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. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.

Chapter 11: Guilt

The dark brown, glassy eyes looked at Lucy, sending sharp jabs of guilt through her heart. The stark white scarf that was tied tightly around Pilar's neck had been the instrument of her death. Lucy straightened up, her gaze sweeping the dingy motel room that looked as though it hadn't been decorated since the eighties, but it probably would be now since it had been complete torn apart.

The pillows had been ripped apart, causing the feathers inside to spread around the room. The filling of the sliced mattress was spilling onto the floor. The small television had been taken apart and had a large crack in one corner of the screen. The small table that had been next to the bed was broken in half. The phone that had been on that table had its cord pulled from the wall and was off its hook on the other side of the bed.

Her gaze went to the painting that had been hanging on the wall in a cheap, gaudy frame. It had a large hole in the middle of it, but she could make out some ugly flowers in a vase.

She had already looked in the bathroom with its lime colored tile. It contained a tiny sink that was surrounded by towels, bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash and an assortment of makeup. The shower curtain was torn off its hooks and was heaped in the tub.

Her gaze landed Walker and Trivette, who had arrived before her and Darryl.

Trivette's dark eyes looked up from Pilar's body and he cleared his throat. "The call had come in at 11:37 this morning from the maid had found Pilar's body."

Lucy nodded her head and looked at Darryl who was standing next to her. He saw that he was taking his time putting together the scene in his head before he commented.

She moved away from Pilar so that Connie, the medical examiner, could get to work. She signaled to Darryl that she was finished examining the body and the room. He nodded his head, signaling that he was finished as they both followed the two Rangers outside, leaving Connie and the forensic team to work the scene.

"Oswald strangled her with the scarf. He uses a gun to kill his targets. Why would he strangle her?" Trivette questioned.

The frown on her lips deepened as she remembered the impressions in the carpet on either side of Pilar's body. She realized that the impressions had been made by the killer's knees. "When he strangled her, he made certain that she could see his face and that he would watch as she died."

"He made it personal," Walker stated.

Trivette looked at his partner. "Oswald? He's a cold-blooded killer. It's just another job to him."

"It wasn't personal for Oswald. It was for Parker," Darryl said firmly. "We know that he has Oswald do his dirty work, but he made sure that Pilar would suffer."

Trivette nodded his head in agreement. "Sounds like Parker. She left the business and he wouldn't let anyone do that."

"But he did. For a little while anyway," Lucy paused as a new idea sparked in her mind. "It's personal. Too personal." Several possibilities popped up in her mind and she had to quickly filter them through before it became too much. "I think that Pilar was more than just an employee to Parker."

"Wait." Trivette raised his hands, catching onto her thought. "You think Pilar and Parker were together?"

"Yes," she answered with certainty.

"We need to look into this theory." Walker said firmly before his partner could get sidetracked with this information and how he hadn't been able to find it on his computer. "If we can connect Parker officially to Pilar, then we have a connection to him."

Darryl looked at her knowingly. "There is one person who probably knows about the relationship between them."

She nodded her head in agreement. "Let's go."

Trivette looked at Walker with a raised eyebrow.

"You heard Detective Silver, Trivette."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

She half listened to the exchange between the two Rangers as they walked to their respective vehicles. The rest of her mind was on the body of the woman and the private investigator that had been trying to protect that woman.

Pilar's death had had more of an impact on her than she believed it would but she knew that Carlos would feel even guiltier for the woman's death. She saw Trivette get into the passenger's side of Walker's truck as she slid into the driver's seat of her car.

Darryl had gotten into the passenger seat just in time, because she had already turned on the car and put it in drive. As she drove the car to Daisy O'Mara's house, she couldn't get the image of Pilar's body out of her mind.

Daisy had reluctantly allowed them in her house. She didn't offer any beverages or for them to sit down. She stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, her chin raised in defiance, but there was a touch of fear in her eyes.

Lucy thought it was good that the woman standing before her was afraid. She pulled out her cell phone and put it right in Daisy's face, so she would see the picture of Pilar's body, looking at her with empty eyes.

Daisy gasped at the image on the phone and took a step back. Her hands went to her mouth as tears slid down her face. "No, no!" She exclaimed as she stumbled backwards until she bumped into a chair and managed to sit down.

The woman's hands were shaking and Lucy knew it was time to begin.

"As you can see, Pilar is dead," she said as she returned her cell to her pocket, her eyes never leaving the other woman's face. "If you didn't notice she was strangled to death," she added, harshly.

Daisy sniffled and wiped a tear from her cheek, but she didn't say a word.

"You knew where she was and you didn't tell us," Darryl accused.

Daisy shook her head. "No, no! I didn't know she would end up…end up…"

"Dead," Darryl filled in for her.

"You did know where she was though, didn't you?" Walker asked.

"Yes," she answered softly as she accepted the box of tissues that Trivette handed to her and dabbed her eyes.

"We need you to tell us everything," Walker ordered.

The woman took a deep breath. "Pilar and I worked for Eli Parker. We were escorts. We made decent money and weren't treated too badly as long as we followed the rules." She began to pull the tissue apart in her hands.

Darryl prodded her with a gesture of his hand.

"Pilar ended up Eli's girl. She was his favorite girl for about a year."

"What ended it?" Trivette asked.

"Pilar. She somehow got away from Eli about six months ago."

"You know how she did it," Lucy's green eyes narrowed. "She told you."

"She had something on Eli." She frowned and gently bit her lip. "I don't know exactly what, but it enough to get her out of this life."

"You know where she's hidden the evidence?" Walker questioned.

"No." She shook her head. "I don't know," she added strongly.

"Even if Parker thinks you know where it is, you're in danger." Trivette looked at his partner, silent messages passed between them.

Walker nodded his head and addressed Daisy. "We are going to set you up in a safe house."

Lucy was surprised the woman didn't protest, but accepted with a nod of her head.

"Let me get some clothes and things together," Daisy said as she rose and rushed out of the room.

"I'll call Sydney and Gage and let them know where they are going to be for the next few days," Trivette said as he stepped into the kitchen to make the call.

Lucy turned to Walker. "Darryl and I will head back to the office."

"We'll be there soon," he replied as his eyes went to the room that Daisy had gone into.

Lucy and Darryl exited the house and began to walk to the car that they had parked in the street.

"What do you think?" Lucy asked Darryl taking the car keys out of her pocket.

"I'm not sure," he responded, a thoughtful frown appeared on his face. "Why didn't Parker just kill Pilar before?"

"He wanted the evidence she had against him first," she suggested as she opened the car door.

"Yeah, but why kill Joe Smith?" He opened the car door on his side. "And do you think Tony found about Pilar blackmailing Parker?"

She shrugged her shoulders once she had taken her seat. "Maybe Joe Smith was a liability for a different reason. I know that Pilar went to see him a few days before Tony's death, but maybe that was just a coincidence. You are probably right about Tony finding out about the blackmail. He had been living a clean slate and he didn't want his girlfriend to ruin it. He was going to head that new crew and it was a big opportunity for him."

He looked over at her once he had settled in the passenger seat. "You don't believe in coincidences." He nodded his head. "I agree about Tony. He probably figured Carlos could help. Discreetly," he added.

She snorted as she started the car, put it in drive and pulled out into the street. She doubted that Carlos could be discreet.

Trent knocked and when he didn't get a response, he opened the door and walked into Carlos' apartment. His best friend was sitting in his recliner, a beer in his hand and several empty bottles on the coffee table in front of him.

Trent dropped off the bag of Chinese food on the coffee table before he went into the kitchen, opened the fridge door and grabbed a bottle of beer. He used the bottle opener to open his beer, and then grabbed a fork from the silverware drawer before he went into the living room and sat on the couch. He took a sip of beer and sighed. He set bottle onto the coffee table before he turned to the somber man sitting next to him. "It's not your fault, Carlos. Pilar refused our help."

The dark-haired detective shook his head. "There had to be some way. Something we could've done to help her."

"Well, I guess we could've had her thrown into a jail cell for her own safety but that probably would've resulted in a law suit."

"She would be alive," he pointed out.

Trent sighed and brought his hands together. "Maybe. It was her choice, Carlos. We can't force people to do things that they don't want to do."

"I couldn't save Tony and I couldn't save Pilar." Carlos threw his empty beer bottle across the room. It smashed against the wall and fell to the floor in pieces. "What's the point?"

"Are you really going to sit here, drink yourself into a stupor and allow the people that did this to get away with it? This isn't the Carlos that I know."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No, we are going to bring down Parker and Oswald."

"Let's eat," he said as he opened the brown paper bag, pulling out food containers, sauce packets and a pair of chopsticks. "Then we both need to get some rest if we are going to be useful."

He nodded as Trent handed him the fork and one of the take-out containers. He opened it and was happy to see that it contained his favorite noodle dish. He didn't realize he was so hungry until he smelled the food. He smiled at Trent, glad that his friend always had his back just as he had Trent's back.