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Chapter 1 – Introductions

It was Saturday morning. Horatio took his glass of juice and went out on his deck, lost in thought as he let the sound of the ocean waves wash over him. The cool ocean breeze tousled his red hair, the ginger highlights glinting in the morning sun.

It would be a beautiful morning for a run on the beach, he thought. Technically, he didn't have to go into the office today – it was his day off. He used to go running every chance he got, then as life became more complicated, as his schedule allowed. He enjoyed the smell of the ocean, the sound of the sea gulls wheeling overhead, and the wonderful feeling a good run brings to the body and mind. Lately, he couldn't seem to garner the enthusiasm for it. He sighed and turned to go back inside, sad thoughts crowding out the chance of enjoying the coming day.

Leaving his glass in the sink, he made his way through the house, figuring he may as well go into the office to try and work at depleting the pile of paperwork that seemed to have made a permanent home on his desk. Wandering into the bedroom, he spotted his running shoes in the corner, mocking him. What would it hurt, he thought to himself, pausing.

Fifteen minutes later he was locking the door and heading down the sandy path that led to the beach from his backyard. He stopped just beyond the tall grasses that formed the barrier between the beach and homeowners' property. Slowly he began to stretch his muscles, his calves and thighs making it known to him that it had been a while since his last workout. Taking a deep breath, he slipped on his sunglasses and loped off down the beach, easily finding a comfortable stride as he concentrated on his breathing, feeling the warmth of the morning sun on his face.

Just a mile away, Emily wandered out onto her balcony, sipping her first cup of coffee of the day. She watched idly as the sea gulls soared over the ocean and sand, their cries being carried to her on the ocean wind. They reminded her of the gulls at home, soaring out over the lake. She sighed as thoughts of home intruded on the warm morning and she took another sip of coffee. The beach beckoned her – Jean had mentioned that Emily could go running every day if she felt like it.

'Just think, Em, you could go out your door and be at the beach. You could run in your swimsuit if you wanted. Now, doesn't that sound better than wearing layers of fleece and thinsulate?' Laughingly, Emily had agreed. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

'Maybe a good run is what I need to get out of this funk,' she thought. She wasn't due for her shift at the Book 'n Bean until noon. It was barely 7:00 am and, being a night person, she was rarely functional before 10:00 am. Perhaps this is a sign, she thought. Her mind made up, Emily turned and went back into her apartment, exchanging her coffee cup for a bottle of water and heading into the bedroom to find her favorite running gear.

Fifteen minutes later, she was locking the door to her apartment, bottle of water in one hand, her blue baseball cap with the TC logo in the other. She used the low wall around the apartment complex to do some stretches, her calves protesting at the inactivity of the last month. Soon, she was slipping her long, dark gold ponytail through the hole in the back of her baseball cap and she set off down the sidewalk to the beach access behind her building.

Horatio had been running for twenty minutes, slowly working out the kinks with every stride. He decided on a route down the beach to the public access walkway, a quick turn around the small lake in the adjoining park, then back to the beach and the return trip home. He had to admit, it felt good to be out in the morning air and so far he'd managed to keep the demons that darkened his waking hours at bay by concentrating on his breathing as he loped along. The beach was fairly empty this early, and except for the shore birds running up to the waves and then quickly backing up again, he had the beach to himself….almost.

Emily reached the beach and took a quick look left and right. "Hmmm…" she thought, "which way to go." Not seeing an advantage one way or the other she set off to her left, quickly adjusting her stride to an easy jog. She didn't really have a route in mind and decided to let the powers that be guide her. Miami seemed far away from the frozen world she left behind just one short month ago. She had to admit, it was invigorating to be out in the morning air, but she missed her four-legged running companion that always accompanied her on her runs back home. She was so engrossed in her thoughts of her beloved pet that she didn't see the man heading towards her….until it was too late.

Horatio had noticed the woman running towards him. She was moving at a steady pace, another lone runner out for a morning workout, her path leading her directly toward him. He couldn't see her face, it was shadowed by the baseball cap she wore, but her lightly tanned legs were long. Assuming she would move off to one side, he jogged on…

Emily was watching the ground in front of her, unaccustomed to the sand as a running surface, watching for any holes or soft spots, while her thoughts were far away from Miami. The next thing she knew, she heard a voice shout,

"Watch out!" and looked up to see that it was too late to move out of his way – a collision seemed imminent. She got a quick glimpse of wind tossed red hair, a lean but muscular 6 foot plus frame and sunglasses. Later, explaining the whole incident to Jean, she still wasn't sure how it all happened.

Horatio could see what was going to happen, but he couldn't prevent it. They were both moving too fast and despite his warning, they went down in a tangle of arms and legs. His sunglasses flew off his face and her baseball cap was knocked off her head. The breath was knocked out of her and she could only lie there on the sand, looking into a pair of the bluest eyes she had ever seen. She couldn't quite focus on what he was saying, her mind still trying to take in the fact that she had actually run into this man. Or did he run into her? Either way he seemed familiar to her in some way.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" Horatio didn't know if he should be irritated that this woman ran into him or if he should be amused. She did seem to have the wind knocked out of her and as he leaned over her, he saw that she was a bit older, early thirties perhaps. She had long golden lashes that framed beautiful hazel eyes, which seemed a bit dazed at the moment. Her running ensemble, navy blue knit shorts and oversized white t-shirt claiming Property of the Minnesota Twins, led him to believe she was not a native Miamian.

"Ma'am are you okay?" he asked again, leaning over her. Emily nodded.

"I think so." She couldn't break her gaze from those eyes. Blue like the ocean she thought, hazily. She could willingly drown in them… And his voice, soft-spoken and sexy, she was beginning to wonder if she had fallen down a rabbit hole.

"Can you sit up?" His voice brought her back to reality.

She propped herself up on her elbows and slowly pulled herself into a sitting position. He was kneeling in the sand, so they were eye level with each other. She noticed he was wearing navy sweats and a grey t-shirt with MDPD emblazoned on the front.

"Thank you." Emily began brushing the sand off her knees, arms, nervous energy taking over as she felt herself beginning to blush under his gaze. "Did I just run into a police officer? Am I going to get a ticket?" she wondered and then realized much to her chagrin that she had said it aloud. And, judging by the grin on his rather handsome face, he heard it as well. She liked the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. "Maybe I have a concussion?" she asked hopefully, trying unsuccessfully to conquer the blush rising to her hairline.

"I don't think you do," Horatio said gently, "but why don't you answer a few questions for me." She nodded slowly.

"What's your name?"

"Emily Saunders, my…my friends call me Em."

Horatio nodded and said, "Good… Ok, where do you live?"

"Just over that way, The Beach Apartment Complex." She looked at him from under lowered lashes and said, "Am I supposed to be telling you this? How do I know you're really a police officer?"

Horatio smiled and said, "Fair enough. I am Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Miami-Dade Crime Lab, Emily. I wasn't planning on being on duty, so I left my badge at home. You'll have to come over to the lab to see for yourself."

Emily's eyes widened and her hand came up to her mouth. "That's why you look familiar, I have seen you before – on television." TV certainly didn't do justice to those blue eyes, she thought, but then he was usually wearing his signature sunglasses – which had gone flying when she crashed into him.

"The one and the same," Horatio smiled.

"Oh, you're hurt." She exclaimed, seeing a small bit of blood beneath his left eye where his sunglasses had cut him before disappearing off into the sand.

Horatio gingerly tested the area of below his eye, where she had pointed. He thought he'd felt a sting. "No worries," he said easily. "Now, let's get you standing up."

He stood up first, then held out his hand to help pull her to her feet. When their fingers touched, she felt a tingle run up her arm. He felt it too, judging by his sharply indrawn breath.

"Er, thank you. Nothing seems to be broken or anything…" she trailed off as she wiggled her fingers and stretched her legs. Horatio was watching her, his head tilted to one side, she wasn't sure if he was trying to keep the sun out of his eyes, or studying her to assess her capabilities of finding her own way home.

Horatio was unprepared for the jolt that ran up his arm at the touch of her fingers. He hadn't felt that for a long while. His mind was telling him to turn around and run, not jog, back down the beach, yet his body didn't seem to want to obey. He found himself offering to help her get home. Just in case she was concussed he reminded himself.

"I'll be fine really," Emily said nervously. This man must think she was a complete idiot.

"No, I was planning on going that way anyway," he added in a tone that pretty much told her there was no arguing about it.

"Okay, but I need a minute to stretch out again," Emily said as she bent over and tried touching the sand, taking a few deep breaths to calm her jangling nerves. She peeped up at him under lowered lashes as he looked around for his sunglasses, finding them, rather worse for wear, off to the side.

She stood up abruptly. "I hope that wasn't a lucky pair or anything" Emily said looking at the mangled metal rims in his hands, twisting her water bottle in her fingers nervously.

"I have others," Horatio told her, "Ready?" he added.

"All set."

"Good, let's go." And they headed off down the beach, from the direction Emily had come just a short time ago.

Horatio was prepared to adjust his stride to accommodate hers, and was surprised to discover that she was keeping up with him without a problem. Emily slowly began to relax as they jogged along, the natural rhythm of putting one foot in front of the other calming her nerves. As they turned onto the public access path, Horatio mentioned his planned route around the small lake. "Are you up for that," he asked grinning. "After all, I imagine our collision cut your run short?"

"You bet." Emily smirked at him. She was bound and determined to show the Lieutenant that she was capable and in as good shape as he appeared to be. They jogged along in comfortable silence, every now and then he would point out something interesting as they entered the park and started around the lake. There were more people out now and several heads turned in their direction as they jogged by. Emily didn't notice. She was really enjoying herself. Too soon it seemed, they had gone around the lake and were back to her apartment complex.

They both slowed to a walk as they approached the building with her apartment. She pointed out her balcony on the second floor. "I'm just up there." When they stopped at the steps, Emily turned to him, "I'm sorry about running into you and mangling your sunglasses." Slowly she began to do a few cool down stretches as she watched him. "I usually have a running companion with me when I'm home. He keeps me from running in front of the odd moose or deer, in case I get too lost in my thoughts." She tried for a light tone, a bit nervous at the intense look he was giving her.

Ah, so the truth comes out, he thought. For some reason, the thought of someone else sharing her company on a run made him feel….jealous? He pushed the thought away.

"Do you run every Saturday?" Horatio asked her.

"No," she shook her head. "This is the first time I've been out since I've been in Miami. I love running, but I have trouble with motivation." She admitted. Horatio smiled, he was getting an idea.

"What do you say, we run together on Saturday mornings?"

"So we avoid anymore collisions?" she joked, but Emily found her heart racing at his suggestion.

"Well, my job is to keep the public safe," he said lightly, not sure by her reaction if she would go for his suggestion. "I really would enjoy having some company," he added softly. Emily felt her knees go weak.

"So would I," she answered simply.

"Great! See you on the beach at the access next week, 7:00-ish?" He grinned at her, hoping he didn't sound too eager that she accepted his suggestion.

"Sounds good to me." She hoped he didn't notice that she suddenly seemed out of breath.

Horatio watched her go up the stairs and enter her apartment. Emily turned to wave at him before shutting the door. He waved and set off toward the beach, the sun glinting off his hair.

TBC