Laura
By: Lorrie
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.)
"Syd, I need to stop by the bank, OK? I'll only be a minute." Gage said as they approached the Dallas First National Bank.
"Hurry up!" Sydney said as she pulled into the bank parking lot.
While standing in line, Gage noticed a woman walk in; she approached the teller nearest to the entrance. She moved her hands as she talked and Gage noticed something vaguely familiar about her, but couldn't place exactly what. She never looked in his direction but something kept nagging at him, a feeling that he should know her.
It was Gage's turn at the window. As he waited for the teller to complete his transaction, he overheard two of the other tellers talking about the woman who had just left. "Did you see her ring? I've never seen anything like it. It was like two rings intertwined; the engagement ring was a marques solitaire with a diamond enhancer with four smaller triangular diamonds, it's hard to explain." It was obvious that the girls were taken with this ring. "Together the diamonds made the shape of a star. I've never seen anything quire like it." Gage swallowed hard and quickly exited the bank and approached the car.
Sydney noticed how pale her partner looked. "Hey, are you OK? You didn't rob the bank, did you?" she laughed.
"What?" Gage responded only half listening to Sydney, still shaken by the conversation he'd overheard in the bank.
Later that evening Gage stopped at a small gas station, he filled his tank and stepped inside to pay. As he finished paying, he looked up just in time to see a woman leaving something on his windshield. He approached his car cautiously and saw the note placed under the windshield wipers. He looked around to see if the woman was still there. She wasn't.
"Ranger Gage, you're needed back at headquarters," came a voice over Gage's radio.
"I'm on my way," Gage replied, stuffing the unread note into his shirt pocket.
"Gage, sorry to drag you back here, but we just brought in Diego and thought that you and Sydney might want to interrogate him." Walker said as Gage entered the office.
"You bet we do." Gage responded.
After the lengthy interrogation, Gage sat down at his desk and only then did he remember the note from earlier. He took the note from his pocket and read it. As he was reading, his hands began to shake and all of the color drained from his face. He quickly stuffed the note back into his pocket as he saw Sydney approaching.
"Gage! What's wrong?" Sydney asked as she looked at her partner and noticed again how pale he was.
"I need some air." Gage got up and walked out, nearly knocking down Walker and Trivette as he hurried out of the office.
"Hey Sydney, what's up with Gage?" Trivette asked as he sat down at his desk.
"I don't know, but I'd better find out." Sydney said as she left the office to find Gage.
Gage walked outside and sat down against the side of the building. "Why couldn't she have looked my way just once?" Gage thought. "No one else could possibly have that ring, it was supposed to be one of a kind, especially designed for her." Tears stung his eyes as he thought about the ring and the woman he had had it designed for. His thoughts were interrupted as Sydney rounded the corner of the building.
"There you are. Are you OK?"
"I just need some time alone, Syd. Do me a favor, tell Walker I'm not feeling well and I'm going home." Gage started to walk away.
"Wait a minute!" Sydney yelled. "That's it, you're not even going to try to give an explanation?"
"Maybe later, OK? Call me tonight." Gage got in his car and drove away.
Sydney returned to her desk and told Walker that Gage wasn't feeling well and had gone home.
"Maybe he just needs some rest." Walker said as he got up and got a cup of coffee.
"Maybe." Sydney replied with a distant look in her eyes.
Gage's phone was ringing when he opened the door to his apartment, he picked it up. "Hello." "Hello," he repeated.
"Frank?" said the female voice on the other end of the line. "Frank, I'm in trouble. I need your help!"
"Who is this?" Gage asked.
"Frank, it's me, Laura. Your wife."
"This isn't funny. You can't possibly be Laura."
"It really is me."
"Where are you? Where have you been all of these years? What am I saying, you can't be Laura. I buried my wife almost ten years ago!" Gage screamed into the phone.
"It wasn't me, was it? It couldn't have been, because I'm here in Dallas. I saw you today in the bank and I know you saw me. How can I convince you? How about the ring? Our ring. Let's see you said you chose this shape because I thought that the Texas Rangers were more important to you than me, so you said you'd make me your special Ranger with a diamond star, remember?" The voice on the other end of the phone said, hoping that Gage was still listening.
"I remember." Gage whispered. "Where are you? What kind of trouble are you in?"
"I'll call you again tomorrow. I can't talk right now. Frank, I love you." The line went dead.
"Wait, Laura wait!" Gage yelled, then sank to the floor in shock. How could she be alive, he had ID'd her body after the car wreck. His Laura died nine and a half years ago. Who could this person be and how did she get Laura's ring?
Gage called his sister and got her machine; he left a message then went to take a cold shower. The phone was ringing when he came out of the bathroom. "Hello."
"Hey little brother, what's going on? You sounded upset on the message." Julie said with concern.
"Yea, I am a little. Jules, do you believe in ghosts?"
"What are you talking about? What's going on with you?"
"I think Laura's alive."
"Honey, you know that's impossible." Julie said calmly. "What in the world would make you think something like that?"
"She called me today."
"Frances, Laura died nine years ago in a car wreck. I was with you at the hospital when the doctor told you that they couldn't save her. I attended her funeral and held you while you grieved for her. Honey, your wife is dead. I'm sorry."
"Jules, that doesn't explain the phone call."
"Frances, listen to me, she's dead. If someone called you, it couldn't have been her. Julie tried to snap Gage back into reality.
"Then how did she know about the ring? Laura was in the bank today when I was, except I didn't realize it was her. When she left the teller described the ring to a tee." Gage said through his tears.
"She was wearing the ring when she was buried. You said the ring was one of a kind. Laura is dead."
"Jules, if she's dead, then who called me? God, as I going crazy?"
"Do you want me to come down for a few days? We could take a little vacation, just you and me. We haven't done that in a long time." Julie was very concerned about Gage. It had taken him a long time to come to terms with the loss of his wife. Whoever was calling him now was being very cruel.
"Thank, but not this time Jules. I've got to find out what's going on."
"Have you talked to Sydney?"
"No, not yet. I'm not sure where to begin. She doesn't know anything about Laura."
"Frances, talk to her, promise? I want to know that someone else knows what's going on with you right now."
"I will Jules, I promise. I love you."
"I love you too. I'll talk to you again tomorrow, OK?"
"OK, Bye." Gage hung up the phone just as the doorbell rang. He opened the door expecting to see Sydney, but instead found a manila envelope. He swallowed hard, closed the door and opened the envelope. Inside he found pictures from his wedding, pictures of Laura, a copy of their marriage certificate and a note: 'My dearest Frank, I know you're skeptical about this whole thing. I mean, face it, in your eyes I died nine years ago in an accident in Houston. You buried me, you grieved for me. Now suddenly, nine and half years later, I'm back. I know you must have many questions and I promise to answer them all if you'll meet me tomorrow at 2:00 at the address enclosed. I love you, Laura.'
Gage re-read the note as the tears once again stung his eyes. A knock on the door brought him back to the present. He got up and opened the door quickly. "Laura?" he said and found himself facing with Sydney.
"Who's Laura?" Sydney asked as she entered the apartment.
"Syd, there's so much about me that you don't know." Gage replied as he took Sydney's hand and led her to the couch.
"Same here. I mean there are things you don't know about me either."
"I'm going to tell you something, but I need for you to hear me out, OK? No interruptions."
Sydney nodded, knowing from her partners expression that this must really be something big, but nothing could have prepared her for what Gage was about to tell her.
"I met a girl in college, Laura, and we fell in love. She wasn't to crazy about the idea of me working in law enforcement, but she knew it was what I was meant to do. Laura was an artist and wanted to go into fashion design. Total opposites, right?" Gage paused to note his partner's reaction.
Sydney was listening intently.
"Right after I became a Texas Ranger, I asked Laura to marry me. She said yes. I had a very special engagement ring made for her. You see, Laura used to tell me that the Texas Rangers all stuck together and that they meant more to me than she did, so I had a jeweler create a ring to look like a star and I told her that she was my special Texas Ranger with a diamond star that she'd wear forever. I know it's sort of corny, but Laura understood."
Sydney could hardly take all of this in. Gage had been married. 'Had been,' he had said. "What happened?"
"She went out for Chinese food one night and was apparently forced off of the road. She didn't make it." Gage's voice cracked. "The doctor said she'd lost too much blood. Anyway, umm," he cleared his throat, "I buried her in Houston and a part of me along with her." Tears were streaming silently down Gage's face.
Sydney wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea."
Gage breathed deeply. "The problem is, now I'm not so sure she's dead."
Sydney froze. "What do you mean?"
"I got this note today." Gage handed Sydney the note that had been left on his car. "And I'm pretty sure that I saw her in the bank earlier. I knew something was familiar about her, but I couldn't quite place what. After she left the bank, the tellers were talking about her unusual ring with a diamond star."
"Maybe the jeweler you had to do the design for Laura made this one too." Sydney said as she read the note.
"I don't think so. It was supposed to be exclusively for Laura and the jeweler was very reputable." Gage replied. "Besides, she called me this afternoon."
"Who did?"
"Laura. She said that she would explain everything."
"Gage, there has to be a reasonable explanation." Sydney said, even though she couldn't think of one.
"What about these?" Gage showed Sydney the contents of the envelope he had received before she arrived.
"Where did these come from? Sydney asked.
"Someone left them at my door. Syd, I need a favor from you."
"Anything." Sydney replied.
"Help me find my wife." Gage pleaded.
Sydney crawled into her bed, mentally reviewing the events that had taken place at Gage's apartment. "Help me find my wife," he'd said. 'I know I said I'd do anything for him, I meant anything but that!' Sydney thought. 'I don't want to find her. Where has she been for all of these years. If she's alive, why hasn't she come to him sooner?'
Gage laid across his bed, holding Laura's picture. He glanced over at the picture of he and Sydney sitting on his nightstand. "God, Syd, I love you, but Laura was my first love. She's my wife. If she's alive I need to find her." With that thought, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but was instead plagued with nightmares about the night Laura had died and the events leading up to her death.
They had been married a little over a year; on the surface, she respected his choice of becoming a Ranger but at the same time, she resented it. She was so afraid of losing him and she, like Gage, had already lost so many people in her life.
Laura had grown up in foster care, she had lost both of her parents in an accident when she was seven. Unlike Gage and Julie, Laura had grown up in a very loving, Christian foster home.
Gage rolled in his bed as he thought of he and Laura talking at night about their childhood and how they were so alike but yet so different.
He had met her in college, she had just purchased her books for second semester. The stack she was caring was blocking her view and she didn't see Gage until it was too late. She tripped and practically fell into his lap. It was love at first sight. They went out that night and were engaged by the end of the semester. They were married a year later when Gage joined the Texas Rangers.
Gage turned again in his bed as the dream continued.
'Frank, you were almost killed today!' Laura screamed.
'Laura, it's my job! It's only a graze. I'll be fine.' Gage protested.
'That's not the point. You say you love me, you say that you love this baby I'm carrying, our baby, yet you put yourself in jeopardy everyday. I can't live like this. What if you had been killed?' Laura screamed.
Gage tossed fitfully in his sleep.
'Honey, I'm fine. I love you and I love our baby. Everything's going to be fine.' He leaned over and kissed her passionately. Laura fought to not give in, but found herself melting into Gage's kiss.
Gage continued to toss and turn.
'Laura, I'm sorry about dinner, I've got to work. Why don't you run down to that little Chinese place we like and pick up something. I'll get home as quickly as I can. I love you and the baby too!' Laura listed to the message and smiled as she picked up her purse and headed out to the car.
Gage was sweating as the dream continued.
'Ranger Gage,' he answered the phone. His knees went weak as the policeman on the other end of the line told him about the accident.
'I'm sorry Ranger, I'm afraid it doesn't look good.'
At the hospital he had tried to find someone, anyone to tell him about Laura's condition and that of the baby. He felt the life being sucked out of him when the doctor emerged from the operating room. 'Mr. Gage, I'm sorry. We did everything we could, but we couldn't save her or the baby.'
"NO-O-O-!" Gage sat bolt right up in his bed, covered with sweat.
"Gage, you look like hell." Trivette said as Gage came into the office. He did look rough. He hadn't shaved, his hair was mussed and he wore the clothes he had worn the previous day, wrinkles and all.
Gage sat down at his desk without saying a word. When Sydney came in, Trivette pulled her aside and asked her about Gage.
"Trivette, it's personal. He'll talk about it when he's ready." She glanced over at her partner, noting his appearance and how miserable he looked. "I'll see if I can get him to go home."
"Hey partner, how are you doing?"
"Syd, don't start in on me this morning."
"Do you want to talk?" Sydney offered.
"There's nothing to talk about. I told you everything last night."
"Everything?" Sydney asked.
"No, but that's beside the point."
Sydney moved her chair beside of Gage's and lowered her voice. "Gage, yesterday you were chasing ghosts, today you come into work looking like you haven't sleep in days. I'm worried about you."
Gage put his hand up to his head. "Am I going crazy, Syd? I'm supposed to met her later today. My wife. My dead wife." Gage trembled as he spoke.
"Let's get you out of here and get you cleaned up, OK?" Gage nodded and followed Sydney out to her car.
Gage and Sydney arrived at his apartment just as a figure was leaving something at his door. "Hey! Stop!" Gage shouted as he ran after the figure dressed in black. Sydney was close behind him. The figure jumped over the wall separating the apartment building and the parking garage and disappeared down the alley. Sydney caught up with Gage.
"Did you get a look at him?" Sydney asked. Gage shook his head as they returned to his apartment. Another manila envelope was propped up against the door. Gage picked it up as he and Sydney entered the apartment. Gage sat on the couch and opened the envelope, inside there were more pictures of he and Laura. Gage closed his eyes.
Sydney looked at the pictures. She took her partner's hand. "What can I do, Gage?" she asked, wanting to help, but not knowing how.
"Help me find my wife." Gage pleaded through his tears. "Syd, I can't sleep because I dream about her. I can't eat because my stomach's in knots. I can't concentrate on anything. I feel like I'm going out of my mind."
"Gage, you're not going crazy. When are you supposed to meet her?" Sydney asked.
"Two o'clock at the park." Gage answered.
Across the city, Amanda Carlson sat at the desk in her hotel room re-reading the newspaper clippings from the Houston Gazette. 'Texas Ranger's wife dies in car accident. . .' 'Matthew Carlson indicted on drug charges. . .' "Imagine that, both headlines in the same paper. You're going to pay Ranger Gage. My brother Matt ended up going out of his mind in prison and finally killed himself last month. He didn't even know me the last time I came to visit him. He was able to get heroine inside of the prison and it kept him in a cloud. I want you to pay with your sanity and your life." Amanda thought as she stared at the picture of Gage in the newspaper.
Amanda glanced through the box of pictures she had received from the photographer who had taken the wedding pictures. 'It wasn't too hard to convince some people in Houston that I was Laura. The photographer duplicated the pictures and most everything else I know was on public record, except the meaning behind the ring and a friend of Laura's was more than happy to tell me about it when I told her I was an old friend of Laura's. Now all that's left to do is call and change our meeting place from the park to the cabin, away from anyone who could help you.'
Gage's phone rang at 1:00 p.m. "Hello."
"Frank, I'm afraid to meet you in the park. I know that they're watching me."
"Who Laura, who's watching you?"
"Meet me at 223 Wilshire. It's a nice little cabin away from everything. Be sure that you're not followed." Before Gage could comment, the phone went dead.
Before leaving, Gage quickly called Sydney, he knew that she was already worried about him and would only worry more if he didn't show up for work later that evening. "Syd, it's me. Listen, Laura called and she's pretty sure that someone is following her. I'm going to meet her at the old Mile's cabin on Wilshire. Tell Walker that I'll fill him in on everything when I get back. Thanks Syd. I know I can count on you."
Sydney retrieved her messages just moments after Gage had called. She went straight to Walker's office. "Walker, do you have a minute? It's about Gage."
"Sure Sydney, what's up?"
Sydney closed the door, sat down and proceeded to tell Walker everything she knew about "Laura". "Walker, I'm afraid he's really in trouble. I talked to his sister, Julie, last night and she assured me that there was no possibility of Laura being alive. She also told me that Gage had a really rough time getting over her death, if he ever did completely. Walker, he almost went crazy."
"I believe that someone is trying to get back at him for something. They're messing with his head. But whoever this woman is has a ring that according to Gage, is made exactly like the engagement ring he had made for his wife. That's one of the main things that has him convinced that she's Laura. The ring was supposed to have been one of a kind."
Walker nodded in response. "Trivette, I need you to do something. Find out everything you can about a Laura Michaels Gage."
Trivette looked at Walker with a narrowed brow, "Gage, as in our Gage?"
"She was his wife, before she died a little over nine years ago in Houston." Sydney replied to Trivette's bewildered gaze.
"I'm on it," he said as he started to leave Walker's office.
"Trivette, go ahead and pull up Gage's information form 9-10 years back while you're at it. Try to get his arrest records around the time of his wife's death."
"Sydney, did Gage give you the address of the cabin?" Walker asked.
"He said that it was the old Mile's cabin on Wilshire."
Gage pulled up to the cabin and got out of his car. 'Laura' heard him approaching the door. "Frank, is that you?" she asked as he knocked.
"It's me." Gage said with anticipation.
She unlocked the door and Gage found himself face to face with a woman who vaguely resembled his wife and a rifle pointed at his chest. He swallowed hard. "Who are you and what's this all about?"
"Sit down and put these on," the woman ordered as she motioned to a wooden chair in the middle of the room with a set of handcuffs attached to each arm.
"Walker, I think I've got something." Trivette bringing up some information on his screen.
"Let's have it" Walker said as he and Sydney sat down around Trivette's desk.
"It's a headline in the Houston Gazette, 'Texas Ranger's wife dies in car accident.' Laura Gage was killed in a car accident in Houston on May 26, 1990. It goes on to say that a drunk driver apparently forced her off of the road. Walker, she was a few months pregnant at the time." Trivette looked up to see Sydney and Walkers expressions. Sydney closed her eyes and looked away from Walker and Trivette. "In the same paper, there's an article about a Matthew Carlson who was indicted on drug charges and sentenced to 50 years. I've cross-referenced Gage's arrest records, he was the arresting officer. That's not all. The cemetery where Laura was buried has had several reports of grave robberies, her's was one of them."
"So someone could have the ring." Sydney said.
"We had better get to that cabin. I have a feeling that the two articles in this paper are related." Walker, Trivette and Sydney climbed into Walker's truck and sped towards the cabin.
"You could at least tell me who you are and what this is all about," Gage said as 'Laura' stared at him from across the room.
"You killed my brother, Ranger. You robbed him of his sanity, then you killed him." Amanda replied.
"Who was your brother?" Gage asked.
"Matthew Carlson."
"That was one of my first busts. He was working with the Marcos brothers, handling part of their cocaine operation."
"He was trying to feed his family. Because of you, he was sentenced to 50 years. While he was in prison, his cellmate got him hooked on heroine and he didn't even know who I was the last few times I saw him. Last month he knotted bed sheets together and hung himself."
"I'm sorry your brother killed himself."
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Amanda said as she pointed the rifle at him again.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Laura, remember?" Amanda said as she held up her ring finger to expose the star shaped diamond.
"How did you get that anyway and the pictures?" Gage asked.
"A friend of mine. He's into robbing graves."
Gage looked down, sickenrst y the thought of anyone disturbing the dead. "It is the ring you gave your wife. The inscription reads 'For my special Ranger. Love F. Gage' As far as the pictures, I got those from the photographer. I really had you going didn't I? You really believed that she was alive."
"I wanted to believe that she was alive." Gage replied. "You never did tell me your name."
"It's Amanda."
"Well, Amanda, what now? Are you going to shoot me or what?"
"I'll shoot you when I'm good and ready, bur first I need to prepare the cabin." She picked up two large cans of gasoline and began to pour them around the cabin floor and splash the cabin walls. She circled the chair where Gage was handcuffed. "I want you to die slowly and painfully," she explained as she hoisted the rifle to a shooting position then pointed it at Gage's upper right shoulder area and pulled the trigger.
Gage cried out in pain as the blast from the rifle propelled him and the chair he was secured to down to the floor. "Amanda, don't do this!" Gage screamed at her as she dropped the match onto the cabin floor and ran out the door straight into Walker, Trivette and Sydney.
"Sydney, cuff her. We'll get Gage." Walker said as he and Trivette ran into the burning cabin. They entered to find a wall of flames and thick black smoke. "Gage! Where are you?" Walker shouted.
"Here!" Gage replied.
"Over here Walker," Trivette said as he headed through the smoke to where Gage lay bleeding. With a swift kick, Walker broke the arms off of the chair which held Gage and he and Trivette gathered Gage between then and made their way out of the burning cabin.
Sydney had handcuffed Amanda and locked her in Walker's truck. When the three Rangers emerged from the burning cabin, she ran to assist them.
"Here partner, just lean back on me. You're going to be OK." Sydney said as she put her arms around Gage. "Walker, the fire department and paramedics are on their way." Sydney stroked Gage's hair. "Hang in there, you're going to be OK."
"Sydney, you were right. She wasn't Laura. Her name is Amanda Carlson." Gage winced as he tried to sit up. "She has Laura's ring though and I want it back!"
"Easy Gage. We'll make sure you get it." Walker said as he removed the handcuffs from Gage's wrists. "Right now, you're going to the hospital and get that shoulder taken care of."
When they arrived at the hospital, Gage was treated for smoke inhalation and had his shoulder stitched up, then released with the promise of rest for the next 48 hours.
"Do you mind some company?" Sydney asked as she and Gage entered his apartment.
Gage smiled. "I think I could use some."
"Do you want some coffee?" Sydney asked as Gage sat down on the couch.
"Sure."
Sydney brought two cups of coffee into the living room and sat down beside Gage.
"What is it?" She asked.
"I was just thinking."
"About Laura?"
Gage nodded. "Sometimes I miss her so much and I think about what life would have been like if she and the baby hadn't died." Gage closed his eyes.
"Gage, I'm so sorry about your family. I can't imagine what you've been through. A lot of people wouldn't have been able to go on after losing so much."
"As long as you know about Laura's death, I want you to know the rest of the story." Sydney looked at Gage, attentively.
"I almost didn't make it, Syd. After Laura's funeral, I went home and started drinking. Julie wanted to come home with me, but I convinced her that I was OK and needed some time alone. I've never told anyone this Syd, not even Julie, but I don't want to keep anymore secrets from you." Gage looked at Sydney and continued.
"I downed a bottle of "Jack" and looked at pictures, read letters and held one of her scarves just to feel near to her for what seemed like hours. Then I sat down at the table and took out my service revolver and put it in my mouth." Tears were streaming down Gage face and Sydney's too. "I had my finger on the trigger Syd and if Julie hadn't have knocked on the door right then, I would have pulled it."
"You don't know that." Sydney replied between her tears.
"Yes I do Syd. I wanted to end it. I felt like I had lost everything."
"How about now?" Sydney asked.
"I'm OK. I have close friends like you, Walker and Trivette. But you're the only one I could ever tell this to. I know you won't tell anyone else." Gage said as he patted Sydney's leg.
"I'm going to Houston for a couple of days though, I need to do something."
"Would you like for me to go along?" Sydney was worried about Gage's state of mind.
"No, I need to do this myself. I have a flight out in the morning. I really am OK Syd. I didn't tell you what I told you to scare you or to make you worry. I just didn't want you to get the impression that I didn't care about my wife or that her death didn't affect me. It did, dramatically. That's why I've tried to push it to the back of my mind and that's why I've never told you that I had been married before. I'm not trying to keep secrets from you."
"I know that."
"I still want us to be upfront and honest with each other." Gage took Sydney's hand.
"I want that too. And I do understand about your wife. Be careful in Houston." Sydney replied.
"I will." Gage kissed Sydney on the cheek as she left his apartment.
Gage approached Laura's grave and took the ring from his pocket. "I had intended for you to wear this forever, but I see it's made its way back to me." Gage said as he knelt beside of the grave. Just then a beautiful white dove landed on Laura's headstone and cooed. Gage smiled and put the ring back into his pocket. "You do understand, don't you Laura? I'm still trying to move on. I know you'd want me to be happy. I've found someone who makes me happy, but I haven't told her yet."
"Good morning Gage." Walker said as he entered Ranger Headquarters. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine." Gage replied. "Walker, thanks for letting me take a few days."
"Are you sure a couple of days were enough?" Walker asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine. My shoulder's a little stiff, but it's getting better."
Later that evening Sydney had Gage over for dinner. After they finished eating, Gage motioned for Sydney to join him in the living room. "Syd, I want you to have this." Gage said as he pulled a small box from his pocket and gave it to Sydney.
"Gage, I can't. We can't, it would complicate everything." Sydney said as she looked at the unopened box.
Gage opened the box and took the star shaped diamond ring from its spot in the plush velvet liner, he then took Sydney's right hand. "Consider it a friendship ring for now." Gage slipped the ring onto her finger.
"Gage, it's beautiful, but this ring had so much meaning for you and Laura."
"It has a lot of meaning for me and you too. I'm sure Laura understands. Syd, you mean so much to me. More than I've ever told you. Please keep the ring."
Sydney nodded, leaned over and kissed Gage.
"Syd. I love you." Gage said as he gazed into her eyes.
"I love you too."
Later that evening when Gage returned to his apartment, he sat down on the couch and realized that he finally felt at peace with himself concerning Laura's death and the loss of his unborn child and he had finally confessed his feelings for Sydney.
"Think of Laura"
by Christopher Cross
Hey Laura, Laura, ooh
Hey Laura, Laura
Every once in awhile, I'd see her smile
She'd turn my day around.
Girl with those eyes, stared through the lies
And see what your heart was saying
CHORUS
When you think of Laura, laugh don't cry
I know she'd want it that way, hey-ey
When you think of Laura, laugh don't cry
I know she'd want it that way.
A friend of a friend, a friend to the end
That's the kind of girl she was
Taken away so young.
Taken away without warning
CHORUS
I know you, you're here.
In everyday we live.
I know her and she's here
I can feel her when I sing.
Hey Laura, where are you now?
Are you far away from here?
I don't think so
I think you're near, taking our tears away.
CHORUS
By: Lorrie
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.)
"Syd, I need to stop by the bank, OK? I'll only be a minute." Gage said as they approached the Dallas First National Bank.
"Hurry up!" Sydney said as she pulled into the bank parking lot.
While standing in line, Gage noticed a woman walk in; she approached the teller nearest to the entrance. She moved her hands as she talked and Gage noticed something vaguely familiar about her, but couldn't place exactly what. She never looked in his direction but something kept nagging at him, a feeling that he should know her.
It was Gage's turn at the window. As he waited for the teller to complete his transaction, he overheard two of the other tellers talking about the woman who had just left. "Did you see her ring? I've never seen anything like it. It was like two rings intertwined; the engagement ring was a marques solitaire with a diamond enhancer with four smaller triangular diamonds, it's hard to explain." It was obvious that the girls were taken with this ring. "Together the diamonds made the shape of a star. I've never seen anything quire like it." Gage swallowed hard and quickly exited the bank and approached the car.
Sydney noticed how pale her partner looked. "Hey, are you OK? You didn't rob the bank, did you?" she laughed.
"What?" Gage responded only half listening to Sydney, still shaken by the conversation he'd overheard in the bank.
Later that evening Gage stopped at a small gas station, he filled his tank and stepped inside to pay. As he finished paying, he looked up just in time to see a woman leaving something on his windshield. He approached his car cautiously and saw the note placed under the windshield wipers. He looked around to see if the woman was still there. She wasn't.
"Ranger Gage, you're needed back at headquarters," came a voice over Gage's radio.
"I'm on my way," Gage replied, stuffing the unread note into his shirt pocket.
"Gage, sorry to drag you back here, but we just brought in Diego and thought that you and Sydney might want to interrogate him." Walker said as Gage entered the office.
"You bet we do." Gage responded.
After the lengthy interrogation, Gage sat down at his desk and only then did he remember the note from earlier. He took the note from his pocket and read it. As he was reading, his hands began to shake and all of the color drained from his face. He quickly stuffed the note back into his pocket as he saw Sydney approaching.
"Gage! What's wrong?" Sydney asked as she looked at her partner and noticed again how pale he was.
"I need some air." Gage got up and walked out, nearly knocking down Walker and Trivette as he hurried out of the office.
"Hey Sydney, what's up with Gage?" Trivette asked as he sat down at his desk.
"I don't know, but I'd better find out." Sydney said as she left the office to find Gage.
Gage walked outside and sat down against the side of the building. "Why couldn't she have looked my way just once?" Gage thought. "No one else could possibly have that ring, it was supposed to be one of a kind, especially designed for her." Tears stung his eyes as he thought about the ring and the woman he had had it designed for. His thoughts were interrupted as Sydney rounded the corner of the building.
"There you are. Are you OK?"
"I just need some time alone, Syd. Do me a favor, tell Walker I'm not feeling well and I'm going home." Gage started to walk away.
"Wait a minute!" Sydney yelled. "That's it, you're not even going to try to give an explanation?"
"Maybe later, OK? Call me tonight." Gage got in his car and drove away.
Sydney returned to her desk and told Walker that Gage wasn't feeling well and had gone home.
"Maybe he just needs some rest." Walker said as he got up and got a cup of coffee.
"Maybe." Sydney replied with a distant look in her eyes.
Gage's phone was ringing when he opened the door to his apartment, he picked it up. "Hello." "Hello," he repeated.
"Frank?" said the female voice on the other end of the line. "Frank, I'm in trouble. I need your help!"
"Who is this?" Gage asked.
"Frank, it's me, Laura. Your wife."
"This isn't funny. You can't possibly be Laura."
"It really is me."
"Where are you? Where have you been all of these years? What am I saying, you can't be Laura. I buried my wife almost ten years ago!" Gage screamed into the phone.
"It wasn't me, was it? It couldn't have been, because I'm here in Dallas. I saw you today in the bank and I know you saw me. How can I convince you? How about the ring? Our ring. Let's see you said you chose this shape because I thought that the Texas Rangers were more important to you than me, so you said you'd make me your special Ranger with a diamond star, remember?" The voice on the other end of the phone said, hoping that Gage was still listening.
"I remember." Gage whispered. "Where are you? What kind of trouble are you in?"
"I'll call you again tomorrow. I can't talk right now. Frank, I love you." The line went dead.
"Wait, Laura wait!" Gage yelled, then sank to the floor in shock. How could she be alive, he had ID'd her body after the car wreck. His Laura died nine and a half years ago. Who could this person be and how did she get Laura's ring?
Gage called his sister and got her machine; he left a message then went to take a cold shower. The phone was ringing when he came out of the bathroom. "Hello."
"Hey little brother, what's going on? You sounded upset on the message." Julie said with concern.
"Yea, I am a little. Jules, do you believe in ghosts?"
"What are you talking about? What's going on with you?"
"I think Laura's alive."
"Honey, you know that's impossible." Julie said calmly. "What in the world would make you think something like that?"
"She called me today."
"Frances, Laura died nine years ago in a car wreck. I was with you at the hospital when the doctor told you that they couldn't save her. I attended her funeral and held you while you grieved for her. Honey, your wife is dead. I'm sorry."
"Jules, that doesn't explain the phone call."
"Frances, listen to me, she's dead. If someone called you, it couldn't have been her. Julie tried to snap Gage back into reality.
"Then how did she know about the ring? Laura was in the bank today when I was, except I didn't realize it was her. When she left the teller described the ring to a tee." Gage said through his tears.
"She was wearing the ring when she was buried. You said the ring was one of a kind. Laura is dead."
"Jules, if she's dead, then who called me? God, as I going crazy?"
"Do you want me to come down for a few days? We could take a little vacation, just you and me. We haven't done that in a long time." Julie was very concerned about Gage. It had taken him a long time to come to terms with the loss of his wife. Whoever was calling him now was being very cruel.
"Thank, but not this time Jules. I've got to find out what's going on."
"Have you talked to Sydney?"
"No, not yet. I'm not sure where to begin. She doesn't know anything about Laura."
"Frances, talk to her, promise? I want to know that someone else knows what's going on with you right now."
"I will Jules, I promise. I love you."
"I love you too. I'll talk to you again tomorrow, OK?"
"OK, Bye." Gage hung up the phone just as the doorbell rang. He opened the door expecting to see Sydney, but instead found a manila envelope. He swallowed hard, closed the door and opened the envelope. Inside he found pictures from his wedding, pictures of Laura, a copy of their marriage certificate and a note: 'My dearest Frank, I know you're skeptical about this whole thing. I mean, face it, in your eyes I died nine years ago in an accident in Houston. You buried me, you grieved for me. Now suddenly, nine and half years later, I'm back. I know you must have many questions and I promise to answer them all if you'll meet me tomorrow at 2:00 at the address enclosed. I love you, Laura.'
Gage re-read the note as the tears once again stung his eyes. A knock on the door brought him back to the present. He got up and opened the door quickly. "Laura?" he said and found himself facing with Sydney.
"Who's Laura?" Sydney asked as she entered the apartment.
"Syd, there's so much about me that you don't know." Gage replied as he took Sydney's hand and led her to the couch.
"Same here. I mean there are things you don't know about me either."
"I'm going to tell you something, but I need for you to hear me out, OK? No interruptions."
Sydney nodded, knowing from her partners expression that this must really be something big, but nothing could have prepared her for what Gage was about to tell her.
"I met a girl in college, Laura, and we fell in love. She wasn't to crazy about the idea of me working in law enforcement, but she knew it was what I was meant to do. Laura was an artist and wanted to go into fashion design. Total opposites, right?" Gage paused to note his partner's reaction.
Sydney was listening intently.
"Right after I became a Texas Ranger, I asked Laura to marry me. She said yes. I had a very special engagement ring made for her. You see, Laura used to tell me that the Texas Rangers all stuck together and that they meant more to me than she did, so I had a jeweler create a ring to look like a star and I told her that she was my special Texas Ranger with a diamond star that she'd wear forever. I know it's sort of corny, but Laura understood."
Sydney could hardly take all of this in. Gage had been married. 'Had been,' he had said. "What happened?"
"She went out for Chinese food one night and was apparently forced off of the road. She didn't make it." Gage's voice cracked. "The doctor said she'd lost too much blood. Anyway, umm," he cleared his throat, "I buried her in Houston and a part of me along with her." Tears were streaming silently down Gage's face.
Sydney wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea."
Gage breathed deeply. "The problem is, now I'm not so sure she's dead."
Sydney froze. "What do you mean?"
"I got this note today." Gage handed Sydney the note that had been left on his car. "And I'm pretty sure that I saw her in the bank earlier. I knew something was familiar about her, but I couldn't quite place what. After she left the bank, the tellers were talking about her unusual ring with a diamond star."
"Maybe the jeweler you had to do the design for Laura made this one too." Sydney said as she read the note.
"I don't think so. It was supposed to be exclusively for Laura and the jeweler was very reputable." Gage replied. "Besides, she called me this afternoon."
"Who did?"
"Laura. She said that she would explain everything."
"Gage, there has to be a reasonable explanation." Sydney said, even though she couldn't think of one.
"What about these?" Gage showed Sydney the contents of the envelope he had received before she arrived.
"Where did these come from? Sydney asked.
"Someone left them at my door. Syd, I need a favor from you."
"Anything." Sydney replied.
"Help me find my wife." Gage pleaded.
Sydney crawled into her bed, mentally reviewing the events that had taken place at Gage's apartment. "Help me find my wife," he'd said. 'I know I said I'd do anything for him, I meant anything but that!' Sydney thought. 'I don't want to find her. Where has she been for all of these years. If she's alive, why hasn't she come to him sooner?'
Gage laid across his bed, holding Laura's picture. He glanced over at the picture of he and Sydney sitting on his nightstand. "God, Syd, I love you, but Laura was my first love. She's my wife. If she's alive I need to find her." With that thought, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but was instead plagued with nightmares about the night Laura had died and the events leading up to her death.
They had been married a little over a year; on the surface, she respected his choice of becoming a Ranger but at the same time, she resented it. She was so afraid of losing him and she, like Gage, had already lost so many people in her life.
Laura had grown up in foster care, she had lost both of her parents in an accident when she was seven. Unlike Gage and Julie, Laura had grown up in a very loving, Christian foster home.
Gage rolled in his bed as he thought of he and Laura talking at night about their childhood and how they were so alike but yet so different.
He had met her in college, she had just purchased her books for second semester. The stack she was caring was blocking her view and she didn't see Gage until it was too late. She tripped and practically fell into his lap. It was love at first sight. They went out that night and were engaged by the end of the semester. They were married a year later when Gage joined the Texas Rangers.
Gage turned again in his bed as the dream continued.
'Frank, you were almost killed today!' Laura screamed.
'Laura, it's my job! It's only a graze. I'll be fine.' Gage protested.
'That's not the point. You say you love me, you say that you love this baby I'm carrying, our baby, yet you put yourself in jeopardy everyday. I can't live like this. What if you had been killed?' Laura screamed.
Gage tossed fitfully in his sleep.
'Honey, I'm fine. I love you and I love our baby. Everything's going to be fine.' He leaned over and kissed her passionately. Laura fought to not give in, but found herself melting into Gage's kiss.
Gage continued to toss and turn.
'Laura, I'm sorry about dinner, I've got to work. Why don't you run down to that little Chinese place we like and pick up something. I'll get home as quickly as I can. I love you and the baby too!' Laura listed to the message and smiled as she picked up her purse and headed out to the car.
Gage was sweating as the dream continued.
'Ranger Gage,' he answered the phone. His knees went weak as the policeman on the other end of the line told him about the accident.
'I'm sorry Ranger, I'm afraid it doesn't look good.'
At the hospital he had tried to find someone, anyone to tell him about Laura's condition and that of the baby. He felt the life being sucked out of him when the doctor emerged from the operating room. 'Mr. Gage, I'm sorry. We did everything we could, but we couldn't save her or the baby.'
"NO-O-O-!" Gage sat bolt right up in his bed, covered with sweat.
"Gage, you look like hell." Trivette said as Gage came into the office. He did look rough. He hadn't shaved, his hair was mussed and he wore the clothes he had worn the previous day, wrinkles and all.
Gage sat down at his desk without saying a word. When Sydney came in, Trivette pulled her aside and asked her about Gage.
"Trivette, it's personal. He'll talk about it when he's ready." She glanced over at her partner, noting his appearance and how miserable he looked. "I'll see if I can get him to go home."
"Hey partner, how are you doing?"
"Syd, don't start in on me this morning."
"Do you want to talk?" Sydney offered.
"There's nothing to talk about. I told you everything last night."
"Everything?" Sydney asked.
"No, but that's beside the point."
Sydney moved her chair beside of Gage's and lowered her voice. "Gage, yesterday you were chasing ghosts, today you come into work looking like you haven't sleep in days. I'm worried about you."
Gage put his hand up to his head. "Am I going crazy, Syd? I'm supposed to met her later today. My wife. My dead wife." Gage trembled as he spoke.
"Let's get you out of here and get you cleaned up, OK?" Gage nodded and followed Sydney out to her car.
Gage and Sydney arrived at his apartment just as a figure was leaving something at his door. "Hey! Stop!" Gage shouted as he ran after the figure dressed in black. Sydney was close behind him. The figure jumped over the wall separating the apartment building and the parking garage and disappeared down the alley. Sydney caught up with Gage.
"Did you get a look at him?" Sydney asked. Gage shook his head as they returned to his apartment. Another manila envelope was propped up against the door. Gage picked it up as he and Sydney entered the apartment. Gage sat on the couch and opened the envelope, inside there were more pictures of he and Laura. Gage closed his eyes.
Sydney looked at the pictures. She took her partner's hand. "What can I do, Gage?" she asked, wanting to help, but not knowing how.
"Help me find my wife." Gage pleaded through his tears. "Syd, I can't sleep because I dream about her. I can't eat because my stomach's in knots. I can't concentrate on anything. I feel like I'm going out of my mind."
"Gage, you're not going crazy. When are you supposed to meet her?" Sydney asked.
"Two o'clock at the park." Gage answered.
Across the city, Amanda Carlson sat at the desk in her hotel room re-reading the newspaper clippings from the Houston Gazette. 'Texas Ranger's wife dies in car accident. . .' 'Matthew Carlson indicted on drug charges. . .' "Imagine that, both headlines in the same paper. You're going to pay Ranger Gage. My brother Matt ended up going out of his mind in prison and finally killed himself last month. He didn't even know me the last time I came to visit him. He was able to get heroine inside of the prison and it kept him in a cloud. I want you to pay with your sanity and your life." Amanda thought as she stared at the picture of Gage in the newspaper.
Amanda glanced through the box of pictures she had received from the photographer who had taken the wedding pictures. 'It wasn't too hard to convince some people in Houston that I was Laura. The photographer duplicated the pictures and most everything else I know was on public record, except the meaning behind the ring and a friend of Laura's was more than happy to tell me about it when I told her I was an old friend of Laura's. Now all that's left to do is call and change our meeting place from the park to the cabin, away from anyone who could help you.'
Gage's phone rang at 1:00 p.m. "Hello."
"Frank, I'm afraid to meet you in the park. I know that they're watching me."
"Who Laura, who's watching you?"
"Meet me at 223 Wilshire. It's a nice little cabin away from everything. Be sure that you're not followed." Before Gage could comment, the phone went dead.
Before leaving, Gage quickly called Sydney, he knew that she was already worried about him and would only worry more if he didn't show up for work later that evening. "Syd, it's me. Listen, Laura called and she's pretty sure that someone is following her. I'm going to meet her at the old Mile's cabin on Wilshire. Tell Walker that I'll fill him in on everything when I get back. Thanks Syd. I know I can count on you."
Sydney retrieved her messages just moments after Gage had called. She went straight to Walker's office. "Walker, do you have a minute? It's about Gage."
"Sure Sydney, what's up?"
Sydney closed the door, sat down and proceeded to tell Walker everything she knew about "Laura". "Walker, I'm afraid he's really in trouble. I talked to his sister, Julie, last night and she assured me that there was no possibility of Laura being alive. She also told me that Gage had a really rough time getting over her death, if he ever did completely. Walker, he almost went crazy."
"I believe that someone is trying to get back at him for something. They're messing with his head. But whoever this woman is has a ring that according to Gage, is made exactly like the engagement ring he had made for his wife. That's one of the main things that has him convinced that she's Laura. The ring was supposed to have been one of a kind."
Walker nodded in response. "Trivette, I need you to do something. Find out everything you can about a Laura Michaels Gage."
Trivette looked at Walker with a narrowed brow, "Gage, as in our Gage?"
"She was his wife, before she died a little over nine years ago in Houston." Sydney replied to Trivette's bewildered gaze.
"I'm on it," he said as he started to leave Walker's office.
"Trivette, go ahead and pull up Gage's information form 9-10 years back while you're at it. Try to get his arrest records around the time of his wife's death."
"Sydney, did Gage give you the address of the cabin?" Walker asked.
"He said that it was the old Mile's cabin on Wilshire."
Gage pulled up to the cabin and got out of his car. 'Laura' heard him approaching the door. "Frank, is that you?" she asked as he knocked.
"It's me." Gage said with anticipation.
She unlocked the door and Gage found himself face to face with a woman who vaguely resembled his wife and a rifle pointed at his chest. He swallowed hard. "Who are you and what's this all about?"
"Sit down and put these on," the woman ordered as she motioned to a wooden chair in the middle of the room with a set of handcuffs attached to each arm.
"Walker, I think I've got something." Trivette bringing up some information on his screen.
"Let's have it" Walker said as he and Sydney sat down around Trivette's desk.
"It's a headline in the Houston Gazette, 'Texas Ranger's wife dies in car accident.' Laura Gage was killed in a car accident in Houston on May 26, 1990. It goes on to say that a drunk driver apparently forced her off of the road. Walker, she was a few months pregnant at the time." Trivette looked up to see Sydney and Walkers expressions. Sydney closed her eyes and looked away from Walker and Trivette. "In the same paper, there's an article about a Matthew Carlson who was indicted on drug charges and sentenced to 50 years. I've cross-referenced Gage's arrest records, he was the arresting officer. That's not all. The cemetery where Laura was buried has had several reports of grave robberies, her's was one of them."
"So someone could have the ring." Sydney said.
"We had better get to that cabin. I have a feeling that the two articles in this paper are related." Walker, Trivette and Sydney climbed into Walker's truck and sped towards the cabin.
"You could at least tell me who you are and what this is all about," Gage said as 'Laura' stared at him from across the room.
"You killed my brother, Ranger. You robbed him of his sanity, then you killed him." Amanda replied.
"Who was your brother?" Gage asked.
"Matthew Carlson."
"That was one of my first busts. He was working with the Marcos brothers, handling part of their cocaine operation."
"He was trying to feed his family. Because of you, he was sentenced to 50 years. While he was in prison, his cellmate got him hooked on heroine and he didn't even know who I was the last few times I saw him. Last month he knotted bed sheets together and hung himself."
"I'm sorry your brother killed himself."
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Amanda said as she pointed the rifle at him again.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Laura, remember?" Amanda said as she held up her ring finger to expose the star shaped diamond.
"How did you get that anyway and the pictures?" Gage asked.
"A friend of mine. He's into robbing graves."
Gage looked down, sickenrst y the thought of anyone disturbing the dead. "It is the ring you gave your wife. The inscription reads 'For my special Ranger. Love F. Gage' As far as the pictures, I got those from the photographer. I really had you going didn't I? You really believed that she was alive."
"I wanted to believe that she was alive." Gage replied. "You never did tell me your name."
"It's Amanda."
"Well, Amanda, what now? Are you going to shoot me or what?"
"I'll shoot you when I'm good and ready, bur first I need to prepare the cabin." She picked up two large cans of gasoline and began to pour them around the cabin floor and splash the cabin walls. She circled the chair where Gage was handcuffed. "I want you to die slowly and painfully," she explained as she hoisted the rifle to a shooting position then pointed it at Gage's upper right shoulder area and pulled the trigger.
Gage cried out in pain as the blast from the rifle propelled him and the chair he was secured to down to the floor. "Amanda, don't do this!" Gage screamed at her as she dropped the match onto the cabin floor and ran out the door straight into Walker, Trivette and Sydney.
"Sydney, cuff her. We'll get Gage." Walker said as he and Trivette ran into the burning cabin. They entered to find a wall of flames and thick black smoke. "Gage! Where are you?" Walker shouted.
"Here!" Gage replied.
"Over here Walker," Trivette said as he headed through the smoke to where Gage lay bleeding. With a swift kick, Walker broke the arms off of the chair which held Gage and he and Trivette gathered Gage between then and made their way out of the burning cabin.
Sydney had handcuffed Amanda and locked her in Walker's truck. When the three Rangers emerged from the burning cabin, she ran to assist them.
"Here partner, just lean back on me. You're going to be OK." Sydney said as she put her arms around Gage. "Walker, the fire department and paramedics are on their way." Sydney stroked Gage's hair. "Hang in there, you're going to be OK."
"Sydney, you were right. She wasn't Laura. Her name is Amanda Carlson." Gage winced as he tried to sit up. "She has Laura's ring though and I want it back!"
"Easy Gage. We'll make sure you get it." Walker said as he removed the handcuffs from Gage's wrists. "Right now, you're going to the hospital and get that shoulder taken care of."
When they arrived at the hospital, Gage was treated for smoke inhalation and had his shoulder stitched up, then released with the promise of rest for the next 48 hours.
"Do you mind some company?" Sydney asked as she and Gage entered his apartment.
Gage smiled. "I think I could use some."
"Do you want some coffee?" Sydney asked as Gage sat down on the couch.
"Sure."
Sydney brought two cups of coffee into the living room and sat down beside Gage.
"What is it?" She asked.
"I was just thinking."
"About Laura?"
Gage nodded. "Sometimes I miss her so much and I think about what life would have been like if she and the baby hadn't died." Gage closed his eyes.
"Gage, I'm so sorry about your family. I can't imagine what you've been through. A lot of people wouldn't have been able to go on after losing so much."
"As long as you know about Laura's death, I want you to know the rest of the story." Sydney looked at Gage, attentively.
"I almost didn't make it, Syd. After Laura's funeral, I went home and started drinking. Julie wanted to come home with me, but I convinced her that I was OK and needed some time alone. I've never told anyone this Syd, not even Julie, but I don't want to keep anymore secrets from you." Gage looked at Sydney and continued.
"I downed a bottle of "Jack" and looked at pictures, read letters and held one of her scarves just to feel near to her for what seemed like hours. Then I sat down at the table and took out my service revolver and put it in my mouth." Tears were streaming down Gage face and Sydney's too. "I had my finger on the trigger Syd and if Julie hadn't have knocked on the door right then, I would have pulled it."
"You don't know that." Sydney replied between her tears.
"Yes I do Syd. I wanted to end it. I felt like I had lost everything."
"How about now?" Sydney asked.
"I'm OK. I have close friends like you, Walker and Trivette. But you're the only one I could ever tell this to. I know you won't tell anyone else." Gage said as he patted Sydney's leg.
"I'm going to Houston for a couple of days though, I need to do something."
"Would you like for me to go along?" Sydney was worried about Gage's state of mind.
"No, I need to do this myself. I have a flight out in the morning. I really am OK Syd. I didn't tell you what I told you to scare you or to make you worry. I just didn't want you to get the impression that I didn't care about my wife or that her death didn't affect me. It did, dramatically. That's why I've tried to push it to the back of my mind and that's why I've never told you that I had been married before. I'm not trying to keep secrets from you."
"I know that."
"I still want us to be upfront and honest with each other." Gage took Sydney's hand.
"I want that too. And I do understand about your wife. Be careful in Houston." Sydney replied.
"I will." Gage kissed Sydney on the cheek as she left his apartment.
Gage approached Laura's grave and took the ring from his pocket. "I had intended for you to wear this forever, but I see it's made its way back to me." Gage said as he knelt beside of the grave. Just then a beautiful white dove landed on Laura's headstone and cooed. Gage smiled and put the ring back into his pocket. "You do understand, don't you Laura? I'm still trying to move on. I know you'd want me to be happy. I've found someone who makes me happy, but I haven't told her yet."
"Good morning Gage." Walker said as he entered Ranger Headquarters. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine." Gage replied. "Walker, thanks for letting me take a few days."
"Are you sure a couple of days were enough?" Walker asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine. My shoulder's a little stiff, but it's getting better."
Later that evening Sydney had Gage over for dinner. After they finished eating, Gage motioned for Sydney to join him in the living room. "Syd, I want you to have this." Gage said as he pulled a small box from his pocket and gave it to Sydney.
"Gage, I can't. We can't, it would complicate everything." Sydney said as she looked at the unopened box.
Gage opened the box and took the star shaped diamond ring from its spot in the plush velvet liner, he then took Sydney's right hand. "Consider it a friendship ring for now." Gage slipped the ring onto her finger.
"Gage, it's beautiful, but this ring had so much meaning for you and Laura."
"It has a lot of meaning for me and you too. I'm sure Laura understands. Syd, you mean so much to me. More than I've ever told you. Please keep the ring."
Sydney nodded, leaned over and kissed Gage.
"Syd. I love you." Gage said as he gazed into her eyes.
"I love you too."
Later that evening when Gage returned to his apartment, he sat down on the couch and realized that he finally felt at peace with himself concerning Laura's death and the loss of his unborn child and he had finally confessed his feelings for Sydney.
"Think of Laura"
by Christopher Cross
Hey Laura, Laura, ooh
Hey Laura, Laura
Every once in awhile, I'd see her smile
She'd turn my day around.
Girl with those eyes, stared through the lies
And see what your heart was saying
CHORUS
When you think of Laura, laugh don't cry
I know she'd want it that way, hey-ey
When you think of Laura, laugh don't cry
I know she'd want it that way.
A friend of a friend, a friend to the end
That's the kind of girl she was
Taken away so young.
Taken away without warning
CHORUS
I know you, you're here.
In everyday we live.
I know her and she's here
I can feel her when I sing.
Hey Laura, where are you now?
Are you far away from here?
I don't think so
I think you're near, taking our tears away.
CHORUS