Rating: T for now, may turn M later.
Warnings: This story is SLASH. If you don't like that then don't read any further.
Summary: There is a serial killer loose in Miami who is preying on young gay men. As they investigate, the case becomes personal for Horatio and Speed, threatening to expose their relationship to the rest of the team.
Author's Note: This story has been rolling around in my head for some time now. I had intended for it come later in the timeline of my Horatio/Speed series but it's been taking over my brain lately and preventing me from doing some other things. I'm going to upload this a chapter at a time. Mostly because I want to see if there is any interest in my continuing with it. I have a pretty good idea where this is going so just let me know if you want more. You should probably read my other stories as I will be using some of my original character in this one. The order the fall is Love, Hurt, and Sprouts, The Morning After, A Night Out, and Discoveries.
Disclaimer: DOA - Don't Own Anything
88888888888
The night air in Miami was cool, with a breeze blowing off the water. The pounding beat of music broke the evening quiet as it filtered out of the open front entrance of Club Vanity. A young man stepped out and up to the door of the waiting cab. He was dressed for a night out, black leather pants that hugged his form in all the right places and left little to the imagination, red silk shirt that clung to his upper body, and boots practically up to his knees. He had short blonde hair, tussled from an evening of dancing and other activities at the club.
He opened the back door to the cab and the driver asked, "Where to buddy?"
"Hialeah. Thirty-third and Palm," the young man answered as he collapsed into the back seat.
The cab slowly pulled away from the curb and disappeared into the night.
At 7am the next morning, Horatio Caine pulled his Hummer up to the crime scene tape at the south-east corner of Palm Avenue and Thirty-third Street in Hialeah. A sense of dread filled his being as he approached the body. Alexx Woods was already there, as was Frank Tripp and a uniformed officer. There was a car stopped at the far end of the intersection on the other side of another line of crime scene tape. A man stood leaning against the front of the car with his arms crossed over his chest. Some of the residents from the area were starting to gather.
Alexx was kneeling next to the body which was presently laying face down. A pool of blood had formed around the head and neck of the victim. Horatio approached slowly and cocked his head, taking in the figure of a young man in leather pants and a red silk shirt lying on the ground. As Alexx turned the body over Horatio said a silent prayer, please not another one.
Alexx looked at the face of the young man. "Baby boy can't be more than eighteen, Horatio," she said with a pained expression. The young man's shirt fell open, the buttons torn off, revealing the letters, F A G carved into his chest.
Horatio sighed. "He's escalating, Alexx." He knelt down next to the body, gesturing at the victim's neck. "This boy's throat's been cut ear to ear."
Alexx leaned in close to Horatio and whispered, "Do you know him?"
Horatio shook his head to indicate that he did not know the boy. "He doesn't look familiar," he replied quietly. "Does he have any ID on him?"
Alexx looked up. "Not sure where he'd put it," she said, eyeing the tight fit of the boy's clothes. "I'll check more thoroughly when I get him back for the post."
Horatio nodded and stood up. He walked over to Frank who was talking to the uniformed officer. Frank turned to Horatio, "Looks like we got another one. Similar MO as the other three."
Horatio tilted his head in the direction of the man standing against the car. "He the one who found our victim?" he asked.
"Name's Peter Tolbert. He was on his way to work. Nearly ran over the guy," Frank answered.
They walked over to the man. "Mr. Tolbert, my name is Horatio Caine. I'm with the crime lab. Can you tell me what happened?"
Tolbert looked over at the body. "Like I told him," he gestured toward Frank, "I was driving down to work and I saw something in the road. At first I thought it was a dead dog or something. When I got closer… well, I saw it wasn't and I called 911."
"Did you see anyone else around? Any other cars or anything?" Horatio asked.
"Nope. At this hour the road's pretty well deserted." He looked over at the body again then asked, "Is this one of them queer killings I've been reading about in the papers?"
Horatio removed his sunglasses trying to control the anger that was rising. Eying the man closely, he replied in an even controlled manner, "Murder is murder, sir."
"Yeah, whatever," the man replied. "Can I go now? I gotta get to work."
"Leave a number where you can be reached with the detective here, in case we have more questions for you," Horatio answered, donning his sunglasses once again and turning to leave.
As he walked back toward Alexx and the body he saw another Hummer pull up to the tape next to his. Eric and Speed got out then grabbed their kits from the back. He passed by Alexx and walked strait up to the other two men. He took off his sunglasses, meeting Speed's eyes.
After nine months together as lovers, he and Speed had gotten pretty good at reading each other. Speed could tell by the look in Horatio's eyes that they had another victim of the same serial killer they'd been after for the past month. His heartbeat sped up a little. Each time he approached one of these killings he was afraid it would be someone they knew.
Horatio looked over at Eric. "Start processing. We got another one."
Eric nodded. "Sure, H," he said and headed over to Alexx.
Horatio stood with Speed. He could see the anger rising in the younger man. He placed a hand on Speed's shoulder. "Tim, keep it under control. We'll get this guy."
Tim took a deep breath trying to calm himself. "Who's doing this Horatio? Everyone's freaking out."
Horatio moved his hand to Tim's face. "We'll get him." He removed his hand quickly before anyone saw him. He wanted nothing more than to pull Tim into his arms and hold him until his temper calmed. But, other than Alexx, no one knew that they were lovers, or for that matter that either man was gay. He looked into Tim's eyes and said, "Go help Eric. This guy has to leave us something, sometime. I'm gonna meet Alexx over at the morgue for the post."
After taking a moment to calm his nerves, Tim headed over to the body. He pulled out his camera and stood for a moment looking at the boy. His anger flared again when he saw the letters carved into the his chest. Alexx glanced up at him with a questioning look. Tim understood that she was wondering if he knew the boy. He shook his head and Alexx stood.
"I've done all I can here. When your done collecting, hand him over to the hauler." As she walked passed Tim she hesitated a moment and placed a hand on his arm, giving him a friendly squeeze. He tried to smile but he just wasn't in the mood.
Speed turned back to the scene. Eric was eyeing something on the ground about a foot from the body. He pulled a scale out of his kit an laid it down next to the object. Speed stepped over to him.
"What do you have?" he asked.
"Maybe nothing," Eric answered. "Or maybe our guy just got sloppy." He pointed to a cigarette butt on the ground.
Speed snapped a couple of pictures then Eric carefully bagged the butt. "Maybe we could get some DNA from this," Eric said.
"Could just be the kid's," Speed replied.
"Why do you always have to be so negative?" Eric asked as he stowed the evidence bag away in his kit.
Speed shrugged as he snapped a few pictures of the body. "This guy has left us nothing. Three victims, no prints, no hair, no fibers. It's like he's a ghost."
"Ya know," Eric said, "this had to be messy. There's no way our guy didn't end up covered in blood." Eric started walking around the body in ever widening circles. Suddenly he stopped and pointed. "Gravitational droplets."
Speed came over with his kit and pulled out a scale carefully placing it next to the drop before snapping a picture. By the time they had finished they had collected pictures and swabs from fifteen blood drops. The drops ended suddenly about twenty feet from the body.
"He must have gotten into a vehicle," Speed said.
"Knife attacks are messy," Eric theorized. "The attacker usually cuts himself in the process. Maybe some of this blood doesn't belong to our victim."
"As long as he wasn't wearing gloves. Remember there hasn't been any print evidence," Tim replied.
"There you go being negative again."
"I can't help it," Tim said. "It's just my nature."
888888888
Okay, more to come soon. It may take a couple of weeks as I am leaving for Florida at the end of this week and I have promised I wouldn't bring any work with me. Please review.