Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.
Chapter 9: Research
Sydney allowed the silence in Walker's truck to give her time to think about the murder of Ana Welles. It seemed that whoever had killed her, may have been the one that had orchestrated the hostage situation at the bank.
She heard a familiar tone and pulled out her cell. "Just got a text from Sun," she said as she returned her phone to her pocket. "They may have found a hidden entrance from the bank to the offices upstairs. Unfortunately, Kingly's assistant refused to let them search in the offices upstairs."
"We will ask Kingly for permission to search his offices while we are here," Walker replied as they entered the parking lot to the exclusive club.
They entered the lobby and the manager was there to greet them. Sydney had a feeling that the manager was always ready to greet a new member or to keep troublemakers away from their clientele.
"I'll handle this," she whispered, so only Walker could hear her.
It had only taken two minutes for the manager to allow her and Walker into the club and told them where to find Kingly. Once they had gotten through, they walked onto the green. Her eyes took in the perfectly manicured grass, each flowerbed organized by color and style. She looked over at Walker. "Nice place but it's too stuffy for me."
Walker nodded his head in response and Sydney knew that he was taking in everything and everyone within sight.
"So, the manager said that Kingly and his group is headed to nine. I can't believe they track their players with a GPS system installed on the golf carts."
"It's useful for us," Walker pointed out.
"True." Her amused smile disappeared as they approached four men that she knew were probably corporate heads and not because they could afford to golf at the country club.
"Mr. Kingly?" Sydney asked the man that was about to hit the ball.
"Yes?" The man said as he turned and looked at her. When his eyes went to Walker, she saw Kingly's eyes widen. She couldn't help but smile because he had recognized the Ranger and knew of his reputation, which might make the interview go smoothly.
Sydney noted that the man had silver tips on his dark hair that distinguished him from the other three men that were with him. He was older and wasn't wearing the high-end clothing as his companions. "We would like to ask you a few questions."
"Well, as you two can see, I'm currently occupied with these gentlemen here."
"You have nine holes left to play. We would love to follow you to the end. We will cheer you on for every remaining hole."
Kingly turned around to the three executives behind him and spoke with a controlled tone. "Excuse me, gentlemen, this shouldn't take long."
Sydney grinned at Walker and when Kingly turned back toward them, motioned to them to follow him. He led them to the golf cart that was far enough away from his companions where they wouldn't be overheard.
Walker motioned to Sydney to start the interview. "You recall the hostage situation at the bank below your financial and accounting offices."
"Of course. I had to convince my clients that it was safe. I have even been considering moving since that horrible ordeal."
"We were wondering if anything strange has occurred at your offices in the days prior to the situation or after."
"What are you talking about? If anything had happened, I would have alerted the authorities. The only thing that has been affected has been the concerns of my employees and our clients."
"Nothing odd has appeared in your computer files."
Sydney didn't miss his hands tightening on his club before he cleared his throat and shook his head, becoming the cool headed businessman once again.
"I have answered your questions. You can call my lawyer if you have any more questions. Good day, Rangers."
She waited until the red-faced man returned to his golfing companions before she turned to Walker. "He's hiding something."
"No, he's afraid and he's hiding something."
"What should we do?"
"Return to headquarters and see what Gage and Trivette have found."
"Ok. You drive."
Walker laughed as they started to walk back to the clubhouse. Sydney hoped that they would find something so they could find whoever killed Welles. Then, she would be able to get the image of the woman lying dead on that floor out of her mind.
Gage looked away from his computer screen to Trivette whose eyes were rapidly reading whatever he was reading. He was impressed that the older Ranger had adapted to the computer technology a lot more than Walker had. There was a balance between the two older Rangers that made them a great team.
Gage turned back to his computer. "This Kingly guy has his hands in every project in Dallas," he sighed with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms. "Other than that, I can't find anything that connects him to Welles or the bank."
"There is one there, somewhere. You just haven't found it yet," Trivette responded, never moving his eyes from the screen.
Gage stood up and went to Trivette's desk. "What did you find out?"
"The building was built before the 20's. It had been a bar with a gambling ring." Trivette looked up from his computer with a grin on his face. "Therefore, I'm thinking that during prohibition that it had secret rooms, which means that maybe there is something hidden in one of the secret rooms."
"Old bottles of liquor?"
Trivette shrugged his shoulders as a tune played from Gage's cell.
Gage pulled out his cell and read the message. When he looked up at Trivette, he had a smile as wide as Texas. "Got a text from Lucy. There is possibly a hidden passage between the businesses upstairs and the bank. They were unable to check the upstairs to see if they could find a door since the personal assistant of Kingly wouldn't allow them to search for one."
"We're going need a warrant for the offices upstairs."
"I'll call Alex." Trivette replied as he picked up the phone.
Gage headed back to his desk and waited for him to finish talking to Alex before he asked a question. "Anything about the hostage takers?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. Interpol and other agencies that I contacted haven't been releasing any information on them yet. I have a few of my connections working on it as well. I hope to hear from someone soon."
"You have connections, Trivette?" Gage asked with a raised eyebrow.
"What? You think Walker is the only one with connections?"
"Yeah," he replied as he sat down at his desk once again.
"Ha ha."
Gage hoped that they would get the warrant and find out if something was hidden in the building and if that's what they had been after but he had a feeling there was much more to this case and it was only a matter of time until they figured it out. All of this research was making him hunger and since he could never work on an empty stomach, he decided to order a pizza.
