Tuesday June 25th. 12:30

Rick hadn't showed up at East Perrine. Frank and Ryan had returned to the lab to process the fingerprints that Ryan had found on the phone booth. Horatio had talked to Jim Roberts. After he was done, he had disappeared to his office. It was there that Eric found him. Eric opened the door and looked at Horatio's back. Horatio was sitting in his desk chair, with back against the door. The blinds covered the windows.

"H?" Eric asked, "I just heard that the attorney general from NY visited you."

Horatio didn't answer. Eric walked around the chair and sat down in front of his lover. He could see that Horatio was clearly bothered by whatever Jim Roberts had told him. Eric gently squeezed his hand and it seemed to bring Horatio out of his deep thoughts.

"Hey." Horatio said quietly.

"Hey. What's going on H?" Eric asked.

"Mr. Roberts flew down here to tell me that I have to witness in court in NY." Horatio said with difficulty.

Eric knew that something bad had been brought back to Horatio's life. And since he knew that he had grown up in New York, he had a pretty good idea of what it was about.

"Is it about your parents?" Eric asked.

Horatio nodded, "The cop who investigated the case was found dead a week ago. And he had written a letter. And in that letter he apologized for investigating wrong on a certain case."

"How do you mean?"

"He, um, he had investigated based on my statements to him." Horatio said, "And therefore it was ruled as an accident."

"And Mr. Roberts now thinks that it was murder?" Eric asked.

"No, but a young lawyer up there apparently does. He's not pointing the finger at me, but suggests that maybe somebody else had killed my mother and therefore my father died for the wrong reason." Horatio said, "So they have to investigate again."

"And you have to witness." Eric sighed, "What are you going to do?"

"I have to witness I guess." Horatio sighed, "Even though I don't want to."

"Does Mr. Roberts know that you don't want to?"

Horatio nodded. Eric sighed and hugged his lover. His husband. When they parted, Eric could see that Horatio was fighting to not cry. Horatio had never told Eric much about his childhood. He knew that it had been a bad one and that Horatio had been abused. Horatio had some scars to prove it. But he only knew that Horatio's parents had died on the same day and that it had been an accident.

"I killed my father Eric." Horatio said.

"No, no you didn't." Eric said quickly.

He wasn't going to let Horatio blame himself. He knew that he already blamed himself for so many things that weren't his fault. He wouldn't let him do it again. Horatio chuckled dryly.

"But I did, Eric." He said, "It was an accident. But I still did it."

"H, don't blame yourself for his death." Eric said softly, "It's not your fault."

Horatio just nodded, but Eric knew that he hadn't convinced him that it wasn't his fault. They were interrupted by a knock on the door as Calleigh appeared in the doorway.

"Hi, um… Jason has something to tell us about Ratner." She said.

"We'll be right there." Horatio said and Calleigh left.

Horatio looked at his watch and stood up quickly. He took a deep breath and left his office with Eric.

"I have to meet our replacement for Calleigh in five minutes. You go ahead to the morgue." Horatio said and Eric nodded.

Once down in the morgue, the rest of the team was waiting.

"Is Horatio coming?" Frank asked.

"He's meeting Calleigh's replacement." Eric said, "So Jason, what have you got?"

"I discovered something that might change your theory about the killer changing his shoes." Jason smiled, "Remember that I told you Ratner had been beaten with a stick? Well, when I removed the pieces of wood I realized that they were wet."

"It rained two nights ago." Ryan said.

"Exactly. But the front of his shirt where he had been stabbed was dry." Jason said.

"Well it took him some time to bleed out." Calleigh said.

"Yes, but not more then twenty minutes." Jason said, "Between being beaten and stabbed his shirt had time to get dry."

"Alright, so he was beaten down by the roses in the park. Someone was hiding in the roses and then stabbed him several hours later." Frank sighed.

"Three hours later actually." Ryan said, "It rained between two or two-thirty and five that night."

"How do you know this?" Eric asked.

"I had couldn't sleep that night." Ryan shrugged.

"Why did the killer wait three hours to stab him?" Natalia asked.

"Maybe he thought he was dead already." Frank suggested, "But then again, if he thought he was dead, why didn't he leave the scene?"

The door to the morgue opened and Horatio walked in with a young brunette girl in her early thirties.

"Everybody this is Amber Jensen, she is our new ballistic expert for now and until Calleigh gets back from her maternity leave." Horatio said.

Amber shook hands with everybody and she seemed to be a very nice girl.

"Hi, I'm Calleigh." Calleigh smiled.

"Hi, Amber. So you're my supervisor in the ballistic lab for a few weeks then?" Amber asked.

Horatio had told her that Calleigh would still be the boss in the ballistics lab and show Amber how to run things in his lab.

"Yeah, that's me." Calleigh smiled.

"Who is the victim?" Amber asked.

"Judge Joseph Ratner." Horatio said.

Jason then told Amber and Horatio what he had just told the rest of team. Then he gave Calleigh a piece of bone from the body that had marks after the knife on it.

"Well this is perfect. Amber and I can get busy finding the murder weapon then." Calleigh smiled and left with Amber. The rest of the team chucked. It seemed as if Calleigh had found another friend.

"Alright people, you know what to do. Be nice and help her out if she needs it." Horatio said and left.

-I-

15: 40

John was groaning. He was hungry but so far, he and Rick hadn't managed to get any food. Though they were hiding behind a convenient store, they wanted to wait until there were less people on the streets and inside the store. And since the sun was still shining, it was easier for the cops to see them.

"Damn cops!" John groaned, "I need some fucking food and I can't get it until they stop spying around in this area."

"Shut up John!" Rick snapped, "They won't leave until they find us. Horatio and his team are 100 percent ready to catch us if they see us. Horatio ain't taking this lightly."

"Just shoot the guy." John said.

"Yeah, right. That won't exactly make things easier you moron. Then every single cop will want to kill us." Rick sighed; maybe it had been a bad idea to bring John with him after all. John was whining too much and usually did think before he had thought it through. Rick knew that it was a big risk to have John with him, John wouldn't think twice about shooting a cop. However, they didn't have a gun with them.

"Look, people are starting to leave the store now. I think I might be able to go in there and get something to eat." Rick said.

"A cheeseburger please." John said.

"In your dreams pal." Rick said and peeked behind the corner. He couldn't see any cops and the store was almost empty. He started to sneak around the corner and walked to the entrance. He stopped dead in his track as he noticed a police car hidden behind the second corner. The cops weren't in the car, but they had arrested someone. Rick peeked inside the store and saw the cops buying something to eat.

"Hey you!" He heard someone's muffled cries.

He looked towards the police car and saw the guy in the backseat yelling for him.

"It's you! The guy on TV!" He yelled, "The guy that the cops are looking for!"

Rick gave him a death glare and ran away to hide behind the corner again as the cops walked out of the store and towards their car.

"I saw that guy on TV!" The guy in the backseat said as the officers sat down in the car.

"Yeah and who was it this time? Michael Douglas?" One of the officers said and drove away.

Rick sighed in relief and once again walked towards the store. He entered at the time as a young girl. Rick carefully walked towards the bread section and then the drinks. Without being noticed he managed to slip two big loafs inside his jacket. When he was about to put the drinks inside the pockets of his pants however, the young girl noticed him.

"What are you doing?" She asked aloud to alert the clerk.

The clerk looked at Rick and grabbed the phone. Rick knew that he couldn't let himself be caught. He pushed the girl towards some shelves and she hit her head and passed out on the floor. Then he ran towards the clerk and knocked him down. After that, he ran out of the store towards the back to pick up John.

"John we have to leave now!" He yelled, "I just knocked two people down, and the cops are on their way!"

John was quickly on his feet and ran with Rick towards a big park. Without being noticed, they climbed up in a big tree with many leaves to hide them. Rick and John were panting and looking at the ground to see if anyone had seen them. Nobody had.

"Want some bread?" Rick asked and gave John a loaf.

"You knocked them down?" John asked impressed.

"I had to. I have something I need to do and I can't be caught stealing food." Rick panted and started eating.

"What is it you have to do besides getting free?" John asked.

"I have someone I need to meet." Rick said.

John nodded. He knew Rick well enough to hear on the tone of his voice when something was private business.

-I-

22:00

Frank yawned. He was sitting in a van looking at cameras with Ryan. In only thirty minutes, a woman named Michelle was supposed to meet Ratner. Instead, she would meet an undercover cop. Ryan and Frank were standing the harbor in case the meeting took place there, while on the same time looking at the cameras that they had put up at different locations. Some officers were hiding along the beach and the coast guards were out on the ocean, Biscayne Bay.

"Coffee?" Ryan asked and held out a cup of coffee for him.

"Thanks." Frank said and took the cup.

"This job has made me addicted to coffee." Frank said.

Ryan chuckled, "Me too."

The only thing they could see on the monitors was civilians out on the street, walking home or going out to have some fun. It had been like that for almost an hour. There had been no sign of Rick or John Gray. Michelle could have passed the cameras several times, but since nobody knew that she looked like, they couldn't possibly know where she was either.

"I hate this shit." Frank sighed, "Why can't somebody else do this?"

"Because you know that we all have to do this sometimes." Ryan said.

He didn't mind sitting in a van. He knew that the job was serious, because he had to warn his fellow colleagues if something happened or was about to happen. Frank didn't like it because he liked to be out there and arrest the bad guys.

"Frank, wake up." Ryan said and shook him.

Frank muttered something incoherent and gave Ryan a death glare.

"I'm bigger and stronger than you. So I suggest you watch out." Frank said.

"I'm faster than you." Ryan said.

"Fast won't help you in here. I'm blocking your only way out."

"Frank, don't be so childish." Ryan sighed, "You can't do anything to me."

"Of course I can! I grew up in Texas." Frank said, "My sister and I are freaking Indiana Jones!"

"Frank, you grew up in the desert." Ryan muttered.

"And in the desert you have to learn a lot about surviving." Frank smirked.

"You mean like, how to dig a hole to find water?" Ryan asked grinning.

"Guys!" Horatio's voice interrupted over the radio, "Everyone can hear ya!"

"Sorry H." Ryan said and glared at Frank. Frank gave him an innocent look.

"Calm down." Horatio said.

Ryan gave Frank a playful kick. Frank shrugged and went back to sleeping. Ryan then noticed a figure sneaking around the harbor.

"Is that you Rick?" He asked quietly, "H, I think I found Rick."

"Where?" Horatio asked.

"The harbor." Ryan said.

"Then he's with you Ryan." Horatio said.

"Right. Sorry." Ryan chuckled and opened the van door. He peeked outside, "Frank!" He said and shook Frank.

Frank muttered and opened his eyes. He saw Ryan with his gun un holstered, walking towards the boats.

"I think Rick is here." Ryan said, "Rick Stetler. MDPD!"

Ryan saw some movement by a boat and ran to the boat. Frank was close behind him.

"Rick!" Frank growled, "Come out with your hands above your head!"

The small figure crept out the shadows and it was indeed Rick.

"Rick, Rick, Rick." Frank sighed and shook his head.

Before Ryan or Frank could say anything else, Rick jumped down in the water and started swimming. Ryan was quick to follow. Frank called for backup, while trying to keep his flashlight on Rick.

"Rick, it won't do you any good to run!" Frank growled.

Rick dove under the water and Ryan lost track of him.

"Where did he go?" He asked.

"He dove under." Frank sighed, "He has to come up sooner or later to breathe, so just wait."

Backup arrived and Eric jumped in the water too. He was a faster swimmer than Ryan was and swam past him. Ryan tried to keep up. Rick eventually came up to the surface just in front of Eric. Eric grabbed him and in fear, Rick knocked him in the face with his head. Eric cursed and got dizzy for a while. Rick started swimming away from him, but Eric followed even though everything was dizzy for him and his nose was bleeding.

"Rick for Christ sake!" Eric yelled and almost grabbed Rick's foot.

Rick then dove under again and this time he managed to swim too far away for Eric and Ryan to keep up with him.

"Where are the coast guards?" Frank yelled.

"Still out on the ocean. Horatio told them to stay there in case Michelle shows up." Ryan said, "Should we call them?"

"No, we'll catch Rick later. He has to get out of the water at some point." Frank sighed, "Get out of water guys."

Eric and Ryan swam towards the shore and Eric's nose was checked over. They were covered with blankets.

"My phone is destroyed now." Ryan sighed as he held up his phone.

"I left mine in the car." Eric said, "How does my nose look?"

"Fine. You might be sore for a few days, but it is not broken. Are you feeling dizzy?" The officer who also had some nurse training asked.

"Yeah, I did for a little while." Eric sighed.

"Well, I don't think you have a concussion. But you should still get checked up." She said.

Eric nodded, "Thanks."

Frank sighed as his phone rang. It was Calleigh.

"Hey Cal." He answered, "One second."

Frank gave his phone to Ryan.

"Baby?" He asked, "What?! I'm on my way."

"Something wrong?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, Calleigh just went into labor!"

TBC…

AN: Please review!