Chapter Two: The Escape to the sunshine state

It was a "blunder" that never should have happened. As the lead investigator on Shaw's case as soon as he escaped Horatio should have been noticed and he and his family placed under around-the-clock protection. But somehow word didn't reach the Miami-Dade Crime Lab till Shaw was on the loose over three days—and strongly suspected to be in the Miami area.

"What?! What do you mean he's been out for 72hours? Why the fuck wasn't I notified?" A mix of terror and rage filled Horatio. The next thing the prison official told him made his blood run cold.

"Shaw has your personal information and home address. We have reason to believe your family could be in real danger."

"Really?" Horatio practically screamed. "You're really fuckin' smart to figure that out!"

Horatio lived twenty minutes from the crime lab. He had to get protection to Aimee and Rachel quickly. But Aimee and three-month-old were home but outside. They were out in the backyard, enjoying the Miami sun so when Horatio called there was no answer and for a trip as far as their backyard Aimee didn't take her cellphone. Normally that didn't scare him. But today was anything but normal.

Horatio was starting to panic. Not knowing where his wife-to-be and their baby were when Shaw was free scared him down to the core of his soul.

The Caine Family Backyard

Rachel Caine's eyes grew wide at the new feeling of the flower petals on her fingertips. Her little mouth opened wide when she got the scent of the flowers. Her mom laughed as baby drool touched some of the petals.

"Do they smell pretty? You don't smell them with your mouth, silly."

Horatio's next call was to their neighbor. It took all his strength to sound like nothing was wrong when he asked if the woman had seen Aimee and Rachel because the phone kept ringing.

"They're in your backyard. Your sweet little Rachel is loving smelling the flowers."

Horatio breathed a huge sigh of relief that he hoped wasn't audible to the woman on the other end. He knew he now had to get home, followed by a squad car (without lights and siren) and talk to Aimee.

A cheap motel across town

Mason Shaw smoked a cigarette He was out of the joint for almost two weeks. He had seen Aimee and Rachel. The two people Lieutenant Caine loved the most. If Horatio had known Shaw had got that close to his family he wouldn't have hesitated to take out his gun and kill him.

"What a pretty little baby, Caine," he smirked to himself. "You must be very proud. Pretty lady, too. Fine piece of ass. Must think you're lucky man to be hittin' that every night."

Shaw couldn't act yet. He wasn't going to till the search for him slowed down, till they thought he might not be in Florida, till the manhunt was somewhere in the middle of page six instead of the front page. Shaw was getting bored and going stir-crazy having to stay in this room till it got dark every day. Even though he had changed his appearance, shaving his head and facial hair he wasn't taking any chances on being out in daylight yet.

One pathetic plainclothes cop wasn't going to stop him he thought first, even if this cop wasn't to leave the duo's side "for any reason whatsoever." But it started to annoy Shaw when he noticed that whenever the mother and baby weren't with a plainclothes cop Horatio had them packed up in the Hummer and the two stayed at the crime lab until he went home. They were never left unprotected not for one moment. The last place Mason Shaw was stepping foot was the Miami-Dade crime lab.

Fuck, Caine, Shaw thought. Can't you even blink for a moment?

Even worse to Shaw he saw no cracks in the couple's relationship. He scoffed when he saw Aimee smile and kiss Horatio when he opened the passenger side door of the vehicle. Horatio had smiled back at her. Shaw wasn't the only one who thought that maybe the relationship might suffer under this situation. Privately Aimee's family were worried it would although it was the last thing they wanted to happen. All would be surprised with Aimee's line of thinking; why would she be annoyed with Horatio? It wasn't like he was trying to 'smother' her. For Christ sake, he was just trying protect them from a convicted rapist who was out to harm them!

Considering the situation Aimee wasn't bothered by the fact she was never alone. She never wanted to be alone right now. Until this ordeal was over they had moved Rachel into a crib in their bedroom. The infant seemed unaffected by the situation, cooing and starting to smile often. Even the nights she and her mom had to sleep in the crime lab loft because Horatio had to stay so late. As a matter of fact one of those because everyone knew Aimee needed the rest, after she had fallen into a deep sleep. When Rachel woke up for her bottle and diaper change Eric came and took her.

"I got her," Eric told Aimee quietly. "I'll bring her down to H—he said for you to stay up here and get your sleep.

"C'mon little one," he said to Rachel. "Everyone downstairs wants to see your pretty face."

Although she knew people who would if they were in her position Aimee knew blamed her fiancee and held it against him for "creating this situation." As far as having to stay in the crime lab some nights, Aimee didn't think she could get any safer than sleeping there. If she blamed anybody, it was Mason Shaw and the incompetent private Georgia prison that let him escape. If Aimee thought she was mad, Horatio was a thousand times more angry. Shaw's problem was with him, not Aimee and Rachel, the fact that Shaw was going after two innocent people when Horatio was the one Shaw wanted to get back at, made the lieutenant's blood boil. When Horatio, along with Ryan interviewed Shaw's son at his dorm, Horatio told the guy if he heard from his father to give him a message—even calling Aimee his wife in the message.

"If you see or hear from your father, you give him a message for me. Tell him this is between him and me. Tell him to leave my wife and child out of this. Tell him if he wants a showdown to name the time and place and I'll be there."

Ryan pretended he didn't hear the 'showdown' threat. Mostly because he would have done the same thing and that he thought Shaw deserved to lose any "showdown."

"Sorry you had to hear that, Mr.Wolfe," Horatio told Ryan when they were back in the Hummer.

"Hear what? I never heard a thing, H."

Ryan personally thought 'H' had shown much more restraint than he would have in Horatio's situation. Not one single team member had a problem with it when Horatio said from time-to-time whenever he felt the need, to protect his family he would be bringing them with him to the lab.

"You're protecting your family, Horatio. Besides Rachel will spend a bit of joy around the lab," Alexx said.

The others agreed. When Horatio had left the room the five talked about how during those times they would be pitching in and taking care of Rachel periodically so Aimee could get a break during this stressful time.