"Daniel, is that what I think it is?" Carlos asks.
"If you mean a gun, then yes," Daniel responds, "correction, a gun with blood on it."
"Good."
"Is it Jim's?" Jeff asks.
"Bag it, will you Daniel?"
"Sure," the intern obediently follows the order.
Daniel pulls three pairs of latex glove out of his box, along with an evidence bag.
"Blood on the gun? JIM!" Jeff runs over to the weapon, and continues to shout his name, "He has to be nearby, JIM!"
"Jeff," Carlos follows him, trying to coax him back, "Keep your voice down, you don't want to spook the crocs do you?"
Daniel's phone begins to ring, he tries to pull it out quickly, but it's jammed in his pocket.
"Well this is going great," Carlos comments sarcastically, "right, Jeff, get back here! Daniel, pass me that bag, then answer your phone."
He receives the bag just as Jeff passes by.
"Don't run off," he tells the teenager, "just wait here. You know what your mum would do to me if you got hurt!"
Jeff remains cool and shrugs his shoulders, "Fine," he mumbles.
But just as Carlos was about to walk away, Daniel grabs her shoulder, "Wait," he mouths, "uh huh…okay…thanks." He ends the phone call.
"Why what is it?" Carlos asks, anxiously.
"The hair sample you sent to the lab, the DNA doesn't match the blood. The body isn't Jim's," he tells them.
Giant smiles grow across all three of their faces.
"He's alive?" Jeff asks.
"There's a chance, the amount of blood at the crime scene, it's enough to be fatal if the victim doesn't receive a blood transfusion and medical attention," Carlos explains, "if he's still alive we have to find him. I'm going to call in a search team, and sent an email to all the nearby hospitals to see if they have anyone matching his description in their ER. I know his profile has already been sent, but it's just to make sure they're on the look out."
"They said that they hadn't got enough for an ID, but they have narrowed down the victims profile as a Caucasian woman," Daniel informs them.
"Call Manus, tell her everything," Carlos tells him, "Jeff, I've got a job for you. Be careful where you step, but try and see if you can find a blood trail, if you find a drop of blood put one of these beside it." He begins to route through Daniel's box, pulling out several small yellow flags attached to thin pieces of wire.
Jeff nods and quickly sets to work, being very cautious as to where he places his feet.
"Got one!" He shouts.
"Can you keep your voice down!" Carlos quietly shouts at the boy.
"Sorry," he responds, and places a flag beside the crimson liquid.
"Right, thank you Daniel," Colleen puts the phone down.
Callie leans forward expectantly.
"Good news, the body in the morgue isn't Jim."
Callie sighs in relief and begins to cry in relief, "have they found him?"
"No, there was a substantial amount of blood at the crime scene, so he's injured. They've found more of his blood at the lake, and his gun. It's a good thing that Jeff told you about that place. His profile's been sent to the nearby hospitals, we'll find him."
A smile crosses Callie's face. They may have a future after all.
"Now we have to figure out who is in our morgue."
The thought hadn't crossed Callie mind before as to who was at Jim's house at the time.
"Can I look at the remains?" Callie enquires.
"'Course, go ahead, I need to make a phone call to a certain Captain," Manus replies, "I think we could all use an explanation."
Since the phone call, officers from the precinct had joined Carlos, Daniel and Jeff in the swamp, combing through the shrubbery and thick sludge, looking for the slightest bend of a twig, a faint drop of blood. Even before they began, all of the officers had counted their lucky stars that it hasn't rained, otherwise all the evidence would have been washed away. Jeff was doing a great job of marking out the blood trail, which was heading away from the water. He carries on, determined and focusing on the job in hand. Swabs had been taken from the spots of blood, and the gun had been packed away in a sealed evidence bag, and sent away to the lab for fingerprints. Everything, so far, was going smoothly.
"Any news on the petroleum?" Daniel asks Carlos, who is wearily leaning against a tree.
"No, but it may take a while, if we focus on finding Jim now, we can worry about the 'why' later," he replies.
An officer approaches them, sweat running down the side of his face.
"We've processed the whole area Dr Sanchez, there is no sign of Detective Longworth, but the trail leads up to the road," he explains, "It's possible he's been picked up and taken to the nearby hospital, which is Palm Glade Central."
"Thanks, Daniel, Jeff and I will make a trip up there, see if we can find him. If you want, you can all go back to the precinct," Carlos replies and then he stands up straight, "Oh and before you go," he adds, "could you put up some crime scene tape. We don't want any unwanted visitors."
It is the first time that Callie had lay eyes on the victim's body, the charcoaled remains are a lot different than what she is used to, she always prefers the live ones. Jim would've laughed at that, she thinks, he always laughed at her bad comments or jokes. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how faint, there was a light nonetheless. Much of the flesh had been torched, and a few of the bones are visible. From what Carlos wrote in his report, he had put most of the personal information as 'unknown', it's depressing that this person has not been missed in any way. She must have someone missing her.
"Hi," Carlos greets the woman at the main desk, holding up his identification, "I'm Dr Sanchez of the FDLE, I was wondering if you had received an email regarding missing detective Jim Longworth."
"Yes," the nurse replies, "I remember, in fact we may have your guy, I was just in the process of replying."
Carlos, Daniel and Jeff smile, they can't believe it.
"A stabbing victim came in around 6 this morning, he was found on the side of the road. He'd suffered significant blood loss and has been in surgery for the past two hours."
"Is he in recovery?"
"Let me check," she begins to type on the computer, "errm…yes, I go and find a nurse from that ward."
A/N: Sorry, me again! Just letting you know that this may be the last chapter for a couple of days, (school). I will try to update ASAP.
