The New Recruits: Suicide Kings

Chapter Two

Tim took a pensive look around the scene, seeing Jarrett as he bent over the first of four bodies that had been found out in the open on the Pier. The tape covered just about the entire pier, a uniform standing at each end. The area between the first uniform and the second was the scope of his crime scene. Max came behind him, as he pulled the tape up and walked under, his sunglasses perched atop his face, hiding the feeling of sadness that crept up suddenly on him. It was times like these, the blue skies and the wind blowing softly, that he missed his son dearly. Although it had been getting better, there was still no consolation for his absence.

"It's too damn hot out here," Max said as he walked behind him, trying to keep up. " How the hell can you wear a long sleeved shirt in this?"

"Many years of practice," Tim responded adroitly. The ride to the scene had been less than stellar, with the loud music and Max's repulsive driving. " The quicker we get this done, the quicker you can get back to the air."

Max shrugged and walked forward, passing him and coming to the bodies. Jarrett looked up at him through his glasses, and then back down, concentrating on the task before him. Max smirked at the Medical Examiner and shook his head as he pulled his glasses up on his head, kneeling down.

" Four dead fishies, in the heat of summer, what a pleasant aroma."

" Interested in the TOD or are you going to pose and spout sarcastic lines?" Jarrett asked irritably. He too was pretty much pissed at the heat. Tim smirked as he went to the second body, noticing the small amounts of dust on the clothing. " It seems that they all worked on the pier. The dust is from the warehouses, I'm thinking. That one has a laceration on his throat, from ear to ear, along with several defensive wounds. This one, well, this one," Jarrett paused, " this one was fileted."

"Fileted?" Max asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Have you ever seen a fish gutted?" Tim asked, his phone vibrating on his side.

" Plenty of times, why?"

Jarrett lifted the clothes off of the body slightly, showing a jagged tear from the throat to the top of the waist line and one across the belly, " Sliced him open. The other two have several stabbing wounds, maybe fifteen to be exact. I can get you a definite number at the post."

"You said something about time of death?" Tim asked, ignoring the phone. It would have to wait.

"Liver temp on this guy is impossible,"Jarret gestured.

"Why?" Max asked as he looked away.

" Because the liver is missing. Killer must've taken it."

"What about the other three?" Tim followed.

"The guy with the neck tie was at 86.6, but taking in consideration that it's hotter than hell out here, this is a moot point. I can ball park it around midnight last night. Then there is this guy," Jarett said as he got up, walking towards one of the stabbing victims, " His temperature was at 92.1 which is almost impossible."

"Why?" Max echoed again.

" Because, the heat slows the cooling of the body temperature," Tim said as he got a better look at the body, noticing it's hand was closed tightly. " And it says that he was just killed almost four hours ago, but the clotting says otherwise. This isn't making any sense. How could this be looked over? The pier is active during the early morning hours, right?"

"Sounds like a question to ask the harbor master," Max intoned as he rose up off of his haunches. "I'll get into it."

"What's the matter, Max, too much red for you?" Tim asked, with a grin as his phone vibrated again.

"Just need to get some air," Max returned. " I'll be with the harbor master and looking around the perimeter. Do you think that Maddison will be able to send more help?"

"I don't think so, Max. It's just us."

"Fantastic, well, you know where I'm at. Join me at your conveience."

Jarett shook his head and returned to his work , "I'll get with you on the findings , Tim. Whatever trace I can get I'll send it."

"Thanks, Jarrett," Tim sighed as he turned away from the bodies, the phone vibrating once more. "Jarrett, I gotta take this," he intoned flatly as he filled his hands with the phone. It wasn't enough that he had four bodies to contend with, along with the heat, now it seemed that someone wanted to annoy him even further. "Speed."

"Well, Tim, I know it's been awhile, but no need to get gruff,"a familiar accented voice returned. Tim almost dropped the phone , instantly recognizing her voice, "Robin? I-is that you?"

"Yes, and we are at the airport. Are you busy at the moment?"

"I'm in the middle of a scene, but..."

"No, no , Tim, I won't bother you."

"It's no bother, Robin. Honestly..."

"Tim, finish your work. I have to check in to the hotel anyway. I just wanted to let you know that we are in town. We need to talk."

Tim closed his eyes, the slight feeling of elation coming over him. It had been almost a year since Robert's death and their conversations had been nothing more than hello and goodbye. He wanted to give Robin all the space she needed to grieve, but he longed for her touch, her love as well as his daughter. At one point, divorce had been put on the table, but then he heard no follow up from her. The situation was in limbo, that was until now.

" I can get a break," Tim responded as he turned to glance back at the scene, " I think."

"There's no rush, Timothy. We will be here for a while. Mallory was missing all of her friends, and since she's on holiday from school, I saw no reason why we couldn't come back," Robin answered. There was a hint of something in her voice, but Tim couldn't quite catch it. " She missed you , Tim... I missed you."

"I've missed you, Robin. You don't know how much."

"I think that I can about tell. Take your time, and call me at the Embassador, room 214."

"Okay, I'll call as soon as I can, Robin."

"Alright, Timothy. Be careful."

The moment held some heaviness as Tim struggled with whether to say it, regulating himself to respond, " I will. See you later."

He flipped the phone down, a smile coming over his face as the wind began to blow more. Within a matter of seconds, his life had started to focus once more.

SK

Horatio stood at the edge of the scene, observing the team as they worked. He waited for her to finish and approach him, her long red hair blowing behind her. He couldn't had been more proud of his niece than he was at that moment. She had grown very well into her position in the lab, handling the subsequent changes with grace. If there was anything he could say, it was that the Caine blood was strong. He glanced up to see Raymond as he worked the scene, talking with witnesses, turning to see him and giving a slight nod. Despite the time that had passed, Horatio still felt somewhat responsible for Yelina's death.

"He's doing alright, Horatio," Maddison said as she pulled her sunglasses on top of her hair, revealing her blue eyes. " Some days it's bad, but for the most part , he is coping well."

" That's glad to hear," Horatio responded softly. As much as he wanted to approach him, he just felt like he had no ground to stand on.

"Horatio, he understands," Maddison provided, looking at him with soft eyes.

"So, what do you have?" Horatio remarked ,trying to distance himself from the conversation, as he started towards the scene, seeing Alexx as she bent over the body.

"Well, it seems that we have more slashing victims , four. If I didn't know better, Horatio, I'd say we have a serial killer in our midst."

" What is the evidence telling you, Maddison?"

" Well, just like the others, one is opened up from the neck down and one is slit on the throat, from left to right, ear to ear, and the others are stabbed. Oh, and this is a bonus, Alexx says that this time, the one that was opened up is missing it's heart."

"The last two were livers, right?" Horatio asked , standing above Alexx as she worked on one body. The other three were covered with sheets until she could get to them.

"Yes, it seems as if the killer is getting antsy. He's changing up,"Alexx reported. " The more I see of these, the more I can see the progression. On the first victims, there is hesitation, but now, the line is smooth."

"Like he is getting comfortable," Maddison added.

"Exactly. What's getting me though is the taking of the organs. Why would he do that? The organs aren't viable for prolonged periods outside the body. What's his motive?"

"That... that is a good question, Alexx," Horatio said as he knelt down, peering at the fist of the victim. " Say, Alexx, what is that?"

Alexx looked up at him then back to the hand, as if surprised by the new found evidence, picking it up gently with a pair of tweezers " I don't know. It looks like a piece of a card of some sort. There's red lettering."

"Bag it for trace, if you would , Alexx," Maddison instructed just as her phone rang. A second later, Horatio's phone went off , followed by Alexx's. "What is going on?"

"I've got another scene," Alexx responded as she put her two way down. " Maddison, there's no way in the world I can get to that scene , and unless Jarrett is done with his, I think you are a Medical Examiner short."

Maddison looked to Horatio as he flipped his phone back down. It seemed as Miami was having a run on murders today.

SK

He closed the door behind him, sure that he wasn't followed. Throwing his bag down, he walked to the refrigerator and snatched it open, grabbing the first thing his hands found which was a bottled water . After draining it, he walked through the home, as if searching for something that was well hidden. His eyes swept past the vast living room, and across to the dining room a horrendous thought coming to his mind. What if someone heard him?

Well, they would find a blade sticking out of their neck, that's what, he thought to himself. He continued to walk silently, until he got to the library, and opened the door to see him sitting at the desk, his feet up a trail of smoke coming from the cigar in his mouth. A maniacal smile graced his face as he pulled himself into a straight sitting position and clasped his hands together tightly. He looked at the man and gestured for him to come closer, and he walked forward, taking a look to the side, seeing the maid as she laid on the floor, her eyes open and a nasty gash on her neck.

"That will explain why no one came to the door," the man quipped as he sat down in front of him, a smirk riding his face.

"She met me first," the other responded as the door opened again. They both looked up to see a tall man with short brown hair and piercing hazel eyes as he walked in, fluidly. The easy gait coupled with his stature gave testament that he was no one to be fooled with. He glanced to the woman on the floor and shook his head then turned his attention to the other two men.

"I see I missed some fun," the tall one said with a sneer. " Is she all?"

"There are two more upstairs. They didn't give much of a fight. I think I may have surprised them," the one behind the desk responded with a chuckle. "Oops."

" Ah, the element of surprise, gentlemen is what is giving us our success. The cops are running all over the city with our work. They don't know which is up or down."

"Looks like we are going to have the run of the city, Mason. Any plans for that glorious day?" the one behind the desk asked as he got up, coming around the desk, facing his friends. " Trevor and I spilt up for the last two. He just got through with the ones at the pier."

" Those were hard," Trevor responded as he slipped off his gloves and tossed them to the desk haphazardly, " I say we have a night of rest. What do you think, Perry?"

" Yeah, I think we've done our share of work for the moment. The cops are so far away from us, we can rest easy. It's not a bad idea, Mason. We could go out and check what's hot."

Mason thought it over and walked over to the vast window, looking out of it. He could do with some down time, considering what he had in store for the fair city of Miami.

TBC...