Walker: Surrender

Chapter 15

'All right, good morning, good morning.' Captain James announced as he walked into the main office, the Ranger's present leaving their business to offer him their attention. 'First order of business: let's all welcome back Ranger Cordell Walker.' A round of applause and cheers followed and once it had died down, he continued. 'Yes. Glad to hear it. Uh, let's also officially welcome to the morning brief...' He motioned over at Trey to join him. 'Come on. For his final week of instruction... Ranger Trainee Trey Barnett.'

'Yeah.' Cordell called out as Trey walked to the front amidst another round of applause.

'Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Cap.' Trey acknowledged, turning to the Captain. 'I really appreciate you sticking your neck out for me.'

'Hey. Hey. Look, y'all know I've been trying to shake things up a bit. You know, modernize, reform. It's been... it's been a process. But in getting to know Trey here, it very quickly became a question of, how many times does he have to save my life before I offer him a job?' Chuckles followed that from the Rangers around the room. 'So, I got DPS to waive the seven-year trooper requirement. They're gonna use Trey's military experience instead. It's the first time they've ever done anything remotely like this, which is why your training's been so unconventional, why there's been such a spotlight on it. It's also why, if this doesn't work out, I'm not gonna be able to pull it off again. But, you know, no pressure.'

'So, in order to make sure you get all the required training,' Cassie spoke up. 'Captain James had to find the perfect case.'

'Yes. Serial horse thieves.' Larry turned to the board behind him. 'Trey?'

'Sir.'

'Get out of the way.'

'Oh, I'm sorry, Cap.' Trey apologized, moving aside.

'They just hit their fourth federal facility, almost took out a barn hand in the process.' Captain James continued. 'Um, one of our CI's has implicated the two bozos in the packet as the ringleaders.'

'Okay, Cap,' Cordell had been reading over Cassie's shoulder the current information she was looking over on the case. 'judging by what you're saying, we don't have probable cause yet.'

'That is correct.' He agreed.

Cordell nodded. 'Guess that means we just got to catch 'em in the act.'

'That is also correct, but here's the thing. The crimes all took place on federal land, so we're gonna be sharing jurisdiction with FBI, ATF, DHS.' He turned back to Trey. 'You're gonna have to figure out how to effectively collaborate with all the different agencies. It's a vital skill all Rangers need to master, so, you're running point.'

'Wait, me?' Trey stammered in surprise. 'You-you serious?'

He nodded. 'Ranger Walker, Ranger Perez and myself will be there as backup, but it's your case, man.'

Trey didn't quite know how to respond to that. 'Oh, okay.'

'By the end of this week,' Cordell exclaimed. 'you will be a Texas Ranger.'

'Or you will wash out and I'll be out of a job.' Captain James added, much to everyone's amusement. 'But again, no pressure.'

'Yes, sir. You can count on me. I'm good to go, Cap.' Trey replied as he placed his hat on his head.

'Look at that.' Captain James laughed as everyone cheered.

'All right then.' Cassie agreed as she and Cordell rose from their desks. 'Let's do this thing.'

~~~~~~

Captain James, Cordell and Cassie stood on the sidelines at the crime scene later that morning, observing Trey's interaction with the other law enforcement personnel assigned to the horse thieving case. So far Trey seemed to be handling it well but they'd gotten to have a little amusement at his expense, Larry and Cordell reminiscing about a case they'd done together in the early days where they'd had to work with the FBI agent Trey was now having to consult with.