Thanks so much for the reviews! they really made my week a lot better!
I'll try to publish at least 1-2 times a week, but since I suck at keeping my promises when it comes to uploading, I'm not gonna promise anything ;) I also got exams this week and since English is not my native language it takes me quite some time to write a single chapter (perfectionist). I really enjoy to write this though so i'll try to publish each chapter as fast as possible! :D
After an hour of consultation, both CSI's agreed on the fact that they were limited to exactly two options. They could either stay with the plane wreck or leave and try to find civilization. Both options contained their own pros and cons and were presumably equally dangerous. The first (and in most plane crash cases the most wise) option would have given them the highest chance of being found if their radio had still worked. But since this wasn't the case, this option simply meant waiting for either people who had the intention of rescuing them, or people who most likely had the intention of killing them. This could take ages and besides, Calleigh and Eric weren't exactly the kind of people to sit and wait.
However, their second option brought its own risks. Firstly, they had absolutely no clue where they were stranded. They had no idea which air route their plane had followed and for all they knew the closest residence could be hundreds of miles away. Nonetheless, the odds of them finding civilization if they would go searching for it were still bigger than someone finding them first, unless someone was aware of their location. This was also a possibility, but if this were the case and someone actually knew where they were, this would most likely involve the people who tried to kill them. Secondly, the weather could form a problem. The plane could provide them with shelter if needed, but if they decided to leave they would be forced to spend the nights in the open air. According to the time they had spent in the air and assuming they had flown in a south or south-east direction, the CSI's were able to determine the approximate area they had to be in including its climate. Mid September probably meant an average of 50 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Although the nights could turn out to be colder, hypothermia wasn't their main concern. Rain or storms on the other hand could indeed cause some trouble without shelter and in the worst case ultimately lead to hypothermia nonetheless.
The minibar contained six cans of soda and three bottles of water, enough for the two CSI's to last at least a few days. After that point, they would have to find another water source or they would slowly suffer the effects of dehydration. Meanwhile, their food supply formed another issue. Although they would be able to last longer without food than without water, they had a small amount of three remaining protein bars and one sandwich left. This partly due to Eric who had consumed a sandwich and the other three protein bars while Calleigh was asleep, considering it his lunch. Although it would've been a fair share to give their remaining food supply to Calleigh because this automatically left her with an empty stomach, they both agreed that it was a much wiser decision to preserve their small food stock for now.
Eric was pretty convinced that they should go with option two. Staying here wasn't in their favor in any way. The only real disadvantage would be the fact that they wouldn't have shelter and that they couldn't bring all their luggage. Luckily for Eric, he brought a backpack instead of Calleigh's perfecly white suitcase. After considering all of the pros and cons the petite blonde agreed with him, sitting here and doing nothing wasn't really their style.
'We should bury him,' Calleigh said, while she looked at Richard's body which was still at the same spot behind the steering wheel. Eric silently nodded and put down his half empty backpack. Together they managed to get him out of the dented cockpit only to come to the conclusion that they didn't have any tools to bury him with. The two CSI's agreed that leaving the body outside would most likely result in predators eating it, so they decided to place it in the cabin. This way, it would be protected from animals and the elements and they would be able to relocate the corpse and bring it back to a morgue to perform an autopsy. Somehow the CSI's suspected he didn't die of natural causes.
The two went back to packing and while deciding what to take with them and what to leave behind, Calleigh's eyes fell on the third and much smaller bag which lay untouched on the ground near her own suitcase. Suddenly, it all made sense. Their whole situation made sense. It was like Calleigh's mind flipped a switch and everything fell into place. She looked up at Eric, who was still sorting the items from his own backpack and mentioned the connection they had both completely overlooked.
'It's the evidence!' She said out loud, confusing Eric for a split second before the realization hit him too. It had been there the whole time, literally right in front of their noses. The only motive for someone to want their plane to crash, they took the evidence with them. The small gray bag filled with the only thing that could pin Steve to this murder. 'We took it with us and Steve knew that,' Calleigh spoke. Eric expression began to show signs of confusion, 'But if Steve's behind this then how the hell did he do it? I mean, we called MPD as soon as you found the knife, he must've had help,' he said. 'Yeah, but how did he manage to contact his accomplices before we took off? It makes no sense...' The blonde reacted, 'on the other hand, we have no idea what happened to him while MPD had him in custody, for all we know they left him alone for a short moment. Maybe a second was all he needed to contact someone somehow.' Eric looked at her with a meaningful expression, 'we took off about three hours after his arrest,' he pulled up one eyebrow, 'plenty of time to cause a plane to crash.'
Ooooh motive... ;)
Thanks for reading! Reviews would be highly appreciated!
