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.
guardianM3: WARNING! A scene in this chapter is a may be considered a little ghastly and graphic, but I tried to make it appropriate for the rating. If it makes you uneasy, please skip it and go to the next part. Just remember, you have been warned.
Chapter 6: The Report and the Olive
Kendra had decided to switch her late shift for an earlier one. When she had gone to work the day before, Butch had informed her about Trent's watch being found at a second victim's home and that he had been brought to the police station for questioning. She wasn't about to let Trent be arrested for a crime he didn't commit so she decided to visit with the two remaining men herself and have a little chat with them.
Kendra parked her blue Dodge Stratus on the street and got out of the car. It was about four and she knew that Brian Locke was home because earlier she had called his house from a pay phone pretending to be a telemarketer.
His house needed of a paint job and the lawn looked as though it hadn't had any water in a long time and she decided that with a cactus or two it would really look like a desert. She walked up to door and was about to knock, but noticed the door was open a crack and she pushed open the door with her shoe. "Hello? Anyone here? Brian Locke?" She walked cautiously into the entry hall. "Hello?" Her gut trembled with a strong warning but she chose to ignore it.
She stopped for a moment to take in the rooms around her. To her left was the kitchen, to her right was a closet and before her was the living room and through the living room, there were two doors, presumably one led to a bathroom, and the other door led to a bedroom. The only light that provided visibility was a lamp in the living room casting shadows on the carpeted floor. The drapes had been closed tightly blocking the light from sun.
She crept around the recliner and then the couch and stood before one of the doors. Something had pulled her toward this particular door. Her hand encircled the knob and she turned it pushing the door open.
It was early in the morning and Carlos was in the Thunder Investigations office, making a phone call. "Hey, Merida. It's Carlos."
"Hello, Carlos. How are you?" Merida Cortez greeted pleasantly. A friend from Carlos' Dallas PD, she works in the records office of the police station.
"I'm fine. Thanks, Merida. I need to ask you a favor."
"Really?" Merida said feigning surprise and then laughed. "Then you owe me a dinner, handsome."
"Wherever you wanna go, Merida." Carlos said flirtatiously and then became serious. "I need to know if there are any cases involving Sam Cutler, Tony Flemming, Stuart Allen, and Brian Locke."
"Oh. Now I see what this is about." Merida's tone became serious knowing that Carlos's friend had been hauled into the station by Detective Ryan the day before. "It will not be a problem. I'll call you back."
"I would really appreciate it Merida, and don't forget, you get to choose the restaurant." He said goodbye and hung up the phone.
It was about four in the evening and Carlos was still sitting in the office. He was leaning back in his chair when Trent walked in.
"Hey, Carlos. Any word from DPD yet?" Trent asked sitting down in his chair at his desk.
"Nope. Not yet. Knowing Merida, she's checking everything from their birth certificate to the present. What did you find out about Mrs. Baxter?" Carlos asked.
"She is defiantly stealing money from the company. We have to do some surveillance tonight. I got a feeling we are going to find out where the money is going."
Kim walked into the office without knocking, since Trent had left the door open, and stood before the two PIs with a few papers in her hands.
"Okay. Sam Cutler, Stuart Allen, Brian Locke and Tony Flemming were all born in Houston. They all went to the same high school and the same university, both in Houston. Cutler and Flemming own a construction company together, called Cutler and Flemming Construction. Allen owns and works at a couple of gas stations. Locke is a security guard in the mall. I checked the net and the only information I could find was the website for the construction company." She looked up from her notes. "Has Merida called you back yet?" Carlos shook his head.
"Well, Carlos and I have to go do some surveillance. Merida will probably call you before you leave the office for the day. If you could call us with the information as soon as you hear it that would be wonderful Kim." Trent said.
"No problem. I'll hang out at Uppercuts and if you guys get into any trouble just call me, and Butch and I will come running. I'll dig a little deeper on these guys." Kim added and left the room. Trent and Carlos began to get ready for their stakeout tonight.
Kendra flipped on the switch and the light flickered before it finally illuminated the small bathroom. The smell of blood reached her nose before her eyes had taken in the scene. "Oh my God." Kendra exclaimed at the sight before her.
A man with sandy blond hair was lying on the floor face-up, his eyes were open and lifeless reflecting the horror he had gone through. Blood from the multiple stab wounds in his chest had soaked into his shirt and had dripped onto the floor. There was blood splatter all around the bathroom from the furious stabbing that had taken place.
She knew the smell and sight of death because she had met it before. Since then, she had been able to sense death's lingering presence. She turned away from the horrendous sight before her and ran to the phone to call the police.
Trent and Carlos were in the Durango following Mrs. Baxter. First, she had gone to a beauty salon and then she met her husband for dinner at an expensive restaurant. While the Baxters were eating, Kim called Trent's cell phone.
"Hey Trent. I have news from Merida." She said excitement in her voice.
"Let's hear it, Kim." Trent had put Kim on speakerphone so Carlos could hear.
"There was a report of a sexual assault at the university in Houston about eight years ago. All of them were juniors at the time and all of them are named as offenders. But, there wasn't enough evidence, so it never went to trial." Kim said with disgust in her voice.
"Who was assaulted?" Carlos asked.
"A freshman from the university, her name is Claire Wesson."
"Alright. Thanks Kim. Can you find out where Claire Wesson is now? Maybe she has decided to get her own justice." Trent said goodbye and hung up.
"Slim chance that the killer is Claire Wesson." Carlos said.
"Yeah. But it's the only lead we have." Trent replied. "Hey, heads up."
Mr. and Mrs. Baxter had finished their dinner and had stepped out into the parking lot. The two PIs watched as Mr. Baxter got into his red mustang and Mrs. Baxter got into her silver Lexus and they went in separate directions. Trent and Carlos followed the Lexus keeping a good distance behind. Mrs. Baxter parked the car outside of the company, went in empty handed but about 20 minutes later she had come out with a briefcase.
"Finally. I hope this leads us to whatever she is up to." Carlos said following a good distance behind the Lexus. Mrs. Baxter led them to a small parking lot in the back of a building. She walked up to the rear entrance and knocked. The door opened just enough for her to get through, but they couldn't see anything from where Carlos had parked the Durango.
"Isn't this that club, The Olive?" Trent asked.
"Yeah. This will be the first time I've ever been inside. Let's go." Carlos grabbed the keys from the ignition, opened the door and stepped onto the pavement as Trent followed suit.
They went around the building and walked in the front door. "Think we fit in?" Trent asked, looking around at the men in the three-piece suits and the women were dressed stylishly. The club was darkly lit and soft music was played through well-placed speakers. Waiters and waitresses wore black dress pants with a white shirt and a bow tie while carrying silver trays or taking orders.
"Yeah. Close enough." Carlos replied. They were both wearing leather jackets and jeans.
Trent spotted Mrs. Baxter sitting with a man in a dark gray suit. There were a couple of bodyguards standing around the table. He elbowed Carlos and indicated Mrs. Baxter's location with his head.
"That's Miguel Fitzgerald." Carlos whistled softly. "He's into money laundering and drug dealing. Think she got into drugs?"
"I don't know, but I think we are about to get into something." Trent replied, as he noticed one of the henchmen was giving them a funny look.
"Hey, I know you." The man pointed his beefy forefinger at Carlos. "You're that cop that arrested my brother."
"Sorry, you have the wrong guy." He held up his hands and shook his head.
"I don't think so. Get 'em." The man growled. There were three guys with the man coming from the front and four coming behind them. "That cop is mine!"
"So much for blending in." Trent remarked, as he moved into a fighting stance.
Carlos punched the man with his left fist as he came at Carlos and then he threw a second punch with his right at another guy.
Trent had done a couple of roundhouse kicks that sent one of the men into a table, and the other had been knocked into a third guy.
Carlos grabbed one guy by his collar, spun him around, and sent him flying into a man who was about to throw a punch at Trent.
Trent kicked a guy in the stomach and then hit him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground, unconscious. He did another roundhouse kick at a guy who had come up behind Trent with a chair. The guy dropped the chair before he hit the wall.
All of the attackers were unconscious except for one who had scurried away before the end of the fight. Carlos was smoothing out his leather jacket with his hands while Trent looked around.
"They're gone." Trent pointed to the empty table.
While Trent and Carlos had fought, Mrs. Baxter and Miguel Fitzgerald had slipped out the back door.
"I'm glad Kim told us to get new phones." Carlos held up his cell phone that had a camera and grinned and Trent just shook his head and smiled.
guardianM3: Reviews are always welcome! I hope that was enough action for you. There is a Merida Cortez working at the Dallas P.D. in the "Sons of Thunder". I haven't seen the show since it has aired but I've read the transcript of episode one "Moment of Truth" but I wasn't able to get the transcripts for the rest of the episodes. It seems as though she works in records/personnel but she has her own office so not 100 sure. If you know for sure, please just put it in a review and I'll make the necessary corrections. Thank you.