Chapter 1

"Horatio?"

The mellow sound of her voice, always carrying a tinge of sadness, broke into Horatio's dark thoughts.

"Yelina." He turned from what had seemed like an everlasting gaze out of his office window. He had been trying so hard to see her, knowing he couldn't, trying still. It was hard to work knowing the window was right behind his chair, inviting his look.

"Am I interrupting anything?"

She knew him so well. "No, not at all. I see you are finally reinstalled here."

Pulling back the skirt of her fitted jacket and proudly displaying her badge on her left hip, she replied, "Yes. I'm starting at the bottom of the heap of course, but, still, the benefits are better than being a self-employed P.I."

Her seemingly aimless stroll into the office brought her to his side. Not too close, of course. Even though Stetler was gone, his mean spiritedness seemed to remain.

"I'm happy for you." Horatio knew there had to be another reason than bragging to bring his brother's widow to his office in the middle of the day so he patiently waited for the rest of it.

As if to prolong announcing her real reason for entering, Yelina moved closer and whispered, "I heard about Sally. I'm so sorry. A drunk driver, I hear."

"Hit her broadside on the passenger side at fifty miles an hour, driving her car into a light pole."

"And her driver side airbags failed?"

"Yes!" The word hissed out slowly. "The driver will go to jail for life and the lawsuits against the car maker and the airbag producers will be passed back and forth for years."

"You and she were close?"

"We were." Horatio smiled at what he had had, even briefly.

To break through the gloom that was lowering onto the room, Horatio asked, "How is Ray doing at the new school?"

Yelina pursed her lips but her eyes were smiling. "Adjusting. I don't know if it's the new surroundings, being away from home, or the new kids. He seems to be having more problems with grades that he did before." Yelina leaned against Horatio's glass topped desk and folded her arms.

"Have you talked with the dean?"

A full smile met the remark. "At military school he's called the Commander."

"So they do the full military routine?"

"At least I don't have to salute when I speak to him."

"And what does he say?"

"That he always keeps an eye on the new cadets and Ray is progressing as expected."

"When he and I talked about it last fall, I tried to caution him it would be a big adjustment."

"And he is taking your words to heart, Horatio. He assured me on his weekly phone call a couple of days ago that he's confident he'll eventually get the hang of it all. In almost the same breath, he said he wondered if this was right for him."

"Well, he said he wanted to get his butt kicked."

"He is so afraid of growing up like his father. Tell me, Horatio, do you think I have been too easy on him?"

Horatio blushed a little and tried to think of how to reveal what Ray Jr. had told him without making it sound like Yelina had bad parenting skills. "He mentioned he could get around you with little trouble. The truth is, he was learning to get around me as well. His father manipulated me all of my life. Half the time, I had no idea until it was far too late."

"I can't help but wonder if this is somehow just another way to get around me."

"I doubt it. He has to stay on campus twenty-four hours a day for the first six months. There are military drills when he isn't in class or studying. After six months, he'll only be able to see you one Saturday a month from ten in the morning until eight in the evening. I think he'll be over any thoughts of manipulation by that time."

Yelina sighed heavily. "I suppose you're right. I miss him though."

"Perhaps you're giving more weight to his grade problems than is necessary."

"There's no doubt about that. I'm his mother, after all."

"I think that, even if this attempt to get some discipline in his life fails, he'll benefit. Just don't accept his word about it. Wait for the Dea—Commander's word on the subject. Besides, he's close by; Rattner Academy is only in Davie, half an hour away."

Yelina resolutely pushed herself off from the table. "For the moment, anyway, he's doing as well as he can in a new school. He asked for it so I have to let him deal with it."

"I think he's showed a great deal of maturity for a sixteen year old. Most kids are forced into military schools and for all the wrong reasons. Ray said he wanted to be in a place that wouldn't be impressed by his charms."

"He said that? Well, if he fails, he'll either come out in pieces or more determined to charm his way through life than ever."

"I don't think he'll fail."

Yelina walked to the office door and gave Horatio one of her glorious full on smiles, "Neither do I." She left.

Horatio wondered at how some kids can grow so fast? Kyle, his own son, finishing his tour in the army, seemed to be on track now, but it had been a long haul. It was too early to tell yet with Madison who was not quite twelve. She was a special case anyway; that bout of leukemia had set her back quite a bit.

Taking a breath, Horatio had to place himself into the present to get back to what he had been doing before memories of Sally had invaded. Yelina had indeed interrupted a moment of sadness. He still mourned for the wild eyed elfin woman, Sally. It had been over so quickly. Four months ago, she had been returning from Broward County where she was helping the forensic psychologist, Morgan Tuttle. Horatio had pictured her in a rush to get home that Friday night so she could be bright eyed and bushy tailed (as she put it) for their planned weekend together. He could only hope she didn't know what hit her. Dear God! Don't let her have felt any pain.

His eyes searched for his team on the floor level of the lab below his office in the glassed rooms. So many of the people he worked with had suffered pain; Eric, Ryan, Calleigh, even Natalia before she had come to them, and worse, Marisol. Was it too much to ask that one person he knew should not suffer pain?

At first, he and Sally had just tried a professional relationship, she as a forensic psychiatrist, he in his job. Their mutual attraction just couldn't be denied, and no matter how they worked it, they each wanted more. Their relationship had blossomed quickly once they had just let it be. Sally had given him care and understanding that few women outside of fellow police officers could. It hadn't all been psych talk either. She liked him as a person, as the fallible man he was, age, freckles and all. He found her to be woman to her core, to be cute, fun to be with, unfathomable at times, wise, incredibly intelligent, and older in years and maturity than she looked. She was all he could ask for in a woman. For six months, he had been a very happy man. He could only hope he had made her last days on earth happy as well.

Horatio was glad his phone chirruped in his pocket.

"H, we had an explosion here in the old Miami section." The voice with the heavy Texan twang did not need to announce himself.

Three hours later, Ryan Wolfe was down on one knee in the blackened mess of the back room of a small rock and gem shop. "I'm finding a lot of small pieces of glass, here."

"Not the usual material for making a bomb, is it Mr. Wolfe?" Horatio stood guard at the door looking up at the smoke covered lintel.

"Small fire damage too. That means no accelerant. The purpose here was purely physical damage and there wasn't much of that either." Ryan looked around at the fire department's efforts to put out any flames through the still dripping debris.

"Thoughts?"

Ryan rose, looked around, peeked out through the open door at the small, nearly untouched shop, at the glass cases that showed no signs of damage and back into the work room where the explosion had taken place. He looked at the source location under a heavy worktable. A small part of the overturned table was black and had been slightly charred underneath. It was now blocking the rear exit. There were remains from the force of the blast. Most of the fire had been because of a table directly across from the bigger one, which was made of flimsier material. "Small damage; I'm betting the placement was hurried too." His eyes opened wide in realization. "This was a trial run just to see if the device itself worked."

"Yes, I'm afraid I was thinking the same thing."

Ryan stood erect. "I'll collect everything and get right back to the lab."

"Good. Call me as soon as you have anything, please."

Almost before Ryan could acknowledge the request, his boss was gone.

Horatio stepped out into the bright sunlight of Flagler Street. He gave a brief glance around at the many small shops, including the coffee shop with outdoor seating across the street. He wondered if the bomber had watched the mayhem from there while calmly sipping a latte. His experience in the bomb squad had taught him that part of every bomber's profile was that they loved to watch their creations explode, see the havoc they created.

"Hey Horatio, the only people in the shop was a clerk and a customer. The store owner is in Chicago buying another load of rock and the manager comes in later. Well, he'll be in sooner than that now. What do you think, somebody after someone in there?"

"What does the clerk say happened just before the explosion, Frank?"

"He said he was busy with a customer who was looking at several pieces of polished coral. He was so busy laying out what he had, he knew there was another customer came in the shop but he didn't pay attention to who it was. He said he figured it was a lookyloo tourist, from the way the guy kept moving around."

"How so?"

"He says people who want to buy make it to the counter pretty pronto especially when he's out in front. Anyway, the next thing he knew there was a loud noise from the workshop in back and smoke was pouring out. He and the customer bailed for the front door."

"And the other customer?" Horatio's eyes swept the crowd of onlookers, hoping to catch someone who was a little too attentive.

"He never saw the lookyloo leave."

"I didn't see any security cameras."

"And you won't find any hidden ones either. It's Old Miami, Horatio, they don't go in for much modernization."

Scanning the street in both directions, Horatio couldn't see anything that would hold a camera. "Have the onlookers been asked if they were taking photos about that time?"

"That was going to be my next 'ain't got none'; at least, not until it was all over. You get anything?"

"Too soon to tell, Frank. Too soon to tell."

As soon as he entered the room that held the Fraud Squad as it was called, he saw Yelina. As usual, she was concentrating on what she was doing, not paying attention to anything going on around her. He was about to approach and was beat to the punch by another man with a large sheaf of papers in his hand. Horatio was just as glad to wait, enjoying the sight of his brother's widow.

Even though he would probably see her no more often now than he did when she was a private citizen, he liked that she would be closer in proximity every day. She was his connection to family, to his brother Ray, to his life. Yes, there was Madison, but she was a child and not his and belonged more to her mother. Her mother had been a drug addict at the time and a brief lover to Ray when he was undercover and under the influence, perhaps of the same drugs. Madison had no memory of her father. Madison's mother, well, she had never known the real Ray, the man who was not the Tin Man, an undercover cop. Yelina was the only other person who had known the real Ray, warts and all.

Finally, Yelina noticed him and he felt free to cross the room. "Do you have time for lunch?"

"Sure. I'll meet you at Dixon's, say in half an hour?"

Half an hour later, seated in the restaurant, he watched her cross the small park that separated it from the lab-police department. Her walk was one of confidence, as usual. It was that walk that had first attracted him to her so many years ago. They had dated, gotten serious, had even made plans for a life together; then 'life' had happened. That was when he'd gone undercover, had basically disappeared. She'd known why he had gone but meanwhile had turned to his brother Ray for friendship and solace. He couldn't fault either one of them for the results, couldn't blame himself either. Now, he was her friend, her solace and perhaps, that was the way it was meant to be.

Once she was seated across from him in the booth, she looked around. "You know, I haven't been here since the last time you and I had lunch here about six years ago."

"Neither have I."

"It must have changed owners. The place looks different." She nodded at the variety of paintings hung on the walls over new coats of paint.

"Let's hope the food is just as good."

Her suspicions were verified by the menu which did not look anything like what they remembered from the sandwich and hamburger fare of before.

While waiting for their lunch, Horatio thought it would be a good time to bring up a subject connected to what they had been talking about earlier. After a light bit of chitchat, Horatio asked, "Do you remember when you brought Ray in about six months ago? You said he wanted to ask me a question and then you left us alone."

"Yes, I had thought he wanted to ask you for money to buy a car. When I found out it was to talk to you about going to a military school, you could have knocked me over with a feather."

The food arrived and both paused to sample their orders.

Approving of his meal, Horatio continued. "Did you know he asked me for money, to pay for the school?"

Yelina nearly choked as she tried to laugh around her mouthful of food. "I just didn't want to give him money for a car, Horatio. I thought if he had to borrow it from you, he'd feel obligated to work and pay you back. He might also think twice before driving like a maniac and wrecking a car he'd still have to pay for. I knew I was going to be back on the force and could take care of tuition."

"He didn't seem to know that."

Suddenly her eyes filled with tears. "I hadn't told him yet." She shook her head, "I guess the school idea was so important he went to you."

"Do you think there might have been more to it than that?"

"Who knows? He is so grown up in so many ways. I sometimes forget that. Maybe I gave him that impression because I didn't want him to go."

"And the more you resisted, the more determined he got. You've done a good job with him. I think he's very much afraid of being like Ray was when he grows older. It seems he has some real mixed emotions about his dad."

Yelina looked over her mound of salad greens. "I think we all do, still. I don't see Ray Jr. becoming like his father, but then, I can't get into his mind either. Even though I said no when he first brought up the school idea, I think I knew that wasn't the end of the matter."

Horatio reached across the table and laid his large hand across Yelina's arm. "You know I'm available for any kind of help."

Yelina's soft gaze touched Horatio's heart.

"I know. You've always been there for us and I appreciate it more and more."

She changed the subject. "So, catch me up with the team."

Ten minutes later, Horatio was glad he was a fast eater. He had at least consumed the ginger spiced beef and part of the greens on which it lay when his phone rang.

"Yelina—"

She raised her hand. "Don't bother Horatio, I haven't been away that long. Thanks for the talk."

Horatio threw down more than enough money to cover both of the lunches and hurried out.

"Well, Lieutenant Caine, it's about time you got up here. I have two other bodies decomposing down in the van!"

"We just got the call, doctor. Why don't you take the bodies you have now and return in about an hour's time?"

The always frustrated medic bent down.

"Thank you. That would be fine. I need to get the liver temp first and then I think the rest can wait. I just didn't want you to think I'm not ready to do my job."

Horatio turned his head away to smile. The Medical Examiner often seemed conscientious about his work to the point of being obsessive. "Never that, Dr. Loman."

Loman plunged the pointed end of the thermometer into the man's right front abdomen just under the rib cage. After a moment he looked up and said, "I'd say he died about three hours ago which would be about ten this morning."

"Thank you. I'll see you in about an hour then?"

"Barring a major accident on the causeway, let's hope!" The doctor was always nervous about meeting appointments.

"What have we got, Eric?"

Delko was on one knee bent over a partially nude body laying supine in a large puddle of blood at the base of a large entertainment center. "Detective Renner got the call early this morning. Someone didn't like this guy. Three shots to the torso and two to the groin."

"Hmm, I'd say an angry woman or a message from a mob."

"There's powder burns on the torso so it was up close and personal; really personal."

"All the more likely our killer was female. This is a high rent district, isn't it?"

"Sure is. If he was the resident, I want his job."

"When was this reported?"

"I think a resident called about the gunshots."

"Do you know why weren't we informed earlier?"

"When the MDPD received the call about this, a bank robbery with an officer down was in progress over on Third."

"Fait accompli versus an 'in progress,' a no brainer in police priorities."

"Yeah and meanwhile, our murderer got away."

A small disturbance from the front door caught Horatio's attention.

"I would really rather not," said a female voice.

Detective Renner's voice was insistent. "We need to know who this man is. The manager says you know the residents better than he does."

As Renner brought the woman forward Horatio noticed the woman was dressed in black trousers a white blouse, and a black low cut vest. To finish the semi-formal look, she had a black bow tie at her neck.

"Hey, Horatio, it's been a while."

"It has. And who do we have here, Vic?"

"Ms. Scarlatti attends the door from seven in the morning until four in the afternoon. Ms. Scarlatti, this is Lieutenant Caine and from now on, you'll be talking with him for the most part. He's in forensics."

The young woman kept her eyes steadfastly on either Renner or Horatio, above the neck, as the introductions were made. She most likely didn't care or didn't understand what forensics were. She was more worried about having to identify the dead man.

"Just one brief look is all we ask."

Turning pale, she seemed to turn into wood. She was saved from the unwelcome task by a shout from someone in the crowd at the door.

"Good God! That's Gunter!"

Ms. Scarlatti's frantic searching look among the crowd at the door brought the cry, "Mr. Chikaskia!"

She turned to Horatio. "Please, let him come through. He's one of the residents. It sounds like he knows who that is."

A few moments later brought the confirmation. "Oh, Jeez! How could this have happened? Yes, this is Gunter Brookline. I live one floor below. I see him all the time."

Horatio turned to Ms. Scarlatti. "Is that possible?"

Suddenly reanimated from her near shutdown before, Ms. Scarlatti said, "Yes, this condo is his. I guess he's dead, right? Can I go now?" She spoke breathlessly and seemed close to a panic attack.

Horatio gently took the young woman's arm as he escorted her to the door. "I want to thank you for coming up. We'll want more information later but you won't have to come here. We'll find you. Is that alright?"

"Y…yes, alright, I—I guess so." In spite of her hesitant words, the brunette was staring with complete trust into the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen and was sure her day was going to be much better.

Once the crowd had been cleared from the corridor and officers posted, Horatio and Eric began their task of finding the evidence left behind by the killer.

Eric called out. "I'll start dusting for prints."

Horatio turned to Detective Renner. "On your way out, would you please ask Ms. Scarlatti if she saw anyone enter this morning just before the shots were heard?"

Nodding to the two police officers he'd assigned to the front door, Renner headed to the elevator.

Assured everything was going correctly, Horatio took the time to stand in the middle of the sparsely decorated living room and take it all in. What had happened here? Who had killed Gunter Brookline? Why? There were some signs of a disturbance, magazines knocked from the glass lamp table set beside couch, a lampshade askew, and a foot stool belonging to the chair by the couch sitting cockeyed showing someone had shoved it aside or perhaps had stumbled over it? Visualizing a line starting at about the middle of the room, Horatio imagined the victim backing away from a threatening figure, past the glass topped table, stumbling around the footstool, backing toward the wall that held the entertainment center.

The half erect body lay at the base of the large theater screen which was ruined now, with a blood spattered hole in it. The head was propped against the blood covered the black glass facing that hid the cable box and DVR. The man's bloody back had slid down from where it had hit. Looking it over one more time, Horatio swallowed wondering what would make anyone so mad as to shoot a man in the groin. Hopefully, the victim had been dead before being shot in so tender an area.

To get away from coming to a conclusion, dangerous in the investigation process, Horatio went into the bedroom. Yes, the young man was indeed Gunter Brookline, according to the driver's license and a work ID. He was employed for a company called Noteworthy Enterprises. Horatio noted the name and address and phone number on his address book in his phone.

Back in the living room, he called to Eric. "From the odor of musk in the bedroom, I'd say he entertained a guest last night."

"I'll get take in the bed sheets for Valera to look at."

"Keep in touch."

Walking down the hall, the six foot tall redhead pulled out his phone again and punched a number. "Calleigh, would you please go over to a company called Noteworthy Enterprises. One of their employees is dead." He filled her in on the details. He didn't have to tell her what he wanted. She would probably find out everything he could think of and more."

TBC