something I needed to see behind this door, so I prepared to kick it in. I got a running start and nailed the door with my foot at full force. Wood splintered everywhere.

Of course the kick sent the door open and shut again so I slowly pushed it open. It was a move I regretted. What I saw in front of me was shocking.

It was Benjamin, or just what the kidnappers decide to leave of him. He was chained between two poles, his arms elevated. His shirt was removed and there was a autopsy type Y cut down the center of his chest. His exposed organs were in their place, but sliced up. There were massive cuts down each arm exposing muscle, tissue, and bone. His legs were cut up under his jeans making jeans which were once blue, a deep reddish color. The sight was just sickening, and I wanted to throw up.....

“The smell was horrendous, and I covered my mouth and nose and batted flies away. I finally got the strength to back out, but I just folded under my own power and sat down on the ground. I guess the thing which would be permanently burned into my mind is the expression on Benjamin’s face.” Shawn said.

“That’s what KITT said.” Bonnie said.

“What?” Shawn asked.

“KITT said the same thing.”

“You talked to KITT?”

“Yeah. Shawn, KITT had an emotional response to the sight of Benjamin strung up on the poles.”

“He did?”

“The system had no idea how to handle such a massive and elaborate response, so there was an overload. But KITT is fine, he is conscious, and aware of what is going on. You can talk to him by typing on the computer.”

“I can?”

“Yes.” Bonnie said, handing the keyboard over to Shawn.

_KITT, it’s Shawn...

>Shawn

_I don’t know what to say

>Just be yourself

_I felt so helpless without you

>As I did without you

_Benjamin, I failed

>No you didn’t

_I feel like I did

>But you didn’t. Shawn he was dead way before we even got there. The kidnapper lied

_The parents lied too

>Right, we can’t let them get away

_You know what we have to do

>Get them. Get those killers

_Right KITT. Bonnie is going to make you as good as new, and we’re going to get them.

>Good

_KITT, it’s Bon. I’m going to take you off-line now, and you’ll be waking up tomorrow morning back in the 4000

>Good night Bonnie, Shawn.

_Good night, KITT.

Bonnie turned the computer off. “Well, we better get some coffee going.” she said.

“I’ll take care of it, and I’ll call Kevin in too.”

“Cool.” Bonnie said, unhooking the computer from KITT.

March 11, 2001
1139 Hrs

>command.com
>load bios
>bios system check
>ram check
>config.sys
>bio com interface
>to rom i/o
>controller
>comspec.exe
>memory.dat
>flag utils
>system buffer
>parameters
>parity set
>memory set
>system status
>Knight Industries Two Thousand at 100 percent efficency_


“Good morning, KITT.” Bonnie said, walking into the room.

“Good morning, Bonnie.” KITT replied, the voice emanating from the body of the Knight 4000.

“And how is my patient?”

“Much better, Bonnie, thank you.”

“Physically or mentally?” Bonnie asked.

“Both,” KITT replied, “thank you for talking to me and helping me out.”

“Come on KITT, what are friends for?”

“Or even more than friends...” KITT started.

“Well, looks like we got some of the stuff we need.” Kevin said, walking in with Shawn in tow.

“What did you find?” Bonnie asked.

“All the stuff that we need.” Shawn said, holding up a piece of paper. “The District Attorney faxed us over a search warrant for the Tenet’s estate.”

“How’s KITT doing? Ready to rock?”

“And roll.” KITT added, starting up and moving forward.

“Let’s get em.” Shawn said, getting inside. She floored the gas pedal and spun KITT’s tires on the garage floor and peeled out. “Welcome back, KITT.”


By the time they had arrived at the Tenet estate, there were three police cars parked out front. Rich was standing on the front steps outside the door. He walked over to Shawn, Pati followed.

“Agent, what the hell is going on?! Why are all these cops here? My son is dead, now let us mourn in piece!”

“Oh sure, Rich, no problem,” Shawn said, signaling a man, “Lieutenant?”

“Yes Agent McCormick,” the man replied, “Richard Tenet, Pati Tenet, you two are under arrest...”

“Hey what the fuck!?” Rich yelled.

“You have the right to remain silent...” the Lieutenant continued.

“What is this Shawn?! This is bullshit!”

“If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”

Rich was being loaded into the police car, semi struggling with the officers. “God damn you McCormick! I’ll kill you, you bitch! I’ll kill you!” he yelled.

Pati was being walked to another police car and passed Shawn. She stopped and looked at her for a bit, and then walked on.

Shawn watched the two police cars leave with the killing parents inside. She stood there silent for awhile, and finally she snapped out of it. “Okay,” she said, “let’s search it.” She went inside the house, with Kevin and Bonnie in tow. She walked over to the banister and activated the hidden door.

Kevin handed her a flashlight and the three of them slowly walked down the basement stairs. They walked over to the false door and Shawn ripped the poster off and opened it.

“Yes!” she yelled.

Kevin and Bonnie peered over her shoulders. “Wow.” Kevin said.

“No shit,” Shawn said, looking around the room, “we got em, and we got em good.” She backed out. “All right, let’s get the CI’s down here so they can survey the room.” She turned around and walked up the stairs, with Kevin following.

Bonnie lagged behind and looked through the doorway at the things which were inside the room....


“They tortured him, Sheila.” Bonnie said.

“How bad?” Sheila asked.

“That room that Shawn found, it was a mess. It was dimly lit, had a chair with restraints on it. It was a dirt floor, not kept up too well, no ventilation, no place for the kid to go to the bathroom or anything. It looked like that they kept him in there for days at a time.”

“Jesus. Such wonderful parents.”

“Aren’t they?” Bonnie asked. “I don’t know, Sheila, what do you think I should do?”

“That’s your choice, Bon. KITT sounds like your baby, something which you would devote your life to.”

“He still needs work. He wont be the same for awhile.”

“Then I say stay.” Sheila laughed. “Come on, Bonnie, it sounds like it is a killer opportunity. You get your old job back after, what, 11 years?”

“I guess I should be glad for them to actually offer me the position.”

“Damn straight! Not to mention that it sounds like you get a hot, young assistant!”

“Oh please! Kevin is half my age.”

“Yeah I’ve noticed that. All these young guys all over the place, they’re so cute! What can you say? Yes.”

Bonnie laughed hard.

“So what is the verdict, BonBon?”

“I’m taking the job.”

“You’re gonna go with Knight Industries?”

Bonnie smiled. “Oh yeah, you betcha. Who could ask for anything more?”

The End

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