DISCLAIMER:
Walker, Texas Ranger and its characters belong to Columbia TriStar Entertainment, CBS Entertainment, Inc., Norris Brothers Entertainment, and possible other copyright holders. I certainly intended no infringement on their copyrights. I just wanted to borrow these marvelous characters for a short time and hopefully return them no worse for wear. And, while this story may certainly be distributed and copied freely, in its entirety, for personal use, all original author and copyright information must remain intact. And, please bear in mind that this story was created to enrich your enjoyment of a wonderful series, not your pocketbooks, and any sales or other uses of this document are expressly forbidden, without the specific consent of the author (me). That said, please enjoy the story.
"WALKER, TEXAS RANGER"
Ghostly Visions
by shel
© october 1999
Part 1 ~ The Trick
"It'll work I tell you," Jimmy insisted to CD as he stood at the bar.
CD shook his head and was about to respond when Alex entered and walked over to join them. With a smile to her, he said, "Hi, honey. Can I get you some coffee?"
With a tired smile, Alex shook her head. "Last thing I need is caffeine. With the day I've had, all I want is to go home and crawl into bed."
"Some OJ then. Get some vitamins into you. You're lookin' awfully pale these days."
With a thanks-a-lot look, she said, "It's the Wayne trial. We finally go to closing arguments tomorrow. I'll be fine, CD."
"Sounds like you need to have some fun," Jimmy said with a smile.
"But he's not here yet," Alex teased.
"Very funny."
"Jimmy," CD warned.
"What? Alex needs to take her mind off work and this'll do the trick," Jimmy countered.
"Trick is right," CD muttered.
"What's going on?" Alex asked with a confused smile.
"Here it is --" Jimmy began.
"Don't you be getting Alex involved," CD insisted.
"Big Dog," Jimmy said exasperated, "I'm only asking for a favor."
"Involved in what? What favor?" Alex asked; her curiosity piqued.
"Never mind," CD told her as he motioned for her to sit at a table.
"I just need Alex to get Walker to the office," Jimmy said to CD. "I'd hardly call that being involved."
"Jimmy, I'm telling you. Drop this hare-brained scheme."
"All right. What's going on?" Alex asked with her hands on her hips and an indication that she wasn't going anywhere until the matter was explained.
CD sighed and Jimmy took it as a sign of surrender. Turning to Alex, he helped her up on a stool and said, "Bottom line, Counselor, is that this Halloween's gonna be my year."
"Your year?"
"You know how every year Walker always spooks us with those ghost stories of his?"
"So? It's fun, Jimmy. It's what Halloween's for."
"SoThis year, I'm going to out-spook the great Cherokee warrior." Alex laughed involuntarily and CD flashed Jimmy an I-told-you-so look. "I'm serious," Jimmy insisted. "I've got it all planned. It's absolutely brilliant, if I do say so myself."
"Okay, Jimmy," Alex said trying to calm herself. "What's your brilliant plan?"
"Okay," Jimmy answered, growing excited, "you know how Walker's into the supernatural heebie-jeebies stuff? Well, I've got it set up that Walker will follow a ghost's lead and end up in a haunted apartment."
"A ghost," Alex skeptically commented.
"Not a real one," Jimmy groaned and rolled his eyes. "It's a program. Dan helped me set it up. The man's a genius. Six months he's been working on it and, after seeing the demo, it spooked even me!"
"What's this program do?"
"It'll be attached to an e-mail and will start automatically when Walker opens the note."
"There's your problem right there. No way will Cordell go near the computer," CD interrupted.
"You've been out-of-touch, Big Dog," Jimmy criticized. "Walker's been practicing, not that he's had much choice, and can get his own mail now."
"He's even getting into instant messaging," Alex proudly stated.
"Anyway," Jimmy continued to Alex, "a girl will suddenly appear onscreen and plead for his help to solve her murder. She'll give him a lead and off he'll go. You know he'll first ask someone else to see it but the image will disappear once it's played through and won't play again no matter how many times he opens that note."
"What makes you think Walker will believe the image?"
"Come on, Alexa ghost crying for help? He's always listening to spirits so it's exactly something he'll fall for. He'll be led to an apartment where a few more surprises await while --"
"Whose apartment?" Alex interrupted.
"A friend of mine who's out of town. Walker's never been there so the address won't be familiar.
"What kind of surprises?"
"Nothing serious. Just enough to make him wonder. I'll let him off the hook though. Not before I catch it all on video, of course."
"Of course," Alex murmured. "Doesn't sound too spooky though," she added after a moment.
"All right, so maybe it won't spook him but it will give him a hell of a frustrating time," Jimmy chuckled to himself, "and if --"
"Wait a minute," Alex interrupted. "Halloween's on Sunday and he's supposed to be helping me set up for the H.O.P.E. Center Halloween party. How do you plan on getting him to the office to open his mail? Won't he be suspicious? And what about helping me?"
"Um," Jimmy began, "that's where this favor comes in."
"What is it?" Alex asked suspiciously.
"I need you to tell Walker that you've forgotten something at the office and could he run and pick it up for you on his way to meet you."
"What did I forget?"
"I don't know but it's something you really need for the Center and you can't get away to pick it up yourself. You'll really have to leave it in the office or he will be suspicious."
"Okay," Alex thought aloud. "He's at the office. What makes you think he'll check his e-mail?"
"Well," Jimmy hesitated, "that's part of the favor too."
"Oh?"
"I need you to send him an e-mail and tell him that since he's going to be there anyway, he may as well read it."
"Hmm," Alex murmured with inspiration gleaming in her eye. "Wait a minute," she said again. "What makes you think he'll read through the other messages too?"
"Thought of that," Jimmy confidently answered. "I've created a name for the sender and he'll be too curious to ignore the note."
"Hmmm," Alex said again with a grin as her mind ran through numerous possibilities.
"Don't tell me he's got you caught up in this too?" CD exclaimed. "Oh, honey," he said as he shook his head in disappointment, "you must be more tired than I thought."
"It sounds like fun, CD," Alex said with a smile.
"That's my girl," Trivette automatically said in a happily relieved tone. Alex looked at him and he quickly corrected himself, "Thatta girl. I knew you'd help."
Alex laughed and took her orange juice to a table while CD, shaking his head, turned away and headed into the kitchen.
On Sunday, Halloween morning, Walker was driving to the H.O.P.E. Center when his cell phone rang and he answered it, "Walker."
He smiled when he heard Alex's voice respond, "Hi, it's me."
"I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."
"Great," Alex said.
At her pause Walker asked, "Something wrong?"
"Can you make a stop before you come here, Walker?"
"Ran out of candy already?" he teased.
"Very funny, Mr. Raisins-for-Snacks. I'll have you know that Josie and I bought out the store so there'll be plenty of chocolate and candy for everyone." Alex paused before continuing, "No, I just forgot my planner at the office and wanted to know if you could pick it up for me. I can't get away right now."
"Sure," Walker said.
Alex continued to explain, "It's my planner for the Center. There were a few items I wanted to go over with Josie and some of the details are in the planner and it's probably still sitting on my desk. I had it in my hand to pack in my bag but the phone rang and I put everything down and I can't believe I didn't even realize I left it until just now and to think I could've picked it up myself on my way here but now I don't think I can --"
"It's okay, Alex," Walker interrupted with a chuckle, "I don't mind. I'll pick it up for you."
Alex sighed with relief and said, "Thanks, honey. I really appreciate it."
With a smile she couldn't see, Walker said, "It's no problem."
"You know" Alex began.
"What?"
"Well, if you'll be in the building"
"What?"
"Why don't you also check your e-mail?"
"My e-mail? Why?"
"Could be a message waiting for you."
"Oh," Walker said, his smile growing, "What might this message say?"
"You'll have to read it to find out," Alex teased. "See you soon."
With Alex's planner in hand, Walker leaned over Jimmy's desk and opened the mail program. After entering his name and password, he heard the computer voice say, "You've got mail." Scanning the five messages, he selected the one from Alex and opened it. A smile grew and he quickly turned around to see if anyone noticed. Sitting down, he read it again and said, "Two can play this game." After a few moments of typing, Walker sat back as he scrolled through his message. Smiling to himself, he quietly said, "Let's see you get through the day with that," and hit the send button. After reading confirmation of the message being sent, Walker scrolled once more through the messages. One from the captain, two from Trivette, and one from someone called Brave Doe Heart.' Curious, he opened the message. The message box, however, was blank and before he could click the reload button, an image appeared onscreen.
"Please, Ranger Walker," the dark-haired little girl pleaded, "you have to catch him."
"Who?" Walker asked confused. He wasn't into computers and didn't know what to make of this message.
"I was scared and he hurt me and now I'm stuck. It's very dark and I want to go home. Please help, Ranger Walker," she cried as tears streamed down her chubby face. "The clown building."
"Clown building?" Walker echoed.
"Please help, Ranger Walker. I want to go home. Look for Mr. Happy," the little girl pleaded before she vanished, leaving Walker staring at a blank message.
"Hey, Walker, what're you doing here?" Walker looked up to find Gage heading towards him. "You know, if you'd rather change your schedule and work Sundays, I'd be glad to trade with you. They make us rookies work weekends."
"I was just picking up something for Alex"
"What's going on?" Gage asked seriously when he quickly realized something was wrong.
"You know anything about this danged e-mail business?"
"A little. My sister's the real whiz, though."
"Take a look at this message," Walker said as he stood up and allowed Gage to sit in Jimmy's chair.
"It's empty," Gage said looking up.
"I know. It was empty when I opened it but suddenly an image appeared and spoke. Now it's gone."
"An image?"
"A little girl. Probably six years old. Crying and asking for help. She wanted me to find the man who hurt her."
"Did you try reloading it or closing and then re-opening it?" Gage asked as he turned back to the computer.
"No. You got here as soon as the girl disappeared."
Gage closed the message and re-opened it. "Brave Doe Heart. Someone you know?"
Walker shook his head. "I've never heard the name before." Gage clicked some buttons and Walker asked, "Anything?"
"No. Whatever you saw isn't there now. I don't know what to tell you Walker."
"She mentioned a clown building."
"Clown building? What's she mean?"
"I don't know. She also said to look for a Mr. Happy."
"Want me to start checking out possibilities?"
Walker nodded, "I'd appreciate it. I'll be at the H.O.P.E. Center if you find anything."