Later That Night

The ranch house was rather quiet as Walker staggered in and he began to wonder if Alex finally had enough and left him. He threw his keys into the bowl by the door then limped into the kitchen to get dinner. He hadn't had anything to eat all day which left him slightly cranky. Slowly he went into the kitchen to see a note on the counter.

He picked it up and read it. "Honey, dinner is in the oven. Will be working late."

He smiled, pulled down the oven door to see a casserole of some kind sitting there ready to be cooked. Within seconds he started the oven preheat, took the dish out then sat it on the stove top. As he waited he sifted through the mail to find a few bills, junk mail and coupons. Once he threw away the junk mail he grabbed a glass from the cabinet and got himself ice tea.

Floorboards creaked behind him as steps made their way through his house. Slowly he placed the glass down onto the counter then made his way to the living room. He didn't see an intruder, but his instincts told him something was horribly wrong. His heart began to beat faster as he gradually inched his way through his house. As he reached the side hallway he quietly opened a small drawer where he kept one of his guns.

A loud beep echoed throughout the house, which made him jump. The oven, it was just the oven telling him it was through with the preheat. He took a deep breath realizing he was making too big a deal out of nothing. Since that day eight years ago, he was more paranoid. But this feeling, it didn't go away, in fact it just got stronger.

"Hello! Cooper!" He held the gun at his hip as he inched his way forward. "Whose there!"

He made his way back to the kitchen to see a black man standing at his stove. Shocked Walker raised his gun, aimed it at the man's head then began to glance around to see if there was any more men waiting in the shadows. The man turned to him with a smile, his hands laced behind his back. He was well dressed and appeared to have money by the jewelry hanging from his neck and in his ears.

"So, you are the infamous Ranger Walker." He took a step forward which got Walker to take off his gun's safety. "You're much older then I had thought. Loving the grey hair."

Walker took a step forward as well. "Who are you?"

"They call me Streck." The man rested his elbow on the counter, this time his hands laced in front of him. "Your son, owes me money." He saw Walker's shoulders slump forward and he smiled even bigger. "He's been doing work for me for three years now. Owes me $50,000." He glanced behind him as several footsteps came from the living room. "Won't hurt you seriously, just enough to get the message across."

A snap of chain made him turn around where he saw four men, all much bigger then he was. The one with the chain gave him a grin then nodded at the three behind him. Walker aimed at the man's arm, but he didn't fire his gun. After what he did to that kid eight years ago, he was on ten years of probation. His thinking left him open and the men rushed at him.

The chain slapped him hard against the right arm which made him loosen his grip on the gun. It clattered to the floor as another man tackled him to the ground. He began to punch at the man's head, connecting numerous times on the nose which eventually shattered. He then kicked out with his left leg, which has grown much stronger thanks to the injury to his right knee.

"This guy is not going to back down!" Shouted a man with a tattoo on his neck. He let out a string of curse words as Walker landed a kick to his groin. "Give up already!"

Walker grunted as a man held his right arm down. "Get out of my house!" He kicked out again with his left foot, connecting with a young man's face.

Streck stood over Walker and shook his head. "Hit his right leg. According to Mage he was shot in the knee several years back."

This got the bald headed man to laugh hysterically then pull out a small, thick club from within the inside of his coat. Walker's eyes got real wide and he began to fight even harder. He tried to pull his leg away from the man who held it, unfortunately his knee didn't allow for him to bend it freely. No, this can't be happening.

He let out a scream of agony as the club slammed against his bad knee with a crack. It hit again which made him wail out, the pain so strong it made him cry. The chain slammed against the side of his face, cutting into it deeply. Then came several punches to his face, one cleanly breaking his nose, the blood running down into his mouth.

"That's enough! Scooter, did you get that on film?" Ordered Streck.

"Yep, sure did. Looks good." The men released their hold on Walker, one kicked him in the side as he stood up. "Let's show this to Mage. He should be at the hangout later tonight."

Once he was sure the men had left his house Walker slowly set up, his right side sore from the kick. Very gingerly he rolled up his pant leg to see the damage down to his knee. As he pulled the pant leg up higher a thick, pink scar greeted him. He's had surgery on this knee four times and by the feel of it, he might now have to have a fifth one. The knee was bright pink with a hint of bruising already beginning to show. On top of that it has already began to swell and heat up.

He grimaced as he tried to bend the knee which then made him yell out in agony. "This can't be happening!" He grabbed his knee, which was hot to the touch then laid back down onto his back. "Cooper, what did you get yourself into? Where did I go wrong?"

An Hour Later

The house was nicely decorated all thanks to the money that Streck earned daily from the theft ring he ran and operated. Cooper made his way through the ranch style house till he got to the basement door. There he nodded his head at the guard stationed which allowed him entrance to Streck's place of work. He walked down the familiar flight of stairs till he reached the bottom floor where he turned left, straight into Streck's office.

Streck smiled at him then motioned for Cooper to sit down in front of his desk. "How much do you have for me, Mage?"

Cooper dug into his jeans pockets for the wad of cash he had. "Two hundred and thirty-two dollars." He handed the stack of bills to Streck who began to count them. "Now, can I leave?"

"Not quite yet, I would like to show you something." Streck slowly got up, headed towards a television set then pushed play. "We paid your father a little visit."

"WHAT!" Cooper quickly got up from his chair. "What for!"

"You owe me money. Now, sit down."

Cooper didn't really know what to say to this bit of news. Though he hated his father, wished him dead on most days the thought of him being hunted down by the man sitting in front of him got his blood to chill. The sound of his father talking to Streck brought his attention to the flat panel television which hung on the wall above the fireplace.

He watched on as Streck's men tackled his father to the ground and proceeded to fight with him. Cooper was amazed to see his father actually land a few punches to Goonie's face with enough force to break the man's nose. He almost laughed when his dad kicked Benny square in the groin. He could actually see Benny's face contort in pain as he fell to the ground.

His father let out a grunt as a man held his right arm down. "Get out of my house!" He kicked out again with his left foot, connecting with Julio's face.

Streck stood over his father and shook his head. "Hit his right leg. According to Mage he was shot in the knee several years back."

"No." All his joking around led to the moment on the television screen. He collapsed back into the chair as his father let out a blood curdling scream. Cooper could actually hear a crack as the knee broke. Goonie slammed the club one more time into his father's knee which got him to tear up. "What do you want, Streck?" He flinched as a large piece of chain hit his father's face.

"Thought you didn't care for him." Streck turned the television off then returned to his office chair where he sat down with a sigh. "He's alive. In pain, but alive."

Cooper's hands tightened into fists. "It doesn't mean that you can hurt him because of me."

Streck laughed. "Oh, yes it does." He tilted his head. "The similarities in you both are rather striking. But don't worry, you don't have much to live up to."

"Get to the point, Streck."

"Right." Streck smiled once again. "You owe me $50,000. Which I would like paid in full by the end of the year, which is seven months from now. If you don't, we will kill your father next time and then your mother."

"WHAT!" Cooper shook his head. "How do I owe you that much! I made my quota every month!"

"Heroin, marijuana. It doesn't come for free." He glanced up as Goonie came walking into the room, his nose swollen and bruised. "Also, for awhile I loaned you several thousand to help you with your financial situation." Cooper gave Streck a disbelieving look. "What? You thought they were gifts? Goonie, he's much stupider then I had thought."

Goonie cracked his knuckles. "Just a message, right?"

"That's right, don't kill him. Teach him his lesson in the back room. Don't want to ruin the carpet. Just had it cleaned."