Disclaimer: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and others own the characters of "Walker Texas Ranger". Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation and no copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and I am not making any money from it.
Chapter 12: Ice Cream and More Questions
Sydney used her chopsticks to grab a dumpling from the Chinese takeout box on Gage's desk. "Don't hog all the dumplings, Gage."
"I'm not," Gage protested with a mouthful of dumplings.
Sydney dropped the dumpling onto her plate and grabbed two more. "Don't talk with a mouthful of food. That's impolite and it's really gross," she said as she pointed at him with her chopsticks after she had dropped the final dumpling onto her plate.
He closed his mouth and shrugged an apology.
She rolled her eyes and when she turned around, she had a small smile on the corner of her lips. She cleared her throat and made the smile vanish when Trivette looked her way with an amused grin.
She sat down at her desk and after eating two of the dumplings; her mind went back to the case.
She had been piecing together Ana's life from the day she died and was working backwards. The woman hadn't had a family in a long time and apparently didn't have any current friends or boyfriends. It made Sydney sad that someone could live such a lonely life and then have it end abruptly.
She finished her food and started on Ana's high school years. Fifteen minutes later, she yelled excitedly which caused Gage and Trivette to come to her desk.
"Look who Ms. Welles knew in high school." Sydney said as she turned her monitor toward her fellow Rangers.
Gage pointed at on of the pictures on the screen. "That's Kingly's son, Nicholas. How did you get this picture?"
"The school that they attended has been putting yearbooks up on their alumni website."
"So, the world gets to see the horrible outfits and hairstyles that would be better left in the past where it belongs," Trivette joked.
Sydney laughed, shaking her head. "Well, now we have a connection between Welles and Kingly."
"I doubt that will get us a warrant though," Gage pointed out.
"True, but it gives us another road to explore and the name of that road is Nicholas Kingly," Sydney exclaimed. When Gage and Trivette looked at her with raised eyebrows, she chuckled weakly. "I've been watching too many corny detective shows and movies lately."
"This just gives us a whole lot more questions that we need to find the answers," Trivette remarked.
She agreed and turned her monitor back around, while Gage and Trivette each returned to his own desk. She started to look into Nicholas Kingly's life while Trivette worked the financial angle and Gage checked current information for him.
Sydney settled herself on her couch. She leaned forward to pick up the pint of ice cream. She started the DVD that she had rented and began to eat her ice cream.
She couldn't focus on the movie at all. Her mind continued to go to the case and Nicholas Kingly. Gage hadn't been able to narrow his whereabouts, and since they hadn't finished their research until nearly midnight, Walker told them all to head home and get some rest. When they started to protest, he warned them that he would have Alex ask each of them to help with a retreat with her H.O.P.E. Center. With teenagers.
She shook her head and grinned at the memory of the looks on Trivette and Gage's faces.
She couldn't help but wonder if Lucy was working on the case while she should have been resting too. From what she had learned from the gossip of the newly arrived detective, it wouldn't have surprised her much.
A soft knock on her door had her looking at the clock and saw that it was almost midnight. She stood up and headed toward the door, when a familiar voice called out.
"Hey, Sydney, it's me. Care to let me in?"
A smile crept onto her face as she unlatched the door and looked right at her partner's face. "What are you doing here, Gage?"
"Good evening, partner. Figured you would be up and you might want some company." He was standing at the door wearing his black leather jacket with one hand behind his back.
She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head. "Oh, really?"
He brought his arm around and revealed what he had in his hand, which was a half gallon of chocolate chip ice cream. His grinned widened and she stepped back, waving him in.
"So, I figured I should bring my own ice cream since I know you wouldn't share your ice cream."
"You know me too well, Gage."
"So, what detective movie are you watching this time?"
"You'll just have to take a seat and watch."
"Ok," he replied as he took off his leather jacket and set it on the dining chair as he went into the kitchen.
She returned to her spot on the couch and waited for Gage to return from the kitchen. She was glad that he would keep her company tonight since the case was bothering her more than it normally would.
When her partner made it to the couch and opened his ice cream, she picked up her ice cream from the coffee table, started the movie, and focused on a case that would be solved in about an hour and a half.
Since Sydney had discovered the connection between Ana Welles and Kurt Kingly by the way of the man's son, Nicholas, Walker and Lucy agreed that she should go see speak to the neighbors at his last known whereabouts.
Sydney and Gage arrived at an apartment building that looked like it was in need of a good power washing, inside and out.
Gage rang the bell at the manager's office and then turned to look at her. "What do you think the people here will be able to tell us?"
She shrugged. "Don't know until we start asking."
"Yeah?" A man grunted as the door opened.
"We're Texas Rangers and we have a few questions for you," Gage said with his charming grin. "Mister?"
The man opened the door a little wider revealing that he had on a red-collared shirt missing its top button and jeans with too many holes. "The name's Olsen. Frank Olsen."
She waved a hand in front of her face to get rid of the nasty smelling smoke from the cigar that the man had hanging from his mouth.
"What's the matter with you, sweetheart?" He asked as he took the cigar out of his mouth and waved it near her face.
She was about to make a nasty retort but then she realized that she had better stay on the good side of this man so he would be more willing to provide information. She plastered on a smile. "Nothing. I was just admiring the place."
He snorted in reply. "This place is a dump, sweetheart. What do you want? I know you don't want to rent a room."
She was getting annoyed about him calling her sweetheart and the fact that he continued to blow the foul smelling smoke into her face. Her smile disappeared instantly and she took a step forward, but Gage intercepted her.
He gave Sydney a look before he turned back to Olsen. "We were wondering about a man that used to live here. His name is Nicholas Kingly."
"Huh. That lazy bum. He's hasn't lived here for six months."
"We realize that and we just want to talk to you and some of his neighbors."
The man huffed as he sent another puff of smoke toward them. "Why would you want to do that?"
She couldn't take it anymore, so she snatched the cigar out of the man's hand and threw it onto the ground and put it out with her shoe. "I don't like the smell of nasty cigars in my face and I don't like being called 'sweetheart'."
"Hey, lady," Olsen yelled.
She stepped up to him and looked him in his dull brown eyes. "I don't like being called 'lady'. I am Ranger Cooke and you shall address me as such. My partner and I have some questions for you and you're going to answer them."
After a moment of holding the man's gaze, she gladly stepped back, not being able to stand his stench.
He coughed and cleared his throat. "Very well, what would you like to ask?" He cleared his throat again and added, "Ranger Cooke."
She nodded her head to Gage to begin asking the man questions about Nicholas Kingly. She hoped this would lead to something useful in the case because she had been eating too much ice cream lately.