CSI Miami: A New Beginning….

Chapter 1

Horatio drove carefully through the busy lunchtime traffic, he was on his way back to the lab after checking out yet another crime scene – today there had already been 3 murders, and it was still early – plenty of time for more mischief to occur.

Waiting at a set of traffic lights, H was lost in his thoughts, until his radio squawked into life. Great he thought, another bank robbery in progress – there had been quite a few recently, making him wonder if people were going mad – it was going to be one of those days. As he made his way to the scene, his blood turned to ice as he heard the follow-up message – "Officer down, hostages taken." something had gone wrong.

Making a quick call, he found out that Eric was already on site – he had been following up a case nearby – and told H that SWAT were on their way.

Pulling over, H quickly got out of the Hummer and joined Eric who was sheltered behind the door of a patrol car. "SWAT just arrived, they have a sharpshooter headed for the roof opposite, and two team members on the roof of the bank ready to go in through the windows if necessary.

"Ok fill me in on the details," Eric informed him that three robbers had gone in, two armed with shotguns, the third – who appeared to be the leader of the group – armed with a semi-automatic pistol.

Unfortunately for them, an off-duty marshal had been in the bank, and had raised the alarm through his mobile. Shots had been heard by passers-by, and through a set of binoculars, H could see the lower half of his body through the glass doors of the bank – from this distance, it was impossible to tell if he was alive or dead.

Frank Tripp came over, stopping next to H, "someone inside is a born negotiator, they've managed to persuade the robbers to release all the female staff, and the female customers with kids."

Horatio frowned, "meaning we have several men and possibly a few women still inside."

An hour later, the stand-off continued. Like many banks, the building was mainly of stone – the windows either had blinds or frosted glass – only the door was clear, even SWAT's little gadgets were not able to give a lot of help, though a small camera had revealed that there were 8 men held hostage by the three robbers - and one woman.

A shout made H look up, four men were leaving the bank – all customers - being released by the robbers. Questioned by Frank, they revealed that they had been released as a 'goodwill gesture' and that the robbers wanted a Hummer to get away. If the Hummer was brought, they would release the rest of the employees.

Eric commented that it would be nice if they released the woman. One of the released hostages laughed, "She won't come out – she's the one who's been negotiating for the rest of us."

Horatio swore – this was going to get difficult, his natural instinct was to protect women and children as much as he could, but this one seemed to be putting herself in harm's way, deliberately, either she was dumb, trying to be a hero (one of the 'men'), or very, very, smart. H hoped it was the latter.

H called the team leaders together for a quick conference. "Here's what I want you to do." outlining his plan, H waited for everyone to move into their respective positions – then drove the Hummer up to the bank.

Stepping away a short distance, he waited, but not for long, the doors opened and the remaining men left. Now came the dodgy part. After what seemed like an eternity, a robber appeared, with the female hostage – holding his pistol to her head, keeping her very close with his other hand.

H swore again. The robber was only about 5'9" and the woman only slightly shorter maybe 5'7". His earpiece crackled "SWAT 1 has no clear shot, repeat, SWAT 1 has no clear shot," H couldn't believe it – this day was going from bad to worse. Movement caught his eye – the other two robbers were emerging from the bank, carrying large holdalls of what could only be cash, as they came out into the sun, Horatio adjusted his position slightly to attract the lead robber's attention.

Two SWAT members slid silently down ropes like spiders on a thread, and soundlessly restrained the two robbers that were below them. H took a deep breath. "Two down one to go," he muttered to himself. Looking carefully at the robber and woman in front of him, he saw that she was tense, but calm and alert – the robber on the other hand was nervous. H knew he had to be careful.

As he was watching he was startled when, with an amused smile, the woman winked at him. "What the hell?" thought H. With a slight nod, he acknowledged that he had seen her 'communication', she smiled dropping her shoulders, she seemed to be waiting for H to make the next move.

The robber moved first – as if he sensed his partners had been taken down, he dragged the woman to the Hummer for cover. Over his earpiece, H could hear SWAT swearing as they had no shot, it was down to him.

Calmly taking out his gun, he ordered the robber to let go of his hostage – at first, he seemed about to comply with Horatio's request, but suddenly tightened his grip around her throat, "She goes nowhere, until I get free." H felt almost powerless – the only shot he had available was to the robbers neck – a head shot could also hit the hostage. H hesitated, it would be a very difficult shot and she might get hit too, he couldn't take the risk.

He was about to lower his gun, when the woman again caught his eye. Although now very tense and obviously concerned with the turn of events, she remained calm. She blinked slowly and slightly nodded her head – the movement caused the robber to change his grip – leaving a slightly larger target for H to aim at.

Horatio was at a loss, lowering his gun slightly he noticed the woman frown, raising it back up, she smiled. "Dear God," thought H, "she understands what I need to do." Watching closely, H saw her control her breathing, forcing herself to relax, as she did so, a little more of the target area opened up. Tightening his grip, H saw her close her eyes, and fired… twice.

H was moving instantly the second shot was clear. Swearing, he knew the first shot must have clipped her shoulder. Both hostage and robber were down, but from the swearing H realised that the woman would – probably – be ok. Kneeling next to her, H was surprised to see that although she must be in pain, she refused to show it. "Tough cookie," he thought to himself, "Hi ma'am, we'll get you sorted – just hang on in there."

Laughing through gritted teeth, the woman regarded him intently, "Lucky you're a good shot… Detective?"

"Lieutenant," H corrected her, "Horatio Caine, crime lab." She acknowledged the difference, "Well thank you for being accurate Lieutenant, or I'd be in a lot more trouble right now. God this hurts like hell."

H noted her accent – definitely not American – English, but with a soft lilting quality. She was gripping the wound tightly, keeping pressure on it, but H could see that blood was starting to seep through her fingers, she was hurt more badly than H had initially realised. Shouting to hurry up the paramedic, H looked at her carefully. "They'll be here in a second, you go and get yourself fixed up, is there anyone we need to contact? Mrs……"

"Michelle, Michelle Bailey, only my daughter Kyra for the moment, if someone can collect her from school."

"Husband?" asked H, Michelle grimaced as another wave of pain passed across her face, "Died 3 years ago, no other family here." As the paramedics picked her up and put her on to the stretcher, a worried look came into her eyes, "My daughter..."

H caught her hand, "I don't want you to worry about that right now. Which school?" Michelle told him, "I'll bring her to you myself." Relief passing across her face, the pain finally took over, and Michelle blacked out…

Checking the time, Horatio contacted the school to ask what time Michelle's daughter would be finished, and arranged to meet her in the principal's office.

Arriving back at the lab, Horatio started thinking about the robbery. There had been so many recently, they never made front page news. Asking for the case files, H started reading. Of all the recent robberies, only the first two had been successful – the robbers getting away with around $250,000 each time. Yet each robbery was similar, only three robbers each time at small banks, not the big multinationals that could afford the extra security.

Making note of the banks, including today's target, H had a feeling there was a link but couldn't see anything at the moment and continued looking. The robbers had all been of Latin ancestry, possibly Cuban, or even South American.

Walking into the school, H smiled at the looks he got from the kids leaving for home. Heading for the principal's office, he went through what he would tell this young girl.

Seeing Kyra, H was startled, Michelle was light-brown/blonde haired and blue eyed, but her daughter was dark almost black hair, with dark brown eyes. "Must be her father's genes," thought H to himself.

"Hi you must be Kyra," she was about 8 years old, H guessed. Taking off his glasses, and looking at her sideways, Horatio sat down on the couch next to her and explained why he was there, "I'm going to take you to your mom now."

H led Kyra outside to the Hummer. "Is this your car?" H nodded, "Cool… Is mum hurt badly?" H told her that Michelle had been shot in the shoulder, but that she should be ok, and that the shoulder would be back to normal in a couple of months. Kyra groaned, "Oh boy – she's going to be mad."

Gentle questioning from H revealed that Michelle was part owner of a riding centre – training people and horses for 3 day event – a shoulder injury would cause problems for business. Kyra also confirmed to H that they were indeed from the UK, Michelle was Welsh born and bred – hence the lilt to her accent.

Arriving at the hospital, H was surprised to see Calleigh deep in conversation with Michelle. "Hi Horatio, hi Kyra, how are you doing?" H was startled – Calleigh obviously knew them – maybe she could fill him in later.

Seeing the grateful look in Michelle's eyes, H used the opportunity to check how she was feeling. "Shoulder hurts like hell, but I'll deal with it." As she had to stay in hospital for a couple of days, H was concerned for Kyra. "Don't worry – she's going to be looked after by my groom and his wife – she'll be fine, Alessandro treats her like his own grand daughter."

H stood up to leave, wishing Michelle a speedy recovery. "Don't you want to ask me anything?"

Horatio paused, "we can wait until you feel better."

Michelle pulled a face, "the longer you wait, the more I'll forget."

H sat back down, "You have a point."

Just as he was about to start asking Michelle some questions, the nurse came in to check her I.V. tree, noticing that she was just on basic meds, Horatio excused himself – saying he would be back shortly. Stopping the nurse, H queried the lack of painkillers.

"She doesn't want anything strong, says it dulls her senses." The nurse went on to say that Michelle had a pretty high pain threshold – though if she didn't sleep, the doctor had instructed her to give Michelle something stronger for the night.

Looking at Michelle through the window, H was amazed at how resilient this woman was. No husband, her own business – calm when under pressure, in a country that she had only lived in for just under a year. Life had dealt her a tough hand to play and she played it well. Fortunately, Maria and Alessandro arrived at that moment to take Kyra home and to get instructions for the barn, so H was able to start talking to Michelle about the robbery.

Going through the incident, Michelle was able to give details of what happened, such detail that he could almost picture it in his mind. She played down her part in the robbery, negotiating the release of the other hostages, "I've always been a good talker."

After she had finished, H thanked her for her help, but she dismissed his comments, "I'm the one who should be thanking you, you trusted my judgement to do your job. Not many men would have taken the shot, I could have been in a far worse state if you hadn't fired."

Talking in general, H found Michelle to have a quick wit and such an easy going manner that he began talking about a lot of things that he had partly forgotten. An hour later, he regretfully made his apologies, he had to get back to the lab. "It is I who should apologise for monopolising your time Lieutenant."

Horatio smiled, and insisted that Michelle call him by his first name, "I may need to check some details in the future, would it be ok if we spoke to you again…?"

Michelle nodded, "I'm not going anywhere." Smiling as he left the room, H saw Michelle turn off the overhead light and settle herself down for some sleep.

Horatio called in to the hospital on several occasions during the next few days, but the rest of the questioning was done by Frank and his officers. Calleigh had told him a little more about Michelle's work they did know each other, as Calleigh occasionally rode at the barn when she had some free time, but she couldn't add much, except that Michelle had come to Miami to make a fresh start after her husband had been killed, how Calleigh didn't know. Michelle kept her past strictly private.

At the end of the week Michelle went home, with orders to take it easy. Grumbling about the restrictions placed on her by the doc, she promised to behave appropriately, though all who knew her knew that she wouldn't. Fortunately, she didn't need her right arm to teach or train, though it would be a while before she could compete again.