All of the students swore up and down that they had not contacted anyone on the outside and discussed their find. None of them had cell phones with them at the dig and told the Rangers that the only person with e-mail and cell phone access was Dr. Reach.
Syd was feeling significantly better by the end of the interviews, though she was still running to bathroom every fifteen minutes, just as often as she was finishing those big bottles of water. The actual site of the bite, which she still couldn't remember happening, was swollen and hot and in general the muscles in her body felt fatigued. Still, her mind wasn't so sluggish anymore and she was able to get up and make it to the toilet independently; both she and Gage saw these as good signs.
Trivette returned from his lengthy meeting with Dr. Reach and informed the younger Rangers that everything was in place. Several mock objects had been placed in the storage area, unbeknownst to the junior members of the team, and Trivette planned to stand guard in the storage tent while the group ate dinner and went out for the evening dig. Syd would provide backup.
Gage was to go with the archaeological team out into the field and keep an eye on the activities out there. He felt a bit wary with the plan that separated him and his partner but he knew that Syd just wasn't up to the trek to and from the dig.
Gage and Syd ate dinner with the archaeological team, bringing Trivette a plate to eat in the storage area. Two of the students, Kate and Neil, both seemed very concerned that Trivette wouldn't leave the storage tent and were clearly clued in to the fact that something was going on. Susan and David shrugged the Ranger's behaviour off as having nothing to do with them, they were anxious to get back out into the field after a missed morning of digging.
When it came time for Gage and the students to follow Dr. Reach out into the field, Gage approached his partner and lightly touched her on the arm.
"You're going to be okay Syd?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm feeling much better and besides, Trivette is here. Don't worry - I'll be fine."
"I just don't like being out there without you at my side." He reached down and took her hand, squeezing it gently.
"I know the feeling." Syd looked down at their hands and pulled hers away, but not before she gave Gage the lightest of squeezes in return. "You be careful out there, okay?"
"And you fire a shot in the air at the first sign of trouble and I'll be back as fast as I can."
Syd nodded and moved to join Trivette. "See you later."
"See you." And Gage jogged off to join the rest of the team who was waiting for him.
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The first hour that Syd and Trivette were alone was uneventful.
And then, shortly after 6:00, all hell broke loose.
Two large, loud vans sped down the dirt road at an incredible rate, screeching to a stop near the tent where the two Rangers stood guard. Loaded down with shotguns and semi-automatic weapons several men jumped from each van, immediately moving to the tents at the site, ripping them open with knives, pawing through the contents, knocking down the structures when they didn't find what they were looking for.
"Stop, Texas Rangers!" Trivette called to them. "Can we help you?"
"Out of our way Ranger, we're gonna get what we came for and there ain't nobody who is going to stop us."
One of the men pointed his gun at Trivette, shoving him out of the way as he and his gang forced their way into the storage tent. Trivette swung at the man with one hand, reaching for his gun with the other but it was too late. The man fired at him, point blank range, hitting him in the shoulder and Trivette crumpled to the ground screaming in pain.
Syd reached for her gun as the scene in front of her unfolded as if in slow motion. She aimed at the man who had shot Trivette but was grabbed from behind, just as the gun went off, sending her shot aimlessly into the evening sky.
Syd was held from the back by the neck and thrust into the storage tent.
"Where are the pieces?"
"What pieces?"
"Don't play dumb with me Ranger – the valuable pieces from the dig. We heard that three new pieces had been found today and we want them, now."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Syd protested, and the man tightened his chokehold on her causing her to struggle as she gasped for air.
"We don't need you for this anyways. Tear the place apart men!"
The man continued to hold onto Syd as the tent was torn apart. Just as the men came upon the chest containing the fake valuable pieces and held it up victoriously, Syd could hear other vehicles pulling up outside and the sound of both gunshots and hand-to-hand combat. In a matter of minutes the skirmish outside seemed to be over, and all was quiet.
"Texas Rangers - come out with your hands up!" Syd heard Walker call, relief flooding over her.
The man holding her turned around, still maintaining his grip on her, and headed out the door of the tent his gun pointed at Syd's head.
"Don't do anything stupid Ranger." He hissed in her ear.
"Release her and let's talk this over."
"I don't think so Ranger." The man holding her yelled. "I've got what I came for, let us through or your pretty Ranger here is dead."
Walker gave the signal to the Rangers and other police officers behind him to hold up. The pieces were, of course, fakes and already too much blood had been shed. Syd struggled to see if Trivette was okay but she couldn't locate him.
"No sudden movements, my men are going to go to our van, put out stuff in and drive away. One mistake and this gun will go off, right here next to her head."
The man holding Syd signalled to the men behind him in the storage tent to move out. Carrying the chest the two men ran to one of the pick-up trucks while the leader moved slowly in the same direction dragging Sydney with him.
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If it hadn't been such a serious task to guard over the archaeologists Gage probably would have enjoyed himself. It was really fascinating to see the team at work, though he recognized immediately that he would never make a good archaeologist – he was just too impatient.
When he heard the two gunshots Gage took off towards the camp in a run, yelling instructions to the archaeologists to stay where they were.
It was a long mile back to the site and by the time it came into view Gage could see a collection of vehicles parked haphazardly around the area. Several of the tents had been knocked down or were standing askew. He heard more gunshots and he could see a number of people exchanging blows.
As he got closer the hand to hand fighting ceased, a number of disarmed men lying scattered around the camp. Walker was standing there shouting something and Trivette, oh my god, he was lying there in a pool of blood. Where was Syd?
Finally he saw her, held hostage by the first man to exit the tent where the 'valuable' objects had been hidden. Whose stupid idea was this whole fake object thing anyways? If anything happened to Syd...
He snuck closer to the site watching, with his heart pounding, as the man climbed into the van still holding Syd at gunpoint. He could see how tightly the man held her around her throat and how limply his partner's arms hung at her sides. He could only imagine what she must be experiencing, physically and emotionally, given her weakened state. She looked brave though, her face a mask of calm.
Gage wanted to shout and make a commotion – do anything to get his partner out of there, but even from his position off to the side he could see Walker's instructions for the officers to stay back. He knew Walker was right; they couldn't risk the man shooting Syd but if they drove away with her he couldn't even begin to imagine what might happen to her, where she might end up.
The door to the van slammed, Syd inside with the men and their loot, and the van started up and drove away. Gage couldn't stop himself. As if on autopilot he roared across the site, racing to Walker's side, screaming after the van.
"Noooooooooooo!"
"Go! Go! Go!" Walker was shouting to the officers. "Follow them!"
"Walker?" Out of breath Gage looked at his boss.
"Gage, the vigilante group was right on our tail over here. Those guys are going to run into them on the road out of here, and they are very well armed. They don't know that Sydney is in the van and even if they did, they may not care – they are hell bent on making sure those pieces don't cross the border into Mexico and they'll stop at nothing to prevent that."
Gage just stood there staring at his boss.
"Go!" Walker yelled at him, jump-starting Gage who took off in a run, jumping onto the back of one of the last pick-up trucks leaving the scene. As he looked back at the site Gage saw Walker running over his partner, calling for help on his cell phone.
Walker was right, within minutes the truck Gage was in came upon the scene of a standoff. Three dark vans, filled with members of the native vigilante group had managed to stop the van carrying Syd and the worthless objects.
As Gage's truck came to a stop he saw the driver and front seat passenger of the get-away van step out and away from the vehicle. When they tried to make a run for it they were both dead within seconds, blown away by single shots from the native vans.
"Come out now!" He heard one of the leaders shout. "Out before we open fire on the whole van."
When the call failed to bring the desired response, members of the vigilante group raised their guns.
"Stop!" Gage cried, jumping from the back of a pick-up. "There is a hostage inside, a Texas Ranger."
"Out of the way Ranger, we don't want to kill you but we will if we need to. What's in that van is ours, and we will reclaim it in the name of our nation."
The men around him erupted into cheers.
"Okay thieves!" The native leader called again. "Last chance, on three. One...two..."
The door opened and Syd was pushed out, her weakened legs muscles causing her to collapse to her knees. A gun pointed at her head, the man who had taken her captive stepped out behind Syd and hauled her to her feet.
"Don't anybody move, or I'll kill her!"
A shot rang out from one of the vigilante vans and Gage watched in horror as Syd and then the man holding her hostage crumpled to the ground. Gage took off in a dead run for his partner's side, reaching her moments before the van was swarmed by members of the vigilante group.
Gage couldn't see anything and he could barely feel Syd. His hands were getting covered in a sticky substance...blood. As he pulled Syd into his arms they were stood on and kicked in the wild scramble to find the treasure.
Suddenly though, sirens pieced the night air and bright flashing lights lit up the sky. Gage found himself, and Syd whom he held tightly in his arms, scooped up and flung into the back of the van, which then took off into the darkness, dust flying high in the sky.