"Lt. Caine." It wasn't a greeting, nor was it a half question, one that was pleading with him to stop. No, this was a command. Something Horatio was unaccustomed to hearing at Miami Dade. He stopped walking, turned and made eye contact with each of the three men in dark suits following him, and spoke.

"Gentlemen." Horatio hadn't bothered to remove his sunglasses; whatever these men had to say, he had better things to do with his time. Like the case that'd 'anded on his desk this morning, As he resumed his steady gait towards the front door, the agent spoke again

"Lt. Caine, we're with the FBI. I'll need you to come with us.

--

This time, when Horatio turned to walk again, they walked alongside him.

"Agent Rosier," He'd held out his hand to shake, but as it was said before, Horatio had better things to do. Retracting his hand as smoothly as he'd extended it, Rosier began his conversation, which rather sadly turned into a monologue.

"Lt. Caine, an especially high profile case has come to our attention. Are you quite familiar with the Ramirez case?"

"Of course," Horatio said, giving the agent a sharp nod and continuing his walk. The Ramirez case was nothing new, nothing exciting; after so many years on the force, these things were not quite as interesting as they once had been; when he was still a young, wet-behind-the-ears officer. Tony and Stefan Ramirez, two wanna-be Mexican thugs turned underground rapists/robbers/murderers/drug dealers, had brought themselves into the public eye when they'd taken their latest victim right here in Miami. The 15 year old girl, Liza Morrel, had turned up dead on the beach, and landed in Alexx's morgue. Of course, Horatio and more than half of Miami Dade's finest had been ready to step in and take the case. But, the FBI had stepped in at the last moment and swiped the case. Horatio hadn't been half as angered by the feds as the others; he'd had high-profile cases snatched from right under his nose before; besides, Horatio Caine was the man least likely to ever get jealous. Horatio had worked with the FBI on other cases, but that didn't mean that he had to like them.

"Our men have captured the Ramirez boys and have detained them right here in Miami," Rosier went on. Horatio hadn't bothered to point out that a few CSIs had contributed greatly to Tony and Stefan's arrests, though an unnamed witness had been the single thing to bring the arrests into place.

"Congratulations, gentlemen. But I know you haven't come all this way to tell me this. So, what is it exactly that you want?" Horatio asked, turning to face them. He'd reached the front door, and with that, the end of his tolerance. Agent Rosier smiled thinly, without humor.

"I'll need you to accompany me inside, please."