Chapter 2 - On Call

Hope you like the second chapter. :)


Lucky for me, I made it past my first day here at the Lab. And I could tell I loved it already. My team, especially Horatio, was very nice and helped me out getting comfortable while I would help them out down here in the beautiful Miami. I had also met Alexx Woods, a very kind person, considering she worked with dead bodies. I had carefully learned my team's names and seemed to become a member of their family pretty easily. Not bad for a clumsy surgeon I suppose. I had unpacked all my heavy bags, made sure I wasn't wearing those stupid heels, and woke up early to get ready for another day.

I wasn't far into the Lab, sipping my extremely hot coffee, before I was stopped by Speed.

"Hey, Laura, Horatio's lookin' for ya." he informed me. Speed continued past me and I followed, since I hadn't quite knew my way around yet. It wasn't long before we had caught up with Horatio and Eric.

Horatio hurriedly closed his cell phone and looked at the three of us, sighing.

"What's it now, H?" Speed questioned, watching Horatio place his hands at their usual place on his hips.

"We've got a call. Body down at Weston. Let's check it out, Speed. Eric." he nodded to them. "Laura, I'm going to need you too. Grab your kits, guys."

I was sort of confused, but I didn't ask any questions. All I could do was follow the detectives out to the parking lot where I could see two huge grey Hummers. I wasn't surprised they used those monsters to get around. Eric and Speed rushed over to one, while I took a guess to stay with my boss. He lead me to the back of the car and opened the trunk. Horatio handed me a kit from the back and closed the door behind him.

"Are you ready for your first case?" he asked, smiling at my confusion. I handled the kit somewhat uneasily, actually pretty nervous at what to expect.

"I, um, guess so. I'm not going to get shot or stabbed or anything, will I? I mean, no mad murderers running loose?" I tried to say but noticing that my voice was a little shaky. Horatio laughed.

"We'll have to go see, huh?" he said before walking to the driver's car door. Reluctantly, I followed to the passanger's seat and jumped in.

"You'll need this." Horatio unexpectedly threw a heavy, shining object at me from across the seat. I caught it in my hands and examined it. A badge. My lips turned up into a smile and I proudly attached it to my belt.

"Thanks, but if there is, I'm outta there."

All I could hear was his light chuckle before the engine started up and the Hummer pulled out onto the streets of Miami.

>> >>

As the blazing sun hit down hard, I pulled myself out of the Hummer, walking with Horatio over to the taped area not far away. I was relieved not to see any by-standers around but not so relieved as seeing the motionless body laying flat on the ground. Immediately, I could recognize the distinct smell of blood, and noticed a small pool of it near the lifeless victim. I took a deep breath and focused on what I had to do.

"Frank, what have we got?" I could hear Horatio ask as Eric searched the ground around the scene and Speed took pictures. I curiously looked around the place.

It was on a small street, just off a beach where boats slowly drifted back and forth on the calm waters. In the distance was what looked like a small warehouse, but not much else. Strange place for a scene to be.

"Well, paramedics called in about half an hour ago," Frank started. "Name's Fredrick Samson. Uh, thirty-five, no criminal backgrounds as we can tell..."

"Thanks, Frank."

I stepped over the tape and walked slowly over to the body. I bent down and pulled on some gloves that I found in my kit. My early career had gotten me used to bodies, both dead and alive, so I was surprisingly more confident than I thought at this. Carefully, I turned the victim over so I could get a better look at him. There, obvious as daylight, was the cause of murder. A deep stab wound in his middle back. I moved it more, so I could take a closer look. The tremendous loss of blood was most likely the reason he had died. As I collected a small sample from the blood, I started to pick up a scent like garlic. I took another look around, with no onions in sight. Sliding the Q-Tip in an envelope, I ignored the scent and walked over to where Eric was studying the ground.

After examining the body, Eric pointed out a small trail of blood leading to the victim and collected a small sample.

"Laura, what does it look like?" Horatio asked, walking over to me from a police officer, removing his glasses.

"The guy was stabbed. Deep entry wound in his back, probably the loss of blood from there," I indicated to the start of the trail of blood that Eric found and pointed to the pool of blood. "to here. Could have been a struggle over there. The trail gets uneven, and the drops of blood are larger, but he was stopped at this spot for sure." I explained, taking off my gloves.

"H, I got samples, but no murder weapon." Speed called, carrying some packets and his kit.

"Eric. Speed. I need you two to take the samples back at the Lab. Keep me posted."

"Right." They nodded and walked off to their Hummer.

"Laura, looks like we got ourselves a murder on our hands."