Chapter Four


Horatio blinked several times before his eyes focused. He looked around the small cluttered apartment, trying to figure out what Jason was showing him before his guide spoke.

"Whose rag-tag place is this?" he finally asked.

"This 'rag-tag' apartment belongs to your brother-in-law," Jason said.

"Eric?" Horatio said in shock.

"The one and only."

"Why does it look so…"

"Awful? Well who got him his job at MDPD?"

"Me," Horatio whispered.

"That's right."

Horatio stood there for a moment, scratching the back of his head as he took in the place. A door opened and closed in the distance and Eric walked in, wearing grubby jeans, a white beater, and heavy work boots. He tossed a newspaper onto the already cluttered coffee table and continued on into the kitchen, passing right through Horatio and Jason. Horatio stepped forward and looked at the newspaper. The front page was one long article about the new Florida Supreme Court appointee. Rachel Turner was making history as the youngest woman to ever be appointed the position of Supreme Court Justice in history. Horatio stared at the newspaper in disbelief.

"December 18th, that's today," he said.

"Yes, and Eric's already finished his Christmas shopping. No need for last minute rushes when you're a tow truck driver."

"But Rachel was murdered almost ten years ago."

"She never became Walter Resden's target if she never dated the prestigious Horatio Caine."

"At least someone's life was finally spared,"

"Was it worth it if the other people you love perished?" Jason waved his hand and the pages of the newspaper began to quickly turn. They stopped in the obituaries and Horatio stared in horror at three familiar faces.

"Natalia," he whispered.

"There was no one to stop Nick when the restraining order expired. Natalia wasn't able to scare him off on her own. No one cared as much as you did."

"Frank."

"No one called out to him when that gunman snuck up on his blindside."

"But Alexx…"

"Someone stole the ME van and Alexx didn't have her permanent backup to save her."

"But they were strong enough to fight, all of them."

"Not if the person who taught them when to fight was never there," Jason said. He waved his hand and the newspaper changed entirely. It was a paper from Los Angeles, the front page featuring the sober story of the death of Lieutenant Jesse Cardoza.

"Jesse became the LA Lieutenant?" Horatio quietly asked.

"Yes, after he finally caught the serial killer who murdered his wife. Then that man's brother got revenge in honor of his fallen brother."

"Who else has died?"

"Not everyone," Jason said. He touched Horatio's hand and the scene suddenly changed again. Horatio looked around the modest house. Walter was sitting at a table eating dinner with a young woman and two little girls. "Walter Simmons still works the night shift. Married one of his old college girlfriends and they have two beautiful daughters."

The scene changed again and they were suddenly in a different house. Horatio recognized Alexx's house as he watched her children open presents on Christmas Day.

Her husband was sitting on the couch smiling as he watched them.

"They'll both grow up to be doctors and he'll remarry in about seven years."

The scene morphed again and Julia was walking through her large house, looking over a contract of some sort.

"Julia never met John Walden," Jason said. "They never fell in love and had little Kyle."

"My son," Horatio barely managed to whisper.

Another scene change and Horatio was looking at his late wife. He took a step towards her and watched her read a book while in the middle of a chemo therapy session.

"Mari," Horatio whispered.

"The Mala Noche never had reason to kill her, since neither her brother nor husband worked to end their reign."

"How much longer does she have?" Horatio quietly asked.

"She's been battling the cancer for seven years now, but if her bone marrow transplant from her brother is successful she might actually go into remission. Her boyfriend talked her into keeping with the chemo therapy. She might actually be able to have children someday."

Horatio felt tears in his eyes again as regret started to choke him. "I should have encouraged her to stick with it. She was just so tired of fighting."

"He'll leave her in three months," Jason whispered just before he grabbed Horatio's hand.

Horatio blinked and he was looking at yet another scene. Calleigh was talking on a phone while carrying a baby in her free arm.

"Calleigh eventually becomes lead CSI for the crime lab. She married Tim Speedle six years after joining the team."

"Speedle's alive?" Horatio asked, suddenly hopeful.

"Yes, he didn't have a reason to go into that jewelry store." They watched as Speedle walked into the room and kissed Calleigh and then the baby. He walked out of the house holding a small boy's hand. "It's also difficult to be lazy about gun maintenance when you're married to the ballistics specialist."

Horatio looked longingly out the window as Speedle loaded the child into a booster seat and then drove off. He felt Jason touch her hand and the scene changed once more.

Horatio slowly walked through the pristine house. Everything was perfectly placed and not a speck of dust could be found. Horatio didn't need his guide to tell him he was in the house of Ryan Wolfe. He looked at the pictures perfectly leveled and spaced on the white walls. Ryan looked so happy in all of them standing next to Erica Sykes.

"Her name is Erica Wolfe now," Jason said, as if he read Horatio's mind.

Horatio continued to look at the pictures. The young man he knew so well clearly grew older as Horatio walked down the hall. He stopped and examined a few closely; one with Ryan in a tuxedo and Erica in a wedding dress and another of them with three children, two boys and one girl. All of them had Ryan's brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Ryan quit his job as an MDPD Patrol Officer," Jason said.

"He never worked for the crime lab?" Horatio asked.

"Who hired him? He was hired as a replacement for Speedle and only one person was present during his impromptu interview."

"What does he do now?"

"He's a stay at home dad. Erica makes twice as much as he did as an officer of the law. It was easy to quit his job and become the trophy husband. Never finished his Masters degree either."

"Why not?"

"Why bother? His wife's the bread winner. No need for an extensive education when all you do is look pretty on your wife's arm at big events."

The sound of feet thundering down the hall echoed off the walls and the two little boys ran squealing with delight as Ryan came chasing after them. They turned a corner and disappeared into the living room. They laughter floated through the air and tickled Horatio's ears.

"What are their names?" Horatio asked, gesturing towards the picture of Ryan and his children.

"The oldest is Bradley, the middle boy Connor, and the baby of the bunch is Megan. They all have perfect hearing abilities."

"There's no Oliver," Horatio whispered.

"Of course not," Jason commented. "Oliver is Jessica and Ryan's son. You can't imagine Oliver being born if Jessica was never born."

"But Jessica should have been born," Horatio insisted. "She's not my biological daughter."

"This is true Horatio, but who was there to adopt Jessica when Brian passed away?"

Horatio just stared at him, unable to come up with an answer. Jason held out his hand and looked at Horatio with a somber expression.

"Come on, there's one more place I want to take you."

Horatio didn't hesitate this time to take Jason's hand. There was a flash of light and when Horatio opened his eyes it seemed he was reliving his past in a terrible way.