The Prince, The Pauper and The Paramedics

by Stephanie White

"Hey Johnny, how do you feel about a double date with me and Joanne Saturday night?" asked Roy as they rode back to the station.

"Okay, who are you setting me up with? Not another cousin, huh, Roy?"

"Look, just because you and Linda didn't hit it off is no reason to blow off another try!"

"Didn't hit it off! That's an understatement! Don't get me started on what happened in the restaurant...who knew a salad fork could be used like that!"

Roy chuckled, "Okay, I admit, it was a mistake, but you'll really like this girl. She's really cute and fun and easy to please."

"Easy to please, huh? Okay, what's her name?"

"Jennifer DeSoto." answered Roy with a grin. "She told me to tell you quote, 'please say yes, Uncle Johnny, we'll have so much fun!' Unquote."

"Jenny? You want me to date your daughter?" asked Johnny as he faked a leer.

"Behave, Johnny. We've got tickets to see that magician Marko the Magnificent at the Palace Saturday night. We told the kids they could each invite a friend and Jenny decided she wanted a date with her favorite uncle."

"I didn't know Lopez was a magician on the side."

"Very funny," said Roy. "It's that guy with those TV specials and a sold-out weekly Las Vegas show. He's doing a tour of the West Coast to promote his latest TV special where I hear he tries to make the Hollywood sign vanish."

"That'll take some doing," said Johnny thoughtfully. "Anyway, sounds like a laugh. Tell Jenny she's got a date Saturday."

Johnny looked at his watch. "Hey, it's almost lunchtime and Chet's cooking. What do you say we stop for burgers before we go back?"

"Sounds good. There's a new place up ahead. Mike says they've got great burgers and a name you'll never forget."

"Okay, I'll bite. What's the name I'll never forget?"

Roy grinned. "Are you ready for this? 'Fuddrucker's'! How's that for a name?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. I heard they even had to pull radio advertising because the DJs kept messing up the name in a way that the FCC didn't like."

"You mean 'Rudd....." Johnny began as the tones sounded over the radio.

'Squad 51, possible heart attack. Beverly Hilton Hotel, 9876 Wilshire Blvd. 9-8-7-6 Wilshire. Cross Street Pacific. Time out 12:10. Approach code R'

When they pulled up to the hotel, the concierge came up to them. They grabbed their equipment and were led up to a palatial penthouse suite. When they got into the room and saw the man lying on the couch, they stopped dead (not literally) in their tracks.

The man was a dead ringer for Johnny (well, not dead yet, anyway).

Finally, they pulled themselves together and ran forward to treat the man. He was sweating and clutching his chest.

"Thank God you guys got here! I think I'm having a heart attack. I've got a show to rehearse tonight!"

"Well, don't worry about a thing, sir," said Roy calmly. "We'll take good care of you. What's your name?"

"Mark Boggess. Marko the Magnificent if you prefer."

"Well, we'll definitely take good care of you," said Roy with a reassuring smile. "My daughter's been looking forward to your show for a week now!"

He switched back to paramedic mode as he hooked Mark into the heart monitor, "Have you ever had any history of heart trouble? Where does it hurt? Is the pain dull or sharp? Does your left arm hurt?"

Johnny, meanwhile had been taking the man's vital signs and trying not to stare at the man who could have been his long-lost twin. Finally, he picked up the biophone.

"Rampart, this is Squad 51. How do you read?"

Joe Early's voice came through the speaker, "Loud and clear 51. Go ahead."

"Rampart, we have a male patient approximately 30 years old complaining of chest pains. He is diaphoretic. He is conscious. Vital signs are: BP 110 over 70, pulse 110, respiration 25. We are sending you a strip on lead 2."

Joe studied the strip as it came through. "51, heart action seems normal enough. Start an IV with D5W TKO and transport as soon as possible."

Johnny rode with Mark in the ambulance. Finally, the magician seemed to notice the similarity between himself and the paramedic.

"You know, we could be twins. Where are you from?" he asked.

"Montana," answered Johnny. "You?"

"Arizona. This is bizarre. I've always heard that everyone has a twin somewhere in the world, but I never thought I'd meet mine!"

"I know what you mean," said Johnny. "I think my jaw hit the floor when I first saw you. How're you doing so far?"

"So far, so good." answered Boggess. Then he got a thoughtful look on his face. "When's your next day off?"

Johnny looked at him curiously. "Tomorrow. The fire department here is one day on, two days off."

"You want to earn a little extra money on your days off?"

"What did you have in mind?" asked a very curious Johnny.

"Be my double on stage for my shows for the next couple of days. There's a trick where that would simplify things immensely. It would mean I wouldn't have to rush as much to get back to the position that will amaze the audience."

"Gee, I don't know," said Johnny. "My partner and I are going to be in the audience for your Saturday show. I don't know how I'll explain to my date that I have to leave. She still believes magic is real."

"Still? Is she really that naive?" asked Mark.

Johnny chuckled, "Nope. She's six years old. She wanted her favorite uncle to escort her to the show."

Mark grinned. "I'm sure we can work something out."

Mark was released from Rampart an hour later with a diagnosis of indigestion.

The next morning, Johnny met Marko the Magnificent at the theater with not a little trepidation.

"Man, are you sure about this? Do you really think a fake goatee is going to fool the audience?"

Mark smiled, "Johnny, if there's anything I know about, it's illusion. It'll fool them. Look, where are your seats for the show?"

"Roy said they were on the main floor somewhere. I think in the center section. I don't know how far back."

"Okay, I'll have the spotlight sweep the house to locate you. Once I've found you, I'll get you up on stage as a volunteer for a disappearing act. You'll go through a trap door where several people will meet you and get you ready for the illusion that I'll need you for. When you've finished that, the same people will meet you again backstage and turn you back into Johnny and I'll make you reappear. You go back to your seat and enjoy the rest of the show."

Johnny shrugged. "Sounds reasonable. Just send one of your assistants into the audience for me. Jenny's an observant six-year old. She'd spot the resemblance and point it out....loudly!"

Mark laughed. "Deal. Okay, let's show you how this is going to work."

When Johnny approached Roy's door Saturday night, it was thrown open and his 'date' flung herself at him.

"Uncle Johnny!" she squealed.

He picked her up with one arm while the other produced a daisy that he presented to her with a flourish. She took the flower with a grin and flung her arms around his neck. Johnny laughed as he returned the hug and made his way into the house where Roy and Joanne were trying to control Chris and his friend Jason.

"Boys! We're ready to leave. Settle down and let's head for the car." said an exasperated Joanne.

"Hey partner," said Roy. "You ready for tonight? It's your first date with my daughter after all."

Johnny smiled as he put Jennifer down and grabbed Chris with one hand and Jason with the other. Joanne threw him a grateful look as the boys immediately calmed down.

"Better believe it pally!" grinned Johnny. "I've got a surprise for all of you, too. I've got us access to the after-show party."

Joanne smiled, "That's great Johnny, but what about the kids? We can't keep them up that late."

"Why not? It's how late they'd end up staying with a baby-sitter."

"Okay," she relented. "We still won't stay too late, though."

"Okay. Let's go!"

The Palace Theater was sold out for the Saturday night show, Johnny noticed with not a little nervousness. The butterflies in his stomach decided to go roller skating. He gripped Jenny's hand a little tighter and they were shown to their seats.

Marko came out and did a few sleight of hand tricks to get the audience warmed up. He then cut an assistant into three separate pieces and put her back together in almost the right order. She eventually walked away safely. He did a trick that replaced himself with one of his assistants. When he came back out on stage, the spotlight scanned the audience. When he saw Johnny in the audience, he whispered to one of his leggy assistants the seat number she was to go to and retrieve his doppelganger. He silently thanked the powers that be that Johnny was sitting in an aisle seat.

Finally, Marko announced, "I need a volunteer for my next trick. I'll send my beautiful assistant Sherry out into the audience to select someone for me to send into oblivion. Sherry, find me a good one!"

Sherry stepped out into the audience and Johnny thought for a second he would throw up from nervousness. She paced the aisles pretending to be trying to decide who to pick, even though she knew perfectly well whom to choose.

"Uncle Johnny! She's looking at you! Do you think she'll pick you? That would be so fun!" said Jenny excitedly.

Sherry came over and ran her hand over Johnny's arm and took his hand. The audience cheered as Johnny was led up on stage.

Roy heard his partner's voice in his head. 'Do you believe this? I don't.'

Roy started. Then he remembered the time a voodoo witch had turned Johnny into a dog. Another voodoo practitioner had given them the ability to read each other's thoughts until his partner could handle human speech again. When he was human again, Roy and Johnny discovered they could still communicate in this manner. For their, and everyone else's, sanity however, they decided not to do it unless it was absolutely necessary. Roy wasn't sure about the necessity of this particular situation, but his partner seemed to be sure.

Once on stage, Marko made a few jokes about Johnny's current state of health and insurance coverage. He then escorted Johnny into a man-sized cabinet and shut the door. As soon as the door shut, a trap door in the floor opened and Johnny was pulled almost bodily out of the box. Suddenly he was surrounded by people. One woman was combing his hair while another one was applying a goatee with spirit gum. A man came up to him and helped him out of his own clothes and into the flowing poet's shirt and black trousers that were identical to the ones Marko was wearing. Finally, he was put into a pair of black leather boots and taken to his position in the theater where he would make an entrance. The whole process took less than 3 minutes.

As he waited to make an entrance, he was suddenly aware of Roy's voice in his head. 'You okay? He shows no signs of trying to bring you back. Where are you?

'Don't worry, Pally. I'm okay. He promised to bring me back before the end of the show. Just enjoy it and tell Jenny I haven't abandoned her.'

From his place at the back of the theater, he watched as Marko walked directly into a frame that held swinging long-handled axes that had just a minute before shredded a head of lettuce that an assistant threw into it. There was a pause and the shadow-screen from in front of the axes was removed and Marko was nowhere to be found!

Suddenly, the spotlights were sweeping the house and the music swelled to a crescendo as the spotlight suddenly found Johnny and stopped.

In his goatee and borrowed costume, Johnny smiled confidently and ran forward through the audience - making an effort not to look at Roy and his family. The audience cheered as they watched 'Marko' run through the theater with his arm in the air in a victorious gesture. He got up on stage and took a bow with 'his' assistants, who put him into a box and locked it up tight.

Once again, he was pulled through a trap door and the same people that made him into Marko changed him back into Johnny just as rapidly. There was a cheer from the audience as Marko walked back out on stage after being shut and locked into a box. Johnny was shoved back up through the trap door as Marko worked at unlocking the box. The box opened and Johnny stood up, blinking in the spotlight as if he had no idea what had happened. The audience roared. Sherry then escorted Johnny back to his seat and kissed his cheek as she sat him down and slipped her phone number into Johnny's breast pocket.

Little Jenny stood up on her seat, "Don't kiss Uncle Johnny! He's my date!"

The audience chuckled as Sherry, properly chastised, returned to the stage.

After the show Johnny, his date Jennifer, Roy, Joanne, Chris and Jason made their way to the Beverly Hilton where they were shown to the ballroom for the opening night party.

As they mingled, Mark, sans his own false goatee found them and ran over to say hello.

"Well, what did you think about the show?"

Roy smiled, "It was incredible! Especially the part where you walked into the axes! How'd you do that? How'd you get to the other side of the theater so fast?"

Mark winked at Johnny and said, "A good magician never reveals his secrets!"

He looked down at little Jennifer. "You must be Johnny's date. It's a pleasure to meet you, mademoiselle." he said with all seriousness as he kissed her tiny hand. Jennifer giggled.

After introductions were made and Joanne, Chris, Jason and Jennifer finally managed to stop staring at the resemblance between Johnny and the magician. Marko excused himself to use 'the little magician's room'.

Suddenly, Roy was struck with at thought, which he aimed at Johnny.

'Hey Junior. I just had a thought. It wasn't you at the back of the theater after the axe thing, was it?'

'A good magician never tells!' was his only response as he headed for the punchbowl.

Roy grinned.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose.

A man in a waiter's uniform standing by the punchbowl suddenly pulled a small automatic weapon from under the table and fired a couple of shots into the air. Several other 'waiters' scattered around the room pulled guns and covered the rest of the crowd.

"Okay everyone! This is a kidnapping. No one interferes and no one gets hurt."

The waiter at the punchbowl gave a signal with his hand and a couple of party guests - two burly men - came out of the crowd and grabbed Johnny.

"We're taking the great, rich Marko! Anyone tries to interfere and they're dead. Our demands will come later!"

'Roy! They've got me - not Marko! What do I do?'

Roy gasped, "They've got Johnny, not Marko!"

Johnny, meanwhile, was trying to talk to his captors. "Hey man, you've got the wrong guy! My name isn't Marko, it's John. John Gage! I'm not a magician, I'm a paramedic."

The man with the gun just sneered, "Okay 'John'. We know Marko is a stage name anyway. We've got the right one. Don't try to bluff me! Get him outta here!"

The men started to drag Johnny out of the room as the 'waiters' with the guns backed out of the room to make sure no one followed.

One person was ready to follow, though. "UNCLE JOHNNY!!!!!!!" screamed Jennifer as she started to take off through the crowd.

"Jennifer! Come back here!" yelled Roy as he made a grab for Jennifer. He nearly landed on his face as his hand missed his daughter by inches.

The little girl fearlessly confronted the men with the guns. "Don't you take my Uncle Johnny!"

"Jenny, sweetie," said Johnny urgently. "It's okay. I'll go with them. They'll realize they made a mistake and they'll give me back. You go back to your mommy and daddy. Don't worry," he tried to smile bravely at her. "I'll get my good-night kiss later."

The men looked at each other and nodded. One of the 'waiters' grabbed little Jennifer from behind. She struggled vainly as she started to cry.

"Just in case you're thinking of trying anything funny, your little niece will get it."

"NO!" screamed Roy and Joanne in unison.

Johnny looked truly scared for the first time since this thing started. "Hey man, no trouble, okay? Let her go. I'll go with you. No tricks. I promise."

"We ain't falling for that one hotshot! She comes with us. Any tricks and this little angel will become a real angel. Get it?"

"Got it," said Johnny meekly.

The men continued with their prisoners out of the room. Roy was holding Joanne, who was sobbing. He heard Johnny's voice in his head.

'Don't worry, partner. I won't let them hurt Jennifer. I promise. I'll die before I'll see her hurt.'

'That's what I'm afraid of.'

After the men left and everyone calmed down - as much as could be expected - the police started taking statements. Roy was standing by a table with a sobbing Joanne in his arms. Chris and Jason were both sitting on the floor trying not to cry any more than necessary for the 10-year old boys they were.

Mark, looking miserable, approached Roy. "I'm really sorry about your daughter and partner. If they find they've made a mistake, they could very easily kill them. It's best if they think they've got me. Look, whatever ransom they would have demanded for me, I'm prepared to pay it."

Roy could only nod as the lump in his throat was too big to let him talk. He held Joanne tighter and felt the tears flow down his face.

'Johnny? Can you hear me? Are you okay? Where are you?'

'It's all right Roy, we're fine. They're letting me hold Jenny. She's scared but okay. The van has no windows. I don't have a clue where we're going. We'll be okay.'

Roy closed his eyes in relief. They haven't been hurt. Yet.

The next morning, Roy woke from a fitful slumber and ran to Jennifer's room. Maybe it had all been a dream! Jennifer's bed was made and hadn't been slept in. Her favorite teddy bear, Radar (named for Big Bird's teddy bear, of course!) was still on the pillow.

'What is she going to do without her teddy bear?' thought Roy with a heavy heart.

Suddenly, Roy felt something wet nudge his hand. Roy looked down and saw Johnny standing next to him looking almost as miserable as he felt. He smiled weakly and reached down to pet the puppy. He nearly started crying again as he remembered the day Johnny brought this bundle of fur to them and how excitedly Jennifer named him after her favorite 'uncle'.

"You know something's wrong, doncha boy?" he asked the dog. "Well, don't worry. It's going to be all right." He closed his eyes and whispered, "It has to be."

The dog whimpered and nuzzled his hand again.

Johnny woke up in a small room and for a minute he couldn't remember where he was. Then he felt Jennifer move beside him and it all came flooding back. The party, the guns, Jennifer being man-handled. He shuddered at the memory causing Jennifer to stir in her sleep. When she whimpered, Johnny held her closer and she snuggled into him as his proximity drove the nightmare away.

There was a sudden bang on the door and Jennifer screamed as the loud noise shocked her out of her sleep. Johnny sat up with her and held her protectively as the door opened and one of the burly men that had grabbed them the night before entered with a tray.

"Morning Sunshine," said the big man condescendingly. "Brought you breakfast. It probably ain't what a rich boy like you is used to, but it's all you're getting."

"Look, man!" said Johnny. "I'm not rich! I'm not Marko the Magnificent! I'm John Gage! I'm a firefighter/paramedic from LA! Let us go, man. You ain't gonna get anything for us!"

"Are you sure you want to stick to that story?" said the head 'waiter' from the previous night. "If you are, in fact, useless to me, I'd just have to kill you both. We'll find out when I contact your agent with our demands."

"You're a mean man! You let Uncle Johnny and me go right now!" piped up little Jennifer.

Johnny hugged her closer and tried to shush her as the little man said, "It would be wise to keep the precocious child quiet. She was taken to insure no tricks at the hotel. We're a bit more confident in your inability to try anything in this little room. We don't need insurance so badly now."

Johnny's put on his warrior's face so his opponent wouldn't see how terrified he was. He said to Jennifer, "Sweetie, you need to be nice to this man or he won't let you stay with me, okay? Be nice just for me. Can you do that for me, Jenny?"

She gave the two other men in the room a glare and then said, "Okay, Uncle Johnny. I'll be nice just for you. Do I have to like being nice to them?"

Johnny chuckled mirthlessly, "No. You don't have to like it."

Hank Stanley was sitting at his kitchen table reading the newspaper about the magician's kidnapping and wondering why there weren't a lot of details in the article. The picture of the magician was a long shot of Marko on stage. The child that was kidnapped with him was not identified. When the telephone rang, he put the paper down and went to answer.

"Hello? Oh, hi Roy, what's up?" he said amiably.

"WHAT?!?!?!?!" he shouted after a minute. His wife looked up from where she was doing the crossword puzzle.

After another minute, Hank stretched the cord back to the table as he fell into a chair.

"Okay, Roy. I'll get replacements for you guys. What? No, I won't tell anyone that doesn't need to know. I'll make sure the people I do tell understand the importance of secrecy. Look, if there's anything we can do to help, just let us know. We're here for you pal."

In a daze, he hung up the phone and picked up the paper again. He looked closer at the picture of Marko.

"What was that, Hank?" asked his wife.

Quietly, he told her.

'Johnny? Can you still hear me? Do you know where you are yet? Is Jennifer okay?'

'We're still okay so far. They're treating us reasonably well. I guess we're their meal ticket. Until they find out that I'm not Marko, anyway. They've made it clear that if I'm not Marko, we're dead.'

'I've talked to Mark. We're letting the general public think it was Mark that was taken. We're even keeping his real name out of the papers so they don't figure it out. He's willing to pay the ransom. Don't worry, we'll get you out of this.'

'They're coming back. Jennifer's getting scared. I need to concentrate on the situation here. I'll contact you again later.'

The next morning, as the men of A-shift gathered, they were mildly curious to see both Dwyer and Brice filling in for the paramedics.

"Hey Cap," said Chet. "Where are Johnny and Roy? They sick or something? My luck it'll be something contagious and we'll all get it."

Captain Stanley looked at Dwyer and Brice and told them to go start their chores while he took his regular crew into the rec-room and sat them down.

"Have you all seen that story about the kidnapped magician?"

The men of A-shift looked at each other and then back at Stanley and nodded.

"Did you know the guy is a dead ringer for Gage?"

"Oh my God," whispered Mike in sudden realization as to where this conversation was headed.

"Cap," Chet said as he also realized where the train of thought was going. "Are you saying they grabbed Johnny by mistake?"

"Yeah. But that's not the worst of it." said Stanley.

"What could be worse than Johnny being kidnapped?" asked Marco.

"You guys see in the paper that a little girl was taken also?"

"Yeeeaaaahhh," said Chet slowly.

"It was Johnny's 'date' for the evening. Jennifer DeSoto."

"Oh my God! Poor Roy," said Marco. "Cap, is there anything we can do? Help the police look or something?"

"The only thing you can do is keep this under your hat. It has to be believed that they really do have Marko the Magnificent. If they find out they've got a not-very-rich paramedic, they'll probably kill Johnny and Jennifer."

"You mean there's nothing we can do?" asked Chet. Despite the fact that he teased Johnny and played practical jokes on him, Chet really was very fond of Johnny and considered him one of his closest friends and he adored being Jenny's 'Uncle Chet'. Feeling helpless was not something that he enjoyed.

"I'm afraid not," came a familiar, yet strange voice from the door of the rec-room. The men turned and four jaws hit the floor as Mark entered the room.

"You must be 'Marko the Magnificent'," said Hank holding out his hand.

Mark shook it and said, "Just call me Mark."

"What brings you by?" asked Stanley.

"We have to convince these guys that I'm John Gage and they've got Marko, right? I just thought I'd be seen in some of Johnny's haunts to keep up the illusion."

"You're not a paramedic," said Chet. "You can't replace Johnny here."

Stanley piped up, "He's right. You can't. Maybe if you went to Rampart and pretended to have an injury, it would give Johnny an acceptable way out of work until he's returned or...." Hank couldn't finish the thought.

"Not a bad idea. If the doctors there will confirm I'm John Gage, that'll help keep the real John Gage alive until we figure a way to get him back."

He started out the door and then stopped. "Where is Rampart? I'm not exactly from around here."

Chet snickered. "You're definitely not Johnny. He could find Rampart blindfolded. I think they have a permanent room for him there."

Stanley shook his head and muttered, "Twit." Then he motioned Mark to his office and wrote down the directions to Rampart General Hospital.

When he got to Rampart, Dixie looked up and smiled.

"Hi Johnny, I thought you were on duty today. What happened? Johnny? Earth to Johnny!"

Mark started as he realized the attractive nurse was addressing him. He gave her an easy-going smile.

"I...uh...hurt my arm," he started massaging his right arm as though it hurt.

"Okay, let's get you into an examining room and I'll see if Dr. Brackett's available."

He followed her into a treatment room and sat on the examining table while she went to find the doctor.

When she came back, she had a tall, handsome, dark-haired man with a white coat in tow.

He smiled and said, "Well, Johnny. What sort of accident did you have today?"

Mark rubbed his left arm and said, "I hurt my arm, Doctor.....(squinting at his name tag) Brackett.

Kel looked at him curiously, "You don't need to be so formal, Johnny. Are you sure you didn't hit your head also?"

Dixie also looked at him curiously for a minute until she realized what was wrong with this picture.

"Johnny, when you came in to the ER, you said your right arm hurt. Now it's your left. What's going on?"

Kel looked mildly shocked that the paramedic who hated being a patient as much as Johnny did would fake an injury. Dixie kept glaring at him. Finally, he realized he needed to tell them. He prayed they could keep a secret.

"Can you keep a secret? It's a matter of life and death!"

Dixie and Kel looked at each other and then back at the man sitting on the table. Dixie folded her arms as she affected her best impatient nurse pose and Kel shoved his hands in his pockets and glared at 'Johnny'.

"What's so important that you had to fake an injury to get out of work? You afraid of failing an inspection or something?" asked Dixie.

Mark shook his head. "I need your word. You won't tell anyone what I have to tell you."

Dixie sighed. Brackett's mouth twitched in that way it does when he's upset. Finally, he said, "Okay, Johnny, you have my word."

"Mine too." said Dixie.

"Good. For starters, you can stop calling me Johnny. My name is Mark Boggess. Also known as Marko the Magnificent."

"You can't be! He was kidnapped the other night!" said Dixie.

Mark sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Johnny was taken. The little girl that was taken was his partner's daughter, Jennifer."

Dixie made her way over to a stool in the corner of the room and sat down heavily. Kel stared at him, incredulous.

"You mean, they took Johnny, thinking it was you?" asked Kel. Then, when Mark nodded, "But why'd they take Jennifer?"

"She tried to protect her 'Uncle Johnny' the way any kid who's too young to understand dying would do. She got too close and they grabbed her to make sure Johnny didn't try anything funny on the way out to the getaway car."

"What can we do to help?" asked Dixie once she composed herself.

"You can report to the Chief that John Gage has an injury that will keep him off work for a while. Roy's taking off work also, but he has an easier excuse."

"Okay," said Kel. "You've got a serious sprain in your...are you right or left handed?

Mark held up his right hand.

" ...in your left wrist and a mild concussion. Dixie, will you wrap his wrist and send him on his way? I think I've got to sit down."

"You guys need to keep this secret. If it gets out that they don't have me, Johnny and that little girl's life won't be worth anything to them."

Both doctor and nurse gave their most ardent assurances that the secret wouldn't leave the treatment room.

After three more agonizing days, the kidnappers finally contacted Marko's agent. They demanded 5 million dollars in cash to be dropped at a location to be determined later. He was given three days to raise the cash.

Johnny and Jennifer, meanwhile were sitting and waiting. They were given the minimum needed for survival. Three meagre meals a day. Johnny shared most of his with Jennifer. There was a small bathroom off their cell. It had no windows or air vents that Jenny or Johnny could get through. Jennifer clung to Johnny as much as she could. He offered what comfort he could, but she could sense he was afraid and that made her scared too.

Jennifer only forgot herself one time and sassed the man who brought their meals. He backhanded her and she went flying across the room landing hard on the small cot. Johnny launched himself at the big man and was taken down rather easily. The big man punched Johnny hard in the gut and when he went down on his side, kicked him in the ribs for good measure.

When he could breathe again, Johnny crawled over to where Jennifer was laying curled up in a ball crying. When she looked up, Johnny saw the beginnings of a large bruise on one side of her face. He silently cursed the big man as he gathered her up in his arms and sat rocking the little girl until her sobs subsided and she cried herself to sleep.

After a short time, the head kidnapper came into the room. "Well, I told you we don't really need her. You just proved you can't escape. Don't make us kill her...yet."

"What do you mean, yet?" Johnny looked down at the little girl in his arms and was relieved to see she was still sleeping.

"When they pay the ransom. You've seen our faces. We can't leave witnesses. The money'll be payment for your bodies." With an evil grin, the man quietly left the room.

'Roy, can you hear me? Come on buddy! I need you.'

'Johnny? Are you all right? What's going on?'

'I'm fine, we're fine for now. You guys are gonna have to do something here. They're not going to let us go, ransom or no.'

'What do you mean? Even if we pay the ransom, they're going to kill you?' Roy shuddered at the thought.

Yeah. They said no witnesses. They're keeping us alive now in case someone wants to speak to us before paying up.'

'My God, Johnny! Have you figured out where you are yet?'

'No. We got no windows here. I'm glad I'm not claustrophobic. Jennifer might be by the time we get out of here. She's really scared, Roy. I'm running out of ways to reassure her. Especially when I need reassuring here.'

'Okay, I'll talk to Mark and the cops and see what we can work out. Hang in there. Tell Jenny that Mommy and Daddy love her.'

'I will. Thanks Roy.'

The next day, a drop point and time was specified for the money. It was at a pay phone near a busy intersection of Los Angeles. They were to be told where they could find Johnny and Jennifer once the money was picked up.

Roy went to see Mark about his conversation with Johnny. It took quite a lot to convince Mark that Roy and Johnny could read each other's thoughts, but he agreed that it made sense that the kidnappers would kill their captives anyway.

Finally, Mark looked at Roy and said, "You know, the police have a psychic working for them that might be able to help you find your partner. She's really good if you believe in that sort of thing. I dated her for a while but she gave me the creeps after a time."

Roy looked hopeful for the first time since that fateful night. It was an extremely long shot, but as a drowning man reaches for anything that floats, Roy grabbed it as the only shot he had.

Andrea Joyce was a small, blonde, Australian woman. She arrived at the DeSoto's house to find Grand Central Station. Everyone from A-shift was there as well as Dixie and Brackett to offer whatever comfort they could to the grieving DeSoto family. She was not given a very warm welcome by anyone but Roy.

"Look, lady," said Chet. "It's not that I don't believe in psychics, but I don't believe in psychics and I don't want you hurting these people with promises you can't live up to."

She looked at him with deep brown eyes. "Your grandmother thinks you should believe me."

Chet turned on her with a murderous rage that made everyone step back. They had never seen him like that before.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING ABOUT MY GRANDMOTHER! She's been dead for 15 years!"

"I know," said Andrea calmly. "She's speaking to me from the other side. I'm a trans-medium. She wants you to understand, Chester B. Kelly."

Suddenly, Andrea stiffened and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. When she opened her eyes again, they were no longer brown, but a deep azure blue.

"Her name was Mary Patrick Kelly," she intoned. "She died of a heart attack the week before your 18th birthday."

Chet started. How could she know that? None of the guys even knew that! Her eyes were also the color he remembered his grandmother's eyes being.

"Grandma?" he asked hesitantly.

Andrea/Grandma didn't answer. Instead, looking out from dead blue eyes, she began to sing...in Gaelic! Chet recognized it as an Irish lullaby that she used to sing to him when he was a small boy. He began to sing with her.

When the song ended, she went limp. Chet, with tears in his eyes, caught her before she hit the floor. When she straightened up, she looked him in the eye, brown eyes blazing. "You believe me now?"

Everyone in the room looked at the slight woman in amazement, not truly sure of what they had just witnessed. Finally, she walked through the crowd of people until she found Roy.

"Do you have anything of his that I could use to focus on his essence?"

Roy thought for a moment and went upstairs. When he came back down, he had a shirt in his hands.

"He loaned this to me last week when I spilled something on mine. It's the best I can do at my house."

She took the shirt and held it close to her chest. She closed her eyes for a minute. When she opened them, she looked at Roy.

"The two of you are connected. I can feel it from here. I'd even go so far as to say you're soul mates."

Roy laughed nervously, "Soul mates? What are you talking about? I'm a happily married man! I don't go in for that sort of thing."

"I didn't say lovers, you stupid git! I said soul mates. That just means two beings who are destined to be together. You could be friends, brothers, cousins. It doesn't matter, as long as you're together."

Roy nodded. "We are connected. We can read each other's thoughts."

"You're kidding, Roy!" said Marco. "I thought that was only as long as Johnny was a dog."

Roy shook his head. "We've been able to do it ever since. We just don't do it very often."

Andrea nodded. "I don't think I want to know about the dog thing. But that's the connection. We're going to use it to find him."

"How?"

"It's like being connected by a rope. We just have to follow the rope to its other end and we'll find Johnny."

"How do we follow a non-existent rope?" asked Roy, beginning to despair again.

"I'll teach you. How long do we have before the drop is supposed to take place?"

"About a day and a half."

"Okay, someone call the police and tell them we're going to find them and get us an escort. Roy, let's work on strengthening that connection. Talk to Johnny in your thoughts and we'll get him to help himself."

'Johnny? Can you hear me? Are you all right? How's Jennifer?'

'We're okay, so far. Jenny's got a shiner you wouldn't believe and I think I've got a couple of bruised ribs, but we're holding our own.'

'What happened to Jenny?'

'She mouthed off to the wrong guy. She's really a gutsy kid. I managed to land one good punch on the guy before he took me down.'

'We've got a police psychic here who's going to help us use this connection we have to find you. It's a long shot, but it's the only shot we have.'

'What are we waiting for? What do I have to do?'

After a day of concentration and spoken and unspoken conversations, Roy and the police were ready to head out. Roy, Joanne-- who would not stay home and wait-- and Andrea were with Vince in one car and there were any number of cars on stand-by for when they got on the right track.

Andrea had Roy picture Johnny as clearly as he could manage. Roy, in turn had Johnny picturing him as well. Roy thought of Johnny's black hair, dark, laughing eyes and crooked grin. Johnny thought of Roy's blue eyes and sandy hair. The way he would smile when things were going his way. Eventually, both men had such clear pictures of each other in their heads, they could almost reach out and touch each other.

They only had until noon to find Johnny and Jennifer. It was 10 am when they were finally ready to head out. The police staked out the phone booth to get the runner who picked up the money.

As they drove, Roy kept the picture of Johnny in his head. If the picture faded when they went one way, they went in the opposite direction. After a while, Roy grew very excited.

"He's really near here! I can feel it!"

They were in a warehouse district with 5 different warehouses in close proximity to each other. It was 11:45.

Vince pulled the squad car up the block a short way to avoid being seen and called for backup. After convincing Joanne that it would be better if she waited in the car, they began walking past the warehouses. Roy kept the image of Johnny in his mind.

'Hang on partner, we're really close!'

'The sooner the better. The guys are waiting for a call from the guy who's supposed to pick up the cash. If they don't hear from him at noon, they'll kill us and take off. Come to think of it, that's what they're planning even if they do get a call.'

'We're getting closer! I can feel it. How's Jenny?'

'I think they drugged her breakfast. I can't wake her up! I guess they didn't want to look into a child's eyes when they kill her.'

Roy shuddered and stifled a sob at the thought.

Andrea was immediately at his side. "What is it?"

"They drugged Jennifer. Johnny can't wake her. We're have to find them!"

Vince called for an ambulance.

Suddenly, Roy stopped. "This is it! He's in this one! I know it!"

Vince called in the reinforcements.

'Johnny, take Jennifer and hide somewhere. The cops are going in. Don't make yourself an easy target.'

'Understood partner. I'll take care of her.'

The raid was almost easy. The head kidnapper ran to Johnny's cell to execute his prisoners, only to find that they had locked themselves in the bathroom. They couldn't escape, but they couldn't be easily killed either. While the man was aiming his gun at the lock on the bathroom door, the police burst in and shot him as he turned to fire at them.

As soon as Roy heard Vince give the all-clear signal, he ran into the warehouse faster than he ever thought he could run.

'Johnny?!?!?! Where are you? It's over! You're safe!'

There was a sound from one of the smaller back rooms. Roy ran over to find a very shaky Johnny coming out of the room with a limp Jennifer in his arms.

Roy and Joanne DeSoto, the entire crew of A-shift, Andrea, Mark and Vince were crowded into the doctor's lounge waiting for news about Jennifer. Johnny had his bruised ribs taped up and a good meal , courtesy of Captain Stanley's wife, who brought the food to the hospital.

When Johnny came into the lounge, everyone gathered around him. They patted him on the back and shoulder and anywhere else they could touch without getting slapped, as if they needed the reassurance that he was really there.

When he got to Roy, he stopped. Roy stood up, and took Johnny into a gentle bear hug. 'Thank you, Johnny'

'Don't thank me until we know how she is. I did promise after all. I don't want to think about it if I broke this promise.'

'You did your best and she's still alive. You're both back and you're both safe. That's what counts.'

Johnny slowly returned the hug. When they separated, Joanne took her turn to hug Johnny. As they separated, they saw Dr. Brackett enter the room.

"How is she?" asked Roy as he approached the Doctor.

Brackett smiled, "She's fine, Roy. It was Valium they gave her. It was a large dose for someone of her size, but it wasn't enough to do any permanent damage. She'll sleep for probably another 12 to 18 hours, but she'll be fine."

Johnny sat down and put his head in his hands. "Thank you, God! I was so scared when I couldn't wake her. If she had died..." He choked back a sob.

"But she didn't," said Roy, sitting next to his partner and putting a hand on his shoulder. "That's all that counts now. She's alive and well. You're alive and well. They caught the guy who went to pick up the money and the rest of the gang is taken care of. Everything couldn't be better!"

Johnny looked up at Roy and gave a pale impression of his trademarked crooked grin. Roy smiled back and they all went up to look at the little angel who was brave enough to defend her 'Uncle'.

The party for Johnny and Jennifer was huge. Mark rented a ballroom at the Hilton (he insisted on a different ballroom than last time, though) and invited what felt like the entire city. Two of the three shifts from station 51 were there, Drs. Brackett, Morton, Early and Jennifer's pediatrician, Dr. Reynolds as well as Dixie and half the pediatric nursing staff of Rampart. The magician's stage crew-- including Sherry, who was smart enough to stay away from Jennifer's 'date' this time-- and all the policemen who helped with the case that were able to get off duty for the evening. Plus a group of kids from Jennifer's class who were very worried about their classmate.

Finally, as the evening was ending, Mark came over to Johnny and Jennifer.

"I don't know how to thank you or to apologize for what you went through because of me."

"Don't worry about it." said Johnny. "No one got hurt and it's all over and we can be happy for that."

"Besides," piped up little Jennifer. "You're giving us this party. My birthday party wasn't as big as this!"

Mark grinned, "I'm glad you like it! You deserve it."

"I know!"

Johnny and Mark looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Roy, Joanne and Johnny were still laughing when they pulled into Roy's driveway where Johnny's Land Rover was parked. Just like it was on that fateful Saturday.

As Johnny headed over to his car, he heard Jennifer calling him back.

"Uncle Johnny! You promised me a good-night kiss!"

Johnny smiled as he turned around, "You're right, sweetie, I did."

He walked over and swooped her up in his arms and planted a great big kiss on the cheek without the bruise and a gentler kiss on the cheek with the bruise. She returned the favor in kind.

After a final hug, he put her down, said good night to Roy, Joanne and Chris, gave the dog a quick scratch behind the ears, got in the car and headed for home.

'Good night, Johnny!'

Good night, Partner!'

Catch a ride back to the Flight Deck...