This installment in the saga takes place during the episode "The Principal" and shortly after.
Texas vs. Beaumont part one
"You know who sings great music?" Katheryn grinned as she forked in a bite of food, staring at Trent from across the table in the middle of C.D.'s.
"Who's that?" Carlos chimed in from beside Katheryn, drawing her gaze.
Katheryn swallowed before her smile returned. "Collin Raye."
"I would agree with that." Trent took a bite of his food before smiling a bit.
Katheryn gently settled into her chair, letting her fork drop quietly as she crossed her arms against her chest and shot wary glances from Trent to Carlos and then back again. "What?" Katheryn was beginning to get the feeling they were trying to keep something from her when she firmly rested her gaze on Trent. "Out with it."
Sighing and setting his own fork down, Trent looked to Katheryn with a bit of penitence in his eyes for stringing her along. "We may have met Collin Raye in the recent past."
"Excuse me?" Katheryn's eyes widen a bit.
Trent sighed in surrender. "He came to Dallas to help raise funds for a church that burned down because of a white supremacist group. Held a benefit concert just outside the church."
Katheryn shot a glance back to Carlos. "And all of you were there?"
Carlos cocked a gaze her way with a side-ways grin. "More or less."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She glared back.
Carlos shrugged and stared into her beautiful hazel eyes from over his coffee mug as he took a sip. It was mostly an effort to quell his laughter.
Katheryn rolled her eyes and chuckled lightly, leaning forward to pick her fork up and carry on with her meal. She forked in one bite and then propped both elbows on the edge of the table, cradling her chin in her interlocked fingers. "The only reason I brought it up is because I heard he was coming to town for a concert in a few weeks."
"Oh?" Carlos grinned. "You wanting to go?"
"Maybe." Katheryn hid a smile as she chewed.
"I bet with the connections Walker has we could do better than that," Trent winked.
"Really?!" Katheryn was beside herself as thoughts of meeting the famed singer shot through her mind at ninety to nothing. Then she thought about all that had happened in the guys' life since before she moved to Dallas. "Gosh. I feel like I've missed a whole lifetime with you guys."
Trent settled his glance on Katheryn, his eyes sparkling just a bit. "Well you're here now. And what matters the most is the lifetime to come."
"I suppose you're right." Katheryn smiled and returned to her meal.
"Trent's right, honey." C.D. beamed as he emerged from the kitchen and took a seat with the threesome and folded his hands on the table. "You just have to be thankful for the times you have together and make the most of the days to come. Speaking of," he paused and grinned a bit wider, patting Katheryn's hand softly. "I'm sure looking forward to this weekend, darling."
Carlos shifted his gaze between C.D. and Katheryn. "Wait, what's this weekend?"
"Well if you must know," C.D. grinned. "Katheryn here has agreed to sit down with me and write down some of the most memorable stories from my career as a Texas Ranger. She's going to make a book out of it and all."
"Oh, boy." Trent snickered, reaching for his coffee and taking a sip to hide a chuckle.
C.D. turned a stern glance between the two boys. "What's so dadgum funny?"
"Nothing." Carlos shoved in a bite of food before he was forced to say any more.
"Don't listen to them, Kath darling. I'm sure your book will turn out great."
"Oh, it's not the book I'm concerned about," Carlos countered, turning a broad smile between Trent and Katheryn. "More like the tall tales going in the book."
"Now you just hush that up right now, young man." C.D. pointed his finger at Carlos. "I'll have you know that I'll be telling Katheryn the God-honest truth."
"If you say so, C.D." Trent took a deep breath and backed away from his plate.
"Well, if you three would excuse me…" Katheryn stood, scraping her chair gently across the floor.
"Where are you off to?" Carlos asked, also putting some space between himself and the empty dishes on the table.
Katheryn started for the door, pausing in between the guys on the other side of the table. "I'm going to go pick up Tandy from her last day of school. We're going to the mall so that she can have her ears pierced as sort of an extra birthday present." Kath winked and smiled.
"Well," Carlos heaved a sigh as he rose to his feet. "I'll walk you out. I've got to meet with Walker and Trivette."
"Oh?" Katheryn settled her gaze on Carlos as he stood beside her.
"Yeah. I'm going undercover as Billy Gato to help take down a drug ring. He was planning a transaction when we caught him. But the other guys are still expecting him to show. Rumor has it that they might be selling to schools in the area."
"That's terrible." Trent sighed while glancing back down at his near-empty plate.
"Yup."
"Well, you two be careful out there." C.D. turned, waving behind himself in route for the kitchen. "I've got my own business to tend to."
"We will," Katheryn chuckled, slipping her arm through Carlos' as he offered. "He's a hoot."
"Yep. That he is."
Carlos then offered Kath a friendly escort to her crimson Corvette parked alongside the street in front of C.D.'s before they reluctantly parted ways for their subsequent afternoon tasks.
##
Katheryn and Tandy were just arriving to the second floor of the local mall when the large tower clock chimed the top of the hour. Kath sighed as she looked over to it while they passed it by. Four o'clock. Crowds of people flowed in and out of the stores on this Friday afternoon, causing Katheryn to think that maybe this wasn't the best day to have selected for a mall outing. But seeing the brightness in Tandy's eyes quickly reminded her that they'd brave the extra apologies to strangers as they weaved their way through the crowds to the jewelry store.
Coming to a stop with Tandy at the entrance of the jewelry store, Katheryn looked the girl in the eyes. "You ready?"
Tandy looked up to Kath with a smile and was just about to say yes when a man carrying a gun and a small oak box, sprang from the store, nearly overtaking Katheryn and Tandy as he broke through a crowd of people to his right and sprinted across the mall.
"Stop that man! He robbed my store!" A well-dressed lady in her fifties shouted as she hurried from the store, her spectacles toppling from her eyes as she outstretched her finger.
Katheryn deduced the situation quite instantly and practically tossed her handbag to Tandy, bending low with a half-smile as she gripped the little girl by her shoulders. "Tandy, you stay right here! Don't move from this spot."
With a final tight-lipped smile, Katheryn turned, broke into a sprint, and dodged a crowd of shoppers, ducking low once or twice as the runaway shoplifter got off a few shots at her. Kath tried tuning out the chaotic shouts and screams that caved in around her as she sped up in pursuit of the criminal. Just as she was closing in on him, he suddenly stopped and turned to fire three consecutive shots. Katheryn dropped to the ground and rolled herself behind a nearby vacant kiosk, drawing out her firearm from her side holster beneath her leather jacket. She waited for a break in gunfire before she stood up, both hands on her Smith and Wesson as she outstretched her arms and fired twice before returning to safety behind the kiosk.
As a bit of quiet fell into the moment of ceasefire, Kath heard a groan in the distance and slowly stood up from around the kiosk, her gun raised to the ready. Drawing closer to a shadowed space around the corner inside a vacant store, Katheryn saw the man lying on the ground with his arms sprawled wide on either side of him. She kept her gun held steady upon the man as she took each step with caution, bending low at the same time as a security guard arrived from the other side. The criminal was lifeless by the time Katheryn released one hand from her weapon to check his pulse. The security guard hovered over his own firearm as he tried to deduce the situation in his mind as quickly as possible.
"He's dead." Katheryn sighed, standing back up to holster her weapon. She then scanned his person for his weapon and the item he had stolen. Shock suddenly turned her face an unfamiliar shade of opal as she found nothing. "This doesn't make sense. He fired at me. His weapon should be near him. And he was carrying that jewel case as clear as day when he turned around to shoot at me."
"Ma'am," the security guard exhaled, reaching for his handcuffs as he came to his own conclusion. "I'm placing you under citizen's arrest for suspicion of murder. If you would come with me…."
"What?!" Katheryn took a step back, realizing she was about to resist arrest. "I'm a private investigator, sir. It was self-defense. Just ask anyone around here!"
"I'm sorry." The guard shook his head. "You'll have to come with me."
"What about the little girl I came with?! I can't just leave her here."
"I'll see to her," the guard replied firmly and glared at her. "Now if you would please turn around and put your hands behind your back."
Katheryn could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as she clasped her lips shut and turned around. She slipped her hands behind herself and blew upward from her mouth. What was happening? It was as if her whole world had gone into slow motion. Surely this guard didn't think she killed this man deliberately. She was at the mercy of some nightmare that surely she'd wake up from any second now. If only a witness would speak up. Katheryn glanced around to see everyone dispersing back to their necessary errands. Surely someone had seen it all unfold. But in all the chaos, Katheryn began to doubt even that. Still, none of this made sense. With her own eyes, she had seen the runaway criminal fall to the ground. He couldn't have gotten rid of his weapon and stolen goods that quickly. How could a good deed gone wrong result in her worst nightmare? All she wanted was that one call they would hopefully let her make. She was tempted to ask for a cell phone or change for a nearby payphone that very minute to call Trent. Yet she held back for fear she might make things worse than they already were.
The guard quickly confiscated her pistol before she heard the ratcheting of the cuffs around her wrists. After calling for police backup, he escorted her back across second story walkway, leading her right past Tandy who was being looked after by a female security guard. Katheryn could see the confusion and tears in Tandy's eyes as the guard led her across the interior length of the mall. Kath tried to smile to reassure her and hoped it would do some good. But confusion still drowned out her own thoughts as she was led away from the scene to the patrol car that arrived soon after. Somehow she prayed that she would recognize the officer who picked her up, but she didn't.
As she watched the majority of Dallas passed by, Katheryn tried her best not to let her emotions get the best of her. But it was all she could do to keep them in check while she tried to keep her mind on that one phone call she was allowed once they arrived safely at the police department.