Chapter 55

Expect The Unexpected

/Dallas, Texas – At the apartment/

The same guy that had been killing cops, crossed off another face.

/At a cop's home/

"I'm home!" The cop smiled as he put away his gun in a desk and locked it.

"In here, honey!" The wife called out.

The cop went into the kitchen and hugged her as she prepared supper, "Hey, hon! Oh!"

The wife smiled, "Dinner will be ready soon enough. Why don't you go upstairs and tell the kids to wash?"

The cop smiled, "Yes, boss!" he said then yelled up the stairs, "Kids, let's wash up for dinner!" just then the doorbell rang, "I'll get it!" he called out.

When he opened the door, the cop killer was standing there, "Hi Danny, it's me!" he said then shot the cop and he fell to the ground.

The wife ran to the living room, "Danny? Danny!" she screamed.

/Ranger's office/

Khandi sat on the edge of Trivette's desk as she sighed and ran her hands through her hair, "Jesus, Khandi. You look like something the dog dragged in."

"No shit." Khandi mumbled, just was Walker walked over to his desk, "Hey."

Walker looked up at Khandi and Trivette, "What have we got?"

Khandi shook her head, "Victim's name was Danny McEvoy."

"He was on the force in North Dallas." Trivette added.

"He left behind a wife and three kids." She added on, and then sighed. She just hoped that it would never happen to her, with Jim. But she knew that when she joined the force that, these were the chances you took every day.

Just then a woman walked up, "Ranger Walker?"

Walker nodded, "That's right."

"Diane Dawson. I'm the new forensics psychologist." She said and shook Walker's hand.

Walker gestured at Trivette and Khandi, "This is my partner, Ranger Trivette. And Las Vegas Detective, Khandi Brass."

Khandi smiled, "Nice to meet you."

"How you doing?" Trivette asked, "Taking over for Dr. Jackson?"

Dawson smiled, "I am. Well, my preliminary investigation shows it to be consistent with the other killings close to range and face to face."

"What do you make of that?" Walker asked.

"He's making it a point that his victims see him before he pulls the trigger."

Khandi frowned in thought, "Sounds personal."

"If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to call me."

"Thanks, Diane." Walker said as she left then looked at Khandi and Trivette.

"I'm going to finish up inside." Trivette said and Khandi joined Walker.

/Outside/

Khandi and Walker spotted Carlos leaning against his car and walked over, "Still afraid of heights?" Khandi asked.

"Yeah." Carlos answered.

Walker noticed that something was troubling Carlos, "Is something troubling you?"

"No. Well, I knew the victim. Not well, but…"

"Any idea who could have done this shit?" Khandi asked.

Carlos shook his head, "No."

/At the apartment/

The same man crossed off Carlos's picture.

/At the house – outside/

Trent was teaching Tandy and Tommy the basics of Karate and then Carlos drove up, got out, "Not bad, Malloys!"

"Hey, Carlos!" Trent smiled.

"Well, maybe this is something I ought to pick up."

"I've been only telling you that, what, twenty years?"

Carlos shrugged, "I'm a little slow."

Over Carlos CB the dispatcher spoke, "All units in the vicinity of Pearl and McKinney. Report of domestic disturbance at 2216 Oaklawn. Repeat 2216 Oaklawn."

Carlos looked at Trent, "That's right down the street."

Trent nodded, "Yeah."

Carlos headed over to his car, "Dispatch, this is A-14. I've got it." He said getting in and heading to the domestic disturbance.

/Oaklawn Apartments/

Carlos got out of his car and a man followed him, "Dispatch, unit on scene A-14, 2216 Oaklawn." It turned out to be nothing and a man came closer; another car drove up and Carlos rolled down the window, "How ya doing?" Carlos asked the woman officer.

"Good. Is everything all right?" She asked.

"Just fine. False alarm." Carlos answered as the man who was following backed away and drove off.

The woman cop smiled, "Best kind to have."

"All right. I'll see you later." Carlos said then drove off.

/Ranger's Office/

Khandi shook her head, "I don't know. The idea of some crazy out there randomly gunning down officers…"

Walker looked at her, "I don't think that's what we're dealing with here."

Trivette thought for a second, "What do you mean?"

"Let's go back to the first shooting. Officer Williams makes a routine traffic stop on a deserted stretch of road. How did the shooter know where to be at the exact time of the shooting?" Walker asked.

"You think he's stalking them?" Trivette asked.

Khandi took a breath, "Don't remind me." She mumbled, "If he is stalking them, then he would know everything. One of my cases I've done and dealt with stalking."

Walker nodded, "Yeah, I think your both right and I tell you why. Mitch Williams was a DPS officer for seven years – he was no rookie. The driver he pulled over stated that she was driving away when she saw another vehicle pull up behind the car. She also stated she saw a man get out and walk over to Officer Williams. Now, what's the first thing you do when you feel threatened?"

Khandi smiled, "Get Jimmy."

Trivette raised an eyebrow, "What? Why me?"

Khandi shook her head, "Not you! My husband. Okay fine, here I would unstrap the safety from my side arm."

"Keep my hand on my gun." Trivette added, as he stood up and walked over to Walker who was at his desk, and Khandi who was sitting on the side of Walker's desk.

"That's right." Walker said, "Take a look at this," he said showing them a picture of the scene.

"He knew the shooter." Trivette and Khandi stated.

Walker nodded, "Exactly."

/Ranger's Office – Later/

Walker walked in as Khandi was working with Trivette, "How's it going with the arrest reports?"

"Slow." Khandi mumbled.

Trivette nodded, "They were all good cops. Past few years, we're talking a lot of arrests, between them."

Walker grabbed his cowboy hat, "Well, we gotta get a break sometimes. See you later!"

"All right." Khandi said.

Trivette looked at Walker, "Where are you going?"

"Oh, the mayor asked me to brief the city counsel. No, he told me to. Unless you want to do it." Walker suggested.

"No, no!" Trivette backed out.

Walker smiled, "You sure?"

"Yes!" Trivette said as he tried to bury his head in the paperwork.

Walker looked at Khandi, "Well, I tried."

/Expect The Unexpected/

Khandi looked at Trivette as the phone rang, "Yeah, Ranger Trivette," Trivette said picking up the phone.

The man on the other end was Sergeant Bill Douglas, "I need to talk to Ranger Walker. I see here where he's leading up the investigation of the cop killer."

"Yes, he is but he's not available. Can I help you?" Trivette asked looking at Khandi, "Can I have your name, sir?"

"Yeah, Sergeant Bill Douglas, P.D. Retired two years."

Trivette wrote the name down, Khandi walked over and read the name off the paper from over his shoulder, as Trivette kept talking, "All right, Sergeant Douglas. What can I do for you?"

"I may have some information on this cop killing."

"Tell me what you've got. If you have information, why don't you…"

"No, not over the phone, Ranger. You never know who might be listening."

"Why don't you tell me where you're at and me and my partner will be right over."

"2837 Angus, apartment 21." Douglas answered and hung up.

Khandi smiled, "Why don't I take this?"

Trivette raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"

"I have an idea where 2837 Angus is. So yeah," Khandi smiled and grabbed the paper; "I'll catch up with you later. By the way, I'm taking your car." She said holding up the keys.

"Hey! Wait!" Trivette said noticing the keys, "Not my car! I just got fixed from last time!"

"I'll be nice. Won't do much damage." Khandi said walking away.

Trivette shook his head, "Great, a female Walker. My car is toast."

/Expect The Unexpected/

Khandi laughed as she fiddled with the keys walking down the stairs, she looked around and saw Trivette's shiney red Prosche 1997 986 Boxster, 5-speed manual, and 0-60mph in 6.1 seconds. She got up to the car, unlocked the door and got in. Just as she put the key in the ignition, before she turned the Prosche on she decided to call Jim, "Brass." His voice rang on the other end. It sounded tired and stressed.

"I take it that you're busy then, honey." Khandi smiled and started the car, the engine roared to life, and she floored it to see just how well Trivette had been keeping the car.

"More pissed off, then busy." Jim said. "Sorry, I didn't call you back. Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. How about you? Tough case?" Khandi asked, she never liked to hear him down, or pissed. But really she knew that if this were a lead that she could follow she would be home sooner.

"You have no idea. It's cases like this that really have me considering retirement." Jim stated, sounding tired and defeated.

"Honey, don't let this case drag you down. You can't take them personally." Khandi said, as she turned a corner on to Angus, she started to watch the numbers on the building.

"When I find a room full of dead children, I tend to take it personally."

"Oh, Jimmy, I'm sorry." She said. She knew exactly then what Jim was going through. And just thinking about it made her heart rip in two, "Do you have any leads?"

"Yeah, we know the bastard who did it, we just have to track him down."

"You'll find him. I know you will. Honey, listen I have to go. I have to meet someone. I love you." She said as she pulled into the parking lot of the apartment buildings.

"I love you, too." Jim said. She heard the click of his phone and the line went dead. She knew that he needed her, and she understood. But the sooner she went into that apartment, the sooner that she could find out what Sergeant Douglas had, and hopefully it was a lead, to catch the guy. Then she could go home.

/Sergeant Bill's Apartment/

Khandi walked up to apartment 21, she knocked on the door, "Sergeant Douglas, this is James Trivette Texas Rangers' partner, Khandi Brass. Sergeant Douglas?" she said then a man on the other side shot twice through the door, and the bullets struck Khandi in the upper right side of the chest.

It was like slow motion for Khandi, as she fell to the floor. She could only think of Jim, and her family, as the world seemed to screech to a halt. Before she landed on the floor, she whispered, "Jimmy…"

Two cops arrived at the scene and he bent down to check Khandi's pulse, then he shook his head. The two of them moved into the apartment, "Oh shit, Bill Douglas!" one said then he heard Khandi as she gasped, "Holy fuck! She's alive! 10-71! 10-71! We've got an officer down at 2837 Angus. 2837 Angus."

/Expect The Unexpected/

Walker, along with Trivette, Alex and C.D found out about Khandi and were already at the hospital; the ambulance had not yet arrived. Trivette was blaming himself, because that easily could have been him. And well, no one else was blaming him. But Walker knew that he had to call Khandi's husband to let him know, and hopefully, someone from the house or Jim could come down here. Walker also knew that there was no way in hell that the guy was going to get away with doing this. And everyone else was thinking the same thing; this guy is not getting out of it alive.

Walker walked over to the window away from the group and pulled out his cell phone and the emergency number's that Khandi had given him. He called Jim's cell phone, "Brass."

"This is Ranger Cordell Walker. I was working with your wife Khandi down here in Dallas." Walker said, as he took a breath.

"What do you mean you 'were'? Has something happened? Is Khandi all right?" Jim asked; Walker could hear the panic in Jim's voice.

Walker closed his eyes, "I'm sorry, there's no easy way to say this. But Khandi was shot."

"Shot! What are you talking about? I just talked to her not too long ago. No, you're mistaken!" Jim yelled into the phone.

Walker shook his head, "I wish I was Jim. We're at the hospital now, waiting for them to bring her in."

"Waiting? She's not even there yet! What kind of medical system do have in Texas?" Jim asked, continuing to yell.

"I understand your frustrated and angry Jim, but we'll let you know what's going on when we hear something from the doctor." Walker answered, with a sigh.

"I'm coming down there. I'll be there soon." Jim said.

"We'll be waiting." Walker replied, and hung up his cell phone and sighed, this was going to be a long night, and he'd be damned if he was going to let the asshole get away, killing four cops then trying to kill Khandi, was a no, no.

TBC…