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 3: Gray Construction
Lucy knocked on the door of the trailer that had Gray Construction written on the side.
"Come in," a deep voice said on the other side of the door.
Lucy opened the door and stepped inside. Darryl followed her inside and closed the door.
She saw a tall man with a bald-head sat behind a metal desk covered with blueprints and papers. A pencil was sitting above his ear. A picture frame was on his desk, but she couldn't tell what was in it, but she guessed it had to be the man's wife and possibly some kids, since he had a ring on his wedding finger.
The man's cobalt blue eyes looked from Lucy to Darryl and then back to Lucy as the two detectives approached the desk.
"Mr. Gray?" Lucy asked.
"Yes?" The man asked.
Lucy could hear the curiosity and a touch of wariness in the man's voice. "I'm Detective Silver and this is my partner, Detective Sun."
"Nice to meet you, Detectives," he said as he shook their hands. "What can I do for you?" He asked, with raised eyebrows and a touch of curiosity in his voice.
"Your employee, Tony Cruz was found dead," Darryl said.
"Tony? Tony's dead? I can't believe it." The man shook his head, disbelief spreading across his face. "How?"
"He was murdered, Mr. Gray," Darryl replied solemnly.
"Call me Harold," he said, distractedly. "Tony is…was a good man."
"What did you know about him?" Lucy asked.
Harold's eyes focused on her. "I know Tony had some trouble in the past, but that's what it all was, was just the past. He worked hard and he was on time every day." He turned to his right and looked out the window; silence filled the room for a few minutes.
"What else do you know about Tony?" Lucy asked, pulling Harold back into the present.
"I was going to make him as my new project manager," Harold replied, sadness in his voice.
"What about your current project manager?" Lucy asked.
"Oh, no. I know what you're thinking," he said, holding out his hands in a halting gesture. "I am expanding my business and I wanted him to lead another team. He is smart and good with people."
"Is there anyone else who was looking to get that job?" Darryl asked as he pulled out his small notepad and a pen, taking notes.
Harold shrugged his heavy shoulders. "A couple of guys, but Tony said that he was going to bring them in as a foreman and a construction manager. They were happy with that."
Lucy wondered if the men were happy with the Tony getting the job. She couldn't ignore a possible motive. "Can we get the names of the two men?"
"Of course, I can give you their names but I could call them in here. If you'd like."
"Yes. That would be helpful." Lucy said and then added, "Thank you." She wondered if these interviews would provide important information. She went to stand next to her partner while Harold used his cell phone to call the men.
"What do you think?" She asked quietly.
"I think Mr. Gray is sincere." He answered thoughtfully. "We will see about Tony's coworkers."
She nodded her head in agreement. She thought about the questions that she wanted to ask.
"I'm Greg Barry," the red haired man that was just as tall as Darryl said as he held out his hand, his green eyes looking at them curiously.
Lucy nodded her head in greeting while Darryl shook the man's hand. "I'm Detective Sun and this is Detective Silver."
"I'm Roger Randolph," the other man said, his dark brown eyes revealing nothing.
Harold rose from his chair. "Detectives, I'll leave you to talk to Roger and Greg. I have some things I need to check up on."
Darryl nodded his head to Harold as the man stepped out of his trailer and into the bright sunshine.
Lucy studied the two men that may have had a motive for killing Tony Cruz. Neither of them were fidgety nor avoiding her gaze. In fact, she could tell that both of them were surprised about the man's murder.
"Was Tony having problems with anyone?" Darryl asked as he tapped his pen on his notepad.
They both shook their head no.
"Tony was a nice guy," Roger said honestly. "If someone didn't get along with him at first, it didn't take him long to get 'em to like him."
"What about you two? Any problems with Tony?" Lucy asked, watching the men closely.
"No," Roger said with a shake of his head. "I was looking forward to working with Tony on the expansion of Gray Construction."
"So was I," Roger said in agreement.
"Where were you two between 7 and 10 Saturday morning?" Darryl asked.
"I was at home with my wife and my brother-in-law. "We have been working on remodeling the kitchen." Roger explained. We were at my house all day."
Lucy looked at Greg.
"I was working with my buddy. He owns a landscaping business."
"What's his name?" Darryl asked.
"His name is Stan Simpson. He owns Greater Landscaping." Greg's eyes narrowed in thought. "We were working on the landscaping for a Mrs. Langley. She's throwing a huge party and wanted her garden to be like Eden." He raised his hands and grinned. "Her words. Not mine."
Darryl nodded his head as he scribbled in his notepad.
Lucy held back a sigh. Neither Roger nor Greg had showed a sign of hiding anything and they would look at each of their alibis.
Darryl looked at her. She nodded her head, signaling that she didn't have any other questions. He turned to the two men and told them that they could go.
Greg and Roger left the trailer.
"We should interview everyone at Gray Construction," she suggested.
"Let's go, then," her partner said as he headed toward the door.
She nodded her head and followed him out the door. She hoped that someone would give them the information that they would need to find Tony's killer. A thought formed in her mind. A thought that she didn't want to be having, but if nothing came out of interviewing Tony's coworkers, she might have to follow that thought.
Darryl looked at his notes from the interviews with Tony's boss and a few of his coworkers. He had checked Cruz's employer and he was cleaner than a mountain spring. The man had nothing but good things to say about Cruz as did the two employees that had been up for the newest project manager. He hadn't detected a hint of animosity in any of the people he and Lucy had interviewed.
He sighed as he looked at his watch wondering if he should call Malha about the possibility of being late for the special dinner that she was making him.
"You should head out," Lucy said, her eyes still locked on her computer, studying the victim's financials. "I'm sure Malha has a special dinner for you."
He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "How did you know that she was making me a special dinner tonight?"
"Today is your sixth month anniversary and you've been glancing at your watch every five minutes." She turned her head away from her work and looked at him. "Go," she ordered with a wave of her hand. "This case will be here tomorrow."
He stood up and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. "I'm sure that you'll be here tomorrow, bright and early."
"Unlike you, I don't have anyone to go home too."
He raised his right eyebrow. "We could rectify that."
She looked up from the files on her desk and gave him a firm look. "Not interested in any blind dates."
His eyebrow went down and he cleared his throat. "Actually, I was thinking about a pet. Like a dog?"
"Don't have time," she protested and then added, "It wouldn't be fair to the dog."
"A cat would be a good pet for you. Cats can be left alone for long periods of time."
When she shook her head, he was about to make another suggestion but he saw a mixture of weariness and stubbornness in his partner's face. "See you tomorrow, partner."
"Good night," she responded, her gaze going back to the computer.
He closed his notes and powered down his computer. He stood up, gathered some things, and started walking.
He paused at her desk. "You're not going to be here all night, are you?"
She turned her head to look at him. "Good night, Darryl."
He raised his hands in surrender and knew it would be better to leave his partner to her work. He just wished that she had someone to go home to, as he did. His thoughts turned to the dinner that Malha had at home.
Lucy thanked her partner for the cup of coffee that he placed on her desk. It would be her third one, but he didn't know that since he had just arrived and she had been there since 5 o'clock that morning. She glanced at the time on her computer and saw that it was 7:47.
She took a tentative sip of the fresh coffee and nearly burned her tongue. Raising her arms over her head to stretch out the kinks that had developed over the past two and a half hours caused her to yawn loudly.
"So, what time did you come in this morning? Or did you even leave?" Darryl asked as he sat at his desk.
"I got here a little while ago," she responded and when he shot her a skeptical look, she ignored it and decided to change the subject. "How come this guy is so difficult to pin down? He has no family to speak off besides the aunt that hasn't spoken to him in five years. He has been in trouble before but all of his known associates are either dead or in jail. He's polite to his neighbors and none of them saw or heard anything. No one knows this guy."
"Except for one person that we know," Darryl reminded her. "Well, you do know what we could do," he said and then abruptly stopped when she shot him a look.
He hesitated for a moment. "It might be a good idea. He has lines into a lot of the underworld in Dallas."
"Don't you have lines into the underworld of Dallas?" She countered, hoping that would be the case and she wouldn't have to deal with Carlos Sandoval.
"Yes, but I'm a cop. He's a private investigator. That makes my lines fewer and a lot shorter than his lines."
She turned back to her computer screen. "Let's just work with what we have."
"We don't have anything," he pointed out.
"Let's wait for ballistics and forensics. See if anything pops up."
Thankfully, he nodded his head in agreement and went to his part of the investigation.
She leaned back in her chair and drank some coffee, thinking about Tony Cruz and who had motive to kill him. Her thoughts continued to drift toward Carlos and she wondered if he would be able to provide some information. She frowned, angry at her partner for being right about the private investigator.
Lucy set the pizza box on the counter and then turned to shut the door to her apartment. She locked it and went back into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and reached for a soda. She paused and decided that her brain needed a break, so she grabbed a beer instead.
She brought her beer and the box of pizza to the coffee table and turned the TV on. She selected I Love Lucy and sat to watch the classic black and white show that always managed to help her loosen up and give her brain a break.
As she watched the goofy, but lovable character getting into another mess, her mind continued to turn to the case.
Tony Cruz seemed squeaky clean after his time in prison. They had started to look at those he had known in prison and before, but no one had a bad thing to say about him. By all appearances, he seemed to have gotten his life together. He had a good job and an apartment. She felt that he wouldn't have strayed back into the dangerous lifestyle unless something or someone had pulled him off his new road.
She reflected back to what she had learned about his history. His mother had had cancer and he had resorted to robbery to help pay for her treatments and her long list of prescriptions. It had been petty theft until he had gained a partner that was a lot more determined to get a bigger hit. Cruz had realized how far his partner would go and had contacted the police. He had testified against the man, having learned from his partner of a past robbery that had included the killing of the man who owned and worked at the mart.
Darryl had checked and found that the man that Cruz helped put in prison had been killed a year ago.
Her thoughts returned to the current case. The ballistics still hadn't come in yet and she wanted to call Connie and ask her to put a rush on it, but she knew better. Forensics didn't have anything either and she were tempted to call Kurt to see if he had anything.
She finished the bottle of beer as she thought about what Darryl had said about Carlos. Her partner might be right about asking him to get some information from his contacts. She shook her head and decided she needed another beer since her thoughts were going in that direction.