"Did you see the look on Stetler's face?!" exclaimed an overjoyed Ryan Wolfe.
"And the way he bolted to H's office," inserted a teary-eyed Cooper. "That was hilarious!!"
"That look on Stetler's face was priceless," said Alexx, shaking her head, a big wide grin on her countenance.
"I didn't even think a look like that was possible," added a settled down Calleigh, giggling. "Or even legal."
"And it's all thanks to this," Eric stated, holding up his video camera. "And me, of course."
"You've really outdone yourself, baby," said Alexx.
"Speed would be so proud," Calleigh mentioned.
"Oh, he will be," Eric reassured her, nodding his head, his smile widening. "I sent him a copy. It'll probably get to New York in a few hours tops."
"That's great," Ryan said.
"Yeah, I know," smiled Eric, "An early birthday present for my wingman."
"And what present would that be?"
All of them spun around, startled out of their minds, and saw a certain redheaded Lieutenant make his way in the break room, carrying a coffee mug.
Everyone in the break room fell silent and watched their boss walk around the sofa and fill his mug with some fresh coffee from the coffee machine.
"I, um, better get going," said Cooper, getting up from the sofa. "Things to do."
He picked up his cup of coffee and went away in a fast pace, sipping some of it as he passed the redhead, who was eyeing him intently.
The atmosphere seem to signal something bad coming and it was evident on the CSIs' faces. They stared quietly as their Lieutenant savored the aroma of his coffee, then finally took a sip.
Horatio looked up.
"So," he said in a casual tone, setting down his mug. "Any idea as to why everybody's so happy this hour in the morning?"
Nobody answered, so he continued. With a gentle smile, he said, "I'd like to be kept informed with everything, if you don't mind."
"It's nothing, H," Eric answered first, forcing himself not to smile. "People are just…loopy, that's all."
"Mmmm," Horatio let out in a meditative way. "Loopy like a certain IAB Agent that I know of?"
Eric just shrugged and casually drank his coffee, thinking, 'Sorry, H, but I'm having too much fun.'
"How about helping me out at the autopsy room, honey?" Alexx told Calleigh.
"Sure, Alexx," the southern blond said, taking the hint. She got up and followed her, saying, "Bye y'all."
Uncomfortable silence ensued once more, filling the break room as Horatio waited for an answer, his arms crossed, and leaning on the counter.
"You know, Eric, Mister Wolfe," began Horatio, gazing from the floor to them, sideways, and wearing one of his smiles. "I already know that one of you was the source of everyone's absolute delight today. So…"
Eric gulped nervously and exchanged haunting looks with Ryan. They knew that stance, those crossed arms, that sideways glance and that notoriously flirtatious smile.
Horatio was interrogating them, and it sent a sudden chill down their spines. Even sipping their coffee for warmth showed the futility of it all.
"Gentlemen…" said Horatio in a hazardous tone. "I am handing one of you a decent way to escape from all this. Don't let it go to waste."
Eric almost gave himself away by raising an eyebrow. Preventing yet another satisfied smile, he sipped his coffee.
'You're not gonna get me that easy, H,' Eric thought cheerfully. 'I'm going to get away with this…like I do with Mari.'
"May I remind you gentlemen that we are dealing with Rick Stetler, and I am telling you, he's plotting something devious as we speak," Horatio continued and picked up his mug. "So either one of you tell me which is it or risk waiting for Rick to find out for himself who the real culprit is and take matters into his own hands."
"I thought you already knew which one of us was the source, H," said Ryan suspiciously, making sure if their boss wasn't just bluffing.
"That's correct, Mister Wolfe," Horatio said to the young CSI. "But, Evidence without verification is irrelevant."
"You have evidence?" asked Eric, feeling goose bumps.
"Yes, I do, Eric," smiled Horatio, remembering Marisol. He sipped his coffee. "I AM a CSI level three…"
'He's bluffing,' Eric thought, not falling for it.
"Okay…" said Ryan in a thoughtful way. Making his final decision, he raised a finger, pointing.
"Eric did it."
Delko choked while drinking his Café Cubano and it went all over his tee-shirt. He coughed and hollered, "WOLFE!"
"Whaaat?" let out Ryan. "Like H said, he already knew! And he had evidence!"
"But without verification!" Eric reminded him.
"Which Mister Wolfe, under pressure, provided," inserted Horatio, smiling triumphantly at his brother-in-law.
Eric gave Ryan a look that could kill.
"What can I say?" Ryan shrugged. "I panicked."
"Eric…" said Horatio, wanting an explanation.
"Okay, alright!" Eric finally gave in. "I went to your office last night to give you the lab results—"
"As I recall, Miss Duquesne was the one who handed those lab results, "said Horatio, eyebrows raised.
"I went to your office and WAS ABOUT TO give you the lab results," Eric revised his sentence. "But then, I heard you and Stetler talking and…I got curious?"
"And instead of handing me the lab results you snuck underneath the staircase and listened to our conversation," Horatio continued for him.
"More or less…" mumbled Eric, massaging the back of his neck.
"Which caused you to come to my home unannounced and record everything," Horatio added, setting down his mug. "That's trespassing private property, Mister Delko, and stalking."
"What was I supposed to do, let the opportunity of humiliating Stetler pass?" said Eric in a not-a-chance voice.
"Yes," Horatio simply said, "Even though it was a chance of a lifetime."
"Sorry, H," sighed Eric, placing his coffee on the coffee table and sat on the sofa with Ryan. "I couldn't help myself. It was so tempting. And you have to admit, it was funny."
"I couldn't agree more," Horatio admitted. "But that's beside the point. What you did was still wrong."
"Geez, you talk like papi, H," said Eric, disturbed.
"More like a concerned Hermano Mayor, Eric," Horatio told him.
"I know…" Eric admitted like a child. "It's just…getting that kind of dirt…it's in my blood."
"So I have heard," Horatio muttered, recalling what Marisol had mentioned.
"What?"
"Nothing," Horatio dismissed with a wave of a hand.
"Didn't you say something about 'handing a decent way to escape'?" remembered Ryan.
"Yes."
"How?"
"Well, um," Horatio thought for a bit. "That depends."
"Depends?" said a curious Ryan. "On what?"
Horatio face his brother-in-law. "Eric, the original, please."
Eric pulled out a small CD with a protective case out from his front pocket and looked at it, then to his boss saying, "Do I have to?"
"If you want me to help you," said Horatio sincerely, extending his hand. "Consider it as a courtesy from your brother-in-law."
"I can take Stetler, no sweat, H," Eric told him. "He can't outdo me."
"Trust me, Eric, you don't know how that psycho thinks," Horatio informed him, taking the mini disk from his CSI.
"Do YOU?" said Ryan.
Horatio pocketed the CD and gave his CSIs one of his I-know-more-than-you-think look and placed his hands at his hips.
"Mister Wolfe...you have no idea."
…………………………………………………………………….
There! Chapter 4 finished! Leave me a review! It'll help boost my enthusiasm!! Suggestions will me much valued!
Oh! And by the way, Hermano Mayor means "Big Brother."
