Here's a multi-part but short Christmas story which takes place after the Valentine cross-fiction with Walker: Texas Ranger and years before "Glimmer of Twilight". Hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading.

C.J. walked inside her apartment that waited for her at the end of her arduous work days at the public defenders department in downtown Houston. She had been working there for nearly a year after she had graduated from Harvard, law degree in hand and some great references including one from a mentor, F. Lee Bailey.

She loved her job, though the work was challenging what with writing tons of legal briefs and motions and after passing the state bar exam in her first attempt, appearing in court to defend indigent defendants charged with a variety of different crimes including felonies. This week for example, she had been appearing in court on a preliminary hearing defending a man accused of armed robbery. She didn't think the case against him to be particularly strong, too many holes in the police reports to challenge and some sketchy eyewitness accounts. And even if he were guilty, she knew that every defendant was entitled to the best defense possible in a criminal court of law and she made it her mission to put everything she had learned from her education into her job.

Not that her busy days and often evenings spent at the law library adjacent to the courthouse didn't leave her with time to have fun. She hung out with a young prosecutor, a rising star in her office named Alex Cahill who she had bumped into one morning in the bathroom while she had been tossing her cookies because she had been so nervous on her first day spent in the courtroom in her new job. They spent Friday evenings kicking back in their favorite restaurant with other members of the legal community and if they were on opposite insides of the courtroom, they put all that aside outside of it. Yeah, there were spirited debates sometimes but they discussed everything else too.

Including their upcoming plans for Christmas.

C.J. didn't have any, because she and Jonathan had broken up, this time probably for good and the last time, she had gone to his family ranch in Silver Lode to spend Christmas with her family. She had loved it, believing him to have the nicest family and had spent most of her time while the men had been ice fishing on the lake, sitting before the fireplace with his mother and friends of the family who lived on neighboring ranches. She thought Jonathan's mother had liked her just fine and being there had given her a taste of family life she hadn't really had most of her life.

Her best friend Matt had been jetting back and forth from Europe and Far East Asia on business trips for his father, and she knew he had spent his time picking up the skills he would need to start his own company some day. But she really didn't see him very much because he traveled so much and her job, kept her so busy, even when he had been in town. She heard stories about him though in the meantime, about business deals he had closed and the women he went out on the town with and presumably brought home with him as well.

His face lit up the society columns that covered the scene of the upper crust in Houston many a time and she shook her head when she sat it while reading the daily newspaper usually on the fly inside the coffee corner in the courthouse before appearing on a case.

But now she had arrived home, which was sparsely furnished because she didn't spend much time there but decorated with photos on the wall of her family and friends as well as some vintage paintings she had picked up from some art galleries since she arrived here and when she forayed into the state capital, Austin. In the corner, was a small Christmas tree, a fake one that she had gotten when she had been in Harvard Law School to keep her company during the weeks preceding the holidays when she would spend Christmas back in Texas with Matt's father, keeping him company while his son had been enlisted in the Army working military intelligence in some unknown location overseas.

There had been office parties celebrating the holidays and she had even attended the one where Alex worked in the so-called enemy camp where she watched the fiery blond prosecutor spar in the corner with a young Texas Ranger with broad shoulders and the hint of shadow named Cordell Walker. He had come across as a somewhat quiet but intelligent law enforcement officer who had been very good at his job and had impressed his superiors.

C.J. thought him to be quite attractive and had thought about asking him out when she put her relationship with Jonathan completely behind her. Still, he seemed to have this thing for Alex, which C.J. figured was what this sparring had been all about after all. Once while drinking Margaritas at their hangout she had broached the topic with Alex, saying she should just get it together and ask Walker out for drinks. But Alex never took her up on her suggestion and what kept C.J. from asking him out herself, was the knowledge that underneath it all, Alex truly liked the earnest young man.

Her phone rang interrupting that reverie and she saw quickly enough who called her.

"Houston…Hi…you sound kind of far away…where are you?"

She knew he smiled on the other end of the line.

"I'm at Kyoto International," he said, "I'm waiting for the jet to be prepped to take off."

"Take off," she said, "Where are you heading?"

Probably to some other exotic location where he'd tie up another sweet business deal with his somewhat excitable but very ambitious accountant, Murray Chase, by his side.

"Actually, I'm heading to Houston for Christmas," he said, "I should be there sometime tomorrow."

That surprised her.

"Oh…really…"

"You got any plans?"

She sighed.

"A lot of work to finish up but I hope to be done."

"C.J…they're not making you work on Christmas are they because if they are, then I'll be down there to set them straight…"

She chuckled.

"Houston..,Of course I'll get it off," she said, "but you're one to talk…you were out of the country on Thanksgiving."

"Yeah I know," he said, "Got snowed in during that freakish storm in Paris."

Must have been a real hardship, C.J. thought, after all there were worse places to be stuck though she did know Matt prized his time with his family even though he didn't always see eye to eye with his father.

"Well, you're returning home now…no I don't have any plans actually," she said, "I usually spend it with Jonathan and his family."

Matt knew that the two of them had broken up and that this time it would stick. Jonathan had moved to D.C. full time to move up the ladder of the U.S. Marshal's office. She couldn't blame him for his ambition because she had been the same way during their stormy relationship. But damn, getting back into the dating scene…she just didn't have much time and no interest in anyone at the office.

"Then why don't you come to the house and spend it with us," Matt said, "I know Daddy would love to have you over and Roy and Flo will be there too."

C.J. felt her heart quicken with a bit of sadness, because she knew that they were still mourning the loss of their son, Will, who had been Matt's cousin and had served with him in the military. At least until he was captured and presumably killed by the enemy…his body never recovered.

"I'd love to Houston," she said, "I'll bring something."

"That'd be nice," Matt said, "You know everyone loves your fudge cookies…the ones with a hint of what is it…"

She smiled to herself.

"Gin…but not too much."

He said goodbye and hung up then because his pilot had called him about the plane but not without saying that he missed her and looked forward to seeing her again.

After that, she made herself a quick supper and did some work for some cases while sipping some apple cider she had heated up. She looked over at the Christmas tree thinking about the holidays ahead.

The card appeared the next morning in her mailbox. She frowned wondering if she had forgotten to check her mail the night before but she took it out anyway, noticing the elegant script on the envelope similar to other cards she had received earlier.

Beginning on Valentine's Day last year, as far as she could remember and at the time, she thought it had been Jonathan. He had told her that he hadn't sent her such a card and she had never figured out who had been sending them. They bore simple messages like, look forward to see you soon, or that she and the sender would reunite again.

That made no sense to her because she didn't know who the person was and this latest card, stark in its ivory shade of white without any marks on it said the same thing. Her brow furrowed, who on earth sent these cards and why. Was it some secret admirer as some of her friends had theorized? And if so, would she ever find out who or would he ever show his face, reveal his identity?

She just put the card back in its envelope to take back in the apartment to be put in the drawer with the others like it when she came back home later. Looking at her watch, she realized she had better get going before she would be late to work. The sun shone brightly but lacked warmth and the forecasters had said that rain would come by the holidays.

Traffic was light and she parked her car in the garage and headed into the main office where she would check for messages before heading to her cubicle. Several other junior defenders looked at her from where they sat drinking coffee in their own work areas.

"You've got that case today don't you?"

C.J. looked up.

"You mean the Bennett case," she said, "I think so. It got transferred to me when Margaret quit."

"Good luck…hey did you hear the news this morning," a woman named Gwen asked.

"No," said Douglas, a tall guy with glasses who C.J. had coffee with once.

Gwen sighed.

"They found a dead woman…"

C.J. hesitated in pouring her own dose of coffee and listened, her body growing tense.

"That was late yesterday," Douglas said, "Not much left of her though she was pretty young…No ID."

Another lawyer, Phyllis shook her head.

"That's great…a suspect gets arrested and charged and you know our office will pick up the defense."

Somehow C.J. didn't think the police would find this guy. Damn, there had been women who had killed and dumped in a river in Boston when she had been in school there but then that must happen all over.

"Any idea how she died," C.J. asked.

Douglas looked over at her.

"Body was badly bruised," he said, "They don't know when she got them though and they think it might have been strangulation."

C.J. felt sick at that moment, and her coffee burned her throat. She walked back to her cubicle, to catch her breath.

"Damn, I'll hate it if that case comes to our office," Gwen said, "Hopefully it will be some guy who can afford his own counsel."

C.J. thought about it as she headed towards the courthouse walking the short distance down the tree-lined street and trying to focus on her case and not on what she could not control in the world.

She ran into Walker at the elevator and he looked pretty grim, carrying an envelope she knew included warrants that needed to be signed by a judge. He glanced over at her and smiled.

"Hi there," he said, pressing the elevator button.

"Hi," she said, "Busy day?"

He nodded.

"Yeah we're helping out with that body that was discovered last night," he said, "Though the feds have been brought in because she's not from around here. She's got some strange markings on her, like a brand."

C.J. frowned.

"From the killer," she asked.

"We don't know," he said, "She was pretty battered probably by whoever did this not to mention the time spent in the water. She wound up wrapped around a pier piling."

"So she was tossed from a ship or boat?"

Walker nodded.

"Possibly…she wouldn't have been pulled out to sea enough from shore to get around most of that pier."

She shook her head.

"It's so awful," she said, "There's some real evil in this world."

"Can't disagree with that," he said, "It keeps myself and others in the agency real busy even this time of year."

Christmas, when happiness and joy were supposed to prevail over grief and suffering, where somewhere someone's celebration would be marred by a funeral.

"Who was she?"

Walker sighed.

"No one knows…she didn't carry ID…so they're running prints," he said, "though it's a long shot anything will show up unless she has an arrest record at least."

Maybe they would get lucky and they would be able to identify her so that if she had family out there, they would have their questions about her fate answered rather than left hanging over their heads forever.

"Alex is taking it a bit hard."

C.J.'s brows raised in surprise but not at Alex' reaction because she fought tirelessly for the victims after all including in murder cases…but because Walker knew about it.

"Her office will prosecute the guy if he's caught and charged won't it?"

Walker shrugged.

"Maybe…unless it's federal…there's some suspicion that this is part of some larger operation…possibly smuggling if she wore a brand…or maybe it's a signature left by some type of serial killer."

C.J.'s eyes widened.

"Wow, I hope they find whoever did it but I don't think…"

"You don't think they will," Walker finished, "He's pretty good at eluding discovery so far if this is the same person who killed those two women earlier this year."

C.J. remembered those women, one had been around Valentine's Day the other in the summer time. Both had been young women with long dark hair and who were badly bruised and possibly strangled though no one could be sure.

Just like the women in Boston, she told herself.

But no, they couldn't have all been killed by the same person, that made no sense at all. It had to be a coincidence.

"Will they be looking for similar killings in other cites?"

Walker looked up at her before walking into the open elevator.

"Yes they will and if there are some matches, hopefully we'll find them."

C.J. headed off to the restaurant later that day after work and she immediately saw Alex sitting there with her margarita and a bowl of chips and salsa. She went to the booth and sat down across from her.

"How's your day?"

Alex just looked up at her and C.J. could see it hadn't gone that well at all.

"What happened?"

Alex sighed before sipping from her glass.

"I lost a prelim hearing that I really wanted to win," she said, "Judge Bower is just so unreasonable."

C.J. had heard the comments about one of the courthouse's older judicial officers who had sat on the bench for several decades and he had been tough on both prosecutors and defense attorneys alike, not playing favorites like some of his colleagues did.

"So the case is dropped?"

Alex nodded.

"Oh we can file against him on some other incidents but he might be in jail again on something else before that happens."

C.J. had grown all too aware even as a public defender that often the courts and jails proved to be a revolving door for criminals. Some of the ones she had been assigned to defend had been through the system before and their office too but she just did the best job that she could to legally represent them. Although there were times she questioned what she had been doing.

Like when monsters wandered the city and murdered women before dumping them in the ocean.

"I'm sorry Alex…really I am."

Alex nodded.

"I know even though we work on opposite sides of the courtroom."

That might be but C.J. considered Alex one of her closest friends since she moved back to Houston.

"So you got plans for the holidays," she asked the prosecutor.

Alex made a face.

"My father…he called me and wants to see me again…and he even sent a Christmas card but I won't…I can't…"

C.J. didn't exactly understand what had happened between Alex and her dad but she had grown up without one and had felt that loss keenly so a part of her hoped that things hadn't gotten so bad they couldn't be patched up. But she never pushed her friend for that reason, because she didn't know much of the back story.

"Does he do this a lot?"

"Every year at this time…it's like at Christmas he remembers I exist and he and my mother…maybe that's why I messed up with my last boyfriend."

The one that had abused her, C.J. had remembered, having seen the bruises on her face especially after that last incident, the one that galvanized Alex to finally leave him. But once Alex stopped beating herself up over it, it made her a better prosecutor and she had gotten involved in a domestic violence group and it had made a huge difference for her.

"So I'll probably spend time with some cousins of mine in Dallas," Alex said, "We have a good time together so I'm looking forward to it."

C.J. nodded thinking that sounded quite nice.

"What about you," Alexis asked.

C.J. smiled, grabbing a couple tortilla chips and dipping them in salsa.

"I'm spending it with Houston…you remember him and his family at the ranch house. They have a nice dinner and then they sit by the fire and there's music."

Alex smiled.

"That should be fun."

"We haven't done it in a while since I was still going with Jonathan so it will be our first Christmas in a few years,"

"So how's Matt anyway, he have a girlfriend?"

C.J. rolled her eyes.

"You mean girlfriends," she said, "I don't know…I don't pay that much attention to that part of his life."

Alex sipped his drink.

"Well Jonathan is out of the picture so maybe…"

C.J. shook her head.

"No…it's not like that between us…we're just friends, really close friends."

The way she liked it, she told herself and besides, Matt moved from relationship to relationship fairly quickly and if he did that to her, it would break her heart and what would it do to their friendship?

She couldn't bear it if it affected it in any way.

"Okay…well he just really seems like a nice guy and he's really fond of you."

C.J. smiled.

"Of course, we're friends after all…and I have that secret admirer…"

"Heard from him lately," Alex asked.

"Today actually…another card, have no idea who it could be."

Alex sipped her drink again.

"Hopefully someone good looking," she said, "and who won't be admiring in secret for long."

C.J. thought that it might be someone that she knew casually or in passing maybe at work who just didn't feel comfortable enough approaching her directly. Still something about the cards and how they arrived at certain times…something nagged at her but she didn't know what.

Her phone rang again. She picked it up and saw that it was Matt.

"Where are you," she asked.

"In town…the plane landed an hour ago and I'm getting ready to leave the airport."

"You've eaten?"

"No I haven't…got any ideas?"

C.J. looked at Alex.

"We're here at that restaurant you liked so much last time if you'd like to join us," she said, "We haven't even ordered yet."

"Okay I'll be right there," he said, "Traffic's not bad tonight….see you."

She clicked off her phone and put it back in her purse.

"He's on his way…why don't you call up Walker to join us to make a foursome?"

Alex just stared at her blankly.

"Why would I like that?"

C,J, just looked at her.

"Because you like him," she said, "You know if you don't ask him out, I think I will…He's great looking and I think it'd be fun."

Alex started to say something then stopped.

"Fine…you can have him…"

C.J. just narrowed her eyes at her friend and saw the hint of vulnerability in her face that she had heard in her words.

"I won't do that if you like him," she said, "but I don't know why you don't just ask him out for coffee or something."

Alex bit her lip.

"It's just different with him," she said, "Ten minutes and we'd be arguing some point on some issue."

C.J. smiled.

"You do that a lot I noticed."

Alex didn't say anything then.

"Just think about it okay…after Christmas."

Alex just remained quiet for a long moment and then she nodded.

"Okay…I'll ask him out for coffee after Christmas. He's going to the reservation to stay with his family there I imagine anyway."

C.J. smiled at her friend just knowing that it would be a great start with a guy she really liked and who despite his demeanor, liked her too.

Alex smiled and then clasped her hands in front of her.

"Okay now that we settled my life what about yours?"

C.J. just stared at her not knowing how to answer that.