Chapter Three

"Carlos?" Gage questioned as he entered the glass doors of the detective agency. He had never driven so fast in his life without there being some sort of chase involved.

"Over here," Carlos called out as he appeared from his office. "You all right, man? You look like you've seen a ghost or something." He noted his newest friend's pale complection.

"I'll be all right," Gage reassured both of them. "Walker here yet?"

"No, he called a few minutes ago and said he'd be here soon." Carlos took a sip from a white coffee mug with a picture of a hundred-dollar bill painted all the way around it. "Why don't you get yourself a cup and try to get your mind back together?"

"Worth a try," he all but muttered, heading for the coffee machine.

Nervously Gage picked up a plain black mug and poured himself a cup of coffee. As steady as he could get his hands, Gage took the mug to a near by table and chairs. His first sip was short and slow. Setting the mug on the table, Gage closed his eyes and leaned further back in the chair. He took as deep a breath as his lungs would allow him to, and held onto it until his lungs began to beg for fresh air. Slowly he let the air out of his full lungs. It was not working. None of the breathing exercises he had learned were working. He still felt scared, lost, hurt, confused and angry.

"You're gonna hyperventilate if you keep breathing like that." Carlos' voice cut through his mind like a pick axe into the earth. Carlos slowly sat in the chair across from Gage.

"It's not working," he whispered.

"Wanna tell me what happened?"

"Taylor Biggins was the head of a child porno ring, as well as a rapist, drug dealer, kidnaper, and that's only the top of the list." Gage looked at Carlos. "Trent and I went undercover as potential buyers for his smut and drugs. Everything was fine for the first few days when we were dealing with him, but then he found out that I was undercover. He . . . he called me one night and asked me to meet him at some club downtown." He took a long sip of the black liquid thast filled the black mug held firmly in his hands.

"Take your time," Carlos said quietly.

"But when I got there, there was no club, just an empty building. I was heading back to my car when Biggins cornered me in the alley. It was a dead end. He said all kinds of things and I tried to talk my way out of it, but he only called me liar. I tried to fight my way past him, but he had me in one punch. He took me to his house.

"Where he beat me until I begged him to stop. He would toy around with me until he was satisfied. He did everything he could to break me. It was working. But I wasn't the only one being tortured. He would take pictures of me and send them to Walker. It took Trent and Walker almost a week to figure out where he had me hidden.

"The night that they found me, he had beaten me again and was about to rape me, again. He was video taping the whole thing. When Trent and Walker got there, he used me to get out. He forced me into his car and took off. Walker gave chase. Biggins lost control of the car and we went into the river. His body was never found. I thought he was dead." Gage looked at Carlos with a look in his eye that frightened him.

"We all did, Gage," a strong voice said startling the younger men.

"Walker," Carlos addressed the older man, as he stood from his chair. "He was just giving me a history lesson."

"He had to tell someone sometime." Walker placed a reassuring hand on Gage's shoulder.   "I'm glad that he finally did, you're a good listener, Carlos,"

"Did it help?" Carlos asked looking at the blond ranger.

"I think it did." A sad smile played across the handsome features of hisface, causing the pained look in his eyes to become noticeable for the first time. "Thanks."

"Anytime, man." His dark eyes looked up at the clock. "We should be going."
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