Hi everyone! This chapter was kind of hard for me to write, as it jumps around a bit. Please let me know if you think any part of it is too confusing or if you have suggestions on how to make it better. For all of the people who have been asking me to put Sydney in more, I'm planning a sequel to this story that will have more Sydney in it, she just didn't really play in to this one too much. Anyway, as always, thanks for reading, and please review!
"Bye Mom, see you later!" Angela yelled as she heard the beep of Jessica's car horn. She flew down the stairs and out the door without another thought.
"Bye. Have fun!" Alex yelled to Angela's retreating figure. She watched as Angela got in the car and gave Jessica a hug. Then she watched as her baby girl left for the first time since she was raped. And she found that she wasn't anxious as she thought she would be. So she went about her business.
On the drive to her apartment, Jessica and Angela talked about anything and everything, as they always did.
"So, how've you been?" Jessica asked.
"Pretty good. It feels nice to get out of the house. I know my mom loves me, but I feel like I'm on a leash." Angela complained.
"You know she just wants what's best for you."
"Yeah, I know." There was a moment of silence and then Angela spoke again. "I'm still scared y'know."
"Yeah, well, you'd be insane if you weren't. It's okay to be scared."
"I just- I don't know. I don't want to feel scared; I don't want to feel like this. I feel like I should be over this already."
"Ang, this isn't just something you can get over. It's going to take a long time for that to happen, if it ever does. What you're feeling isn't wrong."
"I know that, but the thing is, people can say stuff like that all they want, but it doesn't make the feelings go away Jessie."
"I know." They pulled up to Jessica's apartment building and got out of the car. Arm in arm, they walked to the door and into the apartment.
"Help yourself" Jessica offered. Both girls got snacks and went into the living room. They were about to sit on the couch when there was a knock at the door. And then everything went to hell.
Bobby Sandero and Ricky Franks had strict orders. They were part of La Muerte, and the leader of La Muerte was in trouble. So, they had to get him out of it. There was only one way to do that: get rid of the evidence. All of it. However, since they didn't have access to the evidence locker, they had to get creative. So they had devised a plan that would allow them to solve this problem. It was this plan that had led them to follow a certain car to a certain apartment building, and watch as two young women walked in. Bobby and Ricky got out and followed them up the stairs.
"Help yourself" they heard one of the girls say. They nodded to each other, and they each grabbed their guns. Bobby looked at Ricky and knocked on the door.
The alarm came in on the dispatcher's radio.
"Reports of gunshots fired in the vicinity of 2400 Oak Ridge. All available units please respond." At that, three different on-duty squad cars sped off toward the apartment complex. So did Gage and Sydney, who were technically off duty, but in the vicinity nonetheless. The Rangers, however, didn't get the memo. That is, until Alex came running into Walker's office, tears streaming down her face, a piece of paper in hand.
"Walker!" she cried, and handed him the note.
MR. AND MRS. WALKER, WE HAVE YOUR DAUGHTER. CONFIRMATION TO FOLLOW.
Walker read the note and sank into his chair.
"Walker, who's doing this? Why are they doing this? Hasn't she been through enough?" Alex cried.
"I think I have a hunch." Walker said gravely.
Trivette joined in. "Guys, there's been a report of shots fired at 2400 Oak Ridge Lane. Isn't that where Jessica lives?" Then he saw the looks on their faces and his eyes registered the piece of paper on Walker's desk. He picked it up and read it. What do you think Walker?"
"La Muerte." Walker said. Silence followed, except for the sound of Alex's crying. It all made sense now.
It was then that Gage ran into the office. He saw Walker, Alex, and Trivette standing around Walker's desk and knew that they had heard the police report. But he had good news. Kind of.
"Hey guys, it's okay, we got her out." He said reassuringly.
Alex looked up at him, tears still streaming down her face. Wordlessly, she handed him the note. He read it, confused. "Walker, what-?"
At that point, a bike messenger walked in. "Excuse me, I have a delivery for a Mr. Cordell Walker?" Walker walked over and said a few words to the man, who looked stunned. Walker then dismissed him and took the package. He had a feeling that he knew what it was. He walked over to the television and took out the videotape he had just received. He put the tape in and pressed PLAY.
"Ranger Walker, we are La Muerte. You have our leader. And we have your daughter."
"DAD!" The cry didn't come from the video though; it came from the doorway, where Angela was standing next to Sydney. She ran over to where her parents were standing and almost tackled them. She was sobbing. Walker, Trivette, and Alex were stunned. Hadn't they just read a note that told them that their daughter had been kidnapped? Gage still looked confused, and Sydney was standing in the doorway with a smile on her face, not knowing the full extent of what was going on. Walker suddenly turned his attention back to the video, perplexed at the new development. What was going on? His daughter was right here. He had her, no one else did. Seeing that Walker was watching the video again, everyone else refocused their attention. Sydney looked at the television for the first time, taking in the masked men with surprise.
"What's this?" she asked, but was quickly silenced by a look from Gage. They had missed a lot of the head man's speech about demands and the like, but they looked back just in time to see a young girl being dragged into the frame. Her hands were tied behind her back and two men held her arms. Everyone in the vicinity watched as a gun was placed next to her temple. What the girl said surprised them the most.
"My name is Angela Walker." Jessica said.