Moving interstate. It's an increasing trend for the average American. Phone calls are cheaper and Internet connections are higher. We have the economy to thank for that. It has increased the capital put into research and development, and competition in the market has driven prices down.

Nothing was going to stop me from moving interstate. I had a lot less to lose and a lot more to gain.

I could leave behind two moronic brothers, an even bigger moron of a stepfather and the original ice maiden mother in hicks town if it meant moving to a big city with career advancement, where my real father was located.

My parents divorced when I was ten. My mum accused my dad of cheating on him, he didn't, and she liked drama and walked out anyway, taking my brothers and I to live with her, driving Dad to Miami to work in homicide.

She soon met a construction worker called Barry and a month later, they were married.

He took a liking to my two brothers, and spent lots of quality time with them. He didn't feel the need to be a father figure for me, which suited me fine. I had a real dad.

Sadly over time, my brothers grew distant from dad. Their phone calls declined, they stopped coming with me to Miami for visits, until contact ceased altogether.

I could never do that to my Dad though; he was all that I had.

So I decided to move permanently to the city where my loving father was. I'd miss a few people in the hick town, but more opportunities were for me in Miami.


"Horatio, how much longer is this going to take? I promised my baby girl I'd pick her up from the airport today." Frank asked his co-worker and superior, as they leaned over Miami's latest murder victim.

"Baby girl?" his co-worker Eric asked, looking up at the other homicide detective, grinning widely to show his amusement at the statement, which sounded very unlike Frank.

"Yes, Frank's daughter is moving to Miami today. Frank, feel free to leave, I think we can handle it from here." The red haired lieutenant stated to Frank, smiling slightly.

Frank went silent for a moment, deep in thought. He then sighed and held his head low, as his parent and career obligations fought a battle in his head, with one being triumphant over the other.

"No, I must stay. I can always see her later. This investigation won't wait." Frank sighed, giving up.

"Since when do you have a daughter?" the other of the two younger male investigators asked, wearing the same toothy grin as Eric.

"Ryan, since she was born twenty two years ago. If I'm proud of anything in my life, it's raising that girl. Her two deadbeat brothers are things I've given up on, but my daughter has turned out perfectly." Frank proudly exclaimed, causing Eric and Ryan to give each other uneasy glances.

"You should probably call her then." Calleigh, the blonde southern belle said to Frank, smiling brightly, her body language and cheerful tone showing a different reaction to her male co-workers


"Hi sweet pea, its Dad. As soon as your flight is over, can you please call me? It's urgent." I listened.

I tried to not panic as I dialled his number. It could be anything; if it were too serious I wouldn't be hearing about it from a voice mail message. This thought shallowed my breathing.

As soon as I was in a comfortable place to talk, an empty terminal, I called my dad back.

He answered after only two and a half rings.

"Hi princess, how was your flight?" he asked me, curiousity in his voice, but I could also hear he was a tad rushed, as if wanting to move this conversation along quickly.

"It was okay I guess, for a flight." I stated, but then chuckled at the end, fearing I was sounding too cynical.

"That's good to hear and I'm so glad you're here." Dad said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"It is, however that's not the reason you called me, you'd just tell me when you came to pick me up, which I can guess isn't happening because you wouldn't call, you'd tell me in person." I analysed, not bothering to beat around the bush.

"Good work honey, you'd make a great CSI. You're correct, I won't be able to make it to come pick you up from the airport." Dad sighed, sounding disappointed.

"That's okay, I can get a taxi, no biggie. What happened, anyway?" I asked curiously, as I started to walk towards the luggage pickup.

"There was a murder case. I can't really explain the details as of yet, but it's pretty bad. The victim was strewn across the highway." I heard Dad say, and cringe at the end.

He acted like a tough homicide detective on duty, but off duty he was the biggest pussycat. Blood and gore made him cringe, and he was the one who saw real blood and gore.

"Well that doesn't sound very nice." I commented, quite unsure as to what to say. That person would have family and friends and was a real person; commenting how grotesque or anything similar would be taking away their status as a human.

"It sure isn't. However, one of the CSIs has to drive the evidence back to the lab. The airport isn't too much out of the way, so our supervisor agreed to allow her to collect you. She should be there soon." Dad said to me.

"Okay. What's her name?" I asked Dad curiously, as I arrived at the carousel to collect my belongings.

"Her name is Calleigh and she'll be waiting for you in the pick up area. She's a cop, so people usually make room for police vehicles." Dad chuckled.

"Police corruption at its finest." I giggled, quite unsure of what else to do or say.

"Well she won't ask people to move, they will do it of their own accord. Not our fault." Dad smartly replied, riding on the end of this awkward conversation.

"Sorry to cut this short, but I gotta go. My bag is coming out any second and I'm always paranoid of someone trashy grabbing it. You also have a bad guy to catch." I stated to my father, deciding to save all conversation for when I get to see him.

"That I do. I'll talk to you later okay sweet pea?" Dad asked me.

"Okay, bye Dad." I sweetly replied, before hanging up.

Dad was right. The pick up bay was left empty except for the one police car - a large four-wheel drive hummer type car.

It was holding up traffic though. The car was parked perfectly out of the way. However people were looking over in an annoying type fashion as they drove past, which slowed them down and hence held up traffic.

Because of this I swiftly walked towards the car, wasting no time in opening the passenger door and dumping my suitcase in the feet area - causing my legs to be quite elevated.

"Well hi there. I'm Calleigh. It's so nice to finally meet Frank's daughter. I haven't met you, but I feel I know so much about you" the woman in the driver's side stated, a wide smile on her face.

She had platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes. This woman was stunningly gorgeous and had a southern belle accent that suited her.

"I'm Anna, and it's just as much a pleasure to meet you." I smiled shyly, finding her friendliness comforting but I was still feeling a little uncomfortable.

"So um... Where can I take you?" Calleigh asked me, letting her smile falter a little as a hint of seriousness took over.

"You have evidence to drop off right? I might come with you to the lab, I could meet Dad there." I shrugged; trying to show it wasn't a big deal but secretly hoping she would say yes.

"Well sure. That sounds like a great idea." Calleigh smiled brightly, changing gears and then exited the parking pay with ease.