Title: In the Name of the Law

Summary: A woman turns up dead and all signs point to Trent Malloy as the guilty party – but is there more to the story, and can Carlos, Alex, and the Rangers search out the truth?

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. Real life sucks. And I'm moving now, so it may be a few weeks before the next one :( Sorry.

Chapter 8

Alex looked up as Carlos and Jimmy walked into CD's, the last to arrive. Trivette looked calm, as ever, but Trent's best friend wore the strain on his face. She wasn't surprised; not only was it killing him that Trent was in this situation, but he was close to the Malloy family as a whole, and Tommy's shooting must have hit him hard.

To her surprise, no sooner had the detective nodded a greeting to the group and asked CD for a beer than he sat down and faced her. "Alex, what are the chances of a successful case against Tony Galiano?"

She'd known he was going to ask that, and wished she had better news. The truth was, she'd already tested the waters, and the signs weren't promising. "Slim, Carlos. He's a federal agent, it was a difficult situation, and right now everyone's leaning toward writing what happened off as an accident. No one's willing to take him on." She hesitated, the same part of her that was unwilling to quash his hopes likewise unwilling to let Galiano get away with what he'd done. "If Katie really wants to try, I'll see what I can do. But it will take time, and it won't be easy. And there are no guarantees."

"She'll want to try; I can guarantee it."

"Let me know and I'll start the paperwork. Warn her, though, that I'll need statements from Tommy and the twins, too, in addition to you and Trent – and that, if it ever actually makes it to trial, they'd have to testify in court." She wasn't sure how Mrs. Malloy would feel about having her youngest children involved.

"I will."

Walker, listening quietly to their conversation until now, cleared his throat and she followed his gaze toward Jimmy as he asked, "How did it go at the station?"

Trivette shook his head. "Trent held his own for the most part. Galiano's getting nowhere and he's ready to snap." He paused. "I think we were wrong; I don't think it's a setup – at least not one he's involved in."

"Why?"

"Just the way he handled the whole thing; I think he really thinks Trent's guilty – and I think that's why he was so quick on the trigger this afternoon."

Alex saw CD, their drinks in hand, stop short behind Trivette. "Jimmy, you aren't making excuses for that louse, are you?"

The Ranger twisted in his chair to glance up at the older man, then turned back around. "No, CD, I'm not. I'm just saying I don't think he intended to shoot Tommy; I think he really saw him as a threat."

"I'm not sure how I feel about a man who sees an unarmed seventeen-year-old as a threat requiring deadly force, carrying a badge and a gun," Alex said quietly, and CD nodded his agreement as he set the beers down.

"Well, that's another issue entirely," Jimmy defended himself, taking a sip and looking around the table, pleading with his eyes for someone else to take the floor.

After a moment, Gage apparently took pity on him and spoke up. "Actually, I think Trivette is right. According to what Syd and I dug up, Galiano's received all sorts of commendations for his work. He doesn't sound like the type who'd shoot an innocent kid."

"But," Sydney said, "his last partner, before he was assigned with MacPherson, was killed by a fifteen-year-old girl who he'd searched and missed the knife she had on her. Sounds like he wasn't taking any chances with the Malloys."

"I don't care; that doesn't make it right," CD growled, and Syd met his stare.

"I never said it did; I was just saying why it happened." The ex-Ranger grumbled something under his breath as he retreated back to the bar, and Alex would have smiled if the situation hadn't been so serious.

"Anyway," Gage took over again, "There was really nothing interesting on MacPherson – pretty average agent, nothing disciplinary, nothing exemplary. She's been working with Galiano for almost a year, and it looks like this has been the only case they've been involved in together."

"Any connection between either of them and Trent?"

"Nothing. And no one's talking about why he was chosen to work with Deville."

"What do you expect?" CD called from back behind the bar. "Look at who you're dealing with." Alex did smile at that. CD hadn't quite lost the trademark disdain for federal law enforcement that most locals tended to have.

"True enough," Carlos muttered darkly, staring into his beer. He shook his head. "Everything we have points to Trent."

"Not everything," Walker spoke up, and Alex shifted her eyes from the detective to her husband. "We still have that hitter Trivette found, out of San Antonio. I want to send someone to check up on him."

"I'll do it," Carlos volunteered, and Alex glanced back toward him, surprised.

"I was told you were being pulled off of this."

He gave her a mirthless smile. "I'm on an indefinite leave of absence." Somehow, that didn't surprise her in the least, though she was sorry that he'd ever been put in this situation in the first place, and told him that. He just shrugged and said, "It's not just Trent," but didn't offer any further explanation, and she didn't ask.

As the uncomfortable silence stretched out to cover several minutes, Walker finally spoke again. "Anyone come up with anything else?"

"We may have." Jimmy gestured between himself and Carlos. "When Carlos stopped by the interrogation room and we were talking in the hall, MacPherson came out after a couple of minutes, to ask how Tommy was. She said she'd promised Trent she'd let him know."

"And then," Carlos took over, "after I told her I was on leave and wouldn't be involved officially, she said she was sorry to hear that, and she thinks I'm right and there's something else going on. She kept checking on Galiano to make sure he wasn't looking our way, then she gave me her business card and told me to call her cell phone later."

"Do it, and let me know if she gives you anything. Then head out to San Antonio and see what you can find out." He paused. "I don't want you going alone though. Gage and Sydney will go with you. In the meantime, Trivette and I will talk to Trent again, and look into the crew he and Deville were investigating. There are a lot of angles that aren't being covered right now, and I want to change that." Calls to Judge Harper began to play through Alex's mind.

Carlos nodded. "Sounds good. I'm going to stop by the hospital for an hour or so first; I want to talk to Katie and check in on Tommy one more time, then let her know where I'm going. You'll keep her updated about how things go with Trent?"

"I'll call you whenever we find out anything, and I want you three to check in every four hours."

"And I'll give you a call after we file against Galiano," Alex promised.

Sydney nodded. "I'll call the airline and have them hold tickets for us. We'll meet you at the airport at, say, eight o'clock?"

"See you there." Alex watched him stand to leave, looking even more exhausted than when he'd come in.

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Carlos lowered himself slowly into the chair next to Tommy's bed. Katie had been more than open to the idea of pressing charges against Galiano; she'd gotten past her worry for her son and was well down the road toward wanting blood from the man responsible. He'd made a quick call to Alex to let her know, and she'd promised to come down with Trivette to talk to her. His own statement was on file downtown already.

He reached out to rest a hand on the boy's shoulder. Whatever anyone else said, he felt responsible. The idea of arresting Trent had made him sick to his stomach, but he'd demanded to go, because he didn't want anyone to get hurt. Then Tommy had anyway. "I'm sorry, kiddo; I shouldn't have let this happen."

"It wasn't your fault."

He didn't bother to turn to face MacPherson. "Says you."

"Says a lot of people. Including Trent Malloy."

Now he faced her. "What?"

"After Tony decided to take a break for a while – I haven't seen him get so frustrated by a suspect in a long, long time by the way – I talked with him for a few minutes. I told him that his brother's going to be okay, and he told me to tell you not to blame yourself." She hesitated, then gestured toward the other chair, set against the wall. "Mind if I sit down?"

Carlos shrugged. "Suit yourself."

She was silent for a few minutes before saying, "I'm so sorry; I should have known what he was going to do."

"If it's not my fault, it's not yours."

"You don't understand; I should have known he'd shoot first and ask questions later. His partner—"

"Was killed by a kid. Yeah, I know." He gave her a bitter smirk. "We do our homework too."

"I'm not surprised."

"It doesn't make it okay." He felt like he was channeling CD, though the man's comments earlier had made him feel like the ex-Ranger was channeling him.

"I know; I never said it did, and I've filed a report with my superiors. I thought you would want to know."

"The DA's going to file charges against him."

"I'm not surprised; I don't expect she'll get anywhere though," she replied honestly.

Carlos shrugged again, feeling more than a little like he was fraternizing with the enemy. "She doesn't expect to herself."

"Just have to try?"

"Something like that." Carlos shifted in his seat. "I was going to call you. We have another lead – a hitman who matches the physical I got from the witness. I'm going with a couple of Rangers to check him out, see if he's got any connection to Deville."

"Would you mind keeping me informed of your progress?"

"So you and Galiano can stop me as soon as I come up with anything?"

"So we can find the truth. Detective, you're reading Tony wrong. Kristin was his partner when they both first started with ATF. This is personal for him, and he wants nothing more than to find the person responsible. It just happens that right now he's convinced of your friend's guilt. If you give him something else, he'll follow up on it or die trying."

"Sure."

"I mean it, Sandoval. We aren't trying to railroad Malloy; I wouldn't be here if we were. We want to nail the person who did this as much as you do, and if we put Malloy away for this and he's innocent, that means the guilty party goes free. And I think you can agree that's something none of us want."

She had him there; he was starting to believe her and he wasn't sure he liked it. "I'll keep you informed."

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Sydney set her carry-on at her feet and glanced toward the door. "He'd better get here soon."

"Give the guy a break, Syd. He's taking the whole thing kind of hard."

"Which is exactly what bothers me," she replied.

Gage raised an eyebrow at her. Surely, she had to understand where the detective was coming from. "What, you think he should just be able to shrug off seeing the kid get shot?"

She stared at him, eyes wide. "Of course not. I just think he's too close to all this. He's blaming himself for the boy getting hurt – you can see it in his face. I just think he's lost his objectivity."

"Does he really have to be objective? I mean, we all agree that Malloy isn't guilty, don't we?" He'd been skeptical at first, sure that Walker and Trivette were missing what was right in front of them because they knew the killer. But more and more, something was feeling off about the whole thing. "What does he need to be objective for? He wants this guy, and I for one think that's kind of a good thing."

Sydney shrugged. "When things get personal, people get careless, and then they get hurt."

"Syd, Sandoval's a good cop. I talked to Walker earlier about him, for a few minutes. He knows the guy pretty well; he's worked with him before. He didn't seem bothered by it; I don't think we should be."

His partner rolled her eyes. "Well, let's just hope that you're right, and I'm wrong."

Gage grinned. He couldn't resist the opening she'd unintentionally provided. "Does that mean I might, I don't know, get some sort of admission of wrongness?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Right." She smirked then, slowly, shook her head. "If I were you, I wouldn't get my hopes up."

He gave her a mocking glare and forced a laugh. Just once he wanted to win against her. Once. Was that really too much to ask?