Started 2:53 PM 6/05/98- This piece of Fiction is humbly dedicated to Jana “The Pest” who turned me into a Vampire and FORCED me to complete this story in Record Time! "Thank you, my friend, I’m so glad I met you! You brought a huge smile to my face!"
 
Another dedication goes to Roger Harrison, a cool guy from a cold weathered Country who kindly overlooked my dreadful use of the language and gave me a sincere opinion. Thank you so much. "Hey, Roger, guess what part of this story was suggested by you? Blue side up, dude!"

Warning- Rated PG. I use a lot of foul language in this story, but then, bad guys like these you just can’t treat lightly. You have been warned, enjoy! Betaed by My Mom, who speaks the language A LOT better than me.. I .. well you know...
 
 

A Knight for a Knight
By Killash the Unmerciful
August, 1999
 
 
 

This is a tale of two knights, from two different cities. One of the cities was Houston, Texas.
It was the best of times...

The warm rays of the sun covered the city on that beautiful Sunday morning. It was only 10:30 a.m. but already people were out enjoying the day, going to church, preparing for gatherings, picnics, or just a nice time in each other’s company. The air was fresh; you could almost smell the atmosphere of peace.

It was the worst of times...

Through the city streets, Sergeant Levon Lundy’s red Jimmy cruised at high speed. Inside, a hot-tempered, thunderous battle between partners was taking place. The air was tense; you could almost smell the fire burning inside the two men’s agitated heads.

“I don’t get you, La Fiamma!” Lundy slammed his fist on the steering wheel. “What is it that you want me to say?”

“What I want you to say?” Joe La Fiamma shook his head and waved his hands to emphasize his words. “That’s not the point, Lundy, I’m not supposed to tell you what to say, you should know it!”

Levon closed his eyes, holding on to the minuscule ounce of patience he had left. “Well, I don’t know it! What do you think I am, a mind reader?”
 

“Oh, Hell!” La Fiamma threw his arms up in defeat. This discussion had been going on for almost an hour now.  “Have it your own way, Lundy!” He stared out the window, clenching his fists, trying to control his Italian rage. This could easily be the worst fight he’d had with his partner in a long time.

“Damn it!” Lundy frowned, watching the road. “There’s no way to talk to you!”

Joe felt the heat coming back. “No way to talk to ME? You’ve got to be kidding!” he couldn’t believe it.  “I’ve been sitting here, patiently listening to all your excuses and...”

“Why don’t you just come out and say it?” His partner interrupted.

“Say what?” Joe knew what... he’d been secretly dreading the moment to say WHAT.

“You’re mad ‘cause last night I went out for beers with Greg and we didn’t take you along!”

Close!

 *Damn!* Joe thought. “Is THAT what you think?”  He yelled. Levon had the idea... but not quite right. Joey didn’t know what to say.  How could his Texan partner be so... so... *Oh, what’s the use?* Joe thought. *It’s not that important anyway.*

“Look, just forget it, Lundy!” he gave up.

“You’re gonna tell me, it ain’t so?” Levon tried again.

Joey snapped. “I said, forget it!”

“No, I ain’t gonna forget it, La Fiamma!” They had stopped at a red light so Levon turned to look at his enraged friend.

“Oh, right! Of all the things in this stupid world, THIS you choose not to forget!”  Joey stopped in mid statement. This wasn’t the way to say it, besides, to be completely honest, Lundy was right... kind of. La Fiamma WAS mad at his friend for ditching him last night, along with every other night of the week. But that wasn’t it, there was something else besides that. Something Levon had... or rather had not done. Joey was mad, angry and confused, but most importantly, he was hurt.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” Levon asked, his fury accentuating every word in a Texan way.

Joey looked at his friend and for a second he thought about it, a huge need to spill his heart threatened to overcome him, but then it went away. It wasn’t THAT important, was it?

Eight days ago, Levon had received a long overdue visit from Greg Tanner, his best buddy from College. They were equally thrilled to see each other after all those years, they had so many stories to tell, so many things to share, so many memories... so much catching up to do.

Joe understood this. Hell! The man was grateful to have a break from the constant bickering and arguing that filled his every day and fed his ulcer! But it had been a whole week! Yes, Levon had taken La Fiamma with him the first night, he introduced him to Greg and the three of them had had a good time for a while. Then, the trip down memory lane had started and there seemed to be no end to it. Joey had left early that time, Levon and Greg had stayed up talking the whole night, and every night after that. That was Saturday night, a week ago.

It felt as if Greg was here to stay for good. But he hadn’t. He’d left that very morning and Joe had his partner back. But the aftereffects still hung around.

Because, sure! La Fiamma had taken it like a man! After all he knew how his partner felt because he had old friends too. Old friends he’d left a long time ago, in Chicago, along with the rest of his entire life. Most of them were good friends and he missed them. He would gladly give anything to be able to visit them again, to stay up all night just talking, to laugh and mean it just one more time. He’d give anything...

So he understood how Lundy felt, but everything has a limit. By Tuesday, Levon had started to feel the effects of all the partying and the lack of sleep... and it showed. Joe feared it would affect his friend’s presence of mind on the job, that he wouldn’t be able to function properly. He knew he was right but Levon didn’t seem to care, he just kept partying on, he said he knew his limitations, he said he could handle it. Joey wasn’t so sure.

Now, a week had gone by and, no,...  Levon hadn’t faltered once, but Joe lived on the edge, constantly worrying, expecting his friend to mess up at any moment. He didn’t realize the only one being affected was he.

Still, Joey had endured it. He complained, of course, but he kept holding on, all because of one thing: their friendship.

Then, yesterday he’d felt that friendship crumble. Slammed back into reality, Joey felt unappreciated and forgotten and, as he cursed himself for letting his guard down, for trusting his partner so much, for imagining a friendship that just wasn’t there. A small but ice cold thorn of sadness entered his heart.

*Who am I kidding?*  He thought. *No, the world does NOT revolve around you, Joe La Fiamma, it’s not that important.*

He was right, it wasn’t so important. In the great scheme of things, it was a thing so trivial he felt ashamed to give it a second thought. Petty, shallow, superficial little thing, but for a boy that had had everything taken away from him it mattered a lot, he needed reassurance that he meant something to others, especially to his best friend.

Last night he’d found out he didn’t.

That thorn hurt like hell.

Beside him, Levon Lundy kept on driving, trying to overcome his own anger. He knew he’d been acting like a teenager the whole week but, Jeez! He had the right to do it! God knew he’d been a good sport the past couple of years, dealing with all the hard times, starting with his transferred partner.

Because God also knew Joseph Anthony La Fiamma was no picnic. He was a hard case. A final test to any good- natured Texan bold enough to take it. But, somehow, he and Levon had managed to overcome their differences and form a bond, not only at work but in life too. Over the last two years, Lundy had been a good friend to Joe, a patient partner and a very resilient human being while riding with Chicago-man every day.

It was time, Lundy thought he needed a break. They both did, and Levon felt Joe silently pleading for it too.

Greg’s visit had given them that break, everything seemed fine.

Then, what was the problem? Joey didn’t like Texans, he didn’t like their way of life, their cultural differences, anything. He and Greg just wouldn’t get along...

Right?

La Fiamma wouldn’t have had fun, he’d said so himself.  When Levon asked him along he’d left early, hadn’t he? *He didn’t have a good time, he didn’t like it!*

Then, what was the big problem?

“I don’t understand you, La Fiamma!” He finally said out loud. “And I don’t think I ever will!”

Joey didn’t answer, his attention had been drawn elsewhere. Although it was a peaceful Sunday, the Italian was still in Cop mode. He always was, actually.

“That’s odd!” He mumbled, looking ahead.

Lundy sighed. “No, I don’t think it’s odd, La Fiamma, most people have the same problem.” He hadn’t noticed his partner’s change of subject. “Well, the ones that are normal, anyways...”

“What?” Joe took off his sunglasses.

“What, what?” Lundy was confused.

“I’m talking about that car over there, Lundy!”

“Where?”

“Slow down” He pointed at a parked car on the corner of the street. One man was in the driver’s seat, apparently he was waiting for something. It was early, and a Sunday! There were no stores or businesses open, no houses either, the street was completely empty of people. “What’s he waiting for?”

“Oh, Jeez, La Fiamma, his girlfriend perhaps... I don’t know!” Lundy was still irritated but all his instincts told him something was wrong.

“You see any trace of civilization around here, Lundy?” They passed the corner and continued on. The guy ducked and attempted to hide from the passing truck.

“Now, THAT’s odd!” Levon mumbled. He watched the car, through the rearview mirror, the guy was back. “I’m going around the block again.” Levon decided.  Joe just nodded.

They passed the corner again, the car was gone.

“Something’s fishy.” Lundy said.

“Stop!” Joey exclaimed, suddenly. “I saw something back there through that window!”

“It’s the bank,” Lundy said. “What do you know?” He slowed the 4x4 Jimmy and started parking quietly.

“Business at the bank.” Joey commented. “On a Sunday?”

“That’s right!”

“What a service!” Joe pointed out with a cynical smile.

“That’s Houston for ya!”

La Fiamma took one of his guns out and checked the chamber. “It won’t hurt to check it out.”

Lundy adjusted his hat and took his gun out. “I’m feeling a need to make a withdrawal...”

They got to the window and carefully peeked inside. Four men in black were moving. No alarms had gone off but Joe and Lundy were sure it was a robbery. Maybe because of the black masks, they are always a dead giveaway.

“Let’s call for backup” Said La Fiamma.

They went back to the Jimmy, the street was deserted, still no sign of the car on the corner.

Levon’s voice filled the silence. “92-14, we have a bank robbery. Houston West Savings Bank on Fillmore.”

“Roger 92-14” The dispatcher called back. “Backup will be there in five minutes.”

“We can’t wait that long, Lundy. They looked ready to leave!”

La Fiamma was right. If they didn’t go in now, they could lose them. They peeked inside again. They had a chance right now, only two of the bad guys were on the hall, the others had gone inside the bank’s vault.

“All right!” He prepared his gun. “Stay close, La Fiamma!”

“I go first, Lundy!”

“Not this time, par’ner, I’m still mad at you!” Levon crouched in front of the window and started counting to three.

After that, everything happened too fast.
If only they had waited for backup...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

They busted inside, guns in hand, whispering the ever present “Freeze!”. Levon kicked one of the bad guys and he went out cold. Joe disarmed the other one and kept him at gunpoint. Not bad for an action only five seconds long. Lundy took the criminal’s gun and checked the back of the bank, the bad guys were still inside.

La Fiamma uncovered the man’s face and handcuffed his prisoner. Then he put the mask inside the man’s mouth to keep him from yelling.  “You move, you make a sound... you die, got it?” He told the robber. A nod was the answer. He took out his other gun and motioned to Levon.

They started moving toward the vault when Joe suddenly stopped. A faint bad feeling... a notion... a sound behind them. He turned around but was too slow. Someone hit Lundy’s head with a baseball bat, the man fell down in pain, trying to aim his gun at his attacker. The hat flew off. Another blow disarmed the Texan and left him seeing double on the floor.

“Lundy!” Joey cried out. He fired once, but the assailant was too fast. In a second, Levon had an automatic 38 on his temple.

“Move and he dies!” Came a scratchy voice from behind the mask.

“Don’t do this,” Joe tried to reason. “I’m a police officer, you are robbing the bank. It’s a classic stand off but we can do this without killing anyone!” He tried not to look at his partner’s bleeding head.

“Shut up, cop!” said the man, gazing at someone behind Joe, “Here comes MY backup.”

Three more men with guns aimed at Joey now, *Well, how many of these bozos are in here?* He thought.

“Listen, MY backup will be here any second now, you guys have nowhere to run.” It was the stupidest thing you could say to bank robbers but it was still standard procedure to try. “Why don’t you just let my partner go? It’s not too late.”

A noise interrupted him... a loud noise. It was a strange noise. Then it clicked, it was laughter. One of the robbers was laughing. He laughed so hard Joe thought he’d gone mad right there. It was almost amusing, but then the guy took his mask off and Joey’s heart skipped a beat.  No, it wasn’t amusing at all.

“Joseph, Joseph, Joseph.” The man slowly approached La Fiamma. Gun in hand, smile on face. He was in his mid thirties, dark hair, cold eyes and a face that screamed Italian in blinking neon. “Still playing cop, I see.” He turned to watch Levon’s still form. “Or is it that now you’re playing Tonto?”

The others laughed. Joe paled.

“Carlo.” Was all he could say, this was like a bad dream.

The Italian robber laughed again, “I never thought I’d find you, of all people, all the way down in Houston, Texas.” He said with a fake southern accent. Carlo DiSanti threw his head back and laughed again, obviously delighted. The fact that Joe still had a gun in each hand didn’t seem to bother anyone in the room. La Fiamma knew it now.

*We’re dead!*  He felt his breath escaping as images from the past filled his head. Words eluded him, he knew they were useless. If only he could move his hands.... if only he could forget about everything and just shoot. But Lundy was still there and he was bleeding. He focused on his partner on the floor. He had to help him.

“I guess you’re wondering what’s next, Joseph.” Carlo crossed his arms and scanned the young cop’s features.

“What is it that you want, DiSanti?” Joey hoped the guy hadn’t changed over the years. He used to be an overconfident moron; a dangerous killer with a thirst for revenge but, still, a moron.

“I’m feeling a deja vue... ish... kind of thing here, aren’t you?” Carlo regarded his prey, his eyes dark, his voice dangerous. “We’ve come to the same impasse again.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” La Fiamma lied.

“Oh, now, now, Joseph.” DiSanti raised a finger. “Don’t expect me to think you forgot about Ricky already.”

Meanwhile, Levon lay there, feeling the cold steel of the gun pressing hard against his temple, pain enveloped him, he thought he was going to die right there. *Where the hell is that backup?* he thought. It had been more than five minutes now, right?

Joe paled a bit more. He frowned, irritated. “What do you want?”

“I didn’t think so!” Carlo continued in his heavy Italian accent. “Let’s play again, shall we? Only instead of throwing the basketball game, you’re gonna throw your guns to the floor and surrender... and I won’t tell Marco to shoot your little friend there. How about it?”

On the floor, every ounce of Levon’s being shouted for him to do something, he couldn’t.

“I’ll throw my guns, but let him go first!” La Fiamma’s voice didn’t show a trace of the fear he was feeling as old memories attacked him.

Lundy was hearing everything like in a dream. He couldn’t think straight, he couldn’t move... but from far away he suddenly felt a twinge of fear. Something in Joe’s voice made Levon shiver, his friend was terrified, something under his tone was a desperate plead for help. It wasn’t obvious but Levon knew it, because he knew his partner like the back of his hand.

“Oh, no!” DiSanti smiled. “It doesn’t work that way, Joseph, you know that.” He pointed his own gun at Levon now. “You don’t seem to remember how to play! I take what I want, you bow down your head and obey, remember? Do try to do your part better this time, Joseph, I hate seeing that sad face of yours when you lose a friend.”

Lundy made another attempt to move, he had to help Joe, but his head was on fire, and then a huge wave of pain invaded him. It was too much for him and he finally passed out.

“I don’t trust you, DiSanti.” Joey’s heart was aching for his wounded friend but he kept his face straight.

“Really? I wonder why!” They all laughed again. DiSanti relaxed his gun and started pacing, scratching his head in fake concentration.

“All right, I have a better game, then.” DiSanti smiled again, his eyes mischievous as if he was having all the fun in the world. “You do as I say, then come with me, and I’ll kill you somewhere else. Your friend will be safe... well, if someone gets him to a hospital before he bleeds to death. Or... I can shoot him and you walk out of here... unharmed... again... but with one less local acquaintance. Anyway, I’ll let you decide, Joey, but do it fast! I don’t got all day! You... or the cowboy... now!” He pointed the gun at Lundy one more time.

“No!” It was happening again. Joe felt desperation crushing his stomach and he aimed his guns at Carlo’s heart. It would be so easy, he could end it right then! Joe would shoot... and Levon would die.

“No?” DiSanti was very amused at Joey’s inner struggle. “You don’t care about him then? He kicked Levon’s hat to him.  “And here I thought you were The Lone Ranger’s sidekick, here.” He smiled yet one more time. “I guess I was mistaken! Say good-bye, Gracie....”

“Wait!” La Fiamma shouted.

Carlo DiSanti raised an eyebrow.

“I told you I don’t trust you, DiSanti. How will I know you won’t kill him?”

“I give you my word!”

“That’s not good enough!”

“Oh,” He shook his head in mock pouting. “I’m hurt!” He smiled again. “Well, Okay, hmmm, let’s see... “ He paused for a second. “I’ll swear, by the memory of your Aunt Ann Marie, whom we both hold sacred, I won’t kill your friend here if...”

“What?”

The smile that seemed glued to his face became a dark grin of malice. “You drop your guns, come over here and kiss my shoes.”

Joey suddenly felt sick, it was really happening again. He couldn’t believe it.

Carlo crossed his arms and waited. *Let’s see what you do THIS time, Joey!*

The young man fought anxiety and painful memories. He had to concentrate on the present. In the back of his mind he analyzed the situation and found a glint of hope. DiSanti had never been a bag of brains but he had been brought up to respect tradition. That promise could be valid, considering both of them were Italian... and they DID hold Aunt Ann Marie’s memory sacred. Carlo was dangerous, but he was also predictable.

“And then you’ll kill me.” Joey raised an eyebrow and smiled softly.

“Well, yes, of course, but not here, Joseph. First, I want you to hurt... to bleed a little, my friend... I want you to beg me to kill you.”

Joe shook his head in denial. “You’re crazy.”

“We’ll see about that, cry boy. Now, I’m waiting!”

Joey listened, still no backup, and Levon was bleeding. He had to do it or his friend was going to die. He had no choice, he was not going to allow Carlo DiSanti take another one of his friends. He would die first.

Slowly, he lowered his guns.

Carlo smiled.

He placed them on the floor. Outside the street was dead silent, still no backup.

“Now, come over here, Joseph. On your knees! Show me some respect!”

Everyone was laughing now. Joe looked at Carlo DiSanti with murderous, sad eyes. Then he looked at Levon’s unconscious body and he cursed at himself, there was too much blood. It could already be too late! He felt as if he’d been shot right there. He’d been playing this game with DiSanti for too long, and all the time his friend’s life had been escaping. He was so stupid! How did he let this happen? He clenched his hands. “God! I’m sorry, Lundy” he whispered.

Then without a second to waste he kneeled down and kissed Carlos shoe. Then the other one, and waited. As expected, DiSanti laughed out loudly and kicked Joey right on the face.

Predictable.

Joe was thrown backwards, his own face was bleeding now, he felt his head being pulled up by the hair, as general laughter sounded all around. Joey looked at Lundy for the last time, mentally apologizing for being such an idiot. Then he could only close his eyes and wait for the next blow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lieutenant Joanne Beaumont stepped out of her car and into the crime scene. The bank was full of policemen now, as well as the bank manager and other unidentified suits. Sergeant Joe Bill McCandless greeted her at the door and gave her an initial report. The bank had been robbed, Lundy had been injured and La Fiamma was missing. She gave some orders to a uniformed cop and continued debriefing Joe Bill.

“How come they didn’t wait for backup?” She asked, although she knew her detectives, they rarely followed procedure.

McCandless paused for a second before answering. “You ain’t heard, then...”

“Heard what?”

“The unit that responded... They had an accident.”

“What?”

“They crashed with a trailer that ran a red light, five blocks from here. It was ugly, both officers are in the ICU.”

“Oh, my God!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah!” Joe Bill lowered his head. “It’s been a real bad day, Lieutenant.”

Five feet away, Levon was being treated on the floor and two paramedics had a gurney ready to take him to the hospital. He was conscious and in a rotten mood. Joanne approached, mentally assessing his real state.

“Calm down, Lundy!” she ordered her former partner. He didn’t look good.

“It’s not as bad as it looks, Joanne!” He shooed the medics away with a hand and winced at the pain caused by the sudden movement.  “I’m all right!”

The medics looked helpless, “Give us a second, will ya, guys? “ Joe Bill told one of them.

They stood back and gave them some room.

Lundy sat up and instantly regretted his move. Nausea was added to his discomfort. “I’m fine!” he lied.

“You’re not fine, Levon!” Joanne kept her Lieutenant tone. “You lost a lot of blood, you were unconscious for a long time and you definitely have a concussion. Don’t tell me you’re fine!” She stopped to breathe. “Now, let them help you or I’ll have them strap you down!”

“Joanne,” he pleaded.

“Lundy!” she wouldn’t back down.

Slowly, he lowered his hands, and his gaze. “All right.” He caved, “But, lieutenant... “ He suddenly felt dizzy, but not because of the concussion, because of the memory. “About La Fiamma?”

“I’ve sent all available units to look for him, Levon.” She tried to conceal her worry, “We’ll find him in no time, you’ll see.”

“They took him!” he said, sadly.

“You don’t know that, maybe he went after them!”

Joe Bill shook his head. “No way, Lieutenant! You think he would have left Lundy in here like that?”

She lowered her head.

“Joanne, we have to find him!” Levon asked with a painful look in his eyes. “Those guys seemed to know him.”

“What do you mean?”

“They knew his name, Joanne, the man sounded as Italian as La Fiamma, I’m dreading...”

“That they are from Chicago.” she finished.

“Yeah.”

They sat there in silence, both fearing the same thing.

“What am I missing here?” Joe Bill raised an eyebrow.

“There’s a contract out on La Fiamma, remember?” Joanne said. “Maybe they saw an opportunity to get him and collect.”

“Wait a minute!” McCandless replied, “He’s not left Houston! I remember the hit being called off if he didn’t return home, didn’t you tell me that?”

Levon felt another wave of pain from his injured head. “That’s supposed to be the deal.” He said, “But this guy don’t play by the rules, I reckon! He sounded ... Hell, I don’t know, I couldn’t hear much of anything, anyway. I couldn’t do anything... “  Regret filled his voice as it trailed off.

Joe Bill exchanged glances with Joanne, she put a hand on Levon’s shoulder. “We’ll find him, Levon. You let this people help you so you can come back to work real soon, y’hear?”

He said nothing.

McCandless motioned to the paramedics to approach as he spoke.  “Look, I’ll go find Esteban and we’ll comb the city, Lundy, don’t worry. He’ll turn up!”

“Alive?” was Levon’s sad question.

No one answered. The paramedics wheeled out Levon on the gurney just as Sergeant Esteban Gutierrez walked over to his friends with a videocassette in his hand. “Señores!” he called, “Guess what?” he said, almost cheerfully. “They didn’t disable everything. Security cameras were still on, all the time. We have this show on tape!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Levon was examined, treated and reluctantly released from the hospital, the whole department had checked every possible clue that could lead them to Joe La Fiamma but so far they had nothing. There was no record of any Carlo DiSanti anywhere. They kept looking, they went to the old files, the national databases, the school records and nothing. Yet, they didn’t give up, they kept looking.

It wasn’t until they saw the video tape that all remaining hope to find Joey alive started to fade.

The doctors had sent Levon straight home to rest. Of course, he went straight to the station instead. Carol, another detective, who had accompanied him the whole time, took it upon herself to at least make him take his medication on time. They arrived to Major Crimes and were greeted by Sergeant Annie Hartung. Levon noticed her eyes were red and swollen, she’d been crying.

He bent down to kiss her. “What’s up, Annie?” he asked nervously.

“They’re waiting for you two in the meeting room.” She said, lovingly caressing his cheek. Something in her eyes filled his heart with fear. “Go on, sugar.” She pushed him.

Levon frowned, the aching in his heart intensified. As he and Carol walked through the bullpen, everyone gave him compassionate looks, random pats on the back and gestures of support. He knew they all meant well, but he sensed something else, something they weren’t telling him. Then he entered the meeting room and saw Joanne Beaumont’s expression. It was over! Joe was dead. Somehow, they all knew it and they were waiting to tell him. He felt dizziness overcome him and grabbed the table for support.

“Levon, Man, you should be in the hospital!” a worried Esteban Gutierrez put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Joe Bill pulled up a chair for Lundy but the man just bowed his head and didn’t move.

“Lundy, sit down!” Joanne ordered, worried about his friend’s health.

No response.

“Come on, Lundy, sit down.” Joe Bill repeated, reaching to Levon’s other shoulder.

“You found him.” Came Levon’s weary voice. “He’s dead, ain’t he?”

Esteban and Joe Bill exchanged looks, but it was Joanne’s firm voice breaking the silence.

“Lundy... Sit... Down!”

“Joanne,” Levon looked up, fire and sadness in his eyes. “I have to know!”

She stared at him intensely. He looked so weak. She hated having to do this, raise his friend’s hopes only to have them crushed again later. She hated it, but she had to do it.

“No, we haven’t found him, now SIT!” She slammed her hand on the table.

Slowly, he obeyed.

Joanne took a deep breath before starting. “Now, first of all, you’re not supposed to be here at all.”

“But...” he started.

“But where else would you be? I know.” She continued, waving her hand.

Levon bowed his head in defeat, suddenly feeling tired.

“So if you expect me to let you stay,” she reached out her hand to his chin and lifted his head until they stared eye to eye. “You WILL do everything I say, HOW I say it and WHEN I say it, y’hear? Otherwise I’ll send you back to the hospital in a straightjacket or I’ll throw you down in lockup. You understand me, sergeant?”

Levon studied Joanne’s eyes. He only saw concern and love in them. He knew she was worried about him and he also knew none of this was easy... for anyone. He allowed a faint smile to reassure his Lieutenant.  “Yes, Ma’am.” He said softly.

She relaxed a little bit. “Okay.” She said. Sitting beside him, she took another deep breath before continuing. “Now, listen. We haven’t found La Fiamma, or any trace of him, but we know that he was made prisoner... for sure.”

“For sure?” Levon leaned back in his chair, trying to look relaxed. “How?”

Beaumont sighed tiredly and motioned to the TV set. “Gutierrez?” she asked, almost apologetically.

Esteban half sat on the edge of the table and looked at his friend Levon straight in the eye. “Listen, Lundy. We know you’re gonna end up watching this eventually, so I want you to stay calm... and focus on the important stuff, okay?”

Fear washed through Levon’s body like a bucket of cold water. “What is it?” He sat up straight.

The Mexican cop continued, “The bank recently acquired a new, state of the art, security system. Infra red sensors, digital scanning, motion detectors... the works!” He pointed to some information files on the table. “It only has one flaw: a general computer controls it.”

Lundy raised an eyebrow. “And?”

Joe Bill picked up the explanations. “The bank robbers hacked into the computer last night and they disabled all the sensors, that’s why there wasn’t any alarm. However...”

“They didn’t turn the video cameras off.” Esteban finished the sentence. “Not too bright, you know? Gives hackers around the world a bad name. It’s a very good recording system, it even has sound.”

“Sound? That’s odd.” Levon commented, desperately trying to stay in control, as ordered.

Without further explaining, Esteban put the remote control in Levon’s hand and turned on the VCR. Lundy prepared himself for what he knew he was going to see, and pushed PLAY. The show began. They were right, it was a very good recording. It contained all the images from the moment the robbers had entered the bank, the way Lundy and La Fiamma disarmed two of them, how Levon was attacked... everything. It also had an image of Carlo DiSanti’s Italian face. Levon grasped the remote until his knuckles went white.

Joanne spoke again. “Don’t lose your cool, Lundy!”

He tried. He really tried, but then they reached the worst part and the Texan cop finally saw how his partner swallowed his Italian pride and humiliated himself to save Lundy.

To save him.

He felt rage taking over. The thugs started beating Joe up again and again. La Fiamma took it like a man but Levon couldn’t take it anymore, he lost his cool. He stopped the VCR and bolted outside, his head on fire. “Damn, Damn, Damn!” was all he could say. He started pacing the bullpen like a caged animal, breathing hard, cursing... enraged.

The people in the bullpen started to retreat outside. They all knew Levon Lundy when he got mad. Finally, the place was empty except for one person: Annie sat close to the door in her wheelchair. She’d been waiting for this. “Levon!” she called to her dear friend.

He stopped, found support on his own desk and closed his eyes. “He’s dead, Annie! They killed him!” He hit the desk as hard as he could. “He let them do it! He let them... kill him, to save ME!” He lowered his voice. “He died for me, Annie, for me!”

She rolled her chair closer to him and gently touched his arm, “Listen to me, Levon,” her expression was tender but her voice was strong, “Remember that time when you disappeared on the interstate?”

Lundy only nodded.

“Joey was just as frustrated and scared as you are now, only louder.”

Louder... La Fiamma was always louder! Levon would have smiled if he could.

“But,” Annie continued, “when I talked to him, he told me he was going to find you no matter what. Everyone could go to hell, for all he cared, but he knew you were alive.” She paused for a second and Levon clenched his fists harder. “He said that as long as you were missing you weren’t dead. He said he had faith in you, that you would always be alive to him and he would show everybody he was right.”

Levon’s fury threatened to abandon him, despair was filling the void. He sighed.

“Joey held on to that thought, Levon, even when the odds were all against you, he never, ever, lost his faith... his faith in you! That’s how he found you in the end!”

Lundy looked up for the first time as he felt his heart breaking, he tried to speak but the lump in his throat wouldn’t let him.

“You owe him that confidence, honey! He’d expect it from you. You can’t give up on him!”

“Annie!” He finally found his voice. “They killed him in there, I just saw it!”

“You haven’t seen the end of the tape, Levon. Don’t jump to conclusions!” She felt tears coming again, her voice faltering, she had to finish this conversation right away. “Go back in there, Levon, and find something in that recording to help your partner! He’s counting on you!”

Levon stood up straight, gazing at La Fiamma’s empty desk. Annie was right, he couldn’t give up, not now, not ever. He owed it to Joe, for all the countless times he’d saved his life before, the times he’d stood with the hard headed cowboy, even when he didn’t want to. For the way he’d saved him just today... for the friendship. Levon owed it to his partner... to his best friend.

*He’s alive!* he thought. *As long as I don’t see a dead body, he’s alive... and even then...*

Joanne stood at the meeting room door, her face reflected everyone’s feelings. The truth was that no one else shared Annie’s faith, but that didn’t matter now, only La Fiamma mattered, and time was running out. Levon went back into the room and braced himself with determination for what was coming. He pushed the PLAY button, the show continued.

Joanne closed her eyes and retreated to her office. She felt terrible, she couldn’t watch Joey being hurt again. She just couldn’t.

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*

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