CSI Miami: Targeted

Written By LockBox22

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Miami and everything related to it. If you recognize it, I don't own it. I only own my original storyline, plot and any original characters. Any mistakes or liberties taken are mine.

Part One:

The Miami sun beat down on the pavement making waves of heat shimmer up from the concrete and promising that the day would be hot. It was a big change from the night before when the skies had opened up and a heavy rain had drenched the entire city of Miami.

Horatio Caine stood in the middle of a large home in Miami-Dade county. The architecture was very modern with stainless steel and glass replacing the usual wood and white plastic. In the living room there was one entire wall dedicated to music. Guitars hung from hooks in the wall and the book shelf was entirely filled with CDs, a couple records and a record player. An full entertainment system took centre stage with the furniture arranged around it.

The glass coffee table between the couch and the television was broken and a man lying face down in the middle of the glass and wood. It was Greg Jennings; a Assistant District Attorney in the District Attorney's office. Jennings was one of the more successful ADA's that had come around recently. His conviction rate was high and he was well respected in the department for doing all he could to get the murders and rapists convicted for highest sentence available. And now he was dead.

"Alexx, what do we got?" Horatio asked glancing down at the dark-skinned M.E, who was just beginning to examine Jennings's body.

"Two gunshot wounds to the back, very close together." Alexx said probing the wounds with gloved fingers.

"What about that third bullet wound, Alexx?" Horatio asked, his quick eye catching the discrepancy.

A frown started on Dr. Alexx Wood's forehead as she moved hair aside to get a better look at the bullet wound. "It looks like this one was delivered close range. After the two in his chest." Alexx said in astonishment. She looked up at Horatio. "It just wasn't enough to shoot him in the back; they had to shoot him in the head too."

"That sounds like a professional hit, Alexx." Horatio replied. "That means we're not looking for a ordinary killer."

"Well the bullets are still inside of him, so that should make your job a whole lot easier." Alexx said glancing over the body. "I'll get them to Calleigh as soon as I dig them out of him."

"Thank you, ma'am." Horatio said in parting as Alexx stood up to let her staff take the body. He looked up and turned slightly towards door as the rest of his team entered.

"You're late, gentlemen." Horatio gently reprimanded Eric Delko and Tim Speedle as they walked into the room gawking at the size of the house.

"Sorry, H." Speed apologized, lowering his gaze to meet Horatio's. "We got caught in traffic." He shoot a look at Delko which clearly said exactly what he thought of his colleague's driving skills.

All three of them watched as Alexx took the body out the double doors.

"Whose the victim?" Eric asked.

"Greg Jennings." Horatio replied. "He was an assistant district attorney; we're treating this like one of our own."

"He was good." Speed commented. "Never let a perp walk."

Horatio looked over his CSI's. They both were wearing dark slacks and Speed was wearing a dark shirt, but Delko had opted for a lighter, bluer shirt then his colleague. While they had been talking, the sliding glass door behind Horatio had slide open noiselessly. None of the three men had heard it.

"Bang."

Delko and Speedle both started at the voice and turned rather quickly. Horatio, knowing that someone else had been there, didn't even flinch as he turned to face the speaker.

CSI Alana Cooper was kneeling on the patio, pointing at Horatio with her gloved hand shaped into a gun. Alana was an athletic young woman who had joined Horatio's team three months earlier acting as temporary replacement for Megan Donner. Her dark hair was pulled back into a braid and she wore black pants and a blue dress shirt. Unknowingly, her clothing choice matched her boss's this morning.

"Jeez, Coop!" Delko exclaimed.

"What are you doing out there?" Speedle asked in annoyance. "Trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Retracing the killer's footsteps actually." Alana replied lowering her hand. "You know; doing my job like I'm supposed to." There was insinuations in her tone.

"Did the killer tell you anything?" Speed asked ignoring her insinuations.

"Always have to deflect like that, Speedle?" Alana teased.

"Always have to scare people like that, Cooper?" Speed shot back.

"People, time is of the essence." Horatio said interrupting the banter. The quiet order sent his CSI's back into professionalism.

"You were right, H. From here is the perfect angle to shoot Jennings." Alana said. "This is where the killer was. He definitely entered and exited this way."

"What makes you say that?" Eric asked.

Alana pulled the sliding door towards her and then pushed it away again, looking expectantly at them. Eric and Speed looked confused.

"It's a sliding door." Speed said.

Alana let out a quiet sigh. "Do you hear anything?" She asked.

"Should we?" Speed asked.

"Gentlemen, this door has been oiled recently." Horatio said tilting his head to get a better look at the sliding door. All three of them moved in for a careful look.

"Last night I'd say." Eric said. He wrinkled his nose. "I can still smell the oil."

"I also found some scratches on the lock." Alana said touching the object with her gloved hand. "The walk is paved and as far as I can tell the killer kept to it; no footprints."

"That's convenient." Speed snorted.

Horatio silently agreed with his colleague. The killer was good. That or he had too much time on his hands and knew how to avoid being caught.

"Here's what I'm thinking so far." Alana said rising from her kneeling position. "Our guy oils the sliding door and then opens the door somehow."

"He could've had a key or the victim might have let him in." Delko theorized.

"Or he picked the lock." Horatio said joining in. The comment got a couple of looks from his CSI's, but they were used to Horatio not sharing everything with them.

"He gets into the house and then, bang." Alana pointed to where Greg Jennings had been standing over the coffee table and mimic pulling a trigger. Everyone visualized Jennings falling onto the table and breaking the glass.

"What was the cause of death?" Speed asked turning to Horatio.

"Two shots to the back and then one to the head." Horatio replied. "Professional."

That one word silenced them all. Professional killers were the hardest to prosecute. They left no trace and didn't have any respect for the law-enforcement. They were dangerous.

"All right, here's what we do." Horatio said finally. "We process the house and use that evidence to find Jennings's killer. If it is a professional hit, then we need to look outside the box for this one. Be on your toes, people."

The CSI's had started with the outside first since the intruder had come in the back door. There was a lot of evidence to collect. Speed found some weird trace on the walk way; Eric had found several shoe prints on the grass and in the dirt by the garden; Alana had stayed near the backdoor and found a can of WD-40, used for oiling squeaky hinges and such.

Then they had moved inside and started to process the actual crime scene. Everything was carefully photographed, documented and sketched before anything was touched. When that was finished, each of the team went to their chosen tasks.

"Well at least he had good taste." Speed said as he photographed the C.D collection.

"Depends on what you mean good taste." Eric said from where he was rifling through the desk. "Everyone's definition is different."

"I don't know, Delko." Speed replied snapping another picture. "Have you heard some of the music that's coming out these days? Most of it would make the classics cry."

Eric grinned as he shook his head and went back the the mountain of paper on the large desk. The desk was large and the paper was stacked three deep.

"What would you know about music?" Alana asked conversationally from her place kneeling by the back door. She was dusting for prints. "Besides the good beats anyways."

"Isn't that why you like your music, Coop?" Eric asked with a smile.

"Hey!" She turned to him. "Do not mock my taste in music, Eric Delko. Indie rock and metal are a lot better then what you listen too."

"She's right." Speed agreed. "The Top 40 is so not music, Delko."

"And your weird unheard of bands are?" Eric asked. "Most of the time I don't even know if the songs have words."

"Well when they do it's a lot better then 'shake your booty.'" Speed replied; his tone clearly telling them what he thought of said lyrics.

"Hear, hear." Alana agreed bending over her work once again.

Eric shot her a look. "Now who's mocking who?"

"I got a print." Alana said ignoring his remark as the fingerprint powder revealed the lines and arches that made up a fingerprint. She raised her eyebrow as it revealed more then one; half a dozen to be exact. "Actually I got quite a few." She corrected herself.

"Good. Maybe one of them belongs to our murderer." Eric said looking up from the paperwork he was going through; the argument all but forgotten.

"Hopefully." Alana replied as she carefully pulled the prints from the door using a print lifter. She slipped the prints into her kit and put her supplies away.

Speed lowered his camera and started to pack up his kit. "Photos are done." He said shortly. "You almost finished there, Delko?" He asked.

"No." Eric replied. He replaced a stack of papers. "This is going to take a week to get through. We're going to have to take it all back to the lab. Speed, give me a hand. We're going to need some boxes in here." Eric called to the officer standing at the doorway. The officer nodded and went outside to collect the evidence boxes from the CSI's Hummer.

Speed left his kit on the floor and went to the desk to help Eric place the papers in more manageable stacks. Loose papers littered the table top and a few fell to the floor.

"Coop, come and give us a hand." Eric called grabbing for a piece of paper and missing. There was no answer and Eric looked up, wondering where Alana had got too. Alana was standing by the back-door with a frown on her face. She was staring at the TV.

"Alana?" Eric called again.

Speed stopped what he was doing and looked up. "Cooper!" He yelled.

Alana snapped out of her daze. "Huh? Sorry." She apologized seeing their expectant looks. "Something just doesn't make sense."

"Yeah; why the guy was a good attorney, but a terrible organizer." Speed replied in annoyance, shifting his grip on the papers.

Alana barely glanced at the messy desk. "That and something else." She said. She turned back to the entertainment centre, placing herself exactly where they thought Jennings had been standing when he had been shot. "Why was Jennings standing here when he got shot? What was he looking at?" Alana wondered, speaking more to herself then Eric and Speed.

Eric frowned as the question struck a cord with him and he let go the papers he had been holding.

"Hey!" Speed protested as some of the folders slide towards him, several papers falling to the floor.

"You're right." Eric said to Alana coming around the table. "Something had to be keeping his attention."

"But what?" Alana asked quietly. "The TV wasn't on when we got here." She walked towards the broken coffee table and stared down into it. She looked up and frowned again. "The stereo's on. Who leaves a stereo on in middle of the night?"

"Half of Miami does." Eric replied. "We're one of the biggest electricity wasters."

"You're kidding." Speed asked. He had long abandoned the papers and was now beside Eric watching Alana.

"No, I'm not. It probably has to do with all the clubs in the city." Eric replied.

Alana carefully stepped around the glass; hearing it crunch underfoot. And then, bending down, she pressed the play button on the stereo. The CD player spun and a moment later, rock music blasted out of the speakers at the highest volume possible.

Alana pulled back and put one hand over her ear; she had been kneeling right next to one of the speakers. Speed shouted something to her, but she couldn't hear him over the noise. The volume had been set on it's highest setting.

Eric was to busy covering his ears to do anything. Speed motioned for Alana to turn it off even though she was already reaching for the volume dial. She turned it all the way to one where they could just faintly hear the music. Or could have if their ears hadn't been ringing.

"Nice going, Cooper." Speed said sarcastically massaging his left ear. "That's twice in one day."

"What?" Alana asked in confusion. Her hearing was still a little off.

"He's said, nice going!" Eric repeated with a glare.

Horatio came quickly into the room with the officer that had gone to get the evidence boxes for them. Horatio had been going through the rest of house while his CSI processed the scene. "What as that?" He asked in concern.

"What?" All three of his CSI's asked in unison.

"I said, what was that?" Horatio asked pitching his voice a little louder.

"Music." Speed replied. Then he frowned. "Or at least I think it was." He quipped.

"This could explain why Jennings didn't hear his attacker until it was too late." Eric said in realization. "He had his music up too loud."

"He died for want of a song." Alana quipped.

Once back at the lab, all four of them set to processing the evidence that had been brought back from the Jennings's house.

Eric took the fingerprints and shoe casts that he had made; Alana took the can of WD-40 that she had found and set about finding prints; Speed took the weird trace that had been found on the walkway and Horatio went to visit Alexx.

The morgue was quiet and there was always that funny smell that clung to your clothing, branding you for the rest of the day. Alexx had finished the autopsy while they had been at the scene and was ready for Horatio. He was always impressed by her sense of timing.

"What did Mr. Jennings tell you?" Horatio asked, looking down at Alexx through the glass partition that separated them.

"Nothing much." Alexx admitted. "I wish I had more to give you Horatio. Mr. Jennings was a healthy man; in excellent shape. He was only thirty-five; too young to die."

"How about the gunshot wounds, Alexx?" Horatio asked looking at the wounds using the monitor to his right.

"Just like I thought." Alexx said. She motioned to the orderly to help her and together, they turned Mr. Jennings's body over, exposing the bullet wounds to his back. "First, he was shot twice in the back from at least three feet away."

Alexx lowered Mr. Jennings back down to the metal table. "And then once more in the back of the head; close range. The bullet bounced around his brain and I was only able to recover fragments."

Alexx placed her hand on Jennings's forehead gently. "Fortunately, the bullets from his back were intact. I sent them and the fragments up to Calleigh."

"How close was the shooter?" Horatio asked.

"The killer held the weapon right against his head and pulled the trigger." Alexx replied.

Horatio looked closely at the photo that he held in his hand. "Is that a muzzle stamp?" He asked looking back down at the body.

Alexx turned Jennings's head so the back was facing her. "It is." She said. She looked up at Horatio. "I'll cast it and send it up to Calleigh."

"Thank you, Alexx." Horatio said before walking out of the observation room.

Upon getting back to the lab, Eric and Alana had secluded themselves in the print lab. Eric with the prints from the back door and Alana with the can of WD-40 that she had found in the bushes.

Eric ran the prints through AFIS and Alana set up the fuming chamber to get prints from the can.

Fingerprint matches were long in coming for Eric. He stared at the computer, willing it to beep. Behind him at the table, Alana had finished fuming and was now looking over the can, which was clean. "Damn." She muttered softly.

"Nothing?" Eric asked turning to face her.

"Nothing." Alana replied putting the can down on the table. She shucked off her gloves and came over to him. "Any matches yet?" She asked looking at the computer screen.

"Nothing yet." Eric said turning back to the computer screen. The computer beeped. "Oh, here we go." The computer showed the print match on it's screen. "Roger Gallagher. He was a POI in a B&E at a judge's home last year."

"Nice." Alana congratulated him.

"I call Horatio." Eric said reaching for the desk phone.

Meanwhile, Speed was in the Trace lab. He had gotten a sample of the weird sticky stuff that he had found along the back walk way of the Jennings house and stuck it through the Mass Spec to see what the stuff was made off. While the machine worked, Speed had nicked the victim's clothing that Alexx had sent up and was examining them for trace.

A rock band playing through his headphones, Speed spread Jennings's clothing out on the table. Jennings had been dressed for an evening at home with jeans and a t-shirt. He had been barefoot. The t-shirt had blood on it and Speed grabbed a sample to send to DNA, to confirm that the blood was Jennings's.

The jeans were harder and Speed used a magnifying glass to closely study the material. There were little bits of glass embedded in the dense fabric, but nothing else.

The printer in the corner made a buzzing sound, meaning that the mass spec was finished tasting the trace that he had sent through it. Speed walked over and grabbed the paper out of the tray. He walked back to the table to study it.

Alana walked into the room and found Speed at the table; headphones on and eyes glued to the paper in front of him. His right hand tapped out the rhythm of the song he was listening too. He was unaware that she had entered the room.

Alana got an wicked grin on her face. Carefully, she sneaked up the desk. It wasn't fair really; she had already scared him once today, but she still hadn't forgiven him and Eric for the 'dead body' prank that they had pulled on her first time out.

Alana leaned on the table, rested her chin on her hand and waited. A few minutes later, Speed looked up and then jumped. Alana straightened up as Speed ripped his headphones from his ears, letting them fall around his neck.

"My god, Cooper! Do you ever have a problem!" Speed exclaimed half angry, half annoyed.

"Payback's a bitch." Alana replied cheerfully. "What you got?"

"Crap." Speed replied.

"Excuse me?" Alana asked with a frown.

"Dog poo plain enough for you?" Speed asked. "Because that's what it is. Here." He handed Alana the paper.

"Interesting." Alana muttered glancing over the paper. "Mixed with gum?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yup." Speed replied. "Our killer's shoe picked up some gum and then he walked through dog poo."

"Nice." Alana replied sarcastically, handing the paper back to Speed. "It could be anyone then."

"Anyone who walked through gum and then dog poo in the last day." Speed replied taking back the paper. "How'd you and Eric do with fingerprints?"

"Eric got a match; Roger Gallagher. POI of an B&E at a judge's home last year." Alana replied. "He and Horatio went to check it out."

"And what are you up too besides scaring your colleagues?" Speed asked dryly.

"Jennings's papers." Alana replied ignoring the jibe. "I was wondering if you wanted to give me a hand? If you're done with your crap that is." She said offhandedly.

"Quite." Speed replied dryly.

"Good." Alana said. "I'll be in the conference room." She called back over her shoulder as she exited the Trace lab.

"Sit." The tall, beefy detective placed Roger Gallagher into the chair across the table from where Horatio was standing.

"I didn't do anything wrong, man!" Gallagher protested scooting forward so he could place his cuffed hands on the metal tabletop.

"Then why'd you run, Roger?" Horatio asked stepping forward.

Gallagher lived in one of the more run down neighbourhoods in the city and when Horatio and Eric had knocked on the door, announcing themselves, Gallagher had run out the back. Both of them, along with the officers and detective, had given chase and caught Gallagher just before he had attempted to carjack a couple.

The gun had been controlled and was now with Calleigh in the gun lab where she would determine if the gun matched the kind used to murder Greg Jennings.

Roger didn't answer Horatio. A muscle jumped in his cheek as he turned away from the investigator.

"We contracted your parole officer." Horatio told Gallagher. "He told us that you missed your last check-in."

"I was busy." Gallagher replied sullenly.

"Busy murdering Greg Jennings?" Horatio asked.

"What? No, man! No!" Gallagher protested. "I didn't go near no ADA!"

"Then what are your prints doing in his house?" Horatio asked, carefully placing the paper that held the fingerprint match on the table in front of Gallagher.

Gallagher pulled the paper towards him and glanced it over. "Ok." He shoved the paper back towards Horatio. "I was there, but he was alive when I left." Gallagher tapped the table with one finger for emphasis.

"Why were you doing in Greg Jennings home?" Horatio asked. "And don't lie to me, Roger."

"I went there to talk to the guy alright?" Gallagher replied. "He's the one who put me in jail and on a false charge too! I didn't break into no judge's house! The DA's office is planting evidence, man."

"What happened at the house?" Horatio asked again.

"We argued." Gallagher replied. "He threatened to call the police so I left. End of story." He shrugged.

"You better not be lying to me, Roger." Horatio warned the younger man. "Because I will always find the truth."