A Knight with the Viper Chapter 4 "Yeah, they're holding me 'cause they think I have some connection with Garth and KARR," Michael Knight spoke on the phone to his boss Devon Miles from The Metro Police Station. "It's understandable," Devon replied, "with your exact likeness to Garth Knight and KITT's similarities to KARR." "How soon can you get me out?" "I should have your bail arranged within the hour. What have you learned about that silver car?" "Not a lot. No one claims to know anything about it but everybody talks about it a lot. When I ask about Detective Westlake they tell me that's privileged information." "Very well. Remember you don't have to answer any of their questions about Garth and KARR. If you do answer, be sure you don't give too much information until we determine who is on which side." "I know the drill Devon. Don't worry about it." A police officer came in to the room. "Time's up buddy." "Alright I'll talk to you later," Michael hung up the phone and left with the officer to the interrogation room. Westlake watched Michael being escorted to the room. "So what do you think?" she turned to Cole. "He definitely knows something. I was watching the recording of our chase and he was seriously fighting it out with that other car." "Maybe one was trying to get his partner captured so the other could get away." "Maybe. What about his car?" Cole asked. "I've arranged for Frankie to examine it in the impound garage." "Okay. Let's go talk to our guest." Frankie Waters had just arrived at the police garage. He walked around the Trans Am a few times. "You are a beauty ain't ya. Don't worry, I won't scratch you up to badly. In fact this won't hurt a bit." Frankie stopped at the front of the car. He bent down to look at the red lights in the nose. He watched them run back and forth and noticed the strange humming noise they made. "What's this? Something like those neon ground effects?" he asked the car. The lights just hummed. "Time to see what's inside." Frankie walked over to the driver's door and noticed the dash. "Woah. And here I thought the Viper was fully loaded. Let's see now." He looked in his toolbox to find a slim-jim. "Here we go." Frankie noticed that it wasn't easy to get at the lock mechanism. KITT was watching him and moaned to himself. "Oh brother. Here we go again." KITT wasn't sure if even he could count the number of times someone had tried to pick his locks. The slim-jim slipped and slid down the side of the door. Frankie quickly checked the damage. There was none. He ran his hand down the door where it should have been scratched. Nothing. "What the.... That's some coat of wax you got there. It feels like baby skin." "Wax indeed," KITT said to himself. "Alright then," Frankie took a screwdriver from his box. He placed it between the door and the body trying to get at the latch. He fumbled with the latch mechanism for a few moments. He thought he heard the latch move. He then removed the screwdriver to discover the sound he had heard was the sound of his screwdriver being bent. "I don't believe this!" Frankie said annoyed. The red lights still ran back and forth. They appeared to be taunting him. "So... you wanna play rough huh?" He stormed off to find another tool. "I've already said, I don't know where that Camaro came from," Michael said to the question asked of him for what seemed like the millionth time. "Okay," Westlake was trying to keep cool. "What's this Foundation for Law and Government you told the store owner about?" "It's a non-profit organization. We fight criminals who operate above the law." Michael made sure he said that with just the right emphasis so he could see how his captors would react. "Then what's your interest in these robberies involving the black Camaro?" Cole asked the question this time, "they're not exactly high profile crimes." "We also like to help the little guy in his time of need," Michael said with a grin on his face. He was taunting Cole and Cole knew it. "Well can you explain..," Westlake was cut off in mid-question by the officer that entered the room. "Detective Westlake?" "What is it?" "Mr. Knight's bail has been posted." "By who?" "Some English guy." Devon, Michael thought to himself. Right on time as always. Michael left with the police officer. "Never fails," Westlake said sarcastically. "Really," Cole said, "He'll have to fill out some paperwork before he can leave. Let's see how Frankie's doing with his car." When they walked in on Frankie, he was swearing under his breath as he was trying to pry open the hood of the Trans Am with a crow bar. They stared in disbelief. "Frankie," Westlake finally spoke, "what the hell are you doing?" "I'm trying to open this damn car!" Frankie grunted under his breath. He threw the crow bar down in disgust. "You can't open it?" Westlake asked. "No I can't open it." Frankie said sarcastically, "So far I've bent my slim-jim, two screwdrivers, and this other crowbar." He showed them each tool that had been ruined by the car. "I've seen high security vaults easier to open then this damn thing." "What about Allie's electronic lock picks?" "If they didn't make noise I'd swear they weren't even working." Frankie kicked the tire. That was a mistake. "OW!" Michael had walked in at that exact moment. He stifled a laugh. Cole, Westlake, and Frankie backed away from the car. "Hi folks," Michael said, "thanks for watching my car for me. Be seeing you." When Michael opened the car door without any key, Frankie's jaw dropped. "How did...it was...the door..." Frankie stutered. Michael started up, waved goodbye, and drove off. Cole and Westlake looked at Frankie. "What?" Was all he could say. An officer walked in. "Detective Westlake. Here's the info you requested." "Thanks," she replied. She quickly read the report and passed it to Cole. "What's that?" Frankie asked. "It's about that Foundation for Law and Government Mr. Knight was talking about," Cole said, "It's just what he said it is. A non-profit, criminal investigation group. Michael Knight is there top operative. Actually he's their only operative." "So what's that mean? We're on the same side?" "It looks like it," Westlake said, "The trouble is, will he be willing to help us after the way he was treated. "I hope so," Cole replied, "I think we're gonna need his help on this case. Let's go." Cole, Westlake, and Frankie left the garage. "How was your rest KITT? Suffer any bumps or bruises?" Michael asked his partner. "It'll take more than some grease monkey to get under my 'skin' as it were," KITT replied, slightly annoyed at Michael's sarcasm. "Then as usual, all that was hurt was your pride," Michael said. "Really Michael." Michael laughed at his little joke. "Plot me a course to the semi," he instructed. "Right away, Michael." Devon was already back at the semi when Michael arrived. "Ah, Michael. You're just in time," Devon said as Bonnie began working on KITT. "What's up?" Michael asked. "I've just heard from a friend of mine at the Pentagon. It seems he knows someone who has worked on the project that created the mysterious silver car. It's a joint project between a federal agency, possibly the justice department, and the Metro Police Force." "Joint project, huh?" Michael said, "So they're like a government run version of the Foundation." "Yes, exactly. And what's even more interesting," Devon began as he gave Michael a paper with names on it, "is that some of the people involved on this project, once worked for Wilton Knight during the Knight Automated Roving Robot project." Michael looked at the paper. "Terrific, does that mean we have two 'KARRs' roaming the streets?" "No," Devon said, "this project, called Viper by the way, does not incorporate any kind of artificial intelligence." "Well that's a relief," Michael said, "Last thing I want to do is have to deal with two cars with unstable psyches. What about the driver?" Devon handed Michael another paper; this one had a picture on it. "His name is Thomas Cole. He's a federal agent and a top driver. All information on him is highly classified." "Michael," KITT suddenly spoke. "What is it buddy?" "I've been monitoring the police bands. A patrol car just had a run-in with KARR." "Where?" "About 15 miles from here. The officers tried to stop KARR and were nearly killed in the attempt." "Let's get going," Michael said. Bonnie finished what she was doing and closed KITT's hood. "Is he ready?" Michael asked her. "No, But that's never stopped you from rushing off before," Bonnie said. "Love you too," Michael said with a grin. Bonnie just shook her head. Devon grinned to himself. Michael started KITT. The semi doors lowered and Michael was off to the accident scene. "What are we hoping to find?" KITT asked. "Hopefully some indication of where KARR was and where he might be heading next," Michael said. As Michael was thinking of what he was going to do next, he was completely oblivious to the red sports car that was approaching him. That is, until it pulled in front of him and cut him off. "Michael!" KITT said. Michael had just barely enough time to stop. The driver got out of the red car. Michael recognized him right away. It was Thomas Cole. "What do you think he wants?" KITT asked. "I don't know," Michael replied, "Is he armed?" KITT did a quick scan of Cole. "No, Michael," he responded. Michael got out and walked to the front of KITT. Cole walked to the front of his car. After a brief silence Cole finally spoke. "We've got to talk." to be continued...