Summary: A ransom leads to a very long weekend for Walker and Alex
Disclaimer: I do not own them
A/N: First attempt at a Walker fic, be nice
Now to the reviewers!
louise1717: Thank you! glad you like it
Person of this World: I will give hints as to what happened to her,yes and thank you for the long review I loved the detail of it.
Space-Case7029: yes, she didn't die, now can Walker het her out?
HopeGrace-MLH: hehehehe update time! thanks!
Jazzcat: He will get his, but how will they fair is the question
All your reviews brought a smile to me, thanks! Now on with the fic!
Chapter 4
CD greeted Trivette as he walked through the door. "Jimmy, have you heard from Cordell today?"
"Now that you mention it, no. You don't think he ran into any trouble do you?"
The smack to the back of the head was so instantaneous that Trivette never saw it coming. "Just how many times have you known Cordell not to call you for more than a day?"
Trivette rubbed his head as worry set in. "Now that you mention it, never. You don't suppose anything is wrong do you?"
"Good Lord, I hope not, Jimmy. He and Alex were supposed to go off to that cabin this weekend, maybe he's there. Check there first."
"Check there! Do you know it is a helicopter ride, then a four mile hike through the woods to get to that cabin."
"Well then, I suggest you get going, and do not forget to call me when you know something."
Trivette rolled his eyes, barely missing the next swat to the head as he left to find Walker and Alex. Little did he know he was wasting valuable time.
Walker was cold. That was saying a lot considering he had been on many hunts on the reservation in the winter, but they'd always had a crackling fire every night. Here there was nothing but the gusts of winds coming through the cracks in the window. He could hear Culliver and his brother on the other side of the door laughing it up and, by the sound of it, getting rowdy. He was about to pull Alex closer to him when the door flung open and Roger Culliver stepped into the room reeking of alcohol.
"So has the little woman told you of our love?"
"Alex does not love you, and she never would."
Roger Culliver laughed, spittle flying from his mouth. "Yes, true, she didn't want to love me, put up quite the fight."
Walker's stomach lurched thinking of Culliver putting his hands on Alex. "I am in no mood for your lies, Culliver. What is the purpose of keeping us here anyway? Why not let Alex go? It is me you want, right?"
"As I told you before, Ranger. You killed my wife, the only reason I woke up every day. I have thought of nothing but that since that day. You were always a loner before, but then you took to Ms. Cahill here and even asked her to marry you. Well, that just gave me the perfect revenge, now didn't it?"
Culliver walked over and placed a tray on the table. "This is to keep up your strength. We wouldn't want you to miss out on her dying, now would we?" Snickering, Culliver stepped back out of the room and locked the door. Not long after, Walker could hear them conversing loudly.
"Alex... Alex wake up," Walker said, trying to sit her up.
He knew she needed to eat something. He had already been here two days and had not seen her eat anything. He held the cup of water to her lips, but the moment the water ran down her throat she began to cough. She choked, but soon the cool soothing water running down her throat was easing her parched lips.
"Good, now then, how about you try to eat something?"
Walker picked up the spoon and ladled out just a small bite of the red jello that was there. Holding it up to Alex's mouth, he coaxed her to take a bite.
"Come on now, just a small bite, Alex, you need to eat something."
Alex took the bite of jello, but all too soon her face scrunched up and she leaned over the bed, retching into the small wastebasket.
Walker didn't know what to do, so he rubbed her back in soothing circles until she sat back on the bed, but a grimace of pain was evident on her face. He knew her ribs must be killing her, so he gently helped her back, but even as gentle as he was, she let out the whimper of pain and one sole tear rolled down her face. Just as Walker wiped it away, the door burst back open and Culliver walked back in.
"Oh, how stupid of me to forget to tell you. The poison I gave Ms. Cahill there interacts with any kind of food, making her sick."
"Are you crazy! She will starve to death!" Walker shouted.
"Not the way I would prefer her to die, but it is an option," Culliver said, grinning maliciously.
He tossed a small bag on the bed near Walker's feet and then turned as if to leave, but then stopped.
"That is a few medical supplies. We wouldn't want her dying to quickly, now would we? It would ruin all the fun of you watching her die slowly."
After Culliver left the room, Walker opened he bag to find a thermometer, two band aids, and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Full of frustration he flung the empty bag onto the floor. None of these were going to help, and Alex was slipping in and out of consciousness. She was awake now, and Walker figured he would try to get as much information out of her as he could.
"Alex," he whispered, "can you tell me exactly what happened before I got here?"
Alex's voice sounded raspy, her breaths coming in short wheezes, but she began to tell Walker about how Culliver had snatched her at the ranch, when she had went back inside for her keys, and brought her here. She told him how Culliver had ripped her shirt off and tried to touch her, but that she had fought back and he ended up beating her for it. By now she was crying again, and she told Walker how Culliver had held her down and poured the poison down her throat. She didn't remember anything else, but now she was trying to catch her breath between the sobs.
Walker pulled her to him and stroked her sweat drenched head until she had calmed down. Thinking he might as well know what he was dealing with, he pulled the thermometer from the bag and placed it under her tongue and waited. He was fearful she would break it, as her teeth were chattering, but after two minutes, he pulled it out of her mouth and held it to the light.
The thermometer read a hundred and four. Walker dropped it like it was a grenade and pulled Alex closer to him. He had to get out of here. Placing her down on the bed, he went over to the window and looked out. He knew this was not an option for escape, so he went to the door and listened. No sound was coming from the other side, so pulling his penknife from his pocket, he eased the lock on the door till he heard the click.
Slowly Walker crept out. He saw Roger Culliver asleep, or passed out, on the couch and eased past him, but he was distracted once again and did not see Chuck until the gun was pointed at his face. Walker was not going down this time, and he smacked the gun from Chuck's hand. Chuck was stunned, and that was all it took for Walker to send a roundhouse kick to the side of his head. Chuck went flying over the back of a makeshift table in the room, and Walker was on top of him, throwing punch after punch, until he felt the tug on the back of his shirt. Turning, he came face to face with Roger, who was holding Alex by her hair.
"See here, Walker, I have a punching bag, too," and that is when Walker noticed Alex's split lip.
Walker wanted to kill him. He wanted to serve his own kind of justice, and that was a forty five slug in Roger Culliver's chest, but he was holding Alex, so, instead, Walker stood up and let himself be led back into the room he had just escaped.
Chuck held Walker at gunpoint while his arms were tied behind his back.
"Now you want to pass punches and use your fancy moves on my brother? I will show you what messing with my family gets you."
Roger slung Alex on the bed, and she lay there too weak to move as Roger pulled the belt from his pants. The first lash hit her squarely across the back, leaving a welt in its place; the scream that echoed from Alex brought Walker to his feet.
"Boom!" The gun beside Walker's head went off, leaving a hole in the headboard of the bed the size of a grapefruit.
"Sit down or the next one will be through Ms. Cahill over there." So Walker sat back down.
Lash after lash rained down on Alex and her screams were mixed with pleading to stop. She begged, she cried, but still Culliver continued on. He let the strap of the belt leave welts on her back and legs until there was no more sounds coming from Alex, not even crying.
"Well, my work here is done," Culliver said, replacing his belt in his pants. "Try escaping again and this will seem merciful compared to the bullet hole in her gut."
Walker fell to his knees. He had tried to escape and Alex had paid the price for it. Wiping tears from the corner of his eyes, he pulled himself up and walked over to the bed. Alex wasn't moving, and he hoped she had passed out. When he turned her over, though, he could see she had bitten her lip trying to keep from crying out again and that she was, in fact, awake. He wiped blood from her mouth and gave her a sip of water from the glass.
"Alex, I am so sorry," he said, placing the thermometer back in her mouth. He left it there while he tried to wipe some of the welts with the water and clean them up. He was gentle, but the tears running down her face showed him just how painful it was. As soon as he was finished he took the thermometer out and held it to the light. One hundred and five it read, and he dropped it back on the bed like it was a fiery ember.
Alex shot straight up in the bed, grabbing at her throat. "Walker... " she wheezed out. "Can't breathe!"
There was a look of panic in her eyes; a look of fear that Walker had never see before.
"Just calm down, Alex, you can breath, just take slow deep breaths." He rubbed her back, trying to ease the panicked look in her eyes, but she was soon gasping for air.
"Can't... breathe... help me, Walker," she said, in between gulps for air.
Walker laid her down flat on the bed and placed himself next to her. He pressed gently on her chest, trying to get her lungs to take in a breath forcefully, but the gentle pushes were not working, Alex was turning red in the face, gasping, choking in front of his eyes. She pounded the bed beside her, clawing at the sheets.
"Alex, you can do this. Breathe, Alex, come on, breathe for me."
Alex's hands once again flew to her throat, tears streaming now down her face as her lips turned a slight blue tint.
"Alex I love you; please, just breathe," Walker pleaded, his own tears now mixing with hers as they spilled from his eyes. He didn't want to perform CPR. He didn't want to press down any harder on her chest, but she was not drawing in any air on her own, so he did and felt the broken ribs beneath his hands.
Alex's hands stopped clutching the sheets and now grabbed his shirt, fists balled up. Her eyes were filled with terror like he had never seen before and her lips were turning a darker shade of blue. He pressed more firmly, hoping that it would work, but his hopes were in vain.
Cordell Walker was not used to losing a battle, but he had no idea what to do. The medicine men of the tribe taught him many things, but he had nothing here in this barren room to help him, nothing to save the only woman besides his mother that he had ever loved.
Alex was beating on the bed with one hand, while the other was clawing at her throat, wishing she could take in a breath. Walker kept on pressing her chest, pumping it harder and harder, praying for her to take in just one lungful of air. Her brow was drenched in sweat, her face twisted in agony, and he was pushing on an already battered chest all in vain, for Alex's hands slipped from her throat and fell limply to the bed.
Walker stopped and looked down at Alex. He saw she had stopped breathing and a primal scream reverberated off the thin walls. "Noooo!"