A/N : Firstly, I would like to thank everyone for giving me so much support and have been reading my stories all this while. I have enjoyed writing for your entertainment and I appreciate it that you loved my stories.
Thank you for the reviews. I'm glad many of you stayed through and have been waiting for this sequel. And may I warn, this story is heavy and will be full of angst and sadness. :'( Hopefully we see some cheerful stuff here and there :P
Enjoyyyy ;)
"He's not with me anymore." Mac answered briefly and Eric shook his head in disbelief.
"Let's not talk about this here. Shall we head out and talk about this? I don't want words to spread around." Mac nodded and Eric guided him to the elevator then to his hummer and they made their way to a cafeteria nearby. Eric wanted to talk about this over coffee. "So what happened? Where is he?" Mac's shoulders dropped and his facial expression changed.
"He's nowhere to be found." Mac sighed. Eric's eyes widened.
"Wait. What do you mean? Do you mean he's gone?" Mac nodded. "Is he dead?" Eric asked. He needed confirmation.
"We don't know that." Mac then took out a file from his bag; it was the case file, and handed it over to Eric. "The blood found was Horatio's. His cell phone was there too. And the wires that we put on him was disabled the moment he entered the warehouse. This guy was very well prepared." Eric took the file and flipped it open. The first thing he saw was the photograph of the blood pool.
"This is his blood?" Mac nodded. "But it's not enough to cause death." Eric frowned.
"We know that. That is why I said we don't know if he's dead or still alive. My team is still working on it. We're going to find him."
"Does Calleigh know about this?" Mac looked at him with remorse in his eyes. "Damn." He cursed under his breath. He understood by his looks that Calleigh has been told. "No wonder she didn't report for work today. I thought she was just feeling unwell." Eric sighed.
"I have something that belongs to her. It was on the dresser table in my guest room; left by Horatio." Eric sighed and rubbed his face with his hands.
"I think we need to see her now." Mac agreed and they both finished their coffees then made their way to Horatio's house. Once they arrived, it was already almost evening.
"You really think this would be a good idea?" Mac asked.
"She already know hasn't she?" Mac nodded. "And besides, you came all the way to Miami from New York to break the news to her. You having second thoughts?"
"I don't know Eric. I feel responsible for his disappearance. I was supposed to make sure that he's safe."
"Mac, it's not your fault. The one at fault is that bastard who took him. I know Calleigh wouldn't blame you." Eric had his hand on Mac's shoulder.
"She called me and told me that I was supposed to take care of him. What am I supposed to tell her." Eric felt sorry for him.
"Mac, don't worry. She's not that kind of person. I assure you it was just her emotions speaking." Eric gave him a slight smile and a squeeze on his shoulder to assure him. Mac nodded. They both made their way to the door and knocked a few times before Calleigh stood in front of them. Mac was taken aback by what he saw. He felt guilty all over again when he saw her. Her eyes were red and puffy. Part of cheeks was still wet from the tears. Mac knew she tried to wipe off her tears.
"He's gone isn't he?" She whispered and then started crying all over again. Mac and Eric looked at each other and they felt so sorry for her.
"Cal, we don't know that yet. He might still be alive Cal." Calleigh cried harder and her knees suddenly went gave in and she buckled, almost crumbling to the ground but before she managed to hit the ground, Mac quickly took her in his arms and carried her over to the couch, laying her gently. Eric had immediately called for an ambulance to get her to the hospital. Mac stayed with her while Eric went outside to later bring in the paramedics. As Mac was attending to Calleigh and laying her down on the couch, he heard the cries of the babies and then he realized that the babies were with them in the living room. Mac laid her quickly and went towards the babies to try to soothe them when they cried harder and louder.
"Mac, what happened?" Eric ran and barged into the living room.
"I don't know. They started crying and I wanted to try to comfort them and they cried harder." He paused. "And louder." Eric chuckled. "What?"
"Nothing. They're just not used to strangers. They're just like that. I think they were just trained." He smiled. "Don't worry. I'll handle them." Eric then stepped forward to pick Horatius then Alayna. "Hey there you two." The babies kept crying. "Are you guys hungry?"
"They could be hungry. Or maybe their diapers are wet." Mac suggested.
"Yeah I think they're hungry. Their diapers feel fine." Mac nodded. "Could you help with their milk?" Mac nodded and headed to the kitchen to get their milk. He had to follow his guts and instincts to prepare the milk because he never had any children or make any milk for babies. "Here we go." Mac handed the bottles to Eric who was already seated on the chair with both twins in his arms. Once Eric fed the babies the bottle, the babies were quick enough to grab it on their own and hold the bottle with their own hands. "Wow. They're smart."
Eric smiled. "Yeah they are. Just see who their parents are. Horatio and Calleigh. If they're not geniuses, then I don't know what they are. They are already so invincible." Eric laughed. Right then, the paramedics arrived and Mac had let them into the living room to take Calleigh away to the hospital.
"Anyone coming along in the ambulance?" The paramedics asked after they loaded Calleigh onto the gurney.
"No. We will drive over there. Just take care of her." Eric spoke up and the paramedics nodded and rolled her out of the house then into the ambulance. "Mac, could you help me to pack their stuff?" Eric asked, indicating to the babies.
"Yeah sure. Just tell me where their room is. And Calleigh's. I'll get her stuff as well."
"Calleigh's room is the first on the left and the kids' is just across it." Mac nodded and went off to pack their belongings. He packed extra clothes for the twins including diapers and some toys. After packing, Mac met Eric back in the hummer where Eric had already placed both the babies in their baby seats.
"So Mac, I guess you might have to drive right now. Since the babies need someone at the back and it definitely can't be you." Eric chuckled a little.
"Well I am fine with that as long as you show me the way." Eric nodded and Mac took the driver seat. Eric had directed Mac to all the turns and corners, making sure that they took the correct and the shortest way. Once they arrived at the hospital, Eric made a quick call to Frank to ask him to pick the babies up from the hospital. Frank came within minutes with Alexx who was off-duty and brought the babies back to Alexx's place so that the babies could have their rest. Just then, the doctor appeared before them.
-PRESENT DAY-
"So what can we do now?" Mac asked the doctor.
"We need to monitor her current condition and the baby's. And please, I don't want anything to stress her out. She could have a miscarriage if her stress level increases." Mac nodded. "We will have to keep her here for a few days."
"Thank you doctor." Mac and Eric shook hands with the doctor and the doctor left them both. They turned to take a look at Calleigh through the glass window and she was just lying there, unconscious. Each of them were very quiet and entertaining their own thoughts, wondering where Horatio had gone to and what Calleigh would do now that Horatio is missing.
"What's our next move Mac?" Eric broke the silence and directed his attention towards Mac who was standing beside him.
"I don't know. The only way we can find him is to see if there are any traces left at the warehouse which we are waiting for now. My team is canvassing the place from top to bottom and I can assure you that they will not leave any spot untouched." Mac said in a very firm and confident manner. "I'm not going to allow anything to happen to both Horatio and Calleigh." Mac had so much determination in his eyes that Eric didn't even need to think twice to be convinced. Eric just nodded. Mac then took his leave and walked away from Eric to make a call to his team to ask if they had any progress on the case or if they had even found any traces. He only had to wait for a few rings before hearing Stella's voice.
"Hey." Mac spoke up first.
"Hey Mac. How is it going over there?"
"Well…I'm at the hospital right now." Mac could hear a soft gasp on the other side of the line.
"Is she alright Mac?"
"She's going to be. She was pretty shaken and she almost lost her baby. I don't want to stress her out anymore." Mac paused for a moment. "So, anything on the case yet? Any traces found?" Mac asked as he took a seat on the couch in the visitor's lounge. He was too worried and too worn out that he started to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Not yet Mac. We've covered the whole entire area but there was nothing. Not a single fingerprint. It was definitely wiped clean. This guy is good." Mac sighed.
"He will slip and I am going to get him. He will definitely slip. No one is that brilliant. He will screw up Stel. I want him to screw up right now." Mac had so much anger in his voice. He was clenching his jaws as he spoke.
"I know Mac. He's not that smart that he would escape us. Right now, just focus on the other side. We can handle it here." Stella tried to convince Mac. He sighed again.
"We need to work fast Stel. His kids are too young. They can't just lose their father at such young age. And with another baby coming along, I don't know how Calleigh is going to manage." Mac kept pinching the bridge of his nose.
"We will do our best. I will talk to you later."
"Alright. I'll talk to you later. And Stel, check his records when he was working with the NYPD. It might be related to his old cases." Mac instructed her then said his goodbyes. Eric then appeared at the door.
"Any progress yet?" Eric asked, leaning onto the door. Mac shook his head and Eric sighed.
"I've asked them to look at his records when he worked with the NYPD." Mac paused as he got Eric's attention. "It could be connected because the guy asked him to meet in New York. Just for precaution." Eric nodded.
"Well, then we will look into his cases here and check for anything and everything." Mac agreed with him. "I'll go back to the lab. Natalia will be here soon. She's on her day off tomorrow and she volunteered to be here." Mac nodded and followed Eric back to the lab. By the time they left the hospital, Natalia had already arrived and was looking after Calleigh.
To be continued...
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