Nuclear Dreams
Part 1/?

Some lawyer stuff to discuss: First of all, I give my permission to post
on Mel’s Forever Knight Fan Fiction Page and Anita at fkfanfic2. Second,
I do not own most of the characters. Jim Parriott owns Nick, Natalie
Donald Schanke, Amanda Cohen, and LaCroix.  Rawley Wilkes and Falcon are
names I had gotten from the movie “Lone Wolf McQuade”.  These characters
I am borrowing for my own enjoyment, and hopefully yours too.  I, myself,
do own Nichole Ann de Brabant Knight, thou.  So please ask before using
them.  Any resemblance to anyone mortal, dead, dhampir, or vampire is
purely coincidental.  The song that Nick thinks of is “I Think of You” by
Collin Raye.  The song that he remembers Nichole writing is “Father of
Mine” by  Everclear, I just changed a few words to fit the plot.  The
poem LaCroix recites in his monologue is Thomas Hardy’s ‘The Man He
Killed’ taken from A Child’s Anthology of Poetry edited by Elizabeth Huge
Sword with Victoria Flournoy McCarthy. :-&

I have not been to Toronto, so please excuse me if my landmarks are not
real or in the right place. Flashbacks are titled correctly, with
‘*******Flashback*******’ and ‘*******End of Flashback*******’.
Everything that is in apostrophes {‘...’} are the characters’ thoughts,
and those words that are in parentheses {(…)} are translations to the
French language (unless otherwise noted). :-[

This is the second story in the Nichole continuance.  It takes place two
months after “Daddy’s Little Girl”, (which you may get from me or from
the FKFanFic2 site) it is not necessary to have read the first story to
understand the story line.  Within the two months time span, David has
been moved back in with his father (court’s decision) and Schanke, Nick,
& Natalie has transferred from the 23rd precinct to the 96th. ;-)

???????????????????????????
Nuclear Dreams
Part 1/?

                Nick Knight walked into the precinct on time.  When he
entered the bullpen, Captain Amanda Cohen was in his office. Nick hoped
that he was in a good mood tonight.  He was already looking for his
partner, who was suppose to be there already. His search was interrupted
by Captain Cohen's quite, demanding voice, "Knight!!  Schanke!! In my
office now!"  Well, at least he knows what mood Captain is in.  He
resumed his search for his partner, his eyes stopped at the desk next to
his.  His partner was sitting at his desk, and he watched as his partner
stood up straight.
                "I know I didn't do anything wrong Schanke, I was here on
time," Nick told him as he walked up to his side.  He agreed with him,
telling him that he was also there on time.  Both of them walked into the
captains office.  "You wanted to see us Cap.?"
        “How much have you two got on the McCall case?”
                “Same thing we had for a week, Capt.”
        “I want you to classify it as unsolved and place it on the back burner.”
        “But, Cap...”
                "No ‘buts’. You two have a new case.  This one just came
in," Cohen handed a slip of paper to Nick.  He glanced at the paper, on
it was the address of a new nuclear power plant at the outskirts of the
city limits.  "ME is on its way, detectives."
               "Do you know who it is?"  Nick asked.  He also needed to
talk to Natalie, and hoped she is on this case.
               "Yes, Detective.  You know who it is, as well as I do."
               "Dr. Lambert?"
               "The one and only.  Now get going before I depromote you
to traffic."
               "Yes Ma’am."  Nick and Donald Schanke answered in unison,
and stumbled out of the office into the bullpen.  Fellow officers and
detectives watched as the two star detectives trotted out to the parking
lot and the to the caddie, or as Schanke had been known to call it one or
twice, 'Titantic'.  After a few minutes, Schanke broke the silence, "So
where are headed for this case, Partner?"
               "That new nuclear power plant that was built recently just
outside of the city."  Nick answered without taking his eyes off of the
road.  "I hope we can hurry up and finish this investigation."
               "Why, do you say that?"  Schanke was trying to keep the
conversation going, maybe he could learn something else about his
closed-mouthed partner.  Nick then skillfully navigated the caddie to a
protected parking spot.
               "Because Nichole is home alone and I want to spend
sometime with her, that’s why.  We're here."  Nick announced to Schanke.
He looked outside of the car for the first time in the last 30 minutes,
and found a front of a nuclear power plant building looming in front of
him.  Nick was already out of the car looking for a familiar Ford
Taursse, he spotted it as it pulled into the parking lot. Schanke was out
of the car and making his way to the entrance, while Nick walked over to
the new arrival.  As he approached the car, his query stepped out of the
car in question.  "Nat?  Do you have a sec?"
               "No Nick, I do not.  Why?  Do you want to talk to me?" Dr.
Natalie Lambert answered Nick.
               "Why, yes..."
               "You can walk with me inside and talk on the way.  So what
do you want to talk to me about, Nick?"
               "It's about our relationship, Nat."
     When she heard that last statement her mind told her, 'This is it.
He is moving on, without me.'  Not to let her fear get the better of her,
she responded with, "What about our relationship, Nick?"
               They both had just walked inside of the entrance, Nick had
better talk fast to get his point across.  "Nat, I'm not a man of words.
I don't know why I find this difficult to say, maybe it's my 13th century
upbring.  Oh, hell.  Natalie Lambert, I love you with all my heart.  I
know this isn't the appropriate time to ask, but will you do me the
honor, Natalie Lambert, of becoming my wife for all of eternity?"  They
walked into the crime scene, a room in the working part of the plant.
Nick notice this little detail and continued to whisper into Natalie's
ear, "You don't have to answer right now, just let me know before the
night is over."
                Without thinking of what her soulmate just said, Natalie
hoarsely answered, "Yes, Nick Knight.  I will marry you.  I love you with
all my heart."
        Nick had meant to ask her one month ago, but found it difficult to form
the question into words.  As Natalie bent over the victim, he could
visibly see her scar that had appeared one month ago.  It gave him a pang
of guilt everytime he saw it there on her neck.  “So, what do you have
for us, Nat,” Nick asked to break the tension in the room.
        “Male in the mid 30’s.  Gunshot to the chest with what appears to be .22
rifle.”  She said in her ‘professional mode’ to the two detectives and
captain.  “I’ll know more once I get him back to the lab.  I should have
the post done before lunch.”
        Before she can turn around and leave with the body, Nick had grabbed her
arm, and whispered, “Nat, come spend the day at the loft with me,
please?”
        “Okay, Nick.  What about Nichole?”
        “I’ll send her to a movie she has been wanting to see.  I better see
what Schanke has got.  Bye, Nat.”
        “Bye, Nick.”  He watched as she walked out of the plant. He then turned
to find Don talking to someone who was well dressed and looked like they
owned the plant.  For some odd reason, the man in front of Donald looked
familiar to Nick.  He walked up to his partner, starling him.
        After he had given him a brief time to clam down he proceeded, “So, what
have you got, Schanke?”
        “Nick, this is Rawley Wilkes.  He owns the building and the surrounding
property we are now standing on.  Mr. Wilkes this is my partner,
Detective Nick Knight.”
        Nick stared in disbelief as Schanke said the well dressed gentleman’s
name and he could barely contain the rage he felt toward this man.  All
of the rage was not coming directly from him, half of it was coming from
Nichole.  Mr. Wilkes had a look of recognition plastered on his face as
he looked at Nick.
        “Razón me, Señor Knight.  Do I know you?  You seem familiar.” Mr. Wilkes
stated flatly.
        “I just have that kind of face, I guess.” Nick replied dryly to the
curious statement.
        A few hours later, after the authorities left the plant and finished the
investigation of the crime scene, Mr. Wilkes turns to his assistant,
“Falcon, find everything you can on Detective Nicholas Knight.”
        “Sé, Señor Wilkes.” The man retreated to where ever he had come from.

(***********************************)

        At the precinct, Don decided to grill his partner’s actions at the crime
scene tonight.  “You know Wilkes, don’t you?”
        “Like I said before to him, Schanke. I just have that kind of face.”  He
almost growled at his partner.  Seeing the man that he knew kill his
latest ex-wife didn’t set well with him.
        “Come on, Nick.  I saw that look on your face the second you laid your
eyes on him.  You had the exact same look he had when he saw you.”
        ‘Damn him!  He’s just too smart for my diversion tactics!’  Nick started
to stand, “I’m going to lunch, Schanke.  While I’m on my break, I’m going
to see what Nat’s got from the body.”
        “Aren’t you going to check on Nichole while you’re at?”
        “She’s a big girl, Schanke.  She turned 13 last month, and besides I
only get an hour for my lunch break.”  Nick retorted rather angrily and
made a hasty retreat out the door, but not before signing himself out.
        ‘Schanke’s right, though.  I haven’t been paying much attention to her
lately.  Maybe I should call her from the morgue to see if she’s up for a
little of quality time, maybe Paris for a week or something.’  He had
noticed how much Nichole is becoming more nocturnal like him, so he
wouldn’t be surprised if he called the loft at this time of and she would
answer the phone.  He turned on the radio hoping it would improve his
mood, but once the voice of his master coming through the caddie’s
speaker caused his emotions to contradict inside of him.  The ancient’s
voice had calmed Nick’s nerves, ‘very’ little that is.  He is still
‘very’ enraged at this moment and LaCroix’s topic doesn’t help matters
one bit.  He placed the caddie in gear as his master’s voice rang out of
the speakers.
        “Ah, gentle listeners, tonight we talk about rage and revenge.  How each
seem to go hand in hand throughout history.  First comes the rage which
makes us commit an rather bad ‘altercation’, next comes the revenge to
avenge the actions taken out on someone the renegade cared for.  Let us
go deeper into the rage and what it drives us to do.  I believe our
friend, Mr. Thomas Hardy, has placed it into simple words we might
comprehend.”
        Nick sat at the wheel gripping it so tightly, that it might crumble into
dust if he held it any more tighter.  The light turned green just as
LaCroix’s voice recited Hardy’s ‘The Man He Killed’.

        “’Had he and I but met
          By some old ancient inn,
          We should have sat us down to wet
          Right many a nipperkin!

        “’But ranged as infantry,
          And staring face to face,
          I shot at him as he at me,
          And killed him in his place.

        “’I shot him dead because--
          Because he was my foe,
          Just so: my foe of course he was;
          That’s clear enough; although

        “’He thought he’d ‘list, perhaps,
          Off-hand like--just as I--
          Was out of work--had sold his traps--
          No other reason why.

        “’Yes; quaint and curious war is!
          You shoot a fellow down
          You’d treat if met where any bar is,
          Or help to half-a-crown.’

        A small amount of silence followed the citation for reality to sink in
before LaCroix continued, “What was done to make you turn to rage, my
children?  Confide in the Nightcrawler.  Call and we shall discuss.”
        Nick, disgusted that his father would even go that far, abruptly and
furiously switched the radio off.  He drove the rest of the way to the
morgue in silence, brooding in his mood.  ‘Maybe I should just book off
the rest of the night.  I could call Nat from the loft and tell her where
I am.  Tracy would be rather upset with me, but hell, I need some time
alone with Nichole right now.  I haven’t been spending enough time with
her lately.  Captain would understand, I hope.’  With that thought in
mind he fished out his mobile and dialed Captain Cohen’s number.
        “96th precinct.  This is Captain Cohen.”
        “Captain, this is Nick.  I was wondering if I could book off early to
spend some much needed time with Nichole?”
        Cohen, being a woman herself, understood what Detective Nick Knight was
asking for.  She knew Knight is only asking this just because he had most
likely been neglecting his daughter and putting his work first instead of
her.  “Sure thing, Detective.  I expect that report on my desk before the
end of the shift tomorrow night.  I will tell your partner of your
unexpected change of plan.”
        “Thanks, Captain.  I know Nichole would appreciate this.”  After they
said their byes.  Nick hung up the phone and turned the caddie right
around and headed toward the loft.  He drove straight there, rage still
pulsing from him.  As he arrived at the warehouse he called home, his
rage had somewhat abated from him.  ‘I can’t be this much angry around
Nichole.  She’ll sense how angry I am.’
        Nick had opened the garage door and pulled the car inside, and gotten
out.  He punched in the security code and waited impatiently for the lift
to retrieve him from the ground level.  Once the lift had finally arrived
to him, he got inside and pushed the button for the second floor.  As the
lift neared its destination, he heard the most dearest, precious, and
loved heartbeat to his own still heart.
        The lift stopped at the desired place, and he opened the door to be
attacked by a flying 13-year-old girl.  “Daddy!  What are you doing home
so early?”
        “I thought we could spend sometime together, just the two of us.  Nat’s
gonna spend the day with us, Princess.  Guess what I finally did
tonight?”
        “What was that?”
        “I finally asked her.  Speaking of Nat, I better call her and tell her
where I’m at and with whom.”
        “Mom was expecting you at the morgue?”
        “Not exactly.  Schanke probably told her I was going over there to see
what she had gotten from the autopsy tonight.”  Nick said as he shifted
his daughter to one side to put her down, and made his way over to the
phone.  He picked up the receiver and started to dialed the so familiar
number before he was stopped by a questioning child.  He hung up the
phone to give her his full attention.
        “Daddy?”
        “Yes, Princess?”
        “Why are you mad?”
        “You can feel ‘that’?”
        “It was very strong, how could I *not* feel ‘that’?”
        “I saw somebody from the past, I didn’t like him then.  I still don’t
like him now, but for a different reason.”
        “Do you want to talk about it?”
        “No thanks, Princess.  You don’t want to hear it.”
        “Okay.”


End of part 1

Disclaimers and posting permission in parts one.

Nuclear Dreams
Part 2/?

        Meanwhile at the plant, Mr. Wilkes was in his office when his
‘assistant’ knocked on his door.  “Come in, Falcon.”
        “Sé, Señor Wilkes.  I have the information you wanted.”  A small
hispanic male stepped into the office.  He had a black mustache and a
very thick Spanish accent.
        “What have you got for me, Falcon?”
        “Señor Knight was very hard to trace, but I finally had found something
to give you.  It should be very intriguing, including his financial
background.”
        “Continue, Falcon.”
        “Sé, Señor Wilkes. Señor Knight’s whole name is Nicholas de Brabant
Knight.  He is connected with the Brabant Foundation in Montreal.  I
managed, after some very hard searching, to find a picture of the
chairman of the foundation.”  Falcon pulled a glossy 8.5”x11” paper and
showed it to Wilkes.  Wilkes eyebrows would’ve touched the ceiling if
they were not attached to his face.  “Of course to me Señor de Brabant
looks exactly like Señor Knight.  That was not the only thing I found out
about Señor Knight.”
        “Continue.”
        “Señor Knight lives in a warehouse owned by the Brabant Foundation.  The
floor he made habitual is under his name.  He also does not live alone.”
        “Now you maybe getting to something I might be able to use.  Continue.”
        “Señor Knight lives with Señorita Knight, his daughter.”
        “What is her ‘whole’ name, Falcon?”
        “Nichole Ann de Brabant Knight, Señor Wilkes.”
        “Gracias, Falcon.”
        “Your welcome, Señor Wilkes.”
        “Now go.”  Rawley Wilkes quietly demanded of Falcon, who was now making
a hasty retreat out of the office, leaving the file of Nick laying on the
desk.  He picked up the phone and dialed another number, Mr. Wilkes gave
the other person some instructions and Nick’s address.  After completing
the conversation, he hung up the phone with a smug smile on his face.
‘Señor Knight has got to be Señor Chasez, that bitch’s husband who
betrayed me in Buffalo, New York.  That bitch being Nancy Anna Chilton.’

(***********************************)

(Next Monday)

        Nichole was up and ready for school before her alarm clock went off.
She was in the process of making up her bed as the damned thing went off.
 She automatically reached over and hit the button rather hard to turn
off that awful sound it made, she smashed it to bits.  ‘Great, Daddy’s
gonna really be mad at me now.  That’s the third alarm clock I ruined
this month alone.’  She also noticed that she has slowly gaining her
father’s powers, except hypnotizing, enhanced senses, and levitation, as
of late.  Not only that, she has noticed that her slight allergy to the
sun has grown to slight photosensitive.  She has also had difficulty
eating certain foods, like garlic, and discomfort around religious
symbols.  She only hoped that her father didn’t notice it.
        She was in the process of making her bed when her father popped his head
inside the door.  He looked around for the clock to see if his eyes were
deceiving him.  He found it right were it should be, smashed to bits.
“Nichole, that’s the third alarm clock you ruined this month.”  He said,
stepping into the room and closing the door behind him.  “We have to
talk, Princess.”  He motion to the now made bed, “Sit down.”  He waited
for her to comply.  He continued, “I have been noticing that you have
changed slowly over the last two months.  Do you want to talk about it?”
        “Not now Daddy, I want to talk to Mom first.  Is that all right with
you?”  She knew how much her father hated to be a vampire now, but if she
told him that she is slowly coming across she was sure he would blame it
on himself.
        “Of course it is all right with me, but I want you to promise me
something first?”
        “What’s that, Daddy?”
        “If you change the slightest bit more, I want you to tell me.  Do you
understand?”
        “Yes, Sir.  I understand.”
        “Good, now hurry up and leave before you’re late for school.”
        Nichole grabbed her pack back and headed to her door.  Downstairs, she
headed to the lift and took it down to the garage.  She exited the
garage, and spied a ’83 Oldsmobile ninety-eight parked across the street.
 As she took off down the street to the bus stop, the car followed her
keeping a few blocks between them.
        A few blocks from the loft, the car speed up to rest next to her.  The
man in the back seat opened the door and pulled her in the car, he
pointed a handgun to her temple.  Trying to disguise his voice, and
failed miserably, the man said, “Just be a good girl.  Don’t fight,
fidget, bite, or scream.  If you follow those rules, you would do just
fine.  I’m going to place a gag in your mouth, and then blindfold you.
Open your mouth.”  She complied with the stranger and found a sock stuck
into her mouth.  “Good girl, now close your eyes.”  She did and found a
blindfold pressing against her eyelids.  “Take off,” he was talking to
the driver of the car.  Not before she noticed that he still held the
handgun to her temple, she began to mentally panic.
        “Hold the gun will you, while I tie her up,” he said to the person next
to him.  She felt the seat shift and the gun move from her temple.  “Sit
up,” he was talking to her now, she complied.  She felt him grab her
wrists and tie them with rope so tight that he was cutting off her
circulation.  He roughly pushed her back into the seat.  Once she was
settled back, she started to work immediately on her bonds.  The second
she moved her fingers she felt the gun back up against her temple.  ‘He
got the gun back in his hand.  Damn!’  She stopped moving altogether.
They continued to drive for thirty minutes to an hour.
        Nichole felt the car slow down and stop.  She heard the car door open
quickly, and felt someone reach in and pull her roughly out of the car.
Somewhere behind her, she heard a masculine voice heavily accented in
Spanish order whoever was holding her, “Take her to the ‘room’.”  She was
not going to go anywhere that doesn’t sound pleasant, that doesn’t sound
pleasant, so she started to struggle.  She didn’t get very far before a
strong, large hand slapped her face with enough force to knock her off
her feet.  When her head hit the ground, she hit it with so much force
that it caused her to become unconscious.  She didn’t feel two pairs of
strong hands pick her up and carried her away.

(***********************************)

        Nick was getting ready for bed shortly after his daughter left for
school.  He shot straight up as he felt that something was wrong.  His
muscles tensed as if for a fight, he searched the loft for intruders and
found none.  He opened his mind to get a better feel from where the
emotion had come from.  He felt it come from a few blocks away from the
loft, the same direction Nichole takes to get to school.  A few minute
later, he felt his hands go numb as if somebody tied a bond around his
wrists too tightly.  ‘Nichole is in trouble.  It’s all my damn fault.’
        With no more feelings coming to him, he climbed into bed hoping his
exhaustion would claim him and that feeling from his daughter was a false
alarm.  Just as he was dozing off to Dream Land, he felt a sharp sting as
if someone slapped him across his face and then shortly there after, he
no longer felt his daughter.  “NICHOLE!!!” he all but screamed into the
dark room.  He lost all thought for sleep for the day.
        Nick got up and went downstairs to use the phone.  He picked up the
receiver and quickly dialed the one number he could always count on,
Nat’s.  He waited until the familiar voice had completed its sleepy
greeting.  “Nat, it’s Nick.  Can you come over right away?  Something has
happened, but I can’t do nothing about until later.”
        “Sure.  No problem Nick, I’ll be over within the hour. What is it?”
        “It’s Nichole.  Something has happened.   I don’t feel her like I
normally do.”  He said the latter so soft that Natalie had to strain to
hear it.  His voice was full of something...fear, needing, what, she did
not know.  All that she knew is that Nick needed her to talk about his
daughter.
        “I’m leaving now, Nick.  She’ll be all right.  She’s a big girl.”
        “She’s not that big, and she’s still my baby girl.”  Nick said that
statement with his voice sounded far away, as he started to remember when
Nichole had first arrived into Toronto.

*******Flashback*******

(Toronto, Canada; April of 1991)

        Nick went to the Raven to see Janette about getting information on his
latest case.  Just as he walked up to the vampire bouncer at the door, he
heard a  child yell, “Leave me alone!  You said you’ll help me see
Janette!”  He took to the air after stepping into the shadows, and
located the source of the sound about half a mile away.   As he landed in
the shadows, he looked to the owner of the voice and momentarily froze in
his tracks.  He looked at the child’s attacker, a male fledgling of no
more than fifty years, and became enraged.  He watched as the fledgling
began an advance on the helpless child, and stepped out of the shadows
just as soon as the fledging past his hiding spot.  Now that he was
behind the younger vampire, he picked up the offending fledgling and
threw him against the far wall of the alley.
        This action angered the younger vampire, “She’s mine, Old Man!  Go drink
your cow!”  He picked himself up off of the wall and flew at Nick, fully
vamped out.  Nick, ready for a fight and fully vamped out himself,
watched as younger vampire picked himself up and flew at him.  At the
last second, Nick stepped aside and let the fledgling slam himself into
the wall again.  This time Nick did not give the fledgling a chance to
attack him once more, he was on the younger vampire and had him up
against the wall with his hand wrapped around the throat.
        Nick leaned in close and hissed in the fledgling’s ear, “You leave this
alley now and leave the child to me!  If I find you near her again, I
WILL make you wish you had not met your master!”  He let him go and
watched as the younger vampire took to the air in fright.  Now that the
immediate danger was out of the way, Nick turned his attention to the
girl.  He looked at the frightened child.  She looked hungry, battered,
and pale.  He could clearly see a black eye and a few bruises as well as
cigarette burns on her face under her golden curls that looked like she
robbed from Nick,  she looked at him through terrified wide blue eyes
that also looked like she stole from him.  The resemblance was strikingly
familiar, almost like they should be family.  As he approached her, she
moved back further and screamed.  Nick stopped his advance and held out
his hands as if to receive a hug.  “It’s okay, Nichole.  I won’t hurt
you.”
        “Get away from me, you monster!”  She yelled again, but stopped as she
heard her name from this stranger.  Then asked softly almost inaudibly,
“How do you know my name?”
        “Perhaps I should call you ‘Princess’.  Now do you recognize me?”
        She nodded her head and ran from her sitting position, forgetting that
he was a monster, squealing, “DADDY!  Please don’t take me back!  I’ll be
good, I promise!  PLEASE!”
        Nick picked her up and hugged her tightly against his body, “Tell me
what are you doing here.”
        “I ran away from my foster parents.  They are mean.  I don’t wanna go
back.”
        “Why?”
        She pointed to her injuries and said, “Robert did this and this and this
and this.”  She pointed to the black eye, some of the newer bruises, and
the cigarette burns that covered her face.  “I told Sarah and she said
that she will see what she can do, but Robert and Mary have ties within
the system so they would do anything to keep me with them.”
        Nick didn’t say anything, but moved back into the shadows and took to
the air with the child still hugged tightly to his six-foot frame.  He
landed back in the shadows outside of the Raven, and climbed back into
the caddie.  Forgetting about the case, started the engine and pulled
from the curb.  Fishing out his cell and dialing the precinct.  “Yeah
this is Knight, can I speak with Captain Stonetree?”  He listened as the
desk sergeant transferred his call to the captain’s cell phone.
        “This is Stonetree.  Where the hell are you Knight?!  They found another
body that might be related to the case and here you are out of reach! I
just was going to put an APB out on you and here you call out of the
blue!  Get your butt here now or I’m going to have to throw my threat
into action!”
        “Uhh, Cap...”
        “I don’t want no excuses  get your sorry butt here on the double!”
        “Yes, Sir.  But where is here, exactly?”  He heard Stonetree sigh an
frustrating sigh.
        Stonetree gave him an address in the most fancy part of their
jurisdiction and then hung up.  He turned to look at his small companion
and found her with her eyes curiously on him willing him to do what he
must do.  When he looked directly into her eyes he also saw pure fear of
being abandoned again.  That emotion he saw in one so young tore at his
heart, ‘She is staying with me.  LaCroix be damned if he decides to ever
hurt her.’  “Do you mind staying in the car for awhile while I take care
of some business?”
        “No, I don’t mind.  Who’s LaCroix, Daddy?”

*******End of Flashback*******

        The sound of the lift engaging had brought him out of his memory.  He
listen carefully as he heard the most loved heartbeat he loved as a man.
It was her heartbeat.  Nat’s heartbeat.  He turned his head to the door
of the lift, his eyes full of unshed red tears.


End of part 2