Title: Arrested!
Summary: Spoilerfic!!!! Warning!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI Miami etc
Rating: K+
Natalia heard the commotion outside the lab and raised her head to see what was going on. Through the glass wall she saw Horatio arguing with one of the officers from the IAB, and Calleigh suddenly turned on her heel, ran along the corridor, and then entered the lab from the secondary door.
"Natalia!", Calleigh was out of breath, "If there is something you want to tell me, please do it now, right away!"
"What are you talking about?"
Actually Natalia had a bad feeling Nick had gotten her into trouble yet again, but she couldn't say so. They'd had a huge fight the evening before. Nick had some photos he'd taken while they where still married, he'd taken them once when he'd beaten her up. She had never been so humiliated in her life.
She'd rather die than letting someone see those photos, and Nick had threatened to send them to Horatio if she didn't pay his rent from now on. She'd run away and hide in Alaska if that happened, and Nick had taken great pleasure in the fact that he could still torture her mentally.
She didn't have that kind of money, she was currently paying her own mortgage, helping Cristina with her college tuition, and lately Anya's shrink. She'd gone there to convince him to give her the photos for a one time lump sum, but he'd refused. The fight had been furious, and he's pushed her against the fridge before she'd run out of there. But in all her haste she'd forgotten her jacket.
Looking into Calleigh's stern face, Natalia grew increasingly nervous.
"Nick's been found murdered in his apartment, and the police found your jacket there, with your library card in it, and clear signs of a struggle, with the desk drawer broken into!"
Calleigh took hold of Natalia's arm and shook her carefully.
"Please tell me what happened! The IAB are on their way, we only have a few minutes!"
Calleigh pulled Natalia out of the lab the back door, and both women headed for the women's locker room.
Natalia sat down on a bench and tried to focus. Nick was dead? She hadn't killed him. How was it possible that she felt so sad and shocked, mixed with immense relief?
Calleigh grabbed her shoulders:
"Natalia, I mean it! Talk to me!" Calleigh used her best supervisor voice and Natalia immediately reacted:
"I went there yesterday to discuss something with Nick, and we had a fight! I didn't kill him, I swear!" Natalia, always impulsive, stared crying, in fear and sorrow and nervousness.
"How about the drawer? What were you fighting about?"
Natalia shook her head: "NO! I didn't do that! Please believe me, Calleigh, I swear!"
Right then, Mina Merha, the new IAB officer, burst through the door.
"Ms Duquesne, please step back!"
Calleigh swore inwardly, but did as told.
"Ms Boa Vista, your ex husband, Nick Townsend, has been found murdered in his apartment. Please come with me to my office, I need you to answer some questions for me."
Natalia felt like someone had grabbed her stomach with a hand of ice, and had pulled it out through her lungs. Her head was spinning, and she couldn't think straight.
She suddenly felt Horatio's presence behind her, she smelled his well known after shave, and then she felt his arm around her.
"Please come with us, Natalia, I'll come with you. Don't worry, ok? All you need to do is tell us the absolute truth and we'll take care of you, ok?"
He tried to smile at her reassuringly and handed her a handkerchief, for her tears and nose.
Officer Merha immediately said:
"I'm very sorry, Lt. Caine, but you can only come with me as an observer. You and all your shift staff are out of this investigation, and I'm warning you not to interfere! "
She'd smiled at him softly. No need to alienate someone as powerful as Horatio Caine. He might come in handy one day, and it was best to cooperate.
Horatio nodded. He'd understood that right away, but that didn't mean he was ok with it.
Horatio, Natalia, her gaze fixed to the floor, still holding Horatio's handkerchief, and Mina Merha walked together through the lab, towards the elevator and Natalia's fate.