Horatio squeezed Lara's hand one last time before he let her climb into her SUV. She smiled brightly at him as she backed away; he shaded his eyes against the sun and watched her go. There was still anger burning inside of him from the interrogation stint Eoin had pulled. Touching his girlfriend? It didn't matter that he had only slid a foot up her leg. In fact, that was much worse than several smaller things he could have done. Just thinking about it sent his blood boiling, so he turned away and headed back inside.

Eoin hadn't lied. It was only minutes after the cop escorted Eoin to holding that Mark De'Learly had shown up, talking big and holding an official order from Ireland that his brother should be released. They conversed quickly and quietly in Irish; Horatio had no clue what they said, but it was enough to turn Lara pale. He had stepped closer almost involuntarily, willing to protect her from the things he didn't understand. He had asked her later, but she had thrown on a weak smile and insisted it was only trivial things about 'back home'. He didn't have to have a profiler for a father to know she was bluffing. He hadn't pushed her because he knew if it was important to the case she would have shared it immediately. Now he was starting to wish he had. She had been unnaturally silent as she left. He was so used to seeing her bubbly and energetic that it unnerved him deeply to see her so disturbed.

He hoped a warm shower and some time spilling out her troubles to Angel would help. He found it puzzling that she spoke to the dog like another human, but he never commented. He had seen far stranger things, and quite frankly he found it telling of her compassionate personality. He determined to call and check up on her later. For now, he settled for stalking over to the spot where Calleigh and Jesse were talking in low tones. He felt absolutely no embarrassment cutting in.

"Where is Eoin now?"

Calleigh looked to him, not seeming surprised at the question. "We couldn't keep him once Mark brought the order in. The two of them left together...some redheaded woman driving a Porsche squealed them off."

Horatio nodded, assuming it must be the sister Shawna. "We need to find evidence that no judge, Irish or American, can overturn."

Jesse suddenly spoke up, and both of them turned to face him. "Well the whole family has mob connections in Miami. That's obvious."

A painful flick hit Horatio in the chest as he considered the Male Noche, but he pushed it over immediately. "Which gang?"

"There are rumors of an underground international gang," Jesse informed him. "Like a law-breaking embassy."

Calleigh shook her head. "There could be people from all over the world here, and all of them with connections and visas to keep them out of jail. What are they doing?"

Jesse shrugged. "Same thing every other gang does is my guess. Drugs, hookers, smuggling..."

"Murder," Horatio supplied with a dark tone. Calleigh seemed surprised at his vehemence, but Jesse took it in stride.

"Murder," he agreed.

Horatio felt something tug at his mind. His eyebrows furrowed and he turned away to storm to his office. He knew exactly the gang Jesse was talking about, and it had crossed his mind earlier. The Global Marauders, they called it, and everything Jesse had said applied. He had already locked up several of their people, and no two from the same country. The feeling intensified, and his steps quickened. He didn't even bother to sit in his chair before he picked up the phone and dialed home. It rang exactly five times before the answering machine picked up. Without letting the automated voice finish talking, he hung up and tried again. She was likely in the shower, and he knew if he tried later, then...

"Hello, Lieutenant Caine."

Horatio felt his breath catch painfully, and his fist clenched against the desktop. "Eoin."

The deep voice chuckled, and the heavy accent came back on the line. "Your girlfriend lied, Lieutenant. I don't appreciate liars."

Horatio felt the anger boiling to a higher point, and he clenched his teeth. He could barely manage to grit out, "Dare to touch her, and I'll hunt you down."

Eoin laughed louder. "I've already dared to do much more than that, Lieutenant. She would like to speak with you, but the gag prevents more than sobs and muffled screams."

Horatio threw an arm out, his mind not even registering the shattering of the lamp against the wall. "LET HER GO!" he raged. Natalia and Ryan burst through the door, both pulling back at the sight of his semi-destroyed office. Ryan made hand signals over his shoulder, and Jesse was there in moments, headset in hand. He plugged it into Horatio's laptop, and a few keystrokes later the WiFi picked up the phone's signal and transmitted through the speaker. "Let her go." Though his voice was milder, there was no less venom than before.

"That would be far too easy, Lieutenant. I'm thinking more along the lines of a little vacation. How many places have you taken her, Caine?"

Though he didn't show it, Eoin's remark hit below the belt. Horatio couldn't reply for several moments.

~*~

"Paris," she blurted suddenly. Horatio raised an eyebrow at her, and she blushed. "From last night. You asked me where I most wanted to go, and I had to think about it. Well, not really, but I didn't want to tell you..."

"Why not?" he snickered gently as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her closer and she laughed in delight before burying her face in his shirt.

"I don't know. No one has ever taken me and I never thought about going alone. It's far away, and expensive, and--"

"Done," he interrupted firmly. She looked up at him, throwing her arms around his neck and showing him her shining eyes.

"Really?" She looked so hopeful...there was nothing in him to deny her with.

"Really."

She kissed him with all she had, and he could practically taste the gratefulness on her lips.

~*~

Work had always gotten in the way. That promise was two and a half months ago, and where were they now? Still in Miami, with not as much as plane tickets. He had planned it for their honeymoon, but he had chickened out on asking her for so long-- "I won't tell you again, Eoin."

"Love is a sickness, lieutenant. Nil aon leigheas ar an ngra ach posadh. But you couldn't do it, could you?"

"I'll get you, Eoin. And you won't get out this time." Horatio was surprised that the phone wasn't bending in half under the weight of his rage.

"Éirinn go Brách," the Irishman whispered. A click signified his exit from the conversation, and Horatio threw the phone across the room. Jesse took off his headset, already talking.

"The police are on their way to your place."

It meant nothing to him. He knew that Eoin was already gone; he was too good to not know the police would be on their way, and he could be halfway to anywhere after hanging up that call. Horatio put his hands on his hips without thinking. It helped him focus, and he needed that more than anything. Lara needed him to focus.

"Where would he take her?" Ryan asked quietly.

Natalia spoke up, "She's brilliant. If he takes her anywhere around the rest of the Marauders, she can speak all their languages. He'd be helping us more than he was hurting her."

"Which is exactly why he wouldn't do it," Jesse pointed out. Calleigh came in late, already informed and buzzing with intensity.

"He's taking her to an abandoned warehouse. One of the members we already caught gave up the location weeks ago." As always, when she was frustrated her accent was twice as thick.

"The police have gone through that and picked it clean, Calleigh. It's sealed off and not open to the public," Ryan deliberated calmly.

"Exactly. He'll take her someplace where there isn't any danger of being searched." She sounded confident, but her voice quavered on the last note. She was bluffing, and everyone in the room knew it. She had no idea where he was or where he was planning to go, but it was all they had. They could fly on hope if it landed them somewhere relatively close.

"Let's go," Horatio fumed, already halfway out the door.

~*~

"If something ever happened to me you'd save me, right?"

"Of course," Horatio mumbled back. There was no hesitation, and the drowsy murmur was confident. She smiled against his chest and shifted against him. Part of him wondered why she would bring this up, and part of him was scared to ask. She answered for him.

"I just...I don't know. I mean, I know you'd do whatever it took to help me if I was in trouble. I just wanted to make sure you knew."

The emphasis she put on 'you' caught his attention, and he tilted her chin up to face him. All traces of tiredness were gone from his eyes, and he felt as though he had been awake for days instead of five minutes. "What do you mean?"

She tried to hide her eyes again, but he wouldn't let her. She sighed and blurted, "Well you carry around so much blame, and most of it isn't even yours!" She shifted again, this time uncomfortably, and cleared her throat. "I just don't want to be another one of those things you carry on your shoulders. If I was in trouble, I wouldn't want the world to stop turning for you. Yeah I trust you to get me back, but if you don't--"

"I would," he ground out. His tone left no room for argument, but she tried anyway.

"I know. But if you didn't, I wouldn't want you to blame yourself."

"Nothing is going to happen to you, Lara."

She smiled and kissed his chin. "I know. I love you."

"I love you, too."

~*~

Horatio was determined. Lara needed him, and he would find her. His sirens were blaring, and maybe 90 mph in a 40 zone was overdoing it, but he needed to see this warehouse with his own eyes. Hope had never been enough for him, despite his constant preaching on not giving up. He knew where hope left people, and it was never pretty. He clenched his jaw and drove faster.

The twenty minute drive took eight minutes, and Horatio burned rubbed slamming his brakes. He didn't even register that the Hummer was still running when he lept out, firearm in hand. Sirens called in the far distance, but he couldn't make himself wait. He hugged the wall and held his breath, throwing open the door and running inside.

"Miami-Dade police!" He stopped short, trying to remember how to breathe right. When Calleigh and Jesse arrived five minutes later, Horatio hadn't moved. Calleigh growled under her breath, "Damn." But Horatio was too far gone to hear her.

The entire warehouse was empty.