Red, white, and blue lights flashed from police cars, C.S.I. hummers, and an EMS vehicle that had been parked outside the home of homicide victim, Felicia Graham. Lt. Horatio Caine and his team of CSIs - Tim Speedle, Calleigh Duquesne, and Eric Delko - ducked under the crime scene tape, and made their way over to the waiting homicide detective, Frank Tripp. The woman's boyfriend stood out in the driveway; he was distraught. "Frank," Lt. Horatio Caine said carefully removing his trademark sunglasses.

"Horatio," Frank said. "It's pretty gruesome in there. Victim's name is, Felicia Graham. Twenty-five years young. Her boyfriend is over there," Frank pointed to the man standing in the driveway, his name was Kevin Brooks, and then continued, "Found her around six this morning. They were supposed to be going on a Hawaiian vacation. He also said he was going to ask her to marry him. The trip was for their five year anniversary." The homicide detective stopped talking when Speed dropped his notepad on the ground. He quickly apologized and picked it up. Calleigh then noticed Speedle playing with his wedding ring; he became slightly nervous. Today was his and his wife, Lauren Speedle's fifth year wedding anniversary. "Alexx is already in there waiting."

"Thank you Frank. Keep me posted on any new information you find," Horatio said heading into the house.

Eric turned to his colleague and friend and said, "Speed, what was that about? Long night last night with the Mrs. or what?"

Speed looked at Eric with a disgusted expression. "What Lauren and I do together is none of your business, and it just fell out of my hand, alright," Speed snapped back.

"Gentlemen," was all Horatio said once he spotted Dr. Alexx Woods, Miami-Dade's top Medical Examiner. She loved talking to the dead; it was her signature. "Alexx, what happened here?" The state of Felicia's body was gruesome, Frank was right.

"Well, Horatio… this poor baby's throat was cut open, and it looks like her vocal cords have been removed." Speed's stomach started to churn with the uneasy feeling again. Alexx took notice. "You okay, Timmy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Alexx. What else did you find?" Both Horatio and Calleigh looked at Speed with much concern.

"Well it looks like she's been stabbed twice in her lower abdomen. One on the left and one on the right. Looks to me like the stabbing was planned or had some meaning behind it. The killer stabbed this poor girl right through her ovaries. But I'll no more after the post, and this mask was left on her face. It looks like a masquerade mask. That's interesting." Horatio stood back with his hand on his hips, and his head cocked to the side. This seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. For now he kept his thoughts to himself.

"Thank you Alexx. Speed and Calleigh process the areas surrounding the body. Eric, look around the house and see if you can find anything else out about our victim. I'll be back in a little while. If you finish before I get back let me know." Everyone responded except Speed. "Speed, you alright?" He had been looking at Felicia's dead body.

"Uh yeah, sorry, H. I'm fine. I was just thinking, and yes I'll let you know if we finish before you can get back here." Why this murder made him feel uneasy, he didn't know.

"You want to share your thoughts with us?" Horatio asked.

Speed cleared his throat. "Not at the moment, no."

"Okay, keep me posted." Horatio exited the house with Alexx and the body haulers close behind him.

Once Calleigh and Speed were alone she turned to him and smiled. "Happy anniversary, Tim! Five years now?" she said.

Speed looked at Calleigh and smiled back at her. "Thanks Calleigh and yeah five years," he said and then went back to searching for evidence. He smiled to himself at the thought of his wife.

Speed and Lauren had met back in New York, his home state, at Columbia University; Lauren's home state was Michigan. Lauren had been a freshman and Speed a junior. She had been a music and art history major while he had been a biology major.

Speed remembered that day like it was yesterday. He remembered what she looked like and what she was wearing. It had been Mid-December, right before the semester was about to end. Finals were taking place, and the school library was filled. Seats were incredibly hard to come by. Students were studying in groups; students were studying alone with flashcards; students were writing their final papers and finishing up their projects.

Speed had been sitting at a table near the back by some floor to ceiling windows studying for his advanced placement biology class. Speed had seen her when she had walked in. Lauren's dark brown hair had been in a loose messy ponytail; she had on a pair of navy blue Columbia University baggy sweatpants, a navy blue hooded sweatshirt, some slip on snow boats, and an orange scarf wrapped around her neck. The word, he thought, that described her at that moment had been adorable.

Lauren had weaved her way through the crammed library; she had noticed there hadn't been any seats available. Speed had seen the frustration on her face. At the time he felt adventurous and asked her if she wanted to sit with him; she had agreed.

During the first couple minutes of them meeting he had seen tears roll down her cheeks. He knew it wasn't his business, but he had asked anyway. He had come to find out Lauren had been stressed out about her biology exam. She had explained to him she was a music and art history major, and taking a biology class should have been banned.

After her little speech, he explained that he was a biology major and offered his help to her. Lauren had practically jumped in his arms. In fact she had even kissed him on the cheek. Lauren and Speed were in the library until it had to shut down for the night. They exchanged phone numbers in case she had any other questions. After that the rest was history.

"Are you two doing anything special tonight?" Calleigh asked searching the kitchen for evidence.

"Lauren said she didn't want anything, but I got two tickets to see The Phantom of The Opera tonight at the Miami-Dade Entertainment Center. It's something she's wanted for a long time. I could tell she wanted to ask for them," Speed said not finding anything of interest in the area he had been examining.

"Aww, that's so sweet, Tim. Anything else?"

Speed smile. "Actually, I got her a ring, and I'm taking her out to a late dinner after the play."

"Oh my gosh, Tim! You're a great husband. Lauren is so lucky to have you," she said smiling from ear to ear.

"No, I'm the lucky one," he said with a smile.

Just then, Eric came walking into the kitchen with a couple evidence bags in hand. "Hey guys, I didn't find much, but I noticed our victim was into music and voice training. I got a list of her clients we can contact. I saw she attended Juilliard. I found her student loan bills and her degree in her office," Eric stated. "She must have been amazing if she attended that school. You guys find anything?"

Speed sighed. "No not really. Some smudged prints I recovered, but other than that the place is clean. I think we should go back to the lab and see what we can come up with, with the client list. Maybe we can find out if any of her clients have a grudge against her," Speed said casually.

"Sounds good," Calleigh said. The three collected everything they had brought to and retrieved from the scene and headed the hummers.

Speed sent a quick text to Horatio saying they had left the crime scene.