The Rape of Horatio Caine - Chapter 2 of 10
By Celtic Lady

The shadows of the afternoon were beginning to show in the streets as the tall buildings hid the glaring sun. Horatio and Frank had visited one family only to eliminate them as the parents of their victim. Eric Delko had notified Horatio that no matches were found on the fingerprint on the tape and from the victim.

As they were driving to meet with the second family, Horatio's phone rang. It was Natalia.

"Bad news. No DNA from the hairs - no roots. Sorry." Natalia knew Horatio would be disappointed. She also knew that they'd have to wait for another victim to possibly get a break. Another victim meant another dead child.

Horatio and Frank pulled into the driveway of the Dawson family. As they exited their car, the mother came out the front door to inquire about her missing child. "Have you found her yet?" she frantically asked.

Horatio was the first to speak up, "ma'am, may we go inside." He didn't want to discuss the case outside. The lady motioned them inside and they took a seat on the couch while she sat in a chair. "Do you know anything?" she asked again.

"Well, we're not sure." Horatio paused while thinking how he should approach the woman. "Do you have a picture of your daughter?"

She went into the other room and returned with a framed portrait of her daughter, Emily. "This was taken last summer when we were in Phoenix."

As Horatio and Frank looked at the photo, a sick feeling came over Horatio. " Ma'am, we are going to need you to come down to the crime lab. We found your daughter." He handed the picture back to her. "We're sorry for your loss."

Emily's mother didn't fully realize what they were saying until that last sentence. Then the truth hit her that her little girl was dead and she'd never see her alive again.

"My baby? What happened?" Tears ran down her face. "She's our only child . . . how can this happen?"

Horatio assured her that they would do all they possibly could to find her daughter's killer. In fact, it would be their number one priority.

After interviewing Emily Dawson's parents, the CSI team had little information to go on. Emily had been abducted in broad daylight as she walked over to a friends house just two blocks away from her own. No one had seen a thing.

After receiving a phone call from Dan Cooper, Horatio stopped by the AV lab to see what Cooper had found.

"I watched the whole tape and found that some scenes had been replaced by actual footage of the murder." He played one such part for Horatio. "Here is the original film . . ." He waited until the new image appeared, "and here is the added footage."

"Wait a minute. Run that again," demanded Horatio as he looked closer at the screen. "That isn't our victim. It's someone else."

Cooper wasn't expecting to discover a second victim on the tape. He had just assumed that it was the current murder victim. "Let me collect all the added scenes and see what I can put together for a location."

"Yes! Let me know as soon as you find something." Horatio was off to find Frank and inform him of a second undisclosed murder somewhere.

--OO--

The next morning, Horatio was in the AV lab early checking with the night crew who had worked diligently on the video tape. Tyler Jensen had extracted all the scenes and put them together for a continuous viewing. Dan Cooper arrived just in time to watch the tape with Horatio. The scene was brutal to watch as another child was tortured. Cooper turned away several times whereas, Horatio focused even harder trying to pick up any detail that might help him locate the little girl.

"What is she saying?" demanded Horatio as he tried to make out the words. "She's saying something to the killer."

"We need Jade Reno. She can read lips," Cooper offered.

Horatio jumped on that suggestion, "Let's get Jade in here to translate."

Cooper looked down at his watch, "She's probably asleep right now."

Horatio looked puzzled. "I thought she worked the midnight shift?"

"No, she got moved to the second shift," Jensen added.

Cooper taunted, "yeah, kicking and screaming."

"I got moved to the Midnight shift," Jensen continued as he stressed the word I.

Again Cooper teased, "also kicking and screaming."

Horatio opened his cell phone and called Jade at home.

"Jade, this is Horatio. Sorry to wake you but we need your help. Please pick up." He waited for an answer.

Cooper and Jensen gave each other a puzzled look as they wondered why Horatio had Jade's home phone number saved on his cell.

"Jade?" Horatio could tell she had been sleeping by the lack of enthusiasm in her voice. "I understand you read lips?" He listened for a moment then continued, "I have a video tape of a missing child -- I need to know what she is saying. Can you come in?" Another pause, then, "Great!"

He ended the call and instructed Cooper to have a bottle of Mountain Dew waiting for her, then he left. Cooper and Jensen were discussing a possible Horatio-Jade romance when Delko walked in causing them to immediately changed the subject.

"Did you catch Eye on Crime last night?" Delko queried. "It was our episode."

Cooper couldn't resist a snide remark. "I almost went blind. They should have had some kind of warning."

Jensen gave a bewildered look and Cooper was all too willing to explain. "Delko did an all over wet T-shirt exhibit when they were filming here." Cooper couldn't help but laugh at Delko, "Dude, wear some underwear!"

Jensen quickly understood as Delko gave Cooper a disapproving smirk. "I didn't know the camera was focused on me."

"Yeah, right." Cooper rolled his eyes.

"So I guess you'll have the women lined up now, asking you out," Jensen prompted.

Delko just shook his head with a smug look on his face. Before he could respond, his cell phone rang. "Delko." His demeanor changed as he listened. "I'm on my way."

He rushed out the door before anyone could ask him what was up.