A Father's Place
By Kelly Wood
SYNOPSIS
Title: A Father's Place
Author: Kelly Wood
Featured Characters: Peter Caine, Kwai Chang Caine, most of the precinct gang, Chan
Guest Stars: Avery Pearce, a bunch of assorted kids, Jessie the librarian, hired muscle
Warnings: some mild language
Time Period: Hmmmm... Just after Simms arrived.
Story: Peter and Pop run into a gang of kidnappers at the library. Of course, since nothing can be simple with the Caines, things get out of hand.
Disclaimers: Kung Fu: the Legend Continues is by Michael Sloan
and distributed by Warner Brothers. This story is based on characters
created for the show. No copyright infringement is intended.
A Father's Place
By Kelly Wood
*Part One*
Peter Caine looked over at his passenger. "We need to stop where?" he asked incredulously.
Kwai Chang Caine shrugged. "A public library."
"Pop, why?"
"As I told you, I am searching for a...particular kind of herb. I need to find a ... photograph of it."
"Okay, okay, I know about the herb," Peter said with a small frown, "...but you're an apothecary. Shouldn't you know what the herb you're looking for looks like?"
"Yes." The older man agreed. "I do know what it looks like...but *you* do not. That is why we must stop."
Peter rolled his eyes. This trip was not turning out to be anything like what he had anticipated. Last weekend, when he had volunteered to help his father replenish the apothecary supplies, he had expected to drive him from shop to shop, with time to talk along the way. He had *not* expected to be tramping through the woods all around the suburbs of the city, gathering roots, leaves, stems and berries. Being with his father was interesting, and he was learning about his life, but enough was enough!
"Okay Pop, one public library coming up." Peter tried to remember where the local library would be. They were currently in Rosedale, one of the wealthiest communities surrounding Sloanville. That wealth, which led directly to the abundance of public conservation land, was the reason his father had picked the town as a good place to find herbs. Peter had been to the Rosedale PD for some training classes, and thought he could remember passing the library on the way there.
"Peter," his father said, interrupting his thoughts. "If we are going to the library, should you not follow the signs?" He pointed to a blue sign at the crossroads ahead. 'Library' it read. The arrow pointed to the left.
"Right Pop. I mean, Father." Peter grinned. At the stop sign, he turned the Stealth left, following a yellow rental truck up the hill and into the library parking lot. The truck darted into a parking spot, but Peter stopped at the crosswalk as a young dark-haired woman ushered a group of small children off a schoolbus and across the parking lot. Most of the kids ran ahead, but four were clustered around the woman, each talking to her non-stop. She smiled as she listened; waved and nodded to Peter, to thank him for stopping.
"Boy, she has her hands full." Peter said, watching the group push through the library doors.
His father smiled. "A bit like Master Lowry at the Temple."
Peter laughed as he remembered how the boys used to follow Master Lowry, each talking as loudly as possible to gain his attention. Somehow, the man always seemed to hear each one of them. "Yeah," he agreed. "I don't know how they do it."
He got out of the car and stretched his arms over his head. His father watched at him over the roof of the Stealth. "Will you come in, my son?"
"Sure, why not? While you look up plants, I'll read the local crime report or something. Not that there's much crime around here," he added. Peter followed his father into the building. As they reached the doors, he opened the right one for his father. A man in a long leather trenchcoat pushed rudely past Caine and entered the building. "You're welcome!" Peter called after him sarcastically.
The man looked back at him, expressionless. His eyes were shadowed by the sunglasses he wore. The hackles on Peter's back rose. "Uh Pop...."
Caine put a restraining hand on his arm. Two more young men in trenchcoats and sunglasses pushed past them, heading for the Children's Wing. Father and son exchanged a glance. Caine started after the men.
Peter ran to the Reference Desk. The librarian looked up from her computer. "May I help you?" she asked pleasantly.
"Yes," Peter pulled out his badge and showed it to her. "Call the police. I think you're about to have a big problem." He followed after his father, cursing the fact that his gun was in the car.
*****
*Part Two*
Jessie settled into the rocking chair and looked at the eager faces surrounding her. "Does everybody remember where we left off last week?" she asked, holding up a copy of 'Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library'.
"Mary Rose and Jo Beth just found the lady on the floor upstairs," Matthew volunteered.
"They were scared." Anthony added.
"The blue lights were one," Molly said, shivering. "And the snow kept on snowing."
Jessie grinned. This group always remembered everything, unlike the Wednesday group. She bet they could probably recite the dialogue word for word. "Okay, let's start chapter six."
She looked up with a trace of annoyance as the door opened. "I'm sorry, we're in a program right now..." her voice trailed off as she saw the man standing silhouetted in the doorway. Rising to her feet, she felt her heart begin to pound. Something was not right. "Can I help you?" she asked sharply.
The man in the doorway smiled. It was not a pleasant sight. He walked into the room, followed by two others. "So sorry to interrupt sweetheart," he sneered, "But we have some important business here."
Jessie looked at the children, who were looking from the man to her. "There must be a mistake," she said, her voice coming out in a breathless squeak. Could they hear her over the beating of her heart?
"You've got that right." One of the other men laughed. "Only we're not the ones making it." He pulled a gun out from under his coat. Several of the children started to whimper. "You're all coming with us."
Kwai Chang Caine saw the men go into the small room at the end of the Children's Wing. Suddenly, he heard children crying. One man backed out of the room with a gun pointed into it. As horrified mothers grabbed their toddlers and began running, the man walked the few steps to the emergency exit and opened it. An alarm started buzzing. The yellow truck that Peter and Caine had followed into the parking lot was right outside, backed up to the doorway.
The other two men were prodding the children towards the door. Every child was clinging to or trying to touch the young librarian. Some were silent, one or two were crying. The woman looked terrified, but was trying to maintain contact with each child while walking in the direction of the door. It wasn't easy. Impatiently, one man yanked a child away.
Caine knew that he could not risk the lives of children by trying to fight, so he did what was, in his mind, the only possible thing. Calmly, he walked up to the group and transferred some of the children into his own arms, including the little girl the gunman had grabbed.
"What the Hell do you think you're doing, old man?" that man demanded, poking Caine with his gun.
"These children are frightened. I am merely trying to ease their discomfort," he answered calmly. The child in his arms wrapped herself tightly around his neck and hid her face in his shoulder.
"Just move it," one of the others said, impatiently pushing the knot of children, librarian and Kwai Chang Caine through the door towards the back of the truck. "We'll take him too."
Peter raced into the Children's Wing just in time to catch one last glimpse of his father's calm face, surrounded by children, as the door to the truck slammed closed. With tires screeching, it peeled out of the parking lot.
*****
*Part 3*
Peter ran out of the library to the Stealth. He knew he had to follow the truck; if he lost it, the chances of finding the children, and his father, would be slim. He started the car even before he closed the door, exiting the parking lot so quickly he almost ran down an unlucky pedestrian. His hand touched the cherry under the seat, but he knew that a flashing light would attract the wrong kind of attention.
The truck was travelling the winding rural roads too quickly; almost loosing touch with the ground on one side as it took the curves. Hating to think what was happening to the people in the back of the vehicle, Peter settled in for a long chase, trying to stay far enough back so that he could see the truck, but was out of sight of the driver. Since the Stealth was so low to the ground, he was hoping that the truck driver wasn't aware of the pursuit.
As he followed the truck, he reached for his radio. "Baker 1-9," he said into the mouthpiece. Unfortunately, he was too far out of the city to reach the dispatcher. Sure that the local police would be active on their channel, he started twisting the dial, driving one-handed, trying to find the correct frequency. He knew he had reached the right spot when he started hearing excited voices over the air.
~...three men in long brown coats...~ Hearing a break in the conversation, Peter jumped in.
"This is Detective Peter Caine with Metro. I am in pursuit of the truck which abducted the children." The chatter on the line stopped.
A new voice came on. "This is Captain McDonald, of the Rosedale PD. Where are you located, Detective Caine?"
"I'm not sure, sir. I don't know your streets. I just passed a golf course on my left. I'm on a winding road. Uh, they're headed northwest," Peter added, looking at the angle of the sun.
"Keep them in sight, Detective. Can I have your badge number?"
Peter gave it, knowing that the Captain was going to check with the Simms. "I tried to get the plate, but it's covered with mud. The truck is a standard eighteen foot rental truck; a yellow 'E-Z Ride'. If they get onto the highway towards the city, we'll have a tough time keeping tabs on them."
The truck reached an intersection and passed through without pausing. Reluctantly, Peter slowed. The Stealth would have no problem catching up, and an accident would endanger too many people. Luckily, no one was at the intersection, and he was able to keep the yellow truck in sight.
The road they turned onto was significantly wider, and Peter's heart sank when he saw a sign indicating a junction ahead with one of the major highways into the city. "Shit!" He pounded the steering wheel in frustration as the truck turned onto the entrance ramp.
As he merged into traffic, Peter picked up the radio. "Captain McDonald, our suspects have just turned onto the interstate. I am still following. *Where is my backup?*" the last words were shouted into the mike with frustration.
There was a crackle of static, and then the breathless voice of a dispatcher came over the air. "Detective Caine, officers are in pursuit, but there was an accident involving two of the cruisers. The others are stuck in the resulting traffic jam. We are notifying Metro of the situation."
Peter shook his head in disbelief. "Great. No backup." He looked at the truck he was chasing. Already, he could see two more of the familiar yellow rental trucks on the road amongst the other traffic. Reaching under the seat, he pulled out his cellular phone. "I should have done this in the first place." Without even looking at the keypad, he dialed a familiar number.
********
*Part 4*
The back of the truck was uncomfortably hard, with nothing to keep the children from sliding around in the empty space. Kwai Chang Caine tried to hold as many of them as he could while the rental truck screeched around yet another curve in the road. He noted that the young woman was trying to do the same; both adults braced in, trying to stay there and keep the children from tumbling. He reached out and grabbed as a blond boy slid past him. They were fortunate that the dim overhead bulb allowed enough light to see each other.
Just as he feared that someone might receive an injury, the truck took one last sharp corner, and began travelling in a straight line. Caine frowned.
"Oh, good," the woman sighed in relief, pushing the hair out of her eyes and looking at Caine. She paused. "Or maybe, not so good?" she asked tentatively, something on his face telling her that this was not necessarily a positive change.
Concentrating, he reached out. He sensed his son close by, worry filling his thoughts. The motion of the truck had changed to a smooth rhythm, travelling in a straight line. He raised his eyes to meet the librarian's. "We are on a highway. It may be...difficult to follow this truck in such a situation."
"Oh." Her expression changed as she assimilated this information, wavering between fear and hope. "Wait, you mean that there *is* someone following us?" She saw his nod, but didn't have time to ask more as a general wail went up from the group of children. Caine watched her as she began to comfort them with her attention.
"Jessie, my head hurts!" a dark-haired boy said.
"I hurt my arm, Jessie," a little blond girl cried. Other complaints followed. From the frequent repetition, Caine deduced that the woman's name was Jessie.
Caine comforted the curly-haired girl still wrapped around his neck, and reached out to the other children. His calming presence seemed to settle over the group as the children found spaces to sit around the two adults. Instinctively, they remained in contact with each other, constantly seeking comfort through touch.
"Have we been kidnapped?" one of the girls, a sturdy blond child asked, her voice hushed. The other children waited for the answer.
Jessie hesitated, looking at Caine. He shrugged. "It looks like it, Christina," she reluctantly admitted. Christina bit her lip and grabbed the hand of the girl beside her.
"Who are you?" the boy who had hurt his head asked Caine.
"I am Caine." Kwai Chang Caine inclined his head towards the boy.
This did not appear to satisfy the child. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.
Looking into the boy's dark eyes, Caine could see the fear behind the question. "I was visiting the library, and I saw men with guns. I tried to help."
"You didn't help much," the boy said.
"Ayaas!" Jessie exclaimed, teacher-mode taking over for a second. "That was rude. Please apologize."
The boy looked momentarily abashed. "Sorry," he muttered, ducking his head.
"That is...all right," Caine said, placing a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder. "I was not able to do as much as I should have." The young boy reminded him of Peter at the same age. Full of questions and trying to make the events around him fit into his perception of the world.
"Mr. Caine, I'm Jessica Reed. These kids are Ayaas, Molly, Sophie..." As she rattled off the names, Caine looked at each child in turn. There were eight of them, four boys and four girls. They looked to be between the ages of seven and nine. Each one seemed to be taking their situation in stride, although there were a few tear tracks drying on several faces.
"Just...Caine."
Jessie was surprised when Sophie, normally one of the quieter children, sat up and looked at the man. When she bowed her head and whispered something in Chinese, Caine replied in kind. Sophie turned to the others, her dark eyes shining.
"He is the Shaolin priest, from Chinatown. Shaolin are good luck. We will be safe, he will help us."
***********
*Part Five*
It seemed to take forever before the phone was answered. "Griffin's computer dating service," Kermit's voice sang out. "You ask..."
"Shut up and listen, Kermit," Peter said, not waiting to hear the rest of it.
"Peter? What's the matter?" Kermit's voice grew sharp as he recognized the tension in the younger detective's tone.
"I'm in pursuit of a E-Z Ride rental truck, headed directly for the city. My father's in the back, along with a bunch of kids and a librarian from the Rosedale Library." Peter tried to recite the facts unemotionally, but the memory of those small fearful faces filled his thoughts. "I don't have a plate number; I can't read it. I don't have backup, because the Rosedale PD apparently had an accident with their cruisers before they made it to the scene."
Kermit exhaled. "When you get into something, you don't do it by halves, Petey. What do you want me to do?"
Peter's relief at his friend's immediate support was immeasurable. Maybe there was a chance that this could end quickly. "The Rosedale dispatcher said they were contacting Metro. See if you can get the 101st on it. Find out who these kids are, and what the motive for taking them is. I'll stay on the line, so you can trace my location. If anything happens, I can tell you where the truck goes." Peter paused, not sure if there was anything else. "Thanks, Kermit," he added softly.
"Oh yeah," came the reply. "Hang on, kid. Let's see what we can do."
*************
Kermit Griffin stormed out of his office like a man possessed. "Blake, trace the call on my line," he snapped. "Jody, call Rosedale and find out what they know about a kidnapping at the library. Skalany..."
"I wasn't aware you had been promoted to Chief, Detective," a gruff voice behind him barked, dripping with sarcasm.
"Strenlich." Kermit turned to look at the Chief of Detectives. There was no time to waste on niceties. "Peter's on my line. He witnessed a kidnapping and is in pursuit of an E-Z Ride rental truck."
The burly man sighed. "Backup?" he asked, almost hopefully.
"None. There was some kind of accident," Kermit's voice reflected his desire to bang some heads together in Rosedale. "Peter's on his own."
Concern mixed with irritation in the Chief's comment. "Why can't Caine have a normal day off? Rest a little, go on a picnic, see a movie...?" He looked around the motionless squadroom.
"Well, what are you all sitting there for?" he barked. "Griffin told you what to do! Blake, Powell, get moving. Skalany, start calling E-Z rental outlets. After Powell gets a description of the perps, see if you can match them to a rental. Chin..." he paused, trying to think of something for the young detective to do. "Find the Captain," he said finally. "She'll want to know what's going on."
Kermit nodded. "Peter's still on the line. I'll see if he can give me more information." He turned towards his office. "Coming, Chief?"
Strenlich nodded, observing the new flurry of activity in his squadroom. He shook his head and tried not to worry about Peter. It wasn't going to happen. Following Kermit, he entered the computer expert's office.
**************
"Kermit?" Peter shouted into the phone. He could hear background noise; Strenlich shouting, but there was no answer. Peter gritted his teeth and dropped the cell phone as the truck left the highway. Cutting across three lanes of traffic, Peter wrestled the Stealth off the same exit. He could only hope that the men in the rental wouldn't notice such a blatant maneuver.
The truck sped down a long street and turned sharply. A chain link gate swung open just enough to let the truck through, then closed. Peter drove by slowly, circling the block. He checked out the sign on the gate as he passed. 'Holt Trucking', the sign read. The parking lot was filled with tractor-trailers and other, smaller trucks. Peter groaned when he saw the corner of the yard filled with distinctive yellow rentals.
*****
*Part 6*
The truck slowed and turned right. After only a few minutes of travel, it came to a halt; the unwilling passengers could hear the cab doors open and then slam shut. Caine stood, as did Jessie. One by one, following the example of the adults, the children rose to their feet, keeping Caine and Jessie between them and the door. Fearfully, they clustered behind the two adults, their eyes fixed on the back of the truck.
The door rose with a clatter. The truck was not outside, as Caine had expected. Instead, they were in some kind of shipping warehouse. The three men from the library stood waiting, guns in hand. One gestured, "Come on, we don't have all day. Get out."
Without hesitation, Caine walked to the end of the truck and jumped down. He looked at each of the three men. They were in their mid-twenties, with hard faces. Seeing that they seemed to have no intention of helping or harming their prisoners, he turned and held out one hand to Jessie. She took it and jumped out of the truck.. Between them, they assisted the children to get down.
When the last child was firmly on the ground, Caine fixed a steady gaze on the kidnappers. "Are you cowards, that you cannot face a group of harmless children without weapons?" There was no hint of censure in his voice, merely curiosity.
One of the men promptly tucked his gun under his coat, looking slightly ashamed. The other two stared. "Shut up, old man," one snapped.
"Jace, leave him alone," the man who had put his gun away said. "He's right. They're just kids, and we're scaring them."
Jace snorted. "We're kidnappers. That's what we're supposed to do." He prodded Caine with the gun. "Okay, old man. Follow Mike. You kids, follow the old guy. Librarian, you walk in the back in front of me and Zeke."
Silently, the children bunched up in a little group behind Caine. "Single file!" Jace shouted.
"Can't we do partners?" Ayaas objected. "That's what we always do at school."
"Partners. Fine." Mike hastily said, as Jace's face grew red with anger. Nodding, he turned and started walking across the warehouse. Caine leveled one stern look at Ayaas before following him. Quickly the children organized themselves into pairs and followed, leaving Jessie and the other two kidnappers to follow.
Mike led them though a swinging double door and down a long corridor. He stopped at an unmarked door and gestured Caine to go through it. On the other side was a small room, with another door on the far side. A mirror was built into the third wall. The fourth wall, opposite the mirror, was painted with graffiti.
"Line up on that wall," Jace demanded, pointing at the graffiti. Silently, the prisoners did so, with Caine on one end of the line and Jessie on the other. Jace pressed a button beside the mirror. "They're here," he stated.
There was a crackle, then a small speaker over the button emitted a squawk of static. "There were supposed to be eighteen children," a mechanical voice stated, "and I don't remember telling you to bring any adults."
Jace scowled at Mike, who cleared his throat nervously and spoke for all three. "These were all the kids in the room. We couldn't get them to move without the librarian. The old guy helped get them in the truck."
"The old guy?" Even through the speaker, the voice sounded amused.
Caine tilted his head, listening to the voice. Although it was disguised by the mechanism that allowed it to travel through walls, there was something familiar about the cadence and phrasing of the words. He closed his eyes and tried to match that to a face.
"Where are the rest of the children?"
Jace poked Jessie. "Where are the other kids?"
The librarian jumped. "There's some kind of bug going around. Six mothers called to tell me their children were sick. Two kids were going to a birthday party. I don't know what happened to the other two-we left messages on their machines."
The person on the other end of the microphone cursed. "Gentlemen, there is a large difference between nine million dollars and four million. Your fee has just been lowered substantially. Did you at least make sure that you were not followed?"
"We weren't followed," Jace said arrogantly.
"We sabotaged the cruisers," Zeke snickered. "Those cops were too busy crashing to be able to follow us."
Dead silence came from the speaker. Finally, there was a click and the voice came back on. The suppressed fury in it made the gunmen look nervously at each other. "Do you mean to tell me that you didn't even check to see if you were followed?"
The kidnappers shifted uncomfortably.
"DID YOU LOOK?"
"No," Mike said to the floor. The other two glared at him.
Several people jumped as the sound of items crashing came from the other side of the wall. Caine looked at the children. Emotions played across young faces; fear, surprise...recognition. Caine looked closely at Sophie; she looked up at Caine soberly. Whomever was on the other side of that wall, Sophie knew him.
The voice filled the room again. "The 'old guy' you caught is a Shaolin priest. Was anyone with him at the Library?"
Zeke and Mike looked to Jace. "Yeah, some young guy," their self-appointed leader grudging admitted. "So what?"
The door at the far end of the room banged open, and a tall, dark-haired man stalked through, followed by three others. "So what?" he repeated, anger filling his voice, "His son is a cop. I can assure you that he DID follow you, and is, at this moment, prowling around this building, looking for his father." The man turned to face the men behind him. "Search the grounds. Look for an intruder. Don't kill him-yet. Bring him here." Two of the men left, pulling weapons from hidden holsters. The man in control watched them go, then moved his attention to the prisoners.
"Caine," he said, with a deadly smile. "How good to see you again."
It wasn't Kwai Chang Caine who responded however, but Sophie, her voice filled with distress. "Uncle, what are you doing?"
**************