Chapter Two

As Gage pulled in front of Dallas Elementry, he leaned over and gave Mindy a kiss on the forehead.

"Uncle Walker or Aunt Alex will pick you up today. Angela wanted you to come over to the ranch and ride." Mindy nodded her head and opened up the car door.

"Okay daddy. See you when I get home." she said leaning in and giving Gage a quick hug.

"I love you daddy." she whispered in Gage'e ear. Gage hugged her tight.

"I love you too sweety. I love you too." Letting her go, Gage watched as Mindy got out of the car and ran over to a blond girl about nine years old. When Mindy saw Angela Walker, she waved to her older friend and ran over to her.

"Hi Angela!"

"Hey there Mindy. Did you hear the news? You're coming to my house after school so we can ride." said Angela opening the door to the elementary school and letting Mindy go in before her.

"Yeah, daddy just told me. So who's picking us up anyway?"
"My mom. Why?" asked Angela confused.

"Cuz when your mom picks us up, we usually get to eat at McDonald's!" cried Mindy excitedly. Angela chuckled.

"I swear all you think about is food." Mindy smiled.

"I get it from my daddy." she said proudly. Suddenly, the warning bell rang and Mindy and Angela gasped.

"I'm gonna be late!" they cried at the same time. Giving rushed good-byes, Mindy and Angela went to their seperate classrooms and began their day of daily elementary education.

Meanwhile, Tino had parked his car in front of the elementary school and watched his intended target rush to make it to her class. Looking at the clock on the dashboard, which read 9:00, Tino smiled and leaned back in the driver's seat. Just three hours until his plan would be set in motion and then revenge would be all his. As for Mindy, she was completly oblivious to the danger that lurked right outside.

Three hours later, the lunch bell rang and all the kids began to flock to the cafeteria. As Mindy was walking with Angela, one of the office assistants called her aside.

"Mindy, can I see you for a minute?" Mindy looked at the assistant a moment before looking over at Angela.

"Looks like I'm in trouble." she said confused. Angela smiled.

"When are you not in trouble?" Mindy grinned.
"Good point. Tell ya what, you go on ahead and save us some seats. I'll be there in a sec." Angela nodded.

"Okay but please hurry. It's mac and cheese day!" Mindy's head perked up.

"Mac and Cheese! Yes!" Turning to the assistant, Mindy smiled innocently.

"How can I help Ms. Office lady ma'am?" she asked looking at her curiously. The office assistant smiled.

"I just wanted to know that your uncle is here to pick up for a doctor appointment." Mindy tilted her head in confusion.
"My uncle? Which one?" If it were Uncle Walker or Uncle Trivette, it couldn't be good if they had to pick her up in the middle of the day. The assistant shook her head.

" Why,it's your Uncle Tino dearie."
"Uncle Tino?" Mindy never knew she had an uncle named Tino. The assistant nodded.

"Uh-huh. He's waiting in the office for you. When you have all of your stuff ready, come to the office okay?" Mindy slowly nodded.

"Umm...okay." Smiling, the office assistant turned around and made her way back to the office leaving Mindy to go retrieve her coat and bookbag. As Mindy made her way back to her classroom, she couldn't help but wonder who in the world Uncle Tino was. The name didn't sound familiar and she couldn't even put a face to the name. Walking into the classroom, Mindy walked over to the coat closet and grabbed her Dora bookbag and her pink coat. Putting her coat on, Mindy held the bookbag in her arms and headed back to the office.

As soon as she entered the office, Mindy noticed a tall man with long black hair and piercing blue eyes standing there with a smile on his face.

"Hey there Mindy. Ready to go to the doctor?" he asked kneeling down to her level. Mindy slowly nodded.
"I guess so." Smiling, Tino patted her on the shoulder and stood up to face the office assistant who had some papers that he needed to sign. Picking up the pen, Tino signed his name on the paper and handed it back to the assistant. Looking at the signiture, the assistant smiled.

"Thank you . She's all yours." Tino smiled.

"Thank you." Turning his attention back to Mindy, he smiled.

"Alright, let's get a move on." he said offering Mindy his hand. Mindy eyed it wearily for a moment before she slowly smiled and accepted the hand. Leading her out of the office, Tino grinned wickedly knowing that now, he had what he needed to take his revenge on those who put him behind bars.

Meanwhile, back at ranger headquarters, Walker, Trivette, Gage, and Sydney were all gathered around a conference table reviewing Tino's case.
"Alright, we know that he had murdered at least 11 people before Gage and Sydney managed to catch him. After that, he was sentenced to death and was on death row when he managed to escape." Walker said reading the report to everyone in the room. Gage nodded his head in agreement.

"That pretty much covers it. Except for the fact he vowed to take his revenge upon all those who put him behind bars." Sydney silently nodded beside him. Walker looked over at them with concern in his eyes.

"Which means that you two and maybe even Mindy are in danger." he said stating the obvious. Gage nodded.

"I know. That's why I took the liberty of dropping Mindy off personally." Walker nodded.

"That was good thinking. And Alex is picking the girls up in about 20 minutes to take them to the ranch."

"Do we even have any idea where Tino might be hiding?" asked Trivette. Walker shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. Which means all of us had better be careful. We don't know who he might go for first." All the rangers nodded their head in agreement. Suddenly, Sydney's cellphone went off. Jumping, she looked down at it and read her caller id. Noticing it was Alex, she answered it right away.

"Hey there Alex. What's up?" she asked brushing some bangs out of her face.

"I thought you said that Mindy was coming with me and Angela tonight." Alex said sounding a little confused.
"She was. Why?"

"Well, I decided to pick the two up early so they could help me pick out some food for dinner tonight and the office said that Mindy left with her uncle for a doctor's appointment." Sydney's face paled.
"Uncle?"

"Yeah." Sydney shook her head.

"Alex, Mindy didn't have a doctor's appointment today." Hearing the fear in Sydney's voice, all eyes turned on her.

"Hold on a sec. Let me see who picked her up exactly." There came the sound of muffled voices as if Alex had covered the mouthpiece and Sydney felt herself starting to shake. A second later, Alex came back on and she sounded both scared and angry.

"It says here that Mindy was picked up by...Tino Cook." Sydney's eyes widened in shock and she dropped the cellphone. Acting instantly, Gage grabbed his wife by her shoulders and set her down in one of the chairs. Bending down, Gage picked up the phone and heard Alex saying,

"Syd are you there? Syd?!"
"Uh Syd's not in a talking mood right now Alex. What exactly did you tell her?" Alex was silent a moment before she softly replied,

"I think that Tino Rodriguz has your daughter."

To be continued...