"The Long Weekend"
By Lorrie
Disclaimer: The following story is based on the characters of the TV Series "Walker, Texas Ranger". The characters belong to CBS Productions, Top Kick Productions, etc., but the story is mine. ALL DISCLAIMERS APPLY. (No copyright infringement is intended.)
"I'm glad we decided to do this."
Gage's arms slipped around Sydney's waist from behind as he trailed the back of her neck with his lips. "Me too." He mumbled between kisses.
Sydney giggled as she turned to face him. "I'm serious Francis." She smiled.
"Me too." Gage returned the smile as he raised his eyebrows, reached down and picked Sydney up in his arms.
She began to laugh. "Put me down." She kicked her legs in mock protest.
"Do you want to go back to the room?" He asked as he playfully tickled her.
"Let's go back down to the beach first. The tide's going out and I'd like to look for a few more shells."
"Geez, you've already collected a bagful."
"Oh, come on Gage, how often do we get to the beach?" She frowned.
"You're right. I guess I got my fill when I worked in Port Arthur."
"Well, I've never lived that close to the shore, so it's still a real treat for me. Besides, this isn't work. I thought we decided that on this vacation we weren't going to be Rangers."
"Ok, ok, you win. We'll go for a walk and do some beach combing before dinner. Then how would you feel about a moonlit walk on the pier?"
Sydney leaned in and caressed Gage's bare chest as she gently brushed his lips with her. "Sounds perfect."
Gage reached for her hand as they stepped out onto the white sands of the 'Gulf of Mexico'. "Which way?" He asked.
Sydney looked up and down the beach. "Let's go this way." She pointed to their right.
******
"Hey Walker, what's going on?" Trivette asked.
"Luckily not too much. How did court go this morning?"
"Pretty good." Trivette looked at Gage and Sydney's desks. "When are the two lovebirds supposed to be back?"
"Well, do the math Trivette. They planned a three-day weekend and today is Saturday, so I guess they'll be back on Monday." Walker grinned.
"Ha, ha." Trivette smirked. "Any idea where they were headed?"
"Not exactly. Gage just said the coast, so for all I know they could be in Florida or California, but I'm guessing that they're somewhere in Texas."
"I wonder why they were being so secretive?"
"Probably because every time they take a vacation, something comes up and we need them. This time, I don't know where they are, so I can't call on them."
"Yeah, but if we really needed them, you could find them. I mean, you've managed to find me when I didn't want to be found." Trivette said seriously.
"But Trivette, you always TELL me where you're going. As a matter of fact, I usually get ALL of the details of your trip a month in advance." Walker continued to grin.
A look of mock shock was on Trivette's face. "I do not." He said sternly.
"Yes you do. I knew everything about your Las Vegas vacation a couple of years ago, right down to which restaurants you planned to eat at if you won big."
"Well, so what?" Trivette said in defeat. "So I guess I should take a lesson from Gage and Sydney and the next time I take a vacation, I won't tell you where I'm going either."
"It wouldn't matter." Walker replied confidently.
"Why?"
"I'd find you. If we really needed Gage and Sydney, I'm sure I could find them too." Walker replied without looking up.
******
"Wow, look at this one!" Gage exclaimed as he picked up a medium sized Conch shell.
"Cool! That'll look perfect in our living room."
"You're right. Maybe we can find a stand for it later at one of the souvenir shops."
They continued to walk towards the pier, stopping along the way to pick-up shells and to chase each other through the water. "Are you ready to turn around?" Gage asked.
Sydney looked back towards their hotel. "Yeah, I guess we'd better. We walked further than I thought we had."
"Why don't we go change, get our towels and come out for a swim before it gets dark?" Sydney suggested.
"OK." Gage shrugged.
A little while later, they were both back out on the beach, playing in the pounding surf. "I'm going out a little ways." Gage said.
"I'm coming with you." Sydney replied as they both began to swim away from the beach.
After a few yards, they turned and bodysurfed back in and collapsed onto their beach blanket, laughing. "I can't remember when I've had this much fun." Sydney exclaimed.
Gage smiled. "Me either."
"We used to go to the beach a lot when I was a kid, at least once a year, but after I graduated from high school, I just haven't been back that much."
Gage was lying on his back with his eyes closed, listening to Sydney's every word. "What about you?" She asked.
"Me? Well, when I was little, we took a week long vacation every year. The beach, the Grand Canyon, Disneyland; those are the three I remember most, but after my parents died, well, let's just say that I didn't get another vacation until my eighteenth birthday when I could legally leave my foster home."
Sydney rolled over on her side and faced Gage. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
"You didn't Syd. They're always there, I just try not to dwell on them." He gave her a weak smile and them began to laugh heartily as a seagull flew over, doing its business on the towel beside of Sydney's hand.
"Yuck!" She yelled and then began to laugh.
"Hey, let's go back to the room and get cleaned up. I'd like to go somewhere nice for dinner tonight." Gage suggested.
Sydney smiled as she got up and began to gather their things. Gage waited until she had picked up the last item and then lifted the beach blanket, letting the sand that had collected on it blow in the evening breeze.
They stopped at the spigot and washed the sand and salt from their bodies before entering the hotel. "Are you thirsty?" Sydney asked when they stepped into their room.
"I'll get something after I shower." He replied as he sat the blanket on the floor.
"OK." Sydney said as she reached for ice-cold water and downed half of it quickly.
Gage undressed and turned on the shower. No sooner than he had stepped in, Sydney joined him. "I hope you don't mind."
"What are you doing in here?" He asked with a smile.
Sydney's arms encircled his neck and he pulled her close for a kiss as the water beat down on them.
Once their shower was finished, Gage carried Sydney to the bed. "We'll miss our dinner reservations." She said between kisses.
"So?" He replied as he traced his finger across her stomach.
"Gage." She drawled his name as her body yielded to his touch.
*****
In the basement of the hotel, a group of ten men had assembled in the laundry room "Who's the target Mike?"
"George Alderman. He's the President and CEO of the Sentech Corporation."
"Which floor?" Another man asked.
"The 6th. A group of ten rooms were reserved for a Sentech getaway for the VIP's of the company. The Alderman's are in room '610'.
"How many?"
"Just the old man and his wife. We're holding the whole floor though."
"So it's not a simple in and out?"
"No. We're to extract some information from Mr. Alderman first and a few of the other stock holders, then we take them out and anyone else who gets in the way."
*****
Sydney and Gage both laid back across the bed, exhausted. "I'm going to take another shower." Gage said as he brushed Sydney's lips.
"Me too." She said as she started to get up.
"Ah, ah, ah, not this time. Not if we want to make those reservations." Gage laughed as he entered the bathroom.
Sydney continued to lie across the bed until Gage came out and then she took her shower.
Gage was already dressed when she emerged from the bathroom and slipped into a simple, but elegant, black dress. "OK, I'm ready." She said as she smoothed her dress down.
"You look absolutely beautiful, Mrs. Gage." Gage remarked as Sydney walked across the room.
"Thanks." Sydney beamed. "Now, where are we going for dinner?"
Gage opened the door and they entered the hallway. "A nice, quiet, romantic little place just a few blocks from here."
"Sounds nice." She looked up at him and noticed the look on his face change quickly from fun to serious.
Gage quickly pulled Sydney into a small alcove as he saw several armed men get off of the elevator. He brought his finger to his lips, motioning for her to not make a sound. She nodded.
Eight of the armed men headed towards the Alderman's room, while the two remaining men guarded the elevator. Mike turned to the guards. "No one gets on or off, understand?" The two men nodded.
Gage looked down the hallway and motioned for Sydney to head back towards their room. They quickly swiped the passkey and quietly closed the door as they entered.
"What's going on?" Sydney asked.
Gage leaned against the door. "I don't know yet. See if you can get a call out to Walker. And Syd, use your cell."
Sydney pulled out her cell phone and was a little surprised to get Walker's voice mail instead of him. "Walker, this is Syd." She whispered. "We're in Corpus Christi at the Radisson Hotel. Several armed men just took over this floor and we're not sure what's going on yet. I'll call you back as soon as I can." She hung up and turned her phone off.
******
Mr. and Mrs. Alderman, a couple in their mid sixties, were preparing to go out to dinner when the eight armed men burst through their door. "George Alderman?" One of the men asked.
Mr. Alderman stepped in front of his wife. "Who are you?" He demanded. "Who are you and what do you want?"
"Tie them up in separate rooms and then go door to door starting with the Sentech group." Mike handed six of the men a packet of syringes. "Inject each occupant with this. It'll keep them unconscious for about four hours."
The men took the syringes and began their mission. They approached the room of the Sentech VP and his family. Amidst the screams from his wife and children, each were injected and quickly quieted. Once they were tied up, the armed men moved to the next room, repeating this pattern until all of the Sentech employees had been injected with the exception of George Alderman.
"Mike, where do you want to start now?"
"There are about fifteen rooms left on this floor that are registered to people other than Sentech employees. Our mission does not include these people, but we can't risk any of them leaving this floor before our mission is complete.
Enter each room and let our presence be known. Identify yourselves only as men here to fulfill a mission against the Sentech Corporation. Tell the occupants of the rooms that we will use force against them if necessary. They are not to get in our way and are to stay in their rooms until we leave. If they leave their rooms or try to call for help, they will be executed. Make sure they understand that we are firm believers in collateral damage." Mike finished his speech and the six men resumed their door-to-door mission.
As they burst through the door of 611, they found the room empty. "No one here boss."
"Probably out to dinner. That's just as well." Mike replied.
Gage continued to stand by the door. He turned and looked at Sydney for a moment. "They're doing a room by room search."
"For what?"
Gage shook his head. "I don't know, but they're getting closer to our room. It's probably best that we don't let them know that we're Rangers, at least not until we know what's going on."
Sydney agreed. Suddenly the door to their room was kicked in and two guards entered, their weapons trained on Gage and Sydney. "We don't want to hurt you. We're asking that you remain in your room until we leave, no matter what you hear. And don't try to call for help. As long as you do what you're told, you won't be hurt, but understand that if you get in our way or attempt to interfere with our mission, you will be executed." With that said, the two men started to leave. One suddenly stopped in the doorway and turned to Gage. "Don't I know you?"
"That all depends." Gage replied. "Who are you? I can't see your face with all of the camouflage markings."
The armed man's face suddenly went cold as he his mind wandered to a dry dessert in Saudi Arabia, during Desert Storm. He momentarily relived being pulled away from his overturned Jeep by an Officer who looked very much like the man standing before him. "Did you serve in Desert Storm?"
Gage responded hesitantly. "Why?"
"Did you serve in Desert Storm?" The man repeated, his finger nervously poised over the trigger of his gun.
Gage nodded slightly. "Yes."
"I do know you. You saved my life once. Capt. Gage, isn't it?"
Before Gage could respond, another of the armed men approached the room. "What's keeping you Miles?" He bellowed.
"Nothing. I'm right behind you." He scurried down the hallway without looking back.
"This may not be good." Gage whispered as he turned to Sydney.
"Why?" She asked.
"I only remember saving one young kid in Desert Storm and he was a trouble maker named Steven Miles. He had a real knack for hanging with the wrong crowds and disobeying orders left and right."
"Was he under your command?"
Gage shook his head. "No, but I heard enough about him to know that if he's involved in this then it's probably a mercenary type hit on someone." He paused for a moment. "What was that group that the front desk said was staying on the same floor?"
Sydney thought for a moment and then whispered. "Sentech Corporation, I think."
With the door down, there was really nowhere Sydney and Gage could talk. Mike had the armed men patrolling the hallways making sure they looked in on the occupants every once in awhile to see that they weren't causing trouble.
Gage and Sydney were sitting on the edge of the bed when two men quickly entered the room. "Capt. Francis Gage?" One of the men asked.
"Who wants to know?" Gage responded.
"Come with us now, or this pretty little thing will find a bullet in the back of her head."
Gage got up and turned to Sydney. "It's OK." He said quietly and winked at her as he stood.
"Lace your fingers behind your head." One of the men instructed. As Gage complied, he felt the barrel of the man's automatic weapon pushed into the small of this back. "Now walk."
Once at the end of the hall, Gage caught sight of Mike. "Well, well, if it isn't Capt. Francis Gage." Mike announced. "It's been a long time."
"Not nearly long enough Pemberton."
"Miles over there said he was pretty sure that was you. Looks like I'm finally going to get my revenge. Do you know that because of you, I was dishonorably discharged and spent five years in the Federal penitentiary?"
"Really? Only five years?" Gage commented.
Mike Pemberton's face suddenly turned red and he slammed the butt of his gun into Gage's stomach. "Put him in with Alderman." He ordered. "Who's the girl with him?"
"Don't know."
"Bring her up here too. We'll keep her in with the old lady."
Miles motioned for one of the other men to follow him to Gage and Sydney's room. They held their guns high as they stepped through the broken down door. "Where is she?" Miles asked as they began searching the room. "Lady, you had better come out now or we won't be so easy on you."
"Miles, there's no one in here." The other man stated.
"She has to be here somewhere. She couldn't have gotten past Dobbs in the hallway." Miles stepped into the hall. "Dobbs!" He yelled.
"What?" Dobbs responded.
"Have you been here the whole time?"
"Yes."
"You didn't see a girl come out of this room?" Miles asked, becoming frustrated.
"No and there's no way I would have missed anyone if they tried to get out of their rooms. I heard what Mike said."
Miles returned to the room. "Check the balcony." He bellowed.
Sydney had quickly shed her black dress in favor of a pair of black pants and a black shirt immediately after Gage had been forced out of the room. She quickly stepped out onto the balcony, hoping for another way out.
As she studied the railings on the balcony, she decided that they were sturdy enough to hold her. The easiest escape would be to drop down one floor and go for help, but when she looked at the balcony directly below her, she saw a shadow of someone holding what appeared to be a gun. Now her only chance of escape was the floor above.
She stood on the top railing and pulled herself up to the balcony above. The room joining the balcony on the 7th floor was empty and the patio door was locked. "Great! Now what?" She said to herself. She looked above her. "This hotel only has seven floors, so I guess it's up to the roof now." She once again hoisted herself up over the balcony railing and climbed her way to the roof.
******
"I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when you tell Mike." The guard said.
"Shut up!" Miles said.
"Where's the girl?" Mike asked as Miles got closer.
"She's gone."
Gage smiled as he heard about Sydney's escape. "That a girl, Syd." He said to himself as he worked the ropes that were holding him to a chair in the center of the room.
******
Walker and Alex had enjoyed a nice evening out, something they seldom had an opportunity to do. "I sure am glad that Erica and Jimmy volunteered to keep Angela tonight." She smiled as Walker kissed her passionately.
"Me too. It's nice to have you all to myself for a little while." As he gently led her to the couch, he noticed the light on the answering machine. "I had better check that."
"OK. I hope everything's OK with Angela." Alex replied as she watched her husband step towards the desk.
Walker stared straight ahead as he listened to Sydney's message.
Alex sensed that something was wrong when Walker picked up the phone and begin dialing. "Walker?"
"It's Sydney and Gage. They're in Corpus Christi at the Radisson and something big is going on." He continued to dial information and asked for the phone number to the Radisson in Corpus Christi.
Walker spoke with the front desk clerk at the Radisson, but found quickly that he was getting nowhere. The clerk wouldn't release any information to him and Walker couldn't convince him that he was a Texas Ranger. After hanging up the phone in frustration, Walker turned to Alex. "Alex, I'm sorry about tonight, but Trivette and I need to get down to Corpus Christi and see what's going on. I feel like Gage and Sydney need help."
Alex nodded and cupped Walker chin in her hand, turning his face towards hers. "I know Cowboy. I know you need to go." She kissed his lips and then picked up her purse. "I'll go with you to Jimmy's and Angela and I will stay with Erica while you're gone, if it's OK with her."
Walker smiled slightly. "Thanks for understanding."
*******
Sydney surveyed the rooftop. Amidst the antennae and air conditioning units, there was a service entrance from the stairwell. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket, knowing that she would need to work fast to get her call out to Walker and get off of the roof before the mercenaries figured out where she had disappeared.
"Walker." He answered his phone as he and Trivette headed towards the airport.
"Walker, it's Sydney."
"What's going on Sydney?" Walker asked.
"There are a group of eight to ten mercenaries on the 6th floor of the hotel. They've secured everyone in their rooms and won't let anyone come or go. I think it has something to do with the Sentech Corporation. There are a group of VIP's staying here and the mercenaries are focusing on them.
There's another problem. Two of the men recognized Gage from Desert Storm. They're holding him in another room."
"I take it that there was a conflict between them?" Walker asked.
"Yes. The man that took Gage is named Steven Miles and there was another down the hall that recognized him. I heard Gage call him Mike Pemberton." Sydney was startled as the door to the stairwell began to shake. "Walker, I've got to go. They're coming onto the roof."
"Sydney, get out of there! We're on our way!" Walker yelled into the phone as the line went dead.
As Sydney stuffed her phone back into her pocket, a pair of hands grabbed her arms from behind. She immediately lifted her right leg to a full extension and kicked her would-be assailant in the head, causing him to momentarily release her. As soon as she was free of his grasp, she turned to see that there now two automatic weapons facing her. "Get your hands in the air!" One of them instructed.
She lifted her hands, angry with herself for getting caught and accompanied the three men down the stairwell and into room '610'. Mike turned to Gage as she was brought into the room. "Well, it looks like your little wife didn't get very far Capt. Gage." He laughed. "Bring her over here." He ordered.
Miles pushed Sydney towards the center of the room where Gage still sat, tied to the chair. "You try anything and Miles will put a bullet through Capt. Gage's head." Mike instructed as he began to pat Sydney down. He felt the bulge inside her pocket. "What do we have here?" He asked, halfway expecting to pull out a gun but instead brought out her cell phone. "Have you made any calls recently, Mrs. Gage?"
Sydney looked at Gage, she had to think quick. "Yes." She answered.
"To whom?" He asked.
Sydney squirmed, as did Gage. "I can't tell you, not in front of him." She nodded towards Gage.
"You had better tell me now, or you won't have to worry about him hearing."
"A friend." Sydney said quickly. "A man. A man I've been seeing for a while."
Gage closed his eyes, hoping that Mike would buy her story, all the while admiring her quick thinking.
"So, if I hit re-dial, I'll be speaking with . . .?
"Walker." She replied with her eyes never leaving Gage's face.
Mike hit the redial. "Walker." The voice on the other end replied.
"Mr. Walker. I just found this cell phone and was hoping to find the owner. It appears that your number was the last dialed. Could you tell me who the owner might be?"
Walker hesitated, but instinctively knew that something was wrong. It was very unlikely that Sydney would have lost her cell. Gage yes, but Sydney . . . "That could be Sydney Gage. She called me a little while ago." He motioned to Trivette to have a trace put on the call. But Mike quickly hung up the phone.
"This really proves nothing. How do I know that this Mr. Walker isn't a cop?"
"You don't." Gage responded, realizing that Mike still had no idea that he and Sydney both were Rangers.
"Never-the-less, your pretty little wife here doesn't follow orders very well. She was told that if she left her room, she would be executed. He then forced Sydney down onto her knees in front of Gage and pressed his .45 into the back of her head.
Sydney looked into Gage's eyes, knowing that this would be the last moment she would ever see him on this Earth. She mouthed the words I love you. They held their gaze for what seemed like hours, but in fact was only a few seconds. Gage cringed as he heard the crack of the gun. Sydney felt herself go lightheaded as if she were going to pass out.
Mike's angry voice filled the air as he began to curse. "Damn it Miles, what in the hell are you doing in there?" He moved away from Sydney and she and Gage both realized that it wasn't Mike's gun that had been fired.
"The damn broad was trying to get a call out." Miles reported as Mike entered the bedroom and found Mrs. Alderman laying face down in a, still forming, puddle of blood.
Upon hearing that his wife had been killed, George Alderman began crying, softly at first and then wailing loudly. "Shut him up Mike, or I will." Miles pulled his gun and pointed it at Mr. Alderman's head. "Shut up!" He yelled to the man.
"Go ahead, you little punk. Go ahead and kill me. My life is worth nothing without Catherine anyway. Just pull the trigger."
While Miles and Mike's attention was focused on Mr. Alderman, Gage quickly worked out of the ropes that were binding his hands behind his back. He helped Sydney to her feet as she was still sitting in disbelief that she wasn't dead. "Come on." He whispered urgently as he pulled her towards the hotel door. They heard another loud bang as Miles' gun went off, shooting Mr. Alderman in the back of the head.
Gage looked up and down the hallway and finding that no one was guarding the door, they proceeded to the stairwell. "Wait!' Sydney whispered. "Why aren't they guarding the stairs?"
Gage considered her question for a moment and then looked at the door to the stairwell more closely. It was wired with explosives. "Oh man! Ok, let's duck in here until we figure out where to go." He whispered as he pointed towards a supply closet.
Sydney quickly shut the door behind them as Gage grabbed her up in a furious kiss. "Oh God Syd, I thought for sure I had lost you." He said between kisses.
"Me too." She replied as she began to return his kisses. They stopped abruptly when they heard voices in the hall.
"They couldn't have gotten far. They have to be on this floor. The elevator is being guarded and the stairwell is wired." Mike bellowed.
********
Walker and Trivette were nearing the Radisson. They had been in contact with the local police department and were told that Capt. Roberts would assess the situation with them as soon as they arrived on the scene.
The cab driver pulled in as close as he could to the roped off parking lot. Walker reached over the seat, handing the cabbie a few bills and he and Trivette pulled their badges and proceeded to the front entrance of the hotel. Trivette tapped one of the officers on the shoulder.
"What can I do for you Ranger?" He asked.
"Where can we find Capt. Roberts?"
"He's over by the SWAT van. Tall guy, dark hair, you can't miss him." The officer turned back to his car as his radio clicked on.
Trivette hurried to catch up with Walker who was already half way to the SWAT van. "Capt. Roberts?" He asked as he approached the tall man.
"Yes. Who are you?"
"Cordell Walker, Texas Ranger and this is my partner, Ranger Trivette." He introduced. "What are we looking at?"
"Rangers what exactly is your interest in this case?" The Capt. asked.
"Two of my people are on the 6th floor." He proceeded to tell Capt. Roberts about Sydney's phone call.
"Sentech Corp.? And you think we're looking at mercenaries?" He asked.
Walker nodded. "It sure looks that way and if we are, they'll stop at nothing to complete their mission."
"Alright Ranger. I can definitely use the two of you on this one. You're right, they are hold up on the 6th floor and that is where the Sentech Corp. VIP's are registered. One of the maids found several of their people in a closet in the laundry room, all with a bullet to the back of their heads. We're guessing that's where they've staged everything from initially."
"Have you been in contact with them?" Trivette asked.
"No. Judging from what we've seen, we thought it would be better to not contact them."
"Has the hotel been evacuated?" Trivette continued to question.
"Everything except the 6th."
"I'm going in." Walker said as he began suiting up in SWAT gear.
"Ranger, I can't be responsible for you." Capt. Roberts started.
"No one asked you to be." Walker stated as Trivette started towards the SWAT van to suit up as well.
"I can't stop you either." Capt. Roberts said as the two Rangers each grabbed an assault rifle and started towards the hotel entrance.
*******
As Miles searched two of the rooms, he looked out of the window into the parking lot. "Mike!" He yelled as he began to run down the hallway. "Mike!"
Mike stepped out to face Miles. "What is it?" He asked harshly.
"Mike, we've got cops! Cops all over the place!"
Mike rushed to the window in room '610' and stared down into the parking lot. He slammed the drapes closed in a fury. "Set the explosives and get our men together."
"I thought you said we were just here for the old man from Sentech." Miles objected.
"What, now you all of a sudden have a conscience?" Mike sneered.
Miles shook his head. "But there are women and children in some of these rooms."
"Collateral damage, my boy. Collateral damage. Now go gather our men while I set the timers."
Miles quickly gathered the men from their positions and herded them towards the elevator. Gage opened the door just a crack and saw the flurry of activity. He closed the door as Miles came near to them.
"What's going on?" Sydney asked.
"I don't know." Gage shook his head. "It looks like they're ready to move out."
"They wouldn't just leave all of these witnesses." Sydney replied as they were rocked by the first explosion.
Gage opened the door and caught sight of Mike as the elevator doors closed. He turned towards the elevator and then back towards Sydney. He knew that his first priority was to get these people out of danger.
Sydney ran towards the rooms at the far end of the hallway, where the first blast had gone off. Gage yelled after her. "Syd, be careful! There are most likely more bombs set to go off any minute!" As he finished his sentence, another blast came from the opposite end of the hallway. Sydney rushed out of one of the rooms, carrying a small child in her arms and helping a woman limp towards the elevator.
She pushed the button and thankfully, the elevator doors opened. Gage met her with two more families and they quickly loaded the elevator. "Go, go, go!" Syd yelled as the last person was loaded.
While the elevator was on it's way down, Gage and Sydney rounded up the rest of the occupants of the 6th floor. When the doors opened this time, Walker and Trivette stepped out. "Are you two alright?" Walker yelled as he saw Sydney and Gage coming towards them.
"Fine. Walker, this whole floor is going to go." Sydney said as she glanced back at the now roaring flames.
"Trivette, you and Sydney go with this group. Gage and I'll double check the floor and meet you outside." Walker said as the elevator doors closed.
Inside the elevator, a little girl clung to Sydney's waist. "I'm scared." She said, her voice shaking.
"It's OK sweetheart. We're going to get you out of here. Where are your mommy and daddy?"
"I don't know. They were there one minute and then when that Ranger man picked me up, I didn't see them anymore."
Sydney looked at Trivette. "We'll check outside and see if your mommy and daddy got out first, OK?" Trivette soothed.
The little girl nodded and as soon as the group stepped outside of the hotel, a man and woman ran towards the little girl and gratefully took her into their arms. "Thank you. Thank you so much!"
******
On the roof, Mike Pemberton instructed the men to post themselves along the perimeter of the rooftop. "There will be two helicopters arriving momentarily to take us out of here!" He stated.
"We will be getting paid for this job, right?" Miles asked.
"Yes, but not nearly as much as if we had done it the right way." Mike responded.
"And you're blaming me for that?"
"Who shot the old couple?" Mike sneered.
"They deserved it!"
********
Walker and Gage finished checking the 6th floor and met at the elevator. "I don't see anyone else." Gage said, beginning to cough slightly.
"Me either." Walker coughed. As he hit the elevator button, the lights went dead.
"What's wrong?" Gage asked.
"We're going to have to take the stairs."
"We can't. The door's wired to an explosives pack. What's going on?"
"The electricity's down." Walker tried to pry the elevator doors opened. Gage pulled on one side and slowly the doors began to give.
Walker looked into the elevator shaft, gauging the distance between the opened door and the elevator cables.
"What are you thinking, Walker?" Gage asked, knowing already and not really liking the prospect of jumping into the shaft.
"It's the only way out Gage. We need to climb down the cables and go out through the elevator." He explained.
Gage made the mistake of looking down. "Walker, what about Miles and Pemberton?"
"Where are they?"
"On the roof."
Walker looked up into the shaft. "Maybe we should go up instead of down, then." He took a huge leap and caught the cable with his right hand. "Let me get about half way up and then you jump." He instructed.
As soon as Walker was halfway to the 7th floor, Gage took a huge leap and following Walker's example, caught the cable with his right hand. Once at the door of the 7th floor, Walker took a length of rope from his borrowed SWAT suit and made a slipknot in one end, he then lassoed a hook near the base of the elevator door, looped the remaining rope through a hook on his belt and swung himself to the wall of the shaft. Once there, he pried open the doors and pulled himself through.
"Gage! When you reach the floor, I'll throw you a rope." He instructed as he bent down and released the end of the rope from the hook.
Shortly, Gage was standing beside of Walker on the 7th floor. They headed towards the staircase with their weapons drawn. "I hear helicopters." Gage said.
"They won't be able to land on top of the building, it's too unstable." Walker said and they forced their way through the rooftop door just in time to see Mike Pemberton grab hold of a rope ladder and climb into the helicopter, which was still hovering just above the building.
Without a thought, Gage ran towards the helicopter and grabbed hold of one of the skids before it completely lifted off. He held on tightly as the helicopter rocked back and forth.
"What's wrong?" Mike called out to the pilot.
"Something's pulling us down!" The pilot confirmed.
Mike stuck his head out of the door and saw Gage hanging onto the skid. He pulled his .45 and just as he fired, the helicopter veered sharply to the left, causing him to miss his target.
Gage knew he had nowhere to go but up. He began to climb the skid towards the open door.
Walker watched helplessly from the rooftop as Sydney and Trivette watched from the ground. "It has to be Walker." Trivette said as they watched the shadowed image scoot along the skid.
"Then where's Gage?" Sydney asked as she ran towards Capt. Roberts. "Do you have a helicopter here?"
"Yes, right over there."
"We need to do a fly over of the roof top."
She and Trivette loaded into the helicopter and the pilot quickly flew to the roof of the Radisson. They were both astonished to see Walker leaning over the edge, watching Gage maneuver himself along the helicopter skid. The pilot flew low enough for Walker to grab a rope ladder and climb to safety.
"What does he think he's doing?" Sydney screamed, her eyes never leaving her husband.
"Those were my thoughts exactly." Walker replied turning towards their pilot. "Stay with them." He ordered.
********
The pilot of the mercenary helicopter struggled to keep the bird in the air. Gage's added weight to the bottom was making the craft very unstable. "Pemberton, I can't hold her like this." He yelled to Mike as the helicopter veered towards the water.
"Just hold it! I'll take care of the problem." Mike shouted back as he once again took aim at Gage with his .45. Gage stared straight at him as he prepared to fire. As soon as the gun went off, Gage swung to the underside of the helicopter, the shot missing him again.
"Damn!" Mike shouted.
"Pemberton, I mean it, you had better do something quick or we're all going for a swim!" The pilot yelled again.
Gage quickly pulled himself to a standing position on the helicopter skid and reached for the passenger side door. He glanced down to be certain that they were over the water and as soon as the door opened, he surprised one of the mercenaries by throwing him out of the helicopter and into the water below. He quickly assumed the position where the mercenary had been seated and pulled his weapon, aiming at the pilot's head.
The shocked pilot turned towards Pemberton. "Mike!"
Gage peeped around the seat of the helicopter and saw the shock on Pemberton's face. "Have a seat Mike and enjoy the ride back. It'll be the last for you for quite a while." Gage smiled.
"You think so, do you?" Mike said as he swiftly kicked the gun from Gage's hand. Gage was in the back of the helicopter in a flash, struggling with Pemberton. The other two men had their weapons aimed and ready to fire, but couldn't get a clear shot at Gage with the two men fighting.
Gage sunk two punches into Mike's stomach, but neither fazed him, he quickly returned the punches to Gage's chest and then a couple to his head.
Gage shook off the blows and swept Mike's feet out from under him as they began to struggle on the floor of the aircraft.
Meanwhile, the pilot had gained control again and radioed to the other helicopter to go ahead. "We'll meet you at the farm." Gage heard as the pilot turned his attention to the controls again.
Mike's physical ability was closely matched to Gage's and both men were beginning to feel the effects of their fight. Mike pulled a knife from one of his pants pockets and held it hidden in his right hand until he was able to pin Gage to the floor. As he sat on top of him, he began to bring the knife closer to Gage's throat as Gage's muscular arms fought to keep the knife away. "Today, you're going to die Capt. Gage." Mike said through clenched teeth.
Gage summoned all of his strength and slowly began to push Mike's arm away from him. At that point, he was able to get his foot underneath Mike's chest and quickly flipped him over his head, but before being sent tumbling out of the helicopter, Mike grabbed Gage's shoulders, throwing him out along with him into the Gulf waters below.
The helicopter carrying Walker, Sydney and Trivette witnessed the events. "Gage!" Sydney cried out as she saw the two men tumble out of the helicopter.
Walker stripped off his jacket and opened the door of the helicopter. "Keep her steady!" He yelled to the pilot, "I'm going in!"
As Walker jumped into the water, near to the point where Gage and Pemberton went in, Trivette radioed the Coast Guard and gave them their coordinates just as another police helicopter forced the mercenary helicopter to the ground.
Sydney perched herself on the edge of the helicopter, straining to see what was going on in the dark waters. "Can you point your spotlight down there?" She instructed the pilot. As soon as the spotlight hit the water, she could see Walker swimming towards the spot where the other two men went in, but so far, there was no sign of Pemberton or Gage. "Gage, where are you?" She said aloud.
"There!" Trivette pointed to the water, about 20 yards in front of Walker.
"Is it Gage or Pemberton?" Sydney asked. She grabbed the binoculars from the box sitting beside of her and focused on the person in the water. "It's Gage!" She replied, excitedly.
Gage grabbed the unconscious Pemberton by his collar and worked to get his arm around him to keep both of their heads above water. Walker reached him just as he was about to go under. "Gage?" He reached for the young Ranger's arm.
"I'm alright Walker. I just got the wind knocked out of me." He coughed.
The Coast Guard cutter pulled up along side of them and Gage and Walker helped to get Pemberton out of the water first. Once Pemberton was on board, Gage was fished out of the water and then Walker.
"The other helicopter?" Gage said, slightly breathless.
"They got away." Walker replied, knowing it wasn't what the young man wanted to hear.
Gage shook his head and strained to take a deep breath. "Here." Walker said as he offered Gage an oxygen mask.
Gage waved it off. "I'm fine."
"Just a few deep breathes and that's an order!" Walker said as he handed the mask to Gage again.
Gage held the oxygen mask to his mouth and nose and breathed deeply until his breathing returned to normal. He then turned to Walker. "The pilot radioed to the others and said something about a farm."
"That's not much to go on." Walker replied as he checked Pemberton for a pulse.
"I know." Gage replied, staring at the motionless Pemberton.
"This is personal for you, isn't it?" Walker stated, seeing the look in Gage's eyes and knowing all too well where his anger was coming from.
Gage nodded. "I put these two away once during Desert Storm." He replied, his eyes staring straight ahead, but not really looking at anything.
"For what?"
"Disobeying orders, dereliction of duty and smuggling for starters."
"Were they convicted?" Walker asked as the helicopter began its descent.
"Pemberton and Miles both received dishonorable discharges and spent a few years in jail, but they plea bargained on the smuggling charge and didn't get nearly what they deserved."
"Well, now they're both wanted for two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder along with felony weapons charges and several other charges. They're going away for life this time, if they don't get the death penalty."
"Pemberton will, but what about Miles?" Gage said, still staring over the horizon.
When the helicopter landed, Sydney rushed to Gage's side. "Are you OK? You scared me half to death!"
Gage wrapped his arms around his wife and squeezed her tightly. "Sorry sweetheart. Are you OK?"
"Fine." She surveyed the bruise that was already forming on his cheek. "Do you have many more like that?" She asked, brushing her finger along side his face.
"I'm fine Syd. Really." He smiled at her and watched as the Corpus Christi police took Pemberton into custody.
Pemberton turned to smile an evil grin at Gage. "This is far from over Capt. Gage. Steven Miles, may not be much of a soldier, but I'll bet you he follows my orders."
Walker and Trivette joined Gage and Sydney just as Pemberton was placed into the police car. "What did he mean by that?" Trivette asked.
"Nothing. He's just trying to taunt me. It's a long story." Gage turned to walk away.
"Do you want to help question him?" Walker asked.
"Will they let me?" Gage replied.
Walker nodded. "You may be the only one who can get him to talk."
*******
Twenty miles outside of Corpus Christi, the helicopter had dropped off Miles and the other three men. "Miles, what are we going to do now?" One of the men asked as they entered the barn.
Miles hands both went to his head. "I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" He screamed, unsure of their next move.
The other three men checked out the perimeter of the barn and came back inside. "All clear Miles."
"Good. Now we wait. Pemberton is supposed to meet us here, so we wait for him here." Miles said, not knowing that Pemberton had been taken into custody.
********
As the four Rangers entered the police station, Walker and Gage entered the interrogation room while Sydney gave her statement to one of the desk Sgts. After a few moments wait, Pemberton was brought in and handcuffed to the chair.
"Alright Mike, this is a one shot deal." Gage began. "We know that you're the mastermind behind all of this, but we want Miles and the others, along with the name of who hired you to take out George Alderman."
"You'll get nothing from me Capt. Gage. You have no jurisdiction here. This is not Saudi Arabia and the war was over long ago." He spit.
Gage pulled out his wallet and threw his badge on the table. "You're right, we're not in the desert and we're not in the Marine Corp anymore, but I do have every right to be here interrogating you. You see Mike, my wife and I are both Texas Rangers. You picked the wrong people to mess with this time."
Pemberton pursed his lips, looking down at the table, staring at Gage's badge. "A cop! You're a low life cop!" He began to laugh an eerie laugh. "The great Marine Capt. F. Gage is now just a low life cop." His laughter stopped abruptly and he lifted his eyes to meet Gage's. "You could have been one of us. There's a high demand for people with our abilities. We still make a difference."
"By killing innocent people?" Gage asked.
"Innocent? Who Alderman? Please." Mike started. "Do you know what Sentech Corp. does? They produce agents used in chemical warfare. You haven't forgotten about that have you Capt. Gage? You know, all of our men who left that God forsaken desert, taking with them a dreaded disease that they didn't even know they had, just to pass on to their families."
"Gulf War Sydrome." Walker stated flatly.
"Yeah, that's what they finally decided to call it." Pemberton replied. "The group that hired us wanted to take out Alderman in an effort to put a dent in chemical warfare, or at the very least, bring it to the public's eye."
"Pemberton! Get off of your soapbox, man. Two simple questions: Who hired you and where is Steven Miles?" Gage interrupted.
Pemberton pursed his lips and shook his head.
Gage slammed his hand down hard on the table and left the room in a fury with Walker right behind him. "Gage!" He called out. "Gage, wait!" Gage stopped and waited for Walker to catch up to him.
"I'm sorry Walker. I let that guy get to me."
"I can understand why."
"You know, he really does believe he's doing these things for the greater good. The smuggling operation he was running was providing weapons to the oppressed under Hussein." Gage half laughed. "We would have never caught him, except he was selling U.S. weapons."
Walker smiled. "I know the type. They think they're helping the underdog, but they're going about it in all the wrong ways. Gage, you're not wrong in your thinking here. This guy has to go down for what he did. Sydney said he was going to kill her right in front of you."
Gage closed his eyes and nodded his head. "When that gun went off, I just knew for sure that Syd was dead. I think she thought so too. Then we heard Miles in the other room shouting that he had killed Mrs. Alderman."
"Look, you two have really been through a lot already. Why don't you let Trivette and I take it from here? You two go get another room and finish out your vacation."
Gage shook his head. "I can't Walker. I have to see this one through."
"OK, if that's what you want." Walker patted Gage's shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly. A look of concern spread across Walker's face. "Are you OK?"
"My shoulders are a little sore." He confessed, rubbing his right shoulder with his hand. "I'm fine."
Gage turned to go back into the interrogation room. "Walker, could you give me a minute with him alone?"
"I don't think that's such a good idea. You've already said that this guy knows all the right buttons to push with you."
"I'm not going to hurt him, but I think I can get him to talk if you're not in there."
Walker hesitated and then agreed. "I'll be watching through the glass though." He warned.
Gage re-entered the room where Pemberton still sat, handcuffed to the chair. "Well, you decided to come back." He taunted.
"Look Mike, I know you were doing what you thought was right and to a degree, maybe it was. I mean, you're right, chemical and biological warfare are probably the scariest types of weapons used today, but man, you can't just go around killing off the people who make these things. That's not going to end any of it."
"It makes me feel better." Pemberton confessed.
"Are you going to feel better sitting on death row?" Gage asked.
Pemberton looked at him in confusion.
"You're up on two counts of murder, along with several other felony charges."
"I didn't kill that old couple. Miles did and you know it."
"I didn't see anything. You were trying to kill by wife at the time, remember?" Gage said angrily. "But if Miles did shoot the Aldermans, that could mean the difference between life in prison and the death penalty for you." Pemberton sat motionless.
"Come on Mike, tell us where we can find Miles and the others." Gage pleaded. "You know he's unstable. He always has been. He's a hot head and he can't follow orders."
Gage started to leave the room. "If that's how you want it, I'll let the D.A. know that he can start the paperwork."
As Gage's hand touched the doorknob, Pemberton broke over and called out to him. "They're supposed to be at a farm 20 miles west of here. If they don't receive further instruction from me by 6:00 a.m., they're to go their separate ways.'
Gage looked at his watch, it was 4:30 a.m. He looked at the two-way mirror. "Walker, get me a map in here, quick!"
Pemberton marked the location of the farm on the map and turned towards Gage. "Now, you'll see to it that I don't get the death penalty, right?"
"I'll do everything I can Mike." Gage replied sincerely.
*******
Miles looked at his watch, 4:45 a.m. "Why hasn't he contacted us?" He thought.
The men looked around them as they heard the sound of helicopters approaching. The four men quickly planned their individual route of escape. As Miles started to open the back door of the barn, he was met with a kick to the face from Gage. "This is it Miles, the end of the line."
Miles recovered from the kick that had knocked him to the floor of the barn and threw two punches at Gage, both missing their mark. Gage delivered two quick blows to Miles' chest and quickly had him on the ground and in handcuffs.
Once back at the county lockup, Miles began to talk, explaining how Pemberton had planned the whole mission and he was just a soldier following orders. He also said he had no idea who had hired them and when Pemberton was questioned again, he admitted that no one had hired them, that he had plotted this himself to stop Sentech.
Walker and Trivette met Sydney and Gage in the hallway of the police department. "So, are you two ready to head home?" He asked as laid a hand on each of their shoulders.
Sydney nodded. "It's already Sunday morning. We might as well head back." Her response was slightly glum.
"I'll tell you what." Walker said. "Why don't you stay a couple of more days. Just don't get into anymore trouble. Understand?" He looked at Gage.
"What?" Gage asked.
"The Radisson asked me to give you this." He handed a refund check to Gage.
"Are you sure this is right? This is for both nights."
"The hotel manager feels that he owes you at least that much for getting everyone out safely. Take it and find another place to stay. We'll see you on Wednesday."
Gage put his arm around Sydney and they both smiled at Walker. "Thanks Walker. See you Wednesday."
*******
After getting settled into another hotel room, Gage pulled Sydney into his arms. "Weren't we planning to do something just before all of this mess broke loose?" He asked.
"We were getting ready to go out to dinner, but it's only noon right now."
"Then how about we do what I had planned to do after dinner right now and we'll do dinner later."
"What, take a walk on the pier?"
"No, that's supposed to be a moonlit walk on the pier." He smiled as he trailed kisses down her neck.
"Then what exactly is it that you want to do, Mr. Gage?" Sydney smiled.
Gage picked her up and laid her gently on the bed, continuing to kiss her softly, whispering into her ear.
She moaned slightly as she yielded to him. "I think that's a wonderful idea." She laughed as she pulled the sheet over their heads. "A very wonderful idea."
THE END
Disclaimer: The following story is based on the characters of the TV Series "Walker, Texas Ranger". The characters belong to CBS Productions, Top Kick Productions, etc., but the story is mine. ALL DISCLAIMERS APPLY. (No copyright infringement is intended.)
"I'm glad we decided to do this."
Gage's arms slipped around Sydney's waist from behind as he trailed the back of her neck with his lips. "Me too." He mumbled between kisses.
Sydney giggled as she turned to face him. "I'm serious Francis." She smiled.
"Me too." Gage returned the smile as he raised his eyebrows, reached down and picked Sydney up in his arms.
She began to laugh. "Put me down." She kicked her legs in mock protest.
"Do you want to go back to the room?" He asked as he playfully tickled her.
"Let's go back down to the beach first. The tide's going out and I'd like to look for a few more shells."
"Geez, you've already collected a bagful."
"Oh, come on Gage, how often do we get to the beach?" She frowned.
"You're right. I guess I got my fill when I worked in Port Arthur."
"Well, I've never lived that close to the shore, so it's still a real treat for me. Besides, this isn't work. I thought we decided that on this vacation we weren't going to be Rangers."
"Ok, ok, you win. We'll go for a walk and do some beach combing before dinner. Then how would you feel about a moonlit walk on the pier?"
Sydney leaned in and caressed Gage's bare chest as she gently brushed his lips with her. "Sounds perfect."
Gage reached for her hand as they stepped out onto the white sands of the 'Gulf of Mexico'. "Which way?" He asked.
Sydney looked up and down the beach. "Let's go this way." She pointed to their right.
******
"Hey Walker, what's going on?" Trivette asked.
"Luckily not too much. How did court go this morning?"
"Pretty good." Trivette looked at Gage and Sydney's desks. "When are the two lovebirds supposed to be back?"
"Well, do the math Trivette. They planned a three-day weekend and today is Saturday, so I guess they'll be back on Monday." Walker grinned.
"Ha, ha." Trivette smirked. "Any idea where they were headed?"
"Not exactly. Gage just said the coast, so for all I know they could be in Florida or California, but I'm guessing that they're somewhere in Texas."
"I wonder why they were being so secretive?"
"Probably because every time they take a vacation, something comes up and we need them. This time, I don't know where they are, so I can't call on them."
"Yeah, but if we really needed them, you could find them. I mean, you've managed to find me when I didn't want to be found." Trivette said seriously.
"But Trivette, you always TELL me where you're going. As a matter of fact, I usually get ALL of the details of your trip a month in advance." Walker continued to grin.
A look of mock shock was on Trivette's face. "I do not." He said sternly.
"Yes you do. I knew everything about your Las Vegas vacation a couple of years ago, right down to which restaurants you planned to eat at if you won big."
"Well, so what?" Trivette said in defeat. "So I guess I should take a lesson from Gage and Sydney and the next time I take a vacation, I won't tell you where I'm going either."
"It wouldn't matter." Walker replied confidently.
"Why?"
"I'd find you. If we really needed Gage and Sydney, I'm sure I could find them too." Walker replied without looking up.
******
"Wow, look at this one!" Gage exclaimed as he picked up a medium sized Conch shell.
"Cool! That'll look perfect in our living room."
"You're right. Maybe we can find a stand for it later at one of the souvenir shops."
They continued to walk towards the pier, stopping along the way to pick-up shells and to chase each other through the water. "Are you ready to turn around?" Gage asked.
Sydney looked back towards their hotel. "Yeah, I guess we'd better. We walked further than I thought we had."
"Why don't we go change, get our towels and come out for a swim before it gets dark?" Sydney suggested.
"OK." Gage shrugged.
A little while later, they were both back out on the beach, playing in the pounding surf. "I'm going out a little ways." Gage said.
"I'm coming with you." Sydney replied as they both began to swim away from the beach.
After a few yards, they turned and bodysurfed back in and collapsed onto their beach blanket, laughing. "I can't remember when I've had this much fun." Sydney exclaimed.
Gage smiled. "Me either."
"We used to go to the beach a lot when I was a kid, at least once a year, but after I graduated from high school, I just haven't been back that much."
Gage was lying on his back with his eyes closed, listening to Sydney's every word. "What about you?" She asked.
"Me? Well, when I was little, we took a week long vacation every year. The beach, the Grand Canyon, Disneyland; those are the three I remember most, but after my parents died, well, let's just say that I didn't get another vacation until my eighteenth birthday when I could legally leave my foster home."
Sydney rolled over on her side and faced Gage. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
"You didn't Syd. They're always there, I just try not to dwell on them." He gave her a weak smile and them began to laugh heartily as a seagull flew over, doing its business on the towel beside of Sydney's hand.
"Yuck!" She yelled and then began to laugh.
"Hey, let's go back to the room and get cleaned up. I'd like to go somewhere nice for dinner tonight." Gage suggested.
Sydney smiled as she got up and began to gather their things. Gage waited until she had picked up the last item and then lifted the beach blanket, letting the sand that had collected on it blow in the evening breeze.
They stopped at the spigot and washed the sand and salt from their bodies before entering the hotel. "Are you thirsty?" Sydney asked when they stepped into their room.
"I'll get something after I shower." He replied as he sat the blanket on the floor.
"OK." Sydney said as she reached for ice-cold water and downed half of it quickly.
Gage undressed and turned on the shower. No sooner than he had stepped in, Sydney joined him. "I hope you don't mind."
"What are you doing in here?" He asked with a smile.
Sydney's arms encircled his neck and he pulled her close for a kiss as the water beat down on them.
Once their shower was finished, Gage carried Sydney to the bed. "We'll miss our dinner reservations." She said between kisses.
"So?" He replied as he traced his finger across her stomach.
"Gage." She drawled his name as her body yielded to his touch.
*****
In the basement of the hotel, a group of ten men had assembled in the laundry room "Who's the target Mike?"
"George Alderman. He's the President and CEO of the Sentech Corporation."
"Which floor?" Another man asked.
"The 6th. A group of ten rooms were reserved for a Sentech getaway for the VIP's of the company. The Alderman's are in room '610'.
"How many?"
"Just the old man and his wife. We're holding the whole floor though."
"So it's not a simple in and out?"
"No. We're to extract some information from Mr. Alderman first and a few of the other stock holders, then we take them out and anyone else who gets in the way."
*****
Sydney and Gage both laid back across the bed, exhausted. "I'm going to take another shower." Gage said as he brushed Sydney's lips.
"Me too." She said as she started to get up.
"Ah, ah, ah, not this time. Not if we want to make those reservations." Gage laughed as he entered the bathroom.
Sydney continued to lie across the bed until Gage came out and then she took her shower.
Gage was already dressed when she emerged from the bathroom and slipped into a simple, but elegant, black dress. "OK, I'm ready." She said as she smoothed her dress down.
"You look absolutely beautiful, Mrs. Gage." Gage remarked as Sydney walked across the room.
"Thanks." Sydney beamed. "Now, where are we going for dinner?"
Gage opened the door and they entered the hallway. "A nice, quiet, romantic little place just a few blocks from here."
"Sounds nice." She looked up at him and noticed the look on his face change quickly from fun to serious.
Gage quickly pulled Sydney into a small alcove as he saw several armed men get off of the elevator. He brought his finger to his lips, motioning for her to not make a sound. She nodded.
Eight of the armed men headed towards the Alderman's room, while the two remaining men guarded the elevator. Mike turned to the guards. "No one gets on or off, understand?" The two men nodded.
Gage looked down the hallway and motioned for Sydney to head back towards their room. They quickly swiped the passkey and quietly closed the door as they entered.
"What's going on?" Sydney asked.
Gage leaned against the door. "I don't know yet. See if you can get a call out to Walker. And Syd, use your cell."
Sydney pulled out her cell phone and was a little surprised to get Walker's voice mail instead of him. "Walker, this is Syd." She whispered. "We're in Corpus Christi at the Radisson Hotel. Several armed men just took over this floor and we're not sure what's going on yet. I'll call you back as soon as I can." She hung up and turned her phone off.
******
Mr. and Mrs. Alderman, a couple in their mid sixties, were preparing to go out to dinner when the eight armed men burst through their door. "George Alderman?" One of the men asked.
Mr. Alderman stepped in front of his wife. "Who are you?" He demanded. "Who are you and what do you want?"
"Tie them up in separate rooms and then go door to door starting with the Sentech group." Mike handed six of the men a packet of syringes. "Inject each occupant with this. It'll keep them unconscious for about four hours."
The men took the syringes and began their mission. They approached the room of the Sentech VP and his family. Amidst the screams from his wife and children, each were injected and quickly quieted. Once they were tied up, the armed men moved to the next room, repeating this pattern until all of the Sentech employees had been injected with the exception of George Alderman.
"Mike, where do you want to start now?"
"There are about fifteen rooms left on this floor that are registered to people other than Sentech employees. Our mission does not include these people, but we can't risk any of them leaving this floor before our mission is complete.
Enter each room and let our presence be known. Identify yourselves only as men here to fulfill a mission against the Sentech Corporation. Tell the occupants of the rooms that we will use force against them if necessary. They are not to get in our way and are to stay in their rooms until we leave. If they leave their rooms or try to call for help, they will be executed. Make sure they understand that we are firm believers in collateral damage." Mike finished his speech and the six men resumed their door-to-door mission.
As they burst through the door of 611, they found the room empty. "No one here boss."
"Probably out to dinner. That's just as well." Mike replied.
Gage continued to stand by the door. He turned and looked at Sydney for a moment. "They're doing a room by room search."
"For what?"
Gage shook his head. "I don't know, but they're getting closer to our room. It's probably best that we don't let them know that we're Rangers, at least not until we know what's going on."
Sydney agreed. Suddenly the door to their room was kicked in and two guards entered, their weapons trained on Gage and Sydney. "We don't want to hurt you. We're asking that you remain in your room until we leave, no matter what you hear. And don't try to call for help. As long as you do what you're told, you won't be hurt, but understand that if you get in our way or attempt to interfere with our mission, you will be executed." With that said, the two men started to leave. One suddenly stopped in the doorway and turned to Gage. "Don't I know you?"
"That all depends." Gage replied. "Who are you? I can't see your face with all of the camouflage markings."
The armed man's face suddenly went cold as he his mind wandered to a dry dessert in Saudi Arabia, during Desert Storm. He momentarily relived being pulled away from his overturned Jeep by an Officer who looked very much like the man standing before him. "Did you serve in Desert Storm?"
Gage responded hesitantly. "Why?"
"Did you serve in Desert Storm?" The man repeated, his finger nervously poised over the trigger of his gun.
Gage nodded slightly. "Yes."
"I do know you. You saved my life once. Capt. Gage, isn't it?"
Before Gage could respond, another of the armed men approached the room. "What's keeping you Miles?" He bellowed.
"Nothing. I'm right behind you." He scurried down the hallway without looking back.
"This may not be good." Gage whispered as he turned to Sydney.
"Why?" She asked.
"I only remember saving one young kid in Desert Storm and he was a trouble maker named Steven Miles. He had a real knack for hanging with the wrong crowds and disobeying orders left and right."
"Was he under your command?"
Gage shook his head. "No, but I heard enough about him to know that if he's involved in this then it's probably a mercenary type hit on someone." He paused for a moment. "What was that group that the front desk said was staying on the same floor?"
Sydney thought for a moment and then whispered. "Sentech Corporation, I think."
With the door down, there was really nowhere Sydney and Gage could talk. Mike had the armed men patrolling the hallways making sure they looked in on the occupants every once in awhile to see that they weren't causing trouble.
Gage and Sydney were sitting on the edge of the bed when two men quickly entered the room. "Capt. Francis Gage?" One of the men asked.
"Who wants to know?" Gage responded.
"Come with us now, or this pretty little thing will find a bullet in the back of her head."
Gage got up and turned to Sydney. "It's OK." He said quietly and winked at her as he stood.
"Lace your fingers behind your head." One of the men instructed. As Gage complied, he felt the barrel of the man's automatic weapon pushed into the small of this back. "Now walk."
Once at the end of the hall, Gage caught sight of Mike. "Well, well, if it isn't Capt. Francis Gage." Mike announced. "It's been a long time."
"Not nearly long enough Pemberton."
"Miles over there said he was pretty sure that was you. Looks like I'm finally going to get my revenge. Do you know that because of you, I was dishonorably discharged and spent five years in the Federal penitentiary?"
"Really? Only five years?" Gage commented.
Mike Pemberton's face suddenly turned red and he slammed the butt of his gun into Gage's stomach. "Put him in with Alderman." He ordered. "Who's the girl with him?"
"Don't know."
"Bring her up here too. We'll keep her in with the old lady."
Miles motioned for one of the other men to follow him to Gage and Sydney's room. They held their guns high as they stepped through the broken down door. "Where is she?" Miles asked as they began searching the room. "Lady, you had better come out now or we won't be so easy on you."
"Miles, there's no one in here." The other man stated.
"She has to be here somewhere. She couldn't have gotten past Dobbs in the hallway." Miles stepped into the hall. "Dobbs!" He yelled.
"What?" Dobbs responded.
"Have you been here the whole time?"
"Yes."
"You didn't see a girl come out of this room?" Miles asked, becoming frustrated.
"No and there's no way I would have missed anyone if they tried to get out of their rooms. I heard what Mike said."
Miles returned to the room. "Check the balcony." He bellowed.
Sydney had quickly shed her black dress in favor of a pair of black pants and a black shirt immediately after Gage had been forced out of the room. She quickly stepped out onto the balcony, hoping for another way out.
As she studied the railings on the balcony, she decided that they were sturdy enough to hold her. The easiest escape would be to drop down one floor and go for help, but when she looked at the balcony directly below her, she saw a shadow of someone holding what appeared to be a gun. Now her only chance of escape was the floor above.
She stood on the top railing and pulled herself up to the balcony above. The room joining the balcony on the 7th floor was empty and the patio door was locked. "Great! Now what?" She said to herself. She looked above her. "This hotel only has seven floors, so I guess it's up to the roof now." She once again hoisted herself up over the balcony railing and climbed her way to the roof.
******
"I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when you tell Mike." The guard said.
"Shut up!" Miles said.
"Where's the girl?" Mike asked as Miles got closer.
"She's gone."
Gage smiled as he heard about Sydney's escape. "That a girl, Syd." He said to himself as he worked the ropes that were holding him to a chair in the center of the room.
******
Walker and Alex had enjoyed a nice evening out, something they seldom had an opportunity to do. "I sure am glad that Erica and Jimmy volunteered to keep Angela tonight." She smiled as Walker kissed her passionately.
"Me too. It's nice to have you all to myself for a little while." As he gently led her to the couch, he noticed the light on the answering machine. "I had better check that."
"OK. I hope everything's OK with Angela." Alex replied as she watched her husband step towards the desk.
Walker stared straight ahead as he listened to Sydney's message.
Alex sensed that something was wrong when Walker picked up the phone and begin dialing. "Walker?"
"It's Sydney and Gage. They're in Corpus Christi at the Radisson and something big is going on." He continued to dial information and asked for the phone number to the Radisson in Corpus Christi.
Walker spoke with the front desk clerk at the Radisson, but found quickly that he was getting nowhere. The clerk wouldn't release any information to him and Walker couldn't convince him that he was a Texas Ranger. After hanging up the phone in frustration, Walker turned to Alex. "Alex, I'm sorry about tonight, but Trivette and I need to get down to Corpus Christi and see what's going on. I feel like Gage and Sydney need help."
Alex nodded and cupped Walker chin in her hand, turning his face towards hers. "I know Cowboy. I know you need to go." She kissed his lips and then picked up her purse. "I'll go with you to Jimmy's and Angela and I will stay with Erica while you're gone, if it's OK with her."
Walker smiled slightly. "Thanks for understanding."
*******
Sydney surveyed the rooftop. Amidst the antennae and air conditioning units, there was a service entrance from the stairwell. She pulled her cell phone from her pocket, knowing that she would need to work fast to get her call out to Walker and get off of the roof before the mercenaries figured out where she had disappeared.
"Walker." He answered his phone as he and Trivette headed towards the airport.
"Walker, it's Sydney."
"What's going on Sydney?" Walker asked.
"There are a group of eight to ten mercenaries on the 6th floor of the hotel. They've secured everyone in their rooms and won't let anyone come or go. I think it has something to do with the Sentech Corporation. There are a group of VIP's staying here and the mercenaries are focusing on them.
There's another problem. Two of the men recognized Gage from Desert Storm. They're holding him in another room."
"I take it that there was a conflict between them?" Walker asked.
"Yes. The man that took Gage is named Steven Miles and there was another down the hall that recognized him. I heard Gage call him Mike Pemberton." Sydney was startled as the door to the stairwell began to shake. "Walker, I've got to go. They're coming onto the roof."
"Sydney, get out of there! We're on our way!" Walker yelled into the phone as the line went dead.
As Sydney stuffed her phone back into her pocket, a pair of hands grabbed her arms from behind. She immediately lifted her right leg to a full extension and kicked her would-be assailant in the head, causing him to momentarily release her. As soon as she was free of his grasp, she turned to see that there now two automatic weapons facing her. "Get your hands in the air!" One of them instructed.
She lifted her hands, angry with herself for getting caught and accompanied the three men down the stairwell and into room '610'. Mike turned to Gage as she was brought into the room. "Well, it looks like your little wife didn't get very far Capt. Gage." He laughed. "Bring her over here." He ordered.
Miles pushed Sydney towards the center of the room where Gage still sat, tied to the chair. "You try anything and Miles will put a bullet through Capt. Gage's head." Mike instructed as he began to pat Sydney down. He felt the bulge inside her pocket. "What do we have here?" He asked, halfway expecting to pull out a gun but instead brought out her cell phone. "Have you made any calls recently, Mrs. Gage?"
Sydney looked at Gage, she had to think quick. "Yes." She answered.
"To whom?" He asked.
Sydney squirmed, as did Gage. "I can't tell you, not in front of him." She nodded towards Gage.
"You had better tell me now, or you won't have to worry about him hearing."
"A friend." Sydney said quickly. "A man. A man I've been seeing for a while."
Gage closed his eyes, hoping that Mike would buy her story, all the while admiring her quick thinking.
"So, if I hit re-dial, I'll be speaking with . . .?
"Walker." She replied with her eyes never leaving Gage's face.
Mike hit the redial. "Walker." The voice on the other end replied.
"Mr. Walker. I just found this cell phone and was hoping to find the owner. It appears that your number was the last dialed. Could you tell me who the owner might be?"
Walker hesitated, but instinctively knew that something was wrong. It was very unlikely that Sydney would have lost her cell. Gage yes, but Sydney . . . "That could be Sydney Gage. She called me a little while ago." He motioned to Trivette to have a trace put on the call. But Mike quickly hung up the phone.
"This really proves nothing. How do I know that this Mr. Walker isn't a cop?"
"You don't." Gage responded, realizing that Mike still had no idea that he and Sydney both were Rangers.
"Never-the-less, your pretty little wife here doesn't follow orders very well. She was told that if she left her room, she would be executed. He then forced Sydney down onto her knees in front of Gage and pressed his .45 into the back of her head.
Sydney looked into Gage's eyes, knowing that this would be the last moment she would ever see him on this Earth. She mouthed the words I love you. They held their gaze for what seemed like hours, but in fact was only a few seconds. Gage cringed as he heard the crack of the gun. Sydney felt herself go lightheaded as if she were going to pass out.
Mike's angry voice filled the air as he began to curse. "Damn it Miles, what in the hell are you doing in there?" He moved away from Sydney and she and Gage both realized that it wasn't Mike's gun that had been fired.
"The damn broad was trying to get a call out." Miles reported as Mike entered the bedroom and found Mrs. Alderman laying face down in a, still forming, puddle of blood.
Upon hearing that his wife had been killed, George Alderman began crying, softly at first and then wailing loudly. "Shut him up Mike, or I will." Miles pulled his gun and pointed it at Mr. Alderman's head. "Shut up!" He yelled to the man.
"Go ahead, you little punk. Go ahead and kill me. My life is worth nothing without Catherine anyway. Just pull the trigger."
While Miles and Mike's attention was focused on Mr. Alderman, Gage quickly worked out of the ropes that were binding his hands behind his back. He helped Sydney to her feet as she was still sitting in disbelief that she wasn't dead. "Come on." He whispered urgently as he pulled her towards the hotel door. They heard another loud bang as Miles' gun went off, shooting Mr. Alderman in the back of the head.
Gage looked up and down the hallway and finding that no one was guarding the door, they proceeded to the stairwell. "Wait!' Sydney whispered. "Why aren't they guarding the stairs?"
Gage considered her question for a moment and then looked at the door to the stairwell more closely. It was wired with explosives. "Oh man! Ok, let's duck in here until we figure out where to go." He whispered as he pointed towards a supply closet.
Sydney quickly shut the door behind them as Gage grabbed her up in a furious kiss. "Oh God Syd, I thought for sure I had lost you." He said between kisses.
"Me too." She replied as she began to return his kisses. They stopped abruptly when they heard voices in the hall.
"They couldn't have gotten far. They have to be on this floor. The elevator is being guarded and the stairwell is wired." Mike bellowed.
********
Walker and Trivette were nearing the Radisson. They had been in contact with the local police department and were told that Capt. Roberts would assess the situation with them as soon as they arrived on the scene.
The cab driver pulled in as close as he could to the roped off parking lot. Walker reached over the seat, handing the cabbie a few bills and he and Trivette pulled their badges and proceeded to the front entrance of the hotel. Trivette tapped one of the officers on the shoulder.
"What can I do for you Ranger?" He asked.
"Where can we find Capt. Roberts?"
"He's over by the SWAT van. Tall guy, dark hair, you can't miss him." The officer turned back to his car as his radio clicked on.
Trivette hurried to catch up with Walker who was already half way to the SWAT van. "Capt. Roberts?" He asked as he approached the tall man.
"Yes. Who are you?"
"Cordell Walker, Texas Ranger and this is my partner, Ranger Trivette." He introduced. "What are we looking at?"
"Rangers what exactly is your interest in this case?" The Capt. asked.
"Two of my people are on the 6th floor." He proceeded to tell Capt. Roberts about Sydney's phone call.
"Sentech Corp.? And you think we're looking at mercenaries?" He asked.
Walker nodded. "It sure looks that way and if we are, they'll stop at nothing to complete their mission."
"Alright Ranger. I can definitely use the two of you on this one. You're right, they are hold up on the 6th floor and that is where the Sentech Corp. VIP's are registered. One of the maids found several of their people in a closet in the laundry room, all with a bullet to the back of their heads. We're guessing that's where they've staged everything from initially."
"Have you been in contact with them?" Trivette asked.
"No. Judging from what we've seen, we thought it would be better to not contact them."
"Has the hotel been evacuated?" Trivette continued to question.
"Everything except the 6th."
"I'm going in." Walker said as he began suiting up in SWAT gear.
"Ranger, I can't be responsible for you." Capt. Roberts started.
"No one asked you to be." Walker stated as Trivette started towards the SWAT van to suit up as well.
"I can't stop you either." Capt. Roberts said as the two Rangers each grabbed an assault rifle and started towards the hotel entrance.
*******
As Miles searched two of the rooms, he looked out of the window into the parking lot. "Mike!" He yelled as he began to run down the hallway. "Mike!"
Mike stepped out to face Miles. "What is it?" He asked harshly.
"Mike, we've got cops! Cops all over the place!"
Mike rushed to the window in room '610' and stared down into the parking lot. He slammed the drapes closed in a fury. "Set the explosives and get our men together."
"I thought you said we were just here for the old man from Sentech." Miles objected.
"What, now you all of a sudden have a conscience?" Mike sneered.
Miles shook his head. "But there are women and children in some of these rooms."
"Collateral damage, my boy. Collateral damage. Now go gather our men while I set the timers."
Miles quickly gathered the men from their positions and herded them towards the elevator. Gage opened the door just a crack and saw the flurry of activity. He closed the door as Miles came near to them.
"What's going on?" Sydney asked.
"I don't know." Gage shook his head. "It looks like they're ready to move out."
"They wouldn't just leave all of these witnesses." Sydney replied as they were rocked by the first explosion.
Gage opened the door and caught sight of Mike as the elevator doors closed. He turned towards the elevator and then back towards Sydney. He knew that his first priority was to get these people out of danger.
Sydney ran towards the rooms at the far end of the hallway, where the first blast had gone off. Gage yelled after her. "Syd, be careful! There are most likely more bombs set to go off any minute!" As he finished his sentence, another blast came from the opposite end of the hallway. Sydney rushed out of one of the rooms, carrying a small child in her arms and helping a woman limp towards the elevator.
She pushed the button and thankfully, the elevator doors opened. Gage met her with two more families and they quickly loaded the elevator. "Go, go, go!" Syd yelled as the last person was loaded.
While the elevator was on it's way down, Gage and Sydney rounded up the rest of the occupants of the 6th floor. When the doors opened this time, Walker and Trivette stepped out. "Are you two alright?" Walker yelled as he saw Sydney and Gage coming towards them.
"Fine. Walker, this whole floor is going to go." Sydney said as she glanced back at the now roaring flames.
"Trivette, you and Sydney go with this group. Gage and I'll double check the floor and meet you outside." Walker said as the elevator doors closed.
Inside the elevator, a little girl clung to Sydney's waist. "I'm scared." She said, her voice shaking.
"It's OK sweetheart. We're going to get you out of here. Where are your mommy and daddy?"
"I don't know. They were there one minute and then when that Ranger man picked me up, I didn't see them anymore."
Sydney looked at Trivette. "We'll check outside and see if your mommy and daddy got out first, OK?" Trivette soothed.
The little girl nodded and as soon as the group stepped outside of the hotel, a man and woman ran towards the little girl and gratefully took her into their arms. "Thank you. Thank you so much!"
******
On the roof, Mike Pemberton instructed the men to post themselves along the perimeter of the rooftop. "There will be two helicopters arriving momentarily to take us out of here!" He stated.
"We will be getting paid for this job, right?" Miles asked.
"Yes, but not nearly as much as if we had done it the right way." Mike responded.
"And you're blaming me for that?"
"Who shot the old couple?" Mike sneered.
"They deserved it!"
********
Walker and Gage finished checking the 6th floor and met at the elevator. "I don't see anyone else." Gage said, beginning to cough slightly.
"Me either." Walker coughed. As he hit the elevator button, the lights went dead.
"What's wrong?" Gage asked.
"We're going to have to take the stairs."
"We can't. The door's wired to an explosives pack. What's going on?"
"The electricity's down." Walker tried to pry the elevator doors opened. Gage pulled on one side and slowly the doors began to give.
Walker looked into the elevator shaft, gauging the distance between the opened door and the elevator cables.
"What are you thinking, Walker?" Gage asked, knowing already and not really liking the prospect of jumping into the shaft.
"It's the only way out Gage. We need to climb down the cables and go out through the elevator." He explained.
Gage made the mistake of looking down. "Walker, what about Miles and Pemberton?"
"Where are they?"
"On the roof."
Walker looked up into the shaft. "Maybe we should go up instead of down, then." He took a huge leap and caught the cable with his right hand. "Let me get about half way up and then you jump." He instructed.
As soon as Walker was halfway to the 7th floor, Gage took a huge leap and following Walker's example, caught the cable with his right hand. Once at the door of the 7th floor, Walker took a length of rope from his borrowed SWAT suit and made a slipknot in one end, he then lassoed a hook near the base of the elevator door, looped the remaining rope through a hook on his belt and swung himself to the wall of the shaft. Once there, he pried open the doors and pulled himself through.
"Gage! When you reach the floor, I'll throw you a rope." He instructed as he bent down and released the end of the rope from the hook.
Shortly, Gage was standing beside of Walker on the 7th floor. They headed towards the staircase with their weapons drawn. "I hear helicopters." Gage said.
"They won't be able to land on top of the building, it's too unstable." Walker said and they forced their way through the rooftop door just in time to see Mike Pemberton grab hold of a rope ladder and climb into the helicopter, which was still hovering just above the building.
Without a thought, Gage ran towards the helicopter and grabbed hold of one of the skids before it completely lifted off. He held on tightly as the helicopter rocked back and forth.
"What's wrong?" Mike called out to the pilot.
"Something's pulling us down!" The pilot confirmed.
Mike stuck his head out of the door and saw Gage hanging onto the skid. He pulled his .45 and just as he fired, the helicopter veered sharply to the left, causing him to miss his target.
Gage knew he had nowhere to go but up. He began to climb the skid towards the open door.
Walker watched helplessly from the rooftop as Sydney and Trivette watched from the ground. "It has to be Walker." Trivette said as they watched the shadowed image scoot along the skid.
"Then where's Gage?" Sydney asked as she ran towards Capt. Roberts. "Do you have a helicopter here?"
"Yes, right over there."
"We need to do a fly over of the roof top."
She and Trivette loaded into the helicopter and the pilot quickly flew to the roof of the Radisson. They were both astonished to see Walker leaning over the edge, watching Gage maneuver himself along the helicopter skid. The pilot flew low enough for Walker to grab a rope ladder and climb to safety.
"What does he think he's doing?" Sydney screamed, her eyes never leaving her husband.
"Those were my thoughts exactly." Walker replied turning towards their pilot. "Stay with them." He ordered.
********
The pilot of the mercenary helicopter struggled to keep the bird in the air. Gage's added weight to the bottom was making the craft very unstable. "Pemberton, I can't hold her like this." He yelled to Mike as the helicopter veered towards the water.
"Just hold it! I'll take care of the problem." Mike shouted back as he once again took aim at Gage with his .45. Gage stared straight at him as he prepared to fire. As soon as the gun went off, Gage swung to the underside of the helicopter, the shot missing him again.
"Damn!" Mike shouted.
"Pemberton, I mean it, you had better do something quick or we're all going for a swim!" The pilot yelled again.
Gage quickly pulled himself to a standing position on the helicopter skid and reached for the passenger side door. He glanced down to be certain that they were over the water and as soon as the door opened, he surprised one of the mercenaries by throwing him out of the helicopter and into the water below. He quickly assumed the position where the mercenary had been seated and pulled his weapon, aiming at the pilot's head.
The shocked pilot turned towards Pemberton. "Mike!"
Gage peeped around the seat of the helicopter and saw the shock on Pemberton's face. "Have a seat Mike and enjoy the ride back. It'll be the last for you for quite a while." Gage smiled.
"You think so, do you?" Mike said as he swiftly kicked the gun from Gage's hand. Gage was in the back of the helicopter in a flash, struggling with Pemberton. The other two men had their weapons aimed and ready to fire, but couldn't get a clear shot at Gage with the two men fighting.
Gage sunk two punches into Mike's stomach, but neither fazed him, he quickly returned the punches to Gage's chest and then a couple to his head.
Gage shook off the blows and swept Mike's feet out from under him as they began to struggle on the floor of the aircraft.
Meanwhile, the pilot had gained control again and radioed to the other helicopter to go ahead. "We'll meet you at the farm." Gage heard as the pilot turned his attention to the controls again.
Mike's physical ability was closely matched to Gage's and both men were beginning to feel the effects of their fight. Mike pulled a knife from one of his pants pockets and held it hidden in his right hand until he was able to pin Gage to the floor. As he sat on top of him, he began to bring the knife closer to Gage's throat as Gage's muscular arms fought to keep the knife away. "Today, you're going to die Capt. Gage." Mike said through clenched teeth.
Gage summoned all of his strength and slowly began to push Mike's arm away from him. At that point, he was able to get his foot underneath Mike's chest and quickly flipped him over his head, but before being sent tumbling out of the helicopter, Mike grabbed Gage's shoulders, throwing him out along with him into the Gulf waters below.
The helicopter carrying Walker, Sydney and Trivette witnessed the events. "Gage!" Sydney cried out as she saw the two men tumble out of the helicopter.
Walker stripped off his jacket and opened the door of the helicopter. "Keep her steady!" He yelled to the pilot, "I'm going in!"
As Walker jumped into the water, near to the point where Gage and Pemberton went in, Trivette radioed the Coast Guard and gave them their coordinates just as another police helicopter forced the mercenary helicopter to the ground.
Sydney perched herself on the edge of the helicopter, straining to see what was going on in the dark waters. "Can you point your spotlight down there?" She instructed the pilot. As soon as the spotlight hit the water, she could see Walker swimming towards the spot where the other two men went in, but so far, there was no sign of Pemberton or Gage. "Gage, where are you?" She said aloud.
"There!" Trivette pointed to the water, about 20 yards in front of Walker.
"Is it Gage or Pemberton?" Sydney asked. She grabbed the binoculars from the box sitting beside of her and focused on the person in the water. "It's Gage!" She replied, excitedly.
Gage grabbed the unconscious Pemberton by his collar and worked to get his arm around him to keep both of their heads above water. Walker reached him just as he was about to go under. "Gage?" He reached for the young Ranger's arm.
"I'm alright Walker. I just got the wind knocked out of me." He coughed.
The Coast Guard cutter pulled up along side of them and Gage and Walker helped to get Pemberton out of the water first. Once Pemberton was on board, Gage was fished out of the water and then Walker.
"The other helicopter?" Gage said, slightly breathless.
"They got away." Walker replied, knowing it wasn't what the young man wanted to hear.
Gage shook his head and strained to take a deep breath. "Here." Walker said as he offered Gage an oxygen mask.
Gage waved it off. "I'm fine."
"Just a few deep breathes and that's an order!" Walker said as he handed the mask to Gage again.
Gage held the oxygen mask to his mouth and nose and breathed deeply until his breathing returned to normal. He then turned to Walker. "The pilot radioed to the others and said something about a farm."
"That's not much to go on." Walker replied as he checked Pemberton for a pulse.
"I know." Gage replied, staring at the motionless Pemberton.
"This is personal for you, isn't it?" Walker stated, seeing the look in Gage's eyes and knowing all too well where his anger was coming from.
Gage nodded. "I put these two away once during Desert Storm." He replied, his eyes staring straight ahead, but not really looking at anything.
"For what?"
"Disobeying orders, dereliction of duty and smuggling for starters."
"Were they convicted?" Walker asked as the helicopter began its descent.
"Pemberton and Miles both received dishonorable discharges and spent a few years in jail, but they plea bargained on the smuggling charge and didn't get nearly what they deserved."
"Well, now they're both wanted for two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder along with felony weapons charges and several other charges. They're going away for life this time, if they don't get the death penalty."
"Pemberton will, but what about Miles?" Gage said, still staring over the horizon.
When the helicopter landed, Sydney rushed to Gage's side. "Are you OK? You scared me half to death!"
Gage wrapped his arms around his wife and squeezed her tightly. "Sorry sweetheart. Are you OK?"
"Fine." She surveyed the bruise that was already forming on his cheek. "Do you have many more like that?" She asked, brushing her finger along side his face.
"I'm fine Syd. Really." He smiled at her and watched as the Corpus Christi police took Pemberton into custody.
Pemberton turned to smile an evil grin at Gage. "This is far from over Capt. Gage. Steven Miles, may not be much of a soldier, but I'll bet you he follows my orders."
Walker and Trivette joined Gage and Sydney just as Pemberton was placed into the police car. "What did he mean by that?" Trivette asked.
"Nothing. He's just trying to taunt me. It's a long story." Gage turned to walk away.
"Do you want to help question him?" Walker asked.
"Will they let me?" Gage replied.
Walker nodded. "You may be the only one who can get him to talk."
*******
Twenty miles outside of Corpus Christi, the helicopter had dropped off Miles and the other three men. "Miles, what are we going to do now?" One of the men asked as they entered the barn.
Miles hands both went to his head. "I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" He screamed, unsure of their next move.
The other three men checked out the perimeter of the barn and came back inside. "All clear Miles."
"Good. Now we wait. Pemberton is supposed to meet us here, so we wait for him here." Miles said, not knowing that Pemberton had been taken into custody.
********
As the four Rangers entered the police station, Walker and Gage entered the interrogation room while Sydney gave her statement to one of the desk Sgts. After a few moments wait, Pemberton was brought in and handcuffed to the chair.
"Alright Mike, this is a one shot deal." Gage began. "We know that you're the mastermind behind all of this, but we want Miles and the others, along with the name of who hired you to take out George Alderman."
"You'll get nothing from me Capt. Gage. You have no jurisdiction here. This is not Saudi Arabia and the war was over long ago." He spit.
Gage pulled out his wallet and threw his badge on the table. "You're right, we're not in the desert and we're not in the Marine Corp anymore, but I do have every right to be here interrogating you. You see Mike, my wife and I are both Texas Rangers. You picked the wrong people to mess with this time."
Pemberton pursed his lips, looking down at the table, staring at Gage's badge. "A cop! You're a low life cop!" He began to laugh an eerie laugh. "The great Marine Capt. F. Gage is now just a low life cop." His laughter stopped abruptly and he lifted his eyes to meet Gage's. "You could have been one of us. There's a high demand for people with our abilities. We still make a difference."
"By killing innocent people?" Gage asked.
"Innocent? Who Alderman? Please." Mike started. "Do you know what Sentech Corp. does? They produce agents used in chemical warfare. You haven't forgotten about that have you Capt. Gage? You know, all of our men who left that God forsaken desert, taking with them a dreaded disease that they didn't even know they had, just to pass on to their families."
"Gulf War Sydrome." Walker stated flatly.
"Yeah, that's what they finally decided to call it." Pemberton replied. "The group that hired us wanted to take out Alderman in an effort to put a dent in chemical warfare, or at the very least, bring it to the public's eye."
"Pemberton! Get off of your soapbox, man. Two simple questions: Who hired you and where is Steven Miles?" Gage interrupted.
Pemberton pursed his lips and shook his head.
Gage slammed his hand down hard on the table and left the room in a fury with Walker right behind him. "Gage!" He called out. "Gage, wait!" Gage stopped and waited for Walker to catch up to him.
"I'm sorry Walker. I let that guy get to me."
"I can understand why."
"You know, he really does believe he's doing these things for the greater good. The smuggling operation he was running was providing weapons to the oppressed under Hussein." Gage half laughed. "We would have never caught him, except he was selling U.S. weapons."
Walker smiled. "I know the type. They think they're helping the underdog, but they're going about it in all the wrong ways. Gage, you're not wrong in your thinking here. This guy has to go down for what he did. Sydney said he was going to kill her right in front of you."
Gage closed his eyes and nodded his head. "When that gun went off, I just knew for sure that Syd was dead. I think she thought so too. Then we heard Miles in the other room shouting that he had killed Mrs. Alderman."
"Look, you two have really been through a lot already. Why don't you let Trivette and I take it from here? You two go get another room and finish out your vacation."
Gage shook his head. "I can't Walker. I have to see this one through."
"OK, if that's what you want." Walker patted Gage's shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly. A look of concern spread across Walker's face. "Are you OK?"
"My shoulders are a little sore." He confessed, rubbing his right shoulder with his hand. "I'm fine."
Gage turned to go back into the interrogation room. "Walker, could you give me a minute with him alone?"
"I don't think that's such a good idea. You've already said that this guy knows all the right buttons to push with you."
"I'm not going to hurt him, but I think I can get him to talk if you're not in there."
Walker hesitated and then agreed. "I'll be watching through the glass though." He warned.
Gage re-entered the room where Pemberton still sat, handcuffed to the chair. "Well, you decided to come back." He taunted.
"Look Mike, I know you were doing what you thought was right and to a degree, maybe it was. I mean, you're right, chemical and biological warfare are probably the scariest types of weapons used today, but man, you can't just go around killing off the people who make these things. That's not going to end any of it."
"It makes me feel better." Pemberton confessed.
"Are you going to feel better sitting on death row?" Gage asked.
Pemberton looked at him in confusion.
"You're up on two counts of murder, along with several other felony charges."
"I didn't kill that old couple. Miles did and you know it."
"I didn't see anything. You were trying to kill by wife at the time, remember?" Gage said angrily. "But if Miles did shoot the Aldermans, that could mean the difference between life in prison and the death penalty for you." Pemberton sat motionless.
"Come on Mike, tell us where we can find Miles and the others." Gage pleaded. "You know he's unstable. He always has been. He's a hot head and he can't follow orders."
Gage started to leave the room. "If that's how you want it, I'll let the D.A. know that he can start the paperwork."
As Gage's hand touched the doorknob, Pemberton broke over and called out to him. "They're supposed to be at a farm 20 miles west of here. If they don't receive further instruction from me by 6:00 a.m., they're to go their separate ways.'
Gage looked at his watch, it was 4:30 a.m. He looked at the two-way mirror. "Walker, get me a map in here, quick!"
Pemberton marked the location of the farm on the map and turned towards Gage. "Now, you'll see to it that I don't get the death penalty, right?"
"I'll do everything I can Mike." Gage replied sincerely.
*******
Miles looked at his watch, 4:45 a.m. "Why hasn't he contacted us?" He thought.
The men looked around them as they heard the sound of helicopters approaching. The four men quickly planned their individual route of escape. As Miles started to open the back door of the barn, he was met with a kick to the face from Gage. "This is it Miles, the end of the line."
Miles recovered from the kick that had knocked him to the floor of the barn and threw two punches at Gage, both missing their mark. Gage delivered two quick blows to Miles' chest and quickly had him on the ground and in handcuffs.
Once back at the county lockup, Miles began to talk, explaining how Pemberton had planned the whole mission and he was just a soldier following orders. He also said he had no idea who had hired them and when Pemberton was questioned again, he admitted that no one had hired them, that he had plotted this himself to stop Sentech.
Walker and Trivette met Sydney and Gage in the hallway of the police department. "So, are you two ready to head home?" He asked as laid a hand on each of their shoulders.
Sydney nodded. "It's already Sunday morning. We might as well head back." Her response was slightly glum.
"I'll tell you what." Walker said. "Why don't you stay a couple of more days. Just don't get into anymore trouble. Understand?" He looked at Gage.
"What?" Gage asked.
"The Radisson asked me to give you this." He handed a refund check to Gage.
"Are you sure this is right? This is for both nights."
"The hotel manager feels that he owes you at least that much for getting everyone out safely. Take it and find another place to stay. We'll see you on Wednesday."
Gage put his arm around Sydney and they both smiled at Walker. "Thanks Walker. See you Wednesday."
*******
After getting settled into another hotel room, Gage pulled Sydney into his arms. "Weren't we planning to do something just before all of this mess broke loose?" He asked.
"We were getting ready to go out to dinner, but it's only noon right now."
"Then how about we do what I had planned to do after dinner right now and we'll do dinner later."
"What, take a walk on the pier?"
"No, that's supposed to be a moonlit walk on the pier." He smiled as he trailed kisses down her neck.
"Then what exactly is it that you want to do, Mr. Gage?" Sydney smiled.
Gage picked her up and laid her gently on the bed, continuing to kiss her softly, whispering into her ear.
She moaned slightly as she yielded to him. "I think that's a wonderful idea." She laughed as she pulled the sheet over their heads. "A very wonderful idea."
THE END