Pink Surprise
by
BloomingViolets

Disclaimer in Part One

- x -x - x - x -x -

Chapter Eleven - Investigations and Discoveries

Though her shift didn’t start until 8:30am, Kat Manx was seated at the computer by six. She typed furiously, trying search engines, hacking into the city files, looking for anything that would be linked to Jake Hemmington. Next to her, sat a copy of Jake’s files. She abandoned her computer for a moment as it loaded its search and picked up the file, reviewing it once more. The file listed all the basic things: Jake Hemmington’s name, his address, phone number, place of work, etc. Kat had reviewed the whole file before searching, and as she’d suspected, there was nothing helpful there about Jake’s background. The cat alien gave a sigh in frustration. She needed something to help get the ball rolling and she wasn’t sure where to begin, since the information on Jake Hemmington was still sketchy.

Something beeped and Kat placed the file back onto the desk and shifted her gaze to the screen. The computer had found a lot of information on his business company, Kat smiled gave a small triumphed smile. It was a start at least.

The computer beeped again and this time Kat fully smiled. She clicked on a link and soon she pulled up information on the house that Jake was currently renting. She pulled out a pad of paper and a pen and quickly wrote down the landlord’s name and number and began the investigation. Calling the landlord, she apologized for calling so early in the morning and asked a few questions about the house.

She learned that the house had been owned by the landlord’s grandparents; the rent was always paid on time through his corporation and Jake Hemmington had put up both a security deposit and the first and last months’ rent in advance. The owner himself had never met Jake; he hadn’t visited the property in years. A local real estate company was in charge of management, and gave her the number to contact them.

So she called the manager and after a bit of persuasion, he had faxed over the rental application that Jake had filled out. The application listed Jake’s social security number and driver’s license and Kat copied all that information down as well. Using the information she’d found, Kat then began searching for anything that might give them an idea of Jake’s background. She spent the next hour searching, and eventually came up with Jake’s record.

Nothing.

Apparently, Jake Hemmington had no criminal record, nor had he ever been arrested.

Letting out another frustrated sigh, Kat decided to check his credit record. Using the rental application as a guide, she typed in the information required and clicked on the ‘submit’ button. Within seconds, Jake’s records were spelled out in plain detail over a number of pages.

The only recent inquiry had been made by the management company for the house rental –that was no surprise- but what struck her was that none of the records seemed to make much sense. Especially for a wealthy employed businessman. There were no credit cards currently registered or in use, no open auto loan, no personal credits lines. Nothing. She had hit a dead end.

Kat slammed a fist onto the desk. What else? Without a doubt, she knew she also had to find out more about Susan Hemmington. But without further information to go on, there was nothing she could do.

Her best bet, she decided, was to wait until Jake’s business company opened so she and Anubis could talk to the people there. Jake was wealthy, and also working on a major deal, so undoubtedly they had other references. Maybe one of them would know something to help her with this case. But that would mean another hour of waiting for them to open.

Not knowing what else to do, Kat reviewed the file again. But this time her eyes focused on his house address and she found herself thinking: Why not? She wasn’t even sure what she was looking for exactly; she just wanted to see where he lived in hope that it might give her more of an impression on the man.

Ten minutes later, she found herself driving a plain black jeep and turning onto the gravel road where Jake Hemmington lived. She was struck by how remote these homes where. Most of these homes were old, but in still good condition and she wondered why a wealthy businessman would choose to live this way. It was convenient to neither town nor to his job, or to anything else. And the road kept getting worse. As she drove farther, the homes grew older and more run-down. A few of the houses even looked abandoned. Another few minutes, the numbers on the mailboxes were getting larger. She was getting close now.

Kat slowed the car. There, she assumed, was his house on the right. Set back from the road, the house was two stories, not as neglected as the others, but the yard was horribly overgrown with weeds.

Still…

People who lived in this neighborhood probably did so because it was family property or because they had no other choice. Jake was wealthy and Cadet Drew had said on more than one occasion that he liked to do things in style. Why would he have chosen to live in a place like this?

Was it because he wanted to hide?

Or was he hiding something?

Kat didn’t stop the car; instead she drove past and made a U-turn. The same questions running through her mind as she passed the house again and made her way back to the Academy.

-x-x-x-

Jake Hemmington drew back from the curtains, frowning slightly.

He had a visitor, but he didn’t recognize the car. It wasn’t Sky or Sydney, he knew. Sydney didn’t own a black jeep and always used the SPD jeep the Academy had provided, and Sky always used his motorcycle, and he was pretty certain that they wouldn’t have come to look for him here. And no one else who lived out here would have searched for him. The road ended a couple of miles up, and none of his neighbors owned a Honda.

But someone had come. He’d watch them creep up the road, driving way too slowly, knowing they were looking for something. The U-turn had confirmed his suspicions. If it had been a wrong turn or someone lost, they wouldn’t have slowed in front of his house –and only his house- then sped up again.

It wasn’t any of the other Rangers either, he knew. The other two, Bridge and… Jack, was it? They owned motorbikes like Sky did. And the other female Ranger used the same SPD jeep that Sydney did.

Jake’s eyes narrowed.

Someone had come to see where he lived.

-x-x-x-

Kat made it back to the Academy with a few minutes to spare before her shift officially started. She jotted the number of Jake’s business company on a scrap piece of paper, and then put Jake’s files back in their proper spot. She dialed the number, and a secretary answered; after explaining who she was, Kat asked if she could speak to one of the members working on the business project with Jake Hemmington.

As she was waiting, Kat reminded herself to tread carefully; the last thing she wanted was for Jake to find out what she was doing.

After a few moments, a man by the name of Michael Harris answered the phone. She identified herself and pretended that she was a student in college, doing a business report. After asking a few unimportant questions regarding to the business project, she finally asked what she had wanted to know all along.

“Mr. Harris, if you don’t mind me asking, you worked with Jake Hemmington, didn’t you? What’s he like?” There was a long pause and Kat thought she had lost the connection. “Hello? Mr. Harris, are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here,” Michael Harris sounded unsure whether or not to go on. “What do you want with him?”

“Oh nothing, I was just wondering if I could set up an interview with him,” Kat pressed, taking out a pad of paper, ready to take notes on anything that might be important, “I heard he was very successful and I was wondering if I could get some tips for my class.” She crossed her fingers, hoping that the man on the other line would buy her story.

Michael Harris took a deep breath. “I don’t think you should meet with him. He’s dangerous.”

Kat’s eyes widened, but kept her cool. Gripping the phone tightly, she kept her voice at an even tone. “Oh? Why’s that?”

“The company hired him because he keeps costs down, but he does it by scrimping on safety. I’ve had men hurt out there because of him.”

“How so?”

“He puts off maintenance, things break and people get hurt. One week, it was the boiler. Another week, it was one of the cranes. I’ve reported him to the corporate, and they promised to look into it. But I guess he found out and he came after me.”

Forgetting all about her cover story, Kat sat up straighter, more alert than ever. “He attacked you?”

“No… but he threatened me. He started off like we were friends, you know? Asking about my wife and the kids, things like that. And then he told me how disappointed he was that I didn’t trust him, and that if I wasn’t more careful, he’d have to let me go. Like everything was my fault, and he was doing me a favor by trying to protect me. And he puts his arm around my shoulders and sort of mumbles that it would be a shame if there were anymore accidents… The way he said it gave me a feeling that he was talking about me and my family specifically. He gave me the creeps, and to be honest, I was thrilled when he quit. I danced for the rest of the day. So did everyone else on the project.”

Kat raised an eyebrow. “Wait… he quit?”

“Yeah. He left about a month ago, haven’t seen him since.”

A few minutes later, Kat hung up the phone, staring intently at the notes she had made while she was talking to Michael Harris.

Jake was dangerous, Michael had said. Alright, Kat already knew that. What else? Jake had also quit his job a month ago. It wasn’t something that would normally matter, but the timing didn’t escape her.

Jake Hemmington had quit around the same time Sydney had told him she didn’t want to see him anymore.

Was there a connection?

Commander Cruger walked in and the first thing he noticed, was the cat alien frowning at a piece of paper. The big blue dog raised an eyebrow and headed over to where Kat sat. “What do you have there, Miss Manx?”

Kat looked up, startled, but relaxed when she saw him. “Doggie, I’ve been working for the last two hours, trying to find some information on Jake Hemmington. I think you’ll find this very interesting…” And she proceeded to tell the Commander all she had learned so far.

-x-x-x-

Syd would always remember it as the last normal day she would know.

She hadn’t slept well the night before. The minute her head hit the pillow, she had been restless. Finally, she tossed back the covers and climbed out of bed, once again heading toward Sky’s room. Lying in Sky’s arms did little to help her insomnia, but she did manage to get in a few hours of sleep.

She spent the better part of her morning in a daze; it had been her worst training session yet. Finally she decided to give up and headed towards her room to take a shower, eat lunch and call it a day. She sincerely hoped that Grumm wouldn’t be starting any battles today; she just wasn’t up for it.

Stepping inside the room, she saw that Z was staring at her. The Yellow Ranger had a look of concern on her face as Syd came further into the room.

“I look that bad, huh?”

“You look like you could use a break,” Z observed. “Were you able to sleep at all last night?”

“Only for a couple of hours,” Syd sighed, “I kept waking up in the middle of the night.”

Z looked sympathetic. “Don’t worry Syd. We’ll make sure Jake stays away from you.”

“Thanks Z,” Syd headed towards the bathroom. “I’m going to take a quick shower okay?”

“Sure.”

The Pink Ranger stepped into the shower and immediately let her worries wash away with the hot water. She relished in the feeling, even if it was only short lived. Once she’d finished, she stepped out and dried herself before getting dressed. Stepping back into the room, she noticed that it was empty and assumed that Z had gone to get some lunch. She proceeded to dry her hair and it was when she was putting away her hair dryer that she froze.

Sitting innocently on her night table, right below her calendar, partially hidden by a stack of catalogs, was the locket Jake had given her ages ago. Seeing the expensive piece of jewelry suddenly made her feel ill, she didn’t want the thing in the Academy, let alone in her room. But as she reached for the locket, a frown suddenly appeared on her face, and she stopped.

Hadn’t the locket been inside her drawer? Hadn’t she put it in there?

She hadn’t touched it since Jake had given it to her.

What was it doing on her nightstand? And how did it get there?

Slowly, she reached for it. Picking up the locket with trembling hands, she brought it closer to her face, inspecting it carefully. ‘Calm down,’ she told herself, ‘it’s just a locket.’ For a moment, she considered throwing it in the garbage, but then decided not too. Instead, she’d sell it. Granted, it wouldn’t be worth much since her initials were engraved on them, but she’d get something, and the money could go to charity. It was like killing two birds with one stone. She’d get rid of the locket and the money would go to a good cause.

Looking at the locket once more, she frowned. She blinked, trying to figure out what was bothering her. The locket itself was the same, but something was different. Something…

Syd bit at the corner of her lip. Something was different about the locket, but what?

‘Stay calm,’ she told herself once more. But no matter how much she said the words, she couldn’t stop her fingers from trembling. She took a step, and her fingers fumbled with the locket. The locket slipped from her hands and tumbled down the front of her uniform before bouncing against the tile floor with a metallic ping.

Her breath caught as she bent over and she stared at the locket in shock. Her legs seemed to lose feeling and she collapsed onto the ground, still staring at the jewelry in disbelief.

The locket had popped open in the fall when she had dropped it.

And from both sides, in pictures he’d chosen especially for her, Jake was smiling back at her.

Syd did the only thing that came to her mind. She screamed.

-x-x-x-

The Pink Ranger’s cries brought Z running into the room. The Yellow Ranger took one look at her roommate before rushing to her side. “Syd? Syd! What’s wrong Syd?”

It seemed as though Syd didn’t hear her words. The Pink Ranger’s face was white as she stared blankly at the locket in front of her. Tears were welled up in her eyes and Z could see that Sydney was beyond frightened. The Yellow Ranger brought her morpher to her lips, pressing the blue button that would enable her to contact the Blue Ranger, she barked, “Sky! Are you there?”

Seconds passed, and then she heard, “Yeah? What’s up Z?”

“Get up to my room quick! Something’s wrong with Syd!”

Moments later, Sky came barreling into the room, with Jack and Bridge following. “What is it? What happened? What’s wrong?” he demanded.

Z looked up and shook her head. “I don’t know. I heard her scream and I found her like this.”

Sky squatted down next to Syd and wrapped an arm around her. “Syd? Honey? Tell me what’s wrong, please?”

His voice seemed to bring the Pink Ranger back. Syd turned toward him, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Sky… he… I…I just want it to stop! Why? Why me?” She choked out, “He was here!” The Pink Ranger threw herself into Sky’s arms sobbing hysterically.

Sky held her close, rubbing her back, trying to calm her down. The Blue Ranger looked at Z questioningly. “What’s going on? Who was here?”

The Yellow Ranger’s attention was directed at the piece of jewelry sitting on the floor. Her eyes widened in horror. “Oh my god,” she gasped.

“What is it Z?” Bridge asked. Beside the Green Ranger, Jack stood looking alarmed.

Z picked up the locket and turned to face them. The Yellow Ranger was feeling a little scared herself as she showed them the locket. “Do you guys remember the day Syd told Jake that she didn’t want to see him anymore?”

Sky frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

Z ignored Sky’s words. “And do you guys remember Jake giving Syd something as he was leaving?”

Bridge nodded. “I vaguely remember that day.”

“Me too,” Jack added.

She held out the locket. “Jake gave this to her, but his pictures weren’t in there at the time and now they are!”

There was a pause and everyone fell silent as realization sunk in. The only sound was Sydney’s muffled sobs into Sky’s uniform.

“That bastard!” Sky suddenly snarled, “How did he get into the Academy? Cruger doubled security!”

Bridge took off a glove and waved his hand around the room, hoping to use his psychic abilities to see if he could answer Sky’s question in any way. There was nothing. The psychic residue from Jake had probably long since disappeared by now. The Green Ranger frowned. “Hey Z,” he held out his hand. “Let me see that for a minute.”

Wordlessly, Z handed him the locket.

As soon as the small metallic object touched his hand, Bridge saw a flash of images.

Flash! Jake lifting the locket from the dresser drawer. Flash!

Flash! Jake placing the pictures into the locket. Flash!

Flash! Jake placing the locket onto the dresser. Flash!

The Green Ranger shook his head. “Nothing. All I see is Jake taking out the locket and putting in the pictures.”

“Nothing on how he got in?” Z asked.

“No,” Bridge shook his head once more. “He would’ve had to touch something else. Jake’s residue is long gone from the room by now.”

“All right,” Jack tried to take control of the situation. “Z, pack some of your things and Syd’s things into a small case or something. It’s obvious that it isn’t safe for you guys to sleep in here anymore, I think it’s safe to assume that Jake is psychotic and smart if he was able to get past security, so now we have to take extra precaution. Bridge, stay here and help Z.” Jack then turned to the Blue Ranger. “Sky, go get Syd some water or something to calm her down, then bring her to Cruger. I’ll meet you there.”

Sky nodded and lifted Sydney into his arms, carrying her into the Recreation Room. Z went to the Pink Ranger’s side of the room and reached into the dresser and began pulling out various items of clothing for Syd, while Bridge headed towards the closet and pulled out Syd’s overnight pack. Jack picked up the locket and headed towards the Command Centre, determined to bring Jake in once and for all. His mouth was set in a firm straight line, his lips pressed together.

Jack was an extremely loyal person. Syd was his friend, and no one messed with his friends. He was going to do everything he could to put an end to Jake Hemmington.

-x-x-x-

“Syd?”

Sky was looking at the Pink Ranger cautiously. Sydney had finally stopped crying, but now she was just staring blankly at nothing in front of her, and Sky wasn’t sure what to make of it. He placed a glass of water onto the table and sat beside her. “Come on Syd, look at me.”

Finally, the Pink Ranger turned her head and faced him. Sky looked a little surprised at seeing her blue eyes so lifeless, but given the situation, it was understandable.

“I’m so scared Sky.”

“I know,” Sky wrapped her in his arms once more. The Blue Ranger closed his eyes, feeling her helplessness; and his feelings of anger were coming back full force. There was nothing worse. Most people lived under the illusion that they were in control of their own lives, but that wasn’t completely true. Yeah, you could decide what to have for breakfast, or pick out what to wear, or how to do your hair, but as soon as you stepped out into the world, you were pretty much at the mercy of everyone else around you.

And now, Sydney’s illusion of security had been shattered, and she wanted Sky-someone, anyone, really- to put it back together. What had she said? I just want it to stop! Yeah, who wouldn’t want that? What she really meant was that she wanted things to go back to the way they were. Back to when she was saving the world and making it safe.

Sky kissed the top of her forehead. It wouldn’t be that easy. Jake was smart; Sky knew that. And also, part of the problem was that Sky was feeling kind of helpless himself. He was an SPD cadet, and he had special powers, and he couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. But they didn’t know a thing about this guy. Clearly, the man was dangerous, and until they found out more about him, all of them couldn’t do anything.

He wanted to personally rearrange Jake’s face.

-x-x-x-

Jake lowered the camera. Equipped with a telephoto lens, the camera served as a makeshift set of binoculars, and he’d been watching Bridge and Z packing. Jake smiled as he watched the Yellow Ranger pack a fluffy pink towel. Today was the day she’d find it, he knew. From his position in the tree, hidden by branches and leaves, he had watched delightedly when Sydney had found the locket. He took great pleasure in watching her reaction, moved by her tears. Such powerful emotions.

She mesmerized him.

It was nasty business he knew, but there was no other way. It was time to end Sydney’s little infatuation with Sky once and for all.

-x-x-x-x-x-x

Chapter Twelve - Taking Action

The Command Center was eerily silent; the only sounds were the beepings coming from the console and Kat’s furious typing across the keyboard. Commander Anubis Cruger paced furiously back and forth as he mulled over the latest events. The big blue dog growled at the thought of someone breaking into SPD Headquarters.

“Are you sure about this Cadet Landors?” Cruger asked.

Jack stood in front of his Commander, a grim expression on his face. “Yes sir.”

“And there was no sign of entry or anything?”

Jack shook his head. “No sir.”

Commander Anubis Cruger growled even louder. This was an unexpected turn of events. Beside him, Kat stood looking worried. “Where is Syd right now?”

“With Sky,” Jack answered. “He’s trying to calm her down.”

The doors to the Command Center slid open, and in walked Bridge and Z, each carrying a small case. “We’re done,” Z announced as she set the overnight bag she was carrying onto a small stool.

“Going somewhere Cadets?” Cruger asked with an eyebrow raised.

“No sir,” Jack spoke up for the Yellow Ranger, “I figured that since Jake was able to get into the girls’ room, it wasn’t safe for them to sleep there anymore. So I told Z to pack a few things.”

The Commander nodded. “Excellent Jack.”

The doors of the Command Center slid open once more, and this time Sky entered with Syd. Everyone could see that the Pink Ranger was still shaken up, but was calm for the moment.

“Are you alright Cadet Drew?”

Sydney gave a little sniff and nodded her head.

“Alright, now this is what we’re going to do,” The Commander paused and looked at the pink and Blue Rangers, “Syd, you’re going to have to leave.”

Syd looked startled.

“It isn’t safe here for you anymore,” Cruger continued. “If Jake is able to get past security, then we’re going to have to take all precautions necessary, starting with keeping you safe.”

“But where should I go?” Syd’s voice shook.

“Anywhere. Just get out of town. Stay out of sight until we catch this guy.”

“Alone?”

Cruger shook his head. “No, Cadet. Sky will go with you.”

Sky nodded and grasped Sydney’s hand.

Jack stepped up. “The Commander’s right. I’m betting that Sky’s a target too. You’ve both got to get out of here.”

“But what if you’re wrong?” Syd asked, tearfully. “What if he finds me? Finds us?”

“What if you stay here and he finds you anyway?” Jack challenged. “Syd, he’s already been able to get into the Academy. Who knows what else he can do?”

“Take one of the unmarked SPD vehicles,” Z now spoke up, “get on the main highway and stay on it. You’re either going back or forth, so you’ll know if someone is following you. Once you get off the highway, make lots of crazy turns to make sure no one’s behind you. The important thing is that you get away before Jake even realizes you’re gone.”

Bridge moved forward. “I’ll go pack some of your things for you right now Sky, so that way you guys can leave right away.” The Green Ranger walked off and moments later the doors closed behind him.

Cruger fixed his eyes on both Sky and Syd. “I cannot tell you how serious this situation is, Cadets. I’m sure you both already know just how serious it is. You both are fine Rangers and you’ve been trained. Do whatever you have to, to stay safe.”

Sky nodded, casting a glance at the SPD blaster strapped to his leg.

Minutes later, Bridge walked back into the Command Center, carrying a small case. “Here Sky.”

“Thanks Bridge,” Sky smiled gratefully as he reached for the case.

Z stepped forward, giving Syd and Sky each a hug. “You guys be careful.”

“Yeah,” Bridge added, “Stay in one piece.”

“We’ll be keeping in touch,” Jack tapped his morpher, “Don’t worry guys, we’ll do everything we can to get this guy.”

Sky nodded. “Thanks, we’ll call you guys once we reach our destination.” With a small wave, the Blue Ranger grabbed the overnight bags with one hand and Syd’s hand in the other, and began leading her toward the doors.

Two seconds later, they were gone.

Z let out a sigh. “I hope Jake doesn’t follow them.”

“Sky can handle it,” Jack said confidently. The Red Ranger turned to Cruger, “What do we do now Commander?”

The big blue dog’s eyes narrowed. “Now we find out everything we can about Jake,” he turned to Kat. “Miss Manx?”

It took about ten minutes for Kat to explain everything she knew about Jake Hemmington to the remaining Rangers. Jack, Bridge and Z listened with rapt attention, as she described Jake’s strange credit history, his seeming desire to keep a low profile, Michael Harris’s comments about Jake being dangerous, and the fact that he no longer had a job.

Jack had a thoughtful look on his face as he drummed his fingers against the main console. “Guys,” he announced, “I think it’s time we pay Jake Hemmington a little visit.”

-x-x-x-

Twenty minutes later, Bridge and Z were pulling into the driveway of the rented Victorian house, and Jack parked his motorcycle in front of the lawn. Once out of their vehicles, each Ranger unsnapped their blasters from their legs, holding them tightly in their hands and surveyed the area.

Up close, Z thought the house looked even older than it had from the road. Light blue curtains were drawn in the front windows. There was no sign of Jake’s car, though Z suspected that it could’ve been parked behind the house.

The engine of their squad car ticked as it cooled down. A flock of banded dotterels broke, chirping and squawking as they left the trees in flocks, flying away as fast they could. A squirrel raced past, seeking safety in the upper branches of a tree. Nothing else, there were no other sounds. No sign of movement through the windows. Nothing. It was deadly silent.

“Looks like he may have run,” Jack whispered, observing the area.

‘No,’ Z thought with sudden certainty, ‘he’s still here.’

-x-x-x-

Jake watched them from behind the trees. He’d been out back, thinking that a little fresh air would do him some good, when he heard their cars pull up. The businessman grinned a malicious smile. So the Rangers had figured out that he’d been inside the Academy and were now investigating him, were they?

He had expected them, of course, just not so soon.

-x-x-x-

Jack, Bridge and Z made their way carefully to the front door, the porch creaking beneath them. Standing before the moldy peeling door, they glanced at each other before Bridge raised a gloved hand and knocked. Z stood off to the side, a hand gripping her blaster. Her eyes flashed to the window, watching and waiting.

Then, instinctively, she held the blaster in front of her.

-x-x-x-

Jake watched the Rangers.

Taking a long, deep breath, he quietly backed further into the trees. He’d already known his time as Jake Hemmington had come to an end. It was too bad; he wished he could’ve had at least enough time to pack his things. His cameras and lenses were inside the house, and he regretted having to part with them. And all his photographs too, especially the ones of Susan in his briefcase. He knew that it was unlikely the Rangers would be able to use those photos to find out more about Susan –he’d been extremely careful to destroy any photograph that even hinted of where they’d lived- but he wouldn’t be able to replace them. He’d miss the ones of Sydney as well, but he wasn’t as concerned about those. They would have the rest of their lives to make up for the ones he’d left behind.

He wondered if Sydney still had the locket with her. ‘Probably not,’ he thought. More than likely Sky had told her to throw it away. Jake shook his head. Sky was a bad influence on her. So what would she do? ‘She’d run,’ he immediately thought. Yeah, she’d throw away the locket and then probably try to hide, bringing along that idiot with her. In fact, she was probably gone already.

Another reason to get away from here.

He considered his options. If they went around checking the back of the house…

It was a gamble, but what other choice did he have? Quietly, he began moving towards the SPD squad car.

-x-x-x-

“Let’s head around the back,” Z said quietly. Her blaster felt strangely light in her hand. “I’ve got a funny feeling that he’s still here.”

Both Bridge and Jack nodded, and the three of them left the porch. Jack headed toward the gravel drive on the left side of the house, while Bridge and Z headed the other way. Jack slowly walked up the path leading toward the backyard, his blaster held out in front of him. On the other side, Bridge and Z had to navigate between the trees, twigs napping beneath their feet. Tall grasses and weeds brushed their uniforms, making a small rustling sound. Near the rear of the house, they paused. Bridge was in front and flattening himself against the house, he peeked around the corner.

Jake’s car was parked there, the door on the driver’s side open.

Bridge held the blaster to his chest, turning to Z; he nodded in the direction of the car. The Green Ranger took another peek, scanning the yard for a glimpse of Jake, and then nodded for Z to follow. The Green and Yellow Rangers crept around the back, trying to be as silent as possible.

They passed the corner windows.

Listening…

The birds had gone silent, Z noticed.

Past the porch. They saw that the rear door to the house stood open. Bridge motioned in that direction and Z nodded. In front of them, they saw Jack coming from the other side of the house. Bridge waved to get the Red Ranger’s attention and pointed toward the opened door. Jack nodded to show that he understood, and began moving toward the house with them.

The car was closer now.

Z paused, looking from side to side. ‘He’s out here,’ she thought. ‘And he’s watching us right now.’

‘He’s stalking us the exact same way he stalked Syd.’

A flash of Syd’s frightened face crossed the Yellow Ranger’s mind. Z gripped her blaster tighter, the perspiration from her hand growing slick. She took a deep breath as Bridge started approaching the open door.

It was then that they heard the siren.

It was a piercing wail, agonizing and shrill, and Z nearly pulled the trigger of her blaster. She hesitated only momentarily before locking gazes with Bridge and Jack.

It was coming from the front of the house. Jack scrambled down from the back porch and began running back the way he came, Bridge and Z following him. They rounded the corner and pushed through the branches, leaves and twigs slapping against them as they made their way to the front.

But when they reached the front, they saw nothing.

Everything was exactly as it had been before.

The only difference was that the alarm on their squad car was blaring. The lights flashing red and blue.

They spilt up again, Jack approaching the front of the house, Z moving forward into the yard and Bridge heading toward the squad car to turn off the siren.

The Yellow Ranger’s mouth was dry and she was breathing hard, trying to stay calm. A short distance away, she eyed a group of low-growing trees surrounded by bushes. ‘That’s where he is,’ she thought. ‘He’s hiding, and he wants me to come get him.’ Behind her, she could hear Bridge moving across the gravel, back toward her.

Z held out the blaster in front of her and pointed at the bushes. “Mr. Hemmington, this is Cadet Elizabeth Delgado, and my blaster is drawn,” she called out slowly. “Come out slowly and you will not be hurt.”

Jack turned at the sound of her voice and, seeing what she was doing, started toward her, crossing the driveway. Like her, Jack held out his blaster.

From the back of the house came the sound of a car engine turning on. The engine gave a loud roar as the accelerator was slammed to the ground, rocks spitting out from behind the tires. It was racing toward them from the side of the house.

Jack stood stunned in the middle of the drive; he saw the car a moment before Bridge and Z did.

The car wasn’t slowing down.

For a moment, Jack was stunned. He pointed his blaster at the car but hesitated in firing, and by then Z could see what was going to happen. “JACK! LOOK OUT!”

Z’s voice shook Jack out of his frozen state and at the last possible second, the Red Ranger dove out of the way as the car whipped past him. Jack landed on his chest, and his blaster flew from his grasp. Jake’s car roared down the road, veered around the curve, and vanished from sight, the tires screeching, leaving a trail of small rocks in its wake.

Both Z and Bridge ran towards Jack. The Red Ranger was already getting up and had begun searching for his blaster by the time they reached him.

Seconds passed before they found it. Jack ran toward his motorbike, while Bridge and Z ran toward their jeep. Bridge opened the door to the driver’s seat, and Z reached the passenger side and jumped in; their doors slammed shut simultaneously. Instinctively, Bridge reached for the ignition keys.

The keys were gone.

It was then that Bridge realized that the wires connecting to the radio had been torn from the dash.

“Damn!” Bridge shouted, slamming a fist on the steering wheel.

Z didn’t have time to react to the fact that Bridge had just cursed. The Yellow Ranger grabbed her morpher and contacted Cruger, though she didn’t hold much hope that the big blue dog would be able to catch Jake in time. Jack raced toward their squad car.

“That stupid son of a gun stole my keys!” The Red Ranger hollered.

Bridge looked every bit as angry as Jack did. When Z hung up her morpher, the Yellow Ranger looked at her teammates. “Now what?”

Jack stepped back as Bridge opened the car door and stepped out. “Let’s go inside.”

A moment later, the three Rangers blasted the house door open and headed inside.

-x-x-x-

Z was struck by how normal the house looked once she entered.

‘Anyone could have lived here,’ she noted, looking around.

The kitchen was sparkling clean, the kitchen sink gleaming in the sunlight, a washrag folding neatly to the side. There wasn’t a single speck on the stove or a used dish on the counter. The refrigerator –obviously old- looked like it was in good condition. There was no dishwasher or a microwave oven –the kitchen seemed almost cozy, the kind of kitchen that grandparents of children might have.

The three of them moved onto the living room, and again nothing was out of the ordinary. The furniture was plain, and nothing was out of place. Yet… something was missing.

It took a moment before Z realized what was wrong. ‘There’s nothing personal here,’ the Yellow Ranger thought. ‘Nothing at all. No pictures or paintings on the walls, no newspapers, no magazines, no plants. No television, no stereo system. Nothing!’

Just a couch, a table, and lamps.

Z looked up at the stairs. Behind her, Bridge and Jack came in, their blasters held to their chests.

“It’s kind of empty, huh?” Bridge offered.

“I’m going up,” she said.

The Red and Green Rangers followed her as she headed up the stairs. At the top, they peeked down the hallway before starting toward the right. Opening the door, they found the darkroom and flicked the switch. Bathed by the reddish glow, Z suddenly felt her knees weaken as she realized what Jake had been doing with his time since he’d quit his job.

“Oh my god,” was all she could say.

-x-x-x-

Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Jake slowed the car once he reached the main roads. His heart was pounding from the rush of adrenaline. He was free! He had escaped when escape seemed impossible, and he laughed loudly to himself. He could still see the shocked looks on the Rangers’ faces when he sped down the driveway.

Too bad that Jack Landors had jumped out of the way in time. He would’ve loved to have felt that delightful thud as the car crushed him, but oh well; Jack would live to see another day.

Jake laughed again, and began to focus on his plan.

He had to get rid of this car, but he wanted to put as much distance as possible between New Tech City and himself as he could. He turned the car onto the highway that led out of New Tech City. Driving along for a few minutes, he found a small rest stop and pulled over. There, he’d park the car where it wouldn’t be spotted right away, and began planning his search for Sydney.

Susan had tried to run once, too, he remembered, and she thought that she had been careful. She took a train halfway across the country and hoped that he would just simply let her go. But he had tracked her down, and when he opened the door to the run-down inn where she was staying and found her sitting on the bed, she hadn’t even been surprised to see him. Susan had been expecting him, and by the end, the waiting had worn her down. She didn’t even have the energy to cry or scream. When he handed her the locket, she slipped it around her neck, as if knowing she had no choice. He helped her up from the bed, ignoring the lack of energy of her movements, and put his arms around her. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in her scent, as Susan’s arms hung by her side.

“You didn’t think I’d let you go that easily, did you?” he had whispered.

Susan’s words came out shaky. “No, you couldn’t let me go.”

“You were wrong to run, weren’t you?”

Susan began to cry. “Please… don’t hurt me…not again… please…”

“But you tried to run away,” he had said, “That hurt me, Susan.”

“No… please… no…”

Jake shook his head of the memory.

It was time to find Sydney. And dispose of Sky.

-x-x-x-

Standing in the doorway of the darkroom, Bridge and Jack both blinked a few times, their heads turning from side to side as they tried to take it all in.

“I think I’m going to be sick!” Bridge announced. And indeed, he did look a little green.

Taped to the walls were hundreds of photographs of the Pink Ranger.

Syd leaving the Academy. Syd on the training field. Syd taking RIC for walk. Syd at dinner. Syd at the supermarket. Syd sitting on her bed. Syd on the beach. Syd on the street. Syd in the park. Syd patrolling the city.

Syd everywhere she’d been over the past month.

Z felt something collapse inside her. She wanted to stay longer, but she knew it was important to check the rest of the house. Jack and Bridge were still frozen in place.

“I can’t believe this guy,” Jack announced as Z brushed past him. In the second room, Z found Jake’s workout equipment. He had hung a mirror in there, surrounding it, were more pictures of Sydney. The Yellow Ranger moved to the final door, which she assumed was Jake’s bedroom. Turning the doorknob, Z decided to poke around, while they waited for Cruger to arrive.

Pushing the door wide open, she saw old dresser drawers that looked as if it might have been left behind by whoever had lived here before. In the closet, she found several of Jake’s business suits, hanging neatly. To the right side of the room, there was a dart board. Pinned to the dart board was a photo of Sky and Syd. Bunches of darts were stuck to Sky’s side of the photo. Z snorted. ‘Even if he is an insane psycho path, he’s still a typical male. Jealous to the boot.’ Against the wall, was a night stand with the phone sitting on top.

But it was the framed photo on the night stand that caught her attention.

At first, Z thought it was Sydney. The hair was the same, and her eyes were a similar shade of blue; but yet it wasn’t Syd. The Yellow Ranger realized after a moment, that it was someone who closely resembled her. Holding a daisy to her cheek, the woman in the photograph was younger than Syd by a year or two, her smile almost childlike.

Picking up the frame, Z’s eyes observed the photo carefully and noticed the locket around the woman’s neck. The same locket that Syd had received from Jake.

The same locket…

She took a step and her foot hit something; whatever it was, it felt heavy, though it shifted slightly. Looking down, Z saw the corner of a briefcase poking out from beneath the bed.

The Yellow Ranger pulled it out and set it on the bed.

Inside were dozens more photographs of the woman in the frame, and she started looking through them.

Bridge came in with Jack following. “What do you have there?” the Green Ranger asked.

Z turned. “More pictures.”

“Of Syd?”

“No,” Z shook her head at her teammates. “I don’t know for sure, but I think this woman is probably Susan.”

-x-x-x-

Ten minutes later, Anubis Cruger, Kat Manx and Boom arrived at Jake’s home, where Bridge, Jack and Z were waiting outside on the front porch, several of Jake’s items at their feet.

“What happened?” Kat asked, hurrying up to the three waiting Rangers.

“Jake tried to run me over, that’s what happened,” Jack said sourly.

Three pairs of startled eyes were looking at the Red Ranger. “WHAT?”

“We were going to the backyard to inspect the house,” Bridge started off explaining, “Jake somehow managed to get to the front of the house and over to our squad car. He triggered the alarm, grabbed our keys and when we were running back into the front yard to see what happened, he somehow got into the backyard and got into his car.”

“He came at Jack with full speed,” Z added.

“Are you alright?” Cruger spoke to Jack.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Pissed off, but I made it out in one piece.”

The big blue dog’s eyes narrowed. “Good. He tried to kill one of my Rangers and that doesn’t happen on my watch. Let’s get back to the base and you can tell me everything you’ve found.”

“Yes sir!”

-x-x-x-

Victoria Beach was about forty minutes from New Tech City. Covered by soft white sand, the beach was very crowded with tourists during the summer, though few people lived there year round. During the spring, visitors seemed to have the beach all to themselves.

Like all houses there, the main floor of the house had been built above the garage and storage areas. Steps led from the back porch to the beach, and the windows along the back of the house gave a wonderful view of the waves as they rolled in.

Syd stood at the window, staring at the sparkling water and the beautiful sunset.

Even here, it was hard her for to relax. Or feel completely safe.

She and Sky had stopped at the supermarket along the way, buying enough food to last them a week. Neither of them had any idea how long they would be here, and she didn’t want to go out in public unless she absolutely had too.

The curtains were drawn on every window except for the one she was looking out of; Sky had parked their vehicle in the garage so it couldn’t be seen from the road. As they were driving, Sky had taken Z’s advice and exited the highway four times, taking crazy turns and twists through neighborhood roads, constantly checking the rearview mirror. No one had followed them; they were sure of that. Still, Syd couldn’t shake the feeling that Jake would somehow find her.

Sky came up behind her and enveloped her into his arms. “Maybe they’ve already caught him,” he offered, not knowing what else to say.

Syd tore her gaze from the window and made the effort to shrug. “Maybe.”

“We’re safe here,” he rubbed her arms, “you know that, right? There was no one following us.”

“I know.”

She was doubtful, but kept her opinion to herself.

“Victoria Beach is beautiful isn’t it?”

Syd raised her eyes to the window once more. To be honest, she hadn’t really noticed. The Pink Ranger frowned. “Victoria Beach? Why does that name sound so familiar?”

Sky smiled slightly as she turned to face him. “Don’t you remember?”

Syd shook her head.

“This is where we were supposed to take our 5 day vacation after winning that dance competition.”

Now she remembered. She and Sky had won that dance competition a little more than a month ago. God, had it really only been a month? Her life had changed so drastically since then. The Pink Ranger buried her face into Sky’s chest. God, she just wished this nightmare would end.

Sky held onto Syd with one arm and with his right hand, reached for his morpher. “I’m going to contact Jack to let him know we made it.”

Syd never looked up as she nodded.

-x-x-x-

Like Sky and Syd, Jake also stopped at the supermarket. After pulling his car into the rear corner of the parking lot, where it wouldn’t draw attention by remaining parked in the same spot for a few days- he grabbed the bags from the store before heading into the bathroom of a nearby gas station. Staring into the dirty mirror above the sink, he came up with a plan.

In the bags were the items necessary for the change he had gone through once before: scissors, hair dye, tanning cream and a pair of reading glasses. It wasn’t much, but just enough to alter his appearance from a distance. It was enough to hide for a short time.

It was enough to find her.

Still, there was the problem of where she had gone. And she was gone, he was sure of that. Sky was also probably with her.

So, she did run as he had predicted. But where? Jake smiled, knowing that he would have the answer soon enough. Even when people tried to be careful, they still made mistakes. And Sydney’s mistake came down to this: someone knew exactly where she was.

Bridge, Jack, and Z probably knew where she was. That Commander and his cat assistant also probably knew as well. They would want to talk to her, to tell her what they had learned, to keep an eye on her.

One of these people would lead him to her.

Jake hummed happily as he began his transformation. Twenty minutes later, he left the gas station, wearing glasses, tanner and his hair shorter and darker. A new person, a new man.

‘Now all I need is another car,’ he thought as he headed back toward the parking lot of the supermarket.

-x-x-x-

Back at the Academy, Bridge shouted in triumph as he managed to find out Jake’s original birth place. “He used to live in Lorraine City,” the Green Ranger informed Kat, while pulling on his glove from where he had been inspecting the briefcase. “He’s had that briefcase for awhile. From the images I saw, it seems like he’s been on the run for awhile too.”

Kat nodded and made a few more notes on her pad of paper, then set to work. Her first call was to Lorraine City’s Police Department, where she was passed from person to person until she was able to reach Detective Noah Anderson. She told him who she was and about the investigation. As she spoke, she heard the detective whistle.

“Yeah, I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “I’m not at my desk right now, so I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

Kat hung up the phone, and glanced around the Command Centre. Jack sat at a table near by, studying the files that they had found at Jake’s house. From the looks of things, they were mostly business files from the project the businessman had been working on. On the other side of the room, Z was sitting, all the photos of Susan in front of her and the locket sitting next to the photos. Bridge was trying to see if he could sense anymore hints on Jake’s past, and Cruger had gone out to patrol the City, leaving Kat in charge.

When Detective Anderson called back, the alien cat picked up on the first ring.

“We’ve got information on a few Jake Hemmingtons,” he said, “It’s not that much of an unusual name, so more than one popped up in the system. Tell me about him.”

Kat gave a brief description – height, weight, hair color, eyes, age and race. Over the phone, she could hear Anderson typing the information into the computer.

“Hmm,” he said, sounding puzzled.

“What is it?” Kat asked.

“I don’t think we have any information on him.”

Kat listened with disbelief. “Nothing?”

“Not based on what you told me. We have records of five individuals with the name Jake Hemmington. Three are deceased, one is African American, and the other is in his late sixties.”

Kat cursed under her breath. Jake was in his late twenties.

“I’m sorry there isn’t anything else,” Noah Anderson paused, “If there’s anything else you need, just call. This man sounds like a pretty bad guy, not the kind of person we want walking around in public.”

Kat thanked the man and hung up.

“Any luck?” Jack looked up from his files.

She shook her head. “None,” Kat threw her hands up in the air in frustration, “This doesn’t make any sense. A guy like this doesn’t just appear out of thin air! I know Jake’s done this sort of thing before, there’s just got to be some record around somewhere.” Kat glanced at Z. “Any luck on getting any information on Susan?”

The Yellow Ranger shook her head. “Nope.”

Kat only sighed. It seemed like they reached a dead end on every aspect.

-x-x-x-

Pushing her hair behind her ear, Z studied the photographs of Susan. Unlike Syd, Susan appeared to have posed happily for most of them. The Yellow Ranger noted that in some photos, there was an engagement ring –which later turned into a wedding band. Z was sure that Susan had been indeed, Jake’s wife. She searched the computer for any files mentioning Susan Hemmington, looking for the obvious. The computer listed several individuals, and after checking them all out, she found that none of those people matched the woman in the photograph.

Hesitating only a moment, the Yellow Ranger asked Kat for the number to Detective Noah Anderson in Lorraine City and dialed it.

“Sure, no problem,” Detective Anderson said in response to her request. “Ever since you guys called earlier, I’ve been thinking about that guy. For some reason, his name sounded familiar. Let me check the computer for a Susan Hemmington.”

Z held her breath while she waited.

“No,” the response came after a minute. “No murder victims or missing persons listed under the name of Susan Hemmington.”

Z clenched her teeth and thanked the man before hanging up.

-x-x-x-

In Lorraine City, Detective Noah Anderson thought about the phone calls he had received from SPD. Kat Manx had wanted information on Jake Hemmington and even though he had searched without success, he knew he had heard the name before. As he’d told Cadet Elizabeth Delgado, the name was familiar. He was sure he’d heard it before.

Rising from his desk, he decided to ask around. Maybe someone else in the department would know and be able to clear it up for him.

-x-x-x-

Kat leaned back in her chair and picked up Jake’s file once more. Her eyes went over Jake’s home address, phone number and place of work. Listed under place of work, was information on people whom he had worked for in the past, association lists, previous experience, and education background.

Wait…

People who he had worked for in the past?

“Gotcha,” Kat whispered. Picking up the phone, she called information and dialed Oxford Construction Company in Mount Royal City, the last company Jake had worked for, before forming his own business.

After identifying herself, Kat was soon on the phone with Jeffery Hayer, the vice president –who had been with the company for more than ten years.

“Jake Hemmington? Sure, I remember him!” Jeffery’s voice lit up with recognition. “He was an awesome manager. I wasn’t surprised when he formed his own business!”

“When was the last time you talked to him?” Kat asked.

“Hmm, let’s see… it must’ve been about four years ago,” Jeffery replied cheerfully.

“Mr. Hayer, do you know if he was married?”

It took a moment for Jeffery to answer. And when he did, his voice sounded amused. “Married?”

“Yes, was he married?”

Jeffery laughed. “Nope. We were all pretty sure he was gay.”

Kat gripped the phone tighter, wondering if she heard him right. “He’s gay? Are you sure?”

“Well, not a hundred percent sure, but we’ve always suspected.”

Kat frowned. Jake, gay? How was that possible? “Did he get along with everyone?” she suddenly asked, remembering what Michael Harris had said about Jake being dangerous.

“Absolutely. He was a nice guy, really knew his stuff. Everyone around here respected him. Like I said, he was an awesome manager.”

When Kat said nothing, Jeffery Hayer felt the need to fill the silence. “Is Jake in some sort of trouble?”

Kat found her gaze drifting toward Z, where the Yellow Ranger was still staring at the photographs. “Mr. Hayer, do you know if Mr. Hemmington was ever into photography?”

“Jake? Well, he might’ve been, but if he was, he never mentioned it to me. Why?”

“No reason,” Kat suddenly ran out of questions. “Thank you for your help Mr. Hayer.” The alien cat hung up the phone, shaking her head in puzzlement and wondering why none of what she’d just heard seemed to make any sense.

-x-x-x-

It took longer than he imagined finding a car, but Jake exited the parking lot in a gold colored Toyota. Heading into traffic, Jake checked the rearview mirror to see if anyone was following him. As far as he could tell, no one had been watching him.

Teenagers were stupid these days. It was hard to believe that some kids were ignorant enough to leave their keys in the ignition. Didn’t they realize that someone would take advantage of their stupidity? He would’ve never been so careless, but he wasn’t complaining. He needed a car, and this one would serve his purpose.

-x-x-x-

Detective Noah Anderson sat at his desk in Lorraine City, still pondering about the mystery at hand. He had discussed the situation with a few people in the department.

Like him, they recognized the name, but didn’t know where they had heard it. One person had even gone so far as to look up the same information that Anderson had, convinced that Jake must have had a criminal record, only to get the exact same results.

Frowning, Anderson leaned back in his chair. Why was the name so familiar? Familiar not only to him, but to everyone in the department?

He bolted upright as the answer suddenly came to him. After tapping the keyboard of his computer, he scanned the main information that came up on the screen. His hunch confirmed, he stood up from his seat in search of the detective he had to talk to.

-x-x-x-

The day went on.

Kat had come across one dead end after another in the course of her calls. In the last few hours, she had talked to three people, all who had known Jake Hemmington at one point in time. Two were former coworkers, and the last one had been a manger who vaguely remembered Jake. All three people had said the same things about Jake Hemmington.

He was a nice guy who got along with everyone.

Probably gay.

If his hobby was photography, they didn’t know about it.

Kat slammed a pen down onto the table. Who was this guy? She wondered. And why did it feel as if everyone had been describing someone else entirely?

The phone rang and she reached for it. “Kat Manx speaking, SPD.”

“This is Detective Noah Anderson from Lorraine City.”

Kat sat up straight. “Hey, did you find anything?”

“Sort of. After your call, I kept thinking about how familiar the name Jake Hemmington sounded, so I asked around the department. It finally hit me where I heard the name before,” the detective paused. “One of the other detectives here told me something interesting. It concerned a case he investigated three years ago about a missing person.”

Kat reached for her pen. “Susan Hemmington?”

“No, not Susan.”

“Then who’s the missing person?”

“Jake Hemmington. The guy you called about.”

Kat paused. “Huh?”

“Jake Hemmington,” Detective Anderson said once more. “He’s the missing person.”

Kat Manx stared at the paper in front of her with disbelief. “But he’s here!”

“I understand that. But three years ago, he vanished. He didn’t show up for work one day, and after a few days, his secretary finally contacted us. I talked to the detective in charge of the investigation and he said that it looked like Jake just packed up and took off. Clothes were on the bed, a suitcase was missing, and his car was gone. He made cash withdrawals from the bank and that was the last anyone saw of him.”

“He ran?”

“That’s what it seemed like.”

“But why?”

“No clue. There wasn’t any legal trouble. From the looks of things, it seemed like he wanted to start over. He just vanished,” Detective Anderson said.

“Why didn’t his family report him missing?”

“That’s the thing; there was no family. All his relatives were deceased and he had no siblings.”

“Can you send me the file?” Kat asked.

“Sure. I’ve already sent it to you. Hope it helps.”

“Thank you Detective.”

Kat hung up the phone just as Commander Cruger walked into the Command Centre.

“Well, it looks like Grumm has decided to take a break for the moment,” Doggie Cruger announced, setting his Shadow Saber down, “let’s hope it stays this way until we arrest Jake Hemmington.”

Kat stared at the file that Detective Anderson had sent over, the pages of the file printing off one by one. “He’s not Jake Hemmington,” she said quietly.

Cruger, Jack, Bridge and Z stared at her.

“What do you mean?” Bridge asked. “What are you talking about?”

The three Rangers abandon whatever they were doing and headed over to where Kat sat. They looked at her expectantly.

Kat picked up the first page of the file that was printing off. “His name isn’t Jake Hemmington. The real Jake Hemmington has been missing for three years,” she handed the page to Jack. It was a picture of the missing person, a man with grey hair, and heavy features. It was clear that it wasn’t the man they were looking for. “This is the real Jake Hemmington. Detective Noah Anderson just sent this to me from Lorraine City.”

They all looked at the picture.

Jack blinked in confusion. “This is Jake Hemmington?”

Kat nodded.

“But how can this be?” Z asked.

“Are you saying that this guy took over this man’s identity?” Bridge pointed at the picture Jack was holding.

Kat nodded once more.

Cruger growled. “Then who in the world are we looking for?”

Kat shook her head, shrugging her shoulders in defeat. “I have no idea.”

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Thirteen - Found You

“This is insane!” Jack roared. “How can he just take over someone’s identity like that?”

“This guy is more than just crazy,” Bridge added. “He needs to be locked up for good.”

Z nodded. “I agree with you. I can’t believe all this started just from two dates with the guy. Poor Syd, I can’t imagine what she’s going through.”

“Kat, tell us what you know about this man,” Cruger demanded.

“He’s educated. He likes photography and has an eye for it, which means he’s been doing it for awhile,” Kat listed all the things she knew, “He had a wife named Susan once, but we don’t know anything about her. He’s probably sociopathic; he’s been stalking Sydney since they’ve met and seems to confuse her with his wife. They look a lot alike, and he’s even called her by his wife’s name. He’s probably been in trouble with the law before and has experience in hiding from the police.”

Cruger growled.

Jack whistled under his breath. “At least things can’t get any worse.”

Suddenly there were noises heard coming from the hallway. If one listened closely, it sounded like a very pissed off woman shouting. Heavy footsteps were heard and a minute later, the doors slid open and a woman ran into the room, breathless and her hair falling out of her ponytail. She looked tired, like she hadn’t slept in days; her eyes showed that she was worried. She looked around the Command Centre for a moment and spotted Cruger, immediately approaching him with an angry expression on her face.

“Where is he?” She shouted, “Where is Sky?”

The doors slid open again a minute later and a man rushed in. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting, once it did; Wes hurried to his wife’s side. “Jen honey, calm down. We’re not going to get any answers if you keep yelling at him.”

Jen huffed, but kept the stern expression on her face. “I want to know where my son is,” the former Pink Ranger demanded, “We’ve been calling his cell phone for the last three days. He and Sydney were supposed to have dinner with us on Sunday night and Sky never called to cancel and that’s not like him.”

Wes placed his hands on Jen’s shoulders. “Forgive my wife for yelling Commander. We’re just worried.”

Cruger cringed slightly under Jen’s glare. As did Kat and all the other Rangers.

Z elbowed Jack slightly in the ribs. “And you said it couldn’t get any worse,” she muttered under her breath. “It looks like Mrs. Collins is going to murder Cruger.”

Cruger gazed at Wes and Jen. “There’s been a situation.”

“What kind of situation?” Jen demanded.

“Syd has a stalker,” Jack stated bluntly. “This guy is psycho, and right now, Sky and Syd are in hiding.”

Wes and Jen’s eyes widened at the Red Ranger’s brief statement.

“What do you mean?” Wes asked calmly.

Cruger kept silent, not knowing how to start.

Jen’s eyes narrowed. “You better tell us what’s going on right now.”

-x-x-x-

Knowing they would be searching for him, Jake had driven south for a few hours before he checked into a run-down inn right off the highway, the kind of place where customers could pay in cash and no identification was necessary.

Now he was lying on the bed, his hands entwined behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. ‘They can look,’ he thought, ‘but they won’t be able to find me.’

He wondered if the Rangers had learned that he wasn’t really Jake Hemmington. Even if they had, it wouldn’t matter. They couldn’t connect him to Hemmington’s disappearance or learn his former identity. The hard part had been finding the right person, a man without a family. Searching through all the professional association lists by using the internet had been so time consuming, but he had stayed at it, all his searching had eventually led him to Jake Hemmington. He had been on the run from the law, moving from place to place, and it was in Sandburg Town that he finally found the right man.

Ironically, Jake Hemmington had been born in Lorraine City -like he was. He’d watched the real Jake Hemmington as he watched Sydney now. He learned that Jake was short and was becoming bald, obviously gay, and that he spent most of his time alone. Occasionally, Hemmington worked late at the office, and one night he watched Jake move toward his car in a darkened parking lot, head down as he sorted through the keys.

Hemmington didn’t hear him approach, and he placed a gun to Hemmington’s head.

“Do exactly what I want,” he had whispered, “and I’ll let you live.”

Obviously it had been a lie, but the lie had served its purpose. Hemmington had done everything that he had asked him to do and had answered all of his questions. Jake had gone to the bank and had packed a suitcase as he asked. Jake had even allowed himself to be tied and blindfolded, in hope that his cooperation would be rewarded with his life.

He had driven them to the mountains and told him to lie down on the side of the road. He remembered the begging and the whimpering and how Jake started crying once he heard the unmistakable click of a gun being loaded. He laughed at the man’s weakness. Had he been in that situation, he would have fought or tried to get away, but Hemmington was weak and four hours later was buried in an unmarked grave that would never be discovered.

Without anyone pressing the search, he’d known that Hemmington’s file would be buried in the pile of other missing persons and forgotten. As long as Jake Hemmington was missing and not dead, the identity was easy to assume. He had trained himself to not answer his real name, and when he spoke it now, it sounded foreign.

He had taken care of the real Jake Hemmington, just like he had taken care of his mother and father. And the boys in the foster home. And Susan.

Now it was time to take care of Sky.

-x-x-x-

The Command Centre was busy with activity. After hearing the full story, Wes had immediately contacted Eric at Silver Hills and informed him of the situation. The former Quantum Ranger had promised to spread the word about the man who posed as Jake Hemmington around. Jen had called Adrian and Melanie Drew to inform them of the situation, horrified, the Drew family had promised to be there as soon as they could.

Now, two hours later, Adrian and Melanie Drew had arrived. Adrian had immediately done everything he thought he could do. He hired the best bodyguards, tripling the security around the Academy. He hired workmen to check the security of every window, ordering more lasers, everything he thought that could be an asset. Cruger had stated that it was all unnecessary, but Adrian was adamant. He had everything money could buy, but all he really cared about was keeping his daughter and her boyfriend safe. Unfortunately, the only person who really knew the Pink and Blue Rangers’ whereabouts was Jack, and the Red Ranger was keeping it all under wraps.

While all this was going on, Melanie Drew sat on one of the stools in the corner, staring blankly into space, ignoring the flurry of activity that was going on around her. It was her fault. Her daughter was in danger and it was her fault. She had been the one that kept pushing, setting up Sydney on all these blind dates, just to keep their name well known in the high class society. She had been the one delighted, when she ran into Jake Hemmington and had happily given the man her daughter’s phone number.

Melanie shuddered.

She was a terrible mother. What kind of person would set their own daughter up with an insane person that was on the run from the law? And on top of that, she felt horribly guilty. The moment she had seen Jen and Wes, she knew she had made terrible accusations about Sky Tate Collins. Sometimes it was hard to believe just how incredibly shallow and selfish she was. Wes and Jen Collins were no strangers to the media- Wes was wealthy and was also famous for being the Red Time Force Ranger. The minute she heard that Sky was Wes’s son, she knew just how deeply Sydney cared for Sky Tate -no, Sky Tate Collins. She had seen the Rangers on television many times, had seen Sky in action, Melanie knew that the feelings between the Blue and Pink Rangers were real.

Melanie had always known Sydney hated their lifestyle. The endless parties, the numerous appearances -her daughter couldn’t stand it. But it was the only world Melanie had ever known, had been taught to know -she didn’t know how to react to her daughter’s lifestyle. And now… now… her pride and joy was in danger. If she had just trusted her daughter’s judgment -then maybe none of this would’ve happened.

The blonde woman looked around her. Up ahead, she saw her husband working closely with Wes Collins. She wished that she had listened to Adrian more. She wished she had seen what her husband had. That Sydney was strong and could take care of herself. She wished she hadn’t been so critical about her daughter’s relationship with Sky Tate. She wished…

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Melanie looked up and saw a pair of warm brown eyes that were filled with worry like her own. Jen Collins sat down next to her and offered her a tired smile.

“I don’t think a penny can cover it,” the blonde woman finally replied.

“What’s on your mind?”

Melanie didn’t know what it was, but there was something about the woman next to her that was extremely comforting. “I’m a horrible mother,” she began.

Jen raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

“I forced Sydney to date a man that I knew nothing about; all I cared about was the fact that he was wealthy. And because of that, he’s now stalking her,” tears began to well up in Melanie’s eyes. “Sydney is in danger because of me, and the man she loves is in danger as well, trying to protect her. “

Jen placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “I’m sure Sydney understands that you just want what’s best for her, after all, you’re a mother, and mothers always want what’s best for their children.”

“Why are you being so kind?” Melanie’s blue eyes were filled with surprise. “I judged your son harshly. I thought he wasn’t good enough for my daughter. Everything I said was based on what I saw in a single photograph from a newspaper clipping.”

Jen shrugged. “Because, my son loves your daughter and your daughter loves my son. That is enough reason for me to try and get along with you.” And with that Jen stood up from her spot and headed over to where Wes was, ready to help in any way she could.

Melanie watched as the former Pink Time Force Ranger walked away, a feeling indescribable washing over her.

-x-x-x-

Night had fallen, crickets chirped and the moon was glowing brightly in the distance. The fireplace roared with life, flames dancing as it burned the wood.

Syd sat on the couch, absentmindedly playing with the necklace around her neck. Sky came from the kitchen, into the living room and sat next to Syd, handing her a glass of warm milk. Syd gave a small smile, accepting the glass and took a sip. She then set the glass down on the table and leaned into Sky’s embrace as he placed an arm around her.

“Are you feeling better?” Sky asked after several moments of silence.

“A little.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you Syd, not if I have anything to say about it.”

The Pink Ranger smiled, hearing his promise. “Thank you.” Her hands went to her neck again, and she started fiddling with the gem that hung from the chain.

“Huh,” Sky said a moment later, his voice filled with wonder.

Syd lifted her head from his shoulder. Her blue eyes looked up at him questioningly. “What’s wrong?”

The Blue Ranger had a grin on his face. “You’re wearing the necklace.”

She looked down. It was the necklace she had received for her birthday so long ago. To this day, she still didn’t know who sent it. She frowned. “Yeah, so? I haven’t taken it off since I got it for my birthday.”

“Why don’t you wear the bracelet and the earrings?”

As he asked the question, Syd could only stare at Sky as the realization hit her. No one, besides Z, had known that she had received more gifts. “You… you… it… how did… you…” She sputtered.

The Blue Ranger was amused. “Did you like the music box? There was one shaped as a teddy bear, but I figured you would like the star shaped one better.”

“You were the secret admirer?” Syd finally burst out.

“Who’d you think it was?” he retorted, grinning.

At second later, his oxygen supply had been cut off as Syd leapt at him. But Sky wasn’t complaining -he rather liked having her lips on his.

Five minutes later, they parted, each breathing heavily.

“Wow…” Sky blinked. “That was… wow.”

The Pink Ranger giggled, wrapping her arms around him. Looking into his eyes, her expression turned serious. “I love you Sky.”

His eyes lit up with joy and he wrapped his arms tighter around her waist. “I love you too Syd.”

-x-x-x-

Throughout the evening, SPD was busy with events.

A photograph of ‘Jake Hemmington’ had been sent out to the nearest cities so that everyone would be aware that a dangerous man out on the loose.

Around 1:30am, it was reported that a gold colored Toyota car had been stolen.

At 2:45am, it was reported that a black car had been left in the supermarket parking lot for the last twenty-four hours.

Everyone was too busy to notice any of these reports.

-x-x-x-

The following morning was sunny and bright. Jake woke and showered, then hopped back into the stolen Toyota. An hour later, after buying a cup of coffee and a few magazines, he pulled into New Tech City, feeling as if he had come home.

With his new disguise, his darker hair, his tan, and his glasses, he didn’t recognize himself when he looked in the rearview mirror. Wearing blue jeans and a white wife beater, he looked like any other family man heading toward the park for the weekend.

He headed towards the bench that was placed directly off to the side of the small park. It gave him full view of the SPD Academy and still gave him enough time to get to his car if need be. Now all he had to do was wait for one of the Rangers to come out. And he would wait all day if he had too; one of the Rangers was going to lead him to where Sky and Sydney was.

-x-x-x-

When Z approached Bridge’s desk, she thought he looked as tired as she felt.

“Anything?” she asked.

Bridge looked up, shaking his head and yawning. “Nothing. What about you?”

“Not much, I keep hitting one dead end after the other.”

Bridge fell silent, thinking. Without new information, there was nothing they could do to catch this guy. Was he still in town? Bridge was willing to bet he wasn’t. What would he do next? Bridge could only wonder. Was he still after Syd? Probably.

The problem was that this man had become Jake Hemmington. There was nothing personal in the house, with the exception of his clothes, his cameras, and his photographs of Susan. And the pictures told the Green Ranger nothing, except that he was an excellent photographer. Those pictures could’ve been taken anywhere, and because Jake developed them, there wasn’t a lab they could trace him back to…

Bridge’s thoughts suddenly froze as he felt an answer come to him.

Pictures that were taken anywhere at any time?

Excellent at photography?

Expensive camera gear?

His own lab to develop them?

‘Okay so this isn’t a hobby for him,’ he thought. Alright, he already knew that. The Green Ranger stared at the stack of photos of Susan in front of him. ‘This is something that he’s been doing for a long time. Years, even.’

What if…

It was a long shot but…

But what if he had the cameras for awhile?

If that was the case, then it meant…

This man might’ve been using the cameras long before he became Jake Hemmington.

Z looked at him curiously when she saw the expression on his face. “What is it Bridge?”

“Z,” Bridge suddenly spoke. “Where are Jake’s cameras?”

The Yellow Ranger looked surprised. “The cameras? They’re in the evidence room.”

He jumped up from his chair and started toward the evidence room.

“Where are you going?”

“I think I found a way to figure out who this guy is,” Bridge called.

A moment later, Z was struggling to keep up with him.

-x-x-x-

Two minutes later, Bridge signed out all of Jake’s photography gear.

“What are you doing?” Z asked as she watched him.

“The cameras,” Bridge explained, “the lenses. This stuff is expensive right? The pictures could’ve been taken at anytime, even with these cameras, right?”

“Sure,” Z shrugged, looking confused. “So what?”

“Don’t you see?” The Green Ranger asked. “What if he’s had these cameras all along?”

Then it dawned on her. “The serial numbers on the cameras.”

Bridge pointed at her. “Exactly, it would’ve had to have been registered somewhere in order for him to buy the cameras.”

“Bridge, you’re a genius!” The yellow ranger cheered.

Minutes later, they had the list of serial numbers they needed. They spilt the information, each taking half and got to work.

Z sat down at her own desk and called her half of the numbers. She called information and received phone numbers for the camera manufacturers, then dialed the first one. After she explained that she needed to verify the name and address of the owner, the person on the other end typed in the serial number.

“It belongs to a Jake Hemmington…”

Z hung up and tried the next one. And the next one. And the next. On her fifth call, however, a different name was offered.

“The camera is registered to a Jordan Drover of Lorraine City, just outside of New Tech City. Do you need the address?”

Z’s hands were shaking as she wrote down the information.

-x-x-x-

Kat looked over the list. “Are you sure this is him?”

“The name was registered on four different pieces of equipment, and according to their records, it had never been reported as stolen,” Z answered.

“That name showed up on my half the list as well,” Bridge added. “I’m willing to bet this is our guy.”

“Alright,” Kat nodded, sitting down at her desk. She reached for the phone and called Detective Noah Anderson in Lorraine City. Within minutes, he was able to give her the information Kat needed.

“Jordan Drover is wanted for questioning in the disappearance of his wife, Susan Drover, four years ago,” he said.

-x-x-x-

Knowing that staying in one place would make people suspicious, Jake grabbed his things and moved from one bench to another.

He wondered what the Rangers were doing inside, but then again, it didn’t really matter. He had learned long ago to be patient, and after glancing toward the windows, he raised the newspaper in front of him again. He had read every article a few times now, some more than that. He knew when and where movies were playing, he knew that the community center was offering free dance classes for seniors, but the paper shielded his face from curious people around him.

He wasn’t worried about being discovered. He knew they were looking for him, but no one would think to look for him here. Even if anyone did, between the newspaper and his altered appearance, he was certain that no one would recognize him.

It was only a matter of time now.

-x-x-x-

An hour later, with pages will coming through the fax machine from Lorraine City regarding Susan’s disappearance, Kat sat at her desk, preparing herself for the call she knew she had to make. After she had dialed, a female voice picked up on the other end.

“Hello?”

“Is this Lily Holden?”

“Yes, who is this?”

“This is Kat Manx. I’m calling from the SPD Academy in New Tech City.”

“New Tech City?”

“It’s located just outside of Lorraine City,” Kat said. “I was wondering if you had a moment to talk.”

“I don’t know anyone in New Tech City.”

“I’m calling about your sister, Susan.”

There was a long silence at the other end. “Have you found her?” The woman’s voice was weak, as if expecting the worst.

“I’m sorry, but no, we haven’t. But I was wondering if there’s anything you could tell me about Jordan Drover.”

At the sound of his name, Kat heard Lily Holden draw a sharp breath. “Why?”

“Because we’re looking for him.”

“Because of Susan?”

Kat wondered how much to say. “No,” she said finally, “he’s wanted in connection with something else.”

There was another long pause. “He killed someone, didn’t he?” Lily said automatically. “He killed someone in New Tech City.”

Kat hesitated. “Is there anything you can tell me about him?”

“He’s crazy,” Lily said. The woman’s voice shook, but she kept calm, as if she was doing her best to stay in control. “Everyone was afraid of him, including Susan. He’s dangerous, violent… and he’s smart. Susan tried to get away from him once. He used to beat her. She went to the supermarket one night for groceries and we never saw her again. Everyone knew he did it, but they never found her.”

Lily then began to cry. “It’s been so hard…you don’t know what it’s like… to not know… I mean to not be certain… I know she’s gone, but still, there’s like this tiny hope that you cling on to… You try to move on, and then something happens that makes it all real again…”

Kat listened to the sobbing on the other end, sympathy washing over her. “What was he like in the beginning of their relationship?” she asked gently after a moment.

“What does it matter? He did whatever you think he did. He’s evil… he’s horrible… he’s a nutcase…”

“Please,” Kat said, “We need all the information we can get.”

“And you think this’ll help? It won’t. We’ve been looking for him for years. We hired private investigators; we made sure the police stayed on the case…” Lily Holden trailed off. “He’s insane.”

“He’s here,” Kat said, “And we want to make sure he doesn’t get away. Please, can you tell me what he was like?”

Lily left out a soft sigh, as if she was trying to calm down. “It was just like you’d expect -he was charming and handsome and pursued Susan until she fell head over heels for him. He seemed nice at first and we all liked him. They eloped after dating for eight months, and after they were married, things changed. He became possessive, and he didn’t like it when Susan called us. Pretty soon, she rarely left the house, but on the few occasions we did see her, we saw bruises. Of course, we tried to talk some sense into her, but it took a long time before she listened to us.”

“When you say that Susan tried to run away once… what did you mean by that?”

“She finally accepted that she had to. For a couple of days, he acted as if nothing had happened. He tried to get us to tell him where she went, but of course we wouldn’t tell him anything. We knew what was going on by then. Susan went to Peyton Town, a place where she could start over, but he hunted her down. I don’t know how he did it, but he found her and brought her back. She stayed with him a couple of weeks, until my mom and I finally went over there and dragged her back. She moved in with our parents and she even seemed to be doing better for awhile. And then one night, Susan went to the supermarket and we never saw her again.”

After hanging up, Kat sat, thinking about the phone call, and the words Lily had used still ringing in her ears.

He hunted her down.

-x-x-x-

After sorting through the information, Kat went to see Cruger and the Rangers. Wes, Jen, Adrian and Melanie stood by closely, waiting to hear what the cat alien had to say. Cruger took a moment to glance at the pile of papers that Kat had handed to him. When he finished, he met her eyes.

“Are you sure about this?”

Kat nodded.

“Alright, Kat, Bridge and Z excellent work.”

“What do we do now sir?” Jack piped up.

Kat cleared her throat. “Until we find him, I think it’s best if we send one of the Rangers and RIC to stay with Sky and Syd. If what we learned about Jordan is true, then you know what he’s capable of doing and what he’s likely to do next.”

Commander Cruger nodded and fixed Jack with a steady gaze. “Do you think you can handle it Cadet Landors?”

Jack saluted. “Yes sir!”

A few minutes later, Kat and the remaining Rangers left the Academy and piled into one of the SPD vehicles.

No one noticed the stolen Toyota when it pulled into the traffic behind them.

-x-x-x-

She didn’t know what to do.

Normally, Jen Collins was a fast thinker and acted on her gut instinct, but this time things were different. This time she was helpless. This time she wasn’t dealing with pathetic monsters, stupid spells, and she wasn’t fighting Ransik. This time it was a human being, a living, breathing (crazy) human being.

A crazy human being that was after her son.

‘Please stay safe, Sky,’ the former Pink Ranger prayed as she glanced around the SPD Command Centre. Wes was currently on the phone, probably with Eric, trying to figure out what to do next. Adrian Drew was next to him, listening to Wes’s side of the conversation, preparing to help any way he could.

Her eyes then fell on Melanie Drew. Sydney’s mother wasn’t looking like her usual glamorous self. Jen wasn’t one to pity, but in all honesty, she felt sorry for this woman. She was a mother, and no matter what, a mother would always have a connection with their children.

It looked like Melanie Drew was finally getting over her conceited self at last.

Before Jen could go over to her, Wes appeared next to her. The former Red Ranger gathered Jen into his arms and gave her a hug. “How are you doing?”

“I’ve been better,” she replied, breathing in her husband’s scent.

“We’ll get him back,” Wes promised. “We’ll get him and Syd back and put this psychotic man behind bars.”

Jen only buried her face into her husband’s shoulder.

-x-x-x-

“His name is Jordan Drover,” Kat began, “The real Jake Hemmington has been missing for three years.”

Syd stared at Kat. “I don’t understand.”

They were seated at the kitchen table of the beach house. Sky and Syd sat on one side of the table, Kat sat across from them. Jack, Bridge and Z were standing around them.

Sky reached for Syd’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “How is that possible?” Sky asked.

“The real Jake Hemmington wasn’t married, and he had no relatives to speak of. There was no one to notice if his social security number was back in use. And because he was considered missing -not deceased- there was nothing to raise any alarms.”

It was Sky’s turn to stare. “You think Jordan Drover killed him.” It was more of a statement than a question.

Kat paused. “Yes.”

Syd let out a shaky breath and looked out the window, suddenly numb and feeling cold. On the beach, she saw an elderly couple stop in front of the house. The man bent over and picked up a seashell, then put it in a plastic pail before moving on. ‘How can something so horrible be happening, when there is so much love and joy out there in the world?’ Syd thought.

The Pink Ranger turned her attention back toward Kat. “So who is Jordan Drover?” she asked. “And how do you know that’s his real name?”

“Bridge and Z discovered who he was by looking up the registered serial numbers in the cameras. The cameras were the only link to his past, and once we knew who he was and where he was from, we were able to learn the rest easily,” Kat replied. “Jordan was raised in Lorraine City as an only child. His father was an alcoholic and his mother was a house wife. There was more than one accusation of abuse in their home -the police had investigated half a dozen incidents over the years- until his father passed away. I talked to one of the detectives on that case. The detective is retired now, but he remembered the events well. He said that Mr. Drover had committed suicide, but because they couldn’t prove anything, they let it go. But he suspected the kid had closed the garage door and turned the engine back on after his father had passed out.”

As she listened, Syd felt her stomach lurch. “And the mother?”

“Died less than a year later of drug overdose. Again, it was ruled as a suicide.”

There was a silence in the kitchen and Kat let the unspoken accusation hang for a moment before continuing on. “He spent the next few years in foster care. His juvenile records are locked so we can’t say what else he may have done. He went to college for a few years, graduated, met Susan and got married.”

“What happened to Susan?” Sky asked.

“Susan has been missing for a few years now,” Kat said. “The last time anyone saw her was at the supermarket. A witness remembered seeing Jordan Drover’s car in the parking lot that night, but no one saw what happened to her. Jordan vanished the same night she disappeared.”

“You mean he killed her,” Sky said flatly.

“That’s what Susan’s family believes.”

“Oh god,” Syd moaned. “I can’t believe this. It’s one nightmare after the other.”

“It’s disturbing,” Bridge spoke up finally. “At his house, we found hundreds of pictures of you taped to his walls.”

“There was even one of Sky with darts thrown at it,” Jack added.

“Why me?” Syd asked. “Why did he choose me?”

“Well, we don’t know with any certainty,” Kat said, “but let me show you something.”

Sky breathed in sharply. ‘There’s more? What now?’

Kat pulled out a single photograph and slid it across the table. Sky and Syd looked at it, and then slowly raised their eyes again.

“A real close resemblance isn’t it? This is Susan.”

“She looks a lot like me,” Syd breathed. “I think she could probably even pass as my younger sister or something.”

“When I first saw the picture, I actually thought it was you,” Z said, then pointed at the picture. “Look at this.”

Goosebumps rose on Syd’s skin as she looked at what Z was pointing too. Hanging from the woman’s neck was the locket that Jake… Jordan, whoever… had given Syd.

“Susan Drover,” Syd whispered. “S.D.”

Next to her, Syd heard Sky inhale sharply.

“I know this is hard,” Kat said gently, “but there is another reason why we’re here. Because of all this, we would like to have Jack and RIC stay with you two for a few days.”

“Here at the house?” Syd asked.

Kat nodded.

“I think that’s a really good idea,” Sky said.

-x-x-x-
 

Jack went out to the car and was getting the overnight bag he had packed when he saw Z scanning the homes along the beach.

“Is it always so quiet out here?”

“I guess so,” Jack replied.

The Yellow Ranger studied the homes again. Only a few houses had cars parked in the driveway. Down the road, she spotted a gold colored Toyota parked in one of the driveways - something a teenager would drive. It was quiet, maybe too quiet, but Z supposed that it was better for Sky and Syd to stay here, rather than in the city.

“So you’ll be staying awake all night?” Z asked.

“Yeah,” Jack replied, dragging the bag up the steps. “I’ll get some sleep early in the morning. You guys will keep me posted on what’s going on right?”

“Of course.”

The Red Ranger nodded. “Alright, be careful Z.”

Z hugged the man she considered her brother. “I will. And you better stay safe!”

“I’ll do my best.”

-x-x-x-

That night, Syd couldn’t sleep.

Outside, she could hear the sounds of the ocean waves as they lapped along the shore in a steady rhythm. Next to her, Sky was sleeping soundly, his arm wrapped around her waist. Quietly, she detached Sky’s arm from her waist and got out of bed. She walked over toward the window and made sure it was locked tightly before looking out. Looking down below, she could see Jack circling the house, making sure that no one was there. Turning from the window, Syd cast a glance at the weapons lying on the night table next to their bed. Her blaster was within reaching distance, as was Sky’s. There was a small pile of iron metals next to her blaster, ready for use. And if she really needed it, she would be able to morph and access her Deltamax Striker.

The Pink Ranger was glad that Jack was there. Not only was the Red Ranger strong, he also provided them with more weapons in case Jake did find them.

-x-x-x-

From his spot, Jake watched as the Red Ranger walked around in front of the beach house. He was a little more than annoyed that Jack Landors had decided to stay with them, but he knew that no Ranger could stop him. Neither could Sky or that hideous looking robotic dog. He and Sydney were meant for each other, and he would overcome any obstacles to their ultimate happiness. Everything else was an inconvenience, no more challenging than changing his appearance or stealing a car. Or having to start over again.

He wondered where they would end up after leaving New Tech City. He could imagine Sydney enjoying Paris, the fashion capital of the world, or New York City, where they could enjoy new weather productions every season. Or even Australia.

‘It would be wonderful’, he thought. ‘Magical’.

‘Sleep well,’ a malicious smile came to his face, ‘because tomorrow night, it begins.’

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Fourteen - Confrontation

The following evening was nice and cool. The breeze was steady, and the sky was beginning to dim as the sun began to set. The ocean was calm and there were a few seagulls flying in the air.

From his spot near the beach house, Jake watched as Syd stepped out, taking in a breath of fresh air. With the light glowing from behind her, she looked like a descending angel. Jake found himself growing aroused by the thought of what was going to happen next.

Yesterday, after he had located them, he had pulled his car into the driveway of a home that was plastered with realty signs. Though many homes along the beach were still vacant this time of year, this one looked as if it had been unoccupied for awhile. A quick check revealed an alarm system for the house but not for the garage, and he had worked his way through the simple lock with a screwdriver he had found in the glove compartment of the gold Toyota he had stolen.

He had slept on a dusty air mattress he had found on the shelves and inspected the baseball bat he had found in the corner. That baseball bat would come in handy. He spent several hours that morning trying to figure out how to turn that robotic dog off.

In the distance, Jake could see RIC crawling around in the grass. As quietly as he could, Jake made his way towards the robotic dog.

-x-x-x-

“I hate this game,” Jack grumbled, studying the game of solitaire in front of him. “It’s impossible to win.”

As Syd slipped the plates into the cupboard, she glanced toward the table. “Put the red eight on the black nine.”

The Red Ranger blinked, still trying to see it. “Where?”

“The sixth column.”

“Oh yeah, there it is.”

Lost in the game, Jack kept his eyes focused downward.

Sky washed the last dish and pulled the plug from the drain, then looked up at the window. With the kitchen light playing against the glass, all he could see was his own reflection.

-x-x-x-

Outside, Jake suddenly pounced on the unsuspecting RIC. Struggling for a moment, he finally found the switch and flipped it. A second later, all of RIC’s systems were shut off and the robotic dog laid still.

Placing RIC toward the side of the beach house, Jake crept toward his hiding place again and settled in to wait.

-x-x-x-

Sky and Syd were sitting on the couch in the living room, watching as Jack continued to lose one game after the next.

“You know Jack, if you haven’t won one game by now, it’s probably not in the cards,” Syd called out.

“Yeah, we’ll see about that!” Jack’s reply sounded determined.

Syd grinned and leaned further into Sky’s embrace. After a few more minutes of watching Jack lose, the Pink Ranger turned to Sky and met his gaze. “You know, my father always told me to do things that make me happy,” she paused, a true smile appearing on her face. “I know you love me and I love you, and you make me happy. Even with all this horrible stuff going on, you’ve still made me happy. I just wanted you to know that.”

Feeling touched at her words, Sky pulled her closer to him. “You’ve made me happy too Syd. And you’re right, I do love you.”

“I don’t know how I would’ve handled these last few weeks without you. I’m sorry for dragging you into all of this, but you don’t know how grateful I am, to have you with me.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for…”

“Sure there is. I should’ve just ignored my mother and not gone out on that date in the first place. But I did, just to make her happy. If I had listened to my heart, there would have never been a Jake. And I want you to know that I’m thankful not only that you put up with all of that, but that you’re here for me now.”

Sky kissed the top of her head. “There’s no place I’d rather be.”

-x-x-x-

In New Tech City, Z spent most of her evening trying to learn all she could about Jordan Drover. From all the documents Kat had gathered and calling people who had known Jordan, the Yellow Ranger grew more horrified and frightened when she learned just what had happened in his past.

Bridge came running into the Command Centre. “We just got a call,” the Green Ranger announced. “His car has been located in the parking lot of New Tech City supermarket.”

Wes looked up from his position at the console. “Has anyone spotted him?”

Bridge shook his head. “No. It was also reported that a gold Toyota car was stolen.”

Z frowned. A gold Toyota?

-x-x-x-

Syd wandered to the window and put her face to the glass, scanning the beach.

“Where’s RIC?” she asked.

Sky came up beside her. “No idea. I think Jack let him out a few hours ago. I’m sure he’ll be back any minute.”

The Pink Ranger nodded. In the distance, she could see faint lights from a trawler off coast. Though the sun was starting to go down, there was still plenty of light left. “Maybe we should go look for him.”

“Sure.”

-x-x-x-

Jake leaned forward when he saw her appear in the window, her face illuminated. He knew with sudden certainty that he would never love anyone as much as he loved her.

Then Sky broke into the image, ruining it. Jake clenched his hand as they both vanished from the window and scowled. Sky always ruined everything. He shook his head. He didn’t regret what would happen to the mighty Blue Ranger.

Jake waited, knowing what she was going to do. In a moment, he would hear her voice, echoing the salty air. She’d call for RIC, but RIC wouldn’t be coming.

RIC would stay exactly where he was.

-x-x-x-

Z Delgado squinted as the lights in the evidence room flickered on brightly. Lack of sleep in the last couple of days had taken its toll, and her eyes ached. Maybe she needed some sleep in order to get rid of this nagging feeling in the back of her mind.

Still, the Yellow Ranger couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. And it had something to do with that car that Bridge had announced was stolen. What kind of a car had it been? A gold Toyota? The Yellow Ranger frowned as she rubbed her forehead, wondering why that particular car seemed so familiar.

-x-x-x-

Jake watched as Sky and Sydney headed down the beach, calling for RIC. As they moved further into the distance, he could feel the adrenaline race into his system and he gripped the baseball bat he had found tighter. It had begun.

When they finally vanished from sight, he crept quietly toward the house. Staying low in the shadows, he walked up the porch steps and through the door. It was time to get rid of the first annoyance.

-x-x-x-

Jack was cleaning up the pile of cards when he noticed that the house had gone silent. The Red Ranger heard footsteps, but thought nothing of it, assuming it was Sky.

“Sky?” Jack called out, putting the cards down on the kitchen counter. Heading towards the opened front door, he barely noticed the shadow moving toward him from behind.

-x-x-x-

Jake stared at the fallen figure of Jack Landors. Gruesome business? Yes, but necessary. And in its own way, inevitable. Nothing would stand in the way of his and Sydney’s happiness.

Jake turned and headed toward the door, baseball bat in hand.

One down, only one more to go.

-x-x-x-

Z paced back and forth in the Command Centre. She couldn’t figure it out, but she knew it was there. Something in her subconscious, something obvious, and something just out of reach. And she knew it had to do with the stolen car.

‘Okay’, she thought, going through the facts again. Jake’s car had been abandoned. Check. The car was stolen around the time Jake had vanished. Check. Put those two together and she knew Jake had taken the stolen car. Check. But what had Bridge said? A gold Toyota? Z frowned, frustrated that no ideas were coming to her.

‘Maybe I had seen the car somewhere… but where?’

Z paced around some more.

‘Where have I been lately? Well... I only went to talk to Syd and Sky at the beach, when we all dropped Jack off…’

Z stopped pacing. ‘No,’ she thought, ‘it couldn’t be…’

“Shit!” The Yellow Ranger swore before rushing off to find the Commander and tell him she had seen the car parked near the beach house.

Jordan Drover had found out where Syd had been hiding.

-x-x-x-

Sky frowned as he heard a yell coming from the house. ‘That sounded like Jack.’

“Hey Syd,” the Blue Ranger called. “I think something happened to Jack at the house. I’m going to check up on him quickly okay?”

The Pink Ranger nodded before continuing to call out for RIC. Sky turned and headed up the porch steps and into the house.

Stepping into the doorway, the Blue Ranger immediately registered that something was wrong. The deck of cards that Jack had been playing with earlier, were scattered all over the place. He walked along the small hallway and saw the Red Ranger lying face down in the middle of the floor.

“Jack!” Sky rushed up to his leader. Quickly, he pressed two fingers to the Red Ranger’s neck and let out a sigh of relief as he felt a faint pulse. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow. The Blue Ranger looked up just as the shadowy figure launched itself from the top of the stairs.

The momentum of the attack sent him tumbling backward; his head collided with the stairs as something crashed down on him, crushing his rib cage and driving the edges of the stairs into his lower back.

The pain was staggering. He could feel someone reaching for his neck and taking hold. The hands began to tighten, and Sky fought nausea as the pain rolled through him. Even opening his eyes was difficult, but when he saw the face of Jake Hemmington, his thoughts suddenly came into focus.

Syd! He wanted to scream. Jake’s here! Run!

But he made no sound. Cut off from oxygen, he began to grow dizzy, his mind a jumble. As he struggled to draw breath, he reached instinctively for Jake’s hand, trying to pry them off. Sky swung wildly, his fist connecting with Jake’s face and Jake’s grip weakened. It was all Sky needed.

The Blue Ranger lunged toward Jake, feeling satisfied as his fist connected with Jake’s jaw once more. But Jake took control and kicked Sky in the stomach. A moment later there was a loud Bang! And then there was pain shooting from all directions in Sky’s body, starting with his stomach. Sky blinked in shock, and he seemed to lose control of his tongue. His body weakened and Jake shoved him off.

When Jake stood, that was when Sky saw the gun.

Jake stared down at him, and Sky rolled away.

Need to get up… have to stand… gotta get to Syd…

He knew Jake would be going after Syd next, and he had to stop that from happening. He had to save Syd. He tried to override the pain, to figure out what to do next…

There was a kick to his head, and Sky felt his vision sway back and forth.

Dizzier… weaker… have to save her… have to protect her… I promised…

Another kick to his head, and then there was nothing.

-x-x-x-

The SPD vehicles sped through the roads like speeding bullets, whipping between cars, lights flashing.

Z sat in the backseat, grasping onto Bridge’s hand, praying hard. In front, Commander Cruger kept his eyes on the road, his paws gripping the steering wheel tightly. Behind them, there were half a dozen more SPD vehicles following them.

‘Ten minutes,’ the Yellow Ranger prayed. ‘Hang on Syd, all we need is ten more minutes.’

-x-x-x-

Jake stood over Sky’s still body with wide eyes, breathing hard, energized as never before. His hands were tingling, his legs shaking, but the adrenaline was still pumping through him.

This was nothing like Jack, or the real Jake Hemmington, or even Susan. Susan had fought, but not like this. Susan had died at his hands, but there had been no sense of a victorious conquest, just a sense of sorrow.

No, tonight he felt triumphant, unbeatable. He was on a mission and the gods were with him.

Jake gave a malicious smile as he glanced at the unconscious form in front of him. Turning, he placed the gun in the pocket of his jacket and headed out the door. ‘It was a beautiful night’, he thought. In the shadows ahead, he could make out Sydney’s form. ‘We’ll be alone’, he thought, ‘no more complications, no one to stop us.’

He began to walk more quickly, excited by the thought of seeing her. Sydney, no doubt, would be frightened when she saw him. She would probably react the way Susan had when she’d found him waiting in her car that night outside the supermarket. He’d tried to explain himself to her, to make her understand, but she’s struggled and dug her nails into his skin, and he’d put his hands around her throat until her eyes had rolled back in her head, watching and knowing that she had forced him to do it, forced him for her own selfish reasons to let their future slip away.

But he would treat Sydney with the patience she deserved. He would talk to her in hushed tones, and once she really understood the nature of his love for her, once she realized that he’d done this all for her-for them- she would accept it and come with him. She’d probably still be upset about Sky, but eventually he would comfort her and she would see why he’d had no other choice.

He would want to lead her to the bedroom afterward, but he knew there wasn’t enough time for that. Later tonight, once they were safely away, they would stop at a motel and make love, and they would have a lifetime together to make up for what they’d missed.

-x-x-x-

“RIC!” Syd called. “RIC!”

Sighing, she turned, intending to head back toward the house, when she froze. At first, she refused to believe what her eyes were seeing, and she tried to blink the image away. But when she looked again, she knew she wasn’t imagining things.

Though his hair was a different color, though his skin was darker, and though he wore glasses, she recognized him immediately.

“Hello Sydney,” Jake said.

Syd stared at Jake without breathing as everything clicked into place.

He was here. He’s done something to RIC. He’s done something to Jack. He’s done something to Sky.

Oh, God…

Sky…

And now he was here for her.

He was slowly walking toward her.

“You…” was all she could say.

A brief smile flickered across his face. Of course, he seemed to say, who were you expecting? He stopped a few feet away.

Syd suddenly felt as if she were about to vomit, but she forced the bile back, trying to maintain some control. Trying to figure out what to do, trying to understand what had happened to Sky, and Jack.

Oh, God. Sky…

“Where’s Sky?” she demanded, wanting to know but suddenly afraid to find out. It was all she could do to keep her voice steady.

Jake looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face. “That’s over now,” he said matter-of-factly.

His words carried an almost physical impact, and all at once she felt her hands begin to shake. “What did you do to him?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“WHAT DID YOU DO?” she screamed, unable to control herself. “Where is he?”

Jake took another step toward her, his voice gentle. “I didn’t have a choice, Sydney. You know that. He was controlling you and I couldn’t let that continue. But you’re safe now. I’ll take care of you.”

He took another step, and Syd suddenly slid back.

“He didn’t love you Sydney,” he said. “Not the way I do.”

‘He’s going to kill me,’ she thought, ‘He killed Sky and Jack, and now he’s going to kill me.’ Syd moved backward, as Jake took another stepped toward her, her terror building with each step he took. She could see in his eyes exactly what he was going to do.

‘He’s going to kill me, but he’ll rape me first!’

‘Screw you, she thought, ‘and screw this!’ Syd took a few steps further back, and her hand brushed the front of her jeans. Feeling the small lump, she quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out the object. What she saw gave her a tiny ray of hope. She still had a chance to get away.

-x-x-x-

Sky drifted in and out of consciousness. Trapped somewhere between a world of reality and dreams, his mind was finally able to latch onto the fact that he was bleeding heavily.

And that Syd needed him.

Trembling, he clutched at his stomach and slowly began to rise.

-x-x-x-

Syd tried to stay calm as Jake advanced toward her. She clutched the small metal in her hands and felt it absorb. “Fist of iron!” She swung her hands and felt a large amount of satisfaction as her fist struck Jake’s nose.

Jake staggered and landed backwards into the sand at her unexpected action. His eyes narrowed and he stood up. “That wasn’t very nice,” his voice became chilled and cold. He came toward her again.

Syd ducked as he swung at her and pounded him in the stomach with her hands once more. She gulped slightly as she felt the last of the iron metal drain away. She needed more iron metals.

-x-x-x-

Back at the house, Sky was trying to stand, reaching for anything to help steady himself. Damn Jake for shooting at him. Every step he took, there was pain shooting through him, his thoughts were random and fragmented-

Getting up… need to contact Cruger and Bridge and Z… have to get to Syd… gotta get Jack help… but the pain… Jake shot me… pain… so much blood… Syd… need to get to Syd… have to help her… pain… the ocean… so painful… she’s outside… Syd… Syd… hold on Syd… I’m coming… Syd…

The Blue Ranger took a step, breathing heavily. Another step. And another.

Hold on Syd!

-x-x-x-

Syd grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at Jake, watching as the sand hit his eyes, distracting him for a moment.

‘I need to run,’ she thought wildly, ‘but there’s no where to hide!’

Just as she turned and started to run, Jake reached out and grabbed her by the arm and swung her around to face him, keeping a firm grip.

“You really are a prize,” Jake grinned, as he caught his breath. “I’ve known it from the moment we’ve met.”

Syd struggled to get free, wishing she had more iron metals. “Let me go!”

“Don’t be this way, Sydney,” Jake said. “Can’t you see this was always how it was going to turn out?”

Syd jerked her arm. “Let me go right now!”

Jake tightened his grip, making her wince. He broke into an amused grin, as if asking, see how pointless this is?

“We should probably be going,” he suggested calmly.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

Suddenly a blue shield hit Jake, throwing the man backwards. Unprepared for the unexpected help, Syd landed backwards also. The Pink Ranger turned her head and saw Sky standing off to the side. In a flash she leapt up and was running toward him.

“Sky!” She reached him just as he collapsed forward. “Oh my god, Sky! What did he do to you?”

Indeed, the Blue Ranger looked a mess. There was blood trickling down the side of his face, a large cut on his forehead. Syd was horrified to find that most of his shirt was soaked in blood as well.

Jake stood up and let out a roar. “I thought I had gotten rid of you! You’re supposed to be dead!”

“Looks like you messed up,” Sky panted, breathing heavily.

Jake let out another frustrated cry and a minute later, Syd saw the gun.

Her eyes widened in terror as the gun was pointed at them. At Sky.

What happened next was a blur. Sky somehow managed to find the strength to stand and create a large blue shield in front of them as Jake fired his gun. Sky pushed Syd out of the way, shielding her as Jake fired more shots.

Sky stood up once more, but before he could create another shield, Jake shot him.

Syd screamed and watched in horror as Sky seemed to fall backwards in slow motion, his shirt becoming more soaked with blood. Tears came to her eyes as Sky landed on the sand. “SKY!” She screamed, as she rushed toward him, half crawling and half running, placing his head gently on her lap. “Hang on Sky,” she whimpered, softly stroking his hair, “we’ll get you to a doctor and everything, you’ll be okay. You can’t leave me!”

“Syd,” Sky rasped out, “run, get out of here!”

“I’m not leaving without you!” Syd firmly told him, tears were running down her cheeks.

“Enough of this nonsense,” Jake was rapidly approaching.

Syd placed Sky’s head gently down on the sand and moved to stand in front of him. “You’re a monster!”

“Why do you keep fighting me?” Jake asked, his voice and expression was calm, as if he was trying to reason with a child. “Don’t you understand that it’s over? Sky isn’t controlling you anymore. It’s just the two of us now, there’s no reason for you to act this way.”

“You are insane,” Syd hissed. “You killed the only man I’ve ever loved. You’re a total monster; you deserve to be locked up for good!”

“You shouldn’t say things you don’t mean, Sydney,” Jake stopped in front of her, just three feet away. “Think of all we can do together.”

“We’ll do nothing together!” she screamed. “I hate you!”

“Don’t say that.”

“I hate you!” she screamed again.

“This has gone on long enough,” his voice was low, “I know you’re upset, but I don’t want to hurt you Susan.”

Syd stared at him, angry tears still flowing. “I’m not Susan!”

Jake stared back at her, his expression curious, as if he didn’t know what she meant. He blinked, and his head began tilting to the side. “What did you say?”

“I’m not Susan!” she screamed again.

Jake shook his head and raised his arm to aim the gun at Syd. Syd began to tremble uncontrollably.

In the distance came the sound of sirens.

“We have to go now,” Jake said. “We’re almost out of time.”

But all Syd could do was stare at him.

“NOW!” Jake boomed.

-x-x-x-

Z looked around the beach house in horror. It was a mess; there was blood on the carpet, chairs overthrown, and a table knocked over, playing cards scattered everywhere, the mess was endless. The Yellow Ranger walked along the hall and froze once she saw the still body lying in the middle of the floor.

“JACK!”

She rushed up to the Red Ranger and knelt down beside him. At first she believed Jack was dead. Blood was pouring from his head, but as she bent over to check on him, he moved his arm and moaned.

“Oh thank god!” she exclaimed, “Jack don’t move! Help is on the way!”

Z raised her eyes as Bridge came in carrying RIC.

“Oh no,” Bridge looked down at Jack. “Is he-?”

“Still alive,” Z confirmed, trying to stay calm. “What happened to RIC?”

“His systems were turned off,” Bridge explained as he flipped the switch back on and a moment later RIC was active once more. “I’m going to help Commander Cruger. Stay with Jack okay?”

Z nodded. “Bridge, be careful!”

-x-x-x-

“FREEZE! SPD!”

Jake and Syd spotted Commander Cruger at the same time.

Jake pointed the gun toward the big blue dog and fired wildly; a moment later, a choked sigh escaped him. There was a sharp, burning pain in his chest, a sound like a freight train to his ears. Suddenly the gun in his hand seemed unnaturally heavy. He fired again, missed, and felt another burning sensation in his throat, forcing him backward.

He gasped, trying to draw breath as he felt the blood pooling in his lungs. He couldn’t swallow, the sticky fluid making it impossible. His strength was fading quickly. The gun slipped from his hands, and he dropped to his knees, his mind slowing. He opened his eyes, taking in the scene in front of him.

The blue dog had a sword held out in front of him. Next to the dog, stood a man in a green and black uniform, pointing his blaster at him. His gaze landed on Sydney, who was frantically trying to wake Sky up. All he had wanted for Sydney was happiness; their happiness. The shapes around him were growing darker, dimming by the second. He tried to move toward Sydney, but he didn’t have the strength. He tried to speak, but his mouth couldn’t form the words.

But still, he clung to his dream, his dream of a life with Sydney, the woman he loved. ‘Sydney,’ he thought, ‘my sweet Susan…’

Jake fell forward into the sand.

Syd stared at his body, and then turned toward Sky.

“Oh baby, Sky honey, wake up!” She wept, more tears were coming. She kissed his forehead. “You were so brave… you can’t leave me yet… there’s still so much we haven’t done… I love you Sky! Wake up please…”

“RIC! Emergency Transport Mode!” Bridge commanded.

“Stay strong Sky, you can’t leave me yet,” Syd continued to whimper as RIC gently carry Sky back toward the SPD jeep.

There was no telling what would happen now.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter Fifteen - Aftermath

Can you see me, here I am
Standing here where I've always been
And when words are not enough
I climb inside your heart I'd still find
You're my safest place to hide
-Backstreet Boys-

- - - - - - -

“I can’t stand not knowing anything!” Jen finally burst out. “What the hell is happening over there?”

“Only time can tell,” Kat replied grimly.

“This is ridiculous!” Jen roared. Days of pent up tension and stress were finally getting to her. She turned to Wes. “We were Power Rangers and we can’t even do anything to help them!”

Wes’s eyes looked sad. Exhaustion and worry over Sky had caused the both of them to have sleepless nights. He hated being helpless.

Adrian and Melanie didn’t look much better. Though he knew nothing about police business, Adrian had stubbornly stayed up with Wes, insisting that he had to do something to help, even if it wasn’t much. After all, his baby girl was in danger. Melanie was in no better position. Though she had restless nights, all the blonde woman could do was sit numbly and watch as the others took charge.

“Can’t we watch them through a screen or something?” Jen asked.

“We can only monitor them if the Rangers are morphed,” Kat explained. “The minute they morph, it’ll show us footage.”

Jen let out a frustrated sigh. “Great,” she said sarcastically.

Two hours passed, and all four adults and Kat resumed to what they had been doing before Jen’s outburst. Only this time, it was Melanie and Kat who were sitting, Jen had joined the men in pacing around.

Suddenly, sirens were heard and the squealing of tires as the cars halted to a stop. Minutes later, there was a storm of pounding feet and lots of yelling. They all rushed out of the Command Centre and into the hallway, where they were instantly flattened to the side as two stretchers passed by them, heading toward the infirmary.

Jen’s eyes widened in horror once she saw her blood stained son being rushed by, “SKY!” She felt strong arms wrap around her shoulders and she gazed up into her husband’s eyes. Wes’s eyes showed every drop of fear that she felt.

“MOVE BACK!” The doctor hollered as they rushed Sky and Jack to the infirmary. “We need three units of blood for this man, STAT!”

They could only watch numbly as Sky and Jack disappeared behind the swinging doors.

“THEY HAVE TO SAVE HIM! PLEASE, DON’T LET HIM DIE!”

Kat, Jen, Wes, Adrian and Melanie turned to the hysterical voice that was coming down the hallway.

Seconds later, there was more chaos as Syd came rushing wildly toward them, sobbing hysterically, with Bridge and Z right on her heels. Syd ran past the adults and was nearing the infirmary doors, but before she could go inside, Bridge grabbed her by the arms, preventing her from entering the room.

“Sydney!” Melanie cried out. The blonde woman looked equally as horrified as Jen did. Her daughter looked a mess, there were bruises along her arms, and dried blood on her hands.

The Pink Ranger was oblivious to her mother’s horrified cry as she fought against Bridge and Z, trying to break free. The bottom of the Pink Ranger’s shirt was covered in blood, Sky’s blood, but she took no note of it and didn’t care. “Let me go Bridge!” Syd cried out desperately, struggling. “I have to get in there! Sky needs me! I have to make sure he’s alright!”

“You can’t go in there Syd,” the Green Ranger replied, trying to reason with her, “You’ll only distract them! They need to concentrate on helping Sky and Jack.”

“Let me go!”

“No Syd, I know you want to go in there, but you can’t!”

“LET ME GO!”

“Bridge is right, Syd,” Z said gently as Syd collapsed to the ground, her energy spent. The Yellow Ranger knelt next to her roommate. “Sky will pull through. You guys have been through so much; he’s not going to leave you now.”

Tears fell down the Pink Ranger’s cheeks as her body was racked with uncontrollable sobs and she fell against Bridge. “Jake shot him twice, he shot him twice. He lost so much blood…”

“Maybe we should get you cleaned up,” Z suggested, not knowing what else to say.

Syd shook her head. “I’m not leaving!”

By now everyone had gathered in the waiting area of the infirmary. Adrian stepped toward his daughter. “Sydney honey, maybe you should see a doctor. You’re covered in blood, you could be seriously hurt.”

Syd glared at everyone around her, the tears were still flowing. “I said I’m not leaving! This isn’t my blood! This is Sky’s blood! He got shot trying to protect me, Jake was shooting at us and he couldn’t put up his shield in time and… and…” the tears were flowing harder now and she couldn’t stop shaking. She glared at the infirmary doors as if Sky was standing right there. “Sky, you are such an idiot! If you die on me, I’ll never forgive you!”

The Pink Ranger tried to stand, but as she was getting up, everything around her became dizzy and she swayed. A second later, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fainted.

“Syd!” Bridge moved forward and caught the Pink Ranger just before she fell to the ground.

Kat stepped forward and felt the Pink Ranger’s pulse. “She’s okay,” Kat announced. “The stress and shock was too much for her, she just fainted.” The alien cat turned toward the Yellow Ranger. “Z, I think maybe you should take Syd and her parents back to your room and get her cleaned up a bit. We’ll inform you if anything changes.”

Z nodded. Adrian moved to take Syd from Bridge and together the four of them disappeared from view.

“Now, Bridge,” Kat turned toward the Green Ranger. “Why don’t you tell us what happened?”

The Green Ranger nodded. He began the story, telling Wes, Jen and Kat exactly what happened, starting with how Z had figured out where Jake really was. How they rushed up to the beach house, and how they found Jack unconscious and how RIC’s systems were all shut off. Bridge explained how he had rushed outside to the beach and found Commander Cruger striking Jake with his sword. He explained how he also had shot Jake with his own blaster.

“Where is Doggie now?” Kat asked, giving her head a little shake. It was kind of hard to believe that ‘Jake Hemmington’ was dead.

“He’s still at the beach, Jake’s body is still there, he and the SWAT team are cleaning up,” Bridge replied.

Jen clutched Wes’s hand. Her baby, her only child was hurt and hurt badly. She blinked back tears, forcing herself to stay strong.

Time would only tell if Sky would make it or not.

-x-x-x-

Syd awoke to sounds of a woman sniffing. The Pink Ranger blinked a few times before looking around with her eyes. She was back in her room, at the Academy. It had been a dream… just a really bad nightmare… there was no Jake, and Sky was…

Sky!

Syd bolted upright with a cry. It hadn’t been a nightmare, it had really happened. She was dressed in her SPD sweatshirt and sweatpants, but she took no noticed of her attire as she looked around the room wildly. Immediately, three faces appeared in her line of sight, each face was looking at her with concern.

“Syd!” The Yellow Ranger exclaimed. “You’re awake!”

“Where’s Sky? Is he alright?” Syd asked urgently, throwing back her covers. The Pink Ranger didn’t wait for an answer as she leapt out of bed and rushed toward the infirmary before anyone could say anything. She ran as fast as she could, and stopped short just as she reached the waiting area.

Jen was sleeping in Wes’s arms, the former Red Ranger sat in one of the chairs waiting anxiously. Bridge was pacing back and forth. She rushed up to Bridge. The Green Ranger stopped short when he saw his best friend. “Syd, you’re awake!”

“Tell me he’s going to be okay Bridge,” she pleaded, “tell me he’s already made it, and that he’s just sleeping right now.”

Bridge’s face fell. “I’m sorry Syd,” he said finally, “we haven’t heard anything yet.”

Tears began to well up in her eyes once more. Bridge gathered his best friend into his arms, “He’ll make it Syd. He’s never let us down before.”

The Pink Ranger sniffed. “If he dies on me, I’ll never forgive him!”

Adrian and Melanie stood back as they watched Z join Bridge and Syd’s embrace, forming a group hug. “Our little girl is all grown up now,” Adrian murmured, wrapping an arm around his wife. Melanie could only nod. “I wish there was something I could do or say to comfort her,” she whispered.

“Let her be, she’ll come to us when she’s ready. Right now, she needs her friends.”

By now Jen was awake and the former Pink Time Force Ranger approached Syd. Syd detached herself from Bridge and Z before rushing into Jen’s arms. “I’m sorry,” Syd whimpered, “it was my fault, he was trying to protect me.”

“Shhh,” Jen whispered. “No sweetie, it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Sky loves you, and he would do anything to protect you.”

Syd shifted, her gaze landed back on the infirmary doors. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be in there,” she whispered.

Jen hugged her tighter. “Don’t say that honey,” she whispered into Syd’s blonde hair. “It’s not your fault, Sky loves you. He’s strong and we have to pray that he pulls through.”

Syd sniffed, taking comfort in Jen’s embrace.

-x-x-x-

An hour later, a man dressed in a white lab coat stepped out into the waiting area. Dr. Wood was momentarily surprised when a group of people rushed at him, but regained control as he looked at all the expectant faces.

“Mr. Landors is doing well,” the doctors announced. “He has a slight concussion, but with plenty of rest he’ll be up and about in no time.”

Z smiled with relief and Bridge wrapped an arm around her. She let out a sigh and fell deeper into the Green Ranger’s embrace. Jack was going to be okay!

“What about Sky?” Syd asked fearfully, her voice small. “Is he going to be okay?”

The doctor’s expression fell. “I’m afraid at this point only time will tell. His injuries were very severe. He was shot in the stomach and in his right shoulder. His rib cage was cracked and he lost a lot of blood. He has a concussion and suffered a blow to his head and is in critical condition.”

Z and Bridge had unreadable expressions on their faces. Syd became paler with every word that came out of the doctor’s mouth. “Is he going to be okay?”

“Miss Drew-“

“Answer my question!”

“Perhaps-“

“Is Sky going to be OKAY?”

“Maybe-“

“DAMN IT! ANSWER MY QUESTION! IS SKY GOING TO BE ALRIGHT?”

“Somebody hold her down!” Kat announced, coming into the room with a needle in hand. Within minutes, Syd was resting comfortably.

Bridge gave the doctor an apologetic look. “She’s usually not like this; she’s been through a lot these last few weeks.”

“I can imagine,” Dr. Wood shook his head. “As I was saying, Sky is in critical condition, but he is stable for now. He is currently sleeping, but you may visit him if you’d like.”

Wes and Jen nodded. “Thank you, doctor.”

-x-x-x-

Sky groaned and squeezed his eyes shut. The light was unusually bright and he could hear soft voices talking somewhere in the distance. He blinked rapidly against the bright light and tried to open his eyes completely. Where was he?

“Sky!”

He turned his head slightly to the left and saw his parents standing by his bedside. He blinked again and looked around, realizing that he must be in a hospital somewhere.

“Mom? Dad?” he rasped out.

“Oh thank god,” Jen cried. Wes looked relieved as well.

“What happened?” Sky asked weakly, his voice harsh and dry. As soon as he voiced his question, the events came flooding back to him. “Where’s Syd? Is she okay?” He tried to sit up but was immediately plagued by the pain that seemed to rip through his body. He winced and laid flat on his back once more.

“She’s fine,” Wes said quickly, reassuring his son. “She was worried about you though, Kat had to sedate her because she was becoming too hysterical.”

Concern flowed through him. “Where is she now?”

“She’s resting on the couch in the waiting room, the sedative should be wearing off soon,” Jen answered. “Don’t ever do that to me again Sky, I don’t think my blood pressure can take another scare like that!”

“And I can only take so much stress in one lifetime,” Wes added.

Sky tried to nod. He looked up at his mother. “I’m sorry I didn’t call to cancel for dinner. I know I must’ve worried you.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for! Jeez Sky, you got shot, and all you can think about is not calling to cancel for dinner?” Jen said admonished. “We’re just glad you’re safe.”

Sky took a deep breath. “How long was I out?”

Wes gave a wry chuckle. “Try fifteen hours.”

“That long?”

“Yes, that long,” Jen stroked his hair. “You had us so worried.”

“I’m sorry Mom. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Jen bent over to give the Blue Ranger a hug. “Now, I believe you have some very worried friends waiting to see you.”

Wes clapped Sky’s left shoulder lightly and ruffled his hair. “Try not to get into anymore trouble, alright son? I’d like you to live for another few decades.”

Sky chuckled. “Don’t worry Dad, I won’t.”

“We’ll check up on you later.”

Wes and Jen left as Bridge and Z came into the room. The Yellow Ranger stared at him cautiously, as if she didn’t know what to make of the situation. Bridge however, pulled up a chair next to his bed and sat down.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like shit,” he answered honestly.

Bridge rolled his eyes. “I can imagine.”

Z approached him now. “I’m glad you’re going to be okay Sky.”

“Thanks Z,” Sky tried to smile, but even the slightest effort was painful. “How’s Jack?”

“He’s okay,” she answered. “Sleeping as we speak.”

“And Syd?”

The Green Ranger’s expression turned serious. “Oh man, you should’ve seen her Sky. She was a wreck. She was so scared, heck, the condition you were in scared all of us.”

Sky did his best to shrug. “She was in danger. I promised that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.” He looked up at Z and Bridge, “she’s really okay?”

“She fainted once and now she’s knocked out cold, but the sedative Kat gave her should be wearing off soon,” Z said. “Don’t worry, she’ll be in here to visit you the moment she wakes up.”

Sky smiled. “I can’t wait to see her.”

Z rolled her eyes. “Typical.”

“Wait,” Sky suddenly frowned. “What happened to Jake?”

“Cruger got him with his sword, and then Bridge shot him with his blaster,” Z answered.

It took a moment for things to sink in. “So, he’s gone?”

“Gone and staying gone.”

“Wow,” the Blue Ranger paused. “So that’s it then. It’s truly over.”

“Looks like,” Bridge said.

There was a moment of silence and then Sky let out a yawn.

Z giggled. “I guess that’s our cue to let you get some rest.” The Yellow Ranger leaned over the bed and quickly gave Sky a hug. “Take it easy, okay?”

Bridge clapped Sky on his left shoulder. “Yeah, get plenty of rest. We’ll stop by again later.”

“Thanks guys.”

The door closed behind his fellow Rangers and Sky closed his eyes. So, Jake was finally gone. Dead. After the last few weeks, it was hard to believe this entire nightmare was finally over. He and Syd would be able to return to their normal lives once again. Sky let out a sigh and prepared to get as comfortable as he could. Just as he was about to drift off, there was a soft knock at his door. He opened his eyes. “Come in,” he called out, his voice was still dry.

The door opened and Arian Drew walked into the room, followed by a blonde woman, whom Sky assumed was Sydney’s Mother. He made the attempt to sit up.

“No, please, don’t get up.” Adrian held his hands in front of him, as if he was going to push Sky back into his original position. “It’s not necessary.”

Not having the energy to argue, Sky nodded and laid back, breathing through the pain.

Adrian and Melanie stood next to the bed. “We just wanted to thank you,” Adrian wrapped an arm around his wife, “for protecting our daughter the way you did. It was very brave of you to risk your life.” Adrian’s eyes showed gratitude. “I am in your debt.”

Sky stared up at the man. “Sir,” he croaked. “I won’t lie to you. I love your daughter, more than I’ve ever loved anyone. I would do it again.”

Adrian nodded. “My daughter is lucky enough to have found such a noble young man.”

“Thank you sir, that means a lot.”

Melanie cleared her throat and turned to her husband. “I’d like to talk to Sky privately for a moment.”

Adrian nodded and turned to leave; leaving Sky to wonder what Sydney’s mother was going to say to him.

There was a brief silence before she spoke. “I need to apologize.”

Surprised, Sky kept silent as she continued. “I should have never been so rude or judgmental towards you. You protected my daughter at all costs, almost losing your life in the process, and for that I will be forever grateful to you.”

Sky took a deep breath. “Mrs. Dr-“

“Please,” Melanie held up a hand, “let me finish. I was so caught up in my world of glamour that I refused to accept Sydney’s chosen lifestyle. And believe me, her becoming involved with SPD was not what I had in mind for her future. I judged you so harshly, and you didn’t deserve that. I’m truly sorry.”

“Mrs. Drew, I accept your apology,” Sky started again, looking up at the woman in front of him, “but I have to tell you right now, that I love Sydney. I want to be with her, and I would really like it if we had your approval of our relationship. It would mean a lot to Sydney too. Syd refuses to admit it, but she needs her mother, and it hurts her whenever the two of you fight.”

Melanie smiled and patted the Blue Ranger’s arm. “You don’t need to ask for my approval, you already have it,” she paused, then winked. “You know, I’ve always wanted a son. Maybe you and Sydney could settle down sometime soon?”

Sky blushed. “I don’t think we’re quite there yet, Mrs. Drew. But maybe sometime in the future? A few years from now, perhaps?”

Melanie laughed and patted his arm once more. “Fair enough. Now I suggest you rest, so you can recover faster. I expect Sydney will be up soon and then you two will be able to spend all the time you want together.”

“Thank you Mrs. Drew,” Sky called out as the blonde woman turned and left. He leaned back into his pillows and gave a soft chuckle. Wonders will never cease.

-x-x-x-

Syd pushed opened the door quietly, careful to not make a sound. At the sight of Sky, tears welled up in her eyes. But she blinked them back; she had done enough crying already. Sky had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, and though his shirt concealed it, the Pink Ranger was sure there were more bandages around his stomach and right shoulder. There were bruises around his neck, where Jake had tried to suffocate him. She reached his bed and carefully sat down at the edge, reaching up; she softly ran her fingers through Sky’s tousled hair. The blue ranger stirred, but didn’t open his eyes. Instead, he leaned in further into her hand as she was stroking his cheek with her thumb, a soft smile playing at his lips.

She sat there, watching him sleep, time passed and after what felt like hours, Sky opened his eyes to find her smiling at him.

“Hey,” his voice was soft, and his heart filled with joy at seeing her.

“Hi.”

“Are you okay?”

She laughed softly, again tears coming to her eyes. “You’re the one that got shot twice, and you’re asking if I’m okay?”

He grinned. “Are you?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” her voice fell soft. “Thanks to you.”

Sky gave a relieved smile at her answer. “Everyone said you were fine, but I had to make sure.”

Syd smiled, feeling touched, and then her expression turned serious. “You scared me. I thought you were going to die.”

“I’m still here, aren’t I?”

“You have no idea how glad I am to see you awake. You were so pale… and you wouldn’t open your eyes,” Syd’s voice cracked, “I thought that Jake…”

“Shh,” Sky soothed, reaching up to brush away her tears. “It’s all over now.”

She intertwined her hand with his. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“Like I would ever leave you.”

Syd stared at him, and smiled softly. “You should get some more rest,” she said finally.

He raised an eyebrow. “I just woke up! It seems like I’m always sleeping.”

“That’s because you need to rest in order to recover faster. Don’t worry we’ll take care of you.”

Sky grinned. “I know you’ll take care of me. I doubt Jack will want to do my laundry though.”

She laughed then kissed his forehead. “Of course I’ll take care of you. I’ll even do your laundry, if you want.”

“Syd, do you even know how to work the washing machine?”

There was a silence. “I could learn…”

Sky rolled his eyes. “That’s okay. I’ll do my own laundry. It would be bad if one of my white shirts suddenly went pink because you put a red sock in the machine.”

Syd pouted, and then grinned. Leaning forward, she gently kissed him on the lips. “Get some rest now.”

He yawned. “Stay with me?”

Syd stretched out along the bed, careful not to touch his injuries. She laid her head on his uninjured shoulder, his arm wrapped around her waist. “Always.”

“I love you Syd,” he murmured sleepily.

“I love you too,” she replied before reaching up and pressing another slight kiss to his lips. Within minutes, the both of them fell asleep.

Melanie and Jen walked by the room a half an hour later, and peeked in. The sight of their children curled up together, made them both smile widely, making each woman wish they had a camera to capture the moment. After watching them for a few minutes, Jen reached out and quietly closed the door. With Syd by his side, Jen had no doubts that Sky would recover in no time.

-x-x-x-

-Four months later-

“Hey Jack, over here!”

Bridge’s shout drew Syd’s attention as she handed the packet of hot dogs to Z. She watched with a smile as Jack sent the bright orange Frisbee whizzing off to the Green Ranger, who jumped, caught it and passed the disk onto Boom. The game had been going on for almost an hour now; the men were playing enthusiastically, while the women were preparing the food and watching the barbecue.

Four months had passed since that awful night on the beach. Jack had been released after a week, the Red Ranger had suffered a concussion but for the most part he was okay. Within days, he was up and about and fighting battles once more. Syd had heard from Z that their Red Ranger had taken a liking to a red headed nurse while he had been in the infirmary and was flirting it up. Sky had been in critical condition for a week and little by little he gradually began to improve. He stayed in the infirmary for almost four weeks and for the entire time, Sydney camped out in a chair by his bed, holding his hand, whispering to him even when he slept. She had taken care of him like she had promised and she did it whole heartedly. She even did his laundry and thankfully, no shirts had turned pink.

Once Sky had been released from the hospital, the next few weeks passed in a blur. Nothing was the same anymore. For the most part, things returned to normal, though, Syd was now unable to sleep without Sky by her side and would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to sneak into his room and climb into his bed.

SPD had more questions and also more information about Jake’s past –but she found that she didn’t care about any of it. Jake Hemmington was dead –in her mind, he would never be remembered as Jordan Drover- and that was all that mattered. The nightmare was truly over. All they had to worry about now was Grumm attacking at odd moments.

The game was soon interrupted when the smell of sizzling hamburgers and hot dogs filled the air. Like typical males, the men rushed toward the food like a dog chasing its tail.

“Take it easy Wes! The food isn’t going anywhere, there’s enough for everybody!”

Jen Collins could be heard in the background, yelling at her eager husband for taking too much food.

Sky came up behind Syd and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Is the food ready yet?”

“Mostly,” she wrinkled her nose. “You’re all sweaty.”

Sky merely grinned, giving her another kiss as he accepted the plate she handed him and moved to sit down next to Bridge. The Pink Ranger watched the scene for a moment, smiling fondly at all the people around her. Jen and Wes were eating and laughing with Taylor and Eric with her own parents listening in. Syd had to smile at that. Her relationship with her mother had improved beyond words and now they were slowly developing the close mother/daughter relationship that most people shared. Commander Cruger and Kat were chatting nearby with Boom and Jack about SPD weaponry and other things. Bridge and Z were flicking potato salad at each other, and there, watching their friends throw food at each other was Sky.

Sydney grabbed a plate and moved to join their picnic lunch. She slid in next to Sky and felt a small thrill of pleasure run through her body as his arm wrapped around her waist. The two exchanged a kiss, before Syd picked up her hamburger and took a bite. She gave a knowing smile as she saw Z flick a spoonful of salad dressing at Bridge, which had successfully landed on the tip of his nose. Though she had been pretty occupied with the events of the last few months, she had noticed that the Green and Yellow Rangers had gotten closer. Syd shook her head at her friends and made a mental note to ask Z of her feelings for a certain Green Ranger when she had the chance. Their flirting was just too obvious!

The Pink Ranger grinned happily. What started out as a pink surprise had escalated into a nightmare, but the outcome had been everything she had ever dreamed of having. She had wonderful family, awesome friends, and the love of her life was by her side.

Syd looked around the table once more, listening to the happy chatter all around her.

This was how it was supposed to be.

THE END

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