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 5: Caught

The mid-afternoon sun was continuing its eighth day of torture on the residents of Dallas. The humming of thousands of conditioners in the air covered most sounds. One exception was the sound of squealing tires.

Lucy put the car in park and looked over at her partner who had one hand on the bar and one on the dash. "How did you find out about his girlfriend?" She asked, holding back a grin.

He cleared his throat and released his hold. "I have my ways."

"Let me guess. Did Kurt found it for you? He probably did some intense internet search."

"Come on. You know that I have some decent computer skills for someone whose job doesn't have analyst in the title. You really think I couldn't have found his girlfriend?"

She raised an eyebrow and he raised his hands in defeat. "Ok. Ok. Yes, Kurt found her. Cruz may not have a profile online, but there are a handful of pictures online of him with his girlfriend."

She smiled. "So, what did you have to trade with Kurt to do the search for you?"

Darryl turned his head and looked at her with a suspicious smile. "All he wanted was your number."

"Really? He couldn't find my number?"

"Well, he wanted to get your number in a non-stalker way and he wanted me to chat him up."

"So, if I have coffee with him, then it will be even between the two of you?"

"Yes."

She bit her bottom lip, thinking. Kurt wasn't a bad guy and she wouldn't mind having a cup of coffee with him. He would also be a good distraction. She shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Ok. Fine. Ask me first next time."

He cleared his throat. "Nothing from Carlos yet?" He asked cautiously.

She shook her head as she opened the car door and stepped out into the hot day. She wanted to step back into the car with its nice air conditioning. She turned and looked at her partner once he had stepped out of the car. "You think Cruz's girlfriend will have anything useful for us?"

"She may be the one that killed him," he replied as he looked down, thinking. He looked at her with a confident smile. "All we have to do is go and ask some questions."

She nodded her head, glad that one of them had some optimism. She scanned the surrounding area. She spotted a familiar vehicle and she felt a familiar anger mixed with something else. She didn't want to think about that particular feeling.

"You go on ahead," she said softly as she shut the door with a soft slam. "I'll be right there."

He raised an eyebrow and looked in the direction that she was looking in. He didn't ask any questions. "Uh. Ok."

She jogged over to a Dodge Durango. When she reached the driver's side, she was glad to be in the shade even if it was only a few degrees cooler than being in the hot sun. She knocked on the window.

A few seconds later, the window rolled down and a grinning face popped up.

She crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at the man inside. "Mr. Sandoval, what are you going here?"

"Detective Silver, how are you today?" He asked casually. "It's been humid a lot lately."

"Answer my question." She resisted the urge to clench her teeth, deciding not to give him that satisfaction. She was beginning to believe that he enjoyed toying with her. Well, if he wanted an easier life, he would learn not to mess with her.

"Well, I asked how you are and you haven't answered. That's rather rude."

Her eyes narrowed, holding back the urge to pull him out of his vehicle and slap some handcuffs on him. "It's rude that I asked you a question first and you haven't answered it."

He raised his right eyebrow but kept the grin on his face. "Well, you didn't ask how I am."

She unclipped her handcuffs from her belt and dangled them before his grinning face. "Do I have to ask questions with you sitting in a smelly, stuffy room in which you are shackled to the table? Or do you prefer to answer my questions here and now?"

She was surprised when he held back a retort. He must have been certain she would have him thrown into a cell. She could certainly picture him in one. She returned the cuffs to her belt, but she kept one hand on them. "You failed to mention that you knew about Tony Cruz's girlfriend the other day."

"I didn't know about his girlfriend when you had come by for a visit," he replied, his gaze going from the cuffs to her face. "I would have told you about it."

"So, you learned about her and decided to interfere in this investigation by talking to her yourself."

"What makes you think that I've spoken with her?"

She almost laughed. "You are out here in your car. You seem to believe that she knows something, possibly something that has placed her life in danger since you are guarding her."

"Maybe you're right." He sighed, his face turning serious. He turned to face her, with a large grin on his face. "Maybe not. I could just be enjoying the day and the architecture of the building."

She shook her head and headed to the front door of the apartment building. She wasn't going to allow Carlos to distract her any longer. If he didn't want to share information, so be it.

She caught up to Darryl and followed him up the stairs. She was glad when he didn't say anything about Sandoval, but she knew he would probably ask later.

They reached Pilar's door and Darryl knocked. She could hear the door unlock and the door opened. A dark brown eye peered out in the opened door, but the chain was still latched.

"Ms. Hernandez, I'm Detective Sun and this is Detective Silver. We're here to talk to you about Tony Cruz."

Pilar shook her head. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Ms. Hernandez, Tony was murdered and you may have information that could bring his murderer to justice."

"I don't know anything. Now, leave me alone," she said as she shut the door.

Lucy heard the door latching and she turned to look at her partner.

"That's suspicious." Darryl said

"Her reluctance to speak with us could be because of the one who is in the parking lot."

He shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

She shrugged her shoulders, deciding that it was better not to argue about it. "All right. Let's head back to the office and look into Pilar. See what we can find out. She could be connected in one way or another."

She motioned for Darryl to go ahead of her. As she followed her partner, several possibilities went through her mind.

She dropped into her chair and blew out a frustrated breath. Lucy had decided not to push the woman, sensing that it would cause her to vanish.

"I still think Carlos may be involved. We found him at the scene of the crime. He could have worn gloves, changed his clothes and ditched the gun."

Darryl shook his head, since he was currently chewing a piece of a sandwich that Malha had made him for lunch. She had also provided one for Lucy, which was sitting before her, half eaten. He swallowed. "You are just upset that he didn't mention the girlfriend."

She frowned. "I am serious. He had time to ditch the clothes and the gun. He made the call to you. He knew you while he was at DPD."

Darryl sighed and set his sandwich down. "Are you saying that I am biased?"

"Yes," she replied, nodding her head. "I know how the brotherhood of law enforcement works."

His face darkened in anger. "You know that I would never let anyone in law enforcement get away with a crime, especially murder."

The fire in her eyes faded away as did her anger. She sighed as she waved a hand in a signal of peace. "I'm sorry, Darryl. You're right." She scratched a spot behind her right ear. "I am just frustrated."

"It's ok." He paused. "I know that Carlos tends to get underneath people's skins."

Fire sparked in her eyes again. "He did not get under my skin."

Darryl struggled to hide the knowing grin on his face.

Lucy picked up her sandwich. "Can we finish our lunch and then focus on the case?"

"Sure," he replied as he raised his can of soda and took a sip.

She shook her head and took a decent bite from her sandwich. She wished she could make a sandwich as good as Malha. She decided to do something nice for Malha, but she didn't have a clue. She would have to ask her partner.

Her thoughts returned to the case once the sandwich had been finished and she took some sips of her coffee. She knew that some piece of information was going to come her way but she hoped it didn't come from a certain someone that had a way of getting under her skin.