"New Horizons" PART THREE

A short while later found Carlos and Katheryn striding into the Company B office at Ranger Headquarters surrounded by the usual din and carryings on of the office space. They passed by two other Rangers and issued a brief hello as the door closed behind them to find Walker and Trivette waiting for them at their respective desks. They both stood, their conversations with a third party halting as the twosome made their way over to the far corner.

Carlos raised an eyebrow and grinned as the familiar face turned around and greeted them. "Trent, buddy! What are you doing here?"

"There a reason I shouldn't be?" Trent took a sarcastic jab at his best friend with a smile.

Carlos rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly before directing his attention fully on Walker as the Senior Ranger lifted a file off of his desk. It's printed edge read, Wade Mahoney.

"Thanks for coming, Carlos. Katheryn," Walker began. "So far, the Rangers have been able to shut down sixteen of Wade Mahoney's small labs and operations in the Dallas and Fort Worth areas. We've also received reports that other Ranger companies have been able to take down a few small rings in other parts of the state. About nine months ago, Mahoney moved across the border to Texas and bought a lavish mansion about fifteen miles from here. It's in a rather rich community; and several prominent families of the area live in that neighborhood. We've been watching him closely this whole time off and on. And just recently, he's begun making some rather expensive purchases."

"And some rather lavish steals," Trivette broke in, rounding his desk to the little group before them. He crossed his arms as he thought through his words for a split second. "We've linked him to three jewelry stores heists, two carjacking incidents, and rather large influx of cash into his possession all within the past week."

"Then I don't get it." Katheryn was the first to speak up. "If you've linked him to these crimes, how can you not get a warrant on him? And what about the girls you found?"

"He's managed to keep his nose pretty clean by having someone else do his dirty work," Trivette answered with an undetectable sigh. "Most of the crimes committed have been traced back to someone who has had dealings with Mahoney. Truth be told, we don't have the entire proof we need that Mahoney is the man behind all the crimes."

"But we do know he's a part of it all," Walker finished the thought before answering Katheryn's second question. "The oldest of the three girls told us that they have been victims of Mahoney."

Katheryn nodded forlornly, understanding Walker's underlying meaning without him having to say another word.

"Not to mention being one of the biggest drug lords in the Western hemisphere can make you a little haughty." Carlos sighed. "He probably thinks he can buy his way out of any vicious crime just like he puts up bail for his goons."

"So that's how you know." Katheryn nodded in understanding. "He sends you guys a message by bailing out the goons. Kinda letting you know who's boss in his eyes. I get it."

"Yep." Walker nodded and set the file back on his desk. He took a moment to think through his next words before he raised his gaze to Carlos. "We need to get someone close to Mahoney. Find the proof we need to take him in."

Carlos remembered the paper he had written Annie's account on and reached for it inside his coat pocket. He handed it to Walker. "Here's his wife's story. I tried to get down as many details as I could when Katheryn and I spoke to her today. She's agreed to testify against Wade when we bring him in."

Walker read over the page quickly. "Good work, Carlos."

As he carefully choice his words, Walker lifted a file from his desk and handed it over his desk to Katheryn. Her soft hazel eyes narrowed with a touch of confusion as she accepted it, looking the senior Ranger in the eyes as she did so.

Katheryn carefully opened the file while two sets of curious eyes surrounded her on either side. She tried her best to ignore Trent and Carlos' curiousness as she read the words and descriptions before her. Her eyes were not so wide anymore after reading the words. Instead, they were wide, letting in ample amounts of light for her to see and understand it all perfectly. Walker wanted her to go undercover. But that wasn't all.

Carlos peaked over the file with a bit more effort after seeing Katheryn's eyes widen. "What is it?"

She snapped the file closed and to her chest with a smile. "Not so fast."

Carlos offered a nearly pleading grin before she finally gave in and let him have the file. He read over it thoroughly and was equally surprised. He lifted his gaze to Walker in half disbelief and half apprehension. He stole a quick glance at Kimberly. "Walker, are you sure? Mahoney is a dangerous man. And…I—I don't think Katheryn should be in that sort of danger."

Katheryn's mouth half opened in disbelief as she stared Carlos in the eyes. "You don't think I can do it. Do you?"

Carlos struggled to make eye contact with Katheryn as he shifted his gaze between Walker and Katheryn, waiting for Walker to answer his first question.

"I think she can handle it, Carlos," Trent dared to insert. "You've worked together undercover before."

Walker nodded. "Trent's right. But that isn't the only reason."

Carlos was still not convinced. The thought of putting Katheryn in harm's way when it wasn't at all necessary was not a thought he enjoyed entertaining. Besides, surely there was someone else. "I don't doubt that," he acknowledged Trent with a loving pause to reassure Kath before he turned back to Walker. "But what about someone in the force? My new partner perhaps? How about Sydney Cooke? I've heard great things about her."

Walker shook his head. "Mahoney is already wary of invaders. If we don't fool him good, we won't have a chance to get him. That's why I want you two to go undercover as a married couple. You know each other. You're close."

"You've got a good chemistry going." Trivette grinned, finishing Walker's thought. He quickly retrieved another file from his desk and handed it to Carlos. "We've decided to let you both go undercover and move in to the house next to Mahoney. That way you'll be able to get closer. Perhaps attend some of Wade's cocktail parties and such to get friendly. It would be a great way in."

"Let me see." Trent reached for the file. He smiled a little bit. "Makes sense." He raised his head, grinned innocently, and turned back to the file to read. "Carlos and Katie Santiago. Married for five years. Recently moved to Dallas from Miami after making a fortune within the Santiago family drug cartel. Hmm."

Walker turned to Carlos once more. "Your story is that you've been with the family business all your life. The family business was just raided and shut down by authorities in Miami and you and your wife are seeking refuge within another cartel."

Carlos surrendered with a sigh. He still didn't like it. But he trusted Walker's judgment. "Alright, Walker." He flashed a sincere grin towards Katheryn. "What do you think, honey?"

The men hid smirks and smiles as Carlos used the endearing term for the first time.

Katheryn didn't seem to mind, forgiving Carlos' moment of doubt. She slipped one arm through Carlos' and the other she fisted against her hip, swaying her hips just a bit and blinking fervently as a rather snobbish smile graced her lips. "That's just perfect, darling." Katie was definitely nothing like Katheryn. She had stepped into her character already quite well with girly gestures that Kimberly would never be caught doing.

Carlos looked away from Katheryn with a smile. "Now that we got that settled..."

Walker suppressed a broad smile. "You'll move in just as soon as you can get a bag packed. Your moving crew should already be there waiting on you once you arrive."

"Gotcha." Carlos spun on his heel, facing the exit. He stopped short and turned to Kimberly, waving his hand forward. "Ladies first."

Katheryn was herself again as she turned to Trent. "Isn't my husband so nice?"

Trent chuckled as he watched the twosome head out. "You sure they can handle it?" He turned back to the Rangers.

"Of course…" Trivette smiled. "Especially when you will be Carlos' personal bodyguard."

Trent's eyes widened a bit. "What?"

Walker handed Trent another file that outlined all the details for his undercover character. "This way you can offer them both extra protection."

Trent read it over carefully and sighed. "Sounds like fun. I went to jail twice before landing a place on the Santiago family payroll guarding the rather cocky son, Carlos. And I managed to escape arrest and help bring Santiago and his wife safely to Dallas." Trent looked back at Walker. "I'm not sure whether I should be flattered or mad."

Walker chuckled and accepted the file back from Trent as he offered it back. "I'm sure you'll do just fine."

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about." Trent finished with a smile and tied up a few more loose ends with the Rangers before finding his way home to Providence Way. Meanwhile, he'd try not to think about all the ways this job could go wrong and think only of how he could help bring Mahoney to justice alongside his close friends.

##

"Breaking news at the top of the hour…It has been reported that yet another of the infamous Mahoney drug cartel labs has been shut down for good. This operation headed by Dallas' own Texas Ranger Cordell Walker has secured the demise of sixteen small operations of the cartel, and the Rangers tell us that it is only the beginning. In speaking with the Texas Rangers, they hope to see to it that the entire Mahoney operation is annihilated within the coming weeks…."

Glass upon glass shattered into a hundred tiny pieces as what was formerly a crystal goblet cascaded at the foot of the television. The crumbled up pile of glass glistened slightly as the meager light from a single light source shed soft light over the floor and the only person in the room. A man in a beige suit occupied the armchair that was situated next to the lamp. A snug black undershirt highlighted his well-maintained chest muscles while they bulged a bit beneath the anger that rose up from him. His fists were clenched tightly, wrapped around some unseen entity…choking it to death…as they hammered the arms of the chair…once…and twice…before staying still. His knuckles turned white. His facial muscles tensed as he clasped his teeth together. An unrelenting anger had consumed him.

"Are you alright, sir?" A male voice interrupted from behind.

The man never budged. "I want that Walker dead. You hear me?! DEAD!"

"Whatever you say, sir." The voice turned to leave but stopped. "Oh, I meant to tell you…Wilkins spotted some moving trucks next door. Seems we got some new neighbors."

"Oh, really?" Mahoney's tensions relaxed ever so slightly. He slowly stood to his feet, the anger having subsided. He slipped into cordiality as some kind of mentally unstable second skin, rounding the chair to his trusted bodyguard with a smile. "We will be sending an invitation out for them to join us for dinner soon I trust?"

Wade's bodyguard grinned. "Anything you say, sir. Anything you say." The man turned to leave.

"Oh!" Wade stopped him in his path with a lift of his finger. "Any chance you caught their names?"

"Santiago." The man's voice was flat and indifferent.

"Santiago," Wade echoed to himself, thinking through all his relations and business affairs. "Thank you." He slipped away from the living area once his guard was out of sight and made his way upstairs. He forcefully opened one of the bedroom doors and hurried to the nightstand on his side of the bed. He lifted a framed picture of his wife and looked it over a moment before easing it to his lips. He pressed a kiss against the glass slowly and deliberately. A moment passed before he surrendered, setting the treasured item down slowly…pensively, gazing at it the whole time as he lowered it down to its home by the lamp. "You should have never left me. It's brought me bad luck you being away." He grinned and turned away. "You should have never left me, Annie. Now you'll have to pay."

##

"So how did it go?"

Katheryn had just arrived at the apartment intent upon packing her things quickly. She only had half an hour to spare before meeting Carlos at his apartment to head to their new home…before sunset hopefully.

Molly quickly followed Katheryn to the latter's bedroom as she entered the apartment. She watched as Kath eased a suitcase out of the closet and plopped it open on her bed.

Katheryn crossed the floor to the closet again and glanced over its contents. "It was alright. We found Annie and took her to the H.O.P.E. center where she told us everything. Carlos got a call from Walker. And now I'm packing a bag to go undercover." She took out about three outfits and spread them across the bed. She never did that sort of thing. But she had to be sure the outfits would be suitable for Katie Santiago. She wrinkled her nose and creased her forehead as she surveyed the contents before her. She loved the outfits. But she was sure Katie wouldn't.

Meanwhile, Molly was busy controlling her surprise. "Undercover? Really?"

"Yeah. I've done it before you know."

"That's right," Molly grinned. "You were undercover with Carlos when you first came to Dallas. I remember now."

Katheryn paused a moment, remembering that whole ordeal. "I never quite knew what hit me." She looked Molly in the eyes with a smile. "But I wouldn't trade it for the world."

Molly nodded and proceeded to look over the contents on the bed. "So what's your cover?"

Katheryn made another trek over to the closet and selected a few personal items, returning to her suitcase and tucking them in at the edge to leave plenty of room for her jeans and other comforts. She smiled a bit more as she glanced up at her best friend. "My name is Katie Santiago. I've been married to Carlos Santiago for five years."

Molly grinned. "Are you bad guys or good guys?"

Katheryn wrinkled her nose with an underlying grin hiding behind it. "Bad guys unfortunately." She released a breathy chuckle as she went in search of her favorite sparring outfit. "Very bad guys. Carlos is the son of a most infamous drug cartel leader from Miami."

"Ah I see. You married a bad guy. Shame on you." Molly stifled another smile.

The twosome shared a brief chuckle before Molly left Katheryn to her packing and headed to the kitchen. She set it in her mind to make up a few sandwiches for the happy couple as they settled into their new home. It was about ten minutes later, a pink sunset teasing the skyline, when Katheryn finally emerged from her room, the door shutting with a soft thud behind her as she hauled her suitcase across the room and placed it by the door with a sigh.

"All done," Katheryn sighed, wiping at her brow. "Although I hope Katie plans on going shopping. Because Katheryn and Katie are totally different in my opinion when it comes to clothing tastes."

Molly turned to her friend and extended two paper bags to her. "I made up dinner for you both. Turkey and ham with Swiss and potato chips. Your favorite right?"

Katheryn nodded and smiled her thanks, taking the bags in hand and setting them on the counter by her small over-the-shoulder purse. She paused and took a moment to glance around the room, her thoughts far from packing and sandwiches as she looked upon the living room and the downtown Dallas skyline beyond their window.

"What is it?" Molly frowned, following the same path with her own eyes and shifting them back to Katheryn.

"Just thinking." Katheryn swallowed a growing lump in her throat as she pursed her lips together, turning back to Molly and giving her best friend a strong hug. Why she was so wary of leaving she could not quite put her finger on. "You think you can hold down the fort here while I'm gone?"

Molly wanted to say no. She couldn't. Well, she could. But not if she were given the choice. "Yes," she sighed. "Of course." They pulled away from the embrace a short while later. "Do you know how long you'll be gone?"

Katheryn shook her head, her eyes scanning her shoes and the floor below with regret before she looked back up. She wished she could give a solid answer. Yet who could?

"Stay safe." Molly swallowed hard as she waved one last goodbye, holding the door open for Katheryn as the latter headed out and towards the end of the hall where the elevator lift waited on her.

Katheryn turned back only one more time with a final wave from within the lift before she tugged on the massive door, its metal frame thudding against the steel concrete floor as gravity took over, sealing her fate with a certain finality that even Katheryn could not trace.