Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger" and "Sons of Thunder". 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 2: Thunder Investigations and Uppercuts
"You were arrested?" Kim asked with a mixture of anger and disbelief on her face.
Carlos looked at the woman who ran the office of Thunder Investigations. "Yes, but I've been cleared."
She responded with the rolling of her eyes and a corner mouth frown that he noticed was starting to appear a lot since she joined Thunder Investigations.
Trent Malloy, his partner at Thunder Investigations, placed a gentle and reassuring hand on Kim's shoulder and looked at him with his clear blue eyes. "Who was the man who was killed?"
"Tony Cruz. He was an old informant of mine," Carlos said as he took a sip of coffee from the cup that he had poured once he had entered the office.
"You want to find out who killed him," Trent said as a statement not a question.
He looked down at the cup of coffee in his hands and then looked at his two friends who were looking at him intently. "Yeah. I do."
"Didn't you say that you know the investigators on the case?" Kim asked as she went to the fridge and pulled out a can of orange soda.
"One of them. He's an old friend. His partner is an interesting one though," he said, his eyes looking far away.
Trent shook his head and smiled. "I can tell that his partner is a nice looking woman."
Kim rolled her eyes and shook her head while she popped the tab open on the soda.
"Anyway," Kim said, trying to get back onto the more important topic, "I think we need to find out and ask around about Cruz to see what he was involved in."
"Or what he came across," Trent added.
She nodded her head in agreement. "We can have Butch try his contacts to see if they have heard anything."
"Butch isn't the only one with contacts," Carlos protested.
"Yes, but he has a lot more contacts than you do," she pointed out.
He decided that she was right and took a sip from his coffee as he thought about the first time he had met Cruz. He wondered if things would've been different if they had never met. It was just a thought that crossed his mind but he knew it wouldn't be the last time.
Lucy sat at her desk, looking at her notes from the Tony Cruz case. She looked at the clock to see that her partner wouldn't be there for at least half an hour since he had an appointment that morning. She wanted to go and talk to Cruz' aunt who was the only one left of his family. She thought about the questions she wanted to ask when someone approaching her desk interrupted her thoughts. She waited for the new arrival to speak before she reacted.
"Detective Silver, may I have a word with you?"
She looked up and she saw a short, brown haired man in a cheap suit. She had seen him around the squad room and had noticed him checking her out. She hadn't determined if he had been leering at her or if he was just curious about her abilities as a detective. Either way, she never let it bother her.
She didn't say anything but responded to his question with a slight nod of her head signaling him to continue.
"I'm Detective Ryan. I heard that you and your partner had arrested a suspect by the name of Carlos Sandoval?"
She waited, knowing that Ryan would reveal what he really wanted.
He leaned over and spoke in a lowered voice. "I am going to offer you some good advice. Watch out for Sandoval. He tends to put his nose in places he shouldn't. If I were you, I would stay as far away from him as possible. He's bad news."
She leveled her gaze at him, feeling an instant dislike for the man standing before her. "Ryan, I suggest that you don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do." She paused, making certain he understood that she was serious by keeping her eyes locked onto his brown ones. "That is the best advice that I can give you."
She could tell by the redness on Ryan's face that he was beginning to fume. She dismissed him by turning back to her work. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him turn around and walk away.
Her thoughts went to the brief encounter with Carlos Sandoval. She had known enough men with a face that easily dropped into a grin. It was better to keep your distance and not let them rile you, even if this particular man had eyes that reminded her of dark roasted coffee.
The next afternoon, Darryl had offered to take Lucy out to lunch. She was glad for the offer since she needed to clear her head. The interview with Cruz' aunt earlier that day hadn't led to anything. The woman hadn't spoken to her nephew in five years and therefore, didn't know of any enemies that had wanted him dead.
Darryl had driven his car and brought her to a place she hadn't eaten at before. Of course, she had only been with the DPD and in Texas for a few months, so there were plenty of places she hadn't eaten at yet.
She got out of the car, looked up, and saw that the sign said Uppercuts. Then she looked to the right of that sign and saw the window with a familiar name on it. She shook her head, knowing that her partner had brought her here for more than just a meal.
She followed her partner inside and saw that the bar was set up to remind people of a boxing ring and it certainly did it with the ropes that divided the lower part of the bar with the upper level.
She followed him to the upper level and saw one person she had expected to see and two that she had never met.
"Hey, look who's here," Carlos said with a widening grin. "Oh, you guys haven't met my friends." He pointed at the blonde haired man that was sitting across from him. "This is Trent Malloy." The man gave them a welcoming smile that reached his bright, blue eyes.
Carlos then pointed at the short, brown haired woman sitting next to him whose brown eyes studied each of them carefully. "This is Kim Sutter."
Darryl smiled politely and shook hands with both of them. "I'm Darryl Sun and this is my partner, Lucy Silver."
Lucy's eyes narrowed at Carlos, before she shot a scathing look at her partner. Her partner ignored the look and took the open seat next to Kim.
Before she could respond, a tall man with brown hair and a fighter's build came to the table with three bottles of beer in his hands.
Carlos smiled and waved his hand towards the newly arrived man. "This is Butch McMann. He's the owner."
"Hello," he replied as he freed his hands by setting the bottles on the table. He held his hand out to Lucy, which she accepted.
"I'm Lucy Silver," she said as she freed her hand after shaking his hand firmly.
He gave her a welcoming smile. "I spoke with you on the phone."
She nodded her head in reply and when nothing else was said, Darryl introduced himself to the bar owner.
Carlos looked at her and opened his mouth, but she didn't let him say anything.
"No," she said firmly.
Carlos' grin faded and the playfulness left his eyes. "Look, you need to hear me out."
She leaned forward, keeping steady with his coffee colored eyes that were definitely brewing a mixture of anger and stubbornness, but she didn't let it stop her. "I know that you and your friends own Thunder Investigations upstairs, but you and your friends need to stay out of this investigation."
"We can help," Kim argued.
Lucy turned her head to look at her, and didn't soften her tone or the withering look that went along with it. "You can pass along information that you currently have but I don't need a couple of private investigators working on this case."
Darryl held his hands up in a take-it-easy gesture. "Look, Lucy, they are good at what they do and they just want to help."
She shot him a dark look. "That doesn't matter," she began but then her cell rang. "Excuse me," she said as she retrieved her cell from her pocket and walked away.
Darryl sighed as he looked at the group and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry guys."
"Hey, it was worth a shot," Carlos replied his gaze still on the fired-up strawberry-blond haired detective.
"You're still going to investigate, aren't you?" Darryl asked even though he already knew the answer.
"It's a free country," he remarked with a grin.
Darryl looked at Carlos without a smile. "I have to warn you, my partner is not one you want to cross."
His grin faded away as he grabbed his beer. "Believe me, I'm not worried. She, kind of, reminds me of Ryan. He despises me too."
"I wouldn't compare her to Ryan. With her as my partner, we've closed more cases in the past few months than he ever could in an entire year and she makes certain that we have the right person. Also, she likes donuts."
"Wow," Kim remarked. "It seems you lucked out in the partner department."
He nodded in agreement. "I trust her. I know that she has my back. There are times though when she can be stubborn as an ox and gets obsessed on a case, but that is what makes her so good at her job."
"I can see that," Butch replied.
"Of course, she's never arrested me, so that goes in my favor," Darryl grinned while Carlos raised an eyebrow at him that caused Kim, Trent and Butch to chuckle.
"I should get going," Darryl said as he stood up, having noticed that Lucy was signaling him to follow her.
Once the two detectives left, Butch went to grab their order of chili fries.
"So, what do you think about Detective Silver?" Trent asked and then pointed at Carlos, "Besides that you think she's hot."
Carlos didn't answer as he took a long sip of his beer and then thanked Butch when the bar owner had brought them the large basket of fries.
"She has integrity," Butch remarked as he took Darryl's vacated seat. "She's smart too. She had you pegged right off," he said as he pointed at Carlos.
"Well, she already knows that we are private investigators and are inclined to want to solve crimes," he joked.
"Actually," Butch said, looking fixedly at Carlos, "I am talking about the fact that you tried to charm her and she wouldn't go for it."
Kim stood up, holding back a laugh. "While you guys discuss Detective Silver, I'm going to go upstairs and work on some more research."
Once Kim had left, Trent looked at Carlos and took a long sip of his beer before he spoke. "So?"
"So?" Carlos repeated and mimicked taking a sip of his beer.
"Well, I should go check my contacts and see if they have come up with anything," Butch said as he stood up and walked away, a knowing smile on his face.
Trent waited a moment before he clasped his hands together and set them on the table. "You know, she's not going to like us investigating," he said seriously.
"Yeah. So?" Carlos responded knowing that his partner was just looking out for him. It seemed to him that Detective Lucy Silver may be a great detective but he wasn't one to back down from a case just because of a smart, pretty, fiery, strawberry blonde haired woman with the eyes of the purest emeralds.
Trent nodded his head, knowing that his partner wouldn't stop until the killer had been caught. "All right. Any ideas where we should start?"