Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own anything CSI related but I do own Detective Vanessa Pedrosa.
Please read & review - constructive criticism is always welcome
The air lay hot and humid around the bank of the swamp; all manner of nighttime critters could be heard calling out to one another, fighting, mating, hunting. The stagnant fetid stench rolling off the water with the barely existent breeze caught in his nostrils, evoked memories from many other nights that began just like this one had. He had received the call, gathered his troops and arrived at the scene – every ready to led them, to aid them to decipher who had done what to whom and why…He would see them brought to justice – it was just the type of man he was.
Horatio looked over the crime scene with his sharp blue eyes taking note of every person at the scene. His gaze stilled upon noticing a familiar young detective just inside the crime scene tape. Detective Vanessa Pedrosa stood 5'5" tall, her body shaped like a soft hourglass, her dark hair spilled passed her milky shoulders and was currently softly curled framing her sweet, pale face. Horatio took in her deep blue eyes with their seductive smoky make up, a frown marring her full, pretty mouth as she surveyed the scene before her. "I didn't realize we had a formal dress code this evening." Horatio quipped lightly, looking over Vanessa's outfit. Vanessa turned towards Horatio so that he could truly admire the marvel of high end fashion design.
Vanessa's body was ensconced in a beautiful soft grey silk dress that clung to her curves in all the right places – it nipped in at her slender waist and flared out over her hips. A stunning pair of Jimmy Choo shoes in a smoky purple shade matched her clutch bag. The lines and curves of her face were accentuated with smoky yet subtle make up; incredibly dark lashes framed a pair of 'Disney' eyes – huge and sapphire blue with hints of a mysterious golden fleck only visible when one stood intimately close to their owner. Horatio noted the glint of her simple white gold and diamond jewelry at her earlobes, the base of her pale throat. The soft scent of Neroli & Jasmine tempted his senses as he moved closer.
"Somebody told me I needed to get out more, that's what I was doing when this happened." She shot Horatio a disappointed look before gesturing out across the swampy ground before her. Horatio nodded, appraising her again "Well you look, you look stunning – how was your date going?" Vanessa shrugged, pouting slightly "It didn't last long enough for him to comment on the dress." Horatio looked out at the crime scene "Shame on him. Tell me, what have we got here Detective." Vanessa explained the scene to him. "A woman was found floating in the swamp by a couple who were 'parking'. The call hit dispatch at around 9pm. First unit to respond arrived at 9:17pm."
The victim was blonde haired, blue eyed with a soft, curvy body, approx 5'8, 155 pounds. Dressed in a navy skirt suit, there was nothing remarkable about her clothing, she wore a gold wedding band, watch and simple gold & diamond necklace/pendent. From his limited vantage point on the bank Horatio could see that the woman had several lacerations, bruises and some flesh missing from her left ankle. Vanessa pointed behind them back to where the couple who had called in the incident was waiting to talk to a detective. "Delko is just suiting up now to go and retrieve the body and any other evidence that might still be in the water." Vanessa informed him fidgeting slightly, she was anxious to get the poor woman out of the water, to restore the dignity she had lost when she was murdered. "Okay detective here's what I want us to do. You are going to take my keys; head back to the hummer and grab a pair of boots from the back. We need to take a closer look." Horatio handed her the keys and waited patiently for her, checking the rest of his team's status.
Delko was getting the remainder of his gear ready for underwater recovery as Vanessa approached Horatio's Hummer. "Scared of getting your feet wet?" Eric teased her, flashing his million dollar grin as he watched her grab a pair of boots from the vehicle. "No just being sensible." Vanessa informed him, sitting inside the tailgate of the car to change her shoes. "I'm not going to risk breaking my neck at a crime scene nor am I ruining a 600 pair of shoes the first time I've worn them." Delko looked at her bewildered as she removed the strappy stilettos and put on the boots. "You paid 600 for those? Was the box 9 carat gold?" Vanessa just chuckled "You men will never understand the relationship we women have with our shoes." Eric shook his head in disbelief. "I'm gonna have to start calling you Carrie Bradshaw if you keep this up. So how was your date anyway?" he asked her smirking slightly. "Well I'm standing here at a crime scene about to fish a dead woman out of a swamp, how do you think it went?" she asked him peevishly before stalking away.
"Detective! You might want to come down and have a look at this." Calleigh called from the edge of the water. Vanessa trekked down to her, seeing a black leather purse nestled on the edge of the bank. "It could be our victims." Vanessa stated watching Calleigh photograph and then collect the bag. "Tell me there's an id in there Calleigh." Vanessa prayed hoping that there would be identification inside. The sooner they knew who they had found the sooner they could start getting a solid lead on what had happened to her. Calleigh opened the bag gingerly, "No ID here detective. I've got a comb, lip gloss, cell phone, a single key, some gum and parking stubs that's it." Vanessa nodded jotting down the information, the parking stubs were at least a place to start.
The crime scene already looked well underway by the time Speedle arrived; he'd been across town meeting a friend for drinks when the call came out that he was needed at the scene. He'd got the call more than 20 minutes ago and knew that his absence would have been missed by his boss's eagle eyes. "I was across town – traffic was a nightmare." Speedle offered as an apology as he quickly entered the crime scene, kit in one hand his Nikon camera in the other as he quickly assessed the crime scene.
Horatio nodded at him watching Eric head to the waters edge. "What have we got?" Speed asked. "Female floater, doesn't seem to have been in the water long. Delko is about to fish her out now." Calleigh answered. She looked over Speedle again taking in is clothing; she noticed he was looking more polished than she'd seen him outside of a court appearance. "Were you on a date?" She asked curiously. "No! What if I was?" Speed asked setting up his camera to photograph the scene. "You had a date! Who's the lucky lady?" She teased grinning broadly. "Had a date Calleigh…had being the operative word in that sentence. I had date before I was rudely interrupted by this crime scene. So now that's out in the open can we just work the scene please?" He asks slightly annoyed, this was not how he saw his evening panning out.
Delko went it to the water, it was deeper than he'd thought, 2 feet out from the bank and it was already nearly shoulder deep. He turned back to Vanessa, "Cover me?" Vanessa cocked her rifle replying, "All dressed up and no party to go to, why not." Delko shot her another dazzling smile before inserting his mouthpiece and disappearing into the dark water. Two uniformed MDPD officers were keeping a lazy watch over the crime scene as Vanessa breathed "Oh my lord." She watched as the surface of the water split ominously, bee-lining in Delko's direction. "Detective Pedrosa." Calleigh said sharply. "I see it Calleigh." Sweat broke out along her hairline as she followed the gator, not blinking just watching its lazy progress towards the floating body. "Nessa?" Horatio prompted softly beside her, his body wound tight with tension not that his voice or his actions betrayed his feelings. "I'm on it H." She promised softly, releasing the safety mechanism.
Everyone now had their full attention focused on the gator as it slipped lower beneath the water. "I'm a lover not a fighter… Come on, don't make me shoot you…" she whispered sighting the massive reptile. The gator stilled a few feet away from the floater before dipping below the water line. Vanessa saw its tail flick the water and knew it was heading straight for the body. She loosed off two successive shots, both hitting their marks. The gator surfaced again, its white belly reflecting halogen lights and the moonlight back at them. Vanessa sighed lowering the gun slightly. Delko sprang from the water the panic clear in his eyes as he broke the surface. "What the hell!" He looked to his left and saw the gator belly up next to him, thick bloody sludge pouring from the only exit hole under its head. "Nice shooting Tex, you just saved my ass." "Maybe just your left leg." Vanessa shrugged. "Eric lets get this young lady out of the water before any more of our gator friends show up looking for a free meal." Horatio instructed.
It took Delko and the other diver about five minutes to extract the victim from the water, Alexx was waiting on the bank to look her over. "What happened to you sugar? How did you get here?" Alexx asked looking over the body quickly. "You right to go back in there Eric?" Horatio asked. "As long as Tex here reloads." Delko quipped. Vanessa reloaded, cocked the rifle and pointed it at the water. "What are you waiting for boy?" Horatio headed across to Alexx. "What can you tell me Alexx?" She looked up at him standing above her. "She doesn't have any apparent injuries apart from the flesh missing on her left leg – I'm willing to guess she was on some swamp critters entrée list. She hasn't been in the water very long, a couple of hours tops. I'll be able to tell you more when I get her on my table. It's okay baby, I'll look after you." Horatio nodded, "Call me." He turned his attention to Speedle. "You and Calleigh head back with the body; get started with her clothes Speed, Calleigh look into the purse start with the cell phone."
Eric was in the water for another hour doing a hand over hand grid search in the 50 meters surrounding the body. He didn't turn up any identification but he did find 2 guns in the water, a 9mil and a revolver. He collected them even though there was no evidence of a gunshot wound in this case.
Calleigh was working along side Speedle in the trace lab, they were mostly working in silence but Calleigh couldn't help herself, she was itching to know who Speedle had a date with. "So are you going to tell me anything or do I have to be sneaky and find out for myself, because you know I will find out right." Calleigh looked across at Speedle expectantly. He sighed and looked up from his magnifier. "Calleigh what are you babbling about?" Calleigh rolled he eyes dramatically. "Your date Romeo." She drawled at him in her unique southern twang. "You do know what happened to Romeo in the end don't you?" Speedle reminded her with a sardonic smirk. "Would you rather I called you Casanova?" Calleigh laughed. Speedle thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "Come on give a girl some details." She pleaded logging in the contents of the leather purse. "There is nothing to tell. I had a date. I was there for maybe ten minutes before I got the call out. I barely had time for small talk." He admitted, feeling slightly defeated.
Speed looked back through his magnifier quietly annoyed at himself for leaving his cell on during the date – he wasn't even on call tonight! Calleigh groaned inwardly, she knew the feeling she'd been pulled out of many dates by the dreaded "We have a scene…" phone call. "Well look if she's got even half a brain she'll reschedule and you can have another first date." Calleigh smiled empathetically. Speedle let out a clipped laugh, clearly amused "I never said this was a first date." Calleigh looked across at Speedle surprised, "You sly thing! When do we meet this lucky lady? Is it serious?" Her curiosity was peaked now; there was no way she was giving this up. Speedle collected tape lift samples from the victims clothing as he answered her, "How do you know you haven't already met her?" He taunted her knowing that his aloofness would drive her crazy.
Before she had a chance to respond Delko walked in back in his civilian clothes, his hair still wet from his post dive shower. "Calleigh I found a couple of water logged pistols in the bottom of the swamp; I logged them into ballistics for you." Delko informed her noting the mischievous look in her eyes. "Thank you Eric. We aren't finished here Speed." She warned before leaving the room. Both men watched as Calleigh left the room, Delko waited until she was down the hall before speaking again. "She was grilling you about the date wasn't she?" Speedle didn't reply he just continued to work the evidence in front of him. "Ha ha, I knew it man. Face it Speed once Calleigh finds out the whole lab will know." Speedle shot him an annoyed look, "Thanks Einstein I realized that already." Speedle sighed looking down at the evidence not looking forward to the conversation he saw looming in his future.
Vanessa finally made it back to the crime lab and was searching around for Calleigh. She had offered to give her a hand looking into the parking stubs found on their Jane Doe. She is waiting in the layout room, hastily scraping her thick hair away from her face and back into a haphazard pony-tail. The look on her face said it all, she's tired, frustrated but above all she's hungry – she hadn't managed to eat anything since lunch time and that felt like it was days ago now. "Hey you." She hears his soft gravelly voice call out to her, she hadn't even heard him come into the layout room, had no idea how long he'd been there. She blew out a frustrated breath and finally met his gaze. In return he treated her to a slow, lazy grin.
"Hey yourself." She smiled back at him looking him over closely. His shirt was slightly crumpled, his tie along with his jacket was long since removed and he looked how she felt. She could tell he'd obviously been running his hand through his thick hair – it was mussed and she resisted the urge to reach out and tame it. "It's a pity you know, all those lovely curls shoved back into a ponytail." He murmured standing close to her, itching to reach out and tuck a stray curl behind her ear but refraining because of where they were, of how easy it would be for someone to walk in on them and blow the cover on their secret. "Yeah well, they'll have a chance to be free when we close this case." She told him dryly – catching his eye before looking away again quickly. Even though he wasn't touching her, Vanessa could still feel the body heat coming off him.
He moved closer to her, his hand sliding gently along her arm coming to rest at her slender wrist. Vanessa's breath caught at the feel of his warm skin against her own – she knew he would be able to feel the quickening of her pulse as he traced feather light circles on her skin. "I never got to tell you how beautiful you look." He murmured leaning his head closer to hers. "You mean looked." She laughed derisively. "No, look. You look beautiful, right here, now." He tells her, no longer being able to resist tucking that stray curl away from her peaches and cream skin, his fingertip trailing gently across her full lower lip. "Either you need you're eyes checked or you're officially crazy." She teased him breathlessly unconsciously leaning closer to him, her free hand resting on his chest.
"Okay then, crazy it is." He murmured as he leant all the way in and pressed a discreet kiss to her temple, watching as Vanessa's cheeks flushed quickly. "Keep that up and we are going to get ourselves in trouble." Vanessa whispered using every inch of her self control not to lean up and press her lips to his. "Don't tempt me Nessie." He murmured into her hair before walking away from her, leaving Vanessa fighting to return her pulse to normal and praying that the color in her cheeks would subside before anyone found her...
A/N Okay so now that you've read it, be kind give me some love - Reviews mean I post faster... xox