"That last shot was a lucky blow and you know it." Duke DePalma grinned and fended off the pretend blow from the attractive brunette at his side.

"Lucky shot nothing. I just outclassed you today" Jenny Andrews was still sweaty from the sparring match the two had had. Though it may not have looked like a fair fight, Jenny was small and slim and Duke was tall and well muscled up, the two were a good match for each other. Duke was a former Golden Glove champion and Jenny was a former Marine. Duke always suspected that Jenny could take him out with her little finger if she really wanted to.

"We'll see next time." With that the door closed on his brown features. Jenny waved a mocking fist at the door and then hurried on to her own quarters. She had never quite gotten used to just how big the plane was. Sky One as the plane was called was the mobile headquarters for Team Knight Rider, a highly specialized team of five individuals and five extraordinary vehicles.

The team was under the supervision of FLAG, the Foundation for Law and Government. FLAG was a private foundation that lent assistance and expertise to local and federal law enforcement agencies. The other team members included Kyle Stewart, an ex-CIA operative, Erika West, a very accomplished con artist, and Trek Sanders, a twentysomething year old jack of all trades.

As Duke sat on his bunk to remove his shoes, he noticed an email notification on his computer. He walked over to the desk and pulled it up. The name on the letter surprised him. He sat down heavily and read the whole letter twice. Then, carefully saving the missive, he called Kyle. "I think we have a problem."

*****************************************************************

Half an hour later the whole team was gathered in the operations room. The only furniture was a built in round table with computer terminals built into each station. On the walls were panels that were actually flat projection screens so that the four wheeled members of the team could participate in the meetings.

"Okay Duke, what's this all about?" Kyle was sitting in his chair learning forward. His lean frame gave the appearance of a coiled spring.

"I received an email from a ghost." Duke wasn't kidding.

"You what?"

"An email I got today was from an old friend of mine, DeeAnn Winters. Her brother was my partner on the police force."

"Wasn't he killed right before you left the force?" Trek asked.

"Yes. DeeAnn was killed two weeks later when someone put a bomb in my car." Duke paused to catch his breath. He could see the looks of amazement and concern from his friends around the table.

"You see, Rob and I had been doing work on our own time trying to nail a guy named Brett Richards. He ran the biggest dope operation in the city at the time. He set up an ambush for us one night. Rob was killed. Richards had everything set up to look like we were out for glory and the whole case was thrown out in exchange for my leaving the force. I never found the evidence we had collected. Rob had it all. I knew that Richards would come after me but DeeAnn got in the way. After that, I left town and Richards dropped out of sight."

"Are you sure this is the same person?" Erika's blue eyes shone with disbelief. "Someone could be pulling a very sick joke or maybe there's been a mix-up somewhere."

"No mix up. She wants to meet me at the same little diner where we met. I had gone home with Rob for the weekend and that was when I met DeeAnn. She lived with their parents in Denver and taught preschool. Later she got a job in Chicago and moved out there. We were dating for a while and even talked about marriage a few times. If this really is her, I have to go."

"Something about this whole thing smells fishy." The speaker was Attack Beast, a pure black Ford pickup with a major attitude. He was fitted with the latest weaponry and a state of the art Artificial Intelligence System. All five of the vehicles had been programmed to work closely with and compliment their drivers. It didn't take a lot of guesswork to see that Beast and Duke were paired up.

The rest of the vehicles chimed in. Domino, a fancy red and white Mustang agreed with Beast. She and Jenny were complete opposites but worked quite well together. In fact, Dom was slowly teaching Jenny the fine art of flirting. Dante, Kyle's partner was a Ford Explorer with the manners and accent of a British college professor. He tended to be more restrained and looked before the others leaped. The motorcycles were Kat and Plato. They could run separately or be teamed up into a futuristic looking combo car. Kat tended to be a goody-two-shoes (Kyle rather hoped she could keep Erika out of a little trouble) whereas Plato spoke only in quotations from old TV shows and movies. Plato and Trek understood each other perfectly, even if the rest of the team didn't.

"Okay here's what we'll do. Duke you go to the diner but Jenny and I will be there to back you up. Trek, I want you and Erika to start going through everything you can find about DeeAnn Winters, Brett Richards and anything else that might be helpful."

With that, the three walked out of the room and down to the garage.

**********************************************************

Attack Beast pulled up to the diner and parked in the street out front. On the opposite side of the street, Duke could see Jenny and Domino watching him. Dante was parked in the parking lot adjacent to the restaurant and Kyle was already inside. Duke causally looked up and down the street before making his way into the small diner.

Once inside, he blinked his eyes two or three times to get accustomed to the dim lighting. The place was exactly as he remembered it. The left side held a row of tables from back to front and the right side was a long bar with stools. Kyle was at the bar nursing a cup of coffee and pretending to read the local paper. Two of the six tables were occupied with families. In the very back a lone woman sat at a table. She had an uneaten sandwich in front of her and she was looking at the watch on her right arm. She looked up and saw Duke.

A shy smile spread across her warm brown features as she stood up. Thick black hair waved down her back. She stood by the table as Duke walked towards her. Her hands folded and twisted in front of her as he approached.

"Hello Duke. I wasn't sure if you would come."

"DeeAnn? How.." Duke couldn't find the words. He reached for her and enfolded her in a tight embrace. Tears ran down her face as she clung to him.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't have any choice. I had to go away. They said it was the only way to keep you alive." DeeAnn released Duke and led him to the table.

"What do you mean, keep me alive. That bomb was meant for me. I saw you..." Duke sat down on the opposite side of the table, still holding her hand. "Tell me what's going on."

The accident, she revealed was faked by the FBI. They had to have her drop out of sight and put into the Witness Protection Program. All of the files that Duke and Rob had gathered, were in her possession. Rob had given them to her with the instructions that if anything happened to him they were to go to the FBI. The files revealed that an officer on the force was in league with Richards. His name was never mentioned, but references were made to him repeatedly. Duke nodded, he knew that much. What he hadn't known was that Rob had done some work without him and had gotten the officer on tape, taking a bribe in cocaine. Unfortunately, Rob had been seen and captured. He had been released with the understanding that if he didn't turn over all of the evidence he had gathered, he and his partner would die. Since the tapes and photos had been gathered with authorization, they would not be admissable as evidence. Rob had decided not to turn over the materials and instead had given them to DeeAnn for safekeeping. Two days later, the ambush had happened with no possible connection to Richards. DeeAnn had taken the package of information to the FBI as Rob had requested, without telling Duke. The FBI was presently using the information to build a case against Richards and the unnamed officer. DeeAnn had been put into protective custody and Duke had been dismissed from the force for his own safety.

"Now I understand. But why contact me now? Why come out of hiding?" Duke asked her.

"Because three days ago a note appeared taped to my front door saying that someone had gone through my file at the bureau. I ran. I contacted one of Rob's old friends at the department and he told me you were with the Foundation now. I decided you needed to know. I think Richards has found me and wants to kill me. He'll come after you too since he hasn't found the evidence."

"Duke, there are two men approaching the diner with guns." Beast's voice came over the communicator built into Duke's watch.

"Gotcha. Pick us up around back. Did you get that Jenny?"

"I got them. They're one block from the diner. Go out the back door and head west down the alley. Kyle can block them inside. Go!" Jenny put Domino into action and sped down the street just enough to get room to make a sharp U-turn. She parked in the spot left by Beast as he started up and turned the corner.

Kyle watched as Duke and DeeAnn headed for the back entrance to the diner and disappeared. He stood up and walked to the cash register at the end of the counter. He was just reaching for his wallet when two men walked in. Both were wearing casual clothes light windbreakers on. Kyle noted the bulges that indicated the two were armed. One pointed out the back door to the other and both began to walk forward when Kyle stumbled and fell into them.

"I'm sorry. Man did I do that? Here let me help you." Kyle helped one man to his feet and dusted him off.

"Get out of my way!" the man growled and pushed Kyle aside. He reached the back door just in time to see Duke climb into Beast and roar off. By the time the two men had ran around front, Duke, Kyle and Jenny were gone.

****************************************************************

While Duke took DeeAnn to a motel on the outskirts of town, Jenny and Kyle went back to Sky One. Their standing policy was to never bring people aboard that would compromise Sky One security for the crewmembers aboard.

"Trek what have you got?" Kyle asked as he walked into the operations room.

"Not a lot yet. This Brett Richards is a busy man. He's got ties to everything from gambling to drugs to murder. He moves around a lot and right now he is in the States, maybe here in Denver. He has outstanding warrants in fifteen states but not in Colorado. What is very interesting is that there is not a trace of him in the local FBI files." Trek leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head.

"How did you get into the FBI files?" Kyle asked then shook his head. "Forget I asked."

"Only the Shadow knows" quipped Plato.

"Kyle he broke into those files. Isn't hacking against the law?"

Kat was sounding very nervous.

"Only if he gets caught Kat." Erika assured her. "Kyle the only thing I've been able to find on DeeAnn Winters is a death certificate. It states she was killed three years ago, two weeks after the death of her brother. Newspaper articles from that time concur.

"What about the autopsy report?"Kyle asked.

"I didn't think that was necessary. Duke saw her get killed in his car." Erika stated.

"Run it anyway." Kyle sat down to think of his next move.

************************************************************

Duke and DeeAnn sat in the motel room without talking. She sat on the bed and hugged her knees to her chest. Duke sat in the chair by the window and peered out from behind the drapes. Beast was parked across the street, not close enough to attract attention but close enough for help if need be. Duke knew he should talk to DeeAnn but the words wouldn't come. Finally, he turned to her.

"Where have you been?"

"I was in Washington State for a while then I moved to Louisiana. That was were I was when I got the note. I came here then."

"How did you find me?"

"I called Tom Burnhart. I pretended I was a lawyer looking for you. He told me that you had joined the Foundation. I wrote the Foundation looking for you. They must have forwarded my message." DeeAnn gazed fondly at Duke. "I wasn't sure if they would."

"Why would they want me after all this time? You have all the files. I gave everything we had to Rob." Duke moved over to sit on the other bed.

DeeAnn looked away. "I don't have them anymore. I gave them to the FBI. Are you sure that you didn't keep anything? Maybe something you didn't think was important."

A nagging feeling began to tug at Duke's chest. He was relieved when Beast called. He decided to go outside to talk.

"What's up?"

"Kyle called. He said to tell you that Richards may be in Denver looking for the girl." Beast lowered his voice. "Do you think she's telling the truth?"

"I haven't seen her in three years. She's trying to find out if I have any files left from that investigation. Something's not right." Duke spoke into his com unit. "Kyle have you come up with anything yet?"

"Maybe. Trek got into the FBI files and there is nothing on DeeAnn Winters. There's a lot on Richards and his activities but that's it. I've got Erika looking into the reports from the bombing." Kyle paused and then added. "Can you think of anything else that might be worthwhile.

"Not really. Everything I had I left with Rob. We both thought there was a cop working for Richards but we never found out who it was. I think Rob may have found out."

Duke looked around the parking lot. There were only a few cars this early in the afternoon and no people. He had deliberately picked a place on the outskirts of town. He walked out to the road and stood looking at the lake across the road. He wanted to believe DeeAnn but the cop in him just couldn't take her story at face value. He finally walked back to the room and used his key to open the door. DeeAnn was standing by the bed facing the wall. When she turned, she was holding a gun.

"I'm sorry Mr. DePalma." Those were the last words Duke heard as a weight hit him on the head from behind.

The two men from the restaurant came into view. The taller of the two, an Asian looking man, held Duke's hands as his partner, also Asian, snapped on a pair of handcuffs. Together they lifted Duke and rolled him in a blanket. They then lifted Duke and carried through the connecting door to the next room. The motel was old and still had connecting rooms for families. From there it was an easy matter to take the blanket out the door and deposit it in the trunk of the Chevy Blazer sitting in front without Beast seeing them. The girl climbed in the back as well and laid down out of sight. Without haste, the other two climbed in and took off. Attack Beast still sat out front quietly waiting for any action that would seem out of place. He never noticed the actions behind him.

*****************************************************************

"Kyle, I think you should see this." Jenny called down to the garage where Kyle was talking to Trek and Plato.

"What have you got?"

"Erika found the autopsy report. The girl was killed in that blast. Her parents identified the body from a tattoo on her shoulder. The girl with Duke is a fraud. We've got to warn him."

"Call Beast and tell him. I don't want the girl to get wise that we're on to her. Trek, I need you to go through Duke's computer and see if he has anything on there. Next, go through the police files and see what you can find. We don't have a picture of this Brett Richards character. There is some kind of connection that Duke either made and didn't notice or that he missed and they think he knows. Either way, Duke's in trouble."

"Duke'll be fine with Beastie Boy looking after him. No one can get by Beast."

"Duke's gone!" Beast's voice came through loud and clear over the commlink. "I thought he was in the room behind me but my scan shows the room is empty. A car pulled out of the parking lot about 15 minutes ago." Beast gave the license number that he had automatically registered on his cameras. "I thought Duke and the girl were just being quiet again, but my scan indicates the room is empty."

"We're on our way." With that, the four members sped out of the plane and headed for the motel.

****************************************************************

Duke came to slowly. He heard voices around him and realized that he was sitting in a chair. He managed to get his wits lined out enough to raise his head. He was in a room that looked like it might have been an office at one time. He tested his bonds and found that he was handcuffed. The voices were coming closer and the door opened up in front of him.

"I'm glad you're awake." The girl calling herself DeeAnn Winters held a cup of water to Duke's mouth for him. "We really thought we had done a good job to make you accept me. What was the tip-off?"

"When you started asking me questions. DeeAnn hated police work. She avoided it as much as possible. That's why Rob felt it was safe to give her the file. No one from the station had ever seen her because she never went there and never socialized with any of the other cops. She never knew Tom Burnhart." Duke paused and twisted his wrists around to activate his commlink. The homing beacon inside would lead his teammates to him and the conversations would be recorded by Beast.

"Now that you're here, I'm sure you'd like to meet Mr. Richards in person. As you know, no picture of him has ever been made." DeeAnn waved a hand toward the door as a tall white man of middle age walked in. He had thinning white hair and carried himself with an air of authority. Duke just sat speechless as he looked at the newcomer.

"Jess Phillips?" Duke slumped back down in his chair. "No wonder Rob and I never got anywhere. You worked for the DA as liaison to the department. You're the one we were reporting to. You set us up!" Duke tried to rise and would have made it if not for the gun that appeared in the man's hand.

"That's right Duke. As Jess Phillips I could come and go as I pleased. When you and Rob started getting too close to Brett Richards, I knew it was only a matter of time until you made the connection. Rob actually got a picture of me making a deal. That was way he had to die. I was sure you hadn't seen it, that was why you lived. After you left the force in disgrace, I felt certain you would never be in a position to hinder my activities again. Until last month."

"When FLAG got the request for help in shutting down your operations. We haven't even started on the case yet. How did you know about it?" Duke was curious.

"The DA's office got a mission briefing packet from FLAG. In it were profiles of the agents who would be working. Your name and photo were in it. I knew it would only be a matter of time before you started putting the pieces together to tie me to Brett Richards."

"That's why there were never any pictures of Richards. You destroyed them as they came in. You couldn't afford to let anyone realize you were Richards. Smart." Duke nodded his head at Phillips. "Now you have to kill me right?"

"How very astute of you." Phillips turned to his hired help. "Finish him quickly. It doesn't have to look like an accident."

*****************************************************************

"Did you hear that Kyle?" Jenny asked. She and the others had been listening to every word since Duke had managed to turn his commlink on. The team was homing in on the warehouse even as Duke played for time.

"I heard. Dante, how far away are we?"

"Three blocks and counting."

"How do we go in Boss?" Trek asked.

"Right through the front door." Beast answered. Kyle didn't even bother to try and convince him otherwise.

"There it is. I'm going in." Beast didn't even slow down as he hit the front garage door. The door gave like tinfoil. Beast turned his speakers up loud. "Duke!"

The men in the room with Duke turned and raced out the door to deal with the intruder. They halted and slowly dropped their guns as Beast raised his rear cannon and aimed it right at them.

The rest of the team stopped outside the door. Jenny ran in to confront the men that Beast had captured. She leaned against the door of the truck and smiled. "I'd do what he said if I were you."

Trek made his way into the office were Duke was being held. He found a set of keys on the wooden desk and freed his friend.

The two of them walked out to join Jenny.

"You okay Duke?" Jenny asked.

"I'm fine." Duke turned to Beast. "Where were you? I get hit on the head and dragged out and you just sit there. Some bodyguard you turned out to be."

"Hey if you'd pick a better class of girlfriend I wouldn't have to worry about you getting nabbed. Too bad they can't all be perfect like my Jenny." Jenny covered her mouth to hide a smile as Duke threw up his hands.

Kyle and Erika had driven around back in an effort to catch Phillips and the girl calling herself DeeAnn Winters. The two had just exited the building and were running for the limousine that was parked in the alley way. Erika jumped off her bike and tackled the girl, knocking her to the ground. She sat on the girl's back and twisted her arm behind her.

"Hold still or I break it off sweetheart." Erika looked up just in time to see Kyle drop his opponent with a swift jab to the stomach.

"That wraps it up." Kyle pushed Phillips into the warehouse ahead of him as Erika did the same to her captive.

*****************************************************************

Back at Sky One later that evening, Kyle was finishing up the mission report when he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in."

Duke walked in and dropped a pair of computer floppy disks on the desk beside Kyle's hand.

"What's this?"

"All of the information we had gathered on Brett Richards aka Jess Phillips. Rob mailed everything to me the day before he died. We never had enough to make a good case but now we do. You can give it all to FLAG. Maybe Rob and DeeAnn didn't die for nothing now." Without another word, Duke turned and left the room.

The End