Disclaimers: I do not own or lay claim to Walker, Texas Ranger or the characters Walker, Gage, Sydney, Trivette or Alex. This was written for entertainment purposes only.
Search Party Part 3
Chapter 9: Cellar where Gage and Sydney are being held
Night had past and the morning light was beginning to seep through the small window of Gage and Sydney's prison. Gage had been sitting against the wall most of the night keeping a close watch on Sydney. With his hands cuffed behind his back he couldn't hold her nor tend to the wound on her head. She had shifted a lot during the night, so for the time being, he knew she was still alive. Gage could not see the watch on his hand due to the hand cuffs but from what he could gather, it was about 6 AM.
"Gage," Sydney weakly said.
"Yeah, Syd, I'm here. I'm glad you are talking."
"Where are we?"
"We are being held captive in a basement somewhere in Dallas."
"Oh." Sydney said realizing her hands were in cuffs as she tried to rub the back of her head. "Why are we in hand cuffs?" She asked. She was beginning to come to and was also becoming more alert.
"Our captors decided this would be the best way to contain our 'ninja' skills."
"Our what? Aren't ninjas martial arts phantoms?"
"No one said these guys were smart."
"Any idea how we are gunna get out of this predicament?" Sydney asked.
"Yeah, I purposely made sure your cuffs were loose."
"You cuffed me?"
"They told me to. They had guns on us. But that is not the point. These look like police issue hand cuffs and my keys are in my front pocket. You should be able to get your hand in my pant's pocket and get my keys." Gage stood up next to the cot as Sydney sat up.
"Go figure, us being kidnapped involves me sticking my hand in your pocket." Sydney stated in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh, you know you. . ."
"Don't finish that sentence." Sydney said as she pushed the cuff on her right wrist as far as she could up her arm and got the keys from Gage's pant's pocket.
Gage turned around and Sydney uncuffed him, then he relieved her of her cuffs. Gage looked at Sydney's head and other than some dried blood, a fresh scar at the base of her neck and a bump, she looked fine.
"You look ok. Do you feel all right?" Gage asked.
"I have a headache. That's all. Let's find a way out of here. Any ideas?"
Knowing that the captors had probably bolted the door or would at least be watching it, he pointed to the small window in the room emitting the only light into the room.
"I had a feeling you were gunna suggest that." Sydney said as sighed heavily knowing what they would need to do to escape.
Chapter 10: Ranger Headquarters
Walker and Trivette had spent until 1 AM trying to track down leads on black vans but decided they were going to have to wait until the kidnappers made contact before they would really be able to do anything. They both, along with Alex, were back in the office at 7 AM waiting for word about their missing colleagues.
Finally Alex came through the company B door with something that may help the case.
"Contact has been made!" She announced. "When the governor got into the office this morning, he found a fax from a copy center on the south side of Dallas. The people who sent the fax said they have two hostages and they want to make a deal. They want passage into the next state and four million dollars wired to an offshore account in the Bahamas."
"Did they leave a way that we can contact them?" Walker asked.
"Nope, they said they would get in touch with us. More waiting." Alex said as she sighed.
"Trivette, let's check out that copy center, see if anyone remembers seeing men get out of a black van." Walker said as he kissed Alex, grabbed his hat and headed out the door.
"Right behind you," Trivette answered as he quickly caught up with Walker.
Chapter 11: Cellar where Sydney and Gage were being held
"Sydney, you are small enough to fit out that window," Gage said as he started to reveal his escape plan to Sydney that he had come up with during the night. "I'm gunna boost you up. I want you to get out, and run. Find a phone. Call Walker and come back for me."
"You want me to leave you here? I can go around and open the door and we can escape together."
"That's too dangerous, Syd, they are probably guarding the door. Get out and run into the woods. Use the trees to hide behind and get to a road. Then fine a phone."
"What if they come back for us before I return with help? They will see that I got away and they will kill you." Sydney said.
"Sydney, they need at least one hostage. They aren't going to kill me. . ."
". . .at that time, maybe not. But what if they take you somewhere else? Then what? You will still be held captive, but I will have no idea where and how to get help."
"Sydney, you have to get out of here. Would you rather we both stay here and possibly die together?" Gage said in a semi-irritated tone.
"Two have a better chance than one."
"I don't think they know we are rangers."
"Then if I escape, they will be closer to figuring that out. If they don't think we are rangers, they will drop their guard eventually, at least long enough for us to both get away."
"When we first got here, they said something about selling us."
"Selling us as like slaves or something?"
"I don't know. I think it might be so the people we are being sold to can get ransom. I think these guys were just an intermediate hired job."
"Makes it harder to connect the people who really need us for ransom to be caught." Sydney said.
"That's what I'm thinking."
Sydney had already taken a seat on the cot and was resting her elbows on her knees trying to come up with something. Gage sat down beside her in the same fashion as both junior rangers sat in silent thought trying to figure out what they were going to do next.
Chapter 12: Upstairs from where Gage and Sydney were At about 7 AM John Slim had sent his brother Harold Colburn to meet with Carl, Ned, Greg and Bob about retrieving the people they were going to purchase. Colburn had arrived and began to look at pictures of the hostages that the other men had taken and got developed at a one-hour photo joint that was open twenty-four hours prior to Colburn's arrival.
"He's a big guy." Colburn said to the four captors.
"Yeah, and tough too." Carl commented.
"But his downfall is the fact that he is sweet on the girl," Ned said as he showed Colburn the picture he had taken of Sydney, "and as long as we keep a gun to her head, he'll stay at bay."
"Where are they now?" Colburn asked.
"In the basement." Greg said.
"These two are acceptable. It's too bad we have to kill them though, she's cute."
"And has pep to her." Ned stated.
"What do you mean by that?" Colburn questioned.
"Well, it's nothing, but when we picked them up, they were pretty good at defending themselves."
"Maybe they take karate classes or something." Colburn rationalized.
"Maybe. . ." Ned said in an unsure voice.
"Well, I would say shoot them and find two more, but we haven't time." Colburn added. "I am going to take these pictures to my brother. Hold these two here a little longer. My brother and I will be back to get them later this evening." Colburn said as he grabbed the pictures and headed out the door.
"What do you want us to do with those two until you come back? That cellar gets really hot and they might get really dehydrated. They would be worth nothing to you if they can't move." Greg said.
"Tie them up by the stream," Colburn said as he pointed to the river not far from the house, "make sure they can't talk either. All we need is someone to hear them yelling or something. They can catch the breeze by the river till I get back." On that note, Colburn jumped in his '99 red Ford Taurus and sped off.
"That guy is a moron if he wants to let them out." Carl said.
"We are getting paid to do what he says and that is all that matters." Ned responded.
"Assuming they are still here when he gets back." Greg said.
"They are a couple two people with no weapons. We are four people with many weapons. What's the worst that could happen?" Ned asked.
"You realize if we shoot them, we won't get paid, right?" Carl asked.
"Yeah, but the two of them don't know it." Ned said as the four men went to get Gage and Sydney for their trip to the stream.
To be continued.
