.

.

If you are familiar with my "Legacy of Thunder" series, you already know that I am writing chronologically with the series itself, weaving my own original stories into canon material from the show. Currently, my recent stories have been set around the time of the latter part of season seven (or DVD season six). For a long time it has been my desire to merge Walker Texas Ranger and Sons of Thunder into one to see just how the new Rangers plus our two PIs could have worked and experienced life together...the way WTR should have been. And now that my two lead OCs have been added to the WTR/SOT world, I am looking forward to seeing all the worlds combined and working as one.

In this story, two months have passed since the previous story. In it we will see the episodes "Countdown" from WTR and "Moment of Truth" from SOT play out as if they were happening at the exact same time with some adjustments in the time frame that I have worked to sort out from watching each episode thoroughly. This is coupled with a new original story involving Katheryn and how the H.O.P.E. center copes with the impending anthrax disaster. You will also see how "Moment of Truth" effects Katheryn and the others.

BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

Chapter One

Katheryn's eyes narrowed over her work as she carefully placed her second photo from her large pile onto the empty canvas of her scrapbook, checking to be sure the alignment was perfect before she applied any glue to secure the picture in place. It was an excellent Polaroid photo she had managed to capture herself from the sidelines of the Texas state karate championship tournament just three weeks ago. In the picture, Tommy raised his trophy high in the air while Trent cheered him on by his side. Katheryn would have loved to have been included in the moment but sacrificed the desire for the sake of capturing the moment onto photo. And as she caught herself smiling, remembering that victorious moment, Katheryn returned to reality with a shake of her head, cherishing the memory. Then she looked over at the stack of photos on the kitchen counter she still had to scrapbook. It wasn't her favorite task—sitting silently at the counter in the perfectly sun-lit apartment, wasting away a perfect afternoon on a wooden barstool next to Molly, cropping photos and pasting them into scrapbooks. But it was well-worth every minute of time spent with her best friend to preserve the memories. Besides, she could use the time to unwind after the busy two months they had experienced recently after Trent healed from his struggle with Leon.

After a friendly tussle of words between best friends regarding how things were going between themselves and their respective menfolk these days, Katheryn was rather thankful for the interrupting knock on their apartment door and hurried to answer it. "Trent! Carlos! We weren't expecting you over." She glanced over the old t-shirt and baggy jeans she was wearing. "Sorry. I've been doing some housecleaning today. And you guys just interrupted our scrapbooking party."

"Well, if you want us to leave, we will." Carlos turned to leave, feigning deep disappointment.

"Nuh-uh. No, you don't!" Katheryn successfully snagged Carlos by the shirt sleeve and pulled him back. "You know you both are more than welcome. But a lady does like to look her best when she has company, ya know."

"Yeah," Carlos chuckled as he and Trent sauntered into the apartment past Katheryn. "You mean like that time a few weeks ago when we were having a picnic over at Eagle Mountain Lake?"

Trent snickered. "Yeah. You sure taught those fish a thing or two about swimming."

Katheryn shut the apartment door behind Trent and swatted him on his free arm, being sure to avoid his other arm which was held captive in a sling still. "Not funny. Besides, I can swim just fine. It was the wind that blew the basket into the lake. And something caught my foot and weighed me down in the water thank you very much. So how's the arm?" She quickly changed the subject.

Trent sighed. "Getting better. Although I'd really like to find that Barnes to be honest with you."

"Hey, maybe you should ask Butch tonight. I hear he knows a few people," Molly offered.

"Maybe I should," Trent concluded, taking a moment to observe Molly's smile closer.

By the time Kath retook her seat at the kitchen bar, Carlos and Trent were busy inspecting the girls' piles of photos. Carlos raised a few into view, smiling at the recollection of the memory before he passed along the memento to Trent and turned back to watch Katheryn return to her steady work of situating the photos just as she wanted them. Carlos admired her perfectionist side, almost wishing she could apply some of it to his messy apartment these days.

Katheryn finished gluing her next photo in place before declaring herself in need of break. She crossed to the fridge for a drink, turning briefly as she asked, "Carlos, have you spoken to Walker or Trivette lately? I was wondering how Sydney Cooke has been doing since you said she joined the Rangers."

"Yeah," Carlos nodded. "She and Ranger Francis Gage have been undercover for the past nine months to take down El Leon's operation. They should take him down for good any day now."

"Wow," Molly chimed in from her place at the bar.

Trent followed Katheryn from the kitchen, helping her distribute the drinks. "So Gage has joined the Rangers now?"

"Yup! He's been with them for a little while now." Carlos accepted a drink from Trent with a grin.

"That's great," Trent concluded before he sipped on his drink. "Gage really has the goods from what I could tell working with him briefly at Camp Justice."

"Same for Sydney," Katheryn chimed in. "I hope we'll see more of her now that they're with Company B."

"I second that," Trent resolved, letting himself amble over to where Molly was to look over her scrapbook work. She didn't seem to mind, lifting a brief smile that met Trent's as she let him look over the nearly finished page in front of her.

Carlos also enjoyed a portion of his own drink before he ambled over to Katheryn whom he found gazing happily over the kitchen sink towards the open living space and views of Dallas beyond that. He took a moment to take in the equally beautiful view beside him before telling Kath what was on his mind. "Speaking of partners, I'm having lunch with Theresa on Friday."

Katheryn perked up, turning widened eyes to Carlos. "Um, should I be worried?"

Carlos shook his head, "Nope. Not a bit. We've been meaning to do this for a while. Just to get to know each other better. We never really had the chance to do so after Captain Phillips assigned us together several months back. Too much drama got in the way."

Katheryn smiled on that last note, remembering how much she loved this man's smile. "Well, I'm glad to hear it. Partners in the force should be close. I think it's hard to truly work towards a common goal if you don't know more about your partner. I guess that's what I love so much about Walker and Trivette ever since I met them. It's not just a job for them. They are good friends who want to make the world a better place."

Katheryn was distracted by Carlos smiling over her. "What?" she replied bluntly, nearly chuckling aloud.

"Nothing," Carlos brushed it off still mesmerized once in a while by Kath's overwhelming smarts. "I was just wondering if that concept applied to…other kinds of relationships too."

Katheryn realized Carlos' meaning now and gently let her smile return. "Oh, well, of course. If not in those situations the most."

With that, they shared a brief kiss before returning to the scrapbooking area together. There they found Trent steadied over Molly's shoulder, the two of them working together on her scrapbook while clearly enjoying the moment. They were sharing smiles and having a good time…almost as if they were alone.

"Ahem," Carlos cleared his throat, causing Molly and Trent to stop suddenly and look up.

"What?" Trent questioned.

"Nothing," Carlos chuckled with a shake of his head and a glance at the floor. "Absolutely nothing whatsoever."

A gentle stream of moonlight lit the path as they carefully hid themselves in the brush. A passing car was all that separated them from their mission. As soon as the vehicle had passed by, they glanced at their watch. Just past two in the morning. It was perfect. No one was here. At least no one was awake to foil their plan. And the plan was a simple one. Wreak havoc and retreat. After all, it seemed like a simple task to do for such a great price. No witnesses and no sweat. Hey and if they got a free meal out of this little adventure, then more power to them. After all, the boss had said this place was loaded. They highly doubted if this place was filled to the gills in dough. But maybe the food was worth it. Either way, the rewards back home would fill in any disappoint with no sweating it.

Taking a step out from the darkness, they sprinted out into the moonlit street and ended their run by the veranda steps, stopping briefly to calculate their attack as if it was some life-altering military maneuver. And with seconds, they had bounded onto the porch and had tampered with the lock. It was too easy.

It only took the one-person criminal organization two minutes to topple furniture and scatter items that didn't belong to them. They didn't seem to care if the items actually could mean something to a stranger. After all, what did they care about someone who had not and would not ever see their face again? They would be reaping the rewards while the sorry owner cried over the spilled milk streaming from the perpetrator's lousy heart…as if they had one.

As they made their getaway into the night, having securely locked the center door upon their fleeing, a cloud gently slipped beneath the moon, hiding her light from being able to aid the escaping looter who had made away with a good bit of charity stock. Still, it offered a menial amount of poetical justice to the affair that they lost their footing a few times in their escape due to the lack of light. It was almost as if nature was helping to distribute justice while true justice waited silently to be uncovered.

Three of the H.O.P.E. center's most beautiful and valuable assets could not have lit up the concrete walkway leading up to the aforesaid building any more if they had tried. Their smiles and jovial exchanges seemed to become one with the sunlight that filled their eyes. There was even the most undetectable spring in the trio's step, Katheryn noticed, as she led the way up the front entrance steps onto the center's veranda.

"Hey, Kath," Molly began softly. "What do you think about that note Carlos found at that crime scene last night?"

"I don't know," Katheryn shrugged, her steps in sync with her best friend. "Hopefully they'll find the guy, and there won't be any need for me to give my opinion on a madman who dares to threaten my boyfriend."

Molly chuckled. "True. Very true. But you have to admit it's kinda creepy."

"Yeah," Kath agreed with a small shiver at the thought. "How about you? I know Trent was just trying to make us feel better last night, kidding around about his run in with BoBo Barnes."

Molly took a deep breath, nodding. "Yep. I love that man, but he could take Butch's subtle advice and calm it down every once in a while."

"What he needs," Katheryn inserted, her voice rising emphatically as she took a step ahead of Molly, "is to learn how to use a gun."

"You know how he feels about that, Kath."

"Yeah. But Carlos told me that even Walker is getting serious about having a stern talk with him. Trent's getting deeper into being a PI every day. He has to have another way to defend himself."

Molly swallowed hard as a picture of Trent in the hospital flashed in her memory. She nodded, "I definitely agree with you there."

Ambling forward a few paces, Katheryn paused briefly ahead of Molly and Donna for them to catch up with her as she searched inside her small handbag for her keys.

"I can't believe Josie had to go to San Antonio again," Donna quipped with a click of her tongue, lifting a hand to shield the sunlight as they came to a stop behind Katheryn.

Molly nodded, chiming in with a shake of her ahead. "I know. I just hope her father will be okay. He's been under the weather for quite some time. Hopefully her visiting him will help."

"I couldn't agree more," Donna agreed and then sighed, a thought having occurred to her. "I can't believe I missed so much while I was gone."

"What do you mean?" Molly grinned.

"What do I mean?" Donna echoed sarcastically. "Let's see…for starters, Walker and Alex surviving the governor's plane being shot down into Lake Ebby. How did you guys manage? I would have been devastated had I been here and heard."

Katheryn wheeled around, tossing her set of keys lightly in the air and catching them again with a broad grin. "It was tough I tell you. Carlos and I were on a date when it happened."

"Oh?" Donna replied, her smile filled with surprise then intrigue. "Do tell more."

"Well," Katheryn continued, turning back to trace the rest of the path up to the H.O.P.E. center's front door. "I remember Carlos had to talk me out of canceling the date when I heard what had happened to C.D. So he made a promise that we'd make it a shorter date than usual. Of course I didn't like that anymore than he liked saying it. So we decided to just carry on as usual. It helped to alleviate the stress and fear for sure." Katheryn chuckled, mostly to herself as she remembered the kiss they had ended the night with just shy of the restaurant entrance underneath the guise of shadowed moonlight.

Pulling herself from her reverie, Kath slipped the key into the H.O.P.E. center lock and turned it, feeling it unlock as she paused to turn around and finish her story. "We had just said goodnight when Carlos' cell phone rang. It was Trivette who was filling everybody in during his time away from the tower at the airport with the search team. Needless to say we were shocked. So I called Molly and she called Trent and etcetera. I'm pretty sure we had the whole church praying before long."

"So," Donna urged. "Did you help with the search or what?"

Katheryn sighed, visions of Trent's appeal to her vividly returning to her mind. "I wanted to. But Trent wouldn't let me."

"For a good reason though!" Molly inserted. "He said it wouldn't do us any good to get lost too. He insisted that we could help far better by staying behind."

"And as always, he was right."

The three women laughed at Katheryn's remark before the latter spun on her heel, quickly opening the door to step inside the center. No more had she taken two steps inside did her step stop just as fast. Her mouth instantly dropped open, a hand hovering over her lips as she scanned the foyer in dismay. Molly and Donna were by her side seconds later with equally-perplexed responses.

"What happened?" Molly broke the silence with a shaky voice as she stepped over a fallen end table.

It looked as if a giant elephant had stomped its way through the room without shame. Tables were scattered. Curtains torn from their rods, dangling over broken chairs. A rock had been thrown through one of the windows. Scratches on the floors shined and cradled the pieces of debris thrown here and there without cause. Papers and such littered the floor as far as the eye could see.

As the three ladies made their way into the kitchen, the devastation continued. Dozens of donations were ruined, having been strewn across the kitchen and hallway. Boxes and cans alike were either damaged or torn. Some of the food had even escaped their containers, staining the floor and dirtying the pretty cabinetry and appliances.

By this time, Katheryn was beyond surprised and was immediately angry. Straddling the mess the best she could, Katheryn charged through the hallway to the main office only to find that the devastation continued. Trent's self-defense equipment was in shambles while Alex's pile of documents, class schedules, and other various vital documents lay in a scrambled pile from one end of the room to the other. Even the desktop stapler, phone, and other office supplies were scattered, unable to be spotted by the eye at a moment's notice.

Kath was tempted to cry but was now too upset to do so. Donna and Molly gently eased up next to her, sharing the sentiment with redness in their cheeks and a fire in their eyes.

"Who could have done such a thing?" Molly questioned, almost choking back a sob.

"I don't know," Katheryn replied through clenched teeth. By her side, her fist was balled intensely. "But I am to find out and see that they realize their actions."

"You want me to call Alex?" Donna inserted hopefully.

Kath nodded. "And I'll see if Trent or Carlos is available this afternoon."

"Carlos is on duty all day," Molly reminded Katheryn and heard her best friend sigh. "Sorry."

"No, you're right," Kath agreed. "I'll call Trent then. We'll get to the bottom of this. Meanwhile, we have some cleanup to do."

To say I have looked forward to writing this story is an understatement. It has both challenged me as a writer and continuously satisfied my imagination which is full of exciting milestones for the future. I am no doubt looking forward to sharing the future of the "Legacy of Thunder" series with you all. It's going to be one wild, incredible ride. Stay quick as Texas lighting! God Bless, 'Kath'