Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off it.


Chapter 11: Bright, Yellow Bird

Carlos unwrapped the stick of gum and put it in his mouth. He crumbled the wrapper and put it in his pocket to throw it out later. He frowned as he studied the people on the street around the soup kitchen.

He chewed the gum, wondering if today would bring any leads. He felt the urge to prove Charlie's innocence as soon as possible. Trent's diminishing faith in the case, in Charlie, was ticking him off. Usually it was his friend's faith of the good in people that kept him from succumbing to the negative aspect of his personality.

He saw the same people enter and leave the kitchen that he had seen yesterday. He had already spoken to each of them and they had no information for him. There had to be someone or something that would lead him to the real killer. It was always the search for witnesses and clues that rattled his patience.

After several hours of watching familiar people enter and leave the building, he realized that it was time for lunch. He had lost a bet several days ago to Kim, so he had to take her to lunch at a new bistro.

He arrived at the bistro in ten minutes and walked to the already occupied table where Kim had already ordered herself a drink and was looking at her watch.

She looked up and raised an annoyed eyebrow. "Hi, Carlos. You are late."

"Hi, Kim. I am only late by a few minutes."

"True, you are getting better about being on time. When you arrive five minutes early for things, then I won't bother you about your punctuality."

Carlos sat down just as a pretty waitress came to the table. "Hello, I'm Sandy. I'll be your server today. Would you like something to drink?" She smiled widely and looked at Carlos with flirtatious eyes.

"Hi. I'll take a coffee with creamer, please," Carlos said as he grabbed a menu and perused it while the waitress went to get his drink.

"Did you even look at her?"

"Huh? Yeah. Sure."

"Uh. Carlos, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, Kim." He smiled and looked over the menu at her.

Before she could respond, Sandy returned with Carlos' coffee and creamer. She whipped out a pencil, pad and asked what they wanted.

He ordered scalloped potatoes, small salad and mustard pork chops. Kim ordered a small salad, a turkey sandwich on ciabatta bread and a small cup of onion soup.

Lately, Kim had been trying to get him to talk to Trent about their argument and what had been bothering his friend for weeks. Surprisingly, Trent was the only thing that Kim didn't talk about while they ate.

He ate as quickly as he could without seeming rude and told her that he had to get back to work. He didn't have to look at her to see the narrowed eyes and daggers firing at him as he left the restaurant.

He parked his Durango in the shade of a Texas ash tree. He turned his head and saw it. A bright, yellow bird. A smile came to his lips as his eyes narrowed with determination.

He stepped out of his vehicle and casually walked over to a woman with copper hair, a shade only obtained through a box. "Hello, ma'am can I have a few moments of your time?"

The woman turned around clutching her purse and holding car keys in her other hand. "Yes?"

He could hear the nervousness in her voice and didn't have to see her eyes scanning the surrounding area for someone to help her if he decided to kidnap her or perhaps, some sort of dark purpose about him was going through her mind.

He gave her a reassuring smile loaded with charm. "I'm Carlos Sandoval. I'm a private investigator." He showed her his badge and gave her a business card.

"I'm Sally," she replied nervously slipping his business card into her purse.

It took a second for Carlos to decide how he was going to interview her and he decided that being straight and honest was going to be the best way, considering she had the typical deer-in-the-headlights look.

"A witness told me that they saw you arguing with Father Darren." He purposely remained vague so it would seem that he had a more credible witness than a homeless man who had seen a big, yellow bird arguing with the priest.

He could see her hands tighten even more on her purse and knew that he did have the right person.

"I've spoken with Father Darren on numerous occasions. I am a member of the church."

"All right. Reasonable answer, but my witness says you were arguing with the Father not long before his murder."

"I don't know why you are talking to me. The police have the murderer."

"I believe that the person responsible for Father Darren's murder is still out there and the police have the wrong man." He held his ground, keeping his eyes on hers.

She looked away, lifted a delicate, manicured hand to brush her hair out of her green eyes. "It was a few days before and Father Darren and I were standing next to my car in the parking lot."

"What was it about?" He waited, keeping his eyes on hers, letting her know that he would be unrelenting.

"I've been having an affair with another church member. We are both married, but we both are unhappy with our spouses."

"And Father Darren found out about it?"

"Yes. He saw us together and he just knew."

"And you didn't want him to tell anyone about it?"

"He promised that he wouldn't tell anyone. All he did was lecture me about coming clean about the affair and that it would save my soul. I didn't have a reason to kill him because he wasn't going to tell my husband."

"What about the man you were seeing?"

"Father Darren spoke to him as well and he did tell his wife. They are going to therapy to work on their marriage."

He asked a couple more questions and found out that her alibi was a book club. Once he had all of the names and numbers of the book club, he thanked her and told her to have a good day. He watched as she adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder and walked quickly away from him. He headed to his car, intent on confirming her alibi.


"So it was Big Bird?" Butch asked as he took a sip of coffee.

"Yes, it was a bright because the sun was shining in the car, lighting up the window decal."

"Interesting," Kim replied as she handed Carlos a cup of coffee.

"Man, if my grandmother had been in that room with that woman, she would have had her praying for forgiveness and cleaning the entire church from top to bottom." He cleared his throat because the look on Butch's face told him to focus on the case.

"Ok, so she didn't do it," Kim said taking a seat in her chair.

"Nope. She was at a book club. I checked. Five women confirmed her whereabouts."

"What's the next step?" Kim asked.

He sighed as he rubbed his right temple, feeling the beginning of a headache coming on. "I will just have to go back and see what else I can find."

Butch leaned on Kim's desk. "You should take Trent with you."

"Trent isn't interested."

"He is your friend and just because you two disagree on something doesn't mean that you leave the other standing in the ring alone."

"Do you ever get tired of your boxing analogies?"

Butch grinned. "No."

"I could go with you," Kim suggested eagerly.

"Actually, Kim, it might be a good idea if it were just Carlos and Trent."

"Right. I am needed at the office so I can try to find something with my research."

He couldn't help but detect the anger and frustration in her voice. "Have you found anything?"

Kim frowned and stood up from her desk. "Not yet, but I've got my informants looking out for any connections."

He looked at her with surprise. "You have informants?"

"Of course. Don't you? I need to put some more creamer in this coffee."

He watched her walk to the little kitchen area and turned to look at Butch. "Is she serious?"

"Yup," Butch replied with a smile as he drank more coffee.

Carlos shook his head hoping that this case would break open and so would Trent.