Author Notes:

Hi!

Firstly this is my first story so please be gentle to me. Also if you live in Miami and what iv written about the area is utter codswallop, forgive me, I am not from your country. Secondly, this is a slash story about Ryan Wolfe and Eric Delko. Chapter one doesn't make it seem like it but we need a crime scene. Thirdly this is not one of those spastic stories where they admit their feelings and are in bed in one chapter. Eric hates Ryan here, well at least in the beginning. But I'm giving away way to much. I'm sorry for the long author note but as this is my first story I figured you guys could forgive me this once. So please read and review. Id love to know if I should go on or scrap it all.

This story is beta'd by my boyfriend John

Chapter 1 – The discovery.

" Are we there yet? Is it a lot further? I'm so tired! You promised this would be fun, Michael! Its all hot and I'm sweaty and there's bugs everywhere and dirt and … Are you listening to me? Michael!"

Michael Walsh sighed as he resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the fluffed up blond doll that was his latest girlfriend. He honestly didn't know why he had even started dating the bimbo, she had the mental and emotional range of teaspoon! The woman would just not shut up! She just kept yacking, on and on and on in that annoying falsely high pitched voice that just made him wasn't to wrap his fingers around her slim neck and strangle her into silence!

Not that he would usually take a girlfriend out on a hike. She had insisted that she loved the outdoors and hiking. Hiking was for him and his two best friends Ryan Wolfe and Danny Messer. Ry (Ryan) was scared of heights so they mainly hiked in Ever-glade National Park. Danny was more for the mountains. He had been hoping to take the woman, Miss Anna Stewart to his favourite place in the glades but that was still an hour's walk and he doubted he could stand to hear he voice for that long. Michael stopped and looked around. He smiled as he recognized his location. Around seven years ago when he and Ry had first moved to Miami from New York they had taken a trip exploring the area. Just off one of the main pathways was a small hidden meadow, that they had claimed as their own. It was much closer than where Michael had originally wanted to go.

"Come on Anna, we need to go this way." He said stepping off the well worn path and heading into the foliage. " Do you even know where your going? WE shouldn't leave the path Michael, there's like Coyotes or something in Miami and I for one don't want to be bitten and … Michael!" Michael tuned Anna out. He hadn't been to the meadow in almost two years. He, Ryan and Danny had just been too busy. Danny had risen through the ranks of NYPD quickly and made it to the crime lab as a CSI. He had been studying for his law degree so that he could take over his step fathers estate and Ryan had been a patrol cop for a long time but had recently been promoted to the crime lab after one of the CSI's there had died. Michael could remember the phone call as Ry had excitedly spilled the news in a three way conference call then almost cried because he was the replacement for someone who had died. Michael was pulled out of his thoughts as he realised that he had to look for the marker. The three best friends had dipped stones in black paint and then hidden them in plain view, where winds and flood waters couldn't move them.

"You see we're lost now!" Anna whined as she caught up to him. Michael walked a bit further before he saw it, a black stone in a high knot of a tree. Once he had the first , the others came back by instinct. Following the markers he quickly found the meadow. Setting his pack down, he opened it and pulled out their picnic blanket so they could have lunch and he could take Anna home. He unfolded it then set it down under the tree that still had the large black stone next to it. The three friends had painted the stone black with outdoor roof paint and then painted R+D+M B4L in white on it. Michael smiled at it, B4L, brothers for life. Anna entered the clearing as he placed the blanket down and dropped onto it, fanning her flushed face with her had. "I am never doing this again! Its horrible I don't even know how you can even like it." She complained. Michael bit his teeth together hard and quickly unpacked their picnic. The faster they ate the soon they could leave.

Their picnic lunch was an utter disaster! Within seconds Michael knew that he wouldn't even wish Anna on his worse enemy! Anna sat chatting away about how her best friend Bethany was divorcing her fourth husband and how she had made sure that she wasn't leaving her marriage empty handed and how she had done so much for the man and just more utter rubbish. Michael sighed as he shook out the picnic blanket to get the loose grass off it. Girls like Bethany and Anna were definitely not the type a man married. Dated yes, had fun with yes but marriage – Absolutely not! They were just expensive dates and something pretty to drape over your arm at social events. It was clear as crystal that Anna was only dating him so that she could be Lady Walsh one day and get her hand s on his family's money. Lord Kevin Walsh formerly of Devon, England was a well known and respected member of the Miami Dade upper class society. He had gone to New York on business ten years earlier on business and fell in love with Michael's mother, Kelly Austin. Michael himself had only been nine at the time. Lord Walsh had swept Kelly off her feet and they had dated for years before he asked for her hand. Lord Walsh had hidden his wealth and title from Kelly in an effort to make sure that she loved him for him and not for the money. After they had married when Michael was seventeen, Lord Walsh had adopted Michael and made him his heir and then moved his family to Miami Dade. Ryan had joined them, originally just for the summer but had landed in police academy and stayed.

Michael folded the blanket up and repacked his pack. "Are you ready to go Anna ?" he asked as he watched her smooth her long blond hair and fix her ponytail. " Anna wrinkled her nose gently. "More walking? Don't ever bring me to this ghastly place again Michael! Lets just get home! " She declared before getting up and walking in the wrong direction. Michael sighed, thank heaven this date was almost over. "Anna." He called lazily, "Your going the wrong … Anna look out!" Anna in all her infinitive wisdom had looked back at him at the sound of her name but kept walking. She tripped over a small log and fell face first in some mud! She sat up slowly , sputtering and spitting out the mud that covered her shirt face and hair. Michael couldn't help it, she looked hilarious. He laughed so hard he could barely breath, tears of laughter squeezed themselves from his eyes. Severed the whiny wretch right, he thought as he sucked in air, still laughing. " Stop laughing! Its not funny! Now come help me." Anna yelled as she tied to wipe the mud off her and only succeeded in messing herself up more. Anna raised a tentative hand and ran it over her mud splattered hair. "MY HAIR!" She screamed as tears poured down his face. "I hate you Michael Walsh! Take me home right now!" Anna tried to stand up but slipped in the mud and landed ion her rear , covering her legs and shorts in mud to. Michael dropped to his knees as he laughed. He hadn't seen anything so funny in months.

Anna used the log she had tripped over as leverage and stood slowly. She moved out of the mud then kicked at the log in anger, how dare Michael act this way! He was the son of a Lord, Lords were meant to have manners and would help a lady in distress, not laugh at her. Stupid mud and stupid Michael! She kicked at the log again and this time made contact. "Owwie!" She yelled as pain blossomed in her foot. Bethany's idea to go on a hike with Michael after she had heard he loved the activity was a huge flop. Hiking was for stupid people. Who wanted to spend all day walking around for nothing and just get hot and sweaty in the process? Anna was about to go give the jerk a piece of her mind when a small flash of light caught her eye. It was of sunlight on mental. She was sure of it, ever upper class lady knew the glint of sunlight on metal. Especially when showing off a new piece of jewellery to her friends, by letting it catch the sun.

She bent over it, careful not to step into the mud and noticed that it was a long strip of metal that was hidden in the dirt. "You okay Anna?" Michael asked as he came closer to her. "There's something buried here, look." She said pointing to the exposed metal. Michael looked where she was pointing and grinned. This was so cool. His mind raced as it threw up dozens of examples of that it could possibly be. The log was clearly covering it so he gripped the piece of wood with both hand s and pulled it away. Once it was moved he ran his hand over the metal and realised that it was an exposed part of a larger object. Michael quickly began brushing off the dirt. "You could help you know." He told Anna irritably, "And get dirty? I think not!" She said as she watched him work. Dumb bint! Michael thought to himself. Your already covered in mud. A little more cant hurt you or make you any less dirty. Michael brushed off all the loose sand to revel a lid of a small trunk about the third of the normal standard army one. He quickly dug on the sides of it, in the soft , loosened sand and found the handles. Squatting to brace himself, he grabbed a handle in each hand an pulled, toppling backward as it gave way easily.

Michael sat up and placed the trunk next to him. Anna crept closer as he pulled the latch back and opened the lid carefully. Several oddly shaped packages, wrapped in black plastic filled the trunk. Michael grinned at Anna. It could be anything. Drugs. money, treasures... Anything. Michael carefully lifted a cylindrical shaped package out and pulled his pocket knife out of his [pocket. He flicked it open and Carefully cut through t he plastic. The item inside was wrapped in a dark red cloth. Michael slowly lifted the top fold and unwrapped it a few inches. " Oh for goodness sake! It cant bite you!" Anna said gripping the package from him. She held it in one hand and gripped the end of the cloth in the other. "See." She said as she pulled sharply, making the object spin in her hand as it unwrapped.

A high pitched scream echoed through the Everglades as the red cloth fluttered to the ground. There in the grass of the small hidden meadow lay the slightly decomposed arm and hand of a small child.

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