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Chapter 3

Everyone were too shocked to move for a second and then Horatio snapped out of it and bent down to feel a pulse on the body. The unnamed man that had just seconds ago been contemplating to kill him was now dead. Shot through the neck. One look at Ryan told Horatio that the young man had been the one to pull the trigger. Ryan looked shocked; almost as he was unaware that he had just shot someone.

"Ryan?" Horatio approached him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I just... I thought he was going to kill you." Ryan said stunned.

Horatio nodded. No point in telling Ryan that the man had started lowering his gun just before getting shot by him. Ryan on the other hand felt sick to his stomach. Not just because he had taken a life; but because he knew why he had really done it. The Boss had told him to make sure nothing could lead back to him. Without a witness statement from the victim, nothing would lead the team to the Boss. Ryan had done his job. He had gotten rid of evidence.

"Ryan, go back to the lab and take it easy. IAB will want your gun and probably talk to you. But it's okay." Horatio said, "I'll be there."

Eric nudged Ryan's shoulder and turned him in the direction of the hummer. Ryan looked back at Horatio and when the redhead nodded he got inside the car and left.

"Poor Ryan. He only did what he thought was right." Natalia said, visibly shaken "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Horatio said, "Ryan probably didn't see that this guy had lowered his gun. He had his back to Ryan."

"Now, what the hell was that all about money? About being paid to take you out?" Eric asked, upset, "And about you being a dead man walking?"

"Well, I don't have a short list of enemies. But this is quite new. Why now all of a sudden?" Horatio wondered, "It does seem suspicious. I wonder if someone has put a green light on me. It wouldn't be the first time but still... I can't remember having pissed anyone off recently."

"Found a wallet in the back pocket. His name was Julio Aguilera." Calleigh said, "Twenty years old."

"Just a kid." Natalia said sadly.

She was visibly shaken and Horatio placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. They always made sure to keep their relationship low profile while on the job. So no matter how much Horatio wanted to kiss and hug her, he couldn't right now. The look in his eyes told Natalia everything though; how much he wished to comfort her now, how much he loved her and that they would talk it out later.

"I have to go, someone needs to be there with Ryan when IAB shows up." Horatio said.

"They can't really do anything to him for this though, right?" Walter asked.

"No, he couldn't have seen that the gun was lowered, and he reacted the way most of us would have in this situation." Horatio said, "He might not even have heard what we were talking about."

The others nodded and started processing the scene. All except Walter, who Horatio told to go back to the lab with him. Walter was to continue with the other cases they had for now so that they weren't ignored. While Horatio was gone, Eric couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right with Ryan.

Ryan Wolfe was a senior officer; he had been working as a cop and CSI for years now. Why did this particular situation make him slightly panic and shoot a suspect just like that? What was so different about this one? Eric shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Ryan was probably just going through a rough patch right now and he wasn't himself. But still... something felt off.

-I-

Ryan had been stripped off his gun and forced to remain in the lab while waiting for IAB to talk to him. He was nervous, although nobody could prove that he had acted for any different reason than to protect a fellow officer and his boss. Ryan was seated in a room, waiting for IAB detective Mason O'Hara and Horatio. His boss had made it clear that Ryan was not to talk to IAB without him there.

The door opened and both men came in together. O'Hara was certainly an improvement over Rick Stetler. To begin with O'Hara was much nicer and wasn't looking to set up anyone. He just wanted to get everything straight and make sure that nothing would come back to bite MDPD in the ass later. Even if that made him disliked and even if he had to be the mean guy sometimes; he just genuinely wanted to protect the department.

"So Ryan, Lieutenant Caine has requested to be here during my interview. Is that okay with you?" O'Hara asked.

"Absolutely." Ryan said.

"Good, tell me about when you arrived at the crime scene today and saw all those officers surrounding the house with their guns trained on a man we know now was named Julio Aguilera?"

"I felt on edge. I think we all do in a situation like that. He had a gun pointed at my boss." Ryan said, "And given how H came close to dying just eight months ago I think it's safe to say that we, the team, all feel a bit anxious about his safety."

"I am not accusing you, Ryan." O'Hara said, "I just want to know what happened."

"Fair enough."

"And then you got into position with your gun aimed at Aguilera's back, correct?"

"Yeah, I could only see his back." Ryan said.

"Could hear what was being said?" O'Hara asked.

"Is that important?" Horatio asked.

"A bit yes, you said it yourself Lieutenant that Aguilera was lowering his gun and coming around." O'Hara said, "That it seemed he wasn't going to go through with killing you."

"I couldn't hear it." Ryan said quickly, "I was just too... hyped if you wish. It was a tense situation. If Aguilera had pulled the trigger H would have been gone."

"Did you see him lower the gun?"

"He just said he could only see his back O'Hara." Horatio growled, "Ask what you really want."

"Fine, did you shoot Aguilera because you panicked Detective Wolfe? Or did you have probable cause to shoot him?"

"Probable cause? The guy was pointing a gun at my boss!" Ryan exclaimed, "For all I knew he had it aimed at his head or chest. I had no idea he had lowered his gun and I felt that the situation was getting out of hand."

"So out of all the officers there you were the only one who felt that you had to shoot Aguilera at that particular moment?" O'Hara asked.

"It's a tense moment O'Hara." Horatio growled, "Everyone is on edge and every officer there had to make a split decision. Either shoot or not shoot and I'm sure that the officers standing next to Ryan; whom also could only see Aguilera's back, where trying to decide the same thing Ryan was. Take the shot or not."

"Look, I'm not trying to make it seem like Detective Wolfe made the wrong choice." O'Hara said.

"It sure sounds like you are! My CSI did what he thought best in that situation. He did not know that Aguilera was coming around. He acted on the principle that he had to take out a threat." Horatio said harshly, "He saved my life. He followed his training as a police officer."

"And now that you think back to it Detective... could you have acted differently?" O'Hara asked.

Ryan was silent for a moment. He couldn't believe he had got rid of a person to cover up his own tracks and to protect the Boss. And here his real boss, his friend, was doing everything he could to defend him.

"No... I acted on years of experience and I wanted to keep Lieutenant Caine safe." Ryan said.

O'Hara sighed and went to leave the room. He gave Horatio and Ryan an apologetic smile. Investigating his own people wasn't something he enjoyed, but it needed doing. Because not everyone was as innocent and genuine as Ryan.

"Your gun will be given back to you tomorrow." O'Hara said, "Good day." He left.

"Ryan, why don't you go home for the day?" Horatio suggested.

"H, are you sure?"

"Yes, we can manage."

Ryan nodded and stood up to leave.

"Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"Is there anything you want to share? You are not yourself." Horatio said, "Has something happened? Maybe I can help. You know you can talk to me about anything."

"Yeah... thanks H, I know." Ryan said and gave what he hoped was a convincing smile, "Everything is fine though."

Horatio nodded and Ryan left. The minute Ryan was out of the building and in the garage he sank down on the ground and took deep breaths. He was in such deep shit now. The Boss would be happy with him, but what about his friends? If this ever got out he'd be labeled a traitor for the rest of his life. And the more he thought about how much in trouble he was; he also realized that if he became a liability and a threat to the Boss's empire... he might be the one to get eliminated.

-I-

Later that evening Horatio and Calleigh were going through the evidence from their original crime scene, while Eric and Natalia tried to find out everything about Julio Aguilera.

"How's it going with that phone?" Horatio asked.

"Tyler is working on it. Hopefully we can get into it and find out what victim was into." Calleigh said, "He remains a John Doe though."

"Well, John Doe was certainly into drugs. We found heroine in his system and track marks on his arms." Horatio said, "Tom said the bullet that hit him killed him within seconds. Tore through an artery."

"And all the bullets that didn't hit him are badly smashed from hitting the walls, but I've got one fingerprint on one of them. Computer matched it to Julio Aguilera; so no surprise there." Calleigh said.

"And Julio said they were cousins so I hope we will find an ID soon." Horatio said, "Hopefully someone will be missing our John Doe soon enough as well."

"Did anyone talk to Julio's mother and sister?" Calleigh asked.

"Yes, they were heartbroken. But they said they couldn't remember Julio having a cousin. But the mother said it could be from the father's side." Horatio sighed, "Julio's father left ten years ago, so she can't be sure about Julio being in contact with relatives from that side of the family."

"Or it could have just been a figure of speech." Calleigh said, "Or even a lie."

"That too."

Together they printed everything they had found at the scene except the phone, which Tyler was working on. They collected trace from John Doe's shirt that would later turn out to lead nowhere. All in all, it seemed a pretty obvious case. Julio had shot John Doe and it seemed to be true that he had done it to lure Horatio to the scene. But that had in itself been a gamble. It could have been anyone showing up at the scene; it was just pure luck for Julio that Horatio had done it.

"They can't exactly have been close cousins if Julio shot him just to get you there." Calleigh said.

"No, they probably weren't close. The big mystery is who wanted to pay Julio to kill me. I think our John Doe was simply chosen as a means to get me there." Horatio said.

"Julio sure was desperate for money then." Calleigh said.

"Poor kid, desperate to make life better for his sister and mother." Horatio sighed, "I just wish he had chosen some other way to get money for them."

After a few more hours with nothing much left to do. They all called it a night. Natalia told Horatio she would meet him by the car and he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as he went down to the garage with Eric.

Eric expressed his concerns about Ryan to the redhead and Horatio agreed that something was off with him. As they exited the elevator at the garage they went different ways. Eric's car was parked further back than Horatio's.

"Natalia was pretty shaken up by what happened H." Eric said, as he was walking to his car.

"I know, I'll talk to her." Horatio said, "I would be too if it had been the other way around."

"Alright, see you tomorrow H." Eric said and waved.

Horatio waved back and watched the younger man disappear among the cars. Horatio had just reached his car and unlocked it when he felt a searing pain on the right side of his head just before he blacked out.

To be continued