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.)
"Truth Revealed" (A sequel to "Hanging By a Thread") Chapter 1
By: Lorrie
Sydney was approaching her ninth month of pregnancy and luckily had had no complications.
"Good morning babe." Gage said as he awoke and hugged his wife, who was lying in his arms.
"Good morning." Sydney smiled. Suddenly the baby kicked. Sydney reached for Gage's hand. "Ooo, here put your hand her, quick!" Gage let Sydney place his hand on her stomach and he felt the baby kick.
"Whoa, at this rate, she's gonna be a kicker for the Cowboys."
"Or the next kickboxing champ." Sydney laughed. They both got up and got ready for work.
**********
"Sydney, can I see you in here for a minute?" Walker asked. Sydney entered Walker's office.
"What's up Walker?"
"Have a seat. We need to discuss something." Sydney sat down with some effort. "How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing great. Just a few more weeks to go."
Walker smiled. "What are your plans after the baby is born? Do you plan to come back to work?"
"Yes. Gage and I talked about this a little last night. I know that he and I can't continue to be partners since we're married."
"Well, that's the thing. I can't allow you to be partners, but I do want you to work together. You're too good of a team to break you up entirely."
"What did you have in mind?"
"How would you feel about working for the DA's office?"
"Doing what?"
"Well, you'd be Alex's bodyguard for one thing and you would work closely with Company B on cases on interest to the DA's office. You would still be part of the Rangers but on a special detail."
"It sounds great! I would like to talk it over with Gage though."
"Sure. You've got a few weeks to think about it." Walker helped Sydney out of her chair. "Hey, would you feel comfortable going with Gage to question Samuel Sikes? He's an inmate in the county jail."
"Sure, it's just a few questions, simple interrogation, right?"
"Sydney, I wouldn't ask you to go if it were dangerous." Walker smiled.
Sydney met her husband at his desk. "Hey hot shot, are you ready to go?"
"Where do you think you're going?"
"With you to question Sikes."
"Syd, that's not a good idea."
"Don't be silly. I'll be fine." She walked out the door followed by Gage.
After questioning Sikes, Gage signed them out while Sydney stepped out of the interrogation room and found herself face to face with Malcomb Watts.
"Well hello Ranger Cooke. My but your little figure certainly has changed since I last saw you. Let's see, that was, oh, about nine months ago wasn't it? Hmmm, who knocked you up Ranger Cooke? It wouldn't be my kid by any chance, would it?" Watts laughed an evil laugh.
Gage came out of the interrogation room and upon seeing Watts so close to Sydney, he came at him with a strong kick to his chest, knocking him to the floor. "Someone get this trash out of here!"
Watts turned to Gage as the officer handcuffed him. "You must have nine lives Ranger Gage. I'll have to do better next time."
"There's not going to be a next time Watts. You're not going to get the chance to bother me, my wife or our child." Gage looked at the officer. "Get him out of here now!" He put his arm around Sydney and started towards the warden's office.
"Gage, I just want to get out of here." Sydney pleaded.
"Not until I found out why he isn't in a maximum security prison, let alone on an in-house work detail." Gage stormed into the warden's office, leaving Sydney in the Warden's assistant's office.
"Warden Hayes, I'm Ranger Gage. Ranger Cooke and myself were just interrogation Samuel Sikes and had a run in with Malcomb Watts. Can you tell me why he's here instead of Huntsville and why a man as dangerous as he is would be allowed on an in-house work detail."
"Calm down Ranger. What's your beef with Watts? He seems to be an alright guy."
Gage got up in the Warden's face. "Let me explain something to you. I'm not over-reacting. Watts shot me a few months ago, I spent two months in the hospital recovering, several of those weeks, I spent in ICU hooked up to a life-support system. He also raped Ranger Cooke and stabbed her, then left her for dead. Does this sound like an alright guy to you?" Gage backed down, waiting for a response from the Warden.
"I'm sorry Ranger, I didn't realize. We're so short handed around here, I honestly don't get to read half of what crosses my desk before it goes out with my signature on it. I'll take care of this right away." He stood up and shook Gage's hand. "Again, I'm very sorry."
Gage met Sydney in the other office. "Are you ready to go?" She nodded. Gage helped her into the car and they drove back to Headquarters in silence.
When they parked, Sydney looked at Gage. "What if he's right? What if this baby is his?"
"Syd, we've been over this before. As far as I'm concerned, she's yours and mine. Let's not talk about it anymore, alright?"
"OK." They returned to work and Gage filled Walker and Trivette in on what had happened at the prison.
Gage then pulled Walker aside. "Why is he in the county jail anyway? He's an escape risk. He's been convicted of attempted murder and of rape. He should be in a maximum security prison."
Walker agreed. "I know. I'll make a few calls and see what I can find out." Walker looked out of his office window at Sydney, who was just sitting at her desk, starring at the wall. "Is she OK?"
"I don't know. She hadn't really said too much about Watts since the trial until now."
A little while later, Walker motioned for Gage to come into his office. "Watts is in county, waiting to be transferred to Huntsville."
*********
Sydney woke up in the middle of the night and realized that her water had broken. Gage! Gage, get up now!"
"What's wrong honey?" Gage asked groggily.
"It's time. I need to get to the hospital now."
Gage jumped from the bed and quickly got dressed, then helped Sydney to the car and drove to St. Matthews.
After eight hours of labor, at 7:00 a.m., Sydney gave birth to Katelyn Marie Gage, 8 lbs. 7 oz., 21" long and very healthy.
Gage called Walker and Alex, Trivette and Erica, then his sister Julie and Sydney's family to share the news.
"Shy, she is so beautiful. She looks like you." Gage held his little daughter. Sydney beamed.
"She is perfect, isn't she?" Sydney cried as she checked her daughter over from head to toe. "She has a little birthmark."
"Really, where?"
"Look, right here on her stomach."
Gage lifted his shirt. "It matches mine." He pointed to the birthmark on his stomach and smiled.
"Watts can't be the father, can he?" Sydney asked.
"It's too much of a coincidence for she and I to have identical birthmarks, she has to be mine."
**********
Sydney and Katelyn were released from the hospital two days after Katelyn's birth. Gage carried them home and helped Sydney from the car, then picked up Katelyn's car seat. "Come on sweetie, daddy's got you." Gage cooed as he unlocked the door to the house.
**********
Watts had devised a plan of escape from the county jail. "Those Rangers are going to regret putting me in here." He continued to work on his plan.
First he contacted a computer whiz friend of his on the outside. "Jade, if you're as good as you say you are, then this should be a snap. Break into the mainframe at the 'Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex' and create a new paternity file with the following information." Watts gave Jade all of his personal info. "Then match the DNA samples to the fetus results of Ranger Sydney Cooke's baby."
"Sure I can do it, but what's in it for me?" Jade asked.
"How about $20,000 for starters. I'll have it wired to your account when the job's done."
"No dice Watts. How do I know you won't stiff me?"
"OK, 1/2 now and 1/2 upon completion."
"Deal." Jade created the phony file along with a command to have an official results package delivered to Sydney and Gage and a set delivered to Watts in prison.
**********
Gage answered the doorbell and found the UPS deliveryman.
"Package for F. Gage."
"That's me. Where do I sign?"
Gage signed the clipboard and took the packet into the living room and opened it. His hands trembled as he read the contents: "DNA test comparison of fetus -- Mother: Sydney Cooke and paternity party B -- Malcomb Watts. DNA matches 99.8%." At the bottom was a copy notation that quickly grabbed Gage's attention; cc: Malcomb Watts." Gage quickly stuffed the letter back into the packet and yelled to Sydney. "Syd, are you OK for a little while?"
"Yes, why?"
"I need to step out. I'll be back in about an hour, OK?"
Sydney came out of the bedroom with Katie. "Where are you going?" She asked with a smile.
"I need to see Alex about something." Gage could hardly contain his concern for his wife and daughter's well being.
"About what?" Sydney asked suspiciously.
"I need to ask her . . . " Gage was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. "Hello."
"Ranger Gage. Did you get your copy yet?" Watts asked.
"How did you get this number?"
"Well, it's the funniest thing. I just mentioned that I'm filing a custody suit for my daughter and Ranger HQ gave it right to me."
"You can't file suit, it's not legal."
"Oh, but it is Ranger. I'm her biological father and I have the documents to prove it. Sure I know I can't get sole custody, being a convicted felon, currently serving a 20 year term, but I can demand visitation rights and I can have your name removed from her birth certificate as her father." Watts laughed. "Looks like I win Ranger Gage."
"This is not a game Watts. This is my daughter's life."
"Correction, my daughter. You'll be hearing from my attorney, Ranger." Watts hung up.
Gage slammed the phone down and looked at Sydney with tears streaming down his face.
"Gage? What's going on?" Gage handed her the packet he had received earlier.
Sydney read the paper. "No! No! This can't be happening!" Sydney sobbed.
"That's what I wanted to talk to Alex about. Watts is filing for visitation rights." Gage put his arms around Sydney and they cried together.
**********
"Doctor, I don't have a specimen number for this file." The lab technician reported.
"That's not possible, unless someone has tampered with the mainframe." The technician at 'Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex' checked the log in records and found a bizarre code entry. "The mainframe has been hacked into." She reported.
"Let me see the records that have been tampered with."
"None have been altered, but one has been created."
"Print it." Upon seeing who was involved, the doctor called Ranger HQ and was put through to Walker.
"This is Ranger Walker." The doctor explained his findings. "Thank you doctor, I'll take care of this."
Walker filled in Trivette and they quickly drove to Gage and Sydney's.
"They must be devastated." Trivette said.
"I'm sure they are. We need to get this straightened out. They've been through enough."
Gage opened the door and upon seeing Walker and Trivette quickly tried to regain his composure. "Come in guys."
Walker took one look at Sydney's red, tear-stained face. "You've already got the papers?"
"Along with a phone call from Watts. How did you know?" Gage asked.
"Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex' called. Their mainframe was hacked into and only one file was pulled up and one file was created." Trivette reported.
"It's a hoax. Watts created a fake file and results letter."
"So he's not Katie's biological father?" Gage asked.
"It's back to the point it was before you got the letter. Unless we get an actual DNA sample from Watts and have this done right, you'll never be 100% certain." Walker said.
Sydney started to shake her head, then looked at Gage. "Whatever you think."
"Syd, we have to prove that Watts can't possibly be Katie's father." Gage looked at his wife.
Trivette read over the report. "Because of this fake record, we can get a court order for a DNA sample."
"Walker, Trivette, thanks for coming by. Go ahead with the court order." Gage closed the door and Walker and Trivette left.
**********
Walker took a certified lab tech with him and personally delivered the court order to Watts and waited while the lab tech took a blood sample.
The sample was immediately taken to 'Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex' and immediately processed. "Ranger Walker, we'll have the results in two weeks. They'll be sealed and hand delivered to you personally."
"Thank you."
**********
A week and a half later, Watts made another call to Jade. "How would you like to make
$50,000?"
"What do you want me to do this time?"
"Provide me with a get out of jail free card. Can you arrange for a release letter?"
"Piece of cake."
Two days later, Watts was released form jail. He found Gage and Sydney's apartment and parked outside and waited.
End of Chapter 1
"Truth Revealed" (A sequel to "Hanging By a Thread") Chapter 1
By: Lorrie
Sydney was approaching her ninth month of pregnancy and luckily had had no complications.
"Good morning babe." Gage said as he awoke and hugged his wife, who was lying in his arms.
"Good morning." Sydney smiled. Suddenly the baby kicked. Sydney reached for Gage's hand. "Ooo, here put your hand her, quick!" Gage let Sydney place his hand on her stomach and he felt the baby kick.
"Whoa, at this rate, she's gonna be a kicker for the Cowboys."
"Or the next kickboxing champ." Sydney laughed. They both got up and got ready for work.
**********
"Sydney, can I see you in here for a minute?" Walker asked. Sydney entered Walker's office.
"What's up Walker?"
"Have a seat. We need to discuss something." Sydney sat down with some effort. "How are you doing today?"
"I'm doing great. Just a few more weeks to go."
Walker smiled. "What are your plans after the baby is born? Do you plan to come back to work?"
"Yes. Gage and I talked about this a little last night. I know that he and I can't continue to be partners since we're married."
"Well, that's the thing. I can't allow you to be partners, but I do want you to work together. You're too good of a team to break you up entirely."
"What did you have in mind?"
"How would you feel about working for the DA's office?"
"Doing what?"
"Well, you'd be Alex's bodyguard for one thing and you would work closely with Company B on cases on interest to the DA's office. You would still be part of the Rangers but on a special detail."
"It sounds great! I would like to talk it over with Gage though."
"Sure. You've got a few weeks to think about it." Walker helped Sydney out of her chair. "Hey, would you feel comfortable going with Gage to question Samuel Sikes? He's an inmate in the county jail."
"Sure, it's just a few questions, simple interrogation, right?"
"Sydney, I wouldn't ask you to go if it were dangerous." Walker smiled.
Sydney met her husband at his desk. "Hey hot shot, are you ready to go?"
"Where do you think you're going?"
"With you to question Sikes."
"Syd, that's not a good idea."
"Don't be silly. I'll be fine." She walked out the door followed by Gage.
After questioning Sikes, Gage signed them out while Sydney stepped out of the interrogation room and found herself face to face with Malcomb Watts.
"Well hello Ranger Cooke. My but your little figure certainly has changed since I last saw you. Let's see, that was, oh, about nine months ago wasn't it? Hmmm, who knocked you up Ranger Cooke? It wouldn't be my kid by any chance, would it?" Watts laughed an evil laugh.
Gage came out of the interrogation room and upon seeing Watts so close to Sydney, he came at him with a strong kick to his chest, knocking him to the floor. "Someone get this trash out of here!"
Watts turned to Gage as the officer handcuffed him. "You must have nine lives Ranger Gage. I'll have to do better next time."
"There's not going to be a next time Watts. You're not going to get the chance to bother me, my wife or our child." Gage looked at the officer. "Get him out of here now!" He put his arm around Sydney and started towards the warden's office.
"Gage, I just want to get out of here." Sydney pleaded.
"Not until I found out why he isn't in a maximum security prison, let alone on an in-house work detail." Gage stormed into the warden's office, leaving Sydney in the Warden's assistant's office.
"Warden Hayes, I'm Ranger Gage. Ranger Cooke and myself were just interrogation Samuel Sikes and had a run in with Malcomb Watts. Can you tell me why he's here instead of Huntsville and why a man as dangerous as he is would be allowed on an in-house work detail."
"Calm down Ranger. What's your beef with Watts? He seems to be an alright guy."
Gage got up in the Warden's face. "Let me explain something to you. I'm not over-reacting. Watts shot me a few months ago, I spent two months in the hospital recovering, several of those weeks, I spent in ICU hooked up to a life-support system. He also raped Ranger Cooke and stabbed her, then left her for dead. Does this sound like an alright guy to you?" Gage backed down, waiting for a response from the Warden.
"I'm sorry Ranger, I didn't realize. We're so short handed around here, I honestly don't get to read half of what crosses my desk before it goes out with my signature on it. I'll take care of this right away." He stood up and shook Gage's hand. "Again, I'm very sorry."
Gage met Sydney in the other office. "Are you ready to go?" She nodded. Gage helped her into the car and they drove back to Headquarters in silence.
When they parked, Sydney looked at Gage. "What if he's right? What if this baby is his?"
"Syd, we've been over this before. As far as I'm concerned, she's yours and mine. Let's not talk about it anymore, alright?"
"OK." They returned to work and Gage filled Walker and Trivette in on what had happened at the prison.
Gage then pulled Walker aside. "Why is he in the county jail anyway? He's an escape risk. He's been convicted of attempted murder and of rape. He should be in a maximum security prison."
Walker agreed. "I know. I'll make a few calls and see what I can find out." Walker looked out of his office window at Sydney, who was just sitting at her desk, starring at the wall. "Is she OK?"
"I don't know. She hadn't really said too much about Watts since the trial until now."
A little while later, Walker motioned for Gage to come into his office. "Watts is in county, waiting to be transferred to Huntsville."
*********
Sydney woke up in the middle of the night and realized that her water had broken. Gage! Gage, get up now!"
"What's wrong honey?" Gage asked groggily.
"It's time. I need to get to the hospital now."
Gage jumped from the bed and quickly got dressed, then helped Sydney to the car and drove to St. Matthews.
After eight hours of labor, at 7:00 a.m., Sydney gave birth to Katelyn Marie Gage, 8 lbs. 7 oz., 21" long and very healthy.
Gage called Walker and Alex, Trivette and Erica, then his sister Julie and Sydney's family to share the news.
"Shy, she is so beautiful. She looks like you." Gage held his little daughter. Sydney beamed.
"She is perfect, isn't she?" Sydney cried as she checked her daughter over from head to toe. "She has a little birthmark."
"Really, where?"
"Look, right here on her stomach."
Gage lifted his shirt. "It matches mine." He pointed to the birthmark on his stomach and smiled.
"Watts can't be the father, can he?" Sydney asked.
"It's too much of a coincidence for she and I to have identical birthmarks, she has to be mine."
**********
Sydney and Katelyn were released from the hospital two days after Katelyn's birth. Gage carried them home and helped Sydney from the car, then picked up Katelyn's car seat. "Come on sweetie, daddy's got you." Gage cooed as he unlocked the door to the house.
**********
Watts had devised a plan of escape from the county jail. "Those Rangers are going to regret putting me in here." He continued to work on his plan.
First he contacted a computer whiz friend of his on the outside. "Jade, if you're as good as you say you are, then this should be a snap. Break into the mainframe at the 'Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex' and create a new paternity file with the following information." Watts gave Jade all of his personal info. "Then match the DNA samples to the fetus results of Ranger Sydney Cooke's baby."
"Sure I can do it, but what's in it for me?" Jade asked.
"How about $20,000 for starters. I'll have it wired to your account when the job's done."
"No dice Watts. How do I know you won't stiff me?"
"OK, 1/2 now and 1/2 upon completion."
"Deal." Jade created the phony file along with a command to have an official results package delivered to Sydney and Gage and a set delivered to Watts in prison.
**********
Gage answered the doorbell and found the UPS deliveryman.
"Package for F. Gage."
"That's me. Where do I sign?"
Gage signed the clipboard and took the packet into the living room and opened it. His hands trembled as he read the contents: "DNA test comparison of fetus -- Mother: Sydney Cooke and paternity party B -- Malcomb Watts. DNA matches 99.8%." At the bottom was a copy notation that quickly grabbed Gage's attention; cc: Malcomb Watts." Gage quickly stuffed the letter back into the packet and yelled to Sydney. "Syd, are you OK for a little while?"
"Yes, why?"
"I need to step out. I'll be back in about an hour, OK?"
Sydney came out of the bedroom with Katie. "Where are you going?" She asked with a smile.
"I need to see Alex about something." Gage could hardly contain his concern for his wife and daughter's well being.
"About what?" Sydney asked suspiciously.
"I need to ask her . . . " Gage was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. "Hello."
"Ranger Gage. Did you get your copy yet?" Watts asked.
"How did you get this number?"
"Well, it's the funniest thing. I just mentioned that I'm filing a custody suit for my daughter and Ranger HQ gave it right to me."
"You can't file suit, it's not legal."
"Oh, but it is Ranger. I'm her biological father and I have the documents to prove it. Sure I know I can't get sole custody, being a convicted felon, currently serving a 20 year term, but I can demand visitation rights and I can have your name removed from her birth certificate as her father." Watts laughed. "Looks like I win Ranger Gage."
"This is not a game Watts. This is my daughter's life."
"Correction, my daughter. You'll be hearing from my attorney, Ranger." Watts hung up.
Gage slammed the phone down and looked at Sydney with tears streaming down his face.
"Gage? What's going on?" Gage handed her the packet he had received earlier.
Sydney read the paper. "No! No! This can't be happening!" Sydney sobbed.
"That's what I wanted to talk to Alex about. Watts is filing for visitation rights." Gage put his arms around Sydney and they cried together.
**********
"Doctor, I don't have a specimen number for this file." The lab technician reported.
"That's not possible, unless someone has tampered with the mainframe." The technician at 'Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex' checked the log in records and found a bizarre code entry. "The mainframe has been hacked into." She reported.
"Let me see the records that have been tampered with."
"None have been altered, but one has been created."
"Print it." Upon seeing who was involved, the doctor called Ranger HQ and was put through to Walker.
"This is Ranger Walker." The doctor explained his findings. "Thank you doctor, I'll take care of this."
Walker filled in Trivette and they quickly drove to Gage and Sydney's.
"They must be devastated." Trivette said.
"I'm sure they are. We need to get this straightened out. They've been through enough."
Gage opened the door and upon seeing Walker and Trivette quickly tried to regain his composure. "Come in guys."
Walker took one look at Sydney's red, tear-stained face. "You've already got the papers?"
"Along with a phone call from Watts. How did you know?" Gage asked.
"Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex' called. Their mainframe was hacked into and only one file was pulled up and one file was created." Trivette reported.
"It's a hoax. Watts created a fake file and results letter."
"So he's not Katie's biological father?" Gage asked.
"It's back to the point it was before you got the letter. Unless we get an actual DNA sample from Watts and have this done right, you'll never be 100% certain." Walker said.
Sydney started to shake her head, then looked at Gage. "Whatever you think."
"Syd, we have to prove that Watts can't possibly be Katie's father." Gage looked at his wife.
Trivette read over the report. "Because of this fake record, we can get a court order for a DNA sample."
"Walker, Trivette, thanks for coming by. Go ahead with the court order." Gage closed the door and Walker and Trivette left.
**********
Walker took a certified lab tech with him and personally delivered the court order to Watts and waited while the lab tech took a blood sample.
The sample was immediately taken to 'Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex' and immediately processed. "Ranger Walker, we'll have the results in two weeks. They'll be sealed and hand delivered to you personally."
"Thank you."
**********
A week and a half later, Watts made another call to Jade. "How would you like to make
$50,000?"
"What do you want me to do this time?"
"Provide me with a get out of jail free card. Can you arrange for a release letter?"
"Piece of cake."
Two days later, Watts was released form jail. He found Gage and Sydney's apartment and parked outside and waited.
End of Chapter 1