This took a completely different turn than what I had originally planned for it to be. But I'm rather attached to it now. I hope you all enjoy it as well!

Disclaimer: Any and all recognizable characters and objects/places are not mine. No profit (other than entertainment and amusement) is being made and no copyright infringement is intended. The only things I can claim are my original characters and possibly Big Texas Burgers.

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Waco, Texas

It was a normal afternoon at Big Texas Burgers. The late lunch patrons had finished their meals, and the early dinner crowd had not yet arrived. There were a few people grabbing a bite to eat, but the dining room was sparsely populated at three pm.

"Hey, Joey, you done with those dishes yet?" one of the cooks called out as he passed by the sink. He winked at the younger man. "Don't want you to have to stay late tonight; might miss that hot date you've been talkin' about."

"Yeah, yeah," Joey shot back, his blue eyes twinkling as he laughed good-naturedly. "At least I don't have trash duty."

The cook, a short, pudgy, balding man in his late forties, rolled his eyes as he looked down at the plastic sack in his hand. "Can't argue with ya there." He crossed the room to the back door, using his empty left hand to turn the knob.

Stepping outside, he blinked against the bright afternoon sun as he made his way to the dumpster several yards from the building. He pushed open the door on the side of the metal container, depositing the trash bag inside, then sliding the door shut again.

As he turned to head back into the restaurant, a man rounded the corner of the building. "Hey, Ted," he greeted. Even though his voice was filled with familiarity, it wasn't the normal friendly tone a long-lost friend would use. His expression matched the malice in his voice.

"Jason!" the cook responded in surprise. His eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks, glancing nervously towards the back entrance of the restaurant. "It's been awhile. How're you?"

"Oh, just about how'd you expect," Jason shrugged. A gust of wind blew by just then, though it hardly ruffled his long, greasy hair under his battered black cowboy hat. His eyes darkened. "How do you think I've been? Waiting around in a cell for the past ten years, all by myself!" His voice rose with the last sentence.

Ted raised his hands in front of him. "Now, now, Jason, you have to understand –"

A shot broke the air, the surroundings stilling for a moment as the echo reverberated off the nearby walls.

Lowering the pistol, Jason smirked at the body lying in the dirt. "Understand what?" he asked, before turning and strolling back around the corner the way he had come.

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"Somebody's been busy," US Marshal Annie Frost remarked as she passed by her partner's desk.

Her partner, Jimmy Godfrey, looked up from the file he was reading. "What's that?"

"You, your desk." She smirked. "Most of the time, you couldn't find a needle in that haystack to save your life."

"Hey, I know where to find things when I need them," he returned with a grin.

"Uh-huh."

"Guys," Marco Martinez interrupted as he strode past them. "We've got a fugitive."

The team was soon gathered in the conference room, going over the information on their newest case. Annie had reviewed the details while the rest of the team joined them, and she now gave the others the run-down on their target.

"This is Jason Kendrick," she said, bringing up a mug shot on the large wall screen. It showed a man in his late thirties, with stringy sandy hair to his shoulders and piercing gray eyes. "He's been in prison in Dallas for ten years on a drug charge. Was released last week, and already he's shot two people."

"Does he have any connection to the people he killed?" Luke Watson asked, dark eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact." Annie's blonde ponytail swung as she turned back to face the screen. She clicked another key and brought up two more mug shots. "Theodore Miller and Peter Thomas. Both were suspected of being associates of Kendrick's. They've both had multiple drug charges in the past, but neither was arrested when Kendrick was, and neither have served more than four or five years.

"Now, Thomas was shot yesterday morning, just before noon in Georgetown. Before four that afternoon, Miller was dead in Waco."

"Any witnesses?" Marco spoke up. The Hispanic's brow was furrowed in thought. "Do we have anyone who can tie him to the scenes?"

"Yeah." Annie nodded. "We've got video footage from the restaurant where Miller worked. And there's a couple in Georgetown who saw Thomas' murder from across the street."

"Positive ID's?" Jimmy asked.

"Mhmm." Annie's eyes darted back and forth as she surveyed the screen. "All right. So I'm Jason Kendrick …" She fell silent for a moment, slipping into Kendrick's persona as she usually did when she needed to get a lead on a criminal. "I've been in jail for the past ten years."

"It's an awful long time to be locked away," Jimmy put in. He always jumped in when Annie began roleplaying, trying to help nudge her thoughts in the right direction.

"Yeah, it is … And within a week of release, I've already shot two of my old buddies from before I was put away." Annie closed her eyes for a moment, then reopened them as an idea struck her. "I've had an awful long time to think while I'm in there. Daisy," she turned to the other woman, "check if either of these two guys testified against Kendrick."

"Got it," Daisy Ogbaa replied, heading for the door.

"You're thinking it's revenge?" Luke asked.

"It's as good a reason as any," Jimmy replied. "Why else would you track down your old friends and shoot them in cold blood?"

"Luke, I want you to check for any other known associates of Kendrick's, especially those as close to him as these two were. We need to know if there are any other potential victims and where they are."

He nodded in acknowledgment and exited the room.

Within ten minutes, both Luke and Daisy had returned. Daisy handed several sheets of paper to Annie, who spread them out on the table for Jimmy to see.

"Looks like you were right," Daisy told her. "Thomas and Miller both are on the list of witnesses in Kendrick's trial ten years ago."

Luke, who had been reading the lists over Annie and Jimmy's shoulders, spoke up. "I recognize one of these other names, too." He handed Annie his own piece of paper. "Roberto Flores was also one of Kendrick's known associates."

"They got three of his gang to testify against him?" Marco commented. "Must've been some deal they cut."

"Looks like the prosecution also tried to get Bill Yancey on the stand, too, but couldn't find him," Annie mused as she finished reading the paper Luke had given her. "He was in the drug ring, too."

"This looks an awful lot like a set-up to me," Jimmy told her. "The younger, newer guy takes the fall, and the rest of them get away nearly scott-free."

"I bet Kendrick wasn't too happy about being their scapegoat," Daisy said.

Annie nodded. "And now he's making them pay. We've got locations on these other men; let's get police to their houses. I want to know the second anyone who even looks like Kendrick shows up within five miles of them."