Disclaimer: "Sons of Thunder" and its' characters are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation of this show. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

Chapter 3: The Suspects

"Your new waitress, Kendra, was attacked last night by that guy who had slapped her and his laughing buddies." Said Trent his eyes bloodshot from the very little sleep he had gotten.

Bang! Butch had slammed the glass he had been holding onto the bar.

"I'm surprised that you didn't break the glass, Butch," said Carlos, setting his mug of coffee down onto the bar.

Butch didn't acknowledge his friend's comment. "Is she alright?" He asked.

"She's okay. She has a good sized lump on her head and she's limping a little." Trent answered.

"What about those rotten, sons of guns?" Butch asked, anger resonating in his voice.

"They were released about half an hour after they had been taken to the station," Carlos said, with anger and disgust in his voice. "One of them had a hotshot lawyer that had gotten them off on bail." Carlos quickly explained when he had seen Butch's scowl.

Kendra walked into the bar and stood next to Carlos, who was sitting closest to the door. "Good morning." She greeted as cheerfully as she could muster.

"What are you doing here?" Butch asked sternly.

Kendra was about answer but Butch continued. "You should be at home, resting," scolded Butch.

"I'm fine, boss," Kendra replied, defensively. "I'm taking Katelyn's shift." She had promised to take Katelyn's shift because she had some family business or something that she had to take care of.

"You don't look fine to me. It looks as though there is a grapefruit growing out of your forehead." Butch replied. "Plus, I saw you limping. So, you are going to either sit down without a complaint or an argument or I will carry you out of here and bring you home." Butch said firmly and with a look that said he meant it.

Kendra mumbled underneath her breath, sat down on a stool at the bar next to Trent, and ordered a cup of coffee, black. Butch placed the steaming coffee in front of her. She took a sip glancing at Trent and Carlos who had worried looks on their faces.

"I'm fine," she repeated. She must have had seen something in one of their faces as she asked, "What's wrong?"

Carlos ran a hand through his black hair. "Uh, the scumbags from last night were released on bail after only a half hour at the station. They had a hotshot lawyer that had probably pulled some strings or called in a favor or two to make it happen."

"That's great. I don't know how my day can get any worse," said Kendra, sarcastically. She spoke too soon.

Detective Ryan of the Dallas P.D. stepped into Uppercuts. When he saw Trent and Carlos at the bar, a sneer came to his lips.

"McMann, do you know where your waitress, Kendra Stone is?" Detective Ryan asked, the sneer had been replaced with a firm line.

"I'm right here," said Kendra, not even bothering to stand. "What do you want?"

"You need to come to the station with me." He commanded.

"What do you want with her, Ryan?" asked Carlos, a challenge in his eyes.

"Actually, now that I've thought about it, you and Malloy need to come to the station as well." Detective Ryan said with eagerness in his eyes.

"I think that before we go that you need to tell us why we need to go to the police station." Kendra stood up and crossed her arms.

Detective Ryan gave an exasperated sigh. "Sam Cutler was found murdered this morning."

Trent, Carlos and Kendra had arrived at the police station in Carlos' Dodge Durango. Detective Ryan ordered Trent and Carlos to not get nosy as he took Kendra into the interrogation room first.

The interrogation room was painted a slate gray. Its meager furniture was a metal table and four folding chairs. A camera with its red blinking was in one corner of the room and on one wall was a window with one-way glass.

Kendra was sitting on one of the old and rusty folding chairs. Detective Ryan was standing on the other side of the table. He had already taken down her information on a tape recorder and placed it, still running, on the table.

"Sam Cutler was murdered this morning." Stated Detective Ryan, his eyes studied her face for a look of guilt.

"You mentioned that at the bar." She pointed out.

Ryan ignored her comment and continued. "Cutler had been viscously stabbed in a park near his house. Cutler's body had been found by a man while he was jogging." He scanned her face again for any emotion.

She didn't reply and her face remained expressionless.

Detective Ryan tried a different route. "Where were you this morning from three to six?"

"I was at my apartment. Sleeping."

"Oh." He raised an eyebrow. "Any witnesses to confirm that?"

"No." Kendra answered, knowing what he was thinking. Her alibi wasn't strong enough to kick her off the suspect list.

"Do you have anything you would like to confess before we continue?" He stared at her, as though he was trying to will her to confess to killing Cutler.

"If I had anything to confess to, I would go see a priest." Kendra stared back at him, her blue eyes daring him to challenge her.

Detective Ryan's eyes narrowed in anger. "This is an interrogation room, not a comedy club."

Detective Ryan took a deep breath as he tried to retain his control. He cleared his throat. "Tell me everything from the point when Mr. Cutler had assaulted you at Uppercuts."

"Didn't you already read Officer Reed's report?" Kendra mocked.

"I want to hear the story from you." He said flatly. "Now, start at the beginning."

While Kendra was in the interrogation room with Detective Ryan, Carlos was asking Officer Reed about the case. Officer Reed was hesitant at first, but Carlos was very persuasive.

"The ME said that Cutler had been murdered between 4 and 5 this morning. Maybe 3:30. He had been brutally stabbed multiple times. He didn't have any defensive wounds, so either the killer was fast or he knew him or her." Officer Reed said.

Trent was holding his chin in his hand, thinking about the murder. He didn't know if Kendra had an alibi or not, but if she didn't she did have time to commit the murder. Her injuries had been minor, a major headache and a sore foot, so could she have possibly surprised Cutler and kill him so swiftly? Trent had learned to trust his instincts and he knew that while Kendra probably would have been able to kill Cutler, his gut told him that she would never kill anyone.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door to the interrogation room opened, Kendra stepped out ahead of Detective Ryan.

Ryan stood in the doorway "Malloy, your next." He yelled across the room.

Detective Ryan had learned that Carlos's alibi was very similar to Kendra's, except he had went home about thirty minutes after her because he had been talking to the officers after Kendra's attack. Trent said he had gone straight home after dropping Kendra off at her apartment.

They all knew that Detective Ryan didn't believe any of their alibis. He warned them not to leave town and he released them. They left the station in Carlos' Durango and returned to Uppercuts.

It was about five after three in the afternoon, but they all had ordered a beer and sat, all mulling over the murder. Butch recognized the look on each of their faces and didn't bother them.

Kendra broke the silence. "How much?"

"For what?" Carlos asked, finishing his beer.

"How much is it, to hire you two to find Cutler's killer?"

guardianM3: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review.