Morning Star
Chapter 3
The woman driving the car was not the sullen woman who had entered Company B this morning. Sydney Cooke was a Ranger on a mission, carefully watching the road, all the while zipping around and in front of slower cars. Gage turned to watch his partner drive and noticed the determined purse of her lips and the unyielding way in which she commanded the vehicle. Impressed, he couldn't help but comment.
"Whoa Syd, I think you've been driving with me too long. You're turning into a regular speed demon." He grinned at her, hoping to elicit a smile.
"You really want to see Myser get away? Are you forgetting all those kids who were hurt in the tainted batch of coke he distributed?" Syd snapped at Gage, and then continued, almost under her breathe. "And I think you'd appreciate my efforts, I'm sure you wouldn't want to be late for your hot date tonight."
Gage studied his partner with surprise. Since when had his romantic pursuits become an issue? What was with Syd today anyways? Hurt that she wasn't being more supportive of his effort to meet new people; Gage turned in his seat and lashed back at Syd.
"Just because you're probably going to spend the night sitting in your apartment, watching some sappy romantic movie, instead of getting out there and actually having a life, doesn't mean that you have to rain on my parade."
"Oh, it's a parade now is it? A parade for Jennifer, the beautiful Dallas Cowboys cheerleader with legs that go on forever. How lucky for her. Not many women get a parade on the first date. But, then again, as a cheerleader, I suppose she might expect one."
Syd could not believe these words were actually coming from her mouth. Shut up Sydney, a little voice in her head finally penetrated her conscious thoughts. Now is not the time, and anyways, what do you care – Gage is your partner, your best friend, be happy for him.
"Syd, what is going..." Gage had turned again to stare at his partner, his mouth dropping open. Never, in all the time they had been together, had Syd ever spoken to him with such bitterness in her voice.
"We're here. Let's go check it out." Syd had stopped the car in the thick bushes, just off the dirt road which led to Rebecca Jenkins's place, and was stepping out the driver's door, gun in hand.
Pushing all questions aside, Gage stepped out the passenger door, and pulling his gun crouched low to the ground and followed Sydney towards the small, isolated, rundown house.
A dilapidated shed surrounded by weeds and two rusty, broken-down, pick-up trucks; it was hard to believe that anyone lived there. But as Sydney and Gage moved closer a young woman, several months pregnant, stepped out the front door and carried a basket of wet laundry to a rusty rotating clothesline and began to hang up an assortment of white clothes.
"Rebecca?" Gage mouthed to Sydney and she nodded in return.
"No tire tracks." Sydney whispered to Gage as she moved closer to him. "I don't think Myser's been here yet."
"What do you want to do?" Gage whispered in return.
"I think we should do a full sweep of the exterior, after she goes inside, just make sure he isn't here and then we'll have to stake it out. Sorry Gage, you might have to miss that date after all."
"Syd..." Gage whispered but she was gone, motioning to him that she would start her sweep from the left and he could go to the right.
As soon as Rebecca Jenkins moved inside, the Rangers began their sweep of the exterior. Moving swiftly, but carefully and low to the ground, each of them managed to cover a lot of area in just a few minutes. They met up again, about half-way around the back of the property, each with nothing to report.
"We should go back to the front again." Gage whispered to Sydney as they met up. "That's the best vantage point to see someone coming and get back to the car if we need to get out of here."
Nodding in agreement, Syd led the way back to a location near the first place they had stopped. It was a place where soft moss covered the ground, making it an ideal location for sitting for a long period of time, and it ensured concealment as it was surrounded by some of the thickest bushes on the property.
When they got there, Syd called Walker and Gage kept lookout. Keeping her voice as hushed as possible, Syd relayed their location to Walker and informed him of their plans.
"Okay, will do. 9:00." Syd ended her conversation and put her cell phone back in her pocket. "Walker wants us to stay here. Check-in is at 9:00 and he'll reassess then if Myser hasn't shown up. He definitely had help at the prison, two guards are down with knife wounds to the abdomen, one critical, and Myser escaped in an unmarked black delivery van."
Gage nodded and then sat down next to Syd, ensuring that each of them had a clear view through the bushes of both the road in and the house. They sat there in silence, partly as a requirement of their job and partly because neither was sure what to say to the other.
Gage was the one to finally break the silence.
"Syd, how did you know that my date's name tonight was Jennifer? I told Trivette that before you came into the office this morning."
"Gage, just drop it." Syd whispered menacingly.
"Is that why you came in so disturbed this morning that you didn't even touch a drop of your coffee? Were you listening outside the office door?"
"Gage, I said drop it." Syd refused to look at him.
"C'mon Syd. Does it really bother you that I had a date?"
"Gage." Syd whispered, this time so softly that he could barely hear her. "Please."
Something about Syd's demeanour and the way she asked him to stop pulled him up short. Was Syd actually jealous? Had he hurt her somehow by flaunting his good fortune? He knew that like himself, she hadn't had a real date in months. Most of the time it was just the two of them, ending up together for dinner and a quiet night in after a day of hard work.
They continued to sit for several hours, this time the silence between them one of confusion and frustration. Finally Gage spoke again.
"I've got to stretch my legs. And I'm starving. I'm going to sneak back to the car and snag your emergency stash of food. You okay?"
"You and your stomach." Syd finally replied as Gage stood up to go and, looking up at him, gave him the briefest of smiles.
Feeling about a thousand times better than he had minutes earlier, Syd's jibe about his stomach and her smile, however faint, reassuring him that things were okay between them, Gage scampered off towards the car using the last light of day to see where he was going.
He returned about 20 minutes later to find Syd still sitting, but she had pulled her knees up to her chest and was resting her head there, hugging herself tightly.
"Syd?" He whispered gently. Okay, he was right. There was something wrong. Syd never sat like that, not his tough girl. She was brave and daring and could kick ass with the best of them and she never sat looking like a little girl who has lost her best friend.
Gage could have sworn he heard a sniffle, but her voice moments later sounded strong and clear. She turned to look at him but the dark had settled in around them and he could no longer see her features.
"Here Gage. Do you feel better?"
"Yeah, I do. Look I brought back your stash of food and a blanket. I figure we might need it if we're here too much longer. Good thing we took your car, I don't think I restocked my car after the last stakeout we did."
"Gage, your car wasn't stocked at the last stakeout. You stopped at the convenience store and bought junk food on the way."
"Oh yeah." Gage whispered smiling and settling in next to Syd again. How had she remembered that? "Here you go Shorty. Your stash, you get first choice."
"Gage?"
"Mmmm, hmmm?"
"Will you please stop calling me that?"
Puzzled but not wanting to hurt or upset her anymore than he apparently, but unknowingly, already had he nodded and replied tenderly.
"Sure Syd."
"Thanks Gage. I just..."
Wanting more than anything to figure out what was going on in her head, but knowing that a stakeout for a dangerous drug dealer was not the best time to do it, Gage just nudged her gently with his shoulder and said,
"Syd, pick something to eat."
Chapter 3
The woman driving the car was not the sullen woman who had entered Company B this morning. Sydney Cooke was a Ranger on a mission, carefully watching the road, all the while zipping around and in front of slower cars. Gage turned to watch his partner drive and noticed the determined purse of her lips and the unyielding way in which she commanded the vehicle. Impressed, he couldn't help but comment.
"Whoa Syd, I think you've been driving with me too long. You're turning into a regular speed demon." He grinned at her, hoping to elicit a smile.
"You really want to see Myser get away? Are you forgetting all those kids who were hurt in the tainted batch of coke he distributed?" Syd snapped at Gage, and then continued, almost under her breathe. "And I think you'd appreciate my efforts, I'm sure you wouldn't want to be late for your hot date tonight."
Gage studied his partner with surprise. Since when had his romantic pursuits become an issue? What was with Syd today anyways? Hurt that she wasn't being more supportive of his effort to meet new people; Gage turned in his seat and lashed back at Syd.
"Just because you're probably going to spend the night sitting in your apartment, watching some sappy romantic movie, instead of getting out there and actually having a life, doesn't mean that you have to rain on my parade."
"Oh, it's a parade now is it? A parade for Jennifer, the beautiful Dallas Cowboys cheerleader with legs that go on forever. How lucky for her. Not many women get a parade on the first date. But, then again, as a cheerleader, I suppose she might expect one."
Syd could not believe these words were actually coming from her mouth. Shut up Sydney, a little voice in her head finally penetrated her conscious thoughts. Now is not the time, and anyways, what do you care – Gage is your partner, your best friend, be happy for him.
"Syd, what is going..." Gage had turned again to stare at his partner, his mouth dropping open. Never, in all the time they had been together, had Syd ever spoken to him with such bitterness in her voice.
"We're here. Let's go check it out." Syd had stopped the car in the thick bushes, just off the dirt road which led to Rebecca Jenkins's place, and was stepping out the driver's door, gun in hand.
Pushing all questions aside, Gage stepped out the passenger door, and pulling his gun crouched low to the ground and followed Sydney towards the small, isolated, rundown house.
A dilapidated shed surrounded by weeds and two rusty, broken-down, pick-up trucks; it was hard to believe that anyone lived there. But as Sydney and Gage moved closer a young woman, several months pregnant, stepped out the front door and carried a basket of wet laundry to a rusty rotating clothesline and began to hang up an assortment of white clothes.
"Rebecca?" Gage mouthed to Sydney and she nodded in return.
"No tire tracks." Sydney whispered to Gage as she moved closer to him. "I don't think Myser's been here yet."
"What do you want to do?" Gage whispered in return.
"I think we should do a full sweep of the exterior, after she goes inside, just make sure he isn't here and then we'll have to stake it out. Sorry Gage, you might have to miss that date after all."
"Syd..." Gage whispered but she was gone, motioning to him that she would start her sweep from the left and he could go to the right.
As soon as Rebecca Jenkins moved inside, the Rangers began their sweep of the exterior. Moving swiftly, but carefully and low to the ground, each of them managed to cover a lot of area in just a few minutes. They met up again, about half-way around the back of the property, each with nothing to report.
"We should go back to the front again." Gage whispered to Sydney as they met up. "That's the best vantage point to see someone coming and get back to the car if we need to get out of here."
Nodding in agreement, Syd led the way back to a location near the first place they had stopped. It was a place where soft moss covered the ground, making it an ideal location for sitting for a long period of time, and it ensured concealment as it was surrounded by some of the thickest bushes on the property.
When they got there, Syd called Walker and Gage kept lookout. Keeping her voice as hushed as possible, Syd relayed their location to Walker and informed him of their plans.
"Okay, will do. 9:00." Syd ended her conversation and put her cell phone back in her pocket. "Walker wants us to stay here. Check-in is at 9:00 and he'll reassess then if Myser hasn't shown up. He definitely had help at the prison, two guards are down with knife wounds to the abdomen, one critical, and Myser escaped in an unmarked black delivery van."
Gage nodded and then sat down next to Syd, ensuring that each of them had a clear view through the bushes of both the road in and the house. They sat there in silence, partly as a requirement of their job and partly because neither was sure what to say to the other.
Gage was the one to finally break the silence.
"Syd, how did you know that my date's name tonight was Jennifer? I told Trivette that before you came into the office this morning."
"Gage, just drop it." Syd whispered menacingly.
"Is that why you came in so disturbed this morning that you didn't even touch a drop of your coffee? Were you listening outside the office door?"
"Gage, I said drop it." Syd refused to look at him.
"C'mon Syd. Does it really bother you that I had a date?"
"Gage." Syd whispered, this time so softly that he could barely hear her. "Please."
Something about Syd's demeanour and the way she asked him to stop pulled him up short. Was Syd actually jealous? Had he hurt her somehow by flaunting his good fortune? He knew that like himself, she hadn't had a real date in months. Most of the time it was just the two of them, ending up together for dinner and a quiet night in after a day of hard work.
They continued to sit for several hours, this time the silence between them one of confusion and frustration. Finally Gage spoke again.
"I've got to stretch my legs. And I'm starving. I'm going to sneak back to the car and snag your emergency stash of food. You okay?"
"You and your stomach." Syd finally replied as Gage stood up to go and, looking up at him, gave him the briefest of smiles.
Feeling about a thousand times better than he had minutes earlier, Syd's jibe about his stomach and her smile, however faint, reassuring him that things were okay between them, Gage scampered off towards the car using the last light of day to see where he was going.
He returned about 20 minutes later to find Syd still sitting, but she had pulled her knees up to her chest and was resting her head there, hugging herself tightly.
"Syd?" He whispered gently. Okay, he was right. There was something wrong. Syd never sat like that, not his tough girl. She was brave and daring and could kick ass with the best of them and she never sat looking like a little girl who has lost her best friend.
Gage could have sworn he heard a sniffle, but her voice moments later sounded strong and clear. She turned to look at him but the dark had settled in around them and he could no longer see her features.
"Here Gage. Do you feel better?"
"Yeah, I do. Look I brought back your stash of food and a blanket. I figure we might need it if we're here too much longer. Good thing we took your car, I don't think I restocked my car after the last stakeout we did."
"Gage, your car wasn't stocked at the last stakeout. You stopped at the convenience store and bought junk food on the way."
"Oh yeah." Gage whispered smiling and settling in next to Syd again. How had she remembered that? "Here you go Shorty. Your stash, you get first choice."
"Gage?"
"Mmmm, hmmm?"
"Will you please stop calling me that?"
Puzzled but not wanting to hurt or upset her anymore than he apparently, but unknowingly, already had he nodded and replied tenderly.
"Sure Syd."
"Thanks Gage. I just..."
Wanting more than anything to figure out what was going on in her head, but knowing that a stakeout for a dangerous drug dealer was not the best time to do it, Gage just nudged her gently with his shoulder and said,
"Syd, pick something to eat."