Morning Star
Chapter 4
Both Syd and Gage felt remarkably better after they wolfed down two energy bars each and had split a bottle of water. Neither had eaten lunch and the dinner hour had long since passed. And in that time not a single soul had been seen down the long, lonely road to Rebecca Jenkins' place. Rebecca herself had only emerged once and that was to bring in the laundry that she had been hanging when the Rangers had arrived.
Another hour passed and Syd, stretching her legs and moving to stand, whispered to Gage that she really needed to go to the bathroom.
"Don't go far Syd. Its dark, I can't see anything – just go over there by that tree." And Gage pointed to the shadow of a large tree that they could both just barely make out through the moonlight that illuminated the road to Rebecca's forlorn little shack.
Syd did as he asked; not that she cared so much about privacy but rather that she wanted to keep an eye and an ear on her partner as well. The twenty minutes that he had been gone to the car and back had felt like an eternity and she was willing to admit herself, if not Gage, that she had been a little bit afraid.
When she returned to their little nest-like area on the soft moss, Syd crawled completely under the blanket the Gage had brought back from her car and, the light from her cell phone hidden to the world, made the 9:00 check- in call to Walker. As she emerged from the blanket Gage, concentrating on what his hands were doing, gently tucked the blanket around her shoulders and secured it in the front with a light crossing of the edges.
As she looked at her partner, his face slightly illuminated in the moonlight, he looked up to meet her eyes and smiled, unsure of what reaction to expect.
"Thought you might be getting cold Syd." Gage spoke in an almost reverant tone that sent shivers through Syd's body. She loved his voice. She had told him that once; when she thought he couldn't hear and thought she might never hear his voice again. She wondered again if he had actually heard her that day in the hospital.
"You okay?" Gage spoke again, noticing her shivering, even with the blanket on.
Syd broke eye contact with Gage, and taking the front edges of the blankets from his hands, their fingers lightly rubbing against each other as he let go, Syd pulled the blanket tighter around her body.
"I'm fine, thank you. Looks like it will be a long night; Walker says stay here until morning. We'll call in again at 8:00 am and if Myser's still a no show then they'll send a new team in to cover the area."
Gage nodded but then for some reason beyond her understanding, and almost beyond her control, Syd added, "I guess you really won't be making that date after all."
"Syd, what is it with you and this date that I was supposed to have?" Gage practically exploded in her face.
"Not now Gage. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. Just ignore me." Looking away from him Sydney pulled the blanket even tighter around her body, her fingers gripping the edges so forcefully that her knuckles were going white.
"No, Syd, now – you keep bringing it up. Not me. Am I not allowed to have a personal life?" Gage was whispering but Syd could hear the frustration in each one of his syllables. "Are you jealous that I'm the one with a date and you haven't managed to connect with anybody these past few months? Or can you simply not believe that I might actually be able to carry off a serious relationship with anybody? What is it Syd?"
"Gage...I..."
"C'mon, what Syd?" Gage was practically hissing at her now, their faces only inches apart.
"I don't know!" Syd looked up at him fiercely and as their eyes made contact again, Gage could see that hers were filled with a confusion mirroring his own, but also fear. Syd? Scared? He immediately backed down; he hadn't meant to corner her like this. He reached up and touched her face with his right hand, lightly running his thumb over her cheek, doing what felt natural to quell the fear he saw in her eyes.
"Syd? I...." Gage began.
Just then the headlights of a large black delivery type van illuminated the roadway and the roar of the truck interrupted their intimate pose, and the Rangers immediately disentangled themselves and sprung into action.
Syd dove under the blanket again and hit re-dial on her cell phone. "Walker, its Syd. A black van is here, we need back-up."
Gage meanwhile had moved into a crouching position and was slowly inching forward in the bushes to get a better look at the action. Throwing the blanket off, Syd moved forward, following her partner and pulling her gun out. Gage stopped a few feet from their stakeout position and Syd halted immediately behind him, her left hand lightly touching his back as she steadied herself.
His gun pulled too, Gage looked up at Syd as she settled in next to him, and motioned to her to go the right. Syd nodded and headed off into the bushes, stealthily creeping as silent as a cat. Despite the light now illuminating the weed-covered yard and reflecting off the sad little house, Syd disappeared into the darkness within seconds.
The large van came to a screeching halt outside Rebecca Jenkins' and the side door slid open. Out jumped Les Myers, still in prison orange, with a loud yell,
"Becky baby, I'm home!"
The lights in the ramshackle home suddenly went on and the front door flew open. "Les! Oh my god, what are you doing here?"
"I'm out baby, I'm out. Told you no jail could hold me." Les Myers ran towards the house and ran into Rebecca Jenkins open arms.
"C'mon honey." she said, beginning to panic, hurrying Les into the house. "We gotta get you out of these."
Even a scumbag like Les Myers has someone waiting at home for him, thought Syd, as she crept closer to the house. Where is the justice in that?
As Syd kept a close eye on the house, Gage moved in to get a closer look on the van. As he crept towards the edge of the property and hid behind one of the rusty, broken pick-up trucks, three hefty looking guys stepped from the van. One stood guard at the van, and lighting a cigarette, leaned on the open driver's side door. The other two headed for the house.
"Damn!" cursed Gage. We're outnumbered and three of the four are the house with a pregnant civilian. I've got a clear shot on this one guy but the moment he's down...I'll have to wait for back-up.
Just then, three squad cars raced down the dirt path to the house, sirens wailing and lights flashing. Gage took a shot at the van driver and nicked him on the shoulder. One down.
As soon as she heard the sirens and the shot fired, Sydney jumped up from her hiding position next to the house and kicked in the door.
"Texas Rangers!" Gage heard her yell as the door swung open from the force of Syd's kick and he moved swiftly to provide her backup. As the door opened a hail of bullets sprayed out the door and Gage saw Syd fall down from the porch and to the side of the door. Hard. Why hadn't she waited until he was closer?
Racing to her side Gage turned her over. Breathing heavily and bleeding from her leg and shoulder, Syd looked up at him and said,
"Get him."
Hating to leave her but knowing what he had to do, Gage crept along the edge of the house to the door, and waiting for a signal from the police officers beginning to surround the house, yelled inside.
"Texas Rangers! Les Myser, come out with your hands up. We know Rebecca's in there, and she's pregnant. Let her go. Ma'am, we don't want to harm you."
Les Myser appeared at the door moments later, his arm around Rebecca's neck and a gun pointed at her head. "Yes, gentleman. Wouldn't want to let an innocent woman expecting a baby get hurt would you? I am going to walk out of here and to my van. You will not stop me or attempt to stop me. If you do, she's dead."
"What are you doing Les?" Rebecca's voice was shrill. "I did everything you asked! I have been waiting here in this dump for you. I'm carrying our baby. Your son! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Les responded by tightening his grasp on her and elongating her throat by tilting her head back, thus rendering her unable to speak.
Just then the world seemed to explode around Gage. The rear window in the cabin was broken as Walker leapt through it and surprising the two thugs inside, immediately subdued them. Trivette burst from the other side of the house and meeting Gage at the front door turned suddenly and shot out the two front wheels of the van. The rear wheels of the van were blown out by two cops securing the roadway. And a final shot rang out from beside Gage that hit Les Myser straight in the back, on the right side, missing Rebecca Jenkins entirely, and causing Myser to let go of her and stumble to the ground.
Then the world was silent. As if in slow motion, Gage looked over to see who had fired the final shot, and saw Sydney standing there, leaning against the porch, clutching her bleeding leg with one hand and holding her gun in the other.
"Syd!" Leaping down from the porch, Gage reached Syd as she passed out, dropping her gun and collapsing into his arms. "Walker, Trivette! Syd's been shot."
It was as if in a dream that Francis Gage heard Walker call in Syd's injury over the CB, and watch as the two senior Rangers first secured Les Myser, then Rebecca Jenkins and finally made their way over to the porch where Gage knelt holding Syd in his lap, her head cradled in his shoulder, his right hand applying pressure to the gunshot wound on her left leg. Her breathe was shallow but he could feel it steady against his skin, in the crook of his neck, just above the collar of his shirt.
"C'mon Syd." he coaxed, more to calm himself than anything, he was sure she had passed out from the pain and blood loss and could not hear him. "You got him; you shot Myser and missed Rebecca and the baby. I don't know how you did it but you did. Wake up Shorty. I know you asked me not to call you that, but c'mon, wake up and tell me again. C'mon Syd, you're scaring me."
As he spoke the words, he admitted them to himself. It's true, he really was scared. Syd was his partner, his best friend; he counted on her more than he counted on anyone else in the world. She was there when he was sad, when he was happy, when he was....scared.
"Gage?" her voice was hoarse and faint, and he felt her try to sit up.
"Syd!" Gage gently stroked her hair and temple with his left hand. "Shh...don't move honey, you've been shot. The paramedics are on their way but until they get here, you're stuck with me."
"Wouldn't want ..." Syd began, her head lolling back into his shoulder, and her voice faded, almost to a murmur, "...to be stuck ....with...anybody else..."
Smiling, in spite of himself, Gage held onto to Sydney just a little bit tighter and continued to stroke her hair; even as the ambulance arrived and the paramedics unpacked their supplies and hurried towards them.
Chapter 4
Both Syd and Gage felt remarkably better after they wolfed down two energy bars each and had split a bottle of water. Neither had eaten lunch and the dinner hour had long since passed. And in that time not a single soul had been seen down the long, lonely road to Rebecca Jenkins' place. Rebecca herself had only emerged once and that was to bring in the laundry that she had been hanging when the Rangers had arrived.
Another hour passed and Syd, stretching her legs and moving to stand, whispered to Gage that she really needed to go to the bathroom.
"Don't go far Syd. Its dark, I can't see anything – just go over there by that tree." And Gage pointed to the shadow of a large tree that they could both just barely make out through the moonlight that illuminated the road to Rebecca's forlorn little shack.
Syd did as he asked; not that she cared so much about privacy but rather that she wanted to keep an eye and an ear on her partner as well. The twenty minutes that he had been gone to the car and back had felt like an eternity and she was willing to admit herself, if not Gage, that she had been a little bit afraid.
When she returned to their little nest-like area on the soft moss, Syd crawled completely under the blanket the Gage had brought back from her car and, the light from her cell phone hidden to the world, made the 9:00 check- in call to Walker. As she emerged from the blanket Gage, concentrating on what his hands were doing, gently tucked the blanket around her shoulders and secured it in the front with a light crossing of the edges.
As she looked at her partner, his face slightly illuminated in the moonlight, he looked up to meet her eyes and smiled, unsure of what reaction to expect.
"Thought you might be getting cold Syd." Gage spoke in an almost reverant tone that sent shivers through Syd's body. She loved his voice. She had told him that once; when she thought he couldn't hear and thought she might never hear his voice again. She wondered again if he had actually heard her that day in the hospital.
"You okay?" Gage spoke again, noticing her shivering, even with the blanket on.
Syd broke eye contact with Gage, and taking the front edges of the blankets from his hands, their fingers lightly rubbing against each other as he let go, Syd pulled the blanket tighter around her body.
"I'm fine, thank you. Looks like it will be a long night; Walker says stay here until morning. We'll call in again at 8:00 am and if Myser's still a no show then they'll send a new team in to cover the area."
Gage nodded but then for some reason beyond her understanding, and almost beyond her control, Syd added, "I guess you really won't be making that date after all."
"Syd, what is it with you and this date that I was supposed to have?" Gage practically exploded in her face.
"Not now Gage. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. Just ignore me." Looking away from him Sydney pulled the blanket even tighter around her body, her fingers gripping the edges so forcefully that her knuckles were going white.
"No, Syd, now – you keep bringing it up. Not me. Am I not allowed to have a personal life?" Gage was whispering but Syd could hear the frustration in each one of his syllables. "Are you jealous that I'm the one with a date and you haven't managed to connect with anybody these past few months? Or can you simply not believe that I might actually be able to carry off a serious relationship with anybody? What is it Syd?"
"Gage...I..."
"C'mon, what Syd?" Gage was practically hissing at her now, their faces only inches apart.
"I don't know!" Syd looked up at him fiercely and as their eyes made contact again, Gage could see that hers were filled with a confusion mirroring his own, but also fear. Syd? Scared? He immediately backed down; he hadn't meant to corner her like this. He reached up and touched her face with his right hand, lightly running his thumb over her cheek, doing what felt natural to quell the fear he saw in her eyes.
"Syd? I...." Gage began.
Just then the headlights of a large black delivery type van illuminated the roadway and the roar of the truck interrupted their intimate pose, and the Rangers immediately disentangled themselves and sprung into action.
Syd dove under the blanket again and hit re-dial on her cell phone. "Walker, its Syd. A black van is here, we need back-up."
Gage meanwhile had moved into a crouching position and was slowly inching forward in the bushes to get a better look at the action. Throwing the blanket off, Syd moved forward, following her partner and pulling her gun out. Gage stopped a few feet from their stakeout position and Syd halted immediately behind him, her left hand lightly touching his back as she steadied herself.
His gun pulled too, Gage looked up at Syd as she settled in next to him, and motioned to her to go the right. Syd nodded and headed off into the bushes, stealthily creeping as silent as a cat. Despite the light now illuminating the weed-covered yard and reflecting off the sad little house, Syd disappeared into the darkness within seconds.
The large van came to a screeching halt outside Rebecca Jenkins' and the side door slid open. Out jumped Les Myers, still in prison orange, with a loud yell,
"Becky baby, I'm home!"
The lights in the ramshackle home suddenly went on and the front door flew open. "Les! Oh my god, what are you doing here?"
"I'm out baby, I'm out. Told you no jail could hold me." Les Myers ran towards the house and ran into Rebecca Jenkins open arms.
"C'mon honey." she said, beginning to panic, hurrying Les into the house. "We gotta get you out of these."
Even a scumbag like Les Myers has someone waiting at home for him, thought Syd, as she crept closer to the house. Where is the justice in that?
As Syd kept a close eye on the house, Gage moved in to get a closer look on the van. As he crept towards the edge of the property and hid behind one of the rusty, broken pick-up trucks, three hefty looking guys stepped from the van. One stood guard at the van, and lighting a cigarette, leaned on the open driver's side door. The other two headed for the house.
"Damn!" cursed Gage. We're outnumbered and three of the four are the house with a pregnant civilian. I've got a clear shot on this one guy but the moment he's down...I'll have to wait for back-up.
Just then, three squad cars raced down the dirt path to the house, sirens wailing and lights flashing. Gage took a shot at the van driver and nicked him on the shoulder. One down.
As soon as she heard the sirens and the shot fired, Sydney jumped up from her hiding position next to the house and kicked in the door.
"Texas Rangers!" Gage heard her yell as the door swung open from the force of Syd's kick and he moved swiftly to provide her backup. As the door opened a hail of bullets sprayed out the door and Gage saw Syd fall down from the porch and to the side of the door. Hard. Why hadn't she waited until he was closer?
Racing to her side Gage turned her over. Breathing heavily and bleeding from her leg and shoulder, Syd looked up at him and said,
"Get him."
Hating to leave her but knowing what he had to do, Gage crept along the edge of the house to the door, and waiting for a signal from the police officers beginning to surround the house, yelled inside.
"Texas Rangers! Les Myser, come out with your hands up. We know Rebecca's in there, and she's pregnant. Let her go. Ma'am, we don't want to harm you."
Les Myser appeared at the door moments later, his arm around Rebecca's neck and a gun pointed at her head. "Yes, gentleman. Wouldn't want to let an innocent woman expecting a baby get hurt would you? I am going to walk out of here and to my van. You will not stop me or attempt to stop me. If you do, she's dead."
"What are you doing Les?" Rebecca's voice was shrill. "I did everything you asked! I have been waiting here in this dump for you. I'm carrying our baby. Your son! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Les responded by tightening his grasp on her and elongating her throat by tilting her head back, thus rendering her unable to speak.
Just then the world seemed to explode around Gage. The rear window in the cabin was broken as Walker leapt through it and surprising the two thugs inside, immediately subdued them. Trivette burst from the other side of the house and meeting Gage at the front door turned suddenly and shot out the two front wheels of the van. The rear wheels of the van were blown out by two cops securing the roadway. And a final shot rang out from beside Gage that hit Les Myser straight in the back, on the right side, missing Rebecca Jenkins entirely, and causing Myser to let go of her and stumble to the ground.
Then the world was silent. As if in slow motion, Gage looked over to see who had fired the final shot, and saw Sydney standing there, leaning against the porch, clutching her bleeding leg with one hand and holding her gun in the other.
"Syd!" Leaping down from the porch, Gage reached Syd as she passed out, dropping her gun and collapsing into his arms. "Walker, Trivette! Syd's been shot."
It was as if in a dream that Francis Gage heard Walker call in Syd's injury over the CB, and watch as the two senior Rangers first secured Les Myser, then Rebecca Jenkins and finally made their way over to the porch where Gage knelt holding Syd in his lap, her head cradled in his shoulder, his right hand applying pressure to the gunshot wound on her left leg. Her breathe was shallow but he could feel it steady against his skin, in the crook of his neck, just above the collar of his shirt.
"C'mon Syd." he coaxed, more to calm himself than anything, he was sure she had passed out from the pain and blood loss and could not hear him. "You got him; you shot Myser and missed Rebecca and the baby. I don't know how you did it but you did. Wake up Shorty. I know you asked me not to call you that, but c'mon, wake up and tell me again. C'mon Syd, you're scaring me."
As he spoke the words, he admitted them to himself. It's true, he really was scared. Syd was his partner, his best friend; he counted on her more than he counted on anyone else in the world. She was there when he was sad, when he was happy, when he was....scared.
"Gage?" her voice was hoarse and faint, and he felt her try to sit up.
"Syd!" Gage gently stroked her hair and temple with his left hand. "Shh...don't move honey, you've been shot. The paramedics are on their way but until they get here, you're stuck with me."
"Wouldn't want ..." Syd began, her head lolling back into his shoulder, and her voice faded, almost to a murmur, "...to be stuck ....with...anybody else..."
Smiling, in spite of himself, Gage held onto to Sydney just a little bit tighter and continued to stroke her hair; even as the ambulance arrived and the paramedics unpacked their supplies and hurried towards them.