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DOPPELGANGER

Chapter Three

Sydney parked her Jeep directly behind Katheryn's Stingray in front of Uppercuts before she surveyed the area around her with a quick glance. She had thought Kath might meet her outside but quickly figured out she was upstairs. With that, Sydney traced the metal staircase up to Thunder Investigations and opened the door to see Katheryn thumbing through a huge pile of papers on the desk in the office.

"Kath?!" Sydney approached her cautiously.

"Oh! Sydney, you startled me."

The rookie ranger cracked a smile. "My bad. Force of habit. I came as quickly as I could. What's up?"

"Oh, I don't know. But I do know a criminal get away, and it's all my fault!"

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself."

"How could I not?!"

"Alright." Sydney gently escorted Kath away from her papers and sat her down in Trent's office chair. She propped her weight on the desk and crossed her arms. "Tell what happened from the beginning."

"Well, I was thumbing through records at the store on fifth and immediately started getting bad vibes from the dude nearby. I flirted with him a little just to test the waters, and he quickly came on to me. But it was all cool until I was ready to leave. He was still at the records and just bolted out of there. I chased him for about five blocks before I lost him. I was near here and decided to stop here. I could swear I know him from somewhere!"

Sydney leafed through a few papers that Kath had been furiously searching through. "What are these?"

"It's mostly the faces of the most wanted men in Texas. Carlos got them from the department right from under Ryan's nose," she snickered. "It's just a good reference point for us…for them. For Trent and Carlos I mean. God! I wish I was working the streets with them still."

Sydney took note of the longing in Kath's eyes and softly squeezed her shoulder. "Hey, it'll be okay."

"No, it won't. I miss PI work. But I stepped away for a good reason. And I have to keep my promise. I'm committed to my work at the center with Alex, and that's all there is to it."

"If it was you wouldn't be trying so hard to convince yourself of it," Sydney countered, drawing Katheryn's questioning gaze.

Katheryn sighed sharply, run her weary face through her hands. "Oh, Sydney, you're right. But working with my boyfriend would complicate things. Wouldn't it?"

Sydney scoffed. "If you only knew."

Kath's furrowed brow displayed her confusion.

"Nothing," Sydney nervously cleared her throat and moved away from the desk towards the door. "Come on. Let's go."

Kath didn't budge. "Where are we going?"

"Home. I've got some repairs to finish."

"But what about the thief we have to catch?"

"He'll be there…wherever he's at…when we get through."

Kath locked eyes with Sydney. They seem to scream "Trust me" through their mischievous twinkle and begged Kath to comply. And she did.

The door opening was Kath's signal to stand, her weary eyes observing an emotionally drained Trent Malloy as he forced a smile to accompany his arrival. She was just about to dive in for a hug when the desk phone's violent ringing stopped her. "Thunder Investigations," she answered.

"Hey, Kath. I didn't expect to hear your voice," Carlos replied sweetly. "Actually I'm glad to hear your voice."

"Carlos?!" Kath beamed. "What happened?! What's the matter?"

"I'm in jail."

"JAIL?!" Kath blurted out, drawing two sets of curious eyes in her direction.

"Yeah. Apparently I look a whole lot like the guy the actually did commit a crime here. These small town folks are hard-pressed on seeing me pay though. In fact, I've got Barney Fife looking down at me right now. I better wrap this up."

"But what can we do? Do you need someone to post bail for you?"

"Nope. Judge already denied that. It seems the person that was shot just died. I'm in for murder it looks like."

Katheryn had to sit back down as the shock got to her. Trent quickly neared her and waited to hear more. It wasn't like Kath to be emotionally disturbed unless it was something big.

"Well, I wish I could be there with you," Kath confessed. "Give me a few hours and I can be there."

"No," Carlos quickly insisted. "There's nothing you can do since you aren't my lawyer."

"I'll send Alex then."

"No, don't interrupt her. I'm sure they'll figure this all out soon enough and let me go."

"You don't really believe that do you?!"

"Nope," Carlos chuckled, mostly to cheer himself up. The task wasn't easy whatsoever. He glanced over his shoulder to see a rather upset sheriff staring at him. "I've gotta go. I love you."

"I love you too, Carlos. Call when you can."

"I will." I smile glimmered from the corner of Carlos' mouth as he hung up the phone.

Somehow Katheryn could feel that smile through the telephone…as if his words hung on that one moment of joy that they shared. It would have to last, Kath resolved, hanging up the phone and turning to Trent. "Carlos is in jail for a murder he didn't commit."

"Wow," Sydney inserted. "Does he need our help?"

Katheryn shook her head. "No. He's hoping they'll figure out their mistake soon enough. I wish he would have let me come down there to see him."

Trent gently rested his hand on Kath's shoulder. "I'm sure he has his reasons. But I agree. Feeling helpless is the worse."

Katheryn suddenly felt horrible for a split second. At least the one she loved was still in her life. "Oh, Trent, I'm so sorry. I'm sitting here complaining when you're going through hell."

"No, it's okay," Trent insisted. But Kath wasn't convinced. She tried searching for his eyes until he finally looked up at her with a crooked smile. "You can't make me laugh."

"Bet you I can."

"Cannot." Trent turned to leave the office but suddenly remembered why he had come in the first place, spinning on his heel with a snap of his finger. "Oh, Kath, do have that police report finished from the case we handled last week?"

"Yup. Finished it the day after…which was like five days ago. I already told you that. What's up, Trent? Surely you didn't come here to ask me that."

Trent chuckled, sauntering back into the little office with a guilty smile lacing his jawline. "I don't know really. I haven't had a case in days, and I'm going crazy being alone in the dojo after classes. And with Tommy busy at school, he only has so much time to keep his old brother company. And mom is busy at the church. I guess I was just hoping there was something here for me to do."

"Well now that you mention is," Sydney cracked a smile, swapping mischievous smiles with Katheryn. "We may have a case just now."

"Oh?!" Trent's interest was as high as his raised brow.

"Yeah," Katheryn chimed in. "Robbery at the record store. I chased the guy almost to here before I lost his trail. Maybe we could go in on it together."

Trent's frown exposed his doubt. "Technically that's the cops' jurisdiction. Besides, we don't have any leads. Do we?"

"Well, I kinda already went undercover," Kath confessed, her mouth twisting slowly into an innocent grin.

"What do you mean?"

"I sorta sensed he was up to no good and flirted with him to see what would happen. He got the idea that I'm staying at a prostitution hideout in Deep Ellum. The likes of which I have no idea about. I just made it up on the spot. But he seemed to know what I was talking about. So I went with it."

"I see," Trent scratched his head, admittedly trying to process this information. "Well, I suppose with Sydney on the case it fits in with our jurisdiction. Sounds like he could be into something bigger here if you say he knew about a certain hideout. Definitely sounds like we could look into it."

"Awesome!" Kath clapped her hands together in delight but suddenly regretted her outburst. "Sorry. It's just been a while since I've gotten to go undercover."

"Now hold on just a second," Trent raised his hand in caution. "This could be dangerous."

"Trent, it's me you're talking to," Katheryn deadpanned. "I think I can handle myself."

"Still, I'd feel a lot better if someone went in with you."

Both eyes turned to Sydney.

"Well it wouldn't be the first time I posed as a hooker," Sydney shrugged. "But I think we have some work to do first. Hey, Kath, let's go over to headquarters and see if you can make out a sketch of this thief you saw."

"Of course," Katheryn rose to follow Sydney out. "Trent, I'll call you as soon as we have a lead. Are you okay?"

Trent nodded but didn't quite satisfy Kath's question. But Katheryn walked away in their silence, wishing she could help him in some way. Perhaps this case would help take his mind off of Molly, she resolved, following Sydney to her car to leave.

"That's it," Katheryn whispered slowly and deliberately as the sketch artist put one final touch on their suspect. The lady smiled and printed several copies for them before she left them to their respective work.

As Sydney looked the photo over she grimaced. "Gosh, I wish Trivette were here to do his thing on the computer. He's the one that's smart with all that stuff."

Katheryn glanced over at Trivette's desk. "Would it be against the rules if I gave it shot?"

Sydney shrugged and shot a smile over to her. "I won't tell anyone if you won't."

"Won't tell anyone what?!"

Both startled women whirled around to see Gage had sneaked up behind them.

"Francis Gage, don't you dare do that again. I could have shot you."

"Geez! Sorry, Syd." He got a look at the sketch in her hand. "Wow, who's the ugly guy?"

"It's our latest suspect. Robbed a record store and is at large. Kath here chased him half way across Dallas."

"Well, I wouldn't say half way across Dallas," Kath corrected with a mischievous glimmer in her eye. "But he did give me my workout for the day."

"Yeah, I was going to ask if you wanted to borrow the showers here."

"Hey!" Kath defended herself. "On that note, I think I'll start searching your databases here."

Katheryn settled herself at Trivette's computer and began pecking away at a few keys. "Here we go," she announced, drawing Gage and Sydney to her side to watch.

For the next ten minutes, they scanned through hundreds of criminals in the system it seemed with no luck finding a match to their culprit. Another ten minutes passed. And then another. About an hour ticked by before dusk began to settle in, the three searcher's eyes began to grow heavy, and the Company B office began to empty by the minute.

"Well, I don't know what to say," Katheryn stated forlornly. "I would have thought we would have found a match by now."

"Yeah, me too," Gage sighed and yawned. "Don't feel bad though, Kath. This isn't the first time we've reached dead ends around here."

"Thanks," she smiled in reply, turning to Sydney. "Well, what do you say we head home for the night? Pick back up with this in the morning?"

"Works for me!" Sydney announced and began leading the way out.

Gage claimed the chair and bid the ladies goodnight with a gentle raise of his hand. "I'll stick around here and look for a bit longer. You girls have a good night."

"We will!" Katheryn assured him. "We've got a movie ready and all. A girls' night! I kinda feel bad we didn't invite you."

"Oh, geez, don't speak of it. You probably have some chick flick lined up."

"Oh contrary!" Katheryn posed, lifting both her finger and nose in the air for emphasis. "It's a Rocky marathon tonight, my brother."

Gage groaned. "Aw, man!"

"Have fun searching, Ranger Gage!" Sydney threw over her shoulder as the two women left the young Ranger behind to stew in his jealousy.