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 13: Frustrated
Lucy was getting frustrated. Whenever she had become frustrated on a case in the past, it meant that she was missing something. As she closed the drawer, she knew it was something more than a drive with evidence on it. She stood up and looked around Tony's small bedroom. She had searched every nook and cranny, so the location of the flash drive was still a mystery.
She walked out of the room and into the kitchenette/living room area. She could tell by the disappointed and frustrated looks on her fellow searchers faces they had all come up empty.
"It isn't here," Kim stated as she took off her gloves and threw them into the garbage can in disgust.
"Yeah, I guess Tony didn't want to keep it in his apartment." Carlos replaced the air vent back on the wall and stepped down from the chair that he had been using to reach the vent.
Trent stepped into the little living room with a discouraged frown. "Nothing in the bathroom."
They had torn open everything that would hide a small drive. They had torn apart the cabinets, looking for a loose bottom and they had even looked behind the fridge. Inside cushions, even beneath the floors and still, the evidence they needed to bring down Tony and Pilar's killers, was yet to be found.
"He has to have it," Darryl said. He looked over at his partner. "That is why he was killed, isn't it?"
Lucy shook her head. "That is what I thought, but maybe we should double check Pilar's apartment."
"You mean triple check, don't you?" Kim scoffed as she sat down in the chair that Carlos had used to reach the vent.
Trent pulled off his gloves and looked around at the others. "We know there is evidence out there, we just have to find it."
Kim rose from the chair and stretched. "Yeah, a flash drive in a large city like trying to find a needle in a corn field."
Carlos turned to Darryl. "Any word from the others?"
He shook his head. "Trivette and Walker aren't getting anywhere following Parker. He has been on his best behavior. He must know we have eyes on him. Sydney and Gage have questioned Daisy, but she has no idea where Pilar would put the flash drive."
"We must be missing something," Lucy said quietly, narrowing her eyes as she scanned the room.
"Yes, we are missing something," Kim said, as all eyes turned to her. "Lunch."
"Ok, ok," Trent held his hands out in a peaceful gesture. "Let's go get something to eat. Then, we will figure out what to do next."
"I know what to do next," Kim muttered as she walked out the door.
Lucy followed Darryl out the door, wondering what they had missed. Her thoughts were going around in a circle, trying to find something that she had missed.
Once the others had left the apartment, Trent looked over at Carlos whose eyes were on the bloodstain on the floor. He walked up to his partner and slapped him gently on the back. "Not your fault, brother. Not your fault."
Carlos didn't really believe it but he nodded his head anyway. The guilt rose within him once again and he knew the only way to get rid of the intensity of the guilt was to bring the bad guys to justice, then the guilt would be minimal, but he knew it would always be there.
Trent sighed. "Carlos, you were going to meet with Tony. If you were on time, you may have been killed too."
"I don't know, Trent." He turned to look at his friend. "I know I can't change the past, but I sure as hell can find his killer and whoever else was involved and bring them all to justice."
He stepped outside. He blinked his eyes having been blinded by the late afternoon sun. He put on his sunglasses to shield his eyes before he ran over to his Dodge Durango where Trent and Kim were waiting for him. Lucy and Darryl were standing next to Darryl's car which was parked on the other side of the Durango.
"Pizza?" Kim called out. Everyone nodded in agreement while Kim took her cell out of her pocket and began to order as she got into the passenger seat of the Durango. "We'll meet you guys at Thunder Investigations," Trent before he got into the driver's seat of the Durango since his partner's eyes were still sensitive.
Lucy wished she was driving but all she could do was let out a soft sigh and settled into the passenger seat. As Darryl turned the car, the sun caused her to squint against the bright light. She put on her sunglasses. Her eyes still bothered her but her partner's wife, Malha, had given her some special tea that would help her eyes. Malha had also suggested to the blonde detective to put slices of cucumber on her eyes for fifteen minutes, changing the slices every few minutes. She hadn't yet to follow the knowledgeable woman's advice, but she promised herself that once they got to the P.I. office that she would drink the tea.
She didn't want to admit it, but Carlos was beginning to be more than an easily grinning fool. He had a good heart and she couldn't deny that he had the ability to make her feel at ease whenever he was in the room.
Shaking her head, she worked on focusing on the case.
Tony had wanted to talk to Carlos about something that had frightened him enough to want to speak to the P.I. in person.
Tony was murdered and it was possible that Carlos was supposed to take the blame, but it may have been coincidence. If Parker had been trying to frame the P.I. with the murder of Tony Cruz and seeing that it had failed, it had sealed the fate of the former escort and girlfriend, Pilar Hernandez.
One question that she was asking herself was why would Parker allow Pilar to leave the escort service? It was also a question as why he would allow the woman to leave him. The team had been theorizing that it was because Pilar had the flash drive and had been blackmailing Parker. Since Pilar was now dead, the flash drive hadn't appeared and that was assuming that Pilar had set up some kind of system for it to appear in the event of her death.
Lucy decided, no needed, to question Daisy again. Being Pilar's best friend, she must have some insight to the woman.
She was glad when Darryl pulled the car into a parking spot in front of Thunder Investigations. She needed to recharge but what she really needed to do was to stop her stomach from growling so much.
A few hours later, Lucy and Daryl were sitting next to each other on a semi-comfortable couch in the living room of a Ranger safe house looking at Daisy O'Mara who was sitting across from them in a recliner.
"How did Pilar leave the escort service?" Lucy questioned.
"I don't know," the bleach-blonde escort exclaimed as she placed her head within her well-manicured hands.
Lucy frowned.
"Miss O'Mara, we need your help to catch Pilar's killer and the only way to do that, is to tell us everything, even details that you believe are insignificant," Darryl replied.
"I don't know anything," the woman responded with exasperation. "Pilar got out of this life. That's all I know."
"How? Parker would have killed her or would have had her killed. She would never be able to just leave," Lucy pointed out.
"Well, she found a way," the woman snapped out.
The two women stared at each other while Darryl held back a sigh. Darryl looked at the woman that had been Pilar's friend. "We shouldn't be fighting each other." He looked at his partner. "This is no way to stop Parker."
When Lucy nodded her head, he returned his attention to Daisy. "You are in danger the longer that it takes us to find the evidence that Pilar had on Parker." He waited for Daisy to absorb his words, seeing that she was imagining what her life would be like always having to look over her shoulder. Fear filling her days and nights that someone would be in the shadows, waiting to kill her.
She nodded her head, fear in her eyes but with a determination that had Darryl glad that his partner wouldn't be pressing the frightened young woman. He knew that Lucy meant well, but her determination could leave her cold to people's feelings.
He leaned forward, clasping his hands together and locking eyes with the woman. "Now, are you certain Pilar never mentioned a place where she would keep things she deemed important safe. Maybe she had a safe deposit box or a storage locker?"
Daisy shook her head no, tears brimming in her eyes. "No, no. I don't know." She cried out as the tears started to roll down her cheeks.
He grabbed a couple of tissues from a box on the table next to his seat, handed the tissues to the crying woman, and then placed a comforting hand on Daisy's shoulder. "I understand how difficult this is for you."
He continued to be understanding and gentle with her, while his partner remained surprisingly silent. They left the safe house with no more information than they had arrived.
They got into the car. He started the car and then looked over at his partner, who was currently leaning back in her seat, seemingly relaxing, but he could see the tightness in shoulders and he knew she was breaking down every word that Daisy had spoken as well as her expressions. As he pulled out into the street, he wondered why Lucy had stopped her intense pursuit of information from the woman.
He could tell that Lucy didn't want to discuss what had happened during the interview, but he hoped she would speak with him soon. He knew that she was getting frustrated with the case and he didn't have to be a detective to figure out what she would do next.