Disclaimer: The characters of Trent, Carlos, Alex, Walker, Trivette, and C.D. belong to CBS, Norris Productions, and SOT. Any other characters belong to me.
 
 
 
 

"Ouch!" Trent yelled as he hit the floor. He and Kelly had been working out at Thunder Karate for the last half hour and this was the fourth time she had bested him.

"Okay. Okay. I give." Trent conceded.

"About time" teased Kelly.

"Just wait. I'll get you next time." Trent challenged, smiling.

"Don't bet on it." Kelly challenged back.

"I wouldn't take that challenge if I were you, Trent." Carlos warned, walking in the door. "She's tough."

"No kidding" Trent replied. "She and Walker are the only two people I can't defeat in a sparring match."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You got me a couple of times." Kelly pointed out.

Leaning over to kiss Kelly on the cheek, Carlos stated, "Well, I know better than to challenge her."

"Oh, is that so?" Kelly asked, grinning mischievously. Suddenly she grabbed Carlos' arm and flipped him. He landed on the ground with a thud.

Laughing, Trent helped Carlos up. "You had better watch what you say to her." They looked over at Kelly, who was smiling innocently at both of them. All three started laughing. Suddenly Kelly's pager signaled. She checked it and discovered it was from the station.

"Looks like it's back to work. Thanks for the workout, Trent. Same time, next week?"

"You got it." Trent answered. "See you later."

"Bye." Kelly walked over to Carlos and kissed him lightly. "Sorry. See you tonight?"

"Count on it. Be careful."

"Always."

After Kelly had left, Carlos turned to Trent. "We've got a new case."

"A new case? What is it?"

"Missing boy. He's seventeen. Disappeared about a week ago. Hi s parents are our clients. The boy's name is Jason Price."

"Have Mr. & Mrs. Price contacted the police?"

"Yeah, but you know how that works."

"Yeah, too many cases, not enough men."

"Right."

"Any clues as to where to start?" Trent wanted to know.

"Maybe. A few friends that his parents think might know more than they're telling."

"All right. Give me twenty minutes and we'll get started."

That afternoon Trent and Carlos talked to all Jason's friends that were on the list his parents gave them. Most were part of a local gang. All denied knowing anything about Jason's disappearance, but Trent and Carlos, like Jason's parents, suspected they knew more. After spending all afternoon questioning the friends, the detectives decided to call it day.

"It would help if we could find out a little about these kids" Trent stated, as they drove back to the office.

"Yeah, it would. Maybe Kim can find something on them. And maybe I can get Kelly to check for criminal records."
 
 

That night Carlos made dinner for Kelly at his place. After dinner they relaxed on the couch to watch a movie. "Okay. What do you want?" she asked suddenly.

"W-What do you mean? Carlos stammered.

"The dinner. Waiting on me hand and foot. You want something, Carlos Sandoval. I know you."

"C'mon, Kel. Can't a fellow do something nice for his girlfriend?" he asked, flashing her his infamous smile.

"Sure, he can. But you want something. I can tell by that smile of yours."

"Okay. You've got me." Carlos admitted, frustrated. Kelly had a way of seeing through him no matter what. He could never lie to her; she always knew. "Trent and I need a favor."

"What is it?"

"We need you to check some names for criminal records. They're mostly teenagers. Gang members."

"Why didn't you just ask?"

He shrugged. "You'll do it?"

"Of course."

"Thanks." he replied, pulling her closer. "You really are the best."

Grinning, Kelly teased. "You mean you're just now finding that out?"
 
 

When Trent arrived at the office the next day, Carlos and Kim were already at work. "Where have you been?" Carlos asked.

"I had to stop by the dojo on the way in. Sorry I'm late."

"Just don't do it again or I'll have to dock your pay." Carlos said, grinning and shaking his finger.

Ignoring Carlos' teasing, Trent asked "Have you found anything, Kim?"

"Not much. Most of them are runaways. I think a couple have records but I couldn't find out anything more."

Turning to Carlos, Trent inquired. "Is Kelly going help us?"

"Yes. She'll let us know later today if she finds anything."

"I did find one interesting thing, though." Kim interrupted.

"What was that?" Carlos asked.

"Jason is a mathematical genius. Even though he's got another year of high school, several schools have contacted him about scholarships."

"I wonder if that could have anything to do with his disappearance." Trent stated.

"Who knows? Well, where do we go from here?"

"Remember that guy, Ricky Stone? He seemed anxious when we were questioning him. Maybe he knows more than he was telling."

"Probably. But what about him?"

"Maybe we should tail him for awhile. If he does know where Jason is, he just might lead us to him."

"Good idea. Let's find him.

"We'll keep in touch, Kim." Trent told her, walking out the door.

"Okay. Bye, guys."

They located Ricky Stone in a park talking to some other gang members. They followed him most of the morning, but Stone didn't lead them anywhere that would give them a clue as to what happened to Jason. Stone had finally returned home, such as it was--an abandoned warehouse on the east side. While waiting to see if he went anywhere else, Carlos' cell phone rang.

"Hello" he said answering it. Listening for a moment, he finally replied. "Okay. Thanks, Kim."

"What's up?" Trent wanted to know.

"Kim said that Kelly had called. She wants us to meet her at C.D.'s. She's got some information for us."

"Good. Let's go. I don't think that this guy's going to lead us to Jason today."

"Agreed."

By the time they arrived at C.D.'s, Kelly was waiting on them. "Hi, beautiful." Carlos greeted. "Got something for us?"

"Yes. I do. A couple of those names you gave me popped up with records."

"Anything interesting?" Trent asked.

"Maybe. Kim told me you were following Ricky Stone?"

"Yes, but he didn't lead us anywhere."

"Well, he's one of the ones who's got a record. Petty stuff mostly. But last week he was picked up for shoplifting along with a friend--Jason Price."

"Jason?" asked Carlos.

"Yes. But the charges were dropped. His parents weren't even notified. The other one with a record is Max Holloway. It includes armed robbery. The interesting thing, though, is the fact that Pablo Martinez bailed him out."

"Pablo Martinez? Who is he?" Trent asked.

"He's being investigated by practically every law enforcement agency in the state, including the FBI. He's real trouble. Into everything. He's been implicated in five different murders, but there was never enough evidence to charge him. If Jason Price is mixed up with him, you may never find him--alive."

"We've got to try." Carlos said. "At least for his parents' sake."

"I wish you luck." Kelly encouraged. "Look, I've got to get back to work. If you're going up against Martinez, be careful. I'm not in the mood to go to a funeral. Especially either one of yours."

"We will." Carlos promised.

"Good. See you later."

"Now how did a kid with that much smarts and loving parents got mixed up with a guy like Martinez?." Trent wondered.

"I don't know. Why did you rebel against everything when you were a kid? You had good parents, too." Carlos pointed out.

"Okay, point taken." Trent conceded. "What do we do now?"

"Maybe we should try and find this Max Holloway. If Jason is mixed up with Martinez, he could be the key."

"Let's go."

After searching the streets for forty-five minutes, Trent and Carlos spotted Holloway on the corner of Fifth and Mercantile. They followed him for three blocks to an abandoned factory. Waiting five minutes, they then went inside the building. They followed the sound of voices. Finally the came to a doorway and stopping just outside it, they cautiously peered in. Inside Holloway and several other men talking. The only piece of furniture in the room was a table. Spread out on it was what looked like blueprints of some kind. The detectives listened as the men talked.

"Where's the boss?" Holloway asked.

"In the back with 'smartboy'." a red-headed man answered.

"Everything set?" a short dark haired man asked.

"Yeah." Holloway replied. "The weapons are stashed and the car's ready to go. All we need is the combination and 'smartboy' will figure that out for us."

Trent and Carlos were listening to the men when suddenly a door opened across the room and a young man followed by well-dressed Hispanic came out. Trent and Carlos looked at each other. Trent mouthed "Jason" and Carlos nodded. They had found the missing boy. Now, how were they going to get him out of there? They had returned their attention to the events in the room when Carlos felt something hard poke him in the back. Turning around he found himself facing the wrong end of a gun. Carlos' movement drew Trent's attention and he looked up, just in time to see something coming toward his head. Trent blocked the coming blow and prepared to attack.

"Hold it!" a voice yelled. "Or your friend is dead."

Trent surrendered. Both he and Carlos were shoved into the next room. Chairs were brought from another room and the crooks tied the detectives to them.

"Who are you?" asked the well-dressed Hispanic.

"Boy scouts." Carlos answered.

"Cute." the Hispanic replied. He then slapped Carlos. "But cute answers get you hurt around here."

"Let me at them, Mr. Martinez. " Holloway offered. "I can get them to talk."

"Unfortunately, we don't have time, Max. We have to be at the bank in an hour. Besides, it doesn't matter who they are. They're dead anyway." Martinez laughed. "Pack this stuff up and get ready to move out! We'll get rid of them on the way out."

Suddenly there was a commotion outside the doors. "Police, freeze!" a voice yelled. The crooks began to scatter. Martinez walked up to Trent and Carlos, gun in hand. "They may catch me, but they won't be able to rescue the two of you." Martinez stated ominously. He raised the gun and prepared to fire at Trent. A shot rang out from their right and Martinez dropped the gun. Trent and Carlos looked to see who had fired the shot. Kelly Cahill was walking toward Martinez slowly.

"On the ground! Face down!" Kelly ordered. "Now!" Uniformed officers came running up behind her and took custody of Martinez. Turning to Trent and Carlos, she asked "Are you two all right?"

"Fine." Carlos answered. "How did you know we were here?"

"I didn't." she answered, walking over to untie them. "I told you that every law enforcement agency was investigating Martinez. Well, it was my investigation within the department here. A witness that I had been working on finally came forward on extortion charges on Martinez. This witness overheard that Martinez would be here today. It was our best chance to catch him red-handed. I had no idea you two were here."

"Well, we're glad you showed up when you did." Trent stated gratefully.

"Hey! Where's Jason?" Carlos asked.

"He's outside with his parents."

"They were going to use his mathematical abilities to rob a bank." Trent informed her. "He wasn't a willing participant."

"I know. The witness knew about Jason and the robbery. He told us that Jason was being held against his will." she explained. "You two ready to get out of here?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Carlos answered smiling at her.
 
 

The next day Trent, Carlos and Kelly were working out at Thunder Karate. "Carlos, you're not blocking." Kelly scolded. "You're leaving your head wide open for attack."

"Trent, have you noticed how cocky she has been since she saved our lives yesterday?" Carlos asked winking at him.

"Yes, I have. I think it went to her head." Trent answered, joining Carlos in the fun.

"You two are crazy. I am not being cocky." she argued. Grinning, she then added, "But, then, I wasn't the one who got caught."

"Listen to that, Trent. She's not only being cocky; she's rubbing it in."

"I think we need to take her down a peg or two, don't you, buddy?"

"Definitely." Carlos answered, grinning. They started walking slowly toward her.

"What are you two doing?" Kelly asked starting to back away. "Stop right there." Trent and Carlos kept advancing, both grinning like rogues. "I mean it! Stop! Come on, guys. I was just kidding." Finally Kelly turned and ran.

The chase was on.......